Sunday, January 31, 2016

Week in Review: 1/24-1/30



Books Received for Review


Shadow Rites by Faith Hunter

Books I've Read

Gifted Thief by Helen Harper
Wickedly Powerful by Deborah Blake
Balance by Leia Stone
Shift Work by J.C. McKenzie

Reviews Posted

The Prophecy of Shadows by Michelle Madow
The Brimstone Deception by Lisa Shearin

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* New Releases for the week. Was there anything you were looking forward to reading?

* Monday- Promo + Giveaway for Two #99cent Boxed Sets from Felicity Heaton

* Wednesday- Giveaway for The Brimstone Deception by Lisa Shearin

* Friday- Guest Blog for Four Feasts Till Darkness Series by Christian A. Brown

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* Did you know you can follow UFI on these other sites?

You can also add me (as in Stacy) to your friends on these sites if you're on them.
 

 * I love comments so if you see something you like (or not) please comment away and let me know.

Friday, January 29, 2016

Guest Blog: Four Feasts Till Darkness Series by Christian A. Brown

UFI welcomes Author Christian A. Brown. Thanks for Joining us!!

A Remedy to Media Desensitization
After the Game of Thrones episode with Sansa’s ‘deflowering’, I decided that I needed to take a break from “gritty”, “edgy” programming. A cultural shift is happening and there seems to be nothing on the table that we cannot discuss or see anymore. I’m a strong supporter of the freedom of information, artistic-expression, and choice. That said, I worry—and personally suffer at times—from the overwhelming sensationalism that surrounds certain media. I understand why it is important to accurately portray violence and evil—I have often written divisive, dark material myself. Still, I feel that an over-immersion in this type of content separates us from the humanity that we need to objectively view and tackle rigid gender roles and issues of sexuality and violence. Live too long in the darkness and darkness is all you know. Sometimes it’s easier to just turn off my brain and watch something mindless, instead of having to worry about furthering—or dismantling—negative social constructs with the material I’m watching. I look to laugh. I look for something that doesn’t tax mind or morality.
A hearty serving of brain-pap was what I intended to feed myself when my partner and I flicked on Netflix the other night. While scrolling through our options, I saw a still of Jane Fonda grimacing at Lily Tomlin and was immediately intrigued. “Grace and Frankie,” their new show is called. I didn’t read the synopsis—I rarely do, even with books. I knew that there would be tomfoolery and hilarity with this duo. Grace and Frankie has a kind of magic to its casting and delivery that’s as rare and unexpected as the scent of vanilla while standing knee deep in a fly-buzzing quagmire of manure—my analogy on the current state of crass programming that gluts our media. I rarely, if ever, watch situation comedies. Only that’s not what Grace and Frankie is, entirely, and you realize that right from the opening sequence where all four of the major characters are introduced: Grace (Fonda), Frankie (Tomlin), Sol (Waterston), and Robert (Martin Sheen). The four are at a restaurant. First, only Grace and Frankie are present and we can sense their forced pleasantness around the other. They’re really only acquaintances on account of their husbands who work together. Said husbands, Robert and Sol, arrive for dinner; they’re nervous and fidgety. The men almost immediately come out to their wivesprofessing their love for one another. They have been involved in an affair for decades.
At this point, there are a number of ways in which a comedy tackling social issues of this depth—homosexuality, infidelity, trust—could go horribly off the rails. However, through the power of the performances and a passable script (which gets better as the show matures), the actors guide us through a great betrayal and shattering of relationships, and build something quite remarkable from the pieces. Reviews have been mixed on Grace and Frankie. I’ve read a few blurbs on the show’s ham-fisted characterizations but I’ve never found that to be the case. In the many episodes of Grace and Frankie that I’ve enjoyed, I’ve seen the show deal with addiction, ageism, unfulfilling sexual patterns, death, and of course all of the foibles and disasters that accompany the whole “our husbands are gay” quandary. I like how the writers and actors make less of a fuss about being gay and more of a fuss about the betrayal. That’s why people are usually angry when someone comes out—they think they should have known, they blame or project themselves into the situation. I enjoy how the show slowly paces the long process of healing between former partners, and interweaves that with the budding, beautiful friendship of the titular characters.
A show can’t do or be everything, and you can only impart so much wisdom through twenty minutes of comedic drama. I can forgive the show’s failing of not being life-altering satire. What Grace and Frankie does right, however, is to show human relationships at their most flawed and vulnerable, in a digestible way. You see, it doesn’t matter what the message is if people are too offended to heed it. Grace and Frankie shows people who have hope. It shows people who are old and still beautiful (inside and out). It has a number of lessons for us to learn if we are willing. Also, you get to see Fonda tripping balls on painkillers and peyote juice in the very first episode. That alone is worth the price of admission.
Grace and Frankie
Most of all, I watch Grace and Frankie because I worry for a diet of the mind consisting solely of grim, dark gruel. Too much of one thing is never good. We need levity. We need thoughtful lightness in our emotional diet. A world fed only on Cersei’s machinations and Sansa’s cries makes for a starved and violent populace.
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Bestselling author of the critically acclaimed Feast of Fates, Christian A. Brown received a Kirkus star in 2014 for the first novel in his genre-changing Four Feasts Till Darkness series. He has appeared on Newstalk 1010, AM640, Daytime Rogers, and Get Bold Today with LeGrande Green. He actively writes a blog about his mother’s journey with cancer and on gender issues in the media. A lover of the weird and wonderful, Brown considers himself an eccentric with a talent for cat-whispering.

Find Christian and his books
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Feast of Fates
 Four Feasts Till Darkness #1
Morigan lives a quiet life as the handmaiden to a fatherly old sorcerer named Thackery. But when she crosses paths with Caenith, a not wholly mortal man, her world changes forever. Their meeting sparks long buried magical powers deep within Morigan. As she attempts to understand her newfound abilities, unbidden visions begin to plague her—visions that show a devastating madness descending on one of the Immortal Kings who rules the land.

With Morigan growing more powerful each day, the leaders of the realm soon realize that this young woman could hold the key to their destruction. Suddenly, Morigan finds herself beset by enemies, and she must master her mysterious gifts if she is to survive.
Available at Amazon and Createspace

Excerpt #2:

Morigan took the bracelet.
            “I accept your offering.” The Wolf’s face lit and she thought that he would leap at her. “Yet first, I have a request.”
            “Anything, my Fawn.”
            “I would like to see…what you are. The second body that shares your soul. Show me your fangs and claws,” she commanded.
            Perhaps it was the steadiness of her voice, how she ordered him to bare himself as if he belonged to her, that made the Wolf’s heart roar to comply. He did not shed his skin but for the whitest moons of the year, and even then, so far from the city and never in front of another. In a sense, he was as much a virgin as she. With an unaccustomed shyness, he found himself undressing before the Fawn, confused for a speck as to who was the hunter. The flare of her nostrils, the intensity of her stare that ate at him for once.
            I have chosen well for a mate. She is as much a Wolf as I, he thought, kicking off his boots and then shimmying his pants down to join the rest of his clothing. No bashful maiden was Morigan, and she did not look away from his nakedness, but appreciated what she saw: every rough, hairy, huge bit of him.
            He howled and fell to all fours. Bones shifted and snapped, rearranging under his skin like skeletal gears. From his head, chest and loins, the soft black hair thickened and spread over his twisting flesh. His heaving became guttural and sloppy, and when he tossed his head up in a throe of agony or pleasure, his beard had coated his face, and she noticed nothing but white daggers of teeth. Wondrously Morigan witnessed the transformation, watched him swell with twice the muscle he had possessed as a man, saw his hands and feet shag over with fur and split the soil with black claws. Another howl and a final gristle-crunching shudder (his hindquarters snapping into place, she thought) signified the end of the change.
            Her dreams did not do Caenith justice. Here was a beast twice the size of a mare with jaws that could swallow her to the waist. Here was a monster that had stalked and ruled the Untamed. A lord of fang and claw. The birds and weaker animals vanished, knowing a deadly might was near. Around her, the Wolf paced; making the ground tremble with power; ravishing her with his cold gray gaze; huffing and blasting her with his forceful breaths. While the scent of his musk was choking, it was undeniably Caenith’s, if rawer and unwashed.
            Morigan was not afraid, and was flushed with heat and shaking as she slipped the bracelet on and knelt. She did not flinch as the Wolf lay behind and about her like a great snuffling rug and placed his boulder of a head in her lap. No, she stroked his long ears and his wrinkled snout. A maiden and her Wolf. Soon the birds returned, sensing this peace and chirping in praise of it. And neither Morigan nor the Wolf could recall a time—if ever there was one—where they had felt so complete.


