*This title will be released on April 24, 2012*

Title: The Immortal Rules Author:  Julie Kagawa Series: Blood of Eden #1 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Paranormal YA Excerpt: No Source: Publisher via Media Masters Reviewed by: Abigail Hardcover: 512 pages Publisher: Harlequin Teen (April 24, 2012) ISBN-10: 0373210515 ISBN-13: 978-0373210510   Sexual Content: Kissing Rating: Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & put this author on your watch list.

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*This title will be released on February 28, 2012*

Title: Partials Author:  Dan Wells Series: Partials #1 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Post Apocalyptic YA Excerpt: Yes Source: Publisher Reviewed by: Abigail Reading level: Ages 14 and up Hardcover: 480 pages Publisher: Balzer + Bray (February 28, 2012) ISBN-10: 0062071041 ISBN-13: 978-0062071040   Sexual Content: Kissing Rating: Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & put this author on your watch list.

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*This title will be released on January 24, 2012*

Title: Horizon Author: Sophie Littlefield Series: Aftertime #3 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Post-Apocalyptic, Urban Fantasy Excerpt: Yes Source: Netgalley Reviewed by: Abigail Paperback: 400 pages Publisher: Luna; Original edition (January 24, 2012) ISBN-10: 0373803427 ISBN-13: 978-0373803422 Sexual Content: References to sex. A scene of sensuality. References to child molestation Rating: Near Perfect - Buy two copies: one for you and one for a friend.

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*This title will be released on January 24, 2012*

Title: The Way We Fall Author:  Megan Crewe Series: The Way We Fall #1 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Post-Apocalyptic YA Excerpt: Yes Source: Netgalley Reviewed by: Julia Hardcover: 320 pages Publisher: Hyperion Book CH; January 24, 2012 ISBN-10: 1423146166 ISBN-13: 978-1423146162   Sexual Content: Kissing. Rating: Near Perfect - Buy two copies: one for you and one for a friend.

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*This title will be released on September 27, 2011*

Title: In Blood We Trust Author: Christine Cody Series: Bloodlands #3 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Post-apocalyptic paranormal Excerpt: Yes Source: Author Reviewed by: Abigail Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Ace (September 27, 2011) ISBN-10: 0441020879 ISBN-13: 978-0441020874 Sexual Content: A couple moderately graphic sex scenes. A scene that almost turns into an orgy. Rating: Okay – A few good points, but with significant flaws. Library/swap/borrow if you want.

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*This title will be released on August 30*

Title: Blood Rules Author: Christine Cody Series: Bloodlands #2 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Post-apocalyptic Paranormal Excerpt: No Source: Author Reviewed by: Abigail Paperback: 320 pages Publisher: Ace (August 30, 2011) ISBN-10: 0441020763 ISBN-13: 978-0441020768 Sexual Content: A scene of sensuality Rating: Good - A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying.

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Description

In the Bloodlands, Sometimes the Monsters Don’t Even Know Themselves….

After the vampire named Gabriel came into her world, Mariah Lyander was forced to face her own true nature and admit to the terrible things she had done--things he could not forgive.

To redeem herself, to recover her own humanity--and Gabriel's love--she sets out on a perilous journey across the haunted land, in search of a rumored cure.  And Gabriel, blood-bonded to her, is compelled to follow.

Together--yet not together--they will face danger and death. And what they find is not a place where monsters can be cured—but one where they are born…

Review

There aren’t many books who attempt to straddle multiple genres at the same time, and fewer still that actually succeed.  Christine Cody’s Bloodlands trilogy is proving to be one of the rare exceptions that manages to blend paranormal, western, romance, and post-apocalyptic genres together in a way that takes the best from each and shows just how good mixing can be.

BLOOD RULES, the second book in the trilogy, picks up shortly after the ending of BLOODLANDS.  Mariah and Gabriel are stuck in an uncomfortable situation mixed with guilt, desire, confusion, and resentment.  It’s a very tenuous relationship that really comes to life through the shifting POV’s from each character.  I only wish more of the story had stayed focused on them and more progress had been made towards a resolution or otherwise a complete break between them.

Once again the worldbuilding in the Bloodlands series continues to impress and astound.  We get to movie beyond the little shapeshifter community we met in BLOODLANDS and venture out into the ravaged post-apocalyptic America.  New horrors are revealed like the asylums where shifters are experimented on and studied, we learn about indentured water slaves who sell themselves for the precious liquid, and travel to the necropolis where individuals who were disfigured and wracked by the diseases that rose up when the world broke live in isolation from the ‘Healthies’. 

But as impressive as the worldbuilding continues to be, what I appreciated most about BLOOD RULES is the mythology development.  Werewolves, vampires, mutated creatures, and all manor of shifters from deer to Gila monsters aren’t just explained away by vague references to magic or freak side effects of the planetary changes.  There is a fascinating explanation for their origins that looks to only get more fascinating in the next book.

Second books in trilogies are hard.  They often serve as little more than setups to the final book and don’t really stand on their own as complete stories.  For the most part, BLOOD RULES avoids this pitfall, but it is necessary to have read BLOODLANDS to fully understand and appreciate what happens in this book.  It doesn’t have the same impact as the debut primarily because of the multiple point of views introduced in BLOOD RULES and the fact that in expanding the world and mythology, the intimacy that was developed between the characters is somewhat diminished.  Despite those minor complaints, I’m already saddled up and ready to revisit this world when the final book in the Bloodlands Trilogy called IN BLOOD WE TRUST is published on September 27, 2011.

Previous Books in Series	Also Reviewed By:
Bloodlands – 4/5	Genre Go Round Reviews

*This title will be released on July 26,2011*

Title: Bloodlands Author: Christine Cody Series: Bloodlands Trilogy #1 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Post-apocalyptic Paranormal Excerpt: Yes Source: Author Reviewed by: Abigail Paperback: 336 pages Publisher: Ace; Original edition (July 26, 2011) ISBN-10: 0441020623 ISBN-13: 978-0441020621 Sexual Content: A scene of masturbation. A scene of graphic sensuality. A graphic sex scene. Rating: Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & put this author on your watch list.

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Description

The New Badlands—a desolate area in the West forged by the terrible events that altered the entire country, where a few frightened citizens retreated underground to shelter from the brutal weather . . . and from a society gone deadly dangerous.

Then the vampire arrived—and they started calling it the Bloodlands.

Not because Gabriel, the so-called monster running from his true self, was searching for his lover’s murderer. Nor because Mariah, the woman who reluctantly took him in, was willing to do anything to survive in the changed world.

No, the Badlands officially became the Bloodlands the moment a gun-for-hire who’d decided to slay every monster left in the country came after Gabriel . . .

Review

Is BLOODLANDS, the first book in the Bloodlands Trilogy by Christine Cody (aka Chris Marie Green aka Crystal Green) a paranormal western? Post-apocalyptic fantasy? Dystopian romance? I don’t know what to call it except good. Very, very good.

The narrating voice of Mariah is immediately the kind that pulls you—even drags you when necessary—into her bleak but fascinating world.  Set in a not too distant future, BLOODLANDS portrays a world that has been brought to it’s knees and then kicked for good measure by environmental changes, corrupt governments, and power hungry ne'er-do-wells.  Water is more valuable than gold, gangs rove the scorched earth, and monsters are real.  Mariah, a deeply suspicious and independent woman, lives underground with a small community of others.  Her only companion is a brilliant (literally) dog and a stockpile of weapons.  Gabriel is the other protagonist, a broken man without hope, who falls on Mariah’s doorstep half dead.   

The story moves swiftly, especially in the beginning when these two characters, both with secrets, circle each other and gradually learn to trust (perhaps not as gradually as I would have liked in Mariah’s case).  There are so many nuggets of flat out cool world building that I’m already disappointing that there are only three books in this series.  I also loved the succession of surprises that crept up towards the end that I never saw coming.  They impacted the story enough that I already want to read it again to experience it in a totally new light.

Overall, BLOODLANDS is a surprisingly romantic story of survival set in a ruined world full of monsters, both human and otherwise, that will leave dust on your skin and a smile on your face after finishing.  In an act of supreme kindness to fans who will soon be panting after more books, Ace is publishing all three books in the Bloodlands Trilogy back to back. BLOODLANDS on July 26th, BLOOD RULES on August 30th, and IN BLOOD WE TRUST on September 27th.

Previous Books in Series	Also Reviewed By:
N/A	My Bookish Ways Genre Go Round Reviews ParaNormalRomance