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Review + Giveaway: Tears of the Wolf, by Sharon Bushbinder

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It’s not frequent, but occasionally I’m starting to accept review requests from blog tours. I thought getting to share a giveaway might be fun and I like all the pretty graphics. Today is my stop on Sharon Buchbinder’s Tears of the Wolf tour. The book was also featured on Sadie’s Spotlight.

 

Tears of the Wolf
Hotel LaBelle Book 4
by Sharon Buchbinder
Genre: Paranormal Romance

 

Chief of Tribal Police Jacob Graywolf serves and protects his community on the reservation. When an epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women hits home, he’s relieved the FBI gets involved. But something about the woman agent has him running scared.
FBI Special Agent Zena Adalwolf is certain Jacob is her soul mate. Their connection at first sight is immediate and urgent—a bond that transcends their professional relationship. If only the clueless hunk would realize they belong together!
After more Native American women are killed, Zena and Jacob suspect they have a serial killer on their hands. To track down the unsub, they allow their inner wolves to come out and play. But with the ever-ticking clock going wild, will the killer find them first?
 
 
Sharon Buchbinder has been writing fiction since middle school and has the rejection slips to prove it. An RN, she provided health care delivery, became a researcher, association executive, and obtained a PhD in Public Health. She is the author of the Hotel LaBelle Series, the Jinni Hunter Series, and the Obsession Series. When not attempting to make students and colleagues laugh or writing, she can be found fishing, walking her dogs, herding cats, or breaking bread and laughing with family and friends in Baltimore, MD and Punta Gorda, FL.

 

 

Despite its subject matter, I thought Tears of the Wolf was sweet above all else. The romance is buried under the mystery (and honestly fairly flat, with almost no angst at all) but it is needed honey in the story. I did appreciate however that Jacob and Zena don’t play games. The author creates no artificial barriers to overcome for them to be together, no big “misunderstanding” or secret from the past; just two adults deciding to be together. It was nice to not get messed about in that manner.  But it did leave the romantic aspect of the book lacking substantive impact.
I can’t say that for the mystery though. It was impactful, in both good and bad ways. On the good side, Buchbinder tackled the plaque of missing and murdered Indigenous women in America. And as much as I can judge as a white woman, seems to have done it well. If her lengthy, source citing note at the end is to be trusted, she did the research the subject deserves. However, despite a small attempt at a red herring, the villian is pretty obvious, and their methods, motivations, and internal monologue are cliched to the point of cringe.
All in all, I’d call Tears of the Wolf a solid, if flawed read, and would happily read more of Buchbinder’s work.
 
Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!
$5 Amazon 

 

 

 

 

Lore and Lust

Book Review: Lore and Lust, by Karla Nikole

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I purchased a paperback copy of Lore & Lust directly from the author, Karla Nikole, after seeing an Instagram post about having some for sale.

            
The slow burn vampire romance you didn’t know you needed…

Haruka Hirano is alive, but not quite living. Surviving but not thriving. As an elite purebred vampire in the twenty-first century, he is broken. Content in his subpar existence.

He is done with life. But life is not finished with him.

When he receives a formal request to oversee an antiquated vampire ritual at Hertsmonceux Castle, Haruka grudgingly leaves his home to meet another purebred. The vampire is not what he expects. Truly, he is unlike any vampire Haruka has ever encountered: cautious, innocent and with the warmth and gravitational pull of the sun.

Lore and Lust is an exploration of cultures, contemporary society and romance. It puts a whimsical spin on traditional vampire lore, while also creating a vivid new world where love is love. No questions asked.

I’m not sure how to rate this one. It’s a perfectly fine book. If I had to choose one adjective, I’d say it’s nice. It’s a nice book about nice people (vampires) getting together to form a nice, supportive relationship amongst their nice families/friends. The only thing missing is the inclusion of nice little babies.

And there is nothing wrong with any of that. It is a lovely, squishy, feel-good, slow-burn romance that was actually great as an election night distraction. The problem with all that nice, squishy, feel-goodness though, is that it leaves little room for tension, which combined with the third person present tense writing leaves the reader feeling distant and slightly bored. But more importantly, it isn’t what that absolutely stunning, but honestly dark and brooding cover led me to expect. In fact, I don’t feel it represents the tone of the book at all, as much as I love it. And I do; I bought the book on the strength of my love for it alone. So, how do you rate a book that’s perfectly lovely, but misrepresents itself? I don’t know. Right down the middle, I guess.

Outside of the mismatched tone and cover I only had one real complaint, the lack of significant female characters. There are only three females in the book, all relatively minor side characters. Two of them are grasping and manipulative and the third is dangerously close to being the cliched sassy, Black BFF (and I’d bet the love interest/heroine of a future book). Though Nino‘s Italian, so maybe that stereotype is somewhat ameliorated.

The editing is clean. There’s one point when Hau is sitting on the Tatami but gets up from the couch. But other than that, which might have been a misunderstanding on my part, I didn’t notice anything about the editing. Which is what you want in editing, right? And the mythos around vampires is a fresh one, which isn’t easy in a genre as well-trod as sexy vampires.

All in all, the book wasn’t what I expected, but also pointedly wasn’t bad. I’d certainly read more of Nikole’s writing and of the Lore & Lust series.

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Review of New Moon, by Megan J. Parker & Nathan Squiers (+ Giveaway)

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I accepted a copy of New Moon for review. It was also featured on Sadie’s Spotlight.

New Moon
Megan J. Parker & Nathan Squiers
Urban Fantasy, Reverse Harem

 

A Crimson Shadow & Scarlet Night spinoff novel…

It’s hard to hide when the forbidden magic you wield is written on your skin…

“Skin witch” Mikkie Locke has spent her life running; running from her past, running from hunters, and running from a destiny she doesn’t want. And when you’re a Taroe working in an “in plain sight” magic shop, that’s easier said than done. Every day she’s away from the protection of her tribe is a day she’s risking death. The enchanted tattoos that cover her body are a constant reminder of who and what she is are a beacon to her enemies that scream “KILL ME!” to those who hunt her and other nonhumans; other creatures of the mythos community.

And the danger has just become more severe.

A new group of anti-mythos hunters have come to town, and she knows that the time has come once again to run. But Mikkie is tired of running, and between her anger, her assets, and the small team of four strong, sexy men who have her back, she’s beginning to think she might have a chance.

But in an ever-changing world, this breed of hunter has decided to make changes of their own. The stage is set for a war, and there’s more on the line than their lives…

**Only .99 cents until Nov 3rd!**

Megan J. Parker lives in upstate New York and is normally found lounging in the writing office with her husband and fellow author, Nathan Squiers.

Since the debut of her first novel, Scarlet Night, Megan J. Parker has gained international recognition and has been a bestseller in paranormal romance and dark fantasy. Her first novel, Scarlet Night, also was a runner up for 2013’s Best New Series Award on the blog, Paranormal Craving. In 2016, she became a USA Today bestselling author and since then, has been on the list three times.

In her down time, she likes reading and designing new logos and videos. Her passion for telling stories is portrayed in all her work and when there’s a story to tell, you can be sure she’ll tell it to its full extent. She is finally fulfilling her dream of owning a design company along with her literary career at EmCat Designs.

Nathan Squiers, along with his loving wife & fellow author, Megan J. Parker, two incredibly demanding demons wearing cat-suits, and a pair of “fur baby” huskies, is a resident of Upstate New York. When he isn’t dividing his time between writing or “nerding out” over comics, anime, or movie marathons, he’s chasing dreams of amateur body building. If he can’t be found in a movie theater, comic shop, or gym, chances are “the itch” has driven him into the chair at a piercing/tattoo shop… or he’s been “kidnapped” by loving family or friends and forced to engage in an alien task called “fun.”

Ok, I have an admission before I get into this review. I did not know that this is a spinoff novel when I accepted it to read. But having read it, I don’t believe that it IS a spinoff. I believe it is part of a series, probably Behind the Veil if I had to guess. This book, in my opinion, does not stand on its own. It’s readable; I read it. But up until the VERY end, references are made to past events, comments are made that make little sense without the history, characters the reader has no attachment to come and go because they’re from past books. Being readable isn’t really enough when you’re reminded on every other page that you’re missing something important.

It’s such a shame that I had a deadline to review this book too. Because (after I got done raging at having unknowingly picked up what is, IMO, probably book 5 in a series) I quickly decided I liked the writing style and the authors’ obvious sense of humor. I would have otherwise set it aside to start at the beginning of the series. (I even have books one and three; though I have no idea why only those two.)

Once you get past the first ~8-10% and into the meat of the plot, you find a very sweet story, with characters you really just can’t help but like. Yes, there’s too much exposition and the plot remains quite shallow. But there’s an interesting discourse on what is a relationship and what qualifies as love. Plus, finding a polyamorous relationship in an M/F PNR is nice too. It calls itself a “reverse harem,” which is kind of a fad right now. But somehow, though the exact definition of RH is hazy for me, it feels more honest to call Mikki and ‘her boys” relationship polyamorous than a reverse harem. But I understand branding, so whatever.

I read an Advanced Readers Copy, which are usually pre-final edits, so, I can’t speak to editing. But all in all, as I said, I have some of the previous books and I plan to move them up the TBR and read them soon than later, which really tells you everything you need to know. I had complaints, but I want more.

Follow the tour dates HERE for further special content!

 

$25 Amazon gift card & hardcover copy of NOIR (book one of the Crimson Shadow series) & paperback of Scarlet Night
OR
 $25 Amazon gift card & e-copies for both books if international winner