Cover reveal: ‘Fight For Me’ by K. A. Last
Posted: November 14, 2014 Filed under: On Books | Tags: aussie-owned, book covers, urban fantasy, young adult Leave a comment
Before we kick off this cover reveal, I wanted to say a few words. *grabs mic* I’ve actually already Fight For Me; you see, Kim is not only a talented writer and graphic designer. She’s also one of my fellow Aussie Owned bloggers, and so I was lucky enough to be asked to beta this book last month. I haven’t posted a review yet, as I wanted to wait till closer to the release date. But this book has game (girlfriend!) and another delicious plot twist.
Just so you know.
Now, enjoy this gorgeous cover!
(The Tate Chronicles #2)
Publication date: January 17th 2014
Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult
“How can I fight for you when I don’t know what I’m fighting for?”When Grace Tate became one of the fallen to protect a vampire, it got her into more trouble than she’d bargained for. She’s angry at Charlotte for hiding the truth, and with Josh living in the city and Seth missing, life is harder than ever.It’s about to get a lot harder…Grace doesn’t want to leave Hopetown Valley, but when Josh ignores her calls she decides to go and search for him. She doesn’t expect to run into Seth as well.
When she reaches the city, Grace learns that Charlotte is the most hunted vampire in Wide Island. The city vamps want her blood, and the angels are after her soul. Grace gets caught in the crossfire of a battle she never wanted, but to win one war, she has to fight another.
Torn between the one she gave up everything for, and the one who sacrificed everything for her, Grace has to face Charlotte, and the past, if she wants to fight for her future. But how can she fight for someone who doesn’t want to fight for her?
Every choice Grace makes becomes a battle, and in every battle someone has to die.
Add Fight For Me on Goodreads.
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K. A. Last was born in Subiaco, Western Australia, and moved to Sydney with her parents and older brother when she was eight. Artistic and creative by nature, she studied Graphic Design and graduated with an Advanced Diploma. After marrying her high school sweetheart, she concentrated on her career before settling into family life. Blessed with a vivid imagination, she began writing to let off creative steam, and fell in love with it. She now resides in a peaceful, leafy suburb north of Sydney with her husband, their two children, and a rabbit named Twitch.
You can find her at her website, or on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads or on Amazon.
Seven Characters That Deserve Their Own Series
Posted: November 11, 2014 Filed under: On Books | Tags: top ten tuesday 3 Comments
Top Ten Tuesday is a meme by The Broke and the Bookish, and you guys should definitely join in. So there. :p This week’s theme is “Top Ten Characters You Wish Would Get Their OWN Book (minor or just maybe a semi main character you wish a book was from their POV)”. As usual, I’m drafting this post late on a Monday so I may not get to ten. Let’s see….
Hermione Granger (Harry Potter). Because she’s smart, brave and compassionate. I’d love to see where her wizarding career took her after Hogwarts and Voldemorte. Not babies but other things.
Luna Lovegood (Harry Potter). Yeah, I know, I know. But Luna was so quirky and sweet. You just know that while Hermione would be founding a wizarding university Luna would be taming herself a cute shoulder dragon or something. (I also would love to see Hagrid’s boyhood tale.)
Smeagol (Lord of the Rings). Before he ended up as Gollum and came to a sticky (well, fiery) end, Smeagol was a hobbit-like creature. It’d be a sad story, sure, but it’d be great to see from his perspective how he ended up where he did.

