Cover Reveal: Revelations

Hey guys!  I can't tell you how excited I am to be part of the reveal for the second book in J.A Souders' Elysium Chronicles, Revelations.  I found out about it totally last minute and was lucky enough to grab one of the last few spots left.  But I know you don't want to hear me rambling on, so I'll just leave you to stare at the cover. ;)  Enjoy!

 

 

Title: Revelations (Elysium Chronicles #2)

Author: J.A Souders

Publisher: Tor Teen

Released: November 5, 2013

Goodreads | Amazon / Amazon UK |The Book Depository

Blurb to come!

About Renegade Elysium Chronicles (Book 1)

Since the age of three, sixteen-year-old Evelyn Winters has been trained to be Daughter of the People in the underwater utopia known as Elysium. Selected from hundreds of children for her ideal genes, all her life she’s thought that everything was perfect; her world. Her people. The Law.

But when Gavin Hunter, a Surface Dweller, accidentally stumbles into their secluded little world, she’s forced to come to a startling realization: everything she knows is a lie.

Her memories have been altered.

Her mind and body aren’t under her own control.

And the person she knows as Mother is a monster.

Together with Gavin she plans her escape, only to learn that her own mind is a ticking time bomb... and Mother has one last secret that will destroy them all.

Goodreads | Amazon / Amazon UK |Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

About A Dark Grave: Elysium Chronicles (Book 0.5)

An Elysium Chronicles short story: the beginning.

There is only one place forbidden to the people of Gavin's village; the island just off the shore, rumored to be haunted. Cursed.

All who venture to the island disappear.

But Gavin doesn't believe in such things. He is a hunter; since his father's death, he is the only one who can provide for the family. Silly rumors of ghosts aren't going to stop him from crossing the dark waters to the island in search of fresh game...

Goodreads | Amazon / Amazon UK

 

About J.A. Souders:

J.A. Souders was born in the heartland with an overactive imagination and an overabundance of curiosity that was always getting her into trouble. She first began writing at the age of 13, when she moved to Florida and not only befriended the monsters under the bed, but created worlds for them to play together.

Because she never grew up, she decided she’d put her imaginary friends to work and started writing. She still lives in the land of sunshine and palm trees with her husband and their two children.

Where you can find J.A.

Website | Blog | Twitter | Goodreads | Facebook

 

THE GIVEWAY!!!

J.A is hosting a giveaway of a signed hard copy of Renegade, an e-copy of A Dark Grave (for those that don't have it, of course) and signed copies of Article 5 and Breaking Point by Kristen Simmons. (US/CAN)

INTERNATIONAL entrants can win e-copies of Renegade, Article 5 and Breaking Point.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: The Name of the Star

Title: The Name of the Star (Shades of London #1)
Author: Maureen Johnson
Publisher: HarperCollins
Released: 29th September 2011
Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jack the Ripper is one of those topics I really wish they'd cover in the History syllabus for school.  Instead it's 20th century this, and 20th century that.  Even at A level - which, for all you non-British, non-TNofS readers, are the two years of excrutiating study we have before university, in which we study four and then three subjects respectively, of our own choosing - the syllabus for the vast majority of the time is an unimaginative, repetitive look at 20th century European and USA history, just in loads more detail.  So when I saw that Maureen Johnson had chosen to set her story around Jack the Ripper, and in my home city of London, I instantly knew I had to read it.  And, I am delighted to say, it did not disappoint.

Rory Deveaux moves from Louisiana to London to study at Wexford Academy.  The same day she arrives, the first in a string of copycat murders takes place.  Someone has killed a woman in exactly the same way that Jack the Ripper murdered his first victim.  As the murders continue, with the murderer leaving absolutely no trace of themselves despite all the CCTV cameras, London becomes more and more afraid, the media more and more frantic.  Rory herself gets swept into a world she didn't even know existed.  And it all starts with her seeing a strange man that no-one else can see.  It's not long before it's her turn to be a target of the new Ripper.

