Blog Tour / #Review / Giveaway - Dark Queen by Faith Hunter (Urban Fantasy)

Series: Jane Yellowrock # 12
Format: Paperback, 432 pages
Release Date: May 1, 2018
Publisher: ACE/Penguin
Source: Publisher
Genre: Urban Fantasy

Jane Yellowrock used to hunt vampires, but now she must fight--and win--beside them.

As Enforcer to the vampire Master of the City of New Orleans, Jane Yellowrock stakes her reputation and her life on keeping her territory safe. But Leo has been issued a blood challenge by the emperor of the European vampires, who seeks to usurp all of his power and possessions. If Leo loses the match to the death, the city will be forfeit, and the people of New Orleans will suffer the consequences. Jane can't let that happen.

Preparing for the duel requires all of Jane's focus, but with so much supernatural power in play, nothing goes according to plan. She has to rely on herself and the very few people she knows she can trust to stand and fight. Only two things are guaranteed: nothing is sacred, and no one is safe. 

Dark Queen is the 12th installment in author Faith Hunter's Jane Yellowrock series. Series overview for those who haven't :::shocked face:: read the series yet. Warning number one: don't think you can jump into this story without having read the previous books in the series. Doesn't work, and there is so much that has happened that you will be utterly confused and disappointed. Second, this is an urban fantasy series featuring shapeshifting skinwalker Jane Yellowrock, who both works for vampires and hunts them in the city of New Orleans.

Along with Beast, her constant companion, Jane has made a name for herself as someone not to take lightly. She stands as Enforcer for Leo Pellisier, the Master Vampire of the City of New Orleans, and something else which hasn't been explained. For an extended storyline now, the author has laid the groundwork for what is to come. She has given every opportunity for fans of this series to be ready for anything and everything that can happen. 

This is the book that Jane and her allies, vampires, witches, werewolves, and humans, must stand and fight against the European Vampires who have desired to take control of Leo's territories as well as the entire United States. The so called Sangre Duello will be the highlight of the entire story, but don't ignore the arrival of a shocking new character who arrives and upturns Jane's life. This wouldn't be a Jane Yellowrock story without plenty of action, and mystery. 

Yes, we do get more than our fair share of Beast as well as as past that Jane is only now coming to remember. Yes, we do get more than our fair share of Jane and Bruiser. I am holding my breath trying not to let in spoilers to this review. So far I think I've done okay. Especially since this is part of the books blog tour. Let me say this; be prepared for anything to happen. Be prepared for the return of characters who are new, and old. 

There are characters who are loved, and not so much. By the way, I love the relationship between Molly and Jane. I am happy their issues have been resolved, and yes, Molly is nobody you should mess with. I also love how much respect and love Jane has for her partners/brothers Eli and Alex Younger even the prickly Edmund Hartley has found himself a home with Jane. When I finished this book, I immediately went on Goodreads and posted this. "If someone spoils the ending of this book for anyone, they'll be hell to pay."

Seriously folks. If you've read this book, don't go posting any spoilers. What happens at the end of this book, and to Jane herself and others should be a surprise and let's leave it at that. I'd love to ask the author questions about why she did what she did, but I trust her in that she knows what she's doing. This book is an end of a very long story arc that has seen Jane face her own past, her relationships with best friend Molly, Leo, Edmund, Gee, while forming a wonderful relationship with Bruiser that is much, must more appealing than Jane's previous loser. She has so much more ahead of her that I will be looking forward to the 13th installment.

Amazon | Audible | Barnes & Noble 
| Books-A-Million | Google Play  

BIO – New York Times and USA Today bestselling fantasy author Faith Hunter was born in Louisiana and raised all over the south. Altogether she has 40+ books in print under the names Gary Hunter, Gwen Hunter, and Faith Hunter. As Faith, she writes two contemporary Urban Fantasy series: the Jane Yellowrock series, featuring a Cherokee skinwalker who hunts rogue vampires, and the Soulwood series, featuring earth magic user Nell Ingram. Her Rogue Mage novels are a dark, post-apocalyptic, fantasy series featuring Thorn St. Croix, a stone mage. The role playing game based on the series, is ROGUE MAGE, RPG.

www.faithhunter.net

https://www.facebook.com/official.faith.hunter

https://www.facebook.com/faith.hunter?fref=ts

@hunterfaith

http://www.yellowrocksecurities.com  

www.gwenhunter.com

Win one of two complete sets of Faith Hunter’s Jane Yellowrock novels! Contest runs April 23rd until May 11th. Rafflecopter code is below:



a Rafflecopter giveaway

#Blog Tour/Review/Giveaway - Snared by Jennifer Estep (UF) @Jennifer_Estep @Pocket_Books

Series: Elemental Assassin # 16
Format: Paperback, 400 pages
Release Date: April 25, 2017
Publisher: Pocket Books
Source: Publisher
Genre: Urban Fantasy

The sixteenth book in the New York Times bestselling Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series that RT Book Reviews calls, “An extraordinary series…[containing] one of the most intriguing heroines in the genre.”

