Stone Masters: A Vampire's Reckoning by VMK Fewings

( From back cover )

" What if your family held an ancient, dark secret? A secret passed down from one generation to the next. A secret that would change everything you thought you knew.

What if the time had come to finally reveal that very secret... to you?

Lord Jadeon Artimas, heir to St. Micheal's Mount in Cornwall, discovers that his family belongs, and has for centuries, to a clandestine group known as the Stone Masters; a collection of brave men whose sole, sacred duty is to kill the mythical creatures of the night, the deadly menace known as... vampires.

Jadeon soon becomes entwined with the underworld and is forced to face his deepest, darkest fears and make it through a journey of seduction, honor, and betrayal. As the sinister truth is unraveled, the foundation of a legacy is shaken to it's core, putting the very existence of the Stone Masters in jeopardy.

Only by accepting his family's history can Jadeon confront the danger, solve the mystery, and truly become a Stone Master."

This book was a fascinating read! VMK Fewings has written a vampire novel that sweeps you into the world of the Stone Masters, and takes on epic proportions. The Vampires all have very human motivations and emotions, and even the corrupt vampires had my sympathy. 

This story is told in the first-person, but switches view-point between the two main characters, and the author masters it in such a way as to keep you caught up in the story every step of the way. Part One is written as a historical count of the life of Jadeon and how he comes into this legacy. Beautifully written. Part Two spans a couple hundred years and brings us to contemporary times seamlessly.

The story is captivating and a fresh take on the Vampire lore, told by a master of her craft. This is a great read for any fans of secret societies and vampires! I highly recommend Stone Masters: A Vampire's Reckoning.

The random number drawn was #18, so the winner of the signed copy of Darkling is,

Lori T !!!

MySpace Comments & MySpace Layouts

Lori T, please send me your snail/mail info at sidhevicious @ shaw dot ca (minus the spaces), and I'll forward your info on to Yasmine. Please put Darkling Contest Winner in the subject line. You'll have one week to contact me, and if I don't hear from you, I'll have to draw a new winner.

To everyone else who commented, I thank you for coming by and hope you'll continue to come back for more reviews, interviews, contests and guest blogs. You can still enter to win a signed copy of A Rush Of Wings. ( See the post below this one )

Thanks & Congrats again Lori!

Sidhe Vicious would like to welcome Dante, from Adrian Phoenix’s A Rush Of Wings! He’s been kind enough to join us as a guest blogger, so without further adieu, I’ll leave you in his, oh so capable *cough-sexy-cough*, hands…

 For those of you who don’t know me, my name’s Dante.  I’m frontman for Inferno, I live just outside New Orleans, and I accepted Judi’s offer to guest blog on her cool RAVES & RANTS site before me and the band hit the road on tour.  She asked me if I’d do a bit on pet peeves, and I’m more than happy to oblige.  Judi’s not only tres jolie and tres cool, she’s beaucoup honest.

 (aww, I’m blushing now) 

 Ain’t nothing more solid than the truth. 

 So...pet peeves.

 Pet peeve numero un is this question:  What’s it like being vampire?

 (Oh, btw, I’m nightkind.)

 Merde.  Beaucoup merde.  Dunno.  What’s it like being human?  Being mortal?  Care to wrap that up in a sweet one paragraph answer?  After all, what do you have to compare it with?

 My response is usually along the lines of:  “Dunno.  Tell me, what’s it like being an asshole?”  C’mon, why not ask, “What’s it like being black?  Asian?  White?  Male?  Female?”

 It’s all I know, so it feels pretty fucking normal.  It’s who I am.

 Another question that rates high on the pet peeve o’meter is:  “Will you turn me?”  Yeah.  D’accord.  So then the world will have not only another asshole, but an immortal asshole?  Umm, no.

 ( I wonder if asking him to “bite me/nibble on my neck awhile” counts? Oh Shush... You know you were all thinking it too!) *grins*

 In truth, that question’s no different than asking, “Wanna have a baby?  One that you’ll have to raise alone?”  Yeah...sign me up for that one.

 But my pet peeves ain’t aimed at just mortals.  Hell, no.  Nightkind are often the biggest, loudest assholes of all.  My personal fav?  This one:  “Lady Nose-in-the-Air/Lord Kiss-My-Boots requests a personal audience with you before/after the show.”

 Just because they’re nightkind, they believe they should get special treatment – especially from other nightkind.  Like me.  (*snorts*)  Yeeeaaaahhhhh...like that’s gonna happen.  They can get in line for the meet and greet after the show like everyone else.

 Do they?  Nope.  They usually stalk away, faces looking like they just sucked down a mouthful of cold blood, muttering promises regarding my future comeuppance(s).  Hah.  See my eyes rolling?  Get a life.

 But the grand poo-bah of all pet peeves are the assholes who prey on others by using their hopes and dreams, their aching hearts.  Assholes who eat up their trust.  Twist them.  Scar them.  Strip them of everything.  For money.  Out of envy.  Or just because they can.

 Hell, I guess that ain’t a pet peeve.  It’s soulless something that edges right up against evil.  Fuckers who shapeshift a person’s dreams into delusions and suck them dry of all hope. 

 And it usually starts with a lie.

 Mortals and nightkind alike are guilty.  Mortals and nightkind alike are also victims.

 “A little white lie doesn’t hurt anyone.  Sometimes it’s better than a painful truth.”  Or how about this popular tune: “People lie.  It’s just human (insert species here) nature.” 

 I’ve heard those words or variations of them over and over.  And it’s pure top of the charts bullshit.

 A lie is a lie is a lie.  Hiding the truth is a kind of lie – a lie of omission, and just as harmful.

 Sure, I expect someone who doesn’t like me or is fucking with me or whatever to lie to me.  That’s all part of the you-suck routine.

 But a friend?  No.  With people you like and trust, everything they say becomes a part of your foundation, a part of your reality.  Because you believe them.  And you build on it – your friendship, your love, your every-night life.

 A lie is a termite in that foundation, devouring its integrity.  It doesn’t matter why that termite’s in there chomping happily away – Oh, I didn’t want to hurt you or I was worried you’d get jealous or I thought you wouldn’t understand or even the classic, I had your best interests at heart – the fact remains that the termite is in there.  And it ain’t coming out on its own and it ain’t coming out without doing damage.

 I have a lot of trouble remembering things that happened the first fourteen years or so of my life, even things that I’ve done.  But I’m gonna find out and learn my own truth.  (Yeah, I could be wrong about the ‘fourteen years or so’, I suck at dates and time.)

So night by night, friend by friend, I'm building a foundation, a solid one I hope.  A foundation to live my life by.  And I’ll never lie – not to spare a friend's feelings, not to ease a lover’s jealousy, and I’ll never believe a lie is in anyone’s best interest.  Not even the teller’s.

 I expect the same – no lies.  No matter how painful it is, no matter how ugly, if I ask, give me the truth.  The truth will never come between us, but a lie will.

 I believe deep down, we all crave the truth – mortals and nightkind, yeah even assholes.  I think sometimes we’re scared to ask for it.  But we gotta, if we’re ever going to move ahead.

 Wow.  Pet peeves spiraled into a rant enorme.  Hey, Judi, I just honored the theme of your site!

 So tell me, ma chere, what’s it like being Canadian? 

 LOL, don’t even get me started!! ( Still wildly fanning myself from the hotness that is Dante) 

 Let’s see… there are the un-educated who actually believe that people who live in Canada all live in Igloos and that there’s snow 24/7! NOT! I live in a very metropolitan city ,thank you, and have never even seen an Igloo except in pictures.

 Then there are the people who actually think that everyone in Canada talks like that Bob and Doug McKenzie from some old comedy show (SCTV) that aired a zillion years ago, or that we say “Eh” all the time. That’s a negative! But I digress, see? I told you not to get me started, lol.

 I would like to thank Dante for spending some time with us here at Raves and Rants and I’m sure my readers will agree with the sentiment that you are welcome to come back and visit anytime! *grins*

Adrian Phoenix has graciously agreed to sign and send a copy of Dante’s story in A Rush Of Wings to one lucky commenter, so get commenting people!

I will pick the winner on July 15^th, and if you’d like an extra entry, then blog about this post & contest on your blog, MySpace, FaceBook, LiveJournal,  BlogSpot, WordPress or spread the word in some form and send me the link.

Go to http://www.fairyday.com/ for more details.

Awesome news is that Urban Fantasy Land is back and Lisa Trevathan is also back there and posting again!

I'm really excited to announce that I have Dante from A Rush Of Wings guest blogging this week and there will also be a contest to win a signed copy of A Rush Of Wings, courtesy of the gracious author, Adrian Phoenix! So make sure to check back.

Amberkatze has an interview with author Natasha Rhodes, author of Dante's Girl, and there's a contest to win a signed copy, so head over and enter.

I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome any new readers to my blog and thank my regular readers for sticking with me. I hope you enjoy your visit and feel free to comment or tag and let me know your thoughts, things you'd like to see more of, less of, or just what you like in general. I am currently moving this blog over to WordPress, so I hope you all won't mind moving with me when I get it all over there.

And don't forget to enter to win a signed copy of Yasmine Galenorn's Darkling! You have until midnight on June 29th to enter.

Happy Fairy Day Everyone!  

Night Shift by Lilith Saintcrow

( from back cover )

"Jill Kismet. Dealer In Dark Things. Spiritual Exterminator. Demon Slayer.

 Not everyone can take on the night side. Not everyone tries. But Jill Kismet is not just anyone. She's a Hunter, trained by the best - and in over her head. Welcome to the night shift..."

ORBIT Books was kind enough to supply me with an ARC of Night Shift, and am I ever happy that they did! Night Shift is the first book in the Jill Kismet series, and it starts off with a bang. Jill Kismet is a complex character, tough yet vulnerable, more than human, and I was rooting for her from beginning to end.

A dark, gritty Urban Fantasy with tons of action, captivating characters, tension, a mystery, high octane danger, and even more diabolical characters that you love to hate! Ms. Saintcrow delivers an awesome tale of Hunters, Weres, Demons, and other things that creep in the night.

For fans of the Dante Valentine series, this new series is every bit as tantalizing and addicting! I can't wait for the next book, Hunter's Prayer, coming in September 2008.