THIRST: BLOOD OF MY BLOOD by R.P. Channing

~ Kira Sutherland ~

After a near fatal accident (and getting cheated on by her 'boyfriend'), and beating up the lead cheerleader (with whom the boyfriend cheated...), and being labeled as having 'issues' in her school because she, uhm, sees ghosts, Kira is left with two choices:

1. Continue her 'therapy' (where she's told the ghost is a hallucination and also gets her legs ogled too often...)

Or

2. Go to Starkfield Academy, a boarding school for "Crazies and Convicts" (as the social media sites call them.)

She chooses the latter...

~ Cory Rand ~

Cory Rand has not had an easy life. His mother died in a car accident when he was twelve, and so did his mother's best friend...sort of. You see, Janice made a promise to take care of Cory just before she died, and so she lingers. Undead. A ghost that watches out for him.

Brought up in an abusive home, Cory quickly falls into a life of disreputable behavior. After his third offense (which was prompted by a girl, as usual - he has a weakness) he's left with two choices:

1. Be tried as an adult and share a cell with a guy named Bubba (he thinks...)

Or

2. Go to Starkfield Academy, which Cory is pretty sure is run by vampires. But, hey, at least he'll get an education.

He chooses the latter...

It's at Starkfield that Kira meets Cory Rand, a boy with an insatiable Rage who sees ghosts, too. As well as other things, other things from his past, things that confuse him, things like fire and witches and demons.

Things he's always ignored.

Until now.

Excerpt:

My life was perfect.

I had the perfect shoes and the perfect friends and I lived in the perfect house. My nails were perfect and my hair was perfect (except on Sundays, it was always windy on Sundays) and I had the perfect clothes. My lips were a perfect red and my hair perfectly straight. My eyeshadow was perfect, my hips were...okay, and my waist...well...also okay. Nothing was wrong in my life.

But then there was Jack.

Jack was a problem.

He needed to go. I mean, when you’re dead, you’re dead! I had told him this endlessly. Somehow, Jack didn’t get it. I mean, I felt sorry for the guy. Sure. Being stuck between this life and the next. But just because I found him, does that mean I needed to keep him?

I think not!

Sadly, when Jack got that look in his eyes, that weary, almost teary (if his tear-ducts worked) look, I melted. I just couldn’t send him away. Not even Jack knew where he would go after he died.

Would he, like, die? As in — dead, nada, kaput, finito, gone, no more? Bye bye, sayonara, ciao, hasta la vista baby and all that?

I couldn’t have that on my conscience. No way.

I lay on my bed, wondering what to do about him. “Jaaaaaaack,” I hollered.

“Jaaaaaaack!”

Still no answer.

“Jack!”

Jack...materialized.

His eyes rolled down to the ground. He was making those puppy eyes again. “Jack, I told you not to do that. I told you not to play on my sympathies.”

His puppy eyes became worse.

His skin was gray and, well, dead.

“Oh, brother,” I said. “I have to do something about you. If mom finds out I have another ‘imaginary friend’ — at my age — well, I’d die of embarrassment. But, like, really die. Not like you.” I wondered about this. Would I die? Was Jack a freak accident, or did all people live on like him? Think of the cemeteries...

The idea excited me somewhat.

“What would you have me do, Miss Kira?”

“Knock off the Miss Kira crap. I told you it’s just Kira.”

“Yes, Miss Kira.”

The dead. There’s just no reasoning.

“Fine, Miss Kira it is then.” Rover barked like a lunatic in the garden. No one else might be able to see Jack, but I was sure my dog could.

“I have to do something about this,” I mumbled.

Genres:

Young Adult Romance

Paranormal Romance

High School

Vampires, Demons, Witches

Dark Fantasy

Horror

Buy Links

Amazon US | Amazon UK

Kindle Unlimited

$20 Amazon Gift Voucher Giveaway

At the back of the book there is a giveaway link. Once the book hits fifty reviews on Amazon, one of those reviewers will win a $20 (US Dollars) Amazon Gift Voucher!

Author Bio

R P Channing started writing three years ago, but never published anything even after churning out over a million words of fiction. Thirst: Blood of my Blood is the first book he dared to publish. When asked why, he said, “Because it’s the first thing I wrote that my wife actually enjoyed reading.” When not hammering away (most literally) at his keyboard, he can be found buried in a book, reading anything from romance to horror to young adult to non-fiction to comedy.

