Insight by Jamie Magee

Before that fateful summer night, Willow had balanced the insight of emotion, and the vivid images. That night, the figure in her nightmare marked her wrist with a star, giving her father no choice but to tell Willow a family secret that would abruptly change life, as she knew it, forever. Before Willow had time to absorb the shock of her father's secret, her soul mate that had shared every stunning dream with her, found her, and darkness captured her closest friends. In order to save them, she must weave through broken myths and the undeniable power of the Zodiac. In the end, Willow discovers that at the moment of our birth we are all given a divine gift. (courtesy of Amazon)

Insight brings us an interesting, well thought-out, multi-dimensional world.

Who doesn’t want a world where everything is beautiful and people are happy, well that’s one dimension.  Traveling from one dimension to the next in search of their soul mates, love is found.  The main character – Willow – has been through quite a bit growing up as she has an interesting talent.  She’s got 2 best friends that have come to be like family to her and she suffers from pleasant dreams and nasty nightmares.  Landen is from her dreams and Drake is from her nightmares.  Drawn together as soul mates, she must come to help her kidnapped friends.  There is a lot to this book.  Finding your soulmate can be bittersweet when the rest of your family depends on you to stay away from him. 

Magee has developed Landen to the point that I can see his crystal blue eyes in my head.  Drake comes out me with dark eyes that definitely don’t show his soul.  When Willow makes her choice, will history repeat itself, will the worlds exist as they are now? 

Insight is definitely a thrilling, interesting read.  I found the character development to be well done, the story is rich with information and set up.  Magee gives us Insight, packed with story.  A few times I thought it may have been too much, but Magee brought it back and wrapped it up nicely – looking forward for the next book to see if our characters further develop and if our ending stays where it is.  (crosses fingers).


3 Slices - 

Hop and Follow

We are participating again this week.  Hosted each week - the Friday Follow (Parajunkee) and Blog Hop (Crazy for Books)






This week question from Follow Friday - is

What do you do besides reading / reviewing as a hobby??

Our Answers - Jenn enjoys photography and scrapbooking.  Amy enjoys baking and cooking.  

And from Blog Hop is 

 "What very popular and hyped book in the blogosphere did you NOT enjoy and how did you feel about posting your review?"

If there is a hyped book typically it's one we want to read, but as far as posting a review - we pride ourselves on being upfront and honest, so we would post the review as such.

So head on over to these 2 sites - visit some of our other favorite blogs and follow.  Leave a comment here if you are a new follower and we will follow back. 

Have a great weekend! 

xoxo

-Seduced

Horror & Urban Fantasy Reading Challenge 2011

WE ARE PARTICIPATING in the BOOK CHICK CITY 2011 Reading Challenge.




Go over to BCC and sign up - here are the details

Challenge Details

• Timeline: 01 Jan 2011 - 31 Dec 2011

• Rules: To read TWENTY FOUR (24) horror & urban fantasy novels in 2011 (24 is the minimum but you can read more if you wish!)

• You don't have to select your books ahead of time, you can just add them as you go. Also if you do list them upfront you can change them, nothing is set in stone! The books you choose can crossover into other challenges you have on the go.

• You can join anytime between now and the later part of next year.

• At the beginning of Jan 2011, you will find a link to add your reviews.

• You don't have to have a blog to join in - for those without a blog just FILL IN THIS FORM and I will add you to the list - just join the discussion in the comments section to let us know when you've read a book and what you thought of it! :)

Motor City Witch by Cindy Spencer Pape

She’d left magic behind

Once upon a time, Elise Sutton had been a powerful witch and paranormal enforcer. Once she’d been madly in love with Fae lord Aidan Greene. But when Aidan had considered his duties more important than their relationship, the love affair ended badly. Shortly after, while on the hunt for a rogue demon, Elise was brutalized and almost killed. Months later she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. To protect her child—and her heart— Elise decided to live a nonmagical life.

Until she meets Aidan again, and he assumes Dina is his daughter. When Dina is kidnapped by a racial purity movement, Elise turns to Aidan for help. The icy facade she has built around herself shatters at Aidan’s touch. Together they have to hunt through the human and faery worlds to find Dina...and to discover whether or not they have any kind of chance at a happily ever after.(back cover comments)

Book 2 in the Urban Arcana series by Cindy Spencer Pape is even hotter than the first.  Pape has managed to create characters that immediately have your heart.  I didn’t need to picture these characters to connect with them.  Their stories had me straight away.  Motor City Witch is even more of a suspenseful thriller.  The rekindled romance is hot and erotic.  I’m impressed and can’t wait for more in this series.  Fae and Wolves being some of my favorites wrapped with witches puts this book high on my list.  Add in the fact that the story and writing is well done and I’m hooked.

Pape doesn’t go overboard on detail – gives you just what you need.  She’s known for her love of the happily ever after and I didn’t feel like she over did it.  We’re left waiting to find out what happens with the mystery that’s spanned over the 2 books so far. 

5 slices 

Motor City Fae by Cindy Spencer Pape

Detroit artist Meagan Kelly has had a strong sixth sense all her life, but that doesn’t mean the gorgeous stranger’s crazy story—that she’s a half-elf, half human heiress—is true. But Meagan can’t deny the evidence of her own eyes—he’s Fae. A tall, blond, handsome, pointy- eared elf—and a man she just can’t get enough of. Ric Thornhill’s assignment just got a lot more complicated. The more time he spends with Meagan, the harder it is to see her as a political tool to prevent an all- out war between humans and Fae. Now Meagan’s in a race to master her newly released powers in time to prevent the conflict, convince a jealous Queen not to strip Ric of his powers, and find out if she can build a life that straddles two worlds.(back cover comments)

This is the first book in the Urban Arcana series and it sucks you in right away.  Pape has written a steamy quick read – as in quick because I could not put it down.  From the moment the book opens, our characters meet – Meagan is an artist with some hidden talents and Ric is ready to show her how to find them.  Little does Ric know that he has been looking for Meagan all along.  I found a little of the story reminiscent of a prior Fae series I have read, so I was even more involved in this one.  This story had it’s own twist and outcome I was quickly longing for.  Erotic and mysterious, this story is a keeper.  Pape did a great job wrapping the titillating sex scenes with an action packed puzzle to solve.  We have the pleasure of previewing the next in this series – Motor City Witch – and I can’t wait to start it.  Expect a review by the end of the week.  

5 slices - when I can't put it down it's a must read for you :) 

The Accidental Human by Dakota Cassidy

Wanda Schwartz is raking in the dough selling Bobbie-Sue Cosmetics-and she's a pro at recruiting new saleswomen. So, she's shocked when a man comes to one of her in-home parties-a very hot man. Heath Jefferson is sure to put some extra spin into a lot of women's color wheels.

When Wanda is diagnosed with a terminal illness, it doesn't have to be a death sentence. With a werewolf and a vampire for best friends, she has options that most ordinary people wouldn't. As Wanda ponders what to do about her mortality, Heath reveals he has secrets, and one of them is that his former bloodlust has turned into an old-fashioned lust-for Wanda. And he's already given up too much to lose the love of his lifetimes.  (courtesy of Amazon)
 
 
 
The Accidental Human by Dakota Cassidy is the third book in her Accidental Friends series.
The main character in this installment is Wanda Schwartz. Her life is going great; she’s a successful Bobbie-Sue Cosmetics saleswoman with a couple of awesome (and supernatural) best friends, and a love of romance/paranormal books. Then fate drops a bomb on her - she has a terminal illness. Since her friend Marty is a werewolf and Nina is a vampire, she has options most people with her diagnosis don’t have. She doesn’t want her friends to worry about her, though, so she decides to keep her situation to herself. As if that’s not enough, she meets sexy Heath Jefferson at a Bobbie-Sue recruitment party, and he has a secret of his own. While training him in the ways of the color, she figures he could be a fun last fling for her, even though she’s not usually a fling kind of girl. That’s when everything gets complicated!


I really like Dakota Cassidy - she’s such an entertaining writer.  Honestly she's just entertaining in general, which you know if you happen to be friends with or "like" her on facebook!!  She cracks me up.  :)  Her books are infused with a lot of humor, which I love. Even this one, with a premise that seems so depressing manages to have quite a few funny elements. The interaction between the characters is great - it feels very real, especially between the three friends. They always love each other, but sometimes they really want to choke each other. Who doesn’t have friends like that?! lol I know I got a late start on this series, but I’m so glad picked it up. It’s been very fun to read, and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series. The Accidental Friends series should definitely be added to your TBR list!

5 slices!

13 to Life by Shannon Delany

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…(courtesy of Amazon)

Shannon Delany brings us Book 1 in the 13 to Life series.  I'm a fan of werewolf/shifter series, so when I heard this book recommended from a fellow book lover on another site (book reader addicts) I figured I would give it a try.  I didn't have to try hard, I was completely enthralled in this book.  The storyline is there from the moment you open the book.  Our lead character is a high school junior, she has been through amazing tragedy and is overcoming it as she moves to finish high school.  Enters her headache - steamy new Russian student - Pietr - he's her shadow as he's learning the new school.

But funny – Pietr is Russian and there is a lot of Russia controversy in the news…and guess what he’s from a town where there was some interesting happenings. Could he be what he claims to be? The interaction between the two starts out as aggravated with each other and ends up aggravated that they can’t be with each other enough.  The sweet onset of romance promises good things to come.  There definitely was a lot going on in this book, I felt that there are quite a few possibilities for this series to just continue and be over the top.  A few storylines were opened and not yet completely explained, ending with a slight wrap up, I can't wait for Book 2 in Feb 2011.

5 slices