*This title will be released on May 22, 2012*

Title: Shadow Bound Author:  Rachel Vincent Series: Unbound #2 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Paranormal Romance Excerpt: Yes Source: Netgalley Reviewed by: Abigail Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages Publisher: Mira (May 22, 2012) ISBN-10: 0778313433 ISBN-13: 978-0778313434   Sexual Content: References to rape and torture. One sex scene. Rating: Okay – A few good points, but with significant flaws. Library/swap/borrow if you want.

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Today we have a new variety of Cover Art Coverage to share, as we compare and contrast the cover art of familiar books around the globe.  Rather than thumbs up and down, Abigail and I have picked our favorites and I hope you do, too! 




 

My favorite thing about a four day week is how the weekend can sneak up on you, Friday comes so quickly!  It is less fun, however, when Wednesday pops up out of no where.  I apologize for the late post today, my head was still back enjoying the holiday weekend.  I kicked off 2012 by shouting, “Wait, it’s Wednesday?!”, how has everyone else been enjoying the new year?

 

 

It’s exciting to see the covers coming in, thank you to everyone who submitted links!  This week SUCH WICKED INTENT reminded me how much I *adore* men’s formalwear and THE TEMPTATION has a cover sultry enough to carry off the title.  Of the nine series that have new titles coming out, I’m behind on more than half of them!  Anyone else hear Abigail’s TBR Pile sneaking up on them?

 

Betrayed by Ednah Walters 

Not Yet Available for Pre-Order.

Description: Lil isn't just an average teenager. She's one of the Nephilim--the descendants of humans and angels--which gives her some serious psi skills and a mission for redemption. Just when Lil thinks she's found a balance between her normal life with human friends and her training to become a Guardian, she's warned that someone close to her will betray her. When the boy she loves starts acting strangely and one of her human friends acquires a supernatural ability, Lil begins to realize that someone is manipulating the people she loves... and won't stop until she's been lured to the dark side. No Author Comment Available.

Series: The Guardian Legacy #1 Artist: N/A Goodreads: Link	Publisher: Spencer Hill Press Release Date: June 2012 Source: Publisher
Julia’s Thoughts	Abigail’s Thoughts
This cover has a very classic color palette, but the arched sun salutation on the cover is a little overly dramatic for my taste.	Overly dramatic is the perfect description.  And this so doesn’t look like a YA cover.  I thought it was paranormal YA until I read the description.  It is a HUGE improvement over the original though.

Previous version

 

It’s a mixed bag of titles this week, with very few covers that are all win or all lose.  Sometimes it’s only one detail that tips a cover from a thumbs up to a thumbs down, and it looks like a duck face is where I draw that line.  If you could tweak one detail on a cover to change it from thumbs down to thumbs up, what would it be? 

On a Dark Wing by Jordan Dane 

(Click to enlarge)

Description: "The choices I had made led to the moment when fate took over. I would learn a lesson I wasn’t prepared for. And Death would be my willing teacher." Five years ago Abbey Chandler cheated Death. She survived a horrific car accident, but her lucky break came at the expense of her mother’s life and changed everything. After she crossed paths with Death—by taking the hand of an ethereal boy made of clouds and sky—she would never be normal again. Now she’s the target of Death’s Ravens and an innocent boy’s life is on the line. When Nate Holden—Abbey’s secret crush—starts to climb Alaska’s Denali, the Angel of Death is with him because of her. Abbey finds out the hard way that Death never forgets. No Author Comment Available.

Series: N/A Artist: N/A Goodreads: Link	Publisher: Harlequin Teen Release Date: December 27, 2011 Source: Author’s Blog
Julia’s Thoughts	Abigail’s Thoughts
I like the birds and the over all cover composition, but his wings don’t look quite right.  I think I’d like it better if the wings complimented the angle of the birds across the title.	I agree completely.  Overall I’m a fan, but his wings are almost shaped like a butterfly.

