Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Book Review & Release Day Launch: Adoring Ink by Carrie Ann Ryan

ADORING INK - RDL banner

 

He’s never wanted anything more than her. Carrie Ann Ryan's ADORING INK is available now! Don't miss getting your hand on Holly's story.

 

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Author: Carrie Ann Ryan
Series: Montgomery Ink #6.5
Audience: +18
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated
Release Date: January 17th 2016
My Rating: 4 Cups
Source: InkSlinger PR
Blurb (from Goodreads):

The Montgomery Ink series continues with the most unlikely of romances between the one that got away and the man who can show her the world.

Holly Rose fell in love with a Montgomery, but left him when he couldn’t love her back. She might have been the one to break the ties and ensure her ex’s happy ending, but now Holly’s afraid she’s missed out on more than a chance at forever. Though she’s always been the dependable good girl, she’s ready to take a leap of faith and embark on the journey of a lifetime.

Brody Deacon loves ink, women, fast cars, and living life like there’s no tomorrow. The thing is, he doesn’t know if he has a tomorrow at all. When he sees Holly, he’s not only intrigued, he also hears the warnings of danger in his head. She’s too sweet, too innocent, and way too special for him. But when Holly asks him to help her grab the bull by the horns, he can’t help but go all in.

As they explore Holly’s bucket list and their own desires, Brody will have to make sure he doesn’t fall too hard and too fast. Sometimes, people think happily ever afters don’t happen for everyone, and Brody will have to face his demons and tell Holly the truth of what it means to truly live life to the fullest…even when they’re both running out of time.

Get your hands on ADORING INK:
(ADORING INK is available initially as a 90-day exclusive Kindle release per 1001, after which it will be available across all vendors. Don’t have a Kindle and want this in your hot little hands NOW? Don’t worry! You can get a free Kindle app for practically any gadget, phones, computers, tablets. https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/fd/kcp)

My Review:

*Disclaimer: I received an eARC from InkSlinger PR and Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my rating or the content of this review in any way.

This is my first time reading a Montgomery Ink story, and I truly enjoyed my foray into this new series.

I really enjoyed reading about Holly and Brody. Holly was a bit of a mystery to me, and I have to say, I was a bit confused at first, given that there was a piece of the puzzle that I didn't have. Then, as the story went on, I managed to put enough of the puzzle together to really like Holly, but also to feel a bit sorry for her. It takes a truly brave, selfless person, to give up the person they love, because you can see that maybe you're not the one for that person. So I really respected her for that strength. But at the same time, I felt really bad for her, because all the time, I had this impression of her really putting herself down, because of her family. It was also nice to see her interact with her ex and his family. I was really curious about that relationship, especially since it didn't feel forced or awkward or anything.

Brody was a great hero, and I liked him a lot. I feel like Holly and Brody are perfect for each other, both trying to heal from a really bad childhood. Brody went through something that no kid should go through, and I felt sorry for him and really, really angry at his parents.

The book was pretty well paced, and there's a little detail at the end of the book that makes me really curious about the future of these two lovebirds. If it means what I think it means, then I'm super happy for them! I really enjoyed being introduced to the world of Montgomery Ink, and this is definitely a series I'll soon be binge-reading from the very beginning.


Read a Sneak Peek of ADORING INK:

Holly Rose needed to come.

Badly.

And hopefully she would. The man above her moved with such heat that she knew she was blushing, but she didn’t care. She just needed him to work his magic so she could finally crest that peak and end up a boneless pile of limbs.

She clutched at his tattooed shoulders before sliding her hands down his chest, raking her nails over his thick muscles and the ink that covered his skin. He thrust deeply inside her, and she arched her back, taking more of him in.

Her breath came in pants, and her body shook, sweat-slick from hours of lovemaking with no pause.

Then she looked up and froze.

Once again, her Dream Man was just a blur. A thickly muscled male with ink but no face, no features showing her who he was. No eyes giving her a glimpse of the man deep inside.

She reached out to cup his face, hoping she was wrong.

But she wasn’t.

The alarm pulled her out of sleep in that instant, leaving her right on the edge once again, and confused as hell about the recurring dream that never made sense.

Holly let out a sigh and rolled over to press the button on her phone. Unfortunately, she didn’t have time to hit snooze and go back to sleep, so she forced herself to sit up. Hitting snooze was one of her favorite pastimes since she had the most comfortable bed ever, but she had to be an adult and forego that. She was the kind of person that, once she sat up, she was awake and slightly functional, but it was the sitting up part that was the hardest. She loved sleeping in but couldn’t do it most days because of her job. Heck, she couldn’t even slumber on weekends most times thanks to the piles of grading she had. She might only teach first grade, but her kids had books and binders full of state-mandated homework and classwork to complete.

Holly’s head hurt just thinking about it.


Adoring Ink teaser 3


About Carrie Ann Ryan

Carrie Ann Ryan is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary and paranormal romance. Her works include the Montgomery Ink, Redwood Pack, Talon Pack, and Gallagher Brothers series, which have sold over 2.0 million books worldwide. She started writing while in graduate school for her advanced degree in chemistry and hasn’t stopped since. Carrie Ann has written over fifty novels and novellas with more in the works. When she’s not writing about bearded tattooed men or alpha wolves that need to find their mates, she’s reading as much as she can and exploring the world of baking and gourmet cooking.

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Comic Book Tuesday #18: Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris

Author: Charlaine Harris
Series: Harper Connelly Graphic Novels #2
Audience: +18
Genre: Paranormal, Graphic Novel
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: December 27th 2016
My Rating: 3 Cups
Source: Netgalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):
The official graphic novel adaptation of Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris, the author of The Southern Vampire Mysteries!

Harper Connelly, a psychic capable of finding dead people and reading their last thoughts, discovers a grave in Memphis with two bodies: a man centuries dead, and a girl recently deceased. How the two bodies ended up together would be perplexing enough... but the sudden appearance of a third body the next morning makes this a mystery that perhaps even Connelly can't solve!
*Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book from Netgalley and Dynamite Entertainment in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my rating or the content of this review in any way.

If there's one author that will always hold a dear place in my heart, it's Charlaine Harris. She was my first "contemporary" urban fantasy author, and while I haven't had the pleasure of reading all of her works, I'm pretty confident in saying that I'll be just as amazed by her worldbuilding and her writing style as I was when reading the Southern Vampire Mysteries series. That is why when I saw a comic book adaptation of one of her novels, I did a tiny happy dance, because here I could combine three of my favorite things, and be super in love with the result. Unfortunately, that wasn't exactly the case.

Let's start with what I loved first. As I was already expecting, I truly enjoyed the story. The idea of someone reading the last thoughts of dead people, of being able to help families of the some of the victims find closure and peace, solving murders, is fantastic. Harper Connelly felt like an edgier, darker, stronger, less whiny and more mysterious version of Sookie Stackhouse. I loved Harper. I want to learn more about her, I want to know what got her into this job, how she decided to transform her ability into a paying job, I want to know how her story ends, so I'll definitely go back to read the books. I also want to know more about Tolliver, her step-brother. The story was pretty interesting, although I feel like there are a few loose ends that I'm hoping will be solved in the rest of the books.

The art itself is pretty spectacular. A lot of the colors used are pretty dark, making the mystery and the suspense a bit stronger. And I liked how color was used to draw attention to certain moments in the story, or to certain characters. The panels weren't too crowded with drawings, and there were just enough characters to keep the story going and to not confuse me. There were a lot of dialogue boxes of inner monologue from Harper, which I kind of liked, because it made me understand the story and Harper, herself, more.

Which brings me to what I didn't necessarily like in this book. I did have an issue with some of the art details and the panel choices, which a lot of times pulled me out of the story. At times, the way different facial expressions was drawn was too comical, but not in a good way. I understand that it is difficult to transform text into drawings, but I would have wanted for some of their facial expressions to be more natural and to not look so strange. I also struggled a bit with the reading order, because every once in a while, the order of the panels changed, but not necessarily always due to the size of the panels, or at least it didn't feel like that some of the time. I also feel like there were a few inconsistencies in terms of timeline, mostly in the beginning. Towards the end the plot felt a bit too rushed, and the way the story was wrapped up felt too abrupt, comparing to the slower pace of the rest of the novel.

When I started reading this book, I honestly expected to have another 5 cups read on my hands, and I feel like the potential was there, but unfortunately that was not the case. I don't know if this was because I had really high expectations, or because it really is difficult to translate a written novel in a graphic version, but I felt like this was just an okay read. I do, however plan on reading the original version of this story, as well as the other books in the series earlier than I first planned on.


Release Day Blitz: Roseblood by A.G. Howard


I am so excited that ROSEBLOOD by A.G. Howard releases today and that I get to share the news!
If you haven’t yet heard about this wonderful book by Author A.G. Howard, be sure to check out all the details below.

This blitz also includes a giveaway for a signed ROSEBLOOD poster and a mask courtesy of A.G. and Rockstar Book Tours. So if you’d like a chance to win, enter in the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.


About The Book:

Title: ROSEBLOOD
Author: A.G. Howard
Pub. Date: January 10, 2016
Publisher: Amulet Books
Pages: 432
Formats: Hardcover, paperback, eBook

In this modern day spin on Leroux’s gothic tale of unrequited love turned to madness, seventeen-year-old Rune Germain has a mysterious affliction linked to her operatic talent, and a horrifying mistake she’s trying to hide. Hoping creative direction will help her, Rune’s mother sends her to a French arts conservatory for her senior year, located in an opera house rumored to have ties to The Phantom of the Opera.

At RoseBlood, Rune secretly befriends the masked Thorn—an elusive violinist who not only guides her musical transformation through dreams that seem more real than reality itself, but somehow knows who she is behind her own masks. As the two discover an otherworldly connection and a soul-deep romance blossoms, Thorn’s dark agenda comes to light and he’s forced to make a deadly choice: lead Rune to her destruction, or face the wrath of the phantom who has haunted the opera house for a century, and is the only father he’s ever known.






About A.G. Howard

A.G. Howard was inspired to write SPLINTERED while working at a school library. She always wondered what would've happened had the subtle creepiness of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland taken center stage, and she hopes her darker and funkier tribute to Carroll will inspire readers to seek out the stories that won her heart as a child.

When she's not writing, A.G.'s pastimes are reading, rollerblading, gardening, and family vacations which often include impromptu side trips to 18th century graveyards or condemned schoolhouses to appease her overactive muse.

Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a signed ROSEBLOOD poster and a Mask. US Only.

Ends on January 17th at Midnight EST!



a Rafflecopter giveaway
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