The fight against darkness rages on for the next generation—in New York Times bestselling author Keri Arthur’s exciting new series set in the world
of the Guardians.

Being half werewolf and half Aedh, Risa Jones can
enter the twilight realms between life and death and see the reapers,
supernatural beings that collect the souls of the dead. But she soon makes a
terrifying discovery: Some sinister force is stealing souls, preventing the dead
from ever knowing the afterlife.

Reapers escort souls—not snatch them—but Risa is still unnerved when a reaper shadows her in search of someone Risa has never met: her own father, an Aedh priest, who is rumored to be tampering with the gates of hell for a dark purpose. With the help of her “aunt”—half-werewolf, half-vampire Riley Jenson—and an Aedh named Lucian who may have lost his wings but none of his sex appeal, Risa must pursue whatever shadowy practitioner of blood magic is seizing souls, and somehow stop her father . . . before all hell breaks loose.

Ok so those of you that know me, know that Keri Arthur is on my all time favorites list. I seem to be one of the few who was happy with the ending of the Riley Jensen series. Was I concerned about the start of a new series? Hell no!!!  No matter which series you read, Keri’s voice comes over loud and strong.  Her world and character building is second to none.  This is an author who knows her craft and knows it well.

Risa is set in the same universe/world as the Riley Jensen series but fast forward 20 odd years. The glimpses of Risa in the Riley books come to life in a grown up feisty young adult.

After leading a somewhat more subdued younger life than Riley, Risa is suddenly the focus of some supernatural groups who are searching for her father and see her as the way to reach him.  Only problem is Risa has never seen her father much let met him.  Some of these groups at the moment are prepared to ask for her help, or at this point in time, hover around in case “dear old dad” turns up while other groups  are trying to be a little bit more proactive by kiddnapping and torturing Risa in the hope that she will reveal what she doesn’t know or that her father will come to her rescue.

I want to know more about Risa’s back story.  There are so many little hints throughout the book that it was tantalizingly frustrating .

All in all its no suprise that I loved this book. Its a world I fell in love with a long time ago and am more than happy to jump back in

So I’ve been following this series from the beginning. I have laughed and cried as well as stayed up late on more than one occasion just so I can find out what happens next. It will be hard not to give spoilers away but since the book has been released I’ll put a warning in now. THERE ARE SPOILERS FOLLOWING.

I liked that Gin failed in some of her attempts in this book. It really added a dimension to the character. No more was the hero always getting the villain. There was honesty in this. It built the tension and also made the character vulnerable and able to look outside herself and recognise that she has support that is there not because they want something from her but that they care.

Unlike a lot of other reviewers, I don’t mind the information from previous books scattered throughout. I read so many books that it nice to not spend most of the book trying to remember what happened in the last ones. One of my big bug bears about urban fantasy and why I turn away from so many series it that they no longer are believable.  This book has yet to fail me and I am still well and truly stuck to this series. There is progression and growth in every book.

1. Books You want to read – Now the books that fallinto this category for me are : current book in a series I’m addicted to.  If it the ending of the series, this makes it even more so.
2.  Books you have to read. -This includes textbooks (blah), recipes books(if you cook) how to books or books you receive to review
3.  Books that jump out and bite you – The covers suck you in, the blurb makes your heart race, you keep hearing about the book and figure you better read it before you go mad.
4.  Then there’s the books you didn’t know you had to read until you read them.

Now this is just my way of sorting them in my head.  How do you sort your books?

Halloween is a bad time to return to the woods… Madeline MacFadden (“Mad Mac” to fans of her bestselling magical stories) spent blissful childhood summers in Ticonderoga Falls. And this is where she wants to be now that her adult life is falling apart. The dense surrounding forest holds many memories, some joyous, some tantalizingly only half-remembered. And she’s always believed there was something living in these wooded hills. But Maddie doesn’t remember the dark parts—and knows nothing of the mountain legend that holds the area’s terrified residents captive. She has no recollection of Ash, the strange and magnificent creature who once saved her life as a child, even though it is the destiny of his kind to prey upon humanity. And soon it will be the Harvest…the time to feast. Once again Maddie’s dreams—and her soul—are in grave danger. But magic runs deep during Harvest. Even a spinner of enchanted tales has wondrous powers of her own…