Simon Lewis (The Mortal Instruments). I’ve only read the first trilogy so I don’t know if Simon gets some airtime later on, but I’d love to see more of his story, separate from Clary and Jace. A geek-turned-vampire? Awesome!
The Companions (Heralds of Valdemar). Companions are intelligent white horses with preternatural abilities that bond with their Heralds to help them protect the kingdom. It’s more or less stated outright as the series progresses that they are reincarnated Heralds. I’d love to see a story that reveals all, from a Companion’s point of view.
Morpheus (Splintered). Once the trilogy is done and we see how Alyssa’s story plays out, it’d be awesome to see a little more from Morpheus, the netherling who has been manipulating her all her life. Because he’s the archetypal bad guy with a heart of gold. And wings.
Karen Murphy (The Dresden Files). I’ve only read (ok, listened to) the first two books in this series, but I really want Karen Murphy to have her own book. A tough cop who looks like a china doll and can kick the crap out of supers? I like it. Plus I’d love to see her take Harry to task for trying to “protect” her, but that’s another story entirely.
Ok, that’s me done! So tell me: who am I forgetting?
The top ten books I want to re-read
Posted: November 4, 2014 Filed under: On Books | Tags: top ten tuesday 1 Comment
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday theme is the top ten books I want to re-read — except my TBR pile is teetering so high that if I don’t take evasive action it will fall and crush me dead. So I probably never will! Sob. Also, a note: some of these (ok, most) are part of one series or another. So really I want to re-read the whole series.
My kingdom for eternal life and a TARDIS!


The Many-Coloured Land by Julian May is the first book in the Saga of the Exiles. I loved what May did with the time travel in this, and I had such a crush on Aiken Drum.
Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett is one of the fabulous Discworld books. I’d love to re-read the whole series, but I chose this rather than the first book, The Color of Magic, because I love Granny Weatherwax.
Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey is the first in the Dragonriders of Pern series. I’ve read this series so many times it’d be like revisiting old friends: Lessa, Menolly, Masterharper Robinton, Jaxom, Ruth…




The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein was something of a gateway drug for me, the book I regarded as the transition between kids books and adult fantasy.
Dragonclaw by Kate Forsyth was another big deal book to me, the first fantasy I ever read by an Australian writer. It’s also the first one I ever read where witches featured heavily, and I love it.
Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey is definitely another one I want to re-read (although I have read the trilogy at least three times now). It’s epic fantasy with a heady dose of S&M, and some pretty brutal politics.
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams is one I re-read periodically (although I am way overdue) because laughter is good for the soul.


Dragoncharm by Graham Edwards is the first book in the unfortunately named Ultimate Dragon Saga, a trilogy where the characters are all dragons. I don’t remember much of it (I haven’t read it in 15 years), but I do remember that I enjoyed it. And the premise is so intruiging!
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice is the book that made me fall in love with vampires, back before they sparkled. Aah, Louis, I will always have a soft spot for you. (Once I read The Vampire Lestat I had a new favourite, though.)
Angel of Ruin by Kim Wilkins is the first book I read about angels, and I loved it! Historical fantasy usually isn’t my thing, but this one is great. Very dark.
Review: ‘Storm Front’ by Jim Butcher
Posted: November 2, 2014 Filed under: Reviews | Tags: reviews, urban fantasy 4 Comments
Lost items found. Paranormal Investigations.
Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment.Harry Dresden is the best at what he does. Well, technically, he’s the only at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for answers. For the “everyday” world is actually full of strange and magical things — and most of them don’t play well with humans. That’s where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a — well, whatever.
There’s just one problem. Business, to put it mildly, stinks. So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry’s seeing dollar signs. But where there’s black magic, there’s a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry’s name. And that’s when things start to get… interesting.
Magic. It can get a guy killed.
Harry Dresden is an interesting character. Unlike Atticus in Kevin Hearne’s Hounded, Harry has flaws that make him complex and interesting, even if he’s frustrating at times. As an example, Harry has a terminal case of chivalry (other characters accuse him of being chauvanistic and I think they may be right). This lets the females around him play him, or gets him in trouble even when said females aren’t actually asking him to defend them at all. Sometimes I found that annoying — for example, when he refused to tell the female detective what he knew about the murders because it would “put her in danger”, I wanted to bang his head against a concrete wall. But to Harry’s credit, he does seem to realise by the end of the book what an epic mistake this was.
The thing I did like about Harry was that he wasn’t a musclebound action hero-type. In fact, in Storm Front he’s at the losing end of several fights that make it clear that he’s the tall, weedy variety of nerd that spends a lot of time studying. Which makes sense, if you’re a wizard. He’s very self-aware, to the point where he’s self-depreciating at times. But there’s no false modesty or rampant ego here; he knows what he’s capable of and is confident in his skills, but also admits his flaws.
I have a vague feeling I’ve read Storm Front before, but it was long enough ago (and I’m getting old and forgetful enough) that I couldn’t remember most of the plot. Instead, I had a feeling for two thirds of the book that I knew where the whodunnit plotline was going, and alternated between suspecting I’d read it before and wondering whether the plot was just very predictable. I’m coming down on the “I’ve read it before” side of the fence, though. Regardless, the story carries you along to the point where I resented when real life intruded. So there’s that.
The side characters are — with the exception of the Big Bad at the end — all painted in shades of grey. Some of them lean toward quite dark grey, like the mob boss and the brothel-owning vampire — but there is still something sympathetic about them.
Storm Front — and I assume the rest of the series — can be summed up as a magical noir detective novel. Four stars.

