Book Review: The Day of First Sun by Sheryl Steines

This is a fast and engaging read.
The Day of First Sun
by Sheryl Steines

• Paperback: 378 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace (February 2, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1469990474
• ISBN-13: 978-1469990477

Genre:  Fantasy
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

Product Description
When Princess Amelie of Amborix is murdered by magical means, Annie Pearce and Bobby “Cham” Chamsky of the Wizard’s Guard are called in by the FBI. Their job is to help solve the crime while keeping the non-magical world from discovering the existence of the Wizard Council.

During their investigation, Annie and Cham discover that Princess Amelie’s death is connected to a series of other crimes in the Chicago area. A larger plot involving, a vampire, a rogue wizard and an army of soul-less zombies is revealed, but can Annie and Cham discover who is responsible before The Day of First Sun? 

Review:

There is a lot of imagination in this magical world. Annie and Cham are part of a complete magical community in Chicago that remains hidden from the non-magical world. They are trained and well respected members of the Wizard’s Guard who have been called in to investigate the murder of a Princess from a foreign country. Princess Amelie’s boyfriend, Jordon, is the prime suspect. As they begin to investigate they realize there were several magical traces at the crime scene, indicating that magic had been used for a spell, curse, hex, jinx or other magical action.

Annie and Cham have also been trying to capture a vampire, Sturtagaard, who is believed to be involved in a plot to create zombies. Soon their investigation into the murder crosses paths with their hunt for Sturtagaard. They discover that a special magical orb, a necessary element to create the zombies, has been stolen.  As Annie and Cham search the evidence and interrogate the witnesses and suspects they learn that a special knife has been taken from the Wizard archives. It appears that there is a mole in the Wizard’s Guard who is betraying the Council.

Annie and Cham are a nice couple who have been friends since childhood and Annie just realizes that they are good companions and can be more. The light romance is hesitant in writing but sweet as Ms. Steines stretches each encounter from holding hands to kissing to slightly passionate kissing. Annie and Cham may be good at their jobs but they make mistakes and let Sturtagaard escape. Annie also manages to trap herself in a bad spot with a villain. 

There are several other characters who are developed nicely with unique personalities. I liked the magical packs that they shrink to carry. The story moves along at a quick pace with continual action towards solving the mystery and capturing the culprits. There is a nice mix of emotions, action and adventure. I was engaged by the story even though the writing seemed a bit immature. It’s not childish but seems aimed at a younger age even though the characters are in their twenties.  I’d like to see this author improve her writing technique a bit. I would enjoy another story with such an imaginative plot and lots of action. [Note: After reading the author's Blog Post I am wondering if she didn't deliberately downplay the language in this novel. So perhaps what I commented on is just an effort to reach a younger audience by keeping the writing light.]

Thank you to the author and Novel Publicity for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This story takes place in Chicago so I will note that in Where Are You Reading Challenge. I will also add this to my ARC and New Author challenge lists.  
CHECK THE EXCERPT NEXT.
Check out A CHANCE TO WIN and a CHANCE TO VOTE TO HELP ME WIN. (Thanks!)
As part of this special promotional extravaganza sponsored by Novel Publicity, the price of the Day of First Sun eBook edition is just 99 cents this week. What’s more, by purchasing this fantastic book at an incredibly low price, you can enter to win many awesome prizes. The prizes include $450 in Amazon gift cards, a Kindle Fire, and 5 autographed copies of the book. All the info you need to win one of these amazing prizes is RIGHT HERE. Remember, winning is as easy as clicking a button or leaving a blog comment--easy to enter; easy to win! To win the prizes:

1. Purchase your copy of The Day of First Sun for just 99 cents
2. Fill-out the simple form on Novel Publicity
3. Visit today’s featured social media event

Help my blog win: The tour blogger who receives the most votes in the traffic-breaker poll will win a $100 gift card. When you visit Novel Publicity’s site to fill-out the contest entry form, don’t forget to VOTE FOR ME on the Blogger Traffic-Breaker Poll.  

About the book: A vampire, a rogue wizard and an army of soulless zombies are par for the course for Annie Pearce and Bobby “Cham” Chamsky of the Wizard’s Guard. But when the non-magical princess, Amelie of Amborix, is murdered by magical means, a deeper plot unfolds. Get it on Amazon.  

About the author: Behind the wheel of her ’66 Mustang Convertible, Sheryl is a constant surprise, using her sense of humor and relatable style make her books something everyone can enjoy. Visit Sheryl on her website, Twitter, Facebook, or GoodReads.

Help Sourcebooks Choose Their Next eBook Deal

What Sourcebooks' eBook would you like to get for $0.99??

Sourcebooks is giving readers a chance to vote among certain books for one to be discounted in April!

I know which I'll vote for.  How about you?  Below is the full scoop from Danielle:

It’s that time of year—the time for friendly competition, creating competitive brackets, and claiming victory over the opposing team. How about we translate that into something that will benefit YOU—our fabulous readers!?!

