Category: Urban Fantasy

Sins of the Angels by Linda Poitevin

Sins of the Angels by Linda Poitevin(Cover picture courtesy of Were Vamps Romance.)

A detective with a secret lineage. An undercover Hunter with a bullet-proof soul. And a world made to pay for the sins of an angel…

Homicide detective Alexandra Jarvis answers to no one. Especially not to the new partner assigned to her in the middle of a gruesome serial killer case-a partner who is obstructive, irritatingly magnetic, and arrogant as hell.
Aramael is a Power—a hunter of the Fallen Angels. A millennium ago, he sentenced his own brother to eternal exile for crimes against humanity. Now his brother is back and wreaking murderous havoc in the mortal realm. To find him, Aramael must play second to a human police officer who wants nothing to do with him and whose very bloodline threatens both his mission and his soul.Now, faced with a fallen angel hell-bent on triggering the apocalypse, Alex and Aramael have no choice but to join forces, because only together can they stop the end of days.

[Full disclosure: I received this book as part of a blog tour.  Unfortunately the book didn’t ship in time, so I’m doing this review later than anticipated.  Either way, the review is still honest.]

I’m not a big fan of urban fantasy in general, but on occasion I do pick out a book that interests me.  Some are total duds and others are like Sins of the Angels: amazing.

The world-building in Linda Poitevin’s book is simply amazing.  And, if you’re so inclined, more than a little blasphemous.  God, in this case, is called the One.  And she’s most definitely female, which is something I’ve never seen before in fiction of any sort, let alone urban fantasy.  Sins of the Angels touches on quite a number of religious topics like free will, the fall of Lucifer and why there is so much destruction and chaos in the world.  Some of the conclusions the characters draw are fascinating from a theological point of view and they do reveal a lot about the characters themselves.  However, I wouldn’t recommend reading this if you’re a very orthodox Christian.  It does touch on some nerves.

With that said, I loved the characters.  I loved how Alex (Alexandra) was such a strong, independent character.  She’s tough and struggles with a horrific past as she tries to push down the memories that surface during her murder investigations.  At the same time, she can be vulnerable and stubborn especially when dealing with Aramael (who goes by Jacob Trent in human form).  Her chemistry with Aramael is great and I love how both of them slowly realize just how much of a connection they really do have.

I didn’t want to put this book down at all.  It’s 300 pages long and trust me, those pages go by very quickly.  The plot takes so many twists and turns, but it’s never difficult to keep up with them.  At the same time, you’re left guessing until the end and when Sins of the Angels does end you’ll be clamouring for the next book.  I know I was.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

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The Iron Bells by Jeanette Battista

gothic girl with a sword(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

The year is 64 A.D. — though now A.D. stands for Anno Daemonii. Demons have crossed a gate into our world, taking the reins of power from humanity. A new Inquisition has begun, determined to root out any who stand against the new world order. The holy sites on earth have been destroyed — Jerasulem first, then the Vatican, then Mecca — and what resistance remains is ruthlessly crushed. Amaranth is a fighter in the resistance cell based in London. Dham is a Ringer, one of the few people left able to ring the remaining sets of blessed hand bells that have power over demons. When Amaranth discovers that her best friend has been possessed by a demon and is going to be used in the Resistance’s final, desperate mission, she asks Dham for his help in saving her friend. With the Inquisition closing in and betrayal threatening from inside the Resistance itself, Amaranth, Dham, and the demon — along with Catriona, a new, highly-skilled, highly-blonde bell-ringer — decide to head to Rome and the ruins of Vatican City, hoping to find a way to stem the tide of demonic possessions and close the gate.

[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]

I’m not sure what I expected from The Iron Bells.  Certainly not a well thought out world where demons rule and the main character knows her mind.  Amaranth is pretty confident in who she is but isn’t perfect and that’s such a breath of fresh air after the terrible slew of YA books I’ve read recently.

First off, the characters are fantastic.  I like how even though she lives with a death sentence over her head for being part of the Resistance against demons, Amaranth is a pretty calm, cool and collected individual.  She’s capable of thinking logically in difficult situations, but at the same time she’s also perfectly capable of screwing up.  Although she tries to be above it all, she does get jealous of Cat and Dham and sometimes her anger clouds her judgment.  In all honesty, that’s why I like her: she’s human.  Dham wasn’t the greatest love interest I’ve ever encountered, but he certainly wasn’t the worst.  Personally I liked Trick, who I can’t describe without giving away too much of the plot.  You just can’t help but like Trick, believe me.

