Sunrise by Mike Mullins (ARC)

Sunrise (Ashfall #3)
Mike Mullins
Pub.: April 25, 2014

The Yellowstone supervolcano nearly wiped out the human race. Now, almost a year after the eruption, the survivors seem determined to finish the job. Communities wage war on each other, gangs of cannibals roam the countryside, and what little government survived the eruption has collapsed completely. The ham radio has gone silent. Sickness, cold, and starvation are the survivors' constant companions.

When it becomes apparent that their home is no longer safe and adults are not facing the stark realities, Alex and Darla must create a community that can survive the ongoing disaster, an almost impossible task requiring even more guts and more smarts than ever — and unthinkable sacrifice. If they fail . . . they, their loved ones, and the few remaining survivors will perish.

This epic finale has the heart of Ashfall, the action of Ashen Winter, and a depth all its own, examining questions of responsibility and bravery, civilization and society, illuminated by the story of an unshakable love that transcends a post-apocalyptic world and even life itself. 

Wow. I think this might've been my fave of the three. It actually reminded me of that show Jericho that aired several years back where nearby towns in a post-apocalyptic world began feuding and killing each other off for supplies. Alex and Darla et all find the townspeople of Warren living off their land because a nearby town came in, took over and ran off with their supplies. Using the knowledge of one very war-minded individual, they're lucky enough to get it back. Unfortunately the town's people are stubborn about going on the offensive and putting up defenses, so Alex and Darla don't want their group to move back with them. Instead they move to a windfarm, and with the skills of Darla and her uncle, manage to set up greenhouses and longhouses with electricity. But the supplies they need aren't easy to find - and come at a horrendous price. But you've gotta hand it to the two for what they're willing to sacrifice to keep their group alive in a world gone terribly wrong.

 

If you could stomach the first two, you can probably handle this one too, though there were plenty of cringe-worthy moments.

ARC provided by Tanglewood Press for honest review.

The Dark World by Cara Lynn Shultz (ARC)

The Dark World
Cara Lynn Shultz
Exp. Pub.: May 27, 2013 TOMORROW!!!

Paige Kelly is used to weird - in fact, she probably corners the market on weird, considering that her best friend, Dottie, has been dead since the 1950s. But when a fire demon attacks Paige in detention, she has to admit that things have gotten out of her league. Luckily, the cute new boy in school, Logan Bradley, is a practiced demon slayer - and he isn't fazed by Paige's propensity to chat with the dead. Suddenly, Paige is smack in the middle of a centuries-old battle between warlocks and demons, learning to fight with a magic sword so that she can defend herself. And if she makes one wrong move, she'll be pulled into the Dark World, an alternate version of our world that's overrun by demons - and she might never make it home.

Ever since Paige Kelly rescued a little boy and ended up dead herself before being brought back to life, she's been able to see things beyond her realm. Unfortunately, she can't always tell when the person in front of her is living or dead, so everywhere she goes, she's labeled as the weird girl and forced to shove endless pills down her throat to soothe the minds of her ever-worried parents. Now at a new school, she's slipped up a few times talking to the one person who doesn't see her as a freak - her ghostly best bud Dottie, who keeps her company through the long, lonely school days. Unfortunately, interacting with a ghost from the Dark World has lit a beacon for all things demonic, and it doesn't take long for a group to track her down and try to take her back to their world. Turns out Paige is now a desirable Traveler - one whose energy can open portals freely into the opposite world. And now, everybody seems to want a piece - except Logan, who can't help but try to keep safe the one girl who's ever caught his eye.

 

The Dark World surprised me. Shultz's Spellbound novels were just okay for me, but I see a world of difference between these series and finally I've been captivated - and I need the next book like now! You can't help but feel for Paige as she merely tries to survive her teenage years under the constant scrutiny of her extraordinary-phobic parents and the endless belittling by her classmates. Once a fiery demon attacks her on school grounds and Logan finally reveals his demon-slaying abilities, you can't help but root for the girl to finally have a living, breathing someone accept her for all she truly is. And Logan might be a sword-wielding hottie that's placed on protection detail and training her to defend herself, but this protector is totally swoon-worthy too. Unfortunately for Paige, she knows he'll be gone again as soon as the demons are dead, so what's a Traveler to do when she falls in love with a demon-slayer?

ARC provided by Harlequin Teen for honest review.

The Rules for Breaking by Ashley Elston (ARC)

The Rules for Breaking (The Rules for Disappearing #2)
Ashley Elston
Exp. Pub.: May 20, 2014 TODAY!!!

Anna Boyd almost lost her life to get what she wanted most in the world: freedom.

But just when it seems that her family has finally escaped Witness Protection, the illusion that Anna could resume a normal life comes crashing down.

The deadly man Anna knows as Thomas is still on the loose, and now he's using her as a pawn in a dangerous game with the drug cartel determined to silence her forever. When Thomas and a mysterious masked man capture not only Anna but also her fragile younger sister and her boyfriend, Anna decides it's time to break all the rules-even if it means teaming up with the lesser of two evils.

Anna will do whatever it takes to protect the people she loves and win her life back once and for all. But her true enemies are hidden in plain sight. Before long, Anna will learn that putting her trust in anyone may be the last mistake she ever makes.

Anna is finally getting her life back together. Problem is, she hasn't been that honest. The journal that was stolen from her made its way back with a note and flowers. Thomas, the assassin who pretended to be one of her witness protection handlers, is still out there. When her journal is discovered by others, its back to semi-witness protection until they can figure out what Thomas' interest in Anna is. But its not long before their new location is jeopardized and both Anna and Ethan are kidnapped, along with Teeny as she happens by at the worst possible moment. Why the abduction? Thomas allowed Anna to live the first time, so there's a price on his and Ethan's heads now too. Being his bait in a deadly game between assassins is bad enough, but when Anna discovers who the guy is who's helping Thomas keep them prisoner, it's absolutely devastating.

I actually felt this was better than the first novel. In The Rules for Disappearing, I felt it was a little unbelievable that a teenage girl would throw herself into the thick of assassins and cartels and come out the victor, but in The Rules for Breaking, the action seems to find Anna and her goal switches to survival, so the story comes off way more believable. Lots of action, chills and perilous thrills keep you glued to your seat and the pages flipping as they desperately try to escape their captors. So if you liked the first, you'll probably the love this follow-up. Pick it up!

ARC provided by Disney Hyperion for honest review.

The Taking by Kimberly Derting (ARC)

The Taking (The Taking, #1)
Kimberly Derting
Exp. Pub.: April 29, 2014 (TOMORROW!!!)

A flash of white light . . . and then . . . nothing.

When sixteen-year-old Kyra Agnew wakes up behind a Dumpster at the Gas ’n’ Sip, she has no memory of how she got there. With a terrible headache and a major case of déjà vu, she heads home only to discover that five years have passed . . . yet she hasn’t aged a day.

Everything else about Kyra’s old life is different. Her parents are divorced, her boyfriend, Austin, is in college and dating her best friend, and her dad has changed from an uptight neat-freak to a drunken conspiracy theorist who blames her five-year disappearance on little green men.

Confused and lost, Kyra isn’t sure how to move forward unless she uncovers the truth. With Austin gone, she turns to Tyler, Austin’s annoying kid brother, who is now seventeen and who she has a sudden undeniable attraction to. As Tyler and Kyra retrace her steps from the fateful night of her disappearance, they discover strange phenomena that no one can explain, and they begin to wonder if Kyra’s father is not as crazy as he seems. There are others like her who have been taken . . . and returned. Kyra races to find an explanation and reclaim the life she once had, but what if the life she wants back is not her own?

Do you heart that? It's the theme song to the X-Files. And you might think twice about capturing fireflies from now on.

Fractured Truth by Rachel McClellan & Signed Series Giveaway (US) & Tour Giveaway (INT)

 

 

It's not too often I dub something best of anything, but I sometimes find it shocking that some novels out there bring in a ton of ratings while others, which are far better, seem lost in the great shuffle. The Fractured Light series seems to fall under that category, so all I can do is shout WAKE UP PEEPS and READ 'EM ALREADY! This series follows a teenage girl who can harness light, who instead of being a docile pushover like the rest of her fellow Auras, and after spending her life on the run, is sick and tired of the Vykens chasing her down to absorb her light, ultimately killing her like they did her parents. Fractured Light offers up a different kind of paranormal story with a strong-minded, determined girl, and a sweet love in the making with her new guardian Christian. 

 

Catch my review of Fractured Light and Fractured Soul and Fractured Truth down below. 

 

Fractured Truth (Fractured Light #3)

Rachel McClellan
Exp. Pub.: TODAY!!!

Llona is determined to end the fight with the Vykens once and for all. All she needs is to find and destroy the Shadow—the ultimate source of dark power. But when she makes a startling discovery about someone she loves, Llona has to fight the toughest battle yet in this exciting conclusion to the Fractured Light series.

Only a few months have passed since Llona's Aunt Sophie was abducted by a man who fooled them all, and the tragedy (which I'll leave blank for this review). Llona's doing her best to move forward. Liam, her friend and mentor, who's also half Vyken, has been keeping her busy by having her focus on her training, including learning how to use her light source to make herself invisible. Super cool, by the way.

 

A deadly shadow has been set free and is now under the control of Lucent Academy's worst enemy. And the only way to defeat it? A single Aura must sacrifice her light - and her life - to bring it down, and Llona already has a pretty good idea who'll have to do that when the time comes. Knowing how much danger the Academy is now vulnerable to, Llona desperately tries to convince her fellow classmates to ignore what they've always been taught and learn to harness their light as a weapon to save their very lives. A swarm of Vykens are lurking nearby, werewolves are trying to help guard the school, and three witches of enormous power, who were responsible for releasing the shadow in the first place, have relocated themselves to the edge of the property.  Oh, and there's this whole Christian nightmare and her best friend being lured to the dark side by her Fury father. Yep, just another lovely day in paradise.

 

Fractured Truth is a Go! Go! Go! novel that starts off with a bang and never lets up! Poor Llona has so many freakin' issues spinning her in circles it's a wonder she can see straight. There's plenty of action, betrayal and heartache to go around. Prepare your lips - you're going to be chewing on them until the very end.

ARC provided by Cedar Fort for honest review. 

 

 

Just for the Crazy Dream Peeps (US only) - One lucky winner will receive  

SIGNED COPIES of ALL THREE books in the Fractured Light series!

 

Tour Giveaway (INT) - Enter to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card and

one of three copies of Fractured Light!

 

Then head here to be entered for another $25 Gift Card (INT) to either Amazon or the Book Depository 

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner (ARC)

These Broken Stars
Amie Kaufman, Meagan Spooner
Exp. Pub.: December 10, 2113 TODAY!!!

It's a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone.

Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they’re worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help.

Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other’s arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder—would they be better off staying here forever?

Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won’t be the same people who landed on it.

I heart Tarver and Lilac (though I'm not particularly fond of their names).

Tarver Merendsen is a war hero, though if  you asked him, he'd tell you it was undeserved. Unfortunately, he's now bound to mingle with higher society and put forth a good face for the military, which is why he even crosses paths with Miss Lilac LaRoux. Why is she high society? Because her father was the brains behind the spacecraft they were traveling in, which actually bends space in a manner that gets them to hyperjump huge distances. Even though Tarver is worthy to mix with Lilac's society, it's still his duty to know his place, and know that speaking with her will land him back into the war, right smack on the frontline where his life would expire rather quickly. The first time Lilac draws his attention, he didn't realize who she was. But she was kind until her party arrived, and she was forced to treat him like the dirt he apparently was from there on out.

 

When the ship begins falling out of hyperspace unwillingly, everyone is forced into their lifepods. On his way to his own, Tarver has the unfortunate displeasure of saving Lilac from a stampede which separates her from her party. Forced to let him escort her to safety, Lilac guides them to an area of the ship where she knows lifepods won't be assigned to those filling the jammed corridors. When the ship loses power, Lilac has to get down and dirty to get their pod activated and separated from the ship before it completely comes out of hyperdrive and kills them both. Long story short, their pod is the only one to break free and avoid a major crash, leaving them the only two people left alive on an unfamiliar world. The world was clearly terraformed for human life, but for reasons unknown, it's been abandoned. Deciding their best bet is to hike to the main spacecraft, they set off on a journey that will have them questioning their sanity and the rules of a society they may never be apart of again.

 

I absolutely adored this! If you liked Beth Revis' Across the Universe, These Broken Stars was even better! Tarver and Lilac have such strong, engaging personalities that they alone kept me glued to my kindle all night long. Right from the beginning you can sense their attraction bound by a leash, and although they try to avoid one another for both their sakes, getting stranded on a world with no one else kind of makes propriety a pain to deal with. Right now, they need each other. Tarver is the brawns, who has the survival skills to get them through the rough terrain and Lilac is the brains, who knows exactly how to get out an emergency S.O.S. signal to get them rescued. But their clashing personalities was only one entertaining part of this novel. There seems to be something inhabiting that world after all, and it has them constantly questioning whether or not what they're seeing and hearing is real, or if it's just PTSD or hallucinations from malnutrition and dehydration. Once they finally let bygones be bygones and begin to realize they may never get off that planet, emotions come into play, making them wonder if rescue is something they really even want anymore. Because really, who wants to live in a world where their love is forbidden?

Pick it up peeps. You won't regret this one.

ARC provided by Disney Hyperion for honest review.

Dusty by YellowBella

Dusty
YellowBella

She loves him. He loves her crazy.
She's a hopeless romantic. He's just hopeless.
She's afraid to let go. He won't let her.
A story about a silly girl in love with a foolish boy.
Here, forever is a lie.  

***This is one post I will not be censoring my language. If expletives offend you, then back the fuck off.***

Love.

Love.

Four little letters that will fuck your life over ten ways on Sunday. Love is gentle. Love is steel. Sweet and airy like cotton candy. As piercing as bleach down a raw throat. Love is a little girl's eyes, brighter than a sparkler on the fourth of July. Love is consuming. Awe-inducing. A fucking Band-aid ripped cruelly from a fresh gash.

Love is warmth. Ecstasy. So fucking intense you seethe.

Love is everything.

Love is need.

Love is me.

Love just is, and never followed with but.

 

Love is a twelve year old girl. Innocent. Naïve. Falling for her best friend's brother. Love is a boy. Tainted. Lost. Falling for his sister's best friend. Love is an addiction. Mistrust. Misguided. Forced to fucking repeat the same damn mistakes over and over again. Love is a heart that just won't die. Love is raw. Blissful. Smooth cherry lip balm on a hot summer's day. The bluest fucking star in the universe. Love is a black hole. Love is the biggest fucking train wreck I've ever seen. Hopeless. Helpless.

Love does more than kill you softly. Love crucifies. Knows you can't walk away. Drowns you just to save you. Scars your lungs so you can never truly breathe again.

Fuck love. Love can go straight to hell.

 

Love is a novel that is seriously 2,000 goddamn pages that steals your day, makes you her bitch at night. Love leaves you empty once it's gone, begging for 3,000 more. Naked. Fucking shattered. Pleading to be embraced no matter the pain. Stranglehold. Love is starving for air. Sweet suffocation. Arsenic ripping through your fucking veins.

 

Love swells with passion. Bleeds you dry. Drains you to the brink of stinkin' death.

Love is Bliss baby, baby. Love is Dusty. Love is collective casualty.

Love is 4.5 dreamcatchers. Love is bending. Forgiving. Love is giving the extra half star.

 

 

 

Dusty is not a published novel, but available for free online reading. A few people in this world, like myself, have a pdf copy, but it is not mine to give. If you prefer pdf, email me and I'll guide you to the yellow brick road.

 

Note: This is Twilight fan fiction. Other than the screwed up, crazy love, and the use of a few character names and a total lack of parenting, this is not Twilight. Certainly not sparkly-vampire-werewolf paranormal. So if you read this, and I highly recommend that you do, leave all your goddamn expectations at the door, ignore the slight discrepancies if you catch them, push through the first hundred pages as you ease into the writing style and a girl slowly growing up, and let motherfucking love shred you to pieces.

Anywhere by J. Meyers (ARC)

Anywhere
J. Meyers
Exp. Pub.: August 25, 2013

Skye Whitcomb is running from her troubles, and where better to run than Europe? Fresh out of college, she makes quick plans with her best friend Paige and hops on a plane.

Of course, nothing ever goes as planned—at least not for her. First, Paige has to bail, and Skye’s left to travel alone. Then she meets sweet and sexy Asher Benedict in Paris, and sparks fly after a night together on the train to Rome. He’s all kinds of perfect for her, but the timing couldn’t be worse since she was running from the altar when she left—so the last thing she wants right now is a relationship.

But Skye’s about to discover that no matter how far you run, love can find you anywhere.

.

Okay, so I've totally been this girl. Not the runaway bride part, but the girl in the exact same train station in Paris where not a lick of English is anywhere, all by her lonesome, trying to figure out what the hell to do next. It's weird, it's uncomfortable, but it's also a rush. However, I would've been a hell of a lot more suspicious of a sexy guy trying to talk to me. And if he asked me where I was going, only to follow it up with, "Me too," little red flags would've been popping up all over the place! Hey, I've seen Taken! And I had way to many single guys coming up to me on my trip that I made it my number one rule to always be where others were and never by myself. But hey, that's real life and this is a book, so of course Skye is going to be relieved to have someone to talk to on the train. :)

So Skye has just bailed on her fiancé several days before the wedding, fleeing to Paris with her best friend to spend several months backpacking across Europe. Couldn't blame her really. She spent her entire life being told what to do by her overbearing mother, that she just couldn't marry a guy that had already began treating her the exact same way. The guy had their entire life planned out, including a place in the city (which she vocally said she didn't want) to the number of kids they'll have and when. Hello Stepford Wife. I'd get the hell out too. Unfortunately, Skye's best friend has her own dilemma that sends her packing for home, leaving Skye all alone to begin her journey. On the very first day, she meets Asher, an American guy that's also lost his backpacking buddy, heading in the same direction Skye is. Figuring it's just company on the train, Skye opens up to this sweet stranger and immediately feels the relief of having someone alongside her that allows her to actually be. Asher is the sweetest guy, letting her vent, cry and and letting her make some decisions without telling her how very wrong she is, which poor Skye has spent a lifetime without. The two become inseparable as they journey city to city, country to country, living on a whim. The more time passes, the more they both realize they're meant to be. But with Skye needing to go home soon and Asher already committed to returning to an ex-girlfriend, will these two ever admit what their hearts have already declared?

This was such a sweet story. Seriously. I whipped through it in one sitting, practically salivating over Asher. Where was he when I found myself in Skye's position, huh? Asher was everything Skye needed to become her own person, and I loved watching her grow stronger and more confidant throughout the novel. Pick it up peeps, it'll have you going aww.... when you turn the last page.

...and I'd love to see some bonus material for the very special day that I don't wanna mention here. Hint hint! That would be a great scene seeing if and how Skye handles herself.

ARC provided by author for honest review.

Unfed by Kirsty McKay (ARC)

UNFED (UNDEAD #2)
Kirsty McKay
Pub: August 2, 2013

The good news: Bobby survived her Undead school trip. Bad news: her best mate, Smitty, is missing. Bobby knows she's got to find him even if it means risking it all and going out into the starving-zombie-infested wastelands again. Even if it means taking fellow survivors including a couple of old frenemies along for the ride. And even if the zombies are not the only ones who are chasing them this time.

Check out my review of Undead (Undead #1) here.

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Forget the wild animals that have gone all zombie on your @ss, and the carrion birds of prey ready to pick you clean long before your dead, the zombies themselves are smarter this time around.

The Rules for Disappearing by Ashley Elston (ARC)

The Rules for Disappearing
Ashley Elston
Exp. Pub.: May 14, 2013

She’s been six different people in six different places: Madeline in Ohio, Isabelle in Missouri, Olivia in Kentucky . . . But now that she’s been transplanted to rural Louisiana, she has decided that this fake identity will be her last.

Witness Protection has taken nearly everything from her. But for now, they’ve given her a new name, Megan Rose Jones, and a horrible hair color. For the past eight months, Meg has begged her father to answer one question: What on earth did he do – or see – that landed them in this god-awful mess? Meg has just about had it with all the Suits’ rules — and her dad’s silence. If he won’t help, it’s time she got some answers for herself.

But Meg isn’t counting on Ethan Landry, an adorable Louisiana farm boy who’s too smart for his own good. He knows Meg is hiding something big. And it just might get both of them killed. As they embark on a perilous journey to free her family once and for all, Meg discovers that there’s only one rule that really matters — survival.
 

Fracture Soul by Rachel McClellan (ARC), Blog Tour Stop & Giveaway! (INT)

I'm a huge fan of the Fractured Light series, so I'm excited to be a part of this blog tour. And I've got quite a bit for my stop: a review, an interview with Rachel McClellan for my Writers' Block segment, and a giveaway for either an eBook or a Hardback of Fractured Soul! So read on, peeps, read on...

Fractured Soul (Fractured Light #2)
Rachel McClellan
Exp. Pub: February12, 2013 Next Week Peeps!

Llona will do whatever it takes to protect her new found friends and home, but the dark plot that is threatening Lucent Academy, a school that’s supposed to be a safe place for Auras, may be too powerful for even Llona to defeat. This fast-paced tale of love, loyalty, and overcoming the darkness will keep you on the edge of your seat until the last page!

Splintered by A.G. Howard (ARC)

Splintered
A.G. Howard
Pub. Date: January 1, 2013

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

Forget what you think you know about Wonderland - 'cause it's all been fluffed and sugar-coated. Sure, Alice went to Wonderland, met all sorts of crazy characters in a vividly, colorful world and got back out to talk about it (eventually), but the tale told to author Lewis Carroll wasn't entirely truthful.

TOUR STOP & GIVEAWAY - The Edge of Never by J.A. Redmerski (ARC)

The Edge of Never
J.A. Redmerski
Pub.: November 15th

Twenty-year-old Camryn Bennett had always been one to think out-of-the-box, who knew she wanted something more in life than following the same repetitive patterns and growing old with the same repetitive life story. And she thought that her life was going in the right direction until everything fell apart.

Determined not to dwell on the negative and push forward, Camryn is set to move in with her best friend and plans to start a new job. But after an unexpected night at the hottest club in downtown North Carolina, she makes the ultimate decision to leave the only life she’s ever known, far behind.

With a purse, a cell phone and a small bag with a few necessities, Camryn, with absolutely no direction or purpose boards a Greyhound bus alone and sets out to find herself. What she finds is a guy named Andrew Parrish, someone not so very different from her and who harbors his own dark secrets. But Camryn swore never to let down her walls again. And she vowed never to fall in love.

But with Andrew, Camryn finds herself doing a lot of things she never thought she’d do. He shows her what it’s really like to live out-of-the-box and to give in to her deepest, darkest desires. On their sporadic road-trip he becomes the center of her exciting and daring new life, pulling love and lust and emotion out of her in ways she never imagined possible. But will Andrew’s dark secret push them inseparably together, or tear them completely apart?

I laughed, I cried, I perfected my O face. And I was completely jealous that Andrew Parrish wasn't mine.

Crimson Frost by Jennifer Estep (ARC)

 

Crimson Frost (Mythos Academy #4)
Jennifer Estep
Pub.: December 24, 2012

For a moment, a face flashed before my eyes—the most hideous face I’d ever seen. No matter how hard I tried to forget what had happened, I saw him everywhere I went. It was Loki—the evil god that I’d helped set free against my will.

I should have known that my first official date with Logan Quinn was destined to end in disaster. If we’d gotten into a swordfight, or been ambushed by Reapers, I’d have been more prepared. But getting arrested mid-sip at the local coffee hangout? I didn’t see that one coming.

I’ve been accused of purposely helping the Reapers free Loki from his prison—and the person leading the charge against me is Linus Quinn, Logan’s dad. The worst part is that pretty much everyone at Mythos Academy thinks I’m guilty. If I’m going to get out of this mess alive, I’ll have to do it myself…

Damned if you do, damned if you don't...

Reign of Blood by Alexia Purdy

Reign of Blood (Reign of Blood #1)
Alexia Purdy
Pub.: April 29, 2012

"Never tease anything that wants to eat you. My name is April Tate and my blood is the new gold. Vampires and hybrids have overrun my world, once vibrant with life, but now a graveyard of death shrouded in shadows. I fight to survive; I fight for my mother and brother. The journey is full of turns that I am quite unprepared for. And I'm just hoping to make it to the next Vegas sunrise..."

In a post-apocalyptic world, a viral epidemic has wiped out most of the earth’s population, leaving behind few humans but untold numbers of mutated vampires. April is a seventeen-year-old girl who lives in the remains of Las Vegas one year after the outbreak. She has become a ferocious vampire killer and after her family is abducted, she goes searching for them. What she finds is a new breed of vampire, unlike any she has seen before. Unsure of whom she can trust, she discovers that her view of the world is not as black and white as she once thought, and she's willing to bend the rules to rescue her family. But in trying to save them, she may only succeed in bringing her fragile world crashing down around her.

"Never tease anything that wants to eat you." Words to live by if you wanna survive in a post-apocalyptic world.

Ashen Winter by Mike Mullin (ARC)

Ashen Winter
Mike Mullin
Exp. Pub.: October 16, 2012 TODAY!!!

It’s been over six months since the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano. Alex and Darla have been staying with Alex’s relatives, trying to cope with the new reality of the primitive world so vividly portrayed in Ashfall, the first book in this series. It’s also been six months of waiting for Alex’s parents to return from Iowa. Alex and Darla decide they can wait no longer and must retrace their journey into Iowa to find and bring back Alex’s parents to the tenuous safety of Illinois. But the landscape they cross is even more perilous than before, with life-and-death battles for food and power between the remaining communities. When the unthinkable happens, Alex must find new reserves of strength and determination to survive.

So Ashfall was pretty awesome, with Alex running for his life from the supervolcano that covered his part of the world with ash, so I had pretty high expectations of Ashen Winter. I've had this book forever and kept pushing it off. Not that I wasn't expecting it to be awesome too, but you have to be in the right mind set to read one of Mike Mullin's books, cause the descriptions and horrors within are so spot-on and realistic, it's hard not imagine this could happen in reality any day now, and that's just disburbing...

Mystic City by Theo Lawrence (ARC)

Mystic City
Theo Lawrence
Exp. Pub: October 9, 2012 TODAY!!!

Aria Rose, youngest scion of one of Mystic City's two ruling rival families, finds herself betrothed to Thomas Foster, the son of her parents' sworn enemies. The union of the two will end the generations-long political feud—and unite all those living in the Aeries, the privileged upper reaches of the city, against the banished mystics who dwell below in the Depths. But Aria doesn't remember falling in love with Thomas; in fact, she wakes one day with huge gaps in her memory. And she can't conceive why her parents would have agreed to unite with the Fosters in the first place. Only when Aria meets Hunter, a gorgeous rebel mystic from the Depths, does she start to have glimmers of recollection—and to understand that he holds the key to unlocking her past. The choices she makes can save or doom the city—including herself.

Wowsers. It's been a few months since I read a book this awesome.

Aria wakes up to learn she OD'd on Stic, a drug made from Mystic power that, depending on the provider's essence, can be strong enough to kill you. Along with the memory of actually taking the drug, goes all her memories of a trysted love affair with Thomas, the son of her family's sworn enemy. Her family says she loved him enough to defy all their beliefs, but now the two families are willing to reconciliate, with their marriage bringing a divided city together. There's a third party, the Mystics, on the rise threatening to bump them off their high horses, and they're desperate enough to allow this union to occur, if it'll mean keeping their lavish lifestyles. The Mystics are humans with magical essences that can allow them to do some pretty amazing things, like pass through solid walls, shapeshift, manipulate molecular structures, etc, and the normal humans fear their power. Law requires the Mystics to be drained of their power twice a year, which is then used to fuel their city and create an illegal drug called Stic. But a lot of Mystics remain unregistered and hidden beneath the city, but should they all come together to vote for their candidate, their population could easily outnumber the nonmystical folks. And the two families know this.

 

The Roses and Fosters are your typical mob families, controlling illegal substances and influencing laws, and show no hesitation in putting a bullet in the head of a Mystic for absolutely nothing. They like to play God, but Aria is nothing like them. She tries desperately to remember her past and figure out how Thomas could possibly be the man that wrote the love letters she found tucked away, and soon finds herself navigating the back streets where Mystics dwell. Aria is on the hitlist of a lot of rebel Mystics, and soon finds herself at their mercy, only to be rescued by a dark and gorgeous Mystic named Hunter, who always seems to be in the shadows watching over her. There's an instant attraction she can't explain, with his presence always makes her feel safe and comfortable. It's not until she learns Hunter's true identity that she realizes Thomas isn't the only guy from an opposing family that she could've had a secret, forbidden relationship with. But in a world where her every move is watched and double agents are everywhere, Aria's lost in the mix, trying to decipher who's telling the truth and who's spinning nothing but lies.

 

Gotta say Mystic City had me wrapped up from beginning to end, and I was forced to lose half a night's sleep cause I just couldn't put it down. Mystic City has it all: forbidden love, lies and deception, family betrayal up the wazoo, and magic and danger around every corner. Lawrence's world is easy to picture and I still keep seeing neon green lights when I close my eyes. If this isn't on your list of must-haves this year, you're seriously missing out. Buy the hardback peeps, cause it deserves a permanent place on the bookshelf.

 

 

ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley for honest review.

Covet by Melissa Darnell (ARC)

Covet (The Clann #2)
Melissa Darnell
Exp. Pub: September 25, 2012 TOMORROW!!!

Dangerous to be together. Painful to be apart.

Savannah Colbert knows she broke up with Tristan Coleman for the right reasons. Most of all, to keep from killing him with her new vampire abilities. But try telling her heart. Now, lost in a sea of hostile Clann faces, Sav tries to come to terms with what she's becoming and what that means for her future. And that someone is doing their best to bully her into making a terrible mistake.

Tristan can't believe Sav won't even talk to him. If being apart is her decision, fine. Just don't expect him to honor it. But even as he prepares to fight for the girl he loves, forces beyond their control take them both in directions neither could have foreseen or prepared for.

A reckoning is coming...and not everyone will survive.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Romeo and Juliet had it easy compared to these two. If you can't find it in your heart to root for Savannah and Tristen, me thinks it's made of stone.

Undead by Kirsty McKay (ARC)

Undead
Kirsty McKay
Exp. Pub.: Sept. 1, 2012

Out of sight, out of their minds: It's a school-trip splatter fest and completely not cool when the other kids in her class go all braindead on new girl Bobby.

The day of the ski trip, when the bus comes to a stop at a roadside restaurant, everyone gets off and heads in for lunch. Everyone, that is, except Bobby, the new girl, who stays behind with rebel-without-a-clue Smitty.

Then hours pass. Snow piles up. Sun goes down. Bobby and Smitty start to flirt. Start to stress. Till finally they see the other kids stumbling back.

But they've changed. And not in a good way. Straight up, they're zombies. So the wheels on the bus better go round and round freakin' fast, because that's the only thing keeping Bobby and Smitty from becoming their classmates' next meal. It's kill or be killed in these hunger games, heads are gonna roll, and homework is most definitely gonna be late.

Bloody Freakin' Zombtastic! Love, love love! What does the new girl, the rebel-without-a-cause, a nerd and a social snob have in common? They've each become the diner's new red plate special.