Shattered Bonds by Faith Hunter (Spotlight, excerpt, review, and GIVEAWAY) LTP

Image by GraphicMama-team from Pixabay

Happy Halloween!

********************

 Shattered Bonds

by

Faith Hunter

BLURB

Jane Yellowrock must dig deep and find strength within herself if she is to survive in the latest novel in this New York Times bestselling series.

Jane Yellowrock is vampire-killer-for-hire, but her last battle with an ancient arcane enemy has brought her low. She seeks retreat in the Appalachian Mountains to grieve the loss of her friends, and to heal—or to die—from the disease brought on by her magic.

But malevolent elements in the paranormal community still seek to destroy Jane, and a terrifying foe stalks her, even into the safety of the hills. With nowhere to run and her body failing, the rogue-vampire hunter and her inner Beast must discover a way to defeat this new threat, and find a form that gives her a chance to fight another day.

Mass Market Paperback

400 pages

$7.99

Published by Ace, Oct. 29, 2019

ISBN 9780399587986

*******************************

********************

SHATTERED BONDS 
by Faith Hunter
copyright Faith Hunter


Excerpt Eleven

Beast and I sat beside his chair and wrapped her long tail around our feet. The tail was warm with strong blood flow, thick, deeply furred, heavy, and cozy on our paws.

Alex leaned forward and propped his elbows on his knees. That made us eye-to-eye level, and brought his scent strongly to our nose. He smelled of testosterone and garlic and coffee and after-shave and worry. Beast butted his hands, which were laced and hanging between his knees in a posture that was very Eli-like. Alex’s mouth twisted into a parody of a smile and he scratched Beast behind her ears. “I’ve been in facetime conversation with Grégoire. Things have been happening fast in France, and there’re things Grégoire hasn’t told us, not wanting to worry you.”

Beast snarled. So did I. Blondie knew I was sick. Blondie had been keeping secrets.

“Ed,” Alex said gently, scratching, smoothing our lips back over our teeth. He looked into our eyes as if he was about to break my heart, “was stolen from his lair in France at midday, five days ago.”

My heart stuttered.

Ed? Beast asked.

Eli’s lips twitched. On another man it would have been a scowl like thunderclouds. “We weren’t notified,” Eli said. “Why?”

“There was a fight,” Alex said, even more gently, “in a farmhouse in the wine country of France. Four of Ed’s people were killed. The house where they were laired burned to the ground.”

“Ed?” our lips moved but no sound came out. Our eyes burned. But Alex didn’t appear to be grieved or as if he was about to tell me—

“His surviving people thought Ed had burrowed under the hearth, into a small safe-room lair, with three others. His vamps had been sharing blood and so they knew he was alive, but that was all they knew until they got the safe-room excavated.” Alex sounded so grown up. So adult. So much like Eli in his delivery, but with his own touch, that gentleness I would never have expected when I first met him. His fingers scratched deep and Beast closed our eyes in bliss. “Because of the heat of the fire and the presence of the local law,” he said, “that rescue took place only a few hours past. Ed wasn’t in the safe room. Grégoire now assumes that Ed was taken by the attackers the day of the assault.”

Ed in cage? Beast thought, opening our eyes.

“Once his people started looking, they discovered that Pellissier Clan’s Bombardier Learjet 85 flew out of Paris four days ago with Ed and four other vampires aboard—none of them Ed’s. The aircraft landed in the Bahamas and Ed’s passport was marked. Then he disappeared. They were getting ready to inform us when I called them first.”

Beast hissed deep inside me.

Purchase links

Amazon 

Barnes & Noble

The Book Depository

Indiebound

Audible

************************


Faith's books:


Faith Hunter's Jane Yellowrock series is a dark urban fantasy. Jane is a full blooded Cherokee skinwalker and hunter of rogue-vampires in a world of weres, witches, vampires, and other supernats.

Her Rogue Mage novels—Bloodring, Seraphs, Host, and the RPG Rogue Mage—feature Thorn St. Croix, a stone mage in a post-apocalyptic alternate reality.