Top Six Halloween Reads
Posted: October 28, 2014 Filed under: On Books | Tags: Chuck Wendig, delilah s. dawson, Halloween, top ten tuesday 7 Comments
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday theme is my top books (or movies) to get you in the mood for Halloween. If you say so… *evil grin* My selection is mostly ghost stories, but there are other greeblies thrown in there for good measure. They’re listed in no particular order other than the one I thought of them in. And there are six rather than ten, because that’s how I roll. (Pretend it’s 100th of the beast, rounded down, if that helps get you in the mood to be spookified!)
(Note: While my own book, Isla’s Inheritance, opens with a Halloween party, I have valiantly resisted adding it to my list. I’m not that shameless. Not quite.)

Servants of the Storm by Delilah S. Dawson
A year ago Hurricane Josephine swept th
rough Savannah, Georgia, leaving behind nothing but death and destruction — and taking the life of Dovey’s best friend, Carly. Since that night, Dovey has been in a medicated haze, numb to everything around her.
But recently she’s started to believe she’s seeing things that can’t be real … including Carly at their favorite cafe. Determined to learn the truth, Dovey stops taking her pills. And the world that opens up to her is unlike anything she could have imagined.
As Dovey slips deeper into the shadowy corners of Savannah — where the dark and horrifying secrets lurk — she learns that the storm that destroyed her city and stole her friend was much more than a force of nature. And now the sinister beings truly responsible are out to finish what they started.
Dovey’s running out of time and torn between two paths. Will she trust her childhood friend Baker, who can’t see the threatening darkness but promises to never give up on Dovey and Carly? Or will she plot with the sexy stranger, Isaac, who offers all the answers — for a price? Soon Dovey realizes that the danger closing in has little to do with Carly … and everything to do with Dovey herself.
Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig
Miriam Black knows when you will die.
She’s foreseen hundreds of car crashes, heart attacks, strokes, and suicides.
But when Miriam hitches a ride with Louis Darling and shakes his hand, she sees that in thirty days Louis will be murdered while he calls her name. Louis will die because he met her, and she will be the next victim.
No matter what she does she can’t save Louis. But if she wants to stay alive, she’ll have to try.
Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.
So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. They follow legends and local lore, destroy the murderous dead, and keep pesky things like the future and friends at bay.
Searching for a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas expects the usual: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.
Yet she spares Cas’s life.
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”
It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.
Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.
His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.
But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.
For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.
From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.
The Memory Game by Sharon Sant
‘If there is a hell, I think maybe this is it.’
Weeks after fifteen-year-old David is killed by a speeding driver, he’s still hanging around and he doesn’t know why. The only person who can see and hear him is the girl he spent his schooldays bullying.
Bethany is the most hated girl at school. She hides away, alone with her secrets until, one day, the ghost of a boy killed in a hit-and-run starts to haunt her.
Together, they find that the end is only the beginning…
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Count Dracula sleeps in a lordly tomb in the vaults beneath his desolate castle, scarlet-fresh blood on his mocking, sensuous lips. He has been dead for centuries, and yet he may never die…
Here begins the story of an evil ages old and forever new. It is the story of those who feed a diabolic and insatiable craving into the veins of their victims, into the men and women from whose body they draw their only sustenance. This is Bram Stoker’s chilling classic, a novel of exquisite power and hypnotic fascination.
Pleasant dreams and happy reading!
The Harry Potter book tag
Posted: October 26, 2014 Filed under: On Books | Tags: book tag 1 CommentThis book tag was invented by the very clever Emily over at The Loony Teen Writer. I thought it was a fun idea so I’m joining in!
Luna Lovegood – a book you’ve read that’s really weird.


