Every day for the last few weeks, I have been faithfully checking Kresley Cole‘s Facebook page to see if she had upped the cover for the second Arcana Chronicles book, Endless Knight. Well, today was the day – and the best I can say is…huh. It looks strange somehow – dude’s head seems badly pasted on, and it seems rather bare. I am still looking forward to getting my hands on it when it is released on October 1st, but not for the cover. I did totally call that it was going to be blue, though.
Just a couple of quick mentions before I get to the covers. I wanted first to thank the gals at All Things Urban Fantasy for inviting me to be a part of their Cover Art Coverage post this week. It was fun to have someone else do all the hunting and posting and just throw in my two cents, for what they were worth. Also, my updating of the release dates for 2013 will be complete tomorrow night, so if there were any books you had your heart set on you might want to check and see if the release dates changed. There were a few that were pushed back, and a few disappeared entirely (like Kresley Cole‘s second Dacians book).
On to the covers. I am a bit lazy tonight, so looks like it will be only four for this post. This first one is from author Jaime Rush, and it is the prequel novella for her new series starting up later this year called The Hidden. The novella is called Dragon Mine, and it will be released on June 4th.
This second one is from Dani Harper. She is starting a couple of new series this year (and then returning to her Changeling series), and this cover is for First Bite. It kicks off her Dark Wolf series, and it will be released on October 15th.
Number three caught my eye right away, and is my favorite of the group. The second book of Amy Raby‘s new Hearts and Thrones series, Spy’s Honor, will be released on October 1st.
And finally for tonight is the cover for Shadow’s Curse, the second book in Alexa Egan‘s Imnada Brotherhood series, which will be out on September 24th.
It was not long ago that we got the big cover reveal for Kresley Cole‘s next Immortals After Dark book, MacRieve (and we all seemed to have the same reaction to it). Well, now Kresley has posted the official blurb over on her Facebook page, and believe me I was a bit scared to read it…
Synopsis…
A BEAST IN TORMENT
Uilleam MacRieve believed he’d laid to rest the ghosts of his boyhood. But when a brutal torture revives those ancient agonies and destroys his Lykae instinct, the proud Scot craves the oblivion of death. Until he finds her—a young human so full of spirit and courage that she pulls him back from the brink.
A BEAUTY IN CHAINS
Seized for the auction block, Chloe Todd is forced to enter a terrifying new world of monsters and lore as a bound slave. When offered up to creatures of the dark, she fears she won’t last the night. Until she’s claimed by him—a wicked immortal with heartbreaking eyes, whose touch sets her blood on fire.
A FULL MOON ON THE RISE
With enemies circling, MacRieve spirits Chloe away to the isolated Highland keep of his youth. But once he takes her to his bed, his sensual mate becomes something more than human, evoking his savage past and testing his sanity. On the cusp of the full moon, can he conquer his worst nightmare to save Chloe . . . from himself?
What had me scared is the thought of that loathsome female…Doctor…person who preformed the live autopsies and was chasing after Declan Chase was going to rear her ugly head again (I refuse to even search the character guide for her name). When she was sort-of presumed dead, but not really, I had the awful thought that she would be Uilleam’s mate. She is a “kill it with fire!” character for me, and I am so, so relieved she isn’t the heroine in this one. Now my excitement really begins.
It is time again for a double-check on all of the authors listed in the Series Reading List pages. I have finished A-D, and between that and a random search there were a couple of interesting things I came across…
Here is the blurb for Endless Night, and by the sounds of it things are about to get very interesting…
In the second book of the Arcana Chronicles Evie has now fully come into her powers as the tarot Empress. And Jackson was there to see it all. In the aftermath of killing Arthur, the tarot Alchemist, Evie realizes that a war is brewing between the other teens that, following the apocalypse, have been given powers and its kill or be killed. Things get even more complicated when Evie meets Death, the mysterious, sexy Endless Knight. Somehow the Empress and Death share a romantic history – one that Evie can’t remember, but Death can’t forget. She is drawn to the Endless Knight, but is in love with Jack. Determined to discover why she’s been granted these powers, Evie struggles to accept her place in a prophecy that will either save the world, or completely destroy it.
So, this is the big cover reveal day for Kresley Cole‘s upcoming Immortals After Dark book, MacRieve. Love, love, love these books – and I like most of this cover. I like pretty much all of it, but the cover dude is not quite what I pictured. So, I guess what I am trying to say is that I like everything but his face. Heh. MacRieve is due out on July 2nd.
This has been an interesting reading week for me, running from really good…to really not. Even though I don’t do reviews, I am going to try and do a brief weekly wrap-up so that I can refresh my memory about what I liked or didn’t like without spoilers. Either I read too much, or I am getting old (er, or both?), but I am getting hazy on how I felt on books I read a while back.
Fury of Seduction – This third Dragonfury book from Coreene Callahan is a bit tricky. I really like the story and the characters, but I found that this one (even more so than the first two books) was so very Black Dagger Brotherhood feeling. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it was more BDB than the real BDB is. Not in terms of storyline, but in terms of voice. I don’t mind the slangy, ultra-cool dialogue, but there was so much of it that it threatened to take me out of the storyline sometimes. I like these books but I think a bit of a toning down would make the series even better.
Black City – This one had originally went under my radar, but when I saw that there was talks about buying the movie rights for this Elizabeth Richards series I decided to take the plunge. The fact that it had a beauty of a cover didn’t hurt, either. Unfortunately, the story didn’t live up to the cover art. It did start off promising, with a unique young adult/vampire/dystopian set up, but it didn’t follow through. I found myself really, really trying to get into things, but I just couldn’t. It was actually a bit on the cheesy side, and I found myself rolling my eyes more than once. I don’t mind insta-love stories, but this one was more melodramatic and shallow than anything else. Unfortunately, this is my first DNF of the year.
Shadow’s Claim – What can I say, I am a total Kresley Cole fangirl (my love is only equaled by my love of Nalini Singh). But for reasons I can’t fathom, I wasn’t my usual psycho self anxiously awaiting this one. I was looking forward to it, of course, but not with the usual passion that a Kresley Cole release generates. Not sure why, but once I dove in my old self kicked in and I loved it. It was a great addition to the IAD world, and while I know some people weren’t that fond of the heroine, I enjoyed all of the characters (and Trehan moves to very near the top of my favorite IAD men). This one was a one-sitting read, and I am looking forward to going back for the re-read for the character guide.
So, how did your reading week shape up? Anything you loved, or anything you really wanted to like and just didn’t?
Wow, hard to believe, but this is actually post number 1001. Way back on August 11th, 2009 I started with a Cover Lover post that featured Nalini Singh‘s Archangel’s Kiss. I think I checked every five minutes for the next few days to see if anyone had actually viewed it…such a nerd. So, forward a few years, and things haven’t really changed. Things have expanded a bit, and the look has changed a few times, but other than that things are pretty much still the same (and I am still a nerd).
On the site side of things, I have updated all of the Series Reading List pages, so all of the book lists are as up-to-date as I could get them. I took the opportunity to finally work on the long neglected Completed Series List page, as well. There are some that I think are finished that I didn’t add, since I couldn’t find official word that they were in fact over. I will be keeping an eye on them, but if you see any that I missed feel free to give me a shout. Also, WordPress decided to play with the way that the code for linking to a specific spot on a page was worded, which meant that all of those “Blah Blah reading list HERE” links no longer worked. I do believe that I got that dealt with as well (each one had to be redone individually, so I hope I didn’t miss any).
On the Character Guide front, I added one a couple weeks back for Kresley Cole‘s Arcana Chronicles (speaking of which, it looks like book two, Endless Knight, will not be out until next October). I also got Thea Harrison‘s Elder Races guide up to date and added the info for Lord’s Fall, and I am almost done the rough copy for the last two Darynda Jones Charley Davidson books. That one should be FINALLY updated by the middle of this week. That just leaves me Archangel’s Storm and a Mythos Academy book to get caught up. Yay.
There are a few newbies to add to the New Release pages, as well…
Since I have quite a few separate pages for different authors, I don’t get to keep them constantly updated as I would like. I have decided to work on them every couple of weeks, or when I get a few new things to add. This is what I found over the last few days…
Ph.D student Angela Locke has a crush on her sexy professor, Dr. Nikolo Bartrev. When she learns he is actually a Sentinel with extraordinary powers, she joins forces with him to catch a psychopath. But soon, their hottest pursuit is of each other…
FBI Special Agent Duncan McGuire spends his days–and his nights–tracking real-life monsters. Most humans aren’t aware of the vampires and werewolves that walk among them. They don’t realize the danger that they face, but Duncan knows about the horror that waits in the darkness. He hunts the monsters, and he protects the innocent. Duncan just never expects to become a monster. But after a brutal werewolf attack, Duncan begins to change…and soon he will be one of the very beasts that he has hunted.
Dr. Holly Young is supposed to help Duncan during his transition. It’s her job to keep him sane so that Duncan can continue working with the FBI’s Para Unit. But as Duncan’s beast grows stronger, the passion that she and Duncan have held carefully in check pushes to the surface. The desire that is raging between them could be a very dangerous thing…because Holly isn’t exactly human, not any longer.
As the monsters circle in, determined to take out all of the agents working at the Para Unit, Holly and Duncan will have to use their own supernatural strengths in order to survive. But as they give up more of their humanity and embrace the beasts within them both, they realize that the passion between them isn’t safe, it isn’t controllable, and their dark need may just be an obsession that could destroy them both.
Having endured weeks of torture in the bowels of hell, Kane wants nothing to do with his beautiful rescuer, Josephina Aisling. The half-Fae female threatens to awaken the demon of Disaster inside him—a beast he’s determined to kill, no matter the price.
Josephina is hunted by a brutal enemy—her royal family—and Kane is her only source of protection. He’s also the only male to ever set her aflame, and even he succumbs to the heat. But as they navigate the treacherous world of the Fae, they are forced to make a choice: live apart…or die together.
Uilleam MacRieve, a centuries-old Lykae warrior, was captured, caged, and experimented on by a shadowy human order, along with other immortals. During a prison break that devolved into one of the bloodiest massacres in recent history, he escapes. But the aftermath of his unspeakable torture preys on his damaged mind, while the wolf inside him roars for vengeance and carnage. In the days leading up to the full moon, can MacRieve rein in his beast, even when he encounters his mate—a vexingly impossible female unlike anything he’d ever dreamed for himself?
A beautiful, independent Theronai, Rory Rainey knows that her attempts to be a warrior are futile—unless she can stop the demonic visions that torment her. Determined to be free, Rory sets out to find the mysterious guardian who can cure her, before she loses her sight—or her life. But Rory’s journey brings its own dangers when she is attacked by a pack of Synestryn sent by the demon lord Raygh.
Cornered and desperate, Rory narrowly escapes with the help of a sword-wielding stranger. Cain knows that Rory needs his protection to survive, just as he knows that her power is compatible with his own. And when Rory binds herself to Cain, the warrior knows he will do anything to keep her safe from the threat of the demon lord that pursues her….
Wow, what a crap weekend in terms of finding anything new to post. Didn’t seem to be much going on, but hopefully that will change soon. But at least it is time again for another new series alert, this time featuring one new adult and one new young adult release. This first one has already been featured in a giveaway here at Wicked Scribes, but this is finally the release week for the first book of Kresley Cole‘s IAD spin-off series, The Dacians. Shadow’s Claim promises to be a biggie (and the excerpt I read a few days ago definitely backed that idea up).
Synopsis…
He won’t be denied.
Trehan Daciano, known as the Prince of Shadows, has spent his life serving his people, striking in the night, quietly executing any threat to their realm. The coldly disciplined swordsman has never desired anything for himself—until he beholds Bettina, the sheltered ward of two of the Lore’s most fearsome villains.
She’s bound to another.
Desperate to earn her guardians’ approval after a life-shattering mistake, young Bettina has no choice but to marry whichever suitor prevails—even though she’s lost her heart to another. Yet one lethal competitor, a mysterious cloaked swordsman, invades her dreams, tempting her with forbidden pleasure.
A battle for her body and soul.
Even if Trehan can survive the punishing contests to claim her as his wife, the true battle for Bettina’s heart is yet to come. And unleashing a millennium’s worth of savage need will either frighten his Bride away—or stoke Bettina’s own desires to a fever-pitch….
The IAD: The Dacians reading list HERE
And this second one is from author Corrine Jackson. Touched is the title of the first book in the Sense Thieves series.
Synopsis…
Remy O’Malley heals people with touch—but every injury she cures becomes her own. Living in a household with an abusive stepfather, she has healed untold numbers of broken bones, burns,and bruises. And then one night her stepfather goes too far.
Being sent to live with her estranged father offers a clean start and she is eager to take it. Enter Asher Blackwell. Once a Protector of Healers, Asher sacrificed his senses to become immortal. Only by killing a Healer can a Protector recover their human senses. Falling in love is against the rules between these two enemies. Because Remy has the power to make Protectors human again, and when they find out, they’ll becoming for her—if Asher doesn’t kill her first.
The Sense Thieves reading list HERE
*Sigh* And there it is. You know you are sad when you make a post and talk yourself into buying another book. Touched went right under my radar, until I read the synopsis above…and now I have to go order. Sad. So very, very sad.
I have to thank everyone who entered this giveaway…I didn’t expect that kind of response. There were 44 entrants for copies of Shadow’s Claim by Kresley Cole and Rogue Rider by Larissa Ione. The randomly chosen winner was #9.
The Winner is – Tavia KleinCongratulations, Tavia. I will be contacting you shortly for your information.
