Mercy Thompson Giveaway!

Earlier today I reviewed River Marked, the latest in the Mercy Thompson Urban Fantasy series and loved it! So thinking I haven't had a giveaway for a while and wanting to spread the coyote love, I'm offering one lucky reader the opportunity to grab a copy of River Marked (or any other book in the Mercy Thompson series if you haven't started the series yet or only half way through!).

Rules: (without which there will be chaos!)

- Fill in the form below

- That's it! No extras, no complicated hoop jumping (unless you want to for your own satisfaction).

- Giveaway is open Internationally (as long as the Book Depository ships there!)

- Closes on 24th April 2011 
- You don't have to be a follower, but I won't object if you are! :) 

River Marked Review

River Marked (Mercy Thompson 6)

–       Patricia Briggs

Publisher: UK - Orbit

Car mechanic Mercy Thompson has always known there was something different about her, and not just the way she can make a VW engine sit up and beg. Mercy is a shapeshifter, a talent she inherited from her long-gone father. And she's never known any others of her kind. Until now. As Mercy comes to terms with this new information, an evil is stirring in the depths of the Columbia River. Something deadly is coming, facts are thin on the ground and Mercy feels ill at ease. However, her father's people may know more. To have any hope of surviving, Mercy and her mate, the Alpha werewolf Adam, will need all the resources the shifters can offer. Or death will be the least of their worries.

The Mercy Thompson series is one of my favourite Urban Fantasy series. I love how Patricia Briggs is able to create whole characters, layered plots and involving storylines while still keeping the page count down to about 300 pages. Picking up the latest instalment of Mercy’s life it feels a bit like getting back into bed complete with fresh covers after a week’s holiday – comfortable, fresh and relaxing. It was so easy to settle down into Mercy’s world and catch up with old friends.

However, the reunion was short-lived as apart from the first few pages most of the action takes place away from the tri-city area as Mercy and Adam head out for a camping trip. New characters are introduced and Mercy’s family background is explored in much more detail than we’ve ever had before. This adds to Mercy as a character and helps explains some of her unique abilities as well as introducing a unique monster and a new (to us) supernatural race. There is plenty of action  and emotion as Mercy struggles to come to terms with her newly discovered heritage and her relationship with Adam continues to be one of my favourites in UF - the trust there is fantastic!

Loved this book – another great instalment that both feels self contained enough for newbies but adds so much more to those following the series.

Recommended for fans of Carrie Vaughn and Richelle Mead. 9 out of 10.

Aftertime Review

Aftertime

-       Sophie Littlefield

Earc courtesy of netgally and MIRA

Awakening in a bleak landscape as scarred as her body, Cass Dollar vaguely recalls surviving something terrible. Wearing unfamiliar clothes and having no idea how many days – or weeks – have passed, she slowly realizes the horrifying truth: Ruthie has vanished. And with her, nearly all of civilization. Where once-lush hills carried cars and commerce, the roads today see only cannibalistic Beaters – people turned hungry for human flesh by a government experiment gone wrong. In a broken, barren California, Cass will undergo a harrowing quest to get her Ruthie back. Few people trust an outsider, let alone a woman who became a zombie and somehow turned back, but she finds help from an enigmatic outlaw, Smoke. Smoke is her savior and her safety. For the Beaters are out there. And the humans grip at survival with their trigger fingers. Especially when they learn that she and Ruthie have become the most feared and desired, of weapons in a brave new world...

The main character, Cass has not always been good or heroic. She is a recovering alcoholic who still struggles to beat her addiction. The one light of her life that gets her through is her daughter Ruthie, who has been taken away from her, first by her mother and stepfather and now due to the zombie apocalypse. Sorry, not zombies but beaters (or body eaters). This book is her journey to recover her daughter. And what a journey! While the main plot is a deeply personal struggle, both with her past and current circumstances, there is a well thought out and realised world set after the worst has happened. Some people band together to help each other, some create a new religion, others tough it out on their own, some want to rebuild, while others take advantage. Each situation is explored and the plot never lacks for pace or adventure.

There is plenty of action and violence with the beaters chewing on flesh throughout, but this is balance by the love of Cass for Ruthie and her increasing faith in Smoke, the guy who helps guides her on her journey. There is some real heart and emotion in this story and the world feels so real with each person reacting differently to their circumstances. I felt like you can see the whole gambit of humanity – both good and bad. I was enthralled throughout and at the end I wanted to get my hands on more. I was delighted to find out that this was the first in a planned trilogy as although there is a satisfying ending I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Cass and Storm – or the Aftertime world. More please!

Recommended for fans of Nancy Holzner and Mira Grant. 9 out of 10.

My Book Haul/In My Mailbox

The Story Siren hosts a weekly meme where bloggers can share what goodies they've purchased/received this week. If you get a chance head over to The Story Siren and check out what everyone is up to! I went up to central London this week and picked up a few books that I didn't even know I wanted! :)

Love In The Time Of Dragons - Katie MacAlister

Publisher: UK - Hodder

Tully Sullivan just woke up in a strange place, surrounded by people she’s never met. Which is quite bad enough. But then the strange people insist they are dragons. And, worse, that she is also a dragon, named Ysolde de Bouchier, one of the most notorious figures in dragon history.
She doesn’t buy it. She can’t breath fire or shapeshift. She’s not even bothered by gold. But they’re adamant. And she’s in trouble...
Because these dragons also want to sentence her to death.
If she’s going to survive, Tully realises she is going to have to find a way to solve the crimes she’s being accused of. Even though they happened in a past she has absolutely no memory of them

This book wasn't even on my radar, but while browsing I picked it up and enjoyed the first couple of pages - so I had to pick it up to see what happens!

Must Love Hellhounds Anthology

Publisher - US - Berkley 

Paranormal bodyguards Clovache and Batanya venture into Lucifer's realm to encounter his fearsome four-legged pets in The Britlingens Go to Hell. A traitor is being sought out in the midst of a guild of non-lethal vampire trackers in Angels' Judgement. In Magic Mourns, the giant three-headed dog that guards the gates of Hades has left the underworld for the real world following a scent while Blind Spot follows the adventures of a hellhound in search of the kidnapped niece of a powerful vampire.

There are two author I love in this anthology and two that I have books waiting to be read so maybe this will try to persuade me to pick up the books!

Law of the Broken Earth - Rachel Neumeier

Publisher: UK - Orbit

Six years ago, the king of Casmantium's schemes shattered the balance between griffins and humans, and nearly led to disaster for both. Now the balance may be tipping once more - and this time neither courage nor sacrifice may be enough to repair what should never have been broken. Mienthe, the Lord of the Delta's young ward, knows only that her own peaceful life has been shaken. But when a spy brings a deadly secret from a neighboring country, she sees three kingdoms move towards war and two species toward destruction. Trapped between the secret many would kill to preserve and the desperate ferocity of the griffins, could Mienthe herself hold the key to preventing the atrocities to come?

This book is actually the third in the Griffin Mage Series and while I have the first book I haven't read it yet. I found this is great condition in Skoob second hand store in London and I couldn't resist! Hope I like the series now!

Curiosity Thrilled The Cat - Sofie Kelly

Publisher: Obsidian

When librarian Kathleen Paulson moved to Mayville Heights, Minnesota, she had no idea that two strays would nuzzle their way into her life. Owen is a tabby with a catnip addiction and Hercules is a stocky tuxedo cat who shares Kathleen's fondness for Barry Manilow. But beyond all the fur and purrs, there's something more to these felines. When murder interrupts Mayville's Music Festival, Kathleen finds herself the prime suspect. More stunning is her realisation that Owen and Hercules are magical - and she's relying on their skills to solve a purr-fect murder.

This book looks like such fun! I'm a huge cat person plus it's obvious from this blog that I like supernatural too!

Rot and Ruin - Jonathan Maberry

Publisher: UK - Simon & Schuster

Nearly fourteen years ago a freak virus swept across the world turning those infected from the living into the undead. Benny Imura has grown-up never knowing anything different; his last memories of his parents tainted by the image of them becoming zombies. Now Benny is fifteen, and his brother Tom wants him to join the "family business" and train as a zombie killer. The last thing Benny wants is to work with Tom --- but at least the job should be an easy ride. Then the brothers head into the Rot and Ruin, an area full of wandering zombies, and Benny realises that being a bounty hunter isn't just about whacking zombies. As he's confronted with the truths about the world around him, Benny finds his beliefs challenged and makes the most terrifying discovery of all, that sometimes the worst monsters you can imagine, are human...

And finally I won this from Jenny at Wondrous Reads - so happy as it was on my wishlist and I love Zombie stories! Thanks Jenny! :)

 

So what have you got this week? :)

On My Wishlist #34

This is a meme from Book Chick City. There are so many books out there that I want to read that this is the only way I can keep track! This week the theme is time travel...

Before I Fall - Lauren Oliver

Publisher: UK - Hodder Paperbacks

They say 'live every day as if it's your last' - but you never actually think it's going to be. At least I didn't.

The thing is, you don't get to know when it happens. You don't remember to tell your family that you love them or - in my case - remember to say goodbye to them at all. But what if, like me, you could live your last day over and over again? Could you make it perfect? If your whole life flashed before your eyes, would you have no regrets? Or are there some things you'd want to change...?

Groundhog day on your last ever day! Sign me up for that book! :)

Red Ruby - Kerstin Gier

Publisher: UK - Henry Holt & Company

Gwyneth Shepherd's sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth, who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era!

Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon--the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.

I love time travel stories - always have ever since I saw Back To The Future when I was younger. The cover of this book looks gorgeous and the story looks right up my street!

Blackout - Connie Willis

Publisher: Spectra

Oxford in 2060 is a chaotic place, with scores of time-traveling historians being sent into the past. Michael Davies is prepping to go to Pearl Harbor. Merope Ward is coping with a bunch of bratty 1940 evacuees and trying to talk her thesis adviser into letting her go to VE-Day. Polly Churchill’s next assignment will be as a shopgirl in the middle of London’s Blitz. But now the time-travel lab is suddenly canceling assignments and switching around everyone’s schedules. And when Michael, Merope, and Polly finally get to World War II, things just get worse. For there they face air raids, blackouts, and dive-bombing Stukas—to say nothing of a growing feeling that not only their assignments but the war and history itself are spiraling out of control. Because suddenly the once-reliable mechanisms of time travel are showing significant glitches, and our heroes are beginning to question their most firmly held belief: that no historian can possibly change the past.

I've not read any Connie Willis books before - they're quite difficult to find in the UK, but these one sounds great. Blitz era is such an atmospheric period of London history so the idea of reading about time travellers there sends a shiver up my spine!

So what are you wishing for this week? :)

The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale Review

The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale

-       Christina Bell

Publisher: Carina Press

E-Arc Courtesy of netgalley & Carina Press

I'm a time pirate—born in 1810, now a 21st-century woman. I travel through time trying to right wrongs without disrupting the fragile balance between what is and what can never be. That's why it's vital that I go to 1836 and find the man who conned my brother out of his Time Travel Mechanism as quickly as possible. If the technology falls into the wrong hands, it could change the world as we know it. The notorious Duke of Leister definitely qualifies as the wrong hands. An amateur scientist of the slightly mad variety, he's bound to figure out how to use the TTM sooner rather than later. I knew this wouldn't be easy. But I wasn't counting on him being as sexy as hell. Or winding up chained to his bed...

The Twisted Tale is a fun time travel romance with a great leading lady. Stormy has a great voice having grown up both on the streets in the early 19^th century and in the 21^st century so she knows how to take care of herself and her innocent, trusting brother Bacon. When Bacon loses his Time Travel Mechanism in a game of cards, Stormy has to pose as a fortune teller to get the device back. However, the Duke certainly seems to have more than just his own fortune on his mind – and Stormy has to use all her womanly wiles to stay one step ahead.

This is a relatively short novella, but I was never bored and really enjoyed the banter between Stormy and the Duke as each tried to find out what the other was really up too. The romance was perhaps a little quick for my liking (I like some wooing first!), but felt in context for the story. As with a lot of Carina Press stories, I liked the fun element of the story and was in a much better mood by the end. A thoroughly enjoyable time travel romance that will lift the spirits and leave you with a smile on your face.

Recommended for fans of historical romance and Gail Carriger. 8 out of 10.   

Throwback Thursday #4

This is a great feature that Melissa at My World...in words and pictures has been doing for a while and I wanted to jump on board! There are plenty of books out there I desperately want...

But what about all those wonderful books that are ALREADY on my shelves?

This highlights a book I already have but just haven't got round to reading yet!

Glass Houses (Morganville Vampires 1) - Rachel Caine

College freshman Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation, where the popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks in the school's social scene: somewhere less than zero. When Claire heads off-campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her new roommates don't show many signs of life, but they come out fighting when the town's deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood...

Another long running series that has a lot fans. I actually have the first three books in this series purchased on a special deal many moons ago, but I've not got round to reading them yet! I think I can only focus on one vampire/school series at a time, so when I finish Vampire Academy I'll start reading my way through these...assuming I like them! :)