Review.
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| (ARC) Black Heart Blue - Louisa Reid (Penguin Australia) Arise (Hereafter #2) - Tara Hudson (Harper Collins Australia) |
Brought.
Saturday, 30 June 2012
In My Mailbox (34).
Book Review (104). The Half-Breed Vampire - Theresa Meyers
The Half-Breed Vampire (Sons of Midnight #3)
Publication: 21st February 2012
Publisher: Harlequin
Pages: 288
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Age Appropriate: Adult
Ignorant of his true heritage, half-breed Slade Donovan is fated to feel like an outsider among his clan. Until a mysterious woman arrives with the ability to unlock his secrets—and make him crave a future he never believed he could have….As a game warden, Raina Ravenwing has only one mission in the Cascade Mountains: to hunt down a pack of rare wolves that is terrorizing her tribe. Her instant attraction to Slade is a distraction the beautiful wolf whisperer can't afford, unless she agrees to let him help her. Yet working so closely together only intensifies their passion…even as the unfolding truth of Slade's identity threatens everything Raina holds sacred.
My Thoughts.
I've long been a fan of Mills & Boon/Harlequin books, I remember when I was a teenager I used to read all of my Mum's old one's and they used to be all I ever read and then for reasons unknown I stopped reading them, then after Twilight I got into the paranormal genre and was delighted to find that Harlequin had moved along with me and released the Nocturne series all to do with every paranormal creature that you could imagine, and I soon started collecting them and I'm glad to say that I haven't read a bad book in the series since.
This book is the third book in the Sons Of Midnight series, I didn't realise until I started reading it that I had obviously not read the first two books.
So while I did feel like I may have missed out on some important information to do with the specific storyline and the lore of the vampires and werewolves, it was still an enjoyable story.
The story starts with Slade a vampire tracking werewolves in the forest when he comes across Raina a police officer, after wiping her memory he is surprised when he finds her at work the next day and he is told that they are partnering up to investigate some missing people and the appearance of wolves, being the best tracker around Slade helps her to find out what is going on.
Slade who has no memory of his life before he was eight and found homeless will find out about his history, the fact that Raina knows who his parents are and the connection she has to Slade's past.
I really liked that the vampires in this story are different from others I read about and it gave the vampire lore a fresh twist.
I will definitely be seeking out the previous book in the series to find out what I've missed.
I give this 4/5.
The story starts with Slade a vampire tracking werewolves in the forest when he comes across Raina a police officer, after wiping her memory he is surprised when he finds her at work the next day and he is told that they are partnering up to investigate some missing people and the appearance of wolves, being the best tracker around Slade helps her to find out what is going on.
Slade who has no memory of his life before he was eight and found homeless will find out about his history, the fact that Raina knows who his parents are and the connection she has to Slade's past.
I really liked that the vampires in this story are different from others I read about and it gave the vampire lore a fresh twist.
I will definitely be seeking out the previous book in the series to find out what I've missed.
I give this 4/5.
Cover Reveal: MILA 2.0 - Debra Driza
MILA 2.0 (Untitled #1)
by Debra Driza
Pitched as a "Bourne Identity"-type sci-fi thriller about a teenage girl who discovers that she is a Mobile Intel Life-like Android, an experiment in artificial intelligence created by the U.S. government, and her scientist mother, who kidnapped her when she was found to have human emotions.
Expected publication: March 12th 2013 by Katherine Tegen Books
Cover Reveal: Fragments- Dan Wells
Fragments (Partials #2)
by Dan Wells
Expected publication: February 26th 2013 by HarperCollins Publishers
Thursday, 28 June 2012
Feature And Follow Friday (32).
Q: Q: Birthday Wishes — Blow out the candles and imagine what character could pop out of your cake…who is it and what book are they from??
Not that this should be a shock to anyone who knows me or has read previous answers on Feature Friday but I would chose Edward Cullen from Twilight, my infinite book crush, he can watch me sleep anytime! *wink,wink*.
