Thursday, 4 September 2008

Sherrilyn Kenyon - Acheron

Book 13 (or 25 including anthologies) of the Dark Hunter Series

I have never read the Dark Hunter series until now, mainly because every time I picked up the first book in the series the blurb just sounded too stupid…ancient guy stuck in a book to be used a sex slave…nope just didn’t appeal to me, and truth be told it still doesn’t.

However having just finished Acheron I may have to go and read the rest of the series (including, or maybe excluding, the first one in the series)

Acheron is in actual fact two books in one, hence why it is such a huge volume, but it is well worth reading. The first half of the story deals with Acheron’s life as a human, and his very early life as a god. It is an incredibly well written story that had me crying in a few places, whilst all the while wanting someone to just love Acheron for himself. The things that Acheron suffered but survived are horrific, perhaps all the more so because it was written in such a way as to be believable. Yes it is set 11,000 years ago in a place steeped mainly in myth, but the innate cruelty of people was laid bare by Sherrilyn Kenyon, and I applaud her for daring to write such a difficult topic, and writing it with compassion yet with brutal honesty. The human race hasn’t changed in 11,000 years. If you never read the rest of the book or series I urge you to read the first half of this story, it really is worth it in my opinion.

As to the second half, it kept my interest but I think that was mainly because Acheron had found himself a place in my heart. I really can see why fans of this series have been champing at the bit for this book to be written. He and Simi, (really love Simi! she’s like Jayne Castle’s Dust Bunnies!) are the reason I am going to have to go and read the rest of the series. And also because some of the other characters I have met in this book have been so off the wall I really do need to go and read their stories.

As to the heroine Tory, well I really didn’t connect with her and had no real interest in the love story between her and Acheron, all I really wanted to know was, was Acheron finally going to find someone to love him? I couldn’t have cared one way or the other if it was Tory or not, what mattered was that she was who Acheron wanted. So in that respect this wasn’t so much a romance for me as it was a life story, Acheron’s life story. The romance was very much secondary to his story,even though that was I surmise the whole point to the second half of the book. After all this series is a paranormal romance series, but then I think Acheron has taken on a life of his own separate to the whims of the author and the readers.

If like me you haven’t read any of the Dark Hunter books before, don’t worry, it is very easy to read this book and thoroughly enjoy it. Ms Kenyon has done a great job of setting the world so that it can be followed (so long as you pay attention while your reading the first half of the book!) So even if you haven’t read the series, try this book, you may find like me you have to go read the rest!
Tazallie

1. Fantasy Lover
2. The Beginning (in Sins of the Night)
3. Dragonswan
4. Night Pleasures
5. Night Embrace
6. Phantom Lover (in Midnight Pleasures)
7. Dance with the DevilX
8. A Dark-Hunter Christmas (in Dance with the DevilX)
9. Kiss of the Night
10. Night Play
11. Winter Born (in Stroke of Midnight)
12. Seize the Night
13. Sins of the Night
14. Second Chances (free give away exclusive novella)
15. Unleash the Night
16. The Dark Side of the Moon
17. A Hard Day’s Night-Searcher (in My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding)
18. Until Death We Do Part (in Love at First Bite)
19. Fear the Darkness
20. The Dream Hunter
21. Devil May Cry
22. Upon the Midnight Clear
23. The Dark-Hunter Companion (with Alethea Kontis)
24. Dream Chaser
25. Acheron
26. One Silent Night 2008
27. Dream Warrior 20009
28. Fang2009

Jocelyn Drake - Nightwalker

Book One in the Dark Days Series

I found this book purely by accident one slow day at work. I was killing some time flicking through the new delivery of paranormal books, the blurb on this one hadn’t really caught my eye but I was looking to see what books were advertised in the back of the book when the last line of the novel caught my eye.
“And then we’ll kill each other as god intended”

Well with a line like this how could I not read it? Now I am really frustrated because the book has ended and I have to wait for book two to be out!

