E-ARC Review ~ Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

Lies Beneath by Anne Greewood Brown

Book Stats:

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal/PNR/Urban Fantasy
Format Reviewed: E-Galley
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Release Date: June 12, 2012

Series: Lies Beneath #1

Source: Netgalley

Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans, killing them to absorb their energy. But this summer the underwater clan targets Jason Hancock out of pure revenge. They blame Hancock for their mother's death and have been waiting a long time for him to return to his family's homestead on the lake. Hancock has a fear of water, so to lure him in, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter, Lily. Easy enough—especially as Calder has lots of practice using his irresistible good looks and charm on unsuspecting girls. Only this time Calder screws everything up: he falls for Lily—just as Lily starts to suspect that there's more to the monsters-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined. And just as his sisters are losing patience with him.

What I liked?: I really enjoyed how well written this book was. Being that I have never read a book about mermaids before I was instantly sucked into the story and had to keep reading until I got to the last page.  The overall plot of this book is something that really kept me interested in the story through to the end. I really enjoyed our main character Calder, he was one of those guys who follows his instincts rather than conforming to what everyone else is doing, which doesn't make him popular with his sisters.  Lily was a very like able character and I got a little bit of a "James Dean" feel for her overall.  No Insta-Love here peeps!

What I disliked?: Nothing really all that terrible but there were times where I felt that the relationship between Calder and Lily had a bit of a stalkerish feel to it.  This is the main reason this book wasn't rated higher.

Overall Impression: I was beyond impressed with my first ever mermaid book.  I will definitely be buying a finished copy when they are available to the public.

Rating: Break the Bank!

Recommendation: ?Why I read this book?: I saw the cover for this book on a blog that I frequent and thought that it looked really pretty.  I've never read a book about mermaids before and I really wanted to check it out.  Thank you Netgalley for approving my request!

I have made the switch!

Ladies and Gentlemen!  I have made the switch from Blogger to Wordpress.  I'm not a real big fan of the new blogger format.  As a matter of fact it's driving me buggy to the point of hating it.  I'm still blogging about the same stuff just at a different location that is more user friendly for my technologically challenged brain.

The new address is:  http://jrafterdark.wordpress.com

There isn't GFC anymore on wordpress but there are still plenty of following options available.

WINNERS!!!!

I've had some giveaways that ended a couple of weeks ago.  I'm just now getting around to picking the winners.  Life's been extra crazy lately with the addition of my Niece!  She's EXTREMELY adorable and it's been killing me not to post about her.

The winner of the Guess the Arrival giveaway is.......

Krista R. with March 10th @ 7:42 pm.

The ACTUAL birthday and time is March 10th @ 6:04 am.

The winner of the 100 Follower (from the hacked blog) giveaway is....

Sarah K.!!!

The winner of the Charlie Madigan giveaway is.....

Denise Z.!!

WOW ~ The Iced Vamp and Iron Mask Edition

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Jane Eliot wears an iron mask.

It’s the only way to contain the fey curse that scars her cheek. The Great War is five years gone, but its scattered victims remain—the ironskin.

When a carefully worded listing appears for a governess to assist with a "delicate situation"—a child born during the Great War—Jane is certain the child is fey-cursed, and that she can help.

Teaching the unruly Dorie to suppress her curse is hard enough; she certainly didn’t expect to fall for the girl’s father, the enigmatic artist Edward Rochart. But her blossoming crush is stifled by her own scars, and by his parade of women. Ugly women, who enter his closed studio...and come out as beautiful as the fey.

Jane knows Rochart cannot love her, just as she knows that she must wear iron for the rest of her life. But what if neither of these things is true? Step by step Jane unlocks the secrets of her new life—and discover just how far she will go to become whole again.

Available October 2, 2012

She’s a mortal with dark powers...

After a tragic accident scarred her body and destroyed her dreams, Leila never imagined that the worst was still to come: terrifying powers that let her channel electricity and learn a person’s darkest secrets through a single touch. Leila is doomed to a life of solitude... until creatures of the night kidnap her, forcing her to reach out with a telepathic distress call to the world’s most infamous vampire...

He’s the Prince of Night...

Vlad Tepesh inspired the greatest vampire legend of all — but whatever you do, don’t call him Dracula. Vlad’s ability to control fire makes him one of the most feared vampires in existence, but his enemies have found a new weapon against him – a beautiful mortal with powers to match his own. When Vlad and Leila meet, however, passion ignites between them, threatening to consume them both. It will take everything that they are to stop an enemy intent on bringing them down in flames.

