Monthly Archives:: January 2012

Monday, January 23, 2012

Embrace Tour Stop – Review

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Embrace
Cherie Colyer
Release date: December 20th, 2011
by Omnific Publishing

Goodreads / Purchase

Sometimes you end up hurting the ones you love.
You find you can’t save them or yourself.

Madison is familiar enough with change, and she hates everything about it. Change took her long-term boyfriend away from her. It caused one of her friends to suddenly hate her. It’s responsible for the death of a local along with a host of other mysterious happenings. But when Madison meets a hot new guy, she thinks her luck is about to improve.

Madison is instantly drawn to the handsome and intriguing Isaac Addington. She quickly realizes he’s a guy harboring a secret, but she’s willing to risk the unknown to be with him. Her world really spins out of control, however, when her best friend becomes delusional, seeing things that aren’t there and desperately trying to escape their evil. When the doctors can’t find the answers, Madison seeks her own.

Nothing can prepare her for what she is about to discover.
Dangerous, intoxicating, and darkly romantic, Embrace is a thriller that will leave you spellbound.

*A copy was provided by Omnific Publishing for review purposes*

Was I ever surprised by this! The blurb is very obscure. You don’t really get a feel of what exactly we’re getting into. But once I found out what this was actually about I was thrilled because it’s one of my favorite types of paranormal books. I’m not much help am I? Well, I don’t want to spoil it for you so you’ll just have to give it a try! However I can say that 1) it’s a paranormal YA novel, and 2) it’s wonderful!

To start with what I didn’t like; the romance is very instant. I didn’t have time to get a feel for the characters and they were already falling in love. It seemed a little obsessive at first, but we do get an explanation for it later on that alleviates a bit of the annoyance towards it. By the end, however, I did find they had developed a connection that was sweet and romantic. I really enjoyed the cast of characters in the story. Our main character, Madison, has a great, down to earth personality. She’s not concerned with popularity or looks, she’s simply happy to live her life. She is intelligent, mature, a great friend, and gets along with her family which all make her easily likeable. Isaac is our male lead. He’s mysterious. It’s obvious from the start that he has something to hide, but that only makes him more intriguing. I couldn’t help wanting to know more about him.

Like the synopsis, the book is full of mysteries. The storyline leads you one way, then another, so you’re always wondering where it’s going to go next. I loved dishing out theories on what was going on, but the fast pace makes it so the twists keep coming at you blind. It’s not that it’s impossible to come to the conclusion, but there’s always so much happening that you get too absorbed in the story to speculate.

While I can’t tell you the plot’s bigger picture, I can say that if you enjoy mystery, thriller and paranormal novels, Cherie Colyer’s Embrace is for you!

4 Hot Espressos
Cherie’s Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

A little about myself: I write young adult and middle grade novels. I love finding new stories that keep me up late reading. While my favorite genre is fantasy, if the book is beautifully written with characters that come alive I’m all over it.  My debut novel EMBRACE is now available from Omnific Publishing.

This review was part of the Embrace blog tour
Want to know more about Embrace? Keep following the tour! 

In My Mailbox (19)

Posted by on 01/22/2012 • 105 Comments

“In My Mailbox” is a meme, created by Kristi at The Story Siren, that features books I have received/ purchased/ borrowed during the week.  This was a pretty slow week for me. I thought the mailman had forgotten where I live. But then it’s nice to get a breather to catch up. I started giving a few books away to make more room on my bookcase. *hangs head in shame*. I still got a few awesome reads though, have a look.

I got for review:

I want to thank JA Templeton and Penguin Canada for the review copies.

I bought:

1. Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep 2. Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey 3. Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough Once a Witch has been on my wishlist for…

Review: Tempest by Julie Cross

Review: Tempest by Julie Cross

Posted by on 01/21/2012 • 28 Comments

Time travel is a very tricky subject to get into. (Look at the epic failure of Lost for example). There is the usual paradox of, if we go back in time then what happens must already have happened to make us go back. As well as the endless time loop theories. Tempest battles this with separate timelines. So now my questions are: if we change timeline, then what happens to our self in the original timeline? Does a fake us keep living there? If not, is it as if we never existed there, or do people think we’ve just disappeared? And what happens to our other self that existed before we got to the new timeline?… Yes, my brain hurts too! These were the sort of questions running through my…

Fresh Batch (Jan. 22nd – 28th)

Posted by on 01/21/2012 • 15 Comments

Exclusively titled for Xpresso Reads, Fresh Batch features the hottest releases of this upcoming week. Flavour of the week:

=”1″>The Way We Fall

Megan Crewe Goodreads / Purchase 

It starts with an itch you just can’t shake. Then comes a fever and a tickle in your throat. A few days later, you’ll be blabbing your secrets and chatting with strangers like they’re old friends. Three more, and the paranoid hallucinations kick in. And then you’re dead.

When a deadly virus begins to sweep through sixteen-year-old Kaelyn’s community, the government quarantines her island—no one can leave, and no one can come back.Those still healthy must fight for dwindling supplies, or lose all chance of survival. As everything familiar comes crashing down, Kaelyn joins forces with a former rival and…

Cover Reveal: Night Sky, Blind Spot, Predestined, Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet

Posted by on 01/20/2012 • 17 Comments

Night Sky Jolene Perry Release date: March 1st, 2012 by Tribute Books Add it to your Goodreads

After losing Sarah, the friend he’s loved, to some other guy, Jameson meets Sky. Her Native American roots, fluid movements, and need for brutal honesty become addictive fast. This is good. Jameson needs distraction – his dad leaves for another woman, his mom’s walking around like a zombie, and Sarah’s new boyfriend can’t keep his hands off of her.

As he spends time with Sky and learns about her village, her totems, and her friends with drums – she’s way more than distraction. Jameson’s falling for her fast.

But Sky’s need for honestly somehow doesn’t extend to her life story – and Jameson just may need more than his new girl…

Review: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Posted by on 01/20/2012 • 29 Comments

EverneathBrodi AshtonRelease date: January 24th, 2012by Balzer+Bray/HarperCollins

Goodreads / Purchase

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she’s returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld… this time forever.

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can’t find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there’s a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he’ll do whatever it…

Cover Reveal: The Space Between Us & The Goddess Hunt

Posted by on 01/19/2012 • 19 Comments

The Space Between Us Jessica Martinez Release date: October 16th, 2012 by Simon Pulse Add it to your Goodreads

From the author of Virtuosity, a novel about two sisters and the secrets they tell, the secrets they keep, and the secret that tears them apart.

Amelia is used to being upstaged by her charismatic younger sister, Charly. She doesn’t mind, mostly, that it always falls to her to cover for Charly’s crazy, impulsive antics. But one night, Charly’s thoughtlessness goes way too far, and she lands them both in serious trouble.

Amelia’s not sure she can forgive Charly this time, and not sure she wants to…but the situation is even worse than either of them realizes. Amelia has no choice but to give up everything–her friends, her future,…

Unlovable by Sherry Gammon

Posted by on 01/19/2012 • 34 Comments

Today I have Sherry Gammon stopping by Xpresso Reads to answer a few interview questions regarding her books and the writing process. There is also a chance to win, and of course, my dazzling 5-star review of Unlovable.

REVIEW

UnlovableSherry GammonRelease date: January 19th, 2011

Goodreads / Purchase

Port Fare, New York, has fallen into the clutches of true evil. The Dreser brothers have arrived with a scheme to increase drug sales in the area by whatever means possible. Seth Prescott is part of MET (Mobile Enforcement Teams) a branch of the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration). He’s been assigned to work undercover at Port Fare High, and things aren’t going very well, until senior Maggie Brown enters the equation. He’s harbored a secret crush on her from…