Feast of Dreams
 Four Feasts Till Darkness #2
As two queens plot each other's destruction, a small band of adventurers continues its quest for the knowledge needed to defeat the mad King Brutus and his unearthly parasite, the Black Queen. Their search brings Morigan and the Wolf to the perilous forests of Alabion, where they and their companions will face the darkness of their pasts-and discover equally dark destinies.

Meanwhile, far from Alabion, the queens of the East and West continue their deadly dance. One seeks a relic of great power, while the other puts her faith in a mix of military and technomagikal force. Both are aware they have a slim window of opportunity to settle their power struggle-after all, Mad Brutus's recent defeat is at best a setback. The mad king is already amassing a new army of soulless husks in the wastelands of Mor'Khul.

Unknown to the great powers struggling for control, a father and son wander those same wastelands, scavenging what they can as they weather Brutus's gathering storm. They too have a role to play in Geadhain's fate-a role which may just provide a last remnant of hope.

Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/rURqUni_lco
Available at Amazon Kindle and Paperback

Excerpt #1:

“My queen, it grows late.”
    Queen Lila was about to address the enormous man casting his silver-hued shadow over her as Rowena. But no. Her sword was gone and neck-deep in espionage with the master of the East Watch, and a hammer named Erik was her guardian these days. What sad eyes the man had, more black than blue—as morose as those of an owl perched over a graveyard. She could see them glinting from beneath his darkened visor. Rarely did she spot the hard, hidden handsomeness of the man—his black hair, broken but appealing face, and stubble crisscrossed in scars. Come to think of it, aside from the moment his naked, scorched self had abruptly manifested in a cindery puff within the Chamber of Echoes some weeks ago, she hadn’t seen him without his helm. He was hiding then from the absence of his king or another private torment. She had been staring at him rather unabashedly for quite a spell. The sparkle of fiery colors off the immaculate polish of his pristine armor hypnotized her. His voice snapped her out of her trance. How quickly evening’s shroud had fallen.
    “Time has escaped us,” commented the queen.
    Erik gently led her from the bedside she attended. As they passed the hospice’s cots and floor pallets, the hands and voices of the wounded reached for her. Erik watched the queen’s remorseful looks and the aching way she touched the feet of certain sufferers or the backs of weeping kin. These days she was cold and ruthless in her judgments within the palace. She had become a steel queen to stand metal for mettle against the Iron Queen rising in the East. In these particular confines, however, where the faltering breath of the ailing made the air humid, and it was thick with the stench of eucalyptus poultices and incense to mask the rot magik would not heal, the queen’s mask cracked or was simply cast off. Genuine pity replaced it. She had come here each day for the past fortnight since the storm of frostfire had struck Eod. “The day of ruin,” the people called it—when first the skies were bare and then suddenly forked with red lightning, spitting shards of ice and arrows of flame to the earth. None of sound mind could have prepared for that wailing apocalypse. Thousands were killed instantly. They were boiled inside tarry craters the earthspeakers were still working to fill or entombed in buildings that could not hold against the storm’s wrath. The injuries were uncountable, and they were still being reported. Those with only singed or frostbitten flesh dismissed the pettiness of their wounds and carried on with tourniquets and grimaces. Others had to be scraped from streets or, if mauled but living, extracted from rubble and taken to a growing encampment of emergency sites erected near the palace. Here was where the queen always found herself once the details of war, supply lines, allies, enemies, and stratagems had worn her patience to a snappy disinterest. Somehow in these miserable hospices, the queen seemed peaceful, albeit sad.
Time and again Erik made one-sided conversation as he guarded his new charge—he never managed to say these words. You blame yourself for this or for my kingfather’s fate. You see these sins as your own. You feel the weight and needs of this entire nation upon yourself, and what a terrible weight that must be to bear. You are not alone, though, my queen. As adrift as you might be, I am here. I shall be the rock you need. I have made a promise to the great man who speaks to us no more.
The night he had appeared so rudely at her side, she held him and told him she could not sense the king anymore. The icy flame of Magnus’s soul had gone as cold as a forgotten hearth.
“What does it mean? What does it all mean?” she’d sobbed.
She was without her lover and partner in eternity, and he was without his father. They were agonizingly alone. Only on that night did she cry for the king and never since—as far as Erik had witnessed. He and the queen did not speak of their grief again or further pursue the reality that the Immortal King—missing and utterly quiet in his queen’s mind since the battle with his mad brother in Zioch—was quite possibly dead.
At the hospice exit, Queen Lila stopped so suddenly that Erik almost elbowed his liege. With what Erik perceived as a speck of wariness, she half glanced over her shoulder, and her gaze swelled wide with fear. She was staring at something behind them. Erik looked as well and reached a hand to his weapon. However, he saw nothing aside from the rows of squirming sufferers moving on their bloody, sweat-soaked cots like man-size maggots. What horrible times these were.
“Have you forgotten something?” he asked.
Queen Lila wished she could explain the hairs that prickled on her neck or the chill of Mother Winter’s mouth that blew the humidity from the chamber, but no one else seemed to feel it. Most of all, she wanted to find a less hysterical explanation for the shadow—tall as a mountain, black, and somehow bright—that hovered in the corner of her eye. She would not turn around and look at it. She could not. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth, she would involuntarily scream. What do you want, shadow? Why do you haunt me? Why do you come to me in dreams?
“My queen?”
“No. I need nothing more,” she answered curtly and moved ahead, trembling.




Thursday, January 28, 2016

Review: The Prophecy of Shadows by Michelle Madow

The Prophecy of Shadows
Release Date: January 26, 2016
Publisher: Dreamscape Publishing
Elementals Book #1
ISBN:   0997239492
ISBN13: 9780997239492
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Review Copy Source: NetGalley
Filled with magic, thrilling adventure, and sweet romance, Elementals is the first in a new series that fans of Percy Jackson and The Secret Circle will love!

When Nicole Cassidy moves from sunny Georgia to gloomy New England, the last thing she expects is to learn that her homeroom is a cover for a secret coven of witches. Even more surprisingly … she’s apparently a witch herself. Despite doubts about her newfound abilities, Nicole is welcomed into this ancient circle of witches and is bedazzled by their powers—and, to her dismay, by Blake—the school’s notorious bad-boy.

Girls who get close to Blake wind up hurt. His girlfriend Danielle will do anything to keep them away, even if she must resort to using dark magic. But the chemistry between Blake and Nicole is undeniable, and despite wanting to protect Nicole from Danielle’s wrath, he finds it impossible to keep his distance.

When the Olympian Comet shoots through the sky for the first time in three thousand years, Nicole, Blake, Danielle, and two others in their homeroom are gifted with mysterious powers. But the comet has another effect—it opens the portal to the prison world that has contained the Titans for centuries. After an ancient monster escapes and attacks Nicole and Blake, it’s up to them and the others to follow the clues from a cryptic prophecy so that they can save their town … and possibly the world.

Although I enjoyed THE PROPHECY OF SHADOWS there were a few things that made it so that I could not give it more than 3 stars.

THE PROPHECY OF SHADOWS reminded me quite a bit of The Secret Circle. Girl moves to small town, learns she is a witch, joins a small coven full of teenagers where there is a boy she likes and he likes her, but his girlfriend is a psycho jealous b**** and he can't leave her without causing problems. You get the gist.

Now there were differences and I thought the world building was pretty good, but I can't say I loved the characters enough to want to follow them into the next book. Nicole was just sort of blah to me. She started off pretty likable, but I found her to be a little too whiny. Blake the boy that likes her that has a girlfriend just rubbed me wrong. He cheated on his girlfriend instead of breaking up on her, enough said. There was a lot of teenage drama involved in not only their 'relationship', but with their little coven as well.

