Review: Unmake by Lauren Harris

Stumped on gifts for Christmas? Don't be. This urban fantasy series will appeal to your friends--because they have good taste, right? Grab this series for its compelling characters, exciting imagery, and magic mafia v. magic guild conflict.


Book 1:

https://amzn.to/2KRSCnA

Magic Mafia. Sorcerer Police. A girl on the run from both.

Helena Martin doesn't know who she hates more, the sorcerers who fired the magic-laced bullet or the gang-lord master who used her mother as a shield. It's not the price she expected for escaping magical slavery, nor is the unstable power now pulsing in her veins.

Caught between her former master's hunters and the Guild Sorcerers determined to kill them, she finds a safe haven at a dog rescue willing to take in a different kind of stray. But Helena's newly-unleashed power is a beacon for her enemies. And they're threatening the first place she's ever thought of as home.

"A visceral, heart-pounding ride of a book that will keep you guessing until the final bloody breath."

~Award-winning fantasy author Philippa Ballantine (The Books of the Order, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34931255-unleash


Book 2:
https://amzn.to/2SpZQS5

She's on trial for her life. He's torn between two futures. The decisions they make could draw the magical world into war.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40207551-unmake

Review: Hunter and Fox by Philippa Ballantine

Every year after National Novel Writing Month I like to reward myself with a book (or 5), and boy did this one hit the spot! In fact, to tell the complete truth, I read the first chapter in the middle of November and then had to drop my own writing project long enough to finish reading it. No regrets! I absolutely adore the complexity of this tale and the emotional strength of the characters. Philippa's expert storytelling had me at page one and delivered on every page after.

I first heard of Philippa Ballantine many years ago and now I have finally joined her legions of fans. When I saw the description of this book pop up I knew I had to have it, and when I finished it, I knew I had to have the sequel! So without further ado, Hunter and Fox by Philippa Ballantine:

Get it on Amazon here:
https://amzn.to/2UdjOkF
(What are you waiting for? Treat yourself or a friend for Christmas!)



(Is that... is that a blurb from Felicia Day?! IT IS!)

The world of Conhaero is in constant flux; mountains can change to plains and then to lakes in a matter of weeks. It is a place where only the most adaptable can survive, but also a refuge to people from other worlds seeking peace—but nothing is as it should be. The native protectors of the realm, the Vaerli are scattered and cursed. The Kindred, the spirits of the land, who once held a pact with them, have disappeared.

Now the Caisah, and his own alien magic rule the land, controlling the peoples and hunting the Vaerli. He also holds the leash of Talyn.

With the promise of freedom for her people, Talyn has become his hunter. She seeks out her enemies because she thinks it is the only way to save the remainder of the Vaerli, but she is a wreck of a once-proud person.

When she is given the task of hunting down Finn, she cannot know the changes that will follow. As teller of tales, Finn carries his own dreadful secret and has his own mission.

For the Kindred are finally moving, and the Vaerli have a chance at redemption and freedom. If Talyn and Finn can find a way back through the past, and into the very heart of this shifting land, then perhaps old wounds can be healed, and the Caisah defeated. Maybe Conhaero and its people can find a new kind of peace.


Add it on goodreads here:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13275818-hunter-and-fox

Visit Philippa Balletine's website here:
http://www.pjballantine.com/

Review: Walking on the Sea of Clouds by Gray Rinehart

Here's a Christmas gift for the science fiction lovers on your list, and what better day to buy it than the anniversary of Apollo 17's launch?

Gray Rinehart's Walking on the Sea of Clouds brings us a near-future colonization of the moon, packed full of all the nightmare-inducing equipment failures and the sort of determined, reach-for-the-moon characters who can make it happen. Or can they?

https://amzn.to/2Qsg8Nd



Before permanent lunar encampments such as Clarke's Clavius Base (in 2001: A Space Odyssey) or Heinlein's Luna City (in The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress) could be built, there would have to be the first settlers--the first people to set up shop and try to eke out an existence on the Moon. Walking On the Sea of Clouds is the story of such lunar pioneers: two couples, Stormie and Frank Pastorelli and Van and Barbara Richards, determined to survive and succeed in this near-future technological drama about the risks people will take, the emergencies they'll face, and the sacrifices they'll make as members of the first commercial lunar colony. In the end, one will decide to leave, one will decide to stay, one will put off deciding ... and one will decide to die so another can live.

Find Gray Rinehart at:
http://graymanwrites.com/


You can also find Walking on the Sea of Clouds on goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35840519-walking-on-the-sea-of-clouds

Review: Wings Unseen by Rabecca Gomez Farrell

Wings Unseen by Rebecca Gomez Farrell is vivid fantasy with engaging characters and a rich world. Vesperi's growth from deluded and desperate victim-abuser to an actual person who can determine right from wrong was well done. Janto's time proving himself at the Murat echoes ancient legends with details like the silver stag. Serra's growth through the Order may shock readers but eventually proves her maturity. As the horrific claren bugs multiply and kill, the three must work together to rid the world of the bugs and the circumstances that breed them.


Visit the author's blog, here:
http://www.rebeccagomezfarrell.com/


Find her on Facebook, here:
https://www.facebook.com/RebeccaGomezFarrell/


Bonus: Ms. Farrell is local to NC! Love it.

Review: When Tinker Met Bell by @AletheaKontis

When Tinker Met Bell is the perfect cute paranormal romance to pick up for Valentine's Day! Find out how Tinker and Bell get around the pesky curse that keeps their species from getting together. Includes heroic antics in otherworldly settings.

You can also pick up the newest novel, Besphinxed, for Heather's redemption story. I really enjoyed When Tinker Met Bell when it first came out and immediately gave a five-star review on Amazon, but had a bit of a hiccup with scheduling this post on my blog. Now there are more books in the series you can pick up--I've enjoyed them all! The Truth About Cats and Wolves makes a great introduction to the series, and they all also work as stand-alones. What a great Valentine's Day binge!

Review: Besphinxed by Alethea Kontis

Besphinxed is my favorite book in the Nocturne Falls Universe so far. I have enjoyed reading all of Alethea Kontis' books in the Nocturne Falls Universe--they are all fun urban fantasy / paranormal romance with young protagonists and great heroines. Kontis' books fit well together by focusing on different characters whose stories intersect while maintaining their own stand-alone integrity. So while you can read any of the books on their own, you'll get a bigger kick out of reading them all. And unlike some romance stories which lean too heavily on a formula, Kontis' Nocturne Falls books weave unique, interesting plots, focusing on characters with differing life challenges and differing world views.

Now, the reason Besphinxed is my favorite (so far!): Heather, the protagonist in this book, first appears in The Truth About Cats and Wolves as a bad gal. Think selfish and cliquish, and add in magic powers you wouldn't trust someone like that to have. In Besphinxed we meet Heather and follow along as her life snowballs into an opportunity for personal growth. As we learn more about Heather, Alethea Kontis portrays Heather's dysfunctional family in a succinctly accurate way alongside more positive relationships surrounding Heather.

Besphinxed has real depth without losing the fun; We also get to learn more about Owen, the cat-shifter that's supposed to be the best friend of Heather's sworn enemy, but who finds himself inexplicably attracted to her. And let's not forget the Zombie Prom and a deadly magic confrontation at the end.

Pick up Besphinxed for a touching paranormal romance. I cried at the end!