I quite liked The Eyre Affair, but there’s no doubt that it has a very unusual premise — if a criminal is able to modify an original work of art, they will modify all of the copies. This results in literary gangs and police investigators. I suppose you could categorise this as sci-fi, although it’s more alternate world speculative fiction than anything else.
Dolores Umbridge – a book with a really nice cover that you disliked.


Red Riding Hood was a three-star read for me (I didn’t like the main love interest) until the final chapter. In order to maintain the suspense, the publisher DECLINED TO PRINT THE LAST CHAPTER in the book. I think it was because the book came out before the movie, so they didn’t want to spoil it. Instead, where the last chapter should’ve been was a URL and an invitation to finish reading the story online.
I threw the book out in disgust.
Fred and George Weasley – a book that made you laugh.


The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is the first hysterically funny book I remember reading as a teenager, and the whole series will always stay with me for that reason. (I read the Discworld books by Terry Pratchett later and always thought of them as “Hitchhikers with a fantasy setting”, because they both have that wonderful sense of the absurd.
Hermione Granger – a book that makes you feel smart for having read it.


The King Must Die is the story of Theseus, prince of Athens, and the fall of Crete. It reads like historical, literary fiction, which made me feel like it was making my brain bigger — a feeling I usually object to in a book. 😉 I loved the beautiful descriptions and the way that it was up to the reader to interpret whether the voice of Poseidon that Theseus hears is truly some sort of divinity, or perhaps his own madness or conscience.
Sybill Trelawney – a book you haven’t read yet (or hasn’t been released) that you just KNOW you’re going to love.


Endsinger is the third and final book in The Lotus War trilogy by Aussie writer Jay Kristoff. I’m super-excited about this one, you guys — although I’m bracing myself to be punched in the feels. Still, it will be worth it!
Severus Snape – a book that has mixed reviews, that you either really enjoyed or really disliked.


I really wanted to like Switched but I came down on the “nope” side of the mixed reviews. Wendy, the main character, is incredibly self-centred and rather dense — the later, I suspect, was a device to stop her from asking all the obvious questions so the author could string out the plot revelations. The supernaturals (trolls) had such potential but turned out to be vegan cookoos with bad hair. This book was definitely Not For Me (TM).
Harry Potter – a book from your childhood


The Stone Cage is a book I read when I was about 11, and then again at 17 and in my 20s. I loved it each time. The story tackles the Rupunzel myth, as told from the perspective of the witch’s familiar, a cat. It took a lot of effort to track down but I finally got my own copy. I luff it. :3
What books would you nominate in these categories?
Review: ‘Cassandra’ by Kerry Greenwood
Posted: October 22, 2014 Filed under: Reviews | Tags: AWW, glbt, reviews 3 Comments
On Mount Olympus, Aphrodite, the goddess of love, yawned. Even perfection can become tedious. “My lord,” she called to Apollo, “Sun God and brother. Let us play a game with mortals — my power against yours.”
And so Cassandra, the golden-haired princess cursed with the gift of prophecy, and Diomenes, the Achean with the healing hands, become puppets of the gods. Their passions are thwarted, their loves betrayed, their gifts rendered useless for the sake of a wager between the immortals. Doomed, magnificent Troy is the stage, Cassandra and Diomenes the leading players in this compelling story of the city’s fall. Both have found love before, and lost it. Will they find each other in the light of the burning city?
And, if they do, can their love survive the machinations of malicious gods and men?
I originally bought this book — because of the name, obviously — about 15 years ago. Because I’ve been on an Ancient Greek kick lately, I decided to re-read it.
Both Cassandra and Diomenes are healers who’ve had close encounters with gods early on in their lives. Cassandra and her twin, Eleni, are given the gift of prophecy as small children, while Diomenes becomes a healer after his life is saved by Glaucus, healing priest of Asclepius. During his illness, Thanatos, god of death, blesses him.
Maybe these blessings are what made the two the target of Aphrodite and Apollo’s wager. The gist of the bet is that Aphrodite believes she can get the two together, while Apollo is determined to keep them apart. Posiedon and Athena weigh in, wanting to see Troy destroyed in the process (although Posiedon later changes his mind). The whole thing gets very messy, as you can imagine.
We don’t see much of the gods in the book, just in the occasional page of dialogue at the end of a chapter. Mostly, what we see is the poor mortals, struggling with the twists and turns their lives take. Both Cassandra and Diomenes find love elsewhere and lose it, but to me the greater tragedy was the fall of Troy itself. Compared to the culture of the Acheans (Greeks), Troy as Greenwood writes it was a beacon of progress and good behaviour, where women were given equal rights and the gods were offered sacrifices of herbs or precious goods rather than blood. Greenwood takes some liberties with the original myth, so the ending isn’t quite as horrific as it could have been — there is at least a little bit of hope there.
One thing I’d forgotten between readings is just how much sex there is in this book, both hetero and homosexual. For the most part that’s fine with me, although fair warning: if you want a “clean” read this isn’t it. 😉 Also, during some of the war scenes the inevitable rape and treatment of captured women as slaves is quite confronting. A lot of it happens “off camera” but still, Greenwood doesn’t pull any punches.
The other thing that’s quite chilling about this retelling of Troy is Greenwood’s portrayal of Achilles: he is an insane psychopath, far and away the worst of the Greeks. It particularly struck me given I just read The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller not long ago, which is a much kinder portrayal. It’s interesting to see such different takes on the same character.
Cassandra is the second book in a trilogy, but stands alone; I’ve never read the other two. If you like gritty, “realistic” historical fantasy, this may be the book for you.

Interview: Stacey Nash, YA sci-fi author
Posted: October 18, 2014 Filed under: On Books | Tags: aussie-owned, sci-fi, young adult 3 CommentsToday I’m thrilled to have one of my favourite writers and human beings on the planet here with me on the blog — it’s the lovely Stacey Nash! You may remember her from such reviews as my one on Remember Me four days ago. Stacey’s second book, Remember Me, came out on 1 October, which makes her and I release month buddies. To celebrate, I’m giving away two copies of the first book in her series, Forget Me Not — details below.
Welcome to the blog, Stacey!

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For those that haven’t read Forget Me Not, the first book in the Collective series, how would you describe the world you’ve created?
The world of the Collective series is one where super-advanced tech exists, like devices that allow cloaking, telepathy, and teleportation. This tech has actually been around for a very long time, but it’s kept hidden from the general public by a secret group whose sole purpose is to keep everything in the world on the right path. That group, the Collective, believes too much power in too many hands is not a good thing.
The Collective kind of reminds me of the Illuminati crossed with that Will Smith movie Men in Black (only without the sense of humour). Can you tell us a little more about how they work?
That’s a great description of the Collective and they are very loosely based on the Illuminati. (I love a good conspiracy theory!) Remember Me takes a much closer look at the Collective than we got to see in Forget Me Not, and from a different angle too. The Collective honestly believe that they’re doing the right thing. That with the type of technology available, society would fall into a power-grabbing mess and left to its own devices would not function effectively. It would be an all-out massacre, with no order and every man greedily overthrowing every other to come out on top. So the Collective not only suppresses knowledge of advanced technology from the public, they use it to maintain order.

