Review--Fatal Circle by Linda Robertson (Book 3 in Reading Challenge)

DESTINY SUCKS...

There was a time when Persephone Alcmedi thought her life was hard to manage, what with wondering how to make sure she took adequate care of both her grandmother and foster daughter, Beverley, whether she'd end up in the unwanted position of high priestess of a coven, whether her werewolf lover, Johnny, would resist the groupies who hang around his band Lycanthropia.

But that was before the fairies started demanding that Seph's frightening, unpredictable ally--the ancient vampire Menessos--be destroyed...or the world will suffer. Seph and Menessos are magically bonded, but that's a secret she dares not reveal to her fellow witches lest they be forced to reject her and forbid her the use of her magic. And, despite the strain this casts on her relationship with Johnny, as a showdown with the fairies nears, she and Menessos badly need the werewolves as allies.

Life, death, and love are all on the line, but when destiny is calling, is doesn't help to turn away. With the individual threads of their fates twisted inextricably together, can Seph, Johnny, and Menessos keep the world safe from fairy vengeance?

**MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FROM FIRST TWO BOOKS**

This is just an awesome series!! I am so glad that I started it! Picking up where Hallowed Circle left off practically, Fatal Circle finds Seph back in the thick of things. She and Johnny have barely gotten a minute alone together when Menessos shows up, ruining the moment.

The sparks that keep flying between Menessos and Seph are confusing at times. I mean, here we see Seph with a great guy like Johnny and because of everything that has happened, she is still somewhat drawn to Menessos and it's hard for her to overcome her feelings for him. She's not sure how she feels towards him. She knows there is something other than fear and hate, that much is for sure.

Moving away from the relationship p.o.v., Seph is really thick into trouble with just about everyone! The respective groups are learning about her status as Lustrata and there are mixed reactions. Some so serious that Seph has to take serious action in an act of perceived betrayal. She agrees to be apart of his vampire group as an important role figure.

But there is much more going on than I can say of course. BIG things happen. I can't really say what...but there are quite a few big things that go down. Ones that involve everyone practically. Seph, Johnny and even Menessos.

There are surprising revelations as well. Ones that may be somewhat shocking. I don't want to say shocking and they be more of an "ooohhh" kind of thing instead of "whoa!".

The ending was great too! The buildup to the conclusion was fantastic. There were times I was really worrying and other times when I was excited. A lot of action in the end with some more interesting surprises as well. There are few cliffhangers as well that makes you wonder what will happen here and there. Just a few unanswered questions that we will have to wait til the end of December for Arcane Circle to find out!

Another GREAT read! Overall I give the book 4/5 stars!

On a side note, I just LOVE the quote that's in front of the novel as well! It really speaks to me for some reason!

We do not, most of us, choose to die;
nor do we choose the time and conditions of our death.
But within this realm of choicelessness,
we do choose how we live.
--Ambition: The Secret Passion, Joesph Epstein

Still no luck in finding Blameless and it is too early for Alpha. So I will have to turn to my TBR stack for a new read one that I did NOT list in my September Spectacular Reading Challenge.

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly blog post by MizB over at Should Be Reading.

Still reading Fatal Circle. Had a hectic weekend with more work and when I finally had a day off, I just veged out and did a whole lot of nothing. It was nice.

Now it's back to work and back to reading and trying to edit my own manuscript.

Moving on...

Here are the rules for Teaser Tuesday:

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a page
3. Pick out 2 lines that are SPOILER free
4. Name the title, author, etc.

"Can't sleep unless I'm naked. Move over." p97
















TITLE: Fatal Circle
AUTHOR: Linda Robertson
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: June 29, 2010

Contest Reminder--ARCs at Babbling Flow

I can't remember if I posted about this contest before, but here is yet another reminder. Over at Babbling Flow there is this HUGE, totally AWESOME, AMAZING contest to win a ton of books! And some are ARCs!!

Some titles include Beautiful Creatures and Beautiful Darkness, Nightshade, Rot and Ruin, The Unidentified, Ranger's Apprentice, The Goblin Gate, Jane, and The Winds of Heaven.

So many books! And only a handful of winners. You can pretty much guess which one I want to win as it's the book I talk about most when it comes to contests. Just found out I lost on another chance to win. :(

Anyway, this contest is INTERNATIONAL! And there are only 2 DAYS left to enter! Contest will end at midnight on September 8, 2010!

And if you're like me and really, Really, REALLY want to win one of these titles you can do some extra things to earn extra points. Such as a blog post +5 points, an exclusive blog post +7 points and tweeting: Win ARCs! Beautiful Darkness! Nightshade! + 6 more!! Open International! Ends 9/8 at midnight! http://bit.ly/csJEKI @saramcclung for +2 points

So hurry! Time is running out!!

Piracy

Was over at Tynga's reviews and she had a new selection of buttons against piracy. She also linked to two articles regarding why piracy is bad.

Short version, for those not quite in the know, someone illegally posts an author's book online or somewhere or something like that for public consumption without paying. Like when people illegally download music from the internet or watch movies online without paying for them when they are still new releases.

People steal and they don't, or likely do and don't care, realize it. Authors, along with the movie production people and music artists alike put a lot of hard work and effort into making their piece; book, movie or song, and by stealing it from them and giving it to the world at large for free may seem like a good cause, it's not.

So I have borrowed one of Tynga's buttons and put it down in my sidebar to help promote against piracy. And by clicking on the button itself you will be taken to a Deadline Dames post Jeaniene Frost did talking about her opinion on piracy and why she doesn't like it either.

Check out Tynga's post to snag a button you like to help put a stop to piracy or at least get people into the know so they know it's wrong.

And really, the only pirate we should love and support is Captain Jack Sparrow! ;)

And while that comment may not make too much sense, I just couldn't resist throwing a pic of Johnny in!

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a weekly blog post by Kirsti over at The Story Siren.

Well still no luck with finding a copy of Blameless this weekend. Looks like I'll be buying it later this week. Oh well, that's how things go. But I didn't come out empty-handed this week, I went to Borders, upgraded my rewards membership and bought two new books!

First off I got Spider's Bite by Jennifer Estep



















And then I bought Cheyenne McCray's Demons Not Included



















So what did you get in your mailbox? Leave a link!

Top 5 Sundays

Top 5 Sundays is this new blog meme that's been around for the past few weeks or months maybe and I've decided to give it a go since I enjoy reading them all and even think of what I would say for my top 5.

Larissa at Larissa's Bookish Life created this post. And it's quite fun, every week she has a poll set up to get votes on what the topic should be and then on Sunday you answer it.

Here are some more details:

Every Sunday Larissa will post a TOP 5 list on the blog. It can be about anything and every week she'll have a new theme {You can vote on next week’s theme on her left sidebar!} and She will ad the Mr.Linky bellow the post so you can do a list with the theme and add your link to it.

Rules:

1 - Write a post listing your TOP 5 choices within the theme chosen (or was chosen on a poll) for the week.
2 - Mention this Blog on the post and link back to it.
3 - Fell free to use the Feature's image (there is a smaller size version of it bellow)
4 - After you've finished your post, add you link (of the post, not your blog's main page) to the Mr.Linky at the end of that week's post.

This week's theme is Sexiest Book Heroes!

And because it's such a HOT topic, Larissa chose 10 and so will I!

In no particular order (of course, because how can I really choose? Picking the top 10 was tough!), here are my top 10:

Bones (Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series)
Marc (Rachel Vincent's Werecat series)
Johnny (Linda Robertson's Circle series)
Clay (Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld series)
Pietr (Shannon Delany's 13 to to Life)
Zayvion (Devon Monk's Allie Beckstrom series)
Chaz (Jess Haines' Hunted by the Others)
David (Rachel Caine's Weather Wardens series)
Terrible (Stacia Kane's Downsider series)
Valek (Maria V. Snyder's Study trilogy)

Cover Art--Richelle Mead

Eep! I was checking Richelle's blog this morning and she has posted the cover for Iron Crowned! The next Dark Swan novel!! Very excited about this one!

