When Shadows Call by Amanda Bonilla

Synopsis:
The envy of 1900s society, Darian is the rich, beautiful wife of a prominent Californian doctor—but her life is far from perfect. For years, Darian has suffered at the hand of her cruel husband and yearned for an escape—one that she knows to be all but impossible. 

But when an enigmatic stranger comes to call, Darian finds herself charmed by his seductive smile and the inexplicable connection she feels. And when he makes her a thrilling—yet frightening—proposition, Darian must decide if she’s strong enough to abandon the mortal world she knows and answer the shadow’s call…


Review: 
I'm a pretty big fan of origin stories, and recently I have started to become more and more of a fan of novellas. This was a pretty awesome novella/origin story. I loved Darian when she was introduced to me in Amanda Bonilla's first book (check out the review if you don't believe me), so I was excited to see how things really started out for her. Granted I knew the big picture, throughout the first book you get a pretty decent glimpse into what Darian went through. But this was different, it wasn't just the simple telling of what happened in her life, but rather the living of it all. All the thoughts and feels that come along with that.

Darian is a hard woman, she has taken what was truly a hard beginning and turned herself into something so much more, and while I would love to go into detail about the person Darian is today, I think it would be robbing you of the experience of the first book. So instead I'll talk about what she was like in this book. Darian starts off as a very broken person. In no way do I think she has ever had a healthy relationship or been loved in the way a woman should be love. But worse than that her husband is a violent guy and beats her when he drinks, and to say it is easy to feel for Darian and to want her to get out of that situation would be an understatement.

Then of course Darian meets Azriel, who changes her entire life. You have Darian being this abused and beaten down woman who is on the brink of dying, turn into something more than human who is really starting to come into her own. She does this all along side Azriel, which I think is actually kind of awesome because you get to see Azriel in such a different light compared to the way you get to know him in the series.

I really enjoyed reading this novella and really getting to know Darian on a level I wasn't really expecting. She's a great character in the series, and that makes her all the more interesting when you get to really experience her back story right along side her. Of course I would recommend this novella to anyone who enjoyed book 1 in the series, but I also think if you are interested in trying out Amanda Bonilla's work then this would be an awesome introduction not only to her writing style but also to the series. All in all I am going to call this novella a don't miss. So go out, buy it, and enjoy!

One lucky commenter will get to choose between a digital copy of When Shadows Call  or a print copy of Blood Before Sunrise! Hard choice! 


E-MAIL kate@ufreviews with "GIVEAWAY" in the subject line to enter! Include your preference and 1 winner will be chosen randomly. 

Amanda Bonilla & Xander Interview

A big thanks to Kate and Urban Fantasy Reviews for hosting me today! I think it’s a pretty well-known fact that I have a soft spot in my heart for Xander Peck, Shaede High King and recent addition to Seattle’s supernatural community. And when I posed the question to my Facebook friends about who I should interview today, they agreed that Xander was too intriguing to resist.

Amanda: Thanks for meeting me today, Your Highness.

Xander: *gives a dismissive wave of his hand* Please, call me Xander.

Amanda: Thanks. It’s so great of Kate to invite us to Urban Fantasy Reviews today! I thought we’d start off with her questions first.

Kate: Since we all love books here, what is your favorite book and why?

Xander: My father made my brother and I read The Art of War over and again until we had the text committed to memory. I still read it from time to time. I find Sun Tzu’s words very comforting though not altogether entertaining.  

Kate:  What is your favorite memory (from recent times or however far back your life reaches)?

Xander:I’m not sure how humans remember, but when you live as long as we do, the past becomes… faintly muddled. Memories are like dreams, the lucidity of which often comes into question. When I was fifteen or sixteen, I purchased a stallion from a Fae prince who had won the beast from a Sheik. He was the most stubborn beast I’d ever met and it took me almost a year to break him. I loved that damned horse.

Kate: Everyone tends to forget royals are people too, what is your most embarrassing moment?

Xander:Well, I didn’t vomit on a foreign dignitary or anything quite so scandalous. I was at Emperor Xun’s (Shang Dynasty) court to accept a sword that his sorcerer had charmed on my father’s behalf.  I mistook one of sorcerer’s wives for his mother. Humans age so fast… sometimes they appear much older than they really are. The sorcerer took it in stride, however. I half expected him to curse the katana, rather than charm it.

Kate: If you found out you had only one day left on this earth, who would you spend it with, what would you do, and what would your last meal be?

Xander: I’d spend my last day with my brother, my friends…those I care about. I’ve done so much over the course of my life; I think I would like to just sit with my loved ones and enjoy their company. As for my last meal? That’s easy. Burgers from Dick’s. They have locations all over Seattle. Delicious.

Kate:Any tidbits you would like to share about your plans for the future of your Shaede Kingdom?

Xander: *grins* Sorry, my dear Kate. Who knows who might be reading this? I couldn’t possibly allow anything to slip that my enemies might seize upon. I’m afraid my plans for my kingdom must remain a secret for now.

Amanda: Thanks, Kate! Awesome questions! I hope you don’t mind, Xander, but some readers have a few questions for you as well and I brought them along. First off, Natalie would like to know your true motives toward Darian. She wants to know if you plan to fight for her attention?

Xander: *flashes a very seductive smile* This is an easy question. My motives regarding Darian are simple: I want her, and I want her to want me as well. As for fighting for her attentions, well, I alwaysget what I want.

Amanda: Jonathan would like to know if you prefer Red Vines or Twizzlers?

Xander: Neither. I prefer Darrel Lee. It’s from Australia, I believe. Mango flavored.

Amanda: I’ve seen Darrel Lee Licorice at Target. Do you just run over and buy a few bags when you get a craving?

Xander: I don’t know where it comes from. I have people who do my shopping for me. All I know is that it’s good.

Amanda: Gotcha. Okay… back to reader questions… Cecy wants to know what is your Achilles heel when it comes to females?

Xander: If you asked my brother, Raif, he would say my Achilles heel is wanting that which I can’t have. *laughs good naturedly* And he’d probably be right. Moreover, I’d say that my weakness is strong-willed females. There is something about a strong woman that brings me to my knees.

Amanda: This next question sort of ties into my previous one. Nancy asks: What do you like most about Darian? Is there anything you’d change about her?

Xander: What I admire most about Darian is her inability to bend. To anyone, including myself. Her strength of conviction, no matter how misguided it might sometimes be, is admirable. Like I said, I’m attracted to strong-willed women. Strong women make excellent queens. And for the record, the only thing I would change about Darian is her current taste in men. *smiles*

Amanda: Last but not least, Cowanda would like to know what you think you can do to win Darian from Tyler? Do you have any dirt on Tyler that you could use against him?

Xander: First of all, I won’t have to win Darian from anyone. I’m confident that in the end, she will choose the better man. I am far better suited for her than anyone else. And to answer the second question, if I did in fact, have any dirt on the Jinn, I certainly wouldn’t show my hand…yet.

Amanda: Okay, well, I think that about covers it.

Xander: Don’t you have a question for me? Something you’ve been dying to know?

Amanda: Well… yes, actually. If you could have any wish granted, what would it be?

Xander: I would wish for peace in my kingdom and for my subjects to be happy. That is the sole wish of any good king.

Amanda: That’s a pretty awesome wish. Thanks for talking with us today, Xander.

Xander: *bows* I am at your disposal.

Amanda: Okay, guys, I might have swooned. Just a little. ;) Thanks again, Kate! You rock!!!




Stay tuned for a review of Amanda's novella and a giveaway later today! 

Kevin Anthony Guest Post

Mad Moral (Mad Series, Book One)

Mad Moral is the world of Ford Fischer, where in murderous stuffed animals, demonic possessions, gigantic creepy crawlers, knife wielding slashers and much more madness are common place. Fischer, coupled with a romantically conflicted exorcist and a dreamer who redefines night terrors, leads us through a twisted world that can be best defined as one of a kind.