If you don’t know Gin “the Spider” Blanco, you don’t know dangerous female heroines.
Irony 101—The Spider herself snared in someone else’s web…

Another week, another few clues trickling in about the Circle, the mysterious group that supposedly runs the city’s underworld. Gathering intel on my hidden enemies is a painstaking process, but a more immediate mystery has popped up on my radar: a missing girl.

My search for the girl begins on the mean streets of Ashland, but with all the killers and crooks in this city, I’m not holding out much hope that she’s still alive. A series of clues leads me down an increasingly dark, dangerous path, and I realize that the missing girl is really just the first thread in this web of evil. As an assassin, I’m used to facing down the worst of the worst, but nothing prepares me for this new, terrifying enemy—one who strikes from the shadows and is determined to make me the next victim.

Snared is the Sixteenth installment in author Jennifer Estep's Elemental Assassin series. Snared continues Gin Blanco's quest to uncover the identities of the Circle, the secretive and mysterious group that has their sticky fingers in almost everything that matters in Ashland. Ultimately, Gin hopes to find about her own mother, Eira Snow. Meanwhile, Gin gets a case handed to her that she really can't say no to. So, when she is approached by a minor underworld boss she owes a favor to, the Spider is on the job. The job leads her to a surprising revelation. Has the Spider finally met her match?

"I felt like I was Snared in someone else's spiderweb, and everything I did only made the sticky threads twist and tangle tighter and tighter around me."  

Snared is something of a thriller & a mystery wrapped into one. Gin becomes more of a detective, than an assassin in searching for not only the missing girl, but apparently a killer who is as cunning as them come. She looks to her Scooby Gang (Finn, Owen, Bria, Sophia, & Silvio et al) for assistance, and must put it all together quickly before the missing girl becomes just another casualty in Ashland's growing body count. Gin still has to deal with her job as Queen of the Underworld. She still has to deal with Vampires, Dwarves, and Giants who, I am starting to think, are being cloned by the dozens for them to appear everywhere to battle Gin to the death.

One of the curiosities that Estep has done recently, is flashbacks to Gin's past when she finds herself searching for answers. Flashbacks that are filled with keys to certain events that Gin somehow managed to bury deep in her psyche. A past that might hold quite a few answers about the Circle, as well as what part her mother played in the organization. I am fascinated by Hugh Tucker and Gin's relationship. It intrigues me that Tucker may hold the answers that Gin needs, but how far is Gin willing to go in order to get them? Will she sacrifice everything she's worked for to this point, for easy answers? But, there is one thing that they do have in common. Eira Snow.  

Bottom line for me is that this series continues to impress. You don't get this far in a series without having a fantastic writer, and a publisher willing to continue to have faith that readers are still willing to be there until the end. Snared is a great story, something that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who has gotten to this point in the series. I adore Gin. I adore the fact that her romance with Owen hasn't be derailed by other things, and I love the fact that Gin is willing to put her life on the line even for those outside of her inner circle of friends and family. The ending of this story really does set the stage for Gin v the Circle for all the marbles. Let's pray we get a Royal Rumble of action, suspense, and ok, I'll say it, plenty of bodies hitting the ground.   

More frustration surged through me, mixed with even more disappointment, both of which burned through my veins like bitter acid. A couple of weeks ago, I’d found several safety-deposit boxes full of information on the Circle that my mentor, Fletcher Lane, had compiled. For some reason that I didn’t understand, Fletcher had only photos of the group’s members, but it had been simple enough for me to get their names, especially since many of them were such wealthy, prominent Ashland citizens.

I’d scouted several of the Circle members, and Damian Rivera had been the easiest target with the least amount of security. So I’d broken in here tonight in hopes of learning more about the group, especially the identity of the mystery man who headed the organization, the bastard who’d ordered my mother’s murder. But maybe there was a reason that Rivera’s security was so lax. Maybe he wasn’t as important or as involved with the Circle as I’d thought.

Still frustrated, I turned to the fireplace that took up most of the wall across from the bar. I’d already searched that area for loose stones and secret compartments and had come up empty. But any little bit of information could be important, so I pulled out my phone and snapped shots of all the framed photos propped up on the mantel, hoping that one of them might hold some small clue.

Not only did Damian Rivera love the finer things in life, but he also loved himself, since most of the photos were softly lit glamour shots showing off his wavy black hair, bronze skin, brown eyes, and startlingly white teeth. Rivera was in his prime in his early thirties, and he was an exceptionally handsome man—and a thoroughly disgusting individual, even by Ashland’s admittedly low, low standards.

Amazon | Audible | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

About Jennifer Estep:

Jennifer Estep is a New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author prowling the streets of her imagination in search of her next fantasy idea.

Jennifer writes the Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series. Snared, book #16, will be released on April 25.

Jennifer also writes the Mythos Academy young adult urban fantasy series. She is also the author of the Black Blade young adult urban fantasy series and the Bigtime paranormal romance series.

For more information on Jennifer and her books, visit www.jenniferestep.com or follow Jennifer on Facebook, Goodreads, and Twitter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

#Blog Tour Review & Giveaway - Illusion by Lea Nolan (Young Adult, Paranormal)

Series: The Hoodoo Apprentice # 3
Format: E-Galley, 298 pages
Release Date: October 5, 2015
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal

New school. Cross-country move. Broken heart. If only these were Emma Guthrie’s worst problems. Instead, she must battle a trio of enemies—human and spectral—who may or may not have joined forces against her and everyone she loves. All while pretending to be over Cooper Beaumont, her ex-boyfriend and true love, to shield him from her arch-nemesis’s revenge.

Worse, when the fight escalates, Emma is tempted to use black magic, which will endanger her soul. As her enemies close in, join forces, and fight with new and dark magic she’s never seen before, Emma must harness the power within her to fulfill an ancient prophecy, defeat a centuries-old evil, save her family, and reclaim the only boy she’s ever loved. 

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Goodreads

Set in the  South Carolina Low-country, Illusion is the final installment in The Hoodoo Apprentice trilogy. 14-year old protagonist Emmaline (Emma) Guthrie has been tested over and over again by various forces of evil ever since she became a hoodoo (root worker) apprentice to 97-year old Cordelia "Delia" Whittaker. She's saved her brother Jack from a 300-year old curse known as the Creep. She saved her best friend and romantic interest Cooper Beaumont from his families curse that was supposed to kick in when he turned Sixteen. She even saved her father Jed Guthrie from his own curse that was tied to the Beaumont family. 

Now Emma has to face her own demons in order to save the ones she loves. The question for Emma is whether or not she will face her adversaries with good magic, or fall to the darkside of Magic and lose not only her soul, but everyone she loves in the process. With Delia being set up by Emma's adversaries Claude Corbeau & Taneea Branson for something that apparently happened in the past, Emma needs to dig deeper into her bag of tricks to not only save Delia, but those she loves as well. If she can't do so, then her adversaries will win and she and others will be lost. 

With Cooper and her brother Jack alongside, Emma can finally put an end to the trio of evil which includes 300 year old spirit Sabina. I love Emma even with all her mistakes. I love that her character remains steadfast for such a young lady. At Fourteen, most girls are just finding their first romance and don't have the weight on an entire community on her shoulders. Emma has had to deal with family issues, her brother nearly being killed, and having to rise up to the occasion over and over again. Emma never once acted like a girl who was Fourteen. She's much more mature, much more capable of handling things without adult supervision, and has mostly kept to the good side of magic.  

In the end, I really liked how Nolan ended this trilogy. I didn't think the story needed any more action, or suspense, or danger, or even romance. She covered it perfectly. I didn't mind having to wait an extra year for the final installment. Sometimes things happen to publishers and authors and delays happen. As long as the reader is allowed to finish the series, then a little delay is nothing compared to not knowing what happens in the end. I love these new covers! (See below!) 

I loved that even though Emma tried hard to keep Cooper safe and away from her while she was fighting against the villains, he stood by her anyway, and didn't leave her side. Not even when Emma faced off for the final time against her archnemesis Sabina, Claude and Taneea. I loved that Jack found a happy ending all his own with a new character who was introduced and became fast friends with Emma. She never once believed any of the rumors that Taneea tried to pile on Emma's shoulders. Loved that Nolan gave readers an idea at how tempting the darkside really is, and hard it is to remain 100 percent good.

On a final note, I do appreciate an author who takes the time and researches the subject that she is writing about. Fantasy is fantasy, but it is nice to have some semblance of facts about being a Root Worker, and those who also practice voodoo. 

**I received this book for free from (Publisher) via (NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.**

Previous Installments:

Be careful what you search for…

Emma Guthrie expects this summer to be like any other in the South Carolina Lowcountry–hot and steamy with plenty of beach time alongside her best friend and secret crush, Cooper Beaumont, and Emma’s ever-present twin brother, Jack. But then a mysterious eighteenth-century message in a bottle surfaces, revealing a hidden pirate bounty. Lured by the adventure, the trio discovers the treasure and unwittingly unleashes an ancient Gullah curse that attacks Jack with the wicked flesh-eating Creep and promises to steal Cooper’s soul on his approaching sixteenth birthday. But when a strange girl appears bent on revenge, demon dogs become a threat, and Jack turns into a walking skeleton, Emma has no choice but to learn hoodoo magic to undo the hex, all before summer—and her friends–are lost forever.

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Indie Bound |  Goodreads

Worst. Summer. Ever.

Emma Guthrie races to learn the hoodoo magic needed to break The Beaumont Curse before her marked boyfriend Cooper’s sixteenth birthday. But deep in the South Carolina Low-country, dark, mysterious forces encroach, conspiring to separate Emma and Cooper forever. When Cooper starts to change, turning cold and indifferent, Emma discovers that both his heart and body are marked for possession by competing but equally powerful adversaries.
Desperate to save him, Emma and her twin brother, Jack, risk their lives to uncover the source of the black magic that has allured Cooper and holds him in its grip. Faced with the horror of a soul-eating boo-hag, Emma and Jack must fight to resist its fiendish power to free Cooper long enough to join their strengths and face it together, before it destroys them all.

Amazon | Barnes and Noble |Indie Bound | Goodreads

Amazon | Audible | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Kobo

About Lea

Lea Nolan is a USA Today bestselling author who writes books for young adults featuring bright heroines, crazy-hot heroes, diabolical plot twists, plus a dose of magic, a draft of romance, and a sprinkle of history. She also pens smart, witty contemporary stories for adults filled with head-swooning, heart-throbbing, sweep-you-off your feet romance.

With a master’s degree in women’s studies and public policy, and an undergraduate degree in history, she spent twenty years as a health policy analyst and researcher, writing hundreds of fascinating reports and articles tens of people enjoyed. Today, she teaches graduate courses in health policy, law, and financing, and takes on the occasional consulting gig.

Born and raised on Long Island, New York, she loves the water far too much to live inland. With her heroically supportive husband and three clever children, she resides in Maryland where she scarfs down crab cakes whenever she gets the chance.

Lea is represented by Suzie Townsend of New Leaf Literary and Media.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rafflecopter link:  http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/OTAyMjM3MzE4ZWE3ZWQ1YzBkZDE2YTA1YzNkOGNlOjMx/?

#Blog Tour/Giveaway/Review - SPIDER'S TRAP by Jennifer Estep (UF)

Series: Elemental Assassin # 13
Published by: Pocket Books
Release Date: July 28, 2015
Format: Paperback, 400 pages
Source: Publisher for Blog Tour
Genre: Urban Fantasy

Keep your friends close but your enemies within stabbing distance.

One important lesson I’ve learned in the assassination business is that to be the best you have to roll with the punches. Now that I’m queen of Ashland’s underworld—by default, not by choice—a lot more punches are being thrown my way. But I suppose that’s the price of victory for taking down some of the underworld’s top dogs. Good thing I have my Ice and Stone magic to help me survive my volatile new position. Just when I think things are finally settling down, someone tries to murder me during a hush-hush underworld meeting. But the real surprise is how strangely familiar my shadowy assailant seems to be.

My job is to maintain order among killers, crooks, and thieves, and soon I’m embroiled in a bloody game where the ability to keep secrets could be the greatest superpower of all. My enemies have all sharpened their knives and laid their traps, waiting for me to fall. But this Spider weaves her own webs of death

*Overview* 

The Elemental Assassin series focuses on Gin Blanco, an assassin code named the Spider who can control the elements of Ice and Stone. When she’s not busy killing people and righting wrongs, Gin runs a barbecue restaurant called the Pork Pit in the fictional Southern metropolis of Ashland. The city is also home to giants, dwarves, vampires, and elementals – Air, Fire, Ice, and Stone.

*My Thoughts*

Spider's Trap is the Thirteenth installment in the Elemental Assassin series. Things are never easy for Gin and her gang of misfits which includes her sister Bria, her lover Owen, her step-brother Finn, and the rest of the odd squad who help keep her alive. Since Gin defeated the queen of the nasties in Mab Monroe and her daughter, she's become the uninitiated Queen of Ashland's underworld. A title she can really do with out since she already has her hands full trying to stay alive and running the Pork Pit. 

Being Queen comes with being forced to attend boring meetings between underworld leaders, and negotiating disagreements before they turn bloody. But, what happens when yet another powerful Elemental comes to town looking for a score to settle? If you are Gin, you put the pieces together, hope that nobody in her circle of friends/family is targeted for being associated with her, and end the threat before it spreads fast and far. If that means getting beaten up and bloody, so be it!

Estep has once again added flashback scenes between Fletcher, Gin's mentor, and how she became the assassin known as the Spider. I dare say that I am hopeful this time around. I am hopeful that a change in Gin's future may be due to a sort of detente, if you will, between herself and another underground boss. I won't spoil things because that would be just rude. However, I do believe that Gin and another unnamed character have a whole lot more in common than they don't. But, I also worry that yet another scheming villain is just over the horizon waiting to pounce and stir up trouble. You really can't count on any peaceful times for Gin and her group until the last villain is laid to rest. 

Next in series: Bitter Bite (February 23, 2016)

My friends turned their attention back to Dimitri and Luiz, who were still yelling and pointing their fingers at each other, each one of them trying to shout the other man down. But instead of listening to them, I glanced at the third boss who had shown up—Lorelei Parker.

Unlike Dimitri and Luiz, who were both dressed in business suits, Lorelei was sporting black stiletto boots, dark jeans, and a long-sleeve T-shirt, just like I was. The only real difference between us was that her leather jacket was a bright, royal-blue and mine was a subdued, midnight-black. Her black hair was pulled back into a French braid, and her blue eyes were focused on her phone, since she was busy texting. The quick motions of her fingers made a silverstone rune ring glitter on her right hand—a rose wrapped in thorns dripping blood, all of it outlined in impressive diamonds.

Of the three bosses, Lorelei was the most intriguing, since she was a smuggler known far and wide for her ability to get anything for anyone at any time. Cash, guns, precious jewels, pricey antiques, and exotic animals were just a few of the things she was rumored to dabble in.

Only a single guard stood off to her side. Jack Corbin, her right-hand man. He too was dressed in boots, jeans, and a leather jacket, but his blue eyes continuously scanned the deck and everyone and everything on it.

Corbin realized that I was watching him and tipped his head at me, before smoothing back his brown hair. Then he sidled a little closer to his boss, ready to protect her from everyone on deck, including me. I nodded back at him. My deceased mentor, Fletcher Lane, had a thick file on Corbin in his office, so I knew that he was far more dangerous than he appeared to be.

Then again, so was I.

Lorelei was here because she owned the coin laundries in question and was more than willing to sell them—to the highest bidder, of course. I didn’t know if she’d approached Dimitri and Luiz about buying the front businesses or if they’d come to her, and I hadn’t had the chance to ask any questions since the gangsters had been screaming at each other the entire six minutes I’d been on the riverboat. Either way, the men just couldn’t agree on who was getting what, and things had escalated to the point that Dimitri and Luiz were about to declare war on each other. That would mean shootings, stabbings, kneecappings, and lots of other messy crimes.

Don’t get me wrong. As the Spider, I’d made plenty of bloody messes in my time. It was sort of my specialty.

Amazon | Audible | Barnes & Noble | Kobo 
Indiebound | i-books


About the Author

About Jennifer Estep:

Jennifer Estep is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author prowling the streets of her imagination in search of her next fantasy idea.

Spider’s Trap, the 13th book in her Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series, will be released on July 28.

Spider’s Bite, Web of Lies, Venom, Tangled Threads, Spider’s Revenge, By a Thread, Widow’s Web, Deadly Sting, Heart of Venom, The Spider, Poison Promise, Black Widow, and Spider’s Trap, along with the e-shorts Thread of Death, Parlor Tricks, and Kiss of Venom, are the other works in her Elemental Assassin series.

Jennifer is also the author of the Black Blade and Mythos Academy young adult urban fantasy series and the Bigtime paranormal romance series.

For more on Jennifer and her books, visit her at www.JenniferEstep.com, her blog or follow her on Facebook, Goodreads, and Twitter (@Jennifer_Estep).

Website: http://www.jenniferestep.com

Blog: http://www.jenniferestep.com/blog/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JenniferEstepAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jennifer_Estep

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/580315.Jennifer_Estep

Stop by THESE amazing Blogs for more Excerpts!

The SPIDER’S TRAP tour stops are listed here: http://wp.me/p3ECFp-9x, 

Tour Giveaway

There is a tour-wide giveaway! The prizes are:

- 1 winner will receive an entire print set of Jennifer’s Elemental Assassin series - all 13 books! (US/Canada only)

- 10 winners will receive one copy of SPIDER’S TRAP (US/Canada only)

- 1 winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift card (this is open internationally!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway