Early Book Review: My Ex From Hell by Tellulah Darling

Author: Tellulah Darling
Series: The Blooming Goddess Trilogy #1
Publisher: Te Da Media
Release Date: April 1st 2013
My Rating: 4.5 cups
Source: NetGalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):

Sixteen-year-old Sophie Bloom wishes she’d been taught the following:

a) Bad boy’s presence (TrOuBlE) + teen girl’s brain (DraMa) = TrAuMa (Highly unstable and very volatile.)
b) The Genus Greekulum Godissimus is notable for three traits: 1) awesome abilities, 2) grudges, and 3) hook-ups, break-ups, and in-fighting that puts cable to shame.

Prior to the Halloween dance, Sophie figures her worst problems involve adolescent theatrics, bitchy yoga girls, and being on probation at her boarding school for mouthy behaviour. Then she meets bad boy Kai and gets the kiss that rocks her world.

Literally.

This breath stealing lip lock reawakens Sophie’s true identity: Persephone, Goddess of Spring. She’s key to saving humanity in the war between the Underworld and Olympus, target numero uno of Hades and Zeus, and totally screwed.

Plus there’s also the little issue that Sophie’s last memory as Persephone was just before someone tried to murder her.

Big picture: master her powers, get her memories back, defeat Persephone’s would be assassin, and save the world. Also, sneak into the Underworld to retrieve stolen property, battle the minions of Hades and Zeus, outwit psycho nymphs, slay a dragon, rescue a classmate, keep from getting her butt expelled from the one place designed to keep her safe …

… and stop kissing Kai, Prince of the Underworld.

I read this book a few days ago and the first thing I did after I finished it was to pray to the gods of books and release dates to give me a time machine to travel in the future and get the second book in the series right away because I need it *sniffle*.

I think you all know by now how much I love mythology and Ancient gods and stories about them. So I needed to see what this book was about. Persephone and Hades and Zeus *swoons* I thought "this is a MUST READ book".

I'm very happy I read it. I laughed like a lunatic at some scenes and I stood on the edge of my bed at others. My Ex From Hell was a very funny read. I'd share some quotes with you, but they're funnier in the context of the scene. Just be ready to laugh.

Sophie was a very cool character. She was a little devious, but then if you think of who she was in her previous life, it makes perfect sense. She's also funny and she usually says something totally inappropriate in some scenes that require complete seriousness. I loved that about her.

I loved Kai, the Prince of the Underworld. Even though I'm kind of mad at him right now for...well, you'll see (*grin*), he is quite charming. And very mysterious. He's hiding something, something big I think. And even though I understand why (he explains it very well to Sophie when she keeps asking him), I still want to know.  But yes, he's as sexy and dangerous and lovable as you might think. And he's the Prince of the Underworld! That's like having the belt for Bad Boy Of The Entire Universe.

The book ends with a cliffhanger that is quite big and I think it's safe for me to say that once you finish reading the book, you'll be left biting your nails and impatiently waiting for book 2, My Date From Hell.

So. If you love Ancient mythology and YA mark your calendars on April 1st, when this book is released and read it!

Teaser Tuesday #20

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser this week is from The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

Before I give you the teaser, just one thing. I will put a "(...) at the end of the first paragraph because I won't want to give spoilers.

The teaser:

A figure stood at the back wall, waiting, as I'd feared. (...)

"Hello, sister,” Jackal greeted, his gold eyes shining in the dim light. “It’s about time you showed up.”

What's your teaser this week?

Obsessed With Covers #4

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 links and covers go to the Goodreads page of each book.

This is cover caught my eye because it was so simple. It's not full of details, there's no super crazy fonts used. It's easy to look at it for minutes and minutes. It's also a little creepy. The fact that the bloody ring is in the middle, surrounded by the foggy forest and the full moon makes me like this cover even more. And I am very curious what the book is about. 

Renhala - Amy Joy Lutchen

This cover is gorgeous! I love the elephants, I love the lights, I love the starry night sky. And I love that the cover model is shown from the back. It sort of shows what the title is saying. I am definitely interested on reading the book so I have it on my never-ending TBR mountain. 

That Time I Joined the Circus - J. J. Howard

What covers caught your attention lately?

No, I didn't forget about my blog!

Hey everyone *waves*

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day with yous SO/DH/BF/Book Boyfriend (especially Adrian Ivashkov. I didn't get to read The Indigo Spell yet,  but I did get to ogle...I mean *coughs* look lovingly at the cover *g*)

I know I've been absent lately. The first two months of this year have been way too hectic for me (don't remember a year like that before). Anyway. I'll be missing next week too, but two weeks from now I'm back in the game with reviews and soundtracks and stuff like that.

Have a good weekend and see you in two weeks. Be good and happy reading until then!!

Blog Tour Book Review: A Cast of Shadows by Hailey Edwards & Giveaway

Author: Hailey Edwards
Series: Araneae Nation #2.5
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: February 12th 2013
My Rating: 5 cups
Source: copy offered in exchange for an honest review
Blurb (from Goodreads):

"The strongest net is no match for destiny. "

An "Araneae Nation" Story

Daraja has grown up watching her brothers journey down the river on the traditional Deinopidae rite of passage. Each returned with riches from their travels, and lovers with whom to share their lives.

Now she has reached the age where she would strike out on her own to seek her fortune-if she were male. Instead, she is expected to sit patiently, weave her nets and wait for the river to bring a husband to her.

Patience, however, has never been her strong suit.

Brynmor haunts the forest surrounding the city of Cathis, his disembodied spirit inextricably bound to the wild canis roaming his lands. Until the day he stumbles across a brazen trespasser in his woods.

Compelled to step in when the canis suspect her of poaching one of their own, Brynmor fears he has lost a piece of his ragged soul to the feisty, adventure-seeking female. And when the canis confront the real poachers, he is forced to choose which life to sacrifice. Hers...or his own.

Warning: This book contains one heroine with a knack for weaving nets and one hero who relishes getting caught. Expect singing, some howling, ghostly shenanigans, and the start of a love that transcends death.

Ever since A Feast of Souls I've been hoping Brynmor will get some sort of happy ending. He wasn't exactly the easiest guy to be around in Vaughn's story and we already knew some bad stuff about him from the previous book and what he did to his mate and all that. But I have to be honest and say that somewhere along the way, during A Feast of Souls, he sort of charmed me. Yes, I know, I'm a sucker for a tortured hero, especially when he's trying so hard to help the people around him, even though he did things in the past that hurt those same people.

Anyway, I was very excited when I heard that he got a story. And it proved me that I was correct on two things: Vaughn did get his charms from Brynmor and there was a reason other than cruelness for Brynmor to do what he did.

Daraja was a very good heroine. I feel like she was the perfect match for our tortured hero. And I liked her. I am hoping we get to see this couple more in the upcoming books.

One thing that I was curious about was how the author would make their love story happen. I loved that we don't get the usual story with these two. I can't say more, for fear of giving something away, but it's nice to see fresh, new takes on a subject and this is one of them.

Of course, me being me, I wish we'll see more of the wild canis pack. Or maybe a story with them? Wouldn't that be great? *grins*

Now to wait impatiently for the next book in this series. Do read the series people, as it is very, very good.

Purchase Links: 

Samhain: http://bit.ly/13Mn06o 

Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/Vbt8oG 

Barnes & Noble.com: http://bit.ly/VOzLvB 

Author Bio: Born in the Deep South, Hailey is a lifelong resident of Alabama. Her husband works for the local sheriff’s department and her daughter is counting down the days until she’s old enough to audition for American Idol. Her doxie, Black Ilex, helps Hailey write by snoozing in his recliner in her office.

Her desire to explore without leaving the comforts of home fueled her love of reading and writing. Whenever the itch for adventure strikes, Hailey can be found with her nose glued to her Kindle’s screen or squinting at her monitor as she writes her next happily-ever-after.

Website: http://haileyedwards.net/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3345773.Hailey_Edwards
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HaileyEdwards
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authorhaileyedwards
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/haileyredwards/

GIVEAWAY!!!

Giveaway Guidelines:

 Hailey is gifting a digital book from a select list of her backlist titles to a commenter per number of tour stops. The contest is open internationally to anyone 18 years or older, or the age of majority, and will run from 12:01am EST 2/11/13 – 11:59pm EST 2/18/13. No purchase is necessary. Void where prohibited by law. The winners will be randomly selected via the widget and notified via Lit Connect (http://litconnect.com) within five days close of the tour. Please follow the Rafflecopter directions for ways to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour Book Review: Mad World: Sanctuary by Samaire Provost

Author: Samaire Provost

Series: Mad World #2
Publisher: Creatspace
Release Date: August 30th 2012
My Rating: 5 cups
Source: copy received in exchange for my honest review
Blurb (from Goodreads):

The year is 2017, and the Black Plague infection has swept across most of the United States, leaving death and chaos in its wake. Martial law is the rule rather than the exception, with outbreaks cropping up when they're least expected. Alyssa and her friends must not only battle outbreaks of the disease, but also find themselves pursued by government agents – men and women determined to track them down at any cost.

Fleeing north to the fabled Sanctuary, Alyssa, Jacob, DeAndre, Caitlyn, Risa and Luke face disturbing ordeals and terrible tragedy as they encounter unbelievable situations in their struggle to reach safety. Using their skills and wits in their fight to survive against ever worsening odds, they weather hardship, betrayal, and the ever-present specter of death as they flee north, all the while vowing to protect one another – and most of all their precious 5-year-old Luke, from a world gone mad.

Sanctuary, the second installment in the Mad World series, is a heart-rending adventure of astonishing revelations, tragic discoveries, agonizing separations and devastating losses that test these friends to their limits. With heart-pounding, edge-of-your-seat suspense at every turn, this is a story you will not be able to put down.

Find out what happens next.

You know, I never thought I'd get excited about a book with zombies. I really didn't. Then I read Epidemic and I was like "zombies! wheee!". I know, it was a little weird :P

Sanctuary picks up five years after the events in Epidemic, with the old gang hiding and running and trying to stay alive. I like that it didn't pick up immediately after that and that we get to see how they grew up and how the plague actually affected the country on a longer period of time.

Like with Epidemic, I loved the pacing and Alyssa's voice. It's so easy being in her head and, another thing I never thought I'd say, I couldn't imagine reading the events from multiple, 3rd person POVs. I know, I shocked you :P

I loved the fact that there's always a sense of danger and that zombies can appear anywhere and at any time. Yes, sometimes someone you don't expect dies or gets turned, but it gives the book an air of realism. It's not all rainbows and pink, fluffy clouds. It's sad, bad and tragic, which is a very nice change from what I'm used to in dystopian.

All in all, it is a very good continuation of the story and I want to know what happens next with everyone, especially after...well, when you read the book, you'll see :D

Author Bio:

 Born naked. Clothed and fed shortly thereafter by adoring parents who looked on in bemusement as their daughter became a reading, writing, free-spirited, feral, animal loving, bleeding-heart chocolate lover who laughs easily. Samaire Provost is a California writer of Young Adult novels. Her love of paranormal stories, odd plots, and unique tales as well as C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, E.A.Poe, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, and Stephen King has deeply influenced her writing.

Connect with Samaire!

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/samairep

Twitter - https://twitter.com/samaireherself

Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6453849.Samaire_Provost

Amazon author page - http://www.amazon.com/Samaire-Provost/e/B008PVTXMW

Amazon book page - http://www.amazon.com/Mad-World-Epidemic-1-ebook/dp/B008PO969O/

Blog - http://samaireprovost.tumblr.com/