Showing posts with label urban fantasy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label urban fantasy. Show all posts

Friday, April 18, 2014

Book Review - The Druid's Doorway

Happy Friday, good people of the blogosphere! Today I bring you another book review from my list for the Indie Fever 2014 Reading Challenge. If you haven't joined up yet, I invite you to do so. You can find the signup page here. Just add your name to the Linky thing with the level you wish to sign up at, snag the badge, and get to reading. I have to brag on this group for a moment. Last year, we reviewed over three hundred Indie books (almost made it to four hundred)! I'm hoping this year beats that number. We're already at one hundred sixty! Add one for the review I'm about to write. How amazing is all that love for Indie authors? Okay then, moving on!

As always, I'll begin by giving you a little information about the book up for review:

Title: The Druid's Doorway (The Reese Brothers - Book One)
Author: S. G. Daniels
Genre: YA Paranormal/Urban Fiction
Length (print): 342 pages
Buy Links: Amazon Kindle $0.99  ~  B&N Nook $0.99  ~ Smashwords $0.99

Synopsis: Jake Reese thinks he’s just a screwed-up high school kid living in a small town isolated in the Arizona desert. Traumatized at an early age by his mother’s sudden death—and believing he might have had something to do with it—he’s allowed his guilt and lack of self-confidence to rule his life.

Hailey is the fiery little redhead that sees Jake as more than just a good friend. When she invites him as her date to a school function, it brings down the walls he's built to protect his heart, and sets off a series of events that threaten not only Jake’s life, but that of everyone around him.

The discovery of a portal on the outskirts of town brings Jake face-to-face with death and reveals a closely guarded secret about his mother. No longer is his memory of her the only thing that haunts him. Something evil from her past has escaped through the portal, and nothing will prevent it from trying to steal Jake’s future.

Can Jake overcome his fears to keep Hailey safe? Will the decisions he's forced to make destroy everyone he knows and loves? And ultimately...is he strong enough to live with those choices?

Pretty, huh? On to my inner musings!

***Will not appear in review elsewhere. I did a cover reveal for this book when it first released. All I can say is wow. I love the color, the font, and the imagery. I do wish the author's name were a bit bigger, but that's my marketing brain kicking in. This cover made me eager to pick up the book when it released, and I snagged my copy not long after it hit the virtual shelves. I'm a huge YA fan, and I love anything paranormal, so I was eager to wrap my teeth around the story in this book.***

Okay, that being said, let's get to the review!

I bought this book over on Amazon not long after the release. Being a foaming-at-the-mouth kind of YA fan, I was eager to read something that promised me druids and portals. It was certainly a step away from vampires, and I appreciated the different paranormal aspect.

From a Reader's Perspective:
I adored Jake's character. He's such a sweet guy, but messed up enough so he doesn't have that "perfection" aura surrounding him. While he tries to do the right thing, he sometimes ends up bungling the whole scenario. All in all, a guy I could really root for. Hailey, on the other hand, was a little too perfect. She could've used a little bit of bad girl or naivety to really round her out. There were a few jarring places in the book where time skipped forward without letting me know what was going on. I had to turn back and be sure I didn't miss something. Pacing in the beginning of the book is slow, but it picks up toward the end. Speaking of the end, there's a huge cliffhanger and an unexpected twist that kind of left me with my jaw dangling. I won't ruin it for you, you'll have to check it out on your own. World building and descriptions were well done, and the author rounded out the main character well.

From an Editor's Perspective:
I'm a huge stickler for pronoun usage. There were so many pronoun errors in this book I became frustrated and put it down often. I don't usually give examples in my review, but this one calls for at least one. "His dad started laughing so hard he had to bend over to grasp his knees. It was contagious, and he started to laugh right along with him, and it lifted the load off his shoulders." Now, the author means Jake in the second sentence up until the use of the word him, then it should be Jake's dad, and then Jake again when the word his is used. There were other errors as well, but I'm not going to detail them all out here. I mentioned above about the jarring time shifts.

