Review: Stung by Bethany Wiggins

Stung
By: Bethany Wiggins
Publisher: Walker Childrens
Release Date: April 2, 2013
Genre: Distopian YA
Rating:
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There is no cure for being stung.

Fiona doesn’t remember going to sleep. But when she opens her eyes, she discovers her entire world has been altered—her house is abandoned and broken, and the entire neighborhood is barren and dead. Even stranger is the tattoo on her right hand—a black oval with five marks on either side—that she doesn’t remember getting but somehow knows she must cover at any cost. She’s right.

Those bearing the tattoo have turned into mindless, violent beasts that roam the streets and sewers, preying upon the unbranded while a select few live protected inside a fortress-like wall, their lives devoted to rebuilding society and killing all who bear the mark.

Now Fiona has awakened branded, alone—and on the wrong side of the wall.

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Friday Fun & Interview

I’m super excited to be a featured blogger for this weeks Feature & Follow Friday. Feature & Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee’s View and Alison Can Read and is a blog hop that expands your blog following by a joint effort between bloggers.

Question of the week:
Tell us about the most emotional scene you’ve ever read in a book – and how did you react?

Answer:

Bridge of Scarlet Leaves by Kristina McMorris is a very emotional book. Yeah, there are books out there that have sad parts in them but Kristina puts the readers on an emotional roller coaster ride the entire time. It doesn’t help that the story is based off of the events that happened to the Japanese Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. And that ending, good lord, I didn’t know I could bawl my eyes out so hard over a book. The second I was finished reading this book I looked up the relocation camp that the characters go to (Manzanar) and found out it’s a 5 hour drive from where I live. I haven’t been there yet, but it’s definitely on my “must list” of things to do before we move.

 

 

 

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When did you start blogging?
I started June 2011.

 

What is your favorite part of book blogging?

Meeting all the new and awesome people to be honest. I would have never in a million years have thought that I would be able to talk with authors. I’m not going to lie, a big perk is getting to read books for free, especially ones that haven’t come out yet but for me it’s awesome to walk through a book store with the Mr. and say, “Oh, she’s really sweet”, “He’s hilarious! By far one of the coolest people out there”, and then the occasional “That author’s such a bitch. They’re the one I was telling you about that blew up at that chick over her review.”

 

What type of books do you mainly blog about?

I’m a romance junkie, which is funny since I used to make fun of those Fabio book covers when I was younger. Okay… so maybe I still do. I tend to find romance in all stories, for example, Han Solo & Princess Leia, Peter Parker & Mary Jane, and Simba & Nala. So thankfully, I can read a wide variety of books and as long as there is a potential love interest, I’m all in. However, I always give authors of all genres a chance to spread the news about their books on my site. So even though I may review YA, NA, PNR, UF etc… you will still see some other genres pop up. After all, I feel like my “job” is to share books and even though they may not be books that I’d generally read, it doesn’t mean that someone else out there wouldn’t be interested in them.

 

What is your favorite book(s)?

My favorite series is hands down, Vampire Academy. The ironic part about that though is that I fought my friend when she urged me to read it. I really didn’t want to read yet another vampire book. She persisted, bought the book for my birthday and not even halfway through the book I was ordering the rest of the series online.

 

What has been the best thing that has happened to you because of book blogging?

I suppose I could say that it saved my sanity. My husband’s in the Marine Corp, so we move around quite a bit and it’s not easy forging new friendships in a new area every couple of years. So for a while there, I was on the verge of making friends with the mailman just so that I had someone to talk to. Now, between my day job at the National Park where I talk all day to visitors and then coming home and typing up reviews/posts and chatting with everyone online, I’m officially all talked out by the end of the day. And as it turns out, even though I am not inviting the mailman in for tea and cookies, both he and the UPS man know me by name and flag me down if I drive by them when they have packages on their truck for me. I guess I order too much stuff online 😛

 

Interview with D.T. Dyllin author of Broken Gates

dt

D.T. Dyllin is a Bestselling Author who writes both New Adult and Adult Romance. She is a member of the RWA (Romance Writers of America) and also her local chapter, the MCRW (Music City Romance Writers).

D.T. was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Black & Gold for life, baby!) She now lives in Nashville, Tennessee with her husband and two spoiled GSDs.

Website | Facebook | Twitter

 

 

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Review: In Rides Trouble by Julie Ann Walker

In Rides Trouble
(Black Knight Inc, #2)
By: Julie Ann Walker
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: Sept. 4, 2012
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Rating:
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Rebel with a Cause
Becky “Rebel” Reichert never actually goes looking for trouble. It just has a tendency to find her. Like the day Frank Knight showed up at her door, wanting to use her motorcycle shop as a cover for his elite special ops team. But Becky prides herself on being able to hang with the big boys-she can weld, drive, and shoot just as well as any of them.

Man with a Mission

Munitions, missiles, and mayhem are Frank’s way of life. The last thing the ex-SEAL wants is for one brash blonde to come within fifty feet of anything that goes boom. Yet it’s just his rotten luck when she ends up in a hostage situation at sea. Come hell or high water, he will get her back-whether she says she needs him or not.

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Excerpt: The Crimson Hunt by Victoria H. Smith

 

The Crimson Hunt
(Eldaen Light Chronicles, #1)
By: Victoria H. Smith
Publisher: Self-published
Published: Nov. 8, 2012
Genre: Paranormal Romance / New Adult

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College junior Ariel Richmond is working on year three of Project Normalcy.

Her house reeks of keggers past and her bestie is just a slight bit vulgar. But the thing is—they both aid in making life refreshingly uneventful.

So much for hard-earned mediocrity when Luca Grinaldi appears on the scene.

Luca’s sudden presence on campus is hard to ignore. Those bright eyes act like a beacon to unsuspecting females, and with features like his, he’s got to be moonlighting for GQ. Luca hopelessly captivates Ariel with his confidence and charisma, but the mysteries surrounding him make him nearly untouchable. And just when Ariel grows close enough to unlock his secrets, a tragic event sends her life in a downward spiral.

That steady life is no longer an option and allies quickly become scarce. The mysterious Luca seems to be the only one willing to help her—but with that trust comes the burden of his secrets. He has a dark mission of otherworldly proportions, and is willing to sacrifice as many lives as it takes to see it completed.

Gone are the days of simply maintaining normalcy, and if Ariel isn’t cautious with her trust, so soon may be her future.

 

Grabbing my cup, I forgot myself and indulged in a sip.

Luca watched me, his gaze hard.

Note to self: brown tea + white shirt + GQ model = bad idea. I placed my cup on the table’s surface and wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans.

He continued to watch me. His stare was so deep it could be mistaken for analyzing.

Gosh, he stared hard. Like his eyes were trying to unearth some secret he wanted to know from mine. Since I wasn’t skilled in the art of mind reading, I figured I should make an attempt at formulating some sentences. “So, who is ‘I am Luca?’” I asked, mimicking his original introduction to me. Nice, Ariel, real nice. Making fun of him will definitely score you points.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, what do you do in your spare time? Besides helping girls save cute, baby deer in the middle of vacant woods, of course.” I laughed. It was getting easier to be more natural with him. I liked that.

He laughed, too, breaking his analysis. “School and work takes up the majority of my time.”

Something told me there had to be more to him than that. No one who looked like that graced the world with their beauty in such a mundane way.

“What about you?” he asked.

“I guess the same as you. Just work and school.”

“So why did you find my answer odd?”

Was he skilled in the art of mind reading? “What do you mean?” I laughed in nervousness.

He smiled and rested his finger to his delicious lips. “You looked a little underwhelmed by my answer, is all.”

By God, he got me. “I just thought that … I guess I didn’t know what I thought.” Oy vey.

He laughed gently. 

 

 

Victoria H. Smith has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. She puts it to good use writing romance all day. She resides in the Midwest with her Macbook on her lap and a cornfield to her right. She often draws inspiration for her stories from her own life experiences, and the twenty-something characters she writes give her an earful about it.

In her free time, she enjoys extreme couponing, blogging, reading, and sending off a few tweets on Twitter when she can. She writes new adult fiction romance in the sub-genres of science fiction, urban fantasy, and contemporary, but really, anywhere her pen takes her she goes. Her new adult science fiction romance, The Crimson Hunt, will be published November 2012.

 

Review: High School Debut by Kazune Kawahara

High School Debut
(Vol. #1)
By: Kazune Kawahara
Publisher: Viz Media
Published: Jan. 1, 2008
Genre: Manga
Rating:
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When Haruna Nagashima was in junior high her life consisted of playing softball and reading comics. But now that she’s going to high school, Haruna decides to put all of her energy towards getting a boyfriend and having the high school romance of a lifetime. To help in her quest, she enlists cute upperclassman Yoh Komiyama to coach her as she eschews her jock tendencies and turns herself into the kind of girl who can catch a guy. Yoh agrees, with one catch: Haruna had better not fall for him!

 

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Review: Highlander Most Wanted by Maya Banks

 

 

Highlander Most Wanted
(The Montgomerys and Armstrongs #2)
By: Maya Banks
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Release Date: March 19, 2013
Genre: Historical Romance
Rating:
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In Highlander Most Wanted, a reclusive woman content to live in the shadows shows a Highland warrior the true meaning of love.

Genevieve McInnes is locked behind the fortified walls of McHugh Keep, captive of a cruel laird who takes great pleasure in ruining her for any other man. Yet when Bowen Montgomery storms the gates on a mission of clan warfare, Genevieve finds that her spirit is bent but not broken. Still, her path toward freedom remains uncertain. Unable to bear the shame of returning to a family that believes her dead or to abandon others at the keep to an imposing new laird, Genevieve opts for the peaceful life of an abbess. But Bowen’s rugged sensuality stirs something deep inside her that longs to be awakened by his patient, gentle caress—something warm, wicked, and tempting.

Bowen seizes his enemy’s keep, unprepared for the brooding and reclusive woman who captures his heart. He’s enchanted by her fierce determination, her unusual beauty, and her quiet, unfailing strength. But wooing her will take more than a seasoned seducer’s skill. For loving Genevieve, he discovers, means giving her back the freedom that was stolen from her—even if it means losing her forever.

 

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Excerpt: Midnight Engagement by Eliott McKay

Midnight Engagement
By: Eliott McKay
Publisher: Crimson Romance
Published: Feb. 1, 2013
Genre: Paranormal Romance

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Some people inherit family businesses, while others receive hand-me-downs, Michaela gets an atrocious pair of spectacles that hide her true identity — the one she doesn’t know about!

Michaela is part-vampire and very unaware of it until she is abducted to a banished city by a werewolf who secretly loves her. It is her inherited duty to keep the peace between the Silva, her bloodthirsty kin, and the city, by attending a midnight summit held each year.

Michaela is thrust in to a chaotic mix of emerging vampire traits, a fight to maintain her humanity, and a die-hard curiosity for the aloof, mysterious wolf-man. The fate of the city rests in her hands and she must choose between peace for its inhabitants and the man she loves.

 
 
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Review: The Flesh Cartel by Rachel Haimowitz & Heidi Belleau

 

The Flesh Cartel
(Season 1: Damnation)
By: Rachel Haimowitz &  Heidi Belleau
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Published: Jan. 17, 2013
Genre: Horror Erotica
Rating:
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The Flesh Cartel: an international, multi-billion-dollar black market that trades in lost souls. Or more specifically, their bodies.

Highly organized and frighteningly efficient, the Flesh Cartel could teach even the KGB a thing or two about breaking a human mind. Fortunately for their ultra-rich clients, they’re just as skilled at putting people back together again—as perfect pets, well-trained and eager to please.

No matter what your secret tastes or dark desires, the Flesh Cartel—for the right price, of course—will hand-design the plaything of your dreams.

The first season has two stories back to back. 

 

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Review: Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Half-Blood
(Covenant, #1)
By: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Spencerhill Press
Published: Oct. 20, 2011
Genre: YA
Rating:
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The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi-pure-bloods-have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals-well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures. Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden. Unfortunately, she’s crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn’t her biggest problem–staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.

 

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