Mailbox Tuesday.

Tuesday's Mailbox.
I've decided that I will stop participating in In My Mailbox, the reason being I seem to get a lot of books every week and it takes me forever to put them all together in one post and link them up.
So I will be doing Mailbox Mon-Fri every week.

Review...

Shadow's Claim (The Dacians #1) - Kresley Cole (Simon And Schuster Australia)

(ARC) Scent Of Magic (Healer #2) - Maria V. Snyder (Harlequin Teen Australia)

(ARC) Touch Of Death (Touch Of Death #1) - Kelly Hashway (Spencer Hill Press)

The Skeleton Key (Pandora English #3) - Tara Moss (Pan Macmillan Australia)

Brought...

Iced (Fever #6) - Karen Marie Moning

Rebel Heart (Dust Lands #2) - Moira Young

Book Review (161): Eve & Adam - Michael Grant & Katherine Applegate

Eve and Adam

by Michael Grant, Katherine Applegate

Publication: 1st October 2012

Publisher: Electric Monkey/Hardie Grant Egmont Australia

Pages: 312

Genre: Science Fiction

Age Appropriate: Young Adult

And girl created boy…

In the beginning, there was an apple—

And then there was a car crash, a horrible injury, and a hospital. But before Evening Spiker’s head clears a strange boy named Solo is rushing her to her mother’s research facility. There, under the best care available, Eve is left alone to heal.

Just when Eve thinks she will die—not from her injuries, but from boredom—her mother gives her a special project: Create the perfect boy.

Using an amazingly detailed simulation, Eve starts building a boy from the ground up. Eve is creating Adam. And he will be just perfect... won’t he?

My Thoughts...

I've been intrigued with this book ever since it appeared on Goodreads, the synopsis sounded exciting and the cover looks fantastic, so when I received a copy for review I was very excited.

Most people know the story of Adam and Eve, incorporating a story around it was an incredibly good idea, having the apple mentioned in the first sentence, genius.

Evening 'Eve' is hit by a car and is critically injured, one leg is torn off and one of her hands is crushed, it's looking very grim and she's not expected to pull through, her mother who owns a biopharmaceuticals research facility has her transported there, against the doctor's better judgement.

After awakening in better health than when she left the hospital she makes the accquaintance of Solo, a boy around her age who has lived at Spiker ever since his parents were killed, he has been left in Eve's mother's care who is a cold woman and Solo despises her.

To help with her boredom, Eve's mum gives her a task, to invent a virtual perfect man, from his appearance, personality, interests etc, which is aptly named Project Adam.

But behind the scenes in the facility there are experiments taking place that are far from humane, and there are some people who don't want these experiments to be found out and they'll do anything to keep them a secret.

I really loved this book, the alternating pov's in each chapter is one thing that gave this book an extra something, it's interesting to read about what's going on in numerous characters heads and helps you to understand the characters better.

I hope there will be another book set in this world, it was very entertaining and I'm eager to see what happens next.

I highly recommend it.

I give this 5/5.

A Big Thanks To Jennifer @ Hardie Grant Egmont Australia.

Mailbox Friday.

Friday's Mailbox.
I've decided that I will stop participating in In My Mailbox, the reason being I seem to get a lot of books every week and it takes me forever to put them all together in one post and link them up.
So I will be doing Mailbox Mon-Fri every week.

Review...

Ironskin (Ironskin #1) - Tina Connolly (Tor/Forge U.S.A)

Foundation (Valdemar: The Collegium Chronicles #1) - Mercedes Lackey (Titan Book UK)

Intrigues (Valdemar: The Collegium Chronicles #2) - Mercedes Lackey

Blog Tour: After Dark (The 19th Year #1) - Emi Gayle, Book Review (160).

After Dark (The 19th Year #1)

by Emi Gayle 

Publication: 31st October 2012

Publisher: J. Taylor Publishing

Pages: 344

Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal

Age Appropriate: Young Adult

Buy It: Amazon   Barnes & Noble

What eighteen year old Mac Thorne doesn’t know will probably kill her.

In exactly eight months, five days, three hours and thirteen minutes, Mac has to choose what she’ll be for the rest of her life.

She has no choice but to pick. As a Changeling, it’s her birthright. To Mac, it’s a birthchore. Like going to school with humans, interacting with humans, and pretending to be human during the pesky daylight hours.

Once darkness descends, Mac can change into any supernatural form that exists—which makes her as happy as she can be. That is, until Winn Thomas, the biggest geek in her senior class figures out there’s more to what hides in the dark than most are willing to acknowledge.

In this first of the 19th Year Trilogy, Winn might know more about Mac than even she does, and that knowledge could end their lives, unless Mac ensures the powers-that-be have no choice but to keep him around.

My Thoughts...

What I loved about this book was the different species of paranormal from vampire, fairy, witch. demon,ghost etc, and that's all just the main character!

 Mac whom is a Changeling, and who happens to be the only one in existence (one only appears every fifty to a hundred years) can change paranormal forms at night, has until her nineteenth birthday to decide on what form she will take permanently and will then take charge of that faction at the council table.

But Mac is undecided and with less than nine months to decide, she begins to feel pressured, but when she see's the school geek Winn walking out of the local library one night with a book about her heritage she resolves to accquire it even if it means associating with humans, so when they are both paired together in class on a project she knows that this is her chance to find out about herself and where she came from, as she's been kept in the dark all of her life.

I loved Mac's character, a strong kick-ass female, and Winn who's so adorable and they make such a good couple.

This storyline was original and extremely well done and I really can't wait for the next book, what Emi has written here is a fantastic start to what seems to be an extremely good series.

Definitely check this out!

I give this 5/5.

Author Profile...

Emi Gayle just wants to be young again. She lives vicariously through her youthful characters, while simultaneously acting as chief-Mom to her teenaged son and searching for a way to keep her two daughters from ever reaching the dreaded teen years. 

Ironically, those years were some of Emi's favorite times. She met the man of her dreams at 14, was engaged to him at 19, married him at 20 and she's still in love with him to this day. She'll never forget what it was like to fall in love at such a young age — emotions she wants everyone to feel.

Blog: www.emigayle.com/blog/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmiGayle?fref=ts

Twitter: https://twitter.com/emijgayle

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5421861.Emi_Gayle

Mailbox Thursday.

Thursday's Mailbox...
I've decided that I will stop participating in In My Mailbox, the reason being I seem to get a lot of books every week and it takes me forever to put them all together in one post and link them up.
So I will be doing Mailbox Mon-Fri every week.

Review...

Beautiful Redemption (Caster Chronicles #4) - Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl (Penguin Australia)

Echo (The Soul Seekers #2) - Alyson Noel  (Pan Macmillan Australia)

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Dead Embers (Valkyrie #2) - T.G Ayers, Book Review (159).

I'm delighted to be today's stop on the Dead Embers Blog Tour hosted by I.O Book Tours.

Dead Embers (Valkyrie #2)

by T.G. Ayer

Publication: 31st August 2012

Publisher: Evolved Publishing

Pages: 398

Genre: Fantasy/Mythology

Age Appropriate: Young Adult

Buy It: Amazon   Barnes & Noble

"For a shadow of a second, I stared into his eyes, shocked, horrified he'd do such a thing to me. A thousand fears filtered through my frigid brain. Was he in cahoots with Loki? Or was he Freya's dog all along?

It took an eternity for him to blink. Even longer for me to blink.

Then Fenrir pushed me and I fell off the cliff... into pure white oblivion."

Valkyrie-in-training Bryn Halbrook just can't catch a break. With her boyfriend stuck in Hel and the taunting laughter of Loki still ringing in her ears, she struggles to concentrate on her training and duties in Odin's realm. The last thing she expects or wants is more adventure -- but then treachery, a shocking abduction, and a chilling discovery send her forth on another perilous, globe-hopping mission.

As the ultimate battle, Ragnarok, draws closer, it's a race against time for Bryn, Fenrir and their team to discover who kidnapped her foster brother from the halls of Asgard and what's causing the mysterious deaths of so many of Odin's chosen warriors.

In the exciting sequel to "Dead Radiance," Bryn encounters dwarfs and dragons, new friends and old foes -- but the worst enemy of all may be the person she trusts most.

My Thoughts...

After participating in the blog tour for the first book in this series, I was more than eager to join this one, and to continue on Bryn's story in this fantastic series.

After the ending in the previous book I was on tenterhooks to see how it would play out, and the twists and turns it would take to rectify the situation we were left with.

What I loved was that this second book follows on straight away from the finale of Dead Radiance, and things are not going so well in Asgard, the Retrievals of the new warriors are being thwarted, each and every warrior has been found covered in a black substance that stops them from being able to be Retrieved to become a warrior for Odin, Brody has gone missing, she's not talking to a couple of her friends and one of her friends will betray her and the people of Asgard.

Bryn goes off on another adventure to retrieve an item, that will hopefully fix the events of the end of the last book, and she reconnects with some characters from Dead Embers as well as meeting a few new people, but none as big as Thor, yes the God Of Thunder makes a appearance, and I have to say that everytime he appeared in the book I kept picturing Chris Hemsworth (Which is not a bad thing at all)!

And then the end, wow, I felt so bad for Bryn and I so desperately need the next book now!

A great series that I recommend everyone reads.

I give this 5/5. Giveaway: 1 Signed Print book per tour, and 4 E-Books per tour, signed swag. and a ring INTERNATIONAL Rafflecopter a Rafflecopter giveaway

BIO:

I have been a writer from the time I was old enough to recognize that reading was a doorway into my imagination. Poetry was my first foray into the art of the written word. Books were my best friends, my escape, my haven. I am essentially a recluse but this part of my personality is impossible to practice given I have two teenage daughters, who are actually my friends, my tea-makers, my confidantes… I am blessed with a husband who has left me for golf. It’s a fair trade as I have left him for writing. We are both passionate supporters of each other's loves – it works wonderfully…

My heart is currently broken in two. One half resides in South Africa where my old roots still remain, and my heart still longs for the endless beaches and the smell of moist soil after a summer downpour. My love for Ma Afrika will never fade. The other half of me has been transplanted to the Land of the Long White Cloud. The land of the Taniwha, beautiful Maraes, and volcanoes. The land of green, pure beauty that truly inspires. And because I am so torn between these two lands – I shall forever remain cross-eyed.

ONLINE LINKS:

www.facebook.com/TGAyerAuthor

twitter.com/#!/TGAyerAuthor

tgayer.wordpress.com

www.goodreads.com/author/show/5726831.T_G_Ayer

www.shelfari.com/tgayerauthor

amzn.to/QECLcY 

Cover Reveal: Awaken (Abandon Trilogy #3) - Meg Cabot

Awaken (Abandon Trilogy #3)

by Meg Cabot 

Expected publication: May 7th 2013 by Point