Rating:
+1 for giving me a well rounded main character I could root for.
+1 for the twist at the end that left me a little sad
+1 for an awesome cliffhanger that I didn't see coming
+.5 for descriptions that were well done
-.5 for jarring time shifts that left me scratching my head a few times
-1 for need for an editor to correct pronoun usage, time shifts, and other little things
Overall, 3.5 out of 5 stars. But I round up, not down. Highly recommended if you want something to take you away from the world for a little while and if you want a very different kind of paranormal read.

I hope you all enjoyed this review. If you've read it, what did you think? If not, will you pick it up?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Friday, November 1, 2013

Cover Reveal - Darkest Shadows by Allyson Gottlieb

Today you get two great posts! This one and another that'll be coming shortly! I'm so excited to bring you a cover reveal for the next novella in an awesome series by Allyson Gottlieb. I wrote a review here on the blog a while back for the first book, Darkest Legacy, you can read here. There's a little surprise for you in this post, too! Enough of my jawing! Let's get on to the good stuff!

Title: Darkest Shadows by Allyson Gottlieb
Genre: Young Adult Urban Fantasy
Release date: December 7th 2013

Blurb
The missing story...
A would-be dictator has gone to prison. The dimension is safe from a tyrant's control. But not everything is as perfect as it appears on paper. Tamara Kingsley is supposedly a hero. But she's about to discover that her good deed doesn't actually mean much when it comes to rebuilding a life for herself. No matter how hard she tries to escape it, the stigma of her past is always lurking, holding her back from fully embracing a new life.

And even in Alpha, Valentine hasn't given up. He'll spend the next twenty years planning and scheming, waiting for the opportunity to rejoin the world and have his vengeance. On the top of his hit list? Tamara, of course.

Also in Darkest Shadows, there will be an exclusive short story (called Darkest Before Dawn) that takes place after the ending of Darkest Legacy.

Allyson has given us an interview with her character Valentine, the bad guy from the series. Read on and enjoy!

1. What is your greatest fear?
Being insignificant.

2. What do you most dislike about your appearance?
My eye color. Women like it, but even having lived with them for so many years, I don’t think I’ll ever come to like having gold eyes. It is the sole thing where I wish to be ordinary.

3. What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Tamara Kingsley.

4. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Overconfidence.

5. What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Disloyalty.

6. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Morality—the so-called morality of ordinary people, which is really no more than an excuse for those in power to impose their values and beliefs on the rest of society. Morality is a nebulous and subjective thing, not a true virtue in the real sense of the word. I don’t believe in complete lawlessness, but I also don’t wish to obey an authority that knows nothing of my life and circumstances yet tries to tell me how I am allowed to behave.

7. What living person do you most despise?
Tamara Kingsley.

8. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Do you really have to ask? Alpha. There’s a reason all its nicknames involve some variation of the word “hell.”

No, I correct myself. The absolute lowest depth of misery is being in Alpha and knowing that the person you were closest to is the reason you are there. Knowing that there’s not a single person in the universe missing you.

9. What is your greatest regret?
The obvious answer is “trusting Tamara.” But even though she’s the reason I’m in this hellhole, I’ll never regret the time I spent with her. She is the only person I have ever truly loved, the one who taught me what it is to love and be loved.

No, my greatest regret is for her—that she had to do what she did. Because now she’s left me with no choice. I do still love her, but that doesn’t mean I’ll excuse her betrayal.

10. How would you like to die?
This is a truly ridiculous question. Who thinks about how they want to die?

Sometimes I wonder if living forever really isn’t so different from dying. What good are working lungs and a heartbeat if you can never better your circumstances? Life is dynamic, beautiful for its fragility. Without that capacity for growth and change, what is the point to living?

11. What is your motto?
Nothing but death is insurmountable.

Now, a little about the author, Allyson Gottlieb:
Allyson Gottlieb was born in California, but can't wait to go away to college and trade sunshine, bikinis, and fruit smoothies for autumn leaves, winter coats, and hot cocoa.  When she's not busy working on her next bestseller, she can be found devouring books, obsessing over far too many TV shows, spending time with her family and friends... and occasionally doing some homework.  She has been writing since second grade and has no plans to stop until she runs out of stories to tell--so basically never.

Are you all ready for the super surprise?

Are you sure?

Darkest Legacy is FREE on Amazon right now! Today's the last day you can snag a copy, go get your mouse fingers clickin' and grab one!

