Monday 30 July 2012

MINI REVIEW - Shadows (Lux #0.5) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: Shadows
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Lux #0.5
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Release date: February 21st 2012
Genres: YA Sci-fi Romance
Links: Goodreads / Amazon
Source: Bought ebook

Summary:
The last thing Dawson Black expected was Bethany Williams. As a Luxen, an alien life form on Earth, human girls are…well, fun. But since the Luxen have to keep their true identities a secret, falling for one would be insane.

Dangerous. Tempting. Undeniable.

Bethany can’t deny the immediate connection between her and Dawson. And even though boys aren’t a complication she wants, she can’t stay away from him. Still, whenever they lock eyes, she’s drawn in.

Captivated. Lured. Loved.

Dawson is keeping a secret that will change her existence...and put her life in jeopardy. But even he can’t stop risking everything for one human girl. Or from a fate that is as unavoidable as love itself.




5/5

I just...I just can't deal with this anymore. Jennifer is turning me into a big mushy mess! I just love this series so much. Dawson was just perfect. He was so sweet and caring and so swoon-worthy! I loved Beth as well, even though I would have liked to get to know her a bit more. But I can't deal with that ending! I need Onyx NOW before I have a complete meltdown. Seriously woman what are you trying to do to me?! If you haven't started this series yet then your life is not complete and I pity you for what you are missing out on. I'm going to go curl into a ball now and cry until I have Onyx in my hands.




Sunday 22 July 2012

Showcase Sunday (#9)


Showcase Sunday is a new weekly meme hosted by Vicky @ Books Biscuits and Tea. If you'd like to join see HERE for more details.


Yvonne


Bought: Night Huntress series books 2-6
Received from author: Ignition [Thanks so much to the author! I loved this book :)]
Won from Treasured Tales for Young Adults: Affliction and Laney bookmarks



T

Bought:






What did you get this week?

Monday 16 July 2012

Cover Reveal: Inbetween by Tara Fuller

About the Author:

Tara Fuller writes novels. Some about grim reapers. Some about witches. All of course are delightfully full of teen angst and kissing. Tara grew up in a one stop light town in Oklahoma where once upon a time she stayed up with a flash light reading RL Stine novels and only dreamed of becoming a writer. She has a slight obsession with music and a shameless addiction for zombie fiction, Mystery Science Theater, and black and white mochas. Tara no longer lives in a one stop light town. Now she lives with her family in a slightly larger town in North Carolina where they have at least three stoplights.

Where you can find Tara:

Go to Tara’s website to read the prologue! http://www.tarafuller.com/



Book Summary:

Since the car crash that took her father’s life two years ago, Emma’s life has been a freaky—and unending—lesson in caution. Surviving “accidents” has taken priority over being a normal seventeen-year-old, so Emma spends her days taking pictures of life instead of living it. Falling in love with a boy was never part of the plan. Falling for a reaper who makes her chest ache and her head spin? Not an option.

It’s not easy being dead; especially for a reaper in love with a girl fate has put on his list not once, but twice. Finn’s fellow reapers give him hell about spending time with Emma, but Finn couldn’t let her die before, and he’s not about to let her die now. He will protect the girl he loves from the evil he accidentally unleashed, even if it means sacrificing the only thing he has left. His soul.
Publication Date: August, 2012
Imprint: Entangled Teen
Novel length: 400 pages
Format: Trade paperback and eBook
Add Inbetween to Goodreads
Pre order: Amazon/Barnes & Noble/The Book Depository/Books A Million




Book Trailer: 









And now for the cover. Are you ready?











Ta da!




So what do you think? If I'm being really honest, I have to say I prefer the other cover :/ It just caught my eye more, especially the green writing. 


Yvonne

Sunday 15 July 2012

Showcase Sunday (#8)


Showcase Sunday is a new weekly meme hosted by Vicky @ Books Biscuits and Tea. This will now replace our In My Mailbox posts. If you'd like to join see HERE for more details.


Yvonne
Bought:




T

Bought:




What did you get this week?

Wednesday 11 July 2012

Waiting on Wednesday (#17)


Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine,
which spotlights upcoming books we can't wait to read.


My WoW for this week is:

Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices #3) by Cassandra Clare

Goodreads Summary:
In Clockwork Princess, Tessa and her companions travel all over the world as they race to stop the clockwork army before it’s too late. As Jem’s health worsens alarmingly and his friends search desperately for a cure, can Tessa choose between the two boys she loves—even if it means never seeing the other one again?

My thoughts:
I absolutely LOVE the cover! It is just gorgeous! But why oh why must it be so far away!?! I can't wait that long! I must know how it ends!

Expected Release Date: March 19th 2013


What book are you waiting for?


Yvonne

Monday 9 July 2012

REVIEW - Black Dawn (Morganville Vampires #12) by Rachel Caine

Title: Black Dawn 
Author: Rachel Caine
Series: Morganville Vampires #12
Genre: YA Paranormal
Publisher: Allison & Busby
Published: 1st May 2012
Links: Goodreads Amazon
Source: Bought paperback

Summary:
Ever since the draug--mysterious creatures that prey on vampires--took over Morganville, the lives of student Claire Danvers and her friends have been thrown into turmoil. Most of the town's residents have evacuated, but Claire, Shane, Eve and Michael have chosen to stay and fight. Using the city's water system to spread, the draug have rapidly multiplied. Things in Morganville look grim, especially since vampire Amelie--the town founder--has been infected by the master draug's bite. Now, if Claire and her friends don't figure out how to cure Amelie and defeat the draug, it looks like Morganville will become little more than a ghost town...



5/5

I think this is without a doubt the best one yet! I have loved this series from book 1 and it just keeps getting better and better with every book. Rachel Caine has really outdone herself in this installment.
The story picks up right where book 11 left off. All seems lost as the draug's terror becomes more widespread throughout Morganville, and with Amelie slowing turning after being bitten by Magnus, the master draug, the hope of the town and it's residents seems very grim. 
I love the characters that Caine has created. The gang, Claire, Shane, Eve and Michael, have all been through so much and yet they are still standing, not ready to give up without a fight. Tensions are high between Eve and Michael after the events at the end of book 11. Claire and Shane also have their troubles and we get to see a side of Shane not seen before. Myrnin is back in all his craziness and even though he makes some very questionable decisions, I still have a soft spot for him. He is one of my favourite characters out of the entire series, I just love him :)
There is no shortage of action and tension in this book. It is very fast-paced and will have you glued to the page, waiting to see what will happen next. 
The only complaint I have is that I think there were too many different POVs. Normally I don't mind multiple POVs as I think you get a better understanding of what is going on but in this instance I think there were too many. We have Claire, Shane, Michael, Eve, Oliver and Naomi. Although we do get a better understanding of how Oliver and Naomi think, I still feel like we could have done without them. Shane on the other hand I was very happy about getting more of a focus. I love him so much and my heart broke for him in this. He goes through so much and it just made me love him even more. His and Claire's relationship grows a lot in this as they become closer and grow as people. Shane as always brings some humor to the book but he also brings a seriousness as well. Some of my favourite quotes come from him.

Romance, action, tension, humor, there is everything you could want in this series. Getting better and better with every book, I can't wait to see what is in store for the gang in book 13! :) And to think, after 12 books, my love for this series only increases with every book. Now THAT is something any author should be proud of. :)



Sunday 8 July 2012

Epic Giveaway!

Do we have any fans of The Night Marchers series? Well then you will want to check out this giveaway. In celebration of the upcoming release of Project ELE, the authors are holding an epic giveaway on their blog. Just click on the link below and enter to be in with the chance of winning an eARC of Project ELE and other awesome prizes.


http://nightmarchersseries.blogspot.ie/2012/07/epic-giveaway.html?showComment=1341748334009

Showcase Sunday (#7)


Showcase Sunday is a new weekly meme hosted by Vicky @ Books Biscuits and Tea. This will now replace our In My Mailbox posts. If you'd like to join see HERE for more details.


Yvonne
Bought:
I received the bookmark from the author :)

Won:

Won the ebook of both of these.





T

Bought:




What did you get this week?

Saturday 7 July 2012

Witness Blog Tour: Author Interview & Giveaway

Once again I am so excited to be a part of Jamie Magee's Blog Tour. This time she is touring to promote Witness.  You will find the summary of both books below and you can find my review for See HERE


Summary of See:

Forgetting who you are, your ambitions, your passions is crippling….but remembering – embracing your purpose with a new sense of determination is more than empowering….it's life altering. Charlie Myers is on a life altering path that will cause the dammed to humble in silence.

One night…just a few friends, how could it go so wrong? That was the question seventeen year old Charlie Myers was asking when she found herself in the ER. Outwardly nothing was wrong with Charlie, she was a vision of perfect heath, internally she was battling a raging headache…one the doctor told her she would overcome shortly, but Charlie knew something else was wrong …very wrong.

Part of her had been stolen…she was missing memories. Those memories were sacred. They held the key to her sanity. They told her that the sinister whispers, the shadows that came to life before her were not as ominous as she felt they were. They held the bond with her late father, a famed musician. They caused her to forget the one talent that allowed her to face the darkness that haunted her every waking hour. They also masked a much deeper bond, the face of the one that had stolen her heart, long before the age of seventeen.

Sitting in the ER with her angry mother she couldn’t figure out what she was missing, or even how. Her thoughts told her that she needed to protect Britain, a friend of hers, but that didn’t make any sense – Britain didn’t need to be protected from anyone, he was strong, young, and absurdly wealthy. Charlie also knew that even though her friend Bianca called Charlie her best friend, she didn’t trust her …she was almost sure she despised her, but she couldn’t figure out why, or understand how random thoughts were telling her that she adored both Britain and Bianca – that they were her saviors – that they brought silence to the unstoppable whispers, but the silence scared Charlie. In her mind anyone or anything that could bring silence to something that dark could not be good.

Charlie wanted to stay in NY, figure out what she was missing, why, and who was behind it all, but her mother had other plans. Against her will, Charlie was sent to Salem to live with her sister, within that small town Charlie found her memories and so much more.

Her story begins now.


Summary of Witness:

Forgetting who you are is hard, but not as hard as remembering. Remembering that you have no idea how to face your demons, how to save the lost.
Charlie is at a sacred threshold.The ‘glass box’, as she calls it, is slowly falling. Her childhood has ended. The moment she has yearned for, the moment where she can go and do anything, anything at all without seeking permission is now. She’d dreamed of this time, all of her friends had, but now that it’s here, she doesn't know which way to run, or if she should even run at all.
Charlie knew that running would be a goodbye forever, and she didn’t want that, she wanted to freeze the time she was in, to stay in the calm before the storm, the illusion that she could out wit the ones who seek her, hold the one she loves, and play the music that gives her passion. She’ll soon discover no one can hide from their fate, that time does not stop in place, and that whether she chooses to perceive it or not, the darkness has come.
What Charlie feared most, losing him, is a threat now more than ever. A realm, a dark and twisted dream world has called him, and now she must fight to save him, and others like him. Standing in her way is a soul from another life, a boy that promises that he will destroy her world, to save her life. With this threat in hand, with the dark path that her friends are on, Charlie must fight to find a way to leave, to trust that beyond her dimension there are souls that can help her, help all of them. The only question is, will she find them before it's to late, and if she can't, how is she going to use her gift, the gifts they all share to save them.



Links:

Blog 



Author Interview:


1) Who or what first inspired you to be a writer or did you always want to be a writer?

I can't really pinpoint an author or a moment that I decided to become a writer. Unlike most writers I did not grow up lost in a book or writing short stories. Before I wrote my debut novel Insight I’d never written anything I was not instructed to.
On a different note I did grow up lost in a daydream. I daydreamed so often that I literally spent no time in the real world. I would wake with a daydream, play it out in my mind all day, then as I closed my eyes at night I would escort that daydream into my dream world. I honestly thought everyone had that habit, that daydreaming on the level that I did was not only ordinary, but in no way suggested that I should become an author.
One day a daydream struck me at my core, it was deeper and more complicated than anything I’d ever hashed out in my thoughts, simply because it was not based on real life events, a book I’d read, a movie I’d seen, or even a song I'd heard. It was it’s own life force and I had to know where it was leading me. So, I opened a word document on a borrowed laptop, and inevitably began my career.



2) If you weren’t a writer what else could you see yourself doing?


Before becoming a writer I had the all American life, married, children, and a intense career in business. All of those aspects are still in play along with the added career as an author. I can honestly say that there is not another career or life I would wish for. Every day I strive for the moment when I will have more time to write the endless daydreams out that dance in my thoughts constantly. I look forward to exploring this earth with my family, to discovering more people and places that will inspire me beyond my imagination.



3) Who/what are some of your favorite authors/books?

Favorite is such a strong word, especially considering the insane amount of genres in both fiction and non fiction. The time of the year and what I’m going through in my life is usually mirrored in the novels on my nook.
I just spent the last week devouring The Night Huntress Series by Jeanine Frost, before that I re-read the Dark Tower Series by Stephen King, and before that I read everything that Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell had ever written ( I'm obsessed with their philosophy.)
As you can see my range of taste is widely varied. I will read almost anything to satisfy my unsatisfiable curiosity.



4) Which series did you find the hardest to write, Insight or See?

They both had their challenging moments, the first and fourth of both series have proven to be the hardest. The first is a challenge because its uncharted waters, the characters have to be introduced, developed, the entire story has to build a base point, one that can grow into a new story. The fourth for me has been challenging simply because by that point, the first major conflicts have been resolved, and now new ones, a new base must be established, with those novels the challenge is not developing the characters, it’s taking them to the next level, the desire to top your last novels intensity yet hold on to the realism that caused the characters to be so likable in the first place.
I love to be challenged though, so even though the first and the fourth of both series gave me a run for my money, I had the most fun writing them.



