Kelley Armstrong - Bitten and Stolen

4 stars

Genre: Paranormal/Urban Fantasy
Series: Women of the Otherworld (has a total of 13 books)
Female lead character/narrator
Adult content: violence and sex (brutal, gory details and some description of sex)




Having read Kelley Armstrong's series Darkest Powers, I was expecting something similar. So I was surprised of adult main character/narrator. And this adult content. But surprised in a good way. Though this book being this good will mean a lot of money lost. A good book needs to be bought, owned! Unfortunately this one has A LOT of books.

The series protagonist is Elena, a werewolf. Turned into one by her lover Clay. Not at all happy about this Elena has left Clay and left other werewolves to live on her own, to life a normal life. As normal a life a werewolf can. But someone is causing trouble and risking the exposure of werewolves so she returns..

What I especially like about the books is Elena. She is a tough girl, but surely has her uncertainties and weaknesses. Especially her encounters with the so-called mutts. She definitely has a way with words I have never mastered! Also the werewolves as humans are quite described as still quite animalistic. So the characters are quite different to those in other werewolf stories I have read (though the only ones I have read before has also been young adult books).

I am definitely going to keep reading this series. Though I think I am now in the mood for something a little different for a while!



Here´s Darkest Powers for you, mentioned in the beginning:



Read it years ago and REALLY liked it. 


Goodreads:

My name is Chloe Saunders and my life will never be the same again.

All I wanted was to make friends, meet boys, and keep on being ordinary. I don't even know what that means anymore. It all started on the day that I saw my first ghost - and the ghost saw me.

Now there are ghosts everywhere and they won't leave me alone. To top it all off, I somehow got myself locked up in Lyle House, a "special home" for troubled teens. Yet the home isn't what it seems. Don't tell anyone, but I think there might be more to my housemates than meets the eye. The question is, whose side are they on? It's up to me to figure out the dangerous secrets behind Lyle House... before its skeletons come back to haunt me.

(Romance) series - recommendations needed!

I promised a while ago to recommend some books a friend might enjoy. So I thought why not make it a blog post. Since I have have out of the loop when it comes to new books for two years I would also love to have some recommendations from you! Oldies goldies are always welcome as well!

The series I have chosen here are the sort I think might be my friends' cup of tea: contemporary romance and paranormal. So series with the emphasis in the adventure have been left out. But I myself am quite ready to try any kind! So I wrote a short list based on books I thought would be easily found in Finland. Then I remembered they would also have to be translated into Finnish. That is where the problem is. Most of the books on my list are not available in Finnish.. nooo! This truly makes me sad for there are some amazing books there that a lot of people will miss out on. But hopefully you will give me recommendations that will help make this list longer in the future!

 

Contemporary (because sometimes you just need a break from paranormal)
- Love by Tina Reber (two books published so far: Love Unscripted and Love Unrehearsed. Also a review in my previous post)
- Slammed by Colleen Hoover (Slammed, Point of Retreat
and This Girl)
- Fifty Shades of Grey (if you wanna be a little adventurous yourself) (Fifty Shades suomeksi: Sidottu, Satutettu ja Vapautettu)



Paranormal
- Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (this and you watching vampire diaries being my basis for these recommendations)
- Lux by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Have only read the first one: Obsidian)
- The Wolves of Mercy Falls (Väristys, Häivähdys ja Ikuisuus)
- The Host by Stephenie Meyer (Vieras)
- The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle (Have only read the first: The Hallowed Ones)
- Darkest Powers by Kelley Armstrong (The Summoning, The Awakening and The Reckoning)
- Shadow Falls by Kelley Armstrong (Born at Midnigh, Awake at Dawn, Taken at Dusk, Whispers and Moonrise and Chosen at Nightfall)

(And a hint since she likes Twilight:
Bree Tannerin lyhyt elämä - Epäilys romaani : Stephenie Meyer.)

Tina Reber´s - Love Unscripted and Love Unrehearsed

Oh my! Looooved these books! This book series tells the story of a movie star falling for a regular woman. And I can tell you they´re quite a couple! I stayed up way too late to keep reading. Lost track of time. Went to sleep but then started to read via my mobile Kindle application..Safe to say they were an easy read! I read the first and tried to start reading 3 different books that are very promising, quite surely I will like or reaaaally like them eventually when I do read them. But right then I was not able to continue to any other stories. I was to say, stuck. The story and the characters got me so enveloped that they were still in my head not agreeing to leave me alone. At least not until I had read the next book as well. So I bought Love Unrehearsed. Not a euro wasted there!

I thought I started to read an erotic romance. Well there was some of that but not a lot. Having read only Fifty Shades of Grey before these I guess it is quite hard to make a comparison. I would just call them romance/contemporary romance.

I received the first, Love Unscripted, free to review from somewhere that I do not remember anymore since it was ages ago. I think it was from a group in Goodreads. So thank you Tina Reber or anyone via whom I received this book! Hopefully I will get to read the next one soon!


Warning, spoilers included:

Love Unscripted: I pretty much love all about it. But there was one thing in the plot I did not care for. I had hoped the couple in the story would believe and trust in each other through it all. So the point when Taryn thought Ryan was cheating her was the low point for me. And that part lasted too long. But as I get it read I was able to just forget it.

Love Unrehearsed: I kept hoping that Taryn would actually step in and do a role in that movie!!

I´m back!

It has been a looooong time! Now hopefully I´ll be able to get back to reading and writing about reading again. Hopefully some of the blog´s previous followers are still out there and will be checking in on my new posts to come! There was a long pause for my blogging since I had a baby and did not have enough time to read and blog. But hopefully her sleeping better is not just a short phase!

Chosen by Kristen Day TOUR

Author Kristen Day has stopped by today with a teaser for the Chosen blog tour!

Title: Chosen (Daughters of the Sea 3)
Author: Kristen Day
Publisher: Self Published

Blurb:

The essence of who we are lies not in what we have, but in what we are willing to give up. Because in the end, Time and Tide wait for no one.

After sacrificing all that she had, the evil princess of the Underworld is still successful in her bid to tear Finn from Stasia’s life. In the midst of her search to reclaim him, Stasia is summoned to the island nation of Cyprus to take part in an age-old ritual; unveiling the missing pieces of her ancestry and re-igniting an ancient war. As she struggles to both save Finn’s soul and free Carmen’s mind, Stasia’s bravery and determination will be pushed to its breaking point. A dark storm is forming on the horizon, and the forces who are vying to destroy her may be much closer than she thinks. Destiny weaves a sticky web of evil, betrayal, and revenge that can only be undone by the purity of love and the soul’s unyielding will to survive. In the last installment of the Daughters of the Sea trilogy, the past will collide with the present as Stasia’s future hangs in the balance. The prophecy that paved the way for her new life may indeed be the very thing that strips her of the ones she loves the most.

Excerpt

Finn


“Rise and shine, Love!” Nadia appeared before me and my blood instantly began to boil with overwhelming hatred. “We have much to do!”

“I’m not playing your bullshit games, Nadia,” I growled.

“Games?” She snorted, cracking a dry smile and coming to a stop in front of me. Her features hardened and her golden eyes flashed, “This is no game, Love. But believe me - I’ll be enjoying every minute.” She noticed the small puddle of blood collecting below my right knee and smirked.

“Why Finn, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you look so dreadful. It’s a shame your essence and abilities have no effect down here. That looks horrific.”

“You’re playing with fire, Nadia,” I accused her in a low voice. She should know the consequences of her actions.

“I happen to like fire. It’s powerful and tantalizing. Just like me.” She turned on her heel, kicked off her shoes and made her way to the trunk. She visibly shivered in her thin tank top and jeans. With a snap of her fingers, the room warmed to a comfortable temperature.

“I don’t know how you stand it down here! It’s absolutely frigid!” She chuckled to herself when I cursed her through gritted teeth. She whistled happily as she opened the trunk and began rifling through it; searching for something in particular.

“Now where did I put it…Aha! Found it!” she squealed with delight. Then she snapped her head around and grinned at me like she was two personalities away from a straight jacket and a padded room. “Enjoying the view?”

“Don’t flatter yourself.”

“Oh come on Finn,” she purred. “You know you want this.” She spun around in a circle and raised a golden, sly eyebrow at me. “But unfortunately for you, I don’t screw pieces of shit.”

“I’m crushed.”

She looked me up and down, tapped her chin, and smiled, “Not yet.” With a flick of her finger the white vines pinned me against the wall; slicing new wounds on my arms and legs. “I’ll save that for later. Right now, we have other things to take care of. And I must say, I’m so glad you came to your senses and chose me. I was beginning to lose hope,” she joked. She twitched over to where I was shackled to the wall and let out what sounded like something close to a cackle.

“Yea, I’ve really been looking forward to having my soul wrenched out of my body and starving to death in this god forsaken hole in the ground,” I spit at her with venom.

“I might not be as transparent as that little tramp of yours, Stasia, but-“

“Leave her out of this! You don’t even deserve to speak her name,” I growled. The familiar rush of power and adrenaline that usually accompanied my anger didn’t come, and I began to realize the gravity of the situation I was in. Not that I was going to let Princess Psycho know that.

“Oh, please…she’s nothing but an Achilles heel.” She collapsed into a fit of giggles, “Get it - cause her brother was Achilles..?” I ignored her failed attempt at irony.

“She possesses every quality required of a leader in our world and more. Qualities you have never, and will never, possess - purity, strength, grace and most importantly, humility.”

“Humility, weakness - same thing.” She dismissed my words with a flip of her hand.

“The prophecy speaks for itself. Even you can’t argue with that,” I retorted. “She is my destiny. And I, hers.”

“All I hear is blah, blah, blah-I want to have sex with her-blah, blah, blah. Lust turns the strongest of men into invalids and I simply couldn’t let that happen. Your essence is far too important for what is ahead of me.”

“Essence becomes useless without love. Love turns the strongest of men into warriors. When a man has someone to fight for, he’s capable of moving mountains.”

Her grin dropped and she stomped over to me with vapor rolling off of her skin. She stood in front of me, silent for a moment, then grinned wickedly and unrolled the leather case she had been clutching in her hand. She slid something silver out and held it up so I could see it. A syringe.

“I think I’m in the mood to play nurse.” Her eyes sparkled as she moved towards me. I tried to fight the vines, but the excruciating pain that shot through me sucked what little energy I did have completely dry. “Now don’t tire yourself out, Love. I need to get a good strong sample.”

At her words, another pair of vines shot out from the stone wall and slithered around my left arm; securing it tightly. My trace had become dull in the last few days under whatever vacuum she had placed on my prison.

She slowly ran a finger down my cheek and smiled sympathetically. “Your sacrifices will not be in vain. I can promise you that.” She dropped her hand and her golden eyes hardened, “But the slow, painful deterioration of your soul will be. I’ve decided you owe me that. It’s the least you can do.”

“So, are you looking forward to spending eternity on Tartarus, or will an exception be made to send you straight to the pits of fire?” I asked in the same tone I’d use to ask about the weather.

“You really think my own mother would sentence me to an eternity of hell?” she chuckled. “Please tell me you aren’t that simpleminded.”

“You know as well as I do that a certain level of evil is not tolerated. Your mother’s decision will be overridden by the-“

“Shut up!” she yelled and slapped me across the face. It stung, but I hid it beneath a purposefully smug smile -- which only made her anger boil over. “Enough of this! You are no more than a means to an end. You will never be Prime. You will never see your tramp or your family again. You are nothing.” With that, she uncapped the syringe and drove it into my forearm; right through the eye of the skull. My thoughts turned to Stasia as my world filled with pain and faded into darkness.

About Kristen Day

Kristen Day is a southern belle at heart with a crazy streak that desperately tries to escape at every opportunity. She loves all things nostalgic, rustic, and quirky. She’s been told she sees the world through rose-colored glasses, but she prefers to think of them as kaleidoscope glasses - swirling and morphing reality into something she can digest (who hasn't pretended those pasty lima beans were really kiwi strawberry jelly beans?).

She is the author of the DAUGHTERS OF THE SEA trilogy, which includes FORSAKEN, AWAKEN (Oct 2012), and CHOSEN (Winter 2012). She loves all books, but really enjoys writing young adult, paranormal romances. She’s loved to write for as long as she can remember. Her first published work was her poem RED in second grade (you guessed it - it was a poem about the color red - life altering, right?) that won her 5 gold stars and a spot in her elementary school's poetry book. That's when her addiction to the written word officially began. She was the only kid in fifth grade that actually enjoyed diagramming sentences. Go ahead and laugh - its okay.

When she’s not writing she’s making jewelry, painting, feeding her addiction to sweet tea, watching the Discovery Channel, or going on random adventures in the mountains of North Carolina with her amazing husband. She was born in Boone, NC and graduated from Appalachian State University with a degree in Marketing in 2001.


Author’s Links

Purchase on Amazon
Purchase on B&N
Goodreads
Blog
Twitter
Facebook

REVIEW:

5 stars 

When I started reading this third and last book of the series, I did not remember anything that had happened on the previous book. But already on the first chapter all of it started to come back to me. Starting to read this book scared me a little for I had only read one book this year before this one. Started many, but not much finished. And it scared me to read this one, because I have absolutely loved this series and did not want to end up with another unfinished book!

Having finished the book I can tell you I did not need to worry about not finishing it. Like the two before, I loved this one just as much. Sweet and exciting story that is easy to read. I love the mythology in this series. The characters make you root for them romantically and otherwise. But the books are much more than just romance for there is adventure in them as well.

STACKING THE SHELVES

(join at Tynga's Reviews.)

My very first Stacking the Shelves of the year!

Received for reviewing:

Chosen by Kristen Day (Daughters of the Sea #3)

It is the last book of the series which I have longed to read since I fell in love with the series with the two previous books I read last year. It also has beautiful new covers now!

The books could be categorized into many genres: Ya, paranormal, mythology. The first book has 86 ratings on Goodreads at the moment, the average rating is an amazing 4.58 stars!

Here´s the Goodreads blurb of the first book.

Here´s my reviews of the two first books(with the older covers):
Forsaken by Kristen Day 
Awaken by Kristen Day

CLASSICS´ CLEANUP GIVEAWAY #5

It has been a loooong while since I have posted on the blog. So I thought I´d start with a giveaway! Here are the rules:

-starts right now March 9th and runs till March 31st

-to participate, be at least 15 years old

-only 1 winner

-winner will be chosen by the rafflecopter

-winner will be informed via email

-if the winner does not reply in 48 hours, a new one will be chosen

-international

- please DO NOT post your email on the comments

This time it´s about two books, other a classics and the other just an extra book for fun. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and Mercy by Rebecca Lim.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

BOOK REVIEW - Point of Retreat (Slammed #2)

Slammed
by Colleen Hoover
(series: Slammed #2)
Originally published 2012
Published by Simon & Schuster - Atria Books

5 stars

Oh my. I loved to hate it and loved it. The couple in this series is definitely one to love, I just hope they´d stop being such morons at times. I read this book in just a little over a day. I almost couldn´t put it down once I started it, but I like my sleep too much to ignore it even because of an amazing read. Maybe the book had just a tad bit too much unfortunate events to my taste, but just a little. Other than that I pretty much loved all of it. Though if I were the female main character, I would´ve slapped myself to gain some sense!

I can´t wait to continue reading this story, luckily I don´t have to wait much longer! The next one should be out in 2013, I just wish it´s in the beginning of the year! I hope it will more happy moments for these characters, but I´m sure it will be as emotional as this one and the previous one.

Thank you Netgalley for this amazing read!

BURNING OF ISOBEL KEY TOUR - Excerpt

Contemporary New Adult

Title: The Burning of Isobel Key

Author - Jen McConnel

Date to be Published: October 1, 2012

 

Synopsis:

When Lou travels to Scotland, she’s a mess.  She’s twenty-six, unemployed, and unsure of herself.  It doesn’t help that she’s traveling with Tammy, her best friend, who is everything Lou is not.

At first, the trip pushes Lou towards the brink of depression, but then she meets Brian, a handsome local tour guide.  When Brian tells the tourists about the countless witches burned in Scotland, Lou starts to listen.  And when she discovers information about Isobel Key, one of the victims of the seventeenth century, Lou finds renewed purpose.

Lou has begun exploring the Neo Pagan faith, a dramatic shift from her wealthy Catholic upbringing.  Despite her fears of being too “hocus pocusy”, Lou turns to her new faith as she struggles to unravel the mystery surrounding the death of Isobel Key.  But faith or not, Lou must face her demons if she has any hope of righting the wrongs of the past.

Contact Links:

Website 

Twitter @ProDeaWriter 

Blog

Goodreads
Facebook

Purchase Links

Amazon

 

EXCERPT

As the flames rose, Isobel stopped cursing and instead started to make a shrill, screaming whine, much like the sound of the sap boiling in the logs at her feet.  It was so eerie, so utterly un-human that even the executioner, a man long seasoned to the sounds of death, wanted to cover his ears and sob into the skirt of the nearest woman. 

     The sound carried from the village green, through the streets and wynds, penetrating the windows and doors shut tight against the execution.  It was as if not attending could erase the sin of allowing it to happen in the first place.  No one who heard that sound could reconcile it with the once melodious voice of the burning woman.  The evil thing at the stake was not a woman they remembered or recognized.

     Their memories were as short as the day, from the morning after her terrible deeds were revealed and the witch was brought into town bound in the back of a pony cart.  It was suddenly as if none of the villagers knew the poor creature at all.  None could recall seeking her help, and none would avow that she had always been kind and ready to bake breads for town feasts or to watch the little ones play while their parents danced together.  Kindness lingers less than murder, for it was obvious to all that the woman had murdered at least three souls, if not countless others.  Justice was being served, and her blood would not stain the god fearing hands in St. Andrews.  She was not their responsibility, and they wanted to take no claim for her evil.

US&CAN GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 Jen McConnel

Author Bio:

Jen McConnel first began writing poetry as a child. Since then, her words have appeared in a variety of magazines and journals, including Sagewoman, PanGaia, and The Storyteller (where she won the people’s choice 3rd place award for her poem, “Luna”).

She is also an active reviewer for Voices of Youth Advocates (VOYA), and proud member of SCBWI, NCWN, and SCWW.

A Michigander by birth, she now lives and writes in the beautiful state of North Carolina. When she isn't crafting worlds of fiction, she teaches writing composition at a community college. Once upon a time, she was a middle school teacher, a librarian, and a bookseller, but those are stories for another time.

FADED TOUR - Excerpt

Title: Faded

Author: Chloe Miles

Publisher: Self Published

Pages: 380

Blurb:

"Savannah wanted to kiss him, but she had never even kissed a human guy before, let alone a ghost. How was she supposed to kiss him if he wasn't really there?"

Savannah has never been in love before, but she's in love with Hunter Emmerton. He's cute, funny, charming...and a ghost. How can you date someone if nobody else can see them?

After seventeen-year-old Savannah Fraser and her three friends are killed in a car accident, they are given a second chance at life by a group of hundred-year-old teenage earthbound spirits who need their help. 

Savannah and her friends learn that they are The Chosen Ones, which means they can switch between human and spirit form, heal people and control the weather. And they are also now invincible. 

The Chosen Ones are the only ones who can defeat The Forces - a group of evil spirits who are slowly destroying the perfect little town of Fort Everwick with violent storms and not-so-natural disasters - and stop them from harming everyone they care about. 

The Forces are set on destroying everything Savannah knows and loves, but they also have another plan - they want a new member to join them. They aren't willing to give up until they get the one they want...and they have Savannah firmly in their sights. 

Savannah had never been confident in herself before, but with her new-found powers, she discovers just how strong herself and her friends really are. But what Savannah didn't count on was falling in love with Hunter. She's never loved anyone the way she loves Hunter and she knows he loves her too. But how can they be together forever if he no longer exists and she's the only one who can see him? 

Will Savannah have enough belief in herself to defeat The Forces, or will they be able to lure her to the dark side and turn her against her loved ones...and tear her and Hunter apart?

Author Links:

Goodreads

Purchase

About Chloe Miles

"Chloe Miles is the author of FADED, the first book in THE FADED TRILOGY. The second book in the series, SEE NO EVIL, is due to be released soon."

Excerpt

Savannah made her way across the dark hallway to her own room to get her flashlight out of her drawer. As she felt her way to the drawer, she heard a rattling noise coming from the other side of her room. She looked across the dark room, trying to see where the noise was coming from. Her bedroom window suddenly flung open, sending a gust of wind through the room and scattering Savannah’s homework papers all across the floor.

“Great,” Savannah mumbled as she closed the window and picked the papers back up and put them on her bed. She went back over to her drawer to grab her flashlight and then headed downstairs to the kitchen.

As she got to the end of the stairs, Savannah could hear the front door banging open and shut and the kitchen window rattling. Savannah knew she had locked the door after her parents had left. She ran over to the door to shut it, but it swung shut and locked itself before she got there. Savannah could feel her heart beating fast as she looked over at the kitchen window to see it slide shut and lock itself as well. She shone her flashlight around the room. There was no one there. A sense of fear came over her as she realized who was causing it. The woman at the lake had seen her with Hunter. The Forces knew who she was.

Savannah ran over to the kitchen window to see if she could open it. It was stuck. All she could think about was how to get herself and Annabelle out of there before anything happened to them.

The lights came back on and started flickering on and off around the house. Savannah placed her flashlight on the bench and closed her eyes, bracing herself for whatever was about to happen. She could feel a presence and hear a high pitched squealing around her. Suddenly, it stopped.

Savannah opened her eyes. The lights had stopped flickering and the power was back on. She looked around the room. Everything was still and quiet. Too quiet, she thought. As Savannah reached out her hand to get her flashlight, the kitchen window flew open again, sending another gust of wind through the house.

Hunter appeared beside her and knocked her out of the way just as the light above Savannah’s head exploded and smashed onto the floor, sending glass scattering where Savannah had just been standing. The two of them landed on the floor with Hunter shielding Savannah from the glass.

“Savannah, what happened?” Annabelle yelled from upstairs after she heard the glass smash.

“Nothing, Annabelle. Everything’s OK!” Savannah yelled back. She lifted her head off the floor and tried to steady her breath as she looked up at Hunter. “You saved my life again.”

“I seem to be making a habit of doing that, don’t I?” Hunter smiled. He stood up and helped Savannah to her feet. “They know who you are now, Savannah.”

“I know,” said Savannah. “What did they want with me?” She looked around the room. “Where are they now?”

“They’ve gone,” Hunter explained. “They got what they wanted. They knew I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. This was just a test to see if I would show up and I did. I just confirmed to them what they suspected, Savannah – that you’re a Chosen One.”

“They know where I live, Hunter. My whole family is in danger, aren’t they?” Savannah asked him.

“Everybody around you will be a target, and it won’t be long before they figure out who the other Chosen Ones are either.” Hunter touched Savannah’s hand. “But I promise I won’t let anything happen to you, Savannah.”

“I have to see if Annabelle’s alright,” said Savannah. Hunter followed her upstairs to Annabelle’s room. When they got there, Annabelle was nowhere to be seen.

Savannah could feel a sense of fear coming back. “Annabelle?” she yelled out as her eyes searched Annabelle’s room.

Annabelle crawled out from under her bed. “It was dark and I was scared,” said Annabelle. “And I heard a noise.”

Savannah grabbed Annabelle and held her in a tight hug. “I thought you had…”

“You thought I had what?” asked Annabelle.

“Nothing,” said Savannah, hugging her tighter. “It’s OK now.”

“Savannah?” Annabelle looked up at her. “Where’s my water?”

“Um, it’s…” Savannah looked at Hunter. Hunter grinned and disappeared. He reappeared with a glass of water in his hand and placed it on the bedside table behind Annabelle.

Savannah reached over and grabbed the glass. “It’s here, Annabelle.” She looked over at Hunter again. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Hunter winked at her and disappeared. Savannah smiled to herself. Their lives had come so close to being in danger that night, so why did she feel so happy? She looked down at Annabelle and stroked her hair. There was no way she was ever going to let anything happen to Annabelle. She cared about Annabelle more than anything.

Savannah thought about what Hunter had said. He won’t let anything happen to her. There were four Chosen Ones to protect, so why was he always there for Savannah more than the others? Savannah smiled to herself again. Hunter was probably just doing his job by protecting her, but maybe he cared about her too.