Incarnation by Emma Cornwall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was able to receive a Netgalley e-Arc of Incarnation. One of the things that drew me to this book is the cover. The colors are great. I also like the slightly different terms for vampire lore. This story especially is an old one and takes on the Bram Stroker tale of vampires focusing on the incarnation of Lucy Weston who was turned by Dracula. In this story Lucy Weston or Westenra seek's out Bram Stroker to determine why he wrote lies about her life and she finds out more than she anticipated. When she approaches him he has more information about vampires then she does and Bram Stroker tells her some things that are the catalyst for the rest of the story.

I like the focus of Incarnation and how it puts the bulk of the vampire tale in London instead of what we normally expect with Dracula and having the story focused in Eastern Europe or the Carpathian Mountains. I am an avid fan of urban fantasy and historical fantasy in London, England settings which also makes me a huge fan of Steampunk which typically is focused in London, England. Since I just returned from London some of the streets and locations resonated with me especially the areas described as what is probably the Hyde Park area now where there is are several wonderful dedications to Prince Albert.

It was great reading about Victoria's devotion to him though sad that she mourned him for so long to the point where she withdrew from society. This book demonstrates her strength and love for "the realm" as well as the dedication of Bram Stoker and even some of the vampires to London. I also liked the divergence from the "traditional" Dracula story that Bram Stoker wrote and the tie in to medieval England and some of its powerful characters.

I tried to find an author website for Emma Cornwall because it felt like there would be a continuation to this story and I'm interested see where this goes.

Review can also be seen at LadyTechies Book Musing http://LadyTechiesBookMusings.blogspo...

Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There is always something so good about a Kate Daniels book, even when she is not the full focus of the story. This one focused on Andrea and continued a novella that was released a few months ago where Andrea and Raphael see each other for the first time after the huge fight with Kate's aunt Era. Things were on the outs for them at that time and they did not fare much better in the novella, Magic Mourns. We get the resolution to that story in Gunmetal Magic. Most of the story focuses on Andrea and Raphael, but, the mystery they are working to solve brings the entire pack into the frame. I love pack politics and Curran never disappoints. He is the ultimate of ultimate leaders and shifters. Regardless to how many books I read with male leads he almost always comes out on top. I have to preface that because when I am in the thick of a book I might be totally enamored of a great male character while reading that book.

I loved the similarities between how Ascanio imitates Raphael to how Derek used to imitate Curran, though Derek has come into his own after his ordeal in Magic Strikes. Julie has a small role in this story though I am curious about what happens to her after Magic Bleeds, which was a pivotal book in the series. Roman, why can’t I remember Roman in a previous book? I loved him. He is this dark character, well from 9 to 5, then he has this light, funny personality that draws everyone to him, well everyone but Raphael. There are some great youth characters in this series and they really add to the stories. Another great thing was to learn more about the boudas, the hilarious giggling they do is classic. One thing I love is the cool clan names. For some reason my favorite clan name is Clan Nimble.

This book really adds to the series. Ilona Andrews does a great job of relating all the books to each other and delving into the characters and their backgrounds. It is great that they collaborate to write the stories and seeing how the stories are still so seamlessly written. I really look forward to the next Kate Daniels book! What’s this about a Roman Novella? Yes!

Fathom by Merrie Destefano
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received an early release copy of Fathom as an e-Arc this week. The synopsis on Goodreads really drew my attention. I will have to admit that when I began reading the book it had a bit of a dark feel to it and I wondered if I would like it. It was a book about two teens, but, it was also a story about a family struggling to overcome a tragedy and not just how it affected them emotionally, but, also how it affected their relationships with their peers. Kira turns 16 at the beginning of the book and we see how she is affected in school and in her small ocean side community. Kira's dad and her grandmother have more information about the past than Kira is privy too and it wreaks havoc on upcoming events.

Caleb is the other side of the coin. I was having trouble understanding where he and his family and friends lived but, the contrast between his journey and Kira's journey is one of the things that make this story so interesting. It felt like they were in the past or right out of a fairytale. That is one of the impressions I had while reading Fathom. It read like a dark fairytale. Caleb and his friends also suffered tragedies throughout their travels but, you don't get a feel for who and what everyone is until later in the book and that might be a great tie-in to the title. Nothing is at it seems. There are surprises and twists everywhere. This book fits right in with Merrie Destefano's past books that tend to swim in their own lane. She has a great imagination and does a wonderful job with imagery and characterization.

Review can also be seen at LadyTechie's Book Musings: http://LadyTechiesBookmusings.blogspo...

Cold Fury by T.M. Goeglein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It has happened again. I have fallen in love with a series. There are only 5 or fewer series that I love like this. I like it so much that even before I was done I knew it would stay with me. There are moments in this book that the story grips me so much that I literally had tears in my eyes. Anyone who knows me knows that it takes a lot to drag that kind of emotion from me. Of course that is what I get for sneaking a peak at my book when I was at my desk. I was just drawn to this story. I tell everyone I talk to about it. I have recommended it to people that do not even read this genre. What genre is that? It fits in to a couple of different places and to have the family history reach back to Italy and Sicily of course is just going to endear this book to me even more. My online book buddies know I have been struggling to choose books for the last few months. I have not been in the mood for much of anything. I also said I would not review any books until I made some real progress on my dissertation. Well, the bad news is that I am reviewing this despite not making any real progress on that front because I really want people to know about this book.

Cold Fury is a book about a teenage girl who has this wonderful, loving family, not just immediate family, extended family, with some seriously dark secrets. These secrets basically explode out of the book and Sarah Jane ends up fighting multiple unseen enemies. One of the best things about this book is that we see Sarah Jane growing up quickly due to her circumstances, but, we also see her holding onto the basic principles that her parents and her boxing coach have taught her. In the midst of a lot of darkness she still has people in her corner and she is extremely bright and is learning on the run. I keep asking myself could I go to school in the middle of all of that? The answer is yes, if my parents wanted that for me and I could hold onto them through what they taught me then yes I could do that, which makes this story even deeper for me.

Doug, I don't want to give anything away about him, but, he is a rock star, all the way. In some ways he reminds me of Sarah Jane's brother Lou in how strongly they love and fight in their own way for the people they love. This story epitomizes strong, loving, flawed families. The action, oh boy, the fight scenes are excellent. There isn't one thing I would change other than wishing that book 2 was already released so I could move right onto reading it. The big problem I face here is the next book I read had better be amazing or it might be judged harshly due to no fault of its own other than being measured against a book that I am totally enamored of and am so happy I read it. I, of course, had to begin to semi-stalk the author so I am now following him on Twitter and Facebook and ready to demand book 2 right now. I so look forward to it!

Review can also be seen at http://LadyTechiesBookMusings.blogspo...

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Blade Song by J.C. Daniels
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received an advanced e-Arc of Blade Song from Netgalley.com. I saw the cover and read the synopsis and thought; this book might just be for me. I checked to see if I had read anything by this author before and found it was written by Shiloh Walker whose work I have not read before but have heard good things about her work. I did not know what to expect but I can say it felt a bit like the old Anita Blake and bit like Kate Daniels with some original flavor thrown in there. I really liked it. This was the story of Kit Colbana who had a pretty rough childhood, but, she had some kick-butt training in weaponry, hunting, and fighting. She is a descendant of some pretty kick-butt women. Unfortunately, she has been on her own for a long time. But, a good byproduct of being alone at an early age was that she has made some good friends and went into business on her own as a private investigator/tracker of sorts.

There really wasn't anything that I didn't like about this book. I had that same excited feeling I get when reading some of the other great action Urban Fantasy books. There is a bit of romance and it was a bit second to the story, which for me is great. There was a lot of editing needed in the e-Arc but it was an advanced copy which likely will have had some heavy editing done to it before the publish date.

The things I loved about this book included the fight/action scenes. The author does a good job with those. There are different supernaturals including some twists on the norm. There is a good storyline for Kit to investigate which makes for some contentious scenes throughout the book. The new relationships that Kit develops as she moves along the investigation are well written and I like Kit. I suspect when we get a book that has her meet head-on with her past that it is going to be a whopper! I look forward to the next book in this series!

Review can also be seen at http://LadyTechiesBookMusings.blogspo...

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Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received an eArc of Shadow of Night from Netgalley and honestly this is the first book I have gotten from there in a few months. I stopped reviewing books and updating my blog because I was neglecting my dissertation so something had to give. But, I made an agreement to host a contest for the newest book in the All Souls Trilogy so I am happily honoring it. Honestly, I am so glad that I stepped up to honor it. For me, having to wait a year to know what happened after A Discovery of Witches ends, was a bit painful. I put it out of my mind and decided to listen to my audiobook again just before the release of Shadow of Night.

I started reading Shadow of Night and honestly if it were not for my full-time job and my adjunct faculty position I would have finished it days ago. It seems like everything and everyone conspired to keep me from reading my book so I took to reading a few words or sentences when I could, like just before starting work in the morning, during lunch, during commercials, in the parking lot while waiting for dinner to be ready for pickup. I was so wrapped up in what was happening next that I just realized as I closed the book that so much happened in this installment. I don’t want to write spoilers but suffice it to say there were not any threads left unattended, or, at least if there were I did not notice them. The historical aspects of this story continue and really are expanded upon which I guess is one of the great things about having a vampire who has been around for hundreds of years and has enough status that he has met some truly interesting figures from history.

One of the great things about this book though is not just those historical figures but how Diana interacts with and affects the people she meets. Part of me wants to write a review that shows how overwhelmingly special I think this book is so that anyone who reads it will want to tell all their friends, family and even strangers about it and the other part of me keeps thinking read it over again right now and they’ll find out about it on their own. Something else that I found to be really good was the poetry, some of which belongs to others but some of which belongs to Deborah Harkness. “It begins with absence and desire. It begins with blood and fear. It begins with a discovery of witches.” This is obviously a huge catalyst for much of the story, but, some of the beauty of this story lies in how the threads of the poem are weaved into different parts of the book. There is that tiny part of me that is also a scholar who loves reading this genre of book that wishes I had written it or could write something just as great that not only other scholars would love but those that love romance, fantasy, historical and travel would also love it. I’ve come full circle now and don’t suppose the last installment is ready for me to read since this one is just days from being released. I guess I’ll spend another year trying to ignore the fact that I’m waiting to see how it all ends. But, I will be eagerly awaiting the final book!

Review can also be seen at http://LadyTechiesBookMusings.blogspo...

A Fall of Water by Elizabeth Hunter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I can honestly say that this book was the best of a really great series. Elizabeth Hunter's writing was consistent across the series. The story grew and continued to draw the reader into the characters and the mystery. She continued to draw you into not just B and Gio's world, but, also into Tenzin, Carwyn and Ben's lives. It has been an experience watching their relationship with each other grow along with B and Ben's relationship with Gio's lifelong friends. It was great getting a glimpse into vampire politics in all the different regions along with the different familial relationships in the different elemental clans. Matt and Dez were great to learn about and gave a different perspective on the relationship between vampires and humans over the years, especially humans that were part of the vampire families.

The editing was much tighter in this final book also. It was really a great, exciting read. The fight scenes were well written with action and great choreography. I loved the sword fights and the fights that involved the use of elemental powers. It was like a chess match with elemental powers. This power trumps that power but, if you have a good plan you can get around it, maybe. Very intense and I am so happy that this was not just an ending, but, it also was a beginning. I look forward to seeing more in the Elemental Mysteries world.

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