Book

Review of The Good Demon by Jimmy Cajoleas

/ Dani Hoots Author / 2 Comments

61lwy1qggjl-_sx332_bo1204203200_

Title: The Good Demon

Author: Jimmy Cajoleas

Review by: Dani Hoots

Rating: 3/5

Amazon/Barnes&Noble/Goodreads/Kobo

Back cover:

Clare has been miserable since her exorcism. The preacher that rid her of evil didn’t understand that her demon—simply known as Her—was like a sister to Clare. Now, Clare will do almost anything to get Her back. After a chance encounter with the son of the preacher who exorcised her, Clare goes on an adventure through the dark underbelly of her small Southern town, discovering its deep-seated occult roots. As she searches for Her, she must question the fine lines between good and evil, love and hate, and religion and free will. Vivid and sharp, The Good Demon tells the unusual story of friendship amid dark Gothic horror.

Review:

*I received this book from Netgalley. My review is completely my own opinions and thoughts.*

I really liked the concept of a girl being exorcised and searching for her lost demon as I haven’t come across something like it. The beginning sucked me in but I felt it fell a little short of what it could have been.

At first I liked the main character and felt for her as she was lonely and didn’t belong in the city, but as the story kept going, it got a little old and she didn’t hold on to any belief she had for that long. She was very fickle and didn’t seem consistent about it. As for Roy, he didn’t seem to have much character growth and felt like a severe stereotype of a pastor’s son. I felt like he could have had more depth in this story.

The town itself had a lot going on, but I didn’t feel like the story went in-depth enough to really understand what was going on. I barely started to understand the network the author created before it ended. I had problems with the ending as well, but I don’t want to spoil what happens.

All in all I would read other books by the author, but didn’t enjoy this one that much as I felt it wasn’t flushed out all the way.

 

Review of Kill the Farm Boy by Dawson & Hearne

/ Dani Hoots Author / Leave a comment

61a-ylarx4l

Title: Kill the Farm Boy

Author: Delilah S. Dawson & Kevin Hearne

Review by: Dani Hoots

Rating: 5/5

Amazon/Goodreads/Kobo

Backcover:

Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, a hero, the Chosen One, was born . . . and so begins every fairy tale ever told.

This is not that fairy tale.

There is a Chosen One, but he is unlike any One who has ever been Chosened.

And there is a faraway kingdom, but you have never been to a magical world quite like the land of Pell.

There, a plucky farm boy will find more than he’s bargained for on his quest to awaken the sleeping princess in her cursed tower. First there’s the Dark Lord, who wishes for the boy’s untimely death . . . and also very fine cheese. Then there’s a bard without a song in her heart but with a very adorable and fuzzy tail, an assassin who fears not the night but is terrified of chickens, and a mighty fighter more frightened of her sword than of her chain-mail bikini. This journey will lead to sinister umlauts, a trash-talking goat, the Dread Necromancer Steve, and a strange and wondrous journey to the most peculiar “happily ever after” that ever once-upon-a-timed.

Review:

*I received this book from Netgalley. My review is completely my own opinions and thoughts.*

I absolutely loved this book! It definitely reminded me of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. There were a lot of subtle humor jokes that I made me laugh at loud and my friends to be like what’s your problem. My husband is going to listen to the audiobook soon and I’m excited to see what he thinks since we both like that sort of humor.

The characters were quite funny and unique. My favorite is Gustave, the talking goat, who is fed up with everyone trying to eat him. I also like the evil wizard who wanted to be able harness his full power and be able to conjure up crackers for his cheese. It seemed like a good reason to want evil powers (although shouldn’t it have been cookies?).

The different takes on fairytales and some other popular fantasy movies/books was hilarious. I loved the pun on words and quoting other movies without actually quoting them. I can tell the authors had a great time writing this book and hope they make a book similar to this later.

-Dani

Review of Shift by M.A. George

/ Dani Hoots Author / Leave a comment

51tauhxkjel-_sx326_bo1204203200_

Title: Shift

Author: M.A. George

Review by: Dani Hoots

Rating: 4/5

Amazon/Goodreads/Kobo‘

Backcover:

Seventeen-year-old Perry Teasdale is a dreamer.

She’s not the kind of dreamer who waltzes through fields of wildflowers, twirling her skirts in a starry-eyed daze; or the kind who aspires to be the biggest rock star the world has ever known (not that she’d complain, if that accidentally happened). She’s the kind of dreamer who can’t get a decent night’s rest, because her sleep is flooded with scenes from other worlds–ones that seem as real as life itself.

Mind-blowing dreams may sound like loads of fun, but when they start to bleed into Perry’s waking hours–confusing the line between dream and reality, and keeping her in a sleep-deprived fog no amount of caffeine can cure–Perry’s not exactly thrilled.

Try as she might to shake the dreams from her mind, they keep gaining speed, growing ever more vivid and intense…until that hazy boundary between real and imaginary fades away, and Perry is forced to consider the impossible: Her dreams seem real, because they are.

When disaster strikes, sending Perry’s newfound normalcy into a tailspin, she takes the only logical path left: a whirlwind tour of the multiverse, scouring an ever-growing assortment of alternate realities for the missing piece–the missing person–to put her life together again.

Along the way, Perry enlists the help of an ancient wise woman (who may be a tad homicidal); a nerdy-in-all-the-right-ways mathematician (who knows all of Perry’s secrets, even before introducing himself); and a sword (because you can never go wrong with a sword).

At times hilarious–at times heartbreaking–Shift is sure to be, well, one of those two things.

Review:

*I received this book from Netgalley. My review is completely my own opinions and thoughts.*

I found this book to be very enjoyable. It had a mic of adventure, romance, violence, and mystery. It took me a little bit to understand what was going on, which is why I gave it a 4 instead of 5 as it was confusing as they jumped into different timelines. Once I got the hang of it though I accepted it would take me a second to figure out where they were. I think having a thing saying where they were would have been a little better, like a captain’s log.

What I enjoyed most about this series were the characters. They were all well-rounded, individual, and I could easily tell them apart. My favorite character was Max as he was adorable, geeky, and a gentleman. I don’t want to give spoilers about him but I really liked his development and wish I could learn a bit more about him. I loved the timeline his “primary” is from though.

As for the main character, Perry, I liked her but sometimes I was like OMG shut up and pay attention to the *can’t say or it’s a spoil*. But again, that was her personality and the author stayed true to that. I just know people like that and I sometimes want to put my hand over their mouth so I can hear what the other person is saying.

The different world were awesome and I enjoyed how the author designed them and how Perry could transport and figure things out in each scape. I wanted to be able to travel just like that, it would be so cool! This made the book be one of my favorite worlds I would want to live in, as long as I was a shifter with Max.

To conclude, I loved this book but the beginning was sort of confusing. I enjoyed the characters and the ending made me cry almost. Everyone who loves sci-fi should check out this book!

 

Review of Pretty Waiter Girls: A Helena Brandywine Adventure by Greg Alldredge

/ Dani Hoots Author / Leave a comment

39659785

Title: Pretty Waiter Girls

Series: A Helena Brandywine Adventure

Author: Greg Alldredge

Review by: Dani Hoots

Amazon/Goodreads

Backcover:

Some monsters are still human.

In a magical 1899 San Francisco, the new millennium is quickly approaching. Of course, new inventions happen every day, some wondrous, some mundane while the streets produce a new murder every night.

Set against this backdrop a debutante goes missing, and socialite Helena Brandywine takes it upon herself, along with her trusted manservant, to discover what happened.

Did the woman run afoul of the Tongs in Chinatown? What horrors might she have exposed? Discover this Gilded Age while Helena uncovers her family’s secrets. The good and evil, where danger lurks around every corner. Can Helena Brandywine be prepared for the monsters she will uncover? Come search for the, Pretty Waiter Girls.

Review:

*I received this book from Netgalley. My review is completely my own opinions and thoughts.*

This is the first book I have read in the A Helena Brandywine Adventure Series. I found it to be quite enjoyable and would be interested in reading more. It follows Helena as she is looking for a missing girl and friend though the dark streets of San Francisco.

The main character, Helena, is a strong independent woman. I though she was written pretty well, but wished she was a little more flushed out as a character. That is my opinion though and as this is a mystery series, I know that slowing the character’s arc is essential in keeping the series going.

For the plot, there were a few times were I was confused as to what was going on. I felt like the book should have been longer in order to give more detail in the location the character visited, especial as this is steampunk—a genre that is mostly about world building.

All in all, I enjoyed this book and give it a 3.5/5. Be sure to check it out!

~Dani

Endangered Cover Reveal

/ Dani Hoots Author / Leave a comment

Dani.Hoots.Hades.1.eBook

Endangered (Daughter of Hades #1)
by Dani Hoots

Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

Release Date: May 13th 2016

I proud to reveal my cover for Endangered (Daughter of Hades #1)! I am so excited to release this book to you all in less than two months! Please add it to your Goodreads “want to read” list! The preorder will be available in the next couple of weeks, so keep an eye out for that!

Summary from Goodreads:

Chrys has been in the Underworld for thousands of years, hidden away by her father, Hades, from all of the other gods. He’s afraid that if someone finds out about her, they will destroy her because of the dichotomous power that she holds, the power of life and death. So she has remained in the Palace of Hades all her life, making very few friends and always bored out of her mind.

Huntley would have never guessed that after he died he would wake up with a beautiful girl standing over him. And that she would be the Dark Lord of the Underworld’s daughter. Yet, for some reason, she keeps him around as her tutor, as if he knows anything about the world. But Huntley knows that all she really wants is a friend; being trapped in the Underworld can get pretty lonely.

That is, until Chrys decides she wants to run away to the human world after a big fight with her mother Persephone. Chrys claims her father is just over reacting and that nothing bad will come of it. There’s no way that the gods will notice she’s there for only a couple of days…right?

Add to Goodreads

71mrs2kwpZL._SX750_SY470_

About the Author

Dani Hoots is a science fiction, fantasy, romance, and young adult author who loves anything with a story. She has a B.S. in Anthropology, a Masters of Urban and Environmental Planning, and is currently in the Your Novel Year Program through Arizona State University.

Currently she is working on a YA urban fantasy series called Daughter of Hades, a historic fantasy vampire series called A World of Vampires, and a YA sci-fi series called Sanshlian Series.

Her hobbies include reading, watching anime, cooking, studying different languages, wire walking, tinkering with her violin and concertina, and volunteering at the library. She lives in Seattle with her husband and two cats.

Author Links:

Website│Twitter│Facebook│Goodreads

Cover Reveal Organized by:

YA Bound Book Tours

YA Bounk Tour Button

2016 ~ What’s to come?

/ Dani Hoots Author / Leave a comment

Hi everyone!

I wanted to update everyone as to what the new year will bring! I have a lot of projects I’m currently developing and I can’t wait to share them with you!

A World of Vampires:

I will be finishing up the last three novellas here soon with the third volume paperback available in the spring.

And…..

I will be writing an adventure with most of the vampires in a modern day setting! It’s going to be like an avengers get together where they have to defeat some sort of evil? Who’s gonna be the villain? Well, you will have to find out! Also, there will be extra stories about our vampires in the back of this novel so stay tuned for that! It is scheduled to publish in the fall of 2016.

My Broken Heart:

The last three short stories are currently being written and the paperback collection should also be available in the spring.

Sanshlian Series:

The Journey is currently at the publishers being edited with a spring release. I am also planning on working on the third, and last, book in the series that should be published in the fall/winter. There will also be two preludes for 2017.

Hel’s Labyrinth

At Antik Comics, Ari and I are working hard on finishing up our graphic novel for our kickstarter. We are aiming for a kickstarter in the spring so do check back here in March! We are planning on two graphic novels for the series.

THE NEW SERIES!!!

Daughter of Hades (series name not set in stone):

Get ready for a new series! This series is about Chrys who is the unknown daughter of Hades and Persephone. Her parents have been hiding her in the underworld, not wanting any other god/dess (mainly Zeus) to find out about her as she has the power to control life and death. However, Chrys is sick of living in the underworld and wants to know what Earth is like, what being a teen is like. She takes her tutor, a teen who was her tutor on recent history and modern age, and they sneak to earth and enroll in a high school where Chrys tries to learn what being human is like. However, little does she know that god/desses have spies everywhere and it isn’t long until some figures out what’s going on.

This is scheduled for a late spring release and the second one for a winter release as well.

Tales as Old as Time (series name not set in stone):

I will (hopefully) be releasing one remake of a fairy tale legend a year. Each book in the series will be independent. The first one will be based of Little Red Riding Hood. Details to come! Little Red Riding Hood (Title TBD) will be released in summer 2016.

Pitching to agents!

I will also be pitching some of my books that I have finished, currently working on, and ones to start next year. I’m very excited about some of my new ones I am working on and hope that it will get picked up. Wish me luck as I do so!

 

Be sure to check out this blog and my website www.danihoots.com and www.antikcomics.com for all my published works!

Have a great New Year!

Dani

Release Announcement #23: Soucouyant

/ Dani Hoots Author / Leave a comment

SOUCOUYANT_SM

The ninth installment to A World of Vampires is now available!

Soucouyant

Renee loved living in the Caribbean on the island of Tobago, but as luck would have it her parents want to move back to France where ‘she become a proper lady’. It was the early 1700s and Renee knew that being a girl she had practically no say in her future, that is until pirates attack Tobago and she gets swept into the world of the soucouyant. Will she finally be free of the chains she saw herself bearing? Or will she have to serve a new master, one more deadly than society norms?

*All A World of Vampires Novellas are independent and do not need to be read in order.

Now available on Kindle here.

Release Announcement #21: A World of Vampires Volume 2

/ Dani Hoots Author / Leave a comment

The second paperback collection of A World of Vampires is now available!

Vampires around the world are coming forth to remind humans they are not romantic fantasies to be sought, nor are they souls that can be redeemed. These are the stories they must tell.

This is the collection of novellas 5-8 of A World of Vampires Series: Asanbosam, Lilith, Peuchen, and Aufhocker.

Asanbosam: It’s the 1930s and Maryanne is accompanying her Oxford research professor to the Akan Empire to do anthropology field research, but little did she know the consequences of stepping into the jungle at night.

Lilith: Robin Bennet has joined the King’s Crusade to reclaim the Holy Land in 1191 and forget his past, that is until he runs into an old legend from the dawn of time, a legend filled with more darkness than he could ever imagine.

Peuchen: Apachita was once a powerful machi in the 1500s, that was until the strangers crossed the ocean and came into her land and she must decide at what lengths she will go to save her people.

Aufhocker: The Berlin Wall is up and Ade must choose between staying in East Berlin in 1965 with his mother, or taking a position with Herr Schmidt, an old family friend, as an apprentice tailor in order to be able to support his family. However, he finds that maybe this opportunity was just a little too good to be true.

Available on Antik Comics (signed), Amazon, and Barnes&Noble