Cover Reveal: Through The Ever Night - Veronica Rossi
Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky #2)
Expected publication: January 8th 2013 by HarperCollins
Blog Tour: Gone At Zero Hundred Hours 00:00 - C.R Hiatt
I am participating in the virtual blog tour for Gone At Zero Hundred Hours 00:00 Today.
Blurb.
"Their lives are in the hands of two 18 year-olds..."
Sydney Marie McSwain - a tomboy who yearned for a father.
Cody Beck - a wannabe filmmaker, wisenheimer and flirt.
Jaden White - the star who led the high school hockey team to two championships, and was now on the A-list for NHL scouts.
Sydney Marie McSwain loves her mom, Anna - a private investigator in the coastal city where they live - but they had a major issue between them. Anna refused to give Sydney the identity of her father. On the day of her high school graduation, they were battling it out, once again. An hour later, Sydney, Cody and Jaden were at the local café, and watched as Anna was gunned down.
Faced with immediate responsibility, Sydney and Cody agreed to take over the agency, only they changed the name to McSwain & Beck. At the same time, Sydney convinced Sutter Beach Detective, Ace Carter, to help her track down her father.
Then out of the blue, a model walked in and hired them to follow her step-brother. While Cody was busy editing a trailer to solicit new clients, Sydney settled into her lemon-yellow pickup to do surveillance, and wound up staking out a secret club called The Devil’s Door whose suspicious members wore the tattoo of a devil.
That same night, Sydney received a call from one of her mom’s former clients, but the client was gunned down at the location where they agreed to meet. The mysterious discovery of a DVD revealed the possibility that teenagers were being abducted, only nobody reported them missing.
On the hunt for the victims, McSwain & Beck were chased by men in ski masks, nearly gunned down by a members of a drug cartel called the outlaws, Sydney’s precious pickup was broken into; then the step-brother they were hired to follow, was found dead and Sydney was the number one suspect.
If things weren’t bad enough already, they had to figure out how to crash a red-carpet Mardi Gras bash being held on a private cruise ship, before it sailed off into the sunset, where they just might meet the devil, himself.
Now, the clock was ticking…
And time was running out…
How was she ever going to find her father, now?
Excerpt.
Then, a guy who called himself, J.C., pulled up to the firehouse on a juiced up Harley
Davidson claiming to be her attorney.I met up with him outside when I heard the sound of the
exhaust. He took off his skull and bones helmet, and followed me into the firehouse wearing a
leather vest and a pair of chaps. I thought he looked more like a member of the Sons of Anarchy,
and found myself wondering if he wore his get up when he faced a judge in court.
"As I said on the phone", he started as he followed me inside.
"I was hired by your mother to take care of her personal affairs". He glanced around the firehouse with admiration; then offered
a handshake to Jaden and Cody who were there for support.
In the old days, the fire trucks sat in the bay just inside the firehouse garage doors. Now, it
was where my mom set up the office. There was a desk with chairs, a wall of filing cabinets, and
a mechanical bull-riding machine. Yes, you read that right, a bull-riding machine. One thing my
mom and I did like to do together I was check out the local flea markets. You could find the
coolest things. My mom said the mechanical bull was better than a treadmill any day. A couple
minutes a day and you were sure to wind up with six-pack abs. She bought it and I was hooked.
To the right, there was a locker room cluttered with old turnout gear, fire boots and helmets
that were left over from volunteer firemen. A small dispatch office with an alarm box sat just
inside the front door, and a set of stairs led to the second floor - the living quarters.
J.C. pulled a stack of papers out of a leather satchel then we all sat around the desk. For the
next hour, he read through the contents of my mom's will, and informed me of my financial
responsibilities from now on. He also confirmed something I knew, but had never seen the
physical proof - until now.
My mom received a cashier's check from an 'unknown individual' on the first of every month. He said the checks would continue until I turned twenty - one. I knew they were from my father, but I still couldn't understand why his identity
was such a big secret.
Listening to J.C. ramble on and on about my new responsibilities, I wanted to crawl into bed,
pull the covers over my head and dream it all away, but that wasn't an option. I had to grow up,
and fast.
