Cathy Reviews: Dead Set

I'm thrilled today to welcome my mother in law Cathy back to the blog to share her latest review!

DEAD SET
Richard Kadrey
Paranormal Young Adult
320 pages
Harper Voyager
Available Now
Source: Finished copy from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
After her father’s funeral, Zoe and her mother moved to the Big City to start over. But life’s not so easy, the money is tight, and a new school brings trials. Fortunately, she has an escape: her dreams. A world of freedom and solace removed from the loneliness and anxieties of real life, Zoe's dreamscape offers another, more precious, gift: It is the only place where she can spend time with her closest companion — her lost brother Valentine.

Yet something is very wrong. An unfamiliar — and univited — presence has entered her private realm to threaten Zoe and Valentine, a disturbing turn of events that is compounded by an impossible discovery. A chance encounter at a used record store where the grooves of the vinyl discs hold not music, but lost souls, has opened up a portal to the world of the restless dead. Now, the shop’s strange proprietor is offering Zoe the chance to commune with the father whose passing took a piece of her heart. The price? A lock of hair. Then a tooth. Then...

How far into this eerie world will Zoe go to discover what she truly needs? And once she does, will there be enough left of her to come back?

CATHY'S THOUGHTS
In Dead Set, author Richard Kadrey manages to make us feel the angst of 16 year-old Zoe as he gives us an upfront account of her troubles: her father is dead, she has to move to a rundown apartment, and she has to start a new school with no friends. That's enough misery to push anyone close to the edge. Mr. Kadrey gradually reveals other stressors in Zoe's life, hinting at a hospital stay for cutting, but  the most fascinating aspect of the story for me was Zoe's dream life. While Zoe hates her real life, she loves her dream world where she can spend time with her dream brother, Valentine. But slowly, even in sleep, her world begins to become troubled.
 
In the main part of the story, Mr. Kadrey creates a world where the dead are living temporarily until they can move on. He is very descriptive and paints us a detailed  picture of this world. Not really somewhere I would like to be! Zoe manages to cross the boundaries into this world and sees her father. There is lots of mystery and intrigue while she is in this underworld. We feel her angst and frustration, which in turn sometimes fuels our own frustration because of Zoe's very teenage decisions. Even so, we cheer for her as the reluctant heroine. She learns the lesson that some things are worth the sacrifice.
 
This book felt like a mixed genre to me – part myth, part fairy tale, and part contemporary paranormal. At one point in her journey, she's like Alice down the rabbit hole! If you have time, take a journey with Zoe.

Rating: 3.5/5
 

Find Richard

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This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my (or in this case, Cathy's) honest opinion.

Mini Reviews: Wait for You + Trust in Me

WAIT FOR YOU
Wait for You #1
Jennifer Armentrout/J. Lynn
Contemporary New Adult
384 Pages
William Morrow Paperbacks
Available Now
Source: Finished copy from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Amazon)
Some things are worth waiting for . . .

Traveling thousands of miles from home to enter college is the only way nineteen-year-old Avery Morgansten can escape what happened at that fateful Halloween party five years ago—an event that forever changed her life. What she never planned on was capturing the attention of the one guy who could shatter the precarious future she's building for herself.

Some things are worth experiencing . . .

Cameron Hamilton is six feet, three inches of swoon-worthy hotness, com-plete with a pair of striking blue eyes and a remarkable ability to make Avery want things she believed had been irrevocably stolen from her. Getting involved with him is dangerous. Yet ignoring the simmering tension that sparks between them—and brings out a side of her she never knew existed—is impossible.

Some things shouldn't be kept quiet . . .

But when Avery starts receiving threatening e-mails and phone calls, she's forced to face a past she wants to keep buried and acknowledge that someone is refusing to allow her to let go of that night when everything changed. If the devastating truth comes out, will she resurface with one less scar? And will Cam be there to help her?

And some things are worth fighting for . . . 

MY THOUGHTS
Wait for You is pure pleasure; a read not unusual in its setup but sweetly sinful in its delivery, giving us a romance gloriously slow to develop and fraught with tension thanks to a number of weighty unspoken secrets. Avery is absolutely adorable in her wariness and her quiet reserve–markers of a painful past discerned through just enough hints to have us filling in the traumatizing blanks–her awkwardness with Cam throughout endearing her to us more and more with each chapter we’re in her head. She’s the first to admit she’s a runner when it comes to emotional challenges, and while this tendency is frustrating at times (something she freely admits to herself and us as readers), the brief flashes of life before she came to West Virginia are enough to have us tempted to stick our heads in the sand right alongside her, hoping the threat of emotional discovery simply goes away just as much as we wish for her to simply step up and face it.

Cam is a true highlight of this story, his initial introduction raising our eyebrows in question at his apparent overconfidence and abundance of self-love, but we quickly see that his self-congratulatory statements are all in jest, meant to goad Avery into responding to him even if that response is laughably insulting in nature. He's infinitely patient with Avery, there for her simply as a friend for much of the book before he oh-so carefully tries to steer them into trickier waters. When Avery’s past gets the better of her, he takes an understandable step back to give her space, but he never retreats entirely and he thankfully doesn’t play any jealousy games with her to get her to see what she’s missing. He lets realization come to her on her own terms, and we can’t help but want to hug him for his maturity and his unwavering understanding of Avery even when she doesn’t understand herself.

Flirty and beautifully romantic but with no shortage of dark undertones, Wait For You is one destined for the re-read shelf.

Rating: 4/5

TRUST IN ME
Wait for You #1.5
Jennifer Armentrout/J. Lynn
Contemporary New Adult
William Morrow Paperbacks
Available Now
Source: e-ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
It’s Wait for You as you’ve never seen it. Trust in Me lets you in on Cam’s side of the #1 New York Times Bestselling story.

Cameron Hamilton is used to getting what he wants, especially when it comes to women. But when Avery Morgansten comes crashing into his life – literally – he finally meets the one person who can resist his soulful baby blues. But Cam’s not ready to give up. He can’t get the feisty and intriguing girl out of his head.

Avery has secrets, secrets that keep her from admitting the feelings Cam knows she has for him. Will persistence (and some delicious homemade cookies) help him break down her barriers and gain her trust? Or will he be shut out of Avery's life, losing his first real shot at the kind of love that lasts forever?

MY THOUGHTS
Trust in Me gives us Cam’s insight into his sometimes-difficult-but-ultimately-hugely-rewarding relationship with Avery, a treat for Cam lovers everywhere who always wondered what was going on behind the charmingly self-aggrandizing statements. The beginning is a bit tedious simply due to the fact that the main draw in the very beginning of Wait for You was the outrageousness of the things that came out of his mouth as he tried to woo her with varying degrees of seriousness, but the anticipation of “what will he say next” is absent in this story because we already know the answer given the dialogue is obviously unchanged. The things we're really interested in knowing come later, our curiosity lying almost completely in how the small clues about what happened to Avery in the past affect him, and in that regard, this novella does not disappoint.

The highlight though is the fleeting glimpse of Jase’s life Cam’s perspective gives us, our knowledge of him perhaps a single step above zero after spending our time in Avery’s head first, and there are clearly innumerable facets to him that never registered with us until now. With his and Tess’s story next on the horizon, Trust in Me builds the anticipation beautifully until we’re practically salivating in the end, desperate to see how these two will fit together, and extraordinarily curious to see how Cam will handle one of his best friends making a play for his sister.

Rating: 3.5/5
 

Find Jennifer:

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Giveaway: To Dance with the Devil by Cat Adams

Thanks to the wonderful team at Tor Books, I have a fantastic giveaway to share with you all today!  Three copies of the most recent release in the Blood Singer urban fantasy series by Cat Adams, To Dance with the Devil, are up for grabs, please just fill out the Rafflecopter form below (giveaway is open to US and Canada only).

To Dance with the Devil is book six in the series, but I actually came in on book four, The Isis Collar, and aside from clearly missing a little history on some of protagonist Celia's personal relationships, I was easily drawn into her world and found that the mystery element really stood alone. Those readers like me who enjoy a bit of a badass heroine will no doubt be delighted by Celia!

About To Dance with the Devil:

The successful urban fantasy series continues as Celia Graves—part human, part vampire, part Siren—faces black magic and heartbreak.

Celia Graves’s newest client is one of the last surviving members of a magical family that is trapped in a generations-old feud with other magic-workers. She’s supposed to die at the next full moon unless Celia can broker peace between the clans or break the curse before it can take effect.

For the first time in a long while, Celia’s personal life is looking up. Her vampire abilities seem to be under control, her Siren abilities have gotten more reliable, and even though her office was blown up, her services are more in demand than ever now that she's fought off terrorists and been part of the royal wedding of the year. Her friends all seem to be finding love and her grandmother has—finally—agreed to go to family therapy. The only trouble spot is Celia’s love life. Not long ago, she had two boyfriends.

Now she barely has one and she isn’t sure she wants him. But Bruno DeLuca is a powerful mage and Celia needs his help . . . especially after she's attacked and her client is kidnapped.

Find Cat Adams:

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

Guest Post: Terry Maggert + The Forest Bull

Today I'm pleased to welcome author Terry Maggert to the blog to talk a little bit about his new urban fantasy novel, The Forest Bull, as well as an interesting cultural tidbit about life in the South. Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today Terry!

• • • • • • • • • • 

Three lovers who stalk and kill the immortals that drift through South Florida (tourists are a moveable feast, after all) are living a simple life of leisure- until one of them is nearly killed by woman who is a new kind of lethal.
 
When Ring Hardigan isn’t making sandwiches for, and with, his two partners, Waleska and Risa (they’re cool like that), he’s got a busy schedule doing the dirty work of sending immortals to the ever after. Wally and Risa provide linguistics, logistics, and finding the right place for him and his knife- together, they’re a well-oiled machine, and they’ve settled into a rhythm that bodes ill for the Undying. Warlocks, vampires, succubae and the odd ghoul have all fallen to their teamwork. Life is tough, but they soldier on killing the undead, liberating their worldly goods for charity, and generally achieving very little.
 
Until Ring wakes up after nearly dying at the hands of a woman who may or may not be the daughter of Satan. Ring’s a tough character, for a boat bum (killing immortals sort of rubs off on you that way), but twelve days of comatose healing are enough to bring out the ugly side of his temper. When a letter arrives asking for their help finding a large collection of stolen heirloom jewelry, they form an uneasy friendship with the last Baron of a family hiding in a primal European forest.
 
Cazimir, the Baron, has two skills: Jeweler and preserver of the last herd of forest bulls. It’s an odd occupation, but then, Ring, Risa and Wally aren’t your everyday career folks, and Cazimir’s lodge might be sitting on something that looks a lot like hell, which, according to a 2400 year old succubus hooker named Delphine, is currently on the market to the strongest immortal. The Baron’s impassioned plea to find the jewelry comes with some conditions- he doesn’t want the collection back as much as he does the thief, Elizabeth, who happens to be his daughter- and the woman who nearly sent Ring to his grave.

In a tapestry of lies, it’s up to Ring, Wally and Risa to find out what is evil, who is human, and exactly who really wants to reign over hell.

That’s the official blurb, but the short version is that three hunters who kill immortals are asked to find stolen jewelry, and the thief might be Satan. What does Satan look like? How do three lovers get along? And what happens when you find out that you might be more than human, and less than immortal?

The theme of my book is simple. Sometimes, evil can be outwardly beautiful, but in truth, some cultures have created a myth that there is an expectation of cruelty from beautiful women. I started to think about how we assume that looks determine the character of a person, but good-looking people may get away with more because of how we’ve been trained as a society. The whole notion that women could be evil, but the head honcho of Hell was a man, seemed curious. Then, I began to write a character that blew up the assumptions about the “devil”, especially given that many people associate Satan with being a male, and apparently, someone who dresses like every day is Halloween.

I began writing about this particular topic because of my status as a transplant to the South when I moved from Florida. I’m not a true Southerner, but I found that I love the culture. I mean, sweet tea? Biscuits? Pinto beans? Please and thank you! There was one thing that was completely new to me – roadside crosses at places where people died in car accidents. I started wondering, “What if someone, or something, used a roadside cross for a very dark reason?” I wrote a story about a ghoul and her human helper, who roam the American Midwest using a roadside cross to lure teenagers to their death. From that, I created characters that would hunt that ghoul, and one year later, here we are!

The series has really taken off, I originally thought one or two books might be the full story, but I just finished the second, and there are at least four more in the works as of today. My character Delphine really took me by surprise. She’s a twenty-four hundred year old hooker who also happens to be a bit of a Southern Belle—and a succubus. I was actually laughing out loud at some of the things she said, so she figures heavily in the second volume in the series. I would have included more Delphine, more of her humor, and perhaps a touch more of her personal history. I reveal all of her past in the second book, simply because she’s taken on a life of her own, and her beginnings are both sad and compelling. Stop by and see her sometime. Delphine’s favorite saying is, “I only kill for the kisses”, and I think she’s worth checking out. Thanks for having me over for a visit, and I hope to see you again when the second book, “Mask of the Swan” hits the shelves in January. Cheers!

Find Terry:

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Mini Reviews: Full Throttle & Brandon's Bride

FULL THROTTLE
Fast Track #7
Erin McCarthy
Adult Contemporary Romance
304 pages
Berkley
Available Now
Source: Finished copy from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Easing into the turns…

As one of only two girls on the tween racing circuit, Shawn Hamby has always run with a fast crowd. But now at thirty-two, she doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone. And she definitely doesn’t need a man bossing her around off of the track…

Putting the pedal to the metal…

But after a silly girls’ night at a fetish club, Shawn can’t get Rhett Ford out of her mind. He’s younger than her, and he’s her best friend’s brother-in-law, which should be red flags. Rhett is looking for someone to lead in bed, but he can’t imagine that Shawn would ever submit to him. Boldly surrendering is more her style. And with Rhett behind the wheel, it’s going to be one wild ride…

MY THOUGHTS
Much like its title suggests, Full Throttle is a fast and romantically explosive read, giving us a leading pair who make us wonder if we’re in danger of singed fingertips should we hold the pages for longer than a second or two before flipping. While the intimate scenes are undeniably scorching, Ms. McCarthy deftly ensures that the emotional component of Shawn and Rhett’s relationship is given equal weight to their bedroom forays, providing a beautiful balance that ultimately more than satisfies both the hedonist and romantic in us all.

The highlight of the relationship between Shawn and Rhett is their communication, with Rhett the type of man who thrives on making sure all his cards are on the table and desires little more than a partner unafraid to lay hers down as well. Shawn does stumble a bit in the beginning when Rhett’s introduction to his leadership role in their sexual relationship throws the fiercely independent business owner in her off-kilter, but she never takes her confusion out on him, instead letting the maelstrom of emotions wash through her and dealing with them one at a time. Rhett is ever-patient with Shawn, forcing her to talk when she might otherwise hasten a strategic retreat, and she, blessedly, never seeks to assert control by refusing to be honest with him. They address their issues and misunderstandings when they happen, providing us with a sense of calm even when tensions run high because we know the two of them are just not the type to intentionally inflict pain and then let the wound fester.

Ms. McCarthy created a devoted fan in me with her new adult release True, and she has only cemented her status as a favorite author with this adult contemporary read.

Rating: 4/5

*Note: I have not read the first 6 books in this series, this is the first I've picked up and it easily works as a stand-alone.

  

Find Erin:

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BRANDON'S BRIDE
Family Secrets #3
Lisa Gardner/Alicia Scott
Romantic Suspense
320 pages
Signet
Available Now
Source: Finished copy from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Three siblings searching for the truth about their family are about to find more than they bargained for…

For years Brandon Ferringer has sought to untangle the mystery surrounding his father's disappearance. Now training as a hotshot—a seasonal wildland fire fighter—Brandon feels he’s on the verge of finally discovering the truth. In need of temporary lodging, Brandon rents a room at a local farm, and is surprised when his attraction to the ranch’s alluring owner threatens to distract him from his mission.

Single mother Victoria Meese struggles to find time for herself in between raising her son, Randy, and running the Lady Luck Ranch. When she meets Brandon, she suddenly finds something to believe in again. But Brandon’s search for answers is about to turn dangerous, threatening their growing connection—and their very lives.

MY THOUGHTS
Brandon’s Bride is a story a bit heavier on the mystery element than the romantic relationship, something that’s not a flaw at all save for the fact that it decreases the believability of the love between our hero and heroine in the end. Victoria is someone extremely easy to like from the beginning, a woman who is refreshingly upfront and honest in all things, especially her desire to provide emotional stability for her eight-year-old son. As the story progresses though, we become increasingly frustrated with her tendency to slip up with Brandon with flirting or passionate kisses only to immediately push him away citing her son as the reason. Make no mistake, wanting to protect her son from getting comfortable with having someone around who’s ultimately only going to be in town for six months is admirable and more than understandable, her back and forth just happens a few too many times.

Adding to the sense of frustration (and aiding in Victoria’s numerous retreats) is the fact that the two of them are continually interrupted by outside factors, the first couple times of course ratcheting up the tension and providing a delicious sense of anticipation, but after a while the interference of the mystery into the almost-intimate moments makes us want to give the book a slight shake. As a result their romance has a very staccato rhythm to it rather than a nice flowing build, and given all the stopping and starting it’s hard to fully embrace their declarations of love in the final chapters. That being said, both Victoria and Brandon do have their moments to shine in this story, particularly when Victoria finally makes a decision and refuses to let Brandon run from it, and our time with the two of them is certainly not time wasted.

Rating: 3.5/5
 

Find Lisa:

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These books were sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

 

Review: Ultraviolet Catastrophe

ULTRAVIOLET CATASTROPHE
Jamie Grey
Young Adult/Sci-fi
350 pages
Self-published
Available now
Source: author for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Quantum Electrodynamics. String Theory. Schrödinger's cat. For sixteen-year-old Lexie Kepler, they’re just confusing terms in her science textbooks, until she finds out that her parents have been drugging her to suppress her outrageous IQ. Now Branston Academy, a school run by the world’s most powerful scientists, has tracked her down and is dying for her to attend - as a research subject.

She takes refuge at Quantum Technologies, a secret scientific community where her father works as a top-notch scientist, and begins her new life as girl genius at Quantum High. But the assignments at her new school make the Manhattan Project look like preschool - and Lexie barely survived freshman algebra.

Her first big assignment – creating an Einstein-Rosen bridge – is also her first chance to prove she can hold her own with the rest of QT's prodigies. But while working with the infuriatingly hot Asher Rosen, QT’s teen wonder, Lexie uncovers a mistake in their master equation. Instead of a wormhole, the machine they’re building would produce deadly ultraviolet rays that could destroy the world. Now Lexie and Asher have to use their combined brainpower to uncover the truth behind the device. Before everyone at Quantum Technologies is caught in the ultraviolet catastrophe.

MY THOUGHTS
With a synopsis full of hugely intimidating words like “quantum electrodynamics”, we can’t help but enter into this story a bit wary, wondering if Lexie’s aptitude for the more mathematical sciences and her enormous IQ might leave us eating her mental dust, overwhelmed and struggling with what comes so easily to her. Despite the aforementioned daunting words tossed around on occasion however, Lexie’s story is an easy one to settle into, her hurt and confusion over her parents’ dishonesty slicing through any hesitancy we might have had before cracking the spine like butter, instantly having us up in arms and ready to do battle on her behalf.

Not only do we quickly find ourselves at Lexie’s back–ready to deliver a verbal blow or two to parents who put her at a serious disadvantage with regard to both Quantum High and her understanding of who she is–but we also share in her nervousness in starting at a new school where she’s already monstrously behind. She therefore feels like a friend from the get-go, and while there is a bit of a push-pull between her and her parents wherein she gets angry at them and then seems to forgive them easily in turn, her reactions are understandable given the extent of her parents' lies, even if their intentions were honorable. Her attraction to Asher feels genuine and progresses at a deliciously slow place as they both find themselves distracted with very complicated scientific projects, giving us a nice balance between flirtation and mystery to ensure we’re invested in every chapter.

Though the ultimate bad guy is fairly easy to detect early on, the characters and the scientific aspect of the plot are extremely engaging, making Ultraviolet Catastrophe a book that easily fits into the category of a one-sit read. There’s some character backstory with both Lexie and Asher’s parents that could have been poked and prodded a bit more until it coughed up their secrets, but all in all, our time with the two of them is time well-spent and we close the back cover with a complete story and a satisfied grin in place.

Rating: 4/5
 

Find Jamie:

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This book was sent to me by the author free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.