[REVIEW] The People of Sparks – Jeanne DuPrau

Jeanne DuPrau
The People of Sparks (Ember, Book 2)
Random House (US & CA: 12th April 2005; UK: 2nd February 2006; AU: 3rd April 2006)
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Four hundred people from Ember have made it into the outside world, to a town where they’ve decided to integrate. The people of Sparks, however, have different ideas. They feed, house, and train the refugees, but supplies are dwindling and tension is rising.

Jeanne DuPrau brings up some big issues in a non-preachy way. Warfare, refugees, greed, hunger, toil, secrets, and lies are all major players, but the characters make these elements work. Lina and Doon are definitely flawed, but stick with them and they’ll come through. Realistic, relevant, thoughtful, entertaining, and emotional, The People of Sparks is a brilliant sequel to tough-to-beat The City of Ember. I’ve already reserved my copy of The Diamond of Darkhold…

[PROMO] Vivian Arend’s CLAIMING DERRYN & Lexxie Couper’s TIMELESS WRAITH

Looking for something to warm up your winter, or celebrate the summer heat Down Under? Vivian Arend and Lexxie Couper are spanning the globe to bring you two stories that are sure to make you sweat. Viv and Lexxie are both members of International Heat, and while their stories are not connected in any way, they happen to have drawn the same release day at Ellora’s Cave. What better reason to get together to celebrate?

Viv:

I’m very excited to be able to have Claiming Derryn available to you. This is my first futuristic novella, my first m/m/f, and my first release from Ellora’s Cave. Claiming Derryn is about three friends – and lovers during their days at the Space Institute – who were suddenly separated. Now rejoined in the midst of a rebel uprising, the lines between the good guys and the bad are extremely blurred. Surviving the situation is the goal, even as they find love. Oh, and if you’ve ever seen Star Trek’s “The Trouble with Tribbles” you’ll understand when I say the “sharysa” are my salute to Star Trek.

It’s a hot, wild ride through the galaxy. Be prepared for a passion that’s out of this world.

Lexxie:

There must be something seriously wrong with me. I love writing stories that are dark and twisted, quite disturbing and full of wild dangerous sex. Enter Timeless Wrath. I wrote Timeless Wrath years ago and it was previously released as a novella called Deadly Sins: Anger. It won numerous awards (including the JERR Silver Star Award) but remained unknown to the reading public. However Evron and Ricki’s tale DEMANDED to be heard and, after quite a lot of rewrites, my most erotic book to date comes to you from Ellora’s Cave.

Timeless Wrath has just about everything you’d expect in a Lexxie Couper book – lots of explosive sex, tormented heroes, lots of wild sex, a villain that’ll scare the pants right off you, lots of passionate sex and a love story fated by the Highest of Powers. (Oh, and lots of sex. Did I mention that?)

I should warn you though. Timeless Wrath isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s violent, at times scary and has been known to cause nightmares…and wicked, wet dreams

Vivian Arend
Claiming Derryn (eBook)
Ellora’s Cave (US: 10th February 2010)
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When a trade negotiation goes wrong, Melina Davenport is sure she’ll end up either a causality of war or a sex slave. Discovering one of her missing partners, Trev, is the new leader of the rebels who have captured her adds insult to injury. And what the hell does he think he’s doing, ripping her clothes away and touching her in front of the Derryn rebels? She was so going to kick his ass. But when her former lover whisks her away to a reunion with their third, Davis – now captain of the notorious outlaw vessel Nottingham – she has to decide if she wants to join her two lovers in their important but less-than-legal activities. Time is running out. The authorities are hunting them, the rebels are bomb crazy and the local fauna is reproducing at an astonishing rate aboard their vessel. If they don’t find a solution soon, they can kiss the universe goodbye.

Lexxie Couper
Timeless Wrath (eBook)
Ellora’s Cave (US: 10th February 2010)
Buy
Beatrice “Rickie” Sullivan is every man’s fantasy. Drop-dead gorgeous, she exudes a sensuality none can ignore. More than just a stunning face and body, she’s intelligent, kind, gentle…and madly, inexplicably in love with Evron, a man she’s known mere hours. Evron McKenzie is troubled, struggling with undeniable anger that scorches though his veins. And the irrational feeling he is someone else, something more. Someone rich, powerful…someone to fear. But in Rickie’s arms, Evron may have finally found his place in the world. At last he is at peace. So who is the seductive redhead who invades Evron’s dreams? Why does she urge him to touch a mysterious sculpture – a sculpture that seems to radiate death and sin? How can she make him hornier than he’s ever been in his life with just a look, and at the same time turn his anger into bloody, murderous rage? And, more frighteningly, why can’t he resist her?

[COVER ART] Stacia Kane’s UNHOLY GHOSTS (UK)

UK cover for Stacia Kane’s Unholy Ghosts.

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[REVIEW] StarDoc – S. L. Viehl

S. L. Viehl
StarDoc (StarDoc, Book 1)
Penguin Roc (US: 1st January 2000; CA: 13th January 2000)
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Dr Cherijo Grey Veil may be an expert surgeon on Terra, but has a steep learning curve on K-2. Most of her Trauma patients are of species she’s never encountered before, and her fellow doctors aren’t all playing nice. But these are nothing compared to the contagion destroying lives before Cherijo can even identify what it is, and how to treat it.

The contagion should be the final climax, but instead there’s more to come. And are the earlier scenes with all her different patients really necessary? I get the feeling pantsing came before plotting, resulting in a little lack of focus. Family? Lovers? Patients? Politics? Altogether they make the story feel longer than perhaps it should be.

But StarDoc is a true page-turner. The trauma cases are by far the breadwinners, but there are likable characters in Ana Hansen, Alunthri, and of course Jenner. The family and politics issues often seem repeated, and the romances are just awkward. Normally I don’t share spoilers, but in this case there’s something that a lot of readers like to be forewarned about: a rape scene.

Overall, StarDoc is rather engrossing, and leaves me wanting the rest of the series, but this is problematic as most of the books are out-of-print.

[COVER ART] Caitlin Kittredge’s NIGHT LIFE (UK)

UK cover for Caitlin Kittredge’s Night Life.

Buy (UK) Buy (Worldwide)

[COVER ART] Raised by Wolves – Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Cover for Jennifer Lynn Barnes’s Raised by Wolves

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[COVER ART] Brenna Yovanoff’s THE REPLACEMENT & Kat Richardson’s LABYRINTH

US covers for Brenna Yovanoff’s The Replacement, and Kat Richardson’s Labyrinth.

The Replacement will be published in the UK as Fe in 2011. I love this wonderfully creepy cover with its macabre mobile above the pram The book is definitely on my Wishlist now! The cover was designed by Natalie Sousa, and photographed by Jonathan Barkat. Mind you, this is just the ARC cover – the final version may be different.

The Replacement Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Labyrinth Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

[REVIEW] The Road to Hell – Jackie Kessler

Jackie Kessler
The Road to Hell (Hell on Earth, Book 2)
Kensington Zebra (US: 3rd November 2009); Hachette Piatkus (UK: 3rd February 2011)
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Jezebel’s BFF is being terribly tortured, and the only way she’ll be released is by Jez returning to Hell. But she was betrayed, so the ex-succubus refuses. The game steps up when the Queen of the Succubi steals the innocent soul of Jezebel’s human lover, and now Jez needs her incubus lover to kill her – and return her to the very place from where Jez has been running.

Jackie Kessler’s character-driven romp has more depth than the surface reveals. Megaera is so psychologically screwed-up, but never stops trying to put Jezebel first. Angel has been forced into a new life the polar opposite of the one she’s been used to, and the way Jezebel warms up to her and mentors her is oddly charming. The plot is kind of minor, but the characters, their decisions and their interactions provide plenty of food for thought, and hopefully Meg and Angel will return for future episodes in this spunky series.

P.S. Yes, I totally had audio thoughts of Peter Griffin whenever Jezebel said, “Shut up, Meg.”

[COVER ART] Laurell K. Hamilton’s BULLET & Jessica Verday’s THE HAUNTED

US covers for both Laurell K. Hamilton’s Bullet and Jessica Verday’s The Haunted (Evan Schwartz did the art for this one).

Bullet: Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
The Haunted: Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

[REVIEW] Black Is for Beginnings – Laurie Faria Stolarz

Laurie Faria Stolarz (Adaptation by Barbara Randall Kesel; artwork by Janina Görrissen)
Black Is for Beginnings (Blue Is for Nightmares, Book 5)
Llewellyn Flux (US: 1st September 2009)
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Jacob LeBlanc has returned to Colorado, recovering from amnesia. But even while he was living in Massachusetts, there was one thing he “forgot” to tell Stacey Brown about – his girlfriend back home.

An epilogue to the fabulous Blue Is for Nightmares series, this graphic novel lacks the tense suspense that made the first four text-only books so awesome. The dreams and magic are here, as are Stacey’s pals, but this romance really could’ve used a plot that wasn’t just about their relationship. Recommended for graphic novel fans only (this format just doesn’t work for me), regular BIFN readers who skip this aren’t missing out on anything important.