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A Touch of Stone and Snow by Milla Vane – a Review

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A Touch of Stone and Snow by Milla Vane – a Review

 

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Description:
Danger lurks in the western realms. The Destroyer’s imminent return has sent the realms into turmoil as desperate citizens seek refuge—but there’s no safety to be found when demons and wraiths crawl out from the shadows. Even Koth, a northern island kingdom left untouched by the Destroyer a generation past, is besieged by terrors spawned from corrupt magics.

When Lizzan leads the Kothan army against these terrors, only to see her soldiers massacred and to emerge as the only survivor, she is called a coward and a deserter. Shunned from her home, Lizzan now wanders in solitude as a mercenary for hire, until she encounters a group of warriors seeking new alliances with the northern kingdoms—a group that includes Aerax, the bastard prince of Koth, and the man who sent her into exile.

Though they were childhood friends, Aerax cannot allow himself to be close to the only woman who might thwart his treacherous plan to save their island realm. But when a goddess’s demand binds them together, Lizzan and Aerax must find a way to overcome their painful pasts. Or there will be no future for the western realms…

 

 

Review:

A Touch of Snow and Stone by Milla Vane is the 2nd book in her fantasy series, A Gathering of Dragons.  Though they are mentioned a few times, the heroes of the first book do not play a part in this one, but I am sure in the next book we will see them all together in trying to defeat the Destroyer.

Lizzan, our heroine, is one of the best warriors for the Koth kingdom; but when she was the lone survivor of a massacre, they accused her of running away and not helping her soldiers.  She was shunned and exiled, with her name removed from the Kingdom.  Over time, she becomes a lone mercenary for hire to help those in need of protection.  Lizzan comes across a group of warriors from different kingdoms seeking alliances to fight the Destroyer.  She makes friends with some of them, until she learns that the man she always loved, Aerax, is part of the group with other Kothans.

Aerax, our hero and a prince of Koth, has been trying to find Lizzan, since he has always loved her; but he knows when she was accused of betrayal, he did not offer to help her, as he knew of her innocence. Aerax is determined to destroy Koth, and knew Lizzan would try to stop him; but now all he wants is to make amends.  I absolutely loved loved his snow leopard, Caeb.  The cat, who was loyal to both Aerax and Lizzan was a fantastic addition to this series, and all scenes with Caeb were wonderful.  There is more to what Caeb is, but I guess we will learn more in the next book.   

What follows is a wild, exciting, action packed adventure, filled with myths, magic and gods.  When Lizzan goes to the god Vela for help, she is sent on a quest to protect the first person she sees, which does end up being Aerax.  They both will join hands with some of the other groups, as well as our wonderful Caeb to try to stop a demon.  It was great to watch Lizzan and Aerax begin to resume their relationship and love. It was funny to see Caeb push both of them together often.  Cute.  Knowing that if they can’t defeat the demon, their lives could be lost, they make the most of their lust for each other, which was sizzling.

A Touch of Snow and Stone is an epic fantasy at its best, with intense nonstop violent action, excitement, fantastic characters (some from the previous book) and a wonderful romance. There is a lot of details throughout as they head to Koth, keeping us on the edge of our seats to see who will survive.    If you enjoy fantasy, a great world building, with monsters, such as wraiths, and magical elements, I suggest you read this series.  Start with the first book A Heart of Blood and Ashes, and then continue to A Touch of Snow and Stone.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

 

 

 

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A Heart of Blood and Ashes by Milla Vane – Review & Giveaway

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A Heart of Blood and Ashes by Milla Vane – Review & Giveaway

 

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Description:
A generation past, the western realms were embroiled in endless war. Then the Destroyer came. From the blood and ashes he left behind, a tenuous alliance rose between the barbarian riders of Parsathe and the walled kingdoms of the south. That alliance is all that stands against the return of an ancient evil—until the barbarian king and queen are slain in an act of bloody betrayal.

Though forbidden by the alliance council to kill the corrupt king responsible for his parents’ murders, Maddek vows to avenge them, even if it costs him the Parsathean crown. But when he learns it was the king’s daughter who lured his parents to their deaths, the barbarian warrior is determined to make her pay.

Yet the woman Maddek captures is not what he expected. Though the last in a line of legendary warrior-queens, Yvenne is small and weak, and the sharpest weapons she wields are her mind and her tongue. Even more surprising is the marriage she proposes to unite them in their goals and to claim their thrones—because her desire for vengeance against her father burns even hotter than his own…

 

 

Review:

A Heart of Blood and Ashes by Milla Vane is the 1st book in her A Gathering of Dragons series.  I was not sure what to expect when I started this fantasy novel that was 560 pages, but as I read a few chapters in, I became totally engrossed into this fabulous story that kept me unable to put the book down.  Milla Vane is a new author to me, and I am happy to say that I will most certainly be reading the future books in this series.

We meet Maddek, our hero, at the start, when he learns that his mother and father (King and Queen of Parsathe) have been murdered by a King from another realm, who are part of an alliance protecting them from The Destroyer.  Maddek confronts the Alliance Council, determined to enact vengeance against the corrupt King and his sons; he is ordered not to attack someone in their alliances.  Maddek takes his army and heads for Syssian, only to find the corrupt Kings daughter being taken away.  Since the daughter was the one who invited his parents to visit, and thereby were killed, Maddek plans to enact his revenge against the daughter.

Yvenne, our heroine, is the King’s daughter, and to his surprise, she kills her brother in front of him, and offers herself to help him defeat her evil father, and other nasty brothers.  Yvenne was not what Maddek expected, as she was nothing like a warrior queen was supposed to be, being small and weak,   having suffered most of her young life.  But Yvenne was horribly treated by her family, having lost fingers, damaged knees and imprisoned most of her life; she was though very intelligent, with knowledge that would make her a fine Queen.  She proposes marriage to help Maddek become King of both lands, which he accepts.  The problem is Maddek hates her, thinking that she lured his parents to their deaths.  No matter how much she explains that she became close to his mother, and tried to help her, Maddek treated her with distain and threatens to shut her up.

I will say that for a 1/3 of the book, I was not a fan of Maddek, as he was nasty to Yvenne, even though all his soldiers began to love her.  I did love Yvenne, as she made such a wonderful heroine, making up for her disabilities, working hard to use a knife and arrows, as well as strengthen her body.  She slowly earned the respect from the men and women on Maddek’s team, as she was able to use her ‘sight’ to warn them of the enemy coming close to attacking.   Maddek in a short time, slowly began to fall for Yvette and help train her, but it did take some time. The chemistry between them was sizzling.

What follows is a fabulous, exciting, entertaining adventure filled with danger, magic, betrayals, as well as fantastic secondary characters created by Vane.  I loved the Parsathian men and woman, and how they opened up to Yvenne, as well as their loyalty to Maddek.   Heart of Blood and Ashes is a big novel, but it is so worth it.   To tell too much more would become spoilers, and you really need to read this from start to finish. 

A Heart of Blood and Ashes is fantasy at its best, with intense nonstop violent action,  excitement, fantastic characters and a wonderful romance.  I will also say I loved loved the ending, which had an epilogue.  So many fantasy books end with a cliffhanger, but A Heart of Blood and Ashes had a satisfying conclusion, even though the story will continue in the next book.  Thank you Milla Vane for this wonderful conclusion, and I cannot wait for the next book in this series.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

 

Milla Vane’s publisher is  offering a paper copy of A HEART OF BLOOD AND ASHES  to ONE (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.

1. If you have not previously registered, please register using the log-in at the top of the page (side bar) or by using one of the social log-ins.

NOTE: If you are having difficulty commenting after logging in, please refresh the page at the top of your computer

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3. LIKE MILLA VANE on  Facebook

4. LIKE us on FACEBOOK and then click GET NOTIFICATION under ‘liked’ for an additional entry.

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6. Giveaway is open US only

9. Giveaway runs from February 3 -7, 2020

 

 

 

 

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NIght Shift Anthology – a Review

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NIght Shift Anthology – Nalini Singh, Ilona Andrews, Milla Vane, LIsa Shearin a Review

 

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Description:
Four masters of urban fantasy and paranormal romance plunge readers into the dangerous, captivating world unearthed beyond the dark…

New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh delivers a smoldering story with Secrets at Midnight, as the scent of Bastien Smith’s elusive lover ignites a possessiveness in him that’s as feral as it is ecstatic. And now that he’s found his mate, he’ll do anything to keep her.

In #1 New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews’ novella, Magic Steals, when people start going missing, shapeshifting tigress Dali Harimau and jaguar shifter Jim Shrapshire must uncover the truth about the mysterious creatures responsible.

From Milla Vane—a warrior princess must tame The Beast of Blackmoor to earn a place among her people. But she quickly discovers that the beast isn’t a monster, but a barbarian warrior who intends to do some taming himself.

It’s seer Makenna Frazier’s first day on the job at Supernatural Protection and Investigations, and her first assignment is more than she bargained for when bodyguard duty for a leprechaun prince’s bachelor party goes every which way but right in national bestselling author Lisa Shearin’s Lucky Charms.

 

 

Review:

Night Shift is an anthology with novellas by 4 authors…Nalini Singh, Ilona Andrews, Milla Vane and Lisa Shearin. Each of these authors either write Paranormal or Urban Fantasy. It is always difficult to write a review on anthologies, as there is too much risk of giving out spoilers. I will attempt to give you my thougths of each story, without telling too much

Secrets at Midnight by Nalini Singh – Ohhhh, what can I say. This is a Psy/Changeling novella and Bastien is our leopard hero. I am a freak when it comes to Psy/Changeling, and needless to say I was in my glory reading this story. Nalini never fails to amaze me at how story after story, even in a novella she can give us such a great story, a fabulous couple, and allow us to spend time with some of our old favorites, like Lucas, Dorian & Mercy. Bastien was wonderful, as I fell in love with him from the start. He was loving, and patient with Kirby, our heroine.   What mother wouldn’t want a Bastien for their daughter. Kirby was a fantastic mate for Bastien, and the story introducing her and her history was wonderful. When Bastien meets Kirby, he scents a cat, but she is human. It is Bastien who will help Kirby discover the hidden truth about her true destiny. A super fantastic story.   When I finished this book in one sitting, I had a smile on my face the rest of the day.

Magic Steals by Ilona Andrews – I am a big fan of Andrews’ Kate Daniels series, so I was looking forward to reading this one too. Jim is our hero in this book, and he has been one of the mainstays in this series. Jim is a Jaguar shifter, and Curran’s security chief. It was great for him to have his story, and I loved him with Dali, who is Tiger shifter. We started off with Dali preparing dinner for Jim, hoping this would be the night that they would take the next step. Before anything can happen, Dali’s mother comes to ask her to help find a missing person. Jim goes with Dali, who has magic abilities to help solve crimes or end curses. The mystery was very good, with a group of people ina  certain section having attacks brought on by magic. Jim and Dali must find out why and how to stop it. But the best part of this story was the humor between Dali’s family; Jim watching Dali use her magic, and learning more how she works, and Dali seeing how much Jim truly feels about her, and how well they will work together as a team. It was a great story, with a  great couple, and just plain fun.

Lucky Charms by Lisa Shearin – I have not read this author before, so I was not sure what to expect. This is part of her SPI Files series, which only has one book out. Since I did not read the first book, I am not sure if this novella will move forward or is it a prequel. SPI stands for Supernatural Protection & Investigations. There are all kinds of supernatural beings in this story, with seers, werewolves, vampires, dragons, goblins, leprechauns, elves, fae, as well as humans. Mac (Makenna Frazier) is a seer, and she is hired by SPI to help find missing supernatural beings. On her first day of the job, she is pulled into a dangerous mission, meets her hot partner, and team members, who are elves or werewolves. Though there were so many dangerous situations, there was a lot of humor in this story. This was a fun and exciting read, which has me interested to see what else is in store for this series.

The Beast of Blackmoor – Milla Vane (Meljean Brooke) – An angry young warrior asking a priestess for the goddess help to fight evil, is cursed by his disrespectful behavior. Years later, a female warrior arrives in Blackmoor to fulfill her quest from the goddess to tame the beast.

Mala is our heroine, and she is determined to complete the quest given to her by the goddess, so that she can go home and protect her family and townsfolk. Mala is a great warrior, who has faith that her goddess will protect her along the way. The beast is the warrior who has been been “forsaken” yet he battles the monsters to help the town. Kavik is our hero, and when Mala meets him, he is cold, but knows she is the one who will end his curse. When Mala tells him she is to tame the beast, which is him, he expects the taming to be cruel, and refuses to believe otherwise. Together, despite his mistrust, they must fight the evil creatures, and Kavik must learn to find a way to trust Mala and change the curse. Good story, however there some parts I did not care how it was handled.

Overall, this was a great anthology, and for me, I was thrilled to get more of Nalini Singh and Ilona Andrews, as well as learning about two other authors to check out for the future.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

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