COVER REVEAL: Along Came A Spider by Kate SeRine

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Hope you're all having a great week. I'm so excited for today's post! Today we have a cover reveal for Kate SeRine's Along Came A Spider, book number three of her Transplanted Tales series.

Check out the gorgeous cover and the blurb below! And don't forget to check out the details of Kate's giveaway! Is that one fine hunk of Nicky Blue or what?

Along came a spider...

When Trish Muffet is attacked at a grisly crime scene, the last person she expects to come to her rescue is Nicky “Little Boy” Blue. But since walking away from everything two years before, Nicky’s been doling out vigilante justice as “The Spider,” taking on the vicious predators of the night in hopes it’ll lead him to his ultimate target – Vlad Dracula. And he needs Trish’s help.

Although Nicky’s renegade style goes against everything Trish stands for, she’ll do what she must to bring Dracula down. With danger stalking her, Trish knows the only person she can count on is the one man who has the power to leave her breathless. There’s no way she’s letting this spider frighten her away…

Kate SeRine (pronounced "serene") faithfully watched weekend monster movie marathons while growing up, each week hoping that maybe this time the creature du jour would get the girl. But every week she was disappointed. So when she began writing her own stories, Kate vowed that her characters would always have a happily ever after. And, thus, her love for paranormal romance was born.

Kate SeRine (pronounced "serene") faithfully watched weekend monster movie marathons while growing up, each week hoping that maybe this time the creature du jour would get the girl. But every week she was disappointed. So when she began writing her own stories, Kate vowed that her characters would always have a happily ever after. And, thus, her love for paranormal romance was born.

Kate is a member of Romance Writers of America and of Indiana RWA and has been a finalist in the Fire and Ice Contest (2010), the Finally a Bride Contest (2010), The Emily (2012), and the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence (2013).

Kate lives in a smallish, quintessentially Midwestern town with her husband and two sons, who share her love of storytelling. She never tires of creating new worlds to share and is even now working on her next project.

Website: http://www.kateserine.com/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/kateserine

Twitter: www.twitter.com/kateserine

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/kateserine

Review: The Better to See You by Kate SeRine

Happy Friday, everyone! Today we have a review of urban fantasy/paranormal romance author Kate SeRine's novel, THE BETTER TO SEE YOU, book two of the Transplanted Tales series! If you haven't already seen my review of the first novel in the series, RED, you can do so by clicking here: Review of Red by Kate SeRine. Enjoy both reviews!

Synopsis: Once upon a time, a spell went awry and Make Believe characters were cast into the ordinary world. And the results aren’t always happily ever after…
Everyone thinks fairy godmothers can do no wrong. But if not for a certain spell mis-cast by Lavender Seelie, Cinderella’s former fairy godmother, the Tales would not be stuck in the Here and Now. Fortunately for Lavender, she’s about to get a second chance at a happy ending…

The Refuge, a sanctuary for wayward Tales, seems like the perfect place for Lavender to start a new life—especially when she discovers an unexpected ally in Seth, the brooding werewolf who’s been typecast as a villain ever since his run in with Little Red Riding Hood. But when humans from nearby towns start turning up dead, their bodies mutilated with archaic Tale symbols, Lavender wonders if Seth’s deep sensuality has blinded her to the truth. And that distraction could put innocent lives in danger. Including her own…

Genre: Urban Fantasy / Paranormal Romance

First Sentences: "Magic's a funny thing. It's seductive, addictive. There's no bigger rush than harnessing the elements and bending them to your will, experiencing that orgasmic release of energy as a spell bursts forth and alters time, space, reality..." A fabulous opening! This short excerpt from the prologue hooks you into the story and pulls you right in. I fell in love with Lavender's character from the start. Despite being the reason the Tales currently find themselves in the Here and Now, I felt sympathetic toward Lavender from the get-go and once Lavender gets back on her feet and reclaims her magic, she's a force to reckoned with!

