Jackie's Booklikes

Insights for the Booksites - reading mostly for my own pleasure

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SPOILER ALERT!

Review: The Dragon of New Orleans

The Dragon of New Orleans (The Treasure of Paragon #1) - Genevieve Jack

The Dragon of New Orleans is an exemplary paranormal romance, although it starts off with two people dying. Regardless, it brings all the feelings I like not because of the sex but because Dragons! C'mon! Paranormal Romance is one of my favourite genres, and yes, there is the sexy time if that sorta thing turns you on.

Ravenna Tanglewood is suffering from brain cancer - a bitch, no doubt about it- and she is very near death when a mysterious dark figure appears before her. She thinks Death has come for her and is just a figment of her imagination but, his name is actually Gabriel Blakemore and he has come to save her by giving her his tooth. This is his price to saving someone he deems worthy, in turn, they must be willing to work for him. He's gentle and reasonable and doesn't force anyone really, but if they want to live? They do what he says or not.

A dragon from Paragon, Gabriel Blakemore is dark and drop dead gorgeous with a voice like Clint Eastwood :) There was something about Ravenna that drew him to her and in the course of history, literally, we find out she is descendant of a powerful witch/sorceress. She didn't know that about herself, neither did he, only she had psychic powers before cancer. Her history proves interesting, the paranormal aspect, and New Orleans? I Love. She was fortunate Gabriel saved her. After 3 months they meet again because with his tooth they are bonded moreover, Ravenna's witchy powers become more prevalent. One night she comes close to being raped and he senses something wrong and rescues her yet again. He is protective of his investments because Dragons are like that. They like to sit on and fiercely protect their treasures. Smaug anyone?

What a wild and perilous adventure they embark on! Gabriel needs her like a moth to a flame or something cool and metaphorical like that lol

A witches curse was slowly killing him, draining him of his magic, which if he didn't find a cure, he would die or turn to stone. In the realm of Paragon, there is a mountain and magic. His mother was supposed to be dead because Gabriel thought his uncle Brynhoff (fuckhead) killed her and his brother, Marius, the ruler and king, but Raven and Gabriel portal to that realm and learn that his mother IS VERY MUCH ALIVE and ruling beside Uncle Brynhoff! What an interesting world that was! It was amazing they got out alive but barely.

Back in New Orleans...
We were introduced to Gabriel's brother, Tobias who is the main character in the next book 'Windy City Dragon'. He's a doctor in Chicago. That brings us to why they are living in our world. Let's just say it was Eleanor, their mother who sent them here. And the plot thickens :)

 I Loved It! 5 amazing skulls because dragons duh :P
"The smile he gave her was sexy enough to melt her dress."

 

Source: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2838954987

The Slow Regard of Silent Things (The Kingkiller Chronicles #2.5)

The Slow Regard of Silent Things - Patrick Rothfuss

The Slow Regard of Silent Things is a very charming book. It didn't matter about it not making sense half of the time, because, for me, that is what made it so different and appealing. I mean, the words Patrick Rothfuss has strewn together are way superior to any other normal story we've read countless of times over and over again. For example. I just finished reading Courting Darkness, and it didn't even come close to being as good as this was IMO. I am one of those people who likes this story. Just like his friend Vi whom Patrick mentions in the endnote

I needed to hear these words "It was the worst sort of selfishness to force yourself upon the world." page 108. Wow! So fun and captivating!

SPOILER ALERT!

My Review of Shadow of the Fox

Shadow of the Fox (Shadow of the Fox #1) - Julie Kagawa

Shadow of the Fox is amazing! I love Yumeko-san the Kitsune. Kitsune is a Fox with magic abilities that mostly trick people into seeing things that aren't there. They are demon like but Yumeko isn't a bad kitsune, she doesn't use her powers to harm anyone. She is useful.
The books intrigue begins and ends on a mysterious note surrounding a very young and seemingly ordinary servant girl named Suki, who lived and died in the royal palace chambers of Lady Sitome, the king's concubine, who is also a powerful blood witch. In fact, she kills Suki for insubordination. Now Suki is a ghost aka a Yurei, who sticks around for reasons unknown, probably because she wasn't ready to die, and she wants vengeance on Lady Sitome. It appears the ghost succeeds when the very same handsome flute player she meets, in the beginning, ends up stabbing Lady Sitome in the heart. I thought Shadow of the Fox was so well written, I never saw that coming.