What I liked about this book was the female lead, Mira. She’s a vampire with an unusual skill that has made her the target of some awful things and creatures, but she’s no victim. Yet there is a vulnerable side to her that is revealed as the book goes on, in fact in a world of dangerous vampires she has retained her humanity. This book is incredibly well written, you get a real sense of the places you visit, you can taste the shadows and feel the fog rolling off the Thames. And the battle scenes keep you gripped to the last. Although you know Ms Drake can’t plan to kill Mira off, you still feel that this really is a fight to the death, and Mira has no fear of it being hers.

This book kept me in its thrall from the first page, each passage revealing just a little more about the Naturi and the Coven, about Mira and Danaus, the vampire hunter who becomes her ally. Yet never revealing enough so that you can guess where the story is going. This series is going on my favourite list.
And all I can say is “please write quickly Ms Drake!”

Tazallie

Wednesday, 3 September 2008

September 2008 New Release List

Well September is here, the kids are back in school (Yippee!) and the September books are starting to come out. So here is my September 2008 list of new releases. This list includes books that I know I will be reading (Such as Christine Feehan’s Dark Curse) and some that look good but may just sit on my TBR (to be read) list indefinitely.

C E Murphy - Hands of flame - 1St Sept U
Nalini Singh - Hostage to pleasure - 2nd Sept P
Christine Feehan - Dark Curse - 2nd Sept P
Melina Morel - Prey - 2nd Sept P
Victoria laurie - Death perception - 2nd Sept P
G A Aiken -Dragon Actually -2nd Sept P
(Originaly released in 2004 as an ebook called Dragon Challenge under the name Shelly Laurenston )
Lilith Saintcrow - Steelflower - 30th Sept P
L A Banks - Bite the bullet - 30th Sept P
Sharie Kohler -Kiss of a dark moon - 30th Sept P
Lynsay Sands - Rogue Hunter - 30th Sept P
Cait London -For her eyes only - 30th Sept P/S
Christina Warren - One bite with a stranger - 30th Sept P

P= Paranormal
R = Romance
U =Urban Fantasy
S= Romantic Suspence


All Dates are correct to the best of my knowledge, but aren’t set in stone!

Please share any September authors that you are waiting for!
Tazallie

Monday, 1 September 2008

C T Adams & Cathy Clamp - Touch of Evil

Book one in the Thrall series

I don’t know about you but sometimes I look at a book and thing nope dont want to read it, but then something keeps drawing you back to it until finally you have to give in and just read the blooming thing! Well this was one of those books, for ages now I have been picking this book up and then putting it back but finally I have read it, and I’m really glad I did!

This is a vampire story with a slight difference, vampires aren’t as we normally expect them to be in this series, they are in fact a parasitic creature that take over a human host. They call themselves the Thrall and actually have a collective hive mentality.
At first I have to say this book was pretty confusing, I kept wondering if there was a book that preceded it because it really felt like I was coming into the story with something missing. This, to my way of thinking, is bad writing on the part of the authors, they jump straight into this world without actually setting it up in the readers mind. Once you get into the book, things become much clearer and it actually becomes a pretty intersting story line, but I think many people will give up on the book before it starts to make any sense at all.

Kate is a woman with psychic abilities who a few years ago was attacked by the soon to be vampire queen (vampires in this book call themselves the Thrall). She survives the attack without becoming a host to the thrall (a vampire), but it leaves her with a conection to the Thrall collective. As the vampire queens host dies (they have an average life span of just a few years) the queen decides that Kate will be her replacement queen, whether she wants to or not!

Once you get past the initial confusion, this becomes an intersting and enjoyable read, with an original view on what is a vampire (no dark brooding vampires set to seduce the unsuspecting heroine! Roll over Bram!) Its not sexy, its not seductive and the heroine is someone you could actually imagine knowing. So if you want something different than the normal vampire fare, try this one on for size.

Tazallie

1)Touch of Evil
2)Touch of Madness
3)Touch of Darkness

Sunday, 31 August 2008

Diana Palmer - Heart of Stone

Book 37 in the Long Tall Texans Series

To be truthful I really dont know why I still read this series, or indeed this author. Perhaps its become somewhat of a tradition for me, or perhaps I just keep hoping that there will be a suprise in the story? Whatever it is I still keep coming back to them.

I started reading Diana Palmer and the Long tall texans series donkey's years ago when I was an impressionable teen devouring mills and boons romance novels, at the time Ms Palmer was one of my all time favourite writers, lots of alpha males and sweet virginal women finding love. And the stories are still the same ...sometimes almost identical. There have been a few good books along the way that I really enjoyed but this wasnt one of them, in fact I would have to say that I have read this story quite a few times before from Ms Palmer, and it was boring. Sorry but thats my opinion!

Diana Palmer needs to move on, I still like Alpha males but I like a woman who can tame him, not just submit mindlessly. In this story Boone the ultra rich succesful rancher has been ignoring his sisters best friend Keely for years, to hid the fact that he is in fact attracted to her. Keely in turn has loved Boone for years, but she is a poor abused mouse of a child/woman. Ok need I go on? not really cos this could be any number of the the other Long tall texan books. You know whats going to happen, he's going to be really rotten to her, push her away, protect her, seduce her, then marry her. Oh and dont forget the drug dealers who are after the heroine! (the new constant in these books)

So why do I still keep reading them? I really do think its simply because she was one of my first favourite authors and I am loyal to her, but I really, really do wish just for once her heroine would be in her thirties, with a kick butt attitude who shocks the pants of the big tough alpha male. Oh well maybe the next one will be better!!!! (and you can bet your bottom dollar I will read it!)

Tazallie

Friday, 29 August 2008

Jeanne C Stein - Legacy

Legacy is the fourth book in the Anna Strong Series.

Anna is a vampire, who was turned agaisnt her will and is desperately trying to retain her human life as a bounty hunter and as a daughter, lover and friend.

Each book has left me with a feeling that there is a back story just waiting to explode, but it hasn't happened yet!
You can't help but feel a little sorry for Anna, she didnt want this to happen to her, she just wants to be left alone to live this new and often difficult life, and yet from the very first she has been pushed into a direction that she just dosen't want to go. All of her human relationships are crumbling before her very eyes, no matter how hard she tries to hold on to them.

I like this series, but it isn't a page turner, however it does keep me looking forward to the next book, hopefully to solve the mystery that all the other supernaturals seem to be keeping from her. Just what does Williams want from her? and why is he so determined to get rid of her family? What is this destiny that people keep hinting at?

This book was perhaps a little slower than the others but I get the feeling it was a way of moving the series in a particular direction, perhaps setting up the pieces for the hidden sub plot that is hinted at throughout the series. Regardless it was a good read, if a little lacking in depth in places.

Tazallie

1) The Becoming
2) Blood Drive
3) The Watcher
4) Legacy

Sunday, 17 August 2008

My book list for Aug/Sept 2008

I have to keep a list of what books I am waiting for so that I don't miss any, I will share this list each month because there may be books you didn't know were coming out or perhaps authors you hadn't heard of.

P= Paranormal
R = Romance
U =Urban Fantasy

Jayne Castle - Dark Light - 26th August -P
Jennifer Cruise - Agnes and the Hitman - 26th August -R
Jeanne C Stein - Legacy - 26th August -U
Diana Palmer - Heart of Stone -September -R
Sara Reinke - Dark Hunger - 2 September -P
Christine Feehan - Dark Curse - 2nd September -P
Diana Holquist - Hungry for More - 26th September -R
Christine Warren - One Bite With A Stranger - 30th September -P

What books are you waiting for?

Share your Aug/Sept lists here, because you might have authors others haven't read yet!

Tazallie

P.S. Dates may change as publication is not set in stone!






Patricia Briggs - Iron Kissed

Book 3 - Mercy Thompson Series
978-0441015665

Although this book has been out since the begining of the year I really wanted to review it here as it is one of my all time favourite books, and my all time favourite series.

I am not someone who can read a book twice, at least not very often, but this book has been the exception to that rule; and I even plan to read it and its sister books again when the fourth book in the series comes out next year (Bone Crossed Feb 2009)

So what is it about this book that I like? Where to start? Ok first off let me say that although there is a love triangle in this story this isn't a paranormal romance, I would say it falls more into the 'Urban Fantasy' realm of paranormal books.

The series is about a female mechanic called Mercy Thompson who is a Native American Coyote Walker...bit like a shapeshifter only different. She was raised by a werewolf pack in Montana when her mother discovered what she was as an infant, and felt unable to cope with her unusual daughter. Although she was raised by a caring foster family and accepted to a degree you always get the feeling she was on the outside looking in. But thats ok with Mercy, cos she knows who she is, even though she hasn't got a clue what a Walker really is.

Throughout the series Mercy interacts with many of the 'others' who inhabit this world, the fae, the vampires, the ghosts and of course the werewolves. In fact Adam, the Alpha of the local Tri Cities pack, has declared her his mate, but that doesn't mean Mercy is going along with it, or that Samuel another alpha werewolf from her childhood isn't going to try to win her back. But this book is so much more than that, its about human interaction even if those humans are other.

This book caused quite a bit of unrest when it came out due to an event that happens near the end.(not going to spoil it for anyone not read it) But I thought it was handled so well, awful things happen to people all the time, and the way Patricia Briggs handled the event itself, but also the aftermath, was in my opinion outstanding. She showed the devestation that Mercy felt and the confusion and pain of those who love her, but she did this by at one point focusing on, and giving a back story to, one of the other characters, allowing Mercy to curl up as a coyote and heal. Every time I read this part of the book I am moved to tears but more than that I am amazed by the skill it took to write it.

If you want to read this book though, I would really recommend reading the other two first, as it will give you a much better understanding of where all the characters are coming from, this isn't a stand alone, it is a true series, each book building on the last one.

If I had to be stranded on a desert island with only one book (Scary idea!!) it would have to be this one. (but I might just try to stick all three books together and say it was an omnibus edition!)

Tazallie

1)Moon Called
2)Blood Bound
3)Iron Kissed
4)Bone Crossed (Feb 2009)

Saturday, 16 August 2008

Jayne Castle, Dust Bunnies and the Ghost Hunter Series

I love Jayne Castle (Aka Jayne Ann Krentz) but more importantly for me I love her dust bunnies!

Jayne Castle has been writing paranormal romances since before their was a genre called paranormal romance and her Ghost Hunter series is a fantastic example of this type of book.

Set in a futuristic world called Harmony that once had ties with Earth but has since been isolated when the curtain closed a long time ago. Shutting them off from Earth, her technology and her people. It is a series about a world that is filled with psychics and ghost hunters (although the ghosts are almost pure energy and are perhaps the original inhabitants of the world)
This is a world that is both technologically advanced whilst also seemingly part mediveal, where marriage is rarely for love but more usually for convenience or procreation.

The stories are filled with alpha males and strong women who have no intention of missing the action. Each story stands alone but when read as a series allows the world of Harmony to grow and flourish in your imagination.

But perhaps for me the best of these stories are the dust bunnies!!! Cute little balls of grey fur that are loving and loyal and will take your hand of with their needle sharp teeth if you upset them and send them into hunter mode! And I want one! I love the way that Jayne Castle has created in some of the stories a secondary romance with these cute little predators, and with each book in the series I have to first check there is in fact a dust bunny in the story (I'd still read it if there wasn't but I wouldnt enjoy it half as much!)

So if you like a good romance, filled with alpha males and women who can tame them...and if you like cute bunnies that can kill you before you even realise they are mad go read this series!!

1)Bridal Jitters
2)After Dark
3)After Glow
4)Ghost Hunter
5)Silver Master
6)Dark light (26th August 2008)

(Checkout the Utube videos below for a trailer)

Tazallie

Christina Dodd - Into the shadow

ISBN 9780451224514
Out July 2008

This is the third book in Christina Dodds, Darkness Chosen Series, which falls very much into the paranormal romance genre, in fact it reminded me of a modern bodice ripper - you know the ones? where the pirate kidnaps the lady? Well this was one of those set today...and I have to say at first I was very, very skeptical...but it worked very well.

