Torn from the Shadows by Yolanda Sfetsos

I sure do love Sierra Fox. Despite being hunted by the Obscurus and experiencing all sorts of crazy, life-changing events, she's still a sweetheart. A sweetheart who will kick your butt in a minute if she thinks you're doing wrong but a sweetheart nonetheless. Her tough exterior can't hide her squishy marshmallow insides, not when we see how much she cares for the people in her life. She'll face down evil with a letter opener if it means helping her loved ones, and it's a trait you have to admire, especially since she's not gifted with super strength or healing. Sierra is a  powerful spook catcher but she's as physically vulnerable as the rest of us, which gives her story a little extra oomph.

At the start of TORN FROM THE SHADOWS, things are pretty good for Sierra and company. Sierra and Papan are madly in love, Willow is settling in, Roe and the new spook trainers are getting into a routine, Ebony has come back to herself for the most part...but it wouldn't be a very exciting book for us if things stayed on such an even keel and death, phantasms, demons, and more come flooding out of the woodwork before you know it. There's a lot going on and it's all quite exciting. And it all advances the overall series plot even though the parts of the book may seem like disparate threads: Mace is back as a phantasm, another old "friend" is also causing trouble, Sierra has to train the newbie spook catchers, Willow takes in a stray dog, Ebony and Oren make cow eyes at each other, and Papan and Sierra are trying to find time to enjoy their relationship. And that's the first half of the book. Sfetsos does a great job of taking these storylines and building and building the novel to its exciting climax and I thoroughly enjoyed each page.

While juggling her familial responsibilities and her battle to stay ahead of the Obscurus, Sierra also discovers more about her grandmother and the extra abilities Pepita gave her. And this was really interesting to me. I love it when a series mythology blossoms and the Sierra Fox series gets really juicy in this respect in TORN FROM THE SHADOWS. Everything is really building to a head, which will hopefully come to an amazing conclusion when the fifth and final book in the series comes out.

Another plus about TORN FROM THE SHADOWS? We learn a lot more about Papan's background. For the first time, we get to see his family and learn a bit more about how werewolves operate in this world. Despite this, I don't think we got nearly enough page time with Papan this time around. When he's there, he's his usual fabulous self -- and he and Sierra spend a significant number of pages getting smexy -- but I didn't get nearly enough of his humour. And Papan's storyline ends in something of a cliffhanger so I'm quite curious to see what his fate will be as the series comes to a close. I won't spoil it for you but I will say that things are definitely up in the air for him, and consequently for his relationship with Sierra.

On a personal level, I really enjoyed getting into a book set in Sydney. Having been to Australia over Christmas to visit my brother, I was lucky enough to spend a couple weeks there and I can know safely say that Sfetsos does a great job of creating a sense of the city in TORN FROM THE SHADOWS  and all the other novels in the series. Admittedly, the series is set in a fictional suburb but I think I enjoyed TORN FROM THE SHADOWS just a teensy bit more from having been in Sydney recently.

I'm a huge fan of this series and I highly recommend that you urban fantasy lovers out there give Sfetsos' writing a chance if you haven't already dove into her work. The Sierra Fox series is outstanding.  You won't be sorry.

Read an excerpt (click on Excerpt tab)

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by Tynga at Monday, April 14, 2014

 Adult, Author, ghost, Review, Samhain, Sierra Fox, Urban Fantasy, Yolanda Sfetsos  Leave your mark

✎

Bewitched, Bothered and Biscotti by Bailey Cates

After reading the first book of the series a few weeks ago, I had to find the time to read the rest of the series. Bewitched, Bothered and Biscotti is a good follow up novel, but I still feel like there could have been more to the story? Usually with paranormal romance or urban fantasy novels, there's a lot going on, but this series is neither. I guess I'm still not used to the relaxed atmosphere of cozy mysteries. Don't get me wrong, the story is good and entertaining but I think I miss that extra action you get with PR and UF. Instead, there's a lot of scenes about sitting around discussing things, food description, and scenes about eating the food. I love food as much as the next person (actually, I like cooking so I appreciate the foody scenes), but I think it was used as filler a little too often in this sequel.

The series revolves around The Honeybee, a bakery/coffee shop the main character Katie and her aunt and uncle opened recently. Business is going well since we saw it open in book one, but trouble tends to follow Katie around, and when I say trouble, I mean murder. Finding three dead bodies in a six month period shouldn't be normal, yet it looks like it will be the norm for Katie from now on. Although she knows she should stay away from this new murder mystery, she feels inadvertently drawn to the investigation. Actually, you might even say it follows her around since her spell group of friends is asked to investigate the horrible affair.

