ARC: Goddess with a Blade by Lauren Dane

Releases June 6 from Carina Press

Rowan Summerwaite is no ordinary woman. Physical vessel to the Celtic Goddess Brigid and raised by the leader of the Vampire Nation, she's a supercharged hunter with the power to slay any vampire who violates the age-old treaty.

A recent string of murders has her at odds with Las Vegas's new Scion, the arrogant and powerful Clive Stewart. The killings have the mark of Vampire all over them, and Rowan warns Clive to keep his people in line—or she'll mete out her own brand of justice.

Though her dealings with Clive are adversarial to say the least, Rowan is intensely aware of her attraction to him. But she can't let it distract her from her duty—to find and battle the killer before more women die.
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I'm not a big fan of the paranormal or the urban fantasy. I especially dislike when different breeds/species, etc are paired up as a dynamic duo. It's the main reason that I never read past book 1 in the Immortals After Dark series. I hate having to keep it all straight – it's just too much work for a pleasure read. I was a little worried when in the first chapter of Goddess With a Blade, I felt lost, unsure of who or what Rowan was. By the 2nd chapter, I pretty much had it figured out, and was able to move forward.

The blurb is pretty much a good summary of the basic plot. Intermixed in there are all the dynamics that happen between a vampire hunter and the head honcho vampire who are intensely attracted to each other.

One thing I liked about this one is that Rowan is a strong, capable, kickass woman, but she isn't preachy. In a couple of recent books, I've felt almost as though I was getting a lesson on proper male-female relations straight from the heroine's mouth. Not so here. In fact, Rowan is a bit messy, which I really liked.

I liked that Clive recognized he had a big problem within his vampire community, but wasn't completely wowed by everything Rowan told him. They each had a hefty dose of skepticism for the truthiness of the other's evidence and beliefs and yet at the same time have to deal with being on opposite sides in a centuries-long battle. Add in a healthy shot of snarkiness, especially on Rowan's part, and human friends and victims, plus Rowan's 'foster' father (the full head of all the vampires) and it's a recipe for a great ride.

As in most vampire books, there is a lot of gore and descriptiveness surrounding the fights and the deaths, but since I happen to love blood and gore, I was just fine with it.

I really liked Rowan's cop friend as well. He added a touch of grittiness and reality to the story, as well as a bit of a noir-type feel.

Rowan and Clive will never have an easy road to an HEA. There's too much conflict for that. But the sexiness of their scenes together, and the underlying desire they have to make it right (I think) will help them along the way.

This is one of those books that made me sit back in awe at the imagination of authors, and realize that I could never, ever be an author. I'm far too literal and boring.

To summarize: a tough-as-nails otherworldly vampire hunter heroine and a badass vamipre hero who turn each other's world upside down. Throw in a few more very complicated relationships and you have a terrificly fun and intense book.

I enjoyed it a lot, which kind of surprised me, since I'm pretty clear this isn't my thing. But as always, I should have trusted Dane to deliver a great story, no matter what species the characters are. You have a sense immediately who Rowan is, and Clive takes a little longer, but I got a really good feel for him as well. Vampire with honor among all the other Vampire traits? Yes, I thought so.

Thank you to Lauren Dane for an advance look at this one. Highly recommended!

Is it me? Judging books by their covers: UF

Is it me, or is Bella from the Twilight movies now gracing a ton of UF covers? And I don't mean the actress necessarily, I mean the look. Young, dark-haired teenage girl holding a big-ass knife in a dreary, dark setting. Is Bella, that sulky, unhappy teenager, becoming the poster child for UF?  

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with UF as a genre. In fact, just the opposite. I think the worlds these authors build are amazing, complex, and interesting places. Ditto for many of the characters. But as a consumer, it makes it hard to tell the books apart, makes me think there's a cookie-cutter profile for the heroines, especially (since they usually grace the covers). So do the art departments do a disservice to these books by making them all look interchangeable? Like I said, I'm well aware that the cookie-cutter heroine isn't the case, it's just my own perception based upon what I'm seeing. And yes, I realize that the same could likely be said about almost any genre (hello - historicals!). I may do a cover post for other genres, too. Unless of course, I'm lambasted for this post, and I really hope not. Cause I'm just posting my own stream-of-consciousness  perceptions. Cover design trends come and go - it's why they're called trends.

