I always like movies set in the near future with stories that feel really likely, but for some reason I rarely read books like that. That needs to change… Intrusion sounds like an interesting thriller/scifi: what if you could take a pill that when pregnant cures any genetic abnormalities of your child?

Here’s the description from Amazon:

Imagine a near-future city, say London, where medical science has advanced beyond our own and a single-dose pill has been developed that, taken when pregnant, eradicates many common genetic defects from an unborn child.

Hope Morrison, mother of a hyperactive four-year-old, is expecting her second child. She refuses to take The Fix, as the pill is known. This divides her family and friends and puts her and her husband in danger of imprisonment or worse. Is her decision a private matter of individual choice, or is it tantamount to willful neglect of her unborn child?

Intrusion by Ken MacLeod is £6.29 on Amazon.co.uk.

I’m totally loving the cover art of Fade To Black; it’s a gorgeous piece of work. I actually first came across this book on the Orbit blog where they did a post with the illustrator who did the cover art and it’s quite interesting to see the different stages the design went through.

Next to the awesome cover though, it looks like a cool book:

From the depths of a valley rises the city of Mahala. It’s a city built upwards not across–where streets are built upon streets, buildings upon buildings, A city that the Ministry rules from the sunlit summit and where the forsaken lurk in the darkness of Under.

Rojan Dizon doesn’t mind staying in the shadows, because he’s got things to hide. Things like being a pain-mage, with the forbidden power to draw magic from pain. But he can’t hide for ever.

Because when Rojan stumbles upon the secrets lurking in the depths of the Pit, the fate of Mahala will depend on him using his magic. And unlucky for Rojan – this is going to hurt.

Fade To Black is available on Amazon.co.uk for £5.59 and on Amazon.com for $10.19.

I can’t quite believe how fast the past two months have flown by! I had planned to write up a review after every book I finished, but again I haven’t found the time to do that. I’m doing okayish with my book resolutions/challenges. I’ve managed not to buy a single book yet this year, although I’ve been sorely tempted by a few. I’ve been struggling more with my 52 books in 52 weeks though; I’m only on 6 books, while by now I should have finished 8 already. Hopefully I’ll catch up, but it’s trickier that I thought!

Be Still My Vampire Heart by Kerrelyn Sparks

This is the third book in Kerrelyn Spark’s Love at Stake series and again it’s a lot of fun. I’ve only just discovered her books and with thirteen books in the series I’ve got some serious catching up to do! So far it reminds me a lot of Lynsay Sands’ books: they’re funny, entertaining reads with a cool vampire world that doesn’t take itself too seriously. This one is about the general of the vampire army falling in love with a vampire slayer.

Lord of The Changing Winds by Rachel Neumeier

I struggled a lot with this book and it was almost a DNF (did not finish) for me. I already had bought the following two books though, so I thought I should at least give it a shot. The concept sounds interesting: a teenage girl, Kes, finds out she has the ability to heal griffins. I really wanted to like this book, but nothing about it stood out to me. The characters aren’t that likable, the story is pretty predictable and the world didn’t feel fleshed out.

The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks

I’m in two minds about this series. The first book starts off with a pretty harsh world, which only gets worse as the story progresses. Rape, incest, cannibalism… those aren’t really the things I look for in a book. Plus there was a certain lack of storytelling and world and character building; I constantly felt as if there was more to these characters and their backstories, but I just wasn’t seeing it. Maybe I’ve just been spoiled lately by books like The Name of The Wind, but I was missing the beauty in the way a story can be told.

And yet, despite all those things the story itself was pretty compelling; I managed to finish book one and two in 3 days, picking it up whenever I could find the time. It actually managed to surprise me; the first book alone has at least 4 twists towards the end (one of which I saw coming, the others were proper “OMG!” moments). It’s not the most brilliant series out there, but it’s definitely a good read. Interested? Why not enter my giveaway for the first book in the series?

My Lady Mage by Alexis Morgan

This is the first book in Alexis Morgan’s new Warriors of the Mist series. It’s a fantasy romance: it’s got your typical romance tropes, but it’s set in an interesting fantasy world. The “warriors” from the series title were damned by the gods to fight evil; they lie dormant under the mists of the river until they are called upon by those in need. In this book they are awakened by Merewen to save her people from her uncle’s cruelty. And obviously she falls in love with one of the damned warriors. The book manages to properly balance the fantasy and romance elements, turning it into a fun read. Each warrior is linked to an animal avatar and it’s fun discovering their backstories. I’m very curious to see how this story continues!

Birthdays are awesome! I celebrated mine yesterday and it was just so much fun catching up with friends and family. I thought I’d share the fun with you all and hold another giveaway here! I know I still haven’t announced the winners of the previous giveaway, but don’t worry I’ll be contacting them today.

So what’s the giveaway for? One lucky reader will receive a copy of The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks. I just read the entire series and it’s great.

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment behind with your favourite birthday memory. You’ll also get a second entry if you’re following me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway with the hashtag #missgeeky. The competition is open to everyone and it will end on March 3rd after which I’ll randomly draw a winner.

I love living in London. There’s always something cool going on or something interesting to do, no matter what you’re interested in. I realized that obviously it’s the perfect setting for a book series and started wondering what series out there are based in London?

I’m sure there are plenty more, but I came across this awesome sounding one God Save The Queen. Queen Victoria as a vampire? Current day steampunk? Werewolves, vampires and goblins? Comparisons to Seanan McGuire’s Toby Daye series? I need to get my hands on this book!

Here’s the description from Amazon:

The Year is 2012 – and Queen Victoria still rules with an immortal fist.

She’s the undead matriarch of a Britain where the Aristocracy is made up of werewolves and vampires, where goblins live underground and mothers know better than to let their children out after dark. A world where technology lives side by side with magic, where being nobility means being infected with the Plague (side-effects include undeath) and Hysteria is the popular affliction of the day.

Xandra Vardan is a member of the elite Royal Guard, and it’s her duty to protect the Aristocracy. But things get complicated when her sister goes missing. Xandra will not only realise she’s the prize in a dangerous power struggle – but she’ll also uncover a conspiracy that threatens to topple the empire itself.

God Save The Queen by Kate Locke is the first book in the Immortal Empire Series. It’s available on Amazon.co.uk for £5.59 and on Amazon.com for $11.55.

This sound like fun! Alchemy, magic and gargoyles…

Here’s the description from Amazon:

Alexandra Belarus is a struggling artist living in New York City, even though her family is rich in real estate, including a towering Gothic Gramercy Park building built by her great-great-grandfather. But the truth of her bloodline is revealed when she is attacked on the street and saved by an inhumanly powerful winged figure. A figure who knows the Belarus name…

Lexi’s great-great-grandfather was a Spellmason – an artisan who could work magic on stone. But in his day, dark forces conspired against him and his, so he left a spell of protection on his family. Now that Lexi is in danger, the spell has awoken her ancestor’s most trusted and fearsome creation: a gargoyle named Stanis. Lexi and Stanis are equally surprised to find themselves bound to each other. But as they learn to work together, they realize that only united can they save the city they both love…

Alchemystic by Anton Strout is £4.99 on Amazon.co.uk and $7.99 on Amazon.com.

My NY’s book resolutions seem to be going good: I’m exactly on track for my 52 books challenge and I haven’t bought a single book yet. I am allowing myself to buy 12 predetermined books this year though, and one of those will be Midnight Blue-Light Special.

It’s the second book in Seanan McGuire’s Incryptid series, again starring Verity Price, monster hunter/protector and professional ballroom dancer. I loved the first book; Verity is such a fun character. Plus the talking mice are awesome!

Here’s the description from Amazon:

The Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity–and humanity from them. Enter Verity Price. Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she’d rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and when her work with the cryptid community took her to Manhattan, she thought she would finally be free to pursue competition-level dance in earnest. It didn’t quite work out that way…

But now, with the snake cult that was killing virgins all over Manhattan finally taken care of, Verity is ready to settle down for some serious ballroom dancing—until her on-again, off-again, semi-boyfriend Dominic De Luca, a member of the monster-hunting Covenant of St. George, informs her that the Covenant is on their way to assess the city’s readiness for a cryptid purge. With everything and everyone she loves on the line, there’s no way Verity can take that lying down.

Alliances will be tested, allies will be questioned, lives will be lost, and the talking mice in Verity’s apartment will immortalize everything as holy writ–assuming there’s anyone left standing when all is said and done. It’s a midnight blue-light special, and the sale of the day is on betrayal, deceit… and carnage.

Midnight Blue-Light Special by Seanan McGuire will be released on March 5 and will be £4.94 on Amazon.co.uk and $7.99 on Amazon.com.

I had heard a lot of good things about Brent Weeks’ Night Angel trilogy, so I was quite happy to discover the boxset was one my Christmas presents this year! I just started the first book The Way of Shadows and so far it’s been good. I’m only 100 pages in, but I’m liking it so far even though the world is a bit harsh.

Here’s the description of the first book (The Way of Shadows) on Amazon:

The perfect killer has no friends. Only targets.

For Durzo Blint, assassination is an art. And he is the city’s most accomplished artist, his talents required from alleyway to courtly boudoir.