The magic in this series is very subtle. Katie might be a witch but not the kind of witch you would see in Harry Potter. Her talent lies mostly around green/natural magic, where she uses plants and nature to create potions, and minor spells. The approach to magic is very Wiccan, for Katie and her group of friends. However, the murder investigation centers around a secret Druid Society which the victim was a part of, and this society's approach to magic is a little less subtle. For example, she's magically attacked in her own home and with quick thinking, and a little bit of help from beyond, she's able to survive the ordeal.

While I usually find love triangles tiring and annoying, the one in this book is actually interesting. Katie still can't decided between a hunky firefighter Declan, and the witchy reporter Steve. She really could see herself with Declan, since he such a nice guy and would do anything for her, yet she find herself drawn towards Steve. Steve believe there's something magical pulling them together, making them meant to be, but Katie still hesitates between the two, especially since her broken engagement to another guys is still fresh and makes her hesitate to get involved with someone officially.

I probably said it about book one, but this series is very light and fun. Don't expect major action, but you'll find an amateur sleuth who will try to do anything to protect herself and the ones she cares for. What keeps me interested in this series is the easygoing characters and the complicated love triangle Katie finds herself in. Combining magic and cozy mysteries, in my opinion, is a pretty good idea. It adds a little flair to the mystery solving and a little spunk to the bakery food. There's definitely a recipe I want to try, that's included at the end of the book. The Cinnamon Raisin Biscotti sound amazing!

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by Tynga at Sunday, April 13, 2014

 A Magical Bakery Mystery, Bailey Cates, Library, Paranormal Romance, Penguin, Review, Signet  2 People left their mark

✎

Stacking The Shelves [103]

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

If you want to find out more about Stacking The Shelves, please visit the official launch page!

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Hey guys! It's been a while since I've done one of these, so it's good to be back! Unfortunately...I only got one book this week. And, well, I have a confession...I traded for this book because I've never read an Elizabeth Eulberg book before! I know! Gasp! Don't kill me! Cross my fingers that I like it and it's as cute as it seems!

Trade

Better off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg

Don't forget to link up your STS posts below so that we can see what YOU added to your shelves!

[inlinkz_linkup id=393592]

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by Tynga at Saturday, April 12, 2014

   17 People left their mark

✎

The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa

After Zeke's death to the hands of Sarren the psychopath, Allie is ready to give in to her own monster. She is ready to give up on humanity, only continuing on  driven by a desire for revenge. Sarren wants to destroy the cure to rabidism the humans discovered and unleash his own virus and wipe the world clean. Grief stricken as she is, Allie don't give a damn about his plan, she only wants to kill him, but along her journey with Kanin and Jackal she will manage to put her hatred aside and embrace her humanity once more.

Poor Allie can't seem to have a break even though, god knows, she deserves one. Loosing the one person she ever loved is seriously threatening her sanity and her befriending Jackal is a proof in itself. Especially after all he has done in the previous installment. Despite that, I think he was my favorite character in this novel. Don't get me wrong, I still love Allie and Zeke, but they were so serious and depressed all the time, Jackal's presence was like a highly entertaining - if deadly- breath of fresh air. His infuriating (to his traveling buddies) comments and barbs were keeping a smile on my face despite the dire circumstances our heroes face.

Julie Kagawa really has a talent to keep her readers on their toes and this novel is no exception. The plot line is once again a linear journey, from New Conviction to Eden but every step of the way is surprising and challenging. It was nice to see the vampire gang walk the steps Allie walked with Zeke and his family back in book one and see how everything changed in less than a year. The stakes are different, friends and foes changed and the objective is even more important.

I know it's gonna sound weird but I loved how disgustingly smart Sarren was. Too bad he is an evil bastard. His plans to destroy  humanity were simply genius and I was seriously wondering how our heroes would beat him. And when they think they are close to success, well they aren't because His Evilness already planned ahead or just won't die! Allie and Kanin had to play smart to defeat him and not everyone survives the final battle to save humanity.

I was really pleased with the conclusion of this installment and of the series as a whole. The end isn't an happily ever after, but it brought a wind of hope that humanity might just survive rabidism and it left me satisfied. Too often author leave a series conclusion too open for my taste, but Kagawa took the right decision when she wrote her conclusion, I think.

Paranormal and dystopian lovers must read this awesome trilogy. It's highly original, engrossing, exciting, with just the right amount of dark humor. I'm sad the series came to an end because I grew fond of its characters, but I feel like each character fulfilled their own destiny.

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by Tynga at Friday, April 11, 2014

 Blood of Eden, Dystopian, Harlequin, Harlequin Teen, Harlerquin, Julie Kagawa, Netgalley, Paranormal, Review, Vampire, young adult  3 People left their mark

✎

Ninth Key by Meg Cabot

I'm on the fence about book two in this series. While Suze is still an amazing wise-cracking heroine that's trying to deny (and failing) her feelings for Jesse, the overall plot of this one did not impress me. However, I still loved the little things--especially Jesse's "accidental" interferences with Suze's potential new love life.

Suze meets a guy that is finally interested in her for her, despite some terrible rash, and that is Tad Beaumont. I have to admit that when I first met him I laughed hysterically. I mean...Tad?! I'm giggling simply by writing his name. Poor boy. Anyway, shortly after getting involved with Tad, a ghost of a woman whose death is suspiciously linked to his family crashes into Suze's life and she simply has to uncover the mystery. And while I admire Suze's "go for it" and "head on" take for solving mysteries, I seriously feared for her life a few times with this one. I felt like an old man on the verge of having a coronary. I understand how Father Dominic is always freaking out now, poor man has a lot to deal with in regards to Suze's stubbornness.

Things definitely took an unexpected turn with the plot, but I can't say I was mesmerized or entirely pleased. While it was unique, it didn't wow me. Let's just say that I like my vampires darker and sexier and not, well, the way that Cabot chose to present them. Again, it was a very unique plot twist but it simply was not done well enough in my eyes. It just helped me release that this book is cutesy more than anything else. It can't be as dark as it has potential to be, and I tend to prefer darker and grittier stories when you introduce dark and gritty elements. With that in mind, I can't wait to continue this series, I hear it only gets better.

My biggest complaint with this book is that it is very repetitive. Descriptions from book one seemed to have been lifted out of that book word by word and placed into book two. It was entirely unnecessary. All of this could be apparent to me because I'm reading the entire series back to back, but it bothered me how repetitive it was. I often found myself at the most random times rolling my eyes because I knew what the book was trying to tell me for the fifth time because I read that exact same explanation so many times in book one. I'm hoping that this habit dies down later in the series.

I'm still loving what Cabot has to offer me, I just think that book two may suffer a little with sequel syndrome. It's a six book series so there's a lot to come, but my gut instinct is telling me this is a small lull in between book one and book three to set up something big. What that big thing could be is beyond me, but fingers crossed that I'm right and I will be exceptionally impressed with book three. Onwards!

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by Tynga at Thursday, April 10, 2014

 ghosts, Gifted, Harper Collins, HarperTeen, Meg Cabot, Paranormal, Review, The Mediator, young adult  Leave your mark

✎

Immortal Hunter by Kait Ballenger

As you may remember, I thought there were some good elements to TWILIGHT HUNTER, the first book in the series, but I also took issue with other aspects of the novel. My feelings about IMMORTAL HUNTER are much the same.

One of IMMORTAL HUNTER's strengths is the cast of characters and their relationships. You have your traditional selection of supernaturals -- werewolves, vampires, demons, etc. -- and there's not a lot of deviation from what we see in much of the genre in terms of abilities. What really makes the series interesting is the Execution Underground team. Ballenger has put together quite the Scooby gang of supernatural police, each of whom will presumably get their own story. I really enjoy the team dynamics because a lot of the relationships are quite complicated. In the first book, we met Jace and Frankie (who do appear in IMMORTAL HUNTER as secondary characters) but now we're firmly focused on David and  Allsún, two characters I was quite interested in the first time around. They're both unique in the supernatural world: David is an exorcist feared by demons and Allsún is the only (part-)Fae who remains in our world. Together, they are essentially demon kryptonite but they've been apart for years, after a passionate romance when they were younger. David and Allsún never stopped loving each other but they both have regrets. These regrets and their time apart create the expected barrier the couple needs to overcome and add a nice amount of tension in the novel. 

I also enjoyed exploring the Fae aspects of the series. We spent most of the first book dealing with werewolf-related issues but now we get to learn more about the demons and the Fae, who are essentially sworn enemies. But all of the Fae except Allsún have retreated from the world. When Allsún is forced out of hiding, the demons are determined to kill her -- just as determined as David is to protect her. It's a shame that Allsún is the only Fae in the world (at least the only one that we know about) because there are so many interesting elements in this part of the series mythology.

My beef with IMMORTAL HUNTER is a small one: I think Ballenger is a strong writer but I wish there was more creativity in the series, in terms of how the supernatural species/races are realized. It's a very small beef and probably unfair since I know I couldn't do better but I think I would love this series if there were more unexpected elements. Generally, I like the Execution Underground series. It's filled with adventure and romantic tension. It's not the most original series -- there's not a lot of genre bending -- but the books are well-written romps with feisty characters. For me, this is an instance in which the series is much greater than its individual parts.

If you want spunky paranormal romance loaded with heavy history between the two main characters, IMMORTAL HUNTER might be the book for you. I'm sure you'll enjoy Ballenger's voice and I hope you'll find the story engaging as well. The Execution Underground series isn't on my Must list but I do enjoy visiting the world and characters.

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by Tynga at Wednesday, April 09, 2014

 Adult, demons, Execution Underground, Harlequin, Kait Ballenger, Netgalley, Paranormal Romance, Review  1 Person left their mark

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