Review: Night Blade by J.C. Daniels

Hi everyone. I'm going to get right to the point. I've just finished Night Blade. I'm still in shock. Apologies if the review is not cohesive. Will read over again once in a less emotionally fraught state of mind... *whimpers*.

Title: Night Blade
Author: J.C. Daniels a.k.a. Shiloh Walker
Publisher: Shiloh Walker Inc.
Release Date: 4th March 2013
Series: The Colbana Files, Book 2
Source: My Personal Copy

Blurb from Goodreads:
Kit Colbana is always biting off more than she can chew. She has a knack for finding trouble. This time, though, trouble finds her. Someone from her past drops a case into her lap that she just can’t refuse…literally.
People on the Council are dying left and right and she’s been requested to investigate the deaths. The number one suspect? Her lover, Damon. If she doesn’t clear his name, he gets a death sentence. Even if she succeeds? They still might try to execute him. Oh, and she’s not allowed to tell him about the case, either.
The stakes are high this time around, higher than they’ve ever been. Kit may be forced to pay the ultimate price to save her lover’s life…a price that could destroy her and everything she loves.

Review:
First Line: 'I am aneira. My blade is strong. Strong enough to handle a lot of things but not enough to handle the four shifters who had been trailing me all day.'
Ok, first of all, stop right here if you have not read book 1 in the series BLADE SONG. In fact, stop and go buy it. Like now. Just so you can read NIGHT BLADE, seriously, do it now.
Secondly, I must forewarn all future readers of NIGHT BLADE. Have tissues ready, or at the very least some chocolate to see you through. Jen at Red Hot Books, tried to warn me...I was a fool and didn't listen. I'm begging you, please have some form of comfort ready. I'm still in shock as I write...my heart actually hurts right now.

But before we get to the part that makes me want to hunt down J.C. Daniels and get her to say it wasn't true, we must go back to the beginning.
Kit and Damon are right where we left them, happily annoying the heck out of each other and going strong despite the Cat clan and, well, basically the entire shifter community thinking it's a bit of a joke. Damon's still the Alpha Cat and he's finally reaching the end of cleaning up the mess Kitty-Cat Barbie (the previous Cat Alpha) had left the clan in. Basically he's forcing the pack crazies to change their ways and killing those who won't. As for Kit, well Kit is still running Colbana Investigations, doing the jobs brought her way by other non-humans. Including little things like couriering two severed heads for the local wolf Alpha Alisdair MacDonald. Only that little trip shows us how much things have changed for Kit now that she is dating Damon. Kit is babysat on her courier job by a wolf because MacDonald is afraid of the reprisals should Kit get hurt while working for him. That chafes Kit's ego somewhat. So does Damon's need to check up on her and defend her at the littlest slight. But all in all, everything is going well and their relationship is standing strong....
...Then we meet her ex-boyfriend Justin, and this happens:

Justin leaned forward, elbows braced on his knees. “I can see what you’re thinking,” he mused. “It’s written in your eyes. You never have learned how to control that, Kitty-kitty.”
“If you keep on calling me that, I’m going to punch you,” I said, smiling at him.
He snorted. “Won’t be the first time.”
“Probably won’t be the last. Now, why don’t you finish spouting whatever crap you have to spout, so I can tell you no and kick you out?”
“You can’t,” he said and the gravity of his voice served to ratchet up the tension building in my chest. “And I think you already know something is fucked up. Because I can see that, too. I know you too well.”
“If you know me, Justin, then you know I don’t like games. Tell me what the hell is going on and quit screwing around.”
He nodded, a slow dip of his head. “You don’t want to tell me no, Kit. You can’t. You have to do this job…and you can’t fuck it up, because if you do, it’s very, very possible an extermination squad is going to be sent after your man, Kit. And I don’t think you want that.”

Ah heck.

Justin works for the Banner unit, and they think Damon has killed 5 assembly members without just cause. Now Damon's got a target on his back and the only one who can help him is Kit. Only she can't talk to Damon about it...no seriously...she physically can't talk about it, because the sneaky witch that he is, Justin puts a binding on Kit that causes her agony when she tries to tell anyone...including Damon, what she's investigating. Now Kit has to prove Damon is innocent of what the the Banner unit is accusing him of...oh and did I mention she's got a deadline too...it's a race against the clock, and she can't even tell the man she is falling in love with. What could possibly go wrong...?

Kit is such an amazing character. I have some serious respect for her. She's tough as nails, we've heard of some of the abuse she suffered from her Grandmother and Aunts in BLADE SONG but I don't think we even scratched the surface of her past. This fight, this strength stems from her ordeal there...however, Kit is also a very vulnerable woman. Her nights are plagued by horrific nightmares of the very events that gave her her steel core. No matter what, she will not break. She pushes through the memories and with Damon's help has been able to love again. Had he not shown himself so worthy of her heart, I don't know if Kit would have ever reached out to Damon the way she does, though she still isn't quite strong enough to share the full extent of the horrors that plague her.

These characters blow my mind.

Which is why the last 25% of the book absolutely killed me.

...Kit...oh god...Kit...

I am not going to spoil this for anyone, and I know I wouldn't be able to do it justice anyway. All I can say is that I cried like a baby. Wiped my eyes. Read another page. Cried some more. Started talking to myself like a lunatic, saying 'no no no no'. I'm still reeling even as I write this. There is a hollow feeling in my chest now, but at first there was only pain. I feel like a little bit of my book lover soul died. That bit reserved for those characters I love with all my heart. There really should be a neon sign stating that this book will render you emotionally stunned for at least 3 hours after (that's how long it's been since I finished it).

I genuinely don't know how to sum up this book. It's so good...but it's so heart wrenching it makes you feel like you are drowning in your emotion. J.C. Daniels might as well have just walked up to me and hit me over the head with a baseball bat...that's how stunned I am right now.

...I'm so gonna need counselling...

My Rating: 4.5/5

Review: Grimm Tidings by Shiloh Walker

Hi everyone, it's review time *bounces up and down*! I have received an ARC from the amazing Shiloh Walker from her Grimm's Circle series...meet Jacob and Celine but beware...they can and will kick your ass!

Title: Grimm Tidings
Author: Shiloh Walker
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd
Release Date: 24th April 2012
Series: Grimm's Circle, book 6
Source: ARC copy provided by the author.

Blurb from Goodreads:
Never fear the pain. Fear what lies behind it…
In his mortal life, the only thing Jacob liked better than money was a good brawl—until he stuck his fist into the wrong fight, and a demon sent him spinning into a new life as a Grimm.
Now, a hundred years later, he’s been called to protect someone too much like himself. A woman who could let the chains of her past drag her down unless she learns to let go. A woman who fights like there’s no tomorrow, because she clearly doesn’t want a tomorrow.
Celine thought her second chance at life would be an opportunity to fix some of her worst mistakes, to set things straight. She couldn’t have been more wrong. She’s trapped by the past and her regrets, and nothing—not even her darkly sexy new trainer, Jacob—has a blade sharp enough to cut her loose.
Chains are Jacob's specialty, but his help comes with a price. To her, the cost is her heart. To Jacob…something much more.
Product Warnings: Contains a heroine with enough fight in her to put the 300 to shame. And a hero who knows how to take a punch.

Review:
First Line - “You can chase death a little too closely.” Death was no stranger to the Grimm—men and women who dealt with the demons who managed to cross over into the mortal world. The three men stood there, staring down over the edge of the building into the alley below, watching the bloody, brutal battle taking place. Will—their leader—watched the woman closely. Few others knew him by any other name. Their leader was rather closed-mouthed, especially about himself.
I think this opening give you a good glimpse into what the book is about. Plus I love the product warning, because it's so true! Jacob and Celine are Grimm, one of the few men and women turned and brought over to wage a battle older than time itself. For the Grimm are guardian angels - their task...to protect humanity from the evil that stalks the night...evil we don't even know exists. For Celine, it's more than just a calling...it's her life, the only time she feels alive is when she is fighting, whether that be with the demons she hunts or the trainers who help her. But Celine's time is running out...she's a loose cannon, one who without the propper direction will self destruct. The task falls to Jacob to tame this wild woman, because if Celine contines down this path, she will be walking into death's open arms. Can Jacob save this scarred woman...or is she already beyond his reach?

'He leaned in and licked her cheek. The feel of his tongue sent a shudder of revulsion rushing through her and she swore, a lingering panic rushing in. Those memories, too many of them and too many of them were clear, rose up to taunt her. In the back of her mind, an ugly, depraved scream raged.
“Fear. I taste your fear…”
Hell, she could taste her fear. Taste it, feel it, hear it—
The parasei all but crushed her into the ground and that only made it worse. Sensory memory slammed into her, making it worse—the pain. It had torn through her—ripped her—no, no, no, NO!
She screamed and managed to get a hand free. But before she could make contact, the demon was gone.
Gasping for air, she sat up, scurrying backward as her eyes struggled to adjust and see.
Jacob.
It was Jacob.
A sob escaped her.
The long leather coat he wore whirled around him as he flung the parasei across the alley. Tears blinded her and she scrubbed them away. In the time it took for her to do that, he’d already killed the demon.
Killed it, and was walking toward her, his face tight with fury, his eyes cold.'

Our hero is Jacob, he's been one of the Grimm for the past century following a fight that didn't end too well. Thankfully his fighting skills have drastically improved since that day. Jacob is now one of the more fearsome fighters the Grimm have on their side...but his past still haunts him. I love the way Jacob's character is based on someone else...I'm not going to say who because it'd ruin the surprise when you read it, but I can tell you Shiloh Walkers genius is in full swing. I absolutely love Jacob, he's stubborn and completely hard-headed at times, but he also has a soft side that emerges around Celine...as does one heck of a jealous streak! Jacob has a tendency to look for a fight that he knows he can't win...and it's this trait that may end up costing him more than his life.
Our heroine is Celine. Now, none of the Grimm had a particularly good last day on earth but Celine's was particularly brutal. Murdered by parasei after an argument with her husband Celine never got to say she was sorry...and it's eating her alive. Stuck in her past, full of rage and grief, Celine wouldn't care if she didn't see tomorrow...but the Grimm can't afford to loose her and this is her last chance. You can really empathise with Celine, she's a brilliantly written character. You feel her grief and anger...and you root for her all the way through. Despite spurning all her previous trainers, the task of reaching through Celine's grief falls to Jacob, for he and he alone has the power to bring her back from the brink. Celine and Jacob have a spark between them...but can Celine let go of her grief...of her husband and move forward? Or will it destroy them both?

I really enjoyed this novella, not only was the main story between Jacob and Celine engaging but I am very intrigued by some of the other characters we meet. Red-eyed Rob is one of those characters that has a bit of a deranged air about him...the one you know has something awful in his past that has made him so cold. BUT the character I really want to know more about (and I mean that in a sat on the edge of my seat way) is WILL! He's the leader of the Grimm and the one who decides which humans to make one of them. He's their trainer and disciplinarian, but he is extremely guarded about his past...in fact just anything related to him. I'm so excited to read more about him. He has obviously awesome amount of power, that with an obsessive need to keep himself mysterious is a dangerous combination...as you can see here:

“You’re not quite ready to leave yet,” Will said, his voice neutral.
“Oh, yes, I am.” Grimly, Rob gathered up what few weapons he carried and started for the door. “I’m done with the team-player bit for now. You can—”
An invisible force froze Rob in place. “Oh, would you just stop?”
Or that was what he tried to say—he managed, Oh before he went flying across the room, slamming into the solid oak of the front door, smashing his head into it.
Will flipped him around with a twist of his mind and started toward him. “Whatever you think you know about me,” he said quietly. “You need to forget it.”

SEE! I'm so intrigued! As this was my first Grimm book (which you totally can read as a stand alone) I intend to go back and hunt down every book before this and read them immediately! Anyway I've rambled on for longer than I intended...I just loved it that much, and I hope you found it useful. The only downside is that it's only 129 pages long (I wanted more haha)...but it's 129 pages of pure gold!! I'd really recommend this of fans of the Paranormal Romance genre...because it's a superb addition :)

My Rating: 4.5/5