Early Review: Through the Veil by Colleen Halverson

Through the Veil
(The Aisling Chronicles #1)
Colleen Halverson
Release: February 22, 2016
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Elizabeth Tanner is no Tinkerbell, and her life is no fairy tale. Broke and drowning in student loans, the one thing she wants more than anything is a scholarship from the Trinity Foundation. But after the ancient Irish text she's studying turns out to be more than just a book, she becomes their prisoner instead. And when Trinity reveals Elizabeth is half-Fae, she finds herself at the center of a plot to save the magical races of Ireland from a brutal civil war.

As Commander of Trinity's elite warriors, Finn O'Connell isn't used to having his authority challenged. He doesn't know whether to punish or protect the infuriating young woman in his custody. When he discovers the Dark Fae want to use Elizabeth's abilities to control the source of all power in the universe, he'll risk everything to help her.

At the mercy of Trinity and enslaved to the Dark Fae, Elizabeth finds herself alone on the wrong side of an Irish myth thousands of years in the making. Refusing to be a pawn in their game, Elizabeth has to fight her way back to the man she loves, but to do so, she must wage her own war against the magic that binds her.

Review:
Elizabeth Tanner begins her journey in the library, studying an ancient text about the Fae. She's started to see strange things in the book, like images moving, and words changing from one viewing to the next. But she doesn't really think anything of it until a dragon comes out of the book and attacks her professor. In the chaos, the book is stolen by a man who vanishes into thin air.

Elizabeth then finds herself at the Trinity Foundation, which she thought was a charitable organization until she realizes that she's surrounded by warriors with magical weapons and lots of secrets. Finn, their leader, gives off a Barrons sort of vibe at first, equal parts attractive and intimidating, though Elizabeth comes to see him differently by the end. But Finn's Trinity headquarters in just one stop on a journey that will eventually lead Elizabeth into Faery where the magic she inherited from her mother, who may not be dead after all, puts her in the middle of a war.

Halverson's Faery features a few of the expected supernatural creatures - I was especially interested in the way she portrayed vampires. But most of the monsters have human faces. Elizabeth finds herself with few allies, and all of those are prisoners just like she is. Even Finn, who wants to help her, is constrained by the rules of the Trinity. Elizabeth must learn to be her own champion in this strange and brutal new world which reminded at times of the demon realm in Diana Rowland's Kara Gillian series.

I was completely sucked in to Through the Veil - I finished it at 3:30 A.M. which is something I hardly ever do anymore. But so much happens in this book, I feel like anything I say will be a spoiler. It's a fairy tale, but the dark kind where the princess gets locked in a tower and no one gets a HEA. But I'm rooting for Elizabeth and I'm glad that there's more to her story, even though so much has happened already. I'm looking forward to the next book.

Recommended for fans of: The Shadow Reader series by Sandy Williams and Allison Pang's Abby Sinclair series

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley

    

4  stars

Waiting on Wednesday (70)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. Here's this week's WOW pick:

I swear it was not my intention to have Kristi Charish Week here on the blog. (Since I brought it up though, have you seen Monday's Read This F-ing Book post? There's a giveaway!) But this book's been on my mind this week. It went up on Netgalley over the weekend, but only for Canadians. I guess now I know how they feel most of the time.

The Voodoo Killings has so many elements that I'm excited about! Obviously, voodoo, which is often only used by the villains in Urban Fantasy. I'm excited to see another heroine who can raise zombies. I've always loved that about Anita Blake, but it gets overshadowed by all of the other things going on in her later books. I'm also looking forward to lots of references to the Seattle Grunge scene of the 90's, which is still my favorite time in music. Plus I love this cover!

The Voodoo Killings
(Kincaid Strange #1)
Kristi Charish
Release: May 10, 2016
Goodreads Amazon

For the first time since we launched Bitten by Kelley Armstrong, Random House Canada is thrilled to announce the debut of a new urban fantasy series. Kristi Charish's The Voodoo Killings introduces Kincaid Strange, not your average voodoo practitioner...

