This is another title that has made it to my home multiple times. I finally said “enough!” and read it. Why did I wait so long?

drey’s thoughts:

Maya is sixteen, adopted, and lives in a little town owned and run by a research corporation. (That’s enough to make you go “hmmm” isn’t it?) Her father is the town’s park warden, and she’s spent her whole life around animals so it’s not much of a surprise when the big cats come hanging around.

Then things start changing – they come by more frequently, and come closer. And Maya has weird flashbacks that cannot be explained. Not logically, anyway. When the first body shows up, Maya knows something is wrong. She just doesn’t know what…

I like that this is a book with shape-shifters in it, yet it’s not about the shape-shifters. It’s about a teenager trying to figure out what’s happening in her small town – never mind that she’s also (slowly) realizing what she could be. Her best friend is fabulous. Her love interest is mysterious. And you don’t know who the bad guys are. Kelley Armstrong sure knows how to keep you turning the pages. And with that ending, I cannot wait to read The Calling, coming in April!

drey’s rating: Excellent!

Title: The Gathering (Darkness Rising #1)
Author: Kelley Armstrong
ISBN-13: 9780061797026
Hardcover: 359 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, 2011
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository
Source: Waukesha Public Library

Have you read The Gathering? What did you think?

Sophie Kinsella is one of my favorite British contemporary romance authors, so how could I resist this title?

drey’s thoughts:

Sophie Kinsella’s I’ve Got Your Number is a typical Kinsella contemporary romance – it’s funny and romantic, at times silly, and just gives off loads of warm-fuzzies. Poppy Wyatt is in love and about to be married to the perfect man, but first she has to find her engagement ring – the one that’s been in her fiance’s family for generations. When we meet her, she’s in a complete tizzy – which doesn’t abate when her phone’s stolen. How unlucky can a girl in love be?

But Lady Luck must’ve been watching, because Poppy finds a phone – in the garbage, no less – and appropriates it. Because a girl in love, with a missing engagement ring, absolutely must have a phone. Right? Not according to Sam Roxton, it’s not. After all, the phone belongs to his PA. Or did, anyway…

And what comedy follows as Poppy assures Sam that she can handle passing on any messages (text, email, voice) that make its way to “her” phone, all so she can get a call when her ring’s found. Then – because Kinsella’s characters always have to meddle – Poppy decides to “help” Sam by replying to said messages. Never mind that she really doesn’t have any clue what the situation might be, or what she might be committing Sam to.

All of Kinsella’s heroines are a bit ditzy, and her heroes have the patience of saints. But she sure does entertain with her witty dialog, and in this case, snappy texts and emails. Definitely one for your shelf if you’re a fan of Brit chick-lit.

drey’s rating: Excellent!

Title: I’ve Got Your Number
Author: Sophie Kinsella
ISBN-13: 9780385342063
e-ARC: 295 pages
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 2012
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository
Source: Random House

Have you read I’ve Got Your Number? What did you think? And if you haven’t, it’ll be available on Valentine’s Day.

I’m still in awe that one of my absolute favoritest authors, C.S. Friedman, is my Featured Author for the month of February! (Yes, “favoritest” is a word – at least in my dictionary it is!)

Anyway. Without further ado, let’s introduce you to her works, shall we?

The Magister Trilogy takes place in a world of high fantasy, where the cost of using magic could very well be your own life…

Book 1: Feast of Souls
C.S. Friedman, acclaimed author of The Coldfire Trilogy, returns to the epic style which has made her one of the most popular fantasy writers in the genre. In this first book of the trilogy, Friedman introduces readers to a world of high fantasy, replete with vampire-like magical powers, erotic interludes, treachery, war, sorcery, and a draconic creature of horrific power and evil that will have readers eagerly awaiting the next novel in the series.

Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository

Book 2: Wings of Wrath
Kamala, a peasant woman, has claimed the powerful sorcery of the Magisters as her own-the ability to draw on the power of the human soul without dying for it. But in her rise to power she finds herself hunted by the brotherhood, and flees to a land where spells are warped by a fatal curse. A land that even Magisters fear…

Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository

Book 3: Legacy of Kings
The young peasant woman Kamala has proven strong and determined enough to claim the most powerful Magister sorcery for herself-but now the Magisters hunt her for killing one of their own. Her only hope of survival lies in the northern Protectorates, where spells are warped by a curse called the Wrath that even the Magisters fear. Originally intended to protect the lands of men from creatures known only as souleaters, the Wrath appears to be weakening-and the threat of this ancient enemy is once more falling across the land.

Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository

The Coldfire Saga is one of my absolute favorite fantasy series ever! If you’ve never been introduced to Gerald Tarrant, you need to go and pick these books up. Now.

Prequel novella: Dominion
Four hundred years after mankind’s arrival on Erna, the undead sorcerer Gerald Tarrant travels north in search of a legend. For it is rumored there is a forest where the fae has become so powerful that it devours all who enter it, and he means to test its power.

Purchase at Amazon
 

Book 1: Black Sun Rising
The Coldfire trilogy tells a story of discovery and battle against evil on a planet where a force of nature exists that is capable of reshaping the world in response to psychic stimulus. This terrifying force, much like magic, has the power to prey upon the human mind, drawing forth a person’s worst nightmare images or most treasured dreams and indiscriminately giving them life. This is the story of two men: one, a warrior priest ready to sacrifice anything and everything for the cause of humanity’s progress; the other, a sorcerer who has survived for countless centuries by a total submission to evil. They are absolute enemies who must unite to conquer an evil greater than anything their world has ever known.

Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository

Book 2: When True Night Falls
Two men, absolute enemies, must unite to conquer an evil greater than anything their world has ever known. One is a warrior priest ready to sacrifice anything and everything for the cause of humanity’s progress; the other, a sorcerer who has survived for countless centuries by a total submission to evil. In their joint quest, both will be irrevocably changed.

Second in the Coldfire trilogy. Two centuries after being stranded on the planet Erna, humans have achieved an uneasy truce with the fae, a terrifying natural force with the power to prey upon people’s minds. As the fae multiply, a small band of humans must confront an overwhelming evil.

Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository

Book 3: Crown of Shadows
Unlikely allies Damien and Tarrant are faced with an enemy who may prove invulnerable-a demon who has declared war on mankind. Called Calesta, he is a master of illusion and devourer of pain, and he plans to remake the human species until it exists only to sate his unquenchable thirst for suffering. The war against Calesta will take Damien and Tarrant from the depths of Hell to the birthplace of demons and beyond-in a battle that could cost them not only their lives, but the very soul of mankind.

The stunning conclusion of the Coldfire trilogy. Warrior-priest Damien Vryce must once again unite with his unlikely ally, undead sorcerer Gerald Tarrant, to defeat a genocidal demon who may prove to be invulnerable. If they lose this epic struggle which will take them from the depths of Hell to the birthplace of demons and beyond, they will sacrifice not only their lives, but the very soul of all mankind.

Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository

And of course, we can’t forget her science-fiction books…

In Conquest Born
In Conquest Born is the monumental science fiction epic that received unprecedented acclaim-and launched C.S. Friedman’s phenomenal career. A sweeping story of two interstellar civilizations-locked in endless war, it was nominated for the John W. Campbell Award.

They were the ultimate enemies, two super-races fighting an endless campaign over a long forgotten cause. And now the final phase of their war is approaching, where they will use every power of the mind and body to claim the vengeance of total conquest.

Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository

The Wilding
The tribal Braxaná – created to become the ultimate warriors. The Azeans – raised to master the power of the mind. Two civilizations fighting an endless war over a long-forgotten cause. Now, after a century and a half, the legacy of their greatest military leaders threatens to tear apart both empires.

Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository

The Madness Season
Friedman’s exceptionally imaginative, compelling science fiction novel leaps ahead to the 24th century. For hundreds of years, Earth has suffered under the yoke of alien conquerors: the dreaded Tyr, a reptilian race in which all individuality is submerged into a single, overarching consciousness. Determined to keep humanity cowed, the Tyr have culled from the captive population the most intelligent, the most curious, the most likely to foment rebellion, and banished them from Earth. As the memory of freedom recedes, humanity sinks into a lethargic subservience. Daetrin, the hero of this tale, is a vampire–not a monster, however, but a man, nearly immortal, who embodies the vanished virtues of a once-sovereign Earth. When his existence is exposed by the Tyr, who are appalled to find a human who witnessed the stet cap/pk Conquest, they immediately ship him offworld. Thus begins a journey of self-discovery as Daetrin is forced by adversity to come to grips with the long-suppressed side of his nature and to confront the ancient horror of a bloody heritage.

Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository

This Alien Shore
It is the second age of space colonization. The first age, humanity’s initial attempt to people the stars, ended in disaster when it was discovered that Earth’s original super-luminal drive did lasting genetic damage to all who used it – permanently mutating Earth’s far-flung colonists in mind and body. Abandoned by their home planet, exiles in alien star systems, these variant humans had no choice but to survive any way they could. Jamisia has always lived in Shido Habitat, a corporate satellite in Earth’s outer orbit. She has no memories of her parents, but has been nurtured by the fatherly care of her tutor.

Protected by her biological brain-ware systems, and accompanied by the many voices in her head, she has grown into a resourceful, if unusual, young woman. When Shido is viciously attacked by corporate raiders, Jamisia’s tutor risks his life to smuggle her onto a ship bound for the nearest ainniq – the Gueran jump station to the Up-and-Out. But before he dies, he tells her something which rocks the foundation of her world – the raiders were searching for her….

Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository

This Alien Shore is another of my favorites… With all these titles, what are you waiting for? Go pick one up!

Today we have a very lovely guest – Ruthie Knox stops in to talk about heroes, in all the varieties they come in! Without further ado, here she is!

Hero Love

I have a confession to make: I am not particular about my heroes. Alpha, beta, gamma… Youngish, oldish, strongish, geekish… I love them all. Let me tell you why.

Why I Love a Chatty Hero

Have you ever had a crush on a tour guide? I have. Oh my yes. There’s nothing quite like a laid-back, chatty guy who knows how to spin a yarn. A chatty hero can talk his way out of a jam and talk his way into the heroine’s pants. Chatty heroes are great for banter, and they’re even better for dirty talk. (Who doesn’t love a hero who talks dirty?) And when the heroine does something to make the chatty hero speechless . . . oh my.

Why I Love a Wounded Hero

Wounded heroes are like birds with clipped wings. Normally, they’d be so out of here, off doing exciting, important things–except whoops! They’ve been shot, or stabbed, or blown a knee, or what-have-you, so they can’t fly. Poor wounded hero. Let me pet your head. Forced to stick around against their wishes, the wounded hero can’t help but start to notice how good his nurse is starting to look. The wounded hero has been missing out on the charms of quiet, wallflower girls like the heroine. The wounded hero has many things to learn, including the benefits of staying put.

Why I Love a Funny Hero

We all remember Pretty in Pink, right? Duckie is my idea of a funny hero. Why should heroes take themselves so damn seriously all the time? Why can’t they do more record-shop lip syncing, and card tricks, and physical comedy? Funny heroes are awesome. They can make the heroine laugh until her stomach hurts. They can her feel better after the rich jerk dumps her right before the big dance. They can make her breath catch and her pulse race when she finally realizes what she’s been missing all along. Andi should’ve ended up with Duckie. Or Lloyd Dobler. I want more funny heroes.

Why I Love a Shy Hero

I also want more shy heroes. Nerdy-shy, stuttering-shy, deeply-sexually-repressed-shy — I’ll take them all. A shy hero has been watching the heroine from afar. A shy hero Knows Things from books, from TV, from watching. He wants to do them to the heroine. He wants to lavish us with his love and attention, if we’ll take the time to notice him. If we’ll only notice the way that lock of hair falls over his eyes, just so. The shy hero is a lot hotter than we realized. The shy hero doesn’t say much, but when he does . . . swoon.

Why I Love a Grouchy Hero

I have to admit, though, I have a special place in my heart for the grouchy hero, because it’s such fun to torture him. The grouchy hero is easily tortured. He wants the heroine, but he doesn’t want to want her. She makes him laugh, and that ticks him off. She makes him feel things he hasn’t felt in years, and that is, in his opinion, a big problem. When the grouchy hero finally figures out he’s in love, it cuts him off at the knees, and he has to crawl to her, begging on his somehow-still-hot-hero-stumps, and I love that moment most of all. Oh, grouchy hero. *pets head* It’ll be over soon, and everything will be so much better than it was before.

That was fabulous, Ruthie! Speaking of heroes, the Grouchy hero would top my list. Or maybe the Chatty hero. Oh, heck, I’ll just put ‘em in a tie!

About Ruthie Knox:
Ruthie Knox graduated from Grinnell College as an English and history double major, and went on to earn a Ph.D. in modern British history that she’s put to remarkably little use. An earlier incarnation of Ride with Me won the 2011 Maggies Award for best contemporary series romance, as well as the 2011 Romance Junkies/Carina Press contest.

About Ride with Me:
e-ARC:
Publisher: Random House, 2012
Purchase at Amazon. Find other e-tailers.
Source: Random House Publishing Group

When Lexie Marshall places an ad for a cycling companion, she hopes to find someone friendly and fun to cross the TransAmerica Trail with. Instead, she gets Tom Geiger—a lean, sexy loner whose bad attitude threatens to spoil the adventure she’s spent years planning.

Roped into the cycling equivalent of a blind date by his sister, Tom doesn’t want to ride with a chatty, go-by-the-map kind of woman, and he certainly doesn’t want to want her. Too bad the sight of Lexie with a bike between her thighs really turns his crank.

Even Tom’s stubborn determination to keep Lexie at a distance can’t stop a kiss from leading to endless nights of hotter-than-hot sex. But when the wild ride ends, where will they go next?

drey’s thoughts:

Ruthie Knox’s Ride with Me is a fun-to-read contemporary romance with a lovable heroine and a yummy hero. Never mind that he’s a cranky sourpuss when we meet him – we know he’s redeemable. I mean, if you can’t redeem a cranky sourpuss in a romance novel, then it might as well be the end of the world.

I love Tom and Lexie’s interactions. Sometimes sweet and romantic, sometimes companionable, they can talk to each other like they’ve been best friends forever. Well, except for when they’re fighting and all… There are a few too many “if only” regrets, especially Lexie’s regret over pretending to be married. Then again, there has to be a hurdle for the couple to overcome, right?

All in all, Ride with Me is a romantic read with plenty of warm-fuzzies and charm. Give it a whirl while you wait for this not-winter (at least in my part of the country!) to finally give up and hand the baton over to spring.

drey’s rating: Excellent!

Have you read Ride with Me? What did you think? And if you haven’t, here’s a chance to win a copy!

Giveaway!
Thanks to the publisher, I have one copy of Ride with Me for you! This one’s open to US residents only, one winner per household. To enter, fill out the form below before February 21st. Good luck!

* If you can’t see the form, please refresh your page, make sure Javascript is enabled, or try another browser.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Want an excerpt? Here you go.

Scribd.Ride With Me Excerpt – by author Ruthie Knox

Don’t say I never tell you about awesome deals! Andy Gavin’s The Darkening Dream is FREE on Amazon Kindle for two days only – February 7th (today!) and 8th (tomorrow!), so go download your copy! Like, now.

As the modern world establishes itself and pushes the supernatural into the shadows, the supernatural fights back.

The Darkening Dream is a chilling new dark fantasy novel by Andy Gavin, creator of Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter, that has received rave reviews on Amazon and Goodreads!

Download your FREE copy here

Long-time readers of dark historical fantasy (Tim Powers, Guy Gavriel Kay, Katherine Kurtz) will appreciate the weaving together of mythology, occult, and religion, while younger readers and fans of HBO dramas (True Blood, Carnivàle) or urban fantasy (Laurell K. Hamilton, Kim Harrison, Jim Butcher) will be drawn to the twisted imagination, graphic action, and romantic tension.

About The Darkening Dream:

Even as the modern world pushes the supernatural aside in favor of science and steel, the old ways remain. God, demon, monster, and sorcerer alike plot to regain what was theirs.

1913, Salem, Massachusetts – Sarah Engelmann’s life is full of friends, books, and avoiding the pressure to choose a husband, until an ominous vision and the haunting call of an otherworldly trumpet shake her. When she stumbles across a gruesome corpse, she fears that her vision was more of a premonition. And when she sees the murdered boy moving through the crowd at an amusement park, Sarah is thrust into a dark battle she does not understand.

With the help of Alex, an attractive Greek immigrant who knows a startling amount about the undead, Sarah sets out to uncover the truth. Their quest takes them to the factory mills of Salem, on a midnight boat ride to spy on an eerie coastal lair, and back, unexpectedly, to their own homes. What can Alex’s elderly, vampire-hunting grandfather and Sarah’s own rabbi father tell them? And what do Sarah’s continuing visions reveal?

No less than Gabriel’s Trumpet, the tool that will announce the End of Days, is at stake, and the forces that have banded to recover it include a 900 year-old vampire, a trio of disgruntled Egyptian gods, and a demon-loving Puritan minister. At the center of this swirling cast is Sarah, who must fight a millennia-old battle against unspeakable forces, knowing the ultimate prize might be her very soul.

Want more? Read the first two sample chapters here!

Stephen Grimble is offering the Kindle version of his novel For Love & Liberty for only .99 cents – for all of February! (It’s also available B&N for .99 cents, but I’m not sure if that’s all month long, too…)

For anyone who enjoys history and a charming love story in age of disposable relationships . . .

Since the Constitution’s ratification in 1789, each generation of Americans has been called to honor liberty by securing its blessings to posterity. For over 200 years, every generation has answered this call to honor.

What will be the epitaph of the current generation?

The fictional protagonists in For Love & Liberty form the Madison Committee, named to honor the Father of the Constitution James Madison, and soon determine that a constitution convention, the first since 1787, must be called to consider and adopt seven amendments known as the Second Bill of Rights. If ratified, these amendments salvage the nation’s honor and fulfill its sacred trust by securing liberty’s blessings to posterity.

ISBN-13: 9781600476129
Publisher: Wasteland Press, 2011
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository

Giveaway!
But wait! Before you run out and buy the book (or, buy the book anyway because you can’t bear to wait and see if you’ve won…), enter this giveaway for one paperback copy of For Love & Liberty! This one’s open to US residents only, no PO Boxes please.

To enter, fill out the form below before February 20th. Good luck!

* If you can’t see the form, please refresh your page, make sure Javascript is enabled, or try another browser.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

C.S. Friedman’s Coldfire trilogy is one of my all-time favorite series, so how could I not read Dominion?

drey’s thoughts:

If you’ve never read C.S. Friedman’s Coldfire trilogy, then pick up Dominion and meet one of the best anti-heroes ever written. Gerald Tarrant is not nice – and he’ll be the first one to tell you so. When we meet him, he’s on his way to the Forest – the one where the fae are dark and strong – and he means to test himself against its powers, and come out on top.

Fans of the series will know the outcome, of course, but that doesn’t matter – Dominion is still that breath of fresh air after being cooped up in a basement cellar for lengths of time on end. Its relatively short length (it’s a novella after all) means you don’t get the whole world-building prose that explains everything about Erna and its inhabitants. Instead, C.S. Friedman gives you exactly what you need to get immersed in Tarrant’s quest – and balances his story with another POV.

The story’s over too quickly, especially for fans who want more of Tarrant. Hopefully this novella is only the first of many on that’ll give us exactly that.

drey’s rating: Excellent!!

Title: Dominion (Coldfire Saga prequel novella)
Author: C.S. Friedman
Kindle e-Book: 42 pages
Publisher: Tridac Publishing
Purchase at Amazon
Source: C.S. Friedman

I cannot turn down a Christie Craig title – you are guaranteed chuckles amidst the romance.

drey’s thoughts:

What do you do when you realize your boyfriend is a lazy mooching jerk who’s completely insensitive to the fact that your mother just passed away? Well, you kick him out, of course. But you wouldn’t expect him to come back and shoot through your door. Or for the cops to show up looking for him.

Apparently Cali’s ex was involved in a robbery gone wrong, and now someone’s dead. And Detective Brit Lowell thinks she knows more than she lets on. He also thinks she’s one of those wishy-washy gals who’ll take abuse and ask for seconds. Not a very smart fella, that detective… Yet.

Then the body count starts increasing, and Cali lets Brit spirit her off to a safe house – because the motel room was trashed, her apartment was trashed, and her mother’s house was broken into. Next thing you know, they’re actually having conversations.

It was a blast watching these two fall in love. Cali is warm and funny and kind. Brit is tired and oftentimes abrupt. The dialog is fun and sassy and spirited, the plot is strong and the pace never slows. The baggage (of course there’s baggage) could derail this train, but that’s part and parcel of a contemporary romance, isn’t it? Pick this one up!

drey’s rating: Pick it up!

Title: Murder, Mayhem and Mama
Author: Christie Craig
eBook:
Publisher: BookEnds Literary Agency, 2011
Purchase at Barnes & Noble.
Source: Christie Craig

Have you read Murder, Mayhem and Mama? What did you think?

Get ready, y’all! We have quite the busy day for you here with Forever’s Paranormal Blog Tour!

Let’s start with Kendra Leigh Castle’s Midnight Reckoning…

About the book:
Title: Midnight Reckoning (Dark Dynasties #2)
Author: Kendra Leigh Castle
ISBN-13: 9781609418380
Paperback: 334 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing, 2012
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository
Source: Hachette Book Group

Two separate worlds . . .
One passion that binds them
Wild and passionate by nature, Lyra Black is not just any werewolf. She’s the future leader of the powerful pack of the Thorn-if she can stay alive long enough to inherit the title.

One of the Cait Sith bloodline of vampire cat-shifters, Jaden Harrison has no interest in the wars plaguing the world of night. But when he rescues Lyra from a violent attack, they’re both captured by an insatiable desire that threatens to overwhelm them and bind them together for eternity . . . just as ancient enemies prepare to strike. And when they do, the Thorn and the Cait Sith-and Lyra and Jaden’s love-may never recover from the deadly blow . . .

drey’s thoughts:

Kendra Leigh Castle’s Midnight Reckoning is an interesting take on the paranormal romance genre. Weres – wolves and cats – we’ve plenty of. Vampires too. But vampire cat-shifters? Interesting.

And she makes them hot. As in sexy, sinewy, lithe, hot. Then she adds werewolves to the mix – brash, in-your-face wolves – and what you get is a girl-meets-boy, dislike-on-sight, fighting-intense-attraction, society-says-we-can’t-do-this, paranormal romance. With lots of hot thrown in.

I really like Jaden’s character. He’s got baggage, yes. But he’s honorable and strong and good. Not to mention gorgeous. Hello, yum. I also like Lyra, though she’s a bit too stubborn for her own good. They’re a good match – if they can get past their word duels, past histories, and current dilemmas to get to the good part. All in all a must-read for the paranormal romance fan. I’m off to hunt down more Kendra Leigh Castle…

drey’s rating: Excellent!

Next up is Kristen Callihan’s Firelight…

About the book:
Title: Firelight (Darkest London #1)
Author: Kristen Callihan
ISBN-13: 9781455508594
ARC: 372 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing, 2012
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository
Source: Hachette Book Group

Once the flames are ignited . . .
Miranda Ellis is a woman tormented. Plagued since birth by a strange and powerful gift, she has spent her entire life struggling to control her exceptional abilities. Yet one innocent but irreversible mistake has left her family’s fortune decimated and forced her to wed London’s most nefarious nobleman.

They will burn for eternity . . .
Lord Benjamin Archer is no ordinary man. Doomed to hide his disfigured face behind masks, Archer knows it’s selfish to take Miranda as his bride. Yet he can’t help being drawn to the flame-haired beauty whose touch sparks a passion he hasn’t felt in a lifetime. When Archer is accused of a series of gruesome murders, he gives in to the beastly nature he has fought so hard to hide from the world. But the curse that haunts him cannot be denied. Now, to save his soul, Miranda will enter a world of dark magic and darker intrigue. For only she can see the man hiding behind the mask.

drey’s thoughts:

I didn’t expect Firelight to be as engrossing as it is. This paranormal romance is set in Regency England, where the hero’s wearing a mask (a la Phantom of the Opera) and the heroine’s taken to stealing to keep a roof over her father’s head. Why she does it, I don’t know – he definitely doesn’t deserve it. And he shows just how despicable he is when he sells her to Lord Archer for his bride.

Miranda doesn’t know what to think when she’s married off to the reclusive and masked Lord Archer (other than the requisite hate-her-father thing). But she doesn’t expect to actually like him. Or understand him – she has her secrets too, after all…

And then things get complicated – mystery and murder, nefarious plots, and dead bodies dropping like flies. The plot is crazy busy, and the storyline keeps apace. I loved the characters and the ending, and can’t wait to read more. Moonglow is due out in July.

drey’s rating: Excellent!

Have you read either or both books? What did you think? And if you haven’t, read on!

Giveaway!
Thanks to the publisher, I have up to three sets to give away – yes, that’s one copy of Midnight Reckoning and one copy of Firelight for each winner. This one’s for US residents only, no PO Boxes please. One winner per household. To enter, fill out the form below before February 16th. For every 25 people entered, I will draw one winner. Good luck!

* If you can’t see the form, please refresh your page, make sure Javascript is enabled, or try another browser.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Who can believe it’s February already?? I can’t, even though my calendar is shouting that fact at me. Yes, I had to flip the page… BUT. Boy do we have a treat for you this month. If you read fantasy or sci-fi, surely you’ve read C.S. Friedman. If you haven’t, go get her books. Now. (I won’t shake my head in disbelief…)

Without further ado, please welcome February’s Featured Author, C.S. Friedman!

drey: Hello and welcome to drey’s library, Celia! Thank you for taking the time to visit drey’s library this month!

How about a quick introduction? Who is C.S. Friedman?

CSF: I’m a 55 year old New Yorker, child of a technical writer, who worked as a costume designer for 20 years before quitting to write full time. I live in northern Virginia with two fluffy Maine Coon cats, and when I’m not writing I like to play with molten glass (check out http://www.etsy.com/shop/glassfantasies).

drey: Why a writer (as opposed to anything else in the whole wide world)? When did you first realize that this is what you were meant to be?

CSF: I’ve been making up stories since I was old enough to talk, and writing compulsively since I could hold a pencil. It wasn’t something I ever thought about or planned, it was just part of me.

I never had an ambition to be published; writing was something I did for my own pleasure. But then in 1983, after a marathon session in which I channeled some really bad work-stress into a 30 page story, I looked at it in the cool light of dawn and said, “Wow, this is good. Really good. I could probably publish something.”

The rest, as they say, is history.

That story became chapter 11 of my first novel, In Conquest Born.

drey: If not a writer, what other profession would you have called your own?

CSF: I was a costume designer for 20 years. I only quit because I wound up with two full time careers once I started writing, and ultimately chose to focus on my novels.

drey: And I’m very very glad you did!

I loved the Coldfire trilogy – it’s one of a few series that I re-read every other year or so. What prompted you to write Dominion (and can you tell us a lil’ bit about it)?