The story takes us on a journey of sorts with Yumeko-sans being entrusted with a piece of a Dragon's Prayer in the form of a small scroll. It is an important piece of paper because Legend has it, that every one thousand years, a mortal is given the opportunity to summon the Dragon and ask to grant 3(?) wishes for good or bad, only the person's heart has to be pure, otherwise the dragon will tear its soul to shreds. Or something like that lol.
There are evil beings who are trying to find the 3 parts of the Dragons Prayer for themselves as well.

Anyway, Yumeko is given specific instructions by her Monk Master to find a certain man in the feather temple in a city far away. He will give her what information she needs, and where to take the scroll. I can't remember the exact names and places off the top of my head, so you just have to bear with me :)

Yumeko encounters lots of trouble with weird creatures who would kill and destroy her. She knows she is being followed. She also meets a couple of travelling companions, who unbeknownst to each other have their own agenda for accompanying Yumeko along her way. Her companions are quite remarkable and if I am not mistaken one of them is the flute player guy that Suki met? I could be wrong. I haven't checked but I am almost certain he is.

Shadow of the Fox FREE on Audio

Shadow of the Fox (Shadow of the Fox #1) - Julie Kagawa

Julie Kagawa is a great author. I've had Shadow of the Fox on my kindle that I received from Netgalley as an e-arc for awhile. Recently it has been made available on Audiobooksync for FREE, so if you are looking for a fantasy title you can listen to, I'd get it there while you can. I love the story so far as I am only at 22% but the protagonist is quite impressionable.

 

Description
by Julie Kagawa | Narrated by Joy Osmanski, Brian Nishii, Emily Woo Zeller
Published by HarperAudio
One thousand years ago, the great Kami Dragon was summoned to grant a single terrible wish—and the land of Iwagoto was plunged into an age of darkness and chaos. Now, for whoever holds the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers, a new wish will be granted. A new age is about to dawn.

Tiger's Dream - It's fantasy Month!

Tiger's Dream (The Tiger Saga #5) - Colleen Houck

In the month of May, we are reading and reviewing fantasy books. Tiger's Dream is the continuing Saga about Kelsey, Kishan and Ren, two brothers who were cursed to become Tigers. When Kelsey applied for a job at a Circus, she meets her lovely tiger, Ren. When she discovers his true human form, she is smitten and falls in love with him because he is so beautiful. Tiger's Dream is the 5th and final book in the Tiger's Curse series. I have waited so long for it. 6 years? Idk exactly, but, when it was available I jumped. The cover is gorgeous and it probably is one of my favourite series of books I own. Now, is the right time to read it! Yay! I have the large print edition but I am also listening to the audiobook. I just hope it is worth the wait. 

 

My Review of The Name of the Wind

The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller Chronicle, #1) - Patrick Rothfuss

I came to realize the Prologue and Epilogue are written about the same time of night inside the Waystone Inn. Kvothe had red hair which was of some significance apparently. He obliges to tell his story to the Chronicler, Devan Lochees. Both parts end with the same words

..."It was the patient, cut-flower sound of a man who is waiting to die".


Kvothe is both a legend and a myth. He and his Fae-student Bast, are posing as InnKeepers for reasons I don't know about yet.

Kvothes' story begins when he was a child before he enters University. He was orphaned after losing his parents and his entire travelling troupe on the road. All his life he has made it his business to seek the culprits who killed his parents. He believes them to be The Chandrian because of the 'Blue Fire.'
Patrick Rothfuss' story fluctuates back and forth to the present at the Waystone Inn and is told as a retelling of Kvothe's past to The Chronicler Devan Lochees. It is quite good and interesting. I liked it a lot. I liked both time periods.

Kvothes parents used to be singers and played music. Kvothe learns to play the lute that belonged to his father. One day as he was practicing, his lute strings break. Determined to find new strings in the city, he finds someone who he catches a ride with and climbs aboard a caravan headed for Tarbean.

I thought it was a shame that he didn't earn money by playing his lute but external circumstances prevented it. He becomes a beggar and gets into trouble with another group of kids. Pike breaks his lute, unfortunately. It was all he had left of his parents. He gets pretty beat up too and for the rest of his time in Tarbean, Kvothe is tormented and lives in fear of this kid called Pike. It was brutal living on the streets begging for money but he learns to survive with some luck.

He is taken in by Trapis the monk who cares for the poor and the sick children. Trapis tells a story about Tehlu and Encanis which I found fascinating lol. Living in Tarbean was a dark, unpleasant and painful time for Kvothe. He learned things he never would have known otherwise like Denner resin bleaches your teeth! lol

There are many things and reasons as to why I loved this book and I actually think it is amazing. Denna was Kvothe's love interest and even though she might've liked Kvothe back, she becomes more elusive and difficult to track down when other prospects vie for her attention time and time again. I am quite curious to know what happened to her over the time we don't hear anything from her. She would be an interesting story as well.

The Name of the Wind

The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller Chronicle, #1) - Patrick Rothfuss

I'm thinking of embarking on another long journey through a fantasy novel. Being that we are in the month of May it means a month-long celebration of all things fantasy in Wyrd and Wonder.

The Name of the Wind pretty much fits the description. The cover alone emits dark and sinister things. I think it is about the devil telling his story -History as it were. I don't know but that is my first impression.

What do you think?

Have you read it?

Did you like it? 

There are mixed reviews on Goodreads, enough to pique my curiosity.

 

 UPDATE: Chapter One - A Silence of Three Parts
Something like a black spider as large as a wagon wheel called a scraeling, was met by Carter on the road and it killed his horse. He was hurt in the scuffle but manages to bring it back to the Waystone Inn. I think it was dead. But Kote, the innkeeper, is keeping a dark secret that nobody else knows about. It involves demons I'm guessing.

 

 

Ah, here is what I found about The Name of the Wind on Wiki. . . 

"In the rural town of Newarre, the Waystone Inn is managed by an innkeeper named Kote and his assistant Bast. It is revealed that Kote is actually the renowned Kvothe: an unequaled sword fighter, magician, and musician, rumored to have killed a king and caused the present war in which the civilized world is embroiled. Bast is Kvothe's assistant and student and a prince of the Fae. Kvothe has gone into hiding and assumed the identity of Kote in order to keep a low profile. Kvothe saves a traveling scribe known as Chronicler from spider-like creatures called scrael, whereupon Chronicler, recognizing Kvothe, asks to record his story. Upon consenting, Kvothe tells Chronicler that this will take three days (corresponding to the planned trilogy of novels).

Source: http://deargeekplace.com/wyrd-wonder-2-the-wyrdening

Beechwood Harbor Novellas packed into one book

Betwixt: A Beechwood Harbor Collection  - Danielle Garrett

I really enjoyed all the stories in the Beechwood Harbor Magic Mystery Collection. 

Betwixt includes these novellas:

A Witch of a Day

 

Cats, Bats and Talking Hats- A vampire party isn't Holly's idea of a good time. Especially not on Hallow's Eve when things have a tendency of getting a little crazy without help from a pack of fanged frenemies.

When a human stumbles into the mix, Holly has to act fast to keep the creepy soiree from turning into a crime scene.
Cats, Bats, and Talking Hats is a short story that tells the story of Holly's first Hallow's Eve at the Beechwood Manor. She's still getting to know her paranormal roomies when things go sideways at Lacey's Halloween party. In some ways, this is Holly's first mystery with the Beechwood Manor gang.

This story was first published in the Witch or Treat Anthology in 2017

Good Gravy! Thanksgiving at Beechwood Manor

The magic and human worlds collide on Thanksgiving Day in the Beechwood Manor.

Good Gravy! Thanksgiving at Beechwood Manor was a blog exclusive for my newsletter group in the fall of 2016. It's a short story that gives a glimpse into the holidays in the harbor. This story falls between Twice the Witch and Witch Slapped in the timeline.