Wednesday, 27 June 2012
(ARC) Book Review (103) Temptation - Karen Ann Hopkins
Temptation (Temptation #1)
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Publication:1st July 2012
Publisher: Harlequin Teen Australia
Pages: 383
Genre: Contemporary/Romance
Age Appropriate: Young Adult
Your heart misleads you. That's what my friends and family say. But I love Noah. And he loves me. We met and fell in love in the sleepy farming community of Meadowview, while we rode our horses together through the grassy fields and in those moments in each other's arms. It should be ROSE & NOAH forever, easy. But it won't be. Because he's Amish. And I'm not.
My Thoughts.
They say that forbidden fruit is the sweetest, you always want what you can't have!
A tale of two people from totally different worlds meet and fall in love, and do everything they can to stay together, they'll defy their families to be with one another, this is a Romeo and Juliet story set in our time.
This book gives you an insight into the Amish community that you never really read about.
I'd noticed this book around quite a bit on Goodreads before I received my review copy and I was a bit hesitant to add it to my list of books that I want to read, I think it was the subject of being about Amish people, (I don't agree with their ways at all) that made me ignore it, and then I received a copy in the mail and I though alright I'll at least give it a go and I found that I loved it!
It was a case of love/lust at first sight for Rose and Noah, after moving into Meadowview with her father and two brothers Sam and Justin after the death of her mother they are greeted by their Amish neighbours and invited to dinner.
And it's at dinner that Rose realises the differences between both the families (where the Amish still think it's the 1800's, and while they say they care about their women they are treated like they don't exist, all they seem to be there for are to do housework and produce a heap of kids as they don't believe in birth -control, and are made to stand in line at meals while the men fill their plates and only then after they've sat down can they then go and eat themselves).
I can go on and on because the subject really gets me riled up, and while I can understand that Rose and Noah are in love and want to be together he expects her to make all the sacrifices and tries to get her to act as a proper Amish woman should.
So because I was getting frustrated with all the male chauvinism I just tried to ignore the fact of who Noah was and concentrated on the romance between the two instead, after admitting their feelings to each other they both had to resort to sneaking around to be able to see each other, of course Sam finds out and isn't happy about the fact that they're together hoping that it's just a fad and that they'll break up.
As I said I did love this book for the romance only, Rose and Noah make such a sweet couple and you're cheering them on the whole way through.
I'm interested to know what happens in the next book after what happens at the end of this one, and to see how this whole relationship plays out.
I give this 4/5.
A Big Thanks To Harlequin Teen Australia.
Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Waiting On Wednesday.
Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking The Spine where you can spotlight an upcoming release that you're eagerly anticipating.
The Summer Prince
Four hundred years ago, the world ended. And now, on the coast of what was once called Brazil, women rule in the legendary pyramid city of Palmares Três. The city's Queen only cedes her power to a man once every five years -- to a Summer King, whose story will grip the city like a fever.For June Costa, art is everything. Her brilliant creations -- from murals and holograms to a delicate pattern of lights in her skin -- have impressed (and irritated) her classmates and teachers alike. Her dream is to win the prestigious Queen's Award, and the instant fame and success that come with it. It's a dream she never questions -- until she meets Enki. Enki, the newly-elected Summer King, is the hottest thing in Palmares Três. But when June sees Enki, she sees more than piercing amber eyes and a lethal samba: She sees a fellow artist.
Together, June and Enki will create art that Palmares Três will never forget. They will add fuel to a growing rebellion against the government's strict limits on new tech. And June will fall deeply, tragically in love with Enki.
Because like all Summer Kings before him, Enki is destined to die.
Expected publication: March 2013 by Scholastic
Inhuman (Fetch #1)
by Kat Falls
In a world ravaged by mutation, a teenage girl must travel into the forbidden Savage Zone to recover lost artifacts or her father's life is forfeit.America has been ravaged by a war that has left the eastern half of the country riddled with mutation. Many of the people there exhibit varying degrees of animal traits. Even the plantlife has gone feral.
