You know the story. This is a meme created by Breaking the Spine and every week we pick books we're waiting for. Here are our picks for this week.
Our pick #1
Wren Caswell is average. Ranked in the middle of her class at
Sacred Heart, she’s not popular, but not a social misfit. Wren is the quiet,
“good” girl who's always done what she's supposed to—only now in her junior
year, this passive strategy is backfiring. She wants to change, but doesn’t
know how.
Grayson Barrett was the king of St. Gabe’s. Star
of the lacrosse team, top of his class, on a fast track to a brilliant
future—until he was expelled for being a “term paper pimp.” Now Gray is in a
downward spiral and needs to change, but doesn’t know how.
One fateful night their paths cross when Wren,
working at her family’s Arthurian-themed catering hall, performs the Heimlich
on Gray as he chokes on a cocktail weenie, saving his life literally and
figuratively. What follows is the complicated, awkward, hilarious, and tender
tale of two teens shedding their pasts, figuring out who they are—and falling
in love.
Expected publication: December 31st, 2013
Our pick #2
In this sequel to the bestselling fantasy thriller, Angelfall, the
survivors of the angel apocalypse begin to scrape back together what's left of
the modern world.
When a group of people capture Penryn's sister
Paige, thinking she's a monster, the situation ends in a massacre. Paige
disappears. Humans are terrified. Mom is heartbroken.
Penryn drives through the streets of San Francisco
looking for Paige. Why are the streets so empty? Where is everybody? Her search
leads her into the heart of the angels' secret plans where she catches a
glimpse of their motivations, and learns the horrifying extent to which the
angels are willing to go.
Meanwhile, Raffe hunts for his wings. Without
them, he can't rejoin the angels, can't take his rightful place as one of their
leaders. When faced with recapturing his wings or helping Penryn survive, which
will he choose?
Expected publication: November 19th, 2013
We'd love to see your picks so feel free to link them up.
Hi dear readers. I'm so happy that Something Wicked finally arrived to our blog. I saw so many amazing posts so that I couldn't wait till my moment arrives. Now it has. In case you've been living under the rock this is a hop organized by lovely ladies from some of my fave blogs.
When Elliot finds herself dead for the third time, she knows
she must have messed up, big-time. She doesn’t remember how she landed in the
afterlife again, but she knows this is her last chance to get things right.Elliot just wants to move on, but first she will
be forced to face her past and delve into the painful memories she’d rather
keep buried. Memories of people she’s hurt, people she’s betrayed…and people
she’s killed. As she pieces together the secrets and mistakes of
her past, Elliot must find a way to earn the forgiveness of the person she’s
hurt most, and reveal the truth about herself to the two boys she loves…even if
it means losing them both forever.
While many books try to explain different mysteries of life, mostly my favorites are the ones that have the eventual setting but don't focus on it, but on characters. For that reason after reading it you realize that it doesn't matter where you end but how did you live.
Touching the Surface stars like that, when Elliot bursts from the lake into the surface of a well-know place to her. For the third time she is back to Obmil. You have no idea what is that? Doesn't matter, as it's a beauty of this story. It actually doesn't focus on explaining the afterlife to you but the author builds the world beautifully so that you discover everything piece by piece. In the meantime you are trying to understand Elliot. When you get to meet her for the first time your words to describe her would be selfish, brat and other not such lovely words, but by the end of the book you'll want to hold her and be there for her.
We all make mistakes, that's understandable, but the key is in forgiving and compassion, the things that the author captures remarkably. While being lost Elliot hurts one that she cares for the most and as she doesn't know her past she cannot understand her present. With two more characters, Oliver and Trevor, to add to her confusion Elliot is lost.
It's hard to point out what I like the most here - the beautiful writing, the uniqueness to the story, the characters and their development so that you'll love every single one of them by the end of the book, or the way the would builds around you easily for you to imagine it but at the same time your focus is always on the characters and the plot. There is also a nice balance between seriousness and entertainment. Everything here seems to be nicely balanced.
All in all a 5 star read for me.
