Review: Long Live the Queen by Kate Locke

Title: Long Live the Queen 

Author:  Kate Locke
Publisher: Orbit
Publishing Date:  November 12th, 2013

Pages: 320
Genre: Adult Paranormal Fantasy 

Series:  The Immortal Empire #3
Source:  Audio

 

Xandra Vardan thought life would be simpler when she accepted the goblin crown and became their queen, but life has only become more complicated. Everyone -- vampires, werewolves and humans -- wants the goblins on their side, because whoever has the goblins -- wins.

Queen Victoria wants her head, Alpha wolf Vex wants her heart, and she still doesn't know the identity of the person who wanted her blood. What she does know is that a project from one of the 'secret' aristocrat labs has gotten free and she's the only one who can stop the perfect killing machine -- a sixteen year-old girl. With human zealots intent on ridding the world of anyone with plagued blood and supernatural politics taking Britain to the verge of civil war, Xandra's finding out that being queen isn't all it's cracked up to be, and if she doesn't do something fast, hers will be the shortest reign in history.
The fantastic conclusion to the series that started with the spectacular undead steampunk debut, God Save the Queen and The Queen is Dead

I was finally able to get to this last book in the Immortal Empires series. It was an amazing finale. I really didn't know this series could get any better but it did. I truly wish it was not over. I enjoyed this world and these characters immensely. Sad it's over, but happy with ending. 

Xandra feels she is the secret weapon in an all out war between all the supernatural factions. They all want her on their side so they can have the strength of the goblins. She is attempting to find a way to survive, a new threat comes to town. One that threatens every one, humans and supernaturals... even the Queen. Xandra and her friends and family give it all they got to save their queen and their country... without dying themselves that is. 

This book was freaking amazing guys. The best one. There was so much story and action and secrets and betrayals and goodness in this book. I think I was getting whiplash. I didn't know who to trust and I didn't know who was the actual bad guy. I just knew that Xandra and Vex must survive.... because well they are Xandra and Vex. 

Speaking of Xandra and Vex, their relationship continues to blossom and they are so just ugh great together. They are one of my favorite book couples. So much chemistry, so much banter, so much nauseating love. I do just adore them. Their story is so wonderful..... I will miss it. **tears**

The story continues form where the last book left off. Not much time is between the two but so much happens in that time and in this book. There is so much that goes on. I mean it was bam bam bam from beginning to end. I love where the story went, I loved the shocking plot moments and the intensity of the story. I was literally on the edge of my seat for most of the book. It had a great beginning, middle and end. 

Xandra really steps up in my book. She is one hell of a fighter and she is just crazy. I love that she is strong and feminine. She is a take charge kind of girl but she also knows how to let the man she loves into her life. She is extreme but in all the good ways. Very lovable, very loyal, very much a kick ass heroine. 

One of the things I loved about this series was all the characters. So many but I felt I had a good handle on them all.They are all introduced at different times and so I was able to really get to know each and every one.... I love that they are just all in it together in this finale. 

It really was a fantastic finale and I wish there was more but there is not so I will treasure the ending and keep the books for future rereads... on audio and in hardcover. YAY!  

A wonderfully fantastic end to an equally wonderfully fantastic series.

Kate Locke has always enjoyed making things up — a trait that often got her into trouble as a child, but by which she enjoys making a living. Before writing fiction full time she worked as cook, a journalist and in a photo finishing lab where she saw enough pictures of naked people to rival Hugh Hefner. A guy once asked her out after giving her a roll of film that he expressly requested she develop and print. The entire roll was images of him stark naked in the woods. And no, that’s the kind of thing you just don’t make up.

In her late 20s Kate sold her first book and enjoyed a 10 year career writing under a different name. Her love of fantasy and the paranormal refused to leave her alone, and one day, while sitting on the couch thinking of making a very scary career move, she started jotting down notes for a book she wanted to write just for the pure enjoyment of it; a book just for herself. That book became God Save the Queen. Her agent thought they could sell it — Kate wasn’t certain. Then, the day after having her gall bladder removed (again, can’t make this stuff up), Kate got the call that Orbit books — her dream publisher for God Save the Queen — had made an offer. And it’s been more exciting than she ever imagined.

Like Xandra Vardan, the heroine in God Save the Queen, Kate values those she loves above all else, and has hair a color not typically found in nature. Unfortunately, Kate’s comes from a bottle. She’s married to a fabulous man who doesn’t seem to care what she does to her hair, puts up with her occasional* craziness, helps her plot, and treats her like she’s the best thing since lipgloss.

Review: Club Dead by Charlaine Harris

Title: Club 

Author:  Kate Locke
Publisher: Orbit
Publishing Date:  November 12th, 2013

Pages: 320
Genre: Adult Paranormal Fantasy 

Series:  The Immortal Empire #3
Source:  Audio

 

Things between cocktail waitress Sookie and her vampire boyfriend Bill seem to be going excellently (apart from the small matter of him being undead) until he leaves town for a while. A long while. Bill's sinister boss Eric has an idea of where to find him, whisking her off to Jackson, Mississippi to mingle with the under-underworld at Club Dead. When she finally catches up with the errant vampire, he is in big trouble and caught in an act of serious betrayal. This raises serious doubts as to whether she should save him or start sharpening a few stakes of her own ..

I am slowly getting through this series. This was the third installment and as the others, I loved it! I don't think I will ever tire of these books. I am liking them more and more with each book. I do like that the story is getting more involved, the characters are getting more developed, the love story getting a but more tricky. Yup drama, humor, sexual tension, vampires, weres, and more. 


Sookie is left to fend for herself in this book while Bill goes and takes care of business in another state. Of course he gets himself in trouble... in more ways than one and its enough trouble to make Sookie second guess her relationship. 

There are some new characters and possibly more story lines coming from this installment including a very good looking and charming werewolf that I am slowly falling for. 

I really don't know much more to say about what happened in this book. We see more of  Eric, we see Bill being a douche, we meet a new werewolf. Yup that's it. 


I don't know why I love these books so much but I do. They are cheesy, there is nothing deep or soulful in these books but yet I love them.  I love the humor, I love the supernatural world, I love the sass, I love the fast pacing. I just love them. 

I am still not big on Sookie, she just is so dumb at times and really wishy washy... but she is growing on me. I can say one thing that is going for her, she is sweet and she is loyal. I think that is about it that keeps me from hating her. I like her better in the show, but I think I will like her more and more as time goes by in the books. I feels she is starting to become who she needs to be for the world she lives in. She is starting to get smarter and confident and self aware. She isn't there yet but she has come a long way since the first book. 

I really hate Bill in this book. I wasn't ever his biggest fan as I didn't get the swoon from him... so I am really happy he messed up big in this book. Unfortunately I know where the story is headed because of the show... but I am ready for the Eric and Alcide action. Sookie for sure needs to expand her horizons. 

I didn't care much for the story line in this one. I felt there wasn't much to it. It seemed to be a filler to open up the series for more plot lines. So I am happy with that. I still enjoyed reading the story and being a part of this world for just a bit. 


Good light read. Look forward to the next one. 

Charlaine Harris has been a published novelist for over thirty-five years. A native of the Mississippi Delta, she grew up in the middle of a cotton field. Charlaine lives in Texas now, and all of her children and grandchildren are within easy driving distance.

Though her early output consisted largely of ghost stories, by the time she hit college (Rhodes, in Memphis) Charlaine was writing poetry and plays. After holding down some low-level jobs, her husband Hal gave her the opportunity to stay home and write. The resulting two stand-alones were published by Houghton Mifflin. After a child-producing sabbatical, Charlaine latched on to the trend of series, and soon had her own traditional mystery books about a Georgia librarian, Aurora Teagarden. Her first Teagarden, Real Murders, garnered an Agatha nomination.

Soon Charlaine was looking for another challenge, and the result was the much darker Lily Bard series. The books, set in Shakespeare, Arkansas, feature a heroine who has survived a terrible attack and is learning to live with its consequences.

When Charlaine began to realize that neither of those series was ever going to set the literary world on fire, she regrouped and decided to write the book she’d always wanted to write. Not a traditional mystery, nor yet pure science fiction or romance, Dead Until Dark broke genre boundaries to appeal to a wide audience of people who simply enjoy a good adventure. Each subsequent book about Sookie Stackhouse, telepathic Louisiana barmaid and friend to vampires, werewolves, and various other odd creatures, was very successful in many languages.

The Harper Connelly books were written concurrently with the Sookie novels.

Following the end of Sookie's recorded adventures, Charlaine wrote the "Midnight, Texas" books, which have become a television series, also. The Aurora Teagarden books have been adapted by Hallmark Movie & Mystery.

Charlaine is a member of many professional organizations, an Episcopalian, and currently the lucky houseparent to two rescue dogs. She lives on a cliff overlooking the Brazos River.