 

Along Came A Ghost

 

The Ghost Hunter Who Saved Christmas

It's Christmastime in Beechwood Harbor, a sleepy coastal town that's teeming with paranormal beings. The local children are waiting eagerly for the sound of sleigh bells and reindeer hooves, but in the days before Christmas Eve, their dreams turn to nightmares and a rash of hysteria threatens to overshadow the big day!

Local ghost whisperer Scarlet Sanderson already has her hands full with her thriving floral business and an impending visit from her uppity parents. But when she hears that there's a revenge-=hungry super-elf on the loose, she can't sit on the sidelines. Together with Holly Boldt, a powerful witch, they have to stop the elf from stealing away every child's dreams of Christmas before it's too late.

The Ghost Hunter Who Saved Christmas is a Christmas novella that features Scarlet Sanderson, Beechwood's own ghost whisperer, as she teams up with Holly to save the town from a nightmare-inducing elf the week of Christmas.
This novella was originally published in the Spells and Jinglebells Anthology in 2017. I loved the idea of Scarlet and Holly working a case together and have plans to team them up again in the future!

 

A Witch’s Best Friend

Holly and her friends have a bad case of senioritis as they enter the final week before graduation. When a classmate throws one final hurrah, she tip-toes into the night to attend.
But with a legendary monster lurking on the school grounds, she'll soon find out that she would have been better off staying in bed.
A Witch's Best Friend is a short story that tells the tale (or, should I say tail?) of how Holly and Boots met.

As you know, Boots and Holly are inseparable, but there was a time when Holly didn't have her forever fur ball at her side. This story is set before the events of any of the books and send you into Holly's final week at the magic academy.

Undercover Wolf
Undercover Wolf is a novella that falls in line after Lucky Witch in the timeline of Holly's series. This story contains *major spoilers* if you've not read up through that book.

Finished Reading A Witch of A Day

A Witch of A Day - Danielle Garrett

Turns out Holly Boldt was framed by an evil wizard. This stranger forced her to make an illegal magic spell and she got busted for it. That is how and why she ended up in Beechwood Manor halfway house for displaced paranormals.  

The evil stranger, on the other hand, attempted to break Holly's ex-boyfriend out of jail by using the magic potion/spell. Well, now she won't have to appear in court in front of her ex-boyfriend anymore, because he is going to rot in jail, but it also means she is banished from her supernatural Haven community.

 

 

Starting to Read: A Witch of a Day: A Beechwood Harbor Magic Mystery Novella

A Witch of A Day - Danielle Garrett

It's Friday the Thirteenth and Holly Boldt is having a Witch of a Day.

Instead of celebrating with the rest of the supernatural community, she finds herself staring at the four walls of a jail cell. Wild accusations are flying faster than a bat out of hell. One wrong move and her fate will be sealed.

This is what happens when you talk to strangers...

 

Find out how Holly ended up in Beechwood Harbor in this prequel novella to the Beechwood Harbor Magic Mysteries series by Danielle Garrett.

Finished Reading Murder's A Witch by Danielle Garrett

Murder's a Witch: A Beechwood Harbor Magic Mystery (Beechwood Harbor Magic Mysteries Book 1) - Danielle Garrett

Is Murder's a Witch a marketing ploy to get us to read more of her books? It's a genius. My fondness for paranormal fantasy and witches has been rekindled. Holly Boldt is a potion's witch that comes to live in a halfway house for displaced paranormals in Beechwood Harbor. The elusive reason why she ends up living with 4 other paranormals is not explained until we read the prequel novella, <i>Witch of A Day</i>, but we have a vampire, a shapeshifter wolf, a gargoyle and a ghost.
I don't know what it takes to write good characters but Danielle seems to have it in spades.
I loved all the characters in this book!
Even the ones who are bad.

Halloween Frost

Halloween Frost (Mythos Academy #1.5)Halloween Frost by Jennifer Estep



I didn't know anything about the world of Mythos Academy because I have never read the first installment but it sounds like the protagonist Gwen Frost, is training to be a kickass warrior. I like it a lot. I picked it up because it is near Halloween.
Gwen's friend wants to dress up and go trick or treating but their fun was lost on a monster and that is just how it is at Mythos Academy. Fight and kill as many of those things as possible. However, the one she has a crush on saves her, yet again. O be still my heart. Her sword, Vic, can talk and has a mouth on him. It was a gift from some god. I need to work out the details guys so don't @ me. It looks like their bags of treats was lost on someone playing a mean trick on them.

Source: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32516150-halloween-frost

Spartan Promise: A Mythos Academy Novel (Mythos Academy spinoff series Book 2)

Spartan Promise: A Mythos Academy Novel (Mythos Academy spinoff series Book 2) - Jennifer Estep

Thanks to Jennifer Estep publishing and Amazon Digital Services for allowing me an advanced readers copy. 

It is set to be released on Jan 15, 2019

 

SPARTAN PROMISE DESCRIPTION:

 

Hunting for the bad guys has never been so dangerous . . .

My name is Rory Forseti, and I attend the Colorado branch of Mythos Academy, a school of warrior kids, powerful artifacts, and mythological monsters.

I’m a student, a fierce Spartan warrior, and a member of Team Midgard, a group of kids and adults tasked with stopping the evil Reapers of Chaos. There is one Reaper I’m determined to hunt down above all others: Covington, the man who murdered my parents.

So when the Midgard gets a tip that Covington is going to try to steal a dangerous artifact, I’m ready to fight. But the situation is far more complicated than it seems, and the Reapers aren’t my only enemies.

I’ll have to use all my Spartan strength and skills to survive this. And even then, it might be my blood that gets spilled . . .

 

#FraterfestRAT Finished Reading In Darkness We Must Abide Book One

In Darkness We Must Abide: The Complete First Season - Rhiannon Frater

Reading this book contributed to the FraterfestRAT challenge

Will this have a happy ending? I can only hope *crosses fingers

 

 

It was Halloween 2007 that broke the last straw for Vanora Socoli. Alisha and Roman were bitten with the vampire curse but would never hurt their sister, still, Vanora felt she had to leave her vampire family after what she saw.

 

Vanora was young but very naïve and had unrealistic expectations regarding the true nature of vampirism, but so did Roman although they fed off of animal blood and were doing a pretty good job of it until...well. 

 

There was some other terrible evil brewing in the background to which a very handsome and mysterious Armando was involved. dun duh dun dun

 

I have read other books by Rhiannon Frater and loved them. The Tale of the Vampire Bride and Pretty When She Kills are both epic vampire novels. I have not read the As The World Dies zombie trilogy nor finished her science fiction series The Last Bastion of the Living. I hope she continues writing excellent fiction horror inspired books like these.

 

 

Reading Update: 23% In Darkness We Must Abide

In Darkness We Must Abide: The Complete First Season - Rhiannon Frater

 

Glorious! That is how I feel after I downloaded In Darkness We Must Abide #1Death In The Shadows #2, and Ashes in the Night #3 on my kindle for the Fraterfest Readathon!

 

It's Day 2 and I've only managed to read Deadly Class, a graphic novel, listen to a 7 hr audiobook The Vampire Stories of Nancy Kilpatrick and boy! was it a vampire erotica or what? lol. I can't say it was amazing. I remember much about nothing really. I also read a few short stories from Tales from the Cauldron and the first episode in Rhiannon Fraters Vampire series that I am currently reading and probably will continue with until I'm finished all 3 books OR the readathon ends. 

 

I am at 23% in book one so far and loving it.

 

 

DNF I've read 144 out of 424 pages.

Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldron - Jim Butcher, Frances Hardinge, Holly Black, Delia Sherman, Neil Gaiman, Tanith Lee, Peter S. Beagle, M. Rickert, Tim Pratt, Margo Lanagan, Isobelle Carmody, Ellen Klages, Jonathan Strahan, Diana Peterfreund, Ellen Kushner, Charles de Lint, Jane Yolen, Garth Nix, Patricia A

I don't have time for this crap. I didn't like any of the stories in this book.