Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Blitz: Scent of Salvation by Annie Nicholas ~ spotlight & review

 


Book Description:

Love blooms across species, culture, and time.

Chronicles of Eorthe, Book 1

Stranded in another dimension, on a primitive version of Earth, Dr. Susan Barlow needs to find a way to survive. There’s no electricity, no cities, and to her shock, no humans. Instead, she faces a population of werewolves, vampires and incubi. The people are vicious but she must find her place among them. And live.

An illness is killing Sorin’s pack. As alpha it’s his responsibility to save them, but it’s a battle this warrior doesn’t know how to fight. Then a blue light in the sky brings a creature he’s never seen. She calls herself human, but to him she smells like hope.

Sorin offers Susan a safe haven in return for a cure, but she’s not that kind of a doctor. She’s a doctor of physics, not a physician. Yet as they search for a cure to save a dying people, they find something special—each other.

But even with Sorin’s protection, Susan can’t help but wonder how long she can survive in a world without humans…




Scent of Salvation

Chronicles of Eorthe Book 1

Annie Nicholas

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Samhain Publishing

Date of Publication: July 30th, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-61921-748-5

Word Count: 98,000

Cover Artist: Kanax


Amazon / BN / Apple







Excerpt:   Before Susan could explain anything about dimensions and gateways, the door to Kele’s chamber crashed open, and Susan jumped to the balls of her feet, prepared—to what, fight? Was she nuts?
A female blocked the entrance, her muscular physique hinting at enough strength to twist Susan into a pretzel without breaking a sweat. The newcomer flung her black hair over her shoulder.

Rising with grace, Kele straightened her dress before addressing the intruder. “Mother.”

“Daughter, I heard you’ve brought home a stray along with the Apisi alpha.” The female’s stare drilled into Susan, her sneer far from welcoming.

Susan’s breath caught in her throat. Black, soulless eyes ate her gaze. Her fingers clutched the lapels of her jacket as she pulled it closed. She wiped her sweaty palms on her pants and offered her hand. “I’m Dr. Susan Barlow.”

The female shifter narrowed her eyes, nostrils flaring.

Susan withdrew her untouched hand, then hid it behind her back and glanced at Kele. Maybe she should have sniffed her mother instead? She wished someone would give her the Dummies Guide to Shifter Society and a little time to study it.

Kele’s mother crossed the room in two great strides and swung her arm.

Susan did her best impression of a statue. She didn’t budge as the impact of the slap swerved her head to the side and dragged her gaze from mother to daughter. Both of them were flushed with emotion yet at opposite poles of the color spectrum—one dark as an oncoming storm and the other pale as the moonlight.

The back of Susan’s heel caught the edge of the cushion and she landed hard on her back.

The bitter flavor of blood swept over her taste buds. “What the hell?” She rubbed her jaw and glared daggers at the crazy woman looming over her. Just as quickly, she schooled her expression to something less threatening before she insulted the bigger shifter further. With the tip of her tongue, Susan explored her mouth. She didn’t encounter any big gaps, so no lost tooth. A small blessing.

Kele’s crazy mother hovered over Susan’s face and bared her teeth. In beast form, her expression would have appeared fierce, but in human form it seemed terrifying. With an easy grace, she flipped Susan onto her stomach. A bony knee pressed between her shoulder blades, making her kiss the floor. Pain shot across Susan’s upper back and neck.

“How dare you come into my den and not submit to me.”

“She’s not a shifter!” Kele shouted. “You can’t expect her to know how to be polite.”

Something ran over Susan’s hair, and the sound of sniffing followed. She tried to take a deep breath but the weight on her back made it difficult.

The nutjob exhaled in disgust. “What is she?”

“A human.” Kele peered at Susan’s throbbing face as she stroked her hair. “Please, I wanted to teach her how to behave before meeting you and father.”

“Your father.” The bitch snorted. “It’s bad enough he’s entertaining a vampire and dealing with trespassing alphas. We don’t need any more vermin within the den.”

Susan was jerked from the ground by her hair and dragged across the floor. Pain shot into her scalp while she scrambled to support her weight with her legs.

“Let go. Let go.” The shifter world was more brutal than anything she’d ever experienced. Susan slapped at the crazy woman’s hands tangled in her hair.

“My daughter took too many liberties in offering you shelter. You’ll need to find another den to take you in.”

At a loss, Susan yanked and squirmed but only made the pain worse. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kele leap.

The petite blonde used her wiry strength to jump across the room and land on her mother’s back. The collision knocked them both to the ground in a knot of arms and legs.

Untangling her limbs from the struggling shifters, Susan could finally elbow the bitch in the face. The impact made a satisfying crunch. She pulled back her arm for a second shot, but Kele grabbed her and half carried, half dragged her out of the chamber.

“Hurry, we need to reach my father before she beats you into cinders.”

Not needing any further incentive, Susan ran after her new friend. “Your people are crazy.”





About the Author:

Annie Nicholas writes paranormal romance with a twist. She has courted vampires, hunted with shifters, and slain a dragon’s ego all with the might of her pen. Riding the wind of her imagination, she travels beyond the restraints of reality and shares them with anyone wanting to read her stories. Mother, daughter, and wife are some of the other hats she wears while hiking through the hills and dales of her adopted state of Vermont.

Annie writes for Samhain Publishing, Carina Press, and Lyrical Press.

Website / Blog / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads / Pinterest / Newsletter




My Thoughts:

I thought this book was slow to start but by the end of it, I was undeniably hooked. I will be reading the next book for sure. :D

Scent of Salvation was a shifter story with a twist all it's own. These shifters were a little more bestial for the most part.

In the beginning we find Susan working in a lab. She has successfully created a machine (DOUG) that can accommodate travel between dimensions. Unfortunately, the government has gotten wind of her triumph and has decided to take over her project. In an effort to prevent them from miss-using DOUG, she blows it up. This results in her being sent through a portal into another dimension called Eorthe.

In this alternate dimension, she meets Sorin, the alpha of his pack who sees her fall from a blue light in the sky. He was picking blue flowers to help with the sickness his pack when he witnessed this happening.

Susan is shocked when she first sees Sorin in his furry form. She runs and he chases her. She ends up in the hands of another pack and other than Kele, they are by no means nice. While she is there, she meets Benic, a vampire.

Each group has their own agenda. I am hoping to see them all get a HEA in future books. :D

Between the pages, you'll find shifters and other supes, action, romance, some steam, a touch of sci-fi, and a plot that will keep you guessing.

I am eager to read more adventures from Eorthe. These characters have weaseled their way into my brain and I will happily root for them to each get the solution to their problems.

If you like shifters, you should add this to your TBR list. :-)

I received an ecopy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. I thought it was great after the initial slow start. :D

 


 


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26 comments:

  1. In a sense i make me think about the Series by DD Brant but only in the fact that a human woman find herself in a "parallel" universe filled with werewolves, vampires and such and must adapt ^^

    Susan seems to be a strong heroine since she decided to protect what she believe in. i love it ^^ (she should have stayed with sorin^^ not flee to run in another pack^^)

    definitively on my list of books to try

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    1. I've never heard of that author. I'll have to check out that series. :D

      I think you'd like this one Miki.

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    2. I have a few of hers but havent read them. Im missing like book 1 or 2 of the series so I hadnt started it yet.

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    3. it needs to be read in order that's for sure ( but then you could wait after having read book 1 to read book 2 it's not a necessity to read them quickly in a row ( though if you are like me you will want to^^)

      i've reviewed something like the 4 or5 first one if you want to check what it's about or what i thought exactly^^

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    4. Sure. :) I think I have 2 and 3 and it was 1 that I needed. I have to double check. I think I ended up picking them up at like a goodwill and they sounded really good but I didnt start them cause of the missing book.

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    5. better to start with book 1 yes and i think you would love this series yes^^

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  2. This sounds really interesting. I like the idea of a parallel world with all these paranormal creatures. I've always found the idea of parallel worlds creepy and fascinating at the same time. Its just that what if question. But this does sound really good and theres not like an alternate version of herself there.

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    1. it's a concept i fond myself quite fond of after the series i told you about ( and for Brenda... the Bloodhound files are a little like a mix of criminal minds,cis new york ( miami etc) but with paranormal creature^^)

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    2. I remember hearing that about them so when I found them. They sounded like they would be something I'd love.

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    3. ifi know you well enough yes you will love them^^

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    4. So I found out that I actually do have book 1! I remember writing it down as one that I needed to complete the series. I found it! :D it got misplaced in my list.

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    5. ^^ that's a fabulous news!! ( and that's remind me i must do my list before end of august.... arf so many work so little time)

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    6. That used to take me forever to redo mine. I still need to write down all my ebooks. I only have the print ones in a list.

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    7. i'm thinking about doing the one for print books only to avoid double and such ( i mean i need it to be up to date so i can only add the one a receive which wouldn't be too much work)

      ebook.... it should be done as well but later much, much later, not priority at all ( after all if i do have it in ebook i still want print so it wouldn't be a double)

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    8. That my thinking. If I can find it in print and have it in ebook I'll still go for print. Unless I've read it in ebook and know that its something I wouldnt ever read again.

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    9. yes of course if i didn't like it in ebook i won't want the print but if i enjoyed it and plan to continue teh series for example then print it's a must^^

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    10. usually I dont like to spend the money if its something I have but if I really liked it and there are more in the series, then yes I buy them too. :)

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    11. ^^ of course if i have read it already it's not my priority on my list of books to buy but i will get there^^

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    12. i've been debating whether or not to get Up to me in ebook or paperback since I have the first in ebook. I won it. I really liked it so now its a big debate. :)

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    13. ^^ wait to win it then you won't have to worry about it ^^

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  3. She has a tour for this series going on too. You could win $100 GC (I think i shared this with you already Miki?) - http://events.litconnect.com/virtual-book-tour-scent-of-salvation-chronicles-of-eorthe-1-by-annie-nicholas/

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    1. yep thanks again now if her book could be in paperback or pdf that would be perfect

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    2. I agree. I would love this one in PB.

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  4. I think you know enough of my book preference to say yes. :)

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