Review: The Demon's Bargain by Lisa Alder

The Demon's Bargain (Demons Unleashed) by Lisa Alder
Synopsis (Goodreads):

When the Demon bargains for one night of her pleasure...no one loses.

Vetis, the Demon of Corruption, is bored. It’s too easy to tempt humans into committing horrible acts and the appeal has worn thin. He’s restless and seeking distraction...until a gambler offers to settle a debt by submitting his wife for Vetis’s use.

One tiny glimpse of the rage in Amara and the absolutely sexless way she endures his sensual touch, and Vetis has his challenge. He’ll make this woman enjoy the carnal pleasures of sex.

The bargain is struck. One night. Of HER pleasure. And the debt will be paid.

Ill-used by her husband, Amara believes she is doomed, for she has no pleasure within her, her innocence forfeit long ago. But as Amara’s body awakens with sinful desires and carnal longings, hope begins to blossom that pleasure is within her reach.

Demons never fail and the challenge is on. Vetis knows with the right sensual persuasion the debt will be paid in pleasure, however he doesn’t bargain on falling in love.

Warning: this erotic romance novella contains m/f/m sex, light bondage, and smokin' hot demon sex.

My Thoughts: Holy smokes, Batman! Where has this series been all my life? It has all the things I adore and want more of... a sexy beast of a hero, a damaged heroine, a despicable ass of a husband who needs to get his comeuppance... If I weren't sitting in my chair right now I'd be bouncing all over the place.

Maybe this was just the perfect book for the type of mood I was in, but everything about it worked for me. I LOVED how Vetis was determined to replace Amara's memories of degradation and pain with ones that gave her pleasure to remember. I loved that Amara's abuse is addressed head on. I loved that Vetis pulls out all the stops to get through to her. In fact, I'm getting a little swoony thinking about it.

I really, really loved the world that Lisa Alder has created. I'm a sucker for demons and broken societies and this book took both and mixed them up nicely. Did I mention the demons? Let's face it, demons are one of my favorites for a reason and Vetis pushed all my buttons. So to speak. I like that these demons were imprisoned by the Fae as a means for the Fae to steal all the energy of the humans for themselves (Dudes, not a spoiler. This is laid out in the opening prologue and is some AWESOME setup for this world). It was a nice twist on the idea that the Fae are inherently good and it pulled me in from the start.

The sex is smokin', the demons sizzle and the world packs a punch. I am totally looking forward to reading more in this series.

Books in this series
1. The Demon's Bargain - Kindle
2. To Summon a Demon
3. The Demon's Seduction

Author Links
| Website | Twitter | Amazon |

Reading challenges: Ebook Challenge

Review: Peacemaker by Lindsay Buroker

Peacemaker (Flash Gold #3) by Lindsay Buroker
Format: ebook
Source: purchased

Flash Gold
1. Flash Gold
2. Hunted
3. Peacemaker - Kindle
4. Claimed
5. Liberty

Lindsay Buroker
| Website | Twitter | Facebook | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

Half-breed tinkerer Kali McAlister doesn’t care that the gold rush has stormed into Dawson and prospectors are flooding the north—all she wants is to finish construction of her airship, so she can escape the Yukon and see the world.

Unfortunately, the world keeps chucking wrenches into her machinery: a mysterious gambler is pumping her for information on her bounty-hunting business partner Cedar; the notorious gangster Cudgel Conrad is after Kali’s knowledge of flash gold; and a series of gruesome murders is plaguing Dawson. Someone—or something—is ruthlessly slaying tribal women, and, if Kali and Cedar can’t find the killer, she might be the next target.

My Thoughts: I remember after I read the first book in this series - which was the only book out at the time - and how I sat there afterward and made these little whimpering noises and thought "I really really really REALLY hope we get to see more of Kali and Cedar." Then book 2 came along and I might have wept a little in excitement. Not that I'll admit to that, mind you, because I'm not a crier. Not too long ago, I saw that book 3 had been released and I seriously thought about sending vaguely creepy tweets to Lindsay Buroker gushing about my endless love for this series. Then I thought about the creepy aspect of sending vaguely creepy tweets to people you haven't actually met and decided against it. What do you know? There are lines in the stalker sand I'm not willing to cross just yet.

Guys, this series just keeps getting better. Kali's ability to use flash gold - and the fact that she has some of it in her possession - puts her constant danger from people who want to steal it for themselves. I just love that girl to pieces. Cedar does something awesomely heroic and she's all "That's nice. Did you see the hardware on that airship?" It cracks me up that she relates more to machinery than she does to people. And then there's Cedar. It's hard to dislike a guy who accepts Kali for who she is. He knows that she has a knack with machinery and he supports her in her tinkering. The fact that she's a woman and a half-breed aren't part of the equation. She's good at what she does, he stands behind her. He likes her. Period. Full stop. He might want to protect her from the big bad things in the world but he never doubts that her ability to create things isn't an asset.

