Character Profile: Phoenix from Entice

Today I'm absurdly excited to be a part of the street team for Entice, the second book in the Embrace Series by Jessica Shirvington. As a team member, I have the pleasure of bringing you the profile for one very special character in this series: Phoenix. Who's Phoenix you ask? He's the bad boy. And I think anyone who knows me is well aware of how much I love a good bad boy, so Phoenix and I are clearly the perfect match ;-) Except he's kind of a fan of Violet. Minor detail.

All this week, street team members along with the fabulous team over at Sourcebooks will be bringing you character profiles, tweeting quotes from the books, and hosting giveaways on Twitter to celebrate the release of Entice. All these fun promotions will culminate in the epic Entice Me Day, taking place this Saturday, September 15th, the details of which can be found using the link above. It should be an absolute blast! There will be giveaways. There will be a live chat with author Jessica Shirvington. There will be much Embrace Series awesomeness, so mark your calendars!

Now, on to the good stuff. The hot stuff. The Phoenix-related stuff :)

Here are just a few things about Phoenix you should know:

“Not everything is black and white, Violet. Don’t believe everything you’ve been told.”—Phoenix

He’s intense, sexy and otherworldly. Full of secrets, Phoenix is all gray in a world of dark and light. As an exile, he is not to be trusted, but Phoenix always seems to be there to protect Violet when she needs it most. Together, they shared one intense moment of passion. Now, when the electricity between Violet and Phoenix ignites, she discovers his hold over her has become more dangerous than ever.

Sitting in Sydney’s glamorous Water Bar, Jessica reveals some enticing secrets about everyone’s favorite bad boy!



Still want more Phoenix? You can check out his full character bio over on the Embrace Series page, and don't forget to take the "favorite quote" quiz while you're there! You can also find the full schedule leading up to Entice Me Day here, as you don't want to miss out on getting to know all the other characters!

A Random Assortment of Fun

Hey Everyone!

A bunch of book-related awesomeness has been brought to my attention over the past week, so I just wanted to do a quick post to put said awesomeness on your radar. I know, I know. I'm a giver through and through ;-)

First up: ENTICE ME DAY

Entice Me Day: September 15th, 2012

Entice Me Day is going to be an amazing day for both fans of the Violet Eden series as well as those who are new to it, with all sorts of amazing giveaways and a live chat with author Jessica Shirvington. From Sourcebooks:

During the day, @EmbraceSeries and Facebook.com/embracetheseries will be posting cool character quotes, informing readers about the character videos, directing people to quote quizzes, announcing a new chapter release and hosting a giveaway.

ENTICE ME DAY Sweepstakes: We are offering one lucky grand prize winner the chance to win a NOOK Color!  We’re uploading this device with the e-books for EMBRACE, ENTICE, and early chapters from the next book in the series, EMBLAZE.  PLUS, we are including a “YA Starter Library” with a selection of our other cool YA titles, for a total of about 10 books.  The Sweepstakes entries will begin midnight on September 7th and end midnight on September 15th. 

If that weren't exciting enough, the entire week leading up to Entice Me Day will be filled with special character profiles each day, giving you behind the scenes info on everyone involved in this world. I'm thrilled to announce that I will be hosting bad boy Phoenix here on Supernatural Snark, so be sure and check in on the 12th for all the juicy scoop on this delicious baddie!

A full schedule for the week as well as all the details for Entice Me Day can be found here. I hope you guys are as excited for this as I am!

BREATHE

Thanks to the fabulous people over at HarperTeen I have a very cool video in which author Sarah Corssan discusses her writing process to share with you! I'm very excited about the world of Breathe, how cool does it sound?

In a barren land, a shimmering glass dome houses the survivors of the Switch, the period when oxygen levels plunged and the green world withered.

A state lottery meant a lucky few won safety, while the rest suffocated in the thin air. And now Alina, Quinn, and Bea—an unlikely trio, each with their own agendas, their own longings and fears—walk straight into the heart of danger. With two days’ worth of oxygen in their tanks, they leave the dome.

DEFIANCE JEWELRY GIVEAWAY!

Pop over to Epic Reads (such a great site - all sorts of entertaining things like giveaways, polls, and quizzes happen here) and enter to win some custom jewelry based on C.J. Redwine's Defiance. Awesome.

Last, but not least, I want to quickly announce the winners of my past several giveaways. A huge thank you to Sourcebooks Fire and Authors on the Web for providing such fantastic books, and to all of you who entered! All winners have been emailed.

ANASTASIA FOREVER

Winner: Rebe

ANGELFALL

Winner: Asheley

BACK TO BOOKS

Winner: Anatea

Review: Entice

ENTICE (The Violet Eden Chapters #2)

Jessica Shirvington
Paranormal Young Adult
464 pages
Sourcebooks Fire
Available September 4th
Received from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)

Violet Eden is Grigori - part angel, part human. Her destiny is to protect humans from the vengence of exiled angels.
 
Knowing who to trust is key but, when Grigori reinforcements arrive, it becomes clear everyone is hiding something. Even Lincoln. The only thing Violet does know: Phoenix's hold over her is more dangerous than ever.
 
The race to find the one thing that could tilt the balance of power brings them all to the sacred mountains of Jordan, where Violet's power will be pushed to the extreme. And the ultimate betrayal exposed. 

MY THOUGHTS

Completely captivating, Entice begins right on the heels of where Embrace left off, thrusting us back into the tension-filled world of Violet and the recent discovery of her Grigori heritage. While hitting the ground running is usually something that ensures the story has our unwavering attention and focus, a few reminders here and there of important events that took place in the book prior would have been appreciated, our slight confusion over more minor character names and associations keeping us from fully engaging initially. Our confusion is quickly overshadowed however by both the beautiful intricacies of the battle between the Grigori and the Exiles as well as the painful complexities of a relationship perhaps damaged beyond repair by Violet’s actions in Embrace, a combination that causes our eyes to dart frantically back and forth across the pages as we attempt to absorb everything that happens at record speed.

Violet was a bit of a tricky character to decipher in the first book, her exaggerated reactions to Lincoln and her new life as a Grigori forcing our arms to remain stiffly at our sides while reading instead of opening wide to wrap around her. So much time was spent blinking in bafflement as her anger toward Lincoln steadily increased in intensity, and though the ending did provide an explanation for her behavior, it also came so late that this second book basically has to introduce us to Violet all over again. This Violet is a far more likable young woman, struggling with the repercussions of actions for which she can’t claim sole blame, and trying desperately to mend a relationship she and Phoenix riddled with more holes than we fear she'll be able to patch.

The lingering hurt on both sides is a palpable thing, a character almost unto itself as it hovers between Violet and Lincoln, forcing them to tread softly in the presence of the other so as to not disturb a sleeping beast that will easily shred their hearts with claws tipped in Phoenix-laced poison should it awaken. At times Violet wavers in her resolve to fix things, keeping information to herself we know will only make her situation worse for not sharing it, but before we can work up sufficient ire she takes the high road and adopts honesty as her new policy, allowing us to release an audible sigh of relief. Her flaws are still on prominent display in this second book, but where previously she was almost completely unbelievable in her fury, in this installment her imperfections only mark her as a human with a vulnerable heart despite her angelic link.

Entice is a solid middle book, giving us the opportunity to see Violet clearly for the first time while ratcheting up the conflict on both personal and physical levels. The only real complaint with this story is the aforementioned lack of recap of book one, characters popping up throughout with no brief introduction as to who they are and what role they played previously, leaving us flipping to the back in the hope we’ll find a glossary to help us place them. It’s recommended readers refresh their memories by at least skimming Embrace before tackling Entice, but slight befuddlement aside, readers will no doubt be glued to the pages as Violet’s world comes to life.

Rating: 4/5

Cover Reveal: Entice

I'm super excited today to be a part of the cover reveal for the second book in Jessica Shirvington's paranormal young adult series, Entice.

What do we think? I really like the darker nature of it - it's a little grittier and a little more haunting than the cover for Embrace, but I love how the two are linked with the type treatment, the wings, and the use of purple.

Jessica and the fabulous people over at Sourcebooks Fire have provided a quick glimpse into what's in store for Violet:

“Two tutors and three students from the Grigori training center in New York were arriving in two days and I couldn’t be happier.  I was going to be able to learn from the experts and have people my own age to train with, something I really needed.  I was sure with their help I would be able to get over whatever it was that had been holding me back.

Griffin had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the two senior Grigori –the intelligence, resources and backup they could provide was much needed.  The Scripture that can decipher the identity of all Grigori, even those who have not yet embraced and are therefore defenseless, was at stake.

I would not stand by and watch it fall into the hands of exiles.  If they found they key to destroying all Grigori and gained the upper hand, the slaughter would not stop until all the humans knelt before them, worshipping them as gods.”

For those who can't wait until September 1st to read, fear not, you can check out the first two chapters of Entice HERE. Woot! Also, Jessica Shirvington will be coming to the US for a two week tour starting September 18th, and you can check for all the latest details regarding the tour on the Embrace website.

If all that goodness wasn't enough, Jessica has also posted a video blog wherein she discusses all sorts of fun things from the comfort of her very favorite chair. Enjoy!