The Soulwood series is a dark-urban fantasy / paranormal police procedural /para-thriller series featuring Nell Nicholson Ingram, an earth magic user and Special gent of PsyLED.


Author Bio and links:

Faith writes full-time, tries to keep house, and is a workaholic. She gave up cooking for lent one year and the oven hasn’t been turned on since. Okay – that’s a joke. She does still make cold cereal and sandwiches. Occasionally, she remembers to turn on Roomba (that she named Duma$$ because it fell down the stairs once.)

Faith researches in great detail, and tries most everything her characters do. Research led to her life’s passions – jewelry making, orchids, bones, travel, white-water kayaking, and writing.

Jewelry-making was the occupation of two of her characters: Thorn St. Croix, the Rogue Mage, and the main character of BloodStone, written by her pen name, Gwen Hunter. She fell in love with the art form. Faith makes, wears, and sometimes gives away her jewelry as promo items to fans and as prizes in contests. See her FaceBook Fan Page at http://www.facebook.com/official.faith.hunter for pics. She works with stones, pearls, crystal, and glass, wire wrapping larger, undrilled, focal stones. Labradorite, Amazonite, apatite, aquamarine, and prehnite are her favorite stones.


Faith loves orchids. Her favorite time of year is when several are blooming. Pictures can be seen at her FaceBook page. And yes, she collects bones and skulls. Many of her orchid pics are juxtaposed with bones and skulls —a fox, cat, dog, cow skull, goat, and deer skull, (that is, unfortunately, falling apart) and the jawbone of an ass. She just received a boar skull, and the skull of a mountain lion (legally purchased from a US tannery) killed in the wild.

She and her husband RV, traveling to whitewater rivers all over the Southeast.

And that leads Faith to kayaking – her very favorite sport. Faith discovered whitewater paddling when she was researching her (Gwen Hunter) mystery book, Rapid Descent. She took a lesson and—after a bout of panic attacks from fear of drowning—discovered she loved the sport.

Faith is one of the founders and a participant at the now defunct and archived www.MagicalWords.net, an online writing forum geared to helping writers. And she is a voracious reader.

Under other pen names, notably, Gwen Hunter, she writes action adventure, mysteries, and thrillers. As Gwen, she is a winner of the WH Smith Literary Award for Fresh Talent in 1995 in the UK, and won a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award in 2008. As Faith, her books have been on the New York Times and USA Today Bestseller lists, been nominated for various awards and won an Audie Award with Khristine Hvam. Under all her pen names, she has more than 40 books, anthologies, and complications in print in 30 countries.


For more, including a list of her books, see www.faithhunter.net, www.gwenhunter.com, and www.magicalwords.net. To keep up with her daily, join her fan pages at Facebook


******************

GIVEAWAY





a Rafflecopter giveaway



******************


My review:

4.75 out of 5 stars

Shattered Bonds by Faith Hunter is part of the ‘Jane Yellowrock’ paranormal/urban fantasy series. Jane is still dealing with life-threatening complications, but her multiple roles require direct intervention, especially when her enemies strike close to home. She and Beast will have to discern whether some of her allies are friends or foes, and any mistakes may be deadly.

I enjoy books that feature kick-butt heroines, and this series definitely showcases its unique heroine who is not only a take-charge and opinionated female, but whose dual nature adds an entertaining perspective. I think it would be difficult for those who are not familiar with the series to appreciate all of the nuances, particularly given the number of different types of entities who have cameos or pivotal roles, but even if one doesn’t understand the alliances and maneuverings or the events that have led up to the situations Jane is dealing with, I suspect that newbies to the series will be impressed by the depth and vividness of the world-building and the intense connections between Jane and those around her.

There are wonderfully dramatic scenes, fascinating characters, gory fights, and beautiful demonstrations of the loving connections Jane has developed despite herself. Just when emotions seem in danger of overwhelming the reader, Beast provides a pithy comment or observation and lightens things a bit. I am in awe that many of the characters continue to evolve and deepen the reader’s connection to them and I admit to rereading the beautiful ending several times, sorry to see the story end.

