Cover Reveal: Lost Blood by Emma Raveling

Lost Blood by Emma Raveling
(Chancer, #1)
Publication date: TBA
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

Synopsis:

They are the Strange, those born of magic, myths, and legends. Beings who defy scientific explanation, whose physical and mental abilities far surpass the limitations of the human body.
When they first appeared, the world resisted, frightened by their powers. But after decades of bloodshed, humanity finally accepted that the Strange were here to stay.
A tenuous peace exists. For now.

WELCOME TO BRANNIGAN CITY
Seventeen-year-old Delaney Corbeau is one of the Skilled. As a Chancer, she uses her magic to help humans find everything from misplaced keys and hidden heirlooms to lost pets.
She can find anyone and anything…except the two people she needs the most.
Liam Connelly is an Earth Shifter and son of Brannigan City’s Alpha. When his older brother goes missing, he must turn to his former childhood friend for help. Delaney’s the only person who can locate him.
The problem is they haven’t spoken in four years.
When a reclusive art collector hires Delaney to locate a stolen antique Japanese book, her path crosses with Liam once again. Soon, the simple retrieval job becomes something much more terrifying.
An old evil is stirring and it’s determined to punish every living being in Brannigan City, both Strange and human.
Delaney and Liam will have to work together if they want to survive.
Lost Blood is the first book in Emma Raveling’s new Chancer series, featuring two unlikely allies and a mysterious, thrilling adventure set in a dark world full of monsters and magic.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20510462-lost-blood?ac=1

AUTHOR BIO:

Emma Raveling writes a wide variety of fiction for teens and adults. She is the author of the young adult urban / contemporary fantasy series, the Ondine Quartet, and Lost Blood, the first installment of the forthcoming young adult urban fantasy series, Chancer. She’s also working on the first book in her new Steel Magic series for adults.

An avid traveler hopelessly addicted to diet coke and coffee, she currently resides in Honolulu, Hawaii with her husband and German shepherd.

Author Links:

https://twitter.com/emmaraveling

http://emmaraveling.com/

https://www.facebook.com/emmaraveling

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4633056.Emma_Raveling

Featured Author: Will Once

Laughter in a crazy world...

Life is too short for bad wine, a home without love or a world without humour.

I write science fiction, except when I'm writing about chess, or fantasy/ horror or spy fiction. Most of all I wrote to put a smile on your face. We may not be able to solve the problems of the world together, but it would be good to have a chuckle about the absurdness of it all.

Think Terry Pratchett/ Monty Python / Douglas Adams ... I'm not as good as any of those but I'm a heck of a lot cheaper.

Where can I find this author?
http://www.will-once.com/ 
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Isn’t it annoying when your plans for world domination are thwarted at the last moment by an impossibly good looking secret agent in a dinner jacket?

What if the secret agent fails? If you do manage to take over the world, would you be able to keep control?
And just what would you do with the world if you were in charge?

Global domination for Beginners tells the story of a megalomaniac who actually does take over the world.

Is he evil, misguided or a force for good? Only you can decide.

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No links found. 

I was not having a good apocalypse.

When the world ends, we all expect to be one of the good guys - a gun-toting hero in a world of flesh-eating zombies and other assorted creatures of the night.

But what if you find yourself on the wrong side? What if you become a zombie instead of a survivor, in a landscape of dragons, wizards and witches? When your girlfriend takes you on a mad quest to find a man who may or may not exist, while trying to evade a Government intent on grinding your bones into dust?

That is what happened to me when normal life was suddenly switched off. I became an outcast, an outlaw and the unlikeliest hero of all.

This is my story. I am dying to tell it to you. 

Where can I buy this book?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-Death-Tea-Will-Once-ebook/dp/B00DF7G1T4/ref=la_B00EX1N6T4_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414679063&sr=1-1 

http://www.amazon.com/Love-Death-Tea-Will-Once-ebook/dp/B00DF7G1T4/ref=la_B00EX1N6T4_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414679233&sr=1-1

It’s not easy being a superhero in an overcrowded near-future world.