This series is wicked good. I love the steampunk aspects. I love the characters. I love Lindsay Buroker's writing style. I could read dozens of books set in this world and never complain.

Serial Killers' Featured Review: Zombie Mommy by M.T. Anderson

Want to know more about the idea behind Serial Killers? This post is the place to start.

This month's book is Zombie Mommy the 5th book in the Pals in Peril series by M.T. Anderson. Odd's the established reader and I'm new to the series...

Synopsis (Goodreads)

Our intrepid heroes are home from their Delaware crime-stopping excitement, only to discover that Lily’s mom has become possessed by a menacing zombie who wants to take over the world! (Or, at least, the world of stage and screen.) Thank goodness Lily’s friends Katie, Jasper, and foxy Blue-Hen-State monk Drgnan Pghlik are around—accompanied by Jasper’s Astounding High-Pressure Holy Water Extruder Gun, of course—to help save the day.

But not before some truly scary things happen, things involving stuff like killer tarantulas, web-footed teen vampire boys, bad weather (it’s a horror novel, remember?), and, well…the rest is just too terrifying for words!

Odd's Thoughts: I am not sane on the topic of this series. I picked up the first one, Whales on Stilts, and it was all over at the newt races. Newt races, people. Newt races. 

I love how snarky the books are, how they're unashamedly a send-up of Nancy Drew, Tom Swift and the Famous Five while at the same time letting you know the author has a serious soft spot for his creations. I love Jasper dash and his lederhosen. I love Katie and her hatred for commuter-train-sized caterpillars and dickwad social studies teachers. I love Lily and her appreciation of small, forgotten places overgrown with ivy. I still, all these years later, love Whales on Stilts. (Spoiler: they shoot lasers out of their eyes. Seriously, why are you even still reading this review? Whales. On stilts! With lasers! Believe me, if you desert the review now to go get your copy I will totally understand. And eventually, forgive.)

The thing is... I do not love this new love-triangle twist involving Drgnan, the monk from book 3, Jasper Dash and the Flame-Pits of Delaware. I'm fully aware that you know, middle grades = hormones = notes passed about boys/girls/llamas (etc etc) but it's killing me to see how Anderson makes Katie stupid in the process. I do not love that at all. Not even a little.

Anyway.

A quick read with, as promised, shambling zombies. Loved the set-up, loved Madigan Westlake-Culottes, or whatever her name was, really didn't love all the fighting over Drgnan. That's not really why I showed up for this series. More inventions, more strange and wonderful magic realism, less romantic triangles, please.

My Thoughts: For the love of fancy cheeses! I was giggling more during this book than was probably good for me. I LOVED the way the author would insert himself into the narrative. It was highly amusing and it worked to keep the story light without being ridiculous. The moment that really sold the book for me was when Lily's mom went all introspective about her (supposed) imminent demise:

"But what if I do have a deadly disease?" she asked out loud. "No. I'm being ridiculous... It's just a cold... But what if I do? Or even worse, what if it is just a cold but I go into the hospital for a test - and ironically I catch a deadly disease from another patient in the hospital?" Though she knew this was not very likely, still, it consumed her. "Then...," she whispered, "then Lily and Ben will be all alone... And if it's anything like those dead mother books, Lily will become a pickpocket or a shoplifter... or she'll have to get a pet raccoon to teach her the meaning of trust..."

Even rereading that has me laughing out loud. Oh, Lily's mom! I've had those EXACT SAME THOUGHTS!

I don't know what to say. This book was silly and vastly entertaining. My niece informed me that the cover has a Scooby-Doo vibe (which works for me because I love those meddling kids) and she'd like to read it next. Well played, M.T. Anderson! You've managed to get my wee niece excited about reading!

Odd: First off, I'm just sorry you had to meet this series with this particular book, because when she's not throwing fits about Drgnan, Katie's actually a strong and sarcastic autonomous character. And this whole Let's Fight Over The Boy Monk subplot, which has only been happening in the last two books, is chapping my tits sideways. As in, this particular subplot is the specific reason I've subtracted precious GoodReads stars from both installations. And I'm kind of torn about it, because I get that, as YA-aged characters, this issue was bound to rear its ugly head sooner or later.

But that doesn't mean I have to like it.

Kelly: Chapping your tits sideways? OUCH!

I really liked the book overall but now you have me curious about the earlier books. No romantic love-trianglely plot? Egad! But... but... how in the world will the storyline progress without a literary threesome?

Odd: I'd have to say the two strongest entries in this series have been the first one, Whales on Stilts, which introduced this whole idea that the world is full of strange occurrences that most people never notice (like uh, whales on stilts, for one) and the third book, Jasper Dash and the Flame Pits of Delaware, which is probably my favorite right now, by which I mean that I'm getting a tattoo of one of the sentences.

Plus at one point in the book everyone's being chased through the jungles of Delaware (go with it) by cannibals on kangaroo-back (see earlier note):

With cruel shrieks and hooting calls, the cannibals of Delaware dismounted and began to pace toward the three friends. Except for six who, disoriented by all the hopping, paced in the wrong direction, spun in circles, or went to throw up in the bushes. The rest, however, looked menacing. They looked hungry. They dressed in loincloths and terrycloth sweatbands. They were greased, and their hair was long and shaggy like rockers. In their hands were spears, long forks, chips and salsa, and cradled in one man's arms, a Cobb salad in Saran Wrap.

Their kangaroos hunkered behind them, waiting for the slaughter.

The chief stood on the path right in front of Lily, Jasper and Katie. He wore a headdress -- a busy, brutal confection of pheasant wings, rat skulls and sequins -- and an old barbecue apron that said I'M HERE WITH SCRUMPTIOUS ------->

 So you can see why this series holds a special place in my heart. Which makes this whole Katie-goes-boycrazy thing extra annoying.

Kelly: Whoa. I want you to know that I'm *thisclose* to putting the entire series on hold from that quote alone.

I liked the humor that popped up throughout the book. It was silly but it was the type of silly that didn't make me roll my eyes. I just... liked it. It made me smile. AND WHO DOESN'T LIKE SMILING??

Odd: Communists, that's who. And kangaroo-mounted cannibals. Also, if I am remembering correctly, whales on stilts. They found it particularly hard to smile with their big old baleen grills. It gave them away every time.

Kelly: Ha! Okay. You got me there.

So, if we exclude the love triangle, did this book live up to the others as far as the beasties/bad guys go?

Odd: It did, I have to say. If we exclude the love triangle, I thought there were a lot of elements done well and in ways I hadn't seen before: who and what the ghost was, the creepy theatre, that whole entire ghost town in upstate NY (which, if you've never driven through it is lousy with small towns that might as well be unpopulated or undead populated) and most of all, the solution to the ghost at the end. The whole thing was hilarious and plausible.

Now let's just hope Drgnan monks himself back off to the jungles of Delaware OR, if he sticks around, quits stealing Katie's spine. I mean, if he ends up with anyone, I want it to be Jasper.

"Jasper...do you and Drgnan talk?"

...Jasper looked at [Lily] oddly. "Of course we talk."

Lily said nervously, "What about? Like, personal things?"

"Why, we talk about everything."

"Do you ever talk about..." Lily couldn't make herself go on. She was too embarrassed. She just said, "Like what?"

"Well, we have heart-to-hearts...about...you know...what you and Katie probably talk about: what tattoos we'll get when we're older. Which of us can slap higher on a wall. What the rules would be for a ball game with bikes that spit fire."

--Agent Q, or The Smell of Danger! (book 4)

You're with me on this, right?

Kelly: I'm with you because who doesn't have long discussions about the rules to a  ball game with bikes that spit fire with their significant other??? WIN!

Split Decision

Odd wasn't impressed with the lovey-dovey aspects of the storyline and rated it in the lower range due to that but I found it charming and wasn't much bothered by it.

Books in this series
1. Whales on Stilts
2. The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen
3. Jasper Dash and the Flame Pits of Delaware
4. Agent Q, or The Smell of Danger!
5. Zombie Mommy - Hardcover | Paperback | Kindle

Author Links
| Website | Amazon |

Review: Chaos Burning by Lauren Dane

Chaos Burning (Bound by Magick #2) by Lauren Dane
Synopsis (Goodreads):

The life of Lark Jaansen, hunter in Clan Gennessee, has been shaped by violence and unrest—and it defines her future. Well-trained and resilient, she’s met her militaristic match in Simon Leviathan, a warrior not of this world. Locked in mutual admiration, and a desire so hot it burns, Lark and Simon have something else in common: they love the dark, and as a shadow is cast over their world, they’re each coming into their own.

A mysterious war has been waged among the Others. As witches and humans turn against each other, as faes retreat in fear, and as vampires rise, Lark and Simon discover that an unseen force is behind it. A single, hungry entity older than recorded history has returned to gorge on the magick of his victims. It is the Magister, nothing less than the end of time. Finding it is Lark and Simon’s first hope. Surviving it is their last.

My Thoughts: Good gravy! I liked book 1 in this series but I absolutely loved this one. It takes all those delicious things that I adore and rolled it up in a fast-paced storyline with high stakes and scary bad guys. Let's see - a strong willed heroine who doesn't let anyone walk over her? Check! Lark is just that! An uber-hot Alpha male who respects his lady love enough to not smother her? Check! Simon has the Alpha male thing down in spades! A fantastic supporting cast who are well developed enough that any one of them could have their own story written? Check! Check check check!

One of the things I adore about Lauren Dane's writing is how quirky her characters are. Lark has blue hair and dresses like a rainbow disaster and she owns that look. At one point she tells Simon that she knows she's not beautiful but she works with what she has. I like that. I like that she's funky and powerful and confident. I also liked that Simon's bone deep attraction to Lark started out as friendship. He liked being around her. He liked that she fit him in so many ways before he saw her as a potential mate. His reaction felt very real to me. She got under his skin as a friend and suddenly he found that he couldn't shake her. More to the point, he didn't want to shake her.

The battles are bloody, the bad guy is downright terrifying and the good guys don't always get away without casualties - in short, this is a gritty, wonderfully drawn world that's full of surprises. Lark and Simon are sexy as all get and the glimpse we get at life on the other side of the Veil is pretty cool.

Books in this series
1. Heart of Darkness
2. Chaos Burning - Paperback | Kindle

Links
| Website | Twitter | Facebook | Amazon |
Chaos Burning was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Spotlight on... Building community

This is the first in what I hope is a multi-part series revolving around building community within our blogs and with other bloggers - inspired in large part by Amanda @ On a Book Bender's mission to promote blogger interaction with her blog. To see an excellent example of this, check out any post in her Clock Rewinders on a Book Binge Feature. Amanda does an outstanding job at highlighting interesting posts of fellow bloggers and getting people involved in the community on the whole. And I'm not just saying that because we're freakish internet twinsies. I promise!

Building Community

Let's start at the beginning... What is community? According to Dictionary.com, community is defined as "a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists."

That's pretty accurate but it's also pretty dry. A group of people sharing common interests. Yeah, that's us. However, I don't quite think that encapsulates the spirit of community that we readers and book bloggers share. It doesn't give us the sense that when one of us falters another will step in with some well-timed advice or a shoulder to cry on. It doesn't showcase the generosity and appreciation we have for one another. It doesn't highlight the way we come together as a group to support one another in our times of need.

How do we foster this spirit of community with other bloggers and readers to make this community (used in the dry sense, here) stand out?

There are so many ways to reach out - leave a comment on a blog post, interact on Twitter or Facebook, pass a link for a favorite post around, just saying HI when you see one of your favorite bloggers having a bad day. Not all of them work for everybody. Some are more effective than others in certain situations. In the end, there is no right or wrong way to interact. Personally, I'm a chronic tweeter. I love chatting with people and smothering them with huggles or sending them dirty pictures of half-naked men when they're feeling down. I like how fast paced it is and I like how I can get instant gratification. I would hazard a guess that I interact more on Twitter than I do anywhere else, my blog included.

Today let's celebrate the blogs - and the people behind them - that do an awesome job of creating the spirit of community that we book bloggers are known for. Shout it out! Tell us who they are! What is it about these blogs and people that make their community worth being a part of?  How can we use their examples to work on building a better community as a whole?

Review: Devil's Gate by Thea Harrison

Natural Evil (Elder Races #4.6) by Thea Harrison
Format: ebook
Source: provided by the author for review
Date read: 2012

Elder Races
1. Dragon Bound
2. Storm's Heart
3. Serpent's Kiss
3.5. True Colors
4. Oracle's Moon
4.5. Natural Evil
4.6. Devil's Gate - Paperback | Kindle
4.7. Hunter's Season
5. Lord's Fall
5.5. The Wicked
6. Kinked
6.5. Dragos Takes a Holiday
6.6. Pia Saves the Day
6.7. Peanut Goes to School
7. Night's Honor
8. Midnight's Kiss
8.5. Dragos Goes to Washington
8.6. Pia Does Hollywood
9. Shadow's End
9.5. Liam Takes Manhattan
9.7. The Chosen
9.8. Planet Dragos

Thea Harrison
| Website | Twitter | Facebook | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

As a coroner, medusa Seremela Telemar has always felt more comfortable chatting over a dead body than over drinks. But when her wild niece, Vetta, runs off to Devil’s Gate, a lawless town that has sprung up overnight in a modern-day gold rush, she knows she has to extricate her before the rebellious girl gets into real trouble. Though she’s confident in her head snakes’ ability to defend her against attackers, Seremela is still a bit nervous about braving this modern-day Wild West by herself.

