ARC Book Review > Homecoming

Cloaked Devices 0.5

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."

Source

Here is how I picture Sera:

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!**

Adult Book Review ---> Tempest's Legacy by Nicole Peeler

Adult Review!!

Tempest's Legacy 

         Jane True #3

By:  Nicole Peeler

Published By:  Orbit

Published Date:  January 1st 2011

Pages:  Softcover 352
Tags:  Adult, Fantasy Fiction, Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, Shapeshifters, Vampires, Selkies, Mystery

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 Series has 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!

4.5 Kisses


Originally Posted at Steampunkery & Book Reviews.

Book Review: Stray (Shifters #1)

Title: Stray (Shifters, #1)
Author: Rachel Vincent
Publisher: Mira, 2007
Page total: 618 pages
Date read: December 10, 2010
Genre(s): Urban Fantasy; Adult
First line of the book: "The moment the door opened I knew an ass-kicking was inevitable. Whether I'd be giving it or receiving it was still a bit of a mystery."

I look like an all-American grad student. But I am a werecat, a shape-shifter, and I live in two worlds.
Despite reservations from my family and my Pride, I escaped the pressure to continue my species and carved out a normal life for myself. Until the night a Stray attacked.
I'd been warned about Strays - werecats without a Pride, constantly on the lookout for someone like me: attractive, female, and fertile. I fought him off, but then learned two of my fellow tabbies had disappeared.
This brush with danger was all my Pride needed to summon me back . . . for my own protection. Yeah, right. But I'm no meek kitty. I'll take on whatever - and whoever - I have to in order to find my friends. Watch out, Strays - 'cause I got claws, and I'm not afraid to use them… (from the blurb)

Finally I can say that I’m a proud owner of a copy of Stray. My mom gave it to me as an early Christmas gift, and I read it in less than 5 hours. I have never entered a world of shape shifters before, and I found it fascinating. Vampires are old story by now, werewolves are catching up and I’ve seen many fairy books coming out lately although I’m not exactly fond of them due to some negative experiences. Anyway, I enjoyed exploring the world of Faythe, one of the eight unmarried female werecats in USA. While I’m tempted to tell everything I found mesmerizing, I wouldn’t want to spoil the opportunity to do it yourself.

This book contains lots of actions, sexy scenes and you can literally feel your adrenaline running through your vein although you’re not the one who’s fighting. What irritated me quite a bit was a) the lack of explanations of terms that are not very familiar to us, such as tabby, tom, Pride and Stray; and b) the heroine.
The terms aren’t the only thing the readers will learn later as the book progresses. When the book starts, you have no idea in what kind of situation the heroine is, much less her background. It all comes in flashbacks later on, which didn’t exactly bother me, but it sure had my mouth hanging wide open. I won’t tell you what had made me gaping stupidly at the book, but I can at least explain a few terms briefly, so you don’t get confused when you read the book for the first time:
tabby: a female werecat
tom: a male werecat
Pride: a group of werecats with one Alpha ruling over them and their territory (You might find a map of Pride territories in USA useful)
Stray: a human turned into a werecat by a scratch or bite of a werecat in their animal form

Now, the heroine, Faythe Sanders. As I said before, she irritated me. She has so many… sides. You can’t exactly say what kind of person she really is because she’s smart, stupid, bold, coward, brave, whiny, strong and stubborn, all in one. Overall, she’s a strong, stubborn and mostly smart woman with a tendency to behave like a teenager. (I have to remind myself over and over that she’s 23, not 17 although her poor judgment on what her heart says indicates that she has yet to outgrow teenage stubbornness.) She’s reluctant to get involved with Pride’s business first because she wants to have a normal life but when she finally realizes that she does have the potential to become a good Alpha (after her dad steps down or dies, of course), that’s the part where I like it best. It doesn’t happen until toward the end of the book, but there’s the promise that I won’t be disappointed in the following books. I really love it when I know from the very first book that I’m gonna love the series, don’t you?
Also, I loved almost every character Rachel Vincent has created in this book, including Faythe’s brothers, Marc, Parker, Greg (Faythe’s father and also the Alpha of South Central Pride) and Abby.

All in all, I definitely recommend the series to everyone looking for a good urban fantasy with an ass-kicking heroine and steamy romance. That being said, I feel obliged to add that this book is aimed at older readers than, let’s say, Twilight or City of Bones.

"A smile snuck up on me and I realized with more than a little alarm that -just like my father- I enjoyed negotiation. Damn. I hate it when my parents are right."

Book Review: Strange Angels (Strange Angels, #1)

Title: Strange Angels (Strange Angels, #1)
Author: Lili St. Crow (pseudonym for Lilith Saintcrow)
Publisher: Razorbill (a division of Penguin Group USA), 2009
Date read: November 26th, 2010
Page total: 293 pages
Genre(s): Urban Fantasy; Young Adult
First Line of the book: I didn’t tell Dad about Grandma’s white owl. I know I should have.

