Tag: T.A. White

This Chick Read: Dusk’s Portent (Aileen Travers #7) by T.A. White

When Aileen finds fae trespassing in her woods and her best friend attacked on the same night she is soon neck deep in trouble. The local werewolf pack has been taken hostage and the fae barrow has fallen. In order to help Caroline, she travels to Las Vegas, the territory of a dangerous supernatural. Surrounded by her own family of vampires, she soon finds herself also having to save her entire family line. Aileen has to embrace that darkness inside in order to save those she loves.

I’m going to admit that this series, for me, started off a little rough. As this is the seventh book in the series and I’m still reading it, I’ve obviously gotten invested in Aileen’s story and care about each characters storyline. Caroline, her best friend, was turned into a werewolf early in the series- actually not too long after Aileen was turned into a vampire, so we’ve gotten to watch both of those characters evolve, although as the main character we care a bit more about Aileen’s outcome. In this story the lives of both of these characters will be affected by the outcome of their interactions with this dangerous new character in Las Vegas and I have to admit the descriptive scenery of the fae barrow grabbed me and I knew we were going to be in for a fun ride.

Aileen’s vampire family continues to grow and her relationships to each of them while still contentious, seems to also mean more to her. I like that they are becoming “family” instead of vampires that she just has to deal with to survive. Her hesitation to become involved or allow herself to care about them seems to be crumbling which makes me look forward to the next book even more. What will her relationships look like? How will her character keep evolving? Will the other paranormal species continue to be threatened by her? Those unanswered questions as well as the non-stop action will keep me coming back to the next novel. I’m kind of surprised because I didn’t start out the series feeling this way, but I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next for Aileen.❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this book! Dusk’s Portent

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This Chick’s Audio Review: Nightfall’s Prophet (Aileen Travers #6) by T.A. White

Aileen Travers has come to grips with the fact she’s a vampire. In fact, she is gaining her independence by starting her own house with her “brother”, and is kind of ok with the fact she has to drink blood to survive. She has also sort of made up with her human family and is trying to retain some sort of relationship without letting them know she’s one of the undead, of course. When she starts hearing voices and having nose bleeds her vampire family is concerned but not as much as they are when they realize the patriarch of their family seems to have taken an interest in her and is stalking her. Add in a visit by the vampire council and an attempt at a coup and Aileen wonders if things will ever be normal or is this just her life.

T.A. White has written some of my favorite fantasy novels and series. I’ll admit it took me a little while to warm up to this one but I’ve now bought into this vampire series and have enjoyed seeing Aileen’s character grow. What I keep forgetting is how much I dislike the narrator for the audio books for this series, which is funny because she didn’t bother me at all in the pathfinder series. Maybe it’s just her attempt at narrating male vampire’s that I find offensive. I’m not sure, but I’m not going to let a bad narration spoil a good romantic fantasy/paranormal novel. This series is finally getting good!

There are many plots and subplots in this book and some of them are intertwined so I don’t want to give any details away. Just know that there is plenty of action, Liam is still her hot vampire love interest, and her family dynamics (both vampire and human) get revved up. It was hard to press the stop button and actually go work for a living!

If you’re a fan of vampire novels, or even if you aren’t and just like a good romantic fantasy, I think you’ll like this series. You’ll need to slog through the first novel, it was the hardest to read, but after that these characters really start to grow on you. I’m now eager to see where they will be in the next iteration and want to read them through to their conclusion. You will too! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this book! Nightfall’s Prophet

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This Chick’s Audio Review: Secrets Bound by Sand (Dragon Ridden Chronicles #4) by T.A. White

Tate’s dragon goes on an uncontrolled rampage claiming the emperor’s treasury as her horde and get Tate cast out of Aurelia, if only temporarily, sent on a mission to negotiate a treaty. On her way she is kidnapped twice, each time learning more about her past and the people who claim her as savior. Can she find her way to defeat the big bad that’s still trying to kill off everyone she’s grown to love? Only if she opens her mind and heart to the future, learning from what has happened in her past.

After a great second and third novel in the series, I’ll admit that Secrets Bound by Sand was kind of a convoluted mess. While I still love these characters, all narrated by Natasha Soudek, I’m getting a little restless with the author’s inability to reach a conclusion. You know how some longer series have that book that falls in the middle that just moves the character forward but not much else happens? For me, this was that novel. The only thing new we learned was from Tate’s past and while it was revealing it didn’t really help what was happening in her life today, it just explained how she was sent to sleep thousands of years ago. Interesting but not the conclusion I was looking for out of this novel.

We did learn a bit more about Knight (Night? I’m listening, not reading the book remember!) and his bearcat race. On this journey, Tate, Knight, and Dewdrop meet up with the Vela (sp?), a sentient race who can shift from bearcat to a human-like figure on two legs. This interesting development actually provided more for Knight’s character than the entire book did for Tate!

Did my ho-hum attitude keep me from reading the fifth book? No. I immediately got the audiobook. I’m invested in the series and hope that it reaches its conclusion in this fifth book. I’m over the character insight and want a conclusion so I can move on. Not really what you hope to feel after reading five books from an author you love, but there you have it. ❤️❤️❤️❣️

Click this link to purchase this book!* Secrets Bound by Sand

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This Chick’s Audio Review: Destruction’s Ascent (Dragon Ridden #3) by T.A. White

I went back and read my reviews of books one and two and had to chuckle to myself. I lamented the fact that the author had let so much time go by between writing books one and two, and yet book three came out one year after book two, in 2018, and I let four years go by before picking up the series again. Not for lack of liking it because I love this author and I really did like the first two books, but because time just flew by and I had too many other books step in front of this one. Here are my reviews of the first two books if you, like me, need a catch up.

Dragon Ridden

Of Bone and Ruin

Destruction’s Ascent opens with Tate, now in the dragon corps, and going through training. Of course, Tate is not like other dragon ridden since she and her dragon were asleep for generations, but also because she and her dragon speak to each other, something that the others fear lead to insanity. She may be called insane because of the situations she gets in, but Tate’s sanity is pretty normal. Speaking of situations, one arises when Tate touches a mirror in her dragon mentor’s office and an evil creature comes through it and tries to kill everyone in the room. See what I mean about crazy situations? Dragons are as curious as cats, and Tate wants to explore this world on the other side of the mirror. When she finally walks through one, she finds the children who have gone missing throughout Aurelia, and the big bad who have taken them. Destruction’s Ascent is about solving the mystery as well as figuring out a few things about her past.

With a name like Destruction’s Ascent, you better start the story off fast and never stop and that is what T.A. White delivers to its readers. I listened to this book and found myself putting off the more important things in my life (hello job!) and finding moments to keep listening to this story. The narrator is Natasha Soudek, who also narrates the Aileen Travers series, and does a fine job even if the voices she gives the characters aren’t quite what I’d imagine them to sound like in my head. Her characterization of Tate evolves through the story as Tate finds out things about her past but the snarkiness that I love is voiced spot on, so I’ll give her props. She rocked Tate’s voice.

Four years after reading the last book and I’m reminded why I love this author’s novels so much and this series as well. Her heroine’s are always everywomen. Yes, they do heroic and selfless things, but they don’t typically have magical powers. Yes, Tate can turn into a dragon but that is more species related than it is her being magical. The way she processes what’s going on around her and then takes action gives her character a relatability that makes her an easy character to like and root for. If I had one complaint it would be that the novel needs a little more romance between she and Ryu. He is slowly stalking that relationship when is building the tension nicely but I’m ready for some heat, and not of the dragon fire variety.

If you’re a lover of fantasy like I am, please give this series a try. I think, like me, you’ll get into it and won’t want to put it down. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this book!* Destruction’s Ascent

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*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick’s Audio Review: Twilight’s Herald (Aileen Travers #5) by T.A. White

Aileen has come a long way from the vampire she was a few years ago. No longer avoiding the supernatural community Aileen is now the go-to investigator and has created a name for herself despite her being a relatively new vamp. When she takes a job to find a lost bracelet for the harpy’s she comes to the attention of a group of supernatural assassins who seem to be either trying to kill her or kidnap her. Dodging shadows is keeping her on her toes and is making it hard for her to do her job.

I just listened to this entire series over the past week. Narrated by Natasha Soudek, I had trouble getting into the pace of the narration through the first book. I will say that once Aileen started acting more like a vamp in book 2 the pace of the story took off and I forgot how much I was struggling with the narration. I’m not sure it was Natasha Soudek’s fault because I’ve listened to book by this author that she’s narrated and not had a problem and my feeling of ho-hum disappeared by the end of book 2. Twilight’s Herald as the fifth book in the series was one big action-adventure jaunt and really fun verbal snark by our main character, Aileen.

Aileen is now over her predilection of avoiding the vamps and is dating Liam, the enforcer to the Master of the City. While he is very dominant and alpha, Aileen has the tendency to do whatever she wants and sass her way into situations that are way above her pay grade and vampire strength. Each novel has revealed more about Aileen and by Twilight’s Herald we know that despite her youth in the vampire community she has an ability to “see” magic and either count attack it or unwind a spell. This has come in handy as these assassins seem persistent in getting their hands on her.

Another thing that has evolved over this series is her relationship with Liam, now her boyfriend. She has stopped fighting him at every turn and has slightly embraced her friendships with his crew and tolerates her maker, Thomas, the Master of the City. I really enjoyed her new friendship with Connor, Thomas’s son and Liam’s true nephew. He is a slightly odd character and attaches himself to Aileen’s side as her “brother” and has an innocence that is sweet and dangerous. There are plenty of chuckles in this novel and a dodgeball scene that was awesome. Yes, vampires play dodgeball!

Aileen Travers #6 comes out later this year or is it early next year? I can’t remember exactly when but I do know that I will be reading it when it comes out. This was a slow build up but I’m totally invested in these characters now and I want more Aileen! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase!* Twilight’s Herald

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This Chick Read: The Storm’s Whisperer (The Broken Lands #5) by T.A. White

Eva is the Kyren’s chosen Ambassador to broker an alliance between their two races. At their invitation she and Caden take a group of Trateri into the herd lands to form a colony and become the bridge between the two groups. Evil follows them and threatens the threads of their alliance. Eva must figure out her new abilities in order to save the man she loves and the two people’s her duty calls to her to protect.

It seems a simple synopsis but there was a LOT happening in this novel! Eva is the Kyren’s chosen Ambassador, but when trouble knocks on the Trateri’s door, her alliance seems to dissipate leaving Eva reliant upon the Trateri’s strength and her own uneducated skills as a Caller. Despite the dissipating alliance with the Kyren, Eva still finds strength in her friends and shows incredible leadership when it comes to her responsibility for other side characters like Brisa a young Tenrin who becomes attached to both she and Jason, her apprentice and future Trateri warrior. These subplots are what ultimately bring the book together and give it the meat it needs to reach its conclusion.

I mention Jason, above, because despite the love story between Eva and Caden, Jason’s character shows the most growth in this story arc. Eva has her calling and sometimes seems to struggle finding the strength and will to overcome her obstacles. Jason acts as the impetus to drive her character. As her apprentice and responsibility it’s through her interactions with him that we see her “become” her destiny. I liked that for him as a character because despite his whiny self-involved beginnings he has turned into a strong character and has become one of my favorites.

Did I like Storm’s Whisper as much as the previous novel? No. Despite it reaching its conclusion I didn’t feel the tension of the first novel, or any of the first three in the series. Even so, it was a decent story, and showed knew aspects to the world these stories reside. So to me it was worth the four or five hours of reading. I do hope she picks Jason as the next character to follow in the series. ❤️❤️❤️❣️

Click this link to purchase!* The Storm’s Whisper (The Broken Lands Book 5)

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This Chick Read: The Wind’s Call (The Broken Lands #4) by T.A. White

After escaping her village Eva stumbles across the Trateri and decides to join with them, becoming a Herd Mistress, taking care of the animals she’s always loved. Kind of a loner she is close to only a few, relying more on her horses than she does people. When she discovers a winged horse caught in a net, she risks her life to save him earning his regard. Her ability to hear the Kyren’s mind speech puts her in the middle of a fight with evil that could bring war to the Broken Lands.

The main characters from books 1-3 are put on the back burner so we can follow Eva and Caden, Fallon’s 2nd in command into the Highlands to follow the Anatari’s hope of brokering an alliance with the Kyren. I liked Eva as a side character and grew to like her straightforward personality even more in The Wind’s Call. This is a person who doesn’t have a hidden agenda, speaks all truths, and may be a difficult person to love but her self-sacrificing tendencies give her heroic qualities that instill confidence in others and are the traits of a true leader. Caden, as Fallon’s 2nd, is all warrior. He looks death in the face and kills with an instinct reserved for the soulless. However, Eva calls to him and shows a different side of his personality. Together they make a pretty awesome couple, complimenting each other’s strengths. The funny thing for me is that neither of them are romantic or mushy and yet their romance was very sweet!

I love that in a fantasy novel you can have wonderful characters with humanistic character traits who are not human in the least. Take Sebastian, they Kyren with whom Eva bonds. Kyren are not pegasus, or angelic horses with wings, they are beings with human intelligence and can communicate with the help of a Caller, such as Eva who can her their words in their minds. Just as humans are, they can be good or evil and seeing behind what they look like is part of the fun of reading a good fantasy novel. The Wind’s Call has some awesome secondary characters who are a big part of the plot but who are not “human”. My favorite is Eva’s horse Caia, who will not deal with anyone but Eva and has the biggest personality of all of the dragon-like characters in this book.

I thought it interesting to choose new characters to write about yet keep the books in the same series as Shea and Fallon’s novels. I’ll admit, it was fun to see what Shea was up to and how she and Fallon’s relationship has progressed. The Broken Lands has been so much fun to read and explore that I’m hoping after Eva and Caden’s story is completed that this author can pick another character to carry on this lands story. I would recommend starting at the beginning of the series because the knowledge of the world this novel takes place in really builds from book to book and I feel like your experience will be more well-rounded. However, this is the first novel in these two characters story and could be picked up and read as a stand alone.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❣️

Click this link to purchase this book!* The Wind’s Call (The Broken Lands)

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This Chick Read: Threshold of Annihilation (The Firebird Chronicles #3) by T.A. White

Picking up exactly where Age of Deception (book #2) left off, Kira finds herself back on her ship heading towards Jettie and the other children. Instead of being able to get on the planet undetected she finds that it’s the host of the quorum, a sort of Olympic planetary games and you can only be on the planet if you are competing. Having competed before under an Alias, Kira signs up hoping to lie low and avoid the Tuann. Unfortunately they are also planetside and although wanting to remain hidden Kira isn’t very good at flying under the radar. She is wanted by not just the Tuann and Graydon, but also the Haldeel empress and her Tsavitee enemies. This makes for an action packed novel that I really couldn’t not put down once I was enmeshed in this story.

Why are these books so good? Kira is a strong heroine who has a sad background which makes the reader root for her on every level. We want her to find friends, family, love, kick enemy butt, and have her heroism revealed for all because she is just that awesome. T.A. White’s world building is fantastic and once again I’m looking around through Kira’s eyes and soaking it all in. Her writing is very descriptive and despite the alien landscape you can very easily identify and “see” everything. It is so easy to lose yourself in a novel filled with great characters and vibrant worlds.

Kira is still playing cat and mouse with her love interest and fellow Tuann, Graydon. The most awesome thing about their relationship is not their amazing chemistry, it’s that this man allows her to be who she is and although he’s protective he doesn’t try to shelter her from danger. He see’s her for the person she is and although her actions make him nervous he encourages her growth instead of inhibiting it. You can’t help but love a guy like that.

We learn a lot more about Kira’s character and background because of her foster parent role to her “niece” Elena, the daughter of another lost Tuann child. Her role as mother reveals interesting aspects of her character that I really didn’t expect to see. No, she’s not the most nurturing woman but she is loving and shows that through her mentorship and guidance. Seeing that side of her added depth to her character that surprised me again. Be prepared for quite a few surprises to be revealed in this novel, the plot is now moving along pretty quickly and I can’t wait to see where the next book leads us.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase!* Threshold of Annihilation (The Firebird Chronicles Book 3)

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It’s Monday, what are you reading? (8/17/2020)

Today’s my husbands birthday, so I need to give him a shout out, just in case he reads this. Happy birthday! I spent a lot of time cooking this weekend and while cooking I finished an audiobook and then started up a new one. Both are fun fantasy novels. I like a little action adventure while I’m moving around the kitchen!

This post originated over on Book Date, so thanks for the idea and letting me continue on the discussion about what books I am reading.

JUST FINISHED

Ah Jane Yellowrock. I do love to listen to this series and imagine that it’s me kicking vampire butt and saving New Orleans. This series is so much fun!

JUST STARTED

If you haven’t read this series by T.A. White, then you should pick this book up. It’s a fantasy series, but our does not have super powers, she is just extraordinarily resourceful and always willing to try to do the right thing. This is my second go round on this series, and the first listening to it on an audiobook. It’s just as good the second time!

Now that you know what book I’m currently reading. What’s book is going to get your week started off right?

Happy Monday!

Deb

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This Chick Read: Rules of Redemption and Age of Deception (The Firebird Chronicles books 1 and 2) by T.A. White

Ex war hero, Kira Forrest lives a solitary life with her robotic pal Jin as they scavenge the star system for parts to sell. While on planet, hoping to make that sale she saves the lives of two Tuann children which brings her in the path of their warrior leader Graydon. He immediately identifies her as one of their lost children and makes a political play with the human military to take her home to her Tuann family. Kira begrudgingly goes to Tuann with the intent to escape quickly and find her way back to her ship.

Ok, the above synopsis does not even begin to tell the nuances and emotions that fill this novel. Kira is an unlikely heroine. She see’s herself as a freak because of her skills during the war, and her military pals also have trouble seeing her as human which sets her apart from the rest of the human characters in this story. As she learns more about the Tuann people she realizes that her “traits” are inherited and not totally uncommon. This insight helps her self confidence, but she still fights against finding a home among those people. After all, she was raised as human.

Kira is one of those characters who is altruistic, always jumping in either with her mouth or with her body, and it’s hard to dislike sass and heroism. Graydon, see’s that same likability, and doesn’t have a human upbringing to compare her actions, like she does to herself. He just see’s her as bad@$$ and bides his time before making his move. He reminded me a bit of Curran in Ilona Andrews Kate Daniels series, and I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed that humor/alpha combo.

Rules of Redemption sets the scene with such skill. The world building is detailed and yet extremely easy to follow, the characters are varied from friends, to possible enemies, to possible mentor like relationships. Underneath it all is a great plot where we get to follow Kira as she explores her new culture in a way that allows her to be aggressive, show her street smarts, and reveal her level of problem solving skills. A true action fantasy novel!

The second novel, Age of Deception, continues where Rules of Redemption left off. Kira leaves her first Tuann family and travels to Roake to meet her fathers side. Here she decides to take a warrior’s path by undertaking the Trial of the Broken. A warrior like boot camp that only a few survive. This novel follows the same action adventure style, yet we get to see Kira grow as a character. Two of her military (ex) teammates travel with her and through their interactions we understand why she has separated herself from her friends. That loyalty gives her character depth and makes her budding relationship with Graydon real. This is a girl who is unerringly loyal, but doesn’t lean towards trust. He has his work cut out for him!

If you’re a fan of romantic fantasy a la Ilona Andrews, you will eat these books up and will rip through the rest of T.A. White’s novels as well. Once you finish these, check out her Pathfinder series!

Rules of Redemption ❤️❤️❤️❤️❣️

Age of Deception ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click these links to purchase! * Rules of Redemption (The Firebird Chronicles Book 1) and Age of Deception (The Firebird Chronicles Book 2)

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*Amazon Associate- if you should purchase through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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