Cover Coveting(6)

 
Cover art is found from Wicked Scribes, ATUF, Goodreads, social networks, and other sources.
***All cover art may not be final.***

It’s scary when it’s Christmas shopping time. No really. I try to avoid it at all costs. I’ve done my gift shopping and only want to run into the store for necessities. Though with a shopaholic mom I don’t always get what I want.

Worst we braved a Saturday sale. I wish you well all of you crazy shoppers, may you not get stepped on or trampled.

Let’s look at some pretty covers to make us all feel safer.

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Black Wolves by Kate Elliott

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: The Black Wolves trilogy, book 1 Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: High Fantasy Shera’s thoughts: How exciting that Kate Elliott is starting up a new series! Yeah! Sure I could make fun of some things. But this cover is pretty darn fierce. Oh, and the sword covering the title, perfection.

Burn by Paula Weston

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: The Rephaim, book 4 Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: Paranormal YA Shera’s thoughts: I love the constancy with this series, when they’re all lined up there is no doubting that they’re all from the same one. Personally this one is my favorite so far. It’s probably all of the colors.

Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: The Great Library, book 1 Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: Young Adult Fantasy Shera’s thoughts: Funny thing is the lions smudged into the blue with faint glowing red eyes—wicked awesome!—popped out at me more then the books at the bottom. Overall I love the spattered/speckled and worn look of the cover. Very cool. Though the line on the left just seems out of place. Can’t wait!

Pocket Apocalypse by Seanan McGuire

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: InCryptid, book 4 Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: Urban Fantasy Shera’s thoughts: There’s always been something sexist about these cover. Sexist as in those old romance time covers. Or better yet those movie covers with the girls clinging on to the “heroes’” leg. While this one isn’t as bad as some of the others. Why is this girl mucking around in the jungle with short-shorts, her top half on done, and no extra layers? Look at the guy! Oh, the art looks nice but I have complaints about their faces. Yes-yes. Grumble-grumble.

Resonance by Erica O’Rourke

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: Dissonance series, book 2  Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: N/A Shera’s thoughts: Oooo, I love it! Covers that take objects, in this case cool folded paper, and them look interesting is awesome. Better is how the designer(s) made the type work with the picture. Bravo! This is how typography should be done! On that note does anyone feel a cover makeover coming for book 1? This is a complete change of design and feel for the series.

Shards of Hope by Nalini Singh

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: Psy-Changeling, book 14  Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: Paranormal Romance Shera’s thoughts: Every time I see a new cover for this series my heart leaps for joy! Especially now that the later books will be getting a makeover. Bout time. This reminds me of a snowier version of Heart of Obsidian, and it matches nicely with the previous winter cover Shield of Winter. The male lead is cover, and looks darn sexy, and the art is amazing, and the covers tie in together. Well done. Well done.

Well I leave this Cover Coveting on this lovely little tease. Hope everyone is enjoying the season.

Review: 13 to Life

13 to Life (13 to Life, book 1) by Shannon Delany

Genre: Paranormal Young Adult
Edition Reviewed: Ebook
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle
Goodreads: 13 to Life (1)

Everything about Jessie Gillmansen’s life changed when her mother died. Now even her hometown of Junction is changing. Mysterious dark things are happening. All Jessie wants is to avoid more change. But showing a hot new guy around Junction High, she’s about to discover a whole new type of change. Pietr Rusakova is more than good looks and a fascinating accent—he’s a guy with a dangerous secret. And his very existence is sure to bring big trouble to Jessie’s small town.
It seems change is the one thing Jessie can’t avoid.

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Review:

It can not be said that I didn't try. Because I did!! I bought almost every book in the series, so I had to try!! Problem is this book had too many tones of Twilight. No it's not Twilight, I am well aware that there are many points that Twilight never had. However, the main lead is undefined, and down right stupid. The male love interests aren't interesting and I'm pretty sure in the real world any REAL friend would tell their friend that those boys are trouble and they're already treating you liked dirt. Dump him.

The overall hate that the students give the main lead about her mother dying in a horrific death is . . . crazy. I'm sorry no matter how messed up the people if someone died in a horrific accident they wouldn't treat an innocent bystander like a leaper. Maybe because the main lead opened her arms wide to the girl who was mean to her, and also is the reason her mother died. No one is a saint. Someone caused your mother to crash you might forgive, but just shrugging it off is ridiculous. Now I'll admit that I did not make it to the end of this book so maybe she finally stands up for herself and even has that emotional break.

Main reason is the drama was so stupidly formed that anything being based off of it was nothing but one giant joke! The main lead was basically a Bella clone, maybe a tad more personality. However, I will forever curse Twilight and any book that thinks a reader needs and  empty shell for a lead. We don't. The love interests were terrible from the get go, making one of the most painful love triangles I've seen a while. Plot . . . I'm not sure where it was going. It didn't catch my attention at any point and in the end I have better books waiting for me. 13 to Life kicked started my new reading resolution to stop reading books that I'm not interested in. Thank goodness for my new found self control/resolution.

Sexual Content: Kissing, making out, and sexual humor . . . not sure if anything else happened.

  
1/5- I couldn't finish it or wish I hadn't.

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Previous book(s) in series:
Reviewed on BW:	Amazon:	Goodreads:
13 to Life (1) Secrets and Shadows (2) Bargains and Betrayals (3) Destiny and Deception (4) Rivals and Retribution (5)	13 to Life (1) Secrets and Shadows (2) Bargains and Betrayals (3) Destiny and Deception (4) Rivals and Retribution (5)	13 to Life (1) Secrets and Shadows (2) Bargains and Betrayals (3) Destiny and Deception (4) Rivals and Retribution (5)

Review: Blade Song

Blade Song (Colbana Files, book 1) by J.C. Daniels

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Edition Reviewed: eBook
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle
Goodreads: Blade Song (1)

Kit Colbana - half breed, assassin, thief, jack of all trades - has a new job: track down the missing ward of one of the local alpha shapeshifters. It should be a piece of cake.

So why is she so nervous? It probably has something to do with the insanity that happens when you deal with shifters - especially sexy ones who come bearing promises of easy jobs and easier money.

Or maybe it’s all the other missing kids that Kit discovers while working the case, or the way her gut keeps screaming she’s gotten in over her head. Or maybe it’s because if she fails - she’s dead.

If she can stay just one step ahead, she should be okay. Maybe she’ll even live long to collect her fee...

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Review:

“My sword arm is mighty.
I will not falter.
I will not fail.
My aim is true.
My heart is strong.” - Kit Colbana

Wow! Blade Song hit sooooooo many good spots. There were a few minor things that did liken it to the Kate Daniels books. Male cat shifter leads. Two smartass leads with some serious family issues, and damage. Yet, it's nothing like Jennifer Armentrout's Half-Blood series to Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy. No. The Colbana Files stands on it's own two feet. I couldn't get enough of it! The mystery, the world (I'll get to that), the romance, and more! Ah! I loved it! Kit Colbana is awesome, she's hardened and strong. But she's definitely a damaged and vulnerable soul, which makes for an interesting read.

However! There are some huge flaws here. Ones that I can not over look. First up, something so basic that it pisses me off the most. The grammar. I'm not sure if it's because I have a old copy or what, but the writing didn't flow. Either the sentence wasn't thought out enough, or a word was simply left out. Or “it” was before the word and after it, even though “it” didn't need to be there. (And it wasn't just “it”. It was “of”, “the”, and more!) So many basic grammar mistakes that I could not believe that an experienced author had them in her book. Honestly I'm not sure if that in later issues the grammar errors were updated, but I hope so. (Maybe if I connect my Kindle to the wi/fi and let it reload the book I might get a grammar updated issue?)

Second, some world building issues. First off it is never addressed if witches, shifters, vampires, and such were always out of the closet or if it was a “revelation”. It was cool that Daniels came up with NH, Non-Humans, as a term but never bothered to fill out the world. So I just assumed the spooks were always out. Most importantly is how Kit qualifies as a half-blood/breed? No really she's a Aneira, AKA Amazon, with a Aneira mother and a human father. It's never addressed some of the legends of how Aneira breed to get more woman warriors. So I kept wondering if there are Aneira men that are never mentioned? Are they a naughty secret they keep in haram houses? Or is the Aneira reproduction process asexual? But Kit's mom decided to have a kid the hard way?

Some might argue that I'm being picky about he world building. Sure. Sad thing is I can forgive bad grammar before I can forgive laziness in world building. (Or maybe forgetfulness?) World building is a huge job. Getting the mythology for an Urban Fantasy, or any Fantasy kind of book, isn't easy. Coming up with it and figuring out how everything applies is tough. But just because it's fantasy doesn't mean it should be forgotten, skipped, or simply never thought of.

Third. Repetitive . There were a lot of phrases and repetitive bits. Damn, was one. Also, every one who met Kit kept calling her a silly little girl. Now I know I'd take offense if anyone ever said that to me. Especially people you have to work with. However, after reading the term used so much I might just go ape shit crazy on anyone that ever uses those words to describe me. “Silly little girl!” Ugh. Or fool. “You're either brave or a fool.” Just. Stop.

Lastly, another repetitive thing. Kit passes out a lot, and has some “freak out” moments. Don't get me wrong I like my damaged character, so if there are some things in your past that wig you out because of they're just that scary, I'm for it. But Kit couldn't deal most of the time. Having blackout moments when she'd wig out, even violently attacking people in her fear. It felt like she should have died years ago, especially in her line of work. She couldn't seem to deal with anything on her own. Damon is great and it was “bonding time”, but I wanted to see Kit be all “bad memory this is how I deal with it”! Plus, it took a lot away from the important freak outs. So instead of going “shit girl that's awful I feel you”, it was more like “oh, another freak out. Great.”

In the end I'm honestly eager to read the next book. The mystery was chilling and I want to see some more blood shed by the villain(s) presented in this book. More! Also, Damon went from annoying as hell asshole to one that's sexy. He still annoys me. Despite how a feel about rushing the romance, especially in an Urban Fantasy, Daniels' does a good job here. The world has potential, and if those few glitches are fixed all will be fine. The characters presented here are awesome and I want to get to know them—though it stings that one of my favorites already died. The witches of this world are pretty cool and I'd like to get to know them more. Overall the Colbana Files is a series I want more of and have high hopes that it will pick up. After all there isn't a single Amazon lead that I've enjoyed this much.

Sexual Content: Sexual humor, some dark themes, sex, and general adult content.

 
2/5- Average/disappointing, library check-out.

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Previous book(s) in series:
Reviewed on BW:	Amazon:	Goodreads:
Blade Song (1) Night Blade (2) Broken Blade (3) Edged Blade (4)	Blade Song (1) Night Blade (2) Broken Blade (3) Edged Blade (4)	Blade Song (1) Night Blade (2) Broken Blade (3) Edged Blade (4)

Cover Coveting(12)

 
Cover art is found from Wicked Scribes, ATUF, Goodreads, social networks, and other sources.
***All cover art may not be final.***

Hope everyone is enjoying the Holiday Season! Whatever you celebrate! I’ve been keeping my posts to a minimal lately as I’ve been making my holiday preparations.

So hopefully I’m planning to keep my post regular from now on. Though I’ll probably take Christmas and such off.

Hope you’re all enjoying yourselves! Are you doing any holiday prep? If so good luck, and remember to take breaks.

Now on to the covers.

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Day Shift by Charlaine Harris

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: Midnight, Texas ; book 2 Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: Urban Fantasy Shera’s thoughts: It’s strange to be seeing this but I miss the style of the Sookie Stackhouse books. And most of Harris’s other book covers. They were stylized, unique. this is just . . . meh. There’s nothing I like about it besides the authors name. But that’s the issue. The cover isn’t trying, it’s living off of the authors name.

Dead Ice by Laurell K. Hamilton

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter ; Book 24 Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: Paranormal Romance Shera’s thoughts: Yeah, I like it. It does not scream zombie—especially zombie porn—instead it looks like they’re trying to create their own ice princess.

Earth Bound by Christine Feehan

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: Sea Haven/Sisters of the Heart, book 4 Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: Paranormal Romance Shera’s thoughts: Fits the series nicely. Despite myself I don’t dislike it, for what it is it works. My biggest complaint is that it doesn’t really ring as a paranormal romance. It’s putting off a mystery thriller from the 90s.

Flight From Death by Yasmine Galenorn

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: Fly by Night, book 1 Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance Shera’s thoughts: Galenorn has been blessed by the cover gods! I say it every time. This time however I have to complaints. 1) Nothing paranormal on the cover. A dragon is the lead character! Play with that! 2) That creepy dude leering at the girl. He looks displaced and, again, creepy.

In the Air Tonight by Lori Handeland

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: The Summer of Witches, book 1 Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: Paranormal Romance Shera’s thoughts: Love the typography. More so I love the fire and ice going on the cover. It’s so witchy, I can’t wait to read this new series!

Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: N/A  Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: Young Adult Fantasy Shera’s thoughts: “Neil Gaiman” not only pops more on the cover than the authors name, but his name is in the blurb front and center. Does not bode well. That said I LOVE that the feather is turning into birds. The background is the perfect kind of city sunset to go with it. Beautiful!

Of Dreams and Rust by Sarah Fine

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: Of Metal and Wishes, book 2 Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: Young Adult Dystopian Shera’s thoughts: Despite that this cover doesn’t really scream it’s genre, I still love it. I wondered how the covers would progress after the gorgeous cover of the first book. Well done.

Plenilune by Jennifer Freitag

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: N/A  Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: High Fantasy Shera’s thoughts: Love it! This is the kind of cover that I miss from the High Fantasy covers. Yes, endless cloak cover get boring fast.

Rogue by Julie Kagawa

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: Talon, book 2 Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: Paranormal Young Adult Shera’s thoughts: Nice. After the first cover and some of the responses I was very afraid of what the next covers would be. As in another Nightshade where they change the cover art completely. I love the scales and the claw marks are a wonderful touch. Ah!! My dragon fangirl self is just giddy. Can’t wait to see what they do with the next cover.

Rook by Sharon Cameron

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: N/A  Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: Young Adult Dystopian Shera’s thoughts: Love the idea, cringing over the horrid background.

Salt & Stone by Victoria Scott

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: Fire & Flood, book 2 Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: Young Adult Dystopian Shera’s thoughts: This looks much better than the first book, the eye doesn’t look as creepy.

Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older

Previous book(s) in series:

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: N/A  Add it: Goodreads | Amazon Genre: Paranormal Young Adult Shera’s thoughts: No. No. No.

Review: Talon

Talon (Talon, book 1) by Julie Kagawa

Genre: Paranormal Young Adult (Romance)
Edition Reviewed: eBook
Amazon: Hardback | Kindle
Goodreads: Talon (1)

Long ago, dragons were hunted to near extinction by the Order of St. George, a legendary society of dragon slayers. Hiding in human form and growing their numbers in secret, the dragons of Talon have become strong and cunning, and they're positioned to take over the world with humans none the wiser.

Ember and Dante Hill are the only sister and brother known to dragonkind. Trained to infiltrate society, Ember wants to live the teen experience and enjoy a summer of freedom before taking her destined place in Talon. But destiny is a matter of perspective, and a rogue dragon will soon challenge everything Ember has been taught. As Ember struggles to accept her future, she and her brother are hunted by the Order of St. George.

Soldier Garret Xavier Sebastian has a mission to seek and destroy all dragons, and Talon's newest recruits in particular. But he cannot kill unless he is certain he has found his prey: and nothing is certain about Ember Hill. Faced with Ember's bravery, confidence and all-too-human desires, Garret begins to question everything that the Order has ingrained in him: and what he might be willing to give up to find the truth about dragons.

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Review:

Up front. Talon is a title I have been beyond eager to get my hands on. Normally I don't to “pre-reviews” let alone ones with gifs. But I did, my Cookie Monster burning his cookie/meth on his spoon mouthing “come on, come on” is exactly how I felt about a new Julie Kagawa book. I was jonesing for this book hard! Kagawa took fairies and rocked it! She took vampires tossed them into a futuristic dystopain causing my mind to: BOOM!

So imagine my surprise when I wasn't won over. The romance was handled well, and it was pretty intelligent for a love triangle even if all the pieces had to be shoved together in the first book. Though I was annoyed by the insta-attraction between Ember and Riley. Because their dragons have an instinct for each other. It was just more romance than I had expected. Don’t get me wrong I did enjoy the romance, swooned and liked that both Ember and Garret told the story. Giving me sooooo many swoon moments. Then Riley came in to tell his parts towards the end, letting readers no the triangle is not going to be set in stone. Fabulous job.

What detracted from Talon was that the world wasn't fully developed, and some of it was too contrived. Kagawa can deliver on amazing worlds, and that was what I was most excited about. How she would weave a world of dragons. Don't get me wrong I gave Firelight a pretty high rating, but I knew going in it was all about romance and very little world building up front. Dear Kagawa has forced me to raise my standards where she is concerned.

The world outside of Ember and Garret's star-crossed romance felt . . . choppy and lacking at best. The brainwashing aspects of Talon weren't explored enough. Dante and Ember as twins felt hallow. Plus, that mentioned brainwashing is supposed to really kick into affect when Ember gets her “training” and eventual placement in the Talon organization. (Her placement was sadly obvious, but beyond laughable. No she couldn't.) St. George, the dragon slayer organization, had so much potential and some world building could have been used! Nothing beyond that beautiful romance was fleshed out. Which soon brought down my enjoyment of the romance and it took me more then two days to devour a Kagawa book! What?

In the end I expected more from Kagawa. My anticipation of the amazing world she would build out weighed my interest in the romance. Too many missed opportunities! Which is what ended up dampening my enjoyment of Talon. Though that cliffhanger really was amazing. And as a side note I was surprised how many grammar errors there were. Hmmmm. Talon is a lot better then a number of YA titles out there. However, Kagawa set the bar. I have expectations now. I'll keep my faith alive for the next book.

Sexual Content: Making out, kissing, sexual humor, and such. Overall pretty clean.

  
3/5- Adored it, just a few minor details held it back.

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Previous book(s) in series:
Reviewed on BW:	Amazon:	Goodreads:
Talon (1) Rogue (2) Untitled (3) Untitled (4) Untitled (5)	Talon (1) Rogue (2) Untitled (3) Untitled (4) Untitled (5)	Talon (1) Rogue (2) Untitled (3) Untitled (4) Untitled (5)

Review: Burn For Me

Burn For Me (Hidden Legacy, book 1) by Ilona Andrews

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Edition Reviewed: eBook
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle
Goodreads: Burn For Me (1)

#1 New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews launches a brand new Hidden Legacy series, in which one woman must place her trust in a seductive, dangerous man who sets off an even more dangerous desire…

Nevada Baylor is faced with the most challenging case of her detective career—a suicide mission to bring in a suspect in a volatile case. Nevada isn’t sure she has the chops. Her quarry is a Prime, the highest rank of magic user, who can set anyone and anything on fire.

Then she’s kidnapped by Connor “Mad” Rogan—a darkly tempting billionaire with equally devastating powers. Torn between wanting to run or surrender to their overwhelming attraction, Nevada must join forces with Rogan to stay alive.

Rogan’s after the same target, so he needs Nevada. But she’s getting under his skin, making him care about someone other than himself for a change. And, as Rogan has learned, love can be as perilous as death, especially in the magic world.

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Review:

It may have started off slow, but it is clear that Andrews has hit another home run with this whole new Urban Fantasy verse. Love it! Just imagine a world where in 1863 Osiris serum is “discovered” awakening latent magical abilities in humans. Society is changed forever. Houses are formed by powerful families built around magic. They enter into marriage contracts for a different kind of breeding. (Mail order brides take on a whole new meaning!) To make powerful magic users in their houses. It actually feels like a lot of mafia families, the ones with the most power and money ruling their areas. Being able to laud it over normal people, lesser magic users, and even the police.

Nevada is a cool lead. She's a PI who normally does mundane things like finding out if a spouse is cheating, insurance fraud, and fairly dangerous jobs. Sometimes things get heated, but Nevada prefers it quiet. She runs her business, Baylor Investigative Agency, trying to make money to keep her mortgage on her business from being collected by a powerful House—one with in the investigation business. Her family life is a nice addition, and a somewhat rare thing with Andrew books. Usually it's about the lead finding a new family after horrible things leave them without family.

The warehouse Nevada's PI business is run out of is also her grandmother's armored vehicle mechanic shop, and is the home for to Baylor family is a pretty cool setting in the book. Especially when dealing with the whole Baylor family. They're an awesome bunch and I enjoyed hanging with them so much. In fact, I would have loved more page time with them.

Houston becomes an amazing playground in which Burn For Me plays out. Doing much for Houston what the Kate Daniel's books did for Atlanta. Nevada is believably pulled into a dangerous case where an immature Prime needs to be brought in to his house. Nevada could lose everything going up against a magic user with that much power, and in her world that's the point as she's expendable. Of course this twist of events soon pulls her together with a different Prime. The most scariest Prime: Mad Rogan.

To be honest when he came into the story it lost steam for me. Only because every male lead/interest introduced into an Andrews' story tend to be cut from the same cloth. Soon after getting to know him it's clear that like those other alpha males Rogan stands out. He's the coldest one I've read from the pair and very calculating. Like Nevada I wonder if he's a psychopath. The Scourge. The Huracan. A man who professes that he went into the army because he was promised he could kill people and not have any consequences. Yeah, he is the scariest of them for sure. Even with some hints that he has some warm fuzzies, if not normal warm fuzzies. But Nevada and Rogan have some sparks! Even if it is the same setup as other romances. Alpha male states the lead female will beg for him and come crawling! Lead states he's bad and she will resist at all costs! However, with an ending line like this:

“He wanted Nevada Baylor. He wanted her more than he had wanted anyone in a long, long time, and he would get her. She just didn't realize it yet.”

How could readers not melt for this romance!

There are a lot of aspects that have become standard for an Andrews verse. However, there are aspects readers have come to love. Just like with those other series there's plenty of new factors to make them, and the Hidden Legacy series, stand apart. Sure I would have liked if the romance aspects where not quite so in my face. Taking maybe one more, even two, books to really build up steam. The magic is awesome here and I look forward to finding about Nevada's human lie detector skills. The Baylor clan is amazing, with the best book grandma ever! They're definitely something I'm looking forward to most in the next book. This is a promising start and I look forward to lusting after another series from this amazing writing duo!

Sexual Content: Hot scenes and some . . . dry humping. Sadly no full on sex scenes. Sex talk, sexual humor/banter, hints of darker things.

 
4/5- Great! Really enjoyed it.

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Previous book(s) in series:
Reviewed on BW:	Amazon:	Goodreads:
Burn For Me (1) Untitled (2)	Burn For Me (1) Untitled (2)	Burn For Me (1) Untitled (2)