This is an easy read, but it still manages to raise some very interesting questions on good and evil and how the line can often be blurred.
Take the hero; he was raised in a loving family that has a curse hanging over it. They are shape shifters, but their power is a direct result of a pact with the devil made a thousand years ago...to change strengthens the evil that resides in them. And Adrik embraces his power after a choice as a young man makes him feel he has cursed his soul already. Adrik becomes a mercenary without remorse in the Himalyan mountains and eventually kidnaps the heroine Karen.

Yes the hero is a mercenary, yes he has killed and has dammned his soul to hell but is he evil? or a victim of a pact that was nothing to do with him?

I liked the first book in this series, wasnt so keen on the second but really enjoyed this one. Overall this was a well written action packed romance, one that it well worth a read.

Tazallie

Dont Miss
Into the Flame - book 4 in the series (Aug 2008)

Hi From Tazallie

Well I thought it might me nice if you got to know me a little, so here is the the nutshell version of me!

I am the mother of Pinky (who is trying to take over the world with brain, who also happens to be the boss of unicorn tree books and her aunty---work it out yep thats right brain is my sister!)

So that lets you know that we are a family goup...and we provide the family fights as extra entertainment in store!

I love books, lots of books, anything from paranormal/urban fantasy, to romance, or thriller or historical or chick lit or... (list could go on) but please dont ask me about women's sagas cos I dont like them and dont want to read them (foot stamping here).

So what qualifications do I have for writing reviews?? absolutely none! Except that I love books, reading books, talking books and even possibly writing them...and at the end of the day what better qualification is there?

Thats all I can think of for now but if there is anything you want to know - ask!(although I wont promise to answer everything LOL)

Tazallie

Friday, 15 August 2008

New Titles Just Out

So OK this is a quick Top New Titles round up:
Please add reviews by adding a comment!

The Long awaited 'Acheron' (9780749908669) by Sherrilyn Kenyon is now in - this is in fact two books rolled into one big book and it is going like hot cakes!
Now here in Lincoln this is probably because we were the only ones to have had stocks in up until at least 2pm today! now whether Waterstones and WHSmiths have now had theirs in I cannot say, but I can say if you want one you better hurry as we only have a couple left on the shelves now! However elsewhere in the world it is probably doing so well due to a fantastic pre-publication campaign and lots of advance info on it - oh and of course it is by a top selling author!
But by gum is it a mighty brick of a book, However three of those that purchased the book on Wednesday have been back in today to extol the virtues of the book and story and get new books because they had finished the 700+ pages and say it is that good a read! Flicking between his past - the first part of the book and then going right up to the present it really does tell the full unremitting story of Ash.
The youtube Official Acheron Trailer!
Official Acheron song by Warchild!

We also have in the New Stephenie Meyer Book 'Breaking Dawn' (9781905654284) - another mighty book and worth the read!
Stephenie Meyer talks about Breaking Dawn

Here's an odd conundrum for you all, Josephine Cox - top British author - has had her new book 'Songbird' (9780060896980) come out in paperback in the states before it has here! and not just a few days before but almost 2 months before!
So it's just as well we are a specialist in US Imports, otherwise you would all have to wait until the 1st October before you could read it in paperback!
The first one on the shelf this afternoon sold within 7 minutes! So look likely ladies as once this batch are gone it will be another 7 days before the next batch gets in from the States!

Unicorn Tree Books Paranormal and Romance Review Site now open!

Hi All,
We hope that this will become a premier site for Paranormal Book and Romance Book Reviews.
Those of us involved in running this blog all work at an independent bookshop based in Lincoln, UK and one of our top selling sections (and one of our personal favourite sections to choose a book from) is the Paranormal and Romance Genre sections.
These days this spans a wide range of styles, titles and mediums - yes graphic novels, manga, chapter books and the full out 700+ page or multibook spanning epics.
However we love to read them, we love to sell them and yes we love to talk about them (and now type about them!), but we love it when we interact with others too, so we want this to be a site where you all come in and add reviews too, add them in the comments section and see them get added as full on blog posts in time.
make suggestions of other titles, authors and yes even genres - get involved, share your thoughts, feelings and favourite reads.
jump in - the waters fine! Ohh and Dive to the bottom of the page to find our YouTube playlist of book video trailers!