The books in this series are enthralling and I always find myself racing through, desperate to discover how things turn out, and then I go back and revisit sections to better appreciate the nuances. This story was no exception, and I’ve read through multiple scenes over and over, especially those that contrast the savage side of this feisty heroine and her loving attachment to the youngsters she’s determined to keep safe, no matter what the cost. Above all, this book highlights faithfulness and faith, and I finished with a delighted, “aww,” even though I immediately wanted to have more of Jane’s adventures. Fans of the series will have fun with this addition; those new to the delights in store will undoubtedly want to start at the beginning (Skinwalker). Enjoy!

A copy of this title was provided to me for review

Dark Queen by Faith Hunter (Spotlight, excerpt, review, and GIVEAWAY) LTP

There’s a tour-wide giveaway for 2 complete sets of the Jane Yellowrock series (all 12 books)!!
Open to US residents only; visit the blogs listed below to enter.

Dark Queen 

by

Faith Hunter

About the book:

Jane Yellowrock used to hunt vampires, but now she must fight--and win--beside them.

As Enforcer to the vampire Master of the City of New Orleans, Jane Yellowrock stakes her reputation and her life on keeping her territory safe. But Leo has been issued a blood challenge by the emperor of the European vampires, who seeks to usurp all of his power and possessions. If Leo loses the match to the death, the city will be forfeit, and the people of New Orleans will suffer the consequences. Jane can't let that happen.

Preparing for the duel requires all of Jane's focus, but with so much supernatural power in play, nothing goes according to plan. She has to rely on herself and the very few people she knows she can trust to stand and fight. Only two things are guaranteed: nothing is sacred, and no one is safe.

Excerpt #4:

I Killed the Only U’tlun’ta in NOLA

I gripped Eli’s right arm, pulling him into the time bubble. He stumbled and I caught him, shoving his weapon up and away. “Jane?” he said, almost startled at the time change. Almost but not quite. It was hard to startle one of Uncle Sam’s best, especially as he had been in the Gray Between with me before. He looked at the unwelcome visitor. “Who?”

“Don’t know. Wearing a PsyLED badge.” I held up the badge as proof. “Using the new Glock issued to PsyLED. He speaks some of the language of The People. He called me by my Cherokee name. And then called me u’tlun’ta.”

“He smell like you?”

“No. Floral.” My own scent was a challenge to most vampires, until the team leader accepted me. Then that one’s underlings fell into line and accepted me too. But oral history, things people had told me about a skinwalker who had lived in New Orleans a century and more ago, hinted that at least one other skinwalker had smelled like flowers. At some point soon, I had to track down the vamp who had owned her and ask questions. In my copious free time. Right.

Eli frowned. He checked the altered trajectory of his round, patted my hand, telling me to not let go, which would drop him into normal time. He lifted a thigh rig from the floor and strapped it on to his shower-damp body and seated his weapon in its Kydex holster. He looked me over, seeing too much. “Your head?”

“Bearable.”

Eli grunted. With one free hand, he gripped my arm, making sure we didn’t separate. Together, we pattered down the steps, back to the killer. “We still don’t know if all skinwalkers can bubble time or if it’s unique,” he said, “part of you and Beast. We need to make sure he doesn’t learn that you have that skill.”

“It’s on video footage at HQ,” I said.

“Yeah. But that’s in a time and place where witch magic could be playing tricks. Discussing that with cops is a battle for tomorrow. We play it by ear, wronged, in danger, and innocent.” Eli looked the visitor over as if he was a piece of terrain to be taken from the enemy, staring into the yellow eyes, as if looking for contacts. Eli frowned. “Too bad I can’t get his weapon away without pulling him into time with us. Let me get to the left side of the doorframe, weapon drawn, ready to fire. You get into your previous position, and let me go. Then you take the guy out. I’ll take care that the weapon doesn’t fire again.”

“Okay. Modified kata guruma?” Kata guruma was a dramatic, vicious martial takedown.

“Okay by me. Use his hair. Grab his dumplings and give ’em a twist as you slam him down, but toss him inside. We got gawkers.” He meant the tourists on the sidewalk across the street. “I’ll have his weapon long before he hits.”

