ARC Review: Owl and the Japanese Circus by Kristi Charish

Owl and the Japanese Circus
Author: Kristi Charish
Publication: Gallery Books; Canadian Origin edition (January 13, 2015)

Description: Fans of Kim Harrison, Jim Butcher, and Linda Hamilton will flock to the kick-ass world of Owl, a modern-day “Indiana Jane” who reluctantly navigates the hidden supernatural world.

Ex-archaeology grad student turned international antiquities thief, Alix—better known now as Owl—has one rule. No supernatural jobs. Ever. Until she crosses paths with Mr. Kurosawa, a red dragon who owns and runs the Japanese Circus Casino in Las Vegas. He insists Owl retrieve an artifact stolen three thousand years ago, and makes her an offer she can’t refuse: he’ll get rid of a pack of vampires that want her dead. A dragon is about the only entity on the planet that can deliver on Owl’s vampire problem – and let’s face it, dragons are known to eat the odd thief.

Owl retraces the steps of Mr. Kurosawa’s ancient thief from Japan to Bali with the help of her best friend, Nadya, and an attractive mercenary. As it turns out though, finding the scroll is the least of her worries. When she figures out one of Mr. Kurosawa’s trusted advisors is orchestrating a plan to use a weapon powerful enough to wipe out a city, things go to hell in a hand basket fast…and Owl has to pick sides.

My Thoughts: I have been trying to figure out what I thought about this story for a while. I really enjoyed the world building. I liked the idea of supernaturals living among us but unknown to most of us. I especially liked the idea of dragons. I liked that the main character was a student archaeologist who turned into an antiquities thief after she was done wrong to by her university.

However, I had some problems with the main character's character. To say Owl was impulsive would be an understatement. She also seemed to me to be careless of the people around her and careless of the consequences of her actions. She admits that she isn't good with people and she has an almost complete inability to see the supernaturals surrounding her. Luckily, she has one good friend Nadya though she does her best to ruin that friendship by her failure to trust and share what she knows.

Her love interest is a man named Rynn she meets in a Japanese bar. The relationship starts as a business deal; she buys drinks and he listens to her story. It is one of her few human interactions. But, when Rynn indicates that he likes her, she is very suspicious and untrusting. She gets even more suspicious when Rynn is hired to protect her and she learns something he has neglected to mention.

The plot was interesting. Owl has done something that has made a group of vampires want to kill her. She's been on the run for a year in her Winnebago with her Mau cat when a dragon makes a deal. In exchange for Owl locating a missing scroll for him, he will get the vampires off her trail. Owl doesn't want to agree but a smart person doesn't say no to a dragon and those vampires keep getting closer.

This sets Owl, her cat Captain, and Rynn off on a tour of ancients monuments in Bali where she runs into old enemies, new enemies and the assorted nagu. The story was action-packed as Owl careens from one disaster to the next.

This was a fun story. I look forward to Owl's next adventures.

Favorite Quote:

Nadya swore in Russian. "You don't attract trouble, Owl, you dive into it like the shallow end of a swimming pool."

No arguing there.

I got this eARC from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Teaser Tuesday: Owl and the Japanese Circus by Kristi Charish

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:

I couldn't have missed the exit yet, could I? Served me right for trusting directions from a waitress wearing fishnets and a pair of bunny ears.

This week my teaser comes from Owl and the Japanese Circus by Kristi Charish. I am always up for a new urban fantasy and this one sounds great. Here is the description from Amazon:

Fans of Kim Harrison, Jim Butcher, and Linda Hamilton will flock to the kick-ass world of Owl, a modern-day “Indiana Jane” who reluctantly navigates the hidden supernatural world.

Ex-archaeology grad student turned international antiquities thief, Alix—better known now as Owl—has one rule. No supernatural jobs. Ever. Until she crosses paths with Mr. Kurosawa, a red dragon who owns and runs the Japanese Circus Casino in Las Vegas. He insists Owl retrieve an artifact stolen three thousand years ago, and makes her an offer she can’t refuse: he’ll get rid of a pack of vampires that want her dead. A dragon is about the only entity on the planet that can deliver on Owl’s vampire problem – and let’s face it, dragons are known to eat the odd thief.

Owl retraces the steps of Mr. Kurosawa’s ancient thief from Japan to Bali with the help of her best friend, Nadya, and an attractive mercenary. As it turns out though, finding the scroll is the least of her worries. When she figures out one of Mr. Kurosawa’s trusted advisors is orchestrating a plan to use a weapon powerful enough to wipe out a city, things go to hell in a hand basket fast…and Owl has to pick sides.

Guest Post: Meet the Men of Rockfort Security by Rebecca York

If you tried to start a security agency and came to a bank for funding, you wouldn’t get far with the Rockfort Security model.

The three men who formed the agency—Jack Brandt, Shane Gallagher, and Max Lyon—met under very unlikely circumstances.  Jack left the Navy after a SEAL operation went bad, and he was the only man who came back alive—unable to cope with his survivor’s guilt.  Shane spent several years in the Army military police but couldn’t see himself staying in the service, especially after his wife cheated on him during a deployment.  And Max left the Baltimore Police Department after a bullet wound put him on desk duty.

All three were at a nightclub in Miami that was raided by the cops during a drug bust. They and a bunch of low-life patrons were thrown into a holding cell, where they were the only ones keeping the rowdy bunch from assaulting each other.

They worked well together, and after they were released, they went out for beers.  As they talked about the future, they came up with the idea of forming the Rockfort agency and picked Rockville, Maryland, conveniently located in the Washington-Baltimore corridor.

Their specialty is undercover work, and their pasts make each of them reckless.  In Bad Nights, Jack volunteered to infiltrate a militia organization bent on wreaking havoc in the nation’s capital.  When his cover was blown, he was beaten within an inch of his life but escaped and ended up naked and confused outside the vacation cabin of Morgan Rains.  Knowing he was putting her in danger, he tried to leave as soon as he was able.  But it was already too late, and he and Morgan were forced to run for their lives.

In Betrayed, Shane was also working undercover—as the chief of security at a high tech company—where he suspected Elena Reyes of stealing proprietary information.  When the real bad guys went after Elena, he risked his life to protect her and ended up getting shot.

And last but not least, in Private Affair, Max is hired by New York model, Olivia Winters, to help her nail a murderer taking out members of her high school ten-year reunion class.

Thinking he’s been suckered by a woman who is lying to him, he leaves Olivia unprotected—then must risk his life to save her when she’d kidnapped.

Each of these men puts duty before his own welfare.  And each of them ends up rewarded with a relationship that they never dared to hope for.

Book Information

Title: Private Affair
Author: Rebecca York
Release Date: January 6, 2015
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Genre: Romantic Suspense

Summary

Model Olivia Winters comes home to escape her job in New York City, and finds herself compelled to investigate the suspicious suicide of a former high school classmate. She enlists the help of private investigator Max Lyon, an ex-detective from a troubled family. Posing as husband and wife, the pair uncovers a grisly trail of murder, and the danger propels them into each other's arms.

With a murderer on the loose, Max and Olivia realize they're in too deep, too late. They're getting close to the truth—and to each other's secrets.

Buy Links

Amazon – http://amzn.to/125XJbM
Barnes and Noble – http://bit.ly/1wEZf1I
iBooks – http://bit.ly/1tZxiuA

Author Biography

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Rebecca York’s writing has been compared to that of Dick Francis, Sherrilyn Kenyon, and Maggie Shayne. Her award-winning books have been translated into twenty-two languages and optioned for film. A recipient of the RWA Centennial Award, she lives in Maryland near Washington, DC, which is often the setting of her romantic suspense novels.

Social Networking Links:

Website: http://rebeccayork.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8110.Rebecca_York

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rebecca-York/122426234846

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RebeccaYork43

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It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Jan. 5, 2015)

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 quiet and relaxing week. I spent a lot of time reading and working on my blogs. I finished my last January review book at 11:32 PM on Dec. 31 but didn't write the review until New Year's day. For GoodReads it was my first book of 2015 as I started my new challenge with a goal of 250 books for 2015. On my spreadsheet, it was the last book of 2014.

Speaking of 2014, I read 296 books containing 99,731 pages. 203 of them were review books. I added 621 books to my LibraryThing account and 343 of them are still marked To Read. I actually added 236 review books among the 621 and have 48 that will be read this year. I've started reading the books that will be released in February. More review books are coming, too. I asked for about a dozen from Macmillan but none of them have arrived yet. These will be print ARCs.

