Friday, January 5, 2018

New Release from Berkley ~ Death Below Stairs (Kat Holloway Mysteries, Book #1) by Jennifer Ashley


 Death Below Stairs (Kat Holloway Mysteries, Book #1) by Jennifer Ashley 

About Death Below Stairs:

Victorian class lines are crossed when cook Kat Holloway is drawn into a murder that reaches all the way to the throne.

Highly sought-after young cook Kat Holloway takes a position in a Mayfair mansion and soon finds herself immersed in the odd household of Lord Rankin. Kat is unbothered by the family’s eccentricities as long as they stay away from her kitchen, but trouble finds its way below stairs when her young Irish assistant is murdered.

Intent on discovering who killed the helpless kitchen maid, Kat turns to the ever-capable Daniel McAdam, who is certainly much more than the charming delivery man he pretends to be. Along with the assistance of Lord Rankin’s unconventional sister-in-law and a mathematical genius, Kat and Daniel discover that the household murder was the barest tip of a plot rife with danger and treason—one that’s a threat to Queen Victoria herself.

Book Details:

Print Length: 335 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: January 2, 2018
Sold by: Penguin Group (USA) LLC
ASIN: B06Y4RCLQX

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Book Spotlight & #Giveaway ~ Piercing the Veil by Guy Riessen ~ Horror, Supernatural Occult Thriller @GuyRiessen


Piercing the Veil

Guy Riessen


Genres: Horror, Supernatural Occult Thriller


What do flesh-eating cell phones, brain-enhancing tacos, and a real live dead foot have in common?
They're all tools in the destruction of our world, and a weapons-grade team of heavily-armed Miskatonic University nerds may be humanity’s last hope.

Something is ripping holes in the Veil of energy that separates our world from that of the ancient evils writhing just beyond what we think is reality. Time is running out for Professors Derrick LeStrand, Howard Strauss and their team of researchers as they race to hunt down a mysterious Frenchman who wields Necromantic Death Magic unlike anything they’ve seen before. 

Tearing open psychological wounds from Derrick’s past, the cabalistic sorcerer is gathering ancient icons of power to pierce the Veil and bring down the only thing shielding mankind from the relentless horrors beyond. 

If they fail, the only questions that will remain are who will live in servitude to the Great Old Ones and who will die…and who will supply Derrick with tacos? 

Set against the backdrop of a world where H.P. Lovecraft was not a fiction writer, but a Sweep, a special operative trained to protect the collective sanity of the human race with misinformative blends of fact and fiction … where the Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual is little more than a slightly skewed Audubon Field Guide, and the monster movies you grew up with are more documentary than not. 

It’s Nerdthulhu Lethal Weapon cranked to eleven.

**Release sale- only .99 cents!!**

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Guy Riessen is an American author of contemporary dark fiction spanning the science fiction, horror, fantasy and crime genres. Born in South Dakota, he grew up in the Southern California beach town of Huntington Beach. He moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, graduated with a degree in English from UC Berkeley, and has been living in the wild lands north of San Francisco ever since. After nearly two decades of creating artwork in the visual effects industry for feature films, he returned to his first passion: writing speculative fiction.

He's been published on Under the Bed, Near to the Knuckle and Shotgun Honey, and in the anthologies Urban Temples of Cthulhu, Dreams of the Miskatonic and It's All Trumped Up. 

Socialize with the Author:




Follow the tour HERE for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!








Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Review of End Game, the Epic Conclusion to Lisa Renee Jones' Dirty Money Series @LisaReneeJones @StMartinsPress




END GAME:
A Dirty Money Novel

By Lisa Renee Jones



With Hard Rules, Damage Control and Bad Deeds, New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones’ Dirty Money series received acclaim from old fans and gained a new following of fans. Wall Street meets the Sons of Anarchy, with the smoldering, scorching final novel, the explosive END GAME (St. Martin’s Griffin; January 2, 2018), the Dirty Money series comes to a head in the shattering conclusion.

Emily is gone, and Shane hovers on the edge of being consumed by his darkness. Emily is in danger. His family’s empire is in turmoil. And he has blood on his hands. As shocking twists, dark secrets, and explosive betrayals within the Brandon family come to the light, Shane must fight harder than ever before. But without Emily, he is no one…

With every desperate, powerful touch, Emily belongs to Shane. She has been found, but she still isn’t safe, and Shane will stop at nothing to keep her from harm. As they burn bright with passion, vengeance, and despair, the dangers they face grow closer and stronger. Emily has been opened up by Shane’s touch, saved by the dark intimacy he craves. But can Emily save Shane?

With the final book in the Dirty Money series, fans and newcomers alike are sure to be enraptured by the latest saga in Emily and Shane’s story and the Brandon Family. Praised as a “twisted telenovela-like” saga by Publishers Weekly, END GAME will have readers flipping pages late into the night as they binge on all the sexy, fun drama of this habit-forming series.

About the Book:

How deep can you love?

Passion and danger collide in the explosive finale to Emily and Shane's story.

After tragedy strikes, Shane hovers on the edge of being consumed by darkness. He will fight for the woman he loves. He will destroy his enemy. He will not back down. As shocking twists, dark secrets, and explosive betrayals within the Brandon family come to the light, Shane must fight harder than ever before.

Every thread weaves a dangerous web. Emily and Derek. Brandon Senior. Maggie and her affair. The leader of the dangerous cartel who's wedged itself inside the Brandon Empire. It all comes to a head in the shattering conclusion to the Dirty Money series.


End Game is the epic conclusion to the Dirty Money series by Lisa Renee Jones. I've been waiting ever so patiently for the book and my patience was rewarded. We get a tragic, suspenseful, and heartwarming finale to a series that has kept me on my toes and chomping at the bit for the next book. I truly developed book anxiety at the end of the first three books while waiting for the next one in the series to be released. 

The events that ended Bad Deeds, book 3 in the series, cause a serious shift in Shane at the beginning of End Game. Changes occur in him, his life, Brandon Enterprises, and his family. Changes that are permanent and unwavering. Changes that may toss Shane over an edge that he may not be able to come back from. The explosive change cause Shane to work hard to pull his company out of the clutches of the drug cartel in End Game. He forces the hand of several others connected to Brandon Enterprises in a suspenseful final book that provides a satisfying conclusion to one of the best series I've read to date.

Shane's character throughout the series has been strong, ruthless when necessary, yet tender and affectionate. His feelings for Emily are evident from their first encounter and continue to grow, develop, and evolve. Emily is also a strong character; she's had to be prior to meeting Shane and in order to survive the issues plaguing the Brandon family. She truly cares for Shane and they compliment each other very well. Emily illuminates the darkness Shane must maneuver through.

The entire Dirty Money series is a wonderful blend of suspense, intrigue, and romance ~ at some moments - very steamy romance! I was enthralled by Emily and Shane's story from the beginning of the series all the way until the very last page of Book 4. I was pulled into the drama and romantic suspense elements of each book. 

The threads that Lisa Renee Jones wove within the pages of the series are complex. There are multiple storylines that intersect, some softly and others like a freight train. Suspense, intrigue, and romance are blended into the action-packed fourth novel in Lisa Renee Jones' exciting Dirty Money series. I'm sad to see the series end because I have come to love Shane and Emily but the story was wrapped up satisfactorily.  

I can't wait to get my hands on Seth's spinoff, Poison Kisses.

I reviewed an ARC.

My Rating:


Meet the Author


New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones is the author of the highly acclaimed Inside Out Series, and has now in development for a cable television show, to be produced by Suzanne Todd (Alice in Wonderland). In addition, both her Tall, Dark and Deadly series and The Secret Life of Amy Bensen series spent several months on a combination of the New York Times and USA Today lists.

Since beginning her publishing career in 2007, Lisa has published more than 40 books that have been translated around the world. Booklist says, “Jones suspense truly sizzles with an energy similar to FBI tales with a paranormal twist by Julie Garwood or Suzanne Brockmann.”

Prior to publishing, Lisa owned multi-state staffing agency that was recognized many times by The Austin Business Journal and also praised by Dallas Women Magazine. In 1998 LRJ was listed as the #7 growing women owned business in Entrepreneur Magazine.

END GAME:
A Dirty Money Novel
By Lisa Renee Jones
Published by St. Martin’s Griffin
**On Sale January 2, 2018**
Paperback | $15.99
ISBN: 9781250083852 | Ebook ISBN: 9781250083890
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Book #Review: Something to Howl About (Alphaville, Book 0.5) by Christine Warren @StMartinsPress @ChrstineWarren


Book Information:

Something to Howl About
Alphaville, Book 0.5
Christine Warren
File Size: 1237 KB
Print Length: 86 pages
Publisher: Swerve
Publication Date: January 2, 2018
Sold by: Macmillan
ASIN: B076B9YVMV

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About the Book:

WELCOME TO ALPHAVILLE, where the she-wolves and alpha-males play. . .for keeps, in a brand-new paranormal romance series from New York Times bestselling author Christine Warren.

Dr. Annie Cryer has been called many things: Genius. Child prodigy. Scientific wonder.

Wolf Shifter.

Banished from her pack years ago, Annie’s lone wolf wandering has brought her to Alpha, Washington, home to all shifters who don't quite fit in in the "normal" shifter word. Now Annie has the chance to go back home...if only she can make good on a favor her alpha owes the mayor of “Alphaville.” But it's not much of a favor when you're helping the hottest shifter in town...

Grizzly shifter Jonas Browning has a clan in trouble. They haven't had a child born in over a hundred years...and their clan faces going completely extinct. Genetic scientist Annie Cryer has been sent to help save them. But what Jonas doesn't count on is being irresistibly drawn to the small wolf shifter, and his bear isn't about to let her go...


Dr. Annie Cryer was ousted from her pack in New York and forced to wander. She moves from place to place never staying long enough to put down roots. Home is New York and she desperately wants to go back. When her former alpha requests her assistance with another pack in Washington state. When her former alpha indicates that doing this favor will put her back into her own packs favor, she jumps at the chance. She is requested to find out why the brown bear clan is not procreating, in an effort to keep them from dying out.

Annie was not expecting her inner wolf to become a hussy in the presence of one Jonas Browning, delectable bear shifter...and member of the clan currently requesting her help. She cannot, morally or ethically, become involved with any patients or research subjects - even when she connects with him on more than a professional level. The attraction doesn't appear to be a problem, though, when Jonas denies the one thing that has drawn them together so fiercely and with explosive passion.

Jonas Browning doesn't believe in the mate bond. He's thought his entire life that brown bears don't have the same mating instincts as other shifters. That is, until Dr. Cryer walks into the mayor's office for a meeting concerning Jonas's clan. Sure there's inexplicable chemistry but the mate bond? Definitely not....

Something to Howl About is a great introduction to Christine Warren's new Alphaville series. The novella is short and sweet, yet packs a gripping and emotional punch. Jonas is truly worried that his clan is going to die out because no one is producing children and haven't been for many years. Desperate, the town mayor calls upon the pack alpha of a banished, but brilliant geneticist, requesting her help. Their chemistry cracks the instant she walks into the mayor's office. Her wolf and his bear are smitten even though it takes their human sides a bit of time to come together. 

I've had paperbacks of some of Christine Warren's The Others series on my to-be-read bookshelf (yes, I really have a bookshelf, or a few, dedicated solely to tangible books that I had to have and still have to read) and after reading Something to Howl About, I think it's time to make her a priority. She infuses humor, wit, and sarcasm into her characters at just the right times and in the perfect amounts (not too much or too little). The dialogue between the characters, even when its heated or prior to slipping between the sheets, is conversational, smooth, and easy to read. I became immersed in the book, engaged from start to finish, and enjoyed everything about the book. I hope to see more of these two in future installments - not as main characters but as secondaries so we can see how they've progressed. 

My Rating: