 | Title: Dark Kiss Author: Michelle Rowen Series: Nightwatchers #1 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Paranormal YA Excerpt: Yes Source: Netgalley Reviewed by: Julia
 
Sexual Content: Kissing, references to sex.
Rating:
  Good - A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying. |
 | Title: THE GIRL IN THE CLOCKWORK COLLAR Author: Kady Cross Series: Steampunk Chronicles #2 Cover Art: N/A Genre: YA Steampunk Excerpt: No Source: Netgalley Reviewed by: Kristina
Sexual Content: Kissing and references to sex.
Rating:
Good - A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying. |
Wow do we have a cool giveaway today. As the final stop in the GODDESS INTERUPTED blog tour, Harlequin Teen has put together a Summer Goddess Giveaway prize pack filled with Aimée Carter books, gift cards, a a few goodies perfect for the summer. All to celebrate the release of GODDESS INTERRRUPTED, the second in Goddess Test series (available now from Harlequin Teen). Harlequin Teen is also spilling details about Aimée’s next books THE GODDESS INHERITANCE and MASKED!
Goddess Interrupted Blog Tour Wrap Up and What’s Next for Aimeé Carter
We are welcoming back Julie Kagawa who is here to talk about THE IMMORTAL RULES and introduce us to one of her vampires: Kanin. This is the first book in the new Blood of Eden series about a world where vampires rule over humans. If you missed Abigail’s review of THE IMMORTAL RULES (available now from Harlequin Teen) , she described it this way: “Take the social structure of Rachel Caine’s Morganville Vampires series and add the vicious, post-apocalyptic world from the Daybreakers movie and you get THE IMMORTAL RULES by Julie Kagawa.” Want to see how fun this book is for yourself? Enter the giveaway below to win a signed copy courtesy of Harlequin Teen via Media Masters Publicity. And check out the book tour details below for more giveaways & info on winning the GRAND PRIZE: Kindle Touch with with a special Immortal Rules cover!
Tall, pale and handsome "night owl" seeks partner for moonlight adventure. Lightening quick reflexes, excellent combat skills and a wry sense of humor. Prefers "take out" vs eating at home. Loyalty and street smarts a must.
 Julie now lives in La Grange, Kentucky, with her husband, two obnoxious cats, one Australian shepherd who is too smart for his own good and the latest addition, a hyperactive papillon. |
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Want to read more from Julie Kagawa?
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| Title: The Immortal Rules
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 | Title: Spellcaster
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Most sixteen-year-olds have friends. Aden Stone has four human souls living inside him:
One can time-travel.
One can raise the dead.
One can tell the future.
And one can possess another human.
With no other family and a life spent in and out of institutions, Aden and the souls have become friends. But now they're causing him all kinds of trouble. Like, he'll blink and suddenly he's a younger Aden, reliving the past. One wrong move, and he'll change the future. Or he'll walk past a total stranger and know how and when she's going to die.
He's so over it. All he wants is peace.
And then he meets a girl who quiets the voices. Well, as long as he's near her. Why? Mary Ann Gray is his total opposite. He's a loner; she has friends. He doesn't care what anyone thinks; she tries to make everyone happy. And while he attracts the paranormal, she repels it. For her sake, he should stay away. But it's too late....
Somehow, they share an inexplicable bond of friendship. A bond about to be tested by a werewolf shape-shifter who wants Mary Ann for his own, and a vampire princess Aden can't resist.
Two romances, both forbidden. Still, the four will enter a dark underworld of intrigue and danger but not everyone will come out alive....
Book 1 in The Intertwined Series
Pick your paranormal poison: ghosts, zombies, werewolves, vampires, faeries, witches. They are all packed into Gena Showalter’s (Lords of the Underworld series) paranormal YA series debut INTERTWINED.
The concept of INTERTWINED is killer; the main character, Aden Stone, has four souls living inside him and each one possesses a different supernatural ability. Unfortunately, the execution of the souls was DOA for me. There’s the mom soul, the horny soul (who says ‘day-um’ every time he sees a hot girl), the pessimist soul, and then the other soul who didn’t even get a clichéd one note personality. Fortunately the souls didn’t have tons of dialogue.
If your not a fan of male protagonists, fear not. The story is told from the shifting POV’s of both Aden and the girl who can quiet the souls inside him, Mary Ann Gray. I appreciate that Gena didn’t make obvious choices in INTERTWINED and kept the mystery of her characters throughout the book, giving both Aden and Mary Ann their own distinct lives and problems to overcome.
I was less of a fan of how complex the story was at times while trying to balance out the multiple story lines and romances (yes, that’s romances as in plural. More on that later). I could actually see it working much better if Aden’s and Mary Ann’s stories had been in separate books.
Another issue I had was that the mythology of Aden and his souls is never fully explained (perhaps that will come in future books). Whereas I found the origin myth for vampires and werewolves to be fascinating in an Underworld sort of way, but tweaked just enough to be unique to this world.
As I mentioned above, we get two romances in INTERTWINED, each couple having their own obstacles to overcome and own pacing. I can’t go into more detail with out spoiling part of the book, but I think both of the male love interests were eminently crushable and I’ll be looking forward to seeing how these relationships grow in the future.
Sexual Content: References to sex. Teen pregnancy. Kissing.
My Rating (out of 5):Good - A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying.
Click HERE to read an excerpt from INTERTWINED
Reading level: Young Adult Disagree with my review? Contact me with your review for this or any other book I’ve reviewed and I might use it for 2nd Opinion Review.
WHEN KAYLEE CAVANAUGH SCREAMS, SOMEONE DIES
AND KAYLEE IS ABOUT TO SCREAM HER HEAD OFF...
Kaylee has one addiction: her very hot, very popular boyfriend, Nash. A banshee like Kaylee, Nash understands her like no one else. Nothing can come between them.
Until something does.
Demon’s breath. No, not the toothpaste-challenged kind. The Netherworld kind. The kind that really can kill you. Somehow, the super-addictive substance has made its way to the human world. But how? Kaylee and Nash have to cut off the source and protect their friends—one of whom is already hooked.
And when the epidemic hits too close to home, Kaylee will have to risk everything to save those she loves.
Book 3 in The Soul Screamers Series
…Everything is on the line for Kaylee in this book, and the stakes are incredibly high, once she understands what’s going on…This was not an easy book to write, and it is not an easy book for Kaylee to live through. Things change because of what happens in My Soul To Keep. Consequences are permanent, and after this one, the characters will have to reevaluate their relationships to one another, for better or for worse.-Rachel Vincent
With many series there comes a point where an author has two choices: to let the characters/story get into a rinse and repeat cycle where nothing ever changes and the books just sort of reset each time; or to let the series build to impossibly higher stakes where each book has to have bigger battles than the one before. Then there are the authors who choose to take the big risk of throwing their characters (and readers) a huge curve ball that changes everything. Rachel Vincent is a risk taker, and in my opinion it paid off big time.
As much as I've enjoyed all the previous Soul Screamer stories because of the innovative folk lore filled mythology of bean sidhe, grim reapers, demons, not to mention the likeable main characters, I found the storylines to be slightly juvenile even for YA audiences. But MY SOUL TO KEEP has a much more mature and engaging plot.
My favorite part of this series has always been the relationship between Kaylee and Nash which had been escalating with each book. The big question of will they or won't they becoming harder to avoid. This time out, Nash steps up the pressure on Kaylee to get more physical, and Kaylee finds fewer reasons why they shouldn't.
But the best part of MY SOUL TO KEEP is that it builds on all the storylines from the previous books, picking up details that seemed insignificant and turning them into pivotal, heartbreaking plot points. I love experiencing a well told story in the hands of an author who has been planning a series for the payoff that comes in one game changing book.
So while I've enjoyed the two previous Soul Screamer novels (and the prequel novella too), MY SOUL TO KEEP is by far the best yet. Not all readers will like what Rachel has done to her characters and the choices they've made, because they can never go back. Other readers like me will be more invested in the series than ever. Sure things are a little scary, sad, and uncertain. But I can't wait to find out what happens next when My Soul to Steal releases on January 1, 2010
YA Warning: (slight spoilers) Characters are possessed by other characters and without their permission engage in sexual activity.
Sexual Content: Kissing. References to sex. References to sexual assault. A scene of mild sensuality.
My Rating (out of 5):
Click HERE to read an excerpt of MY SOUL TO KEEP
Publisher: Harlequin Disagree with my review? Contact me with your review for this or any other book I’ve reviewed and I might use it for 2nd Opinion Review.
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