Today I'm hosting a stop on The Wicked Awakening of Anne Merchant blog tour. Written by Joanna Wiebe and published by BenBella books, The Wicked Awakening is the second book in the paranormal V trilogy. I reviewed the first book in the series, The Unseemly Education of Anne Merchant in March of last year and I quite enjoyed it so I'm excited to share this book with you all today!
Even more so, I am thrilled to reveal my first guest post with you guys! Joanna Wiebe has very kindly written a lovely post about the significance of setting - trust me, you do not want to miss this one!
For additional stops on The Wicked Awakening tour, check out the tour page, brought to you by Kismet Book touring!
Today we're hosting a stop on the Virtual Book Tour for Ascension, book one in The Demon Hunters series from A.S Fenichel and Lyrical Press/Kensington. Released on October 6th, Ascension is a sexy historical romance with a double-helping of paranormal fantasy. It's the start to a very intriguing series!
For all the stops on Ascension's Virtual Book Tour, check out Tasty Book Tours.
The Basics:
If He's Daring by Hannah Howell
Zebra
Book Six in the Wherlockes series
Historical Romance, Paranormal
Published October 7, 2014
Source: Received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Amazon.ca Kobo.com
Why I picked up this book:
It seemed to be everywhere when I saw the opportunity to review pop up, so I hopped on the train!
The Basics:
Firebug by Lish McBride
Henry Holt and Co.
Book One in the Firebug series
YA, Paranormal/Urban Fantasy
Published September 23, 2014
Source: Received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Amazon Kobo
Why I picked up this book:
It looked like it could become a big title in a genre I love.
The Basics:
Salt & Storm by Kendall Kulper
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
YA Paranormal
Published September 23, 2014
Source: Received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Amazon Kobo
Check out the first 11 chapters for free here.
Why I picked up this book:
I'm a sucker for a historical romance, and this one combines witches (cautious yay?) and a young woman who knows she's going to be murdered, which sounded kind of sad.
The Basics:
Forged by Desire By Bec McMaster
SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca
Book Four in the London Steampunk series
Romance, Steampunk, Paranormal
Published September 2, 2014
Source: Received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Amazon.ca Kobo.com
Why I picked up this book:
The cover, the description... I was hooked.
The Basics:
The Unseemly Education of Anne Merchant by Joanna Wiebe
BenBella Books
Book One in the V Trilogy
Young Adult, Paranormal
Published Jan 14, 2014
Source: Received via Goodreads First Reads.
Amazon.ca Kobo.com
Why I picked up this book:
Girl attending mysterious boarding school for the wealthy, who doesn't seem to fit their usual profile? With a romantic interest? Yes.
The Basics:
Charlotte: Prowling for Enchantment by Mima
Pocket Star
Book Two in the Dare to Decide series
Erotica
Published on Jan 6, 2014
Source: Received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Amazon.ca Kobo.com
Why I picked up this book:
An erotic choose-your-own-adventure? Colour me intrigued.
The Basics:
Salt by Danielle Ellison
Entangled: Teen
YA, Romance, Paranormal
Published Jan 7, 2014
Amazon.ca Kobo.com
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Blurb:
Penelope is a witch, part of a secret society protecting humans from demon attacks. But when she was a child, a demon killed her parents—and stole her magic. Since then, she’s been pretending to be something she’s not, using her sister’s magic to hide her own loss, to prevent being sent away.
When she’s finally given the chance to join the elite demon-hunting force, Penelope thinks that will finally change. With her sister’s help, she can squeeze through the tests and get access to the information she needs to find "her" demon. To take back what was stolen.
Then she meets Carter. He’s cute, smart, and she can borrow his magic, too. He knows her secret—but he also has one of his own.
Suddenly, Penelope’s impossible quest becomes far more complicated. Because Carter’s not telling her everything, and it’s starting to seem like the demons have their own agenda…and they’re far too interested in her.
Why I picked up this book:
Witches and demons sounded like something I would enjoy.
My thoughts:
I was not wrong, I did enjoy this.
So Penelope's life is a complicated mess of lies - she's a witch who can't actually be a witch without a family member nearby until she meets Carter - a guy whose sitting on a bunch of his own secrets. Secret agendas abound as these two navigate the witchy world that Nons - that'd be me and you (I presume, unless you're part of the paranormal community) - know nothing about but rely on to stay safe from demons.