I shrugged and put the vamp-killer and the PsyLED badge on the floor, out of the way, then stepped into position, my foot touching Eli’s to keep him in my time bubble, my body and hands almost touching the stranger. Eli positioned his hands just above and beneath the killer’s gun hand. “Now,” I said to my partner.

Purchase at:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Books-a-Million

iBooks

Google Play

******************************

About the author:

Faith Hunter is a New York Times and USAToday bestselling author. She writes dark urban fantasy and
 paranormal urban thrillers.

Her long-running, bestselling, Skinwalker series features Jane Yellowrock, a hunter of rogue-vampires.
The Soulwood series features Nell Nicholson Ingram in paranormal crime solving novels. 
Her Rogue Mage novels, a dark, urban fantasy series, features Thorn St. Croix, a stone mage in a
 post-apocalyptic, alternate reality. Two of her fantasy series have been nominated for Audie Awards.

   

Under the pen name Gwen Hunter, she has written action adventure, mysteries, thrillers, 
women’s fiction, a medical thriller series, and even historical religious fiction. 
As Gwen, she is a winner of the WH Smith Literary Award for Fresh Talent in 1995 in the UK, 
and won a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award in 2008. 

Under all her pen names, she has over 40 books in print in 30 countries.

In real life, Faith once broke a stove by refusing to turn it on for so long that its parts froze and 
the unused stove had to be replaced. Her recent hankering for homemade bread and soup resulted in 
fresh loaves each week and she claims that the newish stove feels loved and well used—because 
Faith talks to her appliances as well as to her plants and dog. 

She collects orchids and animal skulls, loves to sit on the back porch in lightning storms, and is a 
workaholic with a passion for jewelry making, white-water kayaking, and RV travel. 

She likes the shooting range, prefers Class III whitewater rivers with no gorge to climb out of, edits the 
occasional anthology, and drinks a lot of tea. Some days she’s a lady. Some days she ain't. 
Occasionally, she remembers to sleep. 

The jewelry she makes and wears is often given as promo items and is used as prizes in contests.

For more, including a list of her books, see www.faithhunter.net , www.gwenhunter.com  

Visit Faith online at www.faithhunter.net, or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

******************************

GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

******************************

My review:

5 out of 5 stars

“Dark Queen” by Faith Hunter is the twelfth book in the ‘Jane Yellowrock’ series and continues to explore Jane’s ever-changing position in the hierarchy of power in New Orleans. Juggling her responsibilities as Enforcer, as partner, and as lover, plus the unexpected additions of new titles and therefore new burdens and obligations, Jane tries to help prepare for the world-shaking duel that will determine who rules the American vampire faction. Bloodshed and death are inevitable, but the goal is to make sure most, if not all, is conferred upon the enemies rather than the allies and beloved members of her growing clan.

This urban fantasy tale is part of a series that never fails to enthrall and entertain, even when I don’t like what is taking place, given the complicated personalities and allegiances involved in these stories. What is most amazing to me is how vividly the characters are depicted, so I have no trouble becoming immersed in the complex and well-built world that houses these intriguing folks. The blend of political and personal maneuverings and power plays keep the action moving constantly and the unexpected family drama in this particular book deepens the reader’s emotional investment in one particular character, even as it adds yet another dimension to the struggles going on. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to keep up with the series, so I was a little slow to figure out some of the relationships between various folks, but I still cheered and mourned as various conflicts played out.

I think that what I enjoy most about these books is their ability to take me away from my own problems while making the machinations of these amazing folks so mesmerizing that I am held captive for hours—chuckling at Beast’s pithy observations, hissing at the villains, and cheering for the “good” guys (yes, that term is used advisedly sometimes, especially with bloodsuckers, lol).

Those who are not familiar with the series are advised to start at the beginning for maximum enjoyment, but I think you probably could get sucked into Jane’s orbit even if you didn’t have much of the back story. As usual, the story ends on somewhat of a cliffhanger, but amazingly (for me) it wasn’t as painful as it could be, despite the fact that I still am VERY curious about how certain things are going to turn out. Like Beast, there are some things that have played out to my satisfaction, so I am temporarily content, although I do confess that there are some very emotional sequences in addition to the heart-pounding and violent fight scenes and other dramatic encounters. The creativity, complex world-building, and imagination that are hallmarks of this author continue to keep each story fresh and make her one of my go-to urban fantasy authors. I hope that there are many, many more stories still to come about Jane Yellowrock and her friends.

A copy of this title was provided to me for review

******************************

Tour stops:

4/23: Tome Tender (review, giveaway), Gizmo’s Reviews (review, giveaway), Romance Junkies (review)

4/24: Bad Bird Reads (review), Diane’s Book Blog (review), Love Read Listen (giveaway only*)
4/25: BTH Reviews (review, excerpt, giveaway), Welcome to My Dungeon (review, giveaway), Angel’s Guilty Pleasures (giveaway only*)
4/26: Books of My Heart (review, excerpt), Words I Write Crazy (giveaway only*)
4/27: Untamed Bibliophiles (review, excerpt, giveaway), The Book Crumb Trail (review, giveaway)
4/28: Lisa’s World of Books (review)
4/29: Quirky Cats Fat Stacks (review, giveaway)
4/30: Urban Fantasy Investigations (giveaway only*)
5/1: Scorching Book Reviews (review, excerpt), The Irresponsible Reader (review)
5/2: Book Junkiez (review, excerpt), Bambi Unbridled (review)
5/3: Smexy Books (review)
5/4: The Genre Minx Book Reviews (review)

Cold Reign by Faith Hunter (spotlight, character profile, review, and GIVEAWAY) LTP

COLD REIGN

  

by  Faith Hunter

 

Jane Yellowrock is a shape-shifting skinwalker…and the woman rogue vampires fear most.
 
Jane walks softly and carries a big stake to keep the peace in New Orleans, all part of her job as official Enforcer to Leo Pellissier, Master of the City. But Leo’s reign is being threatened by a visit from a delegation of ancient European vampires seeking to expand their dominions.
 
And there’s another danger to the city. When she hears reports of revenant vampires, loose in NOLA and out for blood, Jane goes to put them down—and discovers there’s something unusual about these revenants. They never should have risen.
 
Jane must test her strength against a deadly, unnatural magic beyond human understanding, and a ruthless cadre of near-immortals whose thirst for power knows no bounds…

Publisher: Roc

Price: $7.99

Release date: May 2, 2017

ISBN: 978-1101991404

Character Profile: Aggie One Feather

AKA Egini Agayvlge i in the speech of The People. Elder and Shaman of the People. Has grown children who don’t live with her. Has dogs, and later a cat.

Aggie is slender, a black-haired woman who dresses casually in jeans. She is spare and muscular with little gray in hair, though she is mid-fifties or older. She is lithe and fluid in movement with black eyes that are full of compassion, life and laughter. Her voice is soft and melodious, the gentle voice of dreams and nightmares, both.

She is a Spirit Walker who drives a little four-wheel-drive Toyota. She takes Jane to sweat and later to water. These are Cherokee ceremonies that help Jane to learn who she is.

Her mother is Eva Chicalelee, Ewi Tsagalili, (U ni lisi—mother of many grandchildren.)

**Compiled by Melissa M. Gilbert of Clicking Keys, for the Character History of the Jane Yellowrock world**

Purchase links:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Books-A-Million

IndieBound

Kobo

Google Play

Audible

About Faith Hunter:

 New York Times Bestselling author Faith Hunter writes three series: the Jane Yellowrock series, dark urban fantasy novels featuring Jane, a Cherokee Skinwalker; the Rogue Mage novels, a dark, urban fantasy / post apocalyptic series and role playing game featuring Thorn St. Croix; and the Soulwood Series featuring Nell Nicholson Ingram.

Visit Faith online at www.faithhunter.net, or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

*************************

Giveaway!

There’s a tour-wide giveaway for copies of Cold Reign and totes featuring Beast!
Open to US residents only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


 

 **************************

My review:

4.5 stars

Cold Reign by Faith Hunter is an urban fantasy that is part of the ‘Jane Yellowrock’ series. Jane’s role as Enforcer for the vampire Leo Pellisier, Master of New Orleans, is particularly challenged by the upheavals accompanying the machinations of European vampires who are reviving ancient alliances and threatening to repossess the American lands. A horrendous lightning storm is wreaking havoc with Jane’s system and the arcane powers sparking may be part of an insidious plan that will destroy the fragile alliances that hold New Orleans together.

