The Last Donut Shop of the Apocalypse, by Nina Post

Format: e-ARC, 216 pages

Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press

Published: 23 February 2017

ISBN: 9781620070963

Genre: Humor, Sci Fi & Fantasy

Back cover blurb: After narrowly preventing the last apocalypse, Kelly Driscoll finds herself with an unlikely day job. She’s the interim manager of Amenity Tower, one of the few buildings still left standing in the rubble of Pothole City. But after answering a mysterious phone call, she signs up for a new mission that’s a perfect match for her skills: locating the missing president of the famed Cluck Snack brand.

As Kelly quickly learns, the missing executive is only the beginning of Pothole City’s problems. The city’s leading donut shops — run by two very different Gorgon monster siblings — are engaged in a bitter territorial dispute. Plus, the residents of Kelly’s building have hatched a new plot to kill the beloved single-purpose angels and set the stage for another apocalypse.

Teaming up again with her allies from the first book — including Af the Angel of Destruction, Stringfellow the ferret, and Tubiel and the other single-purpose angels — Kelly is up for the challenge. But can she rescue the missing president and restore peace between the donut shops before Pothole City is destroyed yet again?

My review: Netgalley recommended this to me, and since the title mentioned donuts, I was in. However, I had a problem right from the outset since I hadn’t read the first in the series and had no idea what was going on. This is a very weird story, and clearly all the world-building took place in the first book because no time is spent here explaining what has already occurred. I no doubt would have liked it more if I’d been reading the series in order, but I’m not intrigued enough to want to go back and find book 1. Not for me.

***Disclaimer: This e-ARC was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Huge thanks to them. ***

My rating: 1/5

Amazon

Razr (Demonica #11.8, Demonica Underworld #4), by Larissa Ione

 

From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Larissa Ione, comes RAZR, a passionate and spellbinding novella from the Demonica Underworld Series, brought to you by 1,001 Dark Nights! Be sure you grab your copy today!

Today we have an exclusive excerpt and my review of this new book from one of my favourite authors.

 

About RAZR:

New York Times bestselling author Larissa Ione returns to the Demonica Underworld…

A fallen angel with a secret.

An otherworldly elf with an insatiable hunger she doesn’t understand.

An enchanted gem.

Meet mortal enemies Razr and Jedda…and the priceless diamond that threatens to destroy them both even as it bonds them together with sizzling passion.

Welcome back to the Demonica Underworld, where enemies find love…if they’re strong enough to survive.

Amazon ** Amazon UK ** Amazon CA ** Amazon AU ** Paperback

 

 

 

 

Book trailer:

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Excerpt:

He moved toward Jedda, his pulse inexplicably growing faster as he neared her. He’d been in the presence of blindingly gorgeous females with unmatched power in his centuries of life, and none of them had affected him like this. No, this was different, a mix of attraction and anticipation he would almost compare to battle lust.

The thought made him slow his approach, his mind tripping over the implications of that. Was he hoping she was one of the demons responsible for the theft of his property and the deaths of his friends, in which case he’d kill her, or was he hoping she wasn’t involved? And which was worse? Oh, he had no problems with killing demons—it was what he’d been bred for. But it seemed like such a shame to slaughter someone so unique. Or so attractive.

Idiot. You never drooled over demons when you were a full-fledged angel.

No, he hadn’t. There had been a clear separation of class and species back then. But ever since he’d had his wings bound and his powers muted and had been tossed in Sheoul-gra to serve Azagoth, he’d relaxed his standards. Not intentionally, but he had to admit that living life on the other side of the tracks had given him new perspective.

He just wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad one.

Jedda looked up as he stopped in front of her. Up close, she was even more beautiful, with full, pouty lips made to stir up some wicked male fantasies. Her fine, perfect features made her seem delicate, fragile, even, but something told him she was stronger than she looked. Which made him wonder how that strength would play in bed.

Down, boy. Get what you want and get back to Heaven and females suited to your status. And species. “Hello, Ms. Brighton. I’m Razr.”

