Sekret Street Team: A Look at Russia

To help celebrate some of their recent and upcoming releases, the amazing team at Fierce Reads has put together a number of street teams for each book, all tasked with a variety of interesting challenges to complete in whatever way they see fit. I'm a proud member of Team Sekret, so today and a couple of days next week I'll be posting character profiles, favorite quotes and scenes, and a few pieces of Sekret-related artwork to hopefully get those of you who have yet to read Sekret by Lindsay Smith excited to do so!

One of the interesting aspects of this story for me was the Russian setting, in part because I was lucky enough to spend a few days in Russia last fall. Even though I never made it to Moscow where the book takes place, it was still fascinating for me to picture the places where events unfolded having experienced the beauty and opulence of Russia firsthand.

I thought it might be fun to give you guys a quick taste of some of what Russia has to offer, so below are a few pictures from my trip that really show the old-world grandeur of it. All my pictures are from St. Petersburg rather than Moscow–forgive me for that, I'm a bit OCD about copyright issues so I didn't want to grab any pictures of Moscow that didn't belong to me–but I hope they give you a feel for bits and pieces of main character Yulia's world nonetheless!

RUSSIA

(click to enlarge)

Russia was extraordinary, with some of the most beautiful artwork and architecture I've ever seen, so I hope you keep some of these images in your minds when you pick up Sekret!

One of street team challenges was to create a playlist for the book, but in all honesty, I'm absolutely miserable at that sort of thing, so despite the fact that music plays a huge role in the story and a playlist would probably be easy enough to put together, I'm just going to own up to this failure. One of my favorite moments of our time in St. Petersburg though was hearing a men's chorus utilize the astounding acoustics in one of the pavilions at Catherine's Palace to sing a traditional Russian folk song for the tourists.

The below video is courtesy of K Barber on You Tube and features the exact group we saw when we were there, so I wanted to share it. Please ignore all the people taking pictures and flapping their hands about, it's obviously not a professional video, but I thought the sound quality was pretty nice. I hope you all enjoy, and stay tuned for more Sekret goodies this week!

• • • • • • • • • • • 

SEKRET

An empty mind is a safe mind.

Yulia's father always taught her to hide her thoughts and control her emotions to survive the harsh realities of Soviet Russia. But when she's captured by the KGB and forced to work as a psychic spy with a mission to undermine the U.S. space program, she's thrust into a world of suspicion, deceit, and horrifying power. Yulia quickly realizes she can trust no one--not her KGB superiors or the other operatives vying for her attention--and must rely on her own wits and skills to survive in this world where no SEKRET can stay hidden for long.

Find Lindsay:

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Guest Post: Kimberly Loth + Kissed

I'm so pleased today to have author Kimberly Loth stopping by the blog to talk a little bit about her new paranormal young adult romance, Kissed. As most of you already know, I'm a romance girl at heart, so the mere mention of a mysterious boy in the synopsis has me more than ready to crack the spine of this one. Welcome to Supernatural Snark Kimberly!

Thank you for having me on your blog today. I’m thrilled to be able to talk about Kissed. This journey has been so amazing. Today I want to talk about something that readers have told me they’ve really enjoyed about the book. The roses.

I consider myself a lifelong learner. I love learning new things. But I hate reading non-fiction. I want to learn about things in a way that’s entertaining and leaves me longing for more, much in the way I want to read a fiction book. My favorite books are ones that not only captured me up in the story but ones that taught me something I never knew before. For example, in North of Beautiful by Justina Chen her main character loves maps and goes geocaching. I’d never heard of the concept before that book. Now, it’s a hobby that I enjoy.

I wanted to capture that spirit in Kissed. I chose to have my main character, Naomi, obsessed with roses. From a young age she learned how to garden with her grandmother and by the time we meet her at sixteen, she has a greenhouse filled with exotic rose blends and a garden out back.

I start every chapter with something she knows about roses or how she applies those roses to her life. Here’s the one from chapter four.