Overall I was able to read it without having to put it down and did enjoy most of it, I just don't think I would enjoy reading more.  

I gave it 3/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Review + Giveaway: The Brimstone Deception by Lisa Shearin


The Brimstone Deception
Release Date: January 26, 2015
Publisher: Ace
SPI Files Book #3
ISBN:   0425266931
ISBN13: 9780425266939
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source:  Publisher

The agents of Supernatural Protection & Investigations (SPI) know that fighting evil is a full-time job, especially when a new designer drug—with mind-blowing side effects—hits the streets...

It’s called Brimstone. And after the first few hits, you’ll see every supernatural beast sharing the sidewalk, train, or office with you. After that, you’ll start seeing the really scary stuff.

I’m Makenna Fraser, seer for the SPI. And the collateral damage caused by Brimstone is something I’d like to unsee: dead drug dealers missing their hearts—and souls. Because your local pusher doesn’t stand a chance against the new cartel muscling its way into New York. And since the drug can only be produced with magic and molten brimstone fresh from Hell, that means a rift to the underworld is open somewhere in the city.

And when—not if—the cartel loses control of it, well...

It’s going to be Hell on earth.

There have been a lot of different types of bad guys in the SPI Files series and although I don't think any of them will ever live up to the baddies in THE DRAGON CONSPIRACY, I think Shearin did a good job with the ones in THE BRIMSTONE DECEPTION.

The action in this series is just awesome. I know when I open a new SPI Files book, there will be some sort of life or death situation and the getting there won't be disappointing. Mac continues to surprise me with the way she is able to handle the situations she is thrown in. She has a way of adapting to things and it really makes me like her more with each situation she conquers.
 
I don't need romance with my urban fantasy, but the new 'relationship' with Rake was actually nice to follow. I was a little disappointed when Makenna and Ian decided not to date—because let's face it, they were cute—and didn't really click with Rake at first. He has a much bigger role in THE BRIMSTONE DECEPTION and I found that I enjoyed getting to know him and look forward to seeing him and Mac get to know each other more.. 

I find myself enjoying this series with each book and I hope that it is long running like Shearin's Raine Benares series. 

I gave it 4/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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US Only

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Monday, January 25, 2016

Promo + Giveaway: Two #99cent Boxed Sets from Felicity Heaton

Eternal Love Boxed Sets by Felicity Heaton

Two Paranormal Romance Boxed Sets featuring Nine Hot Alpha Heroes for just $0.99 each!

New York Times best-selling paranormal romance author Felicity Heaton has added a new boxed set to her Eternal Love collection. This time, the set features FIVE sexy shifters to go with her FOUR sinful vampires in the first collection. The great news is that to celebrate the release of the second collection, she’s offering both boxed sets for only 99c / 99p each at all retailers right now!
That’s right, you can get your hands on Eternal Love: Shapeshifter Romance Boxed Set and Eternal Love: Vampire Romance Boxed Set for only $1.98!

Here’s a little more about each set plus links to all the retailers:


Eternal Love: Shapeshifter Romance Boxed Set
Step into the dark, dangerous and seductive world of werewolves and big cat shifters in this amazing limited time only boxed set of shapeshifter romances packed with passion, forbidden desire, emotion and suspense... and love that will last forever.

CRAVED BY AN ALPHA
Having turned his back on his snow leopard pride, Cavanaugh has been counting the days until he’s free of a role he never wanted—one that separated him from his fated female and stands between them. But just days before he’s free to be with her, Eloise walks back into his life and demands he save the pride from the tyrant he left in charge. As they travel to Bhutan, will Eloise be able to resist the burning need that Cavanaugh reignites in her and remember her place in the pride? And can Cavanaugh find a way to save his kin and claim the future he craves with the woman he loves?

HUNTER’S MOON
The horror of the night he failed to save his werewolf pack from the cruelty of their vampire masters has haunted Nicolae for one hundred years, driving him deep into the Canadian wilderness in search of peace. That peace is threatened when unfamiliar hunters and the scent of blood lead him to a beautiful vampire and a hard decision—face his past and help her or risk losing everyone again.

