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Category: Paranormal

Review: The Taker by Alma Katsu

[ 10 ] November 2, 2011

Reviewed by Claudia Robinson

“Your days are spent in pleasure and comfort. I’ve given you everything you could want, treated you as a princess. I’ve opened your world, haven’t I? Freed your mind from the limitations put there by those ignorant priests and ministers, and introduced you to secrets that learned men spend a lifetime seeking. All these things I’ve given you freely, my dear, haven’t I? Frankly, your ingratitude offends me.” – Adair

At first glance, The Taker threatens to divulge to it’s readers another sugar spun tale of vampiric romance. Upon closer examination, however, it becomes apparent that The Taker is anything but. Written over a span of centuries, The Taker entreats those partaking to enter a world where despite the opportunity for every pleasure and dream to be fulfilled, and lifetimes in which to pursue them, true happiness is just, and always, beyond reach.

Luke Findley is a doctor in the small town of St.Andrew, Maine. When a young woman is brought in to his care at Aroostook Country Hospital, Luke has no idea how quickly, abruptly and completely his life is about to change. Confessing to a brutal murder, Lanore McIlvrae and her ice blue eyes make an immediate and inexplicable impression on Luke. When she begs him to help her, slicing her flesh open with a scalpel, only to have it heal before his eyes, Luke finds himself offering whatever services she requires of him, so long as she explains who and what she is, and why she has come to St. Andrew.

As the unlikely pair run from the law, Lanny shares her unbelievable story with Luke, and readers are quickly seduced with a tale of romance, magic, violence, sex and murder that traverses centuries and continents. Luke learns about the young, murdered man, the breathtakingly beautiful Jonathan who has held Lanny’s heart in his hands since the day she laid eyes upon him as a young girl, and Adair, the cruel, regal, savagely handsome Count cel Rau and his consorts, and their stories of debauchery and mayhem. As Lanny unfolds her life before him, Luke finds himself making decisions about his own life that will ultimately affect his future in ways he can’t yet conceive. Can this strange, beautiful young woman hold the key to his happiness?

Exquisitely written, detailed in lush multi-color lexicon, Alma Katsu accomplishes in dispatching a, what at first appears ‘familiar’, but is ultimately a unique and genius craftship of a story, to her readers. Solid, vibrant, intelligent and beautiful, Alma invokes equal parts melancholy and congeniality with her pristinely fleshed out characters. She weaves a tale of such heart-wrenching deceit and evil, that the ending arrives all too quickly, and leaves the reader panting hungrily, for more, questioning immortality and the price one must pay, in the end, to endure it.

Rating: 5/5

Claudia lives on beautiful Cape Cod with her husband and two children.

The review copy of this book was provided free of any obligation by Gallery Books. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Overbite by Meg Cabot

[ 12 ] October 15, 2011

Reviewed by Meghan Saldecki

Meena Harper has agreed to use her special gift for sensing when people are going to die to help the Palatine – an organization that seeks out and destroys demons. It also just so happens that their biggest enemy and target is the prince of darkness and Meena’s recently ex-boyfriend, Lucien Antonescu.

Meena told Lucien she couldn’t run away with him and be turned into a vampire, and he seemingly disappeared from her life forever. But when she is attacked by another ex-boyfriend, Lucien comes to her rescue and reveals that he’s been watching over her the whole time.

Things get complicated when Meena starts to fall in love with Lucien again and even more complicated when Meena realizes she might have feelings for her co-worker, Alaric.

Should Meena go with her gut that tells her that vampires really do have the choice to be good or evil, or should Meena listen to Alaric – who says that all demons are evil?

Meena Harper’s life unravels for the upteenth time as new dangers arise and threaten not only Meena and the Palatine, but her friends and family as well.

The characters in Overbite are like any characters created by Meg Cabot: three dimensional and simply incredible. I loved all the characters in both Insatiable and Overbite, however, a few of them seemed to be there just to move the story along.

I especially loved Meena’s brother, Jon, and his crazy antics to get hired by the Palatine, like inventing a gun to shoot a UV ray at vampires, thus causing them to burn. I also loved his man-crush on Alaric; it was such a nice touch that made his character come even more alive.

While Insatiable was heavier on romance, I loved the fact that Overbite had more action – it resulted in fewer slow moments and filler chapters. Meg Cabot definitely took a step up with this second addition to the Insatiable series. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with the direction she took this series and a lot of questions were answered for me. I would recommend this series to fans of Meg Cabot or urban fantasy and paranormal romance genres.

Rating: 4.5/5

Check out our review of the first book in the series, Insatiable

Meghan is a 18-year-old book blogger. She likes to read and write in her spare time and would like to become a published author one day. She plans on going to college soon.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by William Morrow. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Always the Vampire by Nancy Haddock

[ 3 ] September 5, 2011

Reviewed by Rachel Mann

Always the Vampire, by Nancy Haddock, is a fun contemporary Southern vamp murder mystery, a bit in the style of the Sookie Stackhouse series. Always the Vampire is the third in Haddock’s series about Francesca, a recently revived vampire who lives in Florida; she’s interested in a part-werewolf named Saber, and she rapidly becomes involved in magical happenings.

I hadn’t read the first two books in the series, so I found a few of the details about the characters’ lives slightly confusing; however, that might just be one of the problems of jumping into a series partway through. Haddock does provide context for readers who are new to the series, but since this is her third book about Francesca, it would be unfair to expect no references to previous events or ideas that had occurred in the first two books. After reading the third book, I’d like to go back to the first and learn more about what brought Francesca to the place she’s reached by this point in the series.

Francesca, or Cesca as she’s usually called, is an entertaining heroine who shies away from many of the details of her vampire nature. She doesn’t like to drink blood, preferring “Starbloods” to human blood, and even though she’s an ancient vamp by many standards, she doesn’t know a great deal about vampire lore; for example, she doesn’t know how to change someone human into a vampire, or “Turn” someone. It will be interesting to see how this lack of knowledge about Turning comes up in later books, since Saber has already asked Francesca to think about turning him. As their romantic relationship becomes more serious, it’s hard to imagine how Francesca could avoid Turning her lover; if he wants to spend eternity with her, how can she deny him that?

The world Haddock’s created is one where hardly any vampires feed on humans; if anything, wizards and other magical beings are the ones to truly be feared. Most of the vampires who show up seem like they’d be pretty fun to hang out with–like the former Marine and current dance instructor Ken, who’s quite entertaining.

The jacket copy on Always the Vampire makes it sound as though it will focus a great deal on Francesca’s relationship with her friend Maggie, a human who is getting married. Yet the plot focuses most on defeating a wizard named Starrack, who’s created a terrible entity called the Void. Francesca must defeat both Starrack and the Void, and in her struggle to do so draws her away from Maggie and the everyday elements of a wedding. I found myself wishing we could have heard even more about Maggie and Francesca’s friendship, and spent more time on the dynamics of Maggie’s wedding. Maybe, though, this friendship will be explored even more later on in the series.

Rating: 3.5/5

Rachel, who has a Ph.D. in English, is a freelance writer/editor and a voracious reader. You can talk to her about books at http://twitter.com/writehandmann.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Berkley Trade. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review & Giveaway: Spell Bound by Kelley Armstrong

[ 77 ] August 5, 2011

Reviewed by Jennifer Jensen

At 21, Savannah Levine, daughter of a dark witch and a sorcerer, is perhaps the most powerful witch alive. She has always relied on her powers to see her through any situation, so after she thinks to herself that she would give up her powers if only a young girl’s guardian would not end up in prison, an unknown entity takes her up on the offer. Savannah must learn to rely on the help of others, especially Adam (the half-demon she has loved since she was 12), and find new strengths within herself that she never knew she had.

Now a group of witches is hunting Savannah, hoping to turn her to their side. When she finds herself within their clutches, she learns of a gathering of supernaturals intent on revealing themselves to the entire world. Savannah must find a way to escape and warn the Council of their plans–before it’s too late.

Spell Bound is another exciting installment in the Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong. One of the first urban fantasy/paranormal series that I picked up, the Otherworld series is still a favorite; I look forward to a new release every year. Savannah Levine has long been a favorite character for me; I might be a few years older than her, but I feel as if I grew up with her. This is the second book in a row that she has been the narrator, and I cannot wait to see what happens next.

Spell Bound is the first book in the series that brings almost every main character in the book together: Elena, Clay, Jeremy, Jaime, Hope, Adam, Savannah, and several others. Not every one of them has had the chance to narrate their own book yet, but given what is ahead for Savannah and her friends and family, I won’t be surprised if someone else gets a turn. I would especially love a book told from Cassandra’s perspective; she’s been kind of a background character in previous books, but her larger role in this book has made me really interested in Armstrong’s vampire lore. Just when I thought there wasn’t anything new with vampires, Armstrong piqued my interest in a very big way.

Armstrong provides enough back story so that new readers won’t get lost, but it’s definitely worth it to start at the very beginning with Bitten.

