Showing posts with label Nikki Jefford. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nikki Jefford. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Review: Transfusion by Nikki Jefford

Transfusion by Nikki Jefford
Transfusion (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter #1)
By Nikki Jefford
Publisher:
Self-Published
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: Aurora Sky can’t wait to graduate high school and say goodbye to life in Alaska, but a car accident halts all of her plans for the future. She’s revived by none other than the government, which needs her and her rare blood type for its secret program to eliminate vampires. Aurora wants no part in this, but she has no choice if she wishes to stay alive. Without her monthly injection that only the government administers, she’ll die. And so Aurora embarks on her career as a vampire hunter, all while trying to complete her senior year.

Review: It’s been a while since I read a vampire book, and Transfusion was a nifty little vampire read. It’s not every day that you’re brought back to life by government agents who now want you to kill vampires for them in exchange for the whole saving your life bit. That’s exactly what happens to our heroine, Aurora, and her subsequent adventures keeping Alaska safe from her fanged foes are quite thrilling.

Transfusion features some hard-hitting action scenes and totally delivers on the vampire hunting. Poor Aurora tangles with a super crazy vamp early on in her training, and as cool as her job sounds, I’m not sure I’d like to try it. It’s actually really, really dangerous, and though not all of the vampires Aurora meets want to exsanguinate her on sight, the ones who do are pretty scary. Something that I found rather funny was the gung-ho attitude of Aurora’s fellow hunter and assigned mentor, Dante, toward the vampire extinguishing business. Aurora’s first mission is to take out some big, bad vampire, and Dante isn’t concerned in the least; in fact, he’s supremely confident that she can dispose of her target with ease. Aurora’s heart belongs to someone else, but she and Dante make an awesome team professionally.

In addition to making the action exciting instead of run-of-the-mill for a vampire book, Transfusion’s other strength is its characters. They’re drawn really well, especially the secondary ones, like Aurora’s friend, Noel. While I did think that Aurora should have figured out what was going with a certain character sooner than she did, overall I found her to be a solid protagonist. She kicks some major vampire ass, and that demands a certain amount of respect.

Having read more than a few vampire novels in the last few years, they aren’t as guaranteed nowadays to reel in my interest, but Transfusion is a cut above other titles of its type. Although these vamps aren’t too different from the norm, the well-paced story keeps Transfusion from feeling like standard vampire fare. I really dig the secret government agent angle of this, too, and eagerly anticipate reading about Agent Sky’s next mission.

All in All: I enjoyed this and think it’s worth checking out for fellow vampire fans.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Cover Reveal: Evil Red by Nikki Jefford

Evil Red by Nikki Jefford
Evil Red (An Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter Novelette)
By Nikki Jefford
Genre:
New Adult, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy
Publication Date: February 2014
Goodreads

Synopsis: L.A. is one tough city, especially while sharing a trailer with four thieving sisters.

Valerie’s plans for a better life and Hollywood grandeur are interrupted after a fateful stabbing lands her in Anchorage, Alaska where government agents expect her to play the role of a vampire hunting La Femme Nikita.

The redheaded vixen is back in her own Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter novelette.

**Novella is approximately 18,000 words**

** Excerpt **

As the door closed behind the agents, Valerie snatched a knife off the table and stuffed it into her back pocket. She picked the handgun back up, opened the chamber, and checked for bullets. It was fully loaded. She snapped the chamber into place and unlocked the safety. With that she walked over to the far wall of the room, spread her legs shoulder width apart, and aimed at the door.

Valerie glanced at the mirror.

“Ready.”

There was no reply.

She kept her arms steady. The gun weighed on her arms as she waited, but she didn’t waver. There was a sudden knock right before the metal door screeched open. A twenty-something man stumbled in as the door slammed shut. The dude was skinny and a bit pale, but who wouldn’t be in a place like Alaska? He righted himself and faced the door. And there he remained standing, staring at the door as though it would open if he waited long enough.

Some vampire. Valerie lowered the gun slightly as her arms relaxed.

“Hey, you,” she called out.

The man turned more suddenly than she’d expected. His eyes sparked to life when he saw her.