I took some time setting up all the Teaser Tuesday, Friday Memes, WoW posts and the Review posts for February on both this blog and Ms. Martin Teaches Media. I have a couple of empty spots on this blog that I hope to fill with books from my TBR mountain (unless I'm tempted by another review book.)

It's back to school on Monday for the final three weeks of the first semester of our school year. I change all my classes at the semester and will be seeing a whole new bunch of students. Next semester I'll be seeing Kindergartners, First and Second Graders, Fourth Graders and Sixth Graders. I really should begin doing some planning for my upcoming classes - but there is so much to finish with the classes I already have.

Read Last Week

I read a recent addition to my TBR mountain this week. I chose Dirty Magic by Jaye Wells. This is an urban fantasy with an interesting magical system and engaging characters. I liked it enough to order the second book in the series. My review will be posted on January 31.

I also read Dream of Danger by Maggie Shayne. This is a novella in the Brown and DeLuca series and was an entertaining, quick read that whet my appetite for the rest of the series. My review will be posted on January 28.

I decided to set my review books aside for a bit and catch up on the Brown and DeLuca series. I read both Innocent Prey and Deadly Obsession. My review for Innocent Prey will be posted on January 29 and my review for Deadly Obsession will be posted on February 5. I really enjoyed both stories and loved watching the relationship between Mason and Rachel develop.

 

Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen was a convoluted and complicated fantasy about a family curse. I didn't like it every much because most of the characters were completely unlikable. I also found the motivations for the curse to be weak. My review will be posted on Jan. 28.

On the other hand, I found Cut Me Free by J. R. Johansson to be an amazing book. This was a story about a young woman who had escaped a lifetime of abuse and was trying to start a new life for herself. It was complicated when she rescued another young girl who was in the same situation and then was being stalked by someone. My review will be posted on Jan. 29.

 

The Stolen Moon by Rachel Searles was an entertaining middle grade science fiction story. It is the second book in a series and I thought it was better than the first with more adventure and intrigue. My review will be posted on January 31.

I also read Since You've Been Gone by Mary Jennifer Payne which tells the story of Edie who, along with her mother, is on the run from her abusive father. They get to London, England, where Edie's mother disappears and Edie decides to try to find her without police involvement. She and a new school friend try to trace her mother's path. My review will be posted on February 5.

 

I pulled Rule Breaker by Lora Leigh off my TBR mountain. This was a typical Leigh - intensely erotic. I liked the story because the main character - Gypsy Rum McQuade - was such an interesting, strong but broken, person. My review will be posted on February 7.

I'll also be posting my review of I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios on February 7. This YA contemporary was an excellent story about a girl who can't wait to leave her dead-end town and an injured young Marine who has come back to it to get his life in order. Great characters and intense emotion made this book a gripping read. 

Currently

I'm reading Bite Me by Shelly Laurenston. I love her funny paranormals and am enjoying this one which features a honey badger shifter.

Next Week

I pulled Closer to Home by Mercedes Lackey from my TBR mountain. I just finished the first series about Mags and am eager to start the second.

Dreaming Spies by Laurie R. King is from my review stack. I love the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series and can't wait to dig into this one.

My YA books are from my February review stack. I have Mars Evacuees by Sophia McDougall which will be released on Feb. 17 and Better Than Perfect by Melissa Kantor which will be released on Feb. 26 next up on my stack.

Reviews Posted

• Save Me by Jenny Elliott
• Hungry Like the Wolf by Paige Tyler
• Gifted: A Holiday Anthology by Kelley Armstrong
• The Unicorn Hunter by Che Golden
• Private Affair by Rebecca York

Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?

• Inside of a Dog  No new adult books this week.
• Ms. Martin Teaches Media

I'm not listing it because I don't yet have it, but I will be reading Trust No One by Jayne Ann Krentz as soon as it downloads to my Kindle on Tuesday.

What are your plans for the week? Leave me a link and I'll be sure to come visit.

ARC Review: Private Affair by Rebecca York

Private Affair
Author: Rebecca York
Series: Rockfort Security (Book 3)
Publication: Sourcebooks Casablanca (January 6, 2015)

Description: Does everyone have something to hide?

Olivia Winters and Max Lyon knew each other way back when, but she was one of the cool kids, and he was a bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks. Olivia's a successful model now, and Max a PI much in demand.