It's going to be released on March 1, 2011




Shaman-for-hire Eugenie Markham is the best at banishing entities trespassing in the mortal realm. But as the Thorn Land’s queen, she’s fast running out of ways to end the brutal war devastating her kingdom. Her only hope: the Iron Crown, a legendary object even the most powerful gentry fear…

Who Eugenie can trust is the hardest part. Fairy king Dorian has his own agenda for aiding her search. And Kiyo, her shape-shifter ex-boyfriend, has every reason to betray her along the way. To control the Crown’s ever-consuming powers, Eugenie will have to confront an unimaginable temptation--one that will put her soul and the fate of two worlds in mortal peril…

Cover Art--Jenna Black

Hey all, I got off work a little while go, veged out and now came back to the internet checking the blog posts I've missed the last several hours and on Book Lovers Inc, I saw something totally awesome and had to share!

It's the cover art for Jenna Black's newest novel in her soon to be released, but not soon enough, adult series!

It's Dark Descendant! Coming to a shelf near you on April 26, 2011.

So far there are no further details, will post something once I hear though. But the cover is awesome!

***NOTE***

Jackie at Literary Escapism has noted that this cover was leaked and is NOT the final cover. She said it was leaked a little early. Which does happen. So there could be some changes, like with Richelle Mead's Last Sacrifice.

But even as a preliminary cover, this still rocks!

Book Blogger Hop

This is a blogger hop I decided to partake in and it was created by Jennifer at Crazy for Books.

I've been seeing this hop for awhile and look at it amongst the blogs and I admit that I really like the questions that come up. So I thought I would participate this week.

Here are the rules:
1. Enter your book blog link in the Linky List below (be sure to include how long you've been blogging and what genres you review!). If you post about the Hop on your blog, please link directly to your Hop post (don't forget to answer this week's question - see below!).
2. Visit other blogs in the Linky List! Make new friends! Follow new book bloggers! Talk about books! Rave about authors! (Please do not leave your link and not visit other blogs - it's just not cool and not in the spirit of the Hop!)
3. Post about the Hop on your blog! Spread the word about the book party! The more the merrier!
4. In your blog post, answer the following question (new question each week!):

And here is this week's question: Do you judge a book by its cover?

My answer: I always hated that expression. Judging a book by its cover, but now I realize I do do it. And it's not all that bad. Some covers I automatically know the book is not for me. If it looks too romance like and other covers have totally grabbed me by their awesomeness. I still always read the back of the cover description to make sure the storyline sounds interesting enough. But covers have been known to totally wow me into buying the book lately and I'm not ashamed of it anymore!

Review--Hallowed Circle by Linda Robertson (Book 2 in Reading Challenge)

AND YOU THINK BEAUTY PAGEANTS ARE SCARY?

Persephone Alcmedi has been persuaded to compete for the position of High Priestess of the Cleveland, Ohio, coven--now that the former priestess, Vivian Diamond, has strangely gone missing. Unfortunately, there are a few small problems with the idea. Not only does Seph know rather more about Vivian's disappearance than the other witches realize, but the epic struggle she's just survived has left her with some highly unusual powers--ones that could be dangerous to reveal. Despite her reluctance, she agrees to participate, if only to prevent snooty Hunter Hopewell, an obnoxious but talented witch, from ending up in the winner's circle. Can Seph hide her secrets--including her connection to the master vampire-wizard Menessos--from the terrifyingly wise judges? Plus, there's her rock 'n' roll werewolf boyfriend, Johnny, and some angry fairies to deal with...

Once the competition begins, a finalist turns up dead. It looks as if one of the contestants is willing to do anything--including murder--to win. Suddenly Seph has even more on her plate than she thought: from solving a murder to working out what her new powers really are...and exactly why they're creating so much havoc in her love life.

