Patti Roberts Start Pack giveaway

Hopefully most of you who follow my blog know Patti Roberts; she is an awesome author, and general all-around super person.  She has two series going right now, the Paradox series and the Witchwood Estates serial novels, as well as being involved in the First Five Chapters project and other short story collections.  For those who haven't heard of her, what we're doing today will be an especially great way to start finding your way through her worlds, as we're giving away the first book in each of her series to two people.  Two winners will each receive a copy of Paradox: The Angels are Here and Witchwood Estate: Going Home.  Because it seems there is never enough time for me to do everything, I have only reviewed the first book in the Paradox series; you can read that review here.  Because I have followers all over the place, and because Amazon makes it difficult sometimes to gift books from them to disparate geographic regions (and Patti is in Australia), I'm giving the winner the option of receiving the e-book from Amazon or from Smashwords.  If you're unsure if you can receive a gift from Amazon, it'd probably better to go with Smashwords, as they don't have those sorts of restrictions and problems.

Anyway, below you'll find a Rafflecopter form (and a trailer and a nifty picture!), so just fill it out, watch the trailer, take a look through my links (I've linked Patti's blog here), and next week two lucky folks will be introduced into Patti's worlds.  Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Review: "No Peace for the Damned" by Megan Powell

No Peace for the Damned review
Author: Megan Powell
3 out of 5 stars

Book Info: Genre: Dark Urban Fantasy
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Fans of darker urban fantasy

Disclosure: I received a paperback ARC from the Amazon Vine program in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: Magnolia Kelch is no stranger to pain. Beautiful and powerful, she's spent her entire life at the mercy of her sadistic father and the rest of the Kelch clan, who have tortured her and tested the limits of her powers. After one particularly heinous night that leaves Magnolia nearly dead, she finally sees her chance for escape. But this first taste of freedom is short-lived when she collides with Thirteen, head of the Network – a secret organization dedicated to fighting supernatural criminals – who recruits her into the group. Even as she's coming to grips with this new life and the horrific memories that still haunt her, she's conflicted by her growing attraction to fellow team member Theo and the emergence of new, untested abilities. After months of grueling training, her loyalty to the team is tested when she learns her target is the Network's most wanted: the Kelch family. Revenge may course through her veins, but so does the blood of the Kelches. And opposing her family may cost her the thing she treasures most. After all, Magnolia is still a Kelch. And the Kelches are damned.

My Thoughts: This is a darker urban fantasy, and one that we sort of jump into the middle of the story, which makes it a bit hard to get one’s feet under oneself as the story starts rolling. However, most questions are answered by the end of the book.

My main problem with the story is this: Magnolia has been being tortured by her family all her life. She is 22 before she escapes, yet she’s completely rational and well-adjusted to modern life. How does that happen? She should be bug-house nuts, at the very least, and certainly not the least bit comfortable in the real world.

To add to that: I’ve read books where other reviewers have complained about insta-love, but in this book, there really is insta-love between Magnolia and Theo, only Magnolia has no experience with any sort of soft emotion, so she has no idea what is going on.

So, when it comes down to it, I just don’t know how to feel about this book. Don’t get me wrong – I liked it, overall, it’s just that it makes no sense to me that Magnolia is a functioning person. There’s no explanation as to how she has managed to maintain any sort of sanity, nor as to how she manages to maintain reality. We do eventually get the reason that her family has tortured her all her life, but even that isn’t until the very end of the book. It’s due to these confusions and questions that I have rated this as three stars, not due to any lack of interest in my part in the book. This is this author’s first book, and is the first book in a series. I will probably be watching for future books in the series, to see if any of these questions are answered.

If you like dark urban fantasy, and are very willing to suspend disbelief, then go ahead and check this book out.

Book review: "Morgue Drawer for Rent" by Jutta Profijt

Morgue Drawer for Rent review
Author: Jutta Profijt
5 out of 5 stars

Book Info: Genre: Thriller/Suspense w/ paranormal elements (ghost)
Reading Level: Adult
Book Available December 2012
Recommended for: Fans of mysteries/thrillers/suspense who don’t mind a touch of supernatural and a whole lot of humor

Disclosure: I received a free paperback ARC/uncorrected proof from the Amazon Vine program in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis from the Back of the book: Life was peaceful for coroner Martin Gänswein – until the unfortunate day he met Pascha, the foulmouthed ghost whose body once inhabited morgue drawer number four. Now an unwilling participant in solving the murders of those who pass through his morgue, Martin wishes more than ever that he could turn off his talent for communicating with the dead. Unfortunately for him, such things are easier said than done, and when organs begin to disappear from corpses buried in the local cemetery, Martin and Pascha are pulled into their most dangerous case yet.

My Thoughts: This is the third book in this highly entertaining series. I have read the first two books in this series, “Morgue Drawer Four” and “Morgue Drawer Next Door” and those reviews can be found here (first book read in March, 2012) and here (second book read in June, 2012) (where HTML formatting and linking are supported – if you cannot see the formatting or links, please go to my blog, Now is Gone, as that is where this can best be viewed). I have to say that I’ve loved this series so far and am very excited that they continue to translate and release this wonderful stories into the US.

Like previous books in this series, I spent a lot of time whilst reading the book laughing, snorting, and otherwise expressing amusement. Pascha continues to amuse with his attitude, asides, and hilarious voice. His mention of the fact that only posers would spell poser poseur, for instance, had me rolling. As did his attitude toward the temporary displacement of the forensic staff: “And of course it would be kind of a hassle if he realized only after he was back at the office that he’d accidentally stuck someone’s eyeball into his pocket, because then he’d have to get back into his car or take the train over and return the eyeball to its rightful owner.” And his opinion on dramadies: “...definitely dramadies [are out], too. To me, if the writer can’t make up his mind if he’s doing drama or comedy, then he should switch to making paper airplanes until he know what he wants.” Not to mention his descriptions of Philip “Piggy Bank” Forch as “loafering” from place to place – reading it frequently led to gales of laughter.

I can certainly relate to having a boss that is more concerned with how to save a few pennies than in making the work environment a bearable one, and Forch is a particularly egregious bureaucrat.

The main problem in this book is the theft of body parts, and even whole bodies, from the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Cologne, where Martin and his coworkers try to do their job through the obstructive maneuvering of Piggy Bank Forch. A side plot involving Birgit and Martin looking for a new apartment, and Pascha falling in love, keep the pace moving along without bogging down.

I would recommend reading this as a series; while you could read each individual book as a standalone, you get more of the story, more of the personality, and just more by reading it as part of the series. I believe the fourth book in this series is slated to be translated into English and released sometime in 2013, but I don’t know for certain. I do know that I’ll be watching for it, and will definitely be grabbing it first chance I get. If you enjoy your thrillers with a touch of the supernatural and a whole lot of humor, you won’t want to miss these books.