The attention to detail that this book starts with draws you in. From the first sentences, you start to try and work out who and what a “Darkwing” is. Just when you think you have them pegged and that you might get more than a glimpse, the chapter ends and the next chapter is from someone else’s view point. In some books that I have read that use this type of storytelling, I have got lost and given up before even halfway through but Ms Destefano manages to balance all her characters out so that there is no jarring effect and that the chapters flow seamlessly. I really liked the way that the bits and pieces of vampiric lore were sprinkled throughout the novel. Some of them as we have always believed i.e. that they need to be invited to be able to cross your threshold while others have been tweaked slightly. They don’t drink blood but they harvest dreams. This book firmly falls slap in the middle of the urban fantasy genre. The elements come together in bit and pieces to reveal the final picture in the last couple of chapters. It is a story of letting go and embracing. A story that reminds you to never stop dreaming A first class read

The Scent of Shadows (2007)

When she was sixteen, Joanna Archer was brutally assaulted and left to die in the Nevada desert.

By rights, she should be dead.

Now a photographer by day, she prowls a different Las Vegas after sunset—a grim, secret Sin City where Light battles Shadow—seeking answers to whom or what she really is . . . and revenge for the horrors she was forced to endure.

But the nightmare is just beginning—for the demons are hunting Joanna, and the powerful shadows want her for their own . . .

The Taste of Night (2007)

Joanna Archer has discovered the truth about her mysterious heritage to become a fully–fledged member of the supernatural Zodiac force, the Archer.

Even as a mortal, Joanna Archer was nobody’s idea of a victim. But now, infused with the power to alter the supernatural battle between Shadow and Light forever, what she’s become is a target. And when a toxic virus invades the valley, so do all of her allies. It’s up to Joanna to find the cure that will save them all, but in order to do so she’ll have to embrace her Shadow side … even if it leaves her with nowhere to hide in an all–out battle with the demons of her past.

The Touch of Twilight (2008)

On the surface she’s a sexy, sophisticated socialite, at home among the beautiful people of the Las Vegasupper crust. But Joanna Archer inhabits another world: a place ordinary humans cannot see . . . a dangerous dimension where an eternal battle rages between the agents of Light and Shadow. And Joanna is both.

Stalked by an enigmatic doppelganger from a preternatural realm, Joanna can feel the Light failing – which is propelling her toward a terrifying confrontation with the ultimate master of evil, the dark lord of Shadow: her father.

Vegas is all about winning big . . . or losing everything. To save her friends, her future, her worlds, Joanna Archer must gamble it all by fully embracing the darkness inside her.

City of Souls (2009)

In SinCity, a little girl suffers from a strange and terrible malady. If she dies, the Light will die along with her.

Warrior, avenger, Joanna Archer has survived countless otherworldly terrors – and has found her rightful place among the agents battling the all-pervasive evil of Shadow . . . even as she struggles against the darkness within herself.

A war is raging forLas Vegas – a city without a heart – one that catapults Joanna into a new world hidden from mortal sight. In this lethally seductive alternate dimension the lines blur between good and evil, love and hate, and here lies the last hope for the Light. But Joanna’s price of admission is a piece of her own soul – and the odds of her escaping are slim . . . to none.

Cheat the Grave (2010)

Las Vegassocialite and otherwordly avenger Joanna Archer gave up everything when she embraced mortality – abandoning her powers and altering her destiny to save a child . . . and a city. Now her former allies are her enemies – and her enemies have nothing to fear.

Yet still she is bound to a prophecy that condemns her to roam a nightmare landscape that ordinary humans cannot see and dare not enter. And a beast is on her trail – an insane killer blinded by bloodlust, who’s determined to rip much more from Joanna than merely her now-fragile life. Survival is no longer an option in this dark realm where good and evil have blurred into confusing shades of gray – unless she can gather together an army of onetime foes and destroy everything she once believed in.