I guess you need a link, huh? Okay, okay. Here ya go:

Be sure you're posting and tweeting that you picked it up free. Sharing is caring!
I hope you all enjoyed this post. Doesn't Valentine sound like a peachy guy?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Excerpt Chapter One - M

Happy Thursday, good people of the blogosphere! Today I'm bringing you an excerpt of chapter one. I just wrote it, so it'll have a lot of flaws, but the story flowed well yesterday. Enjoy! Oh, by the way, when I began writing my character bios, this symbol got stuck in my head. Rough now, but I think it may be pretty cool if I take some time and make it perfect. You'll see how it fits in!


New Year’s Day 2042

“What were you thinking, Brit? You don’t know what that stuff’s gonna do to you!”
“What I was thinking is: I wanna have a special ability; like everyone else.”
Griffin’s temper rose so high, he could feel his nostrils flare. “Everyone? Not me.” His words came out with a growl, and Brittany flinched like he’d cut her with a knife. Tears sprang to her eyes and he softened his tone. “You know how I feel about that drug. It’s not right to mess with nature.”
She shook her head. “I’ve heard what you think and I believe you’re wrong. People that took M ten years ago are fine, and their kids have been born with an ability. I want to pass that on to my own, our kids—”
He lifted a hand, cutting her off. “There can never be an our again. You just sealed that fate. I refuse to be with someone who’s been tampered with. Remember, those people who took the original version of M, the one that was tested and run through a million clinical trials, paid through the nose for it. You’ve taken some street copy that’s not FDA approved and costs a hundred bucks. There’s no telling what it’ll do to you long term.” She looked down then lifted her eyes to meet his. How he loved looking into those green jewels trimmed by long, thick lashes. His throat constricted with the thought it would never happen again.
“I know you don’t think M2 is safe, but let me show you something.” She lifted a hand and ran it through his hair before passing him a gold disk. “Now, look in the mirror.”
Staring at his reflection, he felt his jaw fall open and snapped it shut. “Put. It. Back.”
Again, she ran a hand through his hair.
His voice shaky, he passed the mirror back to her after a thorough inspection. “Don’t ever touch me again.”
“What’s wrong with you? It’s just a little color change.” She stuck the mirror back in her bag.
Before she could turn around, he was gone. His feet pounded the pavement and sent shock-waves through his body, up to his heart. It was necessary to run from her, because he couldn’t stand to break her heart while looking her in the face. Stopping for a breather, he touched his watch. “New text message, Brittany Rose, I’m sorry about the way this happened but you knew what you were doing when you did it, period, you knew how I felt, period, it was your decision, period. Send.” He heard the whoosh indicating the message had been sent and touched his watch again. “Phone off.” A ping indicated it was powering down. He sighed and turned toward home.
As he walked, he admired the city. Since the induction of the Phaedrons, over ten years ago, there was very little trash on the streets and virtually no homeless. What happened to them was a mystery. Clearion was the first city to be cleaned up, and everyone living on the streets seemed to disappear overnight. People had conspiracy theories, sure; but no one had facts to base any of it on. Some said the homeless were taken to serve the government, others alluded that the Phaedrons killed the poor people and dumped their bodies in a landfill. Griffin shook his head at the lunacy and bent down to pick up an errant flier blowing by. In huge display text, it read: M2 Party at the Hot Spot 6-9 p.m. Friday, January 3. Come get your mutant on! Anger that had begun to recede from the endorphins released by his run rushed back to the surface, and he ripped the offensive page into confetti before putting it in a nearby garbage bin.
When he breezed through the door, over an hour later, his mother had her angry face on. He asked, “What did I do?”
“What did you do? You didn’t answer my calls or texts! I thought you were dead!” Mom’s face turned red. “Plus, I got a call from Brittany, who was in tears, saying the two of you had broken up and she was worried about you.”
“Yeah, we broke up. I turned my phone off so she couldn’t call me. I can’t believe she called you.”
“Well? What caused all this? You two have been going out for over a year and you seemed happy.” Mom threw her hands in the air and slumped.
“She took M2. Ruined us. You know how I feel about it; you feel the same way. So don’t start telling me I made a rash decision.”
“She did what?”
“You heard right. No, I don’t wanna talk about it.” Griffin stormed off to his room. He felt bad about snapping at his mother, but it was silly that she seemed to think she could fix it when she didn’t know why it was broken. Well, she found out. He fell on the bed and sighed, wishing he could cry.
Sleep was a torturous monster, consuming his mind and giving him nightmares. After running from a three-headed, mutated Brittany and waking for the third time in a cold sweat, he gave up and went to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. As the steamy liquid issued forth, he took a peek at the time over the insta-oven: 4:32 a.m. He leaned his head against the cabinet and drew in a deep breath. At least there was no school for another week or so. That meant a respite from Brittany and her gaggle of girly goons. When the coffeemaker pinged, he snagged the cup and headed back to his room to get his virtual reality glasses and gloves. They were a birthday gift from his grandmother last year. He smiled when he thought about Grandma and her fiery temper. She was the one who’d convinced him how much of a temple his body was, and told him mother nature wasn’t a creature to be toyed with. Smart lady.
Sucking down his coffee, he threw on a pair of ripped jeans and a tee shirt before grabbing his VR glasses from their place on the shelf and heading for the door. Just before he turned the knob, he snapped his fingers and turned around to leave his mom a note: Gone to VR, be back later. Love you. He stuck it to the front of the coffeemaker, knowing it would be the first thing she touched when she got up, and left.