-Ford Fischer, a twenty-year old serial slasher desperately trying to resist the lure of the blade-

The woman lived in a small trailer park that was a short drive from the downtown area. Many nights Ford skipped meetings only to receive a phone call from Miriam questioning his whereabouts. She was a kind woman even though it was rumored she slaughtered an entire sorority house back in the seventies. They arrived at the woman’s trailer, the front yard decorated with gnomes dressed as businessmen and women. The streetlights weren’t operational, the neighbor nearly ghost town like.

Ford and Lu exited the car and headed up to her front door. He raised his clinched fist to knock only for Lu to notice the trailer door was half-ajar. It creaked as she pushed it open, Ford stepping in first. The front yard theme continued inside. No matter where they looked, a gnome was visible. There were photos, miniature figures, dishware, and plush gnomes on her couch. Ford resisted greeting them, not accustomed to silent stuffed animals.

Lu passed the kitchen area and headed to the bedroom door knocking. “Miriam, you here?”

Ford stood close behind Lu. “You missed the meeting, Miriam. Are you okay?”

Lu grabbed the door handle, sliding it sideways into the wall. Miriam’s body lay sprawled out on her bloodstained mattress, multiple stab wounds in the woman’s chest. The average person would have reacted wildly to the scene in the bedroom. Her withering face was pale, her light blue eyes opened. Ford and Lu found themselves admiring the murder scene first, mourning the loss of their group leader second.

Lu shut the door. “The slasher has been slashed.”

“Should we let this unfold naturally?”

“Yes, no cops tonight. I’m sure somebody will eventually uncover her body.”

“We were never here.”

“We were never here,” Lu reaffirmed.

The slashers left the scene, discreetly driving away from the trailer park.

-Sidnee Vincent, a twenty-one year old exorcist who’s romantic woes is constantly sabotaged by the demonic forces in her life.-

The exorcist and the dreamer walked the streets of downtown searching for Daniel. They checked inside the most crowded bars and a showed a few night-owls his photo. A loud scream caught the attention of those in range. Milo and Sidnee turned toward the source of the scream to find Daniel aggressively dragging a drunken young woman across the street. He wore all black, his silk shirt buttoned halfway, and no glasses. Sidnee was disgusted at what the demon had done to him.

She slowly advanced towards him. “Demon,” She shouted.

He stopped and turned to Sidnee. “Yo exorcist, how are you?”

The drunken young woman the demon clung onto spat at him and ran away.

He wiped the saliva from his face. “She’ll suffer for that later.”

“There won’t be a later,” Sidnee threatened.

“I’ll snap your neck where you stand exorcist.”

Milo took a step before Sidnee. “That won’t happen.”

The demon smirked. “Is this your boyfriend? He’s pretty.”

Milo clinched his fists. “Your fun is over. I consider this theft.”

The demon rolled his eyes at Milo‘s words, not dignifying them with a response. “You won’t extract me exorcist.”

“I’ll do it by force if it comes to that,” Sidnee shouted. “I’m prepared to end your sad existence.”

The demon took slow backward steps. “I can no longer listen to this bullshit.”

The demon took off running into the night, Sidnee and Milo chased after him. The exorcist did her best to keep up, but found herself trailing after Milo. She was amazed at how invested he was in helping her even though they had just met. It was obvious that even though he no longer wore a badge, he still lived his life to serve and protect.

-Milo Amos, a twenty-four year old dreamer whose survival instincts in his nightmares, fail in reality as he attempts to recapture an ambitious childhood dream of becoming a hero-.

As he fell, he attempted to grab onto the fence. Instead of rust, the opposite side of the fence was slippery. No matter how many times Milo tried to prevent his fall, his hands would instantly lose grip. His body landed against stiff, royal blue matting, instantly his ears being greeted with the sounds of a roaring crowd. Milo sat up to discover himself confined inside a cage, the fence black. Outside the cage sat a crowd of rabid clowns. He stood from the mat, cupping his sore rear.

The audience shouted cuss words at him. A few of them used their own breaths to fill balloons until they popped loudly, chewed on bloody cotton candy, and dug mucus from their rubber noses. Milo found the sight of the crowd comical, yet revolting. The scent of burnt popcorn met his nose and circus music that sounded as if it was being performed by a mediocre grunge band played loudly. A door on the opposite of the cage opened and a yellow haired clown, his tattoo-clad torso exposed, his rubber shoes decorated with miniature spikes, entered to a loud ovation.

As the clown, the poorly applied paint on his face peeling, raised his arms in the air, the crowd went wild. He laughed, sticking his fungus stained tongue out at Milo. A female clown tore open the polka dotted blouse she wore, pressing her wrinkled breast against the cage. Milo turned his head away from the unpleasing sight. The yellow haired clown blew a kiss at the female clown and yanked at his crotch. He refocused on Milo, delivering a pair of downward turned thumbs.

A villainous laughter sounded throughout the arena and declared, “Death match!”

-The 82, 000 word, urban fantasy/thriller novel is only the beginning of a series. Mad Moral (Mad Series, Book One) is available on Smashwords at no charge.-

Bleeding Hearts by Ash Krafton

Synopsis:
Sophie Galen is an advice columnist whose work leaves her neck-deep in other people’s problems. Thanks to her compassion, her gut instinct, and her magnetic charm, Sophie really knows how to attract little black clouds.
Marek Thurzo is no little black cloud; he’s a maelstrom. Marek is Demivampire, a race with the potential to evolve into vampire. A warrior who’s taken his share of spiritual damage, he hovers dangerously close to destruction.
He seeks salvation. She’s driven to save him. But what if he can’t be saved?
Sympathy for his plight becomes true empathy as Sophie’s hidden nature is revealed. Marek suspects she may be one of the Sophia, oracle and redemption of the damned Demivampire. She alone can turn back the evolutionary clock.
All she needs is the courage to face her fears. Can she save him from Falling?


Review: 
I am a huge stickler for books needing a good opening. There is nothing worse than opening a book and wanting to be pulled into a world quickly and then it taking a third of the book to get into it. This book does a really good job of the beginning. It brings you in really quickly to the characters and the world. There isn't a lot of info dumps (something that also drives me crazy in beginnings of books), so I am more than happy to report that this book has a pretty solid beginning that I can say I really enjoyed.

The pacing of the novel itself was really good and enjoyable. I didn't feel like there was a lot of downtime within the book, but I also didn't feel like there was too much action all the time either. It was a really well balanced book. I think a combination of the pacing as well as having a solid well written beginning resulted in me really enjoying the character of Sophie. I felt like I knew her pretty well and when I was reading about her I would want to know more. I liked who she was as a person so it was really easy for me to enjoy reading a story about what was going on in her life.

This story has a pretty big romantic element with in it, which is perfectly fine with me, I love a good love story. But for me this particular love story suffers from a very common syndrome in books, the "non-organic love story". What I mean by this is when two characters are suddenly and inexplicably in love with each other. People, in my opinion, take time to fall in love with one another, and this is especially true in books. Yes two people can fall in lust, and that's perfectly fine, but when they are inexplicably in love it just doesn't feel right to me and is slightly annoying.

I also would like to say that I really enjoyed some of the world building elements in this book. There was a lot of Egyptian elements in the book, and I have to say I love that in the book. I love anything that takes history and uses it in really cool ways to come up with some really cool concepts, and this book did that really well for me.

I did enjoy reading this book, and I think anyone who enjoys reading urban fantasy would enjoy reading this book. I think there are some good concepts in the book and there is a lot of really solid world building. I liked the book overall, and anyone looking for a fun and enjoyable read you should check this out.

The Mage in Black by Jaye Wells

Synopsis:
Sabina Kane doesn't have the best track record when it comes to family. After all, her own grandmother, the leader of the vampire race, just tried to kill her. When she arrives in New York to meet the mage side of her family, the reunion takes the fun out of dysfunctional. 
On top of that, the Hekate Council wants to use her as a pawn in the brewing war against the vampires. Her mission will take her into the bowels of New York's Black Light district, entangles her in mage politics, and challenges her beliefs about the race she was raised to distrust. And Sabina thought vampires were bloodthirsty.


Review:

Shockingly I am progressing through this series rather quickly and I have to say that I am glad I finally found this series. There is something about then general tone of the books that appeal to me. I think it's the author voice in general, she seems like the kind of smart ass girl I would love to be friends with, mainly because I think she would get my sense of humor too. She writes her books pretty intelligently but she does so in a way that remains pretty quirky, while being very true to the character of Sabina that she has created. 

Now if you have not read the first book please do not proceed with this review because I am going to ruin the first book for you in the span of a couple of paragraphs. First off to say Sabina got screwed in the last book would probably be the understatement of the year. Sabina got the short end of the stick her entire life, being raised by vampires, a race that seriously resented her for being born. So I guess it wasn't that much of a stretch for them to betray her in the end, turned out she was just a pawn the entire time in her, let's face it evil, grandmother's plan. 

So book two basically picks up right where we left off in book one, Sabina going to meet her long lost twin sister that she never knew existed, and really having to put her life in the hands of mages, a race she had been taught to hate, after being betrayed by the race who raised her. Sabina doesn't have it easy, and the first hard blow for her, and for me as a reader was that Adam was sent away as soon as they make it to NYC. I don't know about ya'll but for me Adam is an awesome character, and I really wanted to see where that whole thing was going, so when I saw that Adam was being removed from the situation I have to say I was a tad bit on the annoyed side. But I should have trusted the author. 

Wells brings in a lot of new characters in this book, because well lets face it the people Sabina didn't leave behind are dead, so there was a lot of room open for new characters. I think the really interesting thing about this book is that book one was more vampire than anything else, told from Sabina's point of view. But since Sabina was an outsider basically, you as a reader felt like you had the basic information about how vampire society works but never really felt like you were a part of it. Book two is basically all mages all the time, but this time you are learning along side with Sabina, and it's a totally different feel. You really get to go along with Sabina through her journey to figure out who she really is and what she really wants (and that is not to say she has it figured out by the end of this book). 

So with the new found mage cast of characters, I have to say I like a lot of them. I enjoyed the introduction of Slade, the vampire Sabina clearly has a past with, who has this great cocky personality throughout the entire book. Then you have Rhea who is really Sabina's main teacher of all things mage. She seems like the wise woman who takes crap from no one. And then of course when you back her into a corner you realize "wow shouldn't have done that", she can hold her own like nobodies business. Although there is one scene where she literally wears a helmet while training Sabina which was just too cute for words. And of course then you have Maisie, who in my opinion is a great sister. She really wants to do the right thing by her people as well as by her family. She just seems genuine in every sense of the word. That being said I think I wish I had gotten to know her a little bit better. She had a couple of surprising moments within the book, but for the most part I feel like I want to know more. 

Overall this book ends with just a big of an "omg what next" as the first book does. So needless to say I am already working my way through book three. I love this series. It's just a fun ride. I think a lot of it comes from tone like I mentioned earlier. But the story is good, and it's a fun ride from beginning to end. And if you don't think mages are you thing, I seriously urge you to reconsider. This series kind of has it all, all of the awesome supernatural races can be found her, and I have a feeling that is not going to change as the series progresses. So if you are an urban fantasy fan I urge you to pick up this series I think just about everyone will enjoy it. 

Red-Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells

Synopsis: 
In a world where being of mixed-blood is a major liability, Sabina Kane has the only profession fit for an outcast: assassin. But, her latest mission threatens the fragile peace between the vampire and mage races and Sabina must scramble to figure out which side she's on. She's never brought her work home with her---until now. 
This time, it's personal.

Review: 

I received the forth book in this series to review, and I was more than interested in reading it. However, I don't know about all of you out there, but I absolutely hate walking into a series without having read all the books first. So what was my solution? I bought the three books in the series to read first, so the author still got some of my money even though I got one book for free to review. But that's okay I love authors, and we should all support them by buying their books as often as possible. 

So this is a pretty cool concept. Without even really looking at the story line, which I promise I will get to, but just on the world building alone it's cool. You have all of the major supernatural races out there, and they all seem to reproduce naturally. What I mean by that is vampire's get pregnant, vampires can have babies with mages, so you have all these races and it would seem everyone can reproduce with anyone. While this is not accepted or even allowed, it's possible, which is cool. 

Which brings us to our main character, Sabrina. She's an assassin, and she's every bit the assassin you would expect her to be on the surface. Except underneath she has some series baggage. Her heritage leaves her with a lot of issues. Her mother is a noble of the vampire race, and her father is a mage, a big no no. So she lives with a lot of prejudice which personally I think makes her an even better assassin because she has has to learn to put her feelings in a box her entire life. 

However, clearly at the beginning of the book you realize something more is going on within the supernatural races, full of deception and political maneuvering. And guess what, Sabrina is right in the middle of it. Throughout the course of the book, the reader learns along with Sabrina more and more about her past and her creation. And all of that brings her into having to make probably the biggest decision of her life. 

The characters in the story are very different from one another, which makes things much more interesting in my opinion. You have everything from a demon, to mage, to vampires, and fae. And they all have such personality. You can totally see how any reader could find someone in the book to enjoy and relate to. 

There is action and adventure, investigation and learning. There are so many moments in the book where you are heartbroken right along with the characters or full of adrenaline just like they are. There are some interesting little unique elements like the mythology behind the races and vampires having a seriesly bad reaction to apples. 

My one complaint with the book is that it didn't get started all that quick. It wasn't until about half way in that I was fully invested. Not that the beginning was bad or too slow, it's just it took longer than I would have liked for it to for me to get really invested in the characters. But by the end, I was seriously invested and wanted to know what happened next. 

So long story short, I think this book is a great start to what I hope is going to be a fantastic series. It offers so much for anyone who likes urban fantasy, and I think anyone who enjoys urban fantasy even a little bit will enjoy this book, so you should all check it out. 

Shirin Dubbin Guest Post

Many Voices

It’s surprising how many people confuse schizophrenia with multiple personality disorder. The first makes it difficult for a person to tell the difference between what’s real and what’s unreal—commonly categorized by hearing voices. The second has caused a lot of argument as to whether it’s real or not, but is the development of several distinct personalities in one body.

Oddly enough, in their most basic definitions, either could describe authors. We hear voices and tend to become any range of distinct creatures both realistic and mythic in service of our stories. Not only that but “voice’ is the key to our finding our places on the literary landscape.

It took me a little while to figure out what voice is. I’m the kid who asked my mom if I could be more than one thing. Pinpointing a single style, a singular means of storytelling seemed such an odd thing to me. Like choosing one part of myself to give greater importance over the rest. How could my fantasy self override my romance side? Could my literary voice be more important than my genre one? Why did I have to choose comics over screenplays?

You, like my mother, probably know the truth. I didn’t have to choose. I only had to look to Neil Gaiman, who writes comics, children’s books, epic novels, teleplays, screenplays (and, sidebar, draws a mean sketch). They all contain his slightly fractured whimsically dark voice, but he hits a plethora of delightful notes.

Or I could turn to Steven Moffat, a television powerhouse, who writes shows as disparate as Coupling (comedy) and Jekyll (occult), Sherlock (mystery) and Doctor Who (science fiction), yet excels at them all. Sometimes I gape at the genius of Moffat episodes like Blink or A Study In Pink. How about you?

Then there’s one of my favorite people to ever walk this earth, Leslie Esdaile Banks aka Alexis Grant aka L.A. Banks. This woman had an imagination that filled the width and breadth of the universe. She wrote romances and suspense and women’s fiction and paranormal, and she did it all with a voice so distinct we didn’t need to see her name to know who was speaking.

I guess that’s what voice is. Despite the fact some might mistake it for crazy, it’s the freedom to flagrantly fly your freak flag, or be pedantically highbrow, salaciously lowbrow, ridiculous, brilliant, sappy or odd—as long as it’s authentically you.