Cocking her head slightly, she gave him a long, assessing once-over before saying with just a hint of an English accent, “Razr? That’s not a common human name, is it?”

Either she couldn’t sense his species or she was testing him. Either way, he didn’t see any reason to lie. “It’s my fallen angel name. A take on my given name. Razriel.”

“Ah.” She gave him another long, measuring look, taking in the expensive suit Azagoth had given him for the event, and he wondered what she was thinking. “Until tonight, I’d never met a fallen angel, and now I’ve met two, including you.”

“Tonight? Is the other one here?”

She nodded. “Shrike, the event organizer. He owns this place.”

Well, that was mildly alarming. Fallen angels reveled in power and status, which meant that this shindig had probably been arranged for a purpose. An evil purpose.

 

My review:

Format: e-ARC, 120 pages

Publisher: Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated

Published: April 11, 2017

ASIN: B01N0LRIL2

Genre: Paranormal romance

My review: I’ve said many times that Larissa Ione is one of my favourite authors, and once again she’s proved what an amazing writer she is to be able to convey so much, and have us utterly engaged by the characters and world building, in such a short story. In this novella she expands the Demonica universe to include elves, and the idea of a gem elf who cries diamonds and bleeds other precious jewels is unique and fascinating. Of course Jedda is kickass as well, and she’s a perfect match for Razr, an angel we met in Z’s book who’s not quite fallen but needs a jewel Jedda possesses in order to return to Heaven. They are drawn to each other from the beginning and the sexual tension is great as they go from enemies to lovers. I also loved the humour – I loved it when he called her Dobby and referred to her home realm as Middle Earth. It’s great to see the other characters from previous books as well, and meet some new ones of whom I hope we’ll see more in future. Highly recommended.

***Disclaimer: This e-ARC was provided to me by the author via InkSlinger PR in exchange for an honest review. Huge thanks to them. ***

My rating: 5/5

 

 

Larissa Ione’s RAZR – Review & Excerpt Tour Schedule:

April 12th

A Fortress of Books – Review

Booklovers For Life – Review

Reads All the Books – Review & Excerpt

The Romance Rebels – Review & Excerpt

April 13th

Abigail Books Addiction – Review

Calling All Bookaholics – Review & Excerpt

GraveTells – Excerpt

Smut Book Jukie Reviews – Review & Excerpt

April 14th

A Woman and Her Books – Review

Milky Way of Books – Review

Read-Love-Blog – Excerpt

The Ordinary Housewife Book Blog – Review & Excerpt

April 15th

danielriding.com – Excerpt

Deluged with Books Cafe – Review & Excerpt

Reading Between the Wines Book Club – Excerpt

Shayna Renee’s Spicy Reads – Review & Excerpt

April 16th

Abibliophobia Anonymous Book Reviews – Excerpt

I Smell Sheep – Review & Excerpt

Shelf_life – Review & Excerpt

The Escapist Book Blog – Review & Excerpt

April 17th

Bobo’s Book Bank – Review & Excerpt

Oh My Growing TBR – Review & Excerpt

Romancing the Readers – Review

That’s What I’m Talking About – Review

April 18th

Books, Baking and Other Objects of Beauty – Review & Excerpt

Feeling Fictional – Review & Excerpt

I’m A Sweet And Sassy Book Whore – Review & Excerpt

Under the Covers – Review & Excerpt

April 19th

A Hopeless Romantic’s Booklandia – Review & Excerpt

Dirty Girl Romance – Review

Rambling Reads – Review & Excerpt

Somewhere Lost in Books – Review & Excerpt

April 20th

Adria’s Romance Reviews – Review & Excerpt

Loves Great Reads Blog – Review & Excerpt

Rantings of a Reading Addict – Review & Excerpt

Reese’s Reviews – Review & Excerpt

April 21st

Evermore Books – Review & Excerpt

Jax’s Book Magic – Excerpt

The Romance Reviews – Review

Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews – Excerpt

 

About Larissa Ione:

Larissa Ione is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. An Air Force veteran, she traded in a career as a meteorologist to pursue her passion of writing. She now spends her days in pajamas with her computer, strong coffee, and supernatural worlds. She believes in celebrating everything, and would never be caught without a bottle of Champagne chilling in the fridge…just in case. She currently lives in Wisconsin with her U.S. Coast Guard husband, her teenage son, a rescue cat named Vegas, and her very own hellhound, a King Shepherd named Hexe.