My phone is smarter than I am and my wife is addicted to bodice-ripping virtual reality programs. There are too many superheroes and not enough crime.

That is, until my drone accidentally gets an upgrade to a military grade stealth specification…

Hero is a 10,000 word short story.

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No links found.

A unique combination of 40 chess puzzles and imaginative stories.

There is nothing quite like it in the whole of chess literature.

Where can I buy this book?

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Book Review: Tempting Evil by Keri Arthur (Riley Jenson Guardian #3)

In a world of sorcery and seduction, the nights bring out the beautiful, the damned, and the desired. Here, Riley Jenson is on her own–half werewolf, half vampire, working for an organization created to police the supernatural races. Trusting her superiors and lovers barely more than she trusts her worst enemies, Riley plays by her own set of rules. Her latest mission: to enter the heavily guarded pleasure palace of a criminal named Deshon Starr–a madman-scientist who’s been messing around in the gene pool for decades.

With two sexy men–a cool, seductive vampire and an irresistibly hot wolf–vying for her attention, Riley must keep focused. Because saving the world from Deshon Starr will mean saving herself–from the trap that’s closing in around her. . . .

My Review:
When I first heard about this book I was only able to get hold of book three so I had to read it first, which wasn't ideal, but it wasn't difficult to catch up with the story that I had missed and I did enjoy the book.

Riley is part of the supernatural team investigating genetic experiments being carried out on shifters and finally, they have the name of the guy running the show-Deshon Starr. To get to his mansion and private labs, Kade and Rhoan are going in as security guards and Riley goes in as a shifter fighter, there to entertain the crowds and service the most trusted men. Riley is trying to find the main labs through psychic exploration of her guards minds during sex, locate a child hostage and help a race of creatures to escape, all without raising suspicion. But her fellow fighters aren't making life easy for her and having her brother and friends undercover as well gives her plenty to worry about.

Riley reminds me so much of Anita Blake with her smart mouth and tough attitude and I liked her through the books, other than her questionable taste in men. The down side, like Anita in later books, is her frequent sex sessions though at least there is a point to Riley's antics. She has an alpha werewolf, obnoxious vampire and horse shifter as her regular lovers plus the 'sex with the bad guys to get information' parts but that doesn't bother me with a fast paced plot and interesting characters amongst it. I only really object when there is no plot between the bouts of sex. I don't really feel any chemistry between Riley and Kellen though. I miss Misha. He was much more interesting than Kellen and Quinn put together.

The good bits? I enjoy the story itself about the genetic clones. The creatures we keep discovering are interesting and dangerous, but Iktar the spirit lizard was really cool. I hope we get to see more of him in the series if he joins the team. It was nice to see Kade again and I like him because he doesn't make demands on Riley and has a nice casual relationship with her. I like Rhoan a lot and I just wish he would commit to Liander! The entire storyline at the mansion was good with lots of dangerous situations for Riley to get into. There was action, tension and excitement in this book and it is all tied up nicely at the end. I was NOT expecting the secret identity of Deshon Starr so I got a shock when that was revealed. In hindsight it was very much guessable if I had a better memory for details. It was a great twist even if you had seen it coming.

The down side? Quinn moaning, complaining and treating Riley like shit. Yet again he left her and only came back when he realised that the mission against Starr was beginning. When the asshat has sex with Riley so he can get into her head for mission details, I wanted to stake him myself. I really hate the guy. The author has obviously decided that Quinn will keep treating Riley like crud because they are going to end up together in the end and I hate that kind of abusive relationship in my Mcs. No girl should aspire to be with that kind of creep even if she is fictional! If this continues through the series, I won't be there at the end.

The best of the first three books and worth 3.5 stars despite Quinn. This review was first written in 2010 and updated on a re-read October 2014.
 

