Taste of Kiwi: Blog of Author Shelley Munro

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

~ Grab your current read
~ Open to a random page
~ Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
~BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
~ Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I used to read a lot of urban fantasy. This year I haven’t read as many books in this genre because of burnout – they were all starting to seem the same. This is one of the two UF series I still keep up with and would never miss. The Kate Daniels series gets better with each book. I’ve just finished this one and loved it. Highly recommended.

Magic Bleeds (Kate Daniels, Book 4) by Ilona Andrews

“I took the dog to the medtechs to get cleared of the plague—he passed with flying colors. They drew some blood for further analysis and advised me that he had fleas and smelled bad, just in case I’d failed to notice.”

page 29, Magic Bleeds

Here’s the blurb:

Atlanta would be a nice place to live, if it weren’t for the magic. When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start. But then technology returns, and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it rose.

Kate Daniels works for the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid, officially as a liaison with the mercenary guild. Unofficially, she cleans up the paranormal problems no one else wants to handle–especially if they involve Atlanta’s shapeshifting community.

When she’s called in to investigate a fight at the Steel Horse, a bar midway between the territories of the shapeshifters and the necromancers, Kate quickly discovers there’s a new player in town. One who’s been around for thousands of years–and rode to war at the side of Kate’s father.

This foe may be too much even for Kate and Curran, the Lord of the Beasts, to handle. Because this time, Kate will be taking on family…

Purchase Magic Bleeds (Kate Daniels, Book 4) from Amazon

This week’s critter is a hyena and pup. This photo was taken in Kenya, and we stopped to watch the mother and three pups. Her burrow was right near the road. They’re not the prettiest creatures, but they are interesting to watch.

Hyenas aren’t exactly common in romantic fiction. As it happens I’ve recently read Ilona Andrews’ novella Magic Mourns (part of the Must Love Hellhounds anthology) and the hero and heroine in her story are hyena shifters.

I’ve also used hyenas as part of the plot of Romantic Interlude, the third story in my Talking Dogs series. If you’d like an armchair journey to both New Zealand and Africa then this is the story for you.

This is the link to visit other Camera Critters.

I haven’t mentioned books and reading for some time. I’ve read some excellent books recently that have really stayed with me, and with every one of them it’s been the characters that have grabbed me by the throat. It’s also interesting to note that three of the four books below are written in first person. I’d highly recommend any of the following:

Smooth Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas – I always used to read Ms. Kleypas’ historicals, but after historical burnout I hadn’t picked up one of her books for ages or tried her contemporaries. This is the third contemporary set in Texas and featuring members of the Travis family. I hadn’t realized this was a series of sorts and as usual picked up the books out of order. They are written in first person. I started reading quite late and had problems putting the book down. I liked the two main characters, Ella and Jack and their interaction and the plot moved smoothly. There was some great dialogue too. I liked it so much I went looking for the first two books and ordered them online. This particular story is only available in hardcover as yet and was borrowed from the library. I think I’ll be buying a copy in paperback when it comes out because I liked it that much.

Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews – This is book three in the Kate Daniels series, an urban fantasy rather than a romance. I think this series gets better and better with each book. I loved the interplay between Kate and Curran. Once again, it was the characters that grabbed me, although I like the interesting plots in this series. This one contains some Indian mythology.

The Education of Madeline by Beth Williamson – This is Beth’s first NY published book, set in the American West. I liked the characters, although I have to say that the plot didn’t ring true with me. This didn’t stop me devouring the book, and I could be wrong because I’m not an expert in American history by any means! I’m not going into detail because that would mean spoilers. Beth has another book coming with some of the characters she introduced in this book. I’ll be snapping the second book up when it comes out.

Hard Fall by James Buchanan – this is a gay romance. It’s written in first person and is about a Mormon cop who is in the closet. He falls for an ex-con and while investigating a murder, his secret comes out, creating havoc in both is personal and business lives. Joe, the main character is interesting, and I liked the glimpse of the Mormon faith. This is an excellent read.

What books have you read recently? Do you have any recommendations?