Armentrount and Andrews Deals…

I think that both of these have made the rounds already, but I thought that I would re-post them here. Amber pointed out last week that an official announcement had been made about a new YA series from a favorite of both of ours, Jennifer L. Armentrout. The official announcement was made in Publisher’s Marketplace…

          USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Armentrout’s new young adult series in which a half demon, half gargoyle teenage girl risks the wrath of her adoptive clan and the trust of a boy she’s loved forever by partnering up with a sexy, dangerous demon who claims he can protect her from dark elements in a usually quiet demon population, to Margo Lipschultz at Harlequin Teen, in a good deal, in a three-book deal, for publication in Winter 2014, by Kevan Lyon at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency (World).

Nice. Very nice. Especially since her current publisher (Entangled) is so wonky with release dates lately. Makes me wonder about the stability of a company that constantly has to delay its product – not by a few days, but by many months. Harlequin is solid and established, and I hope this means that she can make a jump to a bigger audience, since she really deserves the recognition.

And the official announcement has been made on the Publisher’s Weekly site about not one, but two deals for Ilona and Gordon Andrews. It is always welcome to hear about more books from these two.

          The husband-and-wife writing team of Ilona Andrews and Andrew Gordon have signed two deals, with different houses. Agent Nancy Yost, at Nancy Yost Literary, handled both agreements. In the first, Yost signed the pair up to continue their Kate Daniels at Ace Books series for mid six figures, with Anne Sowards acquiring world English rights. In the second deal, also for mid six figures, Yost sold world rights for the first three books in a new series to Erika Tsang at Avon. Yost said the Avon series will be set in a world controlled by “modern Medici-like dynasties with paranormally enhanced abilities.”

The new series sounds very, very interesting. Can’t wait. And you won’t hear me whining about more Kate and Curran, either. Since the Edge series is officially over, I am glad to hear that Ilona and Gordon are diving into something new. What do you think…are you looking forward to the new stuff, too? Any other deals you have heard about lately? (I am sure there was another one, but of course I completely forgot what it was).

All Things Kate Daniels…

I do genuinely try to restrain my inner 12 year old fangirl, honestly. But sometimes, the book nerd fights her way to the top and strange things happen. Like when a couple of weeks ago, I took the blinders off and did some scary math. Magic Rises is Kate Daniels book number six. Six, as in one before seven, which was said to be the official end of the series (or at least Kate and Curran’s part of the saga). That was not the good math, since that meant there would only be two more wonderful, wonderful books. Well, I get to redo that math a bit (and breath a bit easier for a couple of more years) since Ilona Andrews‘ made a very welcome announcement over on their blog…

There will be three more Kate Daniels books after the originally planned seven.

Yep, it will now be a 10 book series – but that also comes at a bit of a price…

           Jim and Dali’s book has been phased out.  It required an insane amount of research into Indonesian customs and everyone had difficulty figuring out where it fit into the schedule.  They are fan favorites and we want to do it right or not at all. We’re toying around with the idea of novella series, but we haven’t decided yet.  It may have to go into stuff we do on the side column, somewhere after Innkeeper and Roman.  We want to make sure that you get at least one Kate book per year.

Magic Rises, Kate 6, will be released this summer, Kate 7, next summer, and so on, bringing the total to 10 Kate books.

Kate 7 will be written as intended. We always said it will be a confrontation between Kate and her father and that’s exactly what it will be.  It will be a natural stopping point, the end of Round One, to that part of the series arc, so if you wish, you can stop after Kate 7, and not follow further adventures of Kate, Curran, Hugh, Roland, and various enemies and near immortal relatives and not feel completely left adrift.

So that is a yay, with a bit of a disappointment because i was definitely looking forward to Jim and Dali’s story, and more yay because we still might get their story, just in a different way. All in all, I can’t complain. Some series need to go away already, but Kate Daniels is not one of them. And as an extra bit of Magical goodness, here is the blurb for Magic Rises…

            Atlanta is a city plagued by magical problems. Kate Daniels will fight to solve them—no matter the cost.
 
Mercenary Kate Daniels and her mate, Curran, the Beast Lord, are struggling to solve a heartbreaking crisis. Unable to control their beasts, many of the Pack’s shapeshifting children fail to survive to adulthood. While there is a medicine that can help, the secret to its making is closely guarded by the European packs, and there’s little available in Atlanta.
 
Kate can’t bear to watch innocents suffer, but the solution she and Curran have found threatens to be even more painful. The European shapeshifters who once outmaneuvered the Beast Lord have asked him to arbitrate a dispute—and they’ll pay him in medicine. With the young people’s survival and the Pack’s future at stake, Kate and Curran know they must accept the offer—but they have little doubt that they’re heading straight into a trap…

Look for Magic Rises on July 30th. Or else.

This and That…

It is time again for me to post the random stuff that came my way over the last few days.  There have been a few updates, and a couple of little site changes point out.

• Originally, Ilona Andrews‘ next Kate book, now titled Magic Rises, had been scheduled for end of February.  There has been quite a push-back, however, and it is now showing up as a July release.  That sucks, but it is guaranteed to be worth the wait.
• For my fellow Jennifer L. Armentrout fans, there is a bit of good news.  Really good news.  There will be a stand-alone (at least stand alone for now) Lux spin-off book titled Obsession.  The hero will be…wait for it…an Arum.  Didn’t see that one coming.  Goodreads shows it as a March 2013 release.
• Somehow I missed it, but the next In Death book from J.D. Robb will be released next February.  Calculated in Death is the title, and I have no clue how I will ever, ever get this series read.  Seriously, it makes the Dark-Hunter mountain look tiny in comparison.
• The second book from Pamela Palmer‘s new Vamp City series has a title and a release date.  A Kiss of Blood will be hitting the shelves on June 25th.
• Darynda Jones‘ Charley Davidson #5, Fifth Grave Past the Light, is now available for preorder.  It will be released next July.
• Oooh, almost forgot.  I found the blurb for the next Pride book from Shelly Laurenston, Wolf with Benefits.  Looks like it is Ricky Lee’s turn (I was so hoping)…

          Ricky Lee has no plans of getting serious about anyone, but he will protect Toni Jean-Louis Parker. Not just because he’s been hired to do so, but because it’s the right thing to do. And if that means traveling around the country with one complicated She-jackal, dealing with chocolate-eating wild dogs, instigating trouble between his brothers, and having the most amazing sex he’s ever had…well, who said his job didn’t have perks?

Toni doesn’t know how she keeps getting herself into these situations. But even she has to admit there’s something about Ricky Lee Reed that she finds kind of interesting…and downright sexy. Now they just have to survive long enough to figure out if what they have is worth fighting for…

On the “business” side of things, I have been playing around with a couple of things on site…

• I have changed the monthly new release pages just a bit, so that the headings are…less ugly, I guess…and the adult releases are headed in blue, young adult in green.  Made it a bit easier to keep track of, I guess.
• Keep an eye on the new release pages, since there is a crap-load to add over the coming days (er, weeks.  Who am I kidding?).
• Also, the monthly new release pages have been updated to reflect the latest available covers and blurbs available as of a couple of days ago.  And I noticed that there have been a lot of release dates changed, so that will be addressed shortly as well.
• I am still way, way behind on Character Guides, but I do have a plan.  I am aiming to have the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning finished before the release of Iced, but not sure I can make it.  Charley Davidson #3 still has to be redone, hopefully by the end of the month, too.  Archangel’s Storm hasn’t been forgotten, but I am trying to get the series done that have new releases coming up soon done first.
• I have a guide done for Gena Showalter‘s Alice in Zombieland, and I am starting Kresley Cole‘s Poison Princess as we speak.  They should both be upped by next week.  It is so much easier to start a guide from the beginning of a series, rather than going back and having to redo 10 books to get caught up.

I think that is about it.  Looks like right now I am going to focus on updating the Guides and the new releases, then correcting the wonky release dates, then the series reading list section and completed series pages, roughly in that order.  And then the author pages.  And then the site background and giveaway banners…well, you get the idea.  As always, if you can think of any suggestions or improvements, give a shout through the Contact Me page.

Guest Review – Steel’s Edge

Looks like Doug Meeks got his hot little hands on an early copy of the perhaps final book in Ilona Andrews‘ The Edge series, Steel’s Edge.  I say perhaps final book because over on Ilona’s site, they had mentioned that perhaps the world of The Edge could be revisited with either a jump in the timeline, or a change in format, sometime in the future.  Steel’s Edge will be released officially on November 27th.

What Doug said…

The Edge Series by Ilona Andrews:

On The Edge – Book #1

Bayou Moon – Book #2

Fates Edge – Book #3

Book #4 – Series finale – Steel’s Edge will be released Nov 27th.

Disclaimer: This novel was furnished to me at no cost and without conditions in expectation of a fair and honest review.

Reviewer’s Note: I am releasing this review a bit early in hopes that some of you will obtain this amazing series and be ready for the final chapter Steel’s Edge when it is released on 27 November.

Steel’s Edge

Summary:

The Edge lies between worlds, on the border between the Broken, where people shop at Wal-Mart and magic is a fairy tale—and the Weird, where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny…

Charlotte de Ney is as noble as they come, a blueblood straight out of the Weird. But even though she possesses rare magical healing abilities, her life has brought her nothing but pain. After her marriage crumbles, she flees to the Edge to build a new home for herself. Until Richard Mar is brought to her for treatment, and Charlotte’s life is turned upside down once again.

Richard is a swordsman without peer, future head of his large and rambunctious Edger clan—and he’s on a clandestine quest to wipe out slavers trafficking humans in the Weird. So when his presence leads his very dangerous enemies to Charlotte, she vows to help Richard destroy them. The slavers’ operation, however, goes deeper than Richard knows, and even working together, Charlotte and Richard may not survive…

Review:

Richard was a man obsessed with the total destruction of slavers; Charlotte was rebuilding her life after a horrible romantic betrayal. Grim reality will throw them both into a life mission that will change them both forever and give us one of what apparently (to my horror) is one of the most exceptional series finales in years.

In spite of my desire to see this series go on forever it seems that is it coming to a close and this final installment does it proud. While this series has always had a bit of a “dark fairy tale” feeling and has never been 100% light reading, this one sees some of the darkest moments and some of the most emotional highs/lows for the reader. The motivations that drive the main characters Richard and Charlotte consume most of the first 25% of the book (mostly Charlotte’s motivations) and give the reader the ability to share the drive and emotional desire for justice that will enable you to truly enjoy the story.

The action moves on with some revealing and shocking revelations until you almost think the action has accomplished it goals and then (if you are on a ereader) look down and realize you are only a bit over 50%, it starts to move away from the swashbuckling action novel and into more of a romance combined with a con game intermingled with palace intrigue. I try to never write spoilers and this review will be no exception but you have everything an epic novel needs to be exceptional in this final installment, tragedy, sacrifice, romance, high moral lofty goals and then combine these things with Richard and Charlotte, two complex, endearing and confused noble hearted zealots who are supported by a secondary cast of characters that would make J.R.R. Tolkien envious and you have Steel’s Edge (without the chapter long, mind numbing, descriptions of rocks and grass).

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Steel’s Edge could be considered the literary equivalent of throwing “everything plus the kitchen sink” into a novel. The emotional grief, memorable characters, moral high ground, clearly defined evil villains, noble heroes and heroines, morally compromised but endearing scoundrels, horrible revelations, a few monsters and the list goes on. I did not see any angels so they must have eliminated that one just to be different (since they are turning up in every PNR/UF book I read these days).

You are going to cheer on the heroes, hate the villains and hope for the romance to overcome the impossible odds. All joking aside, I am going to keep hoping that the authors may feel an overwhelming need to revisit this world in the future, I hate to see it end and to say this was a 5 Star effort does little to share the epic nature of this final book in the series.

My favorite line of the book was this (to Richard from his brother)

“Congratulations, you finally managed to find a woman as tragically noble as yourself, I did not think one existed”

I suggest you buy all the Edge books if you have not read them since this is a series of interlinking stories that build into this novel as its culminating effort. There are still more stories to be told and I hope they see the light of day in the future. 5 Stars, highly recommended and feeling a severe lack of the ability describe the extraordinary nature of this novel.

NOTE: This novel can possibly be enjoyed as a standalone but I would not recommend that since part of the enjoyment is seeing the conclusion of threads that have been left hanging from other books in the series.

Of course, the first three books are on Mount TBR, but looks like I might have to move them up the list a bit.

Random Updates…

I have been updating the new release pages over the last week or so, and there were a few things that popped up worth noting…

• Kate Daniels 6 now officially has a name, and any info on an upcoming Ilona Andrews‘ book is a good thing.  Magic Rises will be released next July.
• It looks like the next Morganville Vampire book from Rachel Caine will be called Fall of Night, and it will be released in hardcover on May 7th.
• Jean Johnson will be writing what appears to be a spin-off of her Sons of Destiny series.  This one is called Guardians of Destiny, and the first book is The Tower, which should be released on June 4th.
• Kady Cross will release the third book of her Steampunk Chronicles series, The Girl With The Iron Touch, on June 1st.
• Looks like the Zombies are back.  White Trash Zombie Apocalypse, the third book of Diana Rowland‘s White Trash Zombies series, will be released early next year.
• Book number 22 (if I remember correctly) of Laurell K. Hamilton‘s Anita Blake series will be called Affliction.  Look for it in hardcover on June 4th.
• The next Yasmine Galenorn Indigo Court book, Night Vision, will be coming out on July 2nd.
• Book two of Kris DeLake‘s Assassin’s Guild series, Killer Rivals, will be released on July 1st.
• Donna Grant will have at least four more titles in her Dark Warriors series.  Midnight’s Kiss will be out on June 4th, and Midnight’s Captive will be out June 25th, with two more to follow later in the year.
• Alexandra Ivy‘s new series, called The Sentinels, will start off with a novella in the anthology Predatory.  It also features Nina Bangs, Dianne Duvall and Hannah Jayne, and it is due out on May 7th.
• The third book of Jessica Shirvington‘s The Violet Eden Chronicles, Emblaze, will be out on March 1st.
• Cold Copper is the title of the next Age of Steam novel from Devon Monk, and it will be on the shelves on July 2nd.

I finished my third read of the second Darynda Jones Charley Davidson book, Second Grave on the Left, and I will update the character guide for it by tomorrow night.  I had read both books two and three once for enjoyment, and then once for the guides.  Then I deleted all of the notes I had made, so this is actually round three.  I want to have them updated by the time Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet hits the shelves on October 30th.  Also, the Thea Harrison novella Hunter’s Season (I hate e-books) slipped by me, and that will be added to the Elder Races guide within the next couple of days, as well.  WordPress has been bitchy and not updating properly, so I had to take a bit of a break.  That will hopefully get back to normal tomorrow.

Cover Lover – 7 new Titles

I am pretty sure a few of these have been around for a while, but hey, they are new to me.  So here goes.  This first one was just released today – The Special Edition of Magic Bites from Ilona Andrews, which is due out on December 31st.

Hannah Jayne‘s Underworld Detection Agency Chronicles continues next February with the release of the fourth book, Under the Gun.

Anne Bishop starts up a new series, The Others, with the release of Written in Red next March 5th.  This one gives me a young adult vibe, even though it is definitely on the adult side of things.

Coming next April is the third book from Kylie Griffin‘s Light Blade series, this one called Allegiance Sworn.

Hm, I find this next one…awkward.  Not sure why, but it just seems odd to me.  Cleopatra Ascending is from the Shadow’s Edge series from Maureen Lipinski, due out on January 8th.

This next one is from Heather Burch and her Halflings series.  The third and final book, Avenger, is due out on March 19th.

And this final one is The Impossibility of Tomorrow, the second book from Avery William‘s Incarnation series.  Look for it on March 1st.

From the Author Pages

While updating the author pages last night, there are a couple of tidbits that came my way…

• There has been a slight change in title for the fifth Charley Davidson book from Darynda Jones.  Looks like Fifth Grave Off the Beaten Path will now be called Fifth Grave Past the Light.
• Cynthia Eden has a new e-book novella release that I had no idea about.  Bleed for Me has the potential to expand into a new series called Loved by Gods, if the interest is there.
• This isn’t so much an update as a personal plea – please, please don’t let the heroine of Kresley Cole‘s MacRieve (Uilleam’s story) be that hideously repulsive Doctor that had the hots for Aiden on the Island.  I get the vibe that she didn’t really die, and she needs to.  Stat.
• I like reading Ilona Andrews‘ blog.  They tend to say things as they are, good or bad.  For a while, it seemed like The Edge series was ending with the release of Steel’s Edge on November 27th.  Looks like it might get a second coming at some point down the line, but for now they will be  focusing pretty exclusively on Kate and Kate World books for the next year and a half (not that that can be called a bad thing.  At all).   So, the schedule from next year on will look something like Kate Daniels #6, Kate Daniels World #2 (Jim and Dali), Kate Daniels #7.  If there is demand for Andrea and Raphael’s story to continue (and of course there will be), it will probably fall after Kate #7.  They are also not locked into ending Kate Daniels at #7 books, so there is the potential for even more books, story permitting.  All of this is great news, but I was surprised that there was no firm plans for a Gunmetal Magic sequel.
• and finally, the pre-order links for Gena Showalter‘s second Angels of the Dark book, Beauty Awakened, are up on Amazon – along with the blurb…

          His name is Koldo. He is scarred, powerful, his control legendary-and he lives only for vengeance, determined to punish the angel who viciously removed his wings. But if he yields to the forces of hatred, he will be kicked from the  heavens, eternally damned. 

She is his last hope. Nicola Lane was born with a defective heart, yet this fragile human shows surprising strength as demons stalk her every move, determined to end her. She is the key to Koldo’s deliverance…and his downfall. Though he fights duty, destiny and his first addictive taste of desire, his toughest battle will be the one for Nicola’s life-even if he has to sacrifice his own….

Beauty Awakened will be released on February 26th.

Pick of the Week

For my pick of the week, I usually do try and choose one that is not already on pretty much everyone’s radar already.  Honest.  But sometimes, you just can’t help it.  This is one of those weeks, since anytime Ilona Andrews releases a new book it is an automatic pick.  Some are considering Gunmetal Magic to be Kate Daniels #5.5, some are calling it Kate Daniels World #1.  I have been referring to it as Andrea Nash #1, for ease of keeping the titles straight.  From what I understand, there is the potential for at least one more book featuring Andrea and Raphael.  Yay.  On a sad note, Ilona Andrews and family also had to have their little cat put to sleep yesterday, which as any animal lover knows is awful.  Not a great mood to be in to start working on Kate #6, but that is how things work out sometimes.

Synopsis…

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 Atlanta, Andrea knows that dealing with her feelings for Raphael might have to take a backseat to saving the world …

The Ilona Andrews author page can be found HERE.

What is your pick of the week?  Anything you loved, or loathed, for that matter?

Farewell to the Otherworld

So, today is the release day for Thirteen, the final book of the Women of the Otherworld series.  Even though she has many more stories and series in the works, I am sure that Kelley Armstrong fans have to be sad to see an end to the world they have followed for 13 books.  I know that when the day comes that Ilona Andrews says goodbye to Kate Daniels, or Patricia Briggs lets Mercy and Adam finally get their happily ever after, or God forbid Jeaniene Frost sends Cat and Bones off into the sunset I will not be a happy girl.  At all.  But I do applaud an author knowing when enough is enough, and it is time to give their trademark series a fitting send off.  I do wish that a few other authors would follow her lead, before the series’ they write become nothing more than shadows of what they once were.

Synopsis…

It’s been more than ten years, a dozen installments, and hundreds of thousands of copies since Kelley Armstrong introduced readers to the all-too-real denizens of the Otherworld: witches, werewolves, necromancers, vampires, and half-demons, among others. And it’s all been leading to Thirteen, the final installment, the novel that brings all of these stories to a stunning conclusion.

A war is brewing—the first battle has been waged and Savannah Levine is left standing, albeit battered and bruised. She has rescued her half brother from supernatural medical testing, but he’s fighting to stay alive. The Supernatural Liberation Movement took him hostage, and they have a maniacal plan to expose the supernatural world to the unknowing.

Savannah has called upon her inner energy to summon spells with frightening strength, a strength she never knew she had, as she fights to keep her world from shattering. But it’s more than a matter of supernaturals against one another—both heaven and hell have entered the war; hellhounds, genetically modified werewolves, and all forces of good and evil have joined the fray.

Uniting Savannah with Adam, Paige, Lucas, Jaime, Hope, and other lost-but-notforgotten characters in one epic battle, Thirteen is a grand, crowd-pleasing closer for Armstrong’s legions of fans.

What series do you think needs to come to an end?  Which ones have gone on far, far too long, and which ones will you miss most when the time does come?

Random Updates…

A little bit of this…a little bit of that.

• There will be a fourth book in the Dark Dynasties series from Kendra Leigh Castle.  Immortal Craving will be released on January 29th.
• The Underworld Detection Agency Chronicles series from Hannah Jayne will also have a fourth book released.  Under the Gun is due out on February 5th.
• March 26th is the release date for Jennifer Estep‘s Deadly Sting, part of her Elemental Assassin series.
• The third book from Sandra Hill‘s Deadly Angels series will be called Kiss of Temptation, and it is also due out on March 26th.
• Jenna Black‘s third Nikki Black book, Rogue Descendant, will be released on April 30th.
• April 30th is also the release date for Delilah S. Dawson‘s second Blud novel, Wicked as She Wants.
• Sinner’s Heart from Zoe Archer will be hitting the shelves on April 2nd.
• The second book from Julie Kagawa‘s Blood of Eden series, The Eternity Cure, is due out next May.
• August 2013 will see the start up of a new series from Angela Knight called Familiar.  No other details available as yet.
• The oft-delayed Warriors of Poseidon novella, Alejandro’s Sorceress, is now completely MIA.  Seems like Alyssa Day decided to do a total re-write and start basically from scratch, so new release details are sketchy.
• Also, there has been a change in the scheduled Beginnings of Magic by Ilona Andrews.  Instead of being compilation of the first two Kate Daniels books, it will now be a special edition re-print of Magic Bites.  The cover copy says “This special edition includes in-depth information about the world of Kate Daniels, with descriptions of its characters and factions. Explore Kate’s Atlanta like never before with answers to FAQ and a quiz to find your place there. And don’t miss the prequel story “A Questionable Client,” as well as scenes of events in Magic Bites from Curran’s point of view.”  It is now called Magic Bites: A Special Edition of the First Kate Daniels Novel.