The plot was fast-paced and there were a few plot twists that I didn’t see coming.  I liked how in some places Jeanette Battista slowed down a bit to let the reader catch their breath and to let the characters develop.  Overall, it was well-paced and well-plotted and I didn’t want to put it down.  The thing about The Iron Bells is that we also get little glimpses of this horrifying new world at a more natural pace.  There aren’t any huge backstory dumps that slow down the plot and I’m grateful for that.

What impressed me the most was the world-building.  An errant magic-user accidentally bringing demons into the world.  How cool is that?  And the fact that demons take over the world in a slow, subtle fashion and use our natural paranoia against us is just brilliant.  The mythology Jeanette Battista presents us with is fascinating, as is the explanation for what demons may actually be.  I didn’t see that particular twist coming, believe me.

Really, if you want to pick up something different in the YA/NA genre I’d definitely recommend The Iron Bells.  It’s a breath of fresh air.

I give this book 4/5 stars.

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Darklight by Lesley Livingston

Darklight by Lesley Livingston(Cover picture courtesy of Paranormally Romanced.)

Much has changed since autumn, when Kelley Winslow learned she was a Faerie princess, fell in love with changeling guard Sonny Flannery, and saved the mortal realm from the ravages of the Wild Hunt.

Now Kelley is stuck in New York City, rehearsing Romeo and Juliet and missing Sonny more with every stage kiss, while Sonny has been forced back to the Otherworld and into a deadly game of cat and mouse with the remaining Hunters and Queen Mabh herself.

When a terrifying encounter sends Kelley tumbling into the Otherworld, her reunion with Sonny is joyful but destined to be cut short. An ancient, hidden magick is stirring, and a dangerous new enemy is willing to risk everything to claim that power.

Caught in a web of Faerie deception and shifting allegiances, Kelley and Sonny must tread carefully, for each next step could topple a kingdom . . . or tear them apart.

With breathtakingly high stakes, the talented Lesley Livingston delivers soaring romance and vividly magical characters in Darklight, the second novel in the trilogy that began with Wondrous Strange.

I had reviewed the first book on The Streetlight Reader, giving it 3.5/5 stars.  So why did I read it after giving the first book a ‘meh’ rating?  Well I had read a chapter in the bookstore and it seemed like the writing had improved so I decided to give Lesley Livingston another chance.  Was I right to do that?  As it turns out, Darklight is a slight improvement over Wondrous Strange.

My main problem with the first book is that I could not connect on an emotional level with the characters.  Sure, they were going through the motions of having emotions but I just couldn’t feel the emotions coming from the writing.  In this second book this has improved a little bit.  I actually felt Kelley’s distress at Sonny’s disappearance, her anger at her mother Mabh and her father Auberon, etc.  Could I feel this passionate, sweeping romance between her and Sonny?  Not really.  But did I actually get emotionally involved in the story?  Occasionally.

No, the lack of emotional quality in the writing is not the problem this time.  This time the problem is that the plot makes absolutely no sense because very few conflicts are resolved throughout the book.  Whereas Wondrous Strange was too fast-paced, this one was too slow in the beginning and desperately tried to make up for it in the last few chapters, culminating in one of the most random battle scenes I’ve ever read.  Some of the plot twists (like who Sonny’s father is) were rather predictable and yet the explanations for these twists made no sense.  I can’t say much more than that without giving the entire book away, but trust me when I say it comes both out of nowhere and it was predictable in a way.

I found that the world-building was still as good as ever in Darklight.  I loved Lesley Livingston’s descriptions of Auberon’s palace, Titania and Mabh.  They were absolutely spot-on and I never really felt bored with them because of that.  Really, the writing is beautiful if you’re solely judging this book on imagery and descriptions but sometimes the situations the characters find themselves in are not adequately explained to the reader.  Thus you end up amazed and confused, much like in the first book.

I may or may not read the third and final book in the Wondrous Strange trilogy but all I can say is that I really hope that if you try reading it you have a much better experience than I have.

I give this book 3/5 stars.

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From the Ashes by K.L. Kerr

From the Ashes by K. L. Kerr(Cover picture courtesy of K. L. Kerr’s website.)

For a simple eternity, all Michael Roman has to do is let it all go: the mystery surrounding his maker’s murder, the memory of his mortal life, and the basic idea that killing is wrong.

“From the Ashes” chronicles Michael’s early vampire life spent fighting on the Tournament circuit and falling for another vampire’s familiar.

