Tag: PJ Schnyder

Guest Review: Survive to Dawn by PJ Schnyder

Posted May 1, 2014 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: Survive to Dawn by PJ SchnyderReviewer: Tracy
Survive to Dawn by PJ Schnyder
Series: London Undead #3
Publisher: Carina Press
Publication Date: April 21st 2014
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three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

The zombie epidemic in London has been contained, but that's all the werewolf pack that protects the city has been able to manage. Danny, as pack medic, is concerned the epidemic isn't showing any signs of slowing down. And that the pack's Alpha is too focused on eliminating the deadly threat to consider working toward a cure.

When a team of American scientists arrive, talking of a vaccine, Danny is quietly hopeful.

Deanna thought she was prepared for anything. But an argument with the London pack leaves her research team exposed and alone, on their own against countless hordes of the walking dead. Within hours, her colleagues are slaughtered…and it's only because of Danny that she manages to get out alive.

Deanna unhinges Danny in every way, tempting him beyond reason. She also pushes him to face the one thing he'd been avoiding: his Alpha is wrong. Simply surviving isn't the answer…it can't be.

 

Tracy’s review of Survive to Dawn (London Undead #3) by PJ Schnyder

Deanna is a scientist from America and she’s traveled to London to A) try to figure out a vaccine for the zombie virus with her fellow scientists and B) find her twin sister who she fears dead. Deanna and her crew meet with the werewolf Alpha, Seth, but he doesn’t want them in the city. The scientists manage to get in with werewolf medic Danny keeping an eye on them. Unfortunately the scientists have no idea what they’re up against with the zombies and soon Deanna’s on her own. Danny helps her deal with the fall out of the situation and agrees to help her find her sister as well. While the pair are working together a romance begins forcing Danny into some hard truths he’d been willing to ignore til then.

This is the third and final novella in the London Undead series. The story was fun and interesting and quite enjoyable.

The two previous stories had couples falling in love quite quickly and this book followed the same formula. Danny and Deanna were drawn to each other, found comfort in each other and then slept together – quickly falling in love afterward. While I felt that Deanna and Danny were definitely a good match it was difficult for me to wrap my mind around the insta-love. IDK, maybe because it wasn‘t a fated mate situation? I hate to say it but that would have almost made it better for me as it would have explained how things moved so quickly. I have to say that with all the novella’s I’ve enjoyed the diversity in the couples. Book 1 – werewolf and human turned wolf…Book 2 panther shifter and half fae/half beserker…and Book 2 werewolf and human witch…it definitely made for interesting pairings. 🙂

The part of the story that had to do with Deanna’s sister was definitely the better part of the story for me. Finding out what happened to the twin and finally finding out how the whole zombie epidemic started in the first place was wonderful. I’m glad that we weren’t left hanging.

Overall this was a good story and I’m glad I read it.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place

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

three-half-stars

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What I Read Last Week

Posted April 28, 2014 by Tracy in Features | 4 Comments

It was a hot one in So. Cal last week, lemme tell ya.  Cooler in the mornings and then got up to the 80’s and even the 90’s.  Yikes.  It’s not even MAY!  This is NOT supposed to happen. lol  It makes me think we’re gonna have a viciously hot summer and frankly that’s not something I’m looking forward to.

It was a slow reading week for me as I had some lovely oldest daughter issues.  Aren’t teenage daughters fun?  Ugh. Not. If I could stop my 11 year old from getting any older I’d do it in half a heartbeat.  Who needs to age anyway. 🙂

I didn’t get much read but this is what I did read…

First up was What Happens in Ireland by Whitney K-E.  The story follows Australian Kate as she takes a job in Ireland.  She loves it there but she really enjoys her boss, Jack.  There are sparks flying all over the place and Jack pursues her persistently but Kate pushes him away.  She was burned by a previous relationship and isn’t willing to trust again.  She almost lets a good thing get away.  I liked this first novel by Whitney.  It was well written and nicely descriptive without overdoing it.  I didn’t really care for Kate holding back so much.  Jack did everything he could think of and Kate still wasn’t willing to budge.  I guess I thought she held out for way too long.   3.75 out of 5  (read for Book Binge)

Next up was When a Laird Takes a Lady by Rowan Keats.  Scottish Laird kidnaps a woman who he believes has information that can lead to the clearing of his name.  He’s accused of stealing from the King and his clan has been kicked out of their home and off of their land – many killed.  Of course the pair fall in love but I really enjoyed the getting there.  4 out of 5

Survive to Dawn by PJ Schnyder is the third story in the London Undead series. This story is about werewolf medic Danny who gets involved with human scientist Deanna.  Deanna is there with a team to try and figure out a vaccination for the zombie virus as well as trying to find her twin sister.  She finds more than she thought she would and finds love as well.  This was cute and pretty entertaining.  The couple fell in love quite quickly, which is normal for this series, and that was ok but the romance didn’t have that extra spark the other books had.  3.5 out of 5 (read for Book Binge)

Romancing the Runaway by Wendy Soliman was last for the week.  Miranda runs away from her guardian after he insists that she marry his odious son.  She tries to escape but almost dies from the cold.  She’s saved by the brother of a marquess and he ends up helping her in her quest to get her childhood home back.  It was a very cute story and I liked it a lot.  I did have an issue with Miranda at times as she was just 18 but acted like she was 14 at times.  Wanting to be independent but then acting rashly and immature instead.  Frustrating.  Still a good book. 3.75 out of 5 (read for Book Binge)

My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
The Duke’s Shotgun Wedding by Stacy Reid

Happy Reading!

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What I Read Last Week

Posted April 21, 2014 by Tracy in Features | 0 Comments

Hey there!

How ya’ll doin?  I’m doing well considering I’m not at work.  I took today off and I’m so happy I did.  Yes, I have a lot to do around the house since it didn’t get done yesterday with it being Easter, but I swear I’m still tired from last week. lol  I didn’t get a whole lot of reading done, that’s for sure.  Today it’s just me and the cat.  Echo likes to watch the cursor on the computer.  I think it makes it a bit hard to see what the hell I’m doing, what do you think?

Anyway, on to what I read last week:

I started off the week with Dreams of Lilacs by Lynn Kurland.  This is a de Piaget novel but it’s one of her straight historicals and I think she does those so well.  This story was about Isabelle de Piaget.  She’s the youngest daughter and pretty sheltered.  She gets a note from someone telling her she has to show up in France or her family is in danger.  She manages that but shipwrecks and loses her memory for a short time. She’s rescued by Gervase who is a injured, grumpy sourpuss who for can’t stop thinking about the girl who’s now residing in his house.  The book is Gervase and Isabelle’s love story and of course solving the mystery of who wrote the note to Isabelle.  It was such a sweet book and I adored Gervase and Isabelle together.  4 out of 5

Next was Bite Me by PJ Schnyder.  This was a re-read for me.  I wanted to get on to books 2 & 3 in the series but needed to reacquaint myself with the story line. The story is about zombies in London and the werewolf alpha who fell in love with a human.  I found the novella to be just as good the second time around.  You can read my review of this story here.  4 out of 5

Next was Sing for the Dead by PJ Schnyder.  This is book 2 in the London Undead series and pretty much continues where Bite Me left off, I think.  The story is about a were-panther who is in London to help with the zombie invasion and meets a woman who is part beserker, part bean sidhe (Banshee).  She’s an interesting mix of calm and crazy and the pair fall for each other.  I liked the characters and the story in this one but the romance was pretty slim and the two fell in love really quickly. 3.5 out of 5

The Alpha Meets His Match by Georgette St. Clair has a temperamental wolf shifter, Jax, works for a security firm making money to send his younger brother through medical school.  He takes a case that has him looking for the cause of something they call the Rage virus as it affects shifters adversely and sends them into a rage/killing spree.  Jax reluctantly teams up with Bobbi Jo, a coyote shifter, who he knows is his mate but neither wants to acknowledge it.  The story has a good twist to it at the end and I liked the story. 3.5 out of 5

Last for the week was Highland Thirst by Hannah Howell and Lynsay Sands.  This is a 2 story novel that tells the stories of Tearlach MacAdie and Heming McNachton.  The pair are gathing info on their enemies (they’re vampires) and are captured by the enemies instead.  Each are taken to different places and tortured.  Tearlach is captrued along with Lucy who is being held until she agrees to marry the bastard who’d torturing Tearlach.  Heming is saved by the niece of the man who is torturing him.  Both stories were very good and I love the medieval/paranormal blend.  I’m looking forward to reading more of the two families. 4 out of 5

My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
The Devil’s Temptation by Toni De Palma

Happy Reading!

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Review: Bite Me by PJ Schnyder

Posted June 20, 2013 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Genres: Anthologies (multiple authors)

Few people walk the streets of London since the zombie outbreak, but that’s not an issue for Seth. As a werewolf, he can handle himself and save humans reckless enough to take a nighttime stroll. While on patrol he comes across a group of people under attack. The one woman brave enough to take a stand against the zombies catches his eye—and not just because of her way with a gun. Learning the beautiful woman is homeless and fends for herself only intensifies his urge to protect and care for her.

Maisie can’t help but admit that she’s attracted to her werewolf rescuer. She’s drawn to Seth’s strength and ferocity, and finds herself opening up to him in ways she never imagined, even though she’s determined to not rely on Seth or anyone else. She doesn’t want another person to get hurt—or die—for her sake. She has enough scars, physical and emotional, from the last time…

But when Seth realizes something is drawing the zombies to Maisie, there may be nothing he can do to save her…

Seth had been out with one of his packmates earlier and was trying to walk off his anger when he heard a woman scream. Being that most of London was infested with zombies, hearing a human scream wasn’t a good thing. When he makes it to Kensington Gardens he finds a woman protecting a family from a hoard of zombies that are bent on getting to feed. Between Seth and the woman, Maisie, they manage to get the family away and the zombies taken care of. In the fight, however, Maisie shot Seth so she takes him back to her animal clinic to patch him up.

Maisie is surprisingly unaffected by Seth’s growls and complaints and Seth is soothed by Maisie’s calm nature. They talk and go to dinner at a nearby pub and Seth is smitten. He wants to be around Maisie all the time and can hardly hold himself back from going to see her first thing the next morning. When he hears that Maisie’s apartment building may soon be infested with zombies he knows he’ll stop at nothing to save her.

This was a great little paranormal/shapeshifter/zombie novel. I liked how the author brought in all the different elements and even mentioned vampires, witches and fae. She gave us the low down on how the zombie infestation came about and continued by giving us the information bit by bit throughout the story rather than overwhelming us with an info-dump and I appreciated it.

Seth was a bit of an enigma, even at the end of the book. We got some info about him but not a whole lot of back story of which I think there was a great deal. We did get to know him somewhat though and what I saw I definitely liked. He was strong and fierce, gentle when he needed to be and really very thoughtful. All that wrapped up in one hot alpha package and hell, what’s not to like? lol

Maisie was a strong character as well. She was a single woman who had lost her family to the zombies and was homeless to boot. Despite that she was pretty well put together and kept her animal clinic going despite her hardships. She dealt with the loss of her family by learning how to protect those she cared for and it paid off. She was someone to be admired, that’s for sure.

Overall the story was a good one and I’m curious to see what book 2 in this series brings us. Will we get more of Seth and Maisie (which would be a good thing) or will we move on to other characters? I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.

Rating: 4 out of 5

PJ Schnyder

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What I Read Last Week

Posted June 3, 2013 by Tracy in Features | 3 Comments

I’m DONE with dance! Yay! Ok, my youngest is still in her tumbling class but no more competitions, rehearsals for competitions and we had the recital yesterday so life will resume as usual. I couldn’t be happier! lol The team did really well yesterday at the recital so that was nice.

Right now I’m looking out the window wondering what the hell is up with our So Cal weather???! It was 109 on Saturday – OMG so effin hot! Then it was a relatively mild 85 on Sunday and now it’s overcast and about 65 degrees. WTF?? It just can’t seem to make up its mind, that’s for sure.

My oldest is now out of school which apparently means, now that she will be a sophomore in high school, that she can do anything she wants. Did you know that happened? Yeah, me neither. Oy. I think of the trouble that child can get into and it gives me chills – and not in a good way. I think I have about a thousand more gray hairs in my head just from this past weekend. lol I’ll survive the teen years, right?

I almost forgot (I’m such a bad aunt!) my niece graduated this past Friday night – valedictorian!  She’s so awesome!  She wants to be a vet and will be attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the fall.  Go Jessica!  Here she is with her brother who flew out from Pennsylvania to see her graduate.  What a good brother. 

Alright on to what I read: 

I started out the week by reading Faking It by Cora Carmack. This is book 2 in her Losing It series and it was a good one. The story was about a guy who is like the all American college student who gets roped into playing boyfriend for a girl who’s in a band and needs to fool her parents into believing that she is who they think she is. Make sense? She’s faked her true self all of her life and is still doing it. They are complete opposites but that doesn’t stop either of them. You can read my full review here. 4 out of 5 

Next up was The Mad Earl’s Bride by Loretta Chase. This is a novella length read that has us meeting Dorian who is going slowly insane as his mother once did. He is approached by a distant relative who would like him to marry Gwendolyn so that A) the family name can go on and B) she needs his money after he’s dead. Seems a bit crazy but it worked in the end. I really liked the story a lot and think this one is definitely worth reading. 4 out of 5 

Arrested by Love by Virna DePaul is a set of 3 erotic romance novellas all involving cops. We had the cop that infiltrated a biker gang, the cop that finally had a chance at the one that got away and the cop that helps the victim of an attack. It was a decent read and I’ll post my review for this one on Wednesday. 3.5 out of 5 

Bite Me by PJ Schnyder is the story set in London where they are having a zombie infestation. Most have evacuated but there are those still living and working in the city – some trying to figure out what’s causing the epidemic. In order to save people the werewolves have come out of the closet and are helping to keep the city safe. The Alpha of the London Pack, Seth, is out on patrol when he helps Maisie and some other folks with a hoard of zombies. This puts Seth and Maisie together and he finds he doesn’t want to let her go. This was a great little novella. It’s the first in the London Undead series (this comes out later this month) but I think it was a great start to an interesting paranormal series. 4 out of 5 

It Happened One Midnight by Julie Anne Long is book 8 in the Pennyroyal Green series and it was wonderful! The story of Jonathan Redmond, the trials with his father, the meeting and falling in love with a completely unlikely marriage candidate, Tommy (Thomasina), was just fab from start to finish. I loved it and recommend you read it when it comes out. 5 out of 5 

The Look of Love by Bella Andre is book 1 in her Sullivans series. The story revolved around Chase who found Chloe stranded on the side of the road. He helps her but she’s been hurt by her ex-husband in more ways than one and has trust issues. This doesn’t stop Chase from falling into insta-love. The story had potential and was decent but Chase bothered me with his undying love and frankly this should have been labeled an erotic romance because a large portion of the book is sex. My review for this will go up on The Book Binge on Thursday if you’re interested in reading more about my thoughts. 3 out of 5 

Last for the week was Fire & Frost by Jessica Sims, Carolyn Crane & Meljean Brook. Jessica Sims brought us the story of a were-liger who was supposedly sterile but was going into heat and trying to find someone within a week to not only satisfy the heat but make a good baby daddy. She was aided by the Alpha who was looking out for her best interests. Good story but too short! I wanted to know more about the Alpha, Vic, and why he hid how he was feeling for four long years! lol Next was Carolyn Crane’s novella about Veronica the witch and her super computers who can bring things to life by a picture. If you read Carolyn’s Code of Shadows book, Mr. Real, then you’ll recognize Veronica’s name. She was the aunt of the heroine in that book who left her the house and the computer. Good story and good action. Meljean brought us a story about a girl who is running from her father because he’s a bit cracked and wants her to replace her mother. Eww. Ok, there are really extenuating circumstances to her existence but still! One of her father’s minions has been in love with her forever and helps her out. Great story – very enjoyable. Overall I really liked the fire & frost theme. The way that each story showed us the frostiness in the relationships first and then the fire – very clever and well done. 4 out of 5

My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
Agave Kiss by Ann Aguirre
Connected by Kim Karr
Remembering Love by Nadine Christian

Happy Reading!

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