Waiting on Wednesday: Lady Thief

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking The Spine and is a fun way to see what books other bloggers just can't wait to get their hands on!

LADY THIEF

Scarlet #2

A.C. Gaughen

Young Adult/Fantasy-ish

Releases February 11th from Walker Childrens

From Goodreads:

Scarlet’s true identity has been revealed, but her future is uncertain. Her forced marriage to Lord Gisbourne threatens Robin and Scarlet’s love, and as the royal court descends upon Nottingham for the appointment of a new Sheriff, the people of Nottingham hope that Prince John will appoint their beloved Robin Hood. But Prince John has different plans for Nottingham that revolve around a fateful secret from Scarlet’s past even she isn’t yet aware of. Forced to participate at court alongside her ruthless husband, Scarlet must bide her time and act the part of a noblewoman—a worthy sacrifice if it means helping Robin’s cause and a chance at a future with the man she loves. With a fresh line of intrigue and as much passion as ever, the next chapter in Scarlet’s tale will have readers talking once again.

So. I read Scarlet earlier in the year thinking it would just be a quick, fun read that played around with the Robin Hood myth and replaced the Will Scarlet character with a woman. Wrong. While it of course did do those things, it also unexpectedly–and delightfully–ended up being so much more. I fell madly in love with Scarlet and Rob (you can read my full review here), and I may or may not have done a spastic happy dance when I learned there would be more books in this series. The first book conceivably could have been left as a standalone, but these characters have legs galore and I can't wait to see where they take me in this installment!

Darker Days Blog Tour: Guest Post + Giveaway

Today I'm super excited to welcome author Jus Accardo and Jessie, the protagonist of her newest paranormal young adult release Darker Days, to the blog to talk a bit about pleasing a mom who just happens to know how to kick a little butt. Jus and the team at Rockstar Book Tours have put together a fantastic tour, so be sure and check out the bottom of the post for not only details on a fun giveaway, but also a list of all the participating blogs so you can check out more reviews, interviews and general Darker Days awesomeness!

JESSIE DARKER'S 5 WAYS TO MAKE
AN ASS KICKING MOM HAPPY

• For the neat freak Mom—Clean up the corpses. Just get done with a particularly messy trap and slap? Forget doing the dishes. Let Mom put her feet up while you dispose of the otherworldly body bits.
   
• For the fashion savvy Mom—Tell her you’ll take Pet possession duty for the next month. Does your Mom constantly complain about the fact that demon drool stains? Does she groan when the call comes in to say Fido down the road is breathing fire and peeing acid on the carpets?  Trust me. She—and her wardrobe—will thank you.
   
• For the frugal Mom—Buy her a bulk bag of quartz powder and a lighter. Forget flowers and lame-o “World’s best Mom” charm bracelets. What good are those things when trapped and staring down the stinky nose of a Zombie?
   
• For the sensible Mom—A good pair of running shoes. There’s nothing as priceless as a good pair of kicks. Giving Mom sensible footwear so she’ll be able to outrun the big bad on her ass is going to ensure years of companionship and plenty of memorable, late night Mother/Daughter monster mashes.
   
• For the hip Mom—An iPod loaded with a catalog of musical kickassery. Everything from Hardcore punk, to those weird hair bands she loves so much.

• • • • • • • • • •

JUS ACCARDO

JUS ACCARDO spent her childhood reading and learning to cook. Determined to follow in her grandfather’s footsteps as a chef, she applied and was accepted to the Culinary Institute of America. At the last minute, she realized her path lay with fiction, not food, and passed on the spot to pursue writing. Jus is the bestselling author the popular Denazen series from Entangled publishing and is currently working on the first book in a new adult series due out summer 2013. A native New Yorker,she lives in the middle of nowhere with her husband, three dogs, and sometimes guard bear, Oswald.

Website • Blog • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads

• • • • • • • • • •

DARKER DAYS
(releases August 26th from Entangled Teen)

Jessie Darker goes to high school during the day, but at night she helps with the family investigation business. Cheating husbands and stolen inheritances? They’re your girls—but their specialty is a bit  darker. Zombie in your garage? Pesky Poltergeist living in your pool? They’ll have the problem solved in a magical minute. For a nominal fee, of course...

When gorgeous new client, Lukas Scott, saunters into the office requesting their help to find a stolen box, it sounds like a simple case—until the truth comes out. The box is full of Sin.

Seven deadly ones, in fact.

They’ve got five days to recapture the Sins before they're recalled by the box, taking seven hijacked human bodies with them. Easy peasy—except for one thing...

There’s a spell that will allow the Sins to remain free, causing chaos forever. When the key ingredient threatens the life of someone she knows, Jessie must make the ultimate choice between love and family—or lose everything.

B&N • Kobo • iBooks • Amazon • Goodreads

* I so enjoyed this book, you can read my full review here!

• • • • • • • • • • 

GIVEAWAY AND TOUR SCHEDULE

One lucky person will walk away with a Darker Days 7 deadly sins gift basket, so be sure and enter using the Rafflecopter form below for a chance to win! Giveaway is open to US residents only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

8/12/2013- The Book Goddess- Review

8/13/2013- Supernatural Snark- Guest Post 

8/14/2013- Paranormal Reads- Review

8/15/2013- K-Books- Interview 

8/16/2013- Doctors Notes- Review 

8/19/2013- Step Into Fiction- Guest Post 

8/20/2013- Young Readers- Review 

8/21/2013- Curling Up With A Good Book- Interview 

8/22/2013- Chapter by Chapter - Review 

8/23/2013- Oops! I Read A Book Again- Guest Post 

Review: Deception

DECEPTION
Defiance #2
Young Adult/Dystopian
C.J. Redwine
480 pages
Balzer + Bray
Available August 27th
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Baalboden has been ravaged. The brutal Commander's whereabouts are unknown. And Rachel, grief stricken over her father's death, needs Logan more than ever. With their ragged group of survivors struggling to forge a future, it's up to Logan to become the leader they need—with Rachel by his side. Under constant threat from rival Carrington's army, who is after the device that controls the Cursed One, the group decides to abandon the ruins of their home and take their chances in the Wasteland.



But soon their problems intensify tenfold: someone—possibly inside their ranks—is sabotaging the survivors, picking them off one by one. The chaos and uncertainty of each day puts unbearable strain on Rachel and Logan, and it isn't long before they feel their love splintering. Even worse, as it becomes clear that the Commander will stop at nothing to destroy them, the band of survivors begins to question whether the price of freedom may be too great—and whether, hunted by their enemies and the murderous traitor in their midst, they can make it out of the Wasteland alive.

In this daring sequel to Defiance, with the world they once loved forever destroyed, Rachel and Logan must decide between a life on the run and standing their ground to fight.

MY THOUGHTS
Deception is a heavy read, the weight of all that Logan and Rachel have suffered combining with the tense limbo they find themselves in as they travel from the remains of Baalboden to one of the other city-states to make us stumble in this second installment, our fingers feeling no urge to turn the pages with any speed because we know what awaits us will only add to the burden we already carry. Part of the trouble stems from the fact that while the pain and cruelty of the Commander are fresh for Logan and Rachel, they’re but a distant memory–a haunting echo–for us as readers after nearly a year, and given his presence is but fleeting in this book, we have nothing to spark the fiery hatred that burned so brightly in Defiance. Without that which ignited a deeply-rooted investment in their cause, we find ourselves a bit lost, disconnected from Logan, Rachel and their journey to save what remains of their people.

Logan and Rachel too create a barrier between us and them in this tale, their emptiness bleeding into us almost immediately until we find ourselves as emotionally numb as they are, not caring nearly as much as we want to about those who meant so much in book one. While their relationship is seemingly solid and the declarations of love feel genuine, Rachel and Logan are as far apart as they possibly can be despite their close proximity physically, each of them so willing to fall on their respective swords for the other that it creates an unwanted but necessary detachment for us, the need to protect ourselves from the pain they seem almost eager to inflict with their own deaths a fateful companion throughout.

Though the impressive page length and the challenges resulting from Rachel and Logan's emotional distance slow the pace with which we read this book to a near crawl, Ms. Redwine gives us some hope in the end that the next leg of this journey will see us invested once again. Rachel sheds some of the melancholy and grief she’s carried every step of the way after leaving Baalboden, finally showing a bit of feeling and reminding us why we were rooting for her initially, and while we could understand her need to hide from herself and those around her using impenetrable emotional armor, it’s a weight lifted off our shoulders to see her find a purpose outside of her destroy-the-commander tunnel vision.

Overall, there's no doubt Ms. Redwine is a talented writer and storyteller, this second installment is just a touch trickier to really connect to given how bleak things are for the characters as a whole. The promise of book three we're left with though keeps this series on our list of ones to continue, and I for one look forward to seeing Rachel put as much heart into the upcoming battle as she does brute force.

Rating: 3.5/5

Find C.J.:

Website • Facebook • Twitter • Amazon • Goodreads

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.

Super Six Sunday: Killer Endings

Inspired by Top Ten Tuesday from The Broke and The Bookish, Super Six Sunday, a new feature from the fabulous ladies at Bewitched Bookworms, has different book-related topics each week and asks participants to address each one in the form of a list of six. Obviously.

This week's topic is killer endings, an aspect of various book series with which I have a love/hate relationship. I understand the purpose of cliffhangers and don't deny they do their job in making me chomp at the bit for the next book, but I die a little each time I come across one because my poor heart gets so invested in the stories and characters that I give myself a stress-induced ulcer when they're left hurt or in trouble and I'm forced wait to find out if they're okay. *sobs*

Below are some of the endings tore my heart out and stomped on it, or otherwise had me screaming and swearing at the top of my lungs when I reached the last page, and though I admit to disliking endings where my beloved characters are in mortal peril, I loved each of these books!

DREAMFEVER (Fever Series #4)

This book has quite possibly the most brutal ending I've ever come across. I cried. I yelled obscenities. I stared blankly at the last sentence for an absurd length of time willing more chapters to magically appear and fix everything that just happened. What made this ending even more soul-scarring you ask? The fact that the next book, Shadowfever, didn't come out for 17 months after this book released. 17 MONTHS! *falls down dead* The wait was excruciating, but Shadowfever blew me away and entirely made up for it, so I almost forgive KMM for what she put me through with Dreamfever. Almost ;-)

DEITY (Covenant Series #3)

Deity doesn't end in quite as cruel a fashion as Dreamfever, but it's one of those endings that forced a "please, no" past my lips as the far-reaching implications and ramifications of what takes place settled like a lead weight in my gut. While I was of course dying to read Apollyon as soon as I could get my hands on it, the ending of this book also had me dreading cracking the spine of the next one, knowing my bubble of delusion wherein Alex and Aiden are happy and together and in love was going to be heart-breakingly popped. I do so love this series though, and cannot wait for Sentinel to finally bring Alex's story full circle.

THE RAVEN BOYS

Okay. So the ending of The Raven Boys isn't exactly on par with the other books on this list in terms of the emotional flaying it inflicts, but it has one of the most bizarre and befuddling parting lines I've read, and I therefore felt it earned itself a spot. Confession: I flip to the back of a book and read the ending first probably 75% of the time. I need to know what's going to happen alright? I CAN'T HELP IT! I flipped straight to the back of this one, read the last line and thought to myself "Self, I can't wait to figure out what that means" before returning to the front and reading straight through. Well, as it turns out, the line I'd read initially didn't make any more sense to me after reading the story in its entirety than it had when I read it out of context, and I need to hurry up and get a hold of Dream Thieves so it can hopefully explain things to me.

INFINITE DAYS

I absolutely LOVED this book. It turns the typical vampire story on its head a bit as the protagonist turns from vampire to human rather than human to vampire. I have to be pretty invested in a story to cry (obviously), and typically crying takes place later in a book after I've had time to really get attached to the characters. With this book though? I was crying inside of the first 30 pages as my beloved Rhode wrapped himself around my heart and refused to let go. My emotions evened out after that until the very end when former vampire Lenah saw fit to slice me into emotional confetti once more. So good.

UNTIL I DIE (Revenants #2)

While this second installment was a bit rockier for me than the first, the ending took me completely by surprise and left me feeling stripped bare as I sprinted to the computer to see when the third and final book would be coming out. Logically, I knew what happened would likely be remedied in the next book, but my heart didn't seem to understand logic at all and promptly stopped working for a beat or two. Emotional stability fail.

THE EVOLUTION OF MARA DYER (Mara Dyer #2)

Oh, Michelle Hodkin. What a brilliant dispenser of pain you are. This series is strange and twisted and a confusing jumble of "what the hell is going on?" that works so beautifully well that I will be able to read these books over and over again and learn something new each time. The ending of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer was a jaw-dropper, but the ending of Evolution is more of a punch to the gut, one that sent me reeling and raving and looking around for anyone who might listen, willingly or otherwise, as I tried to get all my thoughts in order by speaking them aloud. Can it be time for Retribution already?

Mini Reviews: Keeping Her + I Dream of Danger

KEEPING HER
Losing It #1.5
Cora Carmack
Contemporary New Adult
Novella
William Morrow/HarperCollins
Available August 13th
Source: eARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Garrick Taylor and Bliss Edwards managed to find their happily-ever-after despite a rather . . . ahem . . . complicated start. By comparison, meeting the parents should be an absolute breeze, right?

But from the moment the pair lands in London, new snags just keep cropping up: a disapproving mother-in-law-to-be, more than one (mostly) minor mishap, and the realization that perhaps they aren't quite as ready for their future as they thought.

As it turns out, the only thing harder than finding love is keeping it.

MY THOUGHTS
Keeping Her is an absolute treat for fans of Cora Carmack in general and original couple Garrick and Bliss in particular, giving us a look behind the curtain of happily ever after as the two of them find themselves taking the first tentative steps outside their shiny new romance bubble and into the complicated reality of navigating a partnership rather than a sole proprietorship. Because this novella is furthering the story of an already established couple, no lead in or build up is necessary, instead we get the pleasure of diving right into the thick of things, tension between Bliss and Garrick sparking and flaring as their individual insecurities are thrust into the limelight and put on display for the most critical of audiences: Garrick’s parents.

What’s so beautiful about Garrick and Bliss’s relationship though is their ability to communicate; neither of them the type of people to keep things bottled up inside until they poison what they have via emotional suppression, rather they both always step forward when something is bothering them and opt to share the burden between them. They aren't without flaws of course and their love isn’t magically perfect after the events of Losing It, but there’s never a moment where we question the rightness of the two of them together, their trust that the other person won’t let them fall wrapping their relationship in steel bands we know will never break no matter how much ammunition is fired in their direction. Cora Carmack has yet to disappoint me, and Keeping Her comes with my highest recommendation for Garrick and Bliss lovers everywhere.

Rating: 4/5
 

Find Cora:

Website • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads • Amazon

I  DREAM OF DANGER

Ghost Ops #2

Lisa Marie Rice

Adult Romantic Suspense

304 pages

Available now

William Morrow/HarperCollins

Source: Finished copy from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)

In the second book of Lisa Marie Rice's thrilling Ghost Ops series, the Haven team is faced with a new addition to their secret society-and a threat capable of destroying everything they hold dear.

When Nick Ross disappears from Elle Thomason's life, she is certain she'll never see the man she loves again—except in her dreams.

Ten years later, as a respected researcher breaking new ground in psychic phenomena, she sends a desperate call for Nick's help. One by one, her colleagues have started disappearing . . . and Elle knows she's next. An elite soldier, Nick never meant to hurt Elle, duty kept him away—and then she vanished. Now troubled by unusually vivid, disturbing dreams of Elle in danger, Nick will rescue the only woman he's ever wanted and bring her back with him to Haven. Though powerful men are after Elle and her special abilities, Nick will die before leaving her side again.

MY THOUGHTS

I Dream of Danger is the type of romance that must be entered into with a sense of preparedness, fully expecting to embrace some familiar romance novel cliches like a hyper-sexualized covert ops soldier and a frighteningly naïve virgin whose body simply won't respond to anyone other than him. The physical aspect of their relationship happens quickly in this second installment of the Ghost Ops series, and while the speed with which they end up in bed isn't all that bothersome given Elle has loved Nick her entire life, their first sexual encounter reads a bit clinical, leaving us slightly uncomfortable as Nick introduces Elle to all the pleasures her body is capable of experiencing. Luckily, their later intimacies are more sensual, though they of course remain over the top and earth-shattering with absolutely no room in the moment of passion for safety or pregnancy concerns.

In addition to the extensive sexual exaggeration, the main mystery element involving Elle's missing coworkers is wrapped up rather quickly at the end, some interesting aspects regarding Elle's ability to astrally project not explored as thoroughly as we might have hoped going in, and we're left with one major plot point unresolved as we're presumably setup for the romantic pairing of book three. Despite its flaws however, there is still an addictive quality to I Dream of Danger, and the quicker we accept the romantic embellishments the more fun we have reading this story. By the end, we can't help but want to continue on and see what becomes of the next member of the Ghost Ops team and the woman who's clearly caught his attention, willing to dive back into this world just as soon as we're in the mood for the stretching of romantic believability and physical prowess once again.

Rating: 3/5
 

Find Lisa:

Website • Blog • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon 

These books were 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.

• • • • • • • • • •

CRAVE TWITTER CHAT

Romance is obviously the theme of the day on the blog, so in keeping with it I wanted to mention that I will be co-hosting a Twitter chat with new adult and adult romance author Monica Murphy today from 3pm-4pm EST. I'm hugely excited for the first book of her new Billionaire Bachelors Club series, Crave, which released this week from Avon, and I hope some of you will join me this afternoon to ask Monica all about it (look for #crave, @sprntrlsnark, @avonbooks and @MsMonicaMurphy). We'll also be choosing one person at random to receive a printed copy of the book, so please drop in to say hi!

Review: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA
Between #1
April Genevieve Tucholke
Paranormal Young Adult
368 pages
Dial
Available August 15th
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
You stop fearing the devil when you’re holding his hand…

Nothing much exciting rolls through Violet White’s sleepy, seaside town…until River West comes along. River rents the guesthouse behind Violet’s crumbling estate, and as eerie, grim things start to happen, Violet begins to wonder about the boy living in her backyard. Is River just a crooked-smiling liar with pretty eyes and a mysterious past? Or could he be something more? Violet’s grandmother always warned her about the Devil, but she never said he could be a dark-haired boy who takes naps in the sun, who likes coffee, who kisses you in a cemetery...who makes you want to kiss back. Violet’s already so knee-deep in love, she can’t see straight. And that’s just how River likes it.

MY THOUGHTS
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is the very definition of an atmospheric read, rich in texture where the sin of satin and the temptation of velvet make a bed of bliss for us to revel in, teased with both comfort and passion and wrapped up in a cocoon of feeling we're unwilling to share with anyone who exists outside the world Ms. Tucholke has created. This is a story that evokes a reaction not easy to put into words, one that inspires vagueness and encourages us to dance circles around any specifics – much the way River so expertly conducts his symphony of lies and half-truths – hopeful a piece of this story will remain ours alone if we don't attempt to give too much of it away.

Violet is someone whose mind and heart we don't necessarily delve deeply into despite all the time we spend with her, but she's by no means a shallow character, instead she's like a stunning gift wrapped in unassuming paper – easily overlooked by those wanting something bright and beautiful to jump out and grab their attention, but so worth the reward for those who stop and take the time to see what they can find under the seemingly reserved, lonely exterior. She's ever quiet and watchful, not someone prone to loud outbursts or drastic emotional fluctuations, rather she takes her hits on the chin or walks away to gather her thoughts before she decides how to respond to a particular situation, and we can't help but appreciate her utter lack of drama. She's not a pushover though, often directing a well-aimed cutting remark back at whomever came at her first, giving us just a few glimpses of spark before she returns to quietly smoldering embers.

River is just one of the many fascinating aspects of this tale, his character that of a broken mirror; cracked and shattered in so many places his image is repeated and distorted over and over again until we can't be sure if any of the visages we see are the person he actually is. Our minds churn frantically as we try and place him in a box bearing the label “love interest”, but with every page he puts up a bigger and bigger fight, refusing to bend or contort himself to fit where we so desperately want him to. We keep trying to pour white into his sea of endless black, hoping against hope to turn parts of him gray, knowing that in those murky areas lies a chance at redemption – a chance at being the young man the romantic in us so wants him to be – but his blackness is strong and nearly overpowers any light we try to breathe into him. He is a dangerous and strikingly addicting challenge, daring us to try and find something in him he's extraordinarily good at convincing us simply isn't there.
 
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is absolutely gorgeous, a tale that weaves in and out of our fingers like smoke, tempting us with light caresses to reach out and grab it but disappearing just as we close our fingers, making us work that much harder and invest that much more of ourselves before showing us some of its secrets. Haunting, eerie, and darkly decadent, this debut should not be missed.

Rating: 4.5/5

Find April:

Website • Twitter • 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.