Monday, August 31, 2020

#Review - Forest of Souls by Lori M. Lee #YA #Fantasy

Series: Shamanborn #1
Format: Hardcover, 400 pages
Release Date: June 23, 2020
Publisher: Page Street Kids
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy 

Danger lurks within the roots of Forest of Souls, an unrelenting tale of destiny and sisterhood, the first in an epic fantasy duology for fans of Susan Dennard and Naomi Novak.

Sirscha Ashwyn comes from nothing, but she’s intent on becoming something. After years of training to become the queen’s next royal spy, her plans are derailed when shamans attack and kill her best friend Saengo.
 

And then Sirscha, somehow, restores Saengo to life.

Unveiled as the first lightwender in living memory, Sirscha is summoned to the domain of the Spider King. For centuries, he has used his influence over the Dead Wood—an ancient forest possessed by souls—to enforce peace between the kingdoms. Now, with the trees growing wild and untamed, only a lightwender can restrain them. As war looms, Sirscha must master her newly awakened abilities before the trees shatter the brittle peace, or worse, claim Saengo, the friend she would die for.



Forest of Souls, by author Lori M. Lee, is the first installment in the authors Shamanborn series. The world of Thiy is divided into three: humans, shadow wielders, and shamans. The only thing holding the peace together is The Spider King who holds the Dead Wood together. His magic preventing the souls trapped in the trees from spreading, but his efforts are failing. It is a gruesome forest and some scenes are downright dark. Sirscha Ashwyn is an apprentice training to be the Queen's Shadow; a Master spy employed by the Queen who delivers secrets and is also an assassin.

Sirscha isn’t exactly liked due to her status as an orphan. She’s bullied, taunted, and punished by her alleged superiors constantly. She only joined the Queen’s company because of her mentor Kendara. Her only true friend is Saengo Phang who is the heir to the House of Phang. On a routine journey operation, a fight breaks out between some Shamanborn. Saengo is dealt a mortal blow resulting in her death while Sirscha’s troll bone talisman saves her. Sirscha takes things into her own hands and does the unthinkable; she accidentally brings her back to life. After Sirscha brings Saengo back to life, her eyes change color from amber to gray. Shamanborn have gray eyes.

This is not a good thing for Sirscha. Shamanborn have been outlawed by Queen Evewyn’s because of ignorance and fear. Another one of Sirscha’s supposed allies is Prince Melia Sancor who is the Queen’s brother who appears many times to help Sirscha along the way. He has some issues with who Sirscha is for a time, but I think it’s fair to say that his eyes have literally been opened to what his sister has been doing. He needs to make some seriously hard choices in either turning Sirscha over to his sister or helping her avert a catastrophic war in the making.

Sirscha travels all the way to the lair of Ronin, the Spider King who has been entrusted to maintain peace within the kingdom of Thiy. As she learns more about the mysterious power hidden within herself, she also sets in motion a series of events that could be the doom of her beloved home. Sirscha learns some stunning truths about her. She is a Soulrender- one who can rip the soul out of a person's body or who can bring them back from the dead. She must learn to master her elemental powers and help the Spider King control the soul in the creepy Dead Wood.

She must face the truths that she will no longer remain Kendara’s apprentice or go on to become the Queen’s Shadow. Sirscha is a decent main character. She’s your familiar good-with-a-sword-and-show-no-emotion protagonist. There’s a twist at the end of the book that could lead Sirscha down a dark path, and I’m hoping the author takes it. It’s totally fine with me when an author chooses to allow her character to discover the darkness in them before making a final chose of whether to be good or deviously evil.

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51174182-forest-of-souls#other_reviews



#Review - Harbinger by S. J. West #YA #Fantasy

Series: War Angel Academy # 1
Format: Kindle, 412 pages
Release Date: August 18, 2020
Publisher: Watcher Publishing
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy

An all-powerful prince of Hell is on his way. Who will rise up to stop him?

Before leaving the Void, Lora commanded her sisters, to delay Levi’s return to the living world as long as possible. But even a horde of guardians cannot stop this prince of Hell from reaching his end-goal of wreaking havoc on humanity. With Levi’s imminent return looming over her, Lora traveled to the land of the living to protect it. Fortunately for Lora, the War Angel Academy has just opened and is the perfect place for her to train. At the academy, humans and the children of the War Angels come together to learn and prepare for a war that could reach the heights of Heaven itself one day.

Among the humans at the academy, one boy in particular stands out to Lora—Kai Valeri. He’s an infuriating combination of a cocky lady’s man and withdrawn loner. But Lora has bigger problems than playing mind games with Kai. Someone at the academy has targeted her. And they aim to kill.

Created to be a torturer of souls before Hell’s destruction, Lora isn’t afraid of this threat. Once she discovers who it is, they’ll wish they hadn’t messed with her because punishing sinners is what she was made for.



Harbinger, by author S.J. West, is the first installment in the authors War Angel Academy series. This is a new to me author. The author apparently has decided to spin-off one of her characters from another series which I have not read. There are just way too many books to get caught up at this point. A whole lot that happens in this story directly correlates to the previous series. In fact, many characters, like Lilith and Jered, were main protagonists in parts of the previous series.


Lora, who escaped from the Void leaving her sisters behind, is the main protagonist in this series. The Void is supposedly a place where damned souls go to have a second chance at life and peace. Lora is a creature of Hell. She was created with unique abilities to warn others when Levi crosses over from the Void to this realm. She was also supposed to be used as a torturer of souls by Lucifer. As we learn, Lora has a single-mindedness that makes her reckless at times. This is not Earth. This is a Planet called Laedi-i. In this world, 6 months equals 1,000 years in the Void.


Lilith and Watcher Angel Jered have created a place called War Angel Academy to prepare for the upcoming battle with Levi and his minions. It is a place for both humans and angels to prepare themselves for anything. Lora sticks out because of her hair coloring and her golden wings. There are those called Wardens, humans, who don't like those like Lora. In this world, God really does exist. God sent watcher angels here to help prepare others to fight against Levi. Hell, as it was, no longer exists and that comes to my point about events that happened before this series.


Lora is surrounded by some great friends including Lilith and Jered who don't hold what she was created for against her. They are the only real parents she's ever had that actually care about her. Lora also has an animus called Lux which is connected to her and helps her when she gets into situations where she needs help. Others include Silas, Jered's son; Kodi, boy from the void who is human; Sariah, 1/2 djinn; Gideon, War Angel; Ethan Knight, King of Laedi and commander of the War Angels; Anna Devereaux, Empress of Cirrus (Earth).


Among the humans at the academy, one boy stands out to Lora—Kai Valeri. He’s an infuriating combination of a cocky lady’s man and withdrawn loner. But Lora has bigger problems than playing mind games with Kai. Someone at the academy has targeted her. And they aim to kill her. By exposing Lora's weaknesses, the real villain of the story gets a little revenge as well. The story ends on a whopper of a cliffhanger ending. Should I continue this series? Probably. Just hoping we see the badass Lora really is in the next installment.
 


https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53710839-harbinger#other_reviews



Friday, August 28, 2020

#Review / #Blog Tour - Bloodfire Academy by Alexis Calder #Paranormal #Romance



I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the BLOODFIRE ACADEMY by Alexis Calder Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

About The Book:
Title: BLOODFIRE ACADEMY (Cursed Magic #1)
Author: Alexis Calder
Pub. Date: August 24, 2020
Publisher: Alexis Calder
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: 206
Find it: GoodreadsAmazon, Kindle, B&N

When things go sideways, what a girl really needs by her side is a sexy wolf shifter, a steamy incubus, and a smoldering mage. Prove me wrong.

Everyone has heard of Bloodfire Academy. It’s an elite school that takes the best of the best in the supernatural world. The students at Bloodfire are the children of members of a secret order. Think Illuminati but for the magical world. But even more powerful.

Membership is inherited and it turns out my late mother was one of them. Who knew? Up until now, magic hasn’t really been my thing. But a girl can fake it, am I right?

There’s no faking it when I meet the sexy wolf shifter, steamy incubus, and smoldering mage. Seriously, this semester is going to be hot.

Then the attacks start. I thought I could figure out the magic part, but nobody said anything about monsters. Turns out Bloodfire Academy is more about survival than GPA.

This is book one of three in the Bloodfire Academy series. 




Bloodfire Academy, by author Alexis Calder, is the first installment in the authors Cursed Magic series. Bloodfire Academy is a full length, new adult paranormal academy romance where the heroine doesn't have to choose who she falls in love with. Protagonist Tansy Lennox just received a shocking invitation to attend Bloodfire Academy which is a school for legacy family members of mages, shifters, demons, and fae. As the last member of her family, but without magic of her own, the invitation is both a curious moment in time, and an opportunity to join the very exclusive Order of the North Star.

The only problem is that Tansy was raised in the human world, even though her brother and parent’s were magical. She literally knows next to nothing about why she's the only one in her family that is still alive, yet not able to access her magic. The other issue is that nobody knew that she existed. Tansy must spend the next (3) years at the academy learning everything she can about her magic in order to take the next step. That means getting the usual mean girl treatment, finding new girlfriends, falling for (3) different men; sexy wolf shifter, steamy incubus, and smoldering mage, and finding out a way to connect to her magic. 

Tansy really needs to uncover the truth about her families legacy and what happened to them when Tansy was (8) years old since so much is riding on her families past. In order to do so, she needs to begin to trust people and open her heart. When strange monsters attack the school, Tansy is the only one who seems to be able to stop them which paints a target on her back. It is apparent that there is something darker happening in the Academy. Tansy and her allies need to find out what role Tansy is expected to play, who is behind the attacks on the school, and stay uncover from the Guardian's who are always watching.

The last part of this story was the best in my opinion. There are plenty of twists to go around for everyone. Tansy is an interesting character, and it will be fun to see how her character grows from here. I will say that this isn't my first rodeo when it comes to a heroine falling in love with 3 or 4 different men. I will also say that they are similar in that sex is the driving factor to pump up the volume on their magical abilities. This story is also a mystery of sorts. Thankfully, Tansy found some interesting fellas to help her out.  


 


About Alexis:


Alexis Calder writes sassy heroines and sexy heroes with a sprinkle of sarcasm. She lives in the Rockies and drinks far too much coffee and just the right amount of wine.













Giveaway Details:
1 Winner will receive a $10 Amazon GC, International.



Tour Schedule:
Week One:
8/24/2020
Excerpt
8/24/2020
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8/25/2020
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8/25/2020
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8/25/2020
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8/26/2020
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8/26/2020
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8/26/2020
Excerpt
8/27/2020
Excerpt
8/27/2020
Excerpt
8/28/2020
Review
8/28/2020
Review

Week Two:
8/31/2020
Review
8/31/2020
Review
9/1/2020
Excerpt
9/1/2020
Review
9/1/2020
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9/2/2020
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9/2/2020
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9/3/2020
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9/3/2020
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9/4/2020
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9/4/2020
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9/4/2020
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