Giveaway
Here is what you can win
Enter through raffle form
Open INT
You must be 13 or older
Must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner will be picked (don't do that to me)
I'm so good at posting these updates that I should get some award! Really, I'm sorry but my memory is pretty bad. So yeah I missed a month or two and couple of days but here it is - the update:
When Dallas resident Callie Taylor died young, she expected
to go to Heaven, or maybe Hell. Instead, she met her fate early thanks to a
creep with a knife and a mommy complex. Now she's witnessed another murder, and
she's not about to let this one go. She's determined to help solve it before an
innocent man goes to prison. And to answer the biggest question of all: why the
hell did she wake up in Alabama?
Excerpt
When I died, I expected to go to heaven.
Okay. Maybe hell. It’s not like I was perfect or anything.
But I was sort of hoping for heaven.
Instead, I went to Alabama.
Yeah. I know. It’s weird.
I died in Dallas, my hometown. I was killed, actually.
Murdered. I’ll spare you the gruesome details. I don’t like to remember them
myself. Some jerk with a knife--and probably a Bad-Mommy complex. Believe me,
if I knew where he was, I’d go haunt his ass.
At any rate, by the time death came, I was ready for
it--ready to stop hurting, ready to let go. I didn’t even fight it.
And then I woke up dead in Alabama. Talk about pissed off.
You know, even reincarnation would have been fine with me--I
could have started over, clean slate and all that. Human, cow, bug. Whatever.
But no. I ended up haunting someplace I’d never even been.
That’s not the way it’s supposed to work, right? Ghosts are
supposed to be the tortured spirits of those who cannot let go of their earthly
existence. If they could be convinced to follow the light, they’d leave behind
said earthly existence and quit scaring the bejesus out of the poor folks who
run across them. That’s what all those “ghost hunter” shows on television tell
us.
Let me tell you something. The living don’t know jack about
the dead.
Not this dead chick, anyway.
About the author
Margo Bond Collins lives in Texas with her husband,
their daughter, several spoiled cats, and a ridiculous turtle. She teaches
college-level English courses online, though writing fiction is her first love.
She enjoys reading urban fantasy and paranormal fiction of any genre and spends
most of her free time daydreaming about vampires, ghosts, zombies, werewolves,
and other monsters. Waking Up Dead is her first published novel. Her second
novel, Legally Undead, is an urban fantasy, forthcoming in 2014 from World
Weaver Press.
In the real world, when you vanish into thin air for a week,
people tend to notice.
After his unexpected journey into the lands of the
fey, Ethan Chase just wants to get back to normal. Well, as "normal"
as you can be when you see faeries every day of your life. Suddenly the former
loner with the bad reputation has someone to try for-his girlfriend, Kenzie.
Never mind that he's forbidden to see her again.
But when your name is Ethan Chase and your sister
is one of the most powerful faeries in the Nevernever, "normal"
simply isn't to be. For Ethan's nephew, Keirran, is missing, and may be on the
verge of doing something unthinkable in the name of saving his own love.
Something that will fracture the human and faery worlds forever, and give rise
to the dangerous fey known as the Forgotten. As Ethan's and Keirran's fates
entwine and Keirran slips further into darkness, Ethan's next choice may decide
the fate of them all.
There are authors that tend to put me through a lot of pain and misery while I have to wait for the next book. Julie Kagawa can also be classified as author that likes to write cliffhangers. I have read The Iron Fey after all books were out so I didn't have to experience them then. Well that's why now I know how it feels.
After The Lost Prince we were back to Nevernever once again. A favorite land of mine. Unluckily for him Ethan's first contacts with this land weren't that good. Instead enjoying new land and all the fantasy that it hides, it left him with traumas. For a long time he blamed Nevernever for taking away his sister and building a wall around himself to protect from all the magical creatures. Unfortunately for him his connections with Nevernever were hard to break and once again he was back there. Only now he had Kenzie to take care off. Taking in account her condition it wasn't an easy task and with all that Keirran is missing now and Ethan must help him, not only because he owns him but family is always family. All dangers of Nevernever are upon them and Forgotten ones are stronger than ever. They must fight and find a way to fix many broken things that bother the land.
It wasn't hard to me to get used to Nevernever, despite all the flaws that land will always have a special place in my heart and going back is always a wonderful feeling. I was so happy to get to see Ethan develop as character and to see him break some of his walls. He is not alone anymore and that changes a lot. Now that he has people he feels he needs to protect everything is different. Once again Kagawa brought interesting twists into this story and made you turn pages frantically to see what happens next. Until there was no more pages.
