EXCERPT & CONTEST - Jennifer Estep's Deadly Sting!

THE SITCH:
Alrighty then, boils and ghouls, today we have an extra special treat; Jennifer Estep, author of the Elemental Assassins series, has provided yours truly with an exclusive except from her newest release, Deadly Sting, a great edition to the fast paced, perpetually surprising series about a (semi-retired) assassin trying to get through life in corrupt and morally rotting city. You can read my review of this book, complete with links to purchase it, right here and be sure to scroll down after the excerpt for the contest details!

So, without further ado:

Red is definitely my color. Good thing, because in my line of work, I end up wearing it a lot.

Most people shy away from blood, but for an assassin like me— Gin Blanco, aka the Spider—it’s just part of the job. Still, it would be nice to get a night off, especially when I’m attending the biggest gala event of the summer at Briartop, Ashland’s fanciest art museum. But it’s just not meant to be. For this exhibition of my late nemesis’s priceless possessions is not only the place to be seen, but the place to be robbed and taken hostage at gunpoint as well. No sooner did I get my champagne than a bunch of the unluckiest thieves ever burst into the museum and started looting the place.

Unlucky why? Because I brought along a couple of knives in addition to my killer dress. Add these to my Ice and Stone magic, and nothing makes me happier than showing the bad guys why red really is my color.

DEADLY STING EXCERPT: 

A soft, feminine laugh floated through the air, followed by a series of high-pitched giggles. Bria and I looked at each other, then over at Finn. Apparently, all had been forgiven because the two saleswomen had practically draped themselves over him by this point. Red had her hand on one of his shoulders, while Blonde was cozied up on his other side, toying with his jacket sleeve. Finn’s head swiveled back and forth between the two women, as though he was watching an intense tennis match. It was a wonder his neck didn’t break, as fast as he was snapping it from one side to the other.

“Good luck getting those statements,” I murmured.

Bria smiled, showing a hint of teeth. “Oh, luck has nothing to do with it, big sister.”

She strode over and planted herself in front of Finn and his adoring entourage.

“Bria!” he said. “I was just telling these two lovely ladies how brave they were when that terrible dwarf rushed into the store.”

“Of course you were.” Her voice was mild, although she raised her eyebrows at him.

Finn gave her a sheepish grin, but he immediately disentangled himself from the other two women and stepped forward. His sudden movement made the saleswomen teeter in their heels and almost crash into each other, but Finn didn’t care. He leaned down and murmured something in Bria’s ear that caused a fierce blush to bloom in her cheeks. Red and Blonde both frowned, but Bria just smiled at them. They all knew that she had Finn’s full and undivided attention now.

He finally quit whispering to her and straightened up, a teasing grin on his handsome face. Bria stared back at him, her blue eyes warm and soft.

“I’m going to hold you to that,” she murmured. “Tonight.”

Finn’s grin widened.

BIO INFO:
Jennifer Estep is a New York Times bestselling author, prowling the streets of her imagination in search of her next fantasy idea. Deadly Sting, the eighth book in her Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series, was released on March 26. For more information, visit www.jenniferestep.com or follow Jennifer on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

CONTEST INFO:
The bad news (because bad news should always be given first - gives the good news the chance to redeem it) is that this contest is unfortunately open to US mailing addresses only - sorry folks!

The good news, however, is that up for grabs is a copy of Deadly Sting and, believe me, you do not want to miss out on this little gem! It's like...imagine James Bond went to a high society event on his day off, but, of course, with this being Bond things go wrong faster than you can blink and next thing you know there are hostages and weapons and death. Well, it's a lot like that but with magic tossed. Now, tell me, how can anyone resist that?! All you have to do is (1) follow Calliope's Domain (links to do so are located on the sidebar) and (2) comment on this post, including your e-mail address in the message and voila! you're in! Normally, contest would close in exactly one week, but I'll be out of town a week from now so I'm going to give this contest TWO weeks. Yup, TWO! Winner will be chosen on Friday, April 12, and I will announce the winner the very next day, Monday, September Saturday, April 13. Good luck!