This is a Blood of Ages Companion Novel. It can be read independently of or in addition to the Blood of Ages series by K.L. Kerr; if reading as part of the series, it is advised to read at any point after “The Genesis (Blood of Ages, #1)”.

[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]

In The Genesis we got to see Fox through the eyes of another person.  But in some ways I actually like the companion novel From the Ashes even better because we get to see Michael’s evolution from regular guy to Fox, the toughened Tournament fighter.

The plot is not exactly fast-paced in the beginning because it focuses more on Michael’s character and his transformation to a vampire.  Of course in the beginning he has no idea he’s a vampire until the mysterious Vincent rescues him from a police officer determined to turn him in to the ACA.  After that the plot is a little slow while Michael gains his bearings in this terrifying new world of vampires.  But then the plot starts to pick up when Vincent decides it’s time Michael became useful and throws him into the Tournaments to prove his fighting capabilities.

It’s there that poor Michael meets Amy, who is the familiar of Chino, the Tournament organizer.  Falling for another vampire’s familiar isn’t exactly the greatest thing to do and it explains why Michael is so distant toward Catrina in The Genesis.  Sometimes companion novels or novellas don’t really add any backstory or greater understanding of the world of the original novels, but this is certainly not the case with From the Ashes.

Sure, I suppose you could read From the Ashes before you read The Genesis, but then The Genesis won’t be nearly as awesome if you already know Fox’s tragic backstory.  I don’t think reading From the Ashes will be required to understand the second book in Blood of Ages, but it certainly gives Fox and Dayson city a lot more depth.  If you loved the first book, I highly recommend reading this companion novel.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

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*Not available.

Cameron’s Law by Mia Darien

Cameron's Law by Mia Darien(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

Vampires are people, too.

Cameron’s Law has made all supernatural creatures legal citizens, and the boy next door has suddenly become the werewolf next door. With Sadie Stanton, vampire and one of the public faces of the legislation, calling the little town of Adelheid, Connecticut home, it can’t help but be a focal point for these once mythical beings.

But when vampires start attacking werewolves without provocation, Adelheid draws the attention of those that would seek to have Cameron’s Law repealed and would send the preternaturals back into the shadows they used to hide in, but without the safety of their anonymity and their law.

Can Sadie keep the city’s two biggest species from descending into chaos and war before it brings all of them to harm? And can she do it when she herself gets thrust into the spotlight?

[Although I’m publishing this review in conjunction with the Adhelaid blog tour, I downloaded an ebook copy for free because I was interested in Cameron’s Law anyway and the tour gave me an excuse to read it.  As always, this is still an honest review.]

I’ve become almost immune to books with action-packed beginnings, but when a book starts out with someone getting staked you know it’s going to be good.  And when the character that gets staked is heading to the police station even though they’re a vampire, you know there’s a whole new exciting world yet to be revealed.

Welcome to Adhelaid, Sadie Stanton’s headquarters where she fights for supernatural rights.  You see, only a year ago she helped pass Cameron’s Law, the law that made all supernatural beings citizens of the United States with full rights.  As you can probably guess, there were a lot of people unhappy about that and they go to extreme lengths to express that unhappiness.  You might be thinking that this sounds a little cliché but I’m vastly over simplifying all of the politics between supernatural beings and humans Mia Darien throws into her novel.  If you were to read Cameron’s Law for one reason and one reason only, it would definitely have to be for the world-building.  It’s impressive.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about Sadie in the beginning, but she’s definitely the kind of snarky character you can’t help but fall in love with.  She’s snarky and she knows it’s a defense mechanism, but she’s also a little vulnerable when it comes to her heart.  Let’s just say I love how she doesn’t fall in Insta-Love and that when she’s in love it’s not all rainbows and sunshine either.  Especially when the mysterious murders of werewolves by apparent vampires cause tensions between the two supernatural communities.

Part of what I really liked about Cameron’s Law in regards to the plot was that it was fast-paced but there were some slow moments for readers to catch their breath.  The slow moments aren’t boring and actually forward the plot, but it’s nice not to have constant action so you can get a little backstory.  The interactions between Sadie and Vance are definitely slower than the greater conspiracy but they further both the plot and their characterization.

Even if you’re not really into urban fantasy or paranormal romance I’d highly recommend Cameron’s Law.  I’m so glad that I got an opportunity to pick up a great book I otherwise would have missed because of Mia Darien’s blog tour.  So seriously people, if you’re looking for a short but good read, pick up Cameron’s Law.  You won’t regret it.  Besides, it’s free right now on both Amazon and Barnes and Noble if you get it in their respective ebook formats!

I give this book 5/5 stars.

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