Rating: 4/5

Check out Jennifer’s review of Kelley Armstrong’s Waking the Witch

Jennifer graduated from the University of Utah with a BA in English. She occasionally dabbles with her own fiction writing, particularly with the Young Adult and Paranormal genres. She currently resides in Utah with her husband and daughter.

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Review and giveaway copies were provided free of any obligation by Dutton. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: The President’s Vampire by Christopher Farnsworth

[ 7 ] July 6, 2011

Reviewed by Caleb Shadis

The President’s Vampire is the second book in the series featuring Nathaniel Cade, a vampire in the service of the President of the United States. The witch Marie Laveau bound Cade to the office of the President to serve and protect the country. He is the man in black, protecting us from the clutches of evil. He has a human liaison – Zach Barrows – assigned to work with him and be his intermediary. Zach has only been on the job for a year and he’s discovered it’s like no other OJT imaginable.

We meet up with Cade as he is about to perform a HALO jump on to a private yacht off the coast of Africa – a yacht that is about to be attacked by some very unusual pirates. As monstrous as pirates are, these have been genetically mutated into killing machines and Cade’s job is to prevent them from spreading. He’s very good at what he does.

During their debriefing they are told to lay off the case. Colonel Graves, a civilian with Archer/Andrews, is on it and Cade and Barrows have already messed up one operation – trying to find a mole – by showing up on the yacht. Cade has other ideas. Zach and Cade team up with Archer/Andrews to find out who has infiltrated A/A and how to put a stop to it.

Overall, I enjoyed The President’s Vampire even more than the first book, Blood Oath. Farnsworth had even more fun and mixed in quite a bit more history and a lot of conspiracy theory stuff to make things more interesting. The story isn’t for the squeamish. Cade is a monster but he’s our monster and he’s our point man. When anything evil or otherworldly seems to be gaining a finger, it’s his job to hold back the things that go bump in the night.

Rating: 4/5

Check out Caleb’s review of the first book in the series, Blood Oath

Caleb is a software engineer and amature woodworker living in southern Minnesota. He has more hobbies than he has time or money for, and enjoys his quiet time reading.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Putnam Adult. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Pale Demon by Kim Harrison

[ 3 ] July 5, 2011

Reviewed by Jennifer Jensen

Rachel Morgan is on the outs with the witch community, who will stop at nothing to keep her shunning from being lifted. If Rachel can’t get herself to San Francisco in three days to attend the witch convention, she has no hope of clearing her name and being able to practice magic again. Trent Kalamack, dirty business mogul and the man whom Rachel loves to hate, needs Rachel’s help to get to Seattle. He has some personal business to attend to, but isn’t forthcoming with information.

Though she doesn’t trust Trent, she has to admit that she needs his help. The unlikely pair pile into a car and head out on a paranormal road trip filled with unexpected bumps in the road and plenty of laughs for dedicated Hollows fans. But all hell literally could break loose when an ancient threat sets his sights on Rachel and her unique abilities.

Pale Demon, the 9th book in Kim Harrison’s best-selling urban fantasy series about bounty hunter/witch Rachel Morgan, is a welcome addition to my favorite series. I still remember the exact day I picked up The Good, the Bad, and the Undead, intrigued by the cover and thinking it was the first in a series. I was wrong–it was the second book in the series–but it hooked me nonetheless. As soon as I finished it, I went back for the first book, Dead Witch Walking, and was just as captivated by Harrison’s narrative and the wonderful characters she writes.

With as many series as there are out there, it’s hard to know which ones to read. Without any doubt, Kim Harrison’s Hollows series is one of my personal favorites. It’s one that you need to start right at the very beginning; anyone who tries jumping in at later books is sure to be frustrated and confused. Harrison doesn’t waste time summarizing past books for the readers, and I actually love this about her writing. Where many series begin to fizzle out around the 9th book (and sometimes even earlier in), The Hollows series is just as good–if not better–then when it first came out in 2004.

Rating: 4/5

Jennifer graduated from the University of Utah with a BA in English. She occasionally dabbles with her own fiction writing, particularly with the Young Adult and Paranormal genres. She currently resides in Utah with her husband and daughter.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Harper Voyager. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

[ 8 ] March 3, 2011

Reviewed by Jessa L.

On a seemingly ordinary day, Diana Bishop, a scholar at Oxford, requests a manuscript titled Ashmole 782. Coming from a long and distinguished line of witches, she immediately senses that the book is sealed by some type of magic. Diana wants nothing to do with magic, but when she touches the manuscript, she triggers things that cannot be undone.