REVIEW: Jennifer Estep's Deadly Sting

Book: Deadly Sting

Author: Jennifer Estep

Series: Elemental Assassin

Publishing stats: March 26th 2013 by Pocket Books

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Cover Blurb: Red is definitely my color. Good thing, because in my line of work, I end up wearing it a lot.

Most people shy away from blood, but for an assassin like me— Gin Blanco, aka the Spider—it’s just part of the job. Still, it would be nice to get a night off, especially when I’m attending the biggest gala event of the summer at Briartop, Ashland’s fanciest art museum. But it’s just not meant to be. For this exhibition of my late nemesis’s priceless possessions is not only the place to be seen, but the place to be robbed and taken hostage at gunpoint as well. No sooner did I get my champagne than a bunch of the unluckiest thieves ever burst into the museum and started looting the place.

Unlucky why? Because I brought along a couple of knives in addition to my killer dress. Add these to my Ice and Stone magic, and nothing makes me happier than showing the bad guys why red really is my color.

First line: “That would look fabulous on you.”

***** If you're behind on the series, below may contain minor spoilers *****

What I liked: The action of this book takes place primarily over the course of a single night. A night. Not even twenty-four hours. Now, I've read books before with small time windows, but Ms. Estep packs an unlikely amount of action into the small number of hours she has to work with; she even introduces new and significant characters. But that's not what's most impressive. What's impressive, most impressive is the amount of development the larger series arc receives in this book. In a single night, a mysterious future character is introduced, one who can't help but have an impact, and one who, given his/her connections, can't help but fill the currently vacant Big Bad role. Owen and Gin's relationship takes a tiny step closer to reconciliation. Gin's past tragedy is not only touched upon, but further fleshed out. Do you want to know what this book is? It's the TARDIS - much, much, much bigger on the inside than you can possibly imagine.

What I didn’t like: I want to slap Owen. I realize this book takes place over just one night and, hey, that's not much more than a snapshot, after all, but OMG, I want to slap him. I understand why he and Gin are currently on a break. I understand his reasoning and I understand Gin's acceptance of that reasoning. I mean, heck, if she pushes she'll end up with the rest of their relationship from then on tainted and overshadowed by doubt and questions. Letting him have the time to work through things on his own solves that problem. That being said, Owen didn't go into this relationship blind; he knew who Gin was, knew what she was, and he claims to have loved her. And yet he's all surprised when she holds true to character and makes the choice to save lives rather than spare pain. He had a rather sweet moment at the end of this book but, honestly, if this goes on past the next book, I'm going to start to feel like they're being kept apart for the sake of drama and suspense alone. Ashland isn't a safe town, not by far, and Gin is definitely one of the city's more at-risk (for sudden death that is) citizens. Owen needs to work his head out and fast; before it's too late and both his chance and Gin are lying cold in the grave.

Overall: This is the eighth book in this series and one of the things I love most about it is that even while relationships, circumstances, and villains change, the characters still remain true to themselves. A lot has happened leading up to this book, including the defeat of the archvillian in book five, the return of old loves and the true reunion of sisters in book six, and an unbelievable break-up in book seven. You'd think Ashland would run out of evil doers by this point but apparently Ashland is a lot like Gotham on that front. The thing about this book, about this series, is that in spite of what's going on in the story (and this was not your average hostage situation by far), is that at the core its characters remain the same. Gin will always do what needs to be done to protect her family, will always feel guilt for those innocents caught up as collateral damage, will always see herself as a cold-hearted psychopath even as she strives to protect her friends, family, and innocent strangers from the ruthless, murdering monsters in power. Finn will always be suave, flirtatious, arrogant, and greedy. Bria will always be brave, stubborn, strong, and realistic. And so on. It's that vein of consistency that tips this series from "good" to "great" and this particular book is a stellar example of the hows and whys of that.

Would I read this author again: Yes - did you not read above? LOL

My rating: ☺☺☺☺/5

To purchase the book for yourself, you can find it at Chapters.Indigo.ca, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, or The Book Depository. Enjoy!

Top 5 Sundays #40 - Favorite Female Movie Characters

Did I miss a week? Yes? No? I don't even know, having been the busiest of busy beavers lately. But, hey, I'm here now and, really, does anything else matter?

...You're right - it does. So how about we get his bad boy on the road?

This week's theme is my Top 5 Favorite Female Movie Characters and, as anyone who knows me can tell you, I have a wealth of resources to draw from so, if it's all the same, I think I'll skip my usual introductory babel and get straight to the good stuff.

So, without further ado, I present my Top 5 Favorite Female Movie Characters!

#5 - Belle from Disney's Beauty and the Beast

Belle is my hero and has been since I first saw the movie when I was just three years old. She looks like me with brown hair and brown eyes. She loves to read and, what's more, she loves to talk about what she reads. She a bit of an odd duck who doesn't quite fit in among the townsfolk. And then she goes on to have an adventure in an enchanted castle with talking furniture and an amazing library and saves the Beast from a potentially eternal curse. As Lumiere says, "Don't you see? She's the one! The girl we have been waiting for! She has come to break the spell!"

#4 - Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer) from Batman Returns

She starts off a mousey, mild mannered assistant whose boss tosses her out the window when she uncovers records of his dirty dealings. Cue a bunch of cats, some chugged milk, a little smashed neon and a reincarnated leather jacket and - presto! - Catwoman was born. She flirted with Batman, toyed with Penguin, and  messed with her aforementioned murdering boss. To quote Penguin, "You're Beauty and the Beast in one luscious Christmas gift pack"

#3 - Alice from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland

Alice tries to escape the pressures and monotony of her life by following a rabbit down its hole and into "a place like no place on Earth. A land full of wonder, mystery, and danger! Some say to survive it: You need to be as mad as a hatter." It's a place of impossible things and, in due course, Alice is shrunk, stretched, scratched and stuffed into a teapot! Fast forward, and she's told she needs to be the champion and slay the Jabberwocky. What I love most? Not once does Alice break down in tears or bemoan her fate or close her eyes and wish for home. Sure, she thinks it's all a dream at first and, okay, she balks at first but ultimately she finds her muchness and saves the day. "I try to believe in as many as six impossible things before breakfast. Count them, Alice," she says, "One, there are drinks that make you shrink. Two, there are foods that make you grow. Three, animals can talk. Four, cats can disappear. Five, there is a place called Underland. Six, I can slay the Jabberwocky."

#2 - Evelyn O'Connell from The Mummy and The Mummy Returns

She starts off something of an uber-geek, showing up the Cambridge scholars who'd refused to admit a woman into their midst by deciphering the location of the lost Book of the Dead. She sets off to put together her own little expedition team to head out and retrieve it and, somewhere between there and becoming a best-selling adventure writer, she encounters mummies, curses, gods, magic and past lives and becomes quite the bad ass thank you very much. And that's in addition to being a wife, mother, and sister to some very taxing males. In her own words, "I-I may not be an explorer, or-or an adventurer, or-or a treasure seeker, or a gunfighter, Mr. O'Connell, but I am proud of what I am...I...am a librarian..."

#1 - The Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz and Oz, the Great and Powerful

The Wicked Witch gets a raw deal. I mean, heck, in The Wizard of Oz she shows up in Munchkinland to find the Munchkins celebrating the fact a house had just fallen out of the sky and crushed her sister to death. When she then asks to have the only remaining piece of her sister - her shoes - she gets told nope, sorry, they clearly must be powerful little beauties for you to want them so badly so we'll just keep them. And if you've seen Oz, the Great and Powerful you know her lot hasn't improved much. To say nothing of Wicked. Got to love a character that so dynamic, managing to stir feelings of pity while still leaving no doubt to her evilness. And she only gets better with time!

Movie Review: Warm Bodies

Title: Warm Bodies

Year: 2013

Stars: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, Dave Franco, Analeigh Tipton, Cory Hardrict, John Malkovich

Director: Jonathan Levine

Writer(s): Jonathan Levine (screenplay) based on book of same name by Isaac Marion

Studio: Mandeville Films

Distributor: Summit Entertainment

Genre: Zombie romance

Synopsis: After R (a highly unusual zombie) saves Julie from an attack, the two form a relationship that sets in motion a sequence of events that might transform the entire lifeless world.

Taglines: Cold body. Warm heart.

He's still dead but he's getting warmer

There's nothing hotter than a girl with brains

Dead sexy.

Bros before brains

Love means never having to say you're undead.

Favorite line:

R: What am I doing with my life? I'm so pale. I should get out more. I should eat better. My posture's horrible. I should stand up straighter. People would respect me more if I stood up straighter.

What I liked: It's Romeo and Juliet with zombies. Really, what more could a girl ask for? What's more, I love how the movie compensates for their hero being an inarticulate zombie by having him narrate the voice-over. Doesn't hurt either that R's inner-voice has a knack for sarcasm and irony (see my above favourite line for proof). 

What I didn’t like: Well, for one thing, it was over too soon and the chances of sequel are slim since the ending left few, if any, strings lefts hanging. There's also one scene at the end where you sort of have to tilt your head and ask yourselves if the characters are paying attention to what it is they're actually saying because, while they realize the larger implications, they seem to be rather blind to their immediate ramifications.

Overall: I loved it! It proved to be a zombie movie where, praise the gods, the zombies weren't lame. Sorry, but I never got behind the zombie thing. I mean, heck, they SHUFFLE for crying out loud - how can you not outrun that?! Plus, there's no ambition to them; they just want to eat you. Is it wrong of me to want my villains to actually have plots and schemes and thus be a challenge? This movie, however, took zombies and made them something more. Sure, they're still shambling, undead, flesh-eaters. Heck, a major plot point with the hero is that he ate (and at some points eating) the heroine's former boyfriend. But they're still people, still have humanity, still want more than to be slaves to their hunger...until they don't and then they further devolve into a skeletal state with a beast-like mentality focused on their next meal. As R says, they'll eat anything with a heartbeat and while zombies will as well, at least the zombies feel conflicted about it. This is hands down one of the quirkier romances I've seen, and definitely well worth the admission fee!

Would I watch a sequel: Yes, but I find a sequel unlikely

My rating: ☺☺☺☺/5

It's currently in theatres so I would definitely recommend making the trip to view it. Sure, Valentine's Day is in the past, but it's still one of the quirkiest romances around at present.

Top 5 Sundays #39 - Favourite Female Book Characters

The heroes makes us swoon, no question, but more often than not it's the heroine who gives the story its voice, who acts as our eyes and ears within a story, who we most relate with. Her sarcasm, humour, seriousness, and opinions set the tone for the story and can be the difference between a reader connecting with a book and get stuck on the outside. And, of course, we all have our favourites.

So, without further adieu, I present this week's Top 5 - my favourite female book characters.

#5 - Risa Jones (of Keri Arthur's Dark Angels series)

She's snarky, she's powerful, she's loyal, she's kickass, she's brave, she's unbelievably complicated and the best part of all? She's addicted to Coca Cola. She drinks it like other people drink coffee and, OMG, she has her friends trained to pour her glasses of coke following any emotional upheaval or  bad guy skirmish. That alone is an incredible feat - I can barely train mine to keep an emergency bottle in their fridge, should I drop by. That's a heroine anyone can get behind!

#4 - MacKayla Lane (of Karen Marie Moning's Fever series)

She starts off a bubbly, sun-loving, fun-loving blonde and over the course of the book she's...well, she's like a blade being forged in fired; she goes through hell, literally in several instances, and comes out the stronger for it. She's not as bubbly at series end - suffice to say the darkness has rubbed off her more than a bit - but she's still sun-loving and fun-loving and, hey, even blonde. She's a real inspiration on several levels.

#3 - Jane True (of Nicole Peeler's Jane True series)

From the beginning, Jane has been a woman who has been confident about her own identity. Sure, she has an intricate support system and she may not believe herself capable of saving the world, but when it comes to who she is - and what she is - Jane is a character who makes no apologies and simply is as she is, take her or leave her. I took her. She's worth it.

#2 - Kate Daniels (of Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels series)

She's the daughter of a man so powerful that he's been worshiped as a god more than once over the centuries. She's the spouse of a man who can take the form of a prehistoric lion and who leads a pack of almost two thousand shapeshifters. She's sent gods running with their tail between their legs, or at least those gods she let live. She's got buckets of attitude, loads of spunk, and enough power to cow the powerful...and somehow still ends up in situations you would've have thought toddlers knew to avoid. Epic.

#1 - Charley Davidson (of Darynda Jones' Charley Davidson series)

She's the Grim Reaper - a lost soul magnet and portal to Heaven. Every demon this side of Hell wants to get their hands on her, every other ghost wants her help in some way or another, and her love life? Well, her love interest in the son of Satan. Need more be said? What I love most about her though is her sense of humour and the healthy helping of sarcasm that comes along with it. Charley, simply put, is the most-like-me character I've ever read...super powers aside.

Top 5 Sundays #38 - Favourite Romance Novels!

Ah, romance. The stories that tell you about two souls battling the odds, overcoming obstacles, defeating prejudices, and ending up living happily ever after. Eventually. Sometimes we're talking vampires, sometimes werewolves, sometimes fae or witches or demons or humans or a combination thereof. Sometimes it's set in the past, sometimes the future, sometimes the present, sometimes whole other worlds. No matter what though, these are stories meant to pull at your heart and illustrate just how enduring love can be, despite the difficulties it faces.

#5 - Seducing the Vampire by Michele Hauf

This book has a couple who must overcome social status (she's nobility, he's illegitimate), prejudice (she's a pure blooded vampire, he's a vamp/werewolf halfbreed), a scorned lover (his brother and a pure blooded noble to boot) and, oh yes, her death (which is actually an immobilization spell that leaves her trapped in a glass coffin underground in Paris' catacombs...needless to say she wakes up insane two hundred years later).

#4 - Kiss at Midnight by Eloisa James

A retelling of Cinderella, this story has a prince in an arranged marriage meeting his cousin's finacee who's actually a woman impersonating her ill sister at her wicked stepmother's insistence. Both these characters have determination and wit playing in their favour, but Kate's deception and Gabriel's pride keep getting in their way and tripping them up right to the end.

“Give me one last time,” he begged. “Please, please. I beg you.”

“I—” She stopped and started again. “I’m afraid, Gabriel. You’ll break my heart.”

“Mine is already broken.” 

#3 -  Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase

“With the world securely in order, Dain was able to devote the leisurely bath time to editing his mental dictionary. He removed his wife from the general category labeled "Females" and gave her a section of her own. He made a note that she didn't find him revolting, and proposed several explanations: (a) bad eyesight and faulty hearing, (b)a defect in a portion of her otherwise sound intellect, (c) an inherited Trent eccentricity, or (d) an act of God. Since the Almighty had not done him a single act of kindness in at least twenty-five years, Dain thought it was about bloody time, but he thanked his Heavenly Father all the same, and promised to be as good as he was capable of being.”

Enough said.

#2 - And One Last Thing ... by Molly Harper

The main character, Lacey, notifies her cheating husband that she plans to divorce him in an email. An email that takes the form of his monthly business newsletter. Which she forwards to all his clients and business associates. It's glorious. And disasterous. But mostly glorious. When Lacey then flees the town scorn by running away to the family cabin, she meets Monroe, former cop turned successful writer and gets to work on some writing of her own. In true Harper style, this book is a through-through romantic comedy that would do the likes of Pretty Woman and 27 Dresses
and their ilk proud.




#1 - A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole

After spending centuries chained to wall and being tortured daily by flames as a prisoner of vampires,  Lachlain MacRieve rips off his own leg (don't worry - it grows back) in order to reach his destined and long-awaited mate who just happens to be a half-vampire. Their relationship goes downhill from there but somehow manages to come around to a happily ever after. It's an amazing story of overcoming the obstacles and defeating the odds to find your happiness. What's not to love about that?

REVIEW: Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey

Book: Northanger Abbey

Author: Jane Austen

Series: Stand-alone

Publishing stats: April 2006 by Penguin Books Ltd (first published December 1817)

Genre: Victorian Romance

Cover Blurb: While enjoying a six weeks' stay in fashionable Bath, the young and callow Catherine Morland is introduced to the delights of high society. Thanks to a new literary diet of the sensational and the macabre, Catherine travels to Northanger Abbey fully expecting to become embroiled in a Gothic adventure of intrigue and suspense and, once there, soon begins to form the most gruesome and improbable theories about the exploits of its occupants. An early work, but published posthumously, Northanger Abbey is a satire on the Gothic mode typified by the novels of Ann Radcliffe, as well as a witty comedy of manners in the style of Jane Austen's later novels and, ultimately, an enchanting love story.

First line: No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy would have supposed her born to be an heroine.

What I liked: If Catherine Morland was the heroine of any other type of novel, she'd be branded too stupid to live within the first ten minutes of her adventure. She always believes the best of people, thinking that any wrongs they commit were done through ignorance rather than intent, and yet at the same time she allows the Gothic novels she reads to have her suspecting a general of murdering his wife (her justification being that his daughter's comment that she hadn't been home when her mother passed away). Enter Henry Tilney whose wit, humour, and compassion  paint him as the perfect match. And that's what I loved most - the pairing of Henry and Catherine and the balancing of their personalities. It was remarkably well done in true Austen style.

What I didn’t like: Given that what I liked best was the pairing of Catherine Morland and Henry Tilney it should come as no surprise that what I liked least was that there was so little of them together! In fact, what you get of their interactions is a few snippets of conversation, more often than not with his sister in attendance. I would have loved more of these two but, alas, instead there's more interaction between Catherine and the dastardly Mr. Thorpe. A waste. Like reading lots about Elizabeth and Wickham and being skimped on the Darcy airtime.

Overall: The book gives the impression of being but a brief window into this world; it's like a brief vacation taken in Catherine Morland's life. Incidentally, it actually does span Catherine Morland's six week visit to Bath and Northanger Abbey. Its tone is written as a third-party account, the narrator occasionally lapsing into first person to offer criticism, opinions, and explanations of the events and characters as they develop. It's definitely a memorable and engaging style. It was definitely over too quickly; several points, such as Thorpe's villainy (so to speak) and Catherine's romance with Tilney, could have used more fleshing out. I realize that this book is nearing its two hundredth anniversary, but I rather wish that Austen had written a sequel of sorts or perhaps an epilogue to show just what shape their happily ever after takes. Not to mention what becomes of the Thorpes and Catherine's brother, James.

Would I read this author again: Yes - Mansfield Park is up next!

My rating: ☺☺☺☺/5

To purchase the book for yourself, you can find it at pretty much anywhere, there are tons so many different editions out there! But, in the interest of keeping true to Calliope's Domain style, here are some links anyways!  Chapters.Indigo.ca, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, or The Book Depository. Enjoy!