Starting Sunday, March 25, we invite you to take part in the first ever Sourcebooks eBook Bracket Challenge! By using the Twitter hashtag #eBookBracket, readers can vote over Twitter for the next eBook from Sourcebooks they want to see discounted to $0.99 for one week in early April.

The Rules:

-      You MUST use the hashtag #eBookBracket for your vote to be counted—otherwise it won’t count!
-      Please remember this is a FRIENDLY competition J
-      VOTING Rounds:

o   Round 1 (8 titles): March 25-March 26 until 4pm CST

§  4 Titles moving on to Round 2 announced the morning of March 27

o   Round 2 (4 titles): Begins 9 am CST on March 27-March 28 until 4pm CST

§  2 titles moving on to the Championship Round announced the morning of March 29

o   Championship Round (2 titles): Begins 9am CST March 29-March 30 until NOON CST

o   Winning title announced on Twitter and Sourcebooks Buzz Blog by 5pm CST on March 30

o   The eBook Deal for the winning title begins on Tuesday, April 3 and lasts through Monday, April 9.

The Titles:

(Click on the title for more info, and follow them all on Twitter!)

-      Tempted by Elisabeth Naughton, @ElisNaughton

-      The Goblin King by Shona Husk, @ShonaHusk

-      The Soldier by Grace Burrowes, @GraceBurrowes

-      Lord and Lady Spy by Shana Galen, @Shana Galen

-      Making Waves by Tawna Fenske, @Tawna Fenske

-      Cover Me by Catherine Mann, @CatherineMann1

-      Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally, @MirandaKennealy

-      Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber, @LeannaRenee

You can see the full bracket at the eBook Bracket Challenge Page on Sourcebooks.com: http://bit.ly/FOuWWs. This is where we will announce the titles moving on to each round, so check it out every other day next week!

I hope to see those of you with Twitter accounts taking part and voting! The authors will be encouraging their fans to join in as well, so it will be a lot of fun and exciting to see which eBook is discounted. Feel free to spread the word! I’ll be tweeting throughout the entire competition—follow me @SourcebooksCasa. 

Happy Voting!

Pen Names and Me: Guest Post by Kris DeLake With Giveaway

Pen Names and Me

Kris DeLake

Author of Assassins in Love

     At first, I did it for sheer survival.
     Fifteen years ago, publishers had just started using computers to track book sales. And one thing publishers discovered was this: Some genres sell better than others. Mystery sells better than science fiction. Romance sells better than mystery.
     I’m a greedy little writer. I want to write in every genre—who cares how well the genre sells? I got my start in science fiction as Kristine Kathryn Rusch. So any move to a new genre would be a move up, right?
     Wrong. Editors from other genres would look at my science fiction sales numbers and laugh. Then they’d refuse to buy the new book. So first, I committed a mystery pen name (Kris Nelscott). And then, because that mystery novel was so darn dark, I had to write something funny to make me feel better.
     I wrote my first romance novel, and it was sweet and light and goofy. Enter Kristine Grayson.
     I discovered that I liked having different names. It gave me freedom. It also let my readers know what kind of novel they were going to get. Something unpredictable (but probably science fiction or fantasy in nature)? Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Something dark and brooding, set in the past? Kris Nelscott. Something silly with HEA? Kristine Grayson.
     I have other pen names as well. Some I share with my collaborator/husband Dean Wesley Smith (Sandy Schofield, Kathryn Wesley), and some are secrets, just for me. I have another romance pen name for contemporaries and romantic suspense. That’s Kristine Dexter, who needs to write another novel Real Soon Now.
     Then I wrote a short story called “Drinking Games” for an anthology. I published the story as Kristine Kathryn Rusch because the story is science fiction (kinda) and it’s short.
     What I knew—and the anthology editor didn’t—was that “Drinking Games” is the opening scene to a full novel. One with impossible space travel and non-techy world building. One that focuses not just on the characters (people expect all of my pen names to focus on characters), but on a hot, sexy romance between two unlikely characters.
     Oh, dear. The hardcore science fiction readers would hate the impossible space travel. The sweet-romance-only Kristine Grayson fans would turn away from the hot sex (and [I’m guessing here] the fact that the meet-cute is over a dead body). What to do?
     Simple: I invented another new pen name. And at first, this one was for me. I didn’t want to tell anyone who Kris DeLake was. Then I gave the opening three chapters to some hardcore sf friends of mine. They loved it. And I gave the same three chapters to some romance readers. They loved it.
     So I decided—then and there—to own up to the name. Yep, I’m Kris DeLake and Kristine Dexter and Kristine Grayson and Kris Nelscott and Kristine Kathryn Rusch. And I still have a few secret identities I’m keeping under wraps.

 My Review of Utterly Charming -->

     Guess it’s still a survival strategy for me, but more of a silly survival strategy. I keep thinking I might need a secret identity some day, if my life ever devolves into some kind of world-threatening crisis. And I don’t want anyone to know that’s me.
     Yep. I make things up. Fortunately, I do it for a living. And I have fun with it.
     Just like I had fun with Assassins in Love.
     I hope you do too.

