Book Highlight: The Crescent by Jordan Deen

The Crescent by Jordan Deen
Young Adult, Paranormal
190 pages; published January 14th, 2010

Becoming a werewolf is not an option for seventeen-year-old Lacey Quinn, but death can be a strong motivator.

Lacey is so focused on her future that everyday life has passed her by. Counting down the days to her eighteenth birthday, Lacey is almost home free. But when she falls for the mysterious Alex Morris, she lands in the middle of an ancient war between two enemy wolf packs. Tempting dreams, tantalizing lies and a dangerous love triangle ensues leaving Lacey heartbroken and confused.

Lacey's fate rests in the hands of Alex and Brandon, but both are pulling her strings for their own agendas. Even as she slips further into the dark world of werewolves, Lacey struggles to find the truth and save the only family she's ever known.

Amazon

A cool breeze shook Mom’s rose bushes and the few hedges that surrounded one side of the patio. But when the wind stopped, the bushes didn’t. I froze staring into the darkness trying to see the threat that was waiting just to the side of my family home. I held my breath trying to decide whether or not to make a run for it. I couldn’t hesitate much longer. Rising slowly from the swing, I lingered again trying to judge the distance between the swings and the safety of the kitchen door.

Can I make it before it gets me? IT! Coming outside again tonight was a bad idea.

 Jordan Deen is an Award-Winning Young Adult and New Adult Author from East St. Louis, Illinois. Her debut novel, THE CRESCENT was a 2010 Reader's Favorite Award Winner. Her second novel, HALF MOON released in 2011. BREAKING LAUREN is her third novel and was a finalist in the Texas Literary Awards. The sequel, LOSING LAUREN will be released on 12/5/2013.

She can usually be found curled up in her favorite chair with a book or her laptop. She is the proud mother of one crazy little boy and an even crazier teacup Yorkie.

Jordan is Indie published, as well as traditionally published with Black Rose Writing.
'Life is about the journey...'

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Blog Tour Book Review: Mad World Desperation by Samaire Provost

Author: Samaire Provost
Series: Mad World #3
Publisher: Black Raven Books
Release Date: October 4th 2013
My Rating: 4.5 cups
Source: review copy provided by author in exchange for an honest review
Blurb (from Goodreads):

“Forget what you thought you knew about this story, because everything is about to change.
With Alyssa near death, Luke, Jacob and their companions make a desperate attempt to reach Boston with the final ingredient needed for the plague antidote. They must travel through the Canadian wilderness, some of the roughest country in North America. Along the way they are joined by new friends and old as they fight to reach their destination and save Alyssa. What they don’t know is that something is hunting them.
Something evil is lurking, waiting to strike when they least expect it.
After years of fighting courageously against the living plague, they’d thought they knew their enemy. They’d believed their wits, bravery and strength would be enough to win this fight against the threat that had overrun so much of the world they once knew. But they were wrong.
Now Luke, Risa, Jacob, DeAndre and Jonathan face their most dangerous trials yet as they battle the ever-present zombie threat, along with a new challenge they never saw coming. How many ways can this plague try to kill them? Find out, in the latest installment of the Mad World series.”

I have been waiting for this book for so long! I was actually a bit scared to start it at first, because of the huge cliffhanger at the end of the previous book and I seriously hoped nothing bad would happen to the characters I've grown to love.

The book is everything I expected it to be. The action is very fast paced and it kept me on the edge the whole time. There were a few big surprises that I did not expect along the way. The first one is that this book is told not from Alyssa's POV, like I was used to, but from Luke's, her son. It was a good surprise and a good change. It really is a great thing to see the events told from someone else's perspective. There where other things that I didn't expect, but they were all positive. I can't really talk about them, because of spoilers, but trust me when I say that they don't disappoint.

There were some scenes that are very creepy and very detailed. They weren't necessarily as gross as I was expecting them to be, or at least not all of them, but there were some that were pretty terrifying. There were some other scenes that just blew my mind. A few of them made me extremely sad and the amazing thing is that they were about the zombies, the "bad" guys.

We also get to see someone from the past that I never thought we'd see. He was a nice surprise and I do hope we get to see more of him. In a very weird way, this guy kind of grew on me. We also get to meet new people and there are some new developments in this world that I think will be very interesting to discover in the next book.

There were some moments where certain scenes felt a bit too rushed, but all in all I really, really loved this book. I can't wait to see what happens next with the characters and if the plague will finally be stopped.

