Cover Lover – Silence Fallen

It seems like every few days one of my much-anticipated releases has their cover reveal, and today’s book is Silence Fallen from Patricia Briggs. I already did the blurb reveal a while back, but might as well do it again, right? This one is dark and beautiful, and has a release date of March 7th.

In the #1 New York Times bestselling Mercy Thompson novels, the coyote shapeshifter has found her voice in the werewolf pack. But when Mercy’s bond with the pack and her mate is broken, she’ll learn what it truly means to be alone…

Attacked and abducted in her home territory, Mercy finds herself in the clutches of the most powerful vampire in the world, taken as a weapon to use against alpha werewolf Adam and the ruler of the Tri-Cities vampires. In coyote form, Mercy escapes only to find herself without money, without clothing, and alone in the heart of Europe…

Unable to contact Adam and the rest of the pack, Mercy has allies to find and enemies to fight, and she needs to figure out which is which. Ancient powers stir, and Mercy must be her agile best to avoid causing a war between vampires and werewolves, and between werewolves and werewolves. And in the heart of the ancient city of Prague, old ghosts rise…”

This is one of my favorite covers of the whole series. Some of the previous Mercy covers, while all pretty, showed a little bit more of Mercy than I sometimes thought went with the character. Mercy never struck me as the plunging neckline and midriff baring type of gal, so this suits my version more. And I like the dark, intense vibe, too. So, are you a yes or a no on this one?

A Future Pick of the Week

Well, since this week’s pick of the week is so much a forgone conclusion it is laughable, I thought we could take a peek at the recently released blurb for a future pick of the week instead. Silence Fallen, from the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs, just had the back cover copy come out, and it sounds pretty intense…

Attacked and abducted in her home territory, Mercy finds herself in the clutches of the most powerful vampire in the world, taken as a weapon to use against alpha werewolf Adam and the ruler of the Tri-Cities vampires. In coyote form, Mercy escapes—only to find herself without money, without clothing, and alone in the heart of Europe…

Unable to contact Adam and the rest of the pack, Mercy has allies to find and enemies to fight, and she needs to figure out which is which. Ancient powers stir, and Mercy must be her agile best to avoid causing a war between vampires and werewolves, and between werewolves and werewolves. And in the heart of the ancient city of Prague, old ghosts rise…

Well, now we just have to wait until next March 7th to get our hands on this. Let the countdown begin.

From the Author Pages

Updating time again, and there are a couple of things to mention from the author pages…

• The fifth (and I believe final) book in Anne Bishop‘s The Others series now has a name. Etched in Bone will be released next March.
• And next March will also see the last Chicagoland Vampires book from Chloe Neill, which will be called Blade Bound.
• Jeaniene Frost‘s third Broken Destiny book will be called The Brightest Flame, and it will be out next July.
• There will be an Elemental Assassin novella from Jennifer Estep released this December, and it will be called Nice Guys Bite.
• Nihcki sent over word that the second Black Dagger Legacy book from J.R. Ward, Blood Vow, will feature Axe and Elise. It has a release date of December 6th.
• Probably coming as a shock to no one at all, Lora Leigh‘s next Breeds book has gotten a quite hefty push-back. Originally due for release on October 6th, it looks like Wake a Sleeping Tiger won’t hit the shelves until next March.
• Ooooh, the official blurb for Nalini Singh‘s next Guild Hunters book, Archangel’s Heart, is now out. And wow…

One of the most vicious archangels in the world has disappeared. No one knows if Lijuan is dead or has chosen to Sleep the long sleep of an immortal. But with her lands falling into chaos under a rising tide of vampiric bloodlust, a mysterious and ancient order of angels known as the Luminata calls the entire Cadre together to discuss the fate of her territory.

Accompanying her archangelic lover Raphael to the Luminata compound, guild hunter-turned-angel Elena senses that all is not as it seems. Secrets echo from within the stone walls of the compound, and the deeper Elena goes, the uglier the darkness. But neither Raphael nor Elena is ready for the brutal truths hidden within—truths that will change everything Elena thinks she knows about who she is…

Nothing will ever be the same again.

• And finally, the title for the next Mercy Thompson book from Patricia Briggs has been announced, and it looks like the 10th book will be called Silence Fallen.

So, that wraps things up for today’s post. Are you looking forward to any of these (duh)? Have you got any new info to share?

Reading Wrap Up

Things have been pretty quiet around here for the last few days, mostly because there just wasn’t a lot to mention. I figure this is as good a time as any to share what we all have been reading, since it has been almost a month since my last wrap up post.

To be honest, I haven’t seemed to be able to get much done these last couple of weeks. I did manage to read Midnight Marked from Chloe Neill, which is the second-to-last full book in the Chicagoland Vampires series. It took me longer to finish than I thought it would, though. I do enjoy the books, but they don’t quite grab me like I wish they would. I have no problem putting them down and leaving them for a couple of days, which I did quite a few times on this one. I guess what I am trying to spit out is that like the rest of the books in the series, it was a good read, but it didn’t wow me, either.

I have two new releases on the go as I type, and those are Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs, and Lady Midnight from Cassandra Clare. For some reason, I am not totally feeling Lady Midnight, though. Maybe it is because I am reading it for the character guide, so it is more a fact-finding mission than a leisurely read, but I am not involved with parts of it. It isn’t bad, at all, but I am not really connecting with Emma or her story, which sucks since she is the main character. But surprisingly, Julian is a stand-out, which I didn’t expect. I figured he would be second fiddle to Emma, but that isn’t the case at all. And his story-arc is quite compelling. I am still slogging along on this one, but it is slow going.

Fire Touched is another story. I am at the half-way point, and it is flying by. These stories are once a year treats, so I do try and savor them, but it is hard to not just devour them in one sitting. I find myself forgetting a few of the background characters, though, which is a little annoying. Definitely time for a re-read of the series.

And on the subjects of re-reads, I got a few more novellas done for the Dragon Kin series by G.A. Aiken, along with another crack at the second In Death book from J.D. Robb, all of which I liked just as much the second time around. To my eternal shame, I still haven’t read Marked in Flesh – I know, I know. Like I said, ashamed. But it will be up after I finish Fire Touched. Too many books, too little time.

What have you been reading? What was your take on some of the big releases of March?

Pick of the Week – and a Bit of Drama

There were three monster books for me this week. THREE. Marked in Flesh, which is the book of the month for March, Lady Midnight, which I already mentioned in the New Series Alerts post yesterday, and Fire Touched. So, that make Fire Touched my pick of the week (the other two have gotten enough time already). Plus, Patricia Briggs only puts out one book a year, and that makes it a cause for celebration.

Synopsis…

Tensions between the fae and humans are coming to a head. And when coyote shapeshifter Mercy and her Alpha werewolf mate, Adam, are called upon to stop a rampaging troll, they find themselves with something that could be used to make the fae back down and forestall out-and-out war: a human child stolen long ago by the fae.

Defying the most powerful werewolf in the country, the humans, and the fae, Mercy, Adam, and their pack choose to protect the boy no matter what the cost. But who will protect them from a boy who is fire touched?

Apparently, Amazon.com might’ve temporarily screwed up on this one. It seems that there was not only a problem with pre-orders being cancelled, but with pricing guarantees, as well. Of course, that leads to not only angry fans venting to the authors, but people leaving 1 star reviews on Amazon, both of which I just don’t get. Patricia Briggs did her part in writing the book, so if there are issues with the selling people should contact Amazon directly. And the 1 star review thing is a monster pet peeve of mine. I know it is disappointing when you want something and can’t get it, but lowering the rating of a book over anything other than content just doesn’t work for me. On the other hand, I am also annoyed by the slew of 5 star ratings on Goodreads for books that aren’t out yet, so maybe I am just bitchy?

Anyways, I hope you got your copy of Fire Touched without trouble. Now we just have to wait a year for the next Alpha and Omega book.