From the Author Pages…

Updating time once again…

• While the very, very long delayed Alejandro’s Sorceress is apparently going to make it to e-release sometime next week, it looks like Alyssa Day is also going to be re-releasing her previous novellas in e-format as well.  Wild Hearts in Atlantis (originally published in the Wild Thing anthology) will be released on October 2nd, and Shifter’s Lady (from the anthology Shifter) will follow on November 6th.
• Originally scheduled for a mid-January release, looks like Jennifer Estep‘s third Mythos Academy book, Crimson Frost, is up at Amazon for preorder for December 24th.
• Looks like Lara Adrian is getting in on the e-book re-release thing, too.  Written under the name Tina St. John, Lara has recently released the Dragon Chalice series in e-format (Heart of the Hunter, Heart of the Flame, Heart of the Dove).  Turns out they will also be coming in trade paperback format, as well.  Details to come.
• There will be a compilation book from Sherrilyn Kenyon featuring all of the short stories written for St. Martin’s Press.  Dark Bites will feature Fear the Darkness (first time in print), and an all new short story starring Acheron.  This one will be out on November 5th.
• oh, and the blurb for the upcoming Elder Races novella from Thea Harrison, Devil’s Gate, is now out.  I am still iffy about a medusa lead – snakes ain’t my thing – but who knows?

Synopsis…

When it comes to love between a medusa and a Vampyre, it’s every man, woman, and snake for themselves.

As a coroner, medusa Seremela Telemar has always felt more comfortable chatting over a dead body than over drinks. But when her wild niece, Vetta, runs off to Devil’s Gate, a lawless town that has sprung up overnight in a modern-day gold rush, she knows she has to extricate her before the rebellious girl gets into real trouble. Though she’s confident in her head snakes’ ability to defend her against attackers, Seremela is still a bit nervous about braving this modern-day Wild West by herself.

Vampyre Duncan Turner is not about to let his new co-worker go into that chaos alone. His Vampyric power and lawyer smarts make him the perfect ally, and the fact that he already had his eye on Seremela for more…personal reasons, doesn’t hurt matters. Any romantic thoughts pull up short, however, when they arrive at Devil’s Gate and learn Vetta is set to hang by morning.

In order to save Vetta and themselves, Seremela and Duncan are going to have to fight fire with force and magic with fangs. And pray they make it out of Devil’s Gate alive.

 

Cover Lover – 5 New Titles

This group is a little bit of a mixed bag when it comes to covers.  This first one is a beauty, but then all of the covers for Jennifer Estep‘s Elemental Assassin series are.  I have thought they were all great, even the ones for the e-novellas, and the one for August 21st’s Widow’s Web is no exception.

I nabbed this next one from All Things Urban Fantasy.  Terry Spear continues her Wolf shifter series with the release of A Howl for a Highlander next February 1st.

This one is from Melissa Mayhue.  Warrior Reborn is the second book in her Warriors series, and the tenth book in her Daughters of the Glen series, if that makes any sense.  It will be released on October 30th.

I have been trying to find this one for a while now.  Tricia Rayburn‘s Dark Water, part of her Sirens young adult series, will be released in hardcover on July 10th.

This final one is…tricky.  I sort of like it, and yet part of me finds something odd about it the longer I look at it.  Dark Light of Day is the first book from Jill Archer‘s upcoming Noon Onyx series, and it will be released on September 25th.

Charley Davidison Character Guide

I have upped a Charley Davidson Character Guide, in the new Darynda Jones section.  It includes book one, First Grave on the Right, and the e-novella For I Have Sinned.  I was hoping to get Second Grave on the Left finished today, but then I realized that I had forgotten to update the Immortals After Dark Guide to include Lothaire.  Dunce.  So, the plan is to re-read and add Lothaire, then do the second Charley Davidson book, and then go back and re-re-do Dark Frost from the Mythos Academy series.  I had finished Dark Frost, but managed to delete all of my notes before I got anything updated.

My goal is to have Second Grave On the Left done by the end of next week.  Hopefully.

E-book Releases

While the wonderful free Kate and Curran story Magic Gifts from Ilona Andrews is no longer available (it will be available in print  in an upcoming Kate Daniels book), and Alejandro’s Sorceress from Alyssa Day is experiencing technical difficulties, there are a couple of stories to tide us over.

• Cynthia Eden is offering a terrific free story called Bound in Sin.  It is free at Smashwords until January 13th, or it can be found at Amazon.com for $0.99.  I would love to see these stories released in a print collection.
• Kelley Armstrong returns to the Otherworld with the January 31st release of Chaotic.  It would be considered story #5.5, and it was originally released in print in the Dates from Hell anthology.
• Ghouls Night Out, story #2.5 from the Nicki Styx series from Terri Garey, is also being re-released in e-format.  It was originally available in the Weddings from Hell anthology.  Look for it on January 17th.
• January 3rd was the release date for Laura Wright‘s Eternal Blood, story #2.5 in the Mark of the Vampire series.
• Originally released in the Inked anthology, Yasmine Galenorn‘s Etched in Silver will now be available in e-format starting on January 10th.  It is #7.5 of the Sisters of the Moon series.
• and Jennifer Estep will be releasing a new Elemental Assassin novella called Thread of Death.  It will be story #5.5, and is due for release on January 31st (the same day as book #6, By a Thread).

Now, on a personal note.  Aaarrrggggghhhhhhhh!  Some of the covers I saw while going through the Kindle books for January *shuddering*.  Good lord.  I went from laughing, to sneering, to feeling like I needed a hot bath.  I was horrified.  I had high hopes they would look like the covers for Thread of Death, but, er, no.

Pick of the Week

Ever since I finished the first book in Jennifer Estep‘s Mythos Academy series a couple of months ago, I have been anxiously awaiting the release of Kiss of Frost.  I very much enjoyed this new Young Adult world, and the focus on Mythology was a nice change of pace.  There is plenty of action, some intrigue, and a hint of romance that made for a great read.  There were times, however, that Gwen could get a bit on my nerves with her frequent complaining that she was a misfit with no friends.  I am hoping that this time around she is over that.  And I did love me the Logan…

Synopsis…

Logan Quinn was try­ing to kill me. My Spar­tan class­mate relent­lessly pur­sued me, swing­ing his sword at me over and over again, the shin­ing sil­ver blade inch­ing closer to my throat every time. A smile tugged up his lips, and his ice-blue eyes prac­ti­cally glowed with the thrill of battle …

I’m Gwen Frost, a second-year warrior-in-training at Mythos Acad­emy, and I have no idea how I’m going to sur­vive the rest of the semes­ter. One day, I’m get­ting schooled in sword­play by the guy who broke my heart — the drop-dead gor­geous Logan who slays me every time. Then, an invis­i­ble archer in the Library of Antiq­ui­ties decides to use me for tar­get prac­tice. And now, I find out that some­one at the acad­emy is really a Reaper bad guy who wants me dead. I’m afraid if I don’t learn how to live by the sword — with Logan’s help — I just might die by the sword …

There are a couple of e-book releases for this series, and the next full novel will be called Dark Frost, due out on May 29th.

Random Updates…

I have quite a few to add to the new release pages in the next little bit.  Some I haven’t heard of, some I can’t wait for…

• Sharie Kohler will continue her Moon Chasers series next August with the release of A Soul So Wicked.
• As I blabbed in a post a few days ago, Kresley Cole‘s first IAD spin off book will be about the Dacians.  Shadow’s Claim is the first book of the Realm of Blood and Mist series, due out on August 21st.
• Precinct 13 is the first book of a new adult series from author Tate Hallaway, and should be available on August 7th.
• The second book from Joy Nash‘s The Watchers series will be called The Unholy.  It has a release date of August 7th.
• On July 31st, Molly Harper will release The Care and Feeding of Stray Vampires.  Not sure if this is part of a series, though.
• Christine Feehan‘s redone Dark Desire, a re-write of a previous Carpathian book, will be coming out in paperback on July 31st.
• The second book of Cynthia Eden‘s upcoming Angel series, Angel Betrayed, is now looking like a July release.
• Fire Kissed, the new one from Erin Kellison, will be released on July 3rd.
• The third book of Katherine Irons‘ Seaborne series, Waterborne, is scheduled for June 26th.
• Jaime Rush will have a new one out from her Offspring series at the end of next may, called Darkness Becomes Her.
• The seventh book from Jennifer Estep‘s Elemental Assassin series, Widow’s Web, will be released on August 21st.
• Time Untime, the next in a long list of Dark-Hunter books from Sherrilyn Kenyon, now has a release date of August 7th.
• Book two of Rachel Caine‘s new Revivalist series, Two Weeks’ Notice, is due out on August 7th.
• On August 7th, the next book from K.A. Stewart‘s Jesse James Dawson series will be out, called A Wolf at the Door.
• The Next Charley Madigan book from Kelly Gay, Shadows Before the Sun, will be out on July 31st.
• Sins Dark Caress is the third book from Tracey O’Hara‘s Dark Brethren series.  It is scheduled for release on July 31st.
• Jocelynn Drake kicks off a new series with Angel Wings, coming out on June 26th.
• June 26th is also the release date for Kasey MacKenzie‘s upcoming Black Hearted Betrayal.
• Changeling, the next book from Kelly Meding, is due out on June 26th.
• and Taylor Keating‘s third book, Fair Game, will be out on June 26th as well.

Cover Lover – 3 New Titles

Just a couple of quick covers to post.  First off is the one for the upcoming Jennifer Estep Elemental Assassin book, By A Thread.  This series has beautiful colors and art, and this book continues that.  It should be available on February 28th.

This next one is actually a repost, but in a bigger size.  Haunted Warrior is the January 3rd release from Allie MacKay.  *sigh*.  Lea has trained me well.  I now recognize cover-dude just from looking at his chin.

Thanks to Sharon Lee for pointing me in the direction of this one.  Looks like author Sandra Hill has a new paranormal series starting up next May.  Sorry about the crappy quality of the picture – I fixed it up a bit, but not sure I didn’t do more harm than good.  Kiss of Pride is the first book of the Deadly Angels series, and from what I could gather on the author’s website it will feature Viking vampire angels…

 

New Character Guide

Being the lazy old bag that I am, I went ahead and did up a quick character guide for the new Jennifer Estep Young Adult series Mythos Academy.  I am procrastinating on working on the Lora Leigh Breeds series because it is so darn long.  And I am procrastinating on working on Lara Adrian’s Midnight Breeds series because, well, I am finding it boring to do.  I had hoped the re-read required might get me more into the series, but I am still finding myself really only looking for Harvard sightings.  Sigh.  I might have to re-think my reading of this series after Harvard finally does get his story.

Anyhow, the new guide can be reached through the usual means of going to the Jennifer Estep author page and clicking the links, or through either the drop down menu above or the page link titled Character Guides on the right column of this page.  Either way is good.  Hope you get some use out of it.

Touch of Frost Winner

Today was the deadline for the latest giveaway, involving 10 entrants.  Winner chosen at random through Random.org.  That said, the winner of the Jennifer Estep Touch of Frost giveaway is…

melliane

Congratulations, melliane.  I will e-mail you for your contact info.  Thanks to all who entered.  Next giveaway up tomorrow…

Touch of Frost Giveaway

I just finished Touch of Frost, the first book in Jennifer Estep‘s new Young Adult Mythos Academy series, and loved it.  It wasn’t perfect – there were a few repetitive phrases that could have been cut way back on – but other than that it was a great read.  I enjoyed the characters, the world, the mythology, the whole works, and I can’t wait to see where Gwen and Logan’s relationship will be headed.

Mythos Academy has a Veronica Mars feel, with a mythological twist.

So, because I was so happy with this one, I have decided to do a giveaway of Touch of Frost.  Leave a comment to enter, open until Sunday, July 31st.  All entrants must have made at least one previous post somewhere onsite.  Winner to be chosen at random through Random.org.  Good luck!

Touch of Frost…

My name is Gwen Frost, and I go to Mythos Academy — a school of myths, magic and warrior whiz kids, where even the lowliest geek knows how to chop off somebody’s head with a sword and Logan Quinn, the hottest Spartan guy in school, also happens to be the deadliest.

But lately, things have been weird, even for Mythos. First, mean girl Jasmine Ashton was murdered in the Library of Antiquities. Then, someone stole the Bowl of Tears, a magical artifact that can be used to bring about the second Chaos War. You know, death, destruction and lots of other bad, bad things. Freaky stuff like this goes on all the time at Mythos, but I’m determined to find out who killed Jasmine and why—especially since I should have been the one who died. . .

Touch of Frost is the first full print book, but there is an e-book prequel called First Frost that explains how Gwen came to be at the Mythos Academy.  Kiss of Frost, book two, will be released this November 29th, and Dark Frost will follow next June.