Once outside, things looked up. It seemed the day in the building was going to be clear and warm, perfect for a game of Military Training Nineteen, his VR game of choice. He strapped on the glasses, tightening the band so they wouldn’t fall off, stuck his hands into the gloves, and pressed the button on his right wrist to start the game.
Blinking lights invaded his sight: New Game?
“Yes,” he said aloud.
They changed to read: Game Loading… Scanning location… Start!
At once, his empty hands were holding a virtual pistol; which he loaded and held to his chest before beginning to creep up the alley near his house. It was nice living in a suburban high-rise because there was rarely anyone out before seven or eight, and he could play without the worry he’d be bumping into people. Up the alley he went, then down to the lower levels and smaller housing lots via the moving sidewalk.
“This is weird. No bad guys. I wonder—” His words were cut short when a group of men, wearing black masks and a red symbol that looked like an upside down number three in a circle with a bar up the middle, burst out of a nearby doorway and pointed guns at his head. “Gotcha.” His game-face was on and he rolled behind a tree before taking all of them out in six shots. “Ha. One for each of you! Die, scum!”
As he was about to check them for ammo, his VR glasses went green and gave a ring. Pressing the button to answer, he said, “Hello?”
Mom’s voice came back at him. “Honey, do you think it’s a good idea to be out at this time of the morning playing your stupid war game?”
He took a deep breath to avoid losing his temper. “Yes, I do. I need some time for myself and—” The screen went red. “Great, thanks. You just got me killed. I’ll be home later. Don’t call me on my game anymore!”
“Okay, I’m sorry. I’m just worried. I love you.”
“I love you, too. I’ll be home in a little while.” He pressed the button to end the call and read the lights blinking: Fatal shot. You are dead. New Game? “Yes,” he said, and gave a sigh. When the game indicated it was live, he reloaded and took off again, this time even lower in the building to the singles’ lots. They had a lot of scrubby brush there he could hide behind.
Game play was fast and furious once he got warmed up and he took out no less than two-hundred bad guys over the next two hours. He’d had to stab one dude who thought he was gonna jump out and attack from behind. Sissy. Dude didn’t even have a gun. Griffin pulled off the glasses and hung them around his neck before pressing the off button and turning toward home. When he realized how far up the building he’d ventured, he took a moment to walk to the plexi railing and look out over the ‘burbs.
People were just beginning to start their day and the moving sidewalks were in high gear. If he looked straight across, he could see Brittany’s house winking back at him from the upper levels. Mansions, all of ‘em. One level down was where his family resided; the backbone of the ‘burbs, the real people, blue collar workers that fueled the city and kept it running. Under their level was the smaller lots, and under that was the singles’ houses. Those were mostly occupied by teens who’d just graduated high-school and were in college. No one there was married. It wasn’t allowed. According to the decree, married people must both be employed unless one of the two gross over two-hundred thousand dollars a year. Limits on children were based on income. His own parents had hit theirs when his sister was born five years prior. Mom had been sterilized, so had Dad. Griffin huffed. It was just one more way the government found to control the masses.
At that moment, a group of Phaedrons flew by on their aerial gliders. Griffin shrank back and made himself as small as possible. That was trouble he didn’t need. After they’d passed, he made his way down to his house, stopping to admire the evergreens in the front yard.
Mom poked her head out. “Hi, honey! Did you have a good time?”
Griffin curled a lip and gave her a half smile. “Yeah, until you got me whacked.”
“I’m sorry. You’re right, you did leave me a note and I shouldn’t have bothered you.”
“Just kidding. Gee, you’re touchy today, huh?”
She shrugged and gave him mom eyes. He loved when she looked at him like that. It was like nothing in the world could go wrong as long as she was nearby. Stepping up to the door, he shoved it open the rest of the way and grabbed her in a bear hug. Mom hugged him back and patted his shoulder.
“I love you, do you know that?” Her eyes sparkled and he could feel pride radiating from her being.
“Yeah, I do. I love you, too. Hey, where’s Nikki? I’m thinking I’d like to take her to the park today.”
“She’s in her room playing. Wanna hear something weird?”
Griffin nodded.
“She got up asking about you this morning.”
“Did she? Well, I’ll have to treat her extra nice today.” He grinned and headed to collect his little sister.
When he poked his head in the door, she looked up and smiled, showing every tooth in her head.
“Hi, Bubs!” She leapt from her seat on the floor and flew into his arms. “You gonna take me outside today?”
He smiled back, knelt, and stuck her on his knee. “I sure am. But you need your big coat because we’re leaving the building, okay?”
Her eyes got wide. “Oooooh, we’re going to the big park? Outside?
“Uh hu, we sure are. So go get your coat, hat, and boots. I’ll be waiting in the living room.”
She clapped her chubby hands and hopped off his knee, racing for her closet.
His heart warmed at the sight of her so excited and ready to go. When he stood up and turned around, he found his mother standing in the hall. Her eyes were wet.
“You’re such a good big brother.”
A smile he couldn’t stop spread across his face and it grew warm. He knew he was blushing. “Moooom, come on…”
She turned and walked away, but he swore her step was a little lighter.
He put his VR glasses away and donned his own cold-weather clothing before heading to the living room and sitting down to wait.
When Nikki came out, she had her coat on inside-out and her boots on the wrong feet. Chuckling, he beckoned her over and helped her get straight before leading her to the door. “Bye, Mom! We’ll be back later!”