Book Review: Kissing Sin by Keri Arthur (Riley Jenson Guardian #2)

From Melbourne's gleaming skyscrapers to its edgy nightclubs, Riley Jenson's world is raging with danger & desire. A gorgeous werewolf - with a touch of vampire coursing through her veins - Riley works for an organization that polices the supernatural races. But when she wakes up naked & bruised in a deserted alley, she knows only that she must run for her life.

My Review:
Riley's enemies have found her. She wakes up naked in an alley with something chasing her, and she allies with a horse shifter called Kade to get out of this research facility. Their escape causes their captors to flee but Riley is far from safe.

So Riley is in trouble again-no surprises there! The Directorate traitor is threatening their lives, the bad guys want to kill or capture Riley and Jack is still pressuring her to become a Guardian. Add to that her complex love life and having to have sex with Misha for information and things can't get much worse.

Lets start with Riley's love life. She has new relationships with Kade and an alpha werewolf Kellen, an old enemy of Quinn. After ignoring her for months, Quinn is suddenly back in her life, demanding to be in an exclusive relationship with her and still not respecting who and what she is. Frankly in this book, Quinn is being a complete dick. He talks down to her, makes unreasonable demands and acts as if she is his private property. When she refuses to be exclusive to him, he makes it clear that he can take over her mind and force her to do as he says. This really hacked me off and I despised him for it. Riley thankfully, was strong enough to say no, that force is wrong instead of swooning into his arms like other PNR books. I hate this guy and he is no better than Talon. We also have the added complication of Misha's sex for information deal, which Quinn does not like, especially when Misha wants to get Riley pregnant.

We see a lot more of Misha in this book and his exchanges with Riley are intriguing. He offers up a lot of clues to the identity of the big boss who is targeting Riley, but I just didn't manage to put the pieces together. The answer is revealed in book three, which is the conclusion of this three book story arc. I liked Misha more than Quinn in this book because he doesn't judge Riley and he is honest about what he wants from her and why. It is interesting to find out here how he and Talon ended up in her life. There is also a lot of good action sequences, fighting against weird and creepy lab creatures that keep coming after them.

I felt that there was too much of the Quinn melodrama in this book and he just keeps having the same fight with Riley over and over, to the point that I was getting sick of seeing him. The 'you're a whore but you're MY whore' thing was just getting on my last nerve and I wanted the author to change direction with it. Sadly this pattern gets repeated on through the series which is why I stopped reading it by book four. The repetition that is a hallmark of this author just gets too much after a while, spoiling some good plot work in other areas.

The good things about this book were Misha and Kade. I loved the end sequences with Misha and Riley and the spider things. The ongoing clone story and the new scary monsters were good. Overall it was a decent urban fantasy story though again, I was skipping the numerous sex scenes because I couldn't be bothered with them.

This book is for readers over 18 who don't mind frequent sex and sex beteeen different breeds of shifters.

Book Review: Full Moon Rising by Keri Arthur (Riley Jenson Guardian #1)

A rare hybrid of vampire and werewolf, Riley Jenson and her twin brother, Rhoan, work for Melbourne’s Directorate of Other Races, an organization created to police the supernatural races–and protect humans from their depredations. While Rhoan is an exalted guardian, a.k.a. assassin, Riley is merely an office worker–until her brother goes missing on one of his missions. The timing couldn’t be worse. More werewolf than vampire, Riley is vulnerable to the moon heat, the weeklong period before the full moon, when her need to mate becomes all-consuming.…

Luckily Riley has two willing partners to satisfy her every need. But she will have to control her urges if she’s going to find her brother….Easier said than done as the city pulses with frenzied desire, and Riley is confronted with a very powerful–and delectably naked–vamp who raises her temperature like never before.

In matters carnal, Riley has met her match. But in matters criminal, she must follow her instincts not only to find her brother but to stop an unholy harvest. For someone is doing some shifty cloning in an attempt to produce the ultimate warrior–by tapping into the genome of nonhumans like Rhoan. Now Riley knows just how dangerous the world is for her kind–and just how much it needs her.

My Review: 

This series has been sitting on my shelves for years so I figured it was time to get it read. I read book three from our local library many years back and that persuaded me to grab a few other books in the series from a charity shop. Finally I'm getting them read and reviewed!

First off I really like Riley as a character. She is not ashamed of her heritage and gladly embraces all the powers that come with being part werewolf, part vampire. She makes no apology about her sexuality in her werewolf side, where sex is natural and necessary for her wolf side to survive, and if you don't like it you can get stuffed. She is feisty and funny, and despite her talents she is not invincible. She makes mistakes, gets into trouble and needs help from her stronger allies. I liked that because it made her feel more real, rather than be superwolf who can solve all her own problems. I liked her twin brother Rhoan, whose vampire side is more dominant in comparison to Riley being more werewolf. It was nice to see a gay hero who wasn't just there to make up the numbers or fade into the background. Rhoan was tough, brutal, funny and devoted to his sister. I like a bit of diversity in my MCs.

The supporting cast were very well written. Rhoan's boyfriend Liander was a lovely, funny guy and you wish Rhoan would be a bit nicer to him sometimes. I liked Misha, Riley's second choice mate but I hated her first choice Talon, the typical arrogant werewolf who orders her about. Why is it that these women insist on being with guys that are total jerks? As always great sex is the excuse. I liked Jack, her boss, who was an intriguing vampire, determined to get Riley to become a Guardian like her brother. You are never quite sure what his motivations are or whether he cares about his employees at all. I also liked Kelly, a vampire Guardian and the only friend that Riley has.

The plot was complex with lots of twists and turns, with the story gradually falling into place as the investigation continues. It was very well written and I never felt as if it was being dragged out. I liked being fed hints and information gradually, which can actually irritate me in other books. I also get the feeling that if you read carefully, the answers to most of the questions in this and the following books are planted. With a terrible short term memory like mine, I am useless at remembering these hints though! I liked the idea of the bad guy cloning creatures and experimenting with crossbreeds-it was a bit different from the usual urban fantasy plots and I was intrigued by it. But what I liked most was the author's ability to take me by surprise. There were a few shocks in store for Riley which I am not going to tell you about in case it spoils things for you. I can tell you that she becomes the target to be used in the breeding labs because of her mixed heritage, and trouble is never far away.

Now one thing that I need to mention is the sexual content in this book-and there is a lot of it. This is why werewolf books can be hit and miss for me. Authors are always using the moon as the excuse for an overdose of sex. Riley has two regular lovers plus her relationship with Quinn, which leads to frequent sex scenes. The book is also set during the moon phase so Riley is having sex all the time which gets a bit annoying. I'm not a fan of this much sex in my books but this was a book where the story around it kept me interested enough to just ignore the sex and skip those sections. There is also sexual violence which may offend some readers and discussions about gay sex. So if this all offends you, you should look for another series to read. I didn't actually think the sex scenes were that great and for me they added little to the plot. I guess I would say that I liked the book in spite of the sex scenes.

My other niggle was the repeating of the plot. Riley gets grabbed, escapes or is rescued, then is grabbed again, and this is a pattern that repeats through the second half of the book. I feel that a bit more thought could have gone into this as it felt a bit samey in places. I also didn't really take to Quinn because he talks to and treats Riley as if she is a dirty whore and I hate that in a so called romantic hero. If she is so terrible, why are you trying to bed her Quinn, huh? What does that say about you, asshat? Hmph!

Overall I really liked the story, the action and the characters. There were plenty twists to keep the reader entertained and it was nicely put together as a story. This is recommended for fans of paranormal romance and those who like sex in their urban fantasy. 18+ only!