Blut,” he said. “Ich brauche Blut.”

“I don’t speak vampire,” Valerie retorted.

The man started walking toward her.

Valerie raised her gun.

“Stop! Stay where you are.”

The man kept advancing.

“I said stay where you are!”

Ich brauche Blut,” the man said back.

When he was three feet away from her, he reached for her neck.

Not again. Valerie wouldn’t be a victim a second time.

She pulled the trigger.

About Nikki Jefford

Nikki is the author of the bestselling SPELLBOUND trilogy and AURORA SKY:VAMPIRE HUNTER. She's a third generation Alaskan who now lives in the not-so-tropical San Juan Islands (WA) where she is, once more, neighbors with Canada in a town without a single traffic light.

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Northern Bites Quotes Contest

To celebrate the release of Northern Bites (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 2), Nikki Jefford is giving away gold and other goodies to three winners (INT) who successfully complete the multiple choice "Who Said It?" form below this teaser.

“What’s the matter?” I asked Noel.

“I don’t know what’s going on. Gavin is being so cold to me tonight.”

I raised a brow. “He’s a vampire.”

“Ha, ha,” Noel replied. “What about Fane? Is it true he broke up with Valerie?”

“He says they were only together a day.” I slumped forward. “He was rather cold, too.”

Noel sighed. “Why can’t we like normal guys?”

“Because we’re not normal girls.” I followed Noel’s gaze to the window. From that vantage there were no city lights, no buildings, no land. Just ocean. During the day, Cook Inlet looked about as gray as the overcast sky. At night it was as black as oil. Anchorage didn’t have beaches. We had mudflats. The fine glacial silt turned to quicksand any time an unwary victim ventured too far and became stuck in the mud.

Win Goodies & Gold!

  • Real 24 carat gold flakes in liquid pen
  • Women Who Behave Rarely Make History sticker
  • Reading is Sexy sticker
  • Northern Lights Alaska bookmark
  • Aurora Sky “Do Not Disturb” door hanger
  • Polar Bear Smooch peppermint chocolate
  • Berry Fairies Blueberry Lip Bliss

Check out all six stops to find the rest of the answers:

WIN a Northern Bites ebook!

Love bites. Probation sucks. Thanks to Dante's recklessness, Aurora is now partners with Valerie: the redheaded, backstabbing vixen. Dante is in full flirt mode. Fane's tactics are more ruthless. Something carnal has awakened in Aurora and neither boy is helping tame her cravings. When a member of the unit's team is found dead, Aurora and Valerie are sent after a vampire in Sitka, but Aurora suspects the killer's much closer to home.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Leaving Alaska after graduation is no longer an option for eighteen-year-old Aurora Sky once government agents pull her from the wreckage of a head-on collision. In exchange for her life Aurora must serve as a vampire hunter. Basically she's a glorified chew toy. All thanks to her rare blood type, which sends a vampire into temporary paralysis before she has to finish the job by hand. Aurora's dark mood is attracting the wrong kind of attention—namely that of Fane Donado's. He's a prince alright. The dark prince of temptation.

"Full of action from the very first page, Aurora Sky is a book that will have the reader hanging onto every word, staying up late into the night to find out just what is going to happen next!" — Examiner.com

Smashwords | Barnes & NobleGoodreads

Coming soon to Sony, Kobo, and iTunes.


About Nikki Jefford

Nikki Jefford is a third generation Alaskan who loves fictional bad boys and heroines who kick butt. She married Sebastien, the love of her life while working in France. They now reside in Friday Harbor, WA on a small island without a single traffic light.

Jefford writes mature teen/new adult urban fantasies, including the Spellbound trilogy and Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter series. She loves hearing from readers.

Author Links:

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Monday, December 10, 2012

The 12 Days of Magic: Spellbound Book Blitz & Giveaway

We're excited to be a part of the Book Blitz for Nikki Jefford's Spellbound series, organized by Xpresso Book Tours. Read on to find out more about each book in the series and to check out an excerpt from the first book, Entangled. There's also a giveaway, so be sure to enter for your chance to win a Spellbound prize pack!

