Review: Where Demons Fear to Tread by Stephanie Chong

Genre: Adult, Paranormal Romance
Para Element: Angels & Demons
Order Online:  Amazon.com
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Provided for review in exchange of an honest review.

PJ's QUICKIE POV:

Tired of the boring paranormal romance interplay and algorithm? Give WHERE DEMONS FEAR TO TREAD a try! It's a fresh take on paranormal romance, where both characters give equally and the plot is well flushed out and interesting. Top that off with some freaky and thrilling scenes, along with a underlying philosophy that will actually have you thinking, you've got yourself one interesting read!


REVIEW:

In a world rife with angels and demons exists a fledgling guardian angel Serena St. Clair. Serena loves being an angel, but sometimes being good all the time can be overwhelming. Her latest assignment is Nick, a hot young actor that is on a downward spiral. Serena follows him to a nightclub called the Devil's Paradise and too late she realizes that it is a nest of demons, ruled by the very powerful arch demon, Julian Ascher.


Julian is used to getting exactly what he wants, when he wants it and one look at the innocent Serena St. Clair and he knows corrupting a cute little guardian angel might be just the ticket to spice up his life. Julian has a one-track mind and Serena, bent on keeping her charge safe finds herself face to face with some tough decisions, including how much she can trust a demon…
Hot hot hot. This paranormal romance is not one you want to pass up. I loved the good and evil interplay along with the two main characters. Chong also puts a lot of play on secondary characters, making them seem very real also. I really enjoyed the world that Stephanie Chong created and can't wait to read more, because this debut was excellent!

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Recommended for fans of paranormal romance, if you like Gena Showalter and Larissa Ione you'll like Stephanie Chong!

Like this Like That

1. Pleasure Unbound (Demonica Series) by Larissa Ione
2. Otherkin series by Eve Silver

Rosalie Lario Guest Post & Giveaway

 

Please welcome Rosalie Lario, Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Romance author to parajunkee.com. Ms. Lario is the master mind behind  For Love of an Angel the first book in the Fallen Warriors Series.  Ms. Lario has also graciously offered up a copy of her book, FOR LOVE OF AN ANGEL to one lucky commenter, so check at the end of this post for more details.

Twisting the Myth – On Fallen Angels

First off, I’d like to thank Parajunkee for hosting me on your site! Today I’m here to talk about the fallen angels in my new paranormal romance series, The Fallen Warriors.

I think pretty much everyone is familiar with the biblical creation myth featuring angels and fallen angels. In the bible, angels are servants of Heaven, and fallen angels have been banished from Heaven for disobedience to God. It’s an interesting story, and one that’s been used as fodder for much fiction.

While thinking up The Fallen Warriors series, I knew I wanted to use angels, but not in the biblical sense. So I twisted the mythology. Rather than servants of Heaven, the angels on my world are a race of beings from an alternate dimension. They are forced into our world when the walls between the dimensions collapse.

Once the angels realize they are forever stuck in our world, they convince humans to allow them to rule over Earth in exchange for peace and security...the ultimate utopia. But in reality, their designs on Earth are far more sinister.

The heroes of my series are a group of angels who seek to protect humankind. Because of this they have been cast out of their society and condemned to die. They are Fallen. Read on for more about For Love of an Angel, Book 1 of The Fallen Warriors Series:

Blurb

In a world where angels rule over humans, twelve outcasts dare to defy expectation, warring with their angel brethren to prevent the extinction of humankind.

They are The Fallen...

Michael is one of twelve angels who have been outcast due to their determination to protect humankind. In order to preserve his immortality and strength, he must find a mate with angel blood. Eva Smyth has never believed the propaganda spouted by the Consortium—the elite system of guards put into place once angels took over reign of Earth—but she never expected to learn the angels plan to eradicate all of humankind, or that she herself is part angel. Joining Michael means living a life on the run, at war against the angels and hunted by the Consortium. Eva must decide whether to risk it all...for love of an angel.

You can read the first chapter of For Love of an Angel here.

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Contest Deets ONE WINNER:
The giveaway is a digital copy of For Love of an Angel (The Fallen Warriors Series) to one commenter.
View Contest Policy for complete list of rules.


Requirements:
Following is not required but is appreciated!