Yes, this book has a few cliches, but I felt like the sum of the book overcame them. I'm getting a wee bit tired of the mysterious guy who periodically pops up to save the day, and who may or may not be harbouring some serious lust/love for our dear heroine. At least the author is bold enough to evade the unnecessary love triangle - Penelope's best friend is a guy, but Ric is gay. Penelope's waffling over whether to tell Ric about who/what she really is was an interesting dilemma alongside his openness. I liked that Ric's sexuality was a non-issue, but then Penelope's witch status was a deep, dark secret.
Carter was an appropriately dreamy young man - he's got some snark, he's fully supportive, he's hot, he's powerful. He's got secrets. We know this type by now, inside and out. Carter doesn't disappoint any expectations, though he doesn't really break outside of the box at all either.
There's a lot of action in this book and Penelope more than holds her own. She's one tough lady, which is as it should be given that she's been working towards being an Enforcer since she realized it would help her towards the goal of finding 'her' demon. There's no flailing about for her - she's got moves and she uses them to repeatedly beat down the bad guys.
Overall, I liked the flow of Salt. The pace was quick but not so hectic that I didn't have a chance to reflect on everything I was learning about the world and Penelope's unique position within it. There's a lot of good worldbuilding here.
Bottom line:
I liked Ellison's spin on the paranormal YA romance - witches and demons duking it out while humans remain clueless. There's some material left open that screams sequel: I will be watching for it. This wasn't the most original entry in the genre, but it was a fair amount of fun, and that counts for a *lot* with me.
I'd definitely recommend this to fans of the genre (and I'll suggest it to my family members who read this type of thing).
4 stars
For fans of YA, paranormal, witches and/or demons, young love
The Basics:
Geek with the Cat Tattoo by Theresa Weir
Belfry Press
Book 2 in the Cool Cats series
New Adult, Romance
Published Dec 20, 2013
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Blurb:
Shy music geek Emerson Foshay breaks into a cold sweat and is rendered speechless whenever Lola Brown, the girl of his dreams, steps into his guitar shop, but once a stray cat named Sam follows him home everything changes and Emerson becomes the coolest guy in town.
Why I picked up this book:
I liked the cover and the idea of someone with a cat tattoo seemed kind of amusing.
My thoughts:
This is a novella - roughly 30K words - that features a sentient cat named Sam who can 'mindmess' with people. He usually uses his power to manipulate his environment - better food, clean litter box, etc. - but when he meets Emerson, he uses it to give the poor guy a boost of confidence around the woman he desires.
For me, the cat stuff was a little weird. The book starts narrated from Sam's perspective and I worried that the whole thing was going to be told by the cat. Fortunately it quickly switches over to Emerson and Lola, and from their perspectives the story is a fairly sweet little romance.
The conflict in the book comes from Emerson's struggle with social anxiety and Lola's caution with men after being burned by a grifter ex. I didn't love Lola - I sympathized a lot with Emerson, and thought Lola could be a wee bit more understanding. I did appreciate that Emerson does shut down and behave in a really irksome fashion, but that he also does some really sweet, romantic things of his own volition, without Sam's influence.
There was material here that I really had to suspend my disbelief for - Emerson's work, particularly his gift for Lola, seemed a little, ah, quick? And then the cat, of course.
I also wonder about the play of the title - of course my mind goes to the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and this book has zero connection to it. I'd go so far as to call it an opposite - this is a love story, a romance that shouldn't be taken too seriously.
Bottom line:
A sweet, short romance that requires a suspension of disbelief to enjoy. It had some cute moments, but overall didn't strike the right chords for me.
2.5 stars
For fans of a dash of paranormal with your romance, music and romance.
The Basics:
The Girls' Guide to Dating Zombies by Lynn Messina
Potatoworks Press
Paranormal, Romance
Published November 25, 2015
Amazon.ca Kobo.com
*Note that at the time of posting this review, the book was listed at $2.08 on Kobo versus $5.25 on amazon.caI received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Blurb:
Hattie Cross knows what you're thinking: Zombie sex? Ewwwww. But she also knows that since a virus turned 99.9999 percent of human males into zombies, it's statistically impossible to meet—let alone date—the remaining 0.00001 percent. So she writes "The Girls' Guide to Dating Zombies" to help her fellow single women navigate the zombie-relationship waters.
Her practical how-to impresses the CEO of the largest drug company in the world, and before she knows it, Hattie, a reporter for a downmarket tabloid that specializes in conspiracy theories, is sitting down with the woman who single-handedly invented the zombie-behavioral-modification market. Granted access to the inner sanctum of zombaceuticals, she meets an actual, living, breathing M-A-N.
Now Hattie, the consummate professional, is acting like a single girl at the end of the twentieth century: self-conscious, klutzy and unable to form a coherent sentence without babbling. Worst of all, the human male appears to have impaired her ability to think clearly. Because all of a sudden she's convinced a conspiracy is afoot at the drug company and it seems to go all the way to the top!
Why I picked up this book:
I love zombie fiction so this book had me at the title!
My thoughts:
My feelings about Girls' Guide are pretty mixed. I was amused by it, and enjoyed the conspiracy component. I was entertained by Hattie and her journey - her rah-rah efforts about making the best of a bad situation (so few men left that women must turn to zombified men for companionship) were amusing and laudable, even as she started to discover the appeal of non-zombified men.Unfortunately, for me, Girls' Guide is a bit slow to start. Hattie Cross' career finally picking up with the publication of her guide to dating zombies - the only romantic option available as almost all men the world over have been turned into zombies. There's a fair amount of information dumping as we learn about the history of the zombie apocalypse and about the pros and cons of dating zombies. I wanted to launch right into the potential romance with Jake, the first man Hattie's had the opportunity to really interact with, as well as the conspiracy she starts to unravel.
I wasn't entirely sure how to take some of the book - there's some amusing material that compares zombies to men and underlines all of these female behaviours that end when women no longer 'have to cater to men.' Hattie finds herself reverting back to these when she meets Jake - suddenly self-conscious, clumsy, anxious, etc.. It's kind of cute, but also insulting at the same time?
There's also a fine line between convincing the reader that a relationship with a boyzomb is satisfying and worthwhile and completely... ew. Ignoring the sex issue, which the book does delve into, the inability to communicate combined with the need to administer various pharmaceuticals and otherwise take pretty close care of your boyzomb.... I felt like we needed to have zombie capabilities more clearly defined. It was repeatedly pointed out that they had no thought process, that they operated on instinct, but then there's some suggestion that they can learn really basic courtesies and/or be trained kind of like a pet?
I guess I wasn't satisfied by the definition of zombies here, which I find a bit baffling because there's several chapters of the book Hattie has written included at various intervals of the Girls' Guide and I found that material enlightening. It helped shape how one would date a zombie, though it still didn't give me a hard line about zombie capabilities. I liked that I could hear Hattie's voice in all of it, and maybe part of the point of this material was to point out that she still retained some optimism about what was possible even though she knew it really wasn't.
The Bottom Line:
Even though I found some elements to criticize, my overall reading experience with The Girls' Guide to Dating Zombies was a pretty positive one. The romance isn't entirely conventional in terms of how it develops and plays out, but it was cute and I was satisfied with the conspiracy!
Pick up the ebook and enjoy this quirky story without any high expectations!
3 stars
For fans of zombies, suspense, semi-bumbling heroines.
The Basics:
The Happy Endings Book Club by Jane Tara
Momentum Books
Romance
Published December 1, 2013
Amazon.ca Kobo.com
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Blurb:
This Christmas, the women of the Happy Endings Book Club are about to uncover a world of love and magic as they discover how to have their own happy ending … or beginning, as they're often the same thing.
Once a month, seven very different women come together to discuss books. They all love a happy ending, but have lost sight of how to get their own. Paige misses glimpsing the magic in the world. Sadie doesn't see the beauty inside people. Amanda wonders what she ever saw in her ex husband. Tilda literally can't see herself. Michi can't bear looking at her family, while Clementine is blind to what's right in front of her. And Eva looks for romance in all the wrong places.
But things are about to change ...
Meet the women of the Happy Endings Book Club as they celebrate Christmas, and themselves, in London, Paris, Vienna, New York, Sydney … and in love.
Why I picked up this book:
A book about a book club called the Happy Endings Book Club? That's my club! Or it should be. I need a happy ending!!
My thoughts:
This was a sweet, startling efficient book. It's basically a collection of stories featuring different women achieving their own happy ending. There's women in all different stages of life here, with very different romantic and family backgrounds.
What I found most incredible about this book was how quickly each story was communicated, but always in such a way that it tugged on my heart strings. I never felt the tale of romance was rushed, I was always satisfied by it. I did shed a few tears during Eva's story, it was a direct emotional bullseye, which was pretty incredible given that it only occupied thirteen pages of the book. Excellent writing, smart story-telling. I was really entertained and impressed by how much was packed into each chapter.
There's a thread of the paranormal or magical weaving throughout the story. I did find it a little strange in that some of the stories feature a fantastical element and others don't. It was a bit jarring for me to move from a less fantastical tale to a more fantastical one. I think if there'd been a more even distribution across the book, it would have been less strange.
The other thing that kind of irked me was that though the book club connects everyone together, it was really only a reference point. I kind of wanted books with happy endings to feature more prominently. Still, this was definitely a book store that I could appreciate, and a book club I would *love* to participate in.
The Bottom Line:
Pick this one up. It's a sweet collection of generally happy, Christmas-time stories. It makes some interesting points about women, love, families and I think it's well worth a read.
4 stars
For fans of contemporary romance, the paranormal/fantastical, happy endings
The Basics:
Firefly Hollow by T.L. Haddix
Streetlight Graphics Publishing
Book One in the Firefly Hollow Series
Romance
Published September 23, 2013
Amazon Kobo Barnes and Nobles
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Blurb:
The mysterious recluse…
Owen Campbell holds himself apart from other people. Badly scarred from emotional wounds that have never healed, he doesn’t expect to find true love or happiness. He remains isolated in a prison of his own making, determined to not let anyone close enough to hurt him again.
But his willpower is shaken to the core when Sarah Browning enters his world.
The girl next door…
Sarah Jane Browning is three years into her college degree when a call from home changes everything. Back at the family homestead in the heart of Appalachia, she’s forced to reevaluate her hopes and dreams for the future.
Distraction from her heartache comes in the form of her parents’ neighbor. Whispers about “odd Owen Campbell” abound in their small community, and Sarah’s curiosity is aroused. When she breaks the rules and trespasses onto his land, what she finds is beyond her wildest imaginings.
As Sarah struggles to overcome tragedy and loss, her burgeoning relationship with Owen is sorely tested. Will love conquer all, or will the secrets from Owen’s past tear them apart forever?
Why I picked it up:
The cover of this book is *gorgeous.* I thought the image was so magical and romantic, I needed to find out if the story matched. I wish I had this in paperback, along with the other two books in the series - Butterfly Lane and Dragonfly Creek - just so that I can admire them on my book shelf from time to time.
My thoughts:
This book was unexpected in a lot of ways, and I don't want to reveal too much here in my review. Simply put, there's a paranormal element to the story that I hadn't expected. It gives a nice flavour to the novel, particularly the way that everyone reacts to it.
The book is set in the late 1950s, and it's very much styled that way. There's a 'small town, slow paced' way about Firefly Hollow that is entirely appropriate for the story - but that unfortunately was too slow for me. I had trouble getting through the book only because there was so much time spent mulling over the various problems facing Sarah and Owen. I think partially I expected more... magic? Not in a paranormal sense but in terms of something sparking in me as I read the story. I couldn't get that connection going, and I was frustrated by that.
As a romanticized throwback to the period, I think it works really well. I liked seeing how some of the conventions of the period affected the romance between Sarah and Owen. ** I came back to this review after having a couple of days to think about it, and I want to be clear that while I still think there's a quaint, 'more innocent time' vibe going on with this book, there are events in the book that are quite disturbing - very, very disturbing. Glossing over that would sell the book short and not prepare other readers.
As an aside, I often wonder about these long-term immortal relationships and what they look like as they experience these differences in society. Modern conventions are so different (in some ways, and not so different in others), that I wonder how these relationships coped with older/different notions about behaviour and propriety and such.
Back to Firefly Hollow: I appreciated some of the really frank conversation, particularly between Sarah and her mother, Eliza. I thought Eliza was a delight with her open, honest mothering. I defy you not to want to give her a big hug by the end of the book.
Bottom line:
This is a sweet story about a couple who are drawn to each other while facing various personal issues. I had a hard time connecting with it, but I think it is a well written story. There's lots to like here - primarily in atmosphere and overall tone. I just wanted something... more. That elusive something.
I'm going to rate *my* experience with Firefly Hollow a 3.5/5 stars, but I would really love to hear from other readers, to see how your experience with the book compares. Did you find that spark?
3.5 stars
For fans of sweet romances, heroines who have a sweet innocence about them, light paranormal romances.
.png){kind=logo}
.jpg)