Again I'm left to live in agony until the next book. Luckily for me it's worth it every single time.
Rating: 5 stars.
Until the next time, ***NOTE: Copy of this book was kindly provided by publisher Herlequin Teens for review. Thank you. I'm not paid for writing this review - I do it as a lover of written word. All opinions are personal.
When Meg witnesses the dying moments of a shapeshifting fox
and is given a beautiful and powerful stone, her life changes forever. She is
plunged into the dark world of the Skulk, a group of shapeshifting foxes. As she learns about the other groups of
shapeshifters that lurk around London – the Rabble, the Horde, the Cluster and
the Conspiracy – she becomes aware of a deadly threat against all the
shapeshifters. They must put aside all their enmity and hostility and fight
together to defeat it.
Now I'm thinking and realizing that we don't have enough shapeshifting books out there, or it's just me not finding them. I have no idea. But when I first saw that this was a book about shapeshifting I needed to read it. Luckily I have got a chance to do so.
One night after out main character Meg sneaks out to paint graffiti something unusual happens. She sees a fox, dying fox but in the next moment that fox turns into man. Even though scared she cannot but be surprised and when she is given a beautiful stone she had no idea that power is now transferred to her. Soon enough she discovers her new power and luckily manages to meet a group of shapeshifting foxes or Skulk as they're called. But she also discovers that it's not only foxes that people shapeshift into but that they're other clans that shapeshift into other animals. Actually there is five of them and the relations between them aren't the best to say so, but after the danger is upon to all of them they must unite and fight together.
Like I said the whole shapeshifting part of this story made it really different. I liked how the author created the whole idea and the way she used different animals. Some of them you might never expect to be presented. Only thing that bothered me a bit was the start. I struggled to connect with Meg at first (I was a bit turned off when I saw that she was 16) but later as the whole story developed I got meet her better and see her grow.
This book was really original and nicely paced with interesting characters. Also the readers who need a bit of romance in their stories, scare not. You'll get to enjoy the glimpse of it as well. But the focus is on the idea itself.
Rating: 4 stars.
Until the next time, ***NOTE: A copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher Strange Chemistry. Thank you! I'm not paid for writing this review - I do it as a lover for written word. All opinions are personal.
You know the story. This is a meme created by Breaking the Spine and every week we pick books we're waiting for. Here are our picks for this week.
Glass' pick
Life. Death. And...Love?
Emma would give anything to talk to her mother one
last time. Tell her about her slipping grades, her anger with her stepfather,
and the boy with the bad reputation who might be the only one Emma can be
herself with.
But Emma can't tell her mother anything. Because
her mother is brain-dead and being kept alive by machines for the baby growing
inside her.
Meeting bad-boy Caleb Harrison wouldn't have
interested Old Emma. But New Emma-the one who exists in a fog of grief, who no
longer cares about school, whose only social outlet is her best friend
Olivia-New Emma is startled by the connection she and Caleb forge.
Feeling her own heart beat again wakes Emma from
the grief that has grayed her existence. Is there hope for life after death-and
maybe, for love?
Expected publication: January 28th, 2014
Tanja's pick
Meet Meda. She eats people.
Well, technically, she eats their soul. But she
totally promises to only go for people who deserve it. She’s special. It’s not
her fault she enjoys it. She can’t help being a bad guy. Besides, what else can
she do? Her mother was killed and it’s not like there are any other
“soul-eaters” around to show her how to be different. That is, until the three
men in suits show up.
They can do what she can do. They’re like her.
Meda might finally have a chance to figure out what she is. The problem? They
kind of want to kill her. Before they get the chance Meda is rescued by crusaders,
members of an elite group dedicated to wiping out Meda’s kind. This is her
chance! Play along with the “good guys” and she’ll finally figure out what,
exactly, her ‘kind’ is.
Be careful what you wish for. Playing capture the
flag with her mortal enemies, babysitting a teenage boy with a hero complex,
and trying to keep one step ahead of a too-clever girl are bad enough. But the
Hunger is gaining on her.
The more she learns, the worse it gets. And when
Meda uncovers a shocking secret about her mother, her past, and her destiny…
she may finally give into it.
