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heroineforhire ! Email me at violet_shadows at hotmail dot com and I'll get the books sent to you asap :)
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... Came the name of the winner of my Ivy Cole giveaway and that winner is...
Go you! Email me here with your address details and I'll get your book sent out to you as soon as humanly possible.
Thus ends my werewolf month. Le sigh. Thanks to everyone here and over at Blogger for joining in. This was so much fun, I may do it again with a different monster in a couple of months. Suggestions welcome!
Doe Springs has a killer in its midst. The quiet mountain town is haunted by a devil that rips its victims to pieces and leaves their remains behind as a warning, a message. Dog-trainer Ivy Cole knows all about the dead humans that are showing up - she's the one killing them. But while she's dishing out her brand of wild justice to wife-beaters, philanderers and child-molesters, another killer is mutilating local animals and attacking children. And Ivy just can't allow that.
Being a huge fan of all things werewolf-ish, I thoroughly enjoyed Farago's take on the werewolf myth. Ivy Cole has made a virtue out of her lycanthropy, killing those she considers deserving of the punishment, protecting those too weak to protect themselves. She's an intelligent, collected heroine with a heart of gold beneath her cool exterior. The cast surrounding her are well-rounded and utterly believable, from her straight-laced love interest Deputy Sanders to her once-abused, now-blossoming best friend, Patricia. The villain of the piece is both scary and plausible and Ivy's eventual showdown with him is page-turning stuff. Every chapter left me desperately wanting to read the next.
As Ivy and the local police close in on the second werewolf stalking Doe Springs, Farago peppers her story with werewolf and wolf legends and history, offering a deeper insight into the inspiration behind the story. It was fascinating to read these tidbits of information and I never felt that I was being lectured by their inclusion, or that they distracted from the main plot.
From the adrenaline-fueled opening to the bittersweet ending, Ivy Cole and the Moon is an absolute delight, and a must read for fans of werewolves, horror and urban fantasy. You should totally go and buy a copy.
Or better yet, get me to give you a copy. It just so happens that I have a brand new copy of Ivy Cole and the Moon sitting right here by my fish tank. If you fancy getting your hands on it, just leave a comment on this post. The winner will be randomly drawn from an actual hat (a top hat, to be precise) and announced on August 1st.
Personally I feel that werewolves are getting the raw end of the deal in urban fantasy. They’re either whining, angsting pains-in-the-ass or they’re surprisingly tame, de-fanged romance heroes who probably never killed a sheep in their life because they’re too busy wooing the laydeez. Rubbish, I say. What’s worse is that they’re usually playing second fiddle to vampires. Vampires! Come on! Look, whatever problems werewolves have, at least they’re alive, whereas vampires are basically just noisy corpses.
Luckily it’s not all bad. There are some cool werewolves out there. And, it must be noted, they’re all girls. Take for example, if you will, Carrie Vaughn’s Kitty series, starting with Kitty and the Midnight Hour. In the first book of the series, Kitty Norville’s on the bottom rung of her pack, struggling to keep out of trouble and lead a quiet life. Unfortunately, she’s outed as a werewolf on national radio and is soon fighting tooth and claw to escape her pack. I heart Kitty a lot. She’s compassionate, she’s smart, she’s got a wicked sense of humour and when she changes shape, she’s all wolf. She’s not afraid to kill a rabbit or two.
Then there’s Vivian Gandillon of Annette Curtis Klause’s Blood and Chocolate. Young, beautiful and fierce, Vivian relishes the change from girl to wolf. But her loyalties are tested when she falls in love with human artist, Aidan. Her pack is in danger of exposure and Vivian’s suddenly unsure which world she really belongs in. It’s a great coming-of-age story and it was recently made into a film (which I haven’t seen yet.)
Of course, there's Kelley Armstrong's Elena Michaels from the Women of the Otherworld series. Star of Bitten, Stolen and Broken, Elena is one of my favourite werewolves. She's kickass, she's tough and she's the only female werewolf in the world. Throw in half-demons, vampires, necromancers and witches and well ... It's hard out here for a female werewolf.
Last but not least is Lola Galley of Kit Whitfield’s Bareback. Okay, Lola’s not a werewolf. But roughly 98% of the human population is. On the night of the full moon, regular citizens lock themselves in a safe place and shape shift in peace. For people like Lola, unable to change shape, life is very different. Conscripted at eighteen into DORLA (Department for the Ongoing Regulation of Lycanthropic Activity), Lola’s world is fraught with prejudice and danger. Scorned and hated by lycos, life for a bareback isn’t one you’d wish on anyone. I’ve pimped this novel before on my blog, because I honestly, truly love it. It has so much going for it, it’s hard to sum it up in a few sentences and the best advice I can give you is go buy a copy.
And finally there’s my favourite werewolf heroine, Ivy Cole … But I’m saving her for later…
One of the best things about four-day weekends (apart from not being at work on Monday) is all the extra reading time. I read a couple of awesome books this weekend so I’m pimping them out to you.
First up, Wraith by Phaedra Weldon. Zoë Martinique is an astral traveller, capable of leaving her body to move invisible through the world. She’s making a pretty nice living as a professional snoop until the night she witnesses a murder in her astral from. Unluckily for her, the murderer is also a traveller and he’s determined to get his hands on Zoë.
I loved this from beginning to end. Zoë is a funny, engaging heroine and the story was dark, intense and original. The hierarchy system of the beings of the astral plane was a little confusing at times, but never enough to detract from the action. The ending was surprisingly poignant and Weldon left plenty of scope for a sequel (which I believe is in the works). I can’t wait to see how the dangling threads in Wraith are tied up.
Next, Night Rising by Chris Marie Green. Attentive blog readers will know I’m kinda wary when it comes to vampire novels. I cast aside my preconceptions for this book and I didn’t regret it. Stuntwoman Dawn Madison returns to Hollywood to find her estranged father, who went missing whilst working on a case for PI firm Limpet and Associates. Before long, Dawn is caught up in a shadowy world of Hollywood glamour and sinister vampires.
What set this aside from regular vampire novels, for me, was Green’s approach to her monsters. They were monstrous - dark, deadly and inhuman. Green also threw in some fresh twists on the vampire myth that were so cool I couldn’t believe nobody had thought of it before. Mixing in missing film stars, psychic midgets and disembodied PIs only added to the fun. Dawn is fabulous – a rough-and-ready tomboy trying desperately to move out of the shadow of her dead Hollywood goddess mother. Once again, I’m left gasping for the sequel.
So seriously, why are you still here? You should be out buying Phaedra Weldon’s Wraith and Chris Marie Green’s Night Rising.
Go now!
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