So here's my disclosure about UF books (and my own self-psychoanalysis): I don't usually read them. Except those times when I do. I like a good, dark story as much as the next person, but in general, I think I'm more likely to pick up an emotionally complex book based in a world that I am comfortable in rather than read a book set in a complex world that, while there are deep emotions and well written characters, I really have to concentrate at first in order to grasp the importance of each and every piece of information. I'd rather absorb than study. Perhaps it's why I don't care for many of the paranormals out there either. If I need a glossary at the end of the book in order to grasp what's going on, it's probably not the escape I'm after. Again, like I said, just me. Because I know that if I try to have something insightful to say when I review a book, then yes, a certain amount of thinking is obviously involved. Otherwise you all would get a series of "Uhhh... I really liked it" posts. But I like to be free to examine the impact of the character's interactions without having to place it in the context of an unfamiliar world. Does that make any sort of sense?

What did all that have to do with cover art? Not a lot, but I like to ramble, and it's my prerogative.

Back to the topic at hand. For the purposes of this post, I just grabbed 3 covers. Please do not infer that I'm picking on these 3 books or these authors. And yes, I do realize that not ALL UF covers look like this. It's just that lately almost every time I read a review or see a post about a book in the UF genre, the cover will look very similar to these. And while I have to say that I really, really like the cover art in general for these books, in fact I actually think they're quite beautiful and sometimes haunting when well done (looking at the top 2 here, in particular), and they likely convey the general feeling of the book, to me they all pretty much look the same. Or is it just that the cover model is the same?

So is it just me?

Through The Veil - Shiloh Walker

Blurb:

Found wandering in a field as a child, Lee Ross was given a name by the state and put in a foster home—without anyone realizing she wasn’t entirely human. All her life, she’s tried to forget the odd dreams that have plagued her, of monsters creeping through the night and a man fighting demons by her side. But the bruises she wakes with are all too real to ignore…

Then the man from her dreams appears—in the flesh. His name is Kalen—and he insists that her destiny lies in his world, the world of her dreams. To save their people, he must convince Lee to give up everything she knows, follow her heart, and cross over into the Under Realm—even though once she does, she’ll never be able to return.

This was my very first Urban Fantasy so I wasn't sure what to expect. Add in the fact that it's mixed with paranormal ... well, generally that's not my style. But, I'd been wanting to try UF for a while, and when Shiloh offered the ARC, I snapped it up. Why? Because I love her writing. LOVE IT. So I figured the fact that I always enjoy her writing would be a great way to ease into the UF genre. I was right.

I have to admit that the beginning, the world building, was a little slow going for me, but in some ways I think the route Shiloh took was necessary because there is A LOT of stuff going on in this book. So many different creatures... some of them just way creepy. Shiloh sure has a GREAT imagination. Anyway, I'm not going to rehash the book and what happens in it except to say... expect the unexpected.

In Through The Veil Shiloh took me on a journey to another world. One that was bleak and dark and, frankly, scary. I mean I sure as heck wouldn't want to meet up with one of those Sirvani or Ikacado demons. *shudder* I loved Lee. I loved how Shiloh didn't make Lee one of those tough-as-nails women who ends up in a different dimension/world and doesn't get freaked about it but instead kicks ass without hesitation. I like how Lee was "humanized"... how she did get freaked and how she did wonder what she was doing there and just what the hell was going on.

Enter Kalen. Oh, hunky Kalen. He is no pushover. He gives Lee the what-for more than once and I like that about him. He doesn't push her farther than he knows she can go, but he does give her the shove she needs to be what she needs to be and helps her down the path in finding it.

There are a lot of twists and turns in this book, creatures from your worst nightmares, a lovely romance in spite of the chaos and war, and the occasional surprise in the story that will keep you turning the pages. I thoroughly enjoyed Through The Veil and I hope that Shiloh will continue this as a series. It certainly would be interesting to see where Kalen, Lee, and their people go from here. (Hint, hint *G*)

My grade: B+.