Release Day Blitz: A Breath of Winter

Title: A Breath of Winter

Author: Hailey Edwards

Genre: Fantasy Romance

Description:

There’s no easy cure for a love of epidemic proportions.

Araneae Nation, Book 4

Zuri and her mercenary brothers had a simple mission. Transport a captured harbinger to Erania and collect the bounty. But this job turns out to be anything but easy.

Their welcome to the northland is nothing short of frigid. A scuffle with border guards and her prisoner’s attempted escape leave Zuri injured—and she and her brothers stuck in quarantine. Worse, the bounty comes with silken strings attached. Strings held by a scientist with a daring, dangerous plan.

Because Zuri and her prisoner barged in before his fail-safes were in place, Henri had no choice but to lock them all down until he’s sure there’s no risk of spreading plague. He’d planned to study the harbinger, but it’s the mercenary holding the leash who intrigues him the most.

When Henri’s experiment goes awry, they learn they’ve all been pawns in a plan with one goal: bring the Araneae Nation to its knees. Zuri is forced to make a choice that could sign her death warrant—or sacrifice everyone she loves.

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Product Warnings

Warning: This book contains a chair-bound heroine who won’t let anyone—least of all a man—push her around. Expect tea-drinking, net-tossing, and knife-wielding. Should you feel compelled to indulge in a bear ride, please keep your hands on the reins and your feet in the stirrups. Author not responsible for possible maulings.  

Book Review and Giveaway: Proxy

Title: Proxy

Author: Daniel Moore

Genre: mystery/cyberpunk

Review:

Proxy would be a good read for readers looking for a blend of a political thriller/mystery and sci-fi.  I guess this genre is called "cyberpunk" (according to the book description....if that is the case, then this is the first cyberpunk book I have ever read.)  The setting of the story takes place in future day America.  There is enough similarities between future day America and present day America so that readers aren't completely lost.  This is probably a good thing because the author kind of builds a description of the setting as the story progresses instead of setting the scene at the beginning (something readers who like to read fast-paced books would appreciate.)

Alyz, the main character of the story, is quite...out there.  I would love some more background information about her, but still think she is a solid character.  I must say, I am fascinated by her digital/computerized eyeballs (who doesn't want enhanced vision?)  She's also kind of a recluse and will go out of her way to avoid people-to-people interaction.  Luckily, she has two friends, Maria and Ian, who checks on her from time to time.  From the beginning of the novel, I get the sense that Alyx spends most of her time holed up in her apartment.  However, the need for money forces her to accept a black market job: acquiring illegal information for a woman named Miranda.

Miranda was definitely Janus-faced (did I use that term correctly?)  At first, Miranda simply seeme dlike a power/money hungry woman.  It soon became clear she was pulling multiple strings as the plot thickens.  

I will be quite frank right now: I got pretty lost in the plot.  Sure, I got who were the "good" guys and who  were the villains, but I could not for my life follow who killed who and why.  I think the main reason why I couldn't keep the plot straight in my head was because I couldn't keep track of all the names of the characters.  If some more background info had been provided about each character, I think that would've helped.  On the other hand, if you enjoy reading mysteries and books with twisted plots, you'll probably follow along just fine.

The writing itself was great and the pacing was good as well.  I just wished I could've understood the plot better since it was kind of confusing to me.  I really thought Alyx's character stayed true throughout the entire book.  What I mean by that is she acted like her character the whole time (doesn't it annoy you when a character suddenly does something out of character for no reason?)

As I said before, Proxy would be an excellent read for lovers of mysteries with a dash of sci-fi.

Rating:

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