 
Comment to win: Answer Rosalie's Question:


For you readers, I’d love to know whether you enjoy romances featuring angels or dystopian fiction. If so, what is it about the subject that calls to you?


Extra Comment for an Extra Entry:Tweet: Win a copy of FOR LOVE OF AN ANGEL by @rosalielario hosted by @parajunkee #contest #angels http://is.gd/xucwIv PLZ RT

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Deals With Demons: Angels and Demons by Victoria Davies

Deals With Demons: Angels and Demons by Victoria Davies
 Review copy provided by author.

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PJVs QUICKIE POV: Yum! That is all I can say to describe the ANGELS AND DEMONS novellas from Samhaim Publishing.  Deals With Demons: Angels and Demons was the 3rd and final novella that I read from this group and like the other two, did not disappoint.  Like a quickie, this novella gets straight to the point and leaves you wanting more. I can't wait to read more from this author!

REVIEW: Talia is a demon hunter, she can sense them, feel their emotions and track them, which makes her perfect for the job.  Her hatred and bad demon experiences also fuel her passion for her career. Her family was brutally murdered by a sociopath demon and then she was taken in by another demon, the extremely sexy Devlin, and then discarded once he had gotten what he wanted.  Yes, he had saved her life and fed, clothed, pampered her for five years...but she couldn't forgive him for the worst mistake of her life.  So, when Devlin pops back into her life after six years and wants to hire her, Talia is torn. She is immediately drawn to her former benefactor, but her mind is screaming "Stay Away!"

There was great potential is this novella.  The world building was quite intriguing.  I kept on wanting more. The two characters were excellently built for just a 50 or so page novella. I felt myself really liking both Talia and Devlin and wanting them to patch up their shaky relationship from the get go.  My only drawbacks was in the antagonist. There was very little explanation of his behaviors. Was he just some nusto who liked to murder and track people for fun? And if he was, why didn't he come after Talia sooner? That was my only drawback and I'm sure, like the other Angel and Demons novels, it was because of word limitations. These PNRs need a ton of world building...I don't know how these ladies did it in just 30K.

Once again, excellent job and I can't wait to read full length/sequels to this novella.

RECOMMENDATIONS: This is an adult novel, filled with some violence and a lot of sex. Mature readers only. PNR fans will enjoy.

All the Angel and Demons (click on the images and get them from amazon!):

Break: Angels & Demons

Break: Angels and Demons by Tarra Blaize
Review Copy Provided by Author

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PJVs QUICKIE POV: These little Angel & Demon novellas are like appetizers, highly enjoyable, but leaving me wanting so much more. Teases! Break: Angels and Demons was like a short little peek into a world I want to immerse myself.  What a wonderful way to be introduced to Ms. Blaize are her skills, I can't wait to read more. 

SYNOPSIS:
Don-t bother looking for trouble. It'll find you.

An Angels and Demons story.

Layla Roads- life is a laundry list of irony. Trailer trash. High school dropout. Beautiful liar. Highly skilled computer hacker. And one additional, extraordinary gift: the ability to see the demons and angels engaged in a ferocious battle on the urban streets at night.

When kidnappers hold her brother, Layla finds herself up to her neck in a plot to bring down a powerful blood demon. A crude, sexual, violent demon who kills without flinching, pushes her buttons, and looks at her with too-knowing eyes. What-s worse is she feels an answering tug of desire.
It doesn-t take Gethin long to figure out he has a pretty traitor on his hands-and that she-s being blackmailed. As a lone human female her quest to save her brother is hopeless-just like the attraction between them. For even if Gethin helps her save all she holds dear, she can never be his-

Warning: Includes a devilish demon, a heroine caught between a rock and a hard place, several magical battles, and the steamy backseat of a car.

REVIEW: PNR Fans don't pass up this novella. Around 50 or so pages it is a quickie that you will find quite enjoyable instead of lacking for duration.  Restricted to a certain word length, Blaize expertly crafted a PNR world within a few short pages and wrote a sexy little number that you should be pleased with.  Because of the short length it did get straight to the point, and I really feel that like the other Angels & Demon novella I reviewed, My Avenging Angel: Angels and Demons this could have been a full length novel, it had that much back story to it. But, these authors worked well within their restrictions and I can't wait to read full-length novels of these PNR worlds. My only other problem with the book was a personal one. I like my heroines with a bit more bite. Well she did bite a bit, but you know, she needed to kick and scream and curse a bit more. But that is my taste in women (hush).

RECOMMENDATIONS: Adults only, there is some sexy booty getting, and cursing and neck snapping and biting.

My Avenging Angel: Angels and Demons by Madelyn Ford

My Avenging Angel: Angels and Demons by Madelyn Ford
Digital copy provided by author.

Available May 25th for download.

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PJVs QUICKIE POV: Wham, Bam, Thank You Ma'am.  That's how I'm feeling after reading this smoking novella by Madelyn Ford. A quick, sexy read that will leave you wanting more and wondering, 'Why just a novella?' and then reeling after some of the nasty talk that archangel Michael dishes out. I mean, really I think I'm still being slowly corrupted by this little quote from Michael, you know the Michael, big sword, angel Michael (queue heavenly choir): “If I liked it any more I’d come in my jeans.” Sorry, Sister Lester, I know you always said I was a bad seed.

Review: Victoria "Tory" is being hunted by a demon, thanks to the warlock that happens to be her father. So what is the suggestion of her spirit guides? Summon an angel so he can smite that demon!  They tried for a upper echelon angel...but shot a little high and managed to wrestle Michael to do their bidding. This doesn't sit very well with Michael, he has better things to do than help a mere human. That is, until he sets eyes on Tory and realizes...oops she's his soul-mate. Angels know these things instantly.

It takes a little while to convince Tory...but a little bit of seduction and declarations of feelings help to sway her. But, that nasty demon is still out to get her. With her own avenging angel at her side, can Tory survive an attack by a demon intent on seeing her dead?

A very entertaining tid-bit of Ford's writing, this is a good way to introduce yourself to this author. It will sell on amazon.com for less than $3.00 - and is a wonderful way to support a budding author. I really did enjoy this quick read, but there were some things that I found wrong with the novella. For one it was a bit too short, there was a lot of back story and plot to shove within 69 pages - it could have been expanded a lot more, in fact this plot could have supported a full novel, but I understood what she was trying to accomplish here and it got the point across. But, because of the short version, I did tend to get overwhelmed at times, nothing major though. I can't wait to read more form this author, I'm sure any follow up to this novel will be excellent.

Recommendations: Adults only, paranormal romance fans. Writing was reminiscent of Showalter, Kenyon and Cole styles, fans of these authors should get into Ford's writing.

Angelology by Danielle Trussoni Reveiw & Contest

Angelology by Danielle Trussoni
ARC review provided by Penguin Group (USA)

Release Date March 9th, 2010

WIN A SIGNED COPY OF ANGELOGY - details below.

PJV's QUICKIE POV: Trussoni pairs an excellent story-tellers voice with a unique perspective on an ancient being in Angelology.  The story had all the makings of a good tale, and a depth that is sometimes hard to come by in paranormal based fiction. The character descriptions and scene setting was reminiscent of Dan Brown's voice and hype is that this book might sky-rocket to the top such as Brown's The DaVinci Code.  Yet, whereas the voice and writing of this novel was excellent, I found the "sleuthing" tiresome.

REVIEW: Sister Evangeline is a a nun, living a life of prayer and solitude. She lives with order, everything is schedule, even her prayer time. She finds comfort in the strict guidelines and restrictions of the order. She is also haunted by memories of her parents, the death of her mother and the subsequent abandonment of her father that left her on the doorsteps of St. Rose Convent when she was only a young teen.

All it took was one letter, a request for entry into the convent's archives to change Sister Evangeline's world and to bring the attention of an ancient evil towards her.  As Evangeline discovers more and more she realizes that she is now in the middle of a war, a war between the ancient Nephalim, the giants of the bible, and the human coalition of Angelologist, that included Evangeline's parents.

Well written and very detailed, Angelology pairs facts with fiction and crafts it into a tale of mystery and intrigue.  As I mentioned earlier I found the "sleuthing" to wear me down.  Compared to Dan Brown's compelling novels of biblical mysteries, I found Angelology fell short of Brown's.  From the beginning you know what the mystery of Angeloogy will be.  I.e. the title of the book.  Evangeline, even though witnessing these beings with her own eyes still takes a moment to actually realize what it is she is facing.  And while I really enjoy a fiction novel stuffed with facts, I found that a lot of it was repeated, but I did learn a good bit.

