The Kingdom by Amanda Stevens

The Kingdom (The Graveyard Queen Series #2)
Author: Amanda Stevens
Publisher: March 27, 2012
ISBN: 9780778312772
Length: 384 pages paperback copy
*ARC recvd 01/27/2012*
Expected publication: March 27th 2012

The Kingdom (Graveyard Queen #2) finds Amelia Gray accepting new job restoring Thorngate cemetery in Asher Falls, South Carolina. This comes nearly a month after the events of The Restorer where she was nearly a victim of a serial killer and broke every rule in avoiding ghosts at all costs.

Asher Falls is a town that is secluded and reachable only by ferry. The town’s people are a six pack short of a case and there is tension as well as a feeling of foreboding from the moment Amelia hits town. The town’s residents are also hiding a deep dark secret for which Amelia is linked to and from which her true past and upbringing is finally revealed.

Amelia learns from Thane Asher (heir apparent to the Asher Empire) that the original cemetery was flooded to make way for a dam. She also believes that she sees ghosts in the water that appear to be reaching out for her on her way to Asher Falls. These same ghosts seem to be telling her to leave, and leave quickly before something bad happens to her. Amelia also seems more susceptible to dark forces as indicated when a ghost whispers "soon" to her.

I was making fun of this story at one point when I said it reminded me of the Witches of Eastwick with Jack Nicholson as the Devil. In this case, the elder Asher could have been Nicholson's character, and the 3 women who try to scare Amelia away are the witches of Asher Falls.

Amelia grew up around graveyards with her adoptive father, and she picked up the mantle of restoring Graveyards as her main job. She even has a web page called Digging Graves. Her father taught her four rules for which to live by;
1. Never acknowledge the dead.
2. Never stray far from hallowed ground.
3. Never associate with those who are haunted.
4. Never, ever tempt fate.

Naturally, Amelia has broken each of the 4 rules and now there’s no turning back. Her relationship with the John Devlin of the Charleston Police Department is on hold after she learned that he was haunted by his dead wife and child.

Her relationship with Thane was a bit too set up for me to actually care about. There were too many secrets and Thane had to know what was going on with the people he surrounds himself with.

The Kingdom is about much more than just ghosts. It’s a deep look into Amelia’s own background surrounded by mystery, death, and shocking revelations which may explain why Amelia and her father are having issues.

When someone says to you “You really don’t know why you were brought here, do you?” You start to think that you have been lured here under false pretensions and run. Run away as fast as you can and don’t look back. Does Amelia Run? Nah!

Definitely a book I would recommend to everyone.

Thanks to Netgalley.com, I have the next book in the series as well, and can’t wait to see what other secrets about Amelia are revealed next, and how her relationship with Devlin turns out.

BBPCON 2012 is coming soon!

BBPCON: Book Blogger’s and Publisher’s Online Conference

March 7-11
Join in at: http://pacomediagroup.com/

This is my first Book Blogger’s and Publisher’s Online Conference and wanted to pass the word around to those who may also be interested in joining me.

There are panels to discuss negative reviews, contacting publishers, legal aspects of blogging, and so much more. The conference is coming around again, March 7-11 and I will once again be joining in.

Whether you are a veteran blogger, or brand new to the world of book blogging, this conference is a great tool to building your blog.

Registration is only $45, and attendees receive books as well. The value is there, don’t miss this conference.

Here is a list of some of the panel speakers so far:

• Sue Grimshaw- Random House Publishing Group
• Jennifer Bonnell- Penguin YA Editor
• Linday Rudnickas- NetGalley
• Kristen Lamb- Wana Consulting
• Don Dauria- Samhain Publishing
• Kate Lied- Bloomsbury Publishing
• Ariel Tachna- Dreamspinner Press
• Danielle Poiesz- Book Country

Well, we know that I’m planning on attending, how about you? Join in and register at: http://pacomediagroup.com/

In My Mailbox

Welcome back to In My Mailbox! This week, I received just the right amount of books from the library, and netgalley.com to keep me pretty occupied over the course of the week!

Borrowed from the Library;

 

From NetGalley

Received as part of book tour from publisher

Deliverance by Dakota Banks

Deliverance (Mortal Path # 3) is an adventure from the first page to the last. Maliha Crayne, the former Ageless assassin for the demon Rabishu, is pushed to the limits when those she calls friends, and members of her inner circle, begin to go missing and are feared dead. 

She is forced not only to push back her quest to retrieve all 7 shards from the Tablet of the Overload (for which she has 3), but to make hard personal choices as well.

The Mortal Path series has been about Maliha’s quest to redeem herself after 300 years of being an immortal assassin. She gave up her assassin career in order to balance the scales of justice in the eyes of Anu the Sumerian god of Justice.

Anu pulls Maliha through time aging her just a little each time she does good. She carries a mini-scale of justice in her skin that moves after each of her deeds is done. One side is for the people she killed, while the other is for those she saves from harm. 

Maliha’s struggles with decisions about whether or not to involve those she loves or keep them at a distance to protect them. She knows that if they continue to stand by her side, they will end up hurt, or worse.

Yanmeng, the oldest and wisest of the group, is kidnapped and in order to get him back, Maliha is blackmailed by an Ageless terror named Elizabeth Bathory into returning to her assassin duties in the name of creating a new America under the guise of the New Founders.

Concurrently, Maliha starts to have serious doubts about Jake and whether or not she can truly trust him after being given some eye opening information from a longtime friend about Jake’s past deeds in the 5 years he mysteriously disappeared. Jake is also on his own path of destruction which doesn't mess with Maliha's.

I really enjoyed Deliverance and highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys mysteries, suspense, and thrillers. I would also recommend that future readers to this series start from Dark Time, and move onto Sacrifice in order to get a better understanding of Maliha’s quest for redemption.

Ms Banks has also created some really enjoyable sub-characters in Master Liu, Hound, Amaro Reese, as well as Yanmeng, who go hand and foot with Maliha’s quest to rid the world of the Sumerian demons which includes her former handler Rabishu.

Lastly, I appreciate being given an opportunity to read this book prior to its release date. I applaud Ms Banks and her publicist Kate in being so open and easy to work with.

Expected publication: March 27th 2012

Knight's Curse by Karen Duvall

Knight’s Curse (Knight’s Curse # 1) is the first book by author Karen Duvall that I’ve had the pleasure of reading. Duvall’s story is told in the first POV by Chalice a character who is so much more than she truly realizes. She is forced to wear eye, ear, and nose protection because her senses are superhumanly enhanced.

Chalice spent the first 13 years of her life with the Maronite Monks in Lebanon who not only trained her in their ways, but also told her that her mother died during childbirth in order to protect her from the real truth. After Gavin Heinrich shows up claiming to be her father and subsequently kills all the monks who protected Chalice, she is forced into a slave/owner relationship with Gavin.

Flash forward 12 years, and Chalice now wears a tattoo on the back of her neck and is linked to the ever nasty gargoyle assassin named Shui. Shui, who was a piece of work as a human, is even worse as a gargoyle. Chalice can only be away from Shui for 72 hours before needing him to lick her neck to prevent her from becoming a full time gargoyle.

Gavin uses this forced bonding in order to control Chalice into doing pretty much do whatever he asks of her. Gavin and Vynatara (international organization of nefarious magic users) trained Chalice into being one of the best thieves in the world who is able to use her superhuman abilities to get into pretty much any location where an artifact is located.

A surprise revelation takes place when Chalice is attempting to steal a hand that is said to belong to Saint Geraldine from a wealthy collector. Upon touching the hand, she hears her mother’s voice saying “Remember, little one, our people need you. Find them. And whatever happens to me--know that I love you always."

Duval later reveals with the help of Aydin Berkant, that Chalice is really a Hatchet Knight like her mother. The Hatchet Knights are a group of women, formed during the Crusades, who have special abilities and were conceived between human women, and fallen angels. That, in essence, makes Chalice part angel. *In other books, they would be called Nephilim.*

Aydin is also bonded to a gargoyle named Shojin after making a deal with a demon during the Crusades after failing to save Geraldine. Aydin has the ability to become a ghost, and is thief just like Chalice. Unlike Chalice, however, Aydin seems to actually like his gargoyle.

I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed it because it focused on Chalice’s struggles to get away from Gavin and Shui, and later her relationship with Aydin that comes out of knowing and caring about one another and shared experiences of being bond to a gargoyle.

I liked Chalice as well. She just doesn’t sit around throughout the book whining and crying about her circumstances. She actually fights with everything she can and learns more about her mother, and father, as well as her membership in the Hatchet Knights so that she can break her bon with Shui once and forever.

Duval’s world is different from others in that the Fallen were former Guardian Angels and now they have to make a choice between remaining on the good side of things, or turning evil and working with people like Gavin.

I want to learn more, obviously, about the Hatchet Knights and their abilities to use their special gifts to protect the world from darkness. Thankfully, I already have the next book in my que, and plan on reading it really soon.

I normally hate cliffhangers, but, in this case Duval actually sets the stage for the next step in Chalice’s growth and story and in becoming a full time member of the Hatchet Knights without leaving me gasping for air and wanting more now!

Darkest Knight (Knight’s Curse #2) releases March 20, 2012.

This Is Not A Test by Courtney Summers

Sloane Price really wants to die. She even carries a suicide note addressed to her sister Lily in her pocket so others will understand why. The main reason for wanting to end her life is that she has been physically abused by her father for so long, that she can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel where the beatings stop and threats go away and life gets better.

On top of all this, her older sister Lily pretty much abandons her by leaving her behind to her father’s abuse after promising Sloane they would runaway together. I can seriously relate to and empathize with Sloane on so many different levels in regards to the abusive parental unit.

Sloane could be considered the medical professionals post script example of what an abuse victim looks like. She is severely depressed and willing to expose herself to the zombies in order to die. She doesn’t allow herself to get close to anyone until later in the story.

Shortly thereafter, the zombie end of day’s starts and Sloane finds herself holed up at her high school with five other survivors after braving the zombie hoards for nearly a week. The survivors end up banding together, and making a decent enough fort to hold off any zombies who attempt to break into the school. They have plenty of water, and food, and can raid lockers to find clean enough clothing to wear.

If you are looking forward to a novel filled with blood and guts and lots and lots of bodies piling up; look elsewhere. Yes, there is blood. Yes, there are plenty of bodies, and yes, people do end up dying. It would be silly to expect everyone to survive a so called zombie novel.

If you are like me, and want to know what truly happened to make the zombies rise up and start killing in the first place; stand behind me in the “I want to know more line of questions” for Ms. Summers.

Even though the story itself is supposed to be about the zombie end of days, it ends up being the story of survival, determination, and figuring a way to actually continue to live versus giving up on one’s desires to end one’s life.

I’m giving this a 4, and that’s because of the opening and closing chapters of this book as well as the simplistic nature of Summer’s world building were well worth my reading the novel.

Yet, the ending gets points taken away because it abruptly ends without any sort of resolution to Sloane or her fellow survivor.

Received via NetGalley on 01/23/2012...releases April 2012

Guest Review for Blood on the Bayou by Stacey Jay

Why do we love dysfunctional characters? Is it because we can relate? Is it because we believe that if THEY can survive, maybe we can? Is it because we are warped and like to see other people suffer with life? Who knows!

Annabelle is VERY dysfunctional. She has low self-esteem. She drinks too much, she loves too hard, and the monsters she battles in her real world don’t compare to the demons she battles on the inside! Regardless, I love Annabelle.

In Blood on the Bayou, Annabelle’s love life takes a turn (for the worse or for the better is for you to find out), her magic abilities are further explored, and the characters around her (human and/or otherwise) create havoc in Annabelle’s quest for peace and normalcy.

We have not one, not two, but three central players, in Annabelle’s messed up love life. Back for a return performance as boyfriend number 1 is Cane. In Blood on the Bayou, we find Annabelle exploring a possible future with Cane, only to unlock secrets about the man she thinks she loves which makes her doubt Cane’s feelings and motivations behind the relationship.

Boyfriend number 2 is Hitch. I know, you THINK he is not a boyfriend since Hitch supposedly has a pregnant fiancée but in reality, Annabelle’s feelings for Hitch are as strong as her feelings for Cane. Like Cane, Annabelle is discovering secrets in Hitch’s closet that makes her doubt her own feelings for him AND whether she can trust him.

And finally, we have Tucker. Tucker’s past is as invisible as his body. Don’t worry. The reader learns plenty about Tucker but the revelations create more questions than answers. By far, Tucker is my favorite character, he’s playful, mysterious and for the life of me, I can’t figure out his motives.

OVERALL-

I hate love triangles. I really do. That is why I’m shocked that I love this series. I think because Annabelle is so dysfunctional with a heart of gold, I can’t help but be an Annabelle cheerleader, hoping she’ll end up with the right guy, and live happily ever after. The problem is who is the right guy?

Blood on the Bayou is not all about the love-Bermuda-triangle. It also has non-stop action, and a storyline that revolves not only around the faeries, but an entirely new species is introduced. You’ll have to read it to find out!

A huge thank you goes out to Michelle, the Bookshelf Stalker Queen of the Undead for her review of Blood on the Bayou.