Dad? Zombie. Mom? Long gone. Me? Well, that’s the scary part.
The Real World is a frightening place. Just ask sixteen-year old orphan Dru Anderson, a tough girl who has taken down her fair share of bad guys. She’s armed, dangerous, and ready to kill first and ask questions later. So it’s gonna take her a while to figure out who she can trust…
[…]
Alone, terrified, and trapped, Dru’s going to need every inch of her wit and training to stay alive. The monsters have decided to hunt back - and this time, Dru’s on their menu. Chances of survival? Slim to none. If she can’t last until sunup, it’s game over…
(From the back of the book)





Do you have a paperback copy of Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead by some weird coincidence? There is a sneak peek of Strange Angles at the end of the book, unless you’ve got on old version of the book. That’s how I got to know this book - so this excerpt-from-another-book-at-the-end-of-a-famous-book-advertisement-strategy worked this time.
Back to the book. This book was… weird. Like, very strange. I know it’s not the best way to describe a book, not to mention the nicest, but I found it weirdly good in a weird-good way, mostly because I can’t decide whether I like this book or not.
The book is packed with action because Dru is a hunter who hunts all kind of creatures that are not supposed to exist, including werwulfen (=werewolves), upir (=suckers=vampires), zombies, poltergeist, ghost, well, you get the picture. (For some reasons, the author prefers other names for mythical creatures, probably to distinguish them from other urban fantasies.) As you can imagine, there are plenty of action scenes, most of them involving guns, body combat and some mean kicks. And although my head was reeling from all those action scenes, the actual plot was very slow. The whole book felt like a long, long prologue for the real story, as if the real plot would take off in the second book. It wasn’t exactly boring but if you take out the action scenes, all you have is Dru’s encounter with Graves and how his life gets complicated as he gets involved with Real World.
Another thing I’m not very happy with is that Dru doesn’t describe the Real World to the readers, it’s like as if she thinks we know about it already. It irritated me a lot, but real explanation comes later in the book with other crucial information, and it’s worth waiting.
All in all, it was a compelling, funny read, and I’ll most definitely read the second book, because the first one ends with a cliff hanger and most importantly, I’ve got the feeling, it’ll be much better than the first book.





Quotes:

"Most girls go through a gawky stage, but I’m beginning to think mine will be a lifelong thing. It doesn’t bother me too much. Better to be strong than pretty and useless. I’ll take a plain girl with her head screwed on right over a cheerleader any day."

"I've been bitten, beat up, tied to a bed, James Bonded out, and now you finish off by choking a goddamn teacher!"

"You're not dead. You're too goddamn annoying to be dead."

"I guess since the groin is the center of a guy's world, he rarely guesses it isn't the center of yours."

Paranormalcy (Paranormalcy No.1) by Kiersten White - A Book Review

Title: Paranormalcy (Paranormalcy No.1)
Author: Kiersten White
Pages: 352
Published: August 31st, 2010
Read: September 29, 2010
Rating:

Synopsis:Weird as it is working for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, Evie's always thought of herself as normal. Sure, her best friend is a mermaid, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she’s falling for a shape-shifter, and she’s the only person who can see through paranormals' glamours, but still. Normal.

Only now paranormals are dying, and Evie's dreams are filled with haunting voices and mysterious prophecies. She soon realizes that there may be a link between her abilities and the sudden rash of deaths. Not only that, but she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.

So much for normal.(from goodreads.com)

First off, I'd like to say this book was freaking awesome! I feel like I can't even get out exactly what I want to say about it. I don't know if that is because of it's awesomeness or because I've had a serious lack of sleep lately. I'm hoping for the latter. Anyhow, It really was a fun and exciting read. Evie the main character was such a lovable character and to top it off she was hilarious!

Now, since I can't put any coherent thoughts into this review (sleep deprivation is dragging me down) I'm going give some small ones and call it a day.

First off, Evie, as I said. Wonderful character, totally funny.

Lend, the main male lead was adorable and a shape shifter so he really had me wrapped around his little finger.

Reth, the psycho faery, sounded super hot, but totally out of his freaking mind. Like in the sense that he belongs in is very own sealed off room in a very secure loony ward. Now, given that he's fey it's not really that odd.

Lish, Evie's best friend and also a mermaid was fun and really an amazing character. I mean who thinks to give the main character a best friend who lives in an aquarium and talks through a computer. Genius I tell you. A bleeping genius!

So all those who haven't had a chance to read this book, you really should. It was a refreshing take on vampires, werewolves, faeries and entire melodic group of fantastical creatures that will not leave you bored. Because, with a pink taser, faery paths, a boy made of water and a crazy killer on the loose what is there to be bored for?!!

"Lend.”
“Lend?” Raquel asked.
“Yes, as in, lend me your self.” He shimmered into Raquel again.
“Why not Borrow?” I asked. “Better yet, Steal?"

"Yes, I have a driver's license"
I leaned back against the wall, sighing. "Man, that must be so cool."
"It ranks right up there with lockers. In fact, sometimes I put my license inside my locker, and it's so cool I worry that the whole thing might explode with the sheer coolness of it all."

Lish tried to swear--which is always funny, because the computer won't translate it. It went something like this: "Bleep stupid bleep bleep faeries and their bleep bleep bleep obsessions. He had better stop bleep bleep bleep the bleep bleep rules or I will bleep bleep bleep the little bleeeeeeeeeeep."

Rating:5/5

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
Publisher: Disney Hyperion Books, 2010
Pages: 323 pages
Genres: Action, Chick Lit, Paranormal, Young Adult, and Romance

Sophie Mercer has had a hard time after finding out she's a witch. And it doesn't help that her single mother isn't a witch and her estranged father is well...estranged. So of course , being a witch with no help things are bound to go wrong and of course, they do. After a spell goes horribly wrong at Sophie's normal no-witch-but-her high school she is sent to the reform school Hex Hall.

After her first day Sophie has quite a score-card for her first official day as a witch among other witches and Prodigium, aka witches, faeries, shapeshifters, werewolves, vampires, ghost, etc... It doesn't help that there are three witches that hate her, a warlock who she's cruching on, a ghost who's stalking her, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person on campus, as well as the only vampire student on campus. Okay so that's not the worst that could happen right?...Wrong! Sophie soon learns that students on campus are being attacked mysteriously, and the only suspect is her only friend at Hex Hall. Sophie needs to discover who, or which ancient society that is determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

Okay so long summery right? There is a lot to this book though, well it all seems complicated from the summery but it's really not. This book was awesome and refreshing. It was a great book to read before school starts as Sophie is also starting and getting back into school. If you can pick this book up before you start school, college, or even if you just go to work everyday get this book. But especially if you have to start that inevitable first day of school that leads to one long year. This was a super cute book that contained the perfect amount of humor you need before school starts. It can kind of get you back into the school spirit in a good way. Like I said this book was refreshing and I really liked that it focused on witches. In fact werewolves and vampires take a bit of a back seat to witches, faeries, and shapeshifters. Mainly there aren't as many. Oh, and it's a really good-paced book. It keeps you reading and makes you not want to put it down.

I loved the characters and plot and can not wait until book two! It's going to be a long wait and I'm not happy about that since it kind of leaves you, not really on a cliff-hanger, but more of a the-first-story-is-done-but-there-are-still-loose-ends-that-need-to-be-tied-up-and-there-are-still-many-questions-to-be-answered. Okay so I guess it is a bit of a cliff-hanger, meaning you want to read the next book right afterward but unfortunately have to wait.

5 Kisses! I know I've been giving a lot of fives but I can't help it! These books are good.





Quotes

"Or maybe they were staring at me as I tried to discreetly wipe sweat from between my brests without appearing to get to second base with myself. Hard to say."

"I heard a man and woman cry out a warning as I frantically racked my brain for some sort of throat-repairing spell, which I was clearly about need. Of course the only words I actually managed to yell at the werewolf as he ran at me were, "BAD DOG!"

"After the Great War between God and Lucifer, those angels who refused to take sides were casted out f heaven. One group-" she pointed to the tall angel in the middle-"chose to hide itself away under hills and deep in the forests. They became faeries. Another group chose to live among animals and became shapeshifters. And the last chose to intermingle with humans and became witches."
"Wow," I heard Mom say, and I turned to her with a smile.
"Good luck explaining to God that you used to spank one of his heavenly beings."

"There were only six adults in the oldest picture, and all of them looked really serious, like they'd probably kicked kittens for fun."

"She plunged her snout into my hair and took a deep shuddering breath.
I forced myself to stay very calm, and after a moment, she released me.
Giving a bashful shrug, she said, "Sorry. Werewolf thing."
"Hey, no problem," I said, even though all I could think was, Slobber! Werewolf slobber! On my skin!

"I turned around to see the groundskeeper, Cal, standing behind me. As usual he was rocking his lumberjack look-all flannel and denim. And this time he even has a prop: a giant ax, which he held in his left hand, the lethal head gleaming dully against his boot.
I don't know what the expression on my face was as I stared at the ax, but I imagined I must have looked like Elmer Fudd when Bugs Bunny had dressed up as a girl-popping eyes, jaw dropped to the ground.
Apprenetly that wasn't to far off, because Cal seemed to stifle a laugh as he lifted his ax and rested it on his shoulder.
"Relax. I'm not a psycho."
"I know that," I snapped. "You're the healing janitor dude."
"Groundskeeper."
"Isn't that like the janitor?"
"No it's like the groundskeeper."

"You are more prepared than the Girl Scouts." I'd muttered. Then I'd fainted."