Entangled by Nikki Jefford
Entangled (Spellbound #1)
By Nikki Jefford
Publication Date:
February 20, 2012
Goodreads

Synopsis:

Two months after dying, seventeen-year-old witch Graylee Perez wakes up in her twin sister Charlene’s body.

Until Gray finds a way back inside her own body, she’s stuck being Charlene every twenty-hour hours. Her sister has left precise instructions on how Gray should dress and behave. Looking like a prep isn’t half as bad as hanging out with Charlene’s snotty friends and gropey boyfriend.

The “normals” of McKinley High might be quick to write her behavior off as post-traumatic stress, but warlock Raj McKenna is the only person who suspects Gray has returned from the dead.

Now Gray has to solve the mystery of her death and resurrection and disentangle herself from Charlene’s body before she disappears for good.


Duplicity by Nikki Jefford
Duplicity (Spellbound #2)
By Nikki Jefford
Publication Date:
March 20, 2012
Goodreads

Synopsis:

If Graylee Perez thought sharing a body with her twin sister was bad, dealing with a duplicate of herself is two times worse. Gray the second doesn’t seem to get that Lee’s boyfriend, Raj McKenna, is off limits. Then there’s the problem of Adrian Montez. He expects one of the Grays to be his.

Nearly a year later, the council is onto them for past misdeeds; Lee, along with the rest of the coven, has lost control of her powers; and Gray is being stalked by what looks like the Grim Reaper.

If they work together, they may stand a chance of setting things right and making it out alive.


Enchantment by Nikki Jefford
Enchantment (Spellbound #3)
By Nikki Jefford
Publication Date:
April 2013
Goodreads

Synopsis:

In the third and final installment of the Spellbound series, Graylee Perez (the duplicate), goes to Spain for a summer of escape. There she meets new friends and comes face to face with her old adversary, Adrian Montez.

When Gray tries to set up a spell that will banish Adrian from her life, she inadvertently falls under a love spell instead.

Charlene returns, having hijacked a new body, for one final battle between the twins.

Purchase the Spellbound series:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | The Book Depository



** Excerpt **

"Being Charlene," from Entangled (Spellbound #1):

IN THIS SCENE: After Graylee Perez is brought back to life she must pretend to be her twin sister Charlene while she’s stuck sharing her body. To “help” her out, Charlene has started a communications notebook instructing Gray on ‘How to be Charlene.’

“. . . for now I’m supposed to pretend to be Charlene?”

Mom brought a notebook over. “Yes, and your sister left some notes to help you out.”

Gray stared at the notebook a moment before taking it. She flipped it open.

NO MORE PIZZA, YOU PIG!!! I GAINED 2 POUNDS BECAUSE OF YOU!

No wearing your clothes in public. I will choose an outfit for you to wear to school on the days you’re me.

Hair must be worn down. No pig tails, pony tails, hair clips or goofy Princess Leia style buns on the side of your head.

No leaving the house without makeup. I have taped examples and tips in the following pages on how to create a smoky eye.

Gray flipped back to several pages of magazine print and step-by-step illustrated guides for creating a smoldering look. She flipped back to the front page.

No speaking to anyone at McKinley who isn’t on the approved list (see the following pages). Don’t even think about trying to visit with your old friends unless you want to get us committed to an insane asylum.

Absolutely no—UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES—having sex with Blake.

Ewwww!

Gray looked up, her face still contorted. “Did you read this?”

Mom was putting away the brown sugar. “No, Charlene told me not to.”

“And you listened to her?”

Mom looked directly at Gray. “She said it was private.”

More like psychotic.


About Nikki Jefford

Nikki Jefford is a third generation Alaskan who loves fictional bad boys and heroines who kick butt. She writes edgy teen fiction, including the Spellbound Trilogy and Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter.

Nikki married Sébastien, the love of her life, while working as a teaching assistant in France. They now reside in the not-so-tropical San Juan Islands, 70 miles northeast of Forks, Washington.

You can find Nikki on her website, Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter.


** Giveaway **

Open internationally and ends on December 27, 2012.
Enter using the Rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway