Monthly Archives: January 2016

On the Bookshelf: Keir by Pippa Jay

29 Friday Jan 2016

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The Whiskey With My Book blog header is currently featuring a picture I took of my bookshelf.  On it are several SciFi Romance and Steampunk Romance titles.  These are all favorites of mine and wonderful 5-star adventures, so they will be featured in several posts over the next few weeks.

There are many books that deserve multiple readings.  The trouble is, there are too many good books and not enough time to read them even once.  Keir by Pippa Jay is one of the few books I have read twice.  It became a favorite when I read it in the original edition.  When it was re-issued in 2015 I knew that Ms. Jay had spent a lot of time on revising it, so I decided re-read it.  After the re-read, Keir’s status on my favorites shelf is unchanged.

 

Book Blurb:  A demon waiting to die…
An outcast reviled for his discolored skin and rumors of black magic, Keirlan de Corizi sees no hope for redemption. Imprisoned beneath the palace that was once his home, the legendary ‘Blue Demon of Adalucian’ waits for death to finally free him of his curse. But salvation comes in an unexpected guise.

A woman determined to save him.
Able to cross space and time with a wave of her hand, Tarquin Secker has spent eternity on a hopeless quest. Drawn by a compulsion she can’t explain, she risks her apparent immortality to save Keir, and offers him sanctuary on her home-world, Lyagnius. But Quin has secrets of her own.

When Keir mistakenly unleashes the dormant alien powers within him and earns exile from Lyagnius, Quin chooses to stand by him. Can he master his newfound abilities in time to save Quin from the darkness that seeks to possess her?

Book One of the Redemption series and part of the Travellers Universe.

Here is an excerpt from the Keir.

“Another step,” he growled, “and I will kill you.”

The girl stopped and squinted into the shadows. After a moment, she raised the light over her head. “That isn’t very friendly.” Her tone was calm and even, but the way she held herself told him she stood braced for any sudden movement, the lamp a weapon should she need one.

“I am not friendly. I am dangerous.”

Even as he made the threat, he knew his chances of proving it were remote. In his fragile condition, she had a fair chance of fending him off, or possibly even killing him, and it seemed she knew it. Perhaps his voice had given away his pain and exhaustion. Perhaps she found his seated position less than intimidating, but in truth he could not bring himself to stand. Her posture relaxed a fraction, and she took another step forward, her light invading his niche.

Wincing, he turned his cloth-covered face away.

“You don’t look very dangerous.” She held her torch like a sword as she drew closer. “You look sick.”

He kept his arm raised as if to ward her off, though he shook with the effort of it.

“My name’s Tarquin Secker,” she offered. “But my friends call me Quin. Who are you?”

The words escaped him before he could call them back. “I am Keir.”

As if she had somehow mistaken their exchange of names for permission, she crouched before him and held up her free hand, palm outward.

Keir shied back as she reached out to him. Fear and anger lent him a temporary burst of energy, and he shoved her backward. “Do not touch me!”

The blow was not as heavy as he could have normally managed, but Quin landed on her back with enough force to knock the breath from her with a pained grunt, though she kept her grip on the light-stick. She rose and approached him a second time, slowly and with evident caution, but Keir’s strength had failed him at last, and he sagged against the nearby wall.

“Are you wounded?” She knelt down and reached for him again. He shrank from her touch, and she stopped just shy of his arm. “I don’t want to hurt you, Keir. I might be able to help.”

He said nothing, could not bring himself to unbend, and after a moment, she sat back on her haunches with a sigh. “All right, so you don’t want my help. Why are you in here anyway?”

“What does that matter?”

Quin shrugged. “I’m curious, and there’s not much else to do.” She tilted her head. “Did you hurt someone? Kill someone, maybe?”

Despite how mildly she had phrased the question, the inference stung. “No. They caught me stealing food.” The tension left her face.

“Just a thief, then.”

The accusation, however true, stirred his resentment. “What choice is there when you are starving and have no money?”

“Fair enough, but you did just threaten to kill me, so I wondered…” Quin fiddled with the light-wand in her hand. When she spoke again, her tone seemed musing, as if she spoke more to herself. “And yet you didn’t. So I’m guessing you either can’t or wouldn’t.”

Only a fool would make that assumption. Keir held his tongue, tired of the discussion. What did it matter now?

“Look, I shouldn’t be here. I just want to get out. Maybe that’s an idea I can interest you in?”

For a long moment, Keir could think of nothing to say. Escape was inconceivable. Then he muttered, “There is no way out.”

“I can always find a way.”

For my reviews of both the re-issued Keir and the sequel Keir’s Fall, you can visit Smart Girls Love SciFi Romance.  Since we are on the subject, here is the blurb for Keir’s Fall which is a worthy sequel in the Redemption series:

A seductive tyrant. A lost hero. And a galaxy about to fall…

It’s been a year in paradise for Keir and Quin, but now the idyll is over. After Quin falls sick, they return to the hidden sanctuary of Lyagnius, and what she learns there will not only change their lives, but set them on a journey that could separate them forever.

When Keir falls victim to a ruthless Nercaandi Empress bent on conquering the galaxy with her cybernetic army, it will take all Quin’s diminishing powers and the help of her son to find him. But what waits for her aboard the tyrant’s ship will test her strength and the limits of their love, and put everything she cares about at risk. Including Keir.

With the galaxy itself about to fall, will she be able to save him?

Book Two of the Redemption series and part of the Travellers Universe.

Sound interesting?

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Pippa Jay’s Bio:

A girl who writes scifi and the supernatural.  Whovian, Scaper, and Sith-in-Training.  Two times SFR Galaxy Award winner and a 2015 EPIC and RWA LERA Rebecca finalist.

 

 

 

City of Light by Keri Arthur

24 Sunday Jan 2016

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Several years back, don’t ask me when, maybe around 2007, I discovered a heroine with a really cool name.  Keri Arthur’s Riley Jenson Guardian series was smart, sexy and, for me, something new and different.  I gobbled up each book as soon as it was released.

Now Ms. Arthur has a new heroine.  Her name is not nearly as cool, but Tiger is a wonderful protagonist/champion.  After reading City of Light, I had to catch my breath.  The action in this first book of a new series is pretty much non-stop.  Do not expect quiet contemplation from Tiger.  Expect results!

The world of the Outcast series is populated with humans, shifters, vampires and the Others.  The vampires are the beastly variety.  With no higher-functioning brains, survival is all they care about.  The Others are the late arrivals on the scene.  A century ago, the war between humans and shifters tore openings in the veil between this world and another, allowing entry of the Others.  Vampires and the Others are the predators.  Humans and shifters are the prey.  Bitter enemies, they allied to fight the Others.  Now a truce exists, tenuous at best, antagonist much of the time.

But wait, there is one more type of being.  The dechet are super-powered beings created by humans to battle the shifters.  All but wiped out by the war, Tiger is a lone dechet, living with the ghosts of more of her kind.  Her talents are many.  Her friends are non-existant.  Except for ghosts, mostly children, that live with her in the bunker that once housed the dechet nursery.  And therein lies Tiger’s motivation.

When children start disappearing, Tiger springs into action.  All she has to do is think about what happened to Cat and Bear and the other children and she is chomping at the bit to do something.  She teams up with a group of shifters, if you can call a lone wolf a team player.  Shifters and dechet hate each other so she allows the group to think she is a half-breed shifter.  I liked this constant distrust between allies.  It makes thing difficult and, therefore, interesting.

I was expecting something in the area of romance, but it really is not there.  That is not a bad thing. For Tiger, inviting others into her life is not going to be something that happens quickly.  Plus, no romance means no detractions from the main plot.  There are two men in the story she is attracted to.  One is the shifter Jason who is also attracted to her.  But neither trusts the other and Jason hates dechet.  The other is a an old friend, Sal.  While she will resist one, she will use the other to help her accomplish her task.  I see a slowly brewing romance taking shape, it is not going to happen immediately.  Maybe in book 3 or 4….

City of Light refers to a city area called Central.  At night, to repel vampires and the Others, Central is lit up with giant UV lights, to keep daylight going when the sun is not out.  There is another city-like area called Chaos.  Full of shadows, Chaos does not welcome strangers.  Tiger travels between the two inhabited areas, so you are treated to the full color spectrum of city life in this post-war world.

There are a lot of great secondary characters.  First of all, there are the child ghosts Cat and Bear.  Charming and vulnerable, they are the heartwarmers.  Then there is the contingent of shifters working with Tiger.  Mean, untrusting, and powerful they add tension and interest to the scene and relevance to the shifter/dechet enmity.  I look forward to seeing this working relationship develop.

I think I can safely say that if you are a Keri Arthur fan, City of Light will NOT disappoint you.  I’m not sure I should make comparisons, because City of Light is truly a new unique series, but I am going to point out a few things.  Tiger is a Riley-Jensen-like heroine.  That is, she is not really a soldier, but can hold her own.  She is a heroine with supernatural abilities who is always charging into situations that are sure to be extremely dangerous, despite her talents.  Just like Riley Jenson.  Since it was always impossible to predict how Tiger or Riley were going to get out of the predicament, you just have to keep reading.  Until the end.

City of Light ends with a great speech from Tiger.  I was waiting for her to sound off through most of the book, and she did in small, ways.  But whew!  That last go-to-hell speech was a doozy!  The story also ends with some resolution, but with a lot of unanswered questions.  It just barely escapes my dreaded cliff hanger down-grading.  But I am hooked for at least the next book now.  I hope I don’t have to wait long!

ARC provided by NetGalley.

5 Stars – I loved it!

Keri Arthur’s Website

City of Light on Goodreads

City of Light for Kindle

City of Light on Audible

On the Bookshelf: Two by Pauline Baird Jones

23 Saturday Jan 2016

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The Whiskey With My Book blog header is currently featuring a picture I took of my bookshelf.  On it are several SciFi Romance and Steampunk Romance titles.  These are all favorites of mine and wonderful 5-star adventures, so they will be featured in several posts over the next few weeks.

First up is Pauline Baird Jones.  To date, I have read or listened to 10 books written by Pauline.  I’ve never been disappointed.  It is her sense of humor that has me hooked, but in addition, she tells a great story.

The Key is SciFi Romance Military Space Opera.  Yes, all those things.   The first book in the Project Enterprise series, it is also my favorite Pauline Baird Jones book.  I think it would make a great movie!  Starring Jason Momoa.  I don’t have an opinion on who plays Sara Donovan, but Jason should be Kiernan Fyn.

The Key

Book Blurb:  When Sara Donovan joins Project Enterprise she finds out that what doesn’t kill her makes her stronger…

An Air Force pilot – the best of the best to be assigned to this mission – Sara isn’t afraid to travel far beyond the Milky Way on an assignment that takes her into a galaxy torn apart by a long and bitter warfare between the Dusan and the Gadi.

After she’s shot down and manages to land safely on an inhospitable planet, Sara encounters Kiernan Fyn – a seriously hot alien with a few secrets of his own – he’s a member of a resistance group called the Ojemba, lead by the mysterious and ruthless Kalian. Together they must avoid capture, but can they avoid their growing attraction to each other?

A mysterious, hidden city on the planet brings Sara closer to the answers she seeks – about her baffling abilities and her mother’s past. She has no idea she’s being pulled into the same danger her mother fled – the key to a secret left behind by a lost civilization, the Garradians.

Here is an excerpt from the The Key.

Sara schooled her face as she waited for her adversary. It was almost insulting when he finally came in. He was about her height, with a sandy complexion and a sturdy build. He didn’t look happy. Unless he had hidden depths, this was going to be a cakewalk. She exchanged a glance with Fyn. His eyes warned her not to make assumptions. She gave a slight nod.
“Captain.” Xever walked up to her, his face lighting up when he saw her.
Sara had her hands clasped behind her back, just in case he got grabby again. “Good morning, sir.”
“This is Hama Colec. Colec, this is Captain Donovan.”
Colec’s head sort of moved, but he didn’t speak. His eyes dismissed her. Apparently no one had warned him not to make assumptions.
“Would you like a few minutes to warm up?” Sara asked him.
His brows arched. He looked down his nose. “I am ready.”
“Really? We thought you might like to—”
“I am ready.” It clearly annoyed him to have to speak to her twice in one minute.
Sara looked at Carey and Halliwell. They both shrugged and nodded. Sara gestured for him to step out on the mat.
He nodded sharply and turned his back on her. He shouldn’t have. Sara hit him on the back of the neck with her elbow. He went down without a sound. She waited a minute, but he didn’t get up. She hadn’t really expected him to.
Kilburn sputtered a bit before he managed to get out, “That was hardly fair—”
Sara just looked at him, one brow arching, then looked away, rolling her eyes.
“He said he was ready.” Carey signaled to a couple of men to move him off the mat. “First rule of the throw down, never turn your back on your opponent.”
Sara knew Xever was looking at her. She could feel it.
“He probably needs a doctor,” Kilburn said.
“It is a hard head,” Xever said, clearly amused. “It will recover more quickly than his pride.”
“If you’d like to see the Captain spar with someone who is ready for her,” Halliwell said, “we’ve got time before she goes on duty.”
“Please.”
Sara looked at Fyn, and he nodded, moving out onto the mat.
He didn’t make the mistake of turning his back on her.
Sara, showing off, did a series of back walkovers to her spot across from him.
“But he is—” Xever sounded shocked.
“He won’t hurt her much.” Carey had his feet planted and his arms crossed over his chest. He looked prepared to enjoy himself.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, sir. 
“Ten bucks says I can knock him down.” Sara started to circle. She knew she couldn’t keep him down without doing more damage than the moment called for.
Fyn grinned, but Sara noticed he shifted his shoulders, as if to loosen them up.
“You’re on.”
“I’m in, too,” Halliwell said.
“I’ll put ten on Chewie to stay on his feet.”
“Me, too.”
Sara wasn’t sure who was talking and couldn’t afford to look and see. It was enough to know they were all betting against her. She was at her best when she had something to prove.
“My ten’s on the girl.” That was Briggs. She wasn’t surprised he’d bet on her. He’d seen her knock Fyn down already. Fyn made a move and she managed to dodge it and his third arm didn’t get her this time. She knew his moves better. He thought he knew hers.
She did a few things she’d done before, hoping to lure him into a false sense of security. He didn’t seem too lured. He sent her flying. She was up again and going back in, watching and waiting for the right moment.
Finally she got it. She did a hand stand, just like before, like she was trying to catch him on the chin with her feet, but he sent her sailing through the air—again, like before, only a little higher this time, thank you very much. She did the mid-air somersault, but when her feet hit the mat, instead of a spring forward, she put her hands on the mat, whipping forward, but with her body bent, her legs well below his hands, like a side ways windmill.
Her feet came together just right and hit him hard in the mid-section. Even a tree—or a Chewie—goes down with the right hit to the right spot.
The plan was to sail on past him.
Fyn had other plans.
As he went back his arms locked around her, bringing her down with him. They both hit the mat hard. Should have knocked what wind he had left out of him, but he used her own momentum to turn her, so they were eye to eye when he reversed their positions and pinned her to the mat.
She was down for good.
But so was he.
“Nice move,” he told her.
She was panting a bit. “Thank you. You had some new stuff, too.”
Carey leaned over them both. “I thought you had him, Donovan.”
“I’m optimistic that I’ll get him in time, sir.” There was getting and then there was getting. And sometimes losing was winning.

 

Obviously I liked The Key, but if you want to know a little more about my opinion on this book, here is a link to my review on Goodreads.

In Tangled in Time, Ms. Jones brings in the elements of Steampunk and time travel.  Book three in the Project Enterprise series, it is also the shortest.  The others are long.  Really long, but in a good way.  But back to the short one.  Tangled in Time features Colonel Carey with delightful Miss Olivia Carstairs.  This book is a lot of fun.  My favorite line: ‘Cause he wanted to kiss her like it was his job.’

Tangled in TimeBook Blurb:  Colonel Carey (from The Key and Girl Gone Nova) takes a test “flight” through the Garradian time-space portal, but an unexpected impact lands him somewhere and somewhen unintended. As he attempts to get to Area 51, he crosses paths with Miss Olivia Carstairs. With a mind as crisp and orderly as the stays of her corset, Olivia has a transmogrification machine powered by steam and lips he’d like to kiss like it was his job. Can he convince her to join forces with him before she shoots him with her derringer? Can they elude the villainous Professor Smith??  

Excerpt from Tangled in Time:

“You’re more than the professor’s assistant, aren’t you?”
She gave a slight shrug. “In my world, all I can ever be is an assistant. Perhaps if my family had a higher social position or more money, I could have attended a university.” She hesitated. “You said she used a needle?”
Should he tell her that much about the future? Course he’d already spilled some beans. “The doc is a woman. Hell—sorry, heck of a woman, too.” Now that Olivia had “come out” she looked different, a bit more like the doc, while retaining that air of innocence. “A lot of things have changed for women in my time. They vote, serve in the military, hold office.”
Her smile was like the best sunrise he’d ever seen from his Dauntless. He wasn’t sure she realized she reached out her hand or was aware he took it.
“We did it.”
He had no clue who her “we” was, but he nodded. “Yes, you did.” He hesitated, not wanting to be a buzz killer, but he heard some sounds he didn’t like from the direction of the airfield. He took a quick look over the ridge. Yup, the army was moving into a search pattern out there. He didn’t have to be a genius to know that his interacting with this time was a bad idea. If this was the past, he couldn’t be caught by the local guys wearing 2010 tech and carrying 2010 ID. Which meant the encampment was off limits and they were on their own in what wasn’t the right time for either of them. “Any ideas how we can get out of this?”
The smile modified, though didn’t completely fade. She took a look, too. That killed it. “Oh my. Do you think they are looking for us?”
“Or what caused the explosion.” He hesitated. “The United States is at war right now, if this is ’44. It would make them a bit paranoid.” Maybe that was too much information. Her jaw dropped a bit, though she was still cute.
She snapped it shut. “Well, now that I know what caused the failed function, I might be able to fix it, though it is…”
“Not a sure thing?”
She nodded.
“And if you can’t get it moving?” And if she did, where would it go? Could she transport them both to 2010?
“There is another way, though it is also full of risk.”
“What?”
“You seek capture. You appear in the time record. Your doc claims the portal traverses space and time. When she fails to find you in space, she will most likely look for you in time.”
“But won’t my presence is this time be risky?”
“Very. We must do what we can to minimize your impact.”
“I was just thinking that.” He frowned. “Why isn’t your presence damaging to the time line?”
“It is, but to a lesser degree, since I lack the power to alter the future. Everything I am and have is from the past. A transmogrification machine is nothing special now, I would imagine.”
“You imagine wrong. It’s pretty unusual.”
“Unusual? When you have traveled to another galaxy?”
“If you managed to create a stable wormhole in 1894, then the news didn’t get out and it wasn’t out in 1944. I work with people who would know.” Carey rubbed his face, trying to think. This time travel crap was not his skill set. Needed something blown up, he was the go-to guy for that. “We need to move, get back to the machine. A search will take time, but eventually they will stumble across your machine. I’d rather it wasn’t here.”
Since they were using Olivia’s route, the hike down wasn’t as hard as it would have been. Still not easy. Should he stash his gear inside the machine in hopes she fixed it in time, or bury it nearby just in case? He’d decided on digging a hole about the time they reached the small valley he’d landed in.
“The transmogrification machine should be just the other side of this small rise,” Olivia said, increasing her pace.
They rounded the outcrop together and stopped together. All that was left of her machine was a dent in the ground where it had been. Wasn’t even an oil spot.

 

For my review of Tangled in Time, please visit Ramblings From This Chic.  By the way, I also name Tangled in Time as one of my favorite Steampunk novels read in 2015 at Smart Girls Love SciFi Romance.

The books in this series have been both bundled and serialized.  If you just want to stick your toe in, part one of the serialized books is available for the very low price of FREE.

Purchase Links:

The KeyTangled in TimeProject Enterprise

 

 

 

 

Pauline’s Bio:

Pauline never liked reality, so she writes books. Seventeen of them, actually. She likes to wander among the genres, rampaging like Godzilla, because she does love peril mixed in her romance. You can find out more about her books (and get free stuff for subscribing to her newsletter) at: paulinebjones.com

Pauline would love to have you visit her website or blog or connect with her on the social media of your choice.