EMBRACING THE WOLF
The night Amon revealed that he was an alpha werewolf and she too held the gene in her blood, Kat fled his pack, but no matter how far she runs, she cannot shake the ‘beast’ inside her or the knowledge that one day she will mature into a werewolf—into Amon’s mate. Four years on and now a member of the Werewolf Control Forces, Kat hides in plain sight among their ranks, each night fighting the ‘beast’ inside of her and hunting rogue werewolves with a vengeance. But when she discovers Amon is dangerously close to turning rogue and only she can save him, will she hunt him or will she embrace the wolf to save them both?

IN HEAT
A heat wave isn't the only thing making London too hot for lawyer Kim. She's been spending each night with a man who sets her body and heart on fire. The problem? He's a man who always sprouts black fur and purrs, and he's only a dream. Walking into her office, the last thing she expects is to meet Erik, a man who sends her temperature soaring and who resembles her dream guy exactly. As the flames of passion between them burn white-hot, Erik is willing to risk everything to claim his fated mate, but when his secret is revealed, will Kim turn her back on him or give him the forever after he craves?

CRAVE
Callum has come to the city of romance on business, not pleasure, but when he sets eyes on a gorgeous werewolf in a nightclub, he can’t ignore the dark carnal craving she ignites in him. His work for Vampirerotique, the erotic theatre he runs with three other vampires, can wait. The only thing that matters now is satisfying his sinful hunger for a woman who most vampires would consider an enemy.
Get it now from:

 



Eternal Love: Vampire Romance Boxed Set
Step into the dark, dangerous and seductive world of vampires in this amazing limited time only boxed set of vampire romances packed with passion, emotion and suspense... and love that will last forever.

HEART OF DARKNESS
A vampire prince intent on avenging his murdered sister, Aleksandr Nemov won’t stop until the hunter’s line is extinct. Each kill pushes him towards the darkness all vampires hold within their hearts and devolving into a beast. Time is running out as he tracks the last hunter to Prague. There he finds a beautiful woman who could be his one chance for salvation, but is it already too late for him?

SEDUCE
Bloodlust runs in Antoine’s veins, a dark master waiting for the day it will reign over him. Now a woman with a pure soul and wicked intentions has him in her sights and is determined to crack the ice around his heart, and she might just save or damn him. When Sera discovers the shocking truth about his past and the darkness that lurks within, will she be strong enough to seize his heart or will she lose him to the ghosts that haunt him?

A PROMISE OF PASSION
Alicia is a vampire hunter, unable to find a man strong enough to love and accept her for who she is. When Kassian, a tall and seductively handsome vampire walks into her life and vows to protect her, she doesn't know what to think or feel. His eyes make promises that his searing touch backs up, but can she get past the fact that he’s a vampire and accept him for who he is?

SEVENTH CIRCLE
Lincoln is a powerful pureblood vampire with a problem. He's caught up in a prophecy and has little time left to unravel the mystery of the contract between his lord and the Devil before he dies. When witches foretell that a vampire hunter will save his life, he's prepared to work with his most hated enemy, but he isn't prepared for the forbidden desire he feels when he meets her.
Get it now from:




The price of these two fantastic boxed sets will go up in February, so be sure to grab your copy today to avoid disappointment!

About Felicity Heaton
Felicity Heaton
Felicity Heaton is a New York Times and USA Today international best-selling author writing passionate paranormal romance books. In her books, she creates detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons! If you're a fan of paranormal romance authors Lara Adrian, J R Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter and Christine Feehan then you will enjoy her books too.

If you love your angels a little dark and wicked, the best-selling Her Angel series is for you. If you like strong, powerful, and dark vampires then try the Vampires Realm series or any of her stand-alone vampire romance books. If you’re looking for vampire romances that are sinful, passionate and erotic then try the best-selling Vampire Erotic Theatre series. Or if you prefer huge detailed worlds filled with hot-blooded alpha males in every species, from elves to demons to dragons to shifters and angels, then take a look at the new Eternal Mates series.

If you want to know more about Felicity, or want to get in touch, you can find her at the following places:

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Tsu | Pinterest | GoodReads

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Sunday, January 24, 2016

Week in Review: 1/17-1/23



Books Received for Review


Demon Lore by Karilyn Bentley

Books I've Read

Windburn by Shannon Mayer
Elementally Priceless by Shannon Mayer
The Brimstone Deception by Lisa Shearin
Waging War by April White

Reviews Posted

The Deepest Well by Juliette Cross
The Alpha Drive by Kristen Martin

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* New Releases for the week. Was there anything you were looking forward to reading?

* Monday- Promo for Genesis Boxed Set

* Tuesday- Cover Reveal + Giveaway for The Magician by E.J. Stevens

* Thursday- Guest Blog for Realm Walker Series by Kathleen Collins

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* Did you know you can follow UFI on these other sites?

You can also add me (as in Stacy) to your friends on these sites if you're on them.
 

 * I love comments so if you see something you like (or not) please comment away and let me know.

Friday, January 22, 2016

Early Review: The Deepest Well by Juliette Cross

The Deepest Well
Release Date: February 2, 2016
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Age of Gray Book #1
ISBN:   1619233371
ISBN13: 9781619233379
Genre: Historical Paranormal Romance
Review Copy Source: Author
Lady Katherine Blakely is married to a monster. On the same night she witnesses how low her husband can sink, she meets a charming stranger, a gentleman from top to toe. Yet even her gallant rescuer is possessed of a dark side.

Lord George Draconis Thornton, commander of the Dominus Daemonum, is on a mission to expel the demon prince Damas back to the underworld. But a golden-haired beauty derails his plans and stirs an attraction he’s never felt before, not even for his centuries-dead wife.

Discovering Lord Blakely is in league with Damas, George sweeps Katherine away from the chaos and devilry threatening her life. With every touch, their love grows by joyful leaps and bounds.

Sensing his enemy’s vulnerability, Damas kidnaps Katherine to his hellish lair, where he wages a sensual assault on her defenses. As George tears at heaven and earth to find her, he is painfully aware of only one way to save her soul. The cost will break her heart…and destroy his own.

Warning: Contains wolves in gentlemen’s clothing, a precipitous descent into Hell, and a frightening glimpse of a post-apocalyptic world where angels and demons wage war for dominion on earth.

I don't know why I didn't put it together before, but I was pleasantly surprised when I realized THE DEEPEST WELL tells the story of how Kat and George from The Vessel Trilogy met and fell in love and the hardships that they faced.

Kat and George's relationship has always been a mystery to me and THE DEEPEST WELL really cleared up all the questions I had about them as individuals and as a couple. I'm not usually a fan of historical fiction, but I had no problem enjoying this book one bit. I knew Kat was a strong woman, but meeting her as Katherine really cemented how strong of a woman she really was. It would be impossible to not like George, his character just jumps off the pages. He's loyal, strong and ready to right Katherine's world. Unfortunately nothing is easy for this couple and there is a lot of heartache between the pages. I absolutely loved that Cross fast forwards us to what happened after the events of BOUND IN BLACK at the end of this book so that we see how Katherine and George end up.

I really enjoyed THE DEEPEST WELL and consider it a must read if you are a Juliette Cross fan and have already read her Vessel Trilogy. New to Juliette Cross? You will love it too and I don't feel you need to read her other books to fall in love with Katherine and George's story.

I gave it 4/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Guest Blog: Realm Walker Series by Kathleen Collins

UFI welcomes Kathleen Collins Author of The Realm Walker Series. Thanks for Joining us!!

The Power of Reading

The other day I was thinking about one day when I was in college. I lived an hour away from campus so running home on my two hour gap between classes wasn’t feasible. That day I wandered through the bookstore and picked up Bridget Jones’ Diary. I sat in my truck and started reading. As the time approached for my class, I looked between the clock and the book in my hand and made the decision to keep reading. Now, I could have gone home and read, but that would have meant putting the book down for an hour while I drove home. Nope. So I sat there, finished the book and drove home. Sorry Professor.

