Tag Archives: genre: adult

Blog Tour Book Review: Deer in Headlights by Staci Hart (and giveaways!)

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Today I am the stop on the blog tour for DEER IN HEADLIGHTS by Staci Hart. The tour is hosted by Parajunkee Blog Tours.

deer in headlightsInfo:
Title: Deer in Headlights
Author: Staci Hart
Release Date: February 13, 2013
Publisher: Promise Socks Publishing
Source: Author/blog tour
Series? Good Gods #1
Genre: Adult, Romance, Paranormal, Mythology
Page Count: 166
Rating: [3/5 stars]

Summary:

What do the Greek gods do when they’re bored? Because they’re always bored, so humans are the perfect players in their games.

Aphrodite owns love; she hasn’t lost a competition on her turf in over three millennia. Apollo is on a mission to win. He’s counting on it to finally get the one woman he’s never been able to have. The two gods will choose their human players, and if Aphrodite can’t get them together before the clock runs out, Apollo will get his way. And Aphrodite couldn’t have that.

Lex and Dean are perfect for each other, they just don’t know it yet. Dean is a perpetual bachelor, and a brooding, beautiful rock star. Lex is always with a man, but she’ll never fully give herself up. Aphrodite has her work cut out for her, but if she can’t make it work, no one can.

The gods have their own drama. Apollo killed Aprhodite’s mortal love – they’ve got beef that’s been dragging on for thousands of years. Ares, the douchebag, is forever trying to pick a fight, and trying to get Aphrodite into bed. And Persephone, Aphrodite’s best friend, is the one person who Aphrodite shares everything with.

Follow the gods as they fight, laugh, cry, lose love, gain power, and make a mess with humans. (summary from goodreads)

My Review:
If you’re immortal, what do you do when you’re bored? That’s the question DEER IN HEADLIGHTS attempts to answer, showing the modern day lives of the Greek gods.

The first in a series, this book is really two stories in one. The first is the competition between Aphrodite and Apollo, the latest in thousands of years of such challenges. Each has a mortal hero — Aphrodite’s goal is to get the two humans to fall in love in two weeks, and Apollo’s is to keep them apart. Aphrodite and Apollo have a long, long history, and neither wants the other to win.

The second story in DEER IN HEADLIGHTS is the story of the gods’ humans. Lex, Dita’s human, is a girl afraid to get truly attached to any man, and Dean, Apollo’s champion, is the epitome of bad boy. Seriously. Dean’s the lead singer of a band, believes in one night stands, and is a magnet for chicks.

I was originally drawn to DEER IN HEADLIGHTS because of the cover, which is quite different from what you usually see, but the stories and characters inside kept me reading. The narrative bounces back and forth between the gods and the humans, and between the gods’ past and present lives. Sometimes I had to reread a page or two to figure out what was going on, but on the whole, the author did a good job of keeping all the different plotlines easy to follow. I always like to see new twists on Greek mythology.

I wanted to root for both Aphrodite and Apollo. They both have excellent reasons for wanting to win, which you learn from the flashbacks. Their part of the book was the most interesting to me, and I would have liked to see more of them and the other gods in modern day. The romance between Dean and Lex was okay, but I just had more interest in the Greek gods.

DEER IN HEADLIGHTS is definitely not a book for younger readers. There are some explicit scenes, all of which were nicely descriptive without going overboard or being too flowery. One little thing that bugged me about the book was the use of nicknames — almost every character has one. There’s Dita for Aphrodite, Perry for Persephone, Heff for Hephaestus. The writing was pretty easy to read, with the exception of dialogue that sometimes felt over the top.

The two stories in DEER IN HEADLIGHTS are both resolved at the end, yet there’s an opening for the next book in the series, Good Gods. It sounds like the next book will feature Persephone and Ares, presumably with a competition between them. I’m curious to see what else the author has in mind.

Giveaways:

Tour Wide Giveaway:
US ONLY
5 signed copies of Deer in Headlights
2 $25 Amazon Gift cards

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog giveaway:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Socialize with the author:
Staci Hart:
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– leeanna

Book Review: Portrait of a Crossroads by Kelly Rand

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portrait of a crossroadsInfo:
Title: Portrait of a Crossroads
Author: Kelly Rand
Release Date: May 20, 2013
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Source: NetGalley/Riptide Publishing
Series? No
Genre: Adult, LGBT
Page Count: 40
Rating: [3/5 stars]

Summary:

Since finding her father’s body at the bottom of the basement stairs, Annette’s been drifting through her days, watching cars pass down the rural Ontario crossroads beside her house. Her brothers have no great ambitions, but Annette remembers a time when she did. She just can’t remember what they are.

Then she meets her neighbour, Sadie, a tattooed, world-weary, newly single portrait artist. Something about Sadie awakens something in Annette—the essence she captures in her subjects, perhaps, or the way the old familiar crossroads seem so fresh and promising from the view out Sadie’s window.