Author Bio: 
Samaire Provost is a novelist living in California. Author of the Mad World trilogy: EPIDEMIC ~ SANCTUARY ~ DESPERATION. Her upcoming work is a vampire thriller slated to be released in early 2014.

Connect with Samaire!
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Wednesday Chatter #5: What Makes A Great Villain

Wednesday Chatter is a weekly feature at Ruby's Books where we'll be talking about anything and everything related to books and reading. Click here if you want to see what we talked about in the previous weeks


WARNING: Some bad words might be used in the following post. Don't say I didn't warn you!

 

I need a great villain. I realized that, for some reason, it's been a while since I read a book with a really awesome villain. I don't mean awesome as in sexy, I mean terrifying, bad to the bone, soulless, has-no-heart villain. Think Voldemort.

It seems that lately, I either read about a government organization full of bad people, or some easy to beat bad guys. I am wondering if maybe I'm alone in this and it's all just in my head, or maybe I haven't yet read the right books? So I thought long and hard about this (this is probably why my head hurts right now) and I came up with a list of traits that I think a perfect villain should have. Here we go.

• BE SECRETIVE

Really, is it so hard to keep your plans a secret? Why do some villains have to put it all out there? Every time I read about a bad guy revealing their master plan I just want to scream. I want to be afraid of you, damn it!! I don't want to think about what I should do to escape you, because that's what I'll do if I know what your plan is. I want the bad guys to be a step ahead until a certain point. I want the good guys to suffer just a little bit and yes, I want the villain to win a battle or two. We all know that in the end the good guys always win in fiction, but I want them to work for that final victory. Telling them what the plan is really makes the experience less entertaining and it really makes them look bad. Think about it! If the good guys know early on what the villain is planning to do, shouldn't they be able to defeat him/her really fast?

• BE RUTHLESS

Remember in The Vampire Diaries season...I think it was the second one (??), when everyone was running from Elijah? And when Elijah finally catches up with Rose, Trevor and Elena, he kills Trevor even though he said he forgave him for helping Katherine run from the originals? Yeah, he was mean and all, but I got all tingly in my stomach because that's how a villain should act! He needs to be bad and ruthless, not some dainty flower easily impressed by innocence. I need a bad guy who's bad to the core!

• HAVE A REAL PURPOSE

I know this one is slightly weird, but I need a villain that has a reason for being evil, an endgame if you'd like. Sauron wanted The Ring, Voldemort wanted to rule the magic world and eliminate all half-bloods, Klaus wanted to unlock his werewolf side and The Evil Queen wanted to be the most beautiful woman in the world and to kill Snow White. Each of these villains wanted something, something that somehow makes sense. And if you think about it, all villains that we've read about over and over or watched in movies or TV shows had a reason for doing what they were doing. I've read a string of books where the evil guys were evil just for the sake of evilness. Ugh!

• CAN LOOK CREEPY EVEN WHEN SMILING

Okay, I admit it, this is just an excuse to have another Tom Hiddleston gif *grins*

Though seriously, a bad guy who can have a really "good" evil grin makes me even more scared.

• HAVE A SECRET IDENTITY

You know, it kills me every time a bad guy tells everyone he/she is the one doing all the bad things in a book waaay before I've even started thinking about him/her. Seriously, is it just so difficult to keep their mouths shut about it? I was reading a book about a serial killer years ago and after only a few pages the killer popped up into a scene and very proudly announced the reader (in this case, me) that he was indeed the killer. Talk about a buzz kill. I want to be scared of you and I want to make up theories about who you are and what you look like. Ruining that experience for me really pisses me off. 

I can think of a few more things I believe a real villain does, like doing the unexpected (like Klaus turning Tyler into a vampire - I didn't see that one coming) or maybe have a surprising sidekick or mole (like in Bones when the weird serial killer was using Bones' assistant, Zack). Or maybe have minions. But they need to be bad guys and act like it. Maybe I'm not reading the right books? *taps chin* I'm open to suggestions of books about real villains, in case you want to help me :D

What about you? What do you think a real villain should act like?

Release Day Highlight: Proxy by Mindee Arnett & Giveaway

Title: Proxy by Mindee Arnett
Series: Avalon #0.5

If you need something stolen from any star system in the Confederation, you need look no further than the Shades. Jeth Seagrave and his band of teenage mercenaries have been making a name for themselves for being able to steal anything—and for disappearing before anyone is the wiser.

