Xpresso Book Tours Book Blitz & Giveaway: Insanity by Cameron Jace!

Hello everyone! Welcome to the Book Blizt for Insanity by Cameron Jace hosted & organized by Xpresso Book Tours!

Insanity by Cameron Jace
Publication date: December 20th 2013
Genres: Fantasy, New Adult, Paranormal

Synopsis:

After accidentally killing everyone in her class, Alice Wonder is now a patient in the Radcliffe Lunatic Asylum. No one doubts her insanity. Only a hookah-smoking professor believes otherwise; that he can prove her sanity by decoding Lewis Carroll’s paintings, photographs, and find Wonderland’s real whereabouts. Professor Caterpillar persuades the asylum that Alice can save lives and catch the wonderland monsters now reincarnated in modern day criminals. In order to do so, Alice leads a double life: an Oxford university student by day, a mad girl in an asylum by night. The line between sanity and insanity thins when she meets Jack Diamond, an arrogant college student who believes that nonsense is an actual science.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18910286-insanity?ac=1

Purchase:

Will be found here come release day:

--Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HFE668Y 

About the author: 

Wonderlander, Neverlander, Unicorn-chaser, enchanter, musician, survived a coma, & totally awesome. Sometimes I tell stories. Always luv the little monsters. I write young adult paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and science fiction mostly. The Grimm Diaries series is a seven book saga that deals with retellings of fairy tales from a young adult POV - it connects most of the fairy tales together and claims to be the truth about fairy tales. I live in San Fransisco and seriously think circles are way cooler than triangles.

Author Links:

Website: http://cameronjace.blogspot.ca/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/995289.Cameron_Jace

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/camjace

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cameronjace

Don't miss the international giveaway!!

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Xpresso Book Tours Blog Tour for Lichgates by S.M Boyce!

Hello there everyone! Today I'm taking part in the Blog Tour for Lichgates by S.M. Boyce, organized by Xpresso Book Tours!

I will be sharing by review & a Blog Tour wide giveaway, so click HERE for the full tour schedule! But before that, let's get you some more information about the book & author, shall we?

Lichgates by S.M. Boyce 

(The Grimoire Saga #1)
Publication date: October 15th 2011
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Synopsis:

Fans of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and Eragon will enjoy this contemporary remix of the classic epic fantasy genre.

Kara Magari is about to discover a beautiful world full of terrifying things—Ourea.

Kara, a college student still reeling from her mother’s recent death, has no idea the hidden world of Ourea even exists until a freak storm traps her in a sunken library. With no way out, she opens an ancient book of magic called the Grimoire and unwittingly becomes its master, which means Kara now wields the cursed book’s untamed power. Discovered by Ourea’s royalty, she becomes an unwilling pawn in a generations-old conflict—a war intensified by her arrival. In this world of chilling creatures and betrayal, Kara shouldn’t trust anyone… but she’s being hunted and can’t survive on her own. She drops her guard when Braeden, a native soldier with a dark secret, vows to keep her safe. And though she doesn’t know it, her growing attraction to him may just be her undoing.

For twelve years, Braeden Drakonin has lived a lie. The Grimoire is his one chance at redemption, and it lands in his lap when Kara Magari comes into his life. Though he begins to care for this human girl, there is something he wants more. He wants the Grimoire.

Welcome to Ourea, where only the cunning survive.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12900806-lichgates?ac=1

Purchase:

--Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005W5L38G?ie=UTF8&tag=hubp0aaf-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B005W5L38G

 About the author:

International Amazon Bestseller. Fantasy Author. Twitter addict. Book Blogger. Geek. Sarcastic. Gooey. Odd. Author of the action-packed Grimoire Saga.

S.M. Boyce is a novelist who loves ghosts, magic, and spooky things. She prefers loose-leaf tea, reads far too many books, and is always cold. She’s married to her soul mate and couldn’t be happier. Her B.A. in Creative Writing qualifies her to serve you french fries.

Boyce likes to update her blog a few times each week so that you have something to wake you up in the morning.

Author links:

Website: http://www.smboyce.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesmboyce

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5280531.S_M_Boyce

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesmboyce

My Review:

Lichgates is a classic example of epic fantasy, full of action and colourful descriptions of other worlds and characters.

