Wednesday, June 26, 2013

"Night Marks (Nyx Slaughter 2)" by Amber Lynn

REVIEW and GIVEAWAY
Night Marks (Nyx Slaughter 2)
by Amber Lynn


Below you can read my review of Night Marks, the second book in the Nyx Slaughter series by Amber Lynn. You also have the chance to win a copy of Night Calls, the first book in the series, in the giveaway below. Look out for my review of Night Calls and my interview with the author in my previous blog post. Posts on the other books in this series are coming soon. There are seven books so far in the series: Night Calls, Night Marks, Night Bites, Night Howls, Night Lurks, Night Finds, and Night Rises, which has just been released. You can also find all seven books in one volume. Beware ... once you start reading this series, you won't be able to stop.


Description
Relationships SUCK. That is with a capital S. U. C. K. in case anyone was wondering.
My life used to be so simple. Get a call, grab my guns, kill someone. Now, I run my own business where I have to actually try to be nice to clients, even if they are total jerks. That is quite a feat considering I would be diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder, if I ever bothered to visit a shrink.
This week, in life as I know it, I find myself in a constant battle with a jerk of a werewolf mate, still in love with my vampire mate, and trying to figure out why demons smell like strawberries. Or at least one demon in particular. Please shoot me if I become associated with more than one.
I can assure you the life of Nyx Slaughter is never dull and you don't want to miss a minute of it.
This is book two in the Nyx Slaughter series. It is a companion book to the third book and will lead right into the next book.

Excerpt
“Mr. and Mrs. Willard, I am trying to understand this. You are both human, right?” I ask the people sitting in front of me. They are hoping to hire me, but are only succeeding in annoying me.
“Of course, we are,” Mr. Willard replies. From the get go, my impression of the man wasn’t very high. He walked in as if he owned the place with his thousand-dollar suit and slicked back, probably dyed, black hair. His brown eyes hold no warmth and I can just picture him hawking fake miracle cures on a street corner.
“Your daughter, the one who is missing, is also human. The man, Harvey Smalls, who you believe took her is believed to be human as well,” I state picking up a mini slinky that I keep on my desk with my left hand and start toying with it to try to keep my hands busy.
These two have been in my office for the last thirty minutes going over their story and things just aren’t adding up. I know the details on their missing twenty-year-old daughter. She has been missing now for three days and was seen leaving a high-end shopping center in the company of a man the authorities later identified as Mr. Smalls.
“We have already gone over all of this,” Mrs. Willard says sighing. She isn’t the only one tired with this conversation. Her bright blue eyes bore into me and I stare back until she finally looks away.

Review

By Lynda Dickson
The events in this book take place only two weeks after those in Book 1, Night Calls. As a welcome change, background details are revealed slowly, and not all at once as is the case in most sequels. This book focuses more on the relationship developing between Nyx and Alex, leaving Sebastian to play a secondary role this time around.
Nyx has a new case: recovering a missing human girl and delivering her kidnapper to the girl's parents for retribution. But all is not as it seems. Along the way, Nyx encounters Ben, a demon who marks her as his, thus the title of this episode. Also thrown into the mix is Phee, a young girl whom Nyx takes under her wing. We also see the return of an old enemy.
Once again, Nyx's story is told with humor in Nyx's unique voice. And again the dialogue is somewhat stilted, with a distinct lack of the use of contractions. The author should try reading her dialogue aloud to try to make it sound more natural. Still, this is an interesting story, with likable characters and a great pace. This book ends on a cliff-hanger, leaving it open to the sequel, Night Bites.

From the Author
I love books. Until recently, I kept to just reading them, but ideas for characters and scenes took control of my mind and made me have to get those ideas down. I started with a series I called Avery Clavens. I enjoyed the world I created there, but it was really still the world we all live in so I decided to move on to something just a little bit different.
In my Nyx Slaughter series, the real world is still out there, but my characters have their own little corner to call their own. I love that it is a bit more fantasy based and I am able to make more things up as I go. I can see at least three more books coming from that world with the possibility of having some different characters' points of view.
This whole writing thing is a hobby for me. I sit down on the weeknights and weekends and just float over to my other worlds for a while. Other hobbies of mine include: drawing, baking, arts and crafts, motorcycles, hockey, and archery. I like to think I have eclectic tastes where my hobbies are concerned. I love to laugh and try to make myself smile at least once a day. With the crazy thoughts going on in my head that usually isn't hard.

Giveaway
Enter the giveaway for your chance of winning one of two ebook copies of Night Calls. Thanks to Amber for donating these prizes.