Review: Matchbox Girls by Chrysoula Tzavelas

Review: Matchbox Girls by Chrysoula Tzavelas.

Format Read: eARC from Netgalley.

Number of Pages: 326.

Release Date: February 21, 2012.

Publisher: Candelmark & Gleam.

Genre: Urban Fantasy.

Formats Available: Paperback, ebook.

Purchasing Info: Amazon, Goodreads, Book Depository, Author.

Book Blurb:

Marley Claviger is just trying to get her life together. Stumbling into an ancient conflict between celestial forces is going to make that a whole lot harder…

When Marley wakes up to a phone call from a pair of terrified children, she doesn’t expect to be pulled into a secret war. She rescues them from an empty house and promises to find their missing uncle. She even manages to feed them dinner. But she barely feels competent to manage her own life, let alone care for small children with strange, ominous powers…

And when a mysterious angelic figure shows up and tries to claim the girls, it all falls apart…

Plagued by visions of disaster, Marley has …

Midnight Blue-Light Special by Seanan McGuire

Format Read: ebook and paperback.
Number of Pages: 368.
Release Date: March 5, 2013.
Genre: Urban Fantasy.
Series: InCryptids #2.
Publisher: DAW.
Formats Available: Paperback, ebook, audio.
Purchasing Info: Amazon, Book Depository, Goodreads, Author.

Book Blurb:

Cryptid, noun:

1. Any creature whose existence has been suggested but not proven scientifically. Term officially coined by cryptozoologist John E. Wall in 1983.

2. That thing that’s getting ready to eat your head.

3. See also: “monster.”

The Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity–and humanity from them. Enter Verity Price. Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she’d rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and when her work with the cryptid community took her to Manhattan, she thought she would finally be free to pursue competition-level dance in earnest. It didn’t quite work out that way…

But now, with the snake cult that was killing virgins all over Manhattan …

On the Booklovers’ Shelves: Books For Other People (aka Enablers)

As all true Book Lovers know, there is a fine line between love and addiction. Gift-giving is perfect for leaping right over that divide and shamelessly pushing books on people. Why should your friends and family members have tidy houses utterly lacking in books for you to pillage and/or mercilessly judge?

No reason at all.

Getting an education was a bit like a communicable sexual disease. It made you unsuitable for a lot of jobs and then you had the urge to pass it on.

Susan Sto-Helit understands me. Just substitute “reading” for “education.”

We often ask Guest Authors and Guest Posters what the difference is between a book lover and a run-of-the-mill reader. The answer is really quite simple: The true book lover cannot fathom a world without books, and as such, is constantly pushing them on others.

However, It can be a bit difficult to have a book on hand for every …

Review: Scent of Magic by Maria V. Snyder

Format Read: eARC from Netgalley.
Number of Pages: 414 pages
Release Date: December 14, 2012.
Series: Healer #2.
Genre: Urban Fantasy.
Publisher: Mira.
Formats Available:  ebook, paperback
Purchasing Info: Author, Goodreads, Powells, Book Depository.

Book Blurb: 

As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avry of Kazan is in a unique position: in the minds of her friends and foes alike, she no longer exists. Despite her need to prevent the megalomanical King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avry is also determined to find her sister and repair their estrangement. And she must do it alone, as Kerrick, her partner and sole confident, returns to Alga to summon his country into battle.

Though she should be in hiding, Avry will do whatever she can to support Tohon’s opponents. Including infiltrating a holy army, evading magic sniffers, teaching forest skills to soldiers and figuring out how to stop Tohon’s most horrible creations …

Review: Iced by Karen Marie Moning

Format Read: Ebook.
Number of Pages: 495.
Release Date: October 30, 2012.
Genre: Urban Fantasy.
Series: Fever #6/Dani O’Malley #1.
Publisher: Delacorte.
Formats Available: Hardback, ebook, audiobook
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Author, Book Depository, IndieBound.

Book Blurb:

The year is 1 AWC—After the Wall Crash. The Fae are free and hunting us. It’s a war zone out there, and no two days are alike. I’m Dani O’Malley, the chaos-filled streets of Dublin are my home, and there’s no place I’d rather be.

Dani “Mega” O’Malley plays by her own set of rules—and in a world overrun by Dark Fae, her biggest rule is: Do what it takes to survive. Possessing rare talents and the all-powerful Sword of Light, Dani is more than equipped for the task. In fact, she’s one of the rare humans who can defend themselves against the Unseelie. But now, amid the pandemonium, her greatest gifts have turned into serious liabilities.

Dani’s ex–best friend, MacKayla Lane, wants …

Review: Precinct 13 by Tate Hallaway

Format Read: ebook.
Number of Pages: 308.
Release Date: August 7, 2012.
Genre: Urban Fantasy.
Publisher: Berkley  Trade.
Formats Available:  ebook, paperback.
Purchasing Info: Author, Goodreads, Amazon, Book Depository.

Book Blurb: 
Recent college grad Alex Conner is thrilled to have landed a job as the Hughes County coroner/medical examiner in Pierre, South Dakota. But when her first day on the job ends with a missing corpse, Alex starts to wonder if she would have been better off collecting unemployment…

When the cops made some cryptic comments about being careful with the body they brought in, Alex just thought the boys in blue were messing with her. That is, until something freaky happens that no amount of med school could have prepared her for. By the time Alex gets herself together, the body has disappeared and the other residents of the morgue start talking her ear off.

After working up the courage to report the missing body, …

Review: An Apple for the Creature by Charlaine Harris (ed.)

 Format Read: ebook.
Number of Pages: 336.
Release Date: September 4, 2012.
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Anthology.
Publisher: Ace.
Formats Available:  ebook, hardcover.
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Bookdepository, Author.

Book Blurb:

What could be scarier than the first day of school? A crash course in the paranormal from Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner, editors of Home Improvement: Undead Edition. Your worst school nightmares will pale in comparison to these thirteen original stories that take academic anxiety to new realms.

My Thoughts:

I HATE hardcover. Why? Because it is expensive, makes my books heavy, and takes up way too much physical space. To make things even worse, the hardcover print editions jack up the prices on ebooks. It’s extortion and I won’t stand for it! Even when there is a new Ilona-story included.

Which is why I shamelessly promoted the new Sookie story in this anthology to a certain  Viking-vampire groupie who does not share my qualms about underhanded …

My Experience with the Romance genre: Draconismoi Reads a Romance. From Start to Finish.

Wow, crazy month. Full of firsts.

First wedding I didn’t want to object too. First time off work. First completely spontaneous vacation. First time in New Mexico. First time separated from my laptop. (I know, I’ve been neglecting my fellow book lovers. But not my glorious books. 🙂 )

During my trip, I found an old school book exchange. Predictably filled with romances. Not one single non-romance title. And there I was, stranded, for two hours. What to do?

…

Is it possible that I am unfairly biased against an entire genre based on a few notoriously ridiculous tropes? This is my chance to give romance a fair shake. I WILL READ A ROMANCE! One without rape, iffy issues of consent, minors, or hideously awful misogyny.

There go the historicals and bondage. Which leaves me with two choices. One of which involves a cowboy. The other a chef. Cheffing it is! I am hungry, so we’re …

Review: Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews

Format Read: Paperback provided by publisher via Literary Escapism.
Number of Pages: 448.
Release Date: July 31, 2012.
Genre: Urban Fantasy.
Series: Magicpocalypse #6.
Publisher: Ace.
Formats Available: Paperback, ebook, audiobook.
Purchasing Info: Bookdepository, Amazon, Goodreads, Author’s Site.

Book Blurb:

Some people have everything figured out — Andrea Nash is not one of those people. After being kicked out of the Order of Knights of Merciful Aid, Andrea’s whole existence is in shambles. All she can do is try to put herself back together, something made easier by working for Cutting Edge, a small investigative firm owned by her best friend, Kate Daniels.

When several shapeshifters working for Raphael Medrano — the male alpha of Clan Bouda and Andrea’s former lover — die unexpectedly at a dig site, Andrea is assigned to investigate … and must work with Raphael. As her search for the killer leads her into the secret underbelly of supernatural …

Review: Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

Format Read: Hardcover

Number of Pages: 304

Release Date: February 14, 2012

Publisher: Walker

Genre: Historical YA/Folk Tale Revision

Formats Available: Hardback, ebook

Purchasing Info: Author, GoodReads, Amazon, Book Depository

Book Blurb:

 Many readers know the tale of Robin Hood, but they will be swept away by this new version full of action, secrets, and romance.

Posing as one of Robin Hood’s thieves to avoid the wrath of the evil Thief Taker Lord Gisbourne, Scarlet has kept her identity secret from all of Nottinghamshire. Only the Hood and his band know the truth: the agile thief posing as a whip of a boy is actually a fearless young woman with a secret past. Helping the people of Nottingham outwit the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham could cost Scarlet her life as Gisbourne closes in.

It’s only her fierce loyalty to Robin—whose quick smiles and sharp temper have the rare power to unsettle her—that keeps Scarlet going and …