We start the journey at the same time that the main character does. Kara was hiking around trying to get her mind off her emotional issues when she crosses one door and her world changes forever. She crossed a Lichgate and stumbled upon Ourea, a different world hidden in an Earth pocket.

The beginning of the book lost me a bit cause it felt too random and too convenient that Kara would stumble upon the Lichgate and then managed to open the Grimoire and gain its alliance. But then the action really picked up and we're introduced to so many characters and into the proper world of Ourea that I ended up no caring of how random Kara's presence there was. Kara has everything to learn about the world and she finds herself having to choose allies and whether she should follow the path adviced by the Grimoire and the Vagabond or make her own choices.

The world of Ourea is rich and full of surprises, and nothing and no one are exactly what you might think at first. Kara was a surprising main character because despite her initial shock and freak out, she manages to have a "grin and bear it" attitude and decides to learn and fight the battles she feels she has to. Braeden is a complicated character given her past and how he keeps on trying to not let who he was born as determine who he is. There is some romance here, but no insta-love or love triangles, this is a more subtle romance that takes the back seat a bit more.

The ending was also quite refreshing, there was a climax and some revelations there, but there was a resolution that though leaving a very big opening for the next book to continue without leaving us cruelly hanging with an evil & heartwrenching cliffhanger! We're even given an epilogue that adds a bit of extra tension there.

Lichgates is classic epic fantasy full of quests and creatures and monsters and high stakes and deserving of 3.5 stars, nearly 4!

The Giveaway:

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Friday Reads: Mini Reviews: Fracture Me by Tahereh Mafi and The Last Stand of the New York Institute by Cassandra Clare!

Hello there! For this week's Friday Reads I'm gonna have another two mini reviews! Novellas are so much fun to read, and sometimes they can change your whole vision of a series!


Fracture Me by Tahereh Mafi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


As usual, Tahereh Mafi shows us how amazing her writing is. This novella is Adam's POV of the ending of Unravel Me and it's a complete change of style from the rest of the series, Adam's voice so different from Juliette's!

The power of different POV's and how they come across from other character's POV's is very well shown here. We met Adam in Shatter Me and he ended up being Juliette's ally & friend and way more than that. And I was Team Adam if I had to choose from that triangle (which curiously enough is one of those triangles that are relevant and not so annoying). But then came Destroy Me, and I started to warm up to Warner much to my surprise, and then Unravel Me with its many twists and revelations and I find myself a bit more on Team Warner. I was hoping to see if Fracture Me would do for Adam the same thing that Destroy Me did for Warner, and maybe it did, but for me the reaction was quite the opposite.

Adam annoyed from the first page itself with his treatment of James, his kid brother. Yes, there's a lot of tension and stress but you don't treat your only family like that! And even though he redeems himself a bit on that front, it's clear through the pages of this novella that he just doesn't understand Juliette and despite his hoping for a HEA, he's be beyond frustrated with Juliette and her issues. He clearly can't begin to understand what Juliette issues really are, and with his protectiveness there's no way he'd help Juliette control and develop her powers.

This novella has done a wonderful job at bringing us into Adam's head, it might not have been what I would have hoped for, but you can't say that Mafi didn't do a fantastic job of giving him his own voice.

Well deserved 4 stars for this novella, and now I can't wait for Ignite Me even more than before!



The Last Stand of the New York Institute by Cassandra Clare

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I think the closer we get to the events of TMI the more I like these novellas, and this one I will have an even bigger amount of love because we get to spend some more time with Tessa, and I really love Tessa Gray!

We get to see the start of the Circle and Magnus facing some of Valentine's allies and Valentine himself. We also are introduced to the doubts in Lucian and how the seed of his doubt in Valentine's great purpose might have been planted. We meet quite a few Shadowhunters that we will hear about later on. And we also get to meet Clary and her mum, and not only that we discover the origin of the last name that Jocelyn and Clary are using when they live as mundanes.

Magnus has some really conflicting feeling about this new generation of Shadowhunters and even more for some of the families that he once knew, but despite everything he seems to be quite prone to niceness the older he gets and less likely to hold a grudge. I guess when you live centuries it might seem quite pointless.

A very short but entertaining read, quite enlightening adding some more perspective to the Circle and the Uprising. A 4 star read.



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Xpresso Book Tours Book Blitz: Pentimento by Cameron Jace & Giveaway!

Welcome everyone to another Blook Blitz organized by Xpresso Book Tours! This time it's all about Pentimento by Cameron Jace!

Pentimento by Cameron Jace 
Publication date: December 20th, 2013
Genres: Paranormal, Post-Apocalyptic, Young Adult

Synopsis:

The day Iris Beaumont turns seventeen, she is threatened to be taken by the Beasts, the rulers of the new America. After the destruction of the world, the Beasts provide citizens with whatever they need in exchange for the one teenage girl they enslave every week. They call them the Brides, and they never comes back. Iris isn’t the worrying type though; she’s been defying the system since she was ten and never cared for the Beast’s rules.

Then she meets Colton Ray, who is not like any other boy she’s ever seen. His confidence and dominance are otherworldly she can’t rationalize the attraction she feels for him. Colton had one slight problem though. It’s rumored he is one of the Beast, and Iris could be the next on the Beast’s list.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19448790-pentimento

Purchase:

Will be found here come release day:

--Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&field-author=Cameron%20Jace&page=1&rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3ACameron%20Jace

  

About the author:

Wonderlander, Neverlander, Unicorn-chaser, enchanter, musician, survived a coma, & totally awesome. Sometimes I tell stories. Always luv the little monsters.     

I write young adult paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and science fiction mostly. The Grimm Diaries series is a seven book saga that deals with retellings of fairy tales from a young adult POV - it connects most of the fairy tales together and claims to be the truth about fairy tales.     

I live in San Fransisco and seriously think circles are way cooler than triangles.

 Author Links:

Website: http://cameronjace.blogspot.ca/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/995289.Cameron_Jace

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/camjace

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cameronjace

And now the giveaway! Open internationally!!

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Waiting On Wednesday #21!

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted at Breaking The Spine  that spotlights those can't-wait-to-get-my-hands-on-them books that we are eagerly awaiting!

This week the book I'm  totally going bonkers about is Evertrue by Brodi Ashton! It's the final book in the Everneath trilogy and I'm biting my nails to find out what happens after the shocking reveal in Everbound!

Goodreads summary:

"Now that Nikki has rescued Jack, all she wants is to be with him and graduate high school. But Cole tricked Nikki into feeding off him, and she’s begun the process of turning into an Everliving herself... which means she must feed on a Forfeit soon — or die.

Terrified for her survival, Nikki and Jack begin a desperate attempt to reverse the process using any means possible. Even Cole, who they expected to fight them at every turn, has become an unlikely ally — but how long can it last? Nikki needs to feed on Cole to survive, Cole needs Nikki to gain the throne in the Everneath, Jack needs Nikki because she is everything to him — and together, they must travel back to the Underworld to undo Nikki’s fate and make her mortal once more. But Cole isn’t the only one with plans for Nikki: the Queen has not forgotten Nikki’s treachery, and she wants her destroyed for good. Will Nikki be forced to spend eternity in the Underworld, or does she have what it takes to bring down the Everneath once and for all?

In this stunning conclusion to the Everneath trilogy, Brodi Ashton evokes the resiliency of the human spirit and the indomitable power of true love."


Why am I eagerly awaiting Evertrue by Brodi Ashton? As I said before, Evertrue is the final book in the Everneath trilogy and I just can't wait to find out what happens after the shocking ending of Everbound to Nikki, Jack and Cole. Also... that cover is such a stunner!

What are you all (im)patiently awaiting this week?

Being Thankful Tuesday: A bookish GIVEAWAY!!

Hello everyone!! Happy Tuesday!

This last year has been quite exciting for me in the blogging front! I started reviewing and blogging more about books, and doing that I met loads of nice people that are book bloggers that have been very nice with me and helped learn things about this world. I've met and interacted with authors, I've had the chance to read books that hadn't been published yet and many of those wonderful stories I've discovered this year have helped me get through some very rough patches that I had this year.