Author Links

Website
http://blog.rpchanning.com

Twitter

https://twitter.com/RPChanning

Amazon

http://amazon.com/author/rpchanning

sneak peak of HUNTER'S RISE by Shiloh Walker

B & N | Amazon | Indiebound | Book Depository | BAMM 

Excerpt

 Snippet (warning... Toronto is something of a smart-ass)

Not the ideal place for a fight. He'd done it before and managed to avoid human casualties, but he suspected that Sylvia James was a different breed from what he was used to. Ferals fought to live, so they could kill—by nature, most of them weren't always clearheaded. Sylvia, like him, was a trained killer. She would be clearheaded. It would make a difference.

He hunted the ferals.

She hunted for money.

In the end, he'd win, because he was stronger.

But he didn't want to have to fight her. He wanted to have sex with her—down and dirty sex, maybe up against a wall, in the light so he could watch her. Then on a bed, her body under his, or over . . . his hands tangled in that dark, silken hair.

"You know, most men would at least bother to introduce themselves before the guy starts picturing the woman naked," she drawled, coming to a stop eighteen inches away.

Toronto smirked. "That's bullshit. We see a woman, we frequently picture them naked. We mess with the names when we want to actually think about getting them in bed. Some of us, at least." He skimmed a look over her body, taking in the sleek muscles, the powerhouse curves. Then he focused on her face again, smiled slowly. "So. What's your name?"

Due out 4/3/2012

Review: SWITCHBLADE GODDESS by Lucy A. Snyder

Jessie Shimmer #3 Sci-Fi
Del Rey

Picking right up where SHOTGUN SORCERESS ended, Jessie and Pal are off to save Cooper from the goddess Miko, who is still pissed that Jessie refused to join her. Jessie has her work cut out for her, as she and Pal are still healing from exhaustion and their injuries. Can they save Cooper ...and the world or will Miko triumph?

*****

Wow, what an awesome ride Lucy A. Snyder took me on with, SWITCHBLADE GODDESS, a twisted erotic tale that took Jessie to some very dark places, as we learned more about what made Miko tick, and watched Miko drag Jessie into some of those very spots. Jessie's only concern was to save Cooper, but in the process she had to face some very messed up crap.

If you read SHOTGUN SORCERESS (I hope you have, or a lot of this wouldn't make much sense) you will remember that Miko started screwing with Jessie, Cooper and the Warlock's minds, twisting their relationships into something dark and difficult to come to grips with. Well Miko did NOT let up at all. She continued to take Jessie on a distortedly erotic journey, throwing in plenty of horror, action, and finally some tender relief to bring the story to a satisfactory end.

I loved this latest installment to the Jessie Shimmer series and am absolutely thrilled to hear that there could be more to come!!!!

Rating: 4.5

Review: HOLD ME IF YOU CAN by Stephanie Rowe

SoulFire #3

Paranormal

Sourcebooks Casablanca

After spending more than a century held prisoner in the Den of Womanly Pursuits, Nigel Aquarian has found a sense of peace by sketching, but now it seems to be the one most dangerous pursuit he could follow. Whomever he draws is being pulled back into the Den. There is only one person who can help him, the delectable chocolatier, Natalie. 

 

After surviving a deadly deedub bite, Natalie Fleming has a new lease on life. But that doesn't mean she's going crazy and living it up. She refuses to lose control ever again, because the last time she lost control she nearly died. As she is readying her shop Scrumptious, for the reviewers of Michelin-O, the premier judges of fine foods, she realizes that she has lost her mojo. Her sensuous magic is not working AT ALL. Then she discovers that she is the newest attraction on the deedub tour as the only Sweet to have ever survived there bite, oh and to just top everything off, she finds out that she is being used as a vessel to receive the residual smut from Mari's dark magic, making Natalie turn into the one demon she most despises, a deedub.

Can Nigel convince Natalie that what she really needs to do is to let loose of a little of that control, to find release, and reopen her magic for herself and to help him rescue his fellow warriors from the Mari and the Den. 

 

*****

Stephanie Rowe takes us back to her slap-stick SoulFire world with her latest addition to the series, HOLD ME IF YOU CAN. I really enjoyed the humorous roller-coaster of a story she penned. There was enough action and adventure thrown in with the silly to keep the story moving. Not to mention the delicious sexual tension between Nigel and Natalie. I loved that while they really wanted to indulge, they held back. I know that most of it was because of Natalie's fears of losing control, but I think it helped to keep the story moving, to show that not everything can be answered by a romp in the sack...though it sure didn't hurt anything.

