Review: Dancing on the Head of a Pin by Kiernan Kelly

2nd Edition 

When a demon saves an angel’s life, he wins the chance to stay out of Hell and walk the earthly plane until the End of Days. 

Cael wasn’t aware of the loophole when he spared the angel Malak, but he plans to exploit it. All he needs to do to earn his freedom is convince Malak to give up his virginity. Three thousand years should be plenty of time. But Malak isn’t interested—not in having sex with Cael and not in being exiled from Heaven as a result. 

Time is running out, and if Cael fails, his punishment will be unspeakable. With only days left, Malak realizes he can’t let that happen—not to the demon he’s come to love. 

But the End of Days is coming sooner than either anticipated. Lucifer has found a way to unleash the Four Horseman and end all existence. If Cael and Malak want to stay together, they need to seek out all four Horsemen and stop them from bringing about the Apocalypse. 

First Edition published by Torquere Press, 2007.

A demon and an angel are saving the world. With puns.

Let me just state for the record I didn't hate this. It's cutesy and quite frankly if it were a movie I'm almost positive it would be one of those movies that I avoid talking about so I don't give away how much I secretly like it. Like Clash of the Titans or Underworld.

The plot is far-fetched from the very beginning when we meet Malak and Cael who have been thrown together through a weird biblical by-law for close to three millennia. If Cael doesn't pop Malak's cherry by the end of the third millennia he goes directly to hell to become the fucktoy of Asmodai. Asmodai is... not cute and supposedly smells like death and rotten eggs got married in the back of a non-air conditioned VW bus in the middle of a August in Texas and then spent their month long honeymoon in the back banging the hell out of each other. Without showering.

Precisely.

I guess close to three millennia is long enough for Malak to play keep away with his V-card, though so lucky Cael is lucky!

Except... dun dun duuuuuuaaahhhh

Bummer

They decide to thwart the apocalypse by going after the four horsemen in between fucking. There was even some mid-air boning whilst flying. I'm still curious as to how Cael was able generate enough torque to get the job done, but it'll remain a mystery. Unfortunately.

These characters are one dimensional, cartoonish and have an unnerving propensity towards exclaiming. All these immortals who've been around since forever yet act like they're teens. Maybe immortals age differently? Even the love between Malak and Cael smacks of puppy love.

The writing style is one note with no depth and minimal world-building. There are some transparent, borderline preachy sociopolitical jibes usually at American greed and excess which maybe would've held more gravitas had the ones espousing them not been a bunch of jokers.

C'MON! 

It's told from both Malak and Cael's perspective, but I couldn't tell the difference between them and neither left an impression. Still, I don't think the point of this book was to be taken seriously. Like I said, had this been a movie with CGI and elaborate costumes I, in all likelihood, would be marking the blu-ray release date on my calendar. But reading it knowing the endgame was a foregone conclusion there wasn't enough to entertain me or for me to invest in.

I would only recommend this to those seeking a mindless romp.

A review copy was provided.

Find out more on Goodreads & Dreamspinner Press.

Review: Dog Days by T.A. Moore

The world ends not with a bang, but with a downpour. Tornadoes spin through the heart of London, New York cooks in a heat wave that melts tarmac, and Russia freezes under an ever-thickening layer of permafrost. People rally at first—organizing aid drops and evacuating populations—but the weather is only getting worse.

In Durham, mild-mannered academic Danny Fennick has battened down to sit out the storm. He grew up in the Scottish Highlands, so he’s seen harsh winters before. Besides, he has an advantage. He’s a werewolf. Or, to be precise, a weredog. Less impressive, but still useful.

Except the other werewolves don’t believe this is any ordinary winter, and they’re coming down over the Wall to mark their new territory. Including Danny’s ex, Jack—the Crown Prince Pup of the Numitor’s pack—and the prince's brother, who wants to kill him.

A wolf winter isn’t white. It’s red as blood.

This is going to be a hard review to write. Do you know those books that just don’t grab your attention? You struggle to pick up the book and keep going, but you just can’t for the life of you, pinpoint what the problem is? That was this book for me. Luckily I’ve had lots of time to think about it and some help from a friend who had some of the same issues, so i’ll try and explain myself as concisely as possible.

Danny is a dog shifter descended from wolves, he used to live in the pack with Jack, the ‘wolf prince’ so to speak. Danny left because he was sick of being the bottom of the food chain and dogs have an affinity towards humans away. So years pass and... it gets cold, Jack gets kicked out of the pack and goes and finds Danny, it’s still pretty damn cold, Danny talks to his ex-girlfriend and lots of people get attacked/killed and it’s still fucking cold. Everything is obviously a bit more detailed than that but you get the general jist.

First, let me talk about the things I actually liked. I really liked Danny’s character, he was very well fledged out. I liked that we saw his insecurities but he was also confident in his differences. It was something he had obviously worked through prior to the book beginning and he had come to accept being a dog, not a wolf was ok for him.

At first I really liked the mystery of Jack and Danny’s relationship, what were they to each other? How did it end? but by the time I hit 70% i was more than ready to find out what their history actually was, which we never really did.