That's why I've decided it's only fair that I hold an end of year giveaway! It's my way of saying thank you!

Recently I got an amazing parcel full of signed matte paperback copies of books by LeighAnn Kopans (it's brilliant when authors offer that possibility on their websites!) and she sent me quite a bunch of awesome swag, with some really cool postcards!

I already had a paperback copy of TWO I had got from Amazon, so now I have two copies one of them signed and dedicated, so I've decided that I'm giving the other one away!

It's in perfect & pristine condition, only read it once and I think more people need to read this duology!

One winner will get the paperback copy of TWO by LeighAnn Kopans and 5 people can win some cool swag postcards.

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Mark This Book Monday: Mini Reviews of Witch Rising by Amber Argyle & Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover!

As my second entry for this week's Mark This Book Monday I'm gonna have a mini reviews entry.


Witch Rising by Amber Argyle

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Witch Rising is a prequel novella, and you can read it on its own. It's gonna be a fast read, full of action that starts on page one and doesn't really stop till the last page.

Lilette starts the story as a young girls running away with her parents and it seems that she can't really escape one threat or another, even less the one she feels within herself.

It's a short novella but it feels even shorter cause you just fly through it! I can't wait to read Witch Fall now, to see how Lilette's story continues!

3.5 stars



Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Quite to my own surprise I actually loved this novella. I'm not a big fan of contemporary romances and even less those based on insta-love, but this one was told in such a way and the characters were written in such a way that I couldn't help but love them and enjoy the story immensely.

Daniel was hiding in a janitor room when a girl came to hide in it and they feel a connection and pretend to be in love with each other to see how it feels. Then his own Cinderella disappears to never be seen again. One year later, Daniel meets Six and their connection is instantaneous.

I loved reading the interactions between Daniel & Six. Both are hilarious and Daniel's family made laugh out loud while reading. There's witty dialogue, there's quite an unexpected emotional twist right there but there's a resolution based on dialogue and trust, and that's a very good example I think.

Now after reading this one, I feel like I must read Hopeless & Losing Hope! 4 stars to this novella that can be read as a stand alone.



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Mark This Book Monday: ARC Review of Impostor by Susanne Winnacker!

This week's Mark This Book Monday is gonna be another one of my pile of ARCs for review I got for NetGalley and I'm cheating a bit, since I have other books that have been released already or will release before this one, that releases on Jan 2nd 2014, but I so was in the mood for this one!


Impostor by Susanne Winnacker

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I had Impostor on my TBR list for a while and when my request for it was approved on NetGalley I was quite chuffed!

Impostor is the story of Tessa, a young girl that is a Variant. And what's a Variant you might ask? Think something similar to the X-Men, humans with strange mutations that make them have strange abilities. Some are super strong, others can read minds and Tessa can absorb someone's DNA and transform into that person to the last detail. That ability and the fact that her mom didn't care for her at all lander Tessa at the FEA, a division of the FBI that has Variants as agents and works on missions for the government that no one else can pull off.

Tessa is still practicing her Variation, but when a serial killer fails to kill her latest victim that is a deep coma that she probably won't wake up from , the FEA decide to take a chance and get Tessa to impersonate Madison to try and see if the killer was close to her. This assignment is way harder on Tessa than even she expected at first, given the emotional side to it.

Impostor has a bit of everything, science fiction due to the mutations/abilites, thriller & murder mystery that keeps you wondering for quite a while, and of course a big reflection on the emotional side of who we are and who we would like to be. That part I must say was the most unexpected and one that really made me like this book more.

The romance was the part that managed to irk me most, the whole hot & cold way with Alec is the one thing it's almost a sure recipe for annoyance for me, but I was glad there were no sign of any love triangles with Tessa being in Madison's skin. I think it added an additional emotional strain that didn't make all that much sense, even less when the excuse most used was "doing it to keep her safe", what I did like was that Tessa decided to stand up for herself.

Tessa was an emotional mess for one reason or another during most of the book, but she managed to keep her mind in the mission and did her best to stop the killer. I really liked how there was an extra layer given to what was the motivation behind the killer and how that opens the doors to the sequel(s). Also really happy about the lack of cliffhanger at the end! Well deserved 4 stars.




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