 

Website | Facebook | Twitter | 1001 Dark Nights

 

 

Happy Release Day: Z (Demonica #11.8), by Larissa Ione (plus excerpt and review)

 

Z is the latest in Larissa Ione’s incredible Demonica Underworld Series brought to you by the amazing team at 1001 Dark Nights! Be sure you grab your copy of this sexy new novella today!

 

Amazon ** Paperback

About Z:

Zhubaal, fallen angel assistant to the Grim Reaper, has spent decades searching for the angel he loved and lost nearly a century ago. Not even her death can keep him from trying to find her, not when he knows she’s been given a second chance at life in a new body. But as time passes, he’s losing hope, and he wonders how much longer he can hold to the oath he swore to her so long ago…

As an emim, the wingless offspring of two fallen angels, Vex has always felt like a second-class citizen. But if she manages to secure a deal with the Grim Reaper — by any means necessary — she will have earned her place in the world. The only obstacle in the way of her plan is a sexy hardass called Z, who seems determined to thwart her at every turn. Soon it becomes clear that they have a powerful connection rooted in the past…but can any vow stand the test of time?

 

 

EXCERPT:

Inside Sheoul, the demon realm sometimes called Hell, evil was everywhere.

It dripped off the sides of the sheer rock walls in streaks of black acid that ate into the stone with a hiss. It wafted through the humid air on tendrils of mist that reeked of sulfur and decaying flesh. And, as Vex watched, it oozed like toothpaste from out of a fissure in midair that only people like her could see.

Her purple-tipped black hair, already short and spiky, stood even more on end as the thing squeezing out of the fissure, a dead demon’s soul, popped free of whatever realm and mystical enclosure it had been inside. The toothpastey glob took a transparent, vaguely humanoid shape, but its glowing crimson eyes were sharp and clear. A malevolent wave of rage and hate rolled off the soul, and Vex backed away, even though escape was impossible for her.

She was what her parents had called a daemani, a demon soul magnet, a person to whom souls stuck like glue. According to them, most daemanis couldn’t prevent it from happening, and that was a serious pain in the ass. If a demon died near Vex, not even the Grim Reaper’s personal daemanis, creatures called griminions, had a chance to collect the soul before it got sucked into her and stored as a glyph on her skin.

The demon shrieked, a sound only she or another soul-sensitive person could hear, as it struggled to keep from being sucked into the prison of her body. In a futile attempt to avoid the inevitable, she fled, her booted feet nimbly negotiating the rock shard-strewn ground that was all too common in this part of Sheoul.

But no matter how fast she ran, every time she looked over her shoulder, the distance between her and the soul had decreased. Closer. Closer.

 

 

My review:

Format: e-ARC, 154 pages

Publisher: Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated

Published: April 26, 2016

ASIN: B015WSXZO2

Genre: Paranormal romance

My review: Larissa Ione is one of my favourite authors, and I’m a big fan of the Demonica series, although I’m a bit behind reading some of the later stories. Z and Vex were typical of her wonderful couples – strong, conflicted hero and kickass, snarky heroine – and I especially liked some of their banter. I became frustrated with Z as he kept preferring his lost angel soulmate Laura over Vex, but of course he comes around in a big way. Also loved seeing Revenant again, and I’m now very keen to go back and read Azagoth’s story, which I own but haven’t read yet.

This is a great addition to the Demonica universe, and it’ll be interesting to see what happens with Azagoth’s “gift” to Revenant.