Annette begins to help Sadie, cleaning brushes and filing invoices between long lazy afternoons of conversations and shared silences. Soon, though, Annette wants more from her enigmatic neighbor, and their slowly heating friendship melts into passionate nights. Somewhere along the way, Annette discovers that her lover has illuminated for her, as with the people Sadie paints, not just her essence but her own endless worlds of possibilities. (summary from goodreads)

My Review:
PORTRAIT OF A CROSSROADS is a glimpse into the life of eighteen-year-old Annette. Living in a fog after the suicide of her father, Annette isn’t sure what to do with her life, or how to move forward. She’s basically sleepwalking through life, going through the motions.

But when she takes notice of the painter living next door, and starts to help Sadie, Annette slowly comes back to life. Sadie is gay, and the more time they spend together, the more Annette wonders what it would be like to be with her.

PORTRAIT OF A CROSSROADS is short, only 40 pages. It does what it needs to do in those pages: exploring Annette’s return to life. I would have liked more of Annette’s thoughts instead of so much description — the author describes almost everything, from the sound of trucks to decor to corn fields. Because the story is about Annette discovering herself and possibilities, I wanted to see more of that. But the basic messages are there: It’s okay to be attracted to women. It’s okay to not know what you’re doing. It’s okay to explore.

There’s a quote from Sadie that I really liked, when asked about her sexuality: “It’s not like I really decided. It’s just what evolved inside of me. And it’s not really as simple for me as one gender over the other. I don’t think it is for anyone. It’s about people, you know? Who you feel attracted to. It’s about that person you want to be around all the time, who you can’t stand to be away from (p. 24).”

This is definitely an adult story! There’s one explicit love scene (happily without flowery euphemisms), and references to sex between Annette and her ex-boyfriend. I appreciated that the author made those references realistic. Hint: he wasn’t good. Sadie was.

Lastly, the cover matches the story, which is always a plus for me. PORTRAIT OF A CROSSROADS is a good story, I just wish it wasn’t so short.

Socialize with the author:
Kelly Rand:
Website
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– leeanna

Book Review: Black Feathers (Black Dawn #1) by Joseph D’Lacey

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black feathersInfo:
Title: Black Feathers
Author: Joseph D’Lacey
Release Date: March 26, 2013
Publisher: Angry Robot
Source: Publisher
Series? Black Dawn #1
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic, Fantasy, Eco-Fantasy, Dark Fantasy
Extra: Author Interview
Page Count: 426
Rating: [5/5 stars]

Summary:

Black Feathers is a modern fantasy set in two epochs: the Black Dawn, a time of environmental apocalypse, and generations into the future in its aftermath, the Bright Day.

In each era, a child undertakes a perilous journey to find a dark messiah known as The Crowman. In their hands lies the fate of the planet as they attempt to discover whether The Crowman is our saviour… or the final incarnation of evil. (summary from goodreads)

My Review:

     “When the final days came, it was said that Satan walked the Earth in the guise of a crow. Those who feared him called him Scarecrow or sometimes Black Jack. I know him as the Crowman.

     [...]

     This you must understand: The Crowman is no more evil than you or I (p. 7, ARC).”

Thus starts BLACK FEATHERS by Joseph D’Lacey. A book that’s impossible to put into words — in a very good way. Who is the Crowman? Is he good or is he evil? Why is his story so important? Is he responsible for the Black Dawn, the environmental apocalypse? Or is he the savior of humankind?

Gordon Black is born at the dawn of the end of the world. When the Earth starts to change, with natural disasters, food shortages, and riots reshaping the landscape, Gordon is thrust into a life he’s not ready for. The only clues he has are the black bird feathers he’s collected his whole life, and letters from his parents telling him to find the Crowman.

Generations after the Black Dawn, a young girl named Megan Maurice is called upon by the Crowman to walk the Black Feathered Path. Megan lives in a world with no technology or electricity, and the journey she takes in learning the Crowman’s history is one that will test her in every way.

The stories of Gordon and Megan are woven together in BLACK FEATHERS, with the enigmatic figure of the Crowman connecting them across generations. Although both are teenagers at the start, I wouldn’t classify the book as Young Adult. Sure, it’s something teens should read, to get a new view into the post-apocalyptic genre. But take some caution — there are a few gritty, painful-to-read scenes, but they do serve a purpose and aren’t there for gratuitous violence.

Usually I prefer one character over another, but in this book, I liked Gordon and Megan equally. They both undergo a lot of trials on their respective journeys, and I’m curious to see what they will learn about themselves in the second book of the duology, THE BOOK OF THE CROWMAN (2014). As it is, they grow quite a bit between the start and finish of BLACK FEATHERS.