**SPOILERS FROM VICIOUS CIRCLE**

Got a little ahead of myself in my September Spectacular Reading Challenge and finished week 2's book already and I only started it last night only getting 50 pages in. All I can say is that today I could not put Robertson's Hallowed Circle down! At all!

Hallowed Circle was picked up a few weeks after Vicious Circle and life is slowing moving on for Seph and her family. Beverley is still coping with her mother's death and Seph is still coping with all that happened in Vicious Circle, thusly her taking back the stain and still being connected to the vampire, Menessos.

Her love life is still a little rocky. She admits to her feelings for Johnny more and more, but there are still quite a few challenges for her to overcome. But not for lack of trying. Johnny still wants her and he is still filled with quick and witty innuendos that crack me up. It's refreshing too, that Seph can laugh and still get red-faced when they happen. As an outsider I laugh, but if it were me in her position I would definitely be blushing as well.

The first few chapters build up to the the task Seph will have to perform. Being in the competition for High Priestess. It's nearing Halloween so there's preparation for that, including an entertaining scene with Seph and Johnny involving pumpkin guts!

Then the main chunk of the book takes place at the testing place. Where the mystery takes place. And what a mystery it is. A place that should be secured well and someone in the competition is murdered and no one will be able to guess this one! I thought I had it, but WOW! It was definitely mystery worthy!

One new character, Hunter, you just love to hate because she's a little too self-involved, but the character development behind that is done remarkably well!

There was more development on Seph's destiny of being the Lustrata. Some details behind that and other parts connected to it make the reading a little confusing, but mostly I just tried to roll with it. After all Seph is still learning about this too.

There are also more developments with Johnny. I won't say what, but just try to recall the Tarot reading Nana had done for him in Vicious Circle. That comes back up again and is important.

The ending was surprising. There was still a nice conclusion and wrap up, but there will definitely be more problems on the horizon and I can't wait to find out what those are!!

Overall I give the book 4/5 stars!

And since I have yet to find a copy of Blameless, I'm moving on to Fatal Circle. Hmm...perhaps I should change my "next up" picture since I'm not having any luck at all in finding a book that should have been released yesterday. Sigh...

This was my second book, that I finished early, for the September Spectacular Reading Challenge.

Review--Vicious Circle by Linda Robertson (Book 1 in Reading Challenge)

A GIRL'S GOT T0 DO WHAT A GIRL'S GOT TO DO...

Being a witch doesn't pay the bills, but Persephone Alcmedi gets by between reading Tarot cards, writing her syndicated newspaper column, and kenneling werewolves in the basement when the moon is full--even if witches aren't supposed to mingle with wolves. She really reaches the end of her leash, though, when her grandmother gets kicked out of the nursing home and Seph finds herself in the doghouse about some things she's written. Then he werewolf friend Lorrie is murdered...and the high priestess of an important coven offers Seph big money to destroy the killer, a powerful vampire named Goliath Kline. Seph is a tough girl, but this time she bites off more than she can chew. She needs a little help from her friends--werewolf friends. One of these friends, Johnny, the motorcycle-riding lead singer for the techno-metal Goth band Lycanthropia, has a crush on her. And while Seph has always been on edge around this 6'2" leather-clad hunk, she's starting to realize that although their attraction may be dangerous, nothing could be as lethal as the showdown that awaits them.

Whoa! Vicious Circle was just amazing! I bought this book for my own pleasure when I won the second and third book in a contest. I had to get book one so I knew what had already passed and I am so glad that I did! It was just incredible!

First off, gotta mention the little itty bits of Greek mythology that are added to the mix of the story and I LOVE that! As I already mentioned awhile ago. Seph's name alone brings more to merit to that fact, but there are a few other things that happen, such as a Tarot reading with cards depicting Greek heroes and Gods. Love it!

