By: Cecilia Robert Published By: Cecilia Robert Published Date: October 25th 2013 Pages: 121 ebook Tags: Adult, Steampunk, Paranormal, Shapeshifters, Fantasy Fiction, Series
Source: NetGalley (Save A Tree)
Homecoming is a new imaginary world by Cecilia Roberts which is full of shapeshifters & steampunkery combined with swoon worthy lads. An introductory novella for the coming Cloaked Devices series. Sera Czedar was mated with Levian Grayson five long years ago. Five long years ago, Sera ran away from her wedding bed, her home & family without leaving a snippet of a clue as to where or why.
Dear Lev's tormented panther paced around in need of his mate. He would do anything to bring her home, to have the other part of his soul home. The time has come to do just this after finally finding a clue to where abouts.
"Soul mates aren't supposed to break their partner's heart. They should be the ones holding it, guarding it against the world."
Vanezia is a city known for its outcast citizens. Sera made herself home among the rift raft as a tenacious woman not to be trifled with less you want to fell the hurt. Known as Storm in the underground fighting ring she has solidly brought down robust opponents in order to bring in extra income.
"He rubbed his neck, curbing his wayward thoughts, then watched her as she swung her hands and punched tiny fists into the air, looking completely harmless."
Even more has changed when Sera shocks Levian with some most shocking news. The Mad Scientist was most surly shocked with the spinning twist of the plot. Pleasantly so! Get ready to flutter your fan and blush as the alpha male panther makes you swoon through some raw emotional desire and primal hotness. *Prr* Seriously, he is one intense dominate kitty that made me grin on more than one occasion. Leve even had stead fast Sera swooning and weak at the knees... several times over.
Primarily a shifter genre novel, however, there are notes and dashes of steampunkery elements sprinkled through the pages. Leaving this novella to be a most desirable fast fun read with some forbidden steam. Luckily for us there will be more to this series to enjoy in the coming future.
The only note of negative thought from the Mad Scientist has to be that the novella is just too short. MS wanted more. With this being just a glimpse MS eagerly awaits the series.
** Thanks to NetGalley for the ability to read this ebook which so ever did not influence or bend my thoughts in any manner. All Mad thoughts are presented in the right mind of a twisted brain of the Mad Scientist!**
Why the Mad Scientist read this book: Mad Scientist just had to find out what happened with Jane & Ryu & Anyan!
First Lines: I love it when people pre-laugh at their own jokes.
Concoction of a Review:
Nicole Peeler's Jane True Serieshas me on edge. I read one book one earlier this year. Jen the Bibliophile sent me book 2 & 3 because she knows my infinity for starting a series but never continuing with it. After completing Tracking the Tempest a book full of snark and supernatural hunks I quickly decided that this series would not be left unread.
**Note to self: Go buy book 4, Eye of the Tempest, soon!!!**
Tempest's Legacy jumps in shortly after Tracking the Tempest ended. Jane continues to train her offensive and defensive magical technique. Her relationship is still a ball of tension from the end of the last book. Which leads us to seeing more of Anyan. Jane's eyes start to wonder toward the Barghest. *waggles eyebrow*
Nonetheless, there is a surprising bout of news that ruffles Jane's feathers. Someone found out that supernatural females were being taken. Not kindly I might add. This horrid news includes information about someone who she most would love to meet and know more about. Dying to know who?? *grin*
The mystery takes Jane out of little ol' Rockabill, her hometown in Maine, as she tags along to figure out what exactly is going on and how to stop it. We have a mix of characters from the first book, from Ryu's Boston team & even a few brand new characters! Interactions are hilarious at best!! We are even pulled into a new area... The Borderlands!! (Many exclamation points but it truly is exciting!)
Here is how I picture Anyan: As Eric Bana...
*As previously stated!*
This book has little to no nookie in it so I was a bit disappointed in that but I'm looking forward to Anyan. *blushes*
It truly is a great series!!! Peeler's snark is completely sprinkled throughout this novel like the others, however, the demeanor is a lot darker. The events that unfold are a bit harsh and force Jane to grow even more, powerfully and emotionally. Jane True is Truly Bad A$$ in this book!
