Review: Reliquary by Sarah Fine

Title: Reliquary
Author: Sarah Fine
Series: Book One in the Reliquary Series
Published By: 47North (June 14, 2016)
Source: ARC Copy Provided by the Publisher (in exchange for an honest review)
Genre: Fantasy
My Rating: 3 Stars



Book Description:
Mattie Carver’s engagement party should have marked the start of her own personal fairy tale. But when her fiancé, Ben, is violently abducted the next morning, her desperate quest to find him rips her away from small-town life and reveals a shattering truth: magic is real—and Ben is hooked. It’s not the stuff of storybooks. It’s wildly addictive, capable of producing everything from hellish anguish to sensual ecstasy almost beyond human endurance.


Determined to find out who took Ben and why, Mattie immerses herself in a shadowy underworld and comes face-to-face with the darkly alluring Asa Ward, a rogue magic dealer, infamous hustler…and her missing fiancé’s estranged brother. Asa has the power to sense magic, and he realizes Mattie is a reliquary, someone with the rare ability to carry magic within her own body, undetected. Asa agrees to help find Ben on one condition: Mattie must use her uncommon talent to assist his smuggling operations. Now, from magic-laced Vegas casinos to the netherworld clubs of Bangkok, Mattie is on a rescue mission. With Asa by her side, she’ll face not only the supernatural forces arrayed against her but the all-too-human temptation that she fears she can’t resist.

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Sarah Fine has quickly become one of my favorite authors simply because she writes so well and those stories that she writes, can always be counted on to be something different and something special.

It's no wonder with the different genres she writes in and the unique worlds that she can create that all her books stand out and make people notice them. From the gorgeous covers to the creative writing style, they truly are just fabulous. 

And while Reliquary wasn't a favorite of mine, it still had all the qualities that I've come to love and appreciate in Fine's stories. 

Still packed full of magic, uniqueness, and characters that demand to be remembered her latest in a new series is something that I think can appeal to a lot of fantasy lovers.

*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*

Review: Twisted by Hannah Jayne

Title: Twisted
Author: Hannah Jayne
Series: Stand Alone
Published By: Sourcebooks Fire (July 5, 2016)
Source: ARC Copy Provided by the Publisher (in exchange for an honest review)
Genre: YA Mystery
My Rating: 3 Stars


Book Description:
When her father is accused of being a serial killer, Bex becomes the ultimate bait in this game of cat and mouse

Bex is ready to start a new life in foster care. There, she won't be known as a serial killer's daughter. Though her father was never tried for the murders attributed to "The Wife Collector," he disappeared after questioning. And Bex struggles with the guilt that she provided the circumstantial evidence that convicted him in the public's perception—and drove him to abandon her.


But when a body turns up in her new hometown, all signs point to the Wife Collector. Bex's old life isn't ready to let her go. The police want to use Bex to lure in her father. But is she baiting a serial killer or endangering an innocent man? 

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I've really come to appreciate Hannah Jayne's mysteries. They are always action packed, well done and well plotted.  They type of young adult mysteries that are both intriguing and entertaining. Ones that leave you guessing and ones that I usually don't have all figured out within the first few chapters. 

I was very excited going into this because I was so ready for a good solid mystery and while this didn't quite live up to some of her other work, it was still a fun time and a good escape read that I'm glad I read.

What I did love about this book was the characters. Where the mystery lacked, the parental influence and friends more than made up for. It is so rare to see parents of any kind in YA make an appearance, let alone be a big part of the book and that was so very refreshing. And even though this wasn't everything I was hoping it would be, it was entertaining nonetheless. 

*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*

Review: The Curse of Tenth Grave by Darynda Jones

Title: The Curse of Tenth Grave
Author: Darynda Jones
Series: Book Ten in the Charley Davidson Series
Published By: St. Martin's Press (June 28, 2016)
Source: ARC Copy Provided by the Publisher (in exchange for an honest review)
Genre: Urban Fantasy
My Rating: 4 Stars!


Book Description:
As a Part-time PI and fulltime grim reaper, Charley Davidson has asked a lot of questions throughout her life: Why can I see dead people? Who is the hot supernatural entity following me? How do I get gum out of my sister’s hair before she wakes up? But, “How do I trap not one malevolent god, but three?” was never among them. Until now. And since those gods are on earth to kill her daughter, she has little choice but to track them down, trap them, and cast them from this dimension.

There’s just one problem. One of the three stole her heart a very long time ago. Can the Razer, a god of absolute death and destruction, change his omniscient spots, or will his allegiances lie with his brothers?


Those are just a few of the questions Charley must answer, and quick. Add to that a homeless girl running for her life, an innocent man who’s been charged with murder, and a pendant made from god glass that has the entire supernatural world in an uproar, and Charley has her hands full. If she can manage to take care of the whole world-destroying-gods thing, we’re saved. If not, well…

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This is one of my most favorite urban fantasy series. It has a little bit of everything and a whole lot of heat. With a cast full of characters that are every bit as memorable as they are lovable. 

Charley and Reyes are one of my most favorite couples in the genre. Even though they started from a shaking past and have many issues and obstacles in their way, they always stick together and are there for one another. This book though was just a bit different. 

Charley and Reyes have secrets. Oh boy do they and while normally they work through them, sometimes kicking and screaming, they pull through them and they come out stronger. It is one of the things I love most about them and this latest installment, is riddles with them.

And while that is sometimes frustrating, especially when they keep them from each other, it is also realistic to the story as they each discover more and more about themselves and the role they each have in the upcoming battles and war.

This book was very classic Charley and yet still so much more. It was explosive and revealing, and as we delve deeper and deeper into Charley and Reyes' past and their future, we get some things once and for all answered and of course, even more questions thrown out at us. We learn more and more about Charley's rag tag group of friends too and I couldn't be happier about it. This story is constantly full of twists and turns that I never see coming and it is so darn addictive. 

It truly is a stand out series with memorable, stand out characters and I devour each book as it comes out and am always left wanting more and this tenth book has me even more on edge that usual. So much has happened and so much is still left to happen. I'm on edge for the next book. 

Jones is a master with all the intricate details and storylines and mysteries that have been weaved together and are slowly being revealed and unraveled. If you want something original, something down right laughable and still packed full on action and mystery, and yes, a steamy melt your toes romance, this is a must read series.

*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*

Blog Tour Excerpt Promo Stop and Giveaway: Inseverable by Cecy Robson

I adore Cecy's books and her latest looks so fantastic! I'm happy to be a part of the tour to tempt you with a steamy excerpt and tell you a little more about it. 

So without further ado, I give you Inseverable her new book in her new series!

Series Name: Carolina Beach Series

Release Date: June 21, 2016

Book Description:

How can you imagine forever with someone who's leaving everything behind?

Callahan, a former army sniper, wants to make an escape from his past and everything he experienced at war, but most of all, just not feel. Feeling leads to pain and he's suffered enough. When he inherits a house on South Carolina's Kiawah Island, he packs his bags, lured by the peace and seclusion he thinks it will bring. But, Callahan never counted on meeting anyone like Trinity . . .

Trinity has always been the cute, and funny one, who most guys overlook in pursuit of her "hot" friends. She became used to being everyone's pal, until the day the young man she was attracted to, was drawn to her in return. He became her first great love, and first crushing heartbreak when she found him in bed with one of her closest friends.

To move forward, and to carry out her commitment to helping those in need, Trinity enlists in the Peace Corps, but not before returning to Kiawah for one last memorable summer. She just never imagined it would be so unforgettable.

Callahan doesn't want to get close to anyone-let alone Trinity. He finds her perkiness insufferable and her attempts to entice a smile distracting. After all, he's in Kiawah to leave all feelings behind. But when it comes to Trinity, who feels everything, it's hard not to feel something.

Neither expected to fall in love. And no one could have predicted how inseverable they'd become.

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About the Author:

Cecy Robson is a new adult and contemporary author of the Shattered Past series, the O’Brien Family novels and upcoming Carolina Beach novels, as well as the award-winning author of the Weird Girls urban fantasy romance series. A 2016 double nominated RITA®finalist for Once Pure and Once Kissed, Cecy is a recovering Jersey girl living in the South who enjoys carbs way too much, and exercise way too little. Gifted and cursed with an overactive imagination, you can typically find her on her laptop silencing the yappy characters in her head by telling their stories.

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Prologue

Callahan

Three days.

That’s all I have left until this shit ends.

Three days shouldn’t feel like forever, not compared to the eight years I’ve bled to the Army. Thing is, good men have been killed in less time. In as quick as a blink, a squeeze of a trigger, or a small breath right before a grenade blows is all the time it takes to shove someone right out of life and well into death.

That’s what makes three days as long as it is. Three days is plenty of time to die.

My eyes tear when the wind picks up and shoots grime through the small hole of my lookout point. This blown out piece of cinderblock is only big enough to allow me a view of the street below, but not so small I don’t get smacked in the face with more filth. The tarp flaps above me as I spit out another layer of the dirt-sand mix spackling my teeth. Christ Almighty, I need a swig of the water resting near my elbow. But my thirst, like everything else has to wait.

I have a job to do.

I adjust my hips against the cracked cement of my bed, bathroom, and home all rolled into one, thankful that the agonizing ache stretching over the lower half of my body has settled into a now familiar numbness.

Out of all the points I’d scouted, and all the accumulated years spent in this position, I should be used to it. And in a strange way, it should almost be home. Yet nothing ever has been home.

But in three days, maybe something finally will be . . .

I shove my thoughts away and breathe as my fellow Rangers stalk along the street. It’s then I see them, a mother and daughter walking straight toward my team. Less than one city block separates them from the men counting on me to keep them alive.

The hell? How did they get past the other sniper unreported? Rogers is new on watch. But the quick paces these two are taking should have clued him in that something’s up. I train my scope on their faces; their expressions are blank, unreadable. ‘Cept that’s not what keeps my attention.

The little girl can’t be more than five. So why the fuck isn’t her mother holding her hand? I lift my radio and bark a warning, dropping it beside me as I lock my scope dead center on the woman’s head.

The radio crackles and Modreski chimes in, yelling at his team to hold their positions. He asks me what my plan is, knowing if something’s caused the short-hairs on my neck to rise, he and the boys damn well need to listen. But I don’t hear him, with a breath and a squeeze of the trigger, I leave a kid without a mother.

Just beneath the sleeve of her abayah―the dress completely covering her body―I see it, a detonator that would trigger the explosives likely strapped to her chest. A few Rangers I know―Simons and Boreman, rush forward. I start to mutter a curse, pissed at her for making me shoot her in front of her kid. But the curse lodges in my throat when I see the kid isn’t looking at her mother lying next to her dead.


She’s watching my advancing team as she lifts the detonator clasped tight in her hand.

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WoW Pick of the Week

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It is a chance to share those new releases were are super anxious to get our hands on and read.


Harper Teen always comes out with some of my most favorite reads and this new series by  Kendra Blake looks fantastic. From the cover to the description, it is one I want to get my hands on.

Book Description:



Every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born: three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.

But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins. The last queen standing gets the crown.

If only it was that simple. Katharine is unable to tolerate the weakest poison, and Arsinoe, no matter how hard she tries, can’t make even a weed grow. The two queens have been shamefully faking their powers, taking care to keep each other, the island, and their powerful sister Mirabella none the wiser. But with alliances being formed, betrayals taking shape, and ruthless revenge haunting the queens’ every move, one thing is certain: the last queen standing might not be the strongest…but she may be the darkest.

Blog Tour: Bay of Sighs by Nora Roberts

If there is one thing Nora Roberts does liek no other besides her swoony worthy romances, it is her paranormal romances and her latest PNR trilogy, The Guardians is not an exception. 

I am so excited to be a part of this tour because this series, truly has quickly become a favorite and I can't wait to tell you more about her second book in it, Bay of Sighs.

Release Date: June 14, 2016

Published By: Berkley

Book Two in the Guardians Trilogy

Book Description:

The new Guardians Trilogy novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Stars of Fortune. 

To celebrate the rise of their new queen, three goddesses of the moon created three stars, one of fire, one of ice, one of water. But then they fell from the sky, putting the fate of all worlds in danger. And now three women and three men join forces to pick up the pieces…

Mermaid Annika is from the sea, and it is there she must return after her quest to find the stars. New to this world, her purity and beauty are nothing less than breathtaking, along with her graceful athleticism, as her five new friends discovered when they retrieved the fire star. 

Now, through space and time, traveler Sawyer King has brought the guardians to the island of Capri, where the water star is hidden. And as he watches Annika in her element, he finds himself drawn to her joyful spirit. But Sawyer knows that if he allows her into his heart, no compass could ever guide him back to solid ground...

And in the darkness, their enemy broods. She lost one star to the guardians, but there is still time for blood to be spilled—the mermaid’s in the water and the traveler’s on the land. For she has forged a dangerous new weapon. Something deadly and unpredictable. Something human. 

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About the Author:

Nora Roberts was born in Silver Spring, Maryland. She began writing when a blizzard in February 1979 kept her in her hilltop home with a three and six year old for nearly a week of canceled kindergarten and dwindling chocolate supplies. 

During the now-famous blizzard, she pulled out a pencil and notebook and began to write a story for her own entertainment. From the first page, she knew it was what she was meant to do. Several manuscripts and rejections later, Irish Thoroughbred was published by Silhouette in 1981.

The Liar, published in April 2015 by Putnam, is her 214th book. She hit the NY Times Bestseller list in 1991. Every book since 1999 has made that list.

Recently The New Yorker called her “America’s favorite novelist."

In 1995, she began writing a police procedural series featuring Eve Dallas, a NY homicide cop, and set in the near future under the J.D. Robb pseudonym. Devoted in Death, out in September 2015, is the 41st entry in the series.

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Nora Roberts, hands down, knows how to write a paranormal romance series like nobody else. 

They are always enthralling, fascinating, completely addicting, and ones you never want to end. Her newest and latest is not an exception.

I wasn't sure how I was going to like this installment, knowing that it would be mostly told from Annika's point of view. Not because I didn't like her, quite the contrary but because of what she was and how that point of view might be because of it. She is super innocent, super sweet and because of it, still naive and learning the world around her. Not your typical heroine in a story filled with darkness and good versus evil. 

I was so wrong to be nervous about it. Annika is in fact a strong heroine. One that took me by surprise the more we got to know her and live inside her head the harder is was not to love her. She is one feisty lady that goes after what she wants like a bloodhound and what the girl wants is to keep her friends safe, to find the stars and of course, Sawyer. Poor man, he didn't stand a chance against her and her wily ways. 

If there is one thing Nora does right besides the paranormal, is her romances. Always slow to build, burn, and heat up,and ones, once you have opened them and gotten a taste of it,  you don't ever want to escape them. Swoon worthy, romantic, and always done right, this story had it all. 

I truly was both sad and mad that book three wasn't out yet and I would once again have to wait to see how it all comes together and to get inside the next couples head.

Another hit PNR series from Roberts and one that has already wormed its way into my heart. 

*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review and an ARC copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

Reduced Schedule For Summer Break

I've been seriously debating what to do with my blog over summer. It is so hard dedicating all the time to it I usually do when everyone is in school when they, well, aren't now. It means more mommy and kid time, running around, playing, and going from one place to another and sadly, I just don't have the hours in the day nor the energy, to do everything I need to.

I've thought about not blogging at all, but that is three months and I would miss it and miss all of you and that is just out of the question, so instead, I think the solution will be to go on a reduced schedule of posting only a few times a week instead of my usual 5 days a week.

I "think" this will reduce the pressure I will have to schedule posts, fit in time for reading, visiting other blogs, and still have time for housework, and spending time with my family as much as I need and want to....I think. We will see. 

So until then, just so you know, I will keep the posts to a minimum here but will try to still visit all the blogs I follow as much as possible without overloading myself and still being able to actual enjoy staying up late, sleeping in, and all the other wonderful things that come with summer. 

It's funny, as my children get older I thought summers would be easier but they aren't. In fact they are even more busy, which of course, is fabulous but not so great when trying to run a blog full time as well. 

So even though this isn't a huge announcement, it is one I wanted to make all the same, just so you know why you won't be seeing more of me. 

I wish you all a fabulous summer break (if you get one) with lots of reading time, family time, and "me" time. 

WoW Pick of the Week

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It is a chance to share those new releases were are super anxious to get our hands on and read.

I love how dark this author's stories are so this weeks pick was a no brainer for me and look at that cover, so detailed and pretty!

Book Description:


When the mysterious fog of the Ruining crept over the world, the living died and the dead rose. Only the walled city of Viyara was left untouched.

The heirs of the city’s most powerful—and warring—families, Mahyanai Romeo and Juliet Catresou share a love deeper than duty, honor, even life itself. But the magic laid on Juliet at birth compels her to punish the enemies of her clan—and Romeo has just killed her cousin Tybalt. Which means he must die.

Paris Catresou has always wanted to serve his family by guarding Juliet. But when his ward tries to escape her fate, magic goes terribly wrong—killing her and leaving Paris bound to Romeo. If he wants to discover the truth of what happened, Paris must delve deep into the city, ally with his worst enemy . . . and perhaps turn against his own clan.

Mahyanai Runajo just wants to protect her city—but she’s the only one who believes it’s in peril. In her desperate hunt for information, she accidentally pulls Juliet from the mouth of death—and finds herself bound to the bitter, angry girl. Runajo quickly discovers Juliet might be the one person who can help her recover the secret to saving Viyara.


Both pairs will find friendship where they least expect it. Both will find that Viyara holds more secrets and dangers than anyone ever expected. And outside the walls, death is waiting. . . 

Have you tried this author yet? If so do you like her dark and twisted retellings?

Review: And I Darken by Kiersten White

Title: And I Darken
Author: Kiersten White
Series: Book One in the Conquerors Saga
Published By: Delacorte (June 28, 2016)
Source: ARC Copy Provided by the Publisher (in exchange for an honest review)
Genre: YA Historic Retelling
My Rating: 4 Stars!


Book Description:
NO ONE EXPECTS A PRINCESS TO BE BRUTAL. 

And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets.

Lada despises the Ottomans and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs only for a place where he feels safe. And when they meet Mehmed, the defiant and lonely son of the sultan, who’s expected to rule a nation, Radu feels that he’s made a true friend—and Lada wonders if she’s finally found someone worthy of her passion.

But Mehmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against—and that Radu now considers home. Together, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point.


From New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White comes the first book in a dark, sweeping new series in which heads will roll, bodies will be impaled . . . and hearts will be broken. 

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an·ti·he·ro

ˈan(t)ēˌhirō,ˈan(t)īˌhirō/

noun

noun: anti-hero

1. a central character in a story, movie, or drama who lacks conventional heroic attributes.

There is something appealing, something captivating about a hero that really isn't a hero at all. About a person that can be both so very cruel and dark, as they can be caring and strong.

An almost anti-hero of a story that is every bit as hard to hate as they are hard to love. 

Throw in a legend we have all heard of, Vlad Draculesti (The Impaler) with a slight twist on the story and you have one story that appealed to both the history nerd in me and the one that craves adventure and a strong heroine. 

Our fierce, strong, and mostly scary Vlad is none other than Lada. Yes Lada, as in, a girl. Throw in a bit of history, a bit or truth, a bit of fiction and you have one heck of a story line with an anti-hero that lives up to every bit of the definition itself. 

This book brought out some very real, very intense momma bear feelings in me. Part of me was so proud of Lada for never wavering in her beliefs and at the same time also brought out some intense protective feelings for Radu and all that he had to endure at the hands of virtually everyone. 

I couldn't of loved this story more with holding on to the real feel of the story with the sultan and his harem as well as all the fiction and adventure. It truly was unlike anything I have read in the genre and I'm so very excited to see how else White will exaggerate and expand on it. 

*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*

Review: The Outlaw Demon Wails by Kim Harrison

Title: The Outlaw Demon Wails
Author: Kim Harrison
Series: Book Six in the Hollows Series
Published By: Harper Voyager (February 26, 2008)
Source: Purchased
Genre: Urban Fantasy
My Rating: 4 Stars!


Book Description:
To save the lives of her friends, Rachel did the unthinkable: she willingly trafficked in forbidden demon magic. And now her sins are coming home to haunt her.

As Rachel searches for the truth behind a terrifying murder, an even greater menace threatens, for the demon Algaliarept will stop at nothing to claim her, and the discovery of a shocking family secret throws Rachel's entire life into question. If she is ever to live free, Rachel must first walk willingly into the demonic ever-after in search of long-lost ancient knowledge.


But when you dance with demons, you lay your soul on the line...and there are some lines that should never be crossed.

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With everything that happened in book five, all the drama, tragedy and heartache, it was hard not being a little nervous about what Harrison would throw our way this time. But with a brave smile on my face, I dived right in. There was no way that I couldn't. I had to know what happened next. 

I am so very glad that I waited to start this series until all the books were out because binge reading this series is so the way to go. They are so addicting and hard to put down and with so much on the line for Rachel, I couldn't see having to wait months for the next book, I think it would have killed me. 

Harrison has no qualms at all about putting her readers through the ringer. This woman does not pull her punches and with this novel focusing more on the gang and Rachel's personal life, things get real, and they get real, real fast. 

As much as this is Rachel's story, it is also Al's and Ceri's as well. We finally get background info on them both and even Trent as well and so much is starting to make sense and come together. It truly was mind blowing how many twists and unexpected turns showed up and threw me for a loop once more. This series is definitely keeping me on my toes and I'm having a hard time not wanting to read them all in one go. 

I can't wait to see what Harrison has up her sleeve next.