Spotlight - The Devious Dr. Jekyll by Viola Carr + GIVEAWAY

Today's Spotlight Read is The Devious Dr. Jekyll by Viola Carr plus a great Giveaway!

TITLE:    The Devious Dr. Jekyll

AUTHOR:    Viola Carr
INFO:    Fiction, 464 pages
PUBLISHED:   Harper Voyager, 2015
GENRE:    Paranormal/Fantasy/Steampunk

ABOUT:  Dr. Eliza Jekyll, heroine of the electrifying The Diabolical Miss Hyde—an edgy steampunk retelling of the classic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde—investigates a bizarre murder case in an alternate Victorian London while battling her treacherous secret half: Lizzie Hyde.

Solving the infamous Chopper case has helped crime scene physician Dr. Eliza Jekyll establish her fledgling career in the chauvinistic world of Victorian law enforcement. But the scrutiny that comes with her newfound fame is unwelcome for a woman with a diabolical secret. And there is the mercurial Royal Society agent and wolf man Remy Lafayette. Does he want to marry her, eat her, or burn her at the stake? Though Eliza is uncertain about Remy, her dark and jealous shadow self, Lizzie, wants to steal the magnetic and persistent agent, and usurp Eliza’s life.

It’s impossible to push Remy away when he tempts her with the one thing she can’t resist: a bizarre crime. The search for a bloodthirsty ritual torturer dubbed the Pentacle Killer draws them into a terrifying world of spies, art thieves, and evil alchemy, where the price of immortality is madness—or damnation—and only Lizzie’s dark ingenuity can help Eliza survive.

As Eliza and Remy race to thwart a foul conspiracy involving the sorcerous French, they must also overcome a sinister enemy who is all too close: the vengeful Lizzie, determined to dispose of Eliza for good.

Available now at:

AMAZON / BARNES & NOBLE / KOBO  

THEBOOK DEPOSITORY / POWELL'S BOOKS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Viola Carr was born in Australia, but wandered into darkest London one foggy October evening and never found her way out. She now devours countless history books and dictates fantastical novels by gaslight, accompanied by classical music and the snoring of her slumbering cat. She loves history, and pops down to London’s many historical sites whenever she gets the chance.  She likes steampunk, and thought it would be cool to investigate wacky crimes with crazy gadgets…just so long as her heroine was the creator of said wacky gadgets: a tinkerer, edgy, with a dash of mad scientist. Readers can follow her on twitter at @viola_carr  and online at http://www.violacarr.com.

Visit Viola’s website, Connect with Viola: Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest

Viola is giving away a $25 Gift Card!

Terms & Conditions:

• By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
• One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one $25 Gift Certificate to the e-retailer of your choice
• This giveaway begins October 26 and ends on November 13.
• Winners will be contacted via email on November 1.
• Winner has 48 hours to reply.

Good luck everyone!  ENTER TO WIN!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 October 26

Guest blogging at TezSays

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October 27

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October 28

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October 29

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October 30

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November 2

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November 6

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November 9

Guest blogging at One Book Shy of a Full Shelf

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November 10

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November 11

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November 12

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November 13

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~~~~~ Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own.  I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links.  I may receive books in  order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one.  Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.

Review - Krampus: The Yule Lord by Brom

TITLE:    Krampus: The Yule Lord

AUTHOR:   Brom

INFO:    Fiction, 381 pages

GENRE:  Paranormal/Mythology

PUBLISHED:   Harper Voyager, 2012

SOURCE:   Received from Publisher for Review

FROM GOODREADS:   Santa Claus, my dear old friend, you are a thief, a traitor, a slanderer, a murder, a liar, but worst of all you are a mockery of everything for which I stood.

You have sung your last ho, ho, ho, for I am coming to take your head. I am coming to take back what is mine, to take back Yuletide...

The author and artist of The Child Thief returns with a modern fabulist tale of Krampus, the Lord of Yule and mortal enemy of Santa Claus.

One Christmas Eve in a small hollow in Boone County, West Virginia, struggling songwriter Jesse Walker witnesses a strange spectacle: seven devilish figures chasing a man in a red suit toward a sleigh and eight reindeer. When the reindeer leap skyward taking the sleigh, devil men, and Santa into the clouds, screams follow. Moments later, a large sack plummets earthward, a magical sack that will thrust the down-on-his luck singer into the clutches of the terrifying Yule Lord, Krampus. But the lines between good and evil become blurred as Jesse's new master reveals many dark secrets about the cherry-cheeked Santa Claus, and how half a millennium ago, the jolly old saint imprisoned Krampus and usurped his magic.

Now Santa's time is running short, for the Yule Lord is determined to have his retribution and reclaim Yuletide. If Jesse can survive this ancient feud, he might have the chance to redeem himself to his family, to save his own broken dreams...and help bring the magic of Yule to the impoverished folk of Boone County.

MY TAKE:    I like it when an author takes familiar (or unfamiliar) characters or tales and shapes them into something new and original, without taking away from the roots of the story. Brom seems to have this talent in abundance. He weaves the Nordic mythology in with Christian belief to provide us with a fun and riveting book.

While not really knowing what to expect from this book, I dove into it as a "holiday read" and became completely engrossed. I will say up front that this isn't a tale for small children or the faint of heart. We have quite a dark mash-up of magic, mayhem and myth with a healthy dose of violence - of course, I've heard the desire to kill Santa Claus isn't all that uncommon..

I'm not going to rehash the plot or storyline here, but I will say that if you like supernatural tales with some horror, comedy and human interest thrown in, you'll enjoy this tale. You will also enjoy the fantastic artwork that adorns the pages as well as the cover. 

  

Out of 5 JEWELS, I give it:

Krampus: The Yule Lord is Available NOW at:

AMAZON/BARNES & NOBLE/KOBO/THE BOOK DEPOSITORY

Born in the deep dark south in the mid-sixties. Brom, an army brat, spent his entire youth on the move and unabashedly blames living in such places as Japan, Hawaii, Germany, and Alabama for all his afflictions. From his earliest memories Brom has been obsessed with the creation of the weird, the monstrous, and the beautiful.

At age twenty, Brom began working full-time as a commercial illustrator in Atlanta, Georgia. Three years later he entered the field of fantastic art he’d loved his whole life, making his mark developing and illustrating for TSR’s best selling role-playing worlds.

He has since gone on to lend his distinctive vision to all facets of the creative industries, from novels and games, to comics and film. Most recently he's created a series of award winning horror novels that he both writes and illustrates: “The Plucker”, an adult children’s book, “The Devil’s Rose”, a modern western set in Hell, “The Child Thief”, a gritty, nightmarish retelling of the Peter Pan myth, and his latest concoction, "Krampus, the Yule Lord", a tale of revenge between Krampus and Santa set in rural West Virginia.

Brom is currently kept in a dank cellar somewhere in the drizzly Northwest. There he subsists on poison spiders, centipedes, and bad kung-fu flicks. When not eating bugs, he is ever writing, painting, and trying to reach a happy sing-a-long with the many demons dancing about in his head.

For More Information: Visit Brom's Website

 October 27

Book featured at Harmonious Publicity

October 28

Interviewed at Review From Here

October 29

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October 30

Book reviewed Mary's Cup of Tea

November 2

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~~~~~ Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own.  I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links.  I may receive books in  order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one.  Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.

Review - Undying Hope by Emma Weylin

TITLE:    Undying Hope
AUTHOR:    Emma Weylin
INFO:    Paperback, Fiction, 252 pages
PUBLISHED:   Lyrical Press, 2015
SOURCE:   Received from Publisher for Review


FROM GOODREADS:  An ancient warrior. A timeless battle.

Haven Killian needs help. As the heiress of an ancient organization called the Black rose, she is charged with keeping alive the line of succession. When she vows to protect a young boy tormented by magic, all she has to go on are rumors of an immortal with the power to save him. 

As Battle King of the Undying, Quinn Donovan has the most powerful magic on the planet. Yet, he has waited an eternity to find his lifebond: the one woman destined to be his mate. The moment he meets Haven, he senses she is his. His instincts scream to protect the woman and the boy she guards, and to claim her as his own. But Haven is mortal, and for them to be united, she must become one of the Undying.


MY TAKE:    I enjoyed this book and I think there is quite a bit of potential for future installments in the series. That being said, it is a bit heavy with world-building in the first part of the book. While we're getting to know the scene and set-up, we're not getting into the characters as much as I'd like right away. 

Once we got into the actual characters and their individual stories, I was hooked. I hit a lot of different emotions during the latter part of the book.  I enjoyed getting to know the main characters in the context of the storyline that had already been laid out. I like the interaction between Haven and Quinn. They are definitely a match to be reckoned with! The other characters are going to be interesting to watch develop further and see the story proceed around their relationships and journeys. Especially since the laborious task of building and introducing the reader to this brand new-to-us world has been thoroughly done in the this first book of the series. Looking forward to the next book!
  

Out of 5 JEWELS, I give it:

About The Author  

Emma Weylin fell in love with the written word as a child. She loves to create her own worlds full of magic and wonder. One of her favorite things is populating those worlds with interesting and true-to-life characters who experience everything from epic love and heartrending battles to seriously silly or embarrassing "duh" moments. She believes love can and does conquer all things. When she's not writing, she enjoys her family and has a copious yarn addiction. 

Pick up your copy at any of these fine literary retailers:

Amazon / Kobo / Barnes & Noble

Powell's Books / The Book Depository

~~~~~ Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own.  I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links.  I may receive books in  order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one.  Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.

Review - Ever After by Odessa Gillespie Black

TITLE:    Ever After (Cursed)
AUTHOR:   Odessa Gillespie Black
INFO:    Paperback, Fiction, 236 pages
PUBLISHED:   Lyrical Press, 2015
SOURCE:   Received from Publisher for Review

FROM GOODREADS:  In order to fully inherit a millionaire's fortune, Allie Knowles must survive a month on her property - easier said than done when the enormous house is haunted by a violent ghost who claims to know Allie. But the true mystery lies with Cole Kinsey, the handsome groundskeeper. Cole and Allie have never met, though he's been driving her wild in her dreams for years. Yet now, every effort to get closer to him pushes him further away..

Cole has only ever loved one soul and that love has endured for centuries. Now that soul rests within Allie's body and it takes everything in his power not to confess the truth. For her presence has put them both in mortal danger. Racing against the clock, Allie will have to break the ghost's curse - or history will be doomed to repeat itself. 

MY TAKE:   I enjoyed this book. It was a quick read for me as I became pretty engrossed, fairly quickly. It had a lot of the elements that I look for - romance, mystery, a nasty ghost and a hero. I do like me some handsome heroes. The love through time is also something I am drawn to.

What didn't make this a "great" book for me was the feeling of being in a loop at times, going in circles. It jumped around for a bit and I don't like the getting lost feeling when I'm in a story. 

That being said, I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. I like the characters and their interaction and am anxious to see what is in store. 

Out of 5 JEWELS, I give it:

Ever After is now available at any of these fine literary retailers:

AMAZON / BARNES & NOBLE / BOOK DEPOSITORY / POWELL'S BOOKS

~~~~~ Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own.  I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links.  I may receive books in  order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one.  Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.

Review - Nightbloom by Juliette Cross

TITLE:    Nightbloom: A Nightwing Novel
AUTHOR:    Juliette Cross
INFO:    Paperback, Fiction, 151 pages
PUBLISHED:   Lyrical Press, 2015
SOURCE:   Received from Publisher for Review

FROM GOODREADS:   The love between a human and a Morgon, the dragon-hybrid race, tempts fate once more...

All her life, Ella Barrow has allowed others to make her decisions.  Forced to stifle her artistic talents and stay in a loveless relationship with Clayton Kerrington, the man her mother believes to be her perfect match, Ella's life may be safe - but it's not her own. Paxon Nightwing, on the other hand, is anything but the safe choice.

A charming and alluring Morgon, Paxon sees Ella for the woman she truly is. His bold confidence and protective nature ignites a passion she's never felt before. But a dark family tragedy forces their secrecy - until Clayton makes it impossible to hide their clandestine affair. Will Ella be strong enough to fight for herself at last? Or will she succumb once more and risk losing the only man she's ever loved?

MY TAKE:   This was my first visit to the author's fantastic world of Morgons. It was way too short of a visit! I can't wait to get the other books so I can extend my stay.

While this is the third book in the series, it is still very much a stand alone read. I liked Ella right away, lusted after Paxon and couldn't stand Clayton. Juliette Cross populates her world with fantastic characters. She makes you feel for them and care about them and what happens to them - except Clayton. I wanted bad - worse things to happen to him. 

Ms. Cross is a master at creating mental pictures. The images she portrays with her words make me feel like I could reach out and touch Paxon and his beautiful wings. 

I believe (adult) readers who enjoy fantasy, paranormal and romance should dive into this lovely world. You won't be disappointed, you'll be hooked.

Out of 5 JEWELS, I give it:

Nightbloom, Windburn and Soulfire are available at one of these fine literary retailers:

AMAZON / BARNES & NOBLE 

    

~~~~~ Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own.  I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links.  I may receive books in  order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one.  Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.

Review - Starry Knight by Nina Mason

TITLE:    Starry Knight
AUTHOR:   Nina Mason
INFO:    Paperback, Fiction, 248 pages
PUBLISHED:  Kensington, 2015
SOURCE:   Received from Publisher for Review

FROM GOODREADS:  Can these star-crossed lovers bridge two worlds?

British aristocrat Vanessa Bentley has beauty, fame, and fortune, but she gets no respect for her decision to become a paranormal investigator. Determined to prove the naysayers wrong. Vanessa ventures to the misty moors of Caithness, Scotland. There stands the immense Castle Barrogill, where a vampire is rumored to be stalking the dungeons - a vampire Vanessa is determined to find. She'll just have to get past the resident shape-shifter...

Callum Lyon is the gorgeous reclusive astrologer and faery knight who guards the castle. For free-spirited Vanessa, seducing him proves to be easy. After all, he was once a breeding drone to a Queen. But astrologically, their differences are harder to overcome Will Vanessa's mission - and Callum's secrets - be more than their burgeoning love can take? Or will flesh - and blood - win over the ghosts that haunt them both?

MY TAKE:  The blurb on this book jumped out at me and seemed to have many of the elements I look for in a story: historical, fantasy, romance, Scotland, knights, castles - need I say more? While it did have all of those things, Starry Knight was just an OK afternoon's read. It did what a good book is supposed to do, entertain the reader, but it didn't grab a hold of me like I'd thought it might. 

Ms. Mason has created an alternate/adjacent world that I believe has a lot of promise in the stories to come. Her building the imagery was done quite well. I could picture the scenery as she was describing it and could easily place myself into the setting. It was somewhere I'd be interested in being. 

What didn't make this a "great" read for me, is well, pretty much Vanessa and the political/environmental messages. I could not connect or empathize with the woman. She'd say one thing while doing the opposite. Her "cause" seemed to be first and foremost with her when it was convenient. She had the spoiled brat thing down to an art form.

As for the political and environmental slant, it is not that I am not also very concerned about doing what is right for our world. I just don't want to be bombarded with it throughout a story that I'm reading to escape reality and be entertained. I am of the same mind when it comes to the political vein. 

All in all, I think many readers will enjoy this story and the ones to come. As I noted, the author is quite adept at world building and creating a place you want to go back to. 
  

Out of 5 JEWELS, I give it:

You can grab your copy of Starry Knight at the fine literary retailers below:

 Amazon / Powell's Books / Book Depository
Kobo / Barnes & Noble

~~~~~ Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own.  I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links.  I may receive books in  order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one.  Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.