Tag: Katie MacAlister

Guest Review: Time Thief by Katie MacAllister.

Posted August 26, 2013 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 0 Comments

Genres: Paranormal Romance

Time Thief- Katie MacAlister
Natalia‘s review of Time Thief (Traveller #1) by Katie MacAlister.

Outcast due to their ability to manipulate time, shunned by the mortal and immortal worlds alike, a Traveller’s life is anything but easy.

Peter Faa is a member of the Watch tracking down a murderer, and unfortunately, all clues seem to point toward his own estranged family of Travellers. Any of his cousins could be guilty, but which one? They’re all experts in the art of stealing time…

After surviving a lightning strike, Kiya Mortenson is determined to get just one thing in her life right. And if that means taking a job as nanny to five pugs on a campsite in the Oregon wilderness, then so be it. It doesn’t hurt that the job comes with some spectacular male eye candy, including her new boss’s gorgeous grandson. If only she didn’t keep having this strange sense of deja vu…

When Peter discovers his own family is stealing time from Kiya, all bets are off. While she may drive him crazy at times, it’s clear that it’s not just lightning that’s creating some serious sparks between them. And he’s not going to let secrets, lies, or a devious murderer keep Kiya from where she belongs: at his side.

What a fun start to a new and interesting series!

Kiya Mortenson is not in a very good place so to speak. She’s just been struck by lightning for the second time, her car is virtually junk yard material, and she has no money to solve the pesky inconvenience of being stuck on the side of the road. In no time though, she finds a Good Samaritan that not only pays for the towing of her car, but gives her an idea for a job that could render enough funds to fix her beloved car.

Peter Faa is the son of a Traveler, also known as an immortal that can steel time in order to travel through it. However, he is estranged from his family. This puts him between a rock and a hard place because various murders are implicating his family and it is up to him to find out who is committing these heinous crimes. But how is he supposed to figure it out when he’s not even allowed to go near their homes?

Coincidentally, while she is on a job for his grandmother, Peter stumbles upon Kiya, and sparks fly!

At first, I wasn’t sure about this book. The premise is of course interesting and unique. I’ve always been fond of books with time travel, so the idea of being able to actually steel time from others seemed awesome to me. However for the first parts of the book, I was quite lost. I didn’t understand what travelers were supposed to be exactly, and how the world worked. As the book progressed, I understood that it was all supposed to be part of the mystery of the book. I truly appreciate the glossary included at the end because it left me with an understanding I didn’t think I’d get. Still, I’m a little puzzled as to how the world of the travelers is supposed to work. I’m thinking that maybe the author will get deeper in to world building in the books to come.

The two main characters were just two cute! I loved Peter’s way of speaking. It was so clever, humorous and refined at the same time. I adored Kiya’s absolute honesty, and how in touch with her own psyche she was. Her ID and egos are riots. I love that she always says exactly what she’s thinking. As someone who struggles with that myself, I could identify with her greatly.

The chemistry between Peter and Kiya was fantastic. It was so believable! I love how they bantered with each other, and how no matter what happened between them, each stayed true to their personality.

I look forward to the next book in this series. This is my first book read by this author, and as promised, I was in no way disappointed.

Grade: 4 out of 5

This book is available from Signet.  You can purchase it here or here in e-format.  This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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Guest Review: It’s All Greek To Me by Katie MacAlister

Posted December 14, 2011 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 2 Comments


Mary’s review of IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME by Katie MacAlister.


Billionaire Greek playboy Iakovos Papaioannou knew his sister hired her favorite band to perform at her birthday party. He’s just not sure how their six-foot tall, wild-haired, tempestuous manager has already ended up in his bed-and in his heart. Eglantine “Harry” Knight is so not his type. She’s as infuriating as she is intriguing, and she’s can’t keep her hands off of him. But she just may be the woman who knocks him off the world’s most eligible bachelor list for good…

This book. Oh, dear. There are some things in it that are classic Katie and the reason I usually love her books. Yet, there are things that made me cock my head like my dogs when they’re confused as I wondered what the heck she was thinking.

Classic Katie comes out in the form of fabulous banter between the main characters. Harry’s a typical MacAlister creation—larger than life, unconventional, and generally thought to be not super-pretty by all men except for the hero, who immediately throws himself at her feet and worships her extravagant beauty. Okay, not really. Iakovos, formerly the number three most eligible bachelor but now down to position number five, is rich and handsome and has never settled down with one woman because they’re all *yawn* the same. But they meet and Boom! instant attraction. Except all they do is fight (the best part, in my opinion). I love this bit – Katie MacAlister’s got a breezy, fun writing style that keeps me reading.

Unfortunately, they get together and are on their way to happily ever after way too quickly, leaving the rest of the plot to skate along on razor-thin conflicts (the possibility the kid isn’t his, her not feeling like she fits into his life, a bitchy ex-girlfriend…meh) in order to keep us reading.

But let’s get to the WTF-ery, shall we? When we first meet Harry, she’s being dragged up to a bedroom where one of her young charges, Cyn, has been attacked. After much yelling, it comes out that Cyn misinterpreted the signals drunk Theo was giving off and threw herself at him, waiting for him up in his bed. He did kiss her (leaving behind some serious razor burn all over her chest) but then tried to kick her out of his room. Not at all happy with this, she cries foul and has a fit, claiming he hurt her.

Is this supposed to be funny? Because it’s not. It’s not funny that Cyn threw herself at Theo then turned around to claim he attacked her. It’s just not. Rape/sexual attacks are very serious and shouldn’t be used as fodder for humor. It’s definitely not a “meet cute” when Harry goes ballistic, hits Theo, and Iakovos has to break it up, both of them reacting with instant lust for each other despite the seriousness of the situation. Maybe I’m overreacting but the whole situation is a huge WTF for me.

Then there’s Theo, Iakovos’s brother. Turns out he’s an alcoholic with rage issues. My issue with this is that his very serious issues seem to be thrown in to stir things up, to create conflict because there isn’t much else going on conflict-wise in this story.

All in all, while I loved the banter, Harry and even the all-too-perfect Iakovos, the rest of the story leaves much to be desired.

Rating: 1.75/5.0

This book is available from Signet. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

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Guest Author (and Giveaway): Katie MacAlister

Posted October 9, 2011 by Holly in Giveaways, Promotions | 27 Comments

Have we got a treat for you! Author Katie MacAlister is here to talk about vampires! Plus, we’re giving away a copy of her latest vampire release, Much Ado About Vampires: A Dark Ones Novel
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Hello, everyone! I’m here to talk about all things vampires, so get your fake fangs in, and settle back for more Dark Ones info than you can shake a stake at.

Recently, I asked a handful of readers what questions they had regarding my vampire mythos. I received more questions than I could possibly post here, but I thought I’d share the answers to a few of them with all of you.

Terina asks: What made you want to write about vamps, and which one is your favorite?

I decided to write my own vampire series after reading my friend Christine Feehan’s vampire series. I loved her dark, brooding vampires, and ached to write my own version, but alas, I couldn’t write dark and brooding if my life depended on it. Rather than frustrate myself, I wrote what I knew I could have fun with: funny vampire novels with a mythos that tipped its hat to standard vampire lore, but also had some different elements that would be great fun to explore.

My favorite of all the vampires has always been Christian. When I wrote A Girl’s Guide to Vampires, I lusted after him the entire book, and wasn’t happy until I got to sit down and write his story. After more than ten vampire stories, he still remains my favorite. Mmrowr.

Kate H. asks: What if a Dark One joins with the wrong woman?

Dark Ones may be “assigned” (for lack of a better word) the wrong Beloved, but they would never Join with her. They would realize the futility of that long before the final step to Joining was ever completed.

Andrea S. asks: Who is the oldest Dark one, and where did he come from?

The answer to that question is also Christian. He’s the oldest of the vamps that I’ve written to date, and so far as I know, he was born of a Dark One father. I don’t know more than that, although some day, I really should poke around into his background.

Rebekah asks: How do they pass their time? Is it possible to live for eons and not go mad? Do they view human mortals as glorified livestock mostly due to our limited amount of time to gain knowledge?

Wow, Rebekah, that’s a lot of questions. Let’s see if I can answer all of them. They pass their time the same way we do—entertaining themselves as best they can, being with loved ones, and stalking around in the night scaring mortals. Well, OK, the last bit probably isn’t true, but I can imagine that after a few hundred years, the temptation to do some scaring of the mortal-folk would be almost too great to ignore.

They don’t view humans as livestock. They view them as being vital to their existence, and usually take great pains to keep the humans healthy and happy and blissfully unaware that they are providing a meal now and again, and social stimulation at other times. Many of my Dark Ones have relationships with mortal women simply because they’re lonely, and they need to be loved just like everyone else. But in general, no, they don’t look down on humans because they have a limited life span.

And finally, Michelle H. asks: Why Moravian? Why don’t any of them live in the US? Can a male child be born to a Dark One and not be a Dark One?

I chose the Moravian Highlands of the Czech Republic because of their history. They had a lot of battles and wars and various insurrections that just fit nicely into my idea of a source for my vampires.

Some of them do live in the US. Alec (Much Ado About Vampires) lives in California, and his house is part of the story in Crouching Vampire, Hidden Fang. Others live there as well, but since I am a die-hard Anglophile, I tend to set a lot of stories in England and Europe. I think it’s the accents, really. I just go all melty at thinking about those delicious accents.

Any male child of a Dark One is going to be a Moravian, period. No ifs or buts about that. But he will be in full possession of his soul if Daddy has his soul. So a soulless father means a soulless son.

Yeah, I really was mean with that part of my Dark One mythology. I’m sure the vamps all growl when my name is mentioned around them…

Thanks so much for letting me visit here. I hope everyone enjoyed the brief peek into all things Dark Ones!

Thanks so much for sharing your insight with us, Katie!

We have a copy of Much Ado About Vampires: A Dark Ones Novel to giveaway. Leave a comment on this post welcoming Katie to the blog and you’ll be entered to win. Contest ends 9/14 @ 11:59pm. Please note: You must include a valid email address with your comment to be eligible. US residents only.

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Guest Review: Confessions of a Vampire’s Girlfriend by Katie MacAllister

Posted December 15, 2010 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 1 Comment

Genres: Paranormal Romance

Mary‘s review of Confessions of a Vampire’s Girlfriend by Katie MacAllister (writing as Kate Maxwell)


I’ve been a huge Katie MacAllister for ages now (I have a bookshelf full of her dragons and Dark Ones novels) so I was super-excited to get my hands on this one. Granted, these two novellas were published under a pen name (Katie Maxwell) several years ago but they were new to me. Seems a while back, Katie wrote a couple of YA stories based on the world she created in her adult Dark Ones novels. But, as it sometimes happens in the publishing world, fate intervened and the YA line was no more. But, luckily for us, Katie MacAllister has some persistent fans and is a determined writer so, just before she published the adult Dark Ones novel, In the Company of Vampires, which star Francesca and Benedict, she re-released Got Fangs and Circus of the Darned.


Got Fangs?Got Fangs? 

When you’re traveling through Europe with psychics, magicians, and other really bizarre people, normality is hard to come by, but something Francesca longs for. Until she meets Benedikt. He’s actually taller than her, rides a motorcycle, and doesn’t think Fran is the least bit weird. On the dark side, he’s also a vampire—and Fran is supposed to redeem is soul. But when Ben’s kisses turn out to be anything but normal, Fran starts to embrace the freakiness that is her life.


You’d think that traveling around Europe would be something a teenager would enjoy. In this case, you’d be wrong. Francesca has been shipped off to spend some time with her mother while her father “gets to know” his new trophy wife. And Fran resents every bit of it. There’s no one her age to hang out with, she’s stuck with a traveling freak show, and, well, she’s feeling unwanted. She thinks, what guy would want someone who’s six feet tall and built like a linebacker? And, to top it all off, she’s got her own freakiness to deal with—she has to wear gloves or she’ll be overwhelmed with the thoughts and feelings of anyone she touches. Until she meets Benedikt.


At first, considering Fran is sixteen and Ben is somewhere around 300, I was a little skeeved out at Fran being Ben’s Beloved (and yes, I felt the same way about the Edward-Bella relationship.). But it wasn’t really like that. Sure, Ben needed her to save his soul and they were destined to be together but he knew she wasn’t ready. Ben was supposed to be all dark and tormented (it’s the job of a Dark One) but he was also very sweet, caring, and loyal. He took care of his sister, helped out a friend in need, and very gently wooed Fran, never stepping beyond the limits set by her mother or her.


And I really enjoyed Fran. She was snarky and brave, willing to use her gift to help out the circus that her mother loved, despite the fact that she hated to do it. GOT FANGS? was filled with Katie MacAllister’s signature wit and semi-bumbling characters. A quick and fun read.

4.5/5

Circus of the DarnedCircus of the Darned

With a witch for a mom. It’s no surprise that Fran might not fit in, but having a vampire for a boyfriend is doing wonders for her self-esteem. And now, even though she suspects Ben is keeping things from her, her only concern is finding some time—and something to wear—for their first actual date. But Fran’s own mysterious talents seem to get in the way when she accidentally conjures an entire battlefield of warring Viking ghosts. Two’s company—a dozen is a crowd…


Now that Fran is “dating” Ben, she’s feeling pretty good about herself, even though she hasn’t seen or heard from him for the last three weeks. Still, life with the circus is much better, and Fran finally feels like she belongs. When Ben comes back, he’s reluctant to talk about where he’s been and what he’s done. Still playing the tall, dark, and mysterious card. 


Again, Katie MacAllister’s style shines through. In this story, she throws in a super-hot Swede who also happens to have some magic of his own; Loki, the Norse god of mischief; and a pile of Viking ghosts who believe Fran is their goddess who will send them on to Valhalla. After they get in a good rape-and-pillage (Fran puts the kibosh on that right away. The only thing they’re allowed to pillage is the local McDonald’s).

The romance between Ben and Fran may have reached the official date stage but I still didn’t read a whole lot of chemistry between the two of them. Yeah, the kisses were great, and the tingles were there but I wasn’t swept away by their love story. It was almost like Ben knew Fran wasn’t ready for much more than those few kisses and a date. But the action never slows—with all those Vikings and a ticked-off Norse god, there’s always something happening.

4/5

This book is available from NAL. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

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What I Read Last Week

Posted July 26, 2010 by Tracy in Features | 13 Comments

Hello All!
I had a really good week last week – I hope you all did too.  I got my old/new glasses…YAY!  My kids came home from their extra portion of the vacation… DOUBLE YAY!  It was just a nice week all around.
It was a nice reading week too so I’ll get to that now! 🙂
First up was Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs.  This is book 5 in the Mercy Thompson series and it was another great one.  This story mostly centered around the Fae and one Faery Queen trying to take control of everything, but it also had wonderful moments of Adam and Mercy and the struggles they have with their relationship.  Adam’s pack and the issues with Mercy being one of the pack and with Samuel and his desire to end his life.  It was just a great read.  4.5 out of 5
Next up was a very short (23 pages) erotic m/m story by Gavin Atlas called La Playita.  This was the story of a college student on vacation in Costa Rica.  He meets up with a couple of local men who want to play out his sexual fantasies with him.  It was one on 3 and it was pretty darned hot.  The issue I had?  No condoms, no lube while having sex on the beach.  Ouch and OMG! lol 3.5 out of 5
Next up was Corralled by Lorelei James.  This is book #1 in her new Blacktop Cowboys series.  It was another great cowboy story.  I read this one for The Book Binge so keep your eyes peeled for my review. 🙂  4 out of 5
Twice Tempted by a Rogue by Tessa Dare was my next read.  Book 2 in the Stud Club series.  I really liked Rhys St. Maur – the poor man is so emotionally broken but such a winner in my book.  I very much liked the heroine, Meredith, too – a fighter who would do what she needed to do to take care of her family and her town.  Rhys came back to his hometown after 14 years and he doesn’t get a great reception.  He decides to stay – probably for all the wrong reasons and tries to talk Meredith into marrying him.  As much as she’s dreamed about that very thing her whole life she can’t do it as it’s not the best thing for the town.  I really love Tessa’s writing – she has this great way of putting things that speaks to me.  But in this instance as much as I liked the story the characters relationship didn’t click with me – I just couldn’t feel their connection. 3.5 out of 5
My next read was Seeking Kokopelli by Shelley Munro.  This was the story of musician Adam and his crewman/roadie Nate.  Nate’s wife died a year before but he’s now having lusty thoughts about Adam.  Nate is hesitant to start a relationship with Adam but eventually gives in.  On top of this is the fact that Adam used to be “THE” Kokopelli, bestowing blessings on his village’s crops and the women for fertility.  But his father had kicked him out and ripped his powers away for being gay.  His brother now has the power but he’s losing it and it’s returning to Adam.  But Adam’s brother can’t deal with that and tries to kill him.  It was a good story but after a bit Nate’s objections, etc. just started getting old. I have to say I didn’t care for the whole brother out to kill hero thing either.  3 out of 5
My Tracy’s TBR Challenge Read as well as my FTSP read for the week was Fire Me Up by Katie MacAlister.  This is book 2 in her Guardian series.  In the first book I found Aisling, the main character, to be a bumbler but it was still pretty cute.  This one I found her to be less of a bumbler which was good.  She is accused of murder, yet again, but allowed to try and clear herself.  On top of that she’s having issues with Drake who is her Wyvern mate.  He wants her and all of her attention and unfortunately doesn’t go about it a way that Aisling can handle.  I have to say that I did feel for Aisling as she felt betrayed by Drake but lust can cloud your mind. lol  I’ll be reading more from this series this week.  3.5 out of 5
My next read was InDescent by KZ Snow.  This is actually the fourth book in the Jackson Spey-Adin Swift story arc but only the second one that I’ve read. The story is about a man who holds a grudge against Jackson.  He’s gotten a powerful prism that he plans to trap Jackson in, but in truth Jackson has been chosen so that he may repair the rift between worlds (That was so readers digest version it’s ridiculous). There is so much going on in this book I can’t possibly tell all but it was just an excellent read.  The writing, the relationship arc, the magic descriptions – I just loved everything about this book. 5 out of 5
I of course couldn’t finish reading InDescent and not immediately pick up To Be Where You Are which is the next book in KZ Snow’s series. This book was about one of Jackson’s friends whose partner is missing. Noah wants Jackson’s help but Jackson doesn’t want to get involved. In the meantime Adin is waiting for Celia to go talk to Jackson as Adin and Jackson’s relationship has grown and they just want to be together all the time rather than the once every couple of months they have now. Adin feel obligated to Celia and feels that she must “let him go” rather than just break things off. The problem is that Jackson’s friend Noah has the magic to take over someone’s will and in order to get Jackson to help him find his partner Noah takes over Celia’s will and makes her a girlfriend who’s more than a bit on the reluctant side in letting Adin go. Jackson must face down a voodoo sorcerer in order to get the partner back. Another great read! 4 out of 5
After that I decided that I really needed to catch up on my yaoi manga reading since I did eventually have to send these books off to the whoever the next person was who was waiting for them. I took a couple of hours and hit the books. I didn’t catch up completely because I got a lot at one time but I made a dent in them! Woohoo.
First up was You Will Fall in Love and You Will Drown in Love (which is the next volume in the series) by Hinako Takanaga. In You Will Fall in Love we meet Haru who is a long term sub at a school. He runs into Tsukasa who attends the school and has been in love with Haru for years. But Haru was an archer who thought he was in love with Tsukasa’s older brother. Tsukasa moves in to make him believe that he’s in love with Tsukasa, not his brother. It was a pretty darned cute story although very high school. I liked the graphics. 3.75 out of 5
You Will Drown in Love is the story of Tsukasa’s brother, Reiichiro, that takes place at the same time as the first book. Reiichiro starts as manager of one of his father’s fabric stores. He’s a horribly blunt person and has no clue how to work with customers. His asst. manager, Jinnai, is a bit disgruntled with the fact that he has to call a younger man and less experienced sales person his boss. But they become friends and eventually fall in love. Again, good graphics and though I didn’t like Reiichiro all that well I really liked Jinnai quite a bit. 3.5 out of 5
Next was Madness (volumes 1 & 2) by Kairi Shimotsuki. This story takes place in the year 3000 and tells the story of a band of killers that are being hunted. The main guy had fallen in love while in captivity with a priest and when he breaks out decides to take the priest with him. Good graphics yet a bit to indistinct for my tastes. I liked the story line though. 3.75 for volume 1 and 3.5 out of 5 for volume 2.
Next was Age Called Blue by Est Em. This was an odd story of two guys who are trying to get a band together but one of them is a thief and steals the others guitars for money. He takes off for days and then shows ups drunk. He ends up in prison for stealing a car and hitting someone. It also has a couple of other stories in it. They’re all kind of bizarre and I wasn’t too big of a fan of the graphics.3 out of 5
Next was Hate To Love You by Makoto Tateno. This told the story of two men whose families had been rivals for generations but fell in love. It was a strange tale of a definite love/hate relationship. 3 out of 5
Last was Tea For Two by Yaya Sakuragi. The story of a boy whose sister decides to put him into the Tea Ceremony Club because he’s such a klutz and she wants him to have a little refinement. Tokumaru and Hasune find that they have more in common then they originally thought. I liked the graphics on this one and it was a cute story. 3.5 out of 5 
And last for the week was Crazy for Love by Victoria Dahl. This was an interesting story. Chloe and her friend Jenn head off to a secluded island in Virginia to get away from life. You see Chloe’s fiancé crashed a plane and faked his own death. When he reappeared he blamed Chloe for being a Bridezilla. She’s then plagued by paparazzi and takes off for some peace and quiet. They meet brothers Max and Elliot at the resort and Chloe and Max hit it off but Max has issues and once he finds out that Chloe isn’t the “normal” girl he hopes for, turmoil ensues. I’ll be reviewing this one soon but it was a different type of love story – one I liked. 4.25 out of 5
My Book Binge reviews that posted this past week:
Happy Reading!

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