Blade Song (Colbana Files, #1)

Oct 18, 2012 Jess the Romanceaholic rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: netgalley, urban-fantasy, steam-level-steamy, family-issues, blame-it-on-your-parents, vampires, on-the-run, werewolves-or-other-shape-shifters, favorite-heroes, favorite-heroines, favorite-series, assassin-mercenary-or-bounty-hunter, magick, enemies-to-lovers, 2012-read, arc, arc-review-held, oh-noes-u-saw-me-nekkid, yes-its-really-that-good

This is a Quickie Review. For the full review, please visit The Romanceaholic.

When I first sat down to write this review, I realized that I had a bit of a problem — how on earth was I going to rein in my inner Fangirl long enough to put together coherent sentences on just how fantastic this book was? I’m still not certain that I am able to do it justice, but suffice it to say, I loved this book. It easily ranks right up there with my adoration of Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels series, Jeaniene Fros...more

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Aug 15, 2012 Layla rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: No one.

Recommended to Layla by: Goodreads

Shelves: 2012-release, genre-paranormal-fantasy-urban-sf, part-of-a-series, 2012-august, rating-1-star, reviewed

My rating: 1/5 stars
First line:“My sword arm is mighty.”
Favourite quote:“I will not falter. I will not fail. My aim is true. My heart is strong.”
Song of choice: Happy Pills by Norah Jones

Let me start by saying this: I did not like this book. If I would’ve had a shelf named Biggest Disappointment of the Year , this book would’ve taken the top place. I heard wonderful things about it, but the most deceiving one was that this book strongly resembled the Kate Daniels Series by Ilona Andrews. It does...more

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Aug 04, 2012 BamaGal rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: pnr-uf, arc-from-author, netgalley-edelweiss

3.5 Stars. I liked it; but I didn't quite love it. I really liked Kit and Damon; and their interactions with each other was a lot of fun. The idea behind the story and series was solid; and it looks to be a good series.

But... there were several things in the book that were quite annoying to me. There were some obvious comparisons to draw between Kit and Kate Daniels; but Kit is no Kate, not by a long shot. I like the h in my UF to be kick-ass with some quirks; but this was too much quirks and no...more

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Nov 12, 2012 Tracey rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, netgalley, private-eye, urban-fantasy

Kit Colbana is a private investigator in the grand hard-boiled tradition. She's struggling to make ends meet, but refuses to take work from any quarter which she knows will only bring more trouble to her than benefit, like the vampires. She also generally avoids were-cats, but when the case that's brought to her – by a drop-dead gorgeous shapeshifter named Damon – involves a boy, a sixteen-year-old in the throes of his first change, which means he's a mess – and now he's missing. She should walk...more Kit Colbana is a private investigator in the grand hard-boiled tradition. She's struggling to make ends meet, but refuses to take work from any quarter which she knows will only bring more trouble to her than benefit, like the vampires. She also generally avoids were-cats, but when the case that's brought to her – by a drop-dead gorgeous shapeshifter named Damon – involves a boy, a sixteen-year-old in the throes of his first change, which means he's a mess – and now he's missing. She should walk away; the cat Alpha is crazy, and crazy plus claws is bad… but the boy needs help. She takes the case.

Part of the case, unfortunately for her peace of mind, is accepting this Damon jerk as her sidekick. Whither she goeth, he goeth, and thereth not a thing she can doeth about it.

As in The Twisted Kiss, there is a virus that causes lycanthropy in this world; it's a great deal like AIDS, in that it is spread through blood or sex (or heredity, or, of course, a bite). Unlike Kiss, this isn't post-apocalyptic, though, and unlike AIDS, it's almost likely you'll survive getting this virus. Not definite; lots of those who contract the virus die of it, but a percentage do make it and gain the ability to shift into a creature (wolves, rats, and various large cats are featured), benefiting from enhanced healing, speed, strength, all the usual good parts…

Also as in The Twisted Kiss, there is a heroine with Issues. Kit Colbana is half human, half aneira – think Amazon, the reader is told, only moreso – and this is what has led to her Issues; in a world where "non-humans" – weres and witches and vampires (and aneira) and humans are struggling to get along, being of mixed blood can have unpleasant consequences – especially when the relatives of the "non-human" half are completely intolerant of what they consider mongrels. Kit was raised by her grandmother. Banish from your mind all the usual connotations "raised" and "grandmother" usually have, and you'll start to get why Kit is damaged. It's realistically, wrenchingly, portrayed: what Kit has survived is a part of her that she does not choose to share or dwell on, but when it comes out in bits and fragments it is never played for the sympathy of the reader. It happened. It still affects her. Pity her at your own peril.

One hurdle this book put up for itself was that the heroine swears like a particularly ticked off sailor. Given that this has a first-person perspective, that means not just in dialogue. It usually doesn't trouble me; I wouldn't say this bothered me, but my eyebrows did go up a few times. Something to keep in mind if it does bother you. In large part, those travails Kit has gone through excused it for me; somehow, it would have felt a little less believable if she had said "gosh" and "darn".

Unlike The Twisted Kiss, this book is not written primarily as a showcase for sex scenes. That is not remotely a focus of the book – the last thing Kit is seeking right now is a fling, especially with this huge jerk Damon, however pretty he is. The characters, main and secondary alike, have a breath and life that lets this book rank much higher among urban fantasies than I expected; the death of one character was something I regretted quite a bit. There are a lot of very good things in this book I didn't expect. I have begun quite a few series this year, and with most of the ones I plan to pursue it will be "when I think of it". "The Colbana Files" is one series is one worth seeking out.

This was a Netgalley offering, read with thanks. (less)

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Oct 08, 2012 Lynsey (The Demon Librarian) rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: netgalley, received-for-review, books-that-should-die, shifter-ific, smack-your-witch-up, unlikeable-character, urban-fantasy, vampire-ific

Oh dear.

Where do I begin? I was not impressed by this at all. I'm actually quite annoyed by it, because I feel like it took every Urban Fantasy trope and cliché and exaggerated them until it was a complete mockery of itself, more a spoof of my favourite genre than anything else.

Completely unauthentic and unoriginal. Yes, there's the blatantly obvious Kate Daniels rip-offs as others have mentioned, but that's not the only familiar thing I noticed by a long shot. I also saw some 'borrowed' elemen...more

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Feb 13, 2013 Suzanne the Mighty ~Satin Seductress~ rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: action-adventure, arrogant-but-i-love-him, best-of-the-best-2012, girlies-i-would-take-for-a-tequila, hot-male-in-my-harem, mad-bad-and-dangerous-to-know, mages-witches-magic-users, netgalley-arc, pdf-kindle, romance, smexy-shifters-and-werewolves, va-va-voom-vampires, urban-fantasy

Review @ Under the Covers

Half human assassin and investigator Kit Colbana knows she is in for a world of trouble when she finds a powerful cat shifter, Damon, offering her a job from the crazy cat Alpha. But she needs the money and he takes advantage of her soft spot when he shows her the picture of the runaway kid he is looking for. But as Kit investigates, she realizes this is bigger then just one runaway teenager…

When I started reading Blade Song, it immediately reminded me of the Kate Daniel...more Review @ Under the Covers

Half human assassin and investigator Kit Colbana knows she is in for a world of trouble when she finds a powerful cat shifter, Damon, offering her a job from the crazy cat Alpha. But she needs the money and he takes advantage of her soft spot when he shows her the picture of the runaway kid he is looking for. But as Kit investigates, she realizes this is bigger then just one runaway teenager…

When I started reading Blade Song, it immediately reminded me of the Kate Daniels series (one of my favourites!) from the loner heroine with a tough chick attitude but a soft heart and the cocky arrogant cat shifter who becomes a love interest. I doubt I will be the only person who makes this comparisons but don’t worry, it wasn’t a carbon copy with just the names changed so don’t let that put you off giving this book a try, it is well worth it.

Like any good UF, it had an exciting new world; it wasn’t anything completely original we have vampires, shifters and witches populating the earth; pretty standard fare, but despite that, the world was rich and we were given enough detail to keep it interesting without bogging you down in too much information.

In this new world full of supernatural races that are strong, fast and full of magic Kit isn’t as strong or fast, she is a bit of an underdog, but what she does have is intelligence, resourcefulness and a very shiny sharp silver sword. All these things and a dash of sarcasm and a bucketful of bravery is why I liked her so much and a big part of why I loved the book. I also need to mention Damon, I admit I didn’t like him at first, but he grows on you as Kit’s feelings start to change and although he doesn’t have Curran’s magnetism, I still went all starry eyed for him by the end, I really think J C Daniel’s should introduce naked Tuesdays for him in the next book.

The only problem I really had was that it took a while to start up, but it was a first book in the series so I can understand that, and I found the more I read, the more I loved it, and conversely I think the relationship between Damon and Kit happened way to fast. Although they still have their issues, it suddenly felt warp speed from them hating each other for the first 80% of the book to…other things in the last 20%.

But really all I can say about this book is….WOW! I loved it. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but what I got was the start of an Urban Fantasy series that I can’t wait to sink my teeth into and after finishing Blade Song I am impatiently waiting the next book! (less)

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Sep 29, 2012 Annie the Destroyer *Leather Lust* rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, genre-urban-fantasy, shifters, series-colbana-files, author-jc-daniels, first-book-in-series, drinks-on-me, read-in-2012

Meet Kit Colbana – a half human, half Aneira assassin and the newest, baddest UF heroine to hit the block! In BLADE SONG, JC Daniels introduces a new paranormal world where shifters, vampires and witches roam yet Kit remains the most dangerous person of them all.

Fans of Ilona Andrews, Patricia Briggs and Keri Arthur will get a kick out of his brand new series. With the prefect mixture of whip-smart dialogue, fuel-charged action and dynamic characters, only Daniels’ vast imagination can limit thi...more

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Oct 07, 2012 Janice (the_red1) rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy

Ugh. The repetitive dialogue drove me nuts, the same words and thoughts regurgigated ad nauseum throughout the book. If someone said "damn it!" one more time, I was gonna scream. Or commit murder. Or both. And don't even get me started on Kit & Damon's relationship. Blech. I didn't like them. At all.

This book has been compared by some to the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews. Yeah, in its dreams maybe. There's no comparison between the two. None, whatsoever. Kate wins, hands down, every...more

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Jul 13, 2012 Tom rated it 4 of 5 stars

I’m going with a 4 on this new series about a half breed assassin Kit Colbana. I received a pre-editing copy from Netgalley which had some technical issues that I hope get resolved for the final book and the 4 is contingent on that.

The story revolves around a half breed for hire assassin Kit Colbana. Kit is half aneria (a breed of warrior women) and half human. She ran away from the aneria because of the abusive leader of the aneria, her grandmother, never accepted her human side and tortured he...more I’m going with a 4 on this new series about a half breed assassin Kit Colbana. I received a pre-editing copy from Netgalley which had some technical issues that I hope get resolved for the final book and the 4 is contingent on that.

The story revolves around a half breed for hire assassin Kit Colbana. Kit is half aneria (a breed of warrior women) and half human. She ran away from the aneria because of the abusive leader of the aneria, her grandmother, never accepted her human side and tortured her till she got away. Now on her own , working as a hired gun, she gets talked into taking a case from the psychotic leader of the Cat shifters to find her nephew. She has no intention of working for the Alpha Cat psycho until they show her a picture of the kid who is missing. Everything in her gut tells her to avoid the case but when they show her the picture of the kid, she takes the case. She is forced to be shadowed by Damon the Alpha Cat enforcer on her mission to find the missing nephew. Time is of the essence because the nephew is at the age that he is about to start shifting and they have to get to him before he hurts himself or others. Of course that is just the start of the story and then it spins out of control into many different storylines.

The good. Kit is a strong heroine but a realistic one. She knows she is not the as strong or fast as the other creatures in this world and she is forced to use her brains to get out of situations. That is not to say she isn’t a badass. Her mouth gets her in plenty of trouble and she is damaged plenty along the way. She’s not one of these heroine’s that walks on water and always seems to get away unscathed. The interaction between Kit and Damon feels real and trust doesn’t come fast. There are witches, shifters, aneria and a badass vampire. I really enjoyed the storyline and the world that was created.

The bad. The world building in the beginning felt a little like an information dump. I’d rather learn about the world being created as the story moves along but there are so many pieces to the puzzle it took a while to get rolling. Even during the process it was interesting to learn about her world but it seemed like they crammed a bit much into the first book being it’s a series book. Again there were some technical issues that I can’t hold against the book but if it is not corrected I would be hesitant to recommend.

I will be stalking reviews feverishly when the book gets published and if I don’t see any complaints on editing I will definitely be moving on with this series because I really like the world that was created here. ***Update***I have been told by someone who knows the writers reputation better than me that she believes the editing will be taking care of. Whoo Hoo!! Time to pimp out this book!

ARC provided by Shiloh Walker, Inc and Netgalley. Publishing date Aug 1, 2012(less)

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Jul 27, 2012 Shelley aka Gizmo's Reviews rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-releases, recvd-from-author, urban-fantasy

*Rating* 3.5
*Genre* Urban Fantasy

*Review*

"My sword aim is mighty. I will not falter. I will not fail." Kit's mantra

Truth be told. I haven't read any of J.C. Daniels/Shiloh Walker's previous novels so I can't compare them to any other author I do follow regularly. However, after reading BLADE SONG, and hopefully it's sequel called NIGHT BLADE, I will end up going back and revisiting her other works sometime in the near future.

Daniel's world building was actually pleasantly surprising and interes...more *Rating* 3.5
*Genre* Urban Fantasy

*Review*

"My sword aim is mighty. I will not falter. I will not fail." Kit's mantra

Truth be told. I haven't read any of J.C. Daniels/Shiloh Walker's previous novels so I can't compare them to any other author I do follow regularly. However, after reading BLADE SONG, and hopefully it's sequel called NIGHT BLADE, I will end up going back and revisiting her other works sometime in the near future.

Daniel's world building was actually pleasantly surprising and interesting. Those are normally the two things I look at when reviewing and rating a UF novel. In this world, supernaturals have gone public and have been living alongside humans for 50 years. Then, you have a group called Banner, (an extermination group) that targets dangerous non humans when they step out of line and cause problems. I'm not sure who is scarier, Kit or the Banner group.

Kitasa (Kit) Colbana is an investigator/bounty hunter who has a knack for killing things. She's part Aneira (see Amazon warrior) and part human. She has the ability to fade out (go invisible) and was trained to not only be an assassin, but a thief as well. She is also being chased by a vampire (Jude) thanks to asking him for help with a delicate situation 6 years before.

The story, at it's core, is Kit's attempt to find a missing cat shifter and bring him back to his pack as well as finding those responsible and bringing them to Kit's own form of justice. Of course, the Alpha just happens to be a psychotic beoyatch, and she ends up with a body guard (Damon) to keep her safe and focused on the job. Kit's background is a bit disheartening and disturbing knowing what she went through for the first 15 years of her life because she was part human. The fact that she escaped the abuse and torture and made her own way in the world is a huge part of the story.

I can't help but compare Kit with Kate Daniels. They are both demi-humans. They both carry a big bad swords that call to them. They both end up with a sexy ass shifters who just happen to be the Alphas of their respective packs. They both can take a beating like nobody's business and bounce back with a little help from their friends.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that people will probably love Damon. I hated him from the first moment he was introduced to the story. It wasn't until he shows his mettle and sticks up for Kit in more ways than one, that I had a change of heart. I dislike having any male characters call a grown woman little girl. It's truly demeaning and churlish and a bit disturbing. I realize Damon is a shifter, but I also hate all the touching he does throughout this book.

J.C./Shiloh Walker - Thank you so much for providing me a copy of this to review and read. I definitely recommend this book to those who love a good UF story.

Expected publication: August 1st 2012 by Shiloh Walker, Inc (less)

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Jan 02, 2013 Julija rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: bloodsuckers, all-things-pnr-romance, complex-brilliantly-built-world, family-issues, he-is-a-jerk-but-that-is-okay, magic-witchcraft-and-druidry, urban-fantasy-addiction, shapeshifters-suck, dark-stuff-going-on, this-body-deserves-some-drooling, tortured-abused-broken-fucked-up, difficult-subjects

At first, I was a little bit afraid that Blade Song was going to be just a bad copy of Ilona Andrews's Kate Daniels. After all, the main character, Kit Colbana, is a witch (sorta kinda) with an interesting heritage, insane evil relatives and immunity to werevirus. She owns her own investigation agency, takes on all kinds of strange jobs and often suffers from money problems. She can kick-ass with her unique blade, she can do some strange magic and she can be extremely sarcastic. Then she is forc...more At first, I was a little bit afraid that Blade Song was going to be just a bad copy of Ilona Andrews's Kate Daniels. After all, the main character, Kit Colbana, is a witch (sorta kinda) with an interesting heritage, insane evil relatives and immunity to werevirus. She owns her own investigation agency, takes on all kinds of strange jobs and often suffers from money problems. She can kick-ass with her unique blade, she can do some strange magic and she can be extremely sarcastic. Then she is forced to take a job she would've never taken under normal circumstances. And for that job, she is to be paired with Damon, a sexy, hot, arrogant werecat with fantastic glowing eyes. Then there's also a total-pain-in-Kit's-ass vampire, Kit's soft spot for kids, and a pretty long celibacy period which, according to Kit, explains why Demon looks so edible all the time. Seen this before? Thought so.

But that's where the similarities end and overall, the book is clearly not Kate Daniels nor is it trying to be. Both Kit and Damon have very distinct personalities, with lots of interesting memorable quirks, and they make the book likable right from the beginning. Then there's this very interesting chemistry between them. These two start off on a wrong foot, which causes Kit to 'misread' Damon for the first half of the book. It's not her fault, really. Not to mention it is funny as hell to watch Kit, who is usually good at reading people, completely misunderstand Damon and his intentions. She sees him as an overbearing asshole who wants to kill her given a chance, but who can't because he was ordered to protect her by his precious Alpha, while to the reader and to the most of the characters it is pretty obvious that his intentions are way different and 'asshole' might not be the first word that comes to mind when you think of Damon. So they dance around each other, pissing each other off yet wanting each other all the same. Kit struggles to keep a good distance between them, Damon tries his best to change her opinion of him. Too bad the woman is more stubborn than a mule...

My only issue, which is also the main reason for four stars, is Kit's dark past. Writing an abused character is not easy, contrary to popular belief of fanfiction writers. It can either be done brilliantly, like in Poison Study and BDB, or it can go horribly wrong. In this case, it's not horrible per say, but it fails to arise any feelings in me. When I read about Zsadist and Vishous, I felt like I was tortured, and I wept, and I couldn't wait for them to get their deserved HEA, and I dreamed of killing their torturers slowly and painfully over and over again, for centuries and without mercy. In Blade Song, I wasn't even interested in the torturers or in the tortured. The reason for this is probably exaggeration and too little emotion. Because I personally love broken protagonists precisely because of what they feel. I don't really care about the details of the abuse or the methods used to torture them. For me, it's all about the characters themselves; what they feel, how it changes them, how they react, how they go on. I need the emotions, the pain, the suffering, everything that makes you love books that break your heart. And when it comes to broken characters, I definitely need my heart to get broken in order to understand what the character is going through. In Blade Song, I did not see any of this, unfortunately. Plenty of paragraphs describing the torture itself and Kit having no difficulties doing it, but nothing about the little girl suffering it all. Just a grown up Kit relieving the demons and running away from them, over and over again. There was only one abuse related paragraph that made me want to hug Kit and for me, that was not enough becauseI couldn't really 'feel' the character. Then again, maybe it's just me.

Aside from this, a couple of bad word choices that kept bugging me, and some occasional weak sentence structures, I thoroughly enjoyed Blade Song and cannot wait for its sequel. Relatively easy and quick thanks to one very sarcastic narrator. Solid plot, complex world, vibrant characters, some minor action, just enough tension and lots of fun. In other words, a perfect way to spend an evening. Recommended for sure!
(less)

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Mar 18, 2013 MandyM rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy

2.5 stars. I picked this up because of the reviews comparing it to the Kate Daniels series. In fact it's a very pale imitation. (Almost a rip-off in fact.) There is little world building, minimal action scenes, the villains were unconvincing and the major one was killed off-page in one of the anti-climactic endings I've read in a while. The first half of the novel is overwhelmed by the heroines constant, repetitive, angry, defensive inner monologue and her memories of her abusive grandmother. I...more

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Jul 05, 2012 Stephanie Collins rated it 5 of 5 stars

I must say I truly enjoyed this foray in to UF.

Kit is just a wonderfully strong heroine who has not had an easy life. As a half-breed she was severely mistreated by her mother's family and has major issues to overcome due to that abuse. She has a fair amount of luck and doesn't waver in her willingness to do the right thing even if it puts her in danger and seems stupid to outsiders. Her main weakness is a soft spot for kids.

Damon... how to describe this Alpha male... is just growly as all get o...more

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Aug 16, 2012 Chantal Halpin rated it 3 of 5 stars

I read a single snippet of this book on a blog tour and went directly to Amazon and downloaded the it.

A kick-ass heroine with a magic blade gets caught up in a no-win situation. A tried and tested UF fantasy plot with a heroine with similarities to other's, but strong enough to stand alone. I liked Kit and her furry friend (eventually) and I shall be reading more as soon as it becomes available.

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Aug 12, 2012 ☆Jessie☆ (Ageless Pages Reviews) rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, netgalley-arc, supernatural-fiction, 2012-reads, 2012-reviews, reviewed, utterly-underwhelming, great-potential-awful-execution, high-expectations-and-low-reward

Read This Review & More Like It On My Blog!

No. Just no. Am I reading the same book as everyone else? This was awful across the board. A smattering of a (very) few good ideas, scant worldbuilding (and what is there is very unoriginal), and very poor execution coupled with two unlikeable protagonists make for a very unsatisfied Jessie. This is not going to be pretty. I'm pretty damn disappointed with this novel, as well as being supremely frustrated with it. I had passed this over several time...more

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Aug 01, 2012 Mariann {a.k.a. Belle's Book Bag} added it

Shelves: my-favorites

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Blade Song!!! It was just so freaking good!!!
I was interested in this book because I had seen it being compared to the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs and the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews(Two authors and series that are my absolute favorites!!) I could definitely see the comparison but Blade Song shined all on its own. WOW...This book caught me right from the beginning and thoroughly entertained me until the very end. I didn't want this story to end and I could...more

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Jul 30, 2012 Jackie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley-e-book, read-in-2012, e-arc-review-book-read, signed-by-author-copy, trade-paperback-copy, read-for-review-in-2012

Book Synopsis

Previously Titled Rules of the Game

Kit Colbana—half breed, assassin, thief, jack of all trades—has a new job: track down the missing ward of one of the local alpha shapeshifters. It should be a piece of cake.

So why is she so nervous? It probably has something to do with the insanity that happens when you deal with shifters—especially sexy ones who come bearing promises of easy jobs and easier money.

Or maybe it’s all the other missing kids that Kit discovers while working the case, o...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Melanie rated it 5 of 5 stars

4.5 stars

I loved this story. I want more of Kit and Damon. I want to see Jude get what's coming to him. I love the witches. I'd also like to see what happens between Kit and her family (even more what Damon does to her family).

When is the next book coming out?

I really loved this book. It is a new series. The main character is a harden warrior with a horrifying past. She was raised by a grandmother that resented her half-human blood and used to beat her to get her to break. This only made her str...more

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Aug 05, 2012 Sharonda (SexxyBlogger) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: sharonda-sexxyblogger

See review at http://www.salaciousreads.com/2012/08...

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Mar 03, 2013 Mistress of the Dark Path rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy

Blade Song begins a new urban fantasy series with a lead character named Kit Colbana. Kit runs her own PI firm that she is struggling to keep afloat. With her being half-human and half-aneira (a race similar to the Valkyries of legend), she has to be careful about what kind of jobs she takes. Kit has some nifty tricks, like being able to fade into invisibility and call her sword to her, but she isn't very strong or able to heal as rapidly as other supernaturals. When a sexy were-cat walks throug...more Blade Song begins a new urban fantasy series with a lead character named Kit Colbana. Kit runs her own PI firm that she is struggling to keep afloat. With her being half-human and half-aneira (a race similar to the Valkyries of legend), she has to be careful about what kind of jobs she takes. Kit has some nifty tricks, like being able to fade into invisibility and call her sword to her, but she isn't very strong or able to heal as rapidly as other supernaturals. When a sexy were-cat walks through her office door demanding she take a job to find a missing kid from his pack, she knows she's in trouble. Kit has a soft spot for kids and can't make herself say no, even though she should. With this group, failure won't be an option and it could be the last job she ever takes.

I must admit the first part of this novel didn't impress me much. There is a lot of backstory and info dumping that slows down the introduction of the plot. Kit comes off as the typical UF heroine with a horrific past and attitude to match. She talks trash even when she knows it's going to get her in trouble (which made me worry she was another TSTL character). Some of the dialog also came off as cheesy and made me want to roll my eyes. To make matters worse, there are typos/grammar mistakes every 5-10 pages that can be distracting.

Despite this, I pushed on because the narrative voice had something to it that I had to appreciate. I wanted to like Kit, flaws and all. The further I got into the novel, the easier it became to settle in and enjoy the story. Other sides of Kit came out that were admirable. She has a sense of justice and concern for helping the vulnerable and weak that you have to respect. I also enjoyed her interactions with the were-cat, Damon, who was assigned to her for the duration of the search. Their interactions came off as rather violent in the beginning while they struggled to prove who was stronger, but once they got past their initial animosity I enjoyed watching their relationship develop. The sparks certainly flew between those two and kept me wondering what would happen between them. The end certainly left me satisfied.