*I received this book free of charge from my sassy friend Jen! My Mad review is completely honest and full of my thoughts on the book and the very yummy men inside. *
For Jane True this is a story of standing up and accepting herself. Oh, there is also an incredible mystery to he had!
Title: Yours to Keep (Kowalski Family No.3) Author: Shannon Stacey Published: June 6th, 2011 by Carina Press Pages: 201
Synopsis: Sean Kowalski no sooner leaves the army than he’s recruited by Emma Shaw to be her fake fiancé. Emma needs to produce a husband-to-be for her grandmother’s upcoming visit, and, though Sean doesn’t like the deception, he could use the landscaping job Emma’s offering while he decides what to do with his civilian life. And, despite his attraction to Emma, there’s no chance he’ll fall for a woman with deep roots in a town he’s not planning to call home.
Emma’s not interested in a real relationship either; not with a man whose idea of home is wherever he drops his duffel bag. No matter how amazing his “pretend” kisses are. (from Goodreads.com)
I'd like to preface my full review by saying that if you haven't read the first in this series, you don't really need to (as I still haven't) because it all makes sense, so you are good to go.
I actually started this book because I had an immense inkling for some romantical literature in my life and all I have to say concerning that is: I picked a good one. Yours to Keep by Shannon Stacey was a funny, sweet contemporary set in New Hampshire. Our main characters, Emma and Sean were well written and well developed and I loved reading about their totally off the wall relationship.
Emma was an excellent lead who I could totally relate to, she was strong and feminine as well as a hard worker. I think that was why I liked her so much. She wasn't the type of girl to sit around and do nothing or the type of girl who needed a man to take care of her. NO! She could take care of her dang self, thank you very much.
Although, if you are going to have a man by your side, or wrapped around your body naked...*clears throat*...Sean Kowalski is definitely the way to go. He was hot (duh) and being that he just got out of the army he was all sorts of built/stacked (however you'd like to word it). Plus, he actually had a personality that was so charming you just wanted to wrap him up and put him in your pocket and take him home with you.
The plot, while not wholly surprising, was fabulous and I just loved how the whole thing fell into place. Of course, this kind of thing happening is fairly unlikely, BUT I didn't read it for reality. I read it to get a good, fun contemporary read that would make me sigh and curl my toes and ladies and gents...that's exactly what I got. Lucky for me, Shannon Stacey can write a dang good novel and keep out the dismal sugary sweet junk that I prefer NOT to read in romance novels. Yours to Keep was such an excellent read that as soon as I finished it I wanted to read it again. I actually went back and read some of my favorite parts, just to satisfy the inkling. I'm definitely going to be reading more of Shannon Stacey's work in the future. I'm very curious to see what happens with the other single members of the Kowalski family!
(**note** This book is for an adult audience as it contains swearing and sexual content)
(**note2** I'm rating this book in comparison to other romances - FYI)
I received this book free of charge from Carina Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This, in no way, affected my opinion or review of this book.
Though he may not speak of them, the memories still dwell inside Jacob Jankowski's ninety-something-year-old mind. Memories of himself as a young man, tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Memories of a world filled with freaks and clowns, with wonder and pain and anger and passion; a world with its own narrow, irrational rules, its own way of life, and its own way of death. The world of the circus: to Jacob it was both salvation and a living hell.
Jacob was there because his luck had run out - orphaned and penniless, he had no direction until he landed on this locomotive 'ship of fools'. It was the early part of the Great Depression, and everyone in this third-rate circus was lucky to have any job at all. Marlena, the star of the equestrian act, was there because she fell in love with the wrong man, a handsome circus boss with a wide mean streak. And Rosie the elephant was there because she was the great gray hope, the new act that was going to be the salvation of the circus; the only problem was, Rosie didn't have an act - in fact, she couldn't even follow instructions. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and ultimately, it was their only hope for survival.
Recommended To: Anyone who is interested in how circuses were back in the 1930's, this book is no encyclopedia but for a fiction story really painted an amazing picture in my head of what circuses were like. If you are looking for a story with a really great plot line with some twists along the way then this is your book!
Content One Should Know: I thought to include this because this is an adult book and therefore adult themes. The first thing I will say is that this book is a darker book, not super dark and depressing but it does have its' moments. The second thing is, like I said, adult book equals adult themes. (More details towards the end of the review)
What can I possibly say about Water For Elephants? I mean there seemed to be a little bit of a Water For Elephants craze once the movie trailer came out, now I am not talking about a craze like the Twilight books but still, a lot of people wanted to see the movie, the bookstores started to "showcase" the books, and a movie-tie-in version of the book came out. I am proud to say that I had the opportunity to get that version but passed and am very happy with my choice. So as I was saying, the craze. It was not as huge as I thought it might be, at least not by me, but I knew that I still had to go and read the book before I saw the movie. So I will start from the beginning, I had actually heard from National Novel Writing Month, or Nanowrimo as many call it. Link here - http://www.nanowrimo.org/. So Ms. Gruen wrote this book for one of her nanowrimo seasons and the first year I tried it out I heard about the book. At the time I had only just begun to know the world of YA, I did not even know that YA existed at that point. So at that point I was not exactly looking for an adult novel to read. So over the years this book kept popping up in places, woman who I babysat for, the bookstore (duh), an older teacher at my school, she is the sweetest lady I have ever met, but anyway I never took the hint to actually pick it up and read it. Finally the I found out the movie was coming out, insert big craze, or lack there of, here, and I wanted to see the movie so I knew at some point I would have to pick up the book. As it turns out I made a few plans to see the movie with my friends, a few times, but it never worked out. So finally I was at the bookstore getting a book for my little sisters birthday and, while I never really got the hint from the aligning stars to just pick up the dang thing, I picked it up.
This book is honestly one of the best books I have read this year! (Although I have only read about 8 so you can interpret what that means to you) Anyway I really enjoyed this book! I loved the whole setting of the circus, and honestly I think that's what really made the book for me, but more on that later. The setting was perfect and Gruen really took me into that time with this book, I was just pulled in and it all felt so real to me. I felt like I had an insiders look in the circus, one with glamour, scandals, and dark secrets. I can easily tell you that this is not anything like to the circuses I have been to. I was so drawn in by the circus aspect, but that is not enough for a book to be written on, and I got so much more. The characters blew my mind. They were so glamorous and rugged but at the same time they all had their secrets and deceptiveness. The antagonists were really my guilty pleasure, I love a good antagonists and these characters were downright evil and cruel, yet at the same time they could be charming and collected. They were really awesome bad guys that had motive, not like some characters that just seem to do things for the heck of it. They were genuinely bad guys with motives and were very entertaining to read about, as were all the characters but damn, can Gruen write a bad guy.
On to some other parts of the book, before you all think I am crazy for loving the bad guys. I really liked Jacob and Marlena as well, I feel that even though Jacob is a guy, he was still easy to relate to. I did not like him as much when I was reading those chapters with him in the nursing home. He was crabby all the time, but I guess in his situation I would feel the same. Marlena, she was a glamour girl that's for sure, but with a good heart and while she was not always the most bright person I really liked her. The only thing I did not like about Jacob and Marlena's relationship was when Jacob first said he loved her, I stopped reading for a bit to think about this. Yes he has said that he likes her, they have talked and had some good conversations, he thinks she's beautiful. Yes all that is true, but I am not seeing anything that does not point to just friendship. I mean, do all those things equal love? I do not think so and, therefore, was really surprised when he said that, there just needed to be something a little more, for me, to feel the love. Overall the circus really was amazing and definitely made up for these small flaws in the books. I loved how Guren described all the acts and animals and how the reader can actually experience the acts, and experience more than one. However, this book is dark so not for anyone who wants a light read. There is also a lot of sexual references and content. The book goes just as close as you can to having an....ahm....scene without doing just that. So not for the faint hearted in that area either. It was something I was not expecting at all but I lived to tell you all about it! And I was actually fine with it. It was not a huge deal to me but I know for some people it might be so I thought I would give a fair warning. But none of this should lead you not to read this book. I loved picking up this book and reading it and will definitely re-read it again many times!
Now a quick movie review!