When Olivia's old high school friend is murdered-and a raft of "accidental" deaths may be murders, too-Max is the only man Olivia can trust to help her investigate.

As they team up, Max is blown away by Olivia's courage under fire, and Olivia finds that the bad boy she remembers from the fringes of her social circle might just be the best man she's ever met...

My Thoughts: PRIVATE AFFAIR was an action-packed thriller with a wonderful romance too. Olivia Winters is back in the small town she grew up in because a friend was murdered. She has become suspicious because other members of her class have been dying too. She comes home with Max Lyon posing as her fiance so that he can investigate. He's also from town but was a couple of years ahead of Olivia and was the bad boy from the poor part of town. Olivia was part of the in-crowd because of her beauty - a beauty she has parlayed into a successful modeling career.

Olivia is keeping secrets about what went on her senior year of high school and will have to share them with Max if they have any hope of solving the crimes. Olivia is also in danger because of what she knows and what she might tell. There was a lot of tension in this story. I liked the way Max and Olivia got to know each other and open up to each other.

Fans of romantic suspense will enjoy this story and, like me, be eager to find out the stories of Max's partners in Rockfort Security.

Favorite Quote:

Her life there was no longer as satisfying as it had been. Now she was back here. Because she actually wanted to face the past?  Or because she was fleeing again?

That was an interesting thought. And the man in the other room had offered her a way to deal with that past. To put it to rest once and for all.

I got this eARC from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Private Affair by Rebecca York

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 Private Affair by Rebecca York. I got this eARC from Sourcebooks for review. Here is the description of this January 6 release:

Does everyone have something to hide?

Olivia Winters and Max Lyon knew each other way back when, but she was one of the cool kids, and he was a bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks. Olivia's a successful model now, and Max a PI much in demand.

When Olivia's old high school friend is murdered-and a raft of "accidental" deaths may be murders, too-Max is the only man Olivia can trust to help her investigate.

As they team up, Max is blown away by Olivia's courage under fire, and Olivia finds that the bad boy she remembers from the fringes of her social circle might just be the best man she's ever met...

Beginning:

A sudden jolt of unease made the hairs on the back of Angela's nick prickle.

Friday 56:

"Do you always travel with first-aid equipment?" she asked.

ARC Review: Hungry Like the Wolf by Paige Tyler

Hungry Like the Wolf
Author: Paige Tyler
Series: SWAT (Book 1)
Publication: Sourcebooks Casablanca (January 6, 2015)

Description: The Dallas SWAT team is hiding one helluva secret...they're a pack of wolf shifters.

The team of elite sharpshooters is ultra-secretive-and also the darlings of Dallas. This doesn't sit well with investigative journalist Mackenzie Stone. They must be hiding something...and she's determined to find out what.

Keeping Mac at a distance proves impossible for SWAT team commander Gage Dixon. She's smart, sexy, and makes him feel alive for the first time in years. But she's getting dangerously close to the truth-and perilously close to his heart...

My Thoughts: Mackenzie Stone is an award-winning journalist and she has the Dallas SWAT team in her sites. She is sure that something is wrong; no group can be so squeaky clean. She's right but she would never have guessed that they are all werewolves.

Gage Dixon is in charge of the team and the leader of the pack. He is determined that Mac will never find out the team's secret. However, despite his previous beliefs, it seems that Mac is The One - the woman who is the perfect match for his werewolf. He never even thought The One existed; he sure never thought that he would find her in the person of a nosy reporter who could blow his pack's cover.

A local mobster has decided that the SWAT team needs to be taught a lesson. They killed his son. Of course, the son was robbing a bank and had taken quite a number of hostages. But still it was the SWAT team's fault that his son was killed. When threats and attempts to ambush Gage and Mac don't work, the mobster resorts to kidnapping. Mac learns Gage's secret and then has to decide which is stronger - her love to journalism and telling the truth at all times or her love for Gage.

This was an engaging story with charismatic characters. I hope their are more stories in the works that show the other members of the pack finding The One for each of them.

Favorite Quote:

"I was just looking at your collage. What's the Mickey Mouse thing about?"

"It's just something I put together to remind me to never take myself too seriously. No matter how big the stories are that I write, every kid on the planet would rather meet Micky Mouse than me."

He chuckled. "You know, that's not a bad way to look at the world."

I got this eARC for review at NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.