Stacking the Shelves (August 17, 2014)

Tynga of Team Tynga's Reviews has a meme to spotlight the books we receive each week. Visit her site to check out the linky and see what everyone gets. I guarantee that your TBR pile will grow.

I got a print copy of Blood Games by Chloe Neill when I went to Racine, Wisconsin, to attend her author signing. I also got a keychain, lanyard, pen, assorted bookmarks, and a cookie! It was fun to meet her and listen to her talk about her books. I got all of her other Chicagoland Vampires series autographed, too.

I took advantage of two Kindle deals this week. I got One Good Earl Deserves a Lover by Sarah MacLean and Murder Strikes a Pose by Tracy Weber.

What did you add to your stack this week?

Book Review: Steel's Edge by Ilona Andrews

Steel's Edge
Author: Ilona Andrews
Series: The Edge (Book 4)
Publication: Ace (November 27, 2012)

Description: The Edge lies between worlds, on the border between the Broken, where people shop at Wal-Mart and magic is a fairy tale—and the Weird, where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny…

Charlotte de Ney is as noble as they come, a blueblood straight out of the Weird. But even though she possesses rare magical healing abilities, her life has brought her nothing but pain. After her marriage crumbles, she flees to the Edge to build a new home for herself. Until Richard Mar is brought to her for treatment, and Charlotte’s life is turned upside down once again.

Richard is a swordsman without peer, future head of his large and rambunctious Edger clan—and he’s on a clandestine quest to wipe out slavers trafficking humans in the Weird. So when his presence leads his very dangerous enemies to Charlotte, she vows to help Richard destroy them. The slavers’ operation, however, goes deeper than Richard knows, and even working together, Charlotte and Richard may not survive...

My Thoughts: This is the story of Charlotte de Ney and Richard Mar. Charlotte is a blueblood from the Weird who has a remarkable gift for healing. Richard is from the Edge and is a remarkable swordsman. Charlotte flees to the Edge after she learns that she is barren and her husband annuls their marriage. The gift of healing has an opposite counterpart. As strong as her healing is, she is equally able to kill with her gift. It was her strong desire to kill her fair-weather husband that sent her running.

With the help of Éléanore Drayton, who is the grandmother of Rose, George and Jack, she manages to make a new life for herself in the Edge. Things change drastically when Richard is brought to her in immediate need of healing after his encounter with slavers. The slavers are hot on his heels and recapture him, killing Éléanore and another young girl who happens to be there. Charlotte sets off to rescue Richard but has to resort to her dark side to do it.

Together, she and Richard are determined to bring down the slave trade and are even more determined when they discover who is behind it. Along the way, and despite each one feeling that they are unworthy of being loved, the two fall deeply in love.

This was a fast-paced, engaging story. I also liked getting to catch up with a couple of my favorite characters from earlier Edge books - George and Jack. I feel that this book could stand alone but it gains richness and depth if you read the rest of the Edge series first.

I highly recommend this one for fantasy fans.

Favorite Quote:

Charlotte faced him. Her wet tunic molded to her figure, and her hair, which she'd put up into a neat knot, had come undone and hung over her face. That air of detachment and civility had been washed away, as if someone had taken an elegant cat, groomed to within an inch of its life, and dumped a bucket of water on it. Her expression had the same shock, outrage, and promise of violence.

If he laughed, she'd probably kill him. Quite literally.

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Steel's Edge by Ilona Andrews

Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

This week I am spotlighting Steel's Edge by Ilona Andrews. This is the fourth book in The Edge series. I added it to my stack on Nov. 27, 2012. Here is the description:

The Edge lies between worlds, on the border between the Broken, where people shop at Wal-Mart and magic is a fairy tale—and the Weird, where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny…

Charlotte de Ney is as noble as they come, a blueblood straight out of the Weird. But even though she possesses rare magical healing abilities, her life has brought her nothing but pain. After her marriage crumbles, she flees to the Edge to build a new home for herself. Until Richard Mar is brought to her for treatment, and Charlotte’s life is turned upside down once again.

Richard is a swordsman without peer, future head of his large and rambunctious Edger clan—and he’s on a clandestine quest to wipe out slavers trafficking humans in the Weird. So when his presence leads his very dangerous enemies to Charlotte, she vows to help Richard destroy them. The slavers’ operation, however, goes deeper than Richard knows, and even working together, Charlotte and Richard may not survive...

Beginning:

"My Lady?"

Charlotte looked up from her cup of tea at Laisa. The young girl held an envelope of thick, heavy paper.

"This came for you."

Friday 56:

A torrent of fire devoured the house. Orange-and-red flames billowed out of the roof, blackened support beams thrusting out like bones of a skeleton. Fire filled the doorway, boiling within the house, winding about the porch posts, and belching smoke. The orange flames surged through the windows, licking the siding.

ARC Review: Visions (Cainsville) by Kelley Armstrong

Visions
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Series: Cainsville (Book 2)
Publication: Dutton Adult; 1st edition (August 19, 2014)

Description: As #1 New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong’s new Cainsville series continues, Olivia’s power to read omens leads to the discovery of a gruesome crime with troubling connections to her new hometown.

Omens, the first installment in Kelley Armstrong’s exciting new series, introduced Olivia Taylor-Jones, daughter of notorious serial killers, and Gabriel Walsh, the self-serving, morally ambiguous lawyer who became her unlikely ally. Together, they chased down a devious killer and partially cleared her parents of their horrifying crimes.

Their success, however, is short-lived. While Olivia takes refuge in the old, secluded town of Cainsville, Gabriel’s past mistakes have come to light, creating a rift between the pair just when she needs his help the most.

Olivia finds a dead woman in her car, dressed to look like her, but the body vanishes before anyone else sees it. Olivia’s convinced it’s another omen, a sign of impending danger. But then she learns that a troubled young woman went missing just days ago—the same woman Olivia found dead in her car. Someone has gone to great lengths to kill and leave this young woman as a warning. But why? And what role has her new home played in this disturbing murder?

Olivia’s effort to uncover the truth places her in the crosshairs of old and powerful forces, forces that have their own agenda, and closely guarded secrets they don’t want revealed.

My Thoughts: VISIONS is the fast-paced second book in the Cainsville series. The focus in this one shifts away from proving Olivia's parents innocent of being serial killers and shifts more to the town of Cainsville and the citizens and secrets there.

Olivia has found out the Gabriel has been taking money from her ex-fiance James to try to get them back together. Naturally, Olivia feels betrayed and loses trust in Gabriel at a time when she really needs someone to rely on. She is seeing all kinds of signs and portents and is also seeing various parts of Ciara Conway including her dismembered head. Since the body or head keep disappearing before anyone else sees them, Olivia isn't sure that the sightings are real.

The one thing Olivia can be sure of is that Gabriel is going to believe her and support her through visions or reality. I like the way her relationship with Gabriel is going. One of the characters suggests that Gabriel is feral and he does show some signs that that is true. His background has taught him that anyone can walk out at any time. So he is determined not to care about anyone. If you don't care, after all, you can be hurt when they leave. It takes a while for Olivia to learn this about him and to look at what he does rather than what he says.

Olivia is also having a relationship with Ricky Gallagher, who is the son of the leader of Satan's Saints, a local motorcycle gang with ties to all sorts of crime. Gabriel isn't happy about the relationship for a number of reasons. The one he states is that there could be a conflict of interest since he is the lawyer for both Olivia's mother and for Satan's Saints. Also, there might be more conflict because Olivia is now working for Gabriel as an investigator. However, Ricky is a nice guy who satisfies Olivia's need for sex and speed and she likes him.

Somehow, all of them - Olivia, Gabriel, and Ricky - are pawns in some sort of game being played by two groups of fey. And sometimes the pawns need to be sacrificed.

I enjoyed this story very much. I can't wait to read more in this series.

Favorite Quote:

My foggy brain slid away and—

And I was still dressed in only my bra and panties.

Well, at least its a nice set of bra and panties.

Yep, these were the thoughts going through my brain as I looked at a photo of a decapitated head on my bed. 

I got this eARC through Penguin's First to Read program. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: Darkness Unbound by Keri Arthur

Darkness Unbound
Author: Keri Arthur
Series: Dark Angels (Book 1)
Publication: Dell; Original edition (September 27, 2011)

Description: The fight against darkness rages on for the next generation—in New York Times bestselling author Keri Arthur’s exciting new series set in the world of the Guardians.

Being half werewolf and half Aedh, Risa Jones can enter the twilight realms between life and death and see the reapers, supernatural beings that collect the souls of the dead. But she soon makes a terrifying discovery: Some sinister force is stealing souls, preventing the dead from ever knowing the afterlife.