Crossing from west to east is supposed to be forbidden, but sometimes it's necessary. Some enter the Savage Zone to provide humanitarian relief. Sixteen-year-old Lane's father goes there to retrieve lost artifacts--he is a Fetch. It's a dangerous life, but rewarding--until he's caught.
Desperate to save her father, Lane agrees to complete his latest job. That means leaving behind her life of comfort and risking life and limb--and her very DNA--in the Savage Zone. But she's not alone. In order to complete her objective, Lane strikes a deal with handsome, roguish Rafe. In exchange for his help as a guide, Lane is supposed to sneak him back west. But though Rafe doesn't exhibit any signs of "manimal" mutation, he's hardly civilized . . . and he may not be trustworthy.
Expected publication: March 2013 by Scholastic
Revel
There's an island off the coast of Maine that's not on any modern map. Shrouded in mist and protected by a deadly reef, Trespass Island is home to a community of people who guard the island and its secrets from outsiders. Seventeen-year-old Delia grew up in Kansas, but has come here in search of her family and answers to her questions: Why didn't her mother ever talk about Trespass Island? Why did she fear the open water? But Delia's not welcome and soon finds herself enmeshed in a frightening and supernatural world where ancient Greek symbols adorn the buildings and secret ceremonies take place on the beach at night. Sean Gunn, a handsome young lobsterman, befriends Delia and seems willing to risk his life to protect her. But it's Jax, the coldly elusive young man she meets at the water's edge, who finally makes Delia understand the real dangers of life on the island. Delia is going to have to fight to survive. Because there are monsters here. And no one ever leaves Trespass alive.
Expected publication: February 12th 2013 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Full Blooded (Jessica McClain #1)
After living in hiding for the last twenty-six years, Jessica wakes up to find she's become a full-blooded werewolf -- claws, fangs, fur, everything. It was never supposed to happen: female werewolves don't exist. When a mercenary killer comes looking for her, her Pack finds themselves caught in the middle of a war. They must rise up to protect her, but no one knows if she's means the end of their race-or just a new beginning.
Expected publication: September 1st 2012 by Orbit
Cover Reveal: Sever - Lauren DeStefano
Sever (The Chemical Garden #3)
In the first two books of the Chemical Garden trilogy, Wither and Fever, Rhine struggles to escape the mansion and then to navigate the brutal world outside. Now in Sever, the third and final book, Rhine uncovers some shattering truths about the past that her parents never had the chance to tell her and the alarming implications regarding her own genes. She may be the one who can save the human race.
Expected publication: February 12th 2013 by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Cover Reveal: The Indigo Spell - Richelle Mead
Sunday, 24 June 2012
Book Review (102): Night Beach - Kirsty Eagar
Night Beach
by Kirsty Eagar
Publication: 26th April 2012
Publisher: Penguin Books Australia
Pages: 324
Genre: Paranormal
Age Appropriate: Young Adult
Imagine there is someone you like so much that just thinking about them leaves you desperate and reckless. You crave them in a way that's not rational, not right, and you're becoming somebody you don't recognise, and certainly don't respect, but you don't even care.And this person you like is unattainable. Except for one thing...
He lives downstairs.
Abbie has three obsessions. Art. The ocean. And Kane.
But since Kane's been back, he's changed. There's a darkness shadowing him that only Abbie can see. And it wants her in its world.
A gothic story about the very dark things that feed the creative process.
My Thoughts.
I don't know how to write this review, I didn't really understand the ending of the book, I didn't much like the characters and it was an alright story, but not really something I'd read again.
So let me explain my sentence above, I couldn't really get into the story, I understand that Abbie has a crush on Kane (more like a stalkerish obsession) but I don't understand why, I don't think there was anything at all that I liked about his character, which made me confused as to how she ended up with a crush on him in the first place, and because of her obsession of someone who was in my opinion just a waste of space it made me dislike her as well, I understand that when you're younger you have crushes on people but this was just a little too far, I mean stealing one of the condoms he kept in a pants pocket because it was in his pants pocket is just going a bit too far.