Moving on...the characters! OMG I seriously loved every single character in this book! Seph was a great protagonist and hero. She was tough and yet still vulnerable in some aspects. She still wants to do what's right even when it could be dangerous. Such as taking on the job the coven asks of her to track down and kill a very powerful vampire. It's a suicide mission. But she takes the case on, eventually because it was her best friend who was murdered and she does it to protect Beverley, the nine-year-old daughter her friend unwillingly left behind.

Beverley, while being one of the lesser characters was still a sweetie. She's only 9, but she's a pretty perceptive kid.

I LOVED Seph's grandmother, Demeter! Another Greek mythology name! I was giddy with the relation to the names of Demeter and Persephone being that they were mother and daughter in Greek myths! Of course, Demeter is grandma here and she is a riot! She smokes, she's loud, she brings a dog into Seph's house without telling Seph she bought one--it was free technically--but the dog is a Great Dane! And they definitely don't stay cute little puppies. But Demeter has attitude and you gotta love that. She even tells Seph that she (basically) needs to go have sex. She doesn't say it explicitly but the message is implied. She is a very blunt woman, but she is also very intelligent and I just loved that about her.

Now, Johnny. Oh boy. Gotta love that man! He has such a simple name. Thinking of those older movies or shows with the high school boyfriend being named Johnny. Simpleton, you think, but still handsome. Johnny is none of that! He is a tattooed cover man with several piercings and basically is just described to be ever so hot! And he is just fulled of innuendos that he only shares with Seph.

I really loved the building of Seph's and Johnny's relationship. Seph thinks at first, he's just flirting because that's what guys do. But then she realizes there's more to it than that. And she starts to wonder if his feelings for her are deeper than mere flirting. There was a building to their relationship despite seeing it coming. It was a gradual process and I loved that. I loved seeing the start of their romance build from friendship to more. It felt realistic!

Seph has a mix of friends, some humans ones that pop up for only a short time, which makes me wonder if there is something to read into their sudden appearance and disappearance. Or if it is truly nothing. Her other friends include several weres--spelled differently but I don't know the lettering for it it was a mix of an "a" and "e"--who were a riot as well. You can tell that Seph related closer to her Were friends than her human ones and she herself is a witch, so she falls in between on the human and supernatural lines.

Supernaturals are known to the public at large here. And the supes are treated like second class citizens and this becomes an issue at times for the characters. It was disturbing but it made for good dialogue and plot threads.

The main story plot was great, I thought it started off too simple, too easy at first when Seph agreed to take this case on. Then everything spirals out of control. And even when you think the end is coming, there's still several pages left to go. There were just so many surprising twists and turns that I just couldn't put the book down! It was nicely paced and makes for an excellent read.

There were some laugh out loud moments too. I LOLed quite a bit. Mostly with Demeter and some of Johnny's innuendos and Seph's wit.

There was also quite a bit of loose-ends at the end to keep you wanting more, yet still wrapping up the matter at hand. There is definitely going to be more development between Seph and the others and the MATTERS that took place. Things definitely changed for Seph at the end. Surprising changes too.

Overall it was a fantastic read and I really could go on talking about it longer, but I think I discussed enough! I give the book 5/5 stars, definitely!

This was my first book I completed for my September Spectacular Reading Challenge. Next up, since I've been reading all day and not ventured to the outside world to buy any books, is Hallowed Circle by Linda Robertson.

News

So as you maybe, possibly, might know. I am absolutely DYING to read Nightshade. I've entered so many contests now I already lost count and haven't won one yet in my attempt to get an ARC of Nightshade. Here's another attempt on my part!

So I checked Andrea's blog and saw that she has a Facebook page and a blog page for one of the characters that we'll meet in Nightshade. Shay is one of the main characters of the novel and plays a part in the love triangle as I am told. And now he's stepping into our world with his blog and a Facebook page.

Basically Shay is looking for some friends in this new town of his that he moved to. So we need to befriend him as Andrea kindly suggests on her blog. Be sure to check out his Facebook page or if you're like me and avoid that--yes I don't have Facebook, Myspace or any of the other editions of social networking sites. Weirdo, I know, my friends tell me ALL the time!--then you can check him out on his blog. Which is where I will be!

Tootles!

Check back in a few minutes for my review of Vicious Circle!

Release Day!

Today is the official release day of Maria V. Snyder's SPY GLASS! YAY! I looooved this book! It was a great end to Opal's trilogy! A lot of action and surprises and of course a little bit of romance!

You can find my review here. I actually had an ARC of this book, which thrilled me to death! My first ARC ever and it was a GREAT one to receive! If you haven't read the book already, or any of Maria's for that matter, it's an excellent series to read.

Starting with the Study series and following Yelena was fabulous then spinning off to the Glass series with Opal was a continued thrill ride. Click on my review for the links for info on the other books, or click here to go to Maria's website.

HAPPY OFFICIAL RELEASE DAY, MARIA!!!

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly blog post by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights releases we're eagerly awaiting.

Just going right on down my list, next up, a new release I cannot wait to read is Kalayna Price's Grave Witch.



Grave witch Alex Craft can speak to the dead, but that doesn’t mean she likes what they have to say . . .

As a private investigator and consultant for the police, Alex Craft has seen a lot of dark magic. But even though she’s on good terms with Death himself—who happens to look fantastic in a pair of jeans—nothing has prepared her for her latest case. Alex is investigating a high profile murder when she’s attacked by the ‘shade’ she’s raising, which should be impossible. To top off her day, someone makes a serious attempt on her life, but Death saves her. Guess he likes having her around . . .

To solve this case Alex will have to team up with tough homicide detective Falin Andrews. Falin seems to be hiding something—though it’s certainly not his dislike of Alex—but Alex knows she needs his help to navigate the tangled webs of mortal and paranormal politics, and to track down a killer wielding a magic so malevolent, it may cost Alex her life . . . and her soul.

TITLE: Grave Witch
AUTHOR: Kalayna Price
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
ISBN-13: 978-0451463807
RELEASE DATE: October 5, 2010

Contest Alert

I just started following this new blog, The Thoughts of a Book Junky! And discovered there is a contest going on for being a follower. There's still time to enter the contest so become a follower today and you could win Firelight and Clockwork Angel and second place prize is Paranormalcy!

Good Luck!

Contest Alert--at Bitten By Books

Today is an extra special day at Bitten By Books! In separate interviews/Q&A sections, both Jeanne Stein and Kelly Gay will be by!

There will be an interview and then the time for questions and of course a chance to win prizes!

So head on over today! The chats go live at 12pm Central!

Click here for Kelly Gay and here for Jeanne Stein!

September Spectacular Reading Challenge

I decided to partake in this challenge that I just heard about over at Reading Angel! It sounds awesome and I think I can manage it! Should be able to, since it's my normal pace as long as nothing major happens.

Here are the details that I borrowed from Angela at Reading Angel:

It's easy go to Thoughts of a Book Junky to sign-up.

How does it work?

•It will start September 1st and go on through September 30th.

•There will be a 5 book reading challenge, ( one book a week) that you will have to read. Which books? Any 5 you want. Its your choice... Easy huh. At the end of that week you will post your review on your blog and add your link to the Mr. Linky at the bottom. ( If you don't have a blog you can either post a comment, letting everyone know what you think about the book or sent me an email with your review) * Sep first starts on a Wednesday so you can start your first book on Sunday the 29th if you want.

•At the end of each week a giveaway will be posted. That's 5 giveaways!! The only thing you have to do to enter is, link your review on that weeks Mr. Linky. Plus get an extra entry if you add the September Spectacular button to your post or sidebar! (Open Internationally)*

So go sign-up and Happy Reading!

*The giveaway may be over at The Thoughts of a Book Junky! Just so you know.

So far my five picks will be:

Vicious Circle by Linda Robertson
Blameless by Gail Carriger
Hallowed Circle by Linda Robertson
Fatal Circle by Linda Robertson
Alpha by Rachel Vincent---I'm having high hopes that I can find a copy before October 1!

My list obviously will be subjected to change based on other books coming into me sooner than I expected, such as Alpha. Or three other books that I ordered/won that might come in the mail in time to partake in the reading event!

Review--Chosen by Jeanne Stein

IT'S BEEN ALMOST A YEAR SINCE BOUNTY HUNTER ANNA STRONG BECAME VAMPIRE, BUT AS SHE'S ABOUT TO DISCOVER, HER GREATEST POWERS HAVE YET TO BE UNLEASHED...

Though Anna has become accustomed to the fact that she's now vampire, she still enjoys the illusion of being human. So when she suddenly notices that her primitive urges are getting harder to control, she's worried. Then she's attacked, narrowly escaping with her life. The only person with enough motive to want her dead is her old foe--Warren Williams. But another, more dangerous enemy lies in wait.

What Anna doesn't know is that she's far too valuable to kill. For she's been chosen to shape the destiny of the vampire race--and of all mankind...

Whoa! Finished Jeanne Stein's Chosen a few hours ago--took a break to see if I could track down a copy of Blameless, but had no luck! The stores said maybe later this week if not next week!! Ugh! Moving on--and it was amazing!

As the BOC tells you Anna has been a vampire for a year now. Close to it anyway and there is a prophecy describing The Chosen One--yes, capitalized! And vampires, like Warren Williams and a few newbies you'll meet, believe this is Anna.

But Anna doesn't think so. Why her? She questions the whole destiny thing and doesn't really buy into it all that much. But then she's attacked in her driveway when coming home one night and escapes remotely unscathed. Luckily, Lance is there for her, both for the emotional and physical needs. Their relationship gets a little more intense in the beginning. Lance even offers to take Anna away for awhile to one of his houses. To get away from it all and shake off the effects of her attempted murder. And of course to bury the body of the attacker along the way. (Shouldn't be too much of a spoiler, since if Anna escapes a-would-be murder attempt, the murderer has to be eliminated somehow.)

Anna discovers a whole other side to Lance on this little vacation. She learns things, not all good either. Secrets unbound! Wow! I mean a lot of it shocked me. Some were minimal details about his past, but other things that pop up later on in the book are ultimately shocking!

There are other surprising developments that weren't the main attraction, but for some reason seem to hold promise for problems down the way for Anna. New characters, we'll say. I don't want to get into it too much in case they're a little too spoilery for you. But it doesn't really effect the plot.

Frey even returns to help Anna out with her predicament. Which it's hard to remember which predicament it was that led to his involvement. Poor Anna has quite a bit of action and trouble going on in the book.

There was a bit of romance here and there between Anna and Lance. Not a whole lot, but enough to keep you contained if you like the romance aspects of Urban Fantasy which doesn't tend to have a whole lot, one of the reasons why I like it so much. A little more action than romance, but still some romantic elements.

Overall it was GREAT read! The ending was spectacular! Wish I could say more than that, but I can't. Really looking forward to the next Anna Strong book, which likely won't be til next year, but still this was a GREAT read and the ending while tying up the main story arc still left room for more problems for Anna down the road. So you already know there should be a few more books down the way. I can't recall how many Jeanne said there would be, but I do believe she has an end to Anna's story somewhere down the line. Hopefully not too soon!

My rating is definitely 5/5 stars! While these may be quick reads for me, there is still so much action and details that make it hard to put down. One of the reasons why it is a quick read!

Now I have to search my TBR pile for a read since I was unsuccessful in my quest for Blameless.

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly blog post by MizB over at Should Be Reading.

Almost finished with Chosen! It's really GREAT so far! My review will be up sometime before the end of the day. Have to find the time to stop reading my next read and write my review!

Anyway here are:

The Rules:
1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a page
3. Pick out 2 lines that are SPOILER free
4. Name the title, author, etc.