BLACK FEATHERS does start off slowly, but if you stick with it, the book is worth it. Give yourself an hour or so to get immersed in the story. The writing in the novel is descriptive, with lots of scene setting. Because the Earth is such an important part, most of it is set outside, in the woods and countryside. Something I like about Angry Robot as a publisher is that they don’t localize their books. So because this book is set in England and by a British author, they stuck with British English instead of Americanizing things. It provides some extra authenticity and adds to the feel of the book.

The ending of BLACK FEATHERS did leave me with a lot of questions, but I’m okay with that. At least I’ll only have to wait one year to find out the conclusion to the story. I’m very eager to learn more about Gordon and Megan, and to find out the truth about the Crowman. Throughout BLACK FEATHERS, you’re not sure if he’s good or bad. He’s this shadowy, mysterious figure — is he a just a story, or is he real? The way the book is written, it’s like you’re reading a legend or watching a prophecy unfold.

I had a difficult time figuring out just what to say about BLACK FEATHERS. In the end, all I can say is: Read it. If, like me, you feel like you’ve read every post-apocalyptic book out there, you haven’t. BLACK FEATHERS is something different, with a new take on the end of the world. In an interview I did with the author, he described it as “eco-fantasy,” which I think sums it up perfectly.

Socialize with the author:
Joseph D’Lacey:
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– leeanna

Blog Tour Book Review: Rogue Oracle (Delphic Oracle #2) by Alayna Williams

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Today I have two posts for you as part of the blog tour for the Delphic Oracle Series. by Alayna Williams. This is the second, a review of ROGUE ORACLE and a guest post by the author. The first post, a review of DARK ORACLE, is here. This tour is hosted by Bewitching Book Tours. You can check out the rest of the stops here.

rogue oracleInfo:
Title: Rogue Oracle
Author: Alayna Williams
Release Date: February 22, 2011
Publisher: Pocket Books
Source: Blog Tour
Series? Delphic Oracle #2
Series Reviews:
Delphic Oracle #1: Dark Oracle
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Thriller, Mystery
Page Count: 360
Rating: [3/5 stars]

Summary:

THE MORE YOU KNOW ABOUT THE FUTURE, THE MORE THERE MAY BE TO FEAR.

Tara Sheridan is the best criminal profiler around—and the most unconventional. Trained as a forensic psychologist, Tara also specializes in Tarot card reading. But she doesn’t need her divination skills to realize that the new assignment from her friend and sometime lover, Agent Harry Li, is a dangerous proposition in every way.

Former Cold War operatives, all linked to a top-secret operation tracking the disposal of nuclear weapons in Russia, are disappearing. There are no bodies, and no clues to their whereabouts. Harry suspects a conspiracy to sell arms to the highest bidder. The cards—and Tara’s increasingly ominous dreams—suggest something darker. Even as Tara sorts through her feelings for Harry and her fractured relationship with the mysterious order known as Delphi’s Daughters, a killer is growing more ruthless by the day. And a nightmare that began decades ago in Chernobyl will reach a terrifying endgame that not even Tara could have foreseen. . . (summary from goodreads)

My Review:

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR BOOK ONE, DARK ORACLE.

ROGUE ORACLE is the second book in the Delphic Oracle Series by Alayna Williams. It picks up a couple of months after the conclusion of DARK ORACLE. Mostly healed from the emotional wounds she suffered before the first book, Tara has returned to work as a profiler. She and Harry haven’t made much progress on their burgeoning relationship, and Tara’s main priority these days is protecting Cassie from the Pythia.

Tara is plunged right back into working for the government when Harry asks for help with a case. Tara’s not thrilled about being part of “The Little Shop of Horrors” again, but she is happy that she can try to do something for Harry. The case itself is intriguing — several ex Cold War intelligence operatives have gone missing. Their knowledge of uranium stockpiles is being sold, and there’s enough to lead to another Chernobyl.

There’s an interesting fusion of science and urban fantasy in ROGUE ORACLE. After reading it, I feel like I learned a lot about Chernobyl, and I liked that the author didn’t rely just on magic to flesh out her story. The bad guy in ROGUE ORACLE is a result of that blend of science and urban fantasy, and elements from both are used to catch him.

ROGUE ORACLE smooths out some of the rough spots I had with DARK ORACLE. The writing has matured. There’s not as many extraneous descriptions, and there’s less of a focus on the tarot card readings. As Tara relies on tarot cards to interpret events, they are a vital part. However, in the first book of the series, I felt like there was a lot of space devoted to describing each card and its significance. There isn’t as much of that in ROGUE ORACLE, yet the tarot cards remain just as important.

There are some scenes from Cassie’s viewpoint, which I really enjoyed. The scenes with Cassie and the Pythia expose more of the secret world of Delphi’s Daughters, and it’s a world I’d like to see even more of. There’s a moment near the end where I went, “Ohhh. That would be a big burden to handle.” Having characters that can see the future lets the reader consider if that future is set in stone, or if it can be changed. And if it can, should it be changed.

Yet again, there are some great characters in ROGUE ORACLE. My favorites this book were the Steves, a pair of federal marshals. They are quite the colorful duo, nicknamed the Kahuna and the Cowboy by Tara. They provide some comic relief, but they also shine in serious moments, and they help Cassie recover from a traumatic experience.

The main story of ROGUE ORACLE is tied up neatly at the end of the book. Currently, there isn’t a third book in the series, but I would like to read another.

Guest Post:
Writing Destiny and Free Will
By Alayna Williams

There’s something odd about writing about free will and destiny. When I’m building a story, I’m conscious that my characters really shouldn’t have much free will. After all, I’m the gal behind the curtain, directing a story and pulling the strings of my characters. They do what I want them to do…most of the time.

Sometimes, they surprise me. I think I know where I want to take them, and they rebel. They deliberately ignore the destiny I’ve scribbled down for them in my outline and decide to go on a road trip without me. Sometimes those scenes work, and sometimes they don’t. Trying to keep my characters harnessed to complete their mission is somewhat like herding cats. If I can get them from point A in chapter one to point Z in the final chapter, I feel like I’ve got things under control.

Weird things happen when I’m writing about characters who are grappling with destiny and free will in the plot line. It’s as if my internal processes become part of the external product. I have the sense that my characters are critters on an ant farm who have just become aware of a human tapping on the glass, and they’re not happy about being trapped and manipulated.

Tara Sheridan is the heroine of my ORACLE books. She’s a criminal profiler who uses Tarot cards to solve crimes, and also a former member of a secret society of mystics, Delphi’s Daughters. Delphi’s Daughters work behind the scenes to nudge world events, for good or ill, and Tara wants out of the game. When she’s teamed with her skeptical partner, federal agent Harry Li, Tara is forced to figure out where destiny ends in her world and free will begins.

It was an exciting concept to play with. Do Tara’s cards tell of possibilities, or a fixed destiny that can’t be changed? Is free will an illusion, and Tara and Harry are simply pawns in a larger pattern? Can they break free and restore order to their world?

These are questions my characters ask each other. Some of the answers are not what they want to hear. But they are questions the characters have muttered to me as I’m shoving them along their adventures with pen and paper…and it was a lot of fun to show the readers that process.

Socialize with the author:
Alayna Williams:
Website
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– leeanna

Blog Tour Book Review: Dark Oracle (Delphic Oracle #1) by Alayna Williams

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Today I have two posts for you as part of the blog tour for the Delphic Oracle Series. by Alayna Williams. This, the first, is a review of DARK ORACLE. The second will be a review of ROGUE ORACLE and a guest post by the author. This tour is hosted by Bewitching Book Tours. You can check out the rest of the stops here.

dark oracleInfo:
Title: Dark Oracle
Author: Alayna Williams
Release Date: May 25, 2010
Publisher: Pocket Books
Source: Blog tour
Series? Delphic Oracle #1
Series Reviews:
Delphic Oracle #2: Rogue Oracle
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Thriller, Mystery
Page Count: 336
Rating: [3/5 stars]

Summary:

TARA SHERIDAN HAS A GIFT . . . AND IT ALMOST KILLED HER.

As a criminal profiler, Tara used science and her intuitive skill at Tarot card divination to track down the dangerous and depraved, including the serial killer who left her scarred from head to toe. Since that savage attack, Tara has been a recluse. But now an ancient secret society known as Delphi’s Daughters has asked for her help in locating missing scientist Lowell Magnusson. And Tara, armed with her Tarot deck, her .38, and a stack of misgivings, agrees to try.

Tara immediately senses there is far more at stake than one man’s life. At his government lab in the New Mexico desert, Magnusson had developed groundbreaking technology with terrifying potential. Working alongside the brusque but charismatic agent Harry Li, Tara discovers that Magnusson’s daughter, Cassie, has knowledge that makes her a target too. The more Tara sees into the future, the more there is to fear. She knows she has to protect Cassie. But there may be no way to protect herself—from the enemies circling around her, or from the long-buried powers stirring to life within. . . . (summary from goodreads)

My Review:
DARK ORACLE is the start to an intriguing urban fantasy series. Instead of the usual vampires, werewolves, or fae, author Alayna Williams brings in a new inspiration: the oracles of Delphi. In modern day, they are known as Delphi’s Daughters and led by the Pythia. They’re a secret society of women who can read the future, but they’re not all powerful. They’re soccer moms and bikers.

Tara is the only woman to leave Delphi’s Daughters. Skilled in the art of cartomancy (using tarot cards to read the future), she used to work for the government as a profiler. After she got chewed up and spit out by a bad case, she left the Feds and the Daughters behind, wanting solitude and to live her own life. But when a scientist working on a deadly project disappears, Tara gets dragged back into the worlds she left.

Clues to Tara’s past are sprinkled throughout the book, and build her character. She’s not the usual up-in-your-face, brash, kick-butt type of urban fantasy heroine. Tara is cautious. Well, more cautious than most, but she does charge headfirst into some situations. I liked Tara’s cautiousness and hesitance to get involved. The clues of her past hint at something dark and horrible, so I found it believable that it took her time to get over that. She goes from almost having a claustrophobia-induced panic attack at a crime scene to charging into danger to save her man.

DARK ORACLE doesn’t read like your typical urban fantasy. It has more of a mystery or detective story feel. The everyday crime story combined with some hints of magic. I liked that the paranormal world in this series isn’t always upfront. You know it’s there, and that the oracles have some influence over the events of the world, but there’s still the possibility that choice and free will can change the forecasted future. There’s also quite a bit of focus on science, which isn’t usually something you find in urban fantasy.

The writing in DARK ORACLE does get bogged down at times by the extensive descriptions of tarot reading. I both liked and disliked the use of tarot cards. I thought it was a neat way to foreshadow, but I could have done without the extended descriptions of each card and its significance. I’ll admit, I ended up skimming some of those passages. But if tarot reading is something you have an interest in, you’ll probably find those parts more interesting than I did.

Aside from Tara, the rest of the characters are pretty well done. The author makes an effort to give even the animals personality. Maggie the dog and Oscar the cat were actually some of my favorite characters, along with Cassie, the daughter of the missing scientist. The one rub for me was Harry, Tara’s love interest. I would have liked to see more development of their relationship.

The main story of this novel concludes at the end of DARK ORACLE, which is nice. No frustrating cliffhanger, but there is room for more, and I’ll be reading the sequel, ROGUE ORACLE, to see what happens to Tara, Harry, and Cassie. And the animals!

Socialize with the author:
Alayna Williams:
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Twitter

– leeanna

Book Review: The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan

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the girls of atomic cityInfo:
Title: The Girls of Atomic City
Author: Denise Kiernan
Release Date: March 5, 2013
Publisher: Touchstone/Simon & Schuster
Source: Publisher
Series? No
Genre: Nonfiction, History, Adult
Page Count: 400
Rating: [4/5 stars]

Summary:

The incredible story of the young women of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, who unwittingly played a crucial role in one of the most significant moments in U.S. history.

The Tennessee town of Oak Ridge was created from scratch in 1942. One of the Manhattan Project’s secret cities, it didn’t appear on any maps until 1949, and yet at the height of World War II it was using more electricity than New York City and was home to more than 75,000 people, many of them young women recruited from small towns across the South. Their jobs were shrouded in mystery, but they were buoyed by a sense of shared purpose, close friendships—and a surplus of handsome scientists and Army men!

But against this vibrant wartime backdrop, a darker story was unfolding. The penalty for talking about their work—even the most innocuous details—was job loss and eviction. One woman was recruited to spy on her coworkers. They all knew something big was happening at Oak Ridge, but few could piece together the true nature of their work until the bomb “Little Boy” was dropped over Hiroshima, Japan, and the secret was out. The shocking revelation: the residents of Oak Ridge were enriching uranium for the atomic bomb.

Though the young women originally believed they would leave Oak Ridge after the war, many met husbands there, made lifelong friends, and still call the seventy-year-old town home. The reverberations from their work there—work they didn’t fully understand at the time—are still being felt today. In The Girls of Atomic City, Denise Kiernan traces the astonishing story of these unsung WWII workers through interviews with dozens of surviving women and other Oak Ridge residents. Like The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, this is history and science made fresh and vibrant—a beautifully told, deeply researched story that unfolds in a suspenseful and exciting way. (summary from goodreads)

My Review:
Before hearing about THE GIRLS OF ATOMIC CITY, I had never heard of Oak Ridge, or knew how the atomic bomb was created. I just knew it had been used to bring about the end of World War II. I did know a little about the science behind it, because I’ve read a few books on Marie Curie and the scientific world at that time, but not a lot.

THE GIRLS OF ATOMIC CITY is a book I savored. In fact, I took longer reading it than I should have because I didn’t want it to end. I can’t remember the last time I so thoroughly enjoyed a non-fiction book from cover to cover. I even found the notes at the end, that gave details on interviews with the women, to be interesting. The majority of the book reads like historical fiction, but even better because you know it’s true! The only parts of the book that were hard for me to get through were the Tubealloy sections; they were in a different font I found hard on the eyes, and I ended up skimming them.

The book is told from the viewpoints of a handful of women whose jobs varied from secretary to janitor to chemist. All of the women had different backgrounds, from girls fresh off the farm and out of high school to college graduates. I felt like I really came to know the women. I was sad to leave them behind when the book finished, because I got the feeling that each of them led fascinating lives even after the end of Oak Ridge as a production site for tubealloy (enriched uranium).

Oak Ridge — a secret, government run project — would never happen today. It’s impossible. Smartphones and social media and the Internet would blow the secret. I also don’t think people share the same patriotism and sense of duty to the U.S. that the WWII generation had (this is MY opinion). Celia, one of the women in the book, took a job at Oak Ridge without knowing where she would be going or what she would be doing. She just got on the train she was told to get on. I know I never would have done that! “[...] all the women on the train had been told that their new jobs served one purpose only: to bring a speedy and victorious end to the war. That was enough for her (p. 7).”

Throughout the book, I wondered how the women who lived and worked at Oak Ridge would feel about the use of the atomic bomb. The author makes sure to answer that question, in their own words. As the author says about her work, “The challenge in telling the story of the atomic bomb is one of nuance, requiring thought and sensitivity and walking a line between commemoration and celebration (p. 313).” I think Denise Kiernan more than succeeded in that challenge, and did an admirable job of melding personal stories with information about how Oak Ridge started and how it operated, as well as its impact on American history.

I highly recommend THE GIRLS OF ATOMIC CITY. The book takes a secret part of American history and brings it into the spotlight. After reading it, I can only wonder what other secrets about the atomic bomb are still classified. It’s the sort of history book I like to read. Instead of focusing on big name people, the author told the story of the average, everyday American woman. The women in this book will stay with me for a long time; for me, it’s ordinary women like the ones featured in THE GIRLS OF ATOMIC CITY that make history real.

Socialize with the author:
Denise Kiernan:
Website
Twitter

– leeanna

Book Review: Shadow on the Crown by Patricia Bracewell

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shadow on the crownInfo:
Title: Shadow on the Crown
Author: Patricia Bracewell
Release Date: February 7, 2013
Publisher: Viking Adult
Source: Viking Adult/NetGalley
Series? First in trilogy
Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction
Page Count: 416
Rating: [5/5 stars]

Summary:

A rich tale of power and forbidden love revolving around a young medieval queen

In 1002, fifteen­-year-old Emma of Normandy crosses the Narrow Sea to wed the much older King Athelred of England, whom she meets for the first time at the church door. Thrust into an unfamiliar and treacherous court, with a husband who mistrusts her, stepsons who resent her and a bewitching rival who covets her crown, Emma must defend herself against her enemies and secure her status as queen by bearing a son.

Determined to outmaneuver her adversaries, Emma forges alliances with influential men at court and wins the affection of the English people. But her growing love for a man who is not her husband and the imminent threat of a Viking invasion jeopardize both her crown and her life.

Based on real events recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Shadow on the Crown introduces readers to a fascinating, overlooked period of history and an unforgettable heroine whose quest to find her place in the world will resonate with modern readers. (summary from goodreads)

My Review:
I had a hard time reviewing SHADOW ON THE CROWN, but not because it was a bad book. Quite the opposite: the book sunk its claws into me, and I couldn’t stop reading until I reached the last page. It’s now been a month since I read it, yet I still think about it every so often.

SHADOW ON THE CROWN is the story of Emma of Normandy. I had never heard of her before, but I was instantly captivated by her character. The author’s writing is raw and honest, and there were plenty of times I felt absolutely horrible for Emma. Women in that time (~1000 A.D.) were treated like chattel, even queens, and it was sobering to read.

I had never read anything about this period of history before, and though the author admits she made some changes here and there for the sake of the narrative, she more than succeeded in getting me interested in the time. That’s what I want historical fiction to do for me, so A+ there.

I was a bit worried at the beginning of SHADOW ON THE CROWN. There’s a helpful glossary of terms and a cast of characters; the sons of Æthelred all have similar names. So I was worried that I would get them mixed up, but each had his own personality, and I could easily tell them apart.

Aside from Emma’s viewpoint, there are three others: Æthelred, the King; Athelstan, his son; and Elgiva, daughter of one of the King’s chief rivals. This gives a more complete picture of events. The plot, by the way, is well done, with lots of intricate English politics and Viking badassery.

I liked Elgiva’s narration the best after Emma’s, because of her ambition. I’d liken her to a modern woman, in that she didn’t listen to her father and brother when they tried to control her. She was out for herself.

My only complaint is I wish it had been clearer that SHADOW ON THE CROWN is the first book in a trilogy. When I was about three quarters of the way through it, I was trying to figure out how all the various storylines would tie up, only to realize most of them wouldn’t.

I can’t believe SHADOW ON THE CROWN is a debut! I’ll definitely be on the lookout for the rest of the trilogy, because the author made Emma and her story so fascinating to me. This isn’t a “girl meets her prince and lives happily ever after” historical fiction. It’s gritty, dark, and realistic, and I LOVED it.

Highly recommended.

Socialize with the author:
Patricia Bracewell:
Website
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– leeanna

Book Review: Trickster (Ustari Cycle #1) by Jeff Somers

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tricksterInfo:
Title: Trickster
Author: Jeff Somers
Release Date: February 26, 2013
Publisher: Pocket Books
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Series? Ustari Cycle #1
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Adult
Page Count: 384
Rating:

Summary:

Magic uses blood—a lot of it. The more that’s used, the more powerful the effect, so mages find “volunteers” to fuel their spells. Lem, however, is different. Long ago he set up a rule that lets him sleep at night: never use anyone’s blood but your own. He’s grifting through life as a Trickster, performing only small Glamours like turning one-dollar bills into twenties. He and his sidekick, Mags, aren’t doing well, but they’re getting by.

That is, until they find young Claire Mannice— bound and gagged, imprisoned in a car’s trunk, and covered with invisible rune tattoos. Lem turns to his estranged mentor for help, but what they’ve uncovered is more terrifying than anybody could have imagined. Mika Renar, the most dangerous Archmage in the world, is preparing to use an ocean of blood to cast her dreams into reality— and Lem just got in her way. (summary from goodreads)

My Review:
Lem and Mags are not your usual all powerful, masters of the universe type of magicians. They’re Tricksters, grifters, the lowest of the low. They scrape by, gasing up dollar bills to look like twenties, and spending those twenties on booze and cheap hotel rooms. In the world Jeff Somers created, blood is the currency for magic, and unlike others, Lem made a vow to use only his own blood.

“We were fucking incompetent. In all things, we’d failed. We were wallowing in a nice, comfy pit of fucking spectacular failure, deep black and hermetically sealed, me and Mags bound together forever and ever with deep fishhooked ties of ruin (p. 4, ARC).”

I can’t think of many characters that would willingly describe themselves like that! I’d also describe Lem as an anti-hero. As he says throughout the book, Tricksters aren’t good people. “We all preyed on regular people, people who didn’t believe in magic (p. 20, ARC).” But Lem does have one rule: he refuses to use the blood of others to power his spells, which makes him weak, but also lets him sleep at night. Most mages have no trouble bleeding others, and the most powerful ones take Bleeders with them everywhere, like living batteries.

The most powerful mage in the world, Mika Renar, is prepared to sacrifice thousands of women to power a spell. And that’s where Lem and Mags come in. After stumbling over a dead girl in a bathtub, and then finding a live girl in the trunk of a car, they get mixed up in Renar’s business. Notice I didn’t say rescue — Claire, the girl in the car, is a spitfire. Whenever she gets a chance, she’s on the run or beating someone up. She’s not a damsel in distress that waits for the prince to rescue her, which is good, because Lem and Mags aren’t princes, or even very good magicians.

TRICKSTER is a dark and gritty urban fantasy. I think guys will like it, as the main characters are male, and it read like a guy’s book to me. I can’t pinpoint exactly why I’m saying that, because I can’t say for sure what a guy would like or not, but I just had that feeling. I didn’t mind, though, because it was quite nice to have a supernatural book where romance wasn’t the focus!

The world of TRICKSTER is easy to understand, and I thought the concept of blood magic was neat. I like when there’s a cost for magic, and with blood magic, that cost is immediate and has consequences. If you use so much blood that you’re ready to faint, what are you going to do when another fight comes hard on hard on the heels of the first?

The ending did disappoint me, because after all the buildup, I expected … more. However, the author did capture my attention with the story and conflict, so I will be continuing the Ustari Cycle when the next book comes out.

Socialize with the author:
Jeff Somers:
Website

– leeanna

Book Review: Incarnation by Emma Cornwall

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incarnationInfo:
Title: Incarnation
Author: Emma Cornwall
Release Date: September 18, 2012
Publisher: Gallery Books
Source: Gallery Books via Edelweiss
Series? No
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Alternate History, Steampunk, Adult
Page Count: 352
Rating:

Summary:

In the steampunk world of Victorian London, a beautiful vampire seeks out the author of Dracula–to set the record straight . . . If one is to believe Bram Stoker’s legendary vampire tale, Lucy Weston is Dracula’s most wanton creation, a sexual creature of the night who preys on innocent boys. But the real-life Lucy is nothing like her fictional counterpart—and she demands to know why the Victorian author deliberately lied. With Stoker’s reluctant help, she’s determined to track down the very fiend who transformed her—from the sensual underworld where humans vie to become vampires, to a hidden cell beneath a temple to madness, and finally into the glittering Crystal Palace where death reigns supreme.

Haunted by fragmentary memories of her lost life and love, Lucy must battle her thirst for blood as she struggles to stop a catastrophic war that will doom vampires and humans alike. Ultimately, she must make a choice that illuminates for her—and for us—what it means to be human. (summary from goodreads)

My Review:
What if Dracula, Bram Stoker’s famous book, was a gigantic cover up? What if vampires, werewolves, and other fantastical beasts roamed the world? What if the British monarchy knew about it, and was in on it?

Incarnation is wildly inventive, and a great read. It took me a while to get to it, and now that I’ve finished it, I wish I would have read it sooner. It’s not your typical vampire book, so even if you’re sick of those, I’d still encourage you to give it a try. It’s also not young adult, though the cover gives the impression it might be. I’d recommend Incarnation for readers of any age, teen and up. It’s a mix of alternate history, steampunk, paranormal, urban fantasy, and even some romance — there should be something for everyone.

I really liked Lucy Weston, the main character. Does the name sound familiar? It should, although in Dracula, she was known as Lucy Westenra. Lucy is spunky, sensitive, and real. There’s even a hint of Lucy Westenra’s sensuality in her, yet they are two very different characters. I loved that Lucy wanted to do more with her life than marry and have children, especially in a time when that’s all women were supposed to do. Lucy grew over the course of the book, and I really hope her story isn’t finished yet. I would be excited to read a sequel to Incarnation.

Incarnation has a pretty cool twist on vampires. I don’t think I’ve read anything combining Arthurian legends and vampires before! Lady Blanche was an interesting villain, and I would have liked to know more about her. Actually — I wanted to know more about every character, even Cornwall’s Queen Victoria. Each character is richly imagined, and distinct. I have to give special mention to Mordred, who managed to steal most of the scenes he was in, as well as Marco, who was sort of Lucy’s love interest. Happily for me, the romance doesn’t overpower what is a brilliant story.

The writing in Incarnation is very atmospheric. If I had a complaint, it’s that I wish the book moved along a bit faster. The rich descriptions and scene settings slowed the pace down, but I tend to like that sort of thing, so I wasn’t too bothered. It’s just not the kind of writing you can gobble up in one night.

All in all, Incarnation is a great book, and I hope there’s a sequel in the future.

Socialize with the author:
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– leeanna

Book Review: Marie Curie and Her Daughters by Shelley Emling

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mariecurieandherdaughters-rInfo:
Title: Marie Curie and Her Daughters
Author: Shelley Emling
Release Date: August 21, 2012
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Source: Library
Series? No
Genre: Nonfiction, Biography
Page Count: 219
Rating:

Summary:

A new portrait of the two-time Nobel winner and her two daughters

Focusing on the first family in science, this biography of Marie Curie plumbs the recesses of her relationships with her two daughters, extraordinary in their own right, and presents the legendary scientist to us in a fresh way.

Although the common image is that of a shy introvert toiling away in her laboratory, highly praised science writer Shelley Emling shows how Marie Curie was nothing short of an iconoclast. Her affair with a younger and married man drew the enmity of a xenophobic French establishment, who denied her entry to the Academy of Sciences and tried to expel her from France. But she was determined to live life how she saw fit, and passed on her resilience to her daughters. Emling draws on personal letters released by Curie’s only granddaughter to show how Marie influenced her daughters yet let them blaze their own paths. Irene followed her mother’s footsteps into science and was instrumental in the discovery of nuclear fission. Eve traveled the world as a foreign correspondent and then moved on to humanitarian missions.

Emling also shows how Curie, following World War I, turned to America for help. Few people know about Curie’s close friendship with American journalist Missy Meloney, who arranged speaking tours across the country for Marie and Eve and Irene. Months on the road, charming audiences both large and small, endeared the Curies to American women and established a lifelong relationship with the United States that formed one of the strongest connections of Marie’s life. Without the financial support of American women, Marie might not have been able to go on with her research.

Continuing the family story into the third generation, Emling also interviews Marie Curie’s granddaughter Helene Joliot-Curie, who is an accomplished physicist in her own right. She reveals why her grandmother was a lot more than just a scientist and how Marie’s trips to America forever changed her. Factually rich, personal and original, this is an engrossing story about the most famous woman in science that rips the cover off the myth and reveals the real person, friend, and mother behind it. (summary from goodreads)

My Review:
I’ve been interested in Marie Curie ever since I wrote a paper on her in college, and I thought Marie Curie and Her Daughters would be an interesting read, especially since I knew nothing about her daughters.

The book picks up after Pierre’s death, and has only hints about Marie’s early life. There’s not a lot mentioned on Irene and Eve’s childhoods either, other than that they were often away from their mother because she was so busy with her work, and that she was concerned about their education. I think it would have been informative to have more on the childhoods of all three women, so readers could compare and contrast.

Although I did learn a lot about Irene and Eve, and even about Marie’s life after winning the Nobel Prize, the book wasn’t enjoyable as I’d hoped it would be. The last few chapters dragged on. I think Marie Curie and Her Daughters is best read joint with another biography of Marie Curie, so as to get a more complete and informative picture of her life.

It’s an adequate book, and informative on the personal lives of all three Curie women, but I was left wanting more after I finished it.

– leeanna