Book Review & Giveaway: Written in Red by Anne Bishop

No one creates realms like New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop. Now in a thrilling new fantasy series, enter a world inhabited by the Others, unearthly entities—vampires and shape-shifters among them—who rule the Earth and whose prey are humans. 

As a cassandra sangue, or blood prophet, Meg Corbyn can see the future when her skin is cut—a gift that feels more like a curse. Meg’s Controller keeps her enslaved so he can have full access to her visions. But when she escapes, the only safe place Meg can hide is at the Lakeside Courtyard—a business district operated by the Others. 

Shape-shifter Simon Wolfgard is reluctant to hire the stranger who inquires about the Human Liaison job. First, he senses she’s keeping a secret, and second, she doesn’t smell like human prey. Yet a stronger instinct propels him to give Meg the job. And when he learns the truth about Meg and that she’s wanted by the government, he’ll have to decide if she’s worth the fight between humans and the Others that will surely follow.

Read an excerpt here!

~*~My Review~*~

Full disclosure, I have never heard of Anne Bishop before July 2014. While on my many rounds through the publishers' booth, I saw a stack of Written in Red paperbacks on a table. The "booth babe" was well versed in urban fantasy authors and enthusiastically recommended Anne's Written in Red. I honestly didn't give it a second thought until I started going through my SDCC haul. I completely devoured the book and wanted more! This book was well written with filled with creative storylines. The characters were interesting and very likeable. By the end of the book, I was converted  into an Anne Bishop fan. I wanted to read everything that I could get my hands on. Then, I got sucked into Anne's Black Jewel trilogy/universe, but that's a story for another time. Back to Written in Red, I absolutely loved this book. It started off a little slow with some eyebrow raising-are-you-serious? moments, but as the story progress and the characters' background expanded, I began to fall in love with this series. Anne Bishop is definitely getting some space on my shelf.


The book starts off with our leading lady, cs759 a.k.a Meg Corbyn. Meg is a cassandra sangue and can see visions by cutting her skin. Meg is kept in a facility that uses her to gain profits for The Controller, head honcho of the facility. One winter day, Meg manages to escape the compound and end up in the Northeast city of Lakeside. Another cool thing about this world is that the geography is so much more different than how we know it. Lakeside is one of the major human populated cities in Thaisia (continent-- a.k.a USA, Mexico and possibly Canada, though it's not really specific) Each major city has a "Courtyard" of terra indigene (a.k.a The Others, earth natives). It really helps to read the prologue because it gives a more detailed history of how Thaisia and other continents came to be.

In a world where shape-shifters and vampires are at the top of the food chain, human living is pretty regulated and there's plenty of mistrust from both sides. Meg stumbles into Howling Good Reads and applies for the position of Lakeside Courtyard Human Liaison. Simon Wolfgard is in charge of the Lakeside Courtyard and is suspicious at first, but hires Meg to keep an eye on her. She confuses him because she doesn't smell like other humans, like prey. Soon enough, Meg slowly earns the trust and protection from most if not all of the Others that live in the Courtyard. Meg is happy where she is, but that doesn't last long. The Controller is looking for her and won't stop until he gets his property back. (What a jerk) 

Throughout the book we're introduced to some major players that will make recurring appearances; like Monty, a lieutenant who recently transferred to Lakeside due to scandal from his past or Vlad Sanguinati, the vampire messenger/enforcer of the Courtyard or Tess, a terra indigene of unknown origin. Without a doubt, Written in Red was one of my favorite reads this year. Bravo, Anne.

5 stars!!

~*~About Anne Bishop~*~

Anne Bishop lives in upstate New York where she enjoys gardening, music, and writing dark, romantic stories. She is the author of fourteen novels, including the award-winning Black Jewels Trilogy. Her most recent novel,Twilight’s Dawn, made the New York Times bestsellers list. She is currently working on a new series, which is an urban dark fantasy with a bit of a twist.

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~*~Giveaway~*~

Up for grabs is a SIGNED paperback copy of Written in Red 

(the seagull and laptop is not included in the giveaway)
a Rafflecopter giveaway