Cover Reveal: Through The Ever Night - Veronica Rossi

Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky #2)

by Veronica Rossi

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.

(ARC) Book Review (103) Temptation - Karen Ann Hopkins

Temptation (Temptation #1)

by Karen Ann Hopkins

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.

Cover Reveal: Rise - Andrea Cremer

Rise (Nightshade Prequel #2)

by Andrea Cremer

Expected publication: January 2013

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.

This week I'm waiting on....

The Summer Prince

by Alaya Dawn Johnson 

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

by Maurissa Guibord 

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)

by Amanda Carlson 

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)

by Lauren DeStefano

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

The Indigo Spell (Bloodlines #3)

by Richelle Mead

Expected publication: February 12th 2013 by Razorbill