Blade Song came off as a cross between the Anita Blake series and the Immortals After Dark series. It shared some world building elements from both, but also had it's own unique twists. I wouldn't say the Colbana Files is quite up to the level of those series, especially since the location of the missing kid was rather obvious early on (even if the two main characters took awhile to figure it out), yet the strong "voice" and intriguing characters helped make up for the weaknesses. The next novel should prove to be even better. I'm glad I gave this one a chance and hope to see tighter writing in the next one (which I have every intention of picking up). (less)

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Apr 05, 2013 Niko Sprezzatura rated it 3 of 5 stars

Author, J.C. Daniels (pen name of Shiloh Walker), introduces Kit Colbana, a half-human/half-aneira (think Amazon), who is a jack-of-all-trades, master of none sort, with a soft spot for children, mainly due to her horrific upbringing at the hands of an abusive family.

Kit is given the task of locating a young shape shifter, whom has either been kidnapped or is on the run, by the local Cat Alpha, who happens to be a psychotic b* named Annette. It is here that we meet Damon, Were-Leopard extraordin...more

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Feb 14, 2013 Jacqueline rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Patricia Briggs fans

Shelves: werewolves-shifters, urban-fantasy, private-investigator, owned, miserable-childhood, magic, kindle-reads

Sucked in to this book from the first page. There's a free sample here on GRs and I hadn't read maybe 15 pages when I knew I had to buy it.

This was brilliant urban fantasy. It had the basic three groups, shifters, vampires and witches. An added race was a nearly extinct and forgotten race of non human assassins called the Aneiris. The heroine was half Aneiris and half human so she was considered worthless to the Aneiris. She now worked as a private investigator. The story involves her being hir...more Sucked in to this book from the first page. There's a free sample here on GRs and I hadn't read maybe 15 pages when I knew I had to buy it.

This was brilliant urban fantasy. It had the basic three groups, shifters, vampires and witches. An added race was a nearly extinct and forgotten race of non human assassins called the Aneiris. The heroine was half Aneiris and half human so she was considered worthless to the Aneiris. She now worked as a private investigator. The story involves her being hired by the Cat shifters in Orlando to find a missing boy on the cusp of his first change.

Let me tell you people, the world building here was phenomenal. The vampires were bad bad people. The shifters were a mix but the Cat alpha was a sociopath. The witches here were nice but you got the impression that there were all types. This world was fairly dark but not oppressively so. Also it was explained in enough depth that it was full and rich but it did not feel info dumpy at all. The plot all made sense and moved along at a brisk pace.

The characterizations were stellar. The heroine was strong and had a smart mouth but she wasn't so snarky that she seemed a caricature. She was strong but she was also vulnerable and she was written consistently throughout. The hero was the alpha cat shifter's right hand man. He was determined and a bit abrasive but he was super hot. His job was to see that the heroine got the job done and that she stayed alive to do it. He was very determined to protect her from the first but also determined that she get the job done. The secondary characters were also well rounded so that no one seemed a stereotype.

I don't want to tell you any thing else that happens because you all need to read this for yourself. Just trust me. The action is fast the writing is wonderful and the relationship that develops is believable and fulfilling.

This is not a romance although it has a bit of a romance element. It is also not romantica or erotica. Solid and stellar urban fantasy here. If you like Patricia Briggs Mercy Thompson series, you will like this one too. I can't wait for the next one.(less)

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Feb 11, 2013 Kate Sadler rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 05, 2013 Book Binge Blog rated it 4 of 5 stars

...I found this to be an enjoyable novel. There were times the wiring seemed repetitive and I struggled to connect to the hero of the story since we were never inside his head. In the beginning he's a total jerk, but his reasons are explained later and they made sense. I did have trouble with their relationship at the end. I don't think enough time was given to them as a couple to make the resolution believable.

Otherwise I found the storyline engaging and the heroine interesting. Kit is strong a...more

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Jan 04, 2013 Aishwarya Hariharan rated it 3 of 5 stars

First chapter, me: This is Kate. So Kate.

But it wasn't. This is a different Kate, a more broken Kate with one horrific past and somehow, even though she has her reasons to hope that the past doesn't catch up with her, a less driven Kate. I felt pity for Kit more than once but she's one of the reasons the novel races forward and she makes it a pleasure to read with how she soldiers on. She is vulnerable and even though she should have trust issues, she does trust Damon a lot pretty quickly.

Damon...more First chapter, me: This is Kate. So Kate.

But it wasn't. This is a different Kate, a more broken Kate with one horrific past and somehow, even though she has her reasons to hope that the past doesn't catch up with her, a less driven Kate. I felt pity for Kit more than once but she's one of the reasons the novel races forward and she makes it a pleasure to read with how she soldiers on. She is vulnerable and even though she should have trust issues, she does trust Damon a lot pretty quickly.

Damon was no Curran. But he was likeable in small doses(you wouldn't think so in the beginning) and even by the end, I'm trying to think of a circumstance where I did like him but fail to come up with any. He's a cruel asshole so much of the time that it kinda overshadowed the rest of the book for me where he wasn't one and was just being remorseful. The Alpha is a QB, for sure. I'm surprised no one else took the nutter down. Damon might have his reasons but seriously ? he has more power as the Alpha. the better to hunt you down with, dear.

I thought once the remorse and the cookies and the sweetness showed up, Damon would turn magically sexy but the scene was so not sizzling with chemistry. between them, even water wouldn't boil. I so did not like that.

I didn't see the mystery coming and once you get past the, she is so Kate and the initial Curran(before realizing Curran would NEVER have come himself to visit Kate initially) cheer, the parallels hover but do not over power. Book makes its own presence but gives no history of the world like the Kate Daniels world does. Jude was sexiness at the beginning and not so sexiness by the end. Kit was surprisingly forthcoming about her past, a change from Kate who we didn't know the mystery of until a while into the books.

I'm picking up the next book of this series when it comes out. I'm eager to see how things play out. And it's surprising to realize that even though Damon is supposed to be her protector, Kit spends a surprising amount of time in pain and recovering from it. Nice job, Damon.(less)

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Oct 24, 2012 Jess Haines rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult, paranormal-romance, urban-fantasy

Disclosure: Review copy received from author. This in no way impacted my review or opinion of this story.

My Review:

What a fun book!

Kit Colbana is a half-blood Aneira–something like an Amazon with magical powers–who works as a private investigator in an alternate, present-day Florida. Due to her half-blood nature, her grandmother abused her badly in the process of training her to be a warrior. In the present, Kit uses the skills that were beaten into her to stay alive and help some of the more po...more

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Sep 05, 2012 The Book Tart rated it 5 of 5 stars

Originally posted http://thebooktart.com/new-fiction-re...

I LOVE Blade Song! 5 cherries and chocolate sauce too :p

Blade Song is Kit's story. I can relate to Kit... not in the we both have supernatural powers capacity *snort* but in the way she views the world, her sense of justice and snark. I want her for a best friend. Sometimes in fantasy novels the main character is too super-human and it's hard to find common ground, that isn't an auto dislike for me, but it does make it harder to bond wit...more Originally posted http://thebooktart.com/new-fiction-re...

I LOVE Blade Song! 5 cherries and chocolate sauce too :p

Blade Song is Kit's story. I can relate to Kit... not in the we both have supernatural powers capacity *snort* but in the way she views the world, her sense of justice and snark. I want her for a best friend. Sometimes in fantasy novels the main character is too super-human and it's hard to find common ground, that isn't an auto dislike for me, but it does make it harder to bond with a character. That is not the case here, Kit is half human (go Team Human! lol) and half Aneira [a-nir-a] . The Aneira, also known as Amazons, are a magical race with gifts for fighting and stealth. Kit's a half breed and considers her talents to be small in comparison to most other supernaturals including vampires, shape shifters and witches, oh my.

The world building is fascinating. The paranormal beings are "out" to humans and governed under the Assembly of Non-Humans. There are areas throughout the country that have a higher population of Non-Humans and East Orlando is one of those locations with humans to NH 5/1 ratio. This is where Kit lives and works as a private eye with her own agency. Business has been rather down for her lately and she's semi-jokingly considered standing on a street corner with a sign about needing work. Then trouble with a capitol T prowls into her office. Damon wants to hire her to do a job for the leader of the Cat Clan (who's well, insane). She's going to say "No way" when Damon shows her a picture of the teenage runaway they want her to track down. Endangered kids, abused children and runaways are her soft spot. Kit has a traumatic past and ran away from an abusive home as a teen. Now that she's seen the kid she can't turn her back on him and knows she has to do everything in her power to help him.

Kit starts this investigation with Damon at her side as part of the deal. He's her shadow and guarantee that she won't die (if he can help it) before finishing the job for the Cat's leader. You get to watch her adjust to having a partner of sorts. There was some initial interaction with him that actually made my stomach hurt in pain for her and later on in pain for him as he realizes what his actions had done to her. I was on Kit's side from the start and just like Kit, it took me a while to warm up to Damon... But now I'm a Damon fan! *sigh*

There is a strong mystery element to this story as the investigation into the missing teen progresses. A lot of action and intrigue and yes, some romance too. Yum! I loved getting to see Kit in action and seeing how she met the challenges that came her way.

I highly recommend this book. Dive into Kit's world and you will want to stay! I want more. It sounds like the future of the sequel depends on how well this book does... so for my sake- and yours, get the book! :)

(((hugs))) Kat

*eARC provided by NetGalley for review*(less)

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Sep 03, 2012 Rubysbooks rated it 4 of 5 stars

Published at Ruby's Books

No matter how many books from different genres I love, urban fantasy is still my favorite. Blade Song was an amazing read and I had a blast reading it.

J.C Daniels, also known as Shiloh Walker, managed to build an amazing world with this book. The first thing that stuck with me after I finished reading Blade Song was the fact that for once, vampires (or a certain vampire) weren't among the good guys. That was fresh and new for me. Even though a twisted part of me still t...more Published at Ruby's Books

No matter how many books from different genres I love, urban fantasy is still my favorite. Blade Song was an amazing read and I had a blast reading it.

J.C Daniels, also known as Shiloh Walker, managed to build an amazing world with this book. The first thing that stuck with me after I finished reading Blade Song was the fact that for once, vampires (or a certain vampire) weren't among the good guys. That was fresh and new for me. Even though a twisted part of me still thought that the vamp was incredibly hot (what can I say, I have a soft spot for the creatures), I liked the break from the usual image of the good blood-sucking guy. I also liked the fresh take on vampires and how they feed and their powers and the bond between them and their victims.

I enjoyed the fact that there were many creatures (some of them new to me) and the fact that we get to learn about their society and how they interact and the hierarchy and all that. It wasn't too much information, like it sometimes happens with a first book in a new series, but it was enough for me to understand the world in which the plots evolve. There aren't too many descriptions, but I loved that because I could let my imagination run wild and make the world of Blade Song unique for me.

I really liked Kit. She was one of those tough heroines that know when to be soft and compassionate as well. She's impulsive, reckless and has a thing for weapons, which I understood completely and I loved her for it. I also liked to see her interact with Damon (sexy name, by the way). Their relationship started off really wrong, but they managed to get past that.

There were things that I didn't completely understand in Kit's behavior at times, such as the fact that even though she's amazing with her sword, we never actually see her using it in battle. I would've wanted to see that. Also I felt that at times Kit felt the need to repeat herself more times than necessary. I understood her need to always lash out at people when they got too close, though. With her background, it's a wonder she doesn't kick everybody's ass before asking what they want from her and why.

If you love paranormal, urban fantasy and strong heroines, do check this book out. You won't be sorry. No to wait for the second book in the series, Night Blade.(less)

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Aug 16, 2012 Nicola O. added it

Another fun world from Shiloh Walker, a/k/a J. C. Daniels. This is an excerpt from my full review at Alpha Heroes.

This new paranormal universe is the "kitchen sink" sort of world, where vampires, witches, werecreatures, and anything your imagination could conjure up, have been outed in the world. A little reminiscent of Nancy Holzner's world, one of the key factors is the uncertain state of citizenship for paranormal.... people. Creatures? You see the dilemma. In this book, it was something of...more

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Aug 10, 2012 Ferdy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Spoilers

Kit Colbana is half human and half aneira (amazon warrior), she is an investigater but is struggling to find work. Enter Damon, a werecat who offers Kit a job to find a missing boy. Kit is reluctant to work with the insanely dangerous werecats but can't afford to turn down the money. The cat alpha assigns Damon as Kit's bodyguard and warns Kit that if she should fail in finding the missing boy who happens to be the alpha's nephew then she will be killed. Kit and Damon form an uneasy truc...more Spoilers

Kit Colbana is half human and half aneira (amazon warrior), she is an investigater but is struggling to find work. Enter Damon, a werecat who offers Kit a job to find a missing boy. Kit is reluctant to work with the insanely dangerous werecats but can't afford to turn down the money. The cat alpha assigns Damon as Kit's bodyguard and warns Kit that if she should fail in finding the missing boy who happens to be the alpha's nephew then she will be killed. Kit and Damon form an uneasy truce and investigate the missing boy.

-I've seen some reviews that compare this to Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels series and there are a few elements that are similar/copied but even with it's few similarities it's nowhere near as good.
The worldbuilding was unoriginal and simplistic - and pretty much only consisted of different groups of supernaturals living their lives away from the humans who hated them.
The storyline wasn't very engrossing - there was no real mystery, it was just the main characters talking to a bunch of different people about the missing boy with a bit of romance thrown in for good measure.

-Kit was no Kate Daniels - she was weak, pathetic and a pushover. She allowed other people to dictate her actions and had little control over her own life. She was too easily manipulated - like when she let Jude bite her, it just made her seem dumb.
I didn't really understand why Kit even needed to be hired by the werecats - Damon seemed more than capable. Everyone kept saying she was good at her job but I didn't read anything that supported that statement.
Kit kept going on and on about how good she was at fighting and using her sword but it was only towards the very end where she actually fought and even then she needed rescuing. She either hid or let Damon do all the fighting.
I lost count of the amount of times she fainted, blacked out, got scared or injured - she wasn't much of a badass.

-Damon was an abusive douche - he apologised for hurting Kit when he realised that Kit wasn't as strong as he thought she was but the fact that he wanted to actually hurt her for no reason was enough for me to dislike him. He was far too overbearing, arrogant and pushy. And Kit just let him push her around like he had a right to.
I was creeped out by Damon constantly touching Kit even when she told him to stop - it was pervy and rapey. And I cringed everytime Damon called Kit baby girl, little girl, silly girl, kitten, foolish..it made him sound like an old man who liked young girls and it also made it seem as if he didn't really see her as a woman but as child - ugh.

-The romance and Kit's weak personality was what ultimately let the book down. I don't know how Damon went from abusive to lovey dovey - there was nothing to warrant his attitude change. Damon had to keep telling Kit he wouldn't hurt after he became all lovey dovey - when a guy has to assure their partner that they won't hit them - it's a definite sign of a bad relationship.

The first few chapters were actually fairly promising but the more I read about Kit and her weak, doormat personality the more disappointed I was. I wouldn't mind finding out more about Kit's family but only if Kit actually gets a backbone and defends herself. I'll probably wait for reviews on the next one as to whether or not to read it.(less)

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