Available June 26, 2012

"I'm currently working on a trilogy that features Dani, Christian MacKeltar, Ryodan, and the mysterious 'Dancer,' set primarily in Fever-Dublin. Each installment in the trilogy is a stand-alone mystery, however there are larger plot arcs unfolding in the background...

..For those of you who have been worrying—the trilogy is not YA. If I had to categorize it, I would say it straddles the line between YA and adult uneasily. ...Many of the questions I left unanswered in the FEVER series are addressed in this new series.

Exciting news: I’ve agreed to write two more books after that. Once the new trilogy is complete, I’m returning to the core story begun in the FEVER series, and will resume writing about Mac, Barrons, V’lane, Cruce, the Unseelie king, the concubine, the Song of Making.

All in all, there are five more books coming about the Fever World!"
Karen Marie Moning

Available October 30, 2012

Iron Crossed (Mercy Thompson #3) by Patricia Briggs

Iron Crossed by Patricia Briggs

Book Stats:

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy/PNR/Fantasy
Format Reviewed: Mass Market Paperback, 287 pages
Publisher: Ace
Release Date: January 2, 2008

Series: Mercy Thompson #3

Source: paperbackswap.com

I could smell her fear, and it satisfied something deep inside me that had been writhing under her cool, superior gaze. I curled my upper lip so she could get a good look at my sharp teeth. I might only weigh thirty or so pounds in my coyote shape, but I was a predator...
Mechanic Mercy Thompson can shift her shape - but not her loyalty. When her former boss and mentor is arrested for murder and left to rot behind bars by his own kind, it's up to Mercy to clear his name, whether he wants her to or not.

Mercy's loyalty is under pressure from other directions, too. Werewolves are not known for their patience, and if Mercy can't decide between the two she cares for, Sam and Adam may make the choice for her...

Why I read this book?: I've read the last two books in this series back to back, which is an extremely rare occurrence, and I really wanted to keep up with what's going on in Mercy's life so I just kept going.  I think I'm going to keep going until I run out of books:) 2013 you can't get here fast enough!

What I liked?: As usual, Mercy!  She's got this almost obnoxious sense of loyalty and when Zee gets into deep trouble she just jumps in with both feet to clear his name. That is also the point when shit hits the fan as well.  I really liked that in this book Mercy finally chose between Adam and Samuel. I really liked that in this book we learn more about the fae and their folklore, there were some pretty interesting stories that were mentioned in this book. The action and suspense were right up there with the last two books and I really liked how we were introduced to Adam's "vengeful" side and more of the pack behaviors. Like in the first book, the bad guy wasn't obvious until the very end and I was really surprised to see that Mercy was wrong about her suspicions.

What I disliked?: This book started off slower than I really liked.  It took a fair amount of reading and setting the book down before I got to the point that things started happening and the book grabbed my attention.  I also disliked that new characters and plot points were brought into the book but once introduced where never really expanded upon.  Maybe they make appearances in upcoming books but I would have liked to see a little more detail.

Overall Impression: This book is considerably more gritty than the last two books.  Even though it isn't my favorite in the series I think it's still a really good installment and I'm off to start Bone Crossed!

Rating: Wait Until Payday!

Recommendation: I recommend this series to anyone who loves a tough as nails heroine in their reading material.

Like This, Love That (Strong Female Heroines):  The Hollows series by Kim Harrison, Beka Cooper series by Tamora Pierce, Fever series by Karen Marie Moning

In My Mailbox ~ Reborn Lovers, The Undead, and Firefighters edition

In my mailbox is hosted by the lovely Story Siren. In my mailbox is our chance to show off the books that we've purchased, downloaded, received for review, got from the library, swapped or however else you obtain your books.
The upside to this meme is there are always a TON of great books out there to be oggled through our computer screens. The downside of this meme is that your wishlist will grow 10 fold.

Don't forget to leave me a link to your IMM so I can drop by and check out your goodies!

NOTE:  If you are a Nook owner and would like to be Nook Friends you can send me a request at jamiehanna84@gmail.com.

*E-Books*

#1 New York Times bestselling author J. R. Ward’s “different, creative, dark, violent, and flat-out amazing”* Black Dagger Brotherhood continues as a vampire warrior crosses the line between life and death…into a world of dark dreams and darker desires.
Ever since the death of his shellan, Tohrment is a heartbroken shadow of the vampire leader he once was. Brought back to the Brotherhood by a self-serving fallen angel, he fights again with ruthless vengeance- and is unprepared for a new tragedy. Seeing his beloved in dreams—trapped in a cold, desolate netherworld—he turns to the angel to save his former mate, only to despair at the path he himself must take to set her free. As war with the lessers rages, and a new clan of vampires vies for the Blind King’s throne, Tohr struggles between an unforgettable past, and a future that he doesn’t know he can live with… but can’t seem to turn away from.

He's a vampire from the big city . . .

Phineas McKinney thought New York City was tough, until he was attacked by Malcontents—evil vampires who consider mortals to be snacks. Saved by the good vampires, Phin swore to devote his now undead life to stopping the Malcontents. He's got his job cut out for him when word comes that their enemy may be hiding in Wyoming. What does a city boy like him know about horses and campfires? Good thing he's got Brynley Jones with him . . . if only she didn't hate every vampire on earth.

She's a werewolf princess . . .

Bryn believes vampires are seductive and charming, and that makes them dangerous. So she's more than a little annoyed about teaming up with Phin, even if he is the only bloodsucker able to make her inner wolf purr. But as they hunt down the new leader of the Malcontents, danger threatens . . . and Phineas and Brynley discover a passion that will rock the foundation of their supernatural world.

When sparks flare, stop, drop and roll with it.

When Eric Layton lunges for his ringing cell phone in the middle of the night, he’s halfway to the door before he realizes it’s not his chief summoning him to an out-of-control fire. It’s an out-of-control woman who’s too tipsy to figure out she’s dialed the wrong number. But the line goes dead before he can explain he’s not her brother.

His conscience won’t let him leave the woman to wait for a ride that’s never going to come. Yet nothing prepares him for the chemistry when he helps Joanne into his truck. She’s curvy, blonde, and vulnerable—a three-alarm warning to do the right thing and keep her at arm’s length.

Still keeping watch over her through the night sounds reasonable. Until she awakens, and desire burns reason to a crisp…

Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson #2) by Patricia Briggs

Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs

Book Stats:

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy/PNR/Fantasy
Format Reviewed: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Ace
Release Date: January 30, 2007

Series: Mercy Thompson #2

Source: paperbackswap.com

Under the rule of science, there are no witch burnings allowed, no water trials or public lynchings. In return, the average law-abiding, solid citizen has little to worry about from the things that go bump in the night. Sometimes I wish I was an average citizen...
Mechanic Mercy Thompson has friends in low places-and in dark ones. And now she owes one of them a favor. Since she can shapeshift at will, she agrees to act as some extra muscle when her vampire friend Stefan goes to deliver a message to another of his kind.

But this new vampire is hardly ordinary-and neither is the demon inside of him.

Why I read this book?: I just recently read the first book in this series, Moon Called, and enjoyed it so much I immediately picked up the second book.  Which is pretty amazing considering usually I have to read something different in between books in a series.

What I liked?: As always, Mercy Thompson is my heroine!  What I really loved about her in this book is that she took her "devil may care" attitude and used it to kick even MORE ass in this book than she did in the first book. She's so "real" even though she is a shapeshifter.  I feel I could be friends with her, if she existed in real life. In the first book the bad guys were bad but in this book the bad guy(s) were even badder than that!  The action is fast-paced and the mystery is great too.  Usually, I'm lukewarm on love triangles but I think in the case of this series it works really well.  Though I'm growing increasingly lukewarm on Samuel.  But at the same time I'm growing more in "book boyfriend lust" with Adam.  I really like the road that Stefan is traveling down, storyline wise...I can hardly wait to see how it/if it plays out.  A lot of the secondary characters are starting to grow on me, even Ben...maybe he isn't so bad after all.

What I disliked?: I'm really starting to dislike the whole vampire seethe, with the exception of Stefan of course.  Other than that I really don't have much in the way of negatives for this book.

Overall Impression: I might just have to come up with a whole new rating for series/books like this!  LOVE this series so much I'm going to go grab book three off of my shelf as soon as I post this review.

Rating:  Hand over the Paycheck!

Recommendation: I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a kick ass heroine who isn't afraid to get into harms way for the "people" that she cares about.

Like this, Love that: Charlie Madigan series by Kelly Gay, Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost