Cover Reveal - Third Blood by Kalayna Price

Description:

Going home after five years is difficult. It's harder still if you've changed species in the interim.
Kita Nekai, once the smallest shifter in Firth but now the newest vampire in the city of Haven, has no intention of returning home or informing her father and clan what she's become. Not that she has a choice. When the mage who holds her death certificate in his hands demands Kita return to Firth as his errand runner, she has to comply. Of course, there is no leaving her sire, Nathanial, behind. Which means introducing daddy dearest to the man—well, vampire—she may be falling for and confessing that she's lost the ability to shift. Talk about awkward.
Her homecoming goes from bad to worse when an attempt is made on her life, and Kita finds herself facing an unknown threat in a hostile world she never fit into in the first place. Can she survive long enough to complete the judge's task, stand trial before the elders for the rogues she created while on the run, and help defend her father's territory from an encroaching band of misfit shifters? Or is this cat down to her last life?

Expected Publication August 2012

I absolutely love this cover!

I also can't wait until we get a release date to reserve my copy!

I don't think this series gets enough credit.

Review: Social Suicide by Gemma Halliday

~Review~

My favorite Veronica Mars wannabe Hartley Featherstone is back, and this time she is working for the Herbert Hoover High online newspaper. Her first real story involves two girls who were caught cheating on a test. Hartley is given the job by Chase Erikson, the papers editor and Hartley's crush, to find out where the kids got the test answers from.

Hartley is once again thrown into the middle of a murder investigation when she finds one of the girls dead in her own pool! Hartley was there to get the scoop at where the answers to the test came from! Hartley is getting a bad reputation by the cops (Detective Raley) in that she seems to be around whenever someone is killed.

Hartley and crew calls the death of Sydney Sanders Twittercide: the killing of one human being by another while the victim is in the act of tweeting.

Hartley is a determined and fun character who I enjoy reading about. She stumbles and bumbles and weaves her way through high school silliness in order to get to the bottom of what truly happened to Sydney. She gets her signals mixed up with Chase more often than not, because, hey, Chase is a boy after-all. In the end, we can hope that the two of them will realize how utterly silly they are and that they are supposed to be together.

I would say that you don't have to read Deadly Cool in order get more in-depth character development out of Hartley, Sam and Chase. But, I would recommend reading it regardless just to see how far Hartley has grown over the course of this series. Both stories are hilarious. They both mix mystery with suspense and a whose who of capable killers. Both involve Mother/Daughter tom foolery that will have you cracking up!

Best quote:

'Oh, fantastic amounts of fluffin' fudge.

Author - Gemma Halliday
Title - Social Suicide
Publisher - Harper Teen
Released - April 24, 2012

Early Review - Moonglow by Kristen Callihan (Darkest London # 2)

Daisy Margaret Ellis-Craigmore is finally free of her contentious and often times unbearable marriage to a man who treated her like pond scum for 6 long years. Daisy’s forced mandated one year mourning period by Queen Victoria is over, and she can finally unwind and let go without worrying about the consequences.

Daisy’s life changes when she witnesses a werewolf killing her friend and survives. She soon meets the enigmatic and determined Ian Ranulf who will change her life once again and make her open her eyes to the possibility of true romance and even love. Daisy also has to deal with the fact that someone is killing women who wear her brand of perfume and later learns that she has a unique ability not unlike her own sisters Miranda and Poppy.

Ian Ranulf is known as the Marquis of Northrup. He was last seen in Firelight chasing after and getting in the way of Archer and Miranda’s happiness. Losing out on Miranda, he finds himself chasing skirts and failing miserably. Ian has kept his true self (werewolf) hidden away and locked up for 70 years. He refuses to allow the wolf to run free and because of that, he’s become blasé and carefree towards the women he chases. He also chose exile from his father’s pack, rather than leading it.

When Ian comes to the rescue of Daisy, little does he know that he is stepping into something that will lead him into to challenging his younger brother Conall for the leadership position of Clan Ranulf and his heart will finally find love in a very determined and outspoken young lady.

Firelight was a pleasant surprise for me, so, I was anxious to see if the sophomoric release of Moonglow would be up to the challenge and have as much intensity and passion as Firelight did. I would say that the intensity and sexual exploration between Ian and Daisy was just as hot, if not hotter than Firelight. Often times these relationships are based on the fact that neither character is perfect. Instead, they are struggling with their own identities and an escape from an awful past at the hands of someone else.

Moonglow is once again set in Victorian England (1883) and thus the world building is first rate. It’s nice to see that Archer, Miranda, Poppy and Inspector Winston Lane once again play important roles in this story. It once again blends historical romance and paranormal aspects together to keep the reader entertained and wanting more.

The third book, Winterblaze, will feature Poppy and after the stunning events that concluded Moonglow, I am even more determined to read the next book.

*ARC Provided by Grand Central Publishing // Expected publication: July 31, 2012 by Forever

Review: Isle of Night by Veronica Wolff

"Your gift isn't simply a high IQ. You are more than that," Ronan.

17 year old Annelise Drew is supposedly on her way to the University of Florida @ Gainesville where she hopes to attend classes and escape from her hometown of Christmas, Florida. She graduated from high school a year early with a genius IQ and perfect SAT scores, which she continually has to remind the reader over, and over, and over again.

While it appears Annelise has all that going for her, she had to deal with her abusive and alcoholic father and step mother who she calls Yatch. The only thing she has left of her biological mother is a picture of her in a yellow jumpsuit which she keeps close to her at all times.

Annelise's whole world turns on its head in a blink of an eye. While at UF, she is told that she doesn't qualify for early admissions because she missed a swimming class that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Her 1992 Civic dies on her and she barely has enough money to eat let alone find a place to stay.

Then, a mysterious stranger named Ronan, who is a tracer with a tattoo, shows up and asks Annelise "Are you brave enough to find out? Are you ready to embrace a while new life?" Annelise makes a snap judgment and agrees to be taken to the Isle of Night where it turns out she will be trained as a so called Watcher and work closely with Vampires. The only catch? She has to compete against 100 other girls in a battle of survival and where not everyone leaves the Isle of Night alive. Of course, she later learns that Ronan used his hinky luring capabilities to convince her to get on the airplane and leave everyone and everything behind.

Annelise learns that Watchers are women only who represent, defend, and sometimes kill in order to survive. They are the agents of the vampires will and extension of their powers. The women also have unique abilities, like fire, and the ability to feel no pain. There are boys on the Isle, of course. But, these boys are youngling vampires who will become full-fledged vampires over time.

"Teen hormones plus a few hot guys equals Barbie Bloodbath." Pg 102

I'm going to start my thoughts/rants on the book by saying that Annelise is a smart person, yet she makes some stupid ass mistakes. The first mistake is in trusting anyone, let alone Ronan who she just met. She trusts him and allows him to bring her to the Isle of Night where she is nothing special but another girl who was supposedly flagged in some system which we don't get a look at or an understanding on where all these girls actually come from.

She gets lured into situations where she doesn't know the outcome and then makes an enemy out of Lilac von Straubing and other girls at the school because she refused to listen about no personal items.

This is yet another story where vampires are able to walk into the sunlight without spontaneously combusting on contact. No, they don’t wear special rings, or where SPF 500 in order to enjoy the sunlight. I have seen where this story has been linked to the Vampire Academy which I find unusually benign. The one main difference I see is that the girls are forced to drink vampire blood and fight to the death in order to survive their training.

There is, of course, the sexy vampire named Hugo De Rosas Alcantara who takes a sudden interest in Acari Drew’s every move because she is so smart and intelligent and he hasn’t seen anyone like her since he became a vampire. So much so that he actually ends up helping her survive the battle royal against several girls who wanted to kill Drew on sight.

Let’s just say that this book has its moments and let it go. Drew does end up with several friends including Emma Sargent who help her along the way. However, the ability to piss off this reader with her nonsensical cattiness with other girls, especially Lilac, was annoying. I wanted to like this book, yet find myself conflicted on how to actually rate this book. This reviewer can only hope that book two is better than this one.

Author - Veronica Wolff
Title - Isle of Night
Publisher - NAL Trade
Released - September 6, 2011

Stacking the Shelves # 12

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Thank you so much for those who stopped by and checked out my goodies for the week!

If you leave comments below, I shall endeavor to return the favor post haste :O)

Let's get right to it shall we?

Borrowed from the Library:

Immortal Hearts by Ellen Schreiber

Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

Cast in Courtlight by Michelle Sagara

Crusade by Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguie

 

 

Received via ARC Trade:

Because it is my Blood by Gabrielle Zevin

From Prometheus Books

The Kingmakers Vampire Empire # 3 by Clay & Susan Griffith

Received from Penguin Books

Darklands by Nancy Holzner

From Orbit Books

Tempest's Fury by Nicole Peeler

Received from Pocket Books

Changeling by Kelly Meding

Received from Edelweiss & Gallery Books

Incarnation by Emma Cornwall

From Netgalley & Harlequin Teen

Speechless by Hannah Harrington

From Netgalley & St. Martin's Griffin

Midnight City by J. Barton Mitchell

I would say that I had a pretty amazing week!

Please let me your link and I will do my best to visit you asap!

Thank you for stopping by!

Have a great weekend!

Feature & Follow Friday # 23

Feature & Follow Friday is a meme co-run by Rachel from Parajunkee and

Alison @ Alison Can Read. It's a great way to meet new people and to interact

with bloggers from across the world!

Question of the week:

WHAT STARTED YOU BLOGGING?

Answer:

My answer is plain and simple. I joined Goodreads in 2009 and became enamored with

the fact that people were actually following MY reviews! Of course, due to

circumstances that were totally stupid on my part, I waited 2 more years before finally

creating my own blog. Naturally it was a piece of crap! :O) Thanks to Mariya Davis, my

blog is now respectful enough where I can actually post my thoughts, reviews, and other

fun stuff. One day, hopefully, I too shall make a mark on the very large blogging world!

And, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

I would love to read your answer to this question. If you are a new follower, please

do so via GFC. If you are already a follower, why thank you so much! You are

awesome and appreciated!

 

Cover Reveal - Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Expected publication: March 19th 2013 by Margaret K. McElderry Books

In Clockwork Princess, Tessa and her companions travel all over the world as they race to stop the clockwork army before it’s too late. As Jem’s health worsens alarmingly and his friends search desperately for a cure, can Tessa choose between the two boys she loves—even if it means never seeing the other one again?

This cover was revealed on July 10, 2012.

This had to be one of the best marketing campaign's I have ever seen!

You are talking about 50,000 plus tweets that revealed pieces of the puzzle

until the whole thing was completed.

Yes, I will say that I did my share of tweets as well! 

I absolutely love this cover! 

What are your thoughts?