Reviews anyone?

I was just curious if anyone would be interested in posting reviews of the books they read here? I would love to see one on Blood Bound (hint, hint). If there is an interest I could post a couple reviews of books I've read recently.

That sounds like a good idea. I recently read When Darkness Comes by Alexandra Ivy and Night's Kiss by Amanda Ashley, if anyone wants to hear about those.

I do! I haven't heard of either of those books, although I think I might have read something by Amanda Ashley in the past.

Review sounds so intimidating...
I just finished Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs and I liked it a lot. Mercy is a Native American auto mechanic (she needs to hang out w/ C.E. Murphy's heroine of Urban Shaman etc). She's a shapechanging coyote, not the same as the werewolves in the book who are partially moon driven, but raised by werewolves (just caught the subtext "raised by wolves" which if it isn't intentional, should be).

A vampire friend whom she owes a favor asks her to accompany him to a meeting and they run into a murderous, demon ridden sorceror/vampire, who is able to bespell her vampire friend but not Mercedes, who is resistant to a number of magics while in vampire form.

We see more of the alternate present world of this series, with fae & werewolves out (or at least some of them) but not vampires and others yet, and there is more exploration of her feelings for the two werewolves in her life, Samuel, who she grew up with and threw herself at unsuccessfully when she was 15, (almost another 15 years ago) and Adam, her local Alpha packleader neighbor. No resolution of that arc, but some more character development.

On the TBR pile is A Plague of Memory by S. L. Viehl

Just finished the ARC of the second half of the Bujold Sharing Knife:Legacy and it is really good. I'll post more about it closer to publication date, but seeing Dag (the hero's) Lakewalker culture in comparison to Fawn's life is fascinating. What I particularly love about these is that while they are clearly alternate world fantasy, they are blessedly lacking in Kings, Princes, Dukes, etc, etc. The tone is almost like an alternate American frontier, as is the landscape, and it is marvelously familiar and strange at the same time but very real in a way that a lot of fantasy isn't.

Oh, and Ivy Cole and the Moon unfortunately did not work for me at all. I didn't much like the heroine, the Southerness grated on my nerves and my whole reaction was such that I put it down (didn't quite throw it against the wall). It may have improved further in, but I actively didn't want to finish it.

I liked Moon Called, which romsfuulynn reviewed, above. Briggs' sequel, Blood Bound will be released Jan 30, so give it just a few more days. :) According to Briggs' web page, we can also expect an anthology in this setting by August.

Thanks for the information/reviews on the books. Very cool that Patricia Briggs is doing an anthology, sound great! I still have to catch up on some of her other stories. The only one I've read by her is Moon Called.

Also, I've never heard of Urban Shaman but it looks great! I'll definately be checking that one out.

How do people go about getting ARC's?

imayb1- just fyi I found Blood Bound at Borders a few days ago. Maybe the release date is wrong.
I liked it a lot. A little more thrilling than the first.

That's it! I'm making an emergency Borders run this weekend!! (to heck with my TBR pile LOL)

>10 cjlib:, cjlib

My bookstore had it just a couple of days early. :) I quickly read it and I agree with you; it is better than the first! I think Patricia Briggs' writing continues to mature and improve with each book.

I love Briggs. Masques is one of my favorite fantasy novels. I wish it would be republished in the longer form...she's said on her website that it's written, but the publishers aren't interested in it right now. Bummer.

Blood Bound is definitely better than Moon Called.

When Darkness Comes is about a woman named Abby Barlow, who accidentally picks up the Phoenix, and becomes the Chalice. The Phoenix is the good-guy spirit. The Chalice is protected by a vampire named Dante, who fell for Abby when she was still an ordinary woman. The two set off on an adventure to find some witches who can rid Abby of the Phoenix. Along the way they encounter all sorts of bad guys including sorcerers and zombies.

The pace of the action reminds me a lot of Christine Warren's series about the Others.

Abby is a smart aleck and the dialogue between the two main characters is clever. The secondary characters are also interesting and I'm looking forward to the sequel.

Alexandra Ivy is the alter ego of Deborah Raleigh. I've read Raleigh's previous books and haven't liked them that well---she's really hit her stride with this one, though.

Night's Kiss, by Amanda Ashley follow what seems to be something of her standard plotline. I must confess, I like most of her books, even if some of them seem a bit similar. I think this one represents some of her best writing. I really liked the time-travelling twist (which I usually just despise).

The book is about a vampire named Roshan DeLongpre. Roshan is tired of living and tries to commit suicide at the beginning of the book, but chickens out when he starts to light on fire. He becomes obsessed with a woman who was burned as a witch near the time of the Salem witch trials. Having just been nearly fried himself, he has some sympathy for her.

He goes back in time and rescues her, taking her back with him to modern times. Abby struggles to acclimate to the modern times, which I think Ashley pulls off fairly well. Abby doesn't get too whiny or unreasonably demanding, nor is she slow in grasping modern concepts and technology.

On their way to happiness they face off with an evil human who wants do discover the secret to immortality. Anything else would be giving too much of the plot away.

There is a sequel planned, which is coming out fairly soon, I think.

Bit of a cross-post: Has anyone read The Nymph King?

rianoel - I haven't read it, but it looks good. I've added it to my amazon wish list. I plan to get everything on there eventually :-)

Has anyone read Warrior Angel by Margaret and Lizz Weis? I'd be really interested to know what you think of it...

Haven't read Warrior Angel, but I did finally read The Nymph King which I really enjoyed. I'm now reading Playing with Fire by Gena Showalter.

I'll have to check out the Warrior Angel book :-)

I didn't like Playing with Fire that well...so far, the only Showalter books I've liked are the Atlantis series. At least, well enough to keep. :)

I *still* haven't read The Nymph King! It is now in my possession, though...to be filed in the tbr stack. I seem to be on a historical kick at the moment. Well, with time out for J.R. Ward.

I highly recommend Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews. It is definitely urban fantasy with some romance in it, not a romance in an urban fantasy setting. About as much romance as, say, Patricia Briggs' Mercy series. Very good book, excellent considering this is a first publication by this author(s). They are actually a (I think) husband and wife team. Or somehow related.