The stories in this series are both mind-boggling and a thrill to read, with their fascinating blend of paranormal, fantasy, and mythic elements, not to mention the sexy and capable characters that abound. I love the appropriateness of the title, with its dual meanings that reflect the weather and the intense vampire struggle for power and control. Now, I admit, there are so many connections and significant events that have occurred in the past books that sometimes I am a bit lost while I comb through my memory (and realize that I have missed a book or two!) and try to figure out what ties and artifacts are significant, but that doesn’t prevent me from having fun with the story.

There are intense emotions and creepy developments that permeate this particular adventure, and just when one is trying to catch one’s breath after an intense fight and enjoy a brief respite…something else goes wrong! I kept losing track of who was allied to who and why it was important, so I suspect a new edition of the “Jane Yellowrock World Companion” would come in handy. Nonetheless, the dual point of view between Jane and Beast, the snarky repartee with those she depends on and who depend on her, the underhanded maneuverings of Leo and his allies and enemies, plus the arcane intervention of beings who seem to have a vested interest in some of the conflicts make this a breathtaking addition to the series.

I particularly love the arcenciels, and any book with an appearance by them, however brief, is delicious…and even more so when the pragmatic runs into the fantasy (who worries about a bathroom break when getting the chance of a lifetime? Jane, of course). Those who are squeamish should definitely not be reading these stories, as bloodshed and decapitation abound, but those who love a kickass female who speaks her mind and refuses to be manipulated…enjoy!

A copy of this title was provided to me for review

Blood in Her Veins by Faith Hunter (spotlight, excerpt and GIVEAWAYS!)

SHILOH AND THE BRICK  (Copyright held by Faith Hunter)

Part Four

I dove for Molly and wrapped her in my arms, making a cage of my limbs as I spun across the floor and under a table, taking the weight and force of the rolling dive onto my body, on elbows and knees and spine. My braid, down and loose, caught under us and I yanked it free. “Stay put.” I growled at her. My Beast was close to the surface, her cat-voice rough and coarse. 

From the back of the house I heard the sound of a shotgun breach closing. The blood-servants were on the way. That left the missile up to me. I tossed my braid and shifted my roll to the thing that had been thrown inside. 

Glass was still flying through the room as Beast shoved me across the floor. Seeing it as I reached out for it. A brick. With a note tied on. For freaking crap’s sake.

I grabbed the brick and checked it with more senses—touch (no explosives), smell (no explosives), sight (no explosives). Just a brick with a note, folded over, a name on the outside. Tied with a neat bow of twine. I stood, seeing a hedge of thorns witch ward lifting around the house. Evan had whistled it up in seconds flat. Pretty nifty, that. 

The blood-servants stood at the doorway, a man with a shotgun leveled at me. The others with knives and a nine-millimeter and a tiny .380. All aimed at me. I set the brick down on the floor and stood. Held up my hands, trying for innocent, but that was hard for a six-foot-tall Cherokee chick so weaponed up that I looked like a walking arsenal. “Not me,” I said. And then I chuffed, cat-like laughter. “I come in peace.”

The man gave his shotgun to the blood-servant nearest, and walked, slowly, to where Shiloh cowered, vamped-out, inch-long needle fangs and sharp-as-steel talons out. She hissed at me as her witch powers gathered around her. Okay. This was bad.

To my side, Evan Trueblood was already whistling up a defensive spell to stop his niece. 

Blood in Her Veins

Roc Trade Paperback 

$16.00 

560 pages 

Release: February 2, 2016 

ISBN: 978045147576

In the brand-new “Cat Fight,” the witches and vampires of Bayou, Oiseau, are a war over a magical talisman, and Jane must figure out how to keep the artifact out of the hands of the Master of New Orleans. And in the never-before-published “Bound No More,” Jane welcomes a visit from Molly and her daughter, Angie, who is about to prove she’s the most powerful witch in Everhart history…

From the Big Easy to the bad bayou, from the open road to a vampire’s lair — with Jane Yellowrock, it’s always a given…have stakes, will travel.

Purchase links 

Amazon

B&N

IndieBound

The Book Depository

BAM

iBooks

(Shadow Rites, book 11 in the Jane Yellowrock series, is coming out in April 2016. Pre-order now!)

Faith Hunter

Faith Hunter, fantasy writer, was born in Louisiana and raised all over the south. She writes three Urban Fantasy series:  the Skinwalker series, featuring Jane Yellowrock, a Cherokee skinwalker who hunts rogue vampires. The Soulwood series, featuring earth magic user Nell Ingram. And the Rogue Mage novels, a dark, urban, post-apocalyptic, fantasy series featuring Thorn St. Croix, a stone mage. (There is a role playing game based on the series, ROGUE MAGE.)

Under the pen name Gwen Hunter, she writes action-adventure, mysteries, and thrillers. As Faith and Gwen, she has 30+ books in print in 29 countries.

Hunter writes full-time, tries to keep house, and is a workaholic with a passion for travel, jewelry making, white-water kayaking, and writing. She and her husband love to RV, traveling with their rescued Pomeranians to whitewater rivers all over the Southeast.

Find Faith online at www.faithhunter.net, her blog, on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads; also www.yellowrocksecurities.com, and www.gwenhunter.com.

*****************************

GIVEAWAYS


The publisher is giving away one print copy, US only, no PO Boxes please.  Giveaway ends Monday February 8th at 11:59PM PST.  Please enter by leaving a comment about your favorite character in this series along with a valid e-mail address.  Winner will be chosen using a randomizer from among valid entries.  Failure to respond to an e-mail announcing the win within 48 hours will result in another name being drawn.

Faith Hunter has a $25 Starbucks gift card for ONE commenter who comments on all the blogs who're hosting the story parts. Blog tour schedule is here



*******************************

My review:

-->

4.75 out of 5 stars

Blood in Her Veins: Nineteen Stories from the World of Jane Yellowrock by Faith Hunter is a collection of paranormal urban fantasy short stories and novellas. Ranging from the early 19^th century to more modern times, these tales give an overview of the progression of Jane the skinwalker’s life and development of her powers in snapshots that tie together the stories portrayed in the books of this series.  There are glimpses of the beings that have had profound influences on her journey, including her ups and downs at forming connections with others who are acceptable to both her and Beast, particularly the Everhart family.  Some of the folks who have ostensibly been secondary characters get their own time in the spotlight, particularly one very precocious witch-child who threatens to turn the world on its ear, just the way she upsets all of the plans of the adults around her.  There is a plethora of details about vampires, the problem of were-taint, the struggle to form a useful council to deal with vampire-witch relations, and the ever-evolving details about the mysterious Anzu.  Also introduced is a character (Nell) who is about to star in her own series who has indeed been “Off the Grid”.

One of the joys of reading stories by this author is the sheer immensity of details that she provides, with lots of unexpected twists and turns.  I’m always hungry after reading about the delicious meals they are consuming (although I draw the line at cold oatmeal and probably at the fried gator, lol) which add such realism to the stories.  I was grateful that there were little pockets of peace described while the various characters consumed their edibles, because the stories provide an experience that is like a strobe-lit picture of Jane’s evolution over the years, jampacked with pivotal struggles.

I fear that this book has plenty of spoilers for those who haven’t been keeping up with the series, but it is a great overview.  Those who are squeamish should be forewarned that there is plenty of violence and death depicted (and ew, leaving a piece of one’s liver on a branch!), and it is awe-inspiring to watch the way the author provides such depth and texture to change the one views the paranormal creatures populating this series.  There are moments of levity to give one a quick respite from the occasionally very heart-wrenching struggles, but one never forgets what a kickass combination this motorcycle-riding female is, nor how unique and powerful a relationship she and Beast have.  This is an enthralling and exciting collection of tales that is sure to delight fans of the series and seduce plenty of new readers into falling under the spell of this fantastic author.

A copy of this collection was provided to me for review.