5) Who is your favorite character from your books?

That would be like choosing a favorite child, absolutely impossible. All of them bring something to the story that would be irreplaceable. There are moments when even as I write their words out I find myself furious with them, but I have come to realize that this is their story and I’m just the vessel they chose to use. 

I adore and hate them all equally :)



6) Where do you get your ideas for your books?


They literally come from everywhere. One of the hooks to the Insight series is the ‘String’ the way those characters travel to different dimensions. The idea to use that came while talking to a business associate about what they watched on T.V the night before, turns out she was a science geek in hiding and was all to happy to explain the ‘string theory’ to me.


Music has been a huge catalyst for me as well, and its not always, actually rarely, the lyrics, but more so the emotions behind the sound. When that sound is incorporated with my daydream new ideas blossom and pave the road I must walk down.



7) Music plays a very central role in See and it shows us how the power of music can help us through the hardest times. What sort of music do you listen to when you are feeling down and need a pick me up?

I LOVE alternative music, it is such a broad range of sounds that almost every emotion can be felt when playing it loud and proud. On the other hand I will listen to almost anything that has a guitar or heavy beat laced within the lyrics.


8) What to you is the best thing about being an author?

Beyond the story it is definitely the readers! I can not explain how amazing it feels when you open your inbox and see a message from someone who took the time to read your daydream and liked it. It’s mind blowing for me to consider that someone I may never meet has shared something very special with me.


9) Have you any book ideas lined up for when you finish your current series’?

As these series collide, on the horizon, I can see that another story, at least a novella must be written for two of the characters that appear in both stories. When I entertain that thought more ideas for spin off series or entirely new ones start to invade my thoughts, right now I’m just taking it one story at a time and writing down the ideas that come to me in a journal for when their time comes.



10) What advice would you give to people who want to be writers?

Write! If you are truly meant to be a writer a story is already inside you. Write it down, and when you do, no matter what, do not let any negative thoughts come to you. Do not worry if no other soul will ever read it, or love it as much as you. All that matters is that you love it, that you wrote the story that was inside you, and you did so without allowing anyone to influence your own personal style or world you have created. There is only one soul on this planet that can write that story, and it’s you.



Giveaway:

Jamie is giving away 1 ebook each of SEE and Witness to one lucky commenter. Witness is not released until the 19th of this month so you will also get to read it early! Jamie also has some awesome swag, bookmarks and  guitar picks to giveaway along with the ebooks. 


To be in with a chance of winning ebooks of See and Witness here on our blog all you have to do is just leave us a comment. Simple right? :) Just leave us your email in the comment and we will choose a winner on July 11th. (And yes it is International)

But wait there's more! Jamie will be choosing a winner from all the commenters on the entire tour to win printed copies of both SEE and Witness, along with a $25 gift card to Amazon (swag bookmarks and picks too) and this is also international.  So you can see the list of participants below and make sure to visit and comment on their blogs for more chance to win.

Thanks for stopping by and good luck! :)



Tour Stops:


July 6th Seduced By Books - http://seducedbybooks.blogspot.com/ 

July 7th The Shadow Realm -  http://xtheshadowrealmx.blogspot.com/

July 8th The Cozy Reader - http://thecozyreader.com/

July 11th MoonStars Fantasy World - http://moonstarsfantasyworld.blogspot.com/

July 12th The Reading Geek -  http://thereadinggeek.blogspot.com/

July 13th Lovey Dovey Books - http://www.loveydoveybooks.blogspot.com/

July 14th The Lovely Books - http://jessicaslovelybooks.blogspot.com/

July 15th Sassy Book Lovers -  http://sassybooklovers.blogspot.com/

July 15th  Delphina Reads Too Much - http://www.delphinareadstoomuch.com/


July 16th Between the Lines -  http://www.betweenthelinesbookblog.com/

July 18th Paranormal Reads - http://paranormalreadsreviews.blogspot.com/

July 19th WITNESS RELEASE DATE

July 19th Better Read Than Dead - http://www.angelsdemonsandvampires.com/

July 20th Book Reader Addicts - http://bookreaderaddictsgiveaways.blogspot.com/

July 20th Parnormal Books Fan  http://paranormalbookfan.blogspot.com/

July 21 Taking it One Book at a Time - http://takingitonebookatatime.blogspot.com/

July 23rd Insane About Books - http://insaneaboutbooks.blogspot.com/

July 24th Lovey Dovey Books - http://www.loveydoveybooks.blogspot.com/

July 25th D's Bookworld - http://ds-bookworld.blogspot.de