I look forward to visiting the SoulFire series again in the future, just to see how these guys are going t o continue to heal...and to see what else the Den of Womanly pursuits may hold. 

Rating: 3.5

Shiloh Walker's The Hunters: DELCAN AND TORI reissued

I love Shiloh Walker's The Hunters  series and am thrilled that she is reissuing the books, starting with the first one, DELCAN AND TORI.  One thing I love with this entire series is that it's not limited to just vampires, but as the series goes on it expands to include shape-shifters, witches and those with some extra-special abilities.

Reissued at a new, lower price...available at ARe  Nook & Kindle

Book 1

Tori McAdams was a sensible woman. She didn't believe in hocus-pocus, she didn’t believe in ghosts, and she definitely didn’t believe in vampires…not until the night she was attacked by one. Alone, starving and afraid, she doesn’t know what’s happening but at least she had somebody to turn to…

Declan Reilly was normally the last person she’d go to for help, but now he was the first on her list. He can help; she knows he can. She never could have planned on what happens next, though…the sexy detective is so much more than he appears.

Read an excerpt

 

Warning: This book contains violence, sex, more violence, a maniacal murderer, sex, more violence, and a menage or two thrown in for good measure. There are also sighs, happy endings, a romance, a hero, a heroine, and a little bit of falling in love.

**Please note this work has been previously published. While it's been edited, no new material has been added.

Review: HUNTER'S FALL by Shiloh Walker

Hunter's Fall (The Hunters)Hunter's Fall

Hunters

Paranormal

Berkley Sensation

336 pages 

After 500 years of loneliness, Nessa is ready to let go. She has suffered enough waiting for her love to come back to her. Now it's time to move onto the next plane.

Dominic is convinced he's going mad. He cannot understand the strange dreams and urges he has developed. He goes to Excelsior, hoping to figure out what's going on. Upon his arrival, things turn more mysterious, as now another layer is added to the strangeness already surrounding him.

Past-lives seem to mingle with the now. Before lost loves can be resolved, an evil needs to be taken care of. 

*****

Shiloh Walker twisted and turned characters and events into the spellbinding tale of HUNTER'S FALL. I was intrigued by Nessa and Dominic's relationship, wondering how Ms. Walker was going to pull everything together, especially since they spent a good portion of the book away from each other. Though their separation didn't stall the development of the characters and their relationship at all, in fact I felt that it deepened my understanding of them. 

I loved how Ms. Walker delved into Nessa's struggling emotions, I could feel her despair, and completely understand why she was ready to give up everything. I loved when she realized what and who Dominic was, it was great to see her opening up. I also really like seeing Nessa battle, I loved the show of power and strength that she conveyed. It was also good to see Dominic realize he wasn't crazy, that there was an explanation for what had been happening to him. 

As always, I eagerly await Shiloh Walker's next book, no matter what the genre, she is on the top of my auto-buy list.

Rating: 4.5 /5

Author's Website 

 

Review: THE BLUE VIKING by Sandra Hill

2011 cover

Viking I,  #5

Historical (Viking)

Avon, an imprint of Harper Collins

349Pages

Five years ago, Rurik left Maire without any thought or consideration, heck the jerk outright laughed at her when she asked him to take her with. But Maire had the last laugh, when she cursed him with a bold blue bolt streaking down his face. 

 

Rurik has searched for the elusive witch since then, finally stumbling upon her. Having her right were he wanted, he was determined to make Maire remove the bolt, no matter how long it took him to convince her. As a matter of fact, he figured he could enjoy the benefits of having her in his seductive hands again.

*****

One thing I can always count on when reading any of Sandra Hill's books is a good laugh. Ms. Hill's hero's are characteristically arrogant, Alpha males and Rurik was no exception. While Maire was portrayed as a strong independent woman in the beginning of the story, her wants were quickly diminished under Rurik's will, which weakened her as a character. I could find the humor of her being the worst witch ever, with her spells continuously going awry, but her mistakes were so over-the-top, which after a while made her appear silly. It upset me that she was demeaned so. I was also a little put off by everyone's sexual freedom in this book, I'm not an expert on historical morals and I'm no prude, but it seemed odd to me, and it took me out of the story. 
 
While this wasn't my favorite Sandra Hill tale, it still was a decent read, and I will continue to read and reread her books. She is my go to author when I'm looking for a funny historical...and I love her Vikings. I wish there were more Viking tales being published.

Original cover

Rating: 3.5/ 5

Author's Website