***Disclaimer: This e-ARC was provided to me by the author via InkSlinger PR in exchange for an honest review. Huge thanks to them. ***

My rating: 4/5

 

About Larissa Ione:

Larissa Ione is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. An Air Force veteran, she traded in a career as a meteorologist to pursue her passion of writing. She now spends her days in pajamas with her computer, strong coffee, and supernatural worlds. She believes in celebrating everything, and would never be caught without a bottle of Champagne chilling in the fridge…just in case. She currently lives in Wisconsin with her U.S. Coast Guard husband, her teenage son, a rescue cat named Vegas, and her very own hellhound, a King Shepherd named Hexe.

 

 

 

Website | Facebook |Twitter | 1001 Dark Nights

 

Inescapable, by Amy A. Bartol

Format: Kindle edition, 368 pages

Publisher: Createspace

Published: August 29, 2011

ASIN: B005JZTP16

Genre: YA paranormal

Back cover blurb: My name is Evie Claremont and this was to be the making of me–my freshman year of college. I’d been hoping that once I’d arrived on Crestwood’s campus, the nightmare that I’ve been having would go away. It hasn’t.

I may be an inexperienced seventeen-year-old, but I’m grounded…sane. I look for rational explanations to even the strangest circumstances. Since meeting sophomore Reed Wellington, however, nothing makes any sense. Whenever he’s near, I feel an attraction to him–a magnetic kind of force pulling me towards him. I know what you’re thinking…that sounds fairly awesome. Yeah, it would be…if he liked me, but Reed acts as if I’m the worst thing that has ever happened to Crestwood…or him. But get this, for some reason every time I turn around he’s there, barging into my life.

What is the secret that he’s keeping from me? I’m hoping that it’s anything but what I suspect: that he’s not exactly normal…and neither am I. So, maybe Crestwood won’t be the making of me, but it could be the breaking of me. I’ve been left to wonder if the dark future my dream is foretelling is…inescapable.

My review: Having loved Ms Bartol’s Kricket series so far, I thought it was about time I started her earlier work, given how much my friends had raved about it. Yes, at times it reminded me a lot of Twilight, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I’m not sure I entirely warmed to Reed, but I loved all the other secondary characters and Evie was a plucky heroine. The ending came as a complete surprise and I will certainly be reading the next book.

My rating: 4/5

Amazon

Stacking the Shelves #4

Hosted by Tynga’s Reviews

Welcome back to Stacking the Shelves, a regular meme hosted by Tynga at Tynga’s Reviews. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the latest books you have added to your shelves, physical or virtual.  This means you can include books you buy in store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts, and of course e-books! Here is my smaller-than-usual haul from this week.

Checked out from the library

From my local public library I checked out Talon by Julie Kagawa on audiobook. I like dragons so I hope this new series of hers is a good one. The second book, Rogue, is coming out soon.

Purchased from iBooks

New Zealand iBooks had another sale… yeah, I know, I’m a sucker for them – and I grabbed Hope Flames by Jaci Burton for $1.99.

Purchased from Amazon

My only other purchase this week was from Amazon. Since I enjoyed the Kricket series by Amy A. Bartol so much, I decided to start her earlier series, and picked up Inescapable.

Three books is plenty for one week, I think. My TBR list is enormous! Keep an eye out for my reviews of these in coming weeks. So what new books did you pick up this week? Let me know in the comments.

Convergence, by J.D. Watts

Format: Kindle Edition

Published: December 2, 2010

Publisher: The Writer’s Coffee Shop Publishing House

Back cover blurb:

In modern times, mankind believes they know all that there is to know about the world around them. Arrogant in their ignorance, they travel through life completely unaware of the other beings in their midst, the other Children of Creation. Celestial Angels and Fallen walk amongst them unseen, while the third beings of creation, the Guardians, live along side them, protecting them from attacks of the Fallen.

