Fornax Rising - Book Review

Fornax Rising by Nicole Ross

What is it about:
Daughter of the shipping magnate John Fornax, Cassandra has had a harder life than most young people of her social standing. After a tragic childhood accident leaves her an amputee, Cassandra’s uncle and engineer, Philip Fornax, builds her a revolutionary prosthesis which replaces the hand she lost. As Cassandra begins to make her own decisions about her future, she finds that her domineering father intends her to live a radically different life. She emancipates herself loudly and publicly at her eighteenth birthday party, scandalising her parents and putting paid to her father's scheme. When Philip receives an offer to work in an airship factory in Germany, Cassandra follows him so she can put some distance between herself and her father. As the threat of war looms over Europe, the German army has the talented engineer's most advanced creation firmly in its sights. Cassandra had hoped to leave her troubles behind when she left Britain, but finds they have just begun.

What did I think of it:
Although overall a nice read this story did disappoint me a bit. The lead character gets a revolutionary (steampunkish) prosthesis very early on in the book, which lead to certain expectations as to how the story would progress, but only near the end of the story are these expectations fulfilled and then things are going over the top fast. It's really a shame in my opinion when a story hook isn't used to it's full potential, and in this case I even got the feeling the story could also have been written without Cassie having her prosthesis.

Aside from this plot flaw the story is quite pleasant and interesting and I liked the lead character Cassie. Among the other characters there are some really intriguing characters, while others make you hate them on sight. Ross' writing is decent, although the dialogues miss liveliness.

There's a sequel in the make and I might give the sequel a try, if only to see if Ross will make use of the potential of the world she created in Fornax Rising.

Why should you read it:
It's a pleasant historical Young Adult story with a little bit of Steampunk added to it.

The Official Private Eye Handbook - Book Review

The Official Private Eye Handbook: Featuring Brick Stone, Private Eye
by Phoenix

What is it about:
It was a dark and stormy night in The City and a hard-nosed gumshoe who wanted nothing to do with the unbalancing, unpredictable ways of magic found himself drawn ever further along strange paths. Babes, bullets, murder and mayhem were all part of the usual mix for Brick Stone as he worked to unravel the tangle of lies and mysteries brought to him by one client after another. That was all he wanted. As far as Brick was concerned, all magic ever did was make cases more complicated and make it take longer for him to figure out who he needed to shoot.

What did I think of it:
This book consists of several short stories which are related with each other. As I didn't know this when I started the book it threw me a bit when I reached the second story which took off at a completely different moment than where the first story ended. That confusing surprise aside this is a pleasant read. Phoenix's writing is solid, although the format he chose leaves little room for character developement. Speaking of characters: I did think that Brick was a bit gullible at times, especially where women were involved and I felt like kicking some sense into him. I'm not sure yet if I would read more books by Phoenix, it would depend on the story I think, but all in all this book is a nice read for anyone who loves hard boiled detective stories.

Why should you read it:
If you like hard boiled detectives with a hint of magic, you should try this book.

I'm over at Ex Libris Today

Today I'm over at Ex Libris talking about zombies.

Head over there to check it out and to take my challenge.
Who knows: I might be reading your favourite book soon.

On McPig's Radar

These two ebooks just released this week and Voodoo Bride and me are so looking forward to reading them.

Check out: Wild & Steamy
This ebook has three stories of which 2 are must reads for me: one is set in the Iron Seas world by Meljean Brook and one is set in the Disillusionist world by Carolyn Crane!!

Check out: Feeding the Vampire
According to Voodoo bride no one should be able to resist reading post-apocalyptic, vampire erotica!

We picked up our copies of these ebooks today and are all set to read them. Make sure you get a copy as well!

Archangel's Kiss - Book Review

Archangel's Kiss (Guild Hunter #2) by Nalini Singh

What is it about:
Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux wakes from a year-long coma to find that she has become an angel-and that her lover, the stunningly dangerous archangel Raphael, likes having her under his control. But almost immediately, Raphael must ready Elena for a flight to Beijing, to attend a ball thrown by the archangel Lijuan. Ancient and without conscience, Lijuan's power lies with the dead. And she has organized the most perfect and most vicious of welcomes for Elena...

What did I think of it:
I really enjoyed this book. It's not as intense as the first book, but it has other qualities that lift it to the same level as it predecessor. In Angel's Blood most of the interactions were between Raphael and Elena, but in Archangel's Kiss there is lots of interaction with other angels and vampires as well. I really liked reading about the other angels, about their society and history. Some characters got more depth and I'm already looking forward to their return in future books. Singh's writing and world building are beautiful and the story itself is full of romance, suspense and cool action. A great read and I will most certainly continue reading this series.

Why should you read it:
It's got angels and vampires!

Hot Stuff in our Mailbox

No Teaser today as Voodoo Bride wanted to show off the hot swag she received.

All this cool swag was send to Voodoo Bride by the amazing Amber Scott, who writes super sexy stories which are too hot to handle for Sullivan, but are Voodoo Bride's favourites.

Thanks Amber!

If you haven't read anything by Amber Scott yet:
Check her books out here

RAK

As I told you yesterday I'm going to enter the Random Acts of Kindness by Book Soulmates!

For those unfamiliar with RAK I will post the rules here:

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Sign up each month that you'd like to participate.

Show off your participation by grabbing the RAK button :)

Create a wish list (on Amazon, Goodreads, or your blog etc) and post it in the Google Doc located in each R.A.K post for the month.

If you choose to do a R.A.K for someone, check out their wish list and contact that blogger for their address.

NEW REQUEST: Please, once you receive a RAK, come back to the Google doc and mark the box that says you've received one. There are a lot of requests for this!

At the end of the month, SHOW US YOUR R.A.K! Make a post saying 'Thank You' to whoever granted one of your wishes and share it with us :)

OPEN TO EVERYONE!
Let's keep our International bloggers in mind and in our hearts.
Remember, there's always the Book Depository and they offer FREE shipping!
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Feel like joining?
Go to Book Soulmates and sign up!