Expected publication: November 5th, 2013
We'd love to see your picks so feel free to link them up.
Psychic medium Alexandra King is sick of being pestered by her boss’s dead mother demanding help to reunite her two estranged sons. Determined to get some peace and quiet again, Alexandra follows a lead in finding the younger Collins brother to Charleston, South Carolina, where she immediately meets the hottest man she’s ever laid eyes on and finds herself a willing participant in seduction. Of course, her one-night-stand turns out to be none other than Dylan Collins — her boss’s younger brother and a homicide detective who believes psychics are a complete waste of time. All Dylan wants is a few hours of pleasure to take his mind off of the case haunting him. A serial killer is stalking the streets of The Holy City — a killer who calls himself The Grim Reaper. When the woman he’d just spent the night with turns up and offers her services as a psychic consultant on the case, his ardor quickly cools. Last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a con artist. It doesn’t take long for Dylan to realize Alexandra is the real deal – and the killer’s next target. Dylan’s protective instincts battle his reluctance to get too involved with a woman he isn’t sure he can trust. As they get closer to finding the killer, they also grow closer to one another, but will Alexandra’s secret agenda destroy their chance at happiness — if the killer doesn’t strike first?
About the author
Author Angela Campbell is an overachiever with a soft spot
for men who dress funny. Superman, Charlie Chaplin, Dracula, Doctor Who, Elvis
- those are her kind of heroes. An eclectic reader who loves almost every
genre, Angela read her first romance novel at 16 and
immediately endeavored to write one, too. Many offbeat attempts (and a
couple of decades) later, she published her first novel through Carina Press.
Her new romantic suspense series is being published by Harper Impulse.
With every story she pens, Angela aims to build in a paranormal element
to a contemporary and recognizable world with characters who find love in
oftentimes humorous and extraordinary situations.
A mild-mannered reporter with almost 15 years
experience as a general assignment reporter, features editor and graphic
designer, Angela has also worked as a production assistant in TV and film.
Learn more about her books at her website.
True love can last an eternity . . . but immortality comes at
a price. On the midnight shift at a hospital in rural St.
Andrew, Maine, Dr. Luke Findley is expecting a quiet evening. Until a
mysterious woman arrives in his ER, escorted by police—Lanore McIlvrae is a
murder suspect—and Luke is inexplicably drawn to her. As Lanny tells him her
story, an impassioned account of love and betrayal that transcends time and mortality,
she changes his life forever. . . . At the turn of the nineteenth century, when
St. Andrew was a Puritan settlement, Lanny was consumed as a child by her love
for the son of the town’s founder, and she will do anything to be with him
forever. But the price she pays is steep—an immortal bond that chains her to a
terrible fate for eternity.
We all have these books that before they come out we must have and can't wait to read and of course we get the book once it's out and then it ends on our shelves for months and sometimes years. Well that happened with The Taker and maybe once upon a time I'd like it, now I have mixed feeling about it.
One think it sure though, this book has some originality which is somehow a surprise because immortality is not unknown thing to us. But the whole mystery wrapped around it here makes is more appealing. Everything starts when one day in Luke's hospital arrives a supposed murderer. It makes a huge surprise as St. Andrew is a small city and this makes it big news. Luke goes to ER and there he meets Lanore and she decides to tell him his story. The story takes them back in time where everything started. We go back at the turn of the nineteenth century in the same St. Andrew in the time of it's founders. It tells us story about great mystery and love that lasted for many decades.
Besides uniqueness that I like here the other interesting thing is it's connecting with past and the way the story is narrated. I really liked the picture of 19th century St. Andrew and the story about Lanore and Jonathan. Also the difference between the small rural town and later Boston where other things happened. What I have problems with - for starters the supposed love interest between Luke and Lanore, I have no idea when it started and how both of them felt. It was unnecessary moment for me. Mostly I had problems with all relationships here, except for Lanore and Jonathan's - that one was emotional. When the story goes to Boston and we meet supposed mysterious man who could be a man of our dreams, well he isn't. I did see the whole dom thing going on but for me he was a brute, a man without feelings who was cruel just because he could be. Not my type.
All in all this book doesn't offer explanations about the paranormal part and I might continue with the series if I even got some hints that the things will be explained, but this way I will let it go.
“The ultimate Halloween adventure.” – Professor Grimmgraves..
From a distance, the town of Autumnville never
seemed quite right – the area being picturesque while at the same time
haunting. It was a quiet, peaceful place to live, but there was a strange
feeling that permeated the town and its people as Halloween approached. An
eerie feeling that descended upon Autumnville, and no one knew why… until now. Jason Myers, a 12-year-old boy who enjoyed all
things monsters, discovers through a mysterious Halloween blog that monsters
may be very real. On the blog is a video of a witch flying on a broom sighting.
While showing it to his three best friends, they come to the horrible
realization that it was filmed in the very town they live in. The four friends will have to face a host of
ghosts, witches, scarecrows, and other terrifying nightmares that have invaded
Autumnville for a dark and sinister purpose. The boys will have many terrifying
encounters and ultimately uncover the real secret behind Halloween. But Jason
is not completely helpless, for he has the unwanted aid of a monstrous ally,
and of course, Jason’s own incredible secret!
Interview
Hello John. Welcome to Ja čitam, a ti? blog. It’s
really a pleasure to have you here. I have some questions for you so let’s
start.
1. Can you first tell us something about your book – One
Dark Halloween Night?
One Dark Halloween Night is like all those costumed
trick-r-treaters that visit your door on Halloween, from monsters, superheroes,
to celebrities and politicians. The book has a wide variety of elements in it
besides horror. There is mystery and suspense, action and romance and a story
about young friendships that overcome great obstacles. Also the story
incorporates a large number of elements from the holiday, from trick or
treating, to costume parades, Halloween parties, haunted houses, corn mazes,
candy, costumes, a spooky story, and of course lots and lots of monsters.
2. For people who get scared easily (ME) is this book
recommended for younger readers or who scary it actually is? (To me this book
sounds like a perfect read for young boys who love scary stories and are just
discovering witches, ghosts and all those scary creatures)
There are scary elements in the story, but there are far
more suspense, mystery to it, along with action scenes and humor to break up
any scary tension. There is nothing too graphic so it would be fine for middle
school kids.
3. What or who inspired you to write this book?
I would say it’s my love of the holiday Halloween. I’ve been
trick-r-treating with my daughter for a couple years now and we always have a
blast. It is the second most popular holiday in America, yet it barely any
fictional mythology to it. Yes you can say any scary story is a Halloween
story, but what is the definitive Halloween story about the holiday. You could
say it’s The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury, but the book reads like
a kid’s history lesson on the holiday. Or John Carpenter’s Halloween which
is just a serial killer movie. So there is a void out there needing to be
filled. Christmas has several stores that does it, A Christmas Carol, A
Christmas Story, etc.. I hope my novel will fill that void.
4. Do you plan to make this book a part of series or it’ll
remain standalone?
You will have to read my book to find out.
5. It’s October and time for Halloween so it’s be only fair to
share your biggest fear with my readers.
My biggest fear is not making ends meet. It is a tough
economy out there and becoming a successful writer is akin to winning a
lottery. I think my book has winning numbers, I just hope they get picked
sooner then later.
6. What’s your favorite author or book if you can pick one?
My favorite author would definitely be H.P. Lovecraft. He is
a master at scary descriptions and his monsters were out of this world,
literally.
7. At the end it’d be amazing if you’d share your favorite
quote or something that inspires you.
What inspires me is my father, his reaction to reading my
novel made all those hours of writing worth it. First by telling me how
surprised he was at how good the story was, and the gasp of shock he made when
he read the last page of my book. To write something that invokes such an
emotional response you know just has to be good.
Thank you for this interview. It was a pleasure to talk to
you.
Trailer
About the author
Born in Blytheville Arkansas, but living there was not to
be.
Ended up growing up in Buffalo and Denver you see.
Went to the University of Colorado and got a film and English
degree.
Then moved to Los Angeles to work in the movie industry.
Was a sound FX editor for eight years, but that was not for
me.
Raised my daughter at home, lovingly doing it for free.
Now it’s time to start a new career, this being number three.
I’ve become a writer, so buy my book, if you hear my plea.
It’s an exciting and scary novel, I’m sure you would agree.
I hope you like my life rhyme and not found it too goofy.