Seven roses contain the name of the day of rest. My favorite is Sunday Lemonade. Its pale pink blooms give off a scent of lazy summer nights visiting with friends. Just the opposite of the many Sabbaths I spend with my father. His Sundays smell like famine and pestilence.

Many readers have asked how I know so much about roses. The truth is I didn’t know much until I started writing Kissed. I’d always loved roses. My grandpa grew them and I loved watching him work on them when I was a child. He always picked a few roses for me and cut off all the thorns. But I’d never grown my own before.

When I knew Naomi needed this, I checked out every book on roses my small community library contained. (Five books, in case you were wondering). Then I  read everything I could online. I found out there are literally thousands of different roses. It was so fun finding roses to fit each situation. But I needed more than that.

I drove out to my local Lowes and picked out a few plants. I only chose ones that smelled good and would bloom all season. A lot of rose bushes will only bloom once a year and while Naomi was content with that, I wasn’t.

I’ve always had a black thumb. I killed everything I grew.  Everything I read said that roses were hard to grow. To my surprise, not only did they live, but they flourished. I loved those roses. We’ve moved since then, but for a couple of years I had gorgeous smelly roses. Not only that, I was able to really get a feel for the roses and add an authenticity that research alone doesn’t give you.

If you are interested in trying to grow your own roses, I would recommend Oklahoma, Tiffany, or Granada roses. They seem to do well in most climates and have dreamy smells. Also, Miracle Grow Roses does wonders.

I hope you will enjoy Kissed.

• • • • • • • • • • • 

KISSED

Trapped in a dark cult, sixteen-year-old Naomi Aren has lived a quiet, albeit unhappy, life nestled deep in the hills of the Ozarks. With uncut hair, denim skirts, and only roses for friends, Naomi seldom questions why her life is different from other kids at school. Until the day her abusive father, who is also the cult’s leader, announces her wedding. Naomi must marry Dwayne Yerdin, a bully who reeks of sweat and manure and is the only one person who scares her worse than her father.

Then she meets Kai, the mysterious boy who brings her exotic new roses and stolen midnight kisses. Kisses that bring her a supernatural strength she never knew she had. As the big day approaches, Naomi unearths more secrets of about her father’s cult. She learns she has power of her own and while Kai may have awakened that power, Naomi must find a way to use it to escape Dwayne and her father—without destroying herself.

Amazon • Goodreads

*For the next week and a half Kissed is only 99 cents!

Find Kimberly:

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Review: Shadows of Asphodel

SHADOWS OF ASPHODEL
Shadows of Asphodel #1
Karen Kincy
Dieselpunk Romance
350 pages
Self-published
Available Now
Source: From author for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
When Ardis discovers a man bleeding to death on the battlefield, she knows she has to walk away.

1913. In her work as a mercenary for Austria-Hungary, Ardis has killed many men without hesitation. One more man shouldn’t matter, even if he manages to be a charming bastard while he stands dying in the snow.

But when he raises the dead to fight for him, she realizes she must save his life.

If a necromancer like Wendel dies, he will return as a monster—or so the rumors say. Ardis decides to play it safe and rescues him. What she doesn’t expect is Wendel falling to one knee and swearing fealty. Ardis never asked for the undying loyalty of a necromancer, but it’s too late now.

Ardis and Wendel forge an uneasy alliance underscored with sexual tension. Together, they confront rebels, assassins, and a conspiracy involving a military secret: robotically-enhanced soldiers for a world on the brink of war. But as Ardis starts to fall for Wendel, she realizes the scars from his past run more deeply than she ever imagined. Can Ardis stop Wendel before his thirst for revenge destroys him and everyone else around him?

MY THOUGHTS
Shadows of Asphodel gives us an intriguing story full of magic and gadgets with two protagonists who are beacons of light in a world hovering on the precipice of all-out war. While both Ardis and Wendel are highlights though, the rest of the story causes us a bit of trouble, mainly due to the fact that we are provided with absolutely no framework for the world itself. We know war is imminent and there are “rebels” fighting against those to whom Ardis swears allegiance, but we don’t really know who either side is or why exactly they’re at odds, leaving us feeling like tiny boats torn from our moorings and left to drift with no hope of rescue.

Ardis is a woman who can more than take care of herself, wielding a sword with lethal skill and earning her keep by the blade. She’s hesitant with Wendel initially, put off by his necromancy but also more willing to give him a chance than anyone else in his life, making her someone we can easily support for the compassion she shows him. Like the world-building though, we’re left with lots of questions with regard to necromancy and the reasons it’s so despised and loathed by everyone. There appears to be no reason for the hatred Wendel is subjected to other than the obvious fact that he raises the dead, but Ardis herself is a mercenary receiving payment for taking lives, so we can’t help but shake our heads and wonder why the blood on Wendel’s hands seems to be so much heavier in terms of sin than the blood on Ardis’s own.

Wendel, for his part, is a charmer, always quick with a smile or quip and shockingly positive despite the utter disgust with which others look upon him when they learn what he is, and we find ourselves feeling emotionally protective of him throughout. Though we may thoroughly enjoy both him and Ardis, we don’t come to know either of them all that well, with Wendel in particular being more of a mystery. We know he was disowned by his wealthy family and picked up by the Order of the Asphodel–and there’s a brief scene with his brother and sister toward the end–but ultimately that familial line is cast out into the water and then never reeled back in to see if there’s meat on the hook.

Overall, Shadows of Asphodel is a book that just feels a touch unfinished, various threads woven into the story that end up going nowhere, and we’re left with a lot of whys and whats haunting our thoughts. Why is the Order of Asphodel so desperate for Wendel to begin with? What is their end game? Despite those questions and some of the fairly large holes in the world-building, our time with Wendel and Ardis is enjoyable, the two of them a couple that makes us smile as they try to move past their initial shared hesitancy and into something emotionally and physically intimate.

Rating: 3.5/5

*Note: At the time of this review, I couldn't find any information on whether or not this would be a series. Since then I've learned there will be a sequel, so the unfinished aspect makes a bit more sense:)

Find Karen:

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This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Review: Empower

EMPOWER
The Violet Eden Chapters #5
Jessica Shirvington
Paranormal Young Adult
496 pages
Sourcebooks Fire
Available Now
Source: eARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
It has been two years since Violet Eden walked away from the city, her friends, her future and - most importantly - her soulmate, Lincoln. Part angel, part human, Violet is determined to stand by the promises she made to save the one she loves.

Living in the perpetual coldness of a broken soul she survives day to day as a Rogue Grigori in London.

But when an unexpected visitor shows up at her door, the news he bears about someone she swore to protect leaves Violet with no choice.

Even worse, she fears that this might all lead back to the night she tries hardest to forget. And what was taken without her permission.

Violet is going back to New York ... and she knows exactly who is going to be there.

With Phoenix in her dreams and Lincoln in her heart she knows it is only a matter of time before the final choice must be made.

MY THOUGHTS
Coming off an emotionally devastating series of events in the previous book, the bar set for Empower is a high one, and while it’s not quite as strong overall as its predecessor, it beautifully concludes what has been a truly captivating series. The reason for Empower’s failure to surpass Endless in strength and intensity is Violet herself, a young woman who’s shown astounding growth throughout the series, but who in the first third of the book seems to have devolved into someone we’d thought we’d move past. She’s understandably cold and distant in the wake of all that happened in the concluding chapters of Endless, but while her pain is fresh, ours has dulled with the time in between books, so we’re left floundering as we try and remember her reasoning for running from all that was important to her.

Violet and Lincoln are the driving force in this series, and with each book the two of them have grown closer together and more in love even when circumstances have kept them from what they want most, but the game playing and secrets that were so frustrating in the very first book rear their ugly heads in the beginning of Empower. We’re given a few well-timed hints to remind us of previous events, but yet we’re kept thoroughly in the dark as to why Violet is so intent on staying away from Lincoln and hurting them both in the process. They both return to two people whose pain and anger cause them to lash out at one another–something we haven’t seen from them in several books and had hoped they had matured beyond–and as a result, we get off to a very rocky start.

Luckily for us however, after we’ve all endured unnecessary pain for nearly thirty percent of the story, the reasons for Violet’s utter conviction that keeping physical and emotional distance from Lincoln is the right thing is finally revealed, and she thankfully decides that secrets no longer have a place between them. While her reasons are valid in many ways, they also have a “can’t see the forest for the trees” vibe about them, with Violet sticking her head in the sand and refusing to consider what everyone around her continues to point out: There’s more than just the solution she’s chosen open to her. Once she decides to listen though, the story proceeds flawlessly, our team of beloved characters and a number of brilliant new characters teaming up for the showdown between the Grigori and the Exiles that’s been building since book one.

Nearly all of our questions are answered in this final installment, the truth of Violet’s angel maker and the extent of her abilities brought to light in all their glory, and the haunting and memorable type of pain that stems from the loss of those we care for settles deep in our bones. We’re not left wallowing in pain or asking ourselves why the author made the decisions she did however, instead we feel the loss of a select few in battle keenly but are left with a smile on our faces thanks to those who remain. Overall, The Violet Eden Chapters is a spectacular series, rich in characterization and emotional growth, and I simply cannot wait for more from Ms. Shirvington.

Rating: 4/5
 

Find Jessica:

Website • Blog • Embrace Website • Facebook • Goodreads • Amazon

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

 

Review: Sleep No More

SLEEP NO MORE
Aprilynne Pike
Paranormal Young Adult
352 pages
HarperTeen
Available Now
Source: Finished copy from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Charlotte Westing has a gift. She is an Oracle and has the ability to tell the future. But it doesn't do her much good. Instead of using their miraculous power, modern-day Oracles are told to fight their visions—to refrain from interfering. And Charlotte knows the price of breaking the rules. She sees it every day in her wheelchair-bound mother and the absence of her father. But when a premonition of a classmate's death is too strong for her to ignore, Charlotte is forced to make an impossible decision: continue following the rules or risk everything—even her sanity—to stop the serial killer who is stalking her town.

MY THOUGHTS
Sleep No More is a dark and violent murder mystery with a paranormal twist, the visions that plague Charlotte as an Oracle ensuring (aptly per the title) sleep is as difficult to find for us as it is for her. For those readers who don’t handle gore or horror well, the descriptions of the various murders are detailed without being obscene–leaving our minds to fill in the blanks with information that’s most likely far more gruesome–and we find ourselves all the more horrifyingly engaged as a result. The fact that Charolotte is an Oracle and not simply psychic is an intriguing twist, the history of Oracles and their changing role from ancient times to present day hinted at without being fully explored, but where that might typically be frustrating, Ms. Pike balances the known and unknown perfectly to make sure we reach the last page both satisfied and yet still infinitely curious.

Charlotte is a loner thanks to the inconvenient timing of her visions and the fact that they render her immobile and unaware of anything around her for the few minutes she lives them, earning her a reputation that keeps friends largely at bay. Her loneliness, combined with the terror we feel when we see what she sees, reaches out and grabs us from the beginning, turning us from passive observers into active participants as we become one of the few very few people who know what she’s going through. Though Charlotte is guilty of the all-too common heroine-keeps-secrets-rather-than-telling-those-around-her-what’s-going-on habit, the fact that so much about her and her role as an Oracle is being deliberately kept from her by her aunt Sierra makes her decision to not entirely open up an understandable one.

The romance in Sleep No More is at first glance one that seems as though it’s going to play out in familiar fashion, Charlotte’s long time unrequited love for Linden making us root for the slow progression of their relationship every step of the way. Ms. Pike takes the path less traveled when the Charlotte/Linden romance reaches its fork in the road however, and we can’t help but appreciate her decision (as well as Charlotte and Linden’s) to do the unexpected. Their relationship is a subtle one though, the murders and the increasing forcefulness of Charlotte’s visions staying firmly front and center, but their moments together show us facets of Charlotte's character we both respect and admire given she proves just how much of a level head she has even when the boy she’s loved for a good part of her life finally shows interest.

Overall, Sleep No More is a page turner in every sense, keeping us on edge as the length of time between Charlotte’s visions and the reality of them dwindles with increasing speed, and robbing us of breath as we wonder when she’s going to run out of time to make the difference between life and death. We’re left with the murderer caught and punished and his reasoning made clear, but the aforementioned questions as to the role of Oracles and the mysterious Sisters of Delphi remain a bit more open-ended, room for further exploration a definite possibility but yet we’re also perfectly content when we close the back cover should Ms. Pike keep this novel a stand-alone.

Rating: 4/5

Find Aprilynne:

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This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

A Beautiful Distraction Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway

A BEAUTIFUL DISTRACTION
Hard Feelings #3
Kelsie Leverich
Contemporary Romance
272 pages
NAL
Available May 6th
Source: Finished copy from publisher for review

THE STORY
Nothing’s more dangerous than a bad boy with a broken heart…

First Sergeant Rafe Murano did everything to the extreme. He trained harder, he fought harder, and unfortunately, he loved harder. But he fell for the wrong woman and it nearly destroyed him.

Back home from a deployment, with no mission to consume him, Murano’s ravaged by memories of his past. So he drinks until he’s numb and drowns himself in meaningless one night stands. But they only take the edge off…

Until he meets Fallon.

Fallon Kelly learned the hard way not to take risks with her heart, But she sees something irresistible in the tatted-up bad boy one more punch away from a ride in the back of a squad car. She offers a distraction. And he quickly becomes an addiction. Little does she know, this bad boy could love so hard it could break her…

MY THOUGHTS
A Beautiful Distraction is a fairly straightforward contemporary romance where a pair of individuals with dark pasts and an impressive amount of emotional baggage are forced to sort through their various hang-ups to determine whether possibility of love is worth the possibility of heartbreak. Though the story itself is nothing new, Ms. Leverich writes characters who communicate well and spare us a lot of the drama and angst that often results when two people forget how to use their words. Both Rafe and Fallon are honest with one another about their pasts as well as their expectations for the future, and while that’s not to say they don’t argue or occasionally let their insecurities get the better of them, they impress throughout with the way they talk things through.

Fallon in particular is a highlight, coming from a world of wealth and privilege only to have that world ripped away from her and a new, darker reality take its place. Though the circumstances of her past have convinced her to keep people at arm’s length, she thankfully doesn’t spend the entire book fighting to keep her walls up. She’s fully aware her defenses begin to crumble the minute she meets Rafe, but instead of pulling him close one minute only to push him away the next when she remembers she’s supposed to keep her distance, she simply accepts that he’s something different and decides to see where the ride will take her.

While Fallon is a strong heroine and the chemistry between her and Rafe is beyond sizzling, the relationship itself is not without a few small issues. Those readers who don’t necessarily like too much detail when it comes to intimate moments should know this story sits slightly more on the erotic side of the romance line, the sex between Fallon and Rafe frequent and explicit. While certainly not a problem for everyone (as it wasn’t for me), it does lead into the main flaw that kept this book from a higher rating. Rafe communicates almost solely through sex, using it to convince Fallon her doubts have no place in their relationship, to apologize for any wrongdoing, and in the end, to express his love for her. Though sex is obviously a form of communication, the way Rafe consistently defaults to it in times of tension between them makes it a touch harder to believe his feelings extend beyond the physical.

Overall, A Beautiful Distraction is a quick and very hot read, and though Rafe isn’t entirely convincing in his profession of love at the end, his and Fallon’s journey is still an enjoyable one.

Rating: 3.5/5

Find Kelsie:

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This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

• • • • • • • • • • • 

GIVEAWAY

Thanks to the fantastic team at Penguin, I have a copy of A Beautiful Distraction to give away on the blog today! To enter, please fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Giveaway is open to US residents only.

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