I'm already thinking about the cover. Whaddya think about the story thus far? Of course, I didn't give you the whole chapter, that would've been rude. You gotta have something to keep you wondering!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

A New Title - M

Happy Hump-Day, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I'm excited to announce a new book I'm working on! So strap in and take a gander.

Working title: M
Genre: YA urban fantasy
Length: TBD

Synopsis: It's the year 2042. A drug called M2, which alters the DNA of those who take it, is becoming widely used.

But at what cost?

For a young man named Griffin, the cost proves too high. Banding with other emfrees, he sets out to destroy the producers of M2 and find a cure. But time, a new breed of police officers called Phaedrons, and another young man named Phoenix, are working to stop the emfrees and assimilate them into the masses.

Well, that's the working synopsis for now. You'll have to read the book to find out more.

Yes, I know I'm evil with a capital E. I wrote a page or two while I was away this past weekend and I can't wait to dive in and bring you the first excerpt!

As it is, here's the cast of characters thus far:

Griffin (last name TBD) - Age seventeen, 6'1", 160lbs, brown hair, blue eyes, born August 12, 2025.
Brittany (last name TBD) - Age fifteen, 5'7", 120lbs, brown hair, green eyes, born March 30, 2027.
Phoenix (last name TBD) - Age eighteen, 6', 175lbs, blonde hair, blue eyes, born September 23, 2024.
Articus Bane - Age twenty-six, 5'10", 150lbs, black hair, brown eyes, born September 11, 2016.

I'm booting up my program right after I finish this post to get it all on a page!
Of course, I did a whole character bio on each of the people named above, but that's for me to keep to myself for now. I'll bring more when I know more!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo