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.

As I’ve said many times this week already, I’m planning to write more reviews instead of doing these massive roundups. Fingers crossed that this is last one for a while! I only managed to write 1 review from the 13 books I read between July and December 2012 (read it here: Ashes of Honour by Seanan McGuire) which means I now have to do reviews for 12 books… So I’m splitting it up into two posts: 6 book reviews today, 6 book reviews tomorrow.

The Name of The Wind/The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

I had heard a lot of great things about The Name of The Wind and I can’t believe how long I had it on my shelf until I finally read it. I loved loved loved it. It’s beautifully written and one of the best fantasy stories I’ve ever read. I love the story within a story structure; the book opens with a small town young innkeeper who we learn is “Kvothe”, an infamous and mysterious magician/assassin/warrior/kingslayer trying to hide from his past. After being discovered and convinced by the storyteller Chronicler, Kvothe decides to tell his life story, insisting it will last 3 days (one day for each book).

There’s so much I loved about these books. They’re beautifully written, have great characters (that actually grow) and a great story with an awesome world and magic system (the magic system is unique, based on what seems like almost realistic physic and chemistry principles). The story feels epic, even though we’re only following the life of one man. But what a life! I loved the juxtaposition of the young Kvothe and the older Kvothe telling the story; you just know so many things are going to happen to him to make him turn out that way.

The Name of The Wind is currently $11.56 on Amazon.com and £6.29 on Amazon.co.uk, The Wise Man’s Fear is currently $10.98 on Amazon.com and £6.29 on Amazon.co.uk.

Kingdom of Gods by N. K. Jemisin

The final volume of the Inheritance trilogy. It’s an interesting series; together the three books work as a cohesive whole, yet they can also be read by themselves and each is about a different set of characters. This concluding story is set a few decades after The Broken Kingdoms and is about Sieh, the godling of chidlhood. It’s again an amazing read; N.K. Jemisin has such an original and beautiful style.

Kingdom of Gods is currently $7.99 on Amazon.com and £5.99 on Amazon.co.uk.

Archangel by Sharon Shinn

This book is the first part of the Samaria series, about the angels and mortals who live side-by-side in the world of Samaria. Legend goes that Jovah created the angels to oversee Samaria, protect humans and answer their petitions. They can pray to Jovah through song, which grants them special abilities (like making it rain). Each year the Archangel and his consort, the Angelica, need to lead the Gloria, a mass prayer to Jovah (again through song) otherwise the god would destroy the world.

The book is about a new Archangel, Gabriel, who must convince the mortal Rachel to become his consort and prepare for the Gloria. It’s an interesting read and definitely a cool premise. I didn’t like the characters that much though, but as the other instalments won’t feature these two again, I’m going to continue with it. The only thing that bugged me though is there’s a sort of summary/description about the entire series on the first page of the book which contains I think a massive spoiler/twist. I first thought they spoilt the end of this book, but it doesn’t even happen in this one! I’m a bit peeved off by that, but to be honest I think there were enough clues that I might have figured it out myself anyway (as in: I’m not sure this twist is meant as a twist for the reader or just the characters).

Archangel is currently $7.99 on Amazon.com and £2.80 (secondhand) on Amazon.co.uk.

Stormlord’s Exile by Glenda Larke

This is the third and final book in the Watergivers trilogy. I remember having read this and enjoying it, but honestly I don’t remember much about the story. I’m sure it was a good end to the series, but well, obviously a bit forgettable.

Stormlord’s Exile is currently $7.99 on Amazon.com and £6.89 on Amazon.co.uk.

An Officer’s Duty by Jean Johnson

I loved the first part of this series and this second one is even better. The first book introduced us to Ia, a woman with incredible psychic abilities who saw a vision of how the world was to end in 200 years time and all the paths leading up to that event. She knows exactly what she needs to do and what she needs to convince others to do to make sure it doesn’t happen. Her powers aren’t perfect though and in this book she has to deal with the one thing that might disrupt her plans: a man whose future she can’t see.

If I have to admit it, this series is a bit over the top and unbelievable. Ia’s powers are ridiculous; she’s telekinetic, pyrokinetic, elektrokinetic, telepathic, postcognitive and precognitive. You’d think a story about someone as “perfect” as her wouldn’t work, but despite that though it’s a great read. I can’t wait to see where the next one takes us.

An Officer’s Duty is currently $7.99 on Amazon.com and £5.24 on Amazon.co.uk.

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you all are enjoying a great Christmas holiday. I had plans to do a couple of posts each day here, but failed completely. Instead I’ve pretty much had a full week away from my laptop, staying blissfully offline. I had an awesome Christmas: hanging out with family, eating amazing food and getting great presents.

It is still officially Christmas though, so I still have time to do some Christmas giveaways. Yay! One of my favourite books this year was Redshirts by John Scalzi; it’s Must Read for every Star Trek fan. I’m so excited to give a copy away to one lucky reader!

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment behind with your favourite Christmas present. 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 will end on January 4th after which I’ll randomly draw a winner.

I’ve had my eye on Darkborn for a while; it sounds like such an interesting concept. Two races living in the same city, but one dies from the sun and the other dies from darkness? Cool idea.

Here’s the summary:

In the city of Minhorne, Darkborn and Lightborn live side by side, never meeting, divided by a powerful mages’ curse that makes daylight lethal to the Darkborn and darkness lethal to the Lightborn. They are divided, too, by their acceptance of magic and technology, their politics, their religion, and their views of the proper conduct of men and women.

An act of necessary succor brings Darkborn physician Balthasar Hearne to the deadly attention of agents of a new and unrecognized enemy of both Darkborn and Lightborn. His aristocratic wife, Telmaine, is forced to use magical abilities she has all her life concealed, to protect her husband and her children. And Ishmael di Studier, mage and outcast, who has spent his life defending his borders home from the marauding Shadowborn, now finds himself engaged against an even more dangerous enemy.

Darkborn by Alison Sinclair is available on Amazon.co.uk for £5.39 and on Amazon.com for $6.99.

I love it when you come across a book with a gorgeous cover and then also hear a ton of good reviews about it. Blood Rights is one of those books. Don’t you just love the cover?

Here’s the summary from Amazon:

Born into a life of secrets and service, Chrysabelle’s body bears the telltale marks of a comarre – a special race of humans bred to feed vampire nobility and control their hungers. When her patron is murdered, she becomes the prime suspect, which sends her running into the darkness of the mortal world . . . and into the arms of Malkolm, an outcast vampire cursed to kill every being from whom he drinks.

Chrysabelle’s secrets, though, are about to put her life – and those around her – in even greater jeopardy. She possesses a powerful ring, the key to unlocking an ancient prophecy destined to merge the mortal and supernatural worlds. A chaos unlike anything anyone has ever seen threatens to reign unless she and Malkolm can stop the noble vampire behind the merciless plot.

What that description doesn’t mention though, is that it takes place in 2067. I’ve read the prologue and first chapter, and it look like a very interesting world. Plus it’s the type of book that you start reading and just can’t put down; I really need to get my hands on this!

Blood Rights is available on Amazon.co.uk for £6.11 and on Amazon.com for $7.99.