It also didn't matter that he never gave her the time of day in the first place and with the paranormal aspect in this story that affected them both I just think he's nothing but a gutless wonder!
As for the rest of the story I do feel bad for Abbie and her home life, being shafted to and fro between her divorced parents, her father who never has time for her and spends all his time working or her Mum who is cold and unfeeling and doesn't seem to care anything about Abbie except her getting good grades.
So all of that was just depressing she was all alone not really any family or friends and besides surfing (which I found really boring to read about) and her art there wasn't much else happening in the book.
And the ending, well I didn't really get the paranormal part it really wasn't explained all that well that I could understand what it was, and on the last page when she finally looked into that room in the cellar and found the things in there that she did I was like huh!!!!, how the hell did they end up there in the first place, I felt like maybe it would have helped to have an explanation for those like me who weren't maybe smart enough to figure that out.
I really wanted to like this book, the summary on the back of this book sounds fantastic and I was really excited to read it but unfortunately for me it was a let down.
I give this 2.5/5.
A Big Thanks To Penguin Australia.
Saturday, 23 June 2012
In My Mailbox (33).
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| Everything Left Unsaid - Jessica Davidson (Pan Macmillan Australia) Preloved - Shirley Marr (Walker Books Australia) Avenger's Angel (Lost Angels #1) - Heather Killough-Walden (Hachette Australia) Messenger's Angel (Lost Angels #2) - Heather Killough-Walden (Hachette Australia) Storm (Elementals #1) - Brigid Kemmerer (Allen & Unwin Australia) Between The Lines - Jodi Picoult & Samantha Van Leer (Allen & Unwin Australia) |
Cover Reveal: Paper Valentine - Brenna Yovanoff
Paper Valentine
PAPER VALENTINE, in which a girl haunted by the troubled ghost of her best friend finds herself sucked into a darkly mesmerizing string of murders, in which a serial killer who leaves a paper-heart 'valentine' on his victims' bodies draws ever closer.
Expected publication: January 8th 2013 by Razorbill
Cover Reveal: The Gates Of Paradise - Melissa De La Cruz
The Gates of Paradise (Blue Bloods #7)
Watch out for the explosive finale in the Blue Bloods series.
The seventh and final novel in the epic saga.
All your questions answered. . . All the mysteries explained. . . Friends reunited. . . Hearts broken. . . Will Bliss return with the Hellhounds? Will Schuyler save the Blue Bloods? Who will live? Who will die?
The seventh and final novel in the epic saga.
All your questions answered. . . All the mysteries explained. . . Friends reunited. . . Hearts broken. . . Will Bliss return with the Hellhounds? Will Schuyler save the Blue Bloods? Who will live? Who will die?
Expected publication: January 2013 by Disney-Hyperion
Cover Reveal: Pivot Point - Kasie West
Pivot Point
by Kasie West
Reminiscent of the movie Sliding Doors, Pivot Point is about a girl who has the power to Search alternate futures. When faced with a life changing decision, she lives out six weeks of two different lives (in alternating chapters), both holding the potential for love and loss, and must ultimately choose which path she is willing to live through.
Expected publication: February 12th 2013 by HarperTeen
Cover Reveal: Altered - Jennifer Rush
Altered
When you can’t trust yourself, who can you believe?
Everything about Anna’s life is a secret. Her father works for the Branch at the helm of its latest project: monitoring and administering treatments to the four genetically altered boys in the lab below their farmhouse. There’s Nick, Cas, Trev . . . and Sam, who’s stolen Anna’s heart. When the Branch decides it’s time to take the boys, Sam stages an escape, killing the agents sent to retrieve them.
Anna is torn between following Sam or staying behind in the safety of her everyday life. But her father pushes her to flee, making Sam promise to keep her away from the Branch, at all costs. There’s just one problem. Sam and the boys don’t remember anything before living in the lab—not even their true identities.