For Azoth, survival is precarious. Something you never take for granted. As a guild rat, he’s grown up in the slums, and learned the hard way to judge people quickly – and to take risks. Risks like apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint.

But to be accepted, Azoth must turn his back on his old life and embrace a new identity and name. As Kylar Stern, he must learn to navigate the assassins’ world of dangerous politics and strange magics – and cultivate a flair for death.

The Night Angel trilogy consists (obviously) of three parts:

• The Way of Shadows (£5.93 on Amazon.co.uk, $7.99 on Amazon.com)
• Shadow’s Edge (£7.19 on Amazon.co.uk, $7.99 on Amazon.com)
• Beyond The Shadows (£5.99 on Amazon.co.uk, $7.99 on Amazon.com)

You can’t judge a book by its cover, but you can certainly be charmed by a book’s cover! I love the cover from Geist; it’s so pretty and has got me at once interested in the book. You can straightaway see it’s about mages and ghosts, and reading the summary seems to confirm that. I’m intrigued by the lion though… nothing I’ve read so far seems to mention anything about him.

Here’s the summary from Amazon:

Between the living and the dead is the Order of the Deacons, protectors of the Empire, guardians against possession, sentinels enlisted to ward off malevolent hauntings by the geists. Sorcha, among the most powerful of the Order, is called to a small settlement, But more is occuring than just geist activity. It’s a conspiracy of evil that reaches back to her own Abbey. Even if she survives, what hell would she be returning to?

Do you like the look of Geist? I’ll need to wait at least a year before picking it up (because of my self imposed book buying ban), but I’m curious to see if this is any good!

Geist by Philippa Ballantine is £5.24 on Amazon.co.uk and $7.99 on Amazon.com.

Round 2 of my book review roundup from last year!

Redshirts by John Scalzi

This was one of my favourite books last year. As I said in my giveaway, I think it’s a Must Read for every Star Trek fan. It’s (obviously) about the redshirts on a ship who notice disturbing things happen on away missions. I don’t really want to say much more beyond that. If like the sound of the book, go read it!

Redshirts is currently $10.19 on Amazon.com and £7.19 on Amazon.co.uk.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

I had American Gods on my bookshelf for ages, but never got around to reading it. There’s something about Neil Gaiman’s style of writing that I don’t like. His stories are great, but it’s the way that they’re written that somehow doesn’t resonate with me. I loved the concept of American Gods though. It follows Shadow, a just released convict, who’s recruited by the mysterious man Mr Wednesday. You slowly learn America has gods: beings that are created because of people who worship them. Initially this meant the gods of old (like Egyptian/Norse/etc), but in the modern world that means gods of technology, of TV, of trains. It’s a great idea and it was fun discovering the different gods and their stories.

American Gods is currently $11.53 on Amazon.com and £6.29 on Amazon.co.uk.

The Lady is A Vamp by Lynsay Sands

I always enjoy Lynsay Sands’s Argeneaus books. They’re not the usual take on vampires (it’s Atlantean nanotechonology that causes immortality) and they always tend to be funny and romantic. This book takes on a bit more serious note when a man kidnaps Jeanne Louise Argeneau to convince her to turn his dying daughter. It was a interesting read, but not as fun as Sands books normally are.

The Lady is A Vamp is currently $7.99 on Amazon.com and £4.99 on Amazon.co.uk.

The Darkest Surrender by Gena Showalter

This is the 8th book in the Lords of the Underworld series. It’s about Strider, the Keeper of Defeat, and Kaia, a harpy. I’ve really enjoyed the previous books, but I struggled massively with this one. I had a similar problem with one of the earlier books as well and it turns out that in both books the heroine was a harpy… The book does set up some interesting stuff for future characters; I can’t wait to see Kane’s and William’s stories!

The Darkest Surrender is currently $7.99 on Amazon.com and £5.99 on Amazon.co.uk.

How To Marry A Millionaire Vampire/Vamps In The City by Kerrelyn Sparks

I came across this series while trying to find new books, only to find it already has 13 books! And they’re fun. They remind me a lot of Lynsay Sands’ series. I have to say though I hate the name of the first book. Yes, he’s a millionaire vampire, but that’s barely got anything to do with the story. It’s about Roman Draganesti who accidentally loses a fang and needs a dentist, only to discover the dentist at the clinic he goes to is on the run from the maffia. The second book is about a vampire reality TV show. It’s ridiculous, but a whole lot of fun.

How To Marry A Millionaire Vampire is $7.99 on Amazon.com and £5.24 on Amazon.co.uk, Vamps In The City is $7.99 on Amazon.com and £7.99 on Amazon.co.uk.