So if you spent a good amount of time reading my review you will know that I love this book! I have to say that I am glad that something made my plans with friends to see the movie not work out so I had to read the book. So before you see the movie READ THE BOOK! I cannot stress this enough. The movie was great but there were some differences that I did not like as much. The movie is great though and I would definitely recommend going to see it. The acting was amazing! I loved Reese Witherspoon and Christopher Waltz, who played Marlena and August did an AMAZING JOB! Seriously amazing! Reese did such an amazing job bringing Marlena to life and she even was so amazing as to bring even more to Marlena than in the book! Her emotions and acting were so sincere and diverse, and I thought she was fabulous. As for Mr. Waltz, it was probably a hard part to play but he was also amazing. He was the perfect antagonist portraying August perfectly! They both did such a great job and I already love Reese and now I will be looking for more from Christopher Waltz. As amazing as they were I wish I could say the same for Rob Pattinson, and I have nothing against him so don't hate me, but it seemed like he had two expressions/ sides to him. There was the serious side and then the smiling/laughing/giggling side. And really, those were the only two sides of his character I really saw. It wasn't terrible but I remember saying to my friend "So are we only going to see Rob giggling like a young preteen guy or as serious as a rock?". I wanted a little more variety from him. I wanted more Jacob. Like I said, Rob was not terrible or even bad, just limited.
So now I need to say what I did not like as much. The first thing was there are two antagonists right, one being the owner of the circus, Uncle Al, and the other being the animal director, August. Well in the movie there is no Uncle Al and I did not like it. They were decisions and things that Uncle Al did that added to the story and August's character. Things that brought August and Jacob together that lead to things that were in the book. That was confusing, basically I wish that they would have had someone as Uncle Al, he's not even in the book that much but an important part. So August was left to be the bad guy alone and it did not feel as authentic to me. And lastly, as we all know when books are made into movies, all the scenes in the book cannot be in the movie. They actually did a very good job with that but they didn't have the scenes in a consecutive order. Now you have to understand that I literally just finished the book the day before I saw the movie so it was all fresh in my mind and maybe that is why I'm being a little picky but I just did not like the scenes being out of order. It did bother me a bit. But anyway the movie was still amazing! But READ THE BOOK FIRST!!! You will appreciate it so much more and I promise the movie will still be really good! (Okay so not so quick)
Title: Vision in White (Bride Quartet #1) Author: Nora Roberts Publisher: Piaktus, 2009 (first published by Berkley Trade in USA) Page total: 325 pages First read: October 17th, 2010 Genre(s): Romance, Realistic Fiction
On January first, Mac rolled over to smack her alarm clock, and ended up facedown on the floor of her studio.
Synopsis: Childhood friends Mackensie, Emma, Laurel and Parker have formed a very successful wedding-planning business together but, despite helping thousands of happy couples to organize the biggest day of their lives, all four women are unlucky in love.
Photographer Mackensie Elliot has suffered a tough childhood and still has a bad relationship with her mother, which makes her wary of commitment. But when she meetes Carter Maguire, she can't stop herself falling for him... (from the back of the book)
I really, really loved Vows (their wedding business), and the idea of four life-long best friends working together as wedding planners! Mac is the photographer, Emma the florist, Laurel the cook, and Parker the planner. It was interesting to see Mac work in her studios, toying with her ideas for portraits and developing the photos. Also, it's such fun to read about weddings! All the fuss and planning for the Big Day, you gotta love them. It was funny, realistic and mood-lightening.
The main character, Mac, is funny as hell, honest and hard-working. The other main character, Carter, was so adorable! He's clumsy and somewhat shy, but he's really good for Mac. At first I thought of him as 'too up-tight' but I grew fond of him as the novel progressed.
The only down-side is that if you're familiar with Nora Roberts' works, you already know what's gonna happen. It was my fourth NR novel, so it was kinda predictable, but even if the result is always the same, the roads are very different, and I love exploring them.
If you haven't read any books by Nora Roberts, Vision in White is a good start. It's more contemporary and realistic.
Title: River Marked (Mercy Thompson No.6) Author: Patricia Briggs Pages: 326 Published: March 1st, 2011 Read: March 1st, 2011
Synopsis: Car mechanic Mercy Thompson has always known there was something different about her, and not just the way she can make a VW engine sit up and beg. Mercy is a shapeshifter, a talent she inherited from her long-gone father. She’s never known any others of her kind. Until now.
An evil is stirring in the depths of the Columbia River—one that her father’s people may know something about. And to have any hope of surviving, Mercy and her mate, the Alpha werewolf Adam, will need their help…(from goodreads.com)
I hope you all haven' t missed me too much *wink wink*. I've been super busy with work and reading that I just hadn't had enough time to update the blog. It's only sad because I miss the interaction with the other bloggers, but in all reality, I have more time for reading and writing when I don't blog as much (even though I do miss it when I'm away).
Anyhow, this brings me to my post which is my review of River Marked *squee*! I've been waiting forever for this book to be released. Okay, well, maybe not forever, but it seemed way too long which isn't saying much because I'm ridiculously non-patient. Anyways, it was finally released and I had it downloaded to the good old Kindle immediately.
I really really really enjoyed this book. All those fans of Mercy Thompson know what I mean when I say that I just can't ever get enough of her. If you are not a Mercy fan, I'm sorry. If you'd like to be, but don't really know what it is, you can check out my review of books 1-3HERE and books 4 & 5 HERE. Needless to say, I adore her and all the characters made up of Mercy Thompson, Walker.
This book in the series, albeit a bit different than the others, was still wonderful. I won't go into too much detail because I don't want to give anything away, but we do get to meet a lot of new characters AND we get to find out some detail about Mercy's past. Well, actually, this is a bit of a surprise, the part we learn, but still, it's good. Most of the story takes place while Mercy is on vacation so we don't get to see a lot of the characters we've grown accustomed to.
That is my biggest complaint about the book and only because I love all the characters that Briggs has created and written. I wholly miss Stefan and Warren the most and we didn't even get to see Sam at all, which I was kind of looking forward to getting a glimpse of him with Arianna since he was such a huge part of the series for all five books.
It's definitely understandable why we didn't see a ton of them as Mercy and Adam were on vacation away from it all, so Briggs is definitely forgiven on that front. Especially because we were able to see so much more of Adam *prrrrrr*. That man is truly lickable in all sorts of ways. Thinking about him is getting a bit hot and sweaty, especially thinking about his lean body with all those contorting muscles moving...*clears throat*...sorry, my mind has run away to Adam land. Back on track now, forgive me.
As I was saying, this book takes place with mostly Mercy and Adam and we get to meet a slew of new characters including Coyote (kind of like spirit Coyote but really alive in a physical form). I know for a fact I'm really REALLY going to like that man/Native America Spirit Guide. Also, we got to meet 2 more walkers - but I'm not going to tell you who - and we learn a lot more of how the walkers came to exist on Earth and how they work. By that I mean how they are created and what kind of things they can do and so on. It was very very cool to read about and I felt that it added to the already wonderful character development of Mercy.
So, to finally cut this review off because I could possibly go on all day, I loved the book and recommend it to Mercy Thompson fans everywhere. Anyone looking for an excellent series that is amazingly well written and there is a uniqueness to the werewolf/vampire/fey world that you haven't quite seen before, you should pick up Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series.
Rating: 5/5 Quotes:
I wiggled my hips into a more comfortable position and tried to think like Adam--a very smart person poisoned by testosterone. (Mercy)
The old man grunted. "Indians go anytime they want to--it is our place." He tapped me. "She's Indian, no matter what she believes. My grandson is Indian. The two of them can take one Anglo wolf who belongs to an Indian coyote girl."
He stretched and tossed the empty pop can to Adam--who caught it. "Time for this old Indian to go." He looked at me again. "If you are going to use white man's words to describe yourself, 'avatar' is more accurate than 'walker.'"
He took his bad and indicated the little pot with his chin. "Better you keep that, little sister. A coyote will get herself hurt a lot if she runs with wolves."
And then he left.
Adam kissed my knee, which should not have done anything to my pulse. I mean--the kneecap is as far from an erogenous zone as I know of. But it was Adam, so my heart rate picked up nicely.
Coyote told me a few stories about himself. He used the rude versions, too. Potty humor shouldn't be funny to anyone over the age of twelve--and then only to the male half of the species. But somehow it was different when Coyote told it, both sly and innocent at the same time.
Genre: Steampunk, Adult, Paranormal, Alternate History
First Line: Your Highness would be safer below.
Review:
This Fairy was surprised by such a great ride!! I must tell you right away; this isNOTyour average ordinary bland bandwagon vampire novel. You will see no sparkle here. The Fairy devoured this book because it was so good, yet I wanted to read slowly because I didn’t want it to end. When Greyfrair finally did come to an end I honestly was sad to know I was going to have to shut the cover. However, when I did I quickly swooped up this book into a huge bear hug. I was so happy to have read a book this wonderful!
Vampire Empire: The Greyfriaris a mess of genres in such a way that it works. Steampunk is why I wanted to read this book but it didn't take long to find out that it was choked full of horror, including horrid politics, action/adventure, romance, and some bloody war. I think I have to admit I'm fond of bloody wars. Yes, indeed!
However, this book was not amazing just because of the genre mess... which made for different reading. Clay and Susan Griffithhave a gift for stringing words together to provide minimal but optimal images. I was right there with Greyfriar the whole way! The images that were floating around in my head were amazing... if I do say so myself. Not only did the imagery of the world blow me away (& I have wings) but the fight scenes had me all up in a huff of excitement! Blood, gore, mayhem. I was in heaven. A bloody hero *sigh*.
The Northern Hemisphere was attacked in 1870, nearly killing and destroying what we know to be the Western Civilization. The Great Killing!
Princess Adele, the heir of Equatoria is due to wed a renowned vampire killer, Senator Clark (whom I didn't care for at all), which would unite her Empire with America. This arrangement of merging both of the biggest human empires together now posed a huge threat to the vampires that live in the northern areas of the world. Adele and her younger brother, Simon, are on their way to Marseilles when their dirigible is intercepted by a larger than normal ban of vampires lead by Flay. Her master, Cesare, is known for his human massacres & is the youngest son of King Kimitry, Flay follows his orders to capture the heir. Now the heir of Equatoria, Adele, is running from… Flay. These vampires are parasitic with very powerful physical characteristics whom roam freely in the colder areas, feedlot humans for dinner, and terrorize others so they are afraid of being enslaved by them.
Classic damsel in distress... I think not. She takes out a few vampires before the hero enters. The Greyfriar swoops in to save her. I fell in love with this dark cloaked man right when he pulled out all of these weapons and started hacking up the vampires on top of him in a gory morbid way. *sigh* It must of been a beautiful sight.
It is also quite a shock to Adele because The Greyfriar is a man whose stories of heroism and acts of battle are all thought to be fables. He ended up being this strong yet mysterious man who drew in not only me but our lovely Adele as well. He is mine, back off Adele! (I should mention that she is crafty with a weapon as well!)
Ultimately she captured by the war crazed Flay albeit her best efforts of flight and the efforts of her masked mystery fighter, by Flay who brings her to England for Cesare. I love that the head warrior is a female. How hot is that!?!
Enter… Gareth, the oldest son and heir to the Vampire Empire once King Dimitry becomes ash. He lives in Scotland away from his role of heir to the supposed throne. Drum Roll.... Gareth now swoops in to save Adele by pulling the heir card and takes Adele away from Cesare’s hand. He starts to learn more about “human” culture through Adele. It ended up being a cute situation.
Surprise! Yes, there is a surprise twist. **Spoiler** I was doing the dreamy thing and thought maybe it would be awesome if he was he. Oh, that is code for trying to cover up the surprise twist. But my dreamy manner ended up shocking me anyway. **Spoiler Over** It is something that makes this story just that more incredible. I urge you to read this one because if you don’t you are missing out on some yummy twist!
The growth and development between Adele and Greyfriar was well played. I was so happy to watch them become a tender relationship throughout the book instead of right away. It was refreshing not to have them jump in the sac by page 5. Gradual is more believable and needed at times.
Overall,Vampire Empire: The Greyfrairwas amazing. Truly. A Fairy even a Black or a Disaster of a Fairy would lie. It is a favorite book and will be forever. My copy will become greatly ragged from love. No... I will not borrow it out.
Get your own!
Rating: Personal Favorite
More then 5 Kisses!
You can find this utterly wonderful tale at these web locations:
*Thanks to the wonderful people behind PYR I received a copy of this fabulous Steampunkery novel. However, this has not affected my actions, feelings, or review of this book.*
Primarily a shifter genre novel, however, there are notes and dashes of steampunkery elements sprinkled through the pages. Leaving this novella to be a most desirable fast fun read with some forbidden steam. Luckily for us there will be more to this series to enjoy in the coming future.
5 Kisses: It was so amazing I kissed and licked every inch of the book 