She skims through the manuscript without too much thought, takes her notes, and sends the book back to the library’s storage section. Yet, the simple fact that the manuscript has suddenly appeared after years of hiding triggers a complex series of events. All of a sudden, a mundane town of few magical creatures is crowded with witches, vampires, and daemons. They all want the manuscript and will do anything to get their hands on it.

Matthew Clairmont, an intriguing and handsome vampire, is the first person to arrive on the scene. He is one of many that wants the manuscript, yet there is more to it than that. He finds himself constantly running into Diana and having an urge to keep her close and protected. Diana is wary of Matthew as witches, vampires, and daemons are not supposed to be interacting, let alone developing complex relationships, yet she is not the only one finding it hard to keep her distance.

An intriguing combination of history, magic, romance, and adventure, A Discovery of Witches is quite the novel. The characters are amazingly interesting and complex, and their travels take them from England to Scotland, to France, and even New York. The novel takes us thru time from as far back as the Crusades, Knights of Templar, and the American Revolution. The characters have their own intricate backgrounds and yet are woven together in perfect harmony.

Deborah Harkness is not only obviously quite intelligent, she has great skills as a storyteller of passion, obsession, magic, alchemy, and science. A Discovery of Witches is deliciously enchanting.

A Discovery of Witches is the first book in the All Souls Trilogy and I, for one, can’t wait for the next installment. Unfortunately we will all be waiting until sometime in 2012. This is one of those books that kept me spellbound and waiting in anticipation for what would be on the next page – I couldn’t possibly put it down! Turns out I was left with a cliffhanger that makes me rather impatient for the second book to arrive.

Rating: 5/5

Jessa lives in Utah with her husband, 2 sons, 2 cats, and 2 dogs. She goes to school full time as an english major with a focus in creative writing. She likes anime and reads books and plays video games in her moments of spare time.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Viking/Penguin. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: The Taming of the Wolf by Lydia Dare

[ 5 ] November 21, 2010

Reviewed by Jessa L.

Caitrin Macleod is a country girl who also happens to be a member of a coven of witches. She is sworn to protect the other four coven members, and has to keep silent about her powers. As a general rule, Caitrin is not a fan of werewolves, but when one of her coven sisters marries one and needs her help, she cannot refuse. While helping a friend in her time of need, Caitrin has a midnight encounter with a strange man and things get slightly out of hand. To avoid further trouble, Caitrin flees the mansion in the middle of the night. Unfortunately for her, this strange man is more than what he seems and decides to do whatever it takes to chase her down.

Dashiel Thorpe, Earl of Brimsworth, has spent his life being shunned for being a werewolf. He has tried endlessly to fight and deny his true self, but when the full moon rises, all control is lost and Dashiel succumbs to his baser needs. One night while seeking help from a friend, Dashiel has a midnight encounter with an enchanting woman. Things go further than he means them too and he finds himself needing to find her in the morning. Unfortunately for him, she seems to have fled the mansion in the middle of the night, but Dashiel has stronger senses than an ordinary man and sets off to track her and claim her for himself no matter what it takes.

The Taming of the Wolf is the typical romance novel with an atypical twist. The combination of a love story with paranormal characters is a nice change. Caitrin is a lovable character with her soft beauty yet harsh country attitude. She is a girl who has seen the world for what it is and does what she must to get by. Dashiel is used to getting by with his good looks despite his haunted past. He is defnitely not [amazonify]1402244371[/amazonify]used to a girl who isn’t swayed by his charm, let alone a girl who thinks for herself and isn’t afraid to say what she thinks. Both characters have distinctly different personalities, yet the lust that turns to love can ultimately conquer all.

I’m rather picky about folklore and mythology, but I love to hear different takes on various mythological creatures as long as they don’t get the major points wrong. I think Lydia Dare did a great job at taking the instincts of wolf and man and meshing them together in the character that is Dashiel Thorpe. I enjoyed the chase of man after woman with the addition of stronger senses that wolves have. The banter between the two characters was very entertaining and fun to read. I do wish they’d gone a little more into Caitrin’s witchcraft, but I enjoyed everything else enough to forget all about it. Overall, I would say I had a very fun time reading The Taming of the Wolf and would urge anyone that loves a sexy werewolf to pick it up.

Jessa lives in Utah with her husband, 2 sons, 2 cats, and 2 dogs. She goes to school full time as an English major with a focus in creative writing. She likes anime and reads books and plays video games in her moments of spare time.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Sourcebooks Casablanca. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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