One super positive was, there is this a super, smoking, hot sex scene just after halfway which was all possessiveness and claiming and all sorts of yum.

I think the world building is what really got me stuck. It was a mix between myths and ancient languages by the Wolves and a contemporary setting for the humans and Danny. While that sounds kind of cool, it really just got confusing.

It would also be safe to say that there was absolutely no romance between Danny and Jack, possessiveness and a primal attraction? Yes, but romance? No. The general mystery and storyline just didn’t grab me at all, there was also way too much time spent with Danny’s ex-girlfriend Jenny, who I just didn’t care about.

In the end, I was reading this 200 page book for ten days. TEN days!!! It would normally take me two days to read a book that long if it was a good book, less if it was amazing. It became a chore to keep going and it dragged like a queens parade. So while I would definitely recommend others to give this book a go (there are some other 5 stars reviews out there) this just was not for me.

Find on Dreamspinner Press or Goodreads!

Guest Review: The Long Fall of Night (The Long Fall of Night, #1) by A.J. Rose

In a flash, everything changes.

When NYU student Asher Caine’s uncle calls to warn him something big is coming, he has no idea it will be so devastating. Not even years of training can prepare him for what he's about to face. The only plan he has is to get his sister and nephew across country to safety, whatever it takes.

The darkness is full of potential. For good or evil, only time will tell.

Elliot Davenport isn’t about to let his Chemistry lab partner leave him behind, though he’s never done a spontaneous thing in his life. Ash is mysterious, aloof, and so damned sexy, Elliot can’t get the guy out of his head. But his crush takes a backseat as the gravity of the situation becomes clear: the eastern two-thirds of the United States has gone dark.

What happens when all the rules change in a split second?

200 million people are without access to sustainable food and water, let alone coffee and the Internet. Facing the worst humanitarian crisis the western world has ever seen, the government calls the military to step in. The entire military.

The soldiers of Team Shockwave are tasked with evacuating civilians to the safety of refugee camps, and then patrolling the new border between the East and West. Shockwave are on the front lines and the fate of an entire nation rests on them.

Welcome to the long fall of night…

Guest Reviewer: Fantasy Living

When half of the US is suddenly plunged into darkness, Ash is forewarned enough to have a few things prepared. All he needs is a car to get him to his sister’s house in upstate New York, and from there, to Seattle to his conspiracy theorist/prepper Uncle Marvin. Lucky for him, his college lab partner, and friends with benefits, Elliot has a ride, and since Elliot feels a little more than friends towards Ash he can’t think of any reason not to go with him. Unfortunately their adventures start off badly, and don’t seem to be getting better. Coupled with their budding relationship, Elliot’s health problems, and some homophobic stragglers, and their survival becomes more and more difficult as they get closer to the border between dark and light.

This prepper stuff really revs my engine. A colleague and I discuss all sorts of survival tech stuff we should have, on a bi-weekly basis. I think we’re jokingly (maybe?) compiling a list of all the things we would need in preparation for “The Day” when the world turns to crap. His list consists of some neat solar charging stuff, a rifle (yeah good luck getting your hands on one of those in Australia) and a decent tent. My list is something a lot more fluid. I want all. the. things. There’s no way I could carry all the stuff I want in a backpack and hike across the country. But Ash seems to have a much better plan than I do. Stealing! Steal. All. The. Things!! It’s not looting because y’know, this stuff is useful and not a TV. It’s part of his survival prep. Sure, he would have paid for it if the stores had been open, and taking business, but with no power, those slackers stayed home.

I really enjoyed the description of all the stuff he had ready, and the plan to acquire things along the way. I don’t know how it would really go, but it was believable enough for me to not laugh, and I found myself thinking “Oh yeah, don’t forget hats!” (He did forget hats). I enjoyed the relationship development between Ash and Elliot. There was this sweetness and intensity to the relationship after the initial roadbump they encountered, that could only come from being in survival mode. I found myself wanting them to be forever just based on how cohesive a unit they became in their travels. Through all the external drama of trying to hike across the country, they got stronger, even when their internal dialogue was wary. That’s the sort of romance I love. Sort stuff out in your head, freak out a bit - alone, and then come to each other decisive and calm(ish).

The shift in point of view from Ash and Elliot to the Military team, Shockwave, was somewhat jarring, but I found that it gave that added element of seeing something coming but not knowing exactly how it would pan out. It was unexpected but a welcome surprise (Maybe I should read blurbs more thoroughly, but where’s the fun in that?)

Donnie and Chris were a great addition to the story, and I can see them playing a bigger role in the next book (I really hope that’s where this is going anyway).

This was a solid read, and I didn’t notice any glaring issues with the plot or the delivery. The story excited me and kept me entertained, and that’s what I expected from AJ Rose.

There were no Zombies, which was a relief. This truly was a “what-if” story. And now I’m trying to figure out how I would hook up my solar panels to some sort of battery that could keep my power going in the likely event that some crazy person turns off all the power one day.

For more information on Goodreads or Booklikes!