For starters, she's only 27. Then there's the fact that she lives in rain-soaked Seattle, which is not exactly Haiti. And she's broke. With raising zombies outlawed throughout the continental USA, Kincaid has to eke out a living running seances for university students with more money than brains who are desperate for guitar lessons with the ghost of a Seattle grunge rocker--who happens to be Kincaid's on-again, off-again roommate.

Then a stray zombie turns up outside her neighbourhood bar: Cameron Wight, an up-and-coming visual artist with no recollection of how he died or who raised him. Not only is it dangerous for Kincaid to be caught with an unauthorized zombie, she soon realizes he's tied to a spate of murders: someone is targeting the zombies and voodoo practitioners in Seattle's infamous Underground City, a paranormal hub. When the police refuse to investigate, the City's oldest and foremost zombie asks Kincaid to help. Raising ghosts and zombies is one thing, but finding a murderer? She's broke, but she's not stupid.

And then she becomes the target...As the saying goes, when it rains it pours, especially in Seattle. 

What book are you waiting on?

Really Short Reviews: The Reapers and Smoldering Hunger

The Really Short Reviews of the books in the Dark Kings series continues with a review of book eight, Smoldering Hunger, as well as reviews of the first two books in the spinoff novella series, The Reapers! Things are getting exciting, y'all! I loved them. I loved them so hard. Such amazing book crack! Like some serious book crack. I couldn't put them down once I started them. I'm officially caught up until the next book comes out in April and the wait may kill me! Seriously. Things are starting to go down finally!  

Just a reminder: If you haven't read anything by Donna Grant, don't start with either of these series! I would recommend picking up her Dark Sword books and the Dark Warriors spin-off series before starting Dark Kings and The Reapers to avoid spoiling both of those series. Have you started this any of these series yet???

Warning: These reviews are for the first two books of a spin-off series that takes place after book seven of the Dark Kings series as well as the next book in the series. There may be spoilers so scroll down at your own risk.

Dark Alpha's Claim

(The Reapers #1)

Donna Grant

Release: November 17, 2015

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This new series involves seven Reapers aka elite Fae assassins, with extremely different and intriguing personalities and skills. Each Reaper is presented with full character descriptions and hints of mystery as to why they act or react the way they do. I want each book that will be in this series so I can find out each of their backstories because I'm intrigued. Most of all, I want to know more about Cael and Eoghan but all of them hold my interest.

I enjoyed reading the start of this new spin-off series! This story wasn't what I was expecting and it was more of a set-up book to introduce us to the Reapers since we got a few hints about them in Passion Ignites. I really liked the characters and I'm attached to them already! I didn't even mind the insta-lust between Baylon and Jordyn. And while I liked Baylon, Jordyn is the one that stole my attention and I ended up loving her by the end. She's one fierce heroine!

As much as I liked this, the pacing felt a bit off and I think it has to do with the length of this story. Things would have been a bit clearer if there had been a few more pages. Overall, I really enjoyed this. I'm intrigued to read more in this series! It has a lot of potential and it just adds to the Dark Kings books. I like learning about things from the Reapers's point of view because it's so different from that of the Dragon Kings and Rhi. It also explains some of the things that have been happening like who has been following Rhi.

I will mention one more thing though even though it has no bearing on my enjoyment of this book. This ebook needed to have a little more TLC in the editing department. There were several significant typos in it that would have been caught with one more read through, I believe. It wasn't enough to pull me out of the story but the number of typos was significant enough to catch my attention.ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley

   1/2

  3.5 / 5 Stars

Smoldering Hunger

(Dark Kings #8)

Donna Grant

Release: December 29, 2015

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I'm going to be honest with you. I struggled a lot with this book. I ended up liking it but this series is getting really repetitive. Each book has had the same struggles. Ulrik is going to go after the female main character to hurt the male main character. Con is going to continue keeping the Kings in the dark with half-truths while continuing to hope that the rest of the kings won't fall in love and find their mates. We are going to forever be reminded that Rhi and her Dragon King had a great love but that King is still absent and nameless and I'm beginning to think we will never know who he is. The weapon that the Dark once sought is still hidden and being kept a secret from most of the Kings. See what I mean? All of these things have been at the forefront of each book and I’m getting sick of the repetition.

Each book has done wonderful at having different kinds of heroines and Kings with different personalities. And I've really liked the romances in each one but I'm to the point with this series that something needs to happen. We've gotten a couple of really big reveals but it hasn't been enough to offset the repetition. Also, Rhi is driving me crazy with her decisions and waffling back and forth. I get that she's lonely and had her heartbroken, but why the hell is she being pushed toward the person who tortured her? That's just so not okay.

Okay. Rant over. Let's focus on other parts of this book. I ended up really liked Darius and Sophie together. They're two very broken people that help make each other whole. I didn't like them together at the beginning because they were both being unemotional yet obsessive at the same time. I get that they both have baggage but it was a weird way to go about them coming together. This whole book kind of felt off, honestly. What I absolutely loved about this book was Sophie's friend, Claire! I hope we see more of her in the future books!

As I said earlier in this review, Rhi is driving me crazy with her choices but I will say that I'm happy that she finally made a decision in this book. I'm just not happy with some of the other things she's been doing. Honestly, I still want her to end up with her Dragon King again even though he's been absent from her life. We've been shown in previous books that he's still doing little things for her. I just want to finally know who he is and why he chose to break it off with her. There has to be a valid reason. Although, I am kind of shipping Rhi with her Reaper shadow, Daire. If she doesn't get back with her King, I'm totally on board for them getting together.

Overall, I liked it and I'll probably keep reading this series. Because let's be honest, I want to know what happens with the characters and I want them all to get what's coming to them whether it's a happily ever after or a slow, painful death. But what I really want... actually what I need this series to do is to move on from where it is and leave some of the repetition behind. We need more forward momentum because things have seriously stalled.

  

  3 / 5 Stars

Dark Alpha's Embrace

(The Reapers #2)

Donna Grant

Release: February 16, 2016

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I was kind of meh about the first book in this novella series even though I liked it. But I really connected with this series with this one! I loved it! The plot is fun and unique! And it stands on it's own while being seamlessly intertwined with the events in the Dark Kings series. Everything felt new and refreshing while still being connected to what's happening in the other series.

One of the things I've liked learning about the Reapers is how Death is portrayed. First off, Death is a woman and powerful Fae. But she's not the grim personification that I've come to expect when Death is a character and I like that she has her own band of enforcers. The thing that has intrigued me from the very beginning is that the Reapers are composed of both Light and Dark Fae. Especially with how the majority of the Dark are portrayed as evil and selfish beings in the Dark Kings series. The fact that the Reapers work as a cohesive unit despite the backstories of each character whether they be Light or Dark is refreshing. And I'm glad to see that we got to learn more about one of the Dark Reapers in this novella.

I really liked Kyran. I'm not sure what I was expecting but I wasn't expecting him to be as sweet and loyal as he was. I apparently made some stereotypes for Dark Fae while reading the books. Whoops! And as much as I loved Kyran, I adored River! Warrior scholar trope for the win! I loved her and how strong she was because of her backstory. And I really liked Kyran and River together! In my opinion they definitely had better chemistry than Baylon and Jordyn.

I'm so happy that this one seems to have had been edited more thoroughly for typos than the first book, but it still had a few. As with the first book, the typos didn't distract me from the story and I ended up flying through this novella. I can't wait for the next one in the series! I have my fingers crossed that we will soon get a novella with a certain Reaper and Death because I'm totally shipping it after their interactions in this story!
 
 ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley

   

  4 / 5 Stars



My reviews of other books in this series:
Dark Heat by Donna Grant
Darkest Flame by Donna Grant
Fire Rising by Donna Grant
Burning Desire by Donna Grant
Hot Blooded by Donna Grant
Night's Blaze by Donna Grant

Soul Scorched by Donna Grant

Dragon King by Donna Grant

Passion Ignites by Donna Grant

Read This F@!%ing Book (55) + International Giveaway

Welcome to a feature we're going to post on Mondays called:

Read This F@!%ing Book!

This is a feature for us to push our favorite reads that just aren't getting enough attention! 

We're also opening it up to anyone who would like to guest post. Do you have a book that you just LURVED but feel like its not getting the play it deserves? Email us to let us know and we'd be THRILLED to have you post about it here! Especially if its something we haven't reviewed yet - that's even better (but not necessary)! If you're interested email us: 

goldiloxandthethreeweres@gmail.com

 This week's post comes from our very own: 
Rose Red!

Read This F@!%ing Book Post 55: The Adventures of Owl by Kristi Charish

  

(Click book cover to go to Goodreads page)

This Series Is Indiana Jones Meets Tomb Raider With A Hint Of The Mummy Thrown In
Seriously. This series is so awesome! It's like it took all of my favorite things about the aforementioned movies and made them play nice together. Let me tell you, it worked! It worked so well!  

Owl definitely has a talent for getting into trouble and this series is full of non-stop action and sinister plots! But don't worry! There are also plenty of hilarious moments that lighten up some of the serious situations Owl gets herself into, especially since she really doesn't know when to keep her mouth shut. The dialogue and snark is on point! There are SO many great one-liners! And at 400+ pages each the story really has the time to develop into something great! I love how long these books are!

Owl is Not Your Normal Urban Fantasy Heroine
I feel like I say this a lot when it comes to heroines in urban fantasy,  but that's because they are all unique in their own way. And Owl is definitely one of the most unique. To put it bluntly, like so many of the supernaturals who come in contact with Owl, she's a trainwreck. She's imperfect, more than a little reckless, selfish, a tad bit greedy, and really is an all-around terrible people person. There are moments in both books where you just want to give her a good smack upside the head because she's not the most likable character. But she's also intelligent, kind-hearted, and loyal. And she's snarky! 

Owl has slowly come a long way from where she was at the start of book one, but I kind of like her how she is now. I care about her. A lot. I didn't realize how much until she did something stupid and I started yelling at the book. She still has many flaws but I kind of like that about her. Bravo, Kristi Charish! Bravo! You made me care about a very flawed character I wouldn't normally like. *slow claps*

There Be Monsters Here. SO Many Different Monsters!
The one thing that I have absolutely adored from the first about these books is the intriguing and diverse cast of supernatural characters in this series. Seriously. There's been an incubus, a naga, vengeful ghosts, a skinwalker, mummies, sirens, vampires, elves, and even a dragon. Not only are there diverse paranormal creatures and monsters, but Charish turns some of our preconceived notions about these guys on their heads and it is glorious! She made the creatures her own while keeping them familiar. Like Owl, I didn't see some of it coming. Case in point: there's an interesting mummy in book two.
 
And We Have A Giveaway For You!
I would highly recommend picking these books up! They're fun and fast-paced and bring something unique to the urban fantasy genre. And they are now available as audiobooks narrated by Christy Romano (aka the voice from Kim Possible!) I'm super excited about that because I plan to reread this series many times in the future and audiobooks will make that so much easier. 

The awesome Kristi Charish has provided an Audible code for us to give away! You have a choice between Owl and the Japanese Circus or Owl and the City of Angels! The giveaway is international! Just enter via the Rafflecopter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Have you read this series?

Let us know in the comments below!

Did we persuade you to add these books to your TBR mountain?

 

Fourteen Favorite Couples

Happy Valentine's Day!

When we started working on a list of our favorite romances to help celebrate this holiday weekend, we realized that a lot of them don't actually happen in romance novels.

And so here are fourteen of our favorite couples, regardless of genre, to inspire you this Valentine's Day. (Some of these may contain spoilers if you're behind in the series.)

1. Mercy Thompson and Adam Hauptman from the Mercedes Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. These two might not have made my list, but I recently re-read one of the early books in the series and realized just how hard they had to work to get where they are now in the series. Adam was incredibly patient and understanding of Mercy's issues. His acceptance was what allowed her to become the heroine I always think of her as being.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Kate and Curran from the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews. The dialogue! OMG! The dialogue! The quips and bickering and endless back-and-forth and the interactions between these two is everything! Kate and Curran are one of my favorite couples to come out of the urban fantasy genre. I love them! The banter, the protectiveness, the loyalty. I love it all! I didn’t think I would like them together when a friend was describing to me why they were her OTP, but I totally got it after I read the books. I’m so invested in this relationship that it’s scary. I’ve shipped them from the moment Kate taunted our favorite Beast Lord with “Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty…”. Gah! I love them!
3. Cassie Palmer and John Pritkin from the Cassandra Palmer series by Karen Chance. Okay, so they're not exactly officially a couple. But they should be. I love Cassie and Pritkin together! She is a disaster waiting to happen and he is grace under pressure. I hope that Chance eventually lets them get together.
4. Eowyn and Faramir from the Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. Eowyn and Faramir were one of those couples I instantly shipped. They’re both a bit broken and needed the other to be whole. Not to mention, they both need love in their lives desperately. I loved them from the moment Faramir first glimpsed the White Lady in the healing houses in Minas Tirith. I almost love them more than Aragorn and Arwen and that’s saying something because I adore those two as a couple.
5. Andrea and Raphael from the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews. Were-hyena courtship involves a prank war and theirs in Gunmetal Magic was priceless. I had been a Raphael fan before, but that cemented it for me. This might be my favorite book in the series (and it's the only one that actually qualifies as a romance.)
   
   
   
   
   
6. Lizzie Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Do I really need to explain why I love these two? So many people love Lizzie and Darcy as a couple and I'm one of them. I have loved every incarnation of them from the book to the movie to the webseries and even their characters in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I love them so much. They're both flawed and have to have a moment of realization that they're each wrong before they can come together.
7. Sienna Lauren and Hawke Snow from the Psy-Changeling series by Nalini Singh. I loved watching this relationship develop over several books until it finally became official in Kiss of Snow. I think maybe I just admire Sienna for aiming so high. She knew what she wanted right away even though she was a teenager when they met. I still think it's weird to see her balance training with people her own age and being the Alpha's partner, but I love that it works.
8. Hermoine Granger and Ron Weasley from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. I have shipped Ron and Hermione since I read the first Harry Potter book. I love them together! They balance each other out. Ron is the goofiness that Hermione needs to balance her seriousness and vice versa. I still remember that moment in the seventh book when I realized that my ship had sailed. My little heart was so happy. I’m pretty sure I read that kiss scene like fifteen times that night. They will always be my favorite couple to come out of the Harry Potter books. They are very different from each other and that's what makes them work for me.
9. Cat and Bones from the Night Huntress series by Jeanniene Frost. We all know that Cat and Bones are both badass vampires. But researching my Alpha Showdown post last year reminded me what a romantic he is as well. Theirs is, in a way, an enemies-to-lovers story and Bones really worked for that love. By the end of the series, they're almost a single unit and I can't imagine one without the other.
   
   
   
   
   
10. Vin and Elend from the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson. Vin and Elend are one of my favorite literary couples of all time! They are such a weird match that it works. Vin is impulsive and street smart whereas Elend is book smart and idealistic. They are opposites but they complement each other. I’ve always loved that Elend is fine being the brain while Vin is the brawn. Gah! I just love these two together so much! I can’t even properly articulate my love for them.
11. Cookie and Uncle Bob from the Charley Davidson series by Darynda Jones. Most of the relationship between their first date and their wedding happened between books, but I'm still so happy that these two finally got together. I do hope that they eventually get to go on that honeymoon and that Darynda writes a novella about it.
12. Raphael and Elena from the Guild Hunter series by Nalini Singh. I feel like I could include any of the couples from Nalini Singh's books because I love them all so much! But for this list I'm going to Raphael and Elena. They are a recent favorite couple for me. And the thing is that I didn't like them together immediately. I thought they had chemistry and all but I wasn't convinced they belonged together. Then book two happened and I am all for them together now! They work so well together! I love them! I can't wait to see how their relationship develops as the series continues!
13. Fortitude Scott and Suzume Hollis from the Generation V series by M.L. Brennan. I loved both characters separately so I was happy to see them get together. Theirs is an unusual UF relationship though, since she's the one who knows all about the supernatural world and starts out having to both train and protect him. But by the time Fort starts to develop his vampire powers, they've become more like partners.
    
    
    
    
    
14. Charles and Anna from the Alpha & Omega series by Patricia Briggs. Charles and Anna are one of my favorite OTPs and are a perfect example of the “fated to be mated” story done right. They’re werewolves and mates but they still manage to be a rather odd pair. Their inner wolves chose each other as mates before their human selves knew what was happening. Due to different past circumstances they are both deeply scarred by traumatic lives, and those scars play a very real role in their ability to interact and trust each other.  Some “fated to be mated” stories immediately jump to hot and heavy and totally in love, but that’s not the case with Charles and Anna. Their human halves struggle with the mating and come to accept it way later than their wolves. The romance develops slowly and it is a sweet one. They are exactly what they both need. I adore them and I’m so glad that I have their stories to read over and over again.

Who are your favorite literary couples?

 

and

Waiting on Wednesday (69)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. So here's this week's WOW pick:

I haven't heard much about this book around the blogosphere but it sounds amazing! A special government division devoted to keeping the dead in their graves! A goddess seeking a lost artifact! An army of the undead ready to wreak havoc if said goddess doesn't get her way! I need this book in my life! It seems like it's going to be one of the awesome new urban fantasy book of this year! I can't wait to read it!

The Reburialists
J. C. Nelson
Release: March 1, 2016
Goodreads Amazon

The author of Wish Bound and the Grimm Agency novels returns with an all-new urban fantasy novel!

Burying the dead is easy.  Keeping them down is difficult.

At the Bureau of Special Investigations, agents encounter all sorts of paranormal evils. So for Agent Brynner Carson, driving a stake through a rampaging three-week-old corpse is par for the course. Except this cadaver is different. It’s talking—and it has a message about his father, Heinrich.

The reanimated stiff delivers an ultimatum written in bloody hieroglyphics, and BSI Senior Analyst Grace Roberts is called in to translate. It seems that Heinrich Carson stole the heart of Ra-Ame, the long-dead god of the Re-Animus. She wants it back. The only problem is Heinrich took the secret of its location to his grave.

With the arrival of Ra-Ame looming and her undead army wreaking havoc, Brynner and Grace must race to find the key to stopping her. It’s a race they can’t afford to lose, but then again, it’s just another day on the job . . .

What book are you waiting on?

Review: Dead in the Water by Hailey Edwards

Dead in the Water
(Gemini #1)
Hailey Edwards
Release: January 30, 2016
Goodreads Amazon

Camille Ellis is the Earthen Conclave’s golden girl. Her peculiar talent solves cases with a touch. She isn’t afraid of getting her hands dirty, but every bright star casts a shadow, and her deepest scars lurk just beneath the skin. 

A routine consultation goes sideways when a victim’s brother gets involved in the investigation. Riding the edge of grief, the warg will go to any lengths to avenge his sister’s death. Even if it means ensuring Cam’s cooperation at the jaws of his wolf. 

When the killer strikes again, Cam is caught between a warg and a hard place. To save the next victim, she must embrace her past. Even if it means dragging her darkest secrets into the light of day. 

Review:
I'm pleased to see Hailey Edwards return to the paranormal police procedural elements that I liked so much in the first Black Dog books. Thierry and Shaw from that series even put in an appearance at one of the crime scenes. While Camille is not exactly a marshal like they are, she's consulting with them on a Fae serial killer case. I do wish that there was an explanation of what she does for the conclave when she's not consulting on the marshals' cases though.

Camille is a Gemini, which is a Fae creature I've never seen before. She's able to identify a magical creature's species with a touch. With a drop of blood, she's able to take on their form and abilities temporarily. Gemini are also able to shift into the shape of their twins, but Camille's twin died when they were children. She's still traumatized by the death, which impacts her actions on the case quite a bit. I felt like her grief overshadowed her personality at the beginning of the book, but as she opened up I started to like her.

Cord Graeson also lost his sister, to the killer that Camille is tracking. He insinuates himself into her investigation and then into her life in a very typical alpha male way. Cord is the Beta, second in command, of a Warg (werewolf) pack and in some ways this book starts to feel like a standard shifter romance. He's possessive, controlling, and not always concerned about Camille's consent. Despite all that, he's not entirely unlikable. And Camille forgives a lot of that behavior, though she's mostly unaware that there's a romance at all. I am curious about how their relationship will develop, especially after what happened at the end of the book.

Edwards once again introduces a wide variety of creatures that I don't see very often, which was something I really enjoyed about the Black Dog books. This one has a mermaid, some other interesting water Fae, and even hedgehog shifters!

Even though it's a full-length novel, Dead in the Water feels like a serial release with elements of the story still unresolved at the end. Fortunately, it's also being treated like one with only a few months in between books - books two, Head Above Water, is out in April. I enjoyed the story so far and I'm excited to see where it goes.

Recommended for fans of: Edwards's Black Dog series, Bayou Blues by Sierra Dean

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley

   1/2 

3 1/2  stars

My reviews of  books in the Black Dog series:
Dog with a Bone
Heir of the Dog
Lie Down with Dogs

Read This F@%!ing Book (54)

Welcome to a feature we're going to post on Mondays called:

Read This F@!%ing Book

 This is a feature for us to push our favorite reads that just aren't getting enough attention!

We're also opening it up to anyone who would like to guest post. Do you have a book that you just LURVED but feel like it's not getting the play it deserves? Email us to let us know and we'd be THRILLED to have you post about it here! Especially if its something we haven't reviewed yet - that's even better (but not necessary)!

If you're interested email Goldilox3weres@hotmail.com

or send us a message on Facebook.

  This week's post comes from our very own: 

Gretl!

Read This F@!%ing Book 54: The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie

The Abyss Surrounds Us

(The Abyss Surrounds Us #1)

Emily Skrutskie

Release: Feb. 8, 2016

Goodreads Amazon

For Cassandra Leung, bossing around sea monsters is just the family business. She’s been a Reckoner trainer-in-training ever since she could walk, raising the genetically-engineered beasts to defend ships as they cross the pirate-infested NeoPacific. But when the pirate queen Santa Elena swoops in on Cas’s first solo mission and snatches her from the bloodstained decks, Cas’s dream of being a full-time trainer seems dead in the water. 

There’s no time to mourn. Waiting for her on the pirate ship is an unhatched Reckoner pup. Santa Elena wants to take back the seas with a monster of her own, and she needs a proper trainer to do it. She orders Cas to raise the pup, make sure he imprints on her ship, and, when the time comes, teach him to fight for the pirates. If Cas fails, her blood will be the next to paint the sea.

But Cas has fought pirates her entire life. And she's not about to stop. 

I think this is the first ever Release Day RTFB, but I thought this was such a cool book I had to share it with everyone ASAP. Just from that cover it looks awesome, right? Here's what I loved about The Abyss Surrounds Us:

Pirate Girls!

The Abyss Surrounds Us takes place in an alternate near future where, presumably, the polar ice caps have melted and the Earth is mostly covered by water. The world's countries re-divided into smaller and easier to manage nations, and left some far-flung islands without government. These islands became havens for pirates.

The ship on which our heroine Cassandra finds herself is captained by a ruthless woman named Santa Elena. Half of her teenage proteges, including the one in charge of Cas, are female as well. I loved the diversity and the girl power in this book! I think this is something that YA does so much better than adult books right now. 

Sea Monsters!

In an effort to stop the pirates, the world's nations got together and developed Reckoners, sea monsters that escort and defend their ships. Reckoners are created Jurassic Park-style from the DNA of several different species. They can be mostly turtle-like, squid-like, or snake-like, though obviously a giant version of whichever animal they resemble. Each Reckoner has a trainer that travels aboard its ship to oversee its care and direct it in battle.

The Reckoner battles are just epic and wonderful and my favorite parts of the book. It's kind of like Pacific Rim without the robots. In addition to being really cool, they let Cassandra show us what makes her special. Her innate sense of what her Reckoner is capable of and her outside the box thinking will surprise readers just as much as her adversaries. I would love to see this book become get made into a movie so I could watch her battle on the big screen. 

See my review on Goodreads.

Have you read this book?

Let us know in the comments below!

Did we persuade you to add it to your TBR mountain?

Reading Challenge Recap: January 2016

January is over! Can you believe it? It seems like we were just celebrating the New Year and figuring out all of our reading resolutions for 2016. The ladies of Goldilox and the Three Weres are working really hard to stay motivated so we can achieve all of our reading goals this year. In an effort to do so, we're going to do these reading challenge recaps to hold ourselves accountable. Read on to find out how well or how not well we did this last month!
 

Gretl's Recap

Coastal Magic Featured Author Challenge

I failed at this challenge in a pretty big way. The goal was to read 17 books by authors on the featured author list and I wound up with 11. That might not sound that bad, but the real reason I consider it a failure is that I never got around to reading the new-to-me authors that I wanted to try from the list. I just had too many time-sensitive review books the last few months to squeeze them in. I actually have Mercury Striking and the prequel novella by Rebecca Zanetti checked out from the library and didn't get to read them before the deadline.

Here are the authors I did read for the challenge:

Deborah Blake

Jennifer Estep

Kristen Painter

 

#Rock My TBR

Again, this was not my greatest success story. I was supposed to read at least one book I already owned in the month of January. I started one so it counts, right? I have a lot of series on my TBR that I plan to binge so I hope to make up for the rough start later in the year. My January read is Steal the Sky by Megan E. O'Keefe.

Rose Red's Recap 

#RockMyTBR

I'm so happy to report that I made my goal of reading at least two books off my TBR in January! I read six last month! See the picture below for the ones I read. Granted, four of them were not very big books. But I'm still happy with my progress on this challenge so far! I am on track to make a good-sized dent in Mount ToBeRead!

2016 TBR Jar Challenge for January

This month's TBR Jar Challenge was Read A Book With 500+ Pages! The book that completed this challenge was The Marvels by Brian Selznick and it came in at 665 pages! I adored it so much and you all need to read it! I wrote a review on the other site I blog at if you want to know more of my thoughts on it. You can find that post here.

Read What You Buy

Okay, I'm not doing well with this challenge so far. I bought eight physical books last month. Four of these I bought for book events, two I bought new from Amazon, and the other two I bought used at my local used bookstore for less than $8 for nice hardcovers! Staked is actually still in transit to my house because my friend, Mark, got my copy signed by the author at one of the tour stops.

As for how many I read this month, the answer would be two but I'm more than half way through two more. I finished Staked and The Marvels and I'm currently reading The Bands of Mourning and Truthwitch. I'm going to be buddy reading American Gods in April with my friend, Kritika, so I'm not worried that I haven't read it yet. As for Passenger, I Am Princess X, and The Invention of Hugo Cabret, I'll be getting to them real soon hopefully! I'm only at 25% (33% if you count my two half read books as one) for this challenge so far but that percentage should increase a lot this next month!

How did you do on your reading challenges this month?