📚Featuring A Descendant of Morgan LeFey. Rosie’s #Bookreview Of #UrbanFantasy An Inheritance Of Curses by Dee. J. Holmes

An Inheritance of Curses by Dee J. Holmes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An Inheritance Of Curses is book one of The Four Houses series of urban fantasy tales. Here the four houses are represented by fae, vampires, werewolves and witches.

The story opens with Rose LeFey, witch descendent from the renowned Morgan LeFey, who has been asked to check in with her estranged aunt. There is no sign of her aunt, but Rose discovers horrors in the basement: an iron cage with two fae, a vampire staked to a wooden table and a werewolf held by silver chains.

This is not all. The small town is eerily silent, its inhabitants held captive and sleeping by strong magic, a dark magic Rose had vowed to turn her back on. Faced with lethal warriors and a town to save, Rose must trust that her own strength is greater than that of her inherited magic.

I liked the complexity of four paranormal societies working together, while the setting and story theme were very believable. The pages were filled with magical spells and old family threads. In places the pace slowed, but as the story continued I was keen to keep reading, and have already bought book two. Although the main elements of this story conclude in book one, there were enough interesting loose ends to carry the characters forward to book two. The denouement is more like a soft cliff-hanger than an abrupt and jarring one that can leave the reader frustrated.

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Book description:

Driven by a lust for powerful blood, the first LeFey plunged the Four Houses of Magic into a century of conflict. Survivors of the Great War, desperate to repair their tattered worlds, signed a treaty banning any contact between the Houses of fae, werewolf, vampire and witch. And for over a thousand years that treaty has held strong…

Haunted by the dark talents she once embraced, Rose LeFey is determined to confront her manipulative aunt and prove she’s finished with blood magic. Instead, she finds a basement full of prisoners and a false-mate bond with an insanely attractive, and utterly forbidden, werewolf.

As lust tears into her hard-earned self-control, Rose realizes the werewolf was bait. Her aunt wants to unleash war on the magical Houses and humans alike—with Rose at her side. To stop that from happening, Rose must deny both her own deadly powers and the temptation to turn the false mate-bond real.

AmazonUK | AmazonUS

Rosie’s #Bookreview Team #RBRT WHEN DARKNESS FALLS by @ChauvetEllen #ParanormalRomance

Today’s second team review is from Shelley, she blogs at http://shelleywilsonauthor.com/

Shelley has been reading When Darkness Falls by Ellen Chauvet

As a fan of paranormal romance, and in particular, vampires, I was looking forward to reading When Darkness Falls.

The plot idea is great – the fight between good and evil is always a popular theme, as we can see by the thousands of books that dominate this genre. Finding an original take on vampire fiction and paranormal romance is a tough task. For me, this book didn’t quite deliver.

What let the book down were things like monotone descriptions of the mundane, such as shopping for a purple jumper, a scene that went on for pages but didn’t drive the story forward in any way. I didn’t connect with the characters very well, they begged for deeper descriptions which could be used to create memorable pictures in my head.

The lead figure Lexie, is a vampire executioner, granted, she is new to the gig, but one minute she’s getting into her groove and the next she’s swooning or worrying about her random (and swiftly changeable) emotions towards every man in the vicinity, rather than being an intense, sassy, brutal persona, it leaves the reader confused.

Many paranormal romance, books have reasonably explicit sex scenes, I know the author was trying to make her mark in this genre, however, the sexual encounters in this book were clumsy and hugely untasteful. It almost felt like the author was attempting to fit as many sexually explicit words into a sentence as possible.

Sadly for me, the reading experience didn’t live up to the expectations I felt when reading the book blurb. Paranormal romance is a saturated genre in the book market and this book needs a bit more TLC to get it ready to compete.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

THE VAMPIRES NEXT DOOR by @ElleKlass #YA #Paranormal #Bookreview

The Vampires Next Door by Elle Klass
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Vampires Next Door is book #1 in The Bloodseeker Series of YA Paranormal books. It opens with a prologue set in St Augustine, Florida 1823. A young girl is rescued by ghostly apparitions, given a protective amulet and informed she is a Slayer.

