Jem's review of ABOVAM by Karen Tomlinson

Wow!

That word just sums up this whole book for me! But I feel this book deserve a whole lot more than just one word to describe it. So let me give you my thoughts on A Bond of Venom and Magic by Karen Tomlinson and hopefully once you've read this you'll click the link below to buy your copy.

I was lucky enough to be given an early copy of this book to read, and boy how lucky am I because if there is just one book in your life that you need to read, then this is it! This book is one of the best books that I have read in a while. Not only is it a breathtaking story, but it is very well written and edited.

This book grabbed me right from the very first few pages, and you just know that when a book does that you won't be able to put it down until you've consumed it all in one sitting, which is exactly what I did. ABOVAM has it all, action, fantasy, adventure, one hot, brooding, swoon worthy fae male and a building romance that'll have you begging for more.

Diamond, who is our main character is the perfect heroine. Yes, she is young and naive, but she has led a very sheltered and protected life until she is suddenly thrust right into the action and dangers of her world. I think she actually grows and adapts very well, especially with all the secrets she suddenly discovers about herself.  Towards the end of the book I think she'd really started to become a strong woman, rather than just a naive girl and I'm really looking forward to seeing more of her character development, flaws and all, as really that's what makes the best characters in books that they're not all perfect and I think Karen Tomlinson has written some great characters.

Hugo (the brooding, swoon worthy fae) is a complex character and I can't wait to discover more about him in future books. I found myself wondering at points during the book, do I like him? By the end I'd made my decision and I can see the reasons he is the way that he is and that a lot of his actions are because he is protecting himself and those he cares deeply about. I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens next with him, Diamond and a lot of the other characters too.

The world building in this book is another thing that has been well perfected. This really is one of those books where you can imagine yourself right in the action. I could clearly see the scenes and surroundings in my minds eye whilst reading and it really did transport me away to another world. That cover is also an exquisite piece of art and really catches your eye. I can't wait to have the paperback copy of this book and to place it right there on my bookshelf so I can see it everyday.

This book gets the full five stars from me for enjoyment, character and world building, fantasy (guys, how could I forget to mention there are dragons in this book, my favourite), action and romance. What more could you ask for?

I think I am still recovering from the book hangover reading this gave me, but to me that's the sign of a good book because it drew me in to its pages and embedded itself firmly into the depths of my mind that I won't forget it. I'm now impatiently awaiting the next book, and even though I know that'll give me another book hangover, it's more than worth it for having the chance to read something so amazingly beautiful and awesome. Seriously, buy this book now and step into it the wonderful treasure that is A Bond of Venom and Magic.

Buy links:

Amazon: http://mybook.to/ABOVAM

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/mobile/w/a-bond-of-venom-and-magic-karen-tomlinson/1123805544?ean=2940153020051

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/search?Query=A+Bond+Of+Venom+and+Magic+%28Karen+Tomlinson%29&ac=1&acp=a+bond+of+venom+and+magic

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/636282

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/a-bond-of-venom-and-magic/id1114129973?mt=11

Jem's review of Bound By Magic by Jasmine Walt

With the silver murders solved and her training as a mage underway, Sunaya figured her life would get easier. But between the Chief Mage's packed schedule and the grunt work demanded of her as an apprentice mage, magic lessons are few and far between. Worse, her apprenticeship leaves little time for her job as an Enforcer, and without bounties Sunaya’s money pouch is drying up -- fast. 

Even so, when Shiftertown Inspector Boon Lakin asks for Sunaya’s help digging deeper into the murder of a fellow Enforcer, Sunaya has no trouble making room in her life to help him. The trail leads them to a series of crimes victimizing shifters for the entertainment of vicious humans. Sunaya and her friends race to identify the perpetrators and free the survivors, and the stakes are heightened when she discovers one of the victims has a connection to her. But if Sunaya is not careful, she may end up a very dead shifter herself... 

This is the second book in The Baine chronicles by Jasmine Walt and yes, I did read this in only a few hours, but it is a shorter book than the first one and looking at the third book which is currently out that's even shorter, only 82 pages!!! Now that makes me feel a bit cheated as it seems that we're getting into novella books rather than full books with them.

