Review: The Soul Summoner by Elicia Hyder

Title: The Soul Summoner

Author: Elicia Hyder

Publisher: Forge Creek Press

Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, Mystery

Release Date: November 9, 2015

Blurb: Blessed–or cursed–with a connection to the souls of others, Sloan Jordan can see the best in people… and the worst. For twenty-seven years, she's kept her ability a secret, but eleven young women have been murdered in the mountains of North Carolina, and Sloan may be the only hope of finding their killer. 

She has just agreed to help Detective Nathan McNamara with the case, when a stranger—who is as alluring as he is terrifying—shows up at her doorstep with a dark past and another puzzling mystery: she can't see his soul at all. 

Now Sloan is on the hunt for a deadly psychopath with two irresistible men. One of them would die for her, and the other would kill to keep her safe.

REVIEW:

The Soul Summoner opens quickly and gives you a recap on the main character's, Sloan's, powers.  While it's quick, it is necessary so that you have a bit of back story on her abilities, and the rest of the book isn't weighed down with lengthy explanation.  Showing the history between Sloan and her BFF was also useful right off the bat, although in the first few chapters the timeline moves MUCH faster.  Weeks pass, but that's usually the nature of serial killer mysteries.
However there was a lot less investigation in this book than it leads you to believe in the blurb.  I expected there to be a lot more serial killer hunting and a bit less  obsession over two guys that are fighting over her.  Warren, the irresisstable stranger that arrives has a lot more attention than Det. McNamara as the blurb leads you to believe, and they mostly just flirt and discuss her strange ability to call to people's souls.  While I don't mind romance in a novel, this was less mystery more...flirting on every page.  It got tiring after a while, and I just wanted them to get back to the murders!
That said, it made up for it with an explosive and captivating ending.  I always go easy on books when I feel the killer is obvious, since my brother tells me I have an unusual knack for figuring out who the killer is due to my "Hollywood Formula" (basically a joke between us about how there's always a similar formula for who the killer is), and while I knew who the killer was before the reveal, it was still a good twist.
Fans of the TV series Bones or Castle would really like this book I think!  I look forward to the next one.

NBtM Tour: Savage Magic by Judy Teel

Today I'm honoured to introduce you to Judy Teel, author of Savage Magic (Shifty Magic, #3).  She has a guest post for us on the lessons she learned from the bad guy, as well as an excerpt.  Judy will be awarding $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.  Enter to win a $20 Amazon/BN GC - a Rafflecopter giveaway 

Lessons I Learned From a Bad Guy

Lord Bellmonte, or as Addison disrespectfully calls him, Bellmonte, is not someone you’d invite home to meet the family. Not just because he’s a vampire. Above and beyond that hazardous fact, Bellmonte is someone you really don’t want noticing you. He’s that dangerous.

He’s also been the big surprise as I’ve created the Shifty Magic series.

I originally cast Bellmonte as the quintessential bad guy—pushy, unpleasant and threatening, more the gangster or mob boss type than a brilliant puppet master kind of guy. Until he turned out to have his own ideas about how things should go, which is typical of him.

As I wrote Shifty Magic (Book 1) and worked with this intriguing character, his unexpected and sophisticated snark emerged and evolved into the perfect foil for Addison’s take-no-prisoners style. I was thrilled. I began to look forward to scenes with her and Bellmonte, even while struggling to keep him under control. No star likes a secondary character upstaging her, even in novels. (Which is why I had to temporarily bench him for Savage Magic, Book 3.)

And then a strange thing happened.

Despite all his manipulative and plotting ways, I began to admire this ruthless, ambitious vampire exec. I was shocked. Bellmonte’s the kind of guy who’d snap your neck as soon as look at you, or order everyone you care about slaughtered if it suited his bigger picture. How could I like someone like that?

But as I wrote Undercover Magic (Book 2), something unexpected happened. His character deepened, becoming more layered, and I realized that maybe some of his attitude wasn’t completely without merit. Even if the direction he prefers isn’t the one I’d choose for myself (or anyone I know).

Maybe, there were things we could all learn from the self-serving, charming Lord Bellmonte.

10 Rules to Live By (According to Lord Bellmonte)

Never tolerate having a delicious meal interrupted.

Always look your best, you never know who might show up at your door.

Never do anything for only one reason.

Always have two backup plans, three if you’re less than 100 years old.

