ARC Review: Fury's Kiss by Karen Chance

Fury's Kiss

by Karen Chance

Dorina Basarab #3

 

Dory wakes up in a lab with no idea of who she is or where she is with a red headed vampire crashing in saying he is trying to save her. But that is least of Dory's problems, with the Fey plotting and the vampires scheming Dory may just be facing an enemy she can't defeat.

I have been waiting for this book for so long! The Dorina Basarab series has definitely become one of the my favourite urban fantasy's. Packed full of manic action that gets your adrenal glands pumping, interspersed with funny, romantic and tender moments to soften the frantic pace; it is a rollercoaster of a read.

So much happens in this book; we breach the subject of Dory's vampire side, something that I hope you be explored more in the next book. We also see Dory's relationship with her father, Mircea, developing beautifully, as well as things between her and Louis Cesare really heating up. Dory alse seems to have acquired a vampire servant, Ray, and I doubt if I am alone in saying the hilarious, but sometimes touching, banter between Ray and Dory were some of my favourite parts.

What I really like about this series is that each book builds up from the next one; the relationships between the characters gets more complex and intense; the various factions and plots are getting more intricate and Dory's character has come to vivid life as we get to know her more deeply.

I am now dying to read the next book as Fury's Kiss had some highly unexpected events take place at the end and I can't wait to see what will happen next!   

*ARC provided by publisher

Review: Death's Mistress by Karen Chance

Death's Mistress

by Karen Chance

Dorina Basarab #2

 

It seemed like a relatively simple job for Dory, find the vampire nightclub owner and take him to Mircea for questioning about smuggling from Faerie; so how did she end up protecting a headless body with a hoarde of vampires and fey chasing? Something has been smuggled away from Faerie that every vampire senate member wants their hands on and the Fey want back and Dory is stuck in the middle.

Another thrilling action packed book from Karen Chance! The stakes have been raised in Death's Mistress as Dory unintentionally gets involved in the lethal world of vampire politics.

What I loved about this book was that it gave you a much deeper insight into Dory, Mircea and Louis Cesare's character and their connection. Things were revealed, especially about Louis-Cesare that I have been dying to know since I started the Cassie Palmer series. And not only was Dory's smoking hot relationship with Louis-Cesare progressed in this book but you can see a slow bond forming between her and her father Mircea, which I hope will continue to flourish in the next book.

As well as having soem great character development the story in this was interesting and kept me guessing to almost the end. I liked how she didn't just have a massive information dump at the end; each layer of information was revealed through out the book ratcheting the tension up right to the final page.

A fantastic book that revealed more about Dory and Louis-Cesare and was paired up with a fast moving and fascinating story line as well as a good dose of humour and great writing; I can't wait to start on Fury's Kiss!   



Purchase Links: Amazon

Review: Midnight's Daughter by Karen Chance

Midnight's Daughter

by Karen Chance

Dorina Basarab #1

Dorina Basarab is a rare breed; dhampir, half human and half vampire. Hated by vampires but unable to fit in with humans she has carved her self out a niche; hunting rogue vampires, not something that endears her to the vamps. But, when her father come calling needing her help with a family matter; her ruthless and insane uncle the Dracula has escaped from his prison and is once again on the loose and gunning for all those who helped imprison him, with Dory at the top of the list...

What a fantastic read! Karen Chance has started off her new series, an offshoot of her Cassie Palmer series, with a bang. This is a fast paced, action packed and enthralling read.

If you have read the Cassie Palmer series then some of the characters will be very familiar to you and I love how all the people across both the series tie up. Dory is Mircea's daughter, one of the main characters from the Cassie Palmer series, and although he is no doubt a fearsome vampire, a fantastic diplomat and a fabulous lover, his daddy skills require a little work. Raised as an outcast and relying only on herself Dory is one of the tough-as-nails, kick ass heroines who isn't afraid to rush head first into fight, most of the time without thinking through the consequences. I adored her!

As this was a first book there was quite alot of information thrown at you, but as I had read the Cassie Palmer series most it was familiar. But the world that Karen Chance has crafterd over these two series is a cut above the rest, it's interesting and  seems very well thought out.

There was also a little romance and alot of sexual tension between Dory and Louis-Cesare (another familiar face!) the vampire that Dory has been forced to work with to help bring down Dracula. It was contempt on first sight for both of them, but I loved seeing their opnion change as they got to know each other properly and I can't wait to see what happens next between them in Death's Mistress the next book.

Midnight's Daughter had fast paced action, magic and a little bit of romance all the best ingredients to make an unputdownable read.

 

Purchase Links: Amazon

Review: On The Prowl by Patricia Briggs, Eileen Wilks, Karen Chance and Sunny

On The Prowl

by Patricia Briggs, Eileen Wilks, Karen Chance and Sunny

(Alpha & Omega # 0.5)

Alpha & Omega - 4.5 Feathers

I haven’t read anything by Patricia Briggs in a long time so it was nice to go back to her writing. I forgot how well she writes. Alpha & Omega was a very quick and easy read!  I thought it was a great start to a new series for Briggs! Anna is a werewolf, an Omega to be exact and under desperate circumstances she finds herself calling the Marrok behind her Alpha’s back.

In comes Charles Cornick, Bran’s son. I found myself liking Charles in the short time it took me to read this. He’s protective, but not overly and he’s got some charm too. There was a good bit of action that I was surprised to read about in such a short read, but of course, I’m not complaining. The only thing that bothered me a little bit was Anna. She’s so shy and submissive, but towards the end, I was already feeling like she was developing as a character already.

I’m excited to read the rest of the series! I can’t wait! 

Inhuman - 3.5 Feathers

I haven't read any books in the Lupi series, and this one is supposed to be in the middle. I did struggle to understand a few things, however I managed to enjoy this series quite a bit, and has me intrigued to read the actual series. However, I was a bit disappointed with the ending and that is why my rating went down to 3.5 stars. The characters in this story are likable, as you try to figure out the story. I like that Nathan is not your usual "race", I thought that was interesting.

Buying Trouble - 3.5 Feathers

This is the second time I read something by Karen Chance, and it's again a short story. I do like her writing and keep saying I'll pick up one of her books. Maybe soon. There's a bit of everything in this story and I enjoyed it. There's quite a bit of action, families that go against their own, politics of the Fae. One thing that threw me off was when she changed into her "other" form for the first time and out of nowhere at a most inappropriate time! I had to go back and read that to make sure I understood what was happening. LOL I liked the world, I liked the characters.

Mona Lisa Betwining - No rating

I couldn't get past the first few pages in this story. I didn't like that her true love had just died and here she was running around a forest wanting to have sex with another, while she had someone else offering to have sex with her to give her children. Just couldn't finish the story. Maybe if I had read the books in this series it would all make more sense to me, and I'll eventually give them a try.  

Purchase Links: Amazon

Review: Hunt the Moon by Karen Chance

Hunt the Moon (Cassie Palmer #5)

by Karen Chance

Urban Fantasy

Another day, another murder attempt, it is all getting rather old hat for Cassie Palmer the soon to be coronated Pythia. After killing Apollo she thought the crazy attempts on her life would be over but as Cassie says so succinctly in this book: Crazy is what we had for breakfast when we ran out of Corn Flakes. and this book further extends the whole mad-crazy status of her life.

Like all the others I really enjoyed this book, in fact I think it may be my favourite book so far, it had the fast paced action and completely gob smacking situations that Cassie some how finds herself in, but I thought it also had that little bit extra as well. We get a lot more insight in to Cassie's past and how that has effected her, which has given an already well drawn out and interesting character some more depth, but as well as this we get a nosey around the two men in Cassie's life pasts.

Mircea and Pritkin, I think everyone has their opnion on who they like the most (GO PRITKIN!) but how much to we really know about them? If you have read the Dory series you will probably know a bit more about Mircea, but in this book we get to have a look at the man behind the Master vampire, and WOW I almost swung to Team Mircea. Until of course Pritkin crashed in to the book and then I was firmly with him again, feeling only a little guilty over my wavering : D This book also has Pritkin revealing more of his mysterious and hellish past. This book also highlights the big differences between the two men. Mircea wants to protect and shield Cassie, frustratingly so at times, where as Pritkin pushes her to look after her self, and when I say push I mean that quite literally, in the first chapter he pushes her off a ledge of a mountain to see how she would react!

Also, did anyone realize Mircea had a foot fetish? How did I not know that!

This book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger and I now can't wait for the next installment as they just seem to be getting better and better.

Which Man do you prefer? Here are some quotes to help you decide!

Mircea

The white terry cloth had made his skin look darker than normal, a deep rich caramel, but I didn't miss it. Not with the fire painting intriguing shadows on a body that was already intriguing enough. It gilded his muscles, cast a very incongruous halo around that adrk head and licked at the smug smile hovering about his lips. He took longer undressing than strictly necessary, because he was a bastard and a tease and because he clearly had no problem with nudity. I kind of suspected that Mircea liked nudity. Of course, if I had a body like that, I probably would, too.

Pritkin

Pritkin was annoying, stubborn, secretive, impatient and rude. He had the tact od a Parris Island drill sergeant and the charm of a barbed wire fence. He regularly made me want to slap him and other people want to shoot him, and that was without even trying. I;d probably yelled at him moe than anybody else in my entire life, and I'd known him less then two months. And yet he was also loyal and honest and brave and weirdly kind.

And here's another one cos I know you are all ho's and like a bit of smut!

It was sensory overload, hearing the sounds he made deep in his throat, smelling that particular mix of sweat and gunpowder and magic that may as well have been his signature cologne, feeling the assault of that mouth, all wet, silken heat and fiery passion, nothing safe, nothing sane-
And then he gently bit down.
And oh dear God.

Come and check out our Fantasy Cast of each of the characters HERE!

Review: Curse the Dawn by Karen Chance

             

                                

Curse the Dawn (Cassie Palmer #4)

by Karen Chance

Urban Fantasy

Find it on Goodreads!

I think I need a lie down and a nice cup of tea! I have read the four Cassie Palmer books back to back and frankly I am exhausted just reading the damn things! Which, makes me extremely grateful that I am not Cassie, the world's cheif clairvoyant (if they would only listen to her!), who has to put up with a lot of crap, from over protective sort-of husbands to a vengeful god who wants to enslave mankind. It all seems a little over the top when you think about it, how can one 5'4" strawberry blonde keep getting herself out of such impossible situations with only a few scars and a massive headache to show for it, well I guess you will have to read the books and find out!

So this was a nother fast and furious week or so in Cassie Palmers life and it doesn't look that much different from the last month, attacked by war mages, check! A dozen near death experiences, check! Wreck Dantes, check! A few out of body experiences, check! Ratchet up the sexual tension between herself and Mircea and herself and Prirkin, double check! Like the other books this was pretty non-stop as Cassie tries to make her wau through the magical world and get others to ackonwledge she is Pythia whilst trying to stay from the vampire senates control.

What I liked about this book was that it told you more of the inner workings of the Silver Circle, which is the organization the mages are under, and it finally allows you to see a way that Cassie can make peace with them. As much as I do enjoy that action in this book, it is going to start bein pretty repeatative unless it gets shaken up a little. We also see more about Cassie's parents which I imagine will have a further role in future books.

Pritkin is an onion, he has many layers and each one makes your eyes water, in this we a little more of the man behind the crazy war mage, and WHAT A MAN! The bits between Cassie and Pritkin were some of my favourite in the book. Not that Mircea is a slouch, but although I like him he doesn't come off the page like Pritkin does.

So I am still trying to catch my breath after the last 4 books! But can't wait to dive in to Cassie's next adventure when I finally get my hands on the book!

Something really hilarious happens in this book, so to give you a clue, here is my favourite quote!

"What's the problem?"

"There's no toilet."

"This is an old house," Pritkin said, like that explained anything.

"And they didn't need to pee in the past?" I demanded.

He groaned and threw an arm over his face. "There's a WC down the hall."

"A what?" I asked, a little desparately.

"A water closet. It's in a separate room."

"Why? Why not put it in the-"

"Because a bathroom is where one goes to bathe, hence the name."

"That's bizzare."

"No, Miss Palmer," Pritkin said savagely. "It isn't. What is bizzare is that I currently have a vagina."

Review: Embrace the Night by Karen Chance

Embrace the Night (Cassie Palmer #3)

by Karen Chance

Urban Fantasy

Find it on Goodreads!

Cassie is still in a bind. The geis is driving Mircea mad, and if she doesn't find a way to get it removed soon he will die. Fortunately there is a spell that will remove the geis unfortunately it is in a ancient text that has long been lost, possibly destroyed and also contains a spell that could potentially destroy the world. But that isn't the only catastrophe that is on Cassie's rather long to-do list; she now is not only the enemy of the fae, the vampires and the mages, but also a demon lord desparate for a piece of her. And what exactly is it that the mysterious Pritkin hiding?

These books just keep getting better, if only I could award more stars, this book definately deserves it. So if you haven't started reading this series already, there here are three reasons to start:

1. The world, it is dangerous, unpredicatable, intricate, mages and vampires, faeries and demons they all fight it out making it a fascinating setting for the Cassie's adventures.

2. Cassie herself! She is one of my favourite heroines, tough and smart yet very sympathetic. Most the time she is dashing around frantically to solve problems, save the world and keep all her allies from killing eachother, and sometimes her!

3. THE HOT MEN! Now this series doesn't have that much sex in it in typical UF fashion. However, there is plenty of potential, intially you have Tomas the angsty master vampire, then you move on to bigger and better things in the form of Mircea the beautiful and dangerous member of the vampire senate, and my personal favourite Pritkin the deranged and aggressive war mage, who is waaay more then he seems!

No I haven't actually said that much in this review about this book itself, but what can I say that I haven't in the other reviews? The action is, as usual, fast paced and exciting as the plot lines in the previous books climax (hehe pun intended) and evolve and grow into more complex issues. The sexual tension between Cassie and Pritkin and Cassie and Mircea ups a notch and you learn some new and unexpected revalations about each character.

In conclusion I really enjoyed this book and the series in general and can not wait to get on to the next book!