Release & Review - Risen by Cole Gibsen

Image and blurb from Goodreads

Title: Risen

Author: Cole Gibsen

Release Date: March 27th, 2018

Age Category/ Genre: Young Adult Paranormal

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Fans of Vampire Diaries and Twilight will be thirsting for this latest vampire addiction…

My aunt has been kidnapped by vampires, and it’s up to me to save her. Only…I had no idea vampires existed. None. Nada. I’m more of a reader than a fighter, and even though I’d been wishing to escape my boring existence in the middle of nowhere, I’d give anything to have it back now if it meant my aunt was safe. 

Then there’s the vampire Sebastian, who seems slightly nicer than most of the bloodsuckers I’ve run into so far. Yes, he’s the hottest being I’ve ever come across, but there’s no way I can trust him. He swears he’s helping me get answers, but there’s more to his story. Now I’m a key pawn in a raging vampire war, and I need to pick the right ally.

But my chances of surviving this war are slim at best, when the side I choose might be the one that wants me dead the most.

Goodreads

Buy Links: Amazon

2.5 “Teen Vampires” stars

ARC via NetGalley.

Thank you, Entangled Teen.

I'm still waiting for that new vampire book series that will leave me as obsessed about these mythical creatures as the first three seasons of The Vampire Diaries or the first time I read Twilight did.

Then I saw Risen on NetGalley and it used those two titles as comps: "Fans of Vampire Diaries and Twilight will be thirsting for this latest vampire addiction…"

Of course that led me to searching Youtube for Stelena videos.

That led to major hangover after.

Anyway, Risen delivered on some of its promises, but it unfortunately didn't create a vampire addiction. The main character didn't have an interesting enough personality to hold my attention, the romance was too insta-lovey, and Sebastian wasn't the badass vamp guy who made me fall madly in love with him. I also had problems with the dialogue and how stilted it felt at times.

Even though Risen didn't turn out to be as exciting as I was hoping, I'm someone who has been waiting for YA paranormal to come back for a long time and I'm not ready to give up. So bring on the next vamp book!

*If you liked this review (or not), if you read the book (or not), come say hello and leave your comments bellow.

Book Blitz with Giveaway - Mirror Me by Tara St. Pierre

 

Title: Mirror Me

Author: Tara St. Pierre
Age Category/Genre: Young Adult Paranormal

Release Date: July 25th, 2017

Hannah McCauley doesn’t look at herself in the mirror anymore.

After a rebellious past, she now attends a strict private school in a new town, where her recently divorced mother has put her on social lockdown. No driving. No bad grades. No skipping classes. No unapproved friends. No makeup. No boys. And the subject of her best friend from her old school is definitely forbidden.

Hannah is being punished for something that happened a year earlier, something that she would like to put behind her. But strange occurrences frighten her, and she’s accused of breaking rules and doing other terrible things without any recollection of them. No one believes her, so she starts distrusting everything, even her own reflection.

Is she being haunted by her past? Stalked by someone with a grudge? Or is it all in her head? If she doesn’t figure out what’s happening fast, her existence could end up irreparably shattered.

Goodreads

Buy Link: Amazon / B & N / iBooks

Tara St. Pierre has been writing for over two decades, but her muse only sporadically provides inspiration. Her laptop is filled with incomplete manuscripts and other plot outlines, and she feels blessed when one finally pushes its way through to completion--no matter how long it takes!

She enjoys classic science fiction movies and television shows. When driving, she sings along with the radio loudly and off key. She prefers tea over coffee, spring over autumn, vanilla ice cream over chocolate, and caramel over hot fudge. Though she lives by herself, one of her two cats enjoys cuddling with her.

Author Links: Facebook / Twitter

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Book Blitz with Giveaway - Haven by Mary Lindsey

Haven
Mary Lindsey
Published by: Entangled Publishing
Publication date: November 7th 2017
Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult

“We all hold a beast inside. The only difference is what form it takes when freed.”
Rain Ryland has never belonged anywhere. He’s used to people judging him for his rough background, his intimidating size, and now, his orphan status. He’s always been on the outside, looking in, and he’s fine with that. Until he moves to New Wurzburg and meets Friederike Burkhart.
Freddie isn’t like normal teen girls, though. And someone wants her dead for it. Freddie warns he’d better stay far away if he wants to stay alive, but Rain’s never been good at running from trouble. For the first time, Rain has something worth fighting for, worth living for. Worth dying for.

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Author Bio:
Mary Lindsey is a multi award-winning, RITA® nominated author of romance for adults and teens. She lives on an island in the middle of a river. Seriously, she does. When not writing, she wrangles her rowdy pack of three teens, two Cairn Terriers, and one husband.
Inexplicably, her favorite animal is the giant anteater and at one point, she had over 200 "pet" Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches. The roaches are a long story involving three science-crazed kids and a soft spot for rescue animals. The good news is, the "pet" roaches found a home... somewhere else.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Newsletter

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Book Blitz with Giveaway - Runes (Runes Series) by Ednah Walters

Title: Runes
(Runes #1)
Author: Ednah Walters

Category/Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Romance

Seventeen-year-old Raine Cooper has enough on her plate dealing with her father’s disappearance, her mother’s erratic behavior and the possibility of her boyfriend relocating. The last thing she needs is Torin St. James—a mysterious new neighbor with a wicked smile and uncanny way of reading her.

Raine is drawn to Torin’s dark sexiness against her better judgment, until he saves her life with weird marks and she realizes he is different. But by healing her, Torin changes something inside Raine. Now she can’t stop thinking about him. Half the time, she’s not sure whether to fall into his arms or run.

Scared, she sets out to find out what Torin is. But the closer she gets to the truth the more she uncovers something sinister about him. What Torin is goes back to an ancient mythology and Raine is somehow part of it. Not only is she and her friends in danger, she must choose a side, but the wrong choice will cost Raine her life.

Goodreads * Amazon * iTunes * B&N * GooglePlay * Smashwords * Kobo

Immortals 

(book 2)

Goodreads * Amazon

Grimnirs 

(book 3)

Goodreads * Amazon

Seeress 

(book 4)

Goodreads * Amazon

Souls 

(book 5)

Goodreads * Amazon

Witches 

(book 6)

Goodreads * Amazon

Goddess 

(book 7)

Goodreads * Amazon

USA Today Bestselling Author Ednah Walters is a multi-published author of four different series--her Norse-mythology-based bestselling YA Paranormal romance series, RUNES(YA-Paranormal Romance) and Nephilim THE GUARDIAN LEGACY-(YA fantasy romance).

She also writes contemporary romance under E. B. Walters. The Fitzgerald Family series started with SLOW BURN. There are six books in this series. Her new USA Today bestselling series, INFINITUS BILLIONAIRES. Impulse (book 1) was published in January 2015. Indulge (Aug 4th). 

Website * Newsletter * Facebook * Twitter * Pinterest * Instagram * Goodreads * Amazon

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Cover Reveal - Bloodbound by Amalie Howard

Title: Bloodbound
Author: Amalie Howard
Publication date: March 2017
Age Category/Genre: Young Adult Paranormal

Love or freedom…the choice is hers.

VIENNA, AUSTRIA, 1892. Lady Leandra Von Kurzberg is a hellion. Raised with seven older brothers, there is only one thing Lena fears: marriage. She has no desire to give up her freedom to be any lord’s broodmare.

When Lena meets the dangerously attractive Devereux twins, she is smitten. Inexplicably drawn to both men, the brothers are polar opposites—as much as Christian is every inch the debonair Duke of D’Avigny, his brother Lucian is a roguish scoundrel bent on hedonism.

But the captivating twins aren’t what they seem…

As frightening truths are unveiled and a one-of-a-kind offer is made, Lena will have to decide whether love is worth the loss of her freedom, or if freedom is worth the ultimate cost…her life.

Goodreads

     Lena bit her lip as Arabella shot her a naughty wink and ambled off to meet Fabian who had moved to the far side of the room. He handed his blades to the waiting footmen before receiving her. Lena stood, rooted to the spot as Lucian approached after greeting her brother. She half wished she wasn’t wearing a ratty pair of breeches that looked as if they’d been trampled by a herd of angry elephants. 
“Wagner said you would be down here,” Lucian said. “And Arabella who arrived at the same time offered to show me the way.” He paused, his eyes drifting closed for a scant second, a sublime look crossing his face. “You smell…delicious.”
Lena couldn’t help it—she laughed. “You do say the oddest things, my lord. And I assure you, I am as sweaty as a sheep on a hot summer day.”
“Do sheep get sweaty?” he asked without missing a beat. 
“One can imagine they would under all that wool.”
“I suppose,” he said and leaned in slightly as if to scent her. Her pulse soared and Lena fought the urge to move back a step, not because she was afraid, but out of some sudden desire for sheer self-preservation. While Christian had been reserved, she was certain that this brother did not hold himself to the same code. No, Lucian took. He was a man who sought pleasure wherever it was for the taking. It didn’t matter that her brother stood a few feet away, despite being distracted. “Sheep aside, your perfume is delightful.”
“Soap and sweat, my lord.” She expelled a shallow breath. “Nothing more.”
“The purest essence of woman.”
“Why are you here?” she asked, blushing. He made those five words sound like something dirty. She was grateful that Fabian and Arabella were both out of earshot.
Lucian bowed with a flourish. “Why, to prove myself, of course. And what better way than to allow a capable woman the chance to slit my throat.”
“You wish to die, Lord Devereux?”
An unfathomable expression crossed his face, but it was soon eclipsed by a brilliant smile. “Alas, my extraordinary skills preclude that very outcome.”
“Confident, are we?” Lena said and raised her blades. “You do realize that I could defeat you blindfolded.”
Lucian’s gray eyes widened. “Is that a challenge?”
“Only if you want it to be.”
Their clash of wills was interrupted by Fabian and Arabella who announced that they were going to take a stroll in the gardens. Lena rolled her eyes at the bright blush that covered Arabella’s cheeks. An evening stroll was just another way of saying that they were going to do what engaged couples did in secluded gardens. Kissing and whatnot. An unexpected spurt of envy curled through her. Perhaps Lord Devereux would also welcome such a stroll. She slid a glance to him, noting the dissolute turn of his mouth and revised her earlier desire. A stroll in the garden with this man would involve nothing less than complete and utter ruination.

AMALIE HOWARD grew up in Trinidad & Tobago where she spent most of her childhood with her nose buried in a book or running around barefoot, shimmying up mango trees, and dreaming of adventure. 25 countries, surfing with sharks, and several tattoos later, she has traded in bungee jumping in China for writing the adventures she imagines instead. She isn’t entirely convinced which takes more guts.

An aspiring writer from a young age, Amalie’s poem “The Candle,” written at age twelve, was published by the University of Warwick press. At fifteen, she was  a recipient of a Royal Commonwealth Society Essay Award (a global youth writing competition). A Colby College graduate, she completed dual Honors Theses in both French and International Studies, and graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa. At Colby, she was cited for her research contribution to Raffael Scheck’s article, “German Conservatism and Female Political Activism in the Early Weimar Republic,” and his subsequent book, Mothers of the Nation. She also received a distinction in English Literature from the University of Cambridge (A-levels) as well as a postgraduate certificate in French Literature from the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, France. Traveling the globe, she has worked as a research assistant, account executive, and global channel sales director for a Fortune 500 company.

She is the award-winning author of several young adult novels critically acclaimed by Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, SLJ, VOYA, and Booklist, including Waterfell, The Almost Girl, and Alpha Goddess, a Spring 2014 Kid’s INDIE NEXT title. Her debut novel, Bloodspell, was a #1 Amazon bestseller, and the sequel, Bloodcraft, was a national silver IPPY medalist and a silver Moonbeam award winner. She is also the co-author of the adult historical romance series, THE LORDS OF ESSEX. As an author of color and a proud supporter of diversity in fiction, her articles on multicultural fiction have appeared in The Portland Book Review and on the popular Diversity in YA blog. She currently resides in Colorado with her husband and three children.

Find Amalie Howard: Website † Twitter † Facebook † Instagram

Amalie Howard is giving 4 lucky readers (U.S. & INT) a $5 Amazon Gift card. 

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Review - Ward Against Death (Chronicles of a Reluctant Necromancer #1) by Melanie Card

Image and blurb from Goodreads

Title: Ward Against Death
(Chronicles of a Reluctant Necromancer #1)

Author: Melanie Card

Release Date: August 2nd, 2011

Age Category/ Genre: Young Adult Paranormal

Publisher: Entangled (Teen)

Twenty-year-old Ward de’Ath expected this to be a simple job—bring a nobleman’s daughter back from the dead for fifteen minutes, let her family say good-bye, and launch his fledgling career as a necromancer. Goddess knows he can’t be a surgeon—the Quayestri already branded him a criminal for trying—so bringing people back from the dead it is.

But when Ward wakes the beautiful Celia Carlyle, he gets more than he bargained for. Insistent that she’s been murdered, Celia begs Ward to keep her alive and help her find justice. By the time she drags him out her bedroom window and into the sewers, Ward can’t bring himself to break his damned physician’s Oath and desert her.