"For a minute I stare at him, uncomprehending. The animal disappears when the human Anna grasps what she's seeing. My stomach lurches. What have I done?" p 67.

TITLE: Chosen
AUTHOR: Jeanne Stein
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: August 31, 2010

Review--Hunted by the Others

They are the Others--the vampires, mages, and werewolves once thought to exist only in our imaginations. Now they're steeping out of the shadows, and nothing in our world will ever be the same again.

IN A TOWN LIKE THIS, BEING A P.I. CAN BE MURDER.

Shiarra Waynest's detective work was dangerous enough when her client base was strictly mortal. But ailing finances have forced her to to accept a lucrative case that could save her firm--if it doesn't kill her first. Shiarra has signed on to work for a high-level mage to recover an ancient artifact owned by one of New York's most powerful vampires.

As soon as Shiarra meets sexy, mesmerizing vamp Alec Royce, she knows her assignment is even more complicated than she thought. With a clandestine anti-Other group trying to recruit her, and magi being eliminated, Shiarra needs back-up and enlists her ex-boyfriend--a werewolf whose non-furry form is disarmingly appealing--and a nerdy mage with surprising talents. But it may not be enough. In a city where the undead roam, magic rules, and even the Others aren't always what they seem, Shiarra has just become the secret weapon in a battle between good and evil--whether she likes it or not...

Lately I've been picking up new to me authors and new authors just in general. Gotta support the newbies you know, I'll be one soon someday too! I hope!

Anyway, I just finished Hunted by the Others by Jess Haines and it was fantastic! I loved it from beginning to end! It was a rather fast read too, despite having to work and still work this weekend. I found myself addicted to reading, not wanting to stop at all!

The book was pretty fast paced, but in a good way. The action just kept on going and going. There was hardly ever a dull moment! Even when Shiarra must take a "break" from the going ons--murders and trying to find the focus--she still attends her brother's birthday part at her parents' house. And who does she find when she walks in the door? Why none other than her ex-boyfriend! That's when he steps into the picture as the BOC describes!

It was a rather comical moment almost, because she showed up with her new mage friend, and yeah, the mage is a guy. So that presented some good dialogue and whatnot!

Shiarra was a great character too. She was flawed but still good. There is a prejudice amongst the humans and the Others. The Others are the supernaturals and not everyone likes them, some even want them dead, such as the White Hats. They are the ones trying to recruit Shiarra as well and they are a persistent bunch and deadly scary too, despite being just humans. I liked the Shiarra was s slightly flawed, she couldn't help not being a big fan of the Others, but she does learn more about them and tries to overcome this prejudice. *Hope that's not too spoilery, it doesn't really feel like it is.

Other characters that were great were Sara, Shiarra's best friend and partner in her P.I. business. Sara was a great friend and witty too. She would say the most unexpected things, yet you know you were possibly thinking of them too. Chaz, her ex, was a great character too, even though we don't see too much of him. We learn more about him a little bit when he talks to her, getting his side to their breakup. Arnold, her new found mage friend was great too! He was basically the image of a computer/video game geek, but he was still rather intelligent and proved to be a good friend in the thick of things.

Alec was an interesting character too. He was the vampire Shiarra had to work with in some ways and he was very mysterious and intriguing. There is more to his character development but it would lead to spoilers, so I will have to stop there.

There was a little bit of romance too. Not a whole lot, so this book was really great to me! There was romantic tension quite a bit in the ending half, but this definitely wasn't a romance kind of book!

The ending was great too. The mystery/crime is solved and resolved. There are a few loose-ends here and there but nothing over the top. One thing, I did guess at, because there was a little hint. But one of the other BIG things, I sort of guessed but then dismissed happened at the end too and it was still a shocker!

Overall a fantastically GREAT read! I give it 5/5 stars!

This is definitely a book you ought to check out, it has a lot to it, vamps, Weres, mages! Looking forward to the next book in the series Taken by the Others which comes out January 4, 2011!