Monthly Archives: July 2014

You are browsing the site archives by month.

Review: Alex +Ada by Jonathan Luna & Sarah Vaughn

30 July, 2014 1:50 pm , Leave a Comment ,

18748058Alex + Ada
(Alex + Ada, #1)
By: Jonathan Luna & Sarah Vaughn
Publisher: Image Comics
Published: July 29, 2014
Genre: Sci-Fi Graphic Novel
Rating:
PhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucket

Goodreads | Amazon

The last thing in the world Alex wanted was an X5, the latest in realistic androids. But when Ada is dropped into his life, will Alex keep her?

 

1thoughts This graphic novel take place in the future. Where literally everything is done by computers. To be more precise, all you have to do is say “lock” and your vehicle/car locks. Instead of just parallel parking itself, your car now drives for you. While you’re at it, you can watch a hologram t.v. show at any time by just saying the command. Robots make you food, do your chores, and you pretty much don’t have to lift a finger. Everything is computerized, right down to Ada, who is an android.

This is a story about a lonely guy who is pretty depressed with life. He goes through the motions of the day but he’s not living.  Now, it’s not like Alex asked for an android. In fact he was a little nervous of androids after they began to act on their own and went on a murder spree. So imagine his surprise when his grandmother sends him one for his birthday. At first he is set and ready to return Ada to the company but when the moment comes to return her, he finds himself unable. Even though Ada is an A.I. he can’t help but feel like there’s more to her than her programing. Which is when he starts looking into why/how other androids were able to become sentient. I get the sense that as this story progresses, Ada’s learning of the world will open Alex’s eyes to how beautiful life is as well.

I haven’t read any graphic novels like this before. I usually read the cutesy anime looking mangas. So it was nice to see one that is a little bit more mature. The storyline is a little depressing when you get a look at Alex’s life before Ada. However, you see how having Ada gives him something to look forward to. A purpose in life. So it was interesting to see the drive in him once he takes it upon himself to “unlock” Ada’s conscious. The illustrations in this story are really well done. They are really simplistic and not overly done up. I think the illustrations really helped let the story shine through. It was also nice that the illustrations were all done in color. I look forward to reading more about Alex and Ada.

 

1favepartmanga

There’s a part in the story where Alex finds someone willing to unlock Ada’s conscious. This is a highly dangerous and illegal thing to do. Alex could in turn, turn around and report the person which would pretty much be death for them. So I found it rather amusing that the person’s payment for taking on such a gamble was a cheesesteak with extra cheezy wheezy (whatever the heck that is).

 

 

 

 

 

 

kRISTIN

Posted in: Graphic Novel

Bad Ass Heroines Release Day Party

28 July, 2014 8:38 am , Leave a Comment ,

23
Jade Eby & Megan D. Martin are celebrating the release their new novels VORACIOUS and CLINGING TO RAPTURE by giving away some sweet ebooks!

 

 

456

Clinging to Rapture
(Rapture, #2)
By: Megan D. Martin
Genre: New Adult Erotic Romance
Goodreads | Amazon

Four months ago I ran away. I left him behind. The man who stalked me, took control of my body, and claimed he loved me.

Now he’s returned. Like dripping razor blades, he has slashed his way back into my life. But everything is different.

He doesn’t want me anymore.

I expected him to come back, to be sorry. I even planned to forgive him. I should have known that he would discard me like everyone else in my life. But I’m going to change that.

My billionaire stalker has come to say goodbye…only this time I plan to keep him.

 

 

 

34

Voracious
(Back to Bad, #2)
By: Jade Eby
Genre: New Adult Suspense
Goodreads | Amazon

Voracious, the action-packed second book in the Back to Bad series follows Lacey as she sinks deeper and deeper into the crime addled world she tried to avoid.

She’s got blood on her hands and a yearning to be crazy.

What’s a girl to do when she leaves her innocence at the door?

She goes back to being bad, of course.

 

 

1giveaway

Megan and Jade are giving four lucky winners their choice of any ebook on their backlist.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Posted in: Uncategorized

Sunday Wrap-Up #35

26 July, 2014 11:32 pm , 10 Comments ,

Read More →

Posted in: meme

Review: Kissed by Darkness by Shea Macleod

23 July, 2014 4:15 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Read More →

Posted in: Urban Fantasy

Excerpt: Third Rail by Rory Flynn

21 July, 2014 10:14 am , 1 Comment ,

thrdrailThird Rail
By: Rory Flynn
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published: June10, 2014
Genre: Mystery

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

At crime scenes, Eddy Harkness is a human Ouija board, a brilliant young detective with a knack for finding the hidden something—cash, drugs, guns, bodies. But Eddy’s swift rise in an elite narcotics unit is derailed by the death of a Red Sox fan in the chaos of a World Series win, a death some camera-phone-wielding witnesses believe he could have prevented. Scapegoated, Eddy is exiled to his hometown just outside Boston, where he empties parking meters and struggles to redeem his disgraced family name.

Then one night Harkness’s police-issue Glock disappears. Unable to report the theft, Harkness starts a secret search—just as a string of fatal accidents lead him to uncover a new, dangerous smart drug, Third Rail. With only a plastic disc gun to protect him, Harkness begins a high-stakes investigation that leads him into the darkest corners of the city, where politicians and criminals intertwine to deadly effect.

Excerpt

When the first headlights burn in the distance, Harkness shoves the wire cutters in his back pocket, climbs through the fresh hole in the chain-link fence, and scrambles down the gravel embankment. He pulls on a Red Sox jacket to hide his uniform and finds his place in the center of the road like a pitcher taking the mound—focused and ready for tonight’s game. His departmental counselor would see this late-night return to the scene of the incident as proof of risk-seeking tendencies. His brother George would just shake his head and tell him to get over it and move on. Thalia would tell him to have another drink. But they aren’t here. Only Officer Edward Harkness, formerly of the Boston Police Department, stands on the Turnpike, ready to see if a stranger in a car will kill him.The first contender appears, a white BMW that takes the curve at Kenmore Square and races toward Harkness. The roar grows louder and echoes from the cement walls of the Pike. At twenty yards, the headlights set his Red Sox disguise aglow.

Harkness runs west toward the car. No dodging. Stay on the line. These are the rules of engagement tonight.

The BMW hurtles closer and the driver hits the horn. Breath steaming in the cool night air, Harkness runs down the yellow line. The horn screams and the car swerves so close that Harkness could reach out and touch the doors as it flies past, its slipstream spinning Harkness to the ground. The driver lays on the horn, the note bending lower as the car speeds away.

“One down,” Harkness whispers. His palms scrape in the grit as he stumbles to his feet and turns to watch the red taillights smearing toward South Station.

When Pauley Fitzgerald stood here exactly a year ago, the highway was crowded with Sox fans driving home. In the blurry security video, he leaps across the lanes, pivots sideways, ricochets from one lane to the next, and somersaults over moving cars. More than three million people had watched Turnpike Toreador the last time Harkness checked YouTube, staring in sick fascination as Pauley Fitz dropped, danced, and died. After it was all over, the Staties couldn’t even find his teeth.

Harkness runs down the empty highway as the white eyes of new headlights race toward him.

authorrory

Rory Flynn is a Boston-based mystery writer whose novels include Third Rail, the debut of the Eddy Harkness series (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, June 2014). Author Jess Walter (Beautiful Ruins) calls Flynn “a suspense writer to watch.” And readers compare his work to Robert B. Parker, Richard Price, Dennis Lehane, and George V. Higgins.

Website

Posted in: Excerpt, fiction

Review: Pieces of Olivia by Melissa West

19 July, 2014 9:15 am , Leave a Comment ,

18827239

Pieces of Olivia
(Charleston Haven, #1)
 By: Melissa West
Publisher: Intermix Books
Published: July 15, 2014
Genre: New Adult Romance
Rating:
PhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucket

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

Olivia Warren used to be a normal girl with a bright future.
But on one fated night, everything changed.

Hiding the scars of her past up her sleeves, Olivia transfers her enrollment from Columbia University to The College of Charleston, determined to pursue her own dreams for the first time in her life.

She intends to allow herself a bit of alone time to heal… that is, until she meets Preston.

Preston is best friends with her roommate, completely hot, and off-limits. But the chemistry between them is instantaneous—and as the pair begins to spend more time with one another, their feelings for each other build into something undeniable, something powerful enough to heal Olivia’s deepest scars.

Olivia tries to put her own past behind her and trust Preston, but she discovers that his past might be more present than she ever bargained for…

 

1thoughtsThis was a really emotional book. Olivia is clearly still grieving over something that happened to her. She blames herself and is in a very deep depression for a lot of the book. She has PTSD from her past and the littlest thing like a movie theater or a song will revert her back in time to that horrific day. However, she finds comfort in her therapist, her new college roommate, Kara, and Kara’s best friend, Preston. Over time she starts to heal little by little in the hopes of becoming whole again.

“You’re a little wrinkled right now, and I understand how heavy those wrinkles can feel. How permanent they can feel. But I’ve never met a crease that time couldn’t iron out.”

This was a great story. There was so much raw emotion that there were a couple of times where I was balling my eyes out. I don’t often cry like a baby while reading, so when I do, you know the book is good. I never went through what Olivia did, nor have I been to therapy before, but living through it with Olivia definitely brought it to life for me. So many emotions, so much pain. I could understand why Olivia was the was that she was. The girl had survived something horrific.

There wasn’t a whole heck of a lot going on in the story. Just a girl trying to get back to having a normal life again. Now of course there is the love interest, Preston, who is your typical “I don’t want a relationship” guy. Now granted something horrible happened to him to make him become that way, but I didn’t understand how only dating/sleeping with a girl for a couple of weeks really protected his past from repeating itself. Olivia I understood, but his reasoning didn’t make sense to me. Nevertheless, I like the fact that it wasn’t insta-love. Hell, they don’t even say “I love you” until way down the road. There is angst, I will give it that, but thank goodness not the immediate love connection.

This is the second book by West that I’ve read and loved. She’s definitely becoming an author that I will automatically read without waiting to read reviews first. I just really enjoy her writing style. It’s so easy to fall into the characters and live their lives with them. They aren’t just simply words printed on paper. They become alive with every word. You grieve with them, fear for them and in the end you’re sad to see them go when you finish the story.

 

1favequote“Sometimes it’s all just a guess, Olivia. Life. We move through it, we plan, we try. But at the end of the day, like the weather, it’s all just a guess. We can’t stay inside all day, afraid of the rain. We have to live.”

kRISTIN

Posted in: NA Romance

Review: Going Down in Flames by Chris Cannon

2 July, 2014 1:45 am , 2 Comments ,

18363243Going Down in Flames
By: Chris Cannon
Published: June 30, 2014
Genre: Paranormal Romance YA
Rating:
PhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucket

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

If her love life is going down in flames, she might as well spark a revolution.

Finding out on your sixteenth birthday you’re a shape-shifting dragon is tough to swallow. Being hauled off to an elite boarding school is enough to choke on.

Since Bryn is the only crossbreed at the Institute for Excellence, all eyes are on her, but it’s a particular black dragon, Zavien, who catches her attention.

Zavien is tired of the Council’s rules. Segregated clans, being told who to love, and close-minded leaders make freedom of choice almost impossible. The new girl with the striped hair is a breath of fresh air, and with Bryn’s help, they may be able to change the rules.

At the Institute, old grudges, new crushes, and death threats are all part of a normal day for Bryn. She’ll need to learn to control her dragon powers if she wants to make it through her first year at school. But even focusing on staying alive is difficult when you’re falling for someone you can’t have.

 

1thoughtsNot only did Bryn not know she was a dragon shifter, but she’s also a mutant that shouldn’t exist. Her parents are from different clans and weren’t supposed to be able to breed. Apparently, they were wrong because a fire dragon and an ice dragon can apparently create a hybrid. Bryn is not only able to use both elements but she’s also able to change her appearance by willing it. Her “coming of age” draws the councils attention and soon she finds herself shipped off to an institute for dragon kids. Not only does the fact that her parent’s ran away breaking the law cause her to be an outcast, but she’s faster and have more abilities than even the more skilled dragons. Yup, there’s a lot in store for Bryn.

This was a good paranormal young adult story. There was a little bit of romance sprinkled in but it wasn’t what stole the show. The author has a great way of giving the readers details on what’s going on without overloading them with information. I liked that we were talked through the transformation instead of getting the usual smoke and mirrors that so many paranormal books throw our way.

There wasn’t anything overly surprising in this story. However, I enjoyed it a lot. I like that the dragon clans are kind of set in their old ways. The council determines whether a dragon is eligible for marriage and if so they are designated a mate. If they aren’t approved for marriage, they are left to find a “benefactor” to whom they become the mistress of. Considering dragons are an old species that date back thousands of years ago, it would make sense that their ways would be a bit outdated.

The author did manage to throw some twists into the story to keep it interesting. I was never bored with where things were going. There was always something going on between attacks on Bryn, her non-existent romantic life, and the fact that she’s still learning about what being a dragon means.

The ending is a bit abrupt and left a lot of loose ends. I’m hoping that there is another book in the works and that this wasn’t a stand alone novel. Otherwise, there’s going to be a lot of frustrated readers.

 

1favepartEvery time I’m reading a romance novel the Mr. always leans over to my side of the couch to see what I’m reading. He even likes to narrate the book for me in funny accents. This interaction between Bryn and Zavien is pretty close to what we go through.

 

Zavien: “What’re you trying to hide?” His longer reach almost allowed him to pull the book from her grasp.

“It’s about rival dragons falling in love and ending a war.”

“Why are they half naked?”

“It takes place in a desert.”

“Isn’t that a forest behind them?

“They travel.”

kRISTIN

Posted in: YA Fantasy

Excerpt: Perfected by Kate Jarvik Birch

1 July, 2014 1:55 am , 2 Comments ,

Read More →

Posted in: Excerpt