CSF: You mean, aside from 20 years of my fans begging for a sequel? ::Grin::

I swore I would never write anything more in that universe until I had a story idea that was truly worthy of the original. And since I didn’t want to hand my readers easy answers about what happened after the events in the trilogy concluded, it couldn’t be a sequel.

Then one day a worthy idea came to me, from whatever mysterious place “ideas” come from. And E-publishing offered me a way to get a novella out to my readers directly, making such a project both creatively and financially viable. Even so it took me almost a year to write, because I wanted to make sure that after waiting 20 years for another installment of Coldfire, my readers would not be disappointed.

Feedback thus far is that they are not.

Here’s the official blurb:

Four hundred years after mankind’s arrival on Erna, the undead sorcerer Gerald Tarrant travels north in search of a legend. For it is rumored there is a forest where the fae has become so powerful that it devours all who enter it, and he means to test its power.

This novella prequel to C. S. Friedman’s bestselling Coldfire Trilogy (Black Sun Rising, When True Night Falls, Crown of Shadows) offers fans of the series a tale of Tarrant’s secret history, while new readers will enjoy a chilling introduction to one of High Fantasy’s most fascinating—and deadly—worlds.

By far the greatest challenge was to write Dominion in a way that would be accessible to new readers, so that people who never read Coldfire could still enjoy the story. The feed back I’ve gotten thus far has been very positive.

drey: I’m not surprised!

For those who haven’t (*gasp*) been introduced to the Coldfire saga, what elevator spiel would you give them to pique their interest?

CSF: It’s an epic fantasy saga that takes place on a world where magic exists as a natural force, no more inherently “good” or “evil” than fire..and equally destructive. The fae manifests the hopes and fears of mankind, but it does so indiscriminately, making for a world in which the things that go bump in the night are drawn from the minds of their victims. A priest who is dedicated to taming this force through the power of human faith is forced to ally himself with one of the greatest evil figures of his world – a religious prophet who murdered his own family in order to dedicate his soul to darkness – in order to save mankind from something even worse. Along the way, his soul – and that of his undead ally – will be tested.

drey: Who would be your top pick (or picks) to play Gerald Tarrant and Father Damien Vryce if the Coldfire saga made it to the big (or little!) screen?

CSF: No one has really hit me as “just right” for a while. I’d be curious to see where a casting director wanted to go with it.

drey: Smackdown: Gerald Tarrant faces off against one of your favorite characters in the ring (think UFC). Who is his opponent? Who wins, and why?

CSF: Tarrant would come out on top regardless of who he was fighting, because he has both the of intelligence and the ruthlessness to turn his opponent’s own fears. As he says to Damien in Black Sun Rising, “I will become what you fear the most.”

drey: I really don’t know whether I’d run and hide, or stay and cheer…

What can we look forward to next?

CSF: I’m working on a very exciting project, an epic fantasy that begins in our own world, and reveals some dark things that have been taking place in the shadows of human history for quite some time. A young woman’s journey of discovery will lead her to the source of ancient legends, and ultimately other worlds, where the fate of our own will be decided.

Tentative title is Children of Exile.

drey: I cannot wait!

And, last but not least, the quickie 5:

1. What’s the most recently-read book you’d like to tell everyone to pick up and read?
   Violence: A Writer’s Guide. Fascinating stuff even if you are not a writer.
2. Tea or coffee?
   Diet Coke.
3. Books-into-movies: Fabulous or geez-get-your-own-ideas-already?
   Depends on the book. Depends on how well the movie is made. I’m open-minded.
4. The Hunger Games or Twilight?
   Hunger Games if I want to read a book. Twilight if I want to take a nap.
5. Winter: make snow angels or curl up under an electric blanket?
   Light a fire and curl up on the couch with two big, fluffy cats.

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit us this month! I am looking forward to reading more from you!

Everyone, find C.S. Friedman online at her website www.csfriedman.com and on facebook.