Larissa's Review: The Diamond Conspiracy {Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences #4} by Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris

For years, the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences has enjoyed the favor of Her Majesty the Queen. But even the oldest loyalties can turn in a moment…

Having narrowly escaped the electrifying machinations of Thomas Edison, Books and Braun are looking forward to a relaxing and possibly romantic voyage home. But when Braun’s emergency signal goes off, all thoughts of recreation vanish. Braun’s street-wise team of child informants, the Ministry Seven, is in grave peril, and Books and Braun must return to England immediately.

But when the intrepid agents finally arrive in London, the situation is even more dire than they imagined. The Ministry has been disavowed, and the Department of Imperial Inconveniences has been called in to decommission its agents in a most deadly fashion. The plan reeks of the Maestro’s dastardly scheming. Only, this time, he has a dangerous new ally—a duplicitous doctor whose pernicious poisons have infected the highest levels of society, reaching even the Queen herself...

• Publisher: Ace
• Release Date: March 31st 2015
• Series: Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences
• Author's Website
• Buy the book:

*NO Spoilers!

I love a great steampunk series and the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series is one of the best out there.

I absolutely adore the world Pip and Tee created. Books and Braun are one of the best couples in fiction and love their support system, their friends, their banter and their adventures.

The Diamond Conspiracy might be the best entry in the series yet. Braun and Book's world gets even more turned upside down and the new elements Tee and Pip added to the series left me speechless.

I LOVE this series and I hope you'll give it a shot. I hope it gets more and more books! I can't wait for the next adventure!

Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series:

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Larissa's ARC Review: The Unleashing {Call of Crows #1} by Shelly Laurenston

  

The Unleashing

 by 

Shelly Laurenston

WINGING IT

Kera Watson never expected to face death behind a Los Angeles coffee shop. Not after surviving two tours lugging an M16 around the Middle East. If it wasn’t for her hot Viking customer showing up too late to help, nobody would even see her die.

In uncountable years of service to the Allfather Odin, Ludvig “Vig” Rundstrom has never seen anyone kick ass with quite as much style as Kera. He knows one way to save her life—but she might not like it. Signing up with the Crows will get Kera a new set of battle buddies: cackling, gossiping, squabbling, party-hearty women. With wings. So not the Marines.

But Vig can’t give up on someone as special as Kera. With a storm of oh-crap magic speeding straight for L.A., survival will depend on combining their strengths: Kera’s discipline, Vig’s loyalty… and the Crows’ sheer love of battle. Boy, are they in trouble. 

• Publisher: Kensington
• Release Date: March 31st 2015    
• Series: Call of Crows
• Author's Website
• Pre-Order the book:

*NO Spoilers!

I am a HUGE Shelly Laurenston fan! Her Shifters series is one of my favorite PNR series ever and her Dragon Kin series written by her as G.A. Aiken, is amazing!

When I found out she was starting a new series, I freaked out and when I saw it available and got it on Netgalley, it made my month!

The Unleashing is a great start and introduction to a brand new world and series. I loved the mythology Laurenston has inserted into this fantastic world. Such richness of characters and creatures, I cannot wait to read more.

Kera and Vig are such an awesome couple! I loved their romance from beginning to end. I really loved how awesome Kera is right from the beginning and the stalkerish behavior Vig shows in the beginning is just this side of creepy

The one minor thing that bothered me was how many POVs we get in The Unleashing. It was fun, but it was maybe one too many.

Despite that, The Unleashing is a superb start to a series by one of my fave authors!

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Larissa's Review: Blood Assassin {The Sentinels #2} by Alexandra Ivy

  

Blood Assassin by Alexandra Ivy 

They are the outcasts of humanity. Blessed with power. Cursed by fate. Driven by passion. The Sentinels have returned. . .

Out Of The Shadows

At six-foot-three and two-hundred-fifty pounds, Fane is a natural born guardian. A flawless mix of muscled perfection and steely precision, he has devoted years of his life to protecting a beautiful necromancer. But after she found love in the arms of another, Fane has been a warrior adrift. He swears allegiance only to the Sentinels. And no woman will ever rule his heart again. . .

Into The Fire

Not only a powerful psychic, Serra is that rare telepath who can connect to minds through objects. When the daughter of a high-blood businessman is kidnapped, Serra agrees to help. But when she stumbles onto a conspiracy involving secrets sects and ancient relics, her life is in mortal danger--and Fane is her only hope. Is the warrior willing to risk his body, his soul, and his heart, for Serra? Or will one last betrayal destroy them both?

• Publisher: Zebra
• Release Date: December 30th, 2014    
• Series: The Sentinels
• Author's Website
• Buy the book:

*NO Spoilers!

I really like the world Alexandra Ivy has created for her Sentinels series. It is a fantastic world, full of adventure, intrigue and great characters that I am looking forward to revisit.

Since it had been almost exactly an year since I read Born in Blood, I had a bit of a hard time remembering it's story and the world's particulars. I did glimpse at the previous book, but Blood Assassin did a pretty good job in getting me situated and back into the thick of things.

Fane and Serra's story is alluded to in Born in Blood and I really enjoyed getting to know these two better in Blood Assassin. I really love the ratio of smex, romance and action in The Sentinels series, it feels like the perfect balance for a PNR.

Fane is sexy as hell and Serra is a great, strong heroine. Their relationship is years in the making and when it is finally time for them to be together it is combustible.

Great addition to a very promising series! Cannot wait for more!

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Sarah's Reviews: 13 Horror Stories by John McDonnell

There's a chill at the end of every story in this horror collection. Here you'll find a beast in the basement, an Irish sea monster with silver skin, a troll who does online dating, a vampire with killer legs, a chocolate drink with a nasty kick, a man who reverses the aging process, a ghost who murders again and again, and other scary characters. These stories will sink their teeth into you! Every one grips you from the very first word, grabs you by the throat and holds you to the last word (when you'll let out a choking scream of horror). These are scary stories from John McDonnell's previous collections, plus some crackling new tales that will make your hair stand up straight. Don't read them if you're alone in a dark house!

Release Date: September 21st 2010
Author Website

Buy this book:

Now if you have read my reviews before you will know that I am a little bit of a wimp when it comes to horror things. Zombies and me seem to get on fine... well you know, I know how to kill one should they attack but they don't really freak me out. Things like watching the TV series 'Stalker' late at night when I remember the back door might not be locked are the things that scare me... haha!

So I took on this set of 13 horror stories with a little trepidation because of my wimp status. I was totally right to! I have written also before about loving short stories and how these take me back to my youth when I used to read a lot of these. I found that with each horror story some people might get annoyed as some stop just when it's about to get good, for me it provided enough time for me to calm myself down again.

The writing is good and there was enough done to make me feel attached to the characters even though there wasn't a lot of time to really get to know them. I don't want to go into too much detail about each one but my favourites were 'Heart stopping beauty' and 'That buzz'.

Despite totally freaking me out I really enjoyed the set. Recommended for all horror fans and wimps like me ;)

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Larissa's Advanced Review: Die Again {Rizzoli & Isles #11} by Tess Gerritsen

Die Again

by Tess Gerritsen 

The latest enthralling case in Tess Gerritsen's New York Times bestselling Rizzoli & Isles series, the blockbuster books behind the smash hit TNT series.
Boston Detective Jane Rizzoli is on the case of a big game hunter found dead in his apartment, alone with a the body of a beautiful white snow leopard he had recently been commissioned to procure and stuff for a high-profile museum in the area. Medical examiner Maura Isles connects the case to a number of seemingly unrelated deaths where the victims have all been found hanging upside down, the hallmark of a leopard's kill. Rizzoli follows the puzzling trail of clues all the way to Botswana, where she uncovers the unsolved mystery of a deadly camping safari four years prior. When she realizes the two cases are connected, Rizzoli must track down the sole survivor of the tragic trip to discover who - or what - is behind these gruesome deaths.

• Release Date:  December 30th 2014 by Ballantine Books
• Author's Website

**No Spoilers

I love how this series never feels like we're getting the same story every time, even the thriller formula that Tess follows doesn't feel like a formula, due to her incredible talent as a writer.

Die Again is a great addition to this incredible series and I really enjoyed it. As usual, the mystery of who is the killer is extremely well developed and keeps us on our toes.

Every so often a book in the Rizzoli & Isles series will leave feeling a little sad, and this is one of them. Not because it's a bad book, but just the heartbreaking nature of the story. This is absolutely a reflex of Gerritsen's superb skills.

I love this series and if you do too, you should definitely read Die Again. If you are new to this series, this is one I can definitely recommend you checking out, you won't feel lost. But the series in general is fantastic, so read them all!

Previously in the Rizzoli & Isles Series:

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Larissa's Series Review: Rizzoli & Isles {Books #1 - 9} by Tess Gerritsen

In Boston, there's a killer on the loose. A killer who targets lone women, who breaks into their apartments and performs terrifying ritualistic acts of torture on them before finishing them off. His surgical skills lead police to suspect he is a physician - a physician who, instead of saving lives, takes them.
But as homicide detective Thomas Moore and his partner Jane Rizzoli begin their investigation, they make a startling discovery. Closely linked to these killings is Catherine Cordell, a beautiful medic with a mysterious past. Two years ago she was subjected to a horrifying rape and attempted murder but she shot her attacker dead. Now she is being targeted by the new killer who seems to know all about her past, her work, and where she lives.
The man she believes she killed seems to be stalking her once again, and this time he knows exactly where to find her... 

Blurb of Book #1

• Release Date of Book #1:  July 30th 2002 by Ballantine Books
• Release Date of Book #9:  July 5th 2011 by Ballantine Books
• Author's Website

**No Spoilers

I am a huge fan of the Rizzoli & Isles TV show, so now that we are between seasons I decided to check out the books, finally.

As a huge Mystery/Thriller fan, I am absolutely IN LOVE with this series! The character development is fairly different from the TV show and it stands on its one. I see both the Book series and the TV show as different entities and love them both in very different ways.

I really enjoy how well developed the characters are and how Tess makes us feel and root for them. They are not by any means perfect characters and that makes them even more lovable.

If you enjoy authors like Lisa Gardner and Karin Slaughter, you NEED to give this series a chance!

Next in the Rizzoli & Isles Series:

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