RECOMMENDATIONS: Fans of Dan Brown and paranormal mysteries would enjoy this book.

Giveaway Deets:

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Titus and Atreus by Meridi Myers *Giveaway!*

Titus and Atreus by Meridi Myers
Review copy provided by Meridi Myers

~*You Gotta See ---> Books Website <--- Very Neat!

PJVs Quickie POV:  Went into this book skeptical, because I haven't been enjoying the fantasy books that I've been reading lately, in fact I've stopped the last two before 50 pages.  At page five of Titus and Atreus I was captivated.

Review:  There are two sister worlds. Typhon and Earth.  On both worlds lives the same person, or twin souls.  They look a like, they are born on the same day, they die the same day.  If one breaks his arm, the other does also at the same moment.  On Earth lives Titus, on Typhon, Atreus makes his home.  While Titus is only a normal boy, ending his high school career and dealing with the death of his parents, Artreus is a prince.  Atreus has also lost his parents and is reluctant to take up kingship...especially now that a prophecy has been told about him.  A prophecy that speaks of war and involves his twin soul.

Juno, Atreus' trusted body guard, travels to Earth and brings Titus to his destiny, on another world.  A destiny that might lead to his death.

This book did not disappoint, it was face paced and the plot was well thought out and unique.  While a fantasy novel, it was not long winded and full of hard to pronounce names and bizarre humanoid creatures. There were angels, but that was about it when it came to the paranormal creatures. One of the best things about this book are the characters.  Atreus, Juno and Nightingale are excellently developed characters and enjoyable to read.  I would have said Titus, but sometimes his actions drove me a bit crazy because he seemed to lack a mind of his own or a spine, he was surrounded by all these strong-willed characters he was very much overshadowed.

The world Ms. Myers created was easily accepted.  Typhon, from what I could tell was based at about a Middle Ages technology level, but Myers didn't dwell on descriptives or over inflated explanations of functions.  She recited what was occurring and left it to the reader to decipher the subtleties. I really liked this narrow writing style, sometimes when an author launches into broad descriptions that set the scene...I skim. Hats off to Myers for while she spun a fantastical tale of angels, twin souls and a sea battle of rival kingdoms, she wrote in a tone that made it believable.

My only "problems" with the novel are mainly within character development, which like I said were very good, but I just have to mention some things. For one, I felt so sorry for Titus, he was so over-powered and bullied. He was confined to live in Atreus' shadow, forced off his own world (not like he was doing a good job in his own life, though) to just become a carbon-copy of Atreus.  He only really stepped up to the plate at the end, and was that because of him, (don't want to spoil here) or because he was becoming more like Atreus? Then there was Atreus, and for a strong-willed princling, he sure let those women bully him. I really didn't feel that a real royal would allow his Seer to treat him as she did.  She bossed him around, and even struck him at some point. Was this showing his selflessness, or just that he would be one of those men that let women walk all over them???

Secondly, lets talk cover. As an illustrator and designer I usually don't critique covers, because well I feel I would be too critical. I nitpik design like you wouldn't believe, but only in my head (if I said it out loud I would blow my "I'm Not Really That Bitchy" cover). The only reason I want to discuss this cover is because of the reaction people had to it around me.  Now I like this cover, I like the illustrations, once I read it, I've grasped the symbolism.  But... on first glance, well what I have heard is that it looks like the boys might be lovers. A fellow reviewer questioned this, so did my husband and my mother-in-law. So I wouldn't be writing this if it wasn't a prevalent first impression. So...peeps don't judge this book by it's cover.  This is a good read, and there is no m/m involvement.

 Recommendations: Little violence, no sexuality or harsh language. Recommended for 13+, adults and teens. If you read and enjoyed books such as Eragon, Harry Potter, and Percy Jackson, you just might enjoy this one!

Contest: Win some Titus and Atreus Swag! Bookmarks, Posters and Cards!  One commenter will get some swag that the author sent over.

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