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Remember Me is told by both Anamae, the main character from the first book, and her best friend Will. Tell us a bit about them.
Anamae is one of those girls who are so tenacious no one can keep her check, and god help anyone who tries. She’s seventeen and has been through a tough time. Her mother has been missing for a very long time, and her dad faced some life-threatening issues during book one. With no other family, she realises she needs to fight back for what’s right.
As for Will, he’s one of those characters that finds his way into everyone’s heart. He’s a little overbearing at times, but he’s got a kind heart. He’s been in Anamae’s life since they were in grade school together and he’s not about to take a back seat now that they’re fighting for their lives.
Forget Me Not originally came out with a small press, which subsequently collapsed. What do you know now that you wish you knew then? What advice would you give to writers just starting out in the business?
I don’t think anything I know now would have changed my decisions back then. I didn’t blindly sign with that small press. I researched them thoroughly before I did so. I checked them out on Editors and Predators, Absolute Write Water Cooler, Google, and everywhere that I could. I even spoke with authors I knew who were signed with them. And staff — I spoke with staff too. Everything was really happy there, and everything checked out. I guess I’d tell other writers to make sure you do all that before signing, but be aware that publishing in some ways is a gamble. You just can’t predict what will happen and there are bad publishers out there amongst the good. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Make sure you remember that and you’ll be more wary.
What other projects are you working on? Can we expect to see a third book in the series sometime soon?
I’m working on a few projects right now. There are four books in total planned for the Collective Series and book three has gone off to my publisher, so hopefully there will be more news on it soon. My current project is a prequel to the series. Set long before Anamae was born, it’s told by her mother and essentially it is Annie’s story. Which is an exciting part of Collective–Resistance history. I’ve also got a new series in the pipelines which I’ve been madly working on. It’s quite different to the Collective books, with slightly older characters and a contemporary setting. I hope to be able to share some news on it soon as well.
Giveaway
Enter for a chance to win one of two Forget Me Not ebooks!
About Stacey
Stacey Nash writes adventure-filled stories for Young Adults in the Science Fiction and Fantasy genres. She loves to read and write books that have a lot of adventure, a good dose of danger, a smattering of romance, and KISSING! Hailing from the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, she loves nothing more than immersing herself in the beauty and culture of the local area.
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Review: ‘Hounded’ by Kevin Hearne
Posted: October 16, 2014 Filed under: Reviews | Tags: kevin hearne, reviews, urban fantasy 2 Comments
Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, lives peacefully in Arizona, running an occult bookshop and shape-shifting in his spare time to hunt with his Irish wolfhound. His neighbors and customers think that this handsome, tattooed Irish dude is about twenty-one years old — when in actuality, he’s twenty-one “centuries” old. Not to mention: He draws his power from the earth, possesses a sharp wit, and wields an even sharper magical sword known as Fragarach, the Answerer.
Unfortunately, a very angry Celtic god wants that sword, and he’s hounded Atticus for centuries. Now the determined deity has tracked him down, and Atticus will need all his power — plus the help of a seductive goddess of death, his vampire and werewolf team of attorneys, a bartender possessed by a Hindu witch, and some good old-fashioned luck of the Irish — to kick some Celtic arse and deliver himself from evil.
I finished this last month, but hadn’t quite gotten around to writing a review (I guess I’ve had other things going on lately — dunno!). I’d heard Kevin Hearne’s name on Twitter, and since I love urban fantasy I thought I’d use my monthly Audible credit to download the audiobook of Hounded.
I found it a little hard to get into at first. Some of that was the voice actor; the guy is good but all the previous audiobooks I’ve listened to had smexy British voice actors, so it took me a little while to adjust. Maybe because of that, I was really aware of just how much exposition there is early on in this story. The book is told from Atticus’s point of view, and he likes to interrupt a conversation to provide us a little backstory, or an explanation of druidic magic. It felt a little heavy on the tell rather than the show.
The characters are fun, although Atticus is a little bit of a male Mary Sue (a Mary Stu?) — he’s pretty much perfect. Handsome, powerful, unique, and all the hot goddesses want to sleep with him. He’s also meant to be 2100 years old but, even in his thoughts, sounds like his claimed age of 21.
However, for me he was redeemed by his sense of humour and loyalty to his best friend, Oberon. Oberon is a wolfhound who communicates with Atticus via telepathy. He is very literal, and absolutely hilarious. Far and away my favourite character … although the Morrigan was also pretty awesome. I liked Granuaile too. Actually, I liked most of the characters, despite Atticus’s immaturity at times. (The wedgie scene made me cringe. Dude, you were born BCE — act your age!)
The story follows events in Atticus’s life as Angus Og, the Celtic god of love and Atticus’s lifelong enemy, finds out where he is and starts to send minions after him. It doesn’t help that people who are ostensibly on Atticus’s side tend to complicate his life too. The story was fast-paced and kept me interested, and like I said, it was very funny. Just don’t expect anything deep from this book; it definitely fits into the “read for entertainment” category.

‘ENCHANTED LOVER: Tales of Everlasting Love’ boxed set
Posted: October 14, 2014 Filed under: On Books | Tags: contests, urban fantasy 7 Comments
ENCHANTED LOVER: Tales of Everlasting Love
Seven Novels of Mystical, Magical and Paranormal Romance
I asked each of the seven authors in this boxed set about the supernatural “critter” in their story. Here’s what they said.
PARAMOUR by Margaret Ethridge (ghost)
Two men: one living, one dead, and both vying for her love. Camellia Stafford has never been alone in her room. For twenty years, she’s been engaged in a fierce power struggle with her bedroom’s previous tenant, Frank DeLuca, the ghost trapped in the light fixture above her bed.
Margaret on PARAMOUR: One of my favorite childhood memories is of the time my mom and I snuggled in her bed on a cold, gray day and watched an old black and white movie called The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. Like Lucy Muir, I fell in love with the ghost of Captain Daniel Gregg. Not long before I started writing Paramour, I watched that old favorite again. But this time, the bit when Anna told her mother that Captain Gregg used to visit her when she was a little girl and they had been friends stuck with me.
How cool would it be to be pals with a ghost? What if she grew up with that ghost in her room. Would she have fallen in love with him like her mother did? I also liked the idea of a tortured young hero trapped between worlds. When I was young, we had the coolest light fixtures in my bedroom. They were these old 60’s chic gold cones that could be adjusted directionally.

I remember spending hours staring up at that fixture, daydreaming. What better place to snare the man of my dreams? And that is how handsome, young Frank DeLuca came to be trapped in the light fixture above Camellia Stafford’s bed.
ENTRANCED by Maddie James (time travel, reincarnation)
Jack and Claire set out on a wild search through time, not only for the resolution to a powerful attraction between them, but also for a historical artifact that holds the key to their future happiness — the coveted silver-plated chalice made from Blackbeard’s skull.
Maddie on ENTRANCED: My story, Entranced, possesses the supernatural element of time travel, and not necessarily a supernatural character. Unless you could call the severed head of the pirate, Blackbeard, a supernatural character. For you see, once Blackbeard was beheaded, it was important to secure his skull, to take back to the authorities as proof of his death. Pirate lore says that it was hung from the bowsprit of a ship, and then lost forever.
But not in my book…
MYSTIC THUNDER by JC Wardon (witch, mystic)
Millennia of tempestuous ancestral history forewarn Rayne Cavanaugh to hide her ability to communicate with ghosts. But when the nephew of the man she just can’t resist goes missing in the mountains of Mystic Waters, West Virginia, she must decide between self-preservation and love.
JC on MYSTIC THUNDER: Rayne and her two identical sisters all have different inherited mystical gifts. Rayne is of The Devine, which means she is able to cast and conjure spells, but they each have another gift which manifests before they learn of this particular ability, and Rayne’s is to see and talk to ghosts.
She flees to Mystic Waters, West Va., to hide from the notoriety she’s suddenly exposed to in LA, but what she finds when she gets there is a man whose nephew is missing, and a ghost who insists she follow him into the dark reality that someone has been murdering young men for years on Mystic Mountain. She must chose between protecting herself and helping the man she is falling in love with, while conscious of the three-thousand-year-old curse that warns all Cavanaugh women to never fall in love.
RUNNING OUT OF TIME by Cheryl Norman (time travel)
When Stacy Webber travels to Germany for her best friend’s wedding, she loses more than her luggage and purse. She lands in a different time, fifty years ago, with no idea how to return to her world.
TIMELESS by Jan Scarbrough (psychic, ghost, reincarnation)
When Beth Abbott receives a surprise inheritance from her birth mother, she travels to the family’s nineteenth century mansion in Old Louisville, KY, now a bed and breakfast. There she meets the resident ghost, a little girl whose crying not only scares, but also intrigues guests.
Jan on TIMELESS: James Van Praagh, John Edward, and Theresa Caputo the Long Island Medium, are well-known psychic mediums and part of our popular culture. Believe them or not, they all bring messages of love from the spirit world.
When I was presented with the original cover of Timeless and the idea of writing about a child ghost, I needed a character that could communicate with the ghost. Enter Jeff Halstead, the hero and my reluctant medium. Years ago, I met a real medium named Dale Epley at a “psychic faire”. When I discovered she taught continuing education classes at night, I took a couple. Later, I attended her workshops and meditations at her home, and occasionally scheduled readings. I’ve learned many things from Dale over the years, and like the high-profile mediums, she brings messages of love and hope.
MAN OF HER DREAMS by Cat Shaffer (dreams, parallel times)
Jessi Flint has a perfectly good life with a successful business and the perfect man. So, he’s only in her dreams…until her flaky assistant goes to a New Age fair and Jessi suddenly begins receiving gifts with love notes signed by a mysterious Damian.
Cat on MAN OF HER DREAMS: Jessi Flint has a perfectly good life with a successful business and the perfect man. So he’s only in her dreams…until her flaky assistant goes to a New Age fair and Jessi suddenly begins receiving gifts with love notes signed by a mysterious Damian. Still, the last person she expects to see when she arrives back home in Michigan for her high school reunion is her mystery man. She finally decides to go with the flow after her mother expresses her delight with Jessi’s fiance, her best friend and closest cousin both go ga-ga over Damian and she finds herself falling head over heels for the man of her dreams.
ALMOST MAGIC by J.M. Kelley (magic, witch, gifts)
When it came to Vivian Burroughs’ unique connection with nature, her grandmother always said, ‘Mediocrity may not burn as bright as a firecracker, but it seldom blows up in your face.’ But the old woman never advised her on what to do when a sexy new neighbor stokes the flames of attraction.
JM on ALMOST MAGIC: Burroughs women have always been a little different, and the residents of Essex Woods, Pennsylvania are all too aware of their unique history. The tradition of weird continues with Vivian, who can (kind of, sort of) bend nature to her will. Vivian just wants a little normalcy in her life. Something that’s hard to come by when all the single men in town know that the words normal and Burroughs never go hand in hand. So what’s a (slightly) magical gal to do for a date and maybe a mildly enchanted happily ever after?
Jack Riley might not be the one to ask that question, but Vivian sure can picture him as the guy with the answers. But Jack is dealing with a not-so-normal life of his own. When your dead wife won’t stay dead and you’re pretty sure your daughter can read your mind, who has time to woo the town’s favorite (maybe, could be) witch?
Giveaway
Enter to win a $25 Amazon gift card or a set of seven print books from the authors’ backlist.
Release Date: October 7, 2014
Category: Romance > Paranormal
Length: Seven full-length novels, Boxed Set
Publisher: Turquoise Morning Press
ISBN: 978-1-62237-340-6
Retail Price: $5.99
Ebook Price: $0.99 (Special Promotional Price)
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