Vampyre Duncan Turner is not about to let his new co-worker go into that chaos alone. His Vampyric power and lawyer smarts make him the perfect ally, and the fact that he already had his eye on Seremela for more…personal reasons, doesn’t hurt matters. Any romantic thoughts pull up short, however, when they arrive at Devil’s Gate and learn Vetta is set to hang by morning.
In order to save Vetta and themselves, Seremela and Duncan are going to have to fight fire with force and magic with fangs. And pray they make it out of Devil’s Gate alive.

Product Warnings
Contains mother effin’ snakes in planes, cars, tents, and beds. Luckily, our hot Vampyre hero doesn’t mind them one bit…

My Thoughts: It shouldn't be a big shock that I'm stupid in love with this series. I adore everything about it - from the world building (OMG! FANTASTIC!) to the characters (*swoon swoon swoon*) to the situations those characters find them in (Fights to the death! Hawt sexin'! Backstabbing and other shenanigans!). I honestly can NOT get enough of this world.

Things I loved: Seremela. Her head snakes were so very cute. Duncan refers to them as "mischievous" once and that is so perfect for them. They like to touch him and wrap around him and I just loved that Seremela had sort of given up on controlling them. Beyond her snakes, Seremela was also pretty awesome. She's smart and strong and yet she's sweetly vulnerable around Duncan.

Duncan. Oh, Duncan. He sees what he wants and he goes after it. With Seremela in his sights, she's bound to fall for him. It doesn't hurt that he's a hunk and he cares about her and he's willing to risk himself to help her out. I also loved the glimpses we had of the world outside this story through Duncan's interactions with Julian, the Nightkind king. Thea Harrison truly does an outstanding job of making this world feel big and all-encompassing.

The Tarot deck continues its journey and I'm SUPER excited to see the next installment in this mini-arc.

Review: Stormy Seduction by Vivian Arend

Stormy Seduction (Pacific Passion #2) by Vivian Arend
Synopsis (Goodreads):

As morning-afters go, this one is looking pretty bright. Both air shifter Laurin Marshal and water shifter/shaman Matthew Jentry are aware, though, that trouble won't be long in coming. And they're right-before they've barely begun to work out the details of their mystical bond, the People of the Air find them to challenge Laurin's right to choose Matt as her mate.

Fending off Laurin's would-be suitors is easier than Matt anticipated, but there's another dilemma still to face. His own people. Laurin is just beginning to trust that his heart and body are completely hers, a radical change after she's spent the past two years alone and on the run. What will happen when his skittish, innocent partner encounters the playful, sensual-even lusty-ways of the Otter Clan?

Especially since they are arriving at the peak of the traditional summer solstice fertility rituals. And tradition demands they be the main attraction...

Warning: Incoming extreme passion yielding one otherworldly adventure. Don't let the book length fool you-there's enough heat in this story to challenge global warming. Four plus two equals one ceremony so explosive it may throw the earth off its axis.

My Thoughts: Stormy Seduction picks up right after the events in book 1. Like, morning after after. Heck, Laurin and Matt barely have time to get in some hot morning nooky before the air shifters show up to challenge Matt. Let's face it, having your morning sexy time nearly interrupted by a group of guys who want to use your lady friend for their own nefarious purposes is enough to take the sting out of any man's stinger. Good thing Matt has a little more oomph than your normal guy, right?

I mentioned in my review for book 1 that I loved the idea of Matt and Laurin traveling to the different clans and getting a taste of their traditions. I actually don't think I said that in so many words, but that's what I was going for. Anyway. Here we get the Otter Clan and they're a little on the touchy-feely side. They like their sex play and they aren't afraid to let Laurin and Matt know it. The solstice celebration is incredibly hot and celebrates everything lush and sensual about their people. Laurin might have some reservations about the very public aspects of this rite but she can't help but be captivated by the way these people embrace this side of themselves.

Very sexy (rawr!), this is a nice look at how two people who are dealing with a sudden mystical bond (insta-attraction, ftw!) begin to work together in a relationship. Did I mention the very sexy part? *smiles dreamily*

Books in this series
1. Stormchild
2. Stormy Seduction - Kindle
3. Silent Storm
4. Storm Swept

Author Links
| Website | Twitter | Facebook | Amazon |

Reading challenges: Ebook Challenge