New Releases ~ week of 7/7/2014

A Grimm Warning by Chris Colfer (#3 Land of Stories)

A Major Distraction by Marie Harte (#3 Good to Go)
Acts of War by Brad Thor (#13 Scot Harvath)
Clans by Darren Shan (#8 Zom-B)
Earthquake by Aprilynne Pike (#2 Earthbound)
Extreme Measures by Elisabeth Naughton (#1 Aegis Security)
Hudson by Laurelin Paige (#4 Fixed)
Idols by Margaret Stohl #2 in Icons
Longship by Brian Wood (#3 The Massive)
Master of Sanctity by Gav Thorpe (#2 Legacy of Caliban)
Midnight Thief by Livia Blackburne (#1 Midnight Thief)

Power Play by Catherine Coulter (#18 The FBI Thriller Series)
Sacrificial Muse by Maegan Beaumont (#2 Sabrina Vaughn)
Unravel by Imogen Howson (#2 Linked)
The Cat Sitter's Nine Lives by Blaize Clement (#9 Dixie Hemingway Mysteries)
The Competition by Marcia Clark (#4 Rachel Knight)
The Dead Will Tell by Linda Castillo (#6 Kate Burkholder)
The Defiant by Lisa M. Stasse (#3 The Forsaken Trilogy)
The Good, the Bad, and the Emu by Donna Andrews (#17 Meg Langslow)
The High Druid's Blade by Terry Brooks (#1 Defenders of Shannara)
The Highlander's Bargain by Barbara Longley (#2 Loch Moigh)

The Initiate: A Divergent Story by Veronica Roth (#0.2 Divergent)
The Promise by Kristen Ashley (#5 The 'Burg)
The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen (#1 The Queen of the Tearling)
The Return of the Discontinued Man by Mark Hodder (#5 Burton & Swinburne)
The Traitor: A Divergent Story by Veronica Roth (#0.4 Divergent)
Unlikely Traitors by Clare Langley-Hawthorne (#3 Ursula Marlowe Mystery)
Where Silence Gathers by Kelsey Sutton (#2 Some Quiet Place)
Winning Miss Wakefield by Vivienne Lorret (#2 Wallflower Wedding)
Wolf in Her Bed by N J Walters (#2 Salvation Pack)

mini Book Review ~ Poison Dance

Poison Dance (Midnight Thief # 0.5)

by Livia Blackburne
published by Lion's Quill Press
genre: Fantasy, novella

*e-copy received from author in exchange for honest review.

Summary (Goodreads):James is skilled, efficient, and deadly, a hired blade navigating the shifting alliances of a deteriorating Assassin’s Guild. Then he meets Thalia, an alluring but troubled dancing girl who offers him a way out—if he’ll help her kill a powerful nobleman. With the Guild falling apart, it just might be worth the risk. But when you live, breathe, and love in a world that’s forever flirting with death, the slightest misstep can be poison. Poison dance is approximately 14,000 words, or 54 printed pages.

My Thoughts: This is a nice set up for Midnight Thief. You not only get to know the characters and world that the story takes place in, you get a glimpse of the author's writing style.
I enjoyed both. I liked James and his crew. Even though they were assassins you still got a sense that they (especially James) were still the good guys compared to the rest of the guild and the people they worked for. I also thought Thalia was an interesting character and was surprised how much you got from her considering the short length of this story.
Overall, this story showed how the world of Midnight Thief came to be. You get to know some characters and the world that they live in. I really enjoyed the story, world and the authors writing. I will definitely be reading Midnight Thief when it comes out.

Rating: 4