Reapers escort souls—not snatch them—but Risa is still unnerved when a reaper shadows her in search of someone Risa has never met: her own father, an Aedh priest, who is rumored to be tampering with the gates of hell for a dark purpose. With the help of her “aunt”—half-werewolf, half-vampire Riley Jenson—and an Aedh named Lucian who may have lost his wings but none of his sex appeal, Risa must pursue whatever shadowy practitioner of blood magic is seizing souls, and somehow stop her father . . . before all hell breaks loose.

My Thoughts: Keri Arthur begins a new series in the world she created in the Riley Jensen series. This time the main character is Risa Jones, half-Aedh and half-werewolf. Risa and her friends Ilianna and Tao met in school and now have started a restaurant together. They are all independently wealthy. Ilianna is a mare and a witch; Tao is half-human and half-werewolf.

Risa has inherited some of her mother's gift of clairvoyance but she has also inherited some of the Aedh gifts from the father she has never met. Her mother uses motherly guilt to have Risa visit a children's hospital to see if the child of one of her mother's clients is gone or can be healed. Risa is astonished to learn that the child's soul has been ripped from her and destroyed, making it impossible for her to be reincarnated.

Risa is also being followed by a reaper named Azrael. Usually reapers are the ones who guide souls to the light path or the dark path but Azrael isn't that kind of reapers. His job is to destroy those who escape from the dark path. He is following Risa because he believes her father is planning to seal the gates to the dark path and the light path. While this sounds, at first, like a good thing, in fact, it means that the world will run out of souls and babies will be born vegetables.

Risa has never met her father but that doesn't keep Azrael and a number of others from trying to use her to get to him. The story is filled with kidnappings, attempted murders, and other mayhem as Risa and her friends try to find out who is stealing souls and what her father really wants.

This is the first book in a series that has now reached seven books. Fans of urban fantasy and especially fans of the Riley Jensen series won't want to miss these.

Favorite Quote:

Reapers came in all shapes and sizes, often taking the form most likely to be accepted by those they'd come to collect. I'm not sure what it said about me that my reaper was shirtless, tattooed, and appeared to be wearing some sort of sword strapped across his back.

I bought this one on Sept. 27, 2011. You can buy your copy here.

Teaser Tuesday: Visions (Cainsville) by Kelley Armstrong

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Teaser:

After the media had swarmed, I'd taken refuge in that sleepy little village in the middle of nowhere.

A sleepy little village with disappearing gargoyles, vicious ravens, and, as of this morning, gigantic black hounds.

A sleepy little village where no on seemed to find it the least bit strange that I could read omens and see portents. 

This week my teaser comes from Visions by Kelley Armstrong. This is the second book in the Cainsville series. I was chosen to read the eARC at Penguin's First to Read. Here is the description of the Aug. 19 release:

As #1 New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong’s new Cainsville series continues, Olivia’s power to read omens leads to the discovery of a gruesome crime with troubling connections to her new hometown.

Omens, the first installment in Kelley Armstrong’s exciting new series, introduced Olivia Taylor-Jones, daughter of notorious serial killers, and Gabriel Walsh, the self-serving, morally ambiguous lawyer who became her unlikely ally. Together, they chased down a devious killer and partially cleared her parents of their horrifying crimes.

Their success, however, is short-lived. While Olivia takes refuge in the old, secluded town of Cainsville, Gabriel’s past mistakes have come to light, creating a rift between the pair just when she needs his help the most.

Olivia finds a dead woman in her car, dressed to look like her, but the body vanishes before anyone else sees it. Olivia’s convinced it’s another omen, a sign of impending danger. But then she learns that a troubled young woman went missing just days ago—the same woman Olivia found dead in her car. Someone has gone to great lengths to kill and leave this young woman as a warning. But why? And what role has her new home played in this disturbing murder?

Olivia’s effort to uncover the truth places her in the crosshairs of old and powerful forces, forces that have their own agenda, and closely guarded secrets they don’t want revealed.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (August 11, 2014)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

I had a great reading week and traveling week. I'm sitting in my hotel room in Racine on Saturday night working on this post. I attended the signing for Chloe Neill this afternoon. I got a seat in the front row and it was great to meet her and hear about her and her books.

Leaving the house at 6:30 AM and driving across the state of Wisconsin was, perhaps, not my best idea. The drive wasn't too bad until I passed Madison. Then there was lots of traffic and lots of road construction. Most frustrating was seeing the sign that said I was only three miles from my exit to Racine when I was traveling at about 5 miles per hour (when I wasn't completely stopped.) I'm glad I left when I did thinking that I would have a couple of hours to look around Racine before the signing. I did get there about an hour before the event began.

Worst of all from where I'm sitting now is that I have to do it again tomorrow in reverse. Hopefully, I'll get through the high traffic and road construction early Sunday morning when traffic shouldn't be as bad. On the plus side, my whole trip is on freeways or divided highways and Wisconsin is nice and green. This is the trip for you if you like lots and lots of trees and rolling hills.

My new computer arrived this week too. I'm working on it now. It is so much faster than my old one and much lighter too. I got a laptop with a touch screen and really really like it. When I switch computers I find myself touching the screen to do things and being disappointed when nothing happens.

Read Last Week

Get Even by Gretchen McNeil was an interesting contemporary YA book from my review stack. A group of girls form a club called DGM to deal with high school bullies. When one of their targets is murdered and DGM is blamed they have to find out who really did it to protect themselves. This one really has a cliffhanger ending. My review will be posted on September 13.

The Magic Thief: Home by Sarah Prineas was another review book. This middle grade fantasy is the fourth book in the series and is filled with great characters. I really enjoyed it. My review will be posted on Sept. 10. 

I took time from reading my stack of review books to read a novella and a short story by favorite adult authors. 

The New Kid by Eileen Wilks is a 13 page story in the World of the Lupi. It tells about a young Rule who is attending high school to learn to interact with the human world and who deals with high school bullies. I won't be reviewing this free short story but I really enjoyed it.

Connecting Rooms by Jayne Ann Krentz is a recent Kindle release of a novella that was part of a collection. Somehow, despite being a huge fan of Jayne Ann Krentz, I had missed it. I loved the descriptions, characters and dialog in this romantic suspense story. My review will be posted on September 17.

Back to review books...

Blackbird by Anna Carey was an intense thriller. Its most notable characteristic was that it was told in the second person. I enjoyed it even though it had a cliffhanger ending. My review will be posted on September 18.

Adrenaline Crush by Laurie Boyle Crompton was a YA contemporary about a girl who lives for the rush until she has an accident that destroys her ankle. She is torn between the boy who saved her life and wants to keep her safe and the boy she meets in therapy who wants her to conquer her fear and take risks again. My review will be posted on Sept. 17.

Blood Games by Chloe Neill is the 10th book in her Chicagoland Vampires series. I really enjoyed this one. I love the relationship between Merit and Ethan. My review will be posted on September 4.

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry was the next book on my YA review stack. This one is most suitable for fans who have outgrown Lemony Snicket but are still interested in over-the-top Victorian melodrama. There was a mystery too. My review will be posted on Sept. 20.

Unmade by Sarah Rees Brennan is the final book in the Lynburn Legacy trilogy. I loved the way this trilogy ended. It was exciting and appropriate. I laughed and I cried when I read this one. My review will be posted on September 15.

Silent Murders by Mary Miley was also a review book. This one was an excellent historical mystery. It will be released on September 23 and should be on your list if you like mysteries and Old Hollywood. Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and Myrna Loy make appearances. My review will be posted on Sept. 20.

Currently

I am reading The Man from Stone Creek by Linda Lael Miller. I am enjoying this Western romance that I got through the Amazon Vine Program.

Next Week

I have all review books on my stack for this coming week.

I have two more from Amazon Vine for my adult books this week. Two of a Kind by Susan Mallery and Pecan Pies and Deadly Lies by Nancy Naigle will finish up this month's Vine books.

I have had Salt & Storm by Kendall Kulper on my stack since last February. It has finally reached the top and I should be reading this September release soon. The link goes to Barnes & Noble because Amazon says this book is unavailable.

Night Sky by Melanie Brockmann and Suzanne Brockman just got added to my stack this week. I am a big fan of Suzanne Brockmann's romantic suspense titles for adults and had to fit this one in despite a very full calendar.

Tabula Rasa by Kristen Lippert-Martin and Firebug by Lish McBride have both been on my stack since May. They will both be released on September 23.

Reviews Posted

• The Essence by Kimberly Derting
• Bound to Danger by Katie Reus
• Iron Hearted Violet by Kelly Barnhill
• Pray for Silence by Linda Castillo
• Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan
• Melting the Ice by Jaci Burton

Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week

• Inside of a Dog
• Ms. Martin Teaches Media

What do you have planned for this week?