Review: Love is for the Living (Albion Rising, #1) by Nicholas Kinsley

The zombies have arrived, and Blaine needs to escape. He'd always thought of his London neighborhood as a place of safety, but then his infected neighbors tried to eat him. Blaine packed a bag and fled through growing numbers of shambling, voracious monsters--people, he had to remind himself, they're people--toward his family in Bristol. He would surely have died without the turn of luck that brought him Commander Andrew Peterson. Together, they face the horrors and adversities of the apocalypse, trying to protect their loved ones, and—if they’re lucky—find love for themselves.

Do you ever find a book that interests you but then, when it comes to reading it, don't really fancy it? I kind of have to be in the right mood for each book i read - I like a ton of genres, but I need to be in the right mood for whatever I'm reading. If I'm fancying fluff, angst ridden is no going to do it etc. well, that happened to me for this book. The request came in and I thought it sounded interesting but when it came to actually reading it I just kept putting it off. I wasn't in the mood.

MORE FOOL ME.

Seriously. The only idiot in this scenario is me because once I actually started reading this book I loved it. I devoured it. I could not read the thing fast enough.

Zombie apocalypse is not my go to reading material of choice, but this was so well written I just fell in love with it. It is very obviously the start of a series, both Blaine and Andrew are introduced with a background so we know of them individually before we knew them as a potential couple. I loved this. They were very much individuals to me, not just part of a couple. Both characters were very different. Their life experiences were different, their attitudes were different. A zombie apocalypse though is all about survival and survival means stepping out of the known comfort zones. It means making hard choices and life being turned completely upside down. It's about impossible decisions and no regrets. And this book included all of these.

While there is a romance in this book - well a need for love at least - it is about more than that; it is about the need to survive and the interactions between very different people. Now, I'm not a Walking Dead watcher, but I very much imagine if you are, you would love this book. I cannot wait for the next installment in this series. I want to know all the things about these characters. I want HEA's... I don't think they're going to be just handed out though, I'm preparing myself mentally for some tough times ahead for these people I've come to love.

I don't want to go to any more in depth with this review, I don't want to spoil the story, in fact part of me just wants to say, bloody brilliant, go and read it! So I will. Read this book if you like a bit of horror in your reading.

A copy of this book was given ion exchange for an honest review.
For more information see Goodreads and Forbidden Fiction

Review: Ink and Shadows (Ink and Shadows #1) by Rhys Ford

Kismet Andreas lives in fear of the shadows.

For the young tattoo artist, the shadows hold more than darkness. He is certain of his insanity because the dark holds creatures and crawling things only he can see—monsters who hunt out the weak to eat their minds and souls, leaving behind only empty husks and despair.

And if there’s one thing Kismet fears more than being hunted—it’s the madness left in its wake.

The shadowy Veil is Mal’s home. As Pestilence, he is the youngest—and most inexperienced—of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, immortal manifestations resurrected to serve—and cull—mankind. Invisible to all but the dead and insane, the Four exist between the Veil and the mortal world, bound to their nearly eternal fate. Feared by other immortals, the Horsemen live in near solitude but Mal longs to know more than Death, War and Famine.

Mal longs to be… more human. To interact with someone other than lunatics or the deceased.

When Kismet rescues Mal from a shadowy attack, Pestilence is suddenly thrust into a vicious war—where mankind is the prize, and the only one who has faith in Mal is the human the other Horsemen believe is destined to die.

More. More. More. I need the next book now. STAT.

This took me a chapter to get into. Though I loved it once I got going, it was when we first met Kismet that I really fell hard for this book. The opening chapter is with the four horsemen of the apocalypse (well three of the four, Famine is out and about, starving people), War, Pestilence and of course Death. Mal (pestilence), is the newest, least experienced horseman and his thinking doesn't quite follow the traditional way (much to War's disgust!!)

Something is tearing the veil between the mortal world and beyond, meaning 'things' are able to cross between the two - things that shouldn't be able to cross over. When War and Pestilence venture into the mortal world (a place they can travel unseen to do their jobs) in order to stop a wraith, Mal ends up saving Kismet and taking him back to their home...

I love this world Rhys has brought to life. The dark and light world of fates and faith and death and destruction. Here in the mortal world, we see the reason and the effect, but not the cause. The cause are beings from behind the veil. The ones without the gift of free choice, something mortals have in abundance. It's not quite as simple as good and evil though. Necessity. Intentions. Need. Desire. They all have their part to play.

The author's writing style lends itself superbly to this genre of story. She captures characters beautifully, leaving the reader just wanting that bit more information. I loved all the characters, Mal and Kismet, as the focus of this story, were the two I was most invested in...but War and Death, I have a feeling their story is even more intriguing. What is Death so afraid of? Why doesn't War give up?

The dynamics of all four horsemen are really interesting. The interwoven fabric of the two worlds, the thinning of the veil. I have no idea where this series is going to go. There are so many possible directions, unanswered questions (though this story wraps up well)...intriguing. Addictive. Must-have-more. It's going to be that kind of series. Though not a romance in the traditional sense, the romance and love is there. It's kind of the heart of the story and the bit that leaves me wanting more the most!

A highly recommended book!

For more information, check out Goodreads.

A copy of this book was given in exchange for an honest review.