However, nothing is as it seems—including Celia. One second, she’s treating Ward like sewage, the next she’s kissing him. And for a nobleman’s daughter, she sure has a lot of enemies. If he could just convince his heart to give up on the infuriating beauty, he might get out of this alive…

Goodreads

Buy Links: Amazon 

2.5 “Necromancer & Assassins” Stars

ARC via NetGalley

Thank you, Entangled Teen.

I’m gonna keep this short because I’m guessing this is a serious case of “it isn’t you, it’s me”.

I tried to like this book. I really did, but something simply didn’t work for me, and when I say something, I mean… this weird thing that probably has everything to do with subjectivity.

Look, this is a book with an assassin as the main character. A teen girl assassin. You see where I’m going there, right? This should be enough to make me super interested, and for a little while I was, but then the story simply lost me. Add the fact that the other main character is a sweet guy with the power to bring the dead back and I should’ve devoured this, right? The worse thing is I can’t name a specific thing that happened that made me lose interest. I’m guessing it was more of a case of the story never really hooking me enough from the very start.

I partially blame this on the third person narrative. Sure I read a lot of 3^rd POV books, especially since I’m such a huge fan of contemporary romance, but here it simply didn’t work for me. The voices were not strong enough to hook me.

This is where the generic “I didn’t connect with the characters” enter, I have to say. There wasn’t a specific problem with the character or the plot, but I simply didn’t connect with them enough. They didn’t move me, they didn’t make me root for them or ship them. I thought Ward’s infatuation with Celia was sort of cute, but that was about it. There was no obsessing over whether they’d be together or not, which is a bad sign when it comes to a romance plot or subplot where I’m concerned. I’m not even ashamed to admit this. LOL.

If the romance didn’t hook me, then I expected the plot to do that. I wanted to be interested in Ward’s role as a necromancer, or Celia’s assassin history, or even curious about the circumstances of her death and who was responsible for that, but it never happened. The feeling never came to me.

Judging from all the great reviews on Goodreads, this shouldn’t have happened at all, but here we are…

Look, sometimes this weird thing where a book doesn’t speak to you and you can’t figure out why happens, and it did with me and Ward Against Death. I wish it had been different, though, and I hope whoever is reading this next has a much better experience than I did.

 

*If you liked this review (or not), if you read the book (or not), come say hello and leave your comments bellow.

Cover Reveal - Velocity (Gravity #2) by A.B. Bloom

Title: Velocity
(Gravity #2)

Author: A.B. Bloom

Publication date: February 9th, 2017

Genres: Young Adult Paranormal Romance

Life for sixteen-year-old Bronte Bell has fallen apart around her—the man who raised her as his own is the enemy, the boy she loves is a Star, and her high school nemesis is her sister, and the other last star child. Life for Bronte couldn’t get much more complicated. Except, she can’t remember a thing. Willing to do whatever it takes to protect her; the Stars have secreted Bronte away in a glamoured life; one where she’s just a normal teenager with normal teenager problems. But piece by piece, and with the help of an unlikely ally, the truth unravels as the pull between Bronte and Nick refuses to extinguish. Only Nick has a secret—one that could change everything. Will the fate of destiny fall with the full force of velocity?

Title: Gravity
(Gravity #1)

Author: A.B. Bloom

Publication date: October 31st, 2016

Genres: Young Adult Paranormal Romance

They are calling it the End of Days. The world is plunging into darkness, the days growing shorter and the nights longer. Meteor showers are falling to the earth and there are some who would take advantage of the growing darkness. For sixteen year old Bronte Bell, her problems are closer to home. Since her birthday she’s become weaker, her bones breaking, her hair falling out and plagued with constant migraines. No one can explain why. Until a mysterious new boy arrives and tells her that everything is not as it seems. She is not what she seems. Drawn into a war that divides the sky, Bronte is torn between her desire to save the world and her growing connection with Nick. But she will have to let go of reality as she knows it, if she is to accept her role in destiny before the Hunter, who has been tracking her since birth, finds and destroys any chance she has of making the choice which is her birthright to make. Her destiny will change everything . . .

 

Read for FREE in KindleUnlimited: Amazon

Anna Bloom is a contemporary romance writer who writes about life as it happens. Combining a busy schedule of looking after two small children whilst working in a local school and completing The Uni Files series. Anna’s main aim in life is to create the perfect book which makes a reader laugh and cry at the same time, hopefully causing a convulsive (impossible to ignore) donkey noise. It’s a work in progress! Anna also spends a lot of time imagining kissing hot guys – all in the name of her art.

Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter

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