New Review....Street Magic by Caitlin Kittredge (and Giveaway!)

From Publishers Weekly (via Amazon.com)



The first in the Black London series, this dark tale takes Kittredge's supernatural shadows to the next level. At 16, Pete Caldecott witnessed the apparent death of punk rocker Jack Winter after he raised an ancient spirit. Twelve years later, Det. Insp. Caldecott has followed in her dead father's footsteps at Scotland Yard. She follows a tip about a missing child and finds Jack, now a heroin junkie claiming intimate knowledge of a parallel realm called the Black. As Jack detoxes and more children disappear, he joins Pete's quest to find them, teaching her to use hexes and spells as well as her physical abilities in the fight against a rising dark power. Kittredge (the Nocturne City series) knows how to create a believable world, and her fans will enjoy the mix of magic and city grit. (June) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.



A girl named Pete? I have to throw this out there first. Mostly because my husband kept asking me this utterly inane question periodically. To which I responded, "Yep. Didn't name her babe." Then the look. You know the one. The one which telegraphs the "I'm reading. I will stare at you until you comprehend this fact and cease the interruptions though I find you amazing charming so are you finished" sentence directly into their brain. At least until they get up to finish off the ice cream you'll no doubtfully search for....but enough of my issues...

Caitlin Kittredge first came into my estimation when perusing one of my fave blogs, Whedon alumni Felicia Day. Oddly enough, I'd hit a rut in my reading, mostly because I had been let down recently by my purchases. I needed help. As it turns out, fan girl extraordinaire is a fan girl herself of a few things, and authors, that I...cough, cough...drool over, too.

A match made in heaven.



To be honest, can't remember how much she said, it just stuck in head. Nocturne City (it may have been one of her strong female character lines, I think) quickly devoured. Enter the steampunkish-ness reference.

As you may or may not know, I have a little love for Steampunk (and its influences in my creative side)...so, I thought, HECK YA! Bring it!



Enter Pete...and Jack. (Did you see that cover...drool drool drool. I know most authors have no say over covers, but, thanks anyway.)



We start our journey with a younger, more innocent Pete...with her sister's boyfriend Jack (Gonna throw this out...I always channeled Spike from Buffy. But, with a lil more hair.) Doing suspiciously suspicious doings in a cemetery. Then, chaos ensues.



Flash forward, Pete thinks jack is dead. She's a cop (in London) and her investigations involve missing children and their mysterious circumstances.



For me, this was a Love/Hate relationship.



The author obviously researched and put a ton and a half of effort into her new series. I mean this as a good thing. However, the language (even in narration) was so involved in vernacular that I really had to concentrate through the first half of the book. HARD. I pushed myself, mostly because there was something about Pete and her relationship with Jack (no matter how much of a bugger he was being at the time) that I needed to discover.

Then, a little over halfway through, I actually called an inanimate object a bloody wanker. No flippin kidding, folks. It all clicked. I still heard Spike, but now, he was Jack channeling Spike.



World building, I believe, is something an author either excels at, does pretty well, or...eh. This, in my opinion, is the former...I love layers being pealed back and not being treated like I may not be smart enough to get it.



And while it may have been slow going in the get go, I am chompin at the bit for Demon's Mark...because I need some more Jack and the world he lives in. Plus, now I know why there's a girl named Pete.



So, to hook you up with my lurve of Caitlin Kittredge and her world, I'm going to give away a copy of Witch Craft, A Nocturne City Novel...







To enter, just leave a comment below! And if you feel like adding a new series that you are excited about, or maybe you almost didn't get through but then loved, please do. I can always add to my TBR Mountain!

And, any British vernacular is appreciated (because then I won't feel so sodding ridiculous, luv!)

Contest ends September 3rd....

Book Review....Comfort Food by Kitty Thomas

Warning...the following review of Comfort Food is meant for adult readers only, please.

From Amazon.com:

BOOK DESCRIPTION:Emily Vargas has been taken captive. As part of his conditioning methods, her captor refuses to speak to her, knowing how much she craves human contact. He's far too beautiful to be a monster. Combined with his lack of violence toward her, this has her walking a fine line at the edge of sanity. Told in the first person from Emily's perspective, Comfort Food explores what happens when all expectations of pleasure and pain are turned upside down, as whips become comfort and chicken soup becomes punishment.

DISCLAIMER:This is not a story about consensual BDSM. This is a story about “actual” slavery. If reading an erotic story without safewords makes you uncomfortable, this is not the book for you. This is a work of fiction, and the author does not endorse or condone any behavior done to another human being without their consent.

*Author's Note: Several readers have emailed me after reading the book saying that they were nervous about reading it because of the disclaimer. Comfort Food is not "brutal" or particularly "violent". The disclaimer is because I don't want people to assume they are reading "BDSM romance" fiction with safewords. That's not what this is.

The first time I saw Comfort Food, I have to say I passed it off as just another little story from a self published author. Perhaps it was recommended on my Kindle App, or somehow that interesting little world called Twitterland whispered the title into my ear. Either way, after checking it out, I dismissed it, if only because most of what I've sunk my teeth into lately has been primarily on the paranormal side. I wasn't sure, after a sneak peak, it was something I would enjoy. Another thing I really have been considering...is it something I would review here? Not a paranormal or urban fantasy...and so far away from the YA I sometimes enjoy.

Fast forward a month or two...again, Kindle and Amazon sent a gentle nudge my way. And, in all honesty, I enjoyed following Kitty Thomas on Twitter. Just a little thing here and there, but the buzz (if you can call it that because it just sounds...odd to me) continued.

Inevitably, I caved. Call it an experiment, if you will...plus, I liked the idea of supporting an artists work. Commence the download. Sounds easy, right?

Wrong...it took a week for the Kindle App and Amazon to decide to play nice with one another (in which time, I tried three times, whispering sweet nothings to no avail to hit the buy now button. Unsuccessfully, because in their eyes, I already did. Silly, silly.) .

Finally, the day arrived, and the sync happened.

Warning, in advance, that this really is an incredibly explicit book...disturbingly dark and almost uncomfortable at times, yet somehow beautiful. Erotica? Definitely...But, in my eyes, it was so much more. The insanely addicting things for me made me at once realize that I wanted to scream and yell, but somehow cry for the parts that were broken yet fit together. If this had been written in a different time, there is a part of me completely believes I wouldn't have had the urge to do these things. How could this happen, now? Maybe in an old manor in the English country side...cold and isolated, maybe in the eighteen hundreds. But, in the present?

More and more, I saw it as a character study or a psychological documentation of some kind, which I devoured even as I rode the roller coaster of emotions it brought upon me. The methods employed, the rewards, even the mode of communication seemed a calculated line that was precariously walked. (Which as the reader, you feel...trust me.)

Even the point of view that were told mostly through Emily's eyes but then would change during certain situations felt like a piece of the puzzle that fit together and wove together in such a twisted yet precious way. (It seems strange to use some of these words to describe how the story unfolds, but I hope if you've read or will read it, you will agree.)

Would I recommend Comfort Food? Definitely, but not for the faint of heart.

And the winner is (2)

First off, I think I may have set myself up here...I keep on getting new series I have to start from all of your lovely comments! GAH! If only money grew on just one tiny little tree in my back yard. I would share, I promise! Then we could all lounge in hammocks with iced mochas and bowls of yummy cherries (I love summer!) while the ipod mixes the perfect playlist. What do you say?


And now, for the winner...I mean WINNERS! Two is better than one!! (I so want to snicker a tid bit here!)

The winner of the Christine Feehan's Dark Challenge is....

Stacey!!

And the winner of J.R. Ward's Lover Revealed is...

Meredith!!

Congratulations!! I will be contacting you via email!!!

And thank you everyone, for adding to my addiction. My husband thanks you...