Previous Covers in This Series

N/A

*This title will be released on September 20, 2011*

Title: If I Die Author: Rachel Vincent Series: Soul Screamers #5 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Paranormal YA Excerpt: Yes Source: Publisher Reviewed by: Abigail Reading level: Young Adult Paperback: 352 pages Publisher: Harlequin; Original edition (September 20, 2011) ISBN-10: 0373210329 ISBN-13: 978-0373210329 Sexual Content: Kissing.  Scenes of sensuality. References to sex. Rating: Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & put this author on your watch list.

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There are some very interesting Omnibus covers this week, can you arrange them in the order of Most, Less, and Least like their series covers (I think our feelings on the matter are pretty clear).  There’s some amazing use of fire, a few homemade covers that look great, and at least one cover that looks homemade when it shouldn’t.   

Eternal Starling by Angela Corbett 

(Click to enlarge)

Description: A love so strong, even eternity can’t separate them. Evie Starling has lived a relatively uneventful life hanging out with friends, gossiping about boys, and driving her 1966 Mustang. All of that changes when she moves to Gunnison, Colorado, to start college and meets two mysterious men. For centuries, Alex Night and Emil Stone have yearned for Evie—but they each have their own reasons for wanting to be with her. When both men claim to be her soul mate and tell her about an unbelievable past, Evie learns that she’s not the person she thought she was. Soon, Evie finds herself in the middle of an age-old battle between the Amaranthine Society—the soul protectors, and the Daevos Resistance—the soul destroyers. With a past she doesn’t understand, and a future rife with danger, Evie has to decide who she can trust. But Alex and Emil aren’t the only ones who want Evie, and her soul is about to become the rope in an eternal tug-of-war.   “I hope you like it as much as I do!!!!” – Angela Corbett

Series: Emblem of Eternity #1 Artist: N/A Goodreads: Link	Publisher: Pendrell Publishing Release Date: December 6, 2011 Source: Author’s Blog
Julia’s Thoughts	Abigail’s Thoughts
This is a lovely, soft cover.  I think the title font may be a little too difficult to read, but that may just be on smaller, digital images.	I agree about the title font, but otherwise, I like the soft vintage feel.

 

Previous Covers in This Series

N/A

 

*This title will be released on August 23, 2011*

Title: Blood Bound Author: Rachel Vincent Series: Unbound #1 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Urban Fantasy Excerpt: Yes Source: Publisher Reviewed by: Abigail Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages Publisher: Mira (August 23, 2011) ISBN-10: 0778312550 ISBN-13: 978-0778312550 Sexual Content: Kissing. References to rape. References to sex slavery. Sexual assault. A couple sex scenes  Rating: Near Perfect - Buy two copies: one for you and one for a friend.

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Description

By blood, by word, by magic…

Most can't touch the power. But Liv Warren is special— a paranormal tracker who follows the scent of blood.

Liv makes her own rules, and the most important one is trust no one.

But when her friend's daughter goes missing, Liv has no choice but to find the girl. Thanks to a childhood oath, Liv can't rest until the child is home safe. But that means trusting Cam Caballero, the former lover forbidden to her.

Bound by oath and lost in desire for a man she cannot have, Liv is racing to save the child from a dark criminal underworld where secrets, lies, trauma and danger lurk around every corner…every touch…every kiss.

And more blood will be spilled before it's over…

Review

I can’t remember the last time I got this excited over an urban fantasy debut.  I already knew that Rachel Vincent was a paranormal master thanks to her increasingly good paranormal YA Soul Screamers series and adept at injecting just the right amount of romance into urban fantasy in her Shifters series, but her new Unbound trilogy, which begins with BLOOD BOUND, promised a much darker, much grittier story that breaks way outside the box.  And having now read it, she may have just set a new standard for the genre.

Comprehensive and inventive worldbuilding, strong yet flawed characters, surprising and fast paced plot, and a dash of romance are what I always hope for in urban fantasy.  BLOOD BOUND gave me all that and more.  The worldbuilding is staggeringly good.  After thirty years, the world’s worst keep secret is that there are certain individuals who posses Skills.  These can range from Trackers (those who can find people with just a name or a smear of blood),  Binders (those who can broker magical contracts), Travelers (those who can cover any distance by moving between shadows), and several others.  Since the government refuses to acknowledge Skilled individuals, organized crime has made excellent use of them.  The details of this world are so finely nuanced and so well thought out that I’d believe in a heartbeat that Rachel Vincent had been planning this series for decades.

The main character is a blood Tracker.  She works freelance for one of the nastier crime bosses in her city.  Liv has a lot of secrets.  Deep ones that have started to eat her soul by the time we meet her.  She is sinking further and further in a pit of filth that she willingly entered and with each passing day, it becomes less likely that she’ll ever get out. The phrase ‘hitting rock bottom’ was made for characters like Liv Warren. 

Liv’s co-narrator is Cam Cabrillo, the only man she ever loved.  Cam is a name Tracker.  He’s been driving himself half mad trying to figure out why Liv left him six years ago.  Cam has his own secrets and ties to a rival crime boss, but none of that matters when Liv’s best friend from high school invokes a magical Binding that Liv can’t ignore if she wants to live and Cam is the only one who can help her.

I stopped counting after the third punch-you-in-the-gut shocker that was revealed in BLOOD BOUND, not because I suddenly saw them coming—the entire book was one unbelievable yet totally believable scene after another—but because I realized that I’d have been better off counting the scenes that didn’t steal my breath away.  The romance is so well paced too.  Cam and Liv have a lot resentment and stubbornness between the two of them, as well as secrets that Liv is keeping that are every bit as terrible as you suspect from her behavior, but once revealed, they shed an entirely different light on everything that has happened up until that point. 

I kept telling myself I’d only read one more chapter and then I’d quit for the night.  I kept making that same bargain with myself until the very end of the book when suddenly it was light enough outside that I couldn’t call it night anymore.  But I don’t even care that I’m tired today, because BLOOD BOUND was exactly the kind of book that’s worth robbing you of sleep.  I’d be ready to forgo sleep again tonight if it meant I could read the next book in the Unbound trilogy, SHADOW BOUND, which is scheduled to be published in 2012.

Previous Books in Series	Also Reviewed By:
N/A	My Overstuffed Bookshelf – 5/5

Title: Stray Author:  Rachel Vincent Series: Shifters #1 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Urban Fantasy Excerpt: Yes Source: Bought Reviewed by: Abigail Mass Market Paperback: 624 pages Publisher: Mira (June 1, 2007) ISBN-10: 0778324214 ISBN-13: 978-0778324218 Sexual Content: A scene of mild sensuality. A semi graphic sex scene.  Multiple references to rape.  Several attempted rape scenes one of which is graphic. My Rating: Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & pre-order the sequel.

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Description

I look like an all-American grad student. But I am a werecat, a shape-shifter, and I live in two worlds.

Despite reservations from my family and my Pride, I escaped the pressure to continue my species and carved out a normal life for myself. Until the night a Stray attacked.

 

I'd been warned about Strays -- werecats without a Pride, constantly on the lookout for someone like me: attractive, female, and fertile. I fought him off, but then learned two of my fellow tabbies had disappeared.

 

This brush with danger was all my Pride needed to summon me back . . . for my own protection. Yeah, right. But I'm no meek kitty. I'll take on whatever -- and whoever -- I have to in order to find my friends. Watch out, Strays -- 'cause I got claws, and I'm not afraid to use them . . .

Review

Faythe Sanders is a fiercely independent urban fantasy heroine, very reminiscent of Elena Michaels (the only female werewolf in Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series) in fact STRAY was in many ways similar to Elena’s first book BITTEN: The prodigal daughter, a rare female shifter, is forced to return home and reunite with her Pack and former Love while hunting down some stray shifters.  But the similarities didn’t bother me in the slightest.  Both BITTEN and STRAY are excellent books with enough differences to be more than worthwhile reads on their own.

 

Faythe, in particular, was a consistent high note throughout STRAY. She was gutsy and brave, with a clear, often sarcastic, voice, that made sense since she grew up as the only girl in a house full of boys. Her unwavering insistence on independence was at times foolish, but she was quick to acknowledge her mistakes and that her stubbornness was a weakness that she constantly battled. 

 

The romance was equally good as Faythe struggled not just with her ex Marc, but also with the childhood friend Jace, whom she’d always considered as a brother until now.  The heated flirtation between Faythe and Jace added to the romantic tension and realistically fueled the doubt that Faythe experienced with her emotions for two very different men.

 

And all that romantic tension was only heightened by the dynamics of Pride life in STRAY which were fascinating in their complexity, specifically the role of females.  Rachel Vincent does an admirable job of communicating all the intricacies of life as a Shifter without bogging her readers down with boring details.

 

All in all, STRAY was an excellent start to what promises to be an excellent series.  This is the perfect time to jump into this series as the sixth and final book in the series came out last year which means you can read Faye’s full story with no waiting!

 

WARNING: This book deals heavily with the subject of rape both from the side of the victims and the rapists.  Although there aren’t any rape scenes in the book, it is alluded to and attempted many times, one failed attempt in particular is somewhat graphic and disturbing. 

Previous Books in Series	Also Reviewed By:
N/A	25 Hour Books Dark-Readers Dear Author

*This title will be released on January 1, 2011*

Title: My Soul to Steal Author: Rachel Vincent Series: Soul Screamers #4 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Paranormal YA Reading level: Young Adult Paperback: 352 pages Publisher: Harlequin Date Published: January 1, 2011 ISBN-10: 0373210272 ISBN-13: 978-0373210275 Review Copy Source: Publisher Reviewed by: Abigail

Book Description

YOU WANT MY SOUL AND MY BOYFRIEND?

Trying to work things out with Nash—her maybe boyfriend—is hard enough for Kaylee Cavanaugh. She can’t just pretend nothing happened. But “complicated” doesn’t even begin to describe their relationship when his ex-girlfriend transfers to their school, determined to take Nash back.

See, Sabine isn’t just an ordinary girl. She’s a mara, the living personification of a nightmare. She can read people’s fears—and craft them into nightmares while her victims sleep. Feeding from human fear is how she survives.

And Sabine isn’t above scaring Kaylee and the entire school to death to get whatever—and whoever—she wants.

I DON’T THINK SO.

 Review

I remember saying that Rachel Vincent was brave for the places she took her characters in the last Soul Screamers book, but that was nothing compared to what she’s done to them in MY SOUL TO STEAL.

Sabine.  Obviously we’re not supposed to like Nash’s ex-girlfriend who shows up and starts trying to pick things back up where they left off, but Rachel Vincent might have taken it a bit too far.  I wanted to reach into the book and physically beat her!  She’s a psycho, vindictive, vengeful, manipulative slutbag.  I’m getting angry again just thinking about her.  Anyone who showed her the slightest compassion--and I mean anyone--got knocked down a peg in my estimation.  Think Lila from season two of Dexter.

And really, did Kaylee and Nash need any more problems with their relationship after what happened in MY SOUL TO KEEP?  Apparently so, because Sabine worms her way into the middle of things like a parasite.  Emotions run high for everyone and the fallout proves to be just as big.  And I don’t just mean for the characters.

When I start a series and invest myself in new characters, I start to build certain expectations.  Who will end up with who, who will become a villain, who will be redeemed etc.  I had very clear expectation going into MY SOUL TO STEAL, and I should have known after MY SOUL TO KEEP that Rachel Vincent never does what I expect.  There’s a big, huge, ginormous thing that happens in this book, or rather starts to happen, that I initially felt so betrayed by that part of me didn’t want to finish the book.  I did of course, and I’m amazed at how quickly I started to warm up to the idea of what’s to come.

Nothing is set in stone for this series.  Rachel will probably surprise me again in the next book, IF I DIE, but that’s part of what makes this series so exciting.  The last two books have been shocking, but they’ve also been my favorites.  Can’t wait.

Sexual Content: Kissing.  Lots of references to sex.

My Rating:

4/5
Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & pre-order the sequel.

Previous books in the series:

1. Reaper (prequel)
2. My Soul to Lose (prequel)
3. My Soul to Take
4. My Soul to Save
5. My Soul to Keep

Also reviewed by:

• BookHounds
• Lala Land
• Vampire Book Club