Daniella Rossi is a nineteen year old college student who sees the world quite differently than those around her. From infancy, she was aware of the beings that walked among her kind who were not like them, as well as her own personal Guardian who watched over her. Dani always knew she was different, but she never dreamed the full scope of her importance.

Follow Dani as her life takes an unexpected turn when a new Guardian is assigned to replace her lifelong companion and friend. Much older, more experienced, and socially awkward, Nathaniel must learn to adjust himself to fit into Dani’s world in order to guard her without drawing unwanted attention. While the Fallen are determined to capture Dani, she and Nathaniel find themselves developing a bond that goes far beyond that of Guardian and charge. Facing the strains of a brewing war and forbidden affections, will they be ready for the coming battle? Will Dani be able to handle the truth of her existence and destiny?

My review:

This book totally surprised me, in a very good way. The prologue had me a bit wary that this would be an overly religious tome, but once I started Chapter 1 I could not put it down.

Orphan Dani Rossi is a very special girl whose life has been protected by Ana, a Guardian sent to look after her by the angels. Dani has the unique ability – but sometimes she sees it as a curse – of being able to see her Guardian and other celestial beings, including the Fallen Angels Lucifer sends to try to harm her. With the threat against her increasing, at age 19 Dani finds Ana is to be replaced by Nathaniel, a much stronger Guardian who is as gorgeous as he is innocent of the human emotions he feels through his bond with Dani. Of course she doesn’t like Nate at first, especially as he has replaced her mother-figure, but he starts running his fingers through his hair and… *swoon*

I love a good angels versus demons showdown, and the suspense Watts builds to get us to the finale is very well done. Dani learns how truly special she is and finds the strength to do what everyone expects her to do just in the nick of time. Yes, it does get a bit Christian at the end, but the whole things fits, and of course the slow-burning love story with Nate is just heavenly (pun intended!)

I hope the second book in the series can progress the love story – UST is all very well but sometimes I need a bit of action! – as well as tell us what the bad guys plan to do next. I’m looking forward to reading it.

My rating: 5/5

Angels’ Blood, by Nalini Singh

Format: iTunes audiobook, narrated by Justine Eyre

Published: First published March 3, 2009

Publisher: Gollancz

Back cover blurb:

Nalini Singh introduces readers to a world of beauty and bloodlust, where angels hold sway over vampires. Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux is hired by the dangerously beautiful Archangel Raphael. But this time, it¿s not a wayward vamp she has to track. It’s an archangel gone bad. The job will put Elena in the midst of a killing spree like no other-and pull her to the razor’s edge of passion. Even if the hunt doesn’t destroy her, succumbing to Raphael¿s seductive touch just may. For when archangels play, mortals break.

My review:

I have to confess: I listened to this as an audiobook on my iPod – my first attempt at this format – and I kept losing concentration. I suspect as a result I have very little clue about the nuances of this book, apart from a few key *ahem* scenes which seemed to stick in my mind 😉

I really wanted to like this book. It’s by a New Zealand author, so I felt I should be supporting the local girl. And I did like it. The world she has created is rich and complicated. Archangel Raphael is hot, of course, and vampire hunter Elena is kickass. I zoned out a bit when the UST took a back seat to their fighting, but once they were back on course as a couple I was a lot happier.

Scenes with the evil archangel were gruesome and intriguing. We find out snippets of Elena’s past when she’s under stress, and I made a few assumptions but I guess I’ll have to read the next book to find out for sure. I liked the cast of supporting characters, especially Elena’s friends and blue-winged Illium, but it was tricky at times to figure out who was speaking because the narrator’s voice was similar for each voice. Only Illium stood out with his British accent. The narrator can’t do an Australian, by the way 🙂

I enjoyed it, and will probably read the second book in the series on my Kindle rather than listen to it in the car. Audiobooks are great for long car journeys and they certainly help when you have sore eyes from reading too much for work like I do, but I’ve come to the conclusion they aren’t my thing. Nalini Singh, however, just might be.

My rating: 4/5