It's clear that Johnson knows her stuff, right from the beginning.  The information given to us in terms of the Ripper cases is clear and detailed.  The whole nature of these crimes is completely dark and horrific, and I'm glad that the author didn't shy away from that.  The pacing of the first half was somewhat slow, but after a while I actually didn't mind, instead enjoying learning about the boarding school Rory's at and how she settles in.  The second half was engaging with its plot developments.  Rory herself is just hilarious.  Seriously.  I really didn't expect this book to be so funny, and yet there were parts where I just had to laugh at Rory's take on things.  To begin with, it was amusing to see how shocked she was at the culture difference between here and America, to have to learn different phrases and grow used to the cold and never-ending rain.  I still can't believe that Blu-Tack doesn't exist in America.  It's just so weird to think about.  And the Underground.  Oh my God.  Rory got so excited about tubes and the Underground, you'd think she was Arthur Weasley.  She also had loads of anecdotes from her life in America that she referred to.  Rory was independent, down-to-earth and generally really likeable.

I mentioned plot developments.  I love the different ideas that Johnson has brought together here.  You can tell she had a clear image of what she wanted in this story, and it all came together nicely.  The take on Jack the Ripper here is not one you're going to find elsewhere.  All the characters generally had their own voice, and I liked how there weren't any stereotypes.  What I didn't quite understand, however, was the romance.  There was no insta-love, there was no love triangle, but...the romance itself was barely there.  The way it was introduced wasn't exactly obvious, and I didn't understand why Rory and her guy of choice were together.  I mean, they're both likeable characters, but I didn't get their relationship.  The love interest himself is also slightly weird, and I couldn't really see how Rory was so comfortable with it, at least without asking him about it.  You'll see what I mean if you read it.  Having said that, though, there was something about him that I liked. And for some reason he sounded unbearably cute when he quoted those Spice Girls lyrics. I'm weird, I know.

This being the first book by Maureen Johnson that I've read, I'm sufficiently impressed.  Romance aside, this is a well-rounded novel with an intriguing plotline.  I appreciated the development of the secondary characters, Alistair and Jazza being particular favourites, and reading from Rory's perspective was truly wonderful.  The ending isn't a cliffhanger, but it's definitely a brilliant opening for the sequel - which, luckily for me, I have and will hopefully be starting relatively soon.  I highly recommend this to those of you who haven't read it yet.

Spotlight & Excerpt: A Shade of Vampire

Hey guys!  Today I bring to you a bit about A Shade of Vampire, with an excerpt kindly given by the author.  I've actually read just a little bit further than the excerpt here and between that and the reviews, this is another book added to my never-ending TBR.  Enjoy! :)

Title: A Shade of Vampire
Author: Bella Forrest
Publisher: Self-published
Released: 14th December 2012

On the evening of Sofia Claremont's seventeenth birthday, she is sucked into a nightmare from which she cannot wake.
A quiet evening walk along a beach brings her face to face with a dangerous pale creature that craves much more than her blood.

She is kidnapped to an island where the sun is eternally forbidden to shine.
An island uncharted by any map and ruled by the most powerful vampire coven on the planet. She wakes here as a slave, a captive in chains.

Sofia's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn when she is the one selected out of hundreds of girls to join the harem of Derek Novak, the dark royal Prince.

Despite his addiction to power and obsessive thirst for her blood, Sofia soon realizes that the safest place on the island is within his quarters, and she must do all within her power to win him over if she is to survive even one more night.

Will she succeed? ...or is she destined to the same fate that all other girls have met at the hands of the Novaks?

Excerpt

I’d been meandering along the shore for about an hour when I suddenly sensed that I wasn’t alone. Someone was approaching me from behind. My heart leapt. I was so sure it was Ben, that when a stranger showed up beside me, I couldn’t hide my disappointment.

He must have noticed, because a smirk formed on his lips. “Were you expecting someone else, love?”

I eyed him suspiciously, remembering how many times my father had told me not to talk to strangers. I looked him over, taking in his appearance. My eyes widened. I couldn’t find words to describe how fine a man he was. He was almost beautiful. The first thing I took notice of was how his blue eyes were about three shades brighter than any I’d ever seen before. It was such a stark contrast to his pale – almost white – skin and dark hair. Standing beside me, he was easily more than half a foot taller. His height, broad shoulders and lean build reminded me of Ben, but he had a presence that was far more imposing than my best friend’s.

My gaze settled on his face.

I realized that he was inspecting me just as closely as I was him. His eyes on me suddenly made me feel uncomfortably vulnerable. I gave my father’s advice a second thought, but quickly canceled out all notions of heeding to his counsel when I reminded myself that he stopped caring a long time ago.

I straightened to my full height and mustered all the courage I had to keep myself from running away from this stranger.

Big mistake.

The confident smirk didn’t leave his face for even a moment.

“Like what you see?”

“A bit full of yourself, aren’t you?” I scoffed, annoyed by his audacity.

He stepped forward, closer to me, and leaned his head toward mine.

“Don’t I have the right to be?”

He knew he looked good and wasn’t about to act like he didn’t.

“Whatever,” was my oh-so-brilliant comeback.

My shoulders sagged with defeat as I took a step back, unsettled by how close he was now. I rolled my eyes and did a one-eighty, not quite in the mood to play whatever game this stranger was proposing.

I would soon realize that I was about to play his game whether I liked it or not.

He grabbed my arm and turned my body to face him. This motion alone made every single internal alarm I had within me go off in a frenzy.

This man was danger and I knew it. I tried to wriggle away from his touch, but I was no match for his strength.

“Tell me your name,” he commanded.

I was about to refuse, but was horrified to find myself blurting out my name in response.

“Sofia Claremont.”

As soon as I revealed my name, his eyes lit up with a kind of sinister approval. Then he reached for my face and traced his thumb over my jaw line.

“Hello, Sofia Claremont. You’re one stupid girl for taking a walk alone at this time of night. You never know what kind of evil a pretty little thing like you could happen to come by.”

I found myself wondering exactly what kind of evil he was. But I was suddenly overcome by the sensations that were surrounding me. My senses took in everything at once. I heard the waves, felt the sand, smelled the ocean salt, tasted the flavor of cherry and saw the stranger’s manic appearance as he stuck a needle to my neck. The effect was instant. I was barely able to gasp, much less scream. I went from sensing everything to sensing absolutely nothing.

My last conscious thought was that I may never see Ben again. 

Author Bio:

I've been telling stories pretty much since I could talk. Instead of having my parents read me bed-time stories, I would prefer to share with them my own made up tales.

As I grew older, I developed a passion for the fantasy genre.

I’m an avid reader and a hopeless Potterhead.

If you sign up for personal email updates from me here: www.forrestbooks.com ,
you'll be the first to hear about my new releases.

LINKS:

USA,paperback

USA,eBook 

UK,paperback

UK,eBook

Goodreads

Cover Reveal: Drowning In You

 

Hey guys!  Today I'm super excited to be part of the cover reveal for Rebecca Berto's Drowning in You!  Without further ado, here it is!

 

Title: Drowning in You

Author: Rebecca Berto

Publisher: Self-published

Released: April 12, 2013

Secretly crushing

Crushed by a tragedy

Charlee May’s been crushing on Dexter Hollingworth since she was fifteen. Five years later, a horrific skiing disaster at Mason’s Ski Lift Resort leaves her millionaire dad critically injured and her mom dead at the hands of Dexter operating the lifts. Charlee is suddenly the sole caretaker for her little brother while their world falls apart.

Dexter couldn’t be more different from Charlee. He’s tattooed, avoids exclusive relationships and his Dad has a fair share of illegal dealings. With Dexter’s reputation, almost everyone believes he planned the Mason’s skiing disaster.

And after all these years he’s still crushing on Charlee May, the girl who’s too good for him.

When this cruel twist of fate ties Charlee’s family and Dexter’s reputation together, Charlee and Dexter wonder if their feelings are reciprocated, while Dexter discovers his dad is trying to steal the May’s millionaire fortune.

But like an addiction, one look, one touch, one taste—they’re hooked no matter the consequences.  

About the Author

Rebecca Berto writes stories that are a bit sexy, and straddle the line between Literary and Tear Your Heart Out. She gets a thrill when her readers are emotional reading her stories, and gets even more of a kick when they tell her so. She’s strangely imaginative, spends too much time on her computer, and is certifiably crazy when she works on her fiction.

Rebecca Berto lives in Melbourne, Australia with her boyfriend and their doggy.

Rebecca Berto | Facebook | Twitter






Without even having read the book I get the impression that this is a very fitting cover.  Normally I adore colour in a cover, but I love the black and white here, the font used, and the red in contrast to the white.  What about you?  Is this something you'd pick up?  Leave your thoughts below!

Review: Warm Bodies

Title: Warm Bodies
Author: Isaac Marion
Publisher: Vintage
Released: 28th October 2010
Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

It's no secret that I am a massive fan of zombie books.  I love them.  Seriously.  And then to find out that there's a book in the point of view of one??  Hell, yes.   Where is this book and why don't I have it now?  And then I got it.  And then I read it.  And then oh.  My.  God.  This book is amazing.  Isaac Marion truly astounded me in the direction he took this book.

R doesn't remember anything of his past life.  As a zombie, all his memories have long since faded away and even his name is non-existent; all he can remember is that it may have started with an 'R'.  His days are spent killing people for food, and in between that not really doing much of anything.  Unlike the other zombies, however, he doesn't enjoy killing people.  He prefers instead to listen to the likes of Frank Sinatra, and ride the escalators when the electricity comes on in the airport a lot of them are living in.  But when a group of them go out in search of food one day, he sees her.  Julie.  For some reason she stands out to him, and he's reluctant to harm her.  Eating the brain of the guy she loved, R experiences some unusually vivid memories and his feelings for Julie gradually intensify.

Normally when I write a review, I have the book here with me.  Unfortunately it had to go back to the library, otherwise I would have shared a couple of quotes with you that showed the kind of dry humour Warm Bodies is full of.  I loved the opening especially for this aspect, the way zombie life was depicted.  It was amusing to see how casually R described things like the way the zombies stood around and groaned a lot, and what they ate and how.  The way in which Marion has intertwined humour with the more gruesome is wonderfully expert.  The idea of R occasionally eating a piece of Perry's - the guy Julie used to be with - cerebrum is somewhat disturbing actually thinking about, but in the book it doesn't necessarily come across this way. The zombie world created here is completely different to anything else you might find in this genre.  You have Boneys, zombies who are purely skeleton and particularly sinister, and fleshies.   I think the name speaks for itself.  And the ending of the book is one you absolutely would never have guessed.

Reading from R's perspective was incredible.  It was funny, it was serious, it was complex.  It's weird to say, but as a zombie he was very likeable.  He was still trying to hold onto some semblance of humanity.  His mind doesn't work as one might think it does, and viewing Perry's memories and thoughts through him was an exceptionally interesting experience.  The romance between R and Julie is also very endearing.  Just the thought of a human and a zombie in a relationship seems fairly absurd, not to mention perhaps a little cringe-worthy, but actually it really works here.  I loved seeing Julie come to accept him and open up to him more and more.  As a character, she herself was also very likeable.  Julie's tough and independent, and you can't help but feel for the way she's lost the people closest to her - and I don't mean physically.  Yes, Perry died, but even beyond that, both her dad and Perry changed a lot because of their experiences, leaving Julie trying to fight on her own.

Warm Bodies is more complex than I can really explain to you, and there's a significant amount I can't reveal because of spoilers.  But Isaac Marion has come up with a truly unique world and storyline.  I think in a way the ending could have been wrapped up to make it a stand-alone, but nevertheless I'm looking forward to the sequel.  I loved seeing all the elements of zombie life that R described, from marriage and family life - that part kind of bewildered me in terms of his actual experience - to eating and just generally passing the time.  After reading this and watching the trailer, which I found hilarious, I desperately want to go and see the movie at some point, which hopefully I will.  If you haven't read this yet, you need to grab yourself a copy ASAP.

Cover Reveal: Shooting Scars

Title: Shooting Scars (The Artists Trilogy #2)

Author: Karina Halle

Released: May 2013

Publisher: Metal Blonde Books

 

A second chance at first love.

There are a few things worth risking everything for - even your life. For Camden McQueen, this is one of them.

Shooting Scars is the second book in The Artists Trilogy and is told from the dual POV of Camden and Ellie.

 

Author Bio

The daughter of a Norwegian Viking and a Finnish Moomin, Karina Halle grew up in Vancouver, Canada with trolls and eternal darkness on the brain. This soon turned into a love of all things that go bump in the night and a rather sadistic appreciation for freaking people out. Like many of the flawed characters she writes, Karina never knew where to find herself and has dabbled in acting, make-up artistry, film production, screenwriting, photography, travel writing and music journalism. She eventually found herself in the pages of the very novels she wrote (if only she had looked there to begin with).

Karina holds a screenwriting degree from Vancouver Film School and a Bachelor of Journalism from TRU. Her travel writing, music reviews/interviews and photography have appeared in publications such as Consequence of Sound, Mxdwn and GoNomad Travel Guides. She currently lives on an island on the coast of British Columbia where she's preparing for the zombie apocalypse.

A Letter to Juliette (Unravel Me)

Hey guys.  I loved this book so much that I wanted to write, if not a different type of review, a different type of response than usual to make it stand out from all my other five stars.  I was kind of nervous about putting this up here, so let me know what you think. :)

Dear Juliette,

Hello.  You're probably wondering who I am, why I'm writing to you.  Well...I'm a friend.   An invisible spectator (not in a creepy way, I promise).  And as for why this letter, well, friends give their opinions, right?  So this is me, giving my opinions.  And my support.  And my love.

The first thing is, I'm here for you.  I want good things for you.  I'm here, cheering you on from the sidelines.  I can see and feel how broken you are.  I can see all the thoughts whirring around in your head and the pain and loneliness radiating from you is just heartbreaking.  Admittedly there have been a few times where I wanted you to get it together - you chose to be at Omega Point, you knew you were supposed to be focusing on training rather than moping - but thinking about it, it's completely understandable.  Not even your own parents accepted you.  Parents suck sometimes.  And it's not even your fault about what happened with that little boy, or for your power in general.  But in leaving you and putting you in that cell, you never got to experience love.  You were forced to be left with nothing but guilt and grief, and even now you can't bear the weight of your abilities.  You don't know how to be open; you can't see how you can be close to anyone.  But you know what?  I love you anyway.  When you choose to, you can kick butt.  And I feel so badly for you that I just want to hug you.  Oh, calm down.  I can at least send you air hugs.  *air hugs*  You're a good person, Juliette.

I'm not the only one who loves you, of course.  There's Adam. *sighs dreamily*  I swear, if you're not careful, I'm totally going to steal him from you.  I mean, we've never actually met, you know, face to face, but I hear good things about him.  He has my heart already.  But you probably don't want to know that.  Um...oh yeah.  What I wanted to say is, I'm sorry about this latest brick that life's just thrown at you.  I was as shocked as you were to hear about....you know.  (Sorry I'm speaking so vaguely, it's just that I'm aware this letter isn't private.)  But the chemistry between you guys is so intense.  I love seeing you two together; you make an amazing couple.  This business with Warner, on the other hand, I don't approve of.  I know, I know.  It's not your fault, it's Ms Mafi's.  But you guys speak to each other, so you can tell her that from me.  And you can also tell her that if she insists on trying to deflect attention from Adam, as far as I'm concerned, she'll have to try a lot harder.  I love Warner, really I do.  How could I not after everything he's been through and everything he says?  But at the moment I'm still firmly Team Adam.

I love the way you write as well.  You and Ms Mafi.  Your writing breaks boundaries.  You both took one glance at the rules of writing we all seem to hold so dear, and you let your pens tell the world what you thought of them.  You conjure up such powerful images and thoughts, and I just want to keep on reading your words forever.  It inspires me to go back to writing myself.   Short stories from when I was younger sit in a folder, and now and then I create a random scene.  But perhaps I don't write as often as I should.  Reading the sentences you've strung together gives me an incredibly stunning new perspective on thoughts, feelings, the way you see the world.  Everything you see, Juliette, I'm able to see through your eyes, exactly the way you see it.  And I hope that one day, you will see yourself through my eyes.

I know life seems more or less impossible for you right now and you feel alone.  But I'm here, rooting for you, even though you can't see me.   And there are loads of others.  So many friends you don't even know about.  All of us can see this journey that you're on, and we want you to have your happy ending.  So good luck.  With everything.

Take care,
Aa'Ishah

PS - you're so lucky.  You even get to be friends with Kenji.  Totally jealous of you, girl.

A massive thank you to Jasprit for letting me borrow her copy.