Kiss the Dead by Laurell K Hamilton

When a fifteen-year-old girl is abducted by vampires, it’s up to U.S. Marshal Anita Blake to find her. And when she does, she’s faced with something she’s never seen before: a terrifyingly ordinary group of people—kids, grandparents, soccer moms—all recently turned and willing to die to avoid serving a master. And where there’s one martyr, there will be more…


But even vampires have monsters that they’re afraid of. And Anita is one of them…(courtesy of Amazon)



I'm a big fan of the Anita Blake series, after all, having Amy hand me this series 3 years ago is what got me back into reading!  The dynamic in the series of a strong kick ass female that is set in her ways and yet, still manages to come this far and open up is great.  I have a few favorite characters and Hamilton keeps the story going whether it's a crazy vampire or an insane lover, there's always action and hot sex!  If you read Hamilton, you better be open minded and ready to be turned on but remember there's action and lots of blood.

This all being said, I read Kiss the Dead in about 5 hours.  I didn't want to put it down.  If Hamilton ended the series right here today with this book, I wouldn't be disappointed.  Don't get me wrong, I don't want her to end the series, I'm just saying that this book would bring comfort to the series ending.  I don't want to give to many spoilers away, but if you think you might be concerned, don't read on, just take my advice and read this one.

Bottom line, this book has me happy for Anita.  This is a change for some of the books, Hamilton usually has us lost in crazy sex scenes, but halfway through the book and not one scene yet.  Hamilton brings up the true Anita here, the US Marshal, the Executioner, as she works with the cops and SWAT team to find what has happened to the girl.  Well done action in only Anita's bad ass way.  Anita is with Zerbrowski (we all loves him) and it's amazing how far he's come to be Anita's partner and respect her.  Finally Anita has a game plan with all her men.  I still love Micah, Nathaniel, and Jean Claude the best for her.  We see some drama with Sin and Nicky will do anything for her, even if it costs him his life.  Anita has come full circle (many argue they don't like it or the amount of sex, well then read something else), coming full circle shows you that Anita has grown, she's comfortable in herself now.  She went from warding off men to opening her heart to quite a few and would do anything to protect them, which she shows again here as 4 end up in a bad situation.  And I'm just going to say --- fricking Asher, REALLY?  This book could be a turning point for the series.

6 slices

Stalking the Others by Jess Haines

Vampires, werewolves, mages - the Others are very real, and wreaking havoc in Shiarra Waynest's life. But now, she's retuming the favour...Once, she was one of the good guys - or as close as a New York P.I. can get. Then Shiarra Waynest was drawn into the world of the Others. Every faction has its own loyalties and agenda. And Shia's recent betrayal by her ex-boyfriend means that she may be on the verge of becoming a rogue werewolf at the next full moon...Of course, with all the threats against her, Shia's not sure she'll live long enough to find out. The enigmatic vampire Royce wants her back in his clutches, as do two powerful werewolf packs, along with the police. Instead of going into hiding, Shia is enlisting the aid of her enchanted hunter's belt and every dirty P.I. trick she knows. If she's going down, she'll take out as many of her enemies as she can - and hope that in the process, she keeps whatever humanity she has left...(courtesy of Amazon)



The H & W Investigations series is one of my favorites because it takes me from a mostly “were” girl to root for for the “vamp”.  I adore Royce.

Haines is a talented writer.  In her past books, she has had me so wrapped emotionally in the book, when our leading lady, Shia, dealt with some crazy ass stuff in the last book, I was right there with her.  In fact, it took me a day to be able to come down from it  I won’t say what, for those of you that have not read the series, but I was dying after I finished.

Haines packs in action and our heroine is not perfect.  She makes mistakes along the way, but she is learning to hold her own in the world of the Others.  This book starts me out still pissed as I rehash our adventures. Haines keeps the action going and steps up Shia’s characters for buttkicking. Shia is a little lost as our book begins, her world is turned upside down in Deceived.  Here she's on a rampage and has to figure out exactly who she can trust.  To me, there is one constant hanging around :) :) :)

Our book ends with a bang.  FINALLY.  I say again how much I love Royce.  Haines had me reminiscing of some of my favorite series as well as freaking out that I have to wait for the next book with the tease she gives in the end.  I can't tell you the end....and I'm itching to find out what happens.  The tease is of the first chapter in the next book!!!!!  One of the best feelings when reading a book is the anticipation of what is coming.  Haines definitely carves up that anticipation.  You like Shia and you can't help (thanks to Haines writing) really feel like you are right there with her in this book. 

For those of you that haven’t read the series, it’s a rocking time.  Shia is a PI that wants nothing to do with Others, she’s been hit a little too close with them before.  But she is tossed in with them as she helps the local vamps.  Over and over again, she’s battling with the Others, or against some, and she’s stuck with them no matter what.  Now…she could become one.  Haines is a talented writer, she brings in humorous banter between her characters that has you feeling as if these are friends hanging out with you.  She keeps action going, along with our steamy chemistry on the romance side.  You won’t be at a loss picking up these books, and let me know when you catch up, so we can hash out these details.  I’m dying to really talk shop on Royce! 

H&W Investigations is HERE with Jess Haines and Stalking the Others

STALKING THE OTHERS BLOG TOUR
Guest Post Stop 6: The H&W Gang Discuss Their Phobias

By Jess Haines


Hello there!  Jess Haines here.  I’m the author of the urban fantasy H&W Investigations series (HUNTED BY THE OTHERS, TAKEN BY THE OTHERS, DECEIVED BY THE OTHERS, and the upcoming STALKING THE OTHERS).

Shiarra has been having a pretty bad time of things lately. She’s here with some of her friends (and otherwise) to tell you about it.  Over to you, Shia!

____________________

Sara: This one is pretty obvious.

Shiarra:  Yeah. Any bite-y, clawed thing of the night.

Chaz:  Oh, come on. You weren’t afraid of me.

Shiarra:  That’s because I didn’t know what you were. Plus, it’s a little hard to be afraid of a guy you’ve seen wandering around your apartment in his Ghost Busters boxer shorts.

Arnold: I prefer Captain Hammer on my boxers.

Royce: I don’t wear boxers.

Everyone Else: …

Shiarra: We don’t want to know what you’re wearing under those business suits.

Sara: …actually…

Arnold:  Hey!

Sara:  Kidding, honey. Kidding.

Royce:  I should hope so.

Arnold: My boxers are the only ones you should be looking at, damn it.

Sara:  Yes! I know. Anyway. On topic.  I’m afraid of spiders, snakes, and the IRS.

Royce:  I’d have to agree about the IRS. Dealing with the corporate taxes and licensing and such when most of your businesses and shell corporations have been around longer than the country’s established government can be a nightmare.

Chaz:  Yeah? Well, I hate fleas.

Shiarra:  Ew.

Chaz:  And ticks.

Shiarra:  Double-ew.

Chaz: Tapeworms, too.

Shiarra:  Enough already!

Chaz:  What? I do.

Royce:  Dogcatchers, too, I would imagine.

Chaz:  Shut up, fangs.

Arnold: I bet we can all guess what the vamp is afraid of. Sunlight, garlic, fangirls…

Shiarra: …body shimmer lotion…

Sara: …teenaged wangst…

Royce:  Yes, yes, we get the point.

Shiarra:  Vampire baseball?

Royce:  What does that even mean?

Shiarra:  Never mind. My comedic brilliance is wasted on you.

Sara:  I got it.  Heh.

Royce:  This is ridiculous.

Arnold: Oh! Oh! I want to share my phobia!

Sara:  Okay, your turn.

Arnold:  I’m afraid of summoned planar beings that haven’t been harnessed into a body and metaphysically cohered to a mage who is trained how to control it.

Chaz: Was that English?

Shiarra: It sounded like words, but nothing came out.

Arnold: Oh, come on. Do I really have to explain that?

Sara:  I think I get what you’re saying. You’re afraid of familiars that have broken away from their masters somehow. Or never had a master. Right?

Arnold:  That’s what I said.

Shiarra:  Next time, use small, normal people words.

Chaz: I don’t get it.

Shiarra:  Big surprise.

Chaz:  No, I mean—I don’t get how they can’t have a master. How do they get here if no one is controlling them?

Arnold:  Believe me, it can happen, and it’s not pretty.

Royce:  Indeed. They are not easy to banish or kill.

Arnold:  How would you know?

Royce:  Have you ever seen a familiar survive beyond the death of its master? I have.

Shiarra:  Yeah, that’s all kinds of creepy right there.

Sara:  It wouldn’t be that bad if he didn’t look so pleased with himself while he said it.

Arnold:  Wow. Great. I’m ready to go. Forever.

Royce:  That’s right. Run away, little mage. When you’ve been around as long as I have, you see and do things far beyond the ken of mortal men.

Arnold: You guys?

Sara:  Let’s get out of here.

Shiarra:  Right now.

____________________


You can learn more about Shiarra and the rest of her friends in HUNTED BY THE OTHERS .   For the next stop on the blog tour, be sure to visit the official STALKING THE OTHERS blog tour calendar!

You can also visit me on the web:

http://www.jesshaines.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JessHainesAuthor
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#%21/Jess_Haines
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/jesshaines

Thanks again for having me and the gang over, Jennifer!
_____________________________________________________
Always welcome here Jess, especially if you bring Royce :) Check out our review of Stalking as well as Hunted, Taken, and Deceived.  You will not be disappointed in this series, especially not in Stalking, but you have got to get out there and start at the beginning so you can catch up before the release on July 3rd :)

Kensington is hosting a giveaway - they have 15 copies in the pot to giveaway.  The giveaway is open to US/Canada only - enter below for your chance to win one of the books :)


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Welcome Author K D Grace

A Big Welcome from Seduced to K D Grace!!!!

K D Grace was born with a writing obsession. It got worse once she actually learned HOW to write. There's no treatment for it. It's progressive and chronic and quite often interferes with normal, everyday functioning. She might actually be concerned if it wasn't so damned much fun most of the time.

K D's critically acclaimed erotic romance novels, The Initiation of Ms Holly, The Pet Shop and Lakeland Heatwave Book 1: Body Temperature and Rising are published by Xcite Books and are available from all good paperback and eBook retailers.

Her erotica has been published with Xcite Books, Mammoth, Cleis Press, Harper Collins Mischief Books, Black Lace, Erotic Review, Ravenous Romance, Sweetmeats Press and Scarlet Magazine.

Find out more about K D Grace on her website http://kdgrace.co.uk. She's also on Facebook and Twitter


More than Landscapes - blog post from K D Grace

By now everyone who has read anything I’ve written or blogged about my novel, Body Temperature and Rising, knows that BTR, along with the whole Lakeland Heatwave Trilogy, is set in the English Lake District and that I’m totally in love with the place. Most of the places in the trilogy are real places that I’ve walked and explored in the Lake District, and it was the real places that inspired me to write the trilogy. However those real experiences in the landscape also inspired the ‘Magicscapes’ in the Lakeland Heatwave Trilogy.

Before I go any further, I’d like to clarify for my American readers just what a fell is, since there seems to be a bit of a language barrier, and some people have thought that the fells are woodlands. A fell is an upland stretch of open countryside, a moor or a barren or stony hill. And the fells in the Lake District are formidable. They include Scafell Pike the highest mountain in England! The word comes from Middle English and Old Norse and means mountain or hill. There! Language barrier crossed!

My husband and I are avid walkers and the Lake District is one of our very favourite places to walk. We had just had four lovely days walking in May sunshine, truly Lakeland Heatwave conditions, when we decided to walk part of a ridge walk known as the Newland’s Horseshoe. We’d heard the weather was supposed to change but it certainly didn’t look like it when we headed up onto the ridge. We were planning to make it on around to the fell called High Spy and then drop down into the village of Rosthwaite afterward for coffee and a break. It wasn’t a particularly long walk. We thought surely we’d beat the weather. We thought wrong.

The rain started just as we reached the top of the ridge. We were just about to the summit of the second fell, Maiden Moor when the mist descended. Before long the mist around us blotted out everything else and we walked in strange silent nothingness that, even though we knew we couldn’t easily get lost on this particular walk, was frightening.

Later when we were sipping coffee and dripping all over the hard wood floor of the tea shop in Rosthwaite, we wondered what it would have been like had we been somewhere we hadn’t been so familiar with and if we’d not known how to use a map and compass. It was a chilling thought.

That was the experience that inspired the opening scenes in Body Temperature and Rising, but it also inspired one of the two magicscapes my characters frequent in the Lakeland Heatwave Trilogy. The feeling of walking in thick nothingness was the inspiration for my version of the Ether, the magical void, which is the dangerous place where powerful magic can be worked by witches who are skilled at riding the Ether. The Ether has no landmarks, no light nor darkness, no shape nor form, and in the Ether there is no concept of time, which makes it a particularly dangerous place to hang out. However a powerful witch can create from the void whatever he or she is skilled enough to imagine and bring to fruition. The Ether is like a lot of raw material waiting to be magicked into something useful … or treacherous. And sex in the Ether --- for those brave enough to try it -- totally sizzles. A lot of the action of the second Lakeland novel, Riding the Ether, takes place in this void.

There’s another magicscape that was also inspired by my time in the Lake District … that and by my time snoozing beneath the blankets every night -- the Dream Scape. All three Lakeland Heatwave novels spend a fair amount of time in the Dream World dealing with dream magic, which happens to be the preferred magic of the Elemental Coven’s high priestess, Tara Stone. I found inspiration while walking through thick woodlands in the Lake District with slivers of sunlight filtering down through the darkness. I also found inspiration for the Dream World from the old slate quarries and the ruined landscapes littered with tailings. We all know our own personal dreamscape can be beautiful or horrific, confusing or insightful and all things in between.

It was fun to picture the Dream World and the Ether as other worlds overlaying the beautiful landscape of the Lake District, other worlds that could only be reached through magic. And it was so easy to imagine, with all the caves and mines and dark mysterious woodlands, that you just might be able to walk in through one world and come out into another. To be honest, who am I to say you can’t? Certainly the world of the Lakeland Heatwave trilogy could only have been inspired by my walking in those wonderful places and experiencing the beauty, the magic and sometimes the danger of such an amazing landscape.

Body Temperature & Rising....

American transplant to the Lake District, MARIE WARREN, didn’t know she could unleash demons and enflesh ghosts until a voyeuristic encounter on the fells ends in sex with the charming ghost, ANDERSON, and night visits from a demon. To help her cope with her embarrassing and dangerous new abilities, Anderson brings her to the ELEMENTALS, a coven of witches who practice rare sex magic that temporarily allows needy ghosts access to the pleasures of the flesh.
DEACON, the demon Marie has unleashed, holds an ancient grudge against TARA STONE, coven high priestess, and will stop at nothing to destroy all she holds dear. Marie and her landlord, the reluctant young farmer, TIM MERIWETHER, are at the top of his list. Marie and Tim must learn to wield coven magic and the numinous power of their lust to stop Deacon’s bloody rampage before the coven is torn apart and more innocent people die.
More info, excerpt and buy links http://kdgrace.co.uk/books/lakeland-heatwave-book-i/

Thank you to Writer Marketing for bringing K D Grace to our blog today.  And a Thank you to K D for making the time - Something so simple as a hike turned into one crazy thought :) 

check for our review of Body Temperature and Rising

We have a WINNER

Our winner from Jamie Magee's Blog tour stop is

Heather from Red Headed Bookworm

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!

I've already let Jamie know that you have won.  Continue to follow Jamie's blog tour for a chance at the big prize!

Jamie Magee Presents SEE Blog Tour and Giveaway

Coming out this week!!! (May 5th)

SEE - by Jamie Magee (back cover summary)
Forgetting who you are, your ambitions, your love is crippling….but remembering – embracing your purpose with a new sense of determination is more than empowering….its life altering. Charlie Myers is on a life altering path that will cause the damned to humble in silence…


One night…just a few friends how could it go so wrong? That was the question seventeen year old Charlie Myers was asking when she found herself in the ER. Outwardly nothing was wrong with Charlie, she was a vision of perfect heath, internally she was battling a raging headache…one the doctor told her she would overcome shortly, but Charlie knew something else was wrong …very wrong.


Part of her had been stolen….she was missing memories. Those memories were sacred. They held the key to her sanity. They told her that the sinister whispers, the shadows that came to life before her were not as ominous as she felt they were. They held the bond with her late father, a famed musician. They caused her to forget the one talent that allowed her to face the darkness that haunted her every waking hour. They also masked a much deeper bond, the face of the one that had stolen her heart, long before the age of seventeen.


Sitting in the ER with her angry mother she couldn’t figure out what she missing – or even how. Her thoughts told her that she needed to protect Britain, a friend of hers, but that didn’t make any sense – Britain didn’t need to be protected from anyone, he was strong, young, and absurdly wealthy. Charlie also knew that even though her friend Bianca called Charlie her best friend that she didn’t trust her ….she was almost sure she despised her, but she couldn’t figure out why – or understand how random thoughts were telling her that she adored both Britain and Bianca – that they were her saviors – that they brought silence to the unstoppable whispers….but the silence scared Charlie. In her mind anyone or anything that could bring silence to something that dark could not be good.


Charlie wanted to stay in NY, figure out what she was missing, why, and who was behind it all, but her mother had other plans. Against her will, Charlie was sent to Salem to live with her sister….within that small town Charlie found her memories….and so much more.


Her story begins now.

Our Review --

Jamie Magee gives you stories that jump off the page and straight into your heart somehow managing to bring forward emotions mixed with drama and suspense that you feel to your bone.  I’m amazed when I finish the book and I look up and have to blink a few times to come back to where I am.  

See was one of her top books for me.  Magee drops you right in the middle of chaos and you’re desperately wanting to know what’s going on that you are gripping the book (or ereader) so hard.  Magee forms unbreakable connections with her characters.  I love the horoscope/astrological basis for her books.  Soul mates destined to come together based on the alignment of the planets and time.  I get good chills when I read Magee’s books.  

Our Charlie has lost something very important – her memories – and she knows they contain something very important.  As Magee takes you through the confusion Charlie is dealing with, you are able to meet her old friends for the first time just as she has to do again.  You can feel her emotions unfold.  Music is Charlie’s only way to release, she’s never realized how important one particular song could be.  As a music lover (home alone with my kids and the TV’s off and the Radio is on shuffle) I thought Magee’s concept had me feeling right at home in this book.  

If you have not had the pleasure of reading her Insight series (3 books to date) you need to add it to your pile, and then make sure you grab See as there is a little linkage with this series and the Insight series (but you do not have to read Insight before See).  I’m hoping for some very interesting things to unfold in the coming book 2 and the See series and book 4 and 5 in the Insight series (book 4 out in October).  Magee brings in some of our characters from Insight as Charlie is working to learn her past.  Magee says book 2 will be out here soon (July), I’m on pins and needles waiting to “SEE” where Charlie goes.

5 slices for sure

GIVEAWAY!!!!! 

For this stop Jamie Magee is giving away an ebook of SEE to one lucky winner along with some great swag.    You need to make a comment below to be entered into the drawing for our stop.  (we will select a winner from all our comments posted by May 8th)  

Jamie is also combining all the comments from all the blogs on the tour to give away a printed/signed copy of SEE and Insight (her debut) along with bookmarks and picks (we love swag) - as well as a 25$ amazon gift card!!!!! WOW!!! The more you comment, the more chances to win on her big prize.  We have a listing of all the blogs participating below.  ALSO, you get a bonus entry if you follow Jamie Magee's blog and find her on facebook "like" her page and tell her Seduced by Books sent you.  

Blogs on the Tour

May 2nd Sassy Book Lovers ~ http://sassybooklovers.blogspot.com/

May 3rd Jamie Magee’s Blog http://authorjamiemagee.blogspot.com/

May 4th Seduced by Books http://seducedbybooks.blogspot.com/

May 5th The Reading Geek ~ http://thereadinggeek.blogspot.com/

May 6th Page Flipperz ~ http://pageflipperz.blogspot.com/ 

May 8th Taking it One Book at a Time ~ http://takingitonebookatatime.blogspot.com/

May 9th - Moon Stars Fantasy World ~ http://moonstarsfantasyworld.blogspot.com/

May 10th - Better Read Than Dead ~ http://www.angelsdemonsandvampires.com/

May 11th Book Reader Addicts ~ http://bookreaderaddictsgiveaways.blogspot.com/

May 12th Paranormal Reads ~ http://paranormalreadsreviews.blogspot.com/

May 13th Judge Not by the Covers ~ http://judgenotbythecovers.blogspot.com/

May 14th The Shadowed Realm ~ http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Shadow-Realm/275903885816648

May 15th YA Holic http://www.ya-aholic.com/

May 16th Book Reader Addicts (character interview) http://bookreaderaddictsgiveaways.blogspot.com

May 17th - Ya Holic ( interview)  http://www.ya-aholic.com/

Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs

Once again, I’m catching up on reading existing series as well as pushing together a review of the series instead of each book individually.

Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series was a big one to read on my list because once again, it’s mostly shifters :)

Briggs gives you a strong female living on her own as a ….mechanic. She’s a loner coyote raised by werewolves. She’s forced herself to be independent and doesn’t cow down to the local wolf pack or their Alpha who just happens to live behind her. She finds herself in interesting situations throughout the series when she really just wanted to be left alone. Briggs brings in the difficult politics of a wolf pack and the world of the paranormal as Mercy tries to navigate. 

 
Being the lower end of her where she was raised, Mercy has worked hard to take self-defense classes and ground herself to being strong. She’s constantly driving the alpha mad in a both humorous ways as well as sensual. Mercy finds herself in trouble several times throughout the series, but she works to get herself out. Very determined to keep that independent streak. Briggs brings in the romantic twist as her alpha wolf can’t deny her, just when things would start to align, she tosses in a triangle to keep you on your toes.  Briggs turns up the heat and adds some fun play with dating.

I enjoyed the banter as well as the feelings Mercy has to deal with to figure out her life. A favorite, as I’ve said before, I love when the series revolves around the main characters in every book. In the third book, Mercy has already battled the vamps and won, the fae and won, but now she battles an emotional tragedy when she is held captive. There are videos to prove what she’s gone through and her alpha has seen them. It’s a rough go but Briggs did this book so well. The reality of things just don’t go away over night and Mercy really has to work through them just was frankly well done. Supporting characters really show their true colors as they help Mercy heal (loved Ben, with out him who knows what would have happened). As Mercy navigates being the 2nd in the wolf pack betrayals will happen. Through it all she fights to defend herself.

Briggs takes every turn and brings in an interesting paranormal mystery, she pulls in every form of other there is and it just blends so well. I look forward to the next in the series (6 Books so far- in order-, Moon Called, Blood Bound, Iron Kissed, Bone Crossed, Silver Borne, River Marked). I’d say books 2, 3 and 4 were may favorites so far in the series.  Excited to see where Adam and Mercy end up next and what happens with Samuel and Stefan.

4 slices for the series