There is nothing I love more than absolutely being sucked into a book and the world the author has built. That feeling you get when you pick up a book and barely put it down again until you’ve reached the last page. As an author my favorite emails are the ones where readers email me to tell me that they were exhausted because they had to stay up all night reading. Awesome.

I have always loved books. What’s that saying about readers living many lives? I 100% agree with this. To me there is no greater fuel for the imagination than a good book. One where your brain paints full color pictures in your head of what the characters look like, what the world they live in is like. Avid readers understand that while you might not be able to go to all the fictional, fantastical worlds we read about, we can visit them whenever we like. And the really good worlds are worth visiting again and again.

So what were some of your favorite worlds to read about? What ones do you want to revisit again and again? Let me know so I can check them out. My list is below.

  1. The gothic world of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
  2. The country setting in Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
  3. Kate Daniels’ Atlanta in the Magic series by Ilona Andrews
  4. The fantasy kingdom in the Study series by Maria V Snyder
  5. Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling

There are so many others but these were the first to come to mind. And these are all series or books that I have more than once.  Happy Reading!
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Kathleen Collins has been writing since Kindergarten. And while her ability has drastically improved, her stories are still about monsters and the people who play with them.

The rare instances that she actually finds some spare time, she spends it playing with her two boys. Three if you count her husband.

She is currently hard at work on her next book.

Find Kathleen and her books
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Realm Walker
Realm Walker #1
Amazon BN Harlequin Print
 An estranged mate, a mangled body and a powerful demon who calls her by name…

As a Realm Walker for the Agency, Juliana Norris tracks deadly paranormal quarry using her unique ability to see magical signatures. She excels at her job, but her friends worry about her mysterious habit of dying in the line of duty without staying dead. That’s only the first of her secrets.

Most people don’t know Juliana became the mate of master vampire Thomas Kendrick before he abandoned her seven years ago. Most people don’t know the horrors she endured at the hands of the vampire he left in command. Most people don’t know her true parentage, or why a demon on a world-threatening rampage has taken a personal interest in her…

Even as Juliana pursues the demon, it goes after all she holds dear—including Thomas, who is back to claim her for his own. But if she can’t reconcile her past and learn to trust herself again, she will lose him forever.


Death's Daughter
Realm Walker #2
Amazon BN Harlequin Print

Juliana Norris, Realm Walker with the Agency, is an Altered. A fact that she runs up against every time she's forced to work with human police officers, and their species-ist commissioner, on cases they can't solve themselves. Which happens more than they would like to admit.

Her gift--the quality that makes her the best Realm Walker in the business, without boast--is the ability to read magical signatures. Whether the gift came from her father, the dark fae god of death, or the mage mother she can't remember, is anyone's guess. And when Altered children start going missing with only wild magical signatures as clues, her heritage is the last thing on her mind.

She can't afford such distractions, and she definitely can't afford to worry about the fact that her mate, master vampire Thomas Kendrick, hasn't spoken to her since she saved him from a demon--maybe it's because she had to stab him to do so. Because whoever is kidnapping these children must be very powerful to wield wild magic. Very powerful, and very dangerous indeed.

Blood Slave
Realm Walker #3
Amazon BN iTunes
Can she find a killer in a town where the basest desires are allowed to run free? 

There are zombies in the Dead Zone and Juliana Norris is sent to take care of the problem. And for there to be zombies, there had to be bodies. When vampires are found to be the culprits, Juliana is sent undercover in the red light district of Kansas City. Lying to her mate, Thomas Kendrick, isn’t something she wants to do, but she’s in another vampire’s territory and Thomas would not be pleased. Besides, she’s more than capable of doing the job herself, and she needs to prove it to everyone. Most of all herself. 

Charles Morgan is in control of the Kansas City area, making a rich living off his various enterprises. Juliana goes undercover at the strip club Lust and gets sucked into his dark, decadent world. More victims turn up and the Agency is positive they’ve got their man, but Juliana is not so sure. When the Agency refuses to listen, she reluctantly turns to Thomas for help. He intervenes but finds Juliana unaware of the danger she is in and discovers she may just be too deep for him to save.
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