Monday, 18 June 2012

Cover Reveal: The Madman's Daughter - Megan Shepherd


London, 1894. Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father’s gruesome experiments. But when she learns her father is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations were true. 

Juliet is accompanied by the doctor’s handsome young assistant and an enigmatic castaway, who both attract Juliet for very different reasons. They travel to the island only to discover the depths of her father’s madness: he has created animals that have been vivisected to resemble, speak, and behave as humans. Worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island’s inhabitants. Juliet knows she must end her father’s dangerous experiments and escape the island, even though her horror is mixed with her own scientific curiosity. As the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father’s genius—and madness—in her own blood.

Expected publication: January 2013 by Balzer + Bray

Cover Reveal: The Gathering Dark - Christine Johnson


Keira’s hallucinating. First it’s a door hovering above the road; then it’s a tree in her living room. But with her parents fighting and her best friend not speaking to her, Keira can’t tell anyone about her breakdown. Until she meets Walker. They have an electric connection—and somehow it’s as if he can see the same shadowy images.

The more Keira slowly confides in Walker, the more intense—and frightening—her visions become. Trusting him may be more dangerous than Keira could have ever imagined. Because Walker is not what he appears to be—and neither are her visions.

Expected publication: February 2013 by Simon Pulse 

Book Review (98) Once In A Full Moon - Ellen Schreiber


Once in a Full Moon (Full Moon #1)

Publication: January 2011
Publisher: Murdoch Books
Pages: 292
Genre: Paranormal
Age Appropriate: Young Adult 
Beware of a kiss under the full moon. 

It will change your life forever. 

Celeste Parker is used to hearing scary stories about werewolves—Legend’s Run is famous for them. She’s used to everything in the small town until the mysterious Brandon Maddox moves to Legend’s Run. Despite already having the perfect boyfriend, Celeste finds herself immediately drawn to the handsome new student. After a chance encounter late one night with a pack of wolves, Celeste is rescued by gorgeous, enigmatic Brandon. Is Brandon’s transformation a trick of the shadows in the moonlight? Or is there more to the werewolf stories of Legend’s Run?
My Thoughts.
I am a huge fan of Schreiber's series Vampire Kisses so I've always wanted to get around to reading this series and see what her take on the werewolf myth would be.
I have to say I wasn't disappointed and her take on werewolves is different from other books which is a nice change.
Celeste is a popular girl in school with her football star boyfriend Nash, but she's come to realise that she's doesn't really love him and she's only with him because it's what's expected of her and whom her best friends want her to be with.
Legend's Run is divided by Eastern and Western in other words Rich/Poor and at the local High School which was used by both cliques are determined by your residence and in which area you live.
One day a new student Brandon turns up and as soon as Celeste and his eyes meet there is a connection and Celeste can't stop thinking about him but since he's from the poor side of town she's not meant to associate with him.
One afternoon after having a reading done by a psychic with her best friends Ivy and Abby she decides to walk home while doing so it starts snowing quite heavily and she gets lost, while yelling for help a group of wolves surround her but she is saved by Brandon who scares them away with a stick but not before being bitten first.
After that Celeste can't stop thinking of him and after they start meeting in secret they start to fall in love with each other, but you see that bite that Brandon got while saving Celeste isn't just any ordinary bite and it will change both their lives forever.
I loved Celeste and Brandon as a couple they were so sweet together and I was definitely glad that she broke up with Nash who was so self absorbed that his idea of a date was to take Celeste to watch his sport practice (romantic? I think not) and it's not until they break up that to win her back he decides to act as a boyfriend should but it's definitely too little too late.
I just wish that Celeste hadn't spent so much time worrying about what everybody else thinks and just did whatever it was she wanted to do.
This kept me captivated and I read it all in one sitting, if you like the Vampire Kisses series you should love this too.
I give this 4/5.
A Big Thanks To Deanna @ Murdoch Books Australia.

Cover Reveal: Gone At Zero Hundred 00:00 - C.R Hiatt


Synopsis.

Sydney Marie McSwain and her pal, Cody Beck, team up to take on a secret club called The Devil’s Door where members are branded with the tattoo of a devil and call themselves The Privileged Ones.
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, and it was broadcasted on live TV.
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.
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, only 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 members of a 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?
“Their lives were in the hands of two 18 year-olds…”


Title: Gone at Zero Hundred 00:00
Genre: YA action-mystery thriller
Published: March 30, 2012
Author: CR HIATT
Twitter: @mcswainandbeck



Sunday, 17 June 2012

(ARC) Book Review (97) - Betrayed (The Guardian Legacy #2) - Ednah Walters


Betrayed (The Guardian Legacy #2)

This series just gets better and better, Ednah Walters name should be up there with the likes of Stephenie Meyer and Richelle Mead, why it isn't is beyond me.
In most series the sophomore release is usually not as good as the first but this book definitely surpassed it's predecessor Awakened and that book was fantastic!
Words cannot explain how much I loved this, it is high up on my favourite series for sure  and I'm highly anticipating the next book in the series Hunted.
I would suggest that you read the first book Awakened before delving into this one, only because there's a lot of information you find out in that book which helps to set up the storyline in Betrayed.
This book takes place eight months after the end of the last book and Lil is pretty much on house arrest, she's not allowed to go out hunting with the other trainee guardians and her spare time away from school is spent training with a new trainer Master Haziel, or leather face as Lil refers to him.
Lil starts getting phone calls from her father Valafar even after her phone is completely destroyed it's then that she realises that he's using a medium someone she knows and not only that there is a traitor among the guardians who is feeding knowledge to Valafar.
Bran starts to act really strange, he's never around and when he is he's very distracted, Lil knows he's keeping something from her but he won't tell her what it is.
Of course the trainee guardians are all back Sykes, Remy, Izzy and Kim, I love these characters there is not one character in this series that I'm not interested in reading about and I love that, I especially love the interactions between Sykes and Lil they are hilarious and then add Bran into the mix and it's just laugh out loud funny, as much as I love Sykes I'm glad that Walters hasn't gone down the same path that most other authors do and add in a love triangle, Lil and Bran are perfect together.
We actually get to see Izzy's powers in action which I love as we never really got to see them in the last book, Grampa looks set to start a relationship with Cardinal (Aunt) Janelle, helped along by both Lil and Janelle herself which is really sweet it's about time that he had someone for himself and to let go of his past.
And Lil's human friends are back Kylie, Mackenzie, Nikki and Amelia, but Kylie ad Mackenzie start acting weird as well and Lil feels like she's losing everyone she loves, Celeste (Bran's sister) is in this book a whole lot I really like her character and I like that Lil has a friend that she can talk to about all the supernatural happenings.
As for the end and the traitor well I definitely got that one wrong I changed my mind a couple of times through the book but was wrong both times, which reflects on how good Walters writing is.
I'm so happy to have discovered this series and it's author and I look forward to another exciting instalment next year.
I give this a huge 5/5.

A Huge Thanks To Spencer Hill Press For Allowing Me To Review This Book.

In My Mailbox (32).


In My Mailbox Is A Weekly Meme Hosted By Kristi The Story Siren.


Review.

Unrest - Michelle Harrison (Simon And Schuster Australia)
Deadly Hemlock (Hemlock #1) - Kathleen Peacock (Simon And Schuster Australia)
The Meryl Streep Movie Club - Mia March (Simon And Schuster Australia)

Brought.






















Friday, 15 June 2012

10 Books I'd Love Arcs Of Right Now!


Velveteen (Velveteen #1)


Glitch (Glitch #1)

Cover Reveal 'Stung - Bethany Wiggins'.

I thought I'd share the cover for Bethany Wiggins upcoming book Stung.
It was part of one of my recent posts Upcoming Books That Don't Yet Have A Cover and the author Bethany has let me know that the cover is up on Amazon and so I thought I'd post it for people to see.
I'm excited for this one it's been on my wishlist for a while.


Stung



Government attempts to save endangered bees by genetic modification causes their sting to induce deadly, flu-like symptoms in humans. A vaccine created in response changes children into ferocious, killer beasts. The uninfected have built a wall to keep the beasts out, & a girl has awakened on the wrong side.

Expected publication: April 2nd 2013 by Walker

Feature And Follow Friday (30).


Q: Happy Father’s Day! Who is your favorite dad character in a book and why?

I would definitely say Charlie from Twilight, he's funny and witty and you can also see how much he loves Bella.


Thursday, 14 June 2012

Rapture Blog Tour.

Welcome, today I am hosting this stop on the Australian Blog Tour for Lauren Kate's book Rapture, the fourth and final book in the series.
I will be posting an interview with Lauren, and posting the Rapture book trailer.
A big thanks to Lauren and Dot from Random House Australia for setting this tour up.



1.         
Were any of your characters modeled after anyone?
Nearly all of them were modeled after real people—except for Daniel. Luce is based on my oldest, closest friend. Cam is based on my husband (yes, I’m married to the devil). Arriane is an amalgamation of the crazy friends I’ve collected over the years. Daniel, on the other hand, is based around Luce. I wanted his character to fit her character precisely, to grow into her as she grows, to fill the empty spaces around her.
2.         If you had to pick, who would you choose - Daniel or Cam?
Well I have already married Cam…lucky for Luce, she can have Daniel.
3.         What can we expect next book-wise? Are you still staying with the Paranormal genre?
I’m working on something exciting and new. Like the Fallen novels, this next series takes an old, familiar story and injects an impossible love into its backbones. It’s been invigorating and challenging to move away from the world I was so comfortable with: new rules, new voices, new obstacles to overcome. My lips are forcibly sealed from giving away more details at the moment, but I’m excited to share the news as soon as I can. 
4.         Were you a big reader when you were younger? If so what were your favourites?
My mother is a teacher, so I spent half my childhood moseying around our local public library while she worked on her lesson plans. I love Roald Dahl, Ellen Raskin, Lois Lowry, S. E. Hinton. My first swoony book crush was on Rhett Butler from Gone with the Wind.
5.         And finally you're hosting a dinner party - which book characters would you invite along?
Most of my favorite fictional characters might make for a somewhat violent social dinner party. Mosca Mye from Fly by Night. Alaska fromLooking for Alaska. Rhett Butler—though, with the aforementioned two guests, I might have to keep an eye on him. Grégoire Bouillier’s persona from the mystery guest. Jack and Barbara from Don DeLillo’s White Noise. Martha and George from Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Haymitch would be entertaining.
I’d anticipate a lot of broken dishware after this soiree.


A list of the other blogs taking part in the tour.

15th June: http://headstuckinabook.blogspot.com.au/  - This Is Me

Hope you all enjoyed the interview, thanks for stopping by and if you get the chance stop on by the other blogs as well.