Wishlist Wednesday

Wishlist Wednesday is my list of released or unreleased books that I want on my bookshelf.  Here’s my lastest list of wants.

Author Spotlight: Q and A with Allison Pang

Today I welcome author Allison Pang to the blog.  Ms Pang is the author of A Brush Of Darkness, a new urban fantasy that releases on January 25.  To read my review, click HERE.

A marine biologist in a former life, Allison Pang turned to a life of crime to finance her wild spending habits and need to collect Faberge eggs. A cat thief of notable repute, she spends her days sleeping and nights scaling walls and wooing dancing boys….Well, at least the marine biology part is true. But she was taloned by a hawk once.  She also loves Hello Kitty, sparkly shoes, and gorgeous violinists.

She spends her days in Northern Virginia working as a cube grunt and her nights waiting on her kids and cats, punctuated by the occasional husbandly serenade. Sometimes she even manages to write. Mostly she just makes it up as she goes.

Diva:  Describe Allison Pang in five words.

Allison Pang:  Snarky, tenacious, loyal, shy, pensive

Diva:  What favorite things do you have to have when writing?

Allison Pang:  Just a computer and some music (if it’s available). I try not to have too many snacks within reach, because I have a tendency to stress eat when I’m writing, so maybe a lack of food?   LOL!

Diva:  What is your favorite genre to read and who are some of your favorite authors?

Allison Pang:  Definitely fantasy. It’s what I pretty much grew up reading and it’s what I gravitate toward on a regular basis. Sometimes I’ll read historical fiction or more literary stuff (a la The Time Traveler’s Wife), but fantasy is definitely where my reading heart lies. Favorite authors would be Jacqueline Carey, Robin Hobb, Kate Elliott, Lynn Flewelling and Charles de Lint, among many others.

Diva:  If your book was made into a movie, what actors would you pick for Abby and Brystion?

Allison Pang:  Hmmm. Probably Natalie Portman as Abby. Brystion, I honestly don’t know. I picture someone with a lot of arrogant and seductive traits (rather like Stuart Townsend’s portrayal of Lestat, perhaps), but I don’t have anyone in mind.

Diva:  If you could be anyone of your characters from A Brush Of Darkness, which one would you be and why?

Allison Pang:  That’s a bit of a trick question, because they’ve all got a piece of me in there. Abby would be the obvious choice, but there’s something about Melanie and her supreme self-confidence (and a touch of arrogance, perhaps) in her own musical playing ability that I find rather appealing.

Diva:  What was the main inspiration behind writing A Brush Of Darkness?

Allison Pang:  I’m not sure there was one. The main ending scene started out as a dream where I was walking through this empty house trying to find someone. It intrigued me enough that even years later, it was still in the back of my mind. So I wrote that scene up and decided to find out what the rest of the story was about. The concept of The Dreaming was born out of that and I thought it would be really fascinating to explore it with the heroine...and of course that easily led into an incubus hero.

Diva:  Are you working on anything new that you can tell me about?

Allison Pang:  The draft for the second book was just turned in and I’ve started working on the third. Those two will probably take most of my focus for the next few months, but I’ve also got an epic fantasy that I’ve been working on and off for a while, as well as a Steam punk fantasy thing in the planning stages. (Hopefully I’ll be able to sell them as well.)

Thanks so much to Allison Pang for stopping by the blog and for making time to answer my questions.

ARC Review: A Brush Of Darkness by Allison Pang

Series:  TBA (yes there will be more!)

Genre:   Urban Fantasy

Release Date:  January 25, 2011

Publisher:  Pocket Books

Author Website:  http://www.heartofthedreaming.com/

Format I Read:  ARC Paperback

Pages:  343

Source:  Publicist

Reading Challenge:  Kick Ass Heroine Challenge

Read an excerpt

Book Blurb

The man of her dreams might be the cause of her nightmares.

Six months ago, Abby Sinclair was struggling to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. Now, she has an enchanted iPod, a miniature unicorn living in her underwear drawer, and a magical marketplace to manage. But despite her growing knowledge of the OtherWorld, Abby isn’t at all prepared for Brystion, the dark, mysterious, and sexy-as- sin incubus searching for his sister, convinced Abby has the key to the succubus’s whereabouts.

Abby has enough problems without having this seductive shape-shifter literally invade her dreams to get information. But when her Faery boss and some of her friends vanish, as well, Abby and Brystion must form an uneasy alliance. As she is sucked deeper and deeper into this perilous world of faeries, angels, and daemons, Abby realizes her life is in as much danger as her heart—and there’s no one she can trust to save her.

Awesomeness:

My back arched instinctively.  Whatever his attitude, the incubus certainly knew his business, and the heat that burned at my core wanted it.  Badly.  And yet…I was standing on a dark pier, dry-humping a guy I barely knew, in return for what?  Helping him find his missing sister?

My Thoughts

Damn, damn, damn!  Those were my thoughts when I came to the end of this book.  A Brush Of Darkness had me hooked from the beginning.  It’s full of action, colorful characters, and plenty of magical drama.

Abby is human with a painful past.  On an emotional whim she accepts a magical contract with a faery.  Unsure of her actual duties and clueless to the extend of her magical talent, Abby suddenly finds herself in the middle of a magical mess.  Her mentor is missing, an incubus is stalking her, and she becomes the unexpected caretaker of a perverted miniature unicorn.   

First of all, I am a cover whore, so I like covers that relate to the story and entice you to wonder what’s behind the pages.  I liked this cover.  I can easily imagine the cover model as Abby.  Fierce, feisty, with a magical air. 

I think Allison Pang did an excellent job with this book.  I liked the story because it was easy to follow and kept me entertained.  The characters were funny at times, but easily shifted into dangerous creatures you might not want to piss off on the regular. 

Abby was a great heroine.  She was a little snarky, and in serious need of guidance, but I enjoyed reading about her adventures.   Her relationship with Brystion was what kept me turning pages.  Their HEA is not what I expected, but will keep me reading future books to see how their relationship develops.

My favorite character was Phineas, the little unicorn.  He was a drunken pervert, but often the voice of reason.  He was a strange little addition to the story, but he kept Abby on her toes and was the source of a lot of funny moments.

Overall, this book was very good and a recommended read and I look forward to future books.

Rating

4 flowers of love.  Very good and a recommended read

Other Reviews Of This Book:

Goodreads

Shelfari