Anyway, I've digressed from my review. Whilst I still enjoyed this book, I didn't enjoy it as much as the first. I felt that it dragged a bit in places and wasn't as action packed, even though the book was shorter than the first the story just felt that it was missing something to keep me entertained. There also weren't as many scenes between Naya & Iannis, which I missed or as much of Fenris, who I definitely think is a great character and has a great story to tell. I did enjoy though that Boon Lakin had a presence in this book and even though I'm shipping Naya & Iannis as a couple, liked the flirtation between Boon & Naya.

I'm giving this book 4 stars as even though I'm still enjoying the series, I felt that this story was rushed and didn't hold the same capture for me as the first one did. There was not as much interaction between any of the characters and some of the characters who played important & entertaining parts in the first book only had very small appearances in this one. I feel that Jasmine has lost a bit of the pizzazz that was evident in the first book and I'm not sure if she decided to cut back or was made to cut back and cut scenes out but I do hope that she comes back in the rest of the series as it has a great story line and some interesting character potential. Nevertheless I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series.

Jem's review of Anarchy

Did Charlie Bennett ever tell you that vampires are evil spawn? Well they are! 

She's had just about enough of them and when the unthinkable happens, she decides it might just be time to use her blood as a weapon against them. 

It's time for a little anarchy. 

*Recommended reading age 17+ due to language.

I loved Ash so literally could not wait for Anarchy to be released and am so glad it's finally here. Jaymin Eve and Leia Stone are some of my favourite authors so when I heard they were writing a book together I was so freaking excited, when I heard it was going to be a trilogy, well I think it made my year.

Anarchy is the second book in the Hive trilogy and it does not disappoint. This book doesn't suffer from middle book-itis, oh no, it kicks as much ass as Charlie, Ryder and the rest of the Sexy Six do.

"Holy hot day in hell, he was totally going to be the death of me"

This book picks up right after the end of Ash and we've got the hot date between Charlie & Ryder to finally look forward too, but things don't go as planned, and how could they really for the Unicorn Ash?

Now you'd think that the fact this book is written by two authors would be noticeable, but it's really not. The pace of the story & the dialogue with the characters flows seamlessly. There is depth to all the characters, minor & big (this is an important thing for me that even the minor characters don't fall flat) that you find yourself loving & hating right along with Charlie.

"As Ryder’s laughter died off, I fluttered my lashes, giving him a subtle wink. “Nice to see you can laugh. For a while there, right after I first met you, I was sure you had a Botox addiction and couldn’t actually smile.” He chuckled again and let his eyes roam over me, landing on my lips. “I won’t tell you what I thought when I first met you. Wouldn’t be gentleman-like.”

I love the sass from Charlie, my favourite characters are always the ones with kickass comebacks, humour & faults. I love her relationship with Jayden, I want my own BAFF. Ryder comes out of himself more in this book and really shows that he's the leading man for me, sorry I meant Charlie and the sexy six...... well I feel like we all need them in our life. All of there characters grow and we start to see a bit more of the silent, brooding Sam, but not near enough and I have some big questions I still want answered.

This is what I love about books, the way they can draw you into the world that has been written so that its you living there right alongside it all, becoming friends with the characters and building relationships that feel real. Not all authors and books are able to do that, but this sure is one of those books that can.

I loved it and I can't wait for the final book, Annihilate to come out as even though this wasn't a massive cliff hanger ending, it still left me wanting to grab the next book and read straight away.

Britt's Review of Elementals: Blood of the Hydra by Michelle Madow

Starting this review not even 24 hours after my last. And there's a good reason for that! I have a tad bit of an addictive personality, and once I get into a good book I am a bottomless pit of gluttony! So pull up a seat I have A LOT more to say this time! 

After posting my review of Elementals: Prophecy of Shadow I immediately went to Amazon and used up one of my SwagBucks gift cards I earned for browsing with their search bar, polls, and surveys. (I'm cheap lol, read for free, still pay the Author! It doesn't get better than that. You can join to: HERE)

Anyways back to the brain drug that is Michelle Madow's Elementals series. Book Two is called " Elementals: Blood of the Hydra" and, it's equally as amazeballs as Book One! Now because I posted Prophecy of Shadows Review yesterday, I'm not going to summarize. If your reading this review to see if you will like Blood of the Hydra, trust me. You will. But if you read any further spoilers may burn into your eyebibbles. You have been warned ;). If you have read it and are just enjoying a fellow bloggers nonsense then you don't need my summarization anyways, eh?

Before my ramblings start (And, to give the rebels who shouldn't be reading this far another chance to turn around) I'll post the blurb.

"A demigod who can kill with a touch. It's an ability that must be kept secret, even from those trusted most.

Finding out that she was a witch was strange enough, but now Nicole must face the realization that she has the rare power to kill with just a touch. No one can know her secret -- not even Blake, who she's had undeniable chemistry with since first moving to town. 

Now Nicole, Blake, and the three others with elemental powers must stop a series of monsters that they previously believed to be dead from rising once again and destroying the mortal world. The creatures they face on this journey will be more dangerous than anything they've encountered yet. Will they all survive the quest? And how long will it be until Nicole is forced to use her ability to kill in front of everyone, revealing the true darkness of her powers? 

Find out in The Blood of the Hydra, and join the Elementals on their quest to save the world -- or die trying"

We start off this story in the training room, where we get to see our Elementals honing their skills. When Blake walks in I get exactly what I want. We find out that between books Blake actually keeps his word and ends things with Danielle. But, our heroine still keeps her distance. Why? Because she's an amazing person and even though Danielle was horrible to her, she doesn't want to flaunt a relationship with Blake in her face. As we learned in book one, these 5 are a group that's going to have to get used to each other.

The character growth in Blood of the Hydra is PARFAIT. :3 Everything is moving along flawlessly. All of our favorite crew has explored and discovered new parts of their magic. Although I think Nicole has so much more potential then she knows. She explores her 'witch' magic completely, she's got that in the bag. But her Demigod powers? She hasn't even realised she can probably do any number of super frawsome things that the other more diluted witches wouldn't even think to try. 

I'm hoping in Book Three -Elementals: The Head of Medusa we will get so see that growth for Nicole. I would love to see her surpass Blake and Danielle in the 'cool shit I can do' category. Now she does have one new power that causes her some stress and turmoil, one she keeps a secret. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about if you've read book one. However so much unfolds to that part of the story, and without giving anything away I'm rather disappointed in our heroine for not figuring it out before the Head Elder in Greece had to spell it out to her. She has got to stop thinking of herself as a witch, she is a Demigod, but without demi-gods around to teach her will it ever happen?

We do get to meet more Demi-gods in Book Two, and it is pure roller coaster as long as they're around. Ethan and Rachel are the children of Zeus, who we also get to meet. 

One of my favorite things about Blood of the Hydra is the sneaky deaky way Apollo reaches out to Nicole. It's done well, he providers her with communication to him, but doesn't tell her. When she can't figure out her book, or her necklace, he leave a very straight forward note. Just like in any traditional Greek myth the God has love for its children but refuse to dote on them. They must work for what they want. I just abso-love it <3.

Bad boy Blake never gives up. And good on him, that's how you get the girl! I am very happy with the progression of Nicole and Blake's relationship. Michelle doesn't make you wait around for ever to get results. Once again her fast paced reputation is true. But not so fast that you feel there was no story, she's found a perfect medium.

And excuse me Mrs Madow, but when are we going to see straight-laced, reserved Kate throw caution to the wind and muckle hold of Chris's face and lay one on him? Lol, I know it's unlikely but I'd just love to see her explode after holding it all in and not hold ANYTHING back. I know there's a strong woman in her. And, Chris! OPEN YOUR LOOKERS, she may not be Rachael stunning, but Kate if so mad for you under Rule 164 Section 3 Line 34(b) "Opposites attract. Yin to her Yang, the Better part of you, don't ignore it"

See! Right there in PRINT. So it must be true right? It's been permanently posted into cyber space on the internet. That give it credit right? :P But then again is Michelle gave me everything I wanted now, there would be no story left for Books 3, 4, & 5! Yeeeehaw! Yes I said 5. If you're part of Michelle Madows newsletter you will already know but for those of you in the dark, let me she'd some light!

Michelle decided while writing book four that she wrote the perfect ending in the MIDDLE of the story, so she breaking them up! And because of that random writers premonition we get a whole 5th book. The Book Gods work in miraculous ways, don't you think?

Anywhoooo (it wouldn't be a Brittaini review without that word I feel ;).) The Elementals has earned Another 5 STAR review from this chickie boo boo #Booknerd right here! Much love to Ms. Madow, May you write long and prosper! I'll see you just around the bend for The Head of Medusa! <3

Brittaini Over & Out