Present day, sixteen year old Alison is home alone in her apartment she shares with her Mom. Neighbours are having a loud party and she reports their unsocial behaviour. Nearby, Rodham has disturbing visions of Vampires and can zone in his telepathic abilities to communicate with Alison.

A quick friendship forms between Rodham and Alison and they agree the neighbours show all the signs of being Vampires, Alison, an avid bookworm knows all about such creatures from her vast reading experience. Concerned about missing policemen, they sneak into the neighbour’s flat looking for bodies, but discover a strange glowing amulet which speaks to Rodham.

An old book which came with the amulet informs them about Slayers and Bloodseekers and they find themselves in a real life paranormal world. Alison’s Gran arrives for a visit, but soon reveals she too is a Slayer. Bloodseekers, once crushed are again becoming strong and seven magical Slayers must join to defeat them once more.

A quick, light, easy read, I felt this book was let down by poor editing, including using dialogue for info dumping, over use of adjectives and places where I felt the plot jumped and I was left flailing trying to work out where people or events had come from.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Moon Bayou by J.R Rain #Paranormal #Fantasy @jr_rain @CuriosityQuills

Moon Bayou by J.R. Rain
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Moon Bayou is a paranormal fantasy featuring vampires, werewolves and the voodoo culture around New Orleans. This book follows the already popular Samantha Moon series. Samantha is a Private Investigator and lives in California, but she’s been asked to investigate the disappearance of Wendy Lo. Missing for six months, her parents are desperate for any news.

Samantha is an unusual investigator in that she is a vampire, with mind reading skills, plus she can go out in the sunlight, due to some fancy rings she wears. However New Orleans has an uncomfortable atmosphere which she can’t put her finger on. More curious is the warning she receives from a friend about a blood price on her head, set in 1860. A ridiculous statement since Sam wasn’t around then, or is it?

When she’s captured by the Tête de Mort Krewe and help comes from friends she doesn’t remember, Sam has more questions than answers. It looks like Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau is the one she must turn to, but contacting her on the night of their most powerful ceremony has life changing results.

I loved this story, I have read the first Samantha Moon book , which reminds me I need to catch up with this series. The storyline was fast and full of surprises. I wanted to howl like a werewolf when the book ended, I wanted more!

This review is based on a free copy of the book from Curiosity Quills

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Would You BUY or PASS? #FridayFiveChallenge – Relentless by Karen Lynch

Welcome to my Friday Five Challenge

 

Get yourself a cuppa and give yourself 5 minutes.

In today’s online shopping age, readers often base their buying decisions from small postage stamp size book covers (Thumb-nails), a quick glance at the book description and the review. How much time do they really spend making that buying decision?

AUTHORS – You often only have seconds to get a reader to buy your book, is your book cover and book bio up to it?

My Friday Five Challenge is this….. IN ONLY FIVE MINUTES….

1) Go to any online book supplier,

2) Randomly choose a category,

3) Speed through the book covers, choose one which has instantly appealed to your eye,

4) Read the book Bio/ Description for this book,

5) If there are reviews, check out a couple,

6) Make an instant decision, would you BUY or PASS?

Here goes… This week my chosen category is YOUNG ADULT FANTASY

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

This is a hugely competitive category and this book caught my eye because years a go I went to school with a girl who shares the author’s name.

Price; Free on kindle

Book Description

Sara Grey’s world shattered ten years ago when her father was brutally murdered. Now at seventeen, she is still haunted by memories of that day and driven by the need to understand why it happened. She lives a life full of secrets and her family and friends have no idea of the supernatural world she is immersed in or of Sara’s own very powerful gift.

In her quest for answers about her father’s death, Sara takes risks that expose her and her friends to danger and puts herself into the sights of a sadistic vampire. On the same fateful night she meets Nikolas, a warrior who turns Sara’s world upside down and is determined to protect her even if it’s the last thing she wants.

Sara’s life starts to spin out of control as she is hunted by an obsessed vampire, learns that her friends have secrets of their own and reels from the truth about her own ancestry. Sara has always been fiercely independent but in order to survive now she must open herself to others, to reveal her deepest secrets. And she must learn to trust the one person capable of breaking down the walls around her.

Number of pages; 288

Reviews; 107 on Amazon .co.uk and 731 on Amazon.com

Would I BUY or PASS?…… BUY

Analysis

The YA (Young Adult) market is huge, these are the booklovers of today and tomorrow and of years to come, so there is a huge choice of books with really eye catching covers and book titles to match. My choice was vast, this is one of my favourite categories at the moment so my hand was hovering over SO many books. In the end I let my inner child do the choosing and we chose a book by a “name” we knew from my childhood. No this isn’t the same person and I don’t think I’ve read any books by this author before.

So back to the book, the cover is dramatic and intriguing, the title easy to remember. It is book 1 so there may be a cliff hanger. The plot looked a popular mix of vampires and teenagers coming into their supernatural gifts, but hey it’s a popular theme.

I was stunned by the number of reviews this has especially from Amazon.com 557 of the 731 are 5* so it must be good.

If I wasn’t hovering over the BUY button already I certainly was when I saw it was for free – a good sales tactic for this market when you bring out more books in the series.

So there you are, it’s sitting on my kindle now awaiting review.

I’ll be back next week with another Friday Five Challenge, do feel free to join in.

Rosie’s Book Review Team #RBRT Judith reviews Death In The Family by Helen Treharne

Today’s book review comes from team member Judith, she blogs at http://judithbarrowblog.com/

Judith chose to read and review Death In The Family by Helen Treharne

Yet again I’ve found myself reading a genre that is not my usual cup of tea. But, before I continue I have to say how much I enjoyed this book; it exceeded my expectations. Helen Treharne’s writing is so powerful and evocative, any reservations I had were swept away. The story is contemporary, the protagonist, Sophie Morgan, exists within what I call the ‘normal world’, with all the trappings of an everyday life. Except that she lives with the knowledge that vampires are omnipresent and unstoppable.
I always try to write reviews by setting out the techniques of the book that I enjoyed, so I won’t give away any spoilers.
Sophie, is a well-rounded, believable character; easy for the reader to empathise with. Indeed, the author brings all the characters, Kasper, her father, Mickey Kelly, her erstwhile lover, Charles Ferrers, the adversary, Margeaux Renard, self-appointed matriarch, to life with subtlety and foreshadowing. And the various points of view, shown through the omniscient narrator, works well.
At one point, through the author’s description of the Welsh town, Bethel, alongside that of the village of Bethesda, I had an immediate sense of place. I was instantly there. The internal dialogue of the protagonist that follows is an example of the clever intertwining of the horror and tension and the humour; “Why a vampire had decided to rock up there, heaven alone knew”. And this was one of the reasons I enjoyed this novel.
That and the fact that the plot is interesting (little spoiler here:- there is a mystery about an ancient manuscript) with twists and turns
Death in the Family is the sequel to Relative Strangers. But it is also a stand-alone book. I didn’t feel that I had missed out or was confused by any of the action.
I thought this book was perhaps one I might struggle with. I was wrong. And I would certainly recommend this book and Helen Treharne as an author.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Rosie’s Book Review Team #RBRT Karen reviews Death In The Family by Helen Treharne

Today’s book review comes from Karen, she blogs at https://mytrainofthoughtson.wordpress.com/

Karen chose to read and review Death In The Family by Helen Treharne

This time, you get to know more about Julie, Sophie Morgan’s mother. During a four-week trip to Copenhagen as an exchange student, she meets Kasper, the love of her life in a café, losing him soon after. I will not tell you more about the story than shown in the Goodreads plot description. This would spoil the fun of reading this book yourself.

With Death in the Family, Helen Treharne has created an intriguing sequel to the first book of the Sophie Morgan series. Death in the Family provides the readers with more insights in the family. It is an entertaining and gripping read with Sophie Morgan, the very likeable main character and interesting other important characters; some of them were introduced in Relative Strangers, some are new. Helen Treharne develops the story pleasantly – it has a great flow. Again, I was drawn into the story right away, was pretty close to all events. This second instalment is a worthy sequel to Relative Strangers. I love it when paranormal meets thriller. Death in the Family is a great read for paranormal and/or new adult fans. Also an interesting reads for those who read their fair share of vampire stories and appreciate a different angle.

This a book and/or series to read again. Recommended!

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Rosie’s Book Review Team #RBRT Judith reviews Bound by Blood by Margo Collins

Today’s review is from team member Judith, she blogs at http://judithbarrowblog.com/2015/

Judith chose to read and review Bound by Blood by Margo Bond Collins

My Rating 3 out of 5 stars

The cover of this novella is creepy; it says all that the reader needs to know about the genre. This is a horror story – vampires and all. I need to be honest here and admit this is not my kind of book but I chose to review it and so have read it as I would any other kind of genre.

I felt the story was more plot driven than character revealing. Although the protagonist, Lili,a doctor who works for the CDC, was portrayed as courageous and determined to do everything to save humanity, I still felt there was something lacking. Something that didn’t quite make her into a rounded character for me.

The descriptions of the virus in each scene were vivid. But I struggled to get a sense of place – of the hospital the story is set in.

The book’s strength is the dialogue. Sharp and to the point,  much of the back story of all three main characters, Lili,  Will, the doctor – colleague and ex lover, Harry Iverson – uncle of one of the children at the hospital and a detective, is revealed through their speech. And the internal dialogue of the protagonist shows the struggle she is experiencing against the virus.

When I finished my review I looked back on other reviews of BOUND by Blood, just to make sure I was being as fair as I could be. I have to say I am in the minority; there are readers who thoroughly enjoyed this novella. In one of them I read this sentence -“There are graphically violent situations in this book that involve children, so sensitive readers should steer clear”. So there we are – proof that I’m a sensitive soul.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Rosie’s Book Review Team #RBRT Karen reviews The Black Swan Inheritance by Marigold Dicer

Today we have a review from team member Karen she blogs at, https://mytrainofthoughtson.wordpress.com/

Karen has read and reviewed The Black Swan Inheritance by Marigold Dicer

The book introduces you to Anita, studying to become a doctor. A hot dream and a girls’ night out are only the beginning of events that will change her life forever.

With The Black Swan Inheritance, Marigold Deirdre Dicer has created an intriguing story of a young woman who learns that there is magic in the world, on the way becomes more confident and finds a way to get over her anxiety attacks. The Black Swan Inheritance is an entertaining and very gripping read with a very likeable main character. You can watch Anita grow, her instincts tell her most of the times who to trust. Power often leads to corruption; Anita wants to be a good person and to make the right decisions. Marigold Deirdre Dicer develops the story in an awesome way – it has a great flow. I was drawn into the story right away, was very close to Anita and all events. This first instalment is a very promising start of a series. I just have to read the next instalments! The Black Swan Inheritance is a great read for paranormal and/or new adult fans. Also an interesting reads for those who read their fair share of vampire stories, witches and urban fantasy in general.

This a book to read again. Highly recommended.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Rosie’s Book review Team #RBRT Karen reviews Relative Strangers by Helen Treharne

Today we have a book review from team member Karen, she blogs at http://mytrainofthoughtson.wordpress.com/

Karen chose to read and review Relative Strangers by Helen Treharne

My Opinion

The book introduces you to Sophie Morgan, 23. A trip to Belgium, destined to let her forget her broken up relationship, triggers some unanticipated events. I will not tell you more about the story than shown in the Goodreads plot description. This would spoil the fun of reading this book yourself.

With Relative Strangers, Helen Treharne has created an intriguing story of a young woman who learns how to defend herself – without losing herself and her values. Relative Strangers is an entertaining and gripping read with a very likeable main character. She meets new persons, her instincts tell her who to trust. Helen Treharne develops the story pleasantly – it has a good flow. I was drawn into the story right away, was pretty close to all events. This first instalment is a very promising start of a series. A minor issue: 6-7 not too relevant words are missing (at least in my version). Relative Strangers is a great read for paranormal and/or new adult fans. Also an interesting reads for those who read their fair share of vampire stories

This a book to read again. Recommended.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com