If you’re obsessively intrigued by a difficult person, keep it to yourself.

Never pass up the opportunity to give a Were a hard time.

Being fabulously rich is delightful. Never let anyone tell you any differently.

Where your age is concerned, always keep them guessing.

Keep your enemies close, and your relatives closer. The latter is more likely to stab you in the back.

Above all, always keep your sense of humor. It will irritate your enemies in the most delicious manner.

Judy will be awarding $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.  I would like to Encourage you to follow the tour and comment because the more you comment the better your chances of winning! The tour dates can be found at the bottom of this post.
Enter to win a $20 Amazon/BN GC - a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Title: Savage Magic
Author: Judy Teel

Blurb:  A deadly disease from an unknown origin… 
Addison Kittner and ex-FBI agent Cooper Daine arrive at Bone Clan expecting a warm welcome. Instead they’re imprisoned and placed under quarantine, where they discover that the werewolf mountain Clans are being decimated by a deadly plague which can’t be cured. 
An old obligation that changes everything… With only a few days to live, Cooper’s brother, Alpha of Bone Clan, asks Cooper to fulfill his promise, one that’s crucial to their Clan’s survival. But if he does, Cooper risks loosing Addison. Forever. 
An ancient creature bred for genocide… Determined to stop the plague and cure Cooper’s brother, Addison defies Clan law and sneaks away to an ancient ruin which might hold the key. There she discovers an unexpected link to her past and inadvertently calls forth an immortal monster that will destroy the paranormal races protecting humanity if it can’t be stopped. But as Cooper and Addison battle to stop the annihilation of the Clans and the forces trying to tear their bond apart, something even more powerful and deadly gathers just out of sight… And prepares to strike. 

Read the first two in the series:

         

Excerpt

The scent of blood got stronger, pulling my thoughts back and making my heart pound a little harder against my chest. Slipping a knife from the sheath inside my right boot, I watched the flutter of shadows on the path below where it turned and disappeared behind a thick wall of laurels. Slow breath in…Silent breath out…

Deeper shadows emerged and took shape — a man and a woman, both dressed for living outdoors and blending in. And there was Cooper, complacently allowing them to roughly pull him along between them, his nose and a cut on his cheek seeping blood. Weird. Cooper was built like an early twenty-first century Olympic gymnast and I’d seen him take out opponents in less than ten seconds without a single blow landing on him. How had they managed to subdue him?

I watched them come closer and pass below me. The woman on one side of Cooper was medium height with light skin and dark red hair that she’d pulled back into a short ponytail with a strip of leather. The man on the other side was tall and muscular with tanned skin, his bright red hair in a military cut.

I adjusted the soles of my logger boots against the branch under me to give myself a more solid launch, judged the distance — and jumped.

About the Author

Judy Teel was born in Virginia and moved to North Carolina just before middle school. She's a fiction author and novelist writing in the dystopian urban fantasy genre. Her stories deliver mystery with some thriller elements, a kick-butt heroine with a large dash of snark in her, a bit more than a touch of romance with a guy that makes readers' hearts beat a little faster, and a wild ride full of action and emotion from start to finish.

Shifty Magic is permanently free on all platforms and Undercover Magic is free as a thank you gift for anyone who signs up on my readers list:  http://judyteel.com/my-free-book/

Website: http://www.judyteel.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JudyTeelBooks

Twitter: @JudyTeelBooks / https://twitter.com/JudyTeelBooks

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5023501.Judy_Teel

Amazon Author’s Page: http://goo.gl/a7oKub

Tumblr: http://judyteel.tumblr.com

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/judyteelbooks/

Links to books

AMAZON:

Shifty Magic (Book 1): http://amzn.com/B00CXQ7EOE

Undercover Magic (Book 2): http://amzn.com/B00H7M48KM

Savage Magic (Book 3): http://www.amazon.com/Savage-Magic-Shifty-Book-ebook/dp/B00Z3NTSFC/

NOOK:

Shifty Magic (Book 1): http://goo.gl/6hU5bQ

Undercover Magic (Book 2): http://goo.gl/0qjldj

Savage Magic (Book 3): http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/savage-magic-judy-teel/1122078118

Follow the tour!

August 11: Megan Morgan

August 18: Kit 'N Kabookle

August 18: Lisa Haselton's Reviews and Interviews

August 25: BooksChatter

August 25: SolaFide Self-Publishing and Book Blog

September 1: The Reading Addict

September 8: Archaeolibrarian - I dig good books!

September 8: Two Ends of the Pen

September 15: Unabridged Andra's

September 22: We Love Kink

September 29: Paranormal Romance and Authors That Rock - review only

September 29: CBY Book Club

October 6: Dena Garson - Real... Hot... Romance

October 6: Long and Short Reviews

October 13: Natural Bri - Pursuits of Life - review

October 20: Booklover Sue

October 27: Musings and Ramblings

November 3: Independent Authors

November 3: The Book Breakup

November 10: Aly's Miscellany 

November 10: Laurie's Paranormal Thoughts and Reviews - review

November 17: Harps Romance Book Review

November 17: Writers and Authors

November 24: Books and Other Spells

Release Day Blitz: Superstition by Lucy Fenton

Superstition

by Lucy Fenton 

Release Date: 08/03/15

Summary from Goodreads:

What happens when your childhood nightmares of being bitten by strange creatures in a dark wood aren’t just dreams?

Sixteen-year-old Arden St. John’s life takes a strange turn when she finds an unusual animal injured near her new house on the south east coast of Australia. When she takes it to the local vet, a terrible truth is inadvertently exposed to her. 

She discovers a secret underworld, where witches are commonplace and trolls masquerade as queen bees, terrorising the other students with impunity. A world where vampires traffic in the lives of children, draining their bodies once they reach maturity. Where adults auction their own children to extend their lives.

Arden finds out she’s one of those kids, her life traded by the mother she never knew. Now she’s caught up in this ancient and corrupt economy operating just below the surface of modern society. She’s a hot commodity, and it’s only a matter of time before the vampire who bought her comes to claim his prize. 

But Arden’s not going down without a fight.

Buy Links:

Amazon

Excerpt: 

The further into the bush she went, the more anxious Arden felt. If something happened to me, how long would it be before Dad noticed? I could be dead for days before someone found me, Arden thought, unhappily. The compulsion to turn around and seek out others grew stronger and her footsteps slowed.

And then through the trees, she saw something. Curiosity overcoming her disquiet, at first she thought it was a rocky outcrop and moved towards it, trying to see what was veiled by the leaves of the trees. The flash of sunlight whitened out her vision as she stepped out of the shade into the clearing. Blinded, she waited for her eyes to adjust. Squinting, the blurred shapes gradually resolved into the ruins of a stone building. The roof was gone and the walls stuck up like the blunt teeth of a fallen giant. Arden walked around what had once been a large structure that had been left to crumble back into the earth. It was built on a headland, the view of the ocean clear on the far side. A lone gum tree clung to the edge of the cliff, roots visible where the earth had crumbled away. Dead, its bare branches stood out starkly white against the dark clouds forming over the ocean. There was a storm coming in, but it was still a way out to sea. Catching sight of a marking on the stone, she moved towards it to examine it more closely. It was weathered almost flat, but tracing the rough gritty surface with her finger, she made out the distinctive shape of a convict arrow.

Amazed, she walked in through a doorway, trying to work out what type of building it had been. There had been a large central room with many tiny rooms opening from it. They were small, storerooms perhaps? Exploring deeper into the ruins, there was a room that had been more protected at the rear and the purpose became apparent. The stubbed remains of bars were still embedded in the stone in one section and in the corner of the room were cross hatched markings on the walls, counting off the days. She was standing in a convict gaol. 

About the Author
L. C. Fenton lives in Sydney, Australia with her husband and two children. In addition to her cake- making business, she works as a freelance copywriter and pens occasional articles for various online magazines.

Not being one of those people who had a burning desire to be anything in particular, L. C. worked her way alphabetically backwards through the available degrees at Sydney University. Surprisingly, given the amount of fun she had at school, L.C. finally managed to graduate with a completely unemployable degree in Philosophy. A Law degree soon followed, however, simply to make it possible for some organization to hire her.
After ten soul-destroying years wandering aimlessly in the corporate wilderness, L. C. threw it all in and reassessed. Deciding to bring the "one day I will write a book" idea to the present, she started and hasn't stopped. As a huge fan of the romance genre, she writes the kinds of books that she enjoys to read.
In her spare time, L. C. Fenton...actually she has no spare time. She sleeps or reads copious amounts of romance novels instead of sleeping.

Author Links:

   

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