Their latest job, a jewel heist on Grakkus, should be no different. But when Jeth's boss replaces a key member of his crew just before takeoff, and Jeth discovers a betrayal within his own ranks, he begins to suspect that not everyone is going to be coming back from his job alive.

Proxy is an action-packed introduction to a world like nothing readers have seen before.

Excerpt

   The thrill of the job never got old. Jeth Seagrave lived for it. For the way the anticipation sent electricity pulsing through his veins, making his blood burn hotter, his heart beat harder, and sharpening his senses until he felt like something more than human. A superhero from one of the ancient myths of First Earth, perhaps.
   You’re no hero. The automatic thought skidded through his mind, barely registering. No, he wasn’t. He was a thief. One of the best.
   And that was all that mattered. Never mind that he was only sixteen. Never mind that most of his crew was even younger. Together they were an unstoppable force, a gang of teenage thieves their adult marks never saw coming. The thrill pulsed harder inside him, and with an effort he focused on the nav monitor in front of him. They would be entering the patrolled zone around the planet Grakkus soon.
   To his left, Celeste piloted the Debonair forward, her hands steady on the control column. Jeth would’ve preferred to pilot this job—he would prefer to pilot every job—but he and Celeste took turns. All of the members of the Malleus Shades held specific roles that played to their strengths. Celeste’s forte was counterintelligence, particularly the art of distracting marks. Jeth’s was strategy, and he typically took point on every job. But when it came to piloting, he and Celeste were equally matched. Jeth drew a breath, still struggling to focus. He couldn’t help it. The upcoming job was the most challenging, complicated one they’d taken on yet. The target was located in a vault at the top of a tower only accessible through the emperor of Grakkus’s personal bedchambers—not some insignificant politician or petty crime lord, but an emperor. Pulling it off would be like flying a spaceship through a solar storm without getting fried. A grin threatened to break on his face. The job was going to be fun, and with a payout well worth the risk.
   At last the nav computer flashed an indicator that they were heading into the patrolled zone.
   Celeste glanced at him, her dark eyes narrowing. Straight black hair hung in a blunt cut down to her shoulders. “Are you going to turn on the stealth drive or what?”
   “I’m thinking about it.” A part of him didn’t want to. The so-called stealth drive was brand new and untested, at least by the Shades. If it didn’t work, things were going to get a whole lot more interesting real quick. And if it did work, well, then things weren’t going to get interesting. He couldn’t decide which he preferred.
   In the end, Celeste made the decision for him, reaching over to a switch on a sleek new section of the control panel. Jeth sighed. It was the right thing to do, of course, and there would be plenty of risks to be had once they landed.
   Or it might not work properly, he thought, examining the nav monitor once more. Best not to blindly trust some newfangled technology. Within minutes he spotted a blimp on the monitor, a patrol to their starboard.      
   The ship was far off, but within range to scan them.
   “What should I do?” A hint of panic colored Celeste’s voice. They had never before flown so boldly through a patrolled area. “Hold course,” Jeth said, not taking his eyes off the blimp. So far the patrol ship hadn’t given any sign that it had spotted them.
   “You sure you’re right?”
   “Aren’t I always?”
   Celeste snorted. “Do you want an honest answer?”
   “Nope. I prefer my own version of the truth.”
   “Right.” Celeste tightened her grip on the controls. According to the instructions they’d received from their employer, who owned the Debonair, the stealth drive worked best when the ship maintained a constant speed and course. Any sharp turns or drastic acceleration or deceleration could turn up on a system scanning for thruster signatures, stealth drive or no.
   Maybe it was for the best that Celeste was piloting, Jeth realized. He would’ve been tempted to test the theory of what constituted “drastic.”
   They passed out of range of the patrol a few minutes later, and Jeth sat back in the copilot’s chair, folding his arms across his chest as he tried to ignore his disappointment. They flew within range of three more patrols but moved past them without incident, finally breaching Grakkus’s atmosphere.
   Once through, Celeste headed for their rendezvous point, an isolated forested area a few hundred kilometers outside of the capital city. Beyond the bridge’s main windows, the first rays of sunlight were breasting the horizon, heralded by a swath of purple, pink, and vermillion.
   At last Celeste set the Debonair down on a large stretch of tall grass the color of seaweed. She powered off the engines and turned on the auxiliary, which would keep the shipboard systems running, including the stealth drive. It wasn’t likely that anyone would spot them out here—the place was well off the main thoroughfares, not to mention how inhospitable the swamp surrounding them was—but Jeth decided not to point that out.
   Celeste stood and stretched, the movement languid as if she were part cat. The dark, fitted clothing she wore aided the illusion. “So, what now?”
   Jeth checked his watch, which he’d synced to Grakkus time. “I say breakfast or lunch, whichever works, and then a couple hours’ R and R. The setup man’s not due to arrive until fourteen hundred.” They’d had to get here early to avoid being detected during landing. The stealth drive hid them from sight, but it couldn’t disguise the sound of the engines or the wind raised by the thrusters.
   “Think I’m going to shower again, before—” Celeste broke off as a voice echoed over the ship’s comm system.
   “Um, Boss? We sorta have a situation. You might want to get down to the common room.”
Jeth blinked, all his disappointment from their unadventurous journey vanishing in the space of a single breath.    It wasn’t often that Will Shady sounded nervous.
   Wondering if maybe the ship was on fire, Jeth turned and headed off the bridge with Celeste quick on his heels. They arrived in the common room on the deck below moments later. Jeth stopped in the doorway, surveying the scene. There wasn’t a fire. There wasn’t anything amiss at all, as far as he could tell. Shady was sitting on one of the sofas, his attention focused on the 3D projection from his portable gaming system, a wave of bloodthirsty robots coming at him, each one falling to his simulated gunfire. The comm unit he’d used to radio the bridge sat discarded on the sofa beside him, in danger of being swallowed by a cushion.
   Jeth approached him. “What are you doing?”
   “Practicing,” Shady said, not looking up. The scowl on his face as he let off a triple blast, drilling a robot right between its bulbous black eyes, made his features look distinctly leonine, the appearance aided by his shaggy mane of blond hair. Shady’s assigned role in the Malleus Shades was ordnance officer.
   Jeth put his hands on his hips. “We’re not going to be shooting anybody on this job. And please tell me this wasn’t the thing I needed to see.”
   Shady shook his head. “Nope. It’s in that storage locker.” He pointed to the row of lockers along the wall across from them. “The one in the middle.”
   Jeth arched an eyebrow. He considered pressing Shady for more, but knew there wasn’t much point. All the crew dealt with prejob nerves in different ways, and once engrossed in his ritual video game, it was hard to get Shady to concern himself with anything else.
   Jeth crossed the floor to the locker in question, wondering where the Debonair had been last. Their employer used the ship for lots of different jobs, and it was possible it had been parked planetside somewhere a wild animal could’ve gotten in. An image of something furry and clawed and with teeth the size of fingers flashed through Jeth’s mind. He wasn’t wearing a gun, and he briefly considered getting one before finding out what had Shady so nervous, but then he shrugged and pulled the door open. 
   There was something alive in there all right, but it wasn’t a wild animal. Even still, it took Jeth several moments to come to grip with what it was. Who it was.

About The Author:

Mindee Arnett lives on a horse farm in Ohio with her husband, two kids, a couple of dogs, and an inappropriate number of cats. She’s addicted to jumping horses and telling tales of magic, the macabre, and outer space. She has far more dreams than nightmares. She's the YA author of The Nightmare Affair (Tor Teen), an urban fantasy series about a girl who is literally a nightmare and must use her skills to solve a murder, and the forthcoming science fiction series, Avalon (B+B, 1/21/2014), where Jeth and his teenage mercenaries need to pull off one last big job in order to earn their freedom.

Website: http://www.mindeearnett.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mindeearnett
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Mindee-Arnett/215046761888669
Tumblr: http://mindeearnett.tumblr.com/

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Book Highlight: My Date From Hell by Tellulah Darling & Giveaway

Title: My Date From Hell by Tellulah Darling
Genre: Young Adult
Series: The Blooming Goddess Trilogy, #2

Sophie Bloom’s junior year has been a bit of a train wreck. After the world’s greatest kiss re-awakened Sophie’s true identity as Persephone (Goddess of Spring and Savior of Humanity), she fought her dragon-lady guidance counselor to the death, navigated mean girl Bethany’s bitchy troublemaking, and dealt with the betrayal of her backstabbing ex, Kai (sexy Prince of Darkness). You’d think a girl could catch a break.

Yeah, right.

With Zeus stepping things up, it’s vital that Sophie retrieve Persephone’s memories and discover the location of the ritual to stop Zeus and Hades. So when Aphrodite strikes a deal that can unlock Sophie’s pre-mortal past, what choice does the teen goddess have but to accept?

The mission: stop media mogul Hermes from turning Bethany into a global mega-celebrity. The catch? Aphrodite partners Sophie and Kai to work together … and treat this suicide mission as a date. Which could work out for Sophie’s plan to force Kai to admit his feelings for her–if she doesn’t kill him first.

Add to that the fact that BFF Theo’s love life and other BFF Hannah’s actual life are in Sophie’s hands, and suddenly being a teenager—even a godlike one—seems a bit like … well, hell. Whatever happened to dinner and a movie?

The YA romantic comedy/Greek mythology fireworks continue to fly in My Date From Hell. Love meets comedy with a whole lot of sass in book two of this teen fantasy romance series. Breaking up is easy; dating is deadly.

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Aphrodite pointed her gun at me again, kind of casually. “Your problem is you’re too hung up on the past. You gotta move forward with yer life.”

I heard Hannah give a smothered laugh.

“You got this cutie pie in love with ya, and instead of enjoying his company, all you do is whine.” With a quick flick, Aphrodite opened the cylinder to reload.

“He’s not in love,” I said.

She peered at Kai. “Whattya talkin’ about? Sure he is. Everyone knows Kyrillos loves Persephone.”
       “I’m Sophie,” I ground out.

She waved the gun around. “Ya ya. That too.”

That too? I took a deep breath, folded my fingers over my palms and looked slightly to the left of her in case I accidentally started blasting. Didn’t want to go down in history as the girl who killed the Goddess of Love.

“Nope. It’s just desire,” I said with faked calm. “Kai is so resistant to the idea of being in love with me that your arrows don’t work. Besides which, when he actually does fall so hard for me that he doesn’t know which way is up, I want him to know he chose that of his own free will. That he chose me.” I threw him a sweet smile.

“Chose you?” Kai got this look of “have we had this conversation before?” on his face. My smile got tight.

Aphrodite scooped up a saclike pink purse laying on the ground. She rooted around in it. “Desire is part of romantic love, silly,” she said to me.

She pulled out a handful of bullets and dumped them in Festos’ hurriedly outstretched hands before turning back to Kai. She gestured with the still-open chambered revolver toward him. “Your body knows what’s what. Stop fighting it.”

Kai glowered at her.

She laughed it off, reloading. “And you,” Aphrodite said to me, as she plucked more bullets from Festos’ hand to load into the chamber. “Yer just as bad with your own issues.”

She couldn’t know about my insecurities around Persephone could she? Aphrodite narrowed her eyes at me.

I gulped.

Aphrodite shot me a look of disgust and popped the final bullets into the chambers. She gestured at each of us in turn with one pink, sparkly manicured finger. “I’m gonna start gettin’ real mad about how youse is all dealin’ with love.”

“There’s a whole bunch of drags around here where love is concerned,” Festos agreed.

“Thanks so much for inviting him along,” Theo said to me.

I grimaced an apology at Theo, then shot back at Festos, “Seems there’s a whole bunch of dogs here, too.” I looked between him and Kai.

“Oh don’t forget Pierce,” Festos replied cheerfully. “He’s a total mimbo.” “He is not,” Hannah defended. “He’s pure love.”

Aphrodite threw her a fond smile. “I like you, girlie.” “Love in name, hormones in game,” Theo countered. “Look at us all in agreement,” Festos replied.

“No, because you’re talking about lust,” I protested.

“Lust is pretty good too,” Aphrodite said, “but it ain’t nothin’ like the real thing.” She clicked the cylinder into place and looked at me. “We got a deal? You’ll get Jack to kill the campaign?”

“You’ll undo the love thing?” I asked.

“Nope. You could do with a little love in your life. Kyrillos is obviously brimming with love for ya now,” she ignored Kai’s snort, “so you’re gonna enjoy it.”

“Meaning what?” I asked.

“A date,” Kai piped up. “I’d say I’m ready now.” He arched an eyebrow as if to say “ball’s in your court.”

“I think it’s a great idea,” I slid my arm around his waist and pressed myself up against his side.

A look of surprise flashed across his face. “Perfect.”

I could outdate him any place, any time. I brightened. This was going to be fun. The touching part wasn’t a downside either.

“The fate of the world does dee-pend on you loving each other,” Aphrodite said. “So, good. We’ll start with a date.”

“Still say it’s a euphemism,” Festos burst out. “And Kai doesn’t date.”

Kai snaked his arm around my waist before pressing his fingertips into my hip. “Never wanted to before. Sophie’s the exception.”

“The euphemistic exception?” Festos asked. “Shut up,” Kai and I fired at him in tandem.

Festos took it in stride, waggling his eyebrows cheerfully at Theo who pretended to look disapproving but totally wasn’t. Even Hannah didn’t bother to hide her smile.

“Only thing is,” I told Aphrodite, “I have to be back at school by Sunday morning. I have a meeting I can’t miss. So I’ll have to get this thing with Jack done quickly to have time for the date.”

“Going together to find Hermes is the date.” Aphrodite looked at me like I was an idiot. “You two need as much together time as possible.”

No way. I needed all my wits about me to handle Kai. Something that couldn’t happen if I had to track down Hermes at the same time. I tried a new tactic. “A date involves dinner and a movie. Something romantic. Finding Hermes hardly counts.”

She pinned me in her gaze. “Had so miny of them, Miz Expert? All a date is, is two people spendin’ time to deepen their attraction.”

“Or kill it,” Hannah piped up.

Aphrodite scrunched up her nose. “Huh?”

“There are far more first dates than second,” Hannah explained. “Which means that after spending time, those people realized they were not a match.”

“What she said,” I seconded.

Aphrodite narrowed her eyes at Hannah. “I don’t get ya. You talk like that but you’re so brim up with love.”

“I’m a confounding enigma,” Hannah replied cheerfully.

Aphrodite threw her hands up. “Enough’a this nonsense. You’ll go together to find Hermes. And you’ll be date-like doin’ it.”

That sounded like a threat.

“Almost like you planned it that way,” I said to Kai.

His smile grew wider as he gave my waist a squeeze. “Told you I get what I want. Feel free to let that sink in.”

Tellulah Darling

noun

1. YA romantic comedy author because her first kiss sucked and she's compensating.
2. Alter ego of former screenwriter.
3. Sassy minx.
Geeks out over: cool tech.

Squees for: great storytelling.
Delights in: fabulous conversation.
Writes about: where love meets comedy. Awkwardness ensues.

Sassy girls. Swoony boys. What could go wrong?

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Book Promo: Death Of The Mad Hatter by Sarah J. Pepper

The Jack prophesied: If the king loses his head, then the Queen with a Bleeding Heart would rule the Red Court until Time ceased to move forward. When a second carried on for infinity, every creature in Wonderland would tip their Hat to the misfit girl with a Boy’s name (or was it a boy with a Girl’s name?) who’d end the Reign of Terror. However, it all hinged on the One-Eyed Hare being able to convince an uninspirable Heir that the impossible was indeed possible—like stopping time—and that Love was worth a Beheading.

Heads would Roll…
Hearts would Break…
In the end, would it matter who Reigned?

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Release Day: 29th November by CreateSpace

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Excerpt

There were the types of girls who dressed for guys, the type who still played dress-up, the type who lived in sweatpants, and then there was an entirely different breed who wore mismatched socks with pride. This chick fell into the last category. Why anyone could possibly think bright orange and blue would go together, unless they were a Boise State fan, was beyond my thought process. Her shoes were quite possibly handcrafted a hundred years ago, and her tattered skirt looked as though she found it in a dusty box tucked away in an attic. However, the zebra patterned gloves actually appeared to be from this decade.

“Well, it’s rather fortunate that you didn’t dribble. Mr. Ruth would have a fit if he became familiar with the underside of your pet-soaked shoe,” the girl said, petting the stuffed animal’s head. Her accent was none that I’d heard before—and I’d lived in a lot of different places. She sounded like a British gal impersonating a southern bell. “It’d be quite regrettable if anything happened to him on the first day of school. He must have fallen out of his hidey-hole.”

“You named your stuffed rabbit, Mr. Ruth?”

She covered the bunny’s ears. “Rutherford is his real name, but he hates it and makes all the other rumperbabbits call him by his nickname.”

“Rumperbabbits?”

“Bunnies, rabbits, hares—rumperbabbits. Same thing,” she said and winked. She had the most volatile light-blue eyes. They were so electrifying that I couldn’t look away.

Time out—just for reference, I didn’t believe in juvenile notions, like love at first sight. In my book, time didn’t cease to move forward when two people fell in love. As a matter-of-fact, I’d have to be drunk (not on love) for such an irrational thought to enter my mind.

But, there was something magical about her. A mischievous charm. I wouldn’t have said that I necessarily liked it, but it was intriguing. She was intriguing… and new. For a town whose newspaper’s biggest story was the harvest report, having a new girl in school would most likely be headlined on The Gossiper’s front page.

About The Author

I specialize in dark, paranormal romance – think “happy ever after” but with a twisted, dark chocolate center. Real-life romance isn't only filled with hugs, kisses, unicorns, and rainbows. True-love can be more thoroughly described in times of darkness and tribulation. It’s in those harsh moments where you see what a person is truly capable of – both the good and bad. Sometimes prince-charming isn't always on time, and the glass slipper is a little snug. However, it doesn't mean Charming is not Mr. Right, and who says every shoe is the perfect fit?




Links:

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Obsessed With Covers #12: Paradise Damned and The Falconer

Y'all know how much I love a pretty cover. I think about...40% of the books that end up on my shelves (be they physical or digital) do so because of the covers. Call me shallow but you have to admit that a pretty, shiny cover will catch your eye faster than a dull, boring one. Two, simple rules that I'll follow:

• 1, 2 or 3 (no more than 3, though) covers per week;
• books should be new-ish; no more than 2 years old.

Oh, before I share the covers that made me drool or want to stare at them for hours and hours, I have to say something. This is a semi-original idea. Why semi? Because almost every book blogger has something similar. The only thing I came up with was the title. If by any chance there's another blogger with a similar feature with the same title, I assure you I'm not stealing your idea. I'm just THAT bad with titles. Believe me, I'd love to be smarter and have a witty name for this feature, but I don't. So, no copyright infringement/theft/steal or anything of the sort was desired. All I can say is sorry :P

So, here are the prettiest covers I've seen this week.

I adore this cover so, so much. It's such a great cover, a mixture of creepy and sexy, with a little bit of danger in it. I love the snake, but I also love the two skulls behind her. Makes me wonder who those people were and what did they do to get decapitated or why are they in the woman's garden. Also, did she kill them?










Paradise Damned by S.M. Reine

This cover is so, so pretty. I love her hair (I'd love to have that hair color). Her choker/necklace looks amazing and I love those bead lines, they look like tears. And she looks like a fighter.

The Falconer by Elizabeth May

What about you? Did you see any cool covers this past week that you want to share?

Book Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Author: Veronica Roth
Series: Divergent #1
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release Date: April 25th 2011
My Rating: 5 cups
Source: borrowed
Blurb (from Goodreads):

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

You know how hard it is sometimes to express how much you loved a book? If I were in a movie, you'd hear crickets making their weird sounds and I'd stare at you like a zombie, because I have no clue how to say how much I loved Divergent.

I remember when this book first came out, EVERYONE was talking about it. Twitter was on fire, almost all bloggers I stalk follow read it and loved it. That craze, like all book crazes before, scared the crap out of me. So I didn't read it. Then the news about a movie came and I heard everyone groaning about the actors and I still resisted. And then last week magic happened. As you know, the full official movie trailer was released. I watched it and after I finished drooling over that amazing tattoo (you know the one!) I decided I needed to read the book. So I borrowed it from a friend of mine.

Tris. Man, I loved her. She's one of those heroines that stick in your head long after you've finished reading the book. She's just simply amazing. I loved how strong she was. And I liked that even though she chose to leave her faction and join another one, she didn't completely forget where she came from, she didn't ignore that part of herself. My heart ached for her a couple of times during this book, but I think the bad things that happened to her made her even stronger. I really can't think of a negative thing or something that I didn't like about her.

Four was... He was dreamy and amazingly sexy and just... WOW! I liked how mysterious he was. And I liked that he didn't try to protect Tris and he didn't treat her like she was made of glass or like she couldn't take care of herself. He had an incredibly bad past, but it didn't make him look weak or broken. He was stronger because of his past.

There were many other characters that I loved, especially Christina and Uriah. Tori was an interesting character and I'm really curious to see what will happen to her in the rest of the series. As for the characters I hated, I seriously wish Peter and Marcus would go away and never come back. I also hope Eric gets a very slow and painful death.

I really loved Divergent and I cannot wait to read the other two books in the series. And I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some very painful moments for Marcus, Eric and Peter :D

Release Day Blast: Severed Colours by Dawna Raver

The epic continues…

Quinn Sinclair trusted Arik Morgaine until he betrayed her. Scared and alone, she finds herself delivered into the hands of the evil Morgana le Fay. When Quinn discovers Morgana's plans are beyond demented and seriously depraved—making life with the Changeling seem like a day at the beach—she wonders if death is a better option?

Arik Morgaine vowed he'd save Quinn no matter the price. When his well thought out plans go terribly awry, a desperate and heartbroken Arik is forced to beg the cruel Triarchia for help. Unwilling to go on without his Älskling, he answers a question that irrevocably alters their lives.

Can Arik and Quinn find a way back to each other, or will the price of saving her rip them apart forever?

Teaser

Large, purpose-driven hands caressed Quinn’s side, pulling her into him. His front to her back, their bodies fit together perfectly. Two separate individuals with jagged edges, that when put together, became a smooth, complete whole.

“Älskling.” His voice in her ear came as smooth as melted chocolate. Warm, soft lips lavished kisses down her neck. She responded to his touch, pushing back into his hard body, closing the small gaps that kept them from being together.

She started to turn over to face him, his name hovering on her lips. “Arik.”

Quinn opened her eyes and hugged herself. She was alone. The dream or the vision, and its all too real images, wrenched at her broken heart.

“Why Arik? Why did you do this to me? To us?”

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Wednesday Chatter #4: On series and why I love them

Wednesday Chatter is a weekly feature at Ruby's Books where we'll be talking about anything and everything related to books and reading. Click here if you want to see what we talked about in the previous weeks


WARNING: Some bad words might be used in the following post. Don't say I didn't warn you!

 

Hey guys! A few days ago I saw this post that Ellie wrote about the series she's reading and the ones she's read. She also linked to Gaby's post and I saw that it was a very fun thing to do and I decided to do it myself. I thought "Hey, my list isn't going to be that big, right? I might as well share it". Man, was I wrong. I actually started writing the post, but when I realized how huge my list was getting, I got scared my blog would crash and decided not to post it. Don't believe me? Here's the simplified list:

Series I'm reading and I'm up to date with: 23

Series I'm reading but I'm not up to date with: 37

Series I've read but I'm not sure about finishing at the moment: 11

Series I've read that I have no clue if they have finished or not: 5 (either the author hasn't posted anything about continuing the series in question or some have put their series on hold for the moment)

Series I've finished: 14

I am still working on the "TBR Series" list, but for now I decided not to continue writing it. But from what I've counted so far there are at least another 15 series on my TBR list.

As you can probably tell by those insane numbers above, I really, really love series. I know a lot of readers are tired of long series, but I say keep them coming. Seriously, I doubt there will ever be a time when I'll get tired of them.

There are a lot of reasons why I love series. The first one is that when I love one or two characters from a book, I really can't get enough of them. I also believe that if they're done right, series can help discover the multitude of layers a character has. Those of you who've read Sherrilyn Kenyon's Styxx, how many of you can honestly say you were expecting THAT in his story? Don't lie!

Usually I feel like stand-alone books only give me a side or two of a character and, while sometimes that's fine with me, I find myself wondering what's going to happen next. Of course, this seriously depends on the original story of the character. If I'm reading a contemporary where one of the characters dies, I won't be expecting another book with that particular character. I'm not that crazy. I'm talking about those books that sometimes leave me wanting for so much more.

Another reason why I'd rather read series is that sometimes the world in a book is just too amazing to have just that one story. Can you imagine what it would've been like had Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone been the only book in the Harry Potter universe? I would've felt robbed in some way. Or think of any other series you've ever read and put all books aside, except for the first one. To me, that feels lonely and slightly sad. And this isn't just true for fantasy books, it's true for contemporaries also. I can't think of a YA contemporary series, so I'm giving you the adult version here. Any reader over 18 that's read and loved the Rough Riders series by Lorelei James could probably imagine how bad they'd feel if there had been just that first story, especially knowing there were so many McKay brothers and cousins and a sister out there to populate a small country. They needed stories too.

As for why I love big series (over 5-10 books), this is quite simple, actually. I think this is true for most readers, too. When you read a series that has you hurting for the characters, loving them, crying with them, wishing you could step inside the book and either punish the bad guy or smack some sense into some characters, the ending of that series feels awful. You know that there will be no more new adventures, no more daily life situations, little details, pranks, no more jokes, no more tears, nothing. While I don't read a series because I want to see my favorite characters get hurt, getting to the end of a series makes me want to spend a day in bed, under the blankets and wish that it's all just a bad dream and the series isn't over. It's like you have your life divided: Before Series and After Series. Last week I told you that I love to re-read. I do, but re-reading a series that's ended will always be bittersweet to me.

So while I may be one of the few weirdos out there who have so many series they've read (90, in case you decided not to make the math), I am not regretting anything.

What about you? Why do you love to read series. And in case you don't like series, why not?