Giveaway & Review: DYING BY THE HOUR by Kory Shrum

If you missed my first post interviewing and gushing about the talented Kory Shrum, you can catch up by reading it HERE. I adored the first book in Kory's Jesse Sullivan series, DYING FOR A LIVING. And I adore the second book, DYING BY THE HOUR, even more!

After 83 deaths, Jesse Sullivan knows how to die. As a Necronite, she is one of the population’s rare 2% who can serve as a death replacement agent, dying so others don’t have to. But using her NRD to save lives is why she’s being hunted.

For Ally Gallagher, death is permanent. If she fails to protect Jesse again, there will be no third attempt. After a quiet year the signs of serious danger have returned. People connected to Jesse are disappearing. Her home is vandalized and threatening messages are turning up in the safest of places.

Then Jesse is taken and Ally has only hours to get her back. But no salvation comes without its price.

My official review: Sexy, Snarky, & Supernaturally Fantastic! This one has it all! Just as awesome as the first! There was a lot more tension and action in this sequel to Dying for a Living. There was also a second POV, from Ally, Jesse's friend/coworker/love interest. I usually don't care for the alternating views when a book is written in first person, but it really made this story that much better. Ally's adventures were critically insightful, and a very interesting contract to Jesse's. This was much darker and more intense than the first book, but I was glad that Shrum still maintained the snark and humor I so enjoy in her work!

To celebrate the release of her much anticipated sequel, Kory is giving away all kinds of awesome goodies!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can also chat with Kory and win more goodies after her blog tour concludes, at the Facebook Afterparty on September 16th HERE.

Kory M. Shrum lives in Michigan with her partner and a ferocious guard pug. She has dabbled in everything from fortune telling to martial arts and when not reading or writing, she can be found teaching, traveling, and wearing a gi. She is author of the urban fantasy novels Dying for a Living and Dying by the Hour. She'd love to hear from you on Facebook, Twitter, or her blog: www.korymshrum.com 

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Shrouded Soul - The 3rd book in Clare Davidson's Hidden series is out today!

If you haven't checked out Clare Davidson's Hidden series, you're missing out! 

Today, Shrouded Soul, book 3, is out!!! I read it in one day! Good stuff...

The Hidden series


Book 1

When everyone thinks your sister committed suicide, it’s hard to prove she was murdered. 

Kim is unable to accept Charley’s sudden death. Crippled by an unnatural amnesia, her questions are met with wall after wall. As she doubts her sanity, she realises her investigation is putting those around her in danger.

The only person who seems to know anything is Matthew, an elusive stranger who would rather vanish than talk. Despite his friendly smile, Kim isn’t sure she can trust him. But if she wants to protect her family from further danger, Kim must work with Matthew to discover how Charley died – before it’s too late.

 Book 2

 

When you know magic is real, complacency is not an option.

 It’s a new school year and ten months since Kim’s sister died. She wants to forget about magic, rebuild her life and start fresh. But it’s not easy when she has to lie to everyone: her family, best friend, Sophie, and secretive new guy, AJ.

But when Sophie’s grandmother falls ill, Kim can’t help but notice the parallels to Charley’s death. Convinced she’s the only one who can help, Kim sets out to discover what’s really wrong with Sophie’s grandmother.


The new release!

Book 3

Keeping secrets. Telling lies. Kim is protecting everyone. Isn’t she?

Kim’s secrets are pushing Sophie away, whilst AJ’s fears are damaging their fledgling relationship. Kim tries to reassure him, but she knows he should be worried. He should be running. She keeps telling herself they can all have a normal life, free from the influence of the Baneem—but it’s the biggest lie of all.

The illusion Kim is clinging to is shattered when AJ vanishes. But he isn’t the only one put in danger by the information Kim is hiding. How can she defend everyone from enemies who keep growing stronger?

For a preview of Shrouded Soul, click HERE.



My Review: I'm a big fan of Davidson's Hidden series, and it just keeps getting better! Shrouded Soul kept me guessing. Lots of suspense and mystery at play. I'm usually not too keen on alternating POVs, and this is the first book in the series to use them, but I think it really enhances the story. Seeing things from both Kim and AJ's perspectives gave Davidson's world of Shamari and Baneem a whole new depth. I was a little concerned near the end of the book that nothing would be resolved in time, and while there was a bit of a cliffhanger that makes me yearn for the next book, I did find the end satisfying. I'm looking forward to what comes next for Kim and AJ and seeing where they find themselves in the battle between good and evil.

About Clare: Clare Davidson is a character driven fantasy writer, teacher and mother, from the UK. Clare was born in Northampton and lived in Malaysia for four and a half years as a child, before returning to the UK to settle in Leeds with her family. Whilst attending Lancaster University, Clare met her future husband and never left. They now share their lives with their young daughter and a cranky grey cat, called Ash and an insane white kitten, called Pirate. Clare juggles family life with writing, teaching and a variety of fibre craft hobbies.

Find Clare all across the interwebs...

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New Series by Monica La Porta: The Immortals

One of my favorite things about being a writer is making friends with other writers... because then I get to read their new releases before everyone else! Yay!!! Seriously though, writers are readers first, so this is a definite squee for me. ♥

I've know Monica La Porta for a little over a year now. We "met" when YA author Clare Davidson invited us both to participate in a big online giveaway. Then Jason Graves, another author in the giveaway, invited us to submit stories for an anthology, OFF THE BEATEN PATH. Monica and I have followed and reviewed each others books for a while now, and I recently recruited her for my online critique group and for a plot panel at the RT Booklovers Convention in Dallas next year! (Yay!!!!)

While I'm a big fan of Monica's Ginecean Chronicles, I was really excited when I found out she was starting a new series, and even more excited when I learned that she was dipping into mythology! There are vampires in there too.... but I'm definitely Team Immortals. The Lost Centurion is the first installment of The Immortals. I can't show you the cover yet, since Monica will be revealing that on Thursday. But I can show you this billboard teaser....

Marcus has sworn to avenge his wife's death—even if it takes an eternity to hunt down the vampire who murdered her. Once a Roman Centurion, Marcus is now immortal and, for the past two thousand years, impervious to human emotions. Until the night he rescues Diana…

Diana knew nothing of the paranormal world until her transformation into a vampling, a newborn vampire entirely reliant for survival upon the distant and seemingly emotionless Centurion, who found her in the throes of changing. Her protector turned her without her consent, but at his untimely death, she becomes the cold immortal’s responsibility.

The entire vampire community is determined to kill Marcus as he protects one of their own. While Marcus and Diana travel the Italian countryside, being chased by their enemies, Marcus must choose between avenging his dead wife or saving Diana from the same vampire who ruined his life. Bewitched by the Amalfi moon, he soon discovers his heart has already decided for him.

My review: I really enjoyed how this was a novel with vampires... but not really about vampires. I'm definitely more drawn to the Roman history of the Immortals. The colorful look at Italy was fun too, and though I thought the plot would be predictable at the beginning, I was delighted when it shifted gears and went off in a direction I would have never guessed. Paranormal romance and suspense done fresh and done right.

Monica La Porta is an Italian who landed in Seattle several years ago. Despite popular feelings about the Northwest weather, she finds the mist and the rain the perfect conditions to write. Being a strong advocate of universal acceptance and against violence in any form and shape, she is also glad to have landed precisely in Washington State. 

She is the author of The Ginecean Chronicles, a dystopian/science fiction series set on the planet Ginecea where women rule over a race of enslaved men and heterosexual love is considered a sin. She has published the first four books in the series, The Priest, Pax in the Land of Women, Prince at War, and Marie's Journey. 

She just released two new NA paranormal romances, Gaia, and Elios. She also wrote and illustrated a children's book about the power of imagination, The Prince's Day Out. Her published short, Linda of the Night, is a fairytale love story celebrating inner beauty. She has a new series, The Immortals, coming out soon, a paranormal saga set in Rome. Stop by her blog to read about her miniatures, sculptures, paintings, and her beloved beagle, Nero. Sometimes, she also posts about her writing.

Find Monica all across the interwebs...

Blog | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon

Be sure to check out Monica's blog on Thursday for the big cover reveal! 

 

Giveaway, Review, & Interview: All things Kory Shrum!

I've been DYING to do this giveaway! Kory Shrum is one of my favorite new authors. We began talking online a few months ago, and since then, we've started a critique group together (shout-out to the horsemen!) and we're making plans to take over upcoming book conventions. I LOVE Kory's first novel, and I'm pretty tickled that I've gotten to read quite a bit of book 2 in our crit group! Here's my official review of book 1, DYING FOR A LIVING.

"This book and author are now among my favorites! Wow! I might be a little partial to this story because I love morbid comedy, urban fantasy, and a good mystery. I'm also a big fan of original ideas, since they're so rare anymore. 

Jesse is a Necronite, though people still use the z word (zombie). She dies for a living... literally. She's a death replacement agent. Psychics (another dirty word) find people who are near death, via remote viewing, and Jesse gets paid to take their place. As a Necronite, she reanimates after a few hours, heals after a few days, collects a paycheck, and does it all over again. The world isn't quite ready for this heap of awesome, particularly the Church, who have started petitioning for Necronites to be decapitated after death so they can't come back. After a client tries to off her during a death replacement and her handler goes missing, Jesse soon finds herself in the middle of an investigation. With trust issues off the chart and danger around every bend, her only option is to do a little digging of her own. 

This is a spectacular introduction to a series I'm definitely going to be following all the way through. Jesse is a riot, and yet very complex and lovable. All of the characters are really great, and though it's on the back burner, the love triangle was a refreshing twist too, since Jesse is bisexual. Both of the love interests are exciting and sincere, and it makes it so much harder to decide who to cheer for. I'm so torn, but I can't wait to see how it all unfolds."

I had a lot of questions for Kory after I read her debut...

Q: Dying for a Living is a really original take on zombies. How did you come up with the idea? And what kind of research did you do to evolve the idea?

KS: I actually did not set out to write a zombie story—and many would argue that Jesse isn’t a zombie story at all. I wanted a heroine who discovered and came to term with her powers, but I wasn’t sure what that would look like exactly. I read a craft book about how choosing your protagonist’s occupation is really important and that is when I realized what I was missing. So I started to approach it from the position of what is the most interesting job ever and it sort of evolved from there. And the research evolved naturally. As I tried to solve the questions/complications of Jesse’s occupation and world, I sought to answer those questions. 

Q: Love triangles are pretty common in urban fantasy these days, but it's much rarer to find a bisexual love triangle. What inspired this part of the story?

KS: Apart from my own sexuality, bisexuality is a good fit for Jesse’s personality. Sexuality is a part of a person’s personality and I try to match sexuality and personality for my characters in a realistic way. 

Q: Jesse lives in Tennessee, but you're in Michigan. Have you ever lived in Tennessee? Did you have to do anything special to research setting?

KS: I was born in the Midwest—my father’s family is from Granite City, IL near St. Louis—but I was raised in the South, Tennessee in particular—where my mother’s family is from. I also went to college in Clarksville, and drove into Nashville often to visit family, friends, or visit the good bars. So most of what I describe in the book is from personal experience. 

Q: If you died and woke up to discover you were a Necronite, would you sign up as a death replacement agent? Or would you hide your ability to be safe?

KS: I would sign up for as a death replacement agent. I am not good at “playing it safe” and I would love the challenge that death replacing poses. But I am also a bit of a rule-breaker, so I would probably have a hard time following all the rules and would likely do a few things that would get me into trouble later. 

Q: How long did it take you to write Dying for a Living? And how long did it take to write the second installment, and when can we expect to see it?

KS: I banged out the first draft in about 5-6 months. And then I spent a year revising on and off before I got an agent. But several other revisions happened over the span of four years. It took me about 10 months to write the sequel, which should be out September 2014. 

Q: If Dying for a Living made it to the big screen, who would you love to see play your characters and why?

KS: I’ve answered this one in other interviews, and often my ideas change, but here is a good list: 

Jesse:     Emma Stone 
Ally:       Jennifer Lawrence 
Lane:      Liam Hemsworth 
Gabriel:   Ian Somerhalder 
Herwin:   Tom Hollander 
Rachel:    Jena Malone 
Brinkley:  Mark Ruffalo 
Garrison:  Woody Harrelson 
Caldwell:  Tom Cruise 
Kyra:       Emmy Rossum 
Kirk:        Morgan Freeman

If you haven't read DYING FOR A LIVING yet, you're missing out. But fret not! Here's your chance to win an autographed copy!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

5 Things About Kory:

1) She once spent the night in the trunk of a car
2) She has a BB pellet lodged in her arm
3) She has a black belt in Uechi-Ryu
4) She rescued an epileptic pug
5) She can read fortunes

Learn more about her and her work at: www.korymshrum.com

If you too would like to stalk Kory Shrum, you can find her all over the interwebs:

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