Now on the run, Anna soon discovers that she and Sam are connected in more ways than either of them expected. And if they’re both going to survive, they must piece together the clues of their past before the Branch catches up to them and steals it all away.
Everything about Anna’s life is a secret. Her father works for the Branch at the helm of its latest project: monitoring and administering treatments to the four genetically altered boys in the lab below their farmhouse. There’s Nick, Cas, Trev . . . and Sam, who’s stolen Anna’s heart. When the Branch decides it’s time to take the boys, Sam stages an escape, killing the agents sent to retrieve them.
Anna is torn between following Sam or staying behind in the safety of her everyday life. But her father pushes her to flee, making Sam promise to keep her away from the Branch, at all costs. There’s just one problem. Sam and the boys don’t remember anything before living in the lab—not even their true identities.
Now on the run, Anna soon discovers that she and Sam are connected in more ways than either of them expected. And if they’re both going to survive, they must piece together the clues of their past before the Branch catches up to them and steals it all away.
Expected publication: January 2nd 2013 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Book Review (101). Dreamless - Josephine Angelini
Dreamless (Starcrossed #2)
Publication: 1st June 2012
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia
Pages: 512
Genre: Fantasy
Age Appropriate: Young Adult
**Warning This Review Contains Spoilers From The Previous Book In The Series**
As the only scion who can descend into the Underworld, Helen Hamilton has been given a nearly impossible task. By night she wanders through Hades, trying to stop the endless cycle of revenge that has cursed her family. By day she struggles to overcome the fatigue that is rapidly eroding her sanity. Without Lucas by her side, Helen is not sure she has the strength to go on.
Just as Helen is pushed to her breaking point, a mysterious new Scion comes to her rescue. Funny and brave, Orion shields her from the dangers of the Underworld. But time is running out--a ruthless foe plots against them, and the Furies' cry for blood is growing louder.
As the ancient Greek world collides with the mortal one, Helen's sheltered life on Nantucket descends into chaos. But the hardest task of all will be forgetting Lucas Delos.
Josephine Angelini's compelling saga becomes ever more intricate and spellbinding as an unforgettable love triangle emerges and the eternal cycle of revenge intensifies. Eagerly awaited, this sequel to the internationally bestselling "Starcrossed" delivers a gritty, action-packed love story that exceeds all expectations.
My Thoughts.
This book was as good as the first book in the series and I loved that book, this is definitely one of my favourites of the year so far.
The only problem is that I have to wait till next year for the third book and after the ending in this book I don't know if I have the patience to wait that long!
After the last book we have Helen and Lucas avoiding each other after the revelation from Helen's Mum Daphne, that they are cousins, it's because of this that they can't be together (although how they haven't figured out that what they were told is a lie is beyond me, they're both meant to be really smart but can't seem to work out the simplest of sums like how her supposed father Ajax and Lucas' uncle died 19 years ago yet Helen is only 17), if they could just figure this out then they could be together instead of moping around, that's the only complaint I have about this story.
Helen now known as the Descender (the only Scion able to make her way into Tartarus) is on a mission to find the Furies and help stop the fights that occur when people from the four different houses are in each others company.
But the problem is she can only visit when she's asleep but she's not technically sleeping so it's making her ill, while down there she meets Orion who is sent down there to help Helen every night.
Now in the first book Starcrossed I was all for Helen and Lucas but now after reading this book I'm torn, while there is a love triangle forming between Helen, Lucas and Orion I really like the idea of Helen and Orion as a couple and I don't know who I'd rather she was with.
Lucas is mostly absent in this book and when he is in it he's very angry and sullen and as soon as he is in Helen's presence he turns around and walks away.
And that's a big thing that I missed, the interaction between these two characters that I fell in love with in the previous book.
Everyone in the previous book makes an appearance and while some of them don't have a lot of page time they still make their presence felt.
This has fast become one of my favourite series and I eagerly await the time till I have the third book Goddess in my eager hands.
I give this 5/5.
A Big Thanks To Pan Macmillan Australia.
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