Sourcebooks is nicely offering a copy of the book for giveaway.
TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY: 

1. Visit the author's website and tell me something that interests you there. This is required for entry.

2.  For an extra entry, comment on my review of Assassins in Love. (Preceding Post.)

3.  For an extra entry, become a follower or tell me if you are already a follower.

4. For two more entries, blog, facebook, tweet (any of those networks!) about this giveaway and tell me where you did.

It isn't necessary to use separate entries unless you want them in different chronological order.
(Five total entries possible.)

THERE WILL BE ONE WINNER.

* This contest is only open to residents of US and Canada.

* No P.O. Boxes Please - for shipping reasons.

* Limit one win per household.

* This contest will close 10 PM (Central) on March 30, 2012.
The winners will be randomly selected from all entries and announced on March 31 with 72 hours to complete the winners form.

Book Review: Assassins in Love by Kris DeLake

Can two assassins meet or work together without killing each other?

Assassins in Love

by Kris DeLake

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca; Original edition (March 6, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402262825
• ISBN-13: 978-1402262821

Genre: Science Fiction Romance

My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

Product Description
A fast, edgy, and passionate story."
—Mary Jo Putney, New York Times bestselling author

When one killer falls for another

Agent: Misha
Profile: Highly trained in every method the assassins guild has to offer. Always goes by the book.
Agent: Rikki
Profile: Rogue assassin who kills only to rid the world of hardened criminals. Hates organizations. Always does it her way.

Love becomes a matter of life and death

Misha's mission is to get Rikki to join the guild or give up her guns. He completely underestimated the effect she would have on him...and what heat and chaos they could bring to each other...

Review:

This is fun and, in my opinion, better than Mr. & Mrs Smith, which had too much anger and bitterness. This story has gentleness, mishaps and decisions to trust or not to trust.
.
Rikki is a careful and successful assassin who is picky about the jobs she accepts. She doesn’t like organizational rules but she does have her own rules to follow. She only kills hardened criminals who deserve killing and she is particular to plan and execute the assassination in zones that won’t put her in trouble.

Misha is a highly skilled assassin who has been trained by the Assassins Guild and always follows the rules.  He has been questioned about several of Rikki’s recent kills so he seeks her out to determine what is going on.  Although Rikki doesn’t remember him, he remembers her from when she was a frightened child. Misha is drawn to the vulnerability he knows exists in Rikki and he tries to convince her to come into the guild as he thinks she can be better trained and safer there.

As Rikki wrangles an escape and a run from under Misha’s nose he begins to realize that she is much more clever than he first thought. Still he manages to follow her as he is pulled by their undeniable passion. Misha shows gentleness towards Rikki and growing respect for her skills. Can they really learn to trust each other? And why is someone seeking to hire Rikki for a job that could threaten both of them?

I was surprised that the betrayal isn’t revealed until the last thirty pages of the book. But there is plenty of action and anticipation that drew me along, eager to uncover the villain.  The alien world of space crafts, robots and futuristic gadgets is well developed and interesting.  The chemistry and passion between Rikki and Misha is intense and often, but not unpleasantly graphic. The villain seemed rather obvious, although there are a couple of possible suspects. Ms. DeLake does a good job setting up twists so that it is hard for Rikki and Misha to really trust each other. I especially liked the easy and fast flow of the story. If you are in the mood for a quick, light, fun, sexy read, this is a good choice!

Thank you to Sourcebooks for this book to read and review.

Comment on the author's guest post for a chance to win a copy of this book!

Spring Cleaning Giveaway Hop March 20 to 25, 2012

This is a great way to clear out some books!
Thank you to Kathy at I Am A Reader, Not A Writer for hosting!
*International Information is below the Spring Flower and Butterfly Divider*

US and CANADIAN ENTRIES:
I am clearing out boxes by giving away THREE sets of multiple books. There are six sets to choose from!
Most of these are ARC or review copies.
Here are the choices:

Package #1:

Historical Romance - review copies
Knight Trilogy by Margaret Mallory!

Package #2:

Romantic Suspense - ARC and review copies
Trilogy by Roxanne St. Claire

Package #3:

Paranormal Romance - ARC Copies

Stronger Than Sin by Caridad Pineiro; 

Sin Undone by Larissa Ione and
Beneath the Thirteen Moons by Kathryne Kennedy

Package #4:

Christian Fiction - New (extra) Books
(These are extras from upcoming Book Club box)

Everybody's Suspect in Georgia by Cecil Murphey

Calico Canyon - Lassoed In Texas by Mary Connealy 

Romance Rides the Range by Colleen L. Reece

Package #5:

Cowboys - ARCs and Review

Going Cowboy Crazy and Make Mine a Cowboy by Katie Lane 

The Comeback Cowboy by Cathy McDavid

Package #6:

Mysteries - Audios
Don't Blink by James Patterson (Audio CD)
All Cry Chaos by Leonard Rosen (MP3-CD)
Whiteout by Ken Follett (Audio CD)

US AND CANADIAN ONLY ENTER THIS RAFFLECOPTER