The Neon Graveyard coming June 2011

Celeste Jackson has fought all her life against a fog of hallucination and substance abuse, but it’s not until she meets her protector, Azrael, an angel who has left the safety of the Light, that she learns of the evil forces that have been trying to ruin her, and why. A fierce battle for control of the mortal realm is brewing, and only Celeste—with the help of the Remnant, her half-human, half-angel brethren—can stand in the way. Together, Celeste and Azrael must gather an army of sensitives to defeat the dark powers that have ruled humanity for centuries, but time is running out. If Azrael surrenders to his growing desire for Celeste, he risks being trapped among humanity forever. But the longer he stays, the harder she is to resist. To save the world, Celeste must draw on her own dark experiences with addiction to help Azrael overcome the one temptation that could possibly make him an eternal prisoner—his obsession with her.

There are books you want to read, the latest instalment of a series you are reading, there are books you have to read, Catcher in the Rye anyone?, and then there are books like this one that you don’t realise you need to read until you start.

The jarring reality that MS Banks sets between Heaven and Earth as well as the fight between Angels and demons is compelling.  Ms Banks takes mythology and explains it in ways that make you no longer fear.  I haven’t read many books in the new trend of Angels but I have to say that this book definitely left me wanting more.  There was no clash with the ideals I was brought up on as well as no corruption of these same ideals.

Celeste could be any one of us.  We have all been beaten down at some point in our life and the way that Azrael doesn’t come to save her but to protect her on her journey shows that with support, we can overcome anything.  There is balance between the characters of light and dark with neither side overpowering the other. Both are explained in rich colourful detail.

I know some people will find the level of detail to be too much but you can’t write a book like this and leave it out.  To do so would be leaving the reader confused and just a little bit lost.  I also enjoyed how that Celeste isn’t a blonde Barbie with nothing to offer but her looks.  We need to remember that the African American society is rich in colour and history as well as that the African American women have always been strong.

MS Banks, when is the next book out?

Sorry its taken so long to announce the first winner.  My internet at home crashed 3 days ago.

The first winer is ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,: Camille.  Becuase we aren’t sure where you live, could you please send me an email at : belles74@hotmail.com.

Once we have figured out whether you are an Aussie or US resident, we can then do the next drawing.

HUgs

Bek

We have Colton, a Marine. Cowboy, loving son and father who finds it near impossible to get past his flashbacks.  Then we have Piper who has lost a brother to the cause and whose father has put her in a position of great risk.

This book is about learning to trust again.  About learning that the biggest threat isn’t always an external one but the secrets we internalise trying to stop them doing harm.

There is a lot of action going on in this book.  The only thing that disappointed me was the death of a secondary character was somewhat glossed over.  I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the next book in the series Wolfsbane

Its wonderful to have her drop by to promote the latest installment of Cesca’s world in :

Always The Vampire

It’s not easy being a dutiful maid of honor when you’re a vampire in the Sunshine State…

Cesca Marinelli has been slacking on her duties as a vampire princess, but she will be the best maid of honor ever for Maggie’s Victorian wedding. However, when her mostly-human honey, Saber, falls ill due to a magical construct called the Void, she knows she’ll have to go beyond the call of bridesmaid duty…

The Void is affecting every supernatural being in Cesca’s afterlife, including her shapeshifter ex, Triton. To counter the Void’s reign of terror, Cesca must fully summon her vampire powers-which may lead to her own doom.

What a Character!

I’m SO thrilled to be here in Australia with Bek for the launch of my new book, Always The Vampire! Okay, so I’m not physically in Australia enjoying fall weather, but I’m there in spirit!

Here’s something you might not know about me. I never intended to write a vampire book. Why not? Simply because there were so many marvelous authors writing amazing vampire books! Nope, I was happily working on the first book in a cozy mystery series … until the fateful day I saw a certain Jif Peanut Butter commercial. That’s when the vampire bug bit me.

The TV commercial entitled Sleepover (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05ErnE93sNU for a short clip) features two 5 to 6 year-old girls. The little sleepover hostess attempts to put her guest at ease by suggesting things they can do. At one point, the hostess says something like, “We can play Crazy Eights or we can watch this Princess Vampire tape.”

Folks, I about snorted coffee out of my nose! I knew I hadn’t heard the line correctly. I knew vampire anything wouldn’t be in such a commercial. But that’s what I heard and I couldn’t stop laughing!

Then I started thinking. If there were a real Princess Vampire video for six-year-olds, what kind of character would the princess be? A Disney-pretty princess with tiny fangs who rides a unicorn to do battle with an evil witch? A Romanian princess who, abducted as a baby, grows up a waif until she saves her natural parents from a carriage accident and the family is reunited? Or, hmmm. What if the Princess Vampire was a grown-up and a character in a romance?

Though I set the Princess Vampire concept firmly on the back burner of my brain and returned to my cozy mystery, the emerging character wouldn’t go away. She resurfaced in quiet moments to show me snippets of her life, both vampire and pre-vampire, and I jotted notes on every scrap of paper handy. Eventually, she took over my dreams, and I had no choice but to put the vampire character front and center.

Most authors I know say that writing characters is like getting to know new friends, and they are right! During the early stages of developing Francesca “Cesca” Marinelli, I’d walk the streets of historic downtownSt. Augustine,FLto see the city – past and present – through Cesca’s eyes. I took Cesca shopping to discover her tastes, and to dip into her memories of shopping inSt. Augustineof the 1700s. Soon she took on a life – or afterlife – of her own. So much so, that Cesca has her own treasures.

This retro shaped clock is the first item Cesca bought (with my credit card).  

And here is the statue that reminds Cesca of her wizard pal, Cosmil. (Okay, it’s a stretch, but Cesca’s into “ocean” anything.)

Cesca loves dolphins, and her human-dolphin shifter friend, Triton.

This is round wall piece is a stepping stone relief made by a local St. Augustine artist, and is one of Cesca’s most recent prizes. (Still not a likeness of Cosmil, but it’s so unique!) 

   Thank you so much for joining Bek and me for launch day of Always The Vampire! It’s an honor to have you visit, and please drop by one of my cyber locations page any ‘ole time.

Website: www.nancyhaddock.com

Newsletter: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Nancy_Haddock_Books/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nancy-Haddock/86984510891

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 I wish you a marvelous, merry month of May!

 Oh, oh, and that Jif commercial? The real princess line is “Princess Moon Fire.” If you watch the YouTube clip and pause it at just the right time, you’ll be able to read the title on the video label.

Now to celebrate Nancy dropping by, its your turn to join in.  To celebrate the release of Always the Vampire, let us know what inspires you and the winner(s), one from the US and one from Australia will receive a copy of Living La Vida Vampire, Last Vampire Standing and Always the Vampire.

It’s not easy being a dutiful maid of honor when you’re a vampire in the Sunshine State…

Cesca Marinelli has been slacking on her duties as a vampire princess, but she will be the best maid of honor ever for Maggie’s Victorian wedding. However, when her mostly-human honey, Saber, falls ill due to a magical construct called the Void, she knows she’ll have to go beyond the call of bridesmaid duty…

The Void is affecting every supernatural being in Cesca’s afterlife, including her shapeshifter ex, Triton. To counter the Void’s reign of terror, Cesca must fully summon her vampire powers-which may lead to her own doom.

I’ve been hanging out for this book since the end of Last Vampire Standing.  As soon as it arrived on my doorstep, I dropped everything I was doing to read it. Just opening the first page and starting to read was like walking into an old friend’s house and continuing the last conversation you were having.  This book is darker than the previous two; the Void has become more of a malicious entity rather than a nameless black mass.  The void is attacking those supernatural/preternatural beings that Cesca holds dear. However in this instalment we find out just who and what controls the Void

I loved how Ms Haddock added the light and shade to this book.  The phrase that kept jumping into mind was “it’s the intent of the person holding it that makes an item either work for good or evil”.  Cesca comes into her powers and instead of them changing her into something she feared, they stabilise and centre her.

Yes Cesca could be put in the class of “save the world” heroine’s however don’t read into this as meaning that there is a political heaviness to this book.  All the characters complement each other with each having different strengths and weaknesses.  Cesca is the lead character but doesn’t overpower the reader or the other characters.  I loved the relationship between her and Saber as well as the sibling like relationship she has with Triton.

We get the chance to finish the journey started in La Vida Vampire. Ms Haddock has written three wonderfully crafted suspense/mysteries while not making them dark or dangerous.  They are light and refreshing with genuine emotion.