 

Brownie Points: As with RED, my favorite thing about Kate SeRine's novels is the voice. It hooks me in every time and I can't get enough of it. I couldn't stop flipping the pages of THE BETTER TO SEE YOU--even when I was in Europe on vacation!!! Yes, you read that right. When I was in Europe, I was staying up late to read Kate's book knowing very well that I was potentially sacrificing European daylight hours. That's really saying something. Aside from the amazing voice, Kate's novels are always wrought with tension and in the case of THE BETTER TO SEE YOU, that tension is both action-related and sexual. The heat between Lavender and Seth is smoking! Their chemistry radiates off the page. And Seth? *low whistle* From being hunted nearly all his life and a love life that's left him lonely and heartbroken (until now), Seth is brooding, tortured, and oh so delicious--and who doesn't love a man who can cook? ;-) THE BETTER TO SEE YOU has everything that readers will love about urban fantasy--action and mystery--and everything readers love about paranormal romance--sexy tension and a whole lot of hot and heavy love scenes ;-)

Beefs: I have no beefs with THE BETTER TO SEE YOU. Just like it's predecessor, RED, THE BETTER TO SEE YOU is an amazing, page-turning read! I guarantee it won't disappoint.

Ending: The ending of THE BETTER TO SEE YOU didn't disappoint and the plot/mystery held my interest all the way through. When murdered Tales start showing up in the Refuge, where Lavender and Seth have taken shelter as wayward tales, things only get progressively worse as Seth and Lavender become the killer's main target. Lavender has to summon up some serious magic faerie mojo to get them out of this one--but did I mention her magic has been on the fritz since the Tales landed in the Here and Now? Non-stop conflict makes THE BETTER TO SEE YOU captivating all the way through the last page.

Recommendation and General Comments: Overall, I can't say enough great things about The Transplanted Tales series. Both RED and THE BETTER TO SEE YOU are a fantastic beginning to what I hope will be a long, continuously capitvating and enchanting series. The third installment in the series, ALONG CAME A SPIDER, cannot come soon enough! I have been waiting for Nicky "Little Boy" Blue's story and I'm so excited it's finally here in the next book! Unfortunately, we'll have to wait a little while for that one =( But I bet it will be well worth the wait! Filled with kickass heroines, yummy men, tension that doesn't stop, and sexual sizzle that will leave you breathless, I give THE BETTER TO SEE YOU a rating of a full moon, the highest rating here at Nocturnal Readings.

 

 

I highly recommend this book to readers who love urban fantasy, and those who enjoy paranormal romance as well.  A reasonably priced awesome read. So get your asses in gear and purchase your e-book, folks!

COVER REVEAL: A Cursed Embrace (Weird Girls #2)

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Hope you're all having a great day. Today Nocturnal Readings is participating in a cover reveal for Cecy Robson's A Cursed Embrace book two of her Weird Girls urban fantasy series! Isn't the cover gorgeous?! So awesome! I can't wait to read a A Cursed Embrace! And in case you forgot, I gave raving reviews to Sealed with a Curse and the Weird Girls Novella. If you haven't started this series, hop to it! Check out the info for A Cursed Embrace below!

 

Celia Wird and her three sisters are just like other twentysomething girls—with one tiny exception: They are the products of a curse that backfired and gave each of them unique powers that made them, well, a little weird.…
After Celia Wird and her sisters help master vampire Misha save his family, their powers are exposed to the supernatural community of the Lake Tahoe region. But fame comes at a price, and being “weird” isn’t always welcome.

To make matters worse, Celia desires the love of Alpha werewolf Aric, but his pack is bent on destroying their relationship to preserve his pureblood status. And once weres start turning up dead—with evidence pointing to the vampires—she must face the prospect of losing Aric forever. But the chaos only makes a new threat. An evil known as the Tribe has risen—and their sights are set on Celia and her sisters.

AUTHOR BIO:

Cecy (pronounced Sessy) Robson is an author with Penguin's SIGNET ECLIPSE. She attributes her passion for story-telling back to the rough New Jersey neighborhood she was raised in. As a child, she was rarely allowed to leave the safety of her house and passed her time fantasizing about flying, fairies, and things that go bump in the night. Her dad unwittingly encouraged Cecy's creativity by kissing her goodnight wearing vampire fangs. Gifted and cursed with an overactive imagination, she began writing her Urban Fantasy Romance Series, Weird Girls, in May 2009. THE WEIRD GIRLS: A Novella and SEALED WITH A CURSE are now available. The second novel in The Weird Girls Series, A CURSED EMBRACE, releases July 2, 2013.

LINKS:

Website: www.cecyrobson.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cecyrobson

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Cecy.Robson.Author

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/goodreadscomCecyRobsonAuthor

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/a-cursed-embrace/id567587612?mt=11

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-cursed-embrace-cecy-robson/1114036073?ean=9780451416742

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Cursed-Embrace-Weird-Girls-Novel/dp/0451416740/ref=la_B00ATRD6B4_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1361465395&sr=1-2

Review: Sealed with a Curse by Cecy Robson

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Today we have a review of debut urban fantasy author Cecy Robson's novel, Sealed with a Curse, the start of the Weird Girls series! If you haven't already seen my review of her self-titled prequel novella, you can do so by clicking: here. Enjoy both reviews! Also, don't forget to check out the giveaway at the end of the post!

Synopsis: Celia Wird and her three sisters are just like other 20-something girls—with one tiny exception: they're products of a backfired curse that has given each of them unique powers that make them, well, weird…

The Wird sisters are content to avoid the local vampires, werebeasts, and witches of the Lake Tahoe region—until one of them blows up a vampire in self-defense. Everyone knows vampires aren't aggressive, and killing one is punishable by death. But soon more bloodlust-fueled attacks occur, and the community wonders: are the vampires of Tahoe cursed with a plague?

Celia reluctantly agrees to help Misha, the handsome leader of an infected vampire family. But Aric, the head of the werewolf pack determined to destroy Misha's family to keep the region safe, warns Celia to stay out of the fight. Caught between two hot alphas, Celia must find a way to please everyone, save everyone, and oh yeah, not lose her heart to the wrong guy—or die a miserable death. Because now that the evil behind the plague knows who Celia is, it’s coming for her and her sisters. This Wird girl has never had it so tough.

Genre: Urban Fantasy 

First Sentences: "The courthouse doors crashed open as I led my three sisters into the large foyer. I didn't mean to push so hard, but hell, I was mad and worried about being eaten. The cool spring breeze slapped at my back as I stepped inside, yet it did little to cool my temper or my nerves. My nose scented the vampires before my eyes caught them emerging from the shadows. There were six of them, wearing dark suits, Ray-Bans, and obnoxious little grins. Two bolted the doors tight behind us, while the others frisked us for weapons. I can't believe we're in vampire court." How can you not love an opening like that? Within the first few paragraphs, Robson has already drawn me into her fictional world. Vampire court? Pretty cool idea, not to mention the tension is already palpable. Celia is in a fierce mood and a pinched situation, surrounded by enemies. That equals badass action!

 

Brownie Points: As I said in my review of the Weird Girls' novella, Robson has an outstanding and superb voice filled with all the right stuff--humor, sass, emotion and a relatable narrative character--and Sealed with a Curse doesn't disappoint. The Wird girls continue to be fun, sympathetic characters, you can't help but love. No matter their perils or mistakes, Celia and her sisters are easy to champion as they battle with werewolves, vampires, and a viscous supernatural vampire virus throughout the course of the novel. What really stood out as a unique trait to me (as a romance writer and reader) was the stronger than usual romantic elements within this urban fantasy. In the UF genre I often find myself craving more romance than I'm given. This wasn't the case in Sealed with a Curse. It walks the perfect line between sexy romance and action packed urban fantasy, so romance readers and urban fantasy lovers alike will enjoy this novel. Besides, who doesn't love a rivalry between two sexy supernatural men? Aric the werewolf and Misha the vampire? I vote both, please! It's clear who is the winner of Celia's heart, but I won't spill the beans ;-)

Beefs: No major beefs. Sealed with a Curse hits the ground running with action and tension, and it kept me hooked and longing for more up to the very last page.

Ending: As with any great novel, I didn't find the plot predictable in any way. I continued to be surprised by it's twists and turns in the best of ways.

Recommendation and General Comments: Overall, I can't say enough great things about The Weird Girls series. Both the self-titled prequel novella and Sealed with a Curse are a fantastic jump-start to what I'm certain is going to be a continuously capitvating and enchanting series. The second novel in the series, A Curse Embraced, cannot come soon enough! Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until July 2013 for that one =( But I bet it will be well worth the wait! 

I give Sealed with a Curse a rating of a full moon, the highest rating here at Nocturnal Readings.

 

 

I highly recommend this book to readers who love urban fantasy, and those who enjoy paranormal romance as well. The novel will be available in both paperback and e-book formats starting December 31st! A reasonably priced awesome read. So get your asses in gear and pre-order, folks! 

 

CHECK OUT THE GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!! Cecy has graciously gifted me with a signed copy to give away to one lucky winner! This giveaway is open to both U.S and international entries!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway