Mark These Book(s) Monday: Splinter And Paper & Fire ARC reviews!!

Hello there guys!!

I'm somewhat tentatively back! I needed a break before and after my trip to Star Wars Celebration in London and I really needed a break because work and life make blogging a bit more complicated!

So here I am back now with two ARC mini reviews for this week's Mark These Books Monday, trying to start August right! These two totally work towards my Netgalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge too!

Splinter by Sarah Fine

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I read Reliquary and really enjoyed it, although our main character Mattie sometimes got on my nerves and I wanted to shake her more than once, but I decided to cut her some slack, because given how her life is thrown upside down... Gods know how I'll handle something of that magnitude!

I'm really happy to report that I loved how Mattie did grow as a character, not only on her powers and her knowledge of the world she is now part of, but also in what she really wants or who she really is. She starts the book in a bad place, both physically and emotionally, even if she had got what she had fought so hard to get back.

I had chosen a ship quite clearly during book 1, even if I wasn't entirely happy about the relationship seemed to be forming at the time, but once again, decided to give it space and see what might come of it, and I'm quite glad to see that although the progress seems to be very slow all through the book, it is what I'd call the right kind of progress!

Splinter is the second book in the trilogy, but it does NOT suffer from middle book syndrome or sequel slump at all! The stakes got really higher, more slightly unexpected betrayal (I was not expecting it entirely, I knew he was not exactly reliable but goodness!) and more enemies coming together to make life difficult (thankfully also more allies) and it also left me wondering about the original relics and how much more we'll learn about them in the bigger picture on Mosaic!

A very much deserved 4 to 4.5 stars to this one! A half star probably because of Asa and Gracie and how much I love when canines are okay! Thank you for that Sarah!!


Paper and Fire by Rachel Caine

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I really enjoyed the first book in the series because it touched on something that had long fascinated me, the Alexandria Library, and created an alternative future where not only it had not burnt but one where it controlled the world. And it is a rather less wonderful world than I would have expected.

On Paper & Fire stakes get higher, betrayals happen unexpectedly and the action is absolutely non-stop! From the training and the fear of discovery in the beginning, to the plotting and sniffing around to mount a rescue, to trying to be ahead of the Library from then on to make sure the rescue doesn't turn into a massacre of all of those involved... we barely get any respite!

Jess has to deal with so much in this book! Not only in terms of being hunted and fighting for his life and figuring out how not to die while facing the Library's automata, but also on the more emotional side of things. He has to figure out his feelings and loyalties towards his family and his friends, and also how to navigate the mess that his feelings and relationship with Morgan are.

Rachel Caine managed to make me even more scared for my poor dear books, sometimes I'd just stop reading the book and go pet my poor darlings in my library room and tell them "You're okay, I would never let any evil Library take you away or any crazy people burn you!!". We get quite a few more unsettling revelations, go through very traumatic events and with quite a few unexpected twists here and there that culminate in one hell of an unexpected cliffhanger!!

Very well deserved 4 to 4.5 stars! I just cannot wait till I can get my hands on the third and final book!! *bites nails*


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Thursday Thoughts: Re-reading The Others series by Anne Bishop!!!

Hey there guys!

This is a scheduled post because I'm out and about on a quick and rather improptu trip! I'll tell you all about it once I return, and hopefully I'll share some photos if my phone & laptop feel like working together!

I continue to keep Thursdays as my days to catch up with my series re-reads! I'm quite proud to say that I've been re-reading quite a lot more this year, and it's proven quite amazing to revisit series I've loved to prepare for the next or last installment!

This week I'm gonna talk about one of my absolute favourite adult urban fantasy series out there: The Others by Anne Bishop! Must give a BIG shout out to Octavia from Read Sleep Repeat because she kept recommending this series to me, time and again!


Unlike what I did with the Red Rising trilogy I won't do a book by book re-read review because even with this re-read, I'm still sure I might end up mixing up a few events from one book to another because my brain now processes the whole series as one timeline and I'm not 100% sure where one book ends and were the next starts. So I'll just do a series overall review and gush about how much I absolutely love it, so be warned!

Overall series re-read review!

The Others series is urban fantasy, its world being not ours but with enough similarities to fool us sometimes and makes us as readers forget that it's not happening in our "human dominated" world. Humans in this world are not the apex predators or the ones that are in charge of the world, since they are late comers to a world were The Others are in charge, and they don't tolerate humanity's over reach and disregard of nature, not outside of the boundaries given to them. Namid isn't Earth exactly, and Thaisia is really NOT North America, even if they can feel enough alike to throw us off when we're reminded of the differences.

The story starts with Meg Corbyn, a young woman running away that finds a safe haven in an unlikely place for a human, the Lakeside Courtyard, or the place where The Others live (and keep an eye on the humans). The first book gives us enough world building and character development to keep us turning the pages hungrily and to have us hooked for good in this series. We want to protect and root for Meg all the time, and we share the protectiveness the Courtyard Others feel towards her. We discover what a Cassandra Sangue is (more or less) and we learn more about this world. The relationships between the characters are so nuanced and full of small details here and there. It doesn't matter if we're talking about vampires or werewolves or humans, they all FEEL so real!

Talking about the paranormalcy of The Others, we might seem to know them but these vampires, werewolves and others aren't exactly as you might know them, and we do get more than a few reminders about that. These are not creatures that have hidden their existence in our midst, they are there and they are in charge, even if the humans might want to ignore that fact.

There are two main plot lines that intertwine and build on each other, one is the more personal with Meg and her growth and relationship with the Others and specially Simon, the Courtyard leader. And the Other is the mounting conflict between the Humans First and Last movement and the Others. One thing that this book managed to do time and again is to make me hate my own species. The HFAL movement simply made me root for the Others so much... it's a bit awkward when you stop to think that the characters that are your same species that you like are just a handful!

In each book we learn more about the Others, the Cassandra Sangue, the extremes humans can reach in their hate and their will for self destruction and lack of respect for their world they live in... The world building is expanded, from Thaisia to other continents, to more about the past, more about the Others that are not the ones we know from the Courtyard, more about the blood prophets and their compulsions and abilities. Characters grow and change, relationships progress (although the one I care the most about goes at a very fitting snail pace as it's right for the characters, even if it's maddening for us readers) and the plot thickens and progresses and the tension builds up to a rather worrisome level!



Marked in Flesh by Anne Bishop

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I was so very excited for this book, with all the tension and the build up for the confrontation and the expected backlash from The Others, if the Humans First movement made their move.

With every book this series manages to get better and better! We might have lost a bit of the more personal time we had with Meg and the wolves and the rest of the Terra Indigene since everything keeps getting broader and bigger, and Meg is the first but not the only one blood prophet, there's so much to learn and to work on. The conflict is so widespread, so much bigger than just one Courtyard, one city, or even one continent! We meet some more dangerous and less humanized Others/Terra Indigene and some of them really brought to mind those "things that go bump in the night" in the sense that you could feel them and the fear they cause, but not being really sure if you'd see them or what you'd even see!

There was plenty of tension or more quiet moments, of moments that made me once again hate my own species and there were quite a few interesting revelations, with what I hope more to come. BUT since the big conflict that was building up was resolved here, I'm not entirely sure WHAT will happen in the next book. I'm hoping we will return to the more personal part of the conflicts and continue with the focus on the Cassandra Sangue and on a certain relationship that I want more focus on again and a bit more progress, not so snail paced!

Still, this book is once again deserving of 5 stars like the previous books in the series, and I'm very much looking forward to re-read them all to prepare for the next one!

Mark This Book Monday: The Power by Jennifer L Armentrout!!

Hiya guys!

A new week, a new Monday and not just any other day because today is our leap day: February 29th! I must confess February has passed quite fast but I was quite ready for it to end...

Today I have yet another Jennifer L Armentrout book in the blog as this week's Mark This Book Monday! This woman is a damned machine and there's no book of hers that I read that I don't absolutely devour and love!



The Power by Jennifer L. Armentrout

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The Return totally managed to change my perception of Seth and to put me clearly on his side, and now The Power has managed to have a feelings overload, so much that I was teary for half the book (and nearly the other half I was fanning myself because hot damn!)! I also partly blame the book and its emotional upheaval for my crappy funk the next day.

Seth is still trying to deal with who he is and his actions of the past and despite his arrogance and attitude, he doesn't believe he deserves anything good to happen to him, and seeing him doubt himself and punish himself was absolutely heartbreaking!

I love that we get dual POVs here, with Seth's and Josie's because I love Josie's voice and her determination to do what's right but at the same time try and remain her human self even if she's way much more than that. I also love how clear she is about her feelings and how determined she is to be on Seth's team and to be there for him and show him he deserves good things too!

Aside from the overall arch of finding the other demigods to try and defeat the Titans there's also the fact that since the Breed order was abolished the tension between Pures and Half-Bloods have been increasing, and the authorities are unsure on how to deal with them in some cases, and in others, they don't want/can't deal with it.

We get Alex & Aiden back and I really loved how they reacted to Josie, not so much about their attitude with Seth sometimes, but I must say I would have been right on their side if I had not been on Seth's mind for a book & a half now. But no matter what, now they make quite an awesome fighting team, even if they have to deal with a new demigod to help them, one that is so full of himself that could fill two of him...

Plot wise the book was good, but oh boy, the emotional side of it is what really got to me and made me devour it and cry and gaaaah, that damned ending!! I just cannot wait for the next book and I'm gonna die waiting! Damned cliffhangers, they will surely be the death of me!! Very much deserved 4 stars for this one!

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Saturday Pages: Sword & Verse and The Dirt on Ninth Grave!!

Hey there guys!

How's the weekend going so far? Mine is going well, will be re-reading Red Rising and reading Rebel of the Sands today and tomorrow! YAY for reading plans ;)

For this week's Saturday Pages I have another installment of one of my all time fave urban fantasy series that I am NOT losing interest in and my Alyssa Recommends book for February that will also count towards the 2016 Debut Author Challenge!


The Dirt on Ninth Grave by Darynda Jones

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


After the massive cliffhanger and wrench that Darynda threw on the previous book and all the info we were given and all the shocks and battles, I wasn't sure how this one was going to work out... aaaand I really should have not doubted Ms Jones because it was perfect!! And if you aren't up to date with the series yet, this is the moment when you stop reading because I'm not sure I'll be able to review this one without spoilers cropping up!!

Janey is trying to figure out who she is after waking up with amnesia in a small village in New York and if amnesia wasn't bad enough, she can see dead people and many other things that would land her in a psych ward if she ever were to tell anyone. It was so endearing to see her figuring out the why's and how's and doing what she's always done without knowing that she is. And she finds herself surrounded by the people that love her and she doesn't even know who they are!

Being in her shoes has to be hard, not knowing who you are or if you have anyone that cares for you and wondering where they are? But I think for the rest of the gang and specially Reyes, it had to be even MORE painful! Given all that, this one was a terribly emotional book, and I'd take a guy like Reyes Alexander Farrow any day of the week, son of Satan or not!

By the end of the book her amnesia is more dangerous than ever and we find ourselves hoping that Janey can put things together before the shit seriously hits the fan, and we get more than a few surprises along the way, with one or two tidbits of information that were as unexpected for her as they were for us!! Now I'm wondering what Darynda Jones will have in store for the next book and I SIMPLY CANNOT WAIT!!

Very much deserved 4.5 stars to this one!!

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 Sword and Verse by Kathy MacMillan

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is one of those times when you have things that you really really loved about a book and then things that really annoyed you so you end up giving it 3 stars because it feels fair, and decide to add a .5 extra because you really liked how everything was wrapped up in the end!

The big positives for this book for me? The gorgeous writing and the stunning world building!! I loved the story of the Gods snippets that we got at the beginning of every chapter, I loved everything that surrounded the writing and the God's language and the one of the Learned Ones and the Arnath and the way the society and everything was described, so visually and not stopping the flow of the book.

The negatives are mostly two: I wasn't sure where the book was going plot wise, was the rebellion attacking? Was there gonna be a coup? Both? Neither? It felt like it took forever to things to come clear. And then I didn't connect with Raisa nor with Mati and I wasn't 100% sold on them or their relationship. I don't know why they kept irking me so often and made me want to shake them so badly sometimes! I'm usually much better at empathising with characters, but Raisa and Mati continued to make unwise choices and then wonder why shit happened... GAH! I feel like I'm somehow being unfair to the characters, but there were so many occasions they irritated me... *sigh*

The climax and the ending was done really well and I loved how Mati and Raisa had stopped making choices that irritated me to no end and of course the unexpected twist was quite something! The ending is open enough but also conclusive enough to work for both a standalone and first in series, and if there is a sequel, I'll be checking it out! After all, Kathy MacMillan's writing is great and so is the world she has created! 3.5 stars for this debut!

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Thursday Thoughts: Vicious & Midnight Marked (ARC review)!!

Hello there guys!!

Since last week I totally failed at posting reviews, I'm adding an extra day of review posting this week, and since I love alliterations, I'm calling it Thursday Thoughts!

As my extra reviews of the week, I'm pairing today two adult books, one that has been in my TBR pile since either early last year or late 2014, so it will count towards my Rock My TBR Challenge and that I buddy read with my friend LaLa from LaLa in the Library.

And the other one is an eARC I got approved for on NetGalley that releases in March BUT since it's the next book in one of my favourite Urban Fantasy series ever... I just HAD to read it! It counts towards my Netgalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge and contributes to keeping my ratio at 80%!

Vicious by V.E. Schwab

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


My first book for #RockMyTBR challenge! And I'm sort of kicking myself for not reading it before. As soon as I read ADSOM, I needed to read anything else Victoria had written, and so I bought this one, but it ended up being packed up in a box way too soon (moving time) but I finally got it out in time to buddy read it with my friend LaLa!

I love how very grey all the characters are, and how unsure you are while reading if everything is part of the plan or not. The first part of the book is told mostly on Victor's POV, and you aren't entirely sure if it's a very sucessful antihero story, an even more successfully done "now I feel bad for the villain dammit" or if it's something in between. Then we see a few more POVs and on the second half we also get Eli's POV, and then things change a bit. You start wondering if the usual labels of villain and hero or even antihero can be applied to either of these two, and how you alternatively keep on switching your allegiance from one to the other.

I think I very much ended up siding with Victor but fuck if I know if he's the hero, the villain or the antihero, and I have to wonder what that says about my moral code... I mean, it's not that I approve about his tactics or his motivations or lack of empathy, but I very much prefer him to Eli so... I dunno? Damn Victoria Schwab making me root for a guy that is the lesser evil? I don't even know!

We keep on switching between present and past, between Victor's revenge plans and the how and somewhat the why Eli and Victor became who they are or even "what" they are now. A lil bit of science, a lil bit of philosophy and a lot of food for thought about powers, responsability, what defines who we are or how we even define ourselves. The ending was quite a twist and once again left me wondering if it had all been planned in advance or if it was as it was only because of the character's change in choices that couldn't be planned... or could they? Seriously, so much that I'm not sure if it's fate or a brilliant strike of planning!

Thankfully, I read the book knowing that there is a sequel, and I'm so very highly and impatiently awaiting! 4 to 4.5 stars to this one!

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Midnight Marked by Chloe Neill

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Oh, how I loved this one! Chicagoland Vampires is one of 3 adult urban fantasy series that I'm utterly in love with, and that is still going strong and onto book 12 with Midnight Marked. This is the kinda series that I preorder the book as soon as it becomes available on Amazon, and that I usually start reading as soon as it downloads to my Kindle at midnight.

It's a bit mind-blowing to think that only a year has passed between the first book and this one being the twelfth, because SO MUCH STUFF KEEPS ON HAPPENING! These guys can't even go to a damned baseball game without encountering a dead body and finding themselves knee-deep in another crisis!

The cast is extensive because we've met quite a varied group of supernaturals of a type or another, and a few humans too. I love having the Pack back in the picture, along with our favourite vampires from Cadogan house, our resident sorcerers and the best grandfather on that side of the Atlantic.

Merit is a great main character and I like how she's grown so much since she was turned and how she continues to be both resilient, kick arse and vulnerable all at once! She's very much in love with Ethan, Master and alpha male, but she does NOT fail to call him on his bullshit and challenge him when it needs to be done.

Ethan, also known as Darth Sullivan, is alpha male 100% and changes cannot come too easily for a 400 year old vampire, but I like that he is beginning to adapt, even though he still seems uncapable of a proper apology and instead we get what Mallory calls "alphology". He deserved a bit of a smack in the head for failing at being Master and losing his head going all alpha, but nothing that can't be forgiven.

Merit & Mallory's friendship continues to be a joy to read about, and I love how after all that happened, their friendship was tested and strenghtened. I loved seeing them going on double dates, even if they usually end interrupted rudely by murder more often than not.

We get a few interesting answers when it comes to questions unanswered from book 1, and so proving that you never know when something will come back to play a part on what's to come. We also get a few more mentions of a certain prophecy that I hope we'll get more answers to soon, maybe next book?

The ending after the final confrontation with the bad guy seemed a bit... I dunno, cheap? But of course opens up for what might come in the next book(s) and I wonder how things will play up. On the other hand, I'm extremely please with the final surprise in the book and I'm still squeeing about it!!

Only thing that must be noted is how every book seems to be a love letter to Chicago, Chloe Neill never fails to make me want to visit all the places talked about in the books! Is there a Chicagoland Vampires tour yet? There needs to be! Very much deserved 4 stars for this one! When is the next one coming out!?! Waiting a whole year is gonna kill me!!

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Friday Reads: Nice Dragons Finish Last & A Good Dragon Deserves Another by Rachel Aaron!!

Hello there guys!

Happy Friday and even more to those of you that don't have to work the weekend (unlike me)! And for those like me that have to work... well, make the most of it anyways!

For this week's Friday Reads I have another pair of mini reviews because backlog... I really get too caught up on reading and end up ignoring the reviewing and it's not pretty!

These two books I read while ARC August was going strong but I needed a break from reading ARCs! They were exactly what I needed and I totally binge read them both in a day! I have to thank the awesome Kim from The Midnight Garden for highly recommending (aka book pushing) these to me! KIM YOU WERE SO RIGHT! If you want, you can read Kim's reviews HERE and HERE!




Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


4.5 stars for this amazing urban fantasy with what might be my favourite take on dragons ever! Thank you so much Kim from The Midnight Garden, I owe you one!!

Julius, our main character is an unusual dragon, not just to any fantasy novel standards, but more importantly to his own family standards. Why? Well, he's a nice guy! Not a scheming, coniving and plotting evil kinda dragon, he even hides from the rest of the family in his room!

He finds himself in a very hard situation because his mother decides to give him an ultimatum to learn to behave like a "proper" dragon or die. And he ends mixed up with more ruthless dragons and also finds a rather unlikely ally in a mage called Marci, that has a soul sucking cat as a sort of... companion, pet?

My absolute favourite part of this book, aside from the fantastic characters, not just the main ones, but also the brilliant secondary characters that at no point felt two dimensional or flat, or the fantastic mix of urban fantasy & postapocalyptic sort of world building, or the action filled plot, with more than a few surprises, was the humour!! I adoooore the humour in this book! It's sort of everywhere without being ridiculous at any point, it makes you snort, giggle and laugh out loud alternatively!

There's a lil bit of romance here, but for the most part is a very very slow burn that made me look forward to how it'd play out in the next book! And it never overtook the rest of the book, plot or character development!

If you like dragons, urban fantasy and love when books can surprise you and make you laugh and make you turn pages like there's no tomorrow... Give this series a try!!




One Good Dragon Deserves Another by Rachel Aaron

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Another 4.5 stars!

I adore Julius and Marci and I must confess of a soft spot for the Superpowerful Seer Dragon with the Most Mundane name ever: Bob! A fantastic, game changer of a sequel!

The second book in the series takes off very closely where book 1 left us, with Julius and Marci working together as curse breakers, trying to stay out of the way of Julius' family but not being too successful... Blame the seer dragons meddling with everything!

This is exactly what a good sequel should be, with character growth and more than a few surprises that our dear Julius would have never had a clue about, an expanded world building that goes beyond what we had seen in the first book, with extra information about dragons and their past, and not only their present.

And things change, things do change a LOT! New alliances are made, we meet new characters (there are quite a few Heartstriker sibling to meet and some of them aren's half as bad as one would have expected!) and we find out the truth about some characters that we wondered how important they'd really be.

Julius and Marci keep being their awesome selves, Marci in particular keeps on being an awesome kick arse mage that manages to make the best of everything, avoiding falling into traps and manouvering herself like an absolute pro! Julius is his adorable self and discovers that doing things his own way is being a dragon in his own way (redefining dragoness, so to speak!).

And the ending... oh boy what an ending! The final was quite epic with a battle, a regime change and then some quite unexpected appearances and disappearances, waking ups and dyings and BAM! I just need the next book STAT!!

VERY VERY RECOMMENDED series!!



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Friday Reads: ARC Review of Beastly Bones by William Ritter!!

Hey there!

Friday is here once again and I'm back from the cottage to get ready to go back to work this weekend, but at least I have some awesome co-workers this weekend, which is always a relief, and even more during the summer months!

For this week's Friday Reads I have another ARC review for ARC August and one that I hope it'll help reach the ever-ellusive 80% ratio on Netgalley!

Beastly Bones: A Jackaby Novel by William   Ritter

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


After reading and loving Jackaby last year, I was thrilled to be approved by Algonquin books via NetGalley!

This book is also from Abigail's POV and it starts like any other day in the life of our paranormal investigators, with an intriguing and strange case of dangerous but apparently fluffy kittens.

And with such an intriguing but mostly harmless case we start and things get more intriguing and more dire once there's a murder and then they're hired by the police to help on the investigation because there's been another similar murder at the village where a certain handsome and somewhat canine policeman was destined after the events of the previous book.

We meet a peculiar friend of Jackaby's that has a special love for "unique" creatures and a whole new cast of characters quite distinctive all of them! Some a bit more exagerated than others but not to the point of being ridiculous, even if it was rather humorous at times!

Abigail gets to be more than just Jackaby's assistant because she gets her time to shine when it comes to her passion: paleontology! The murder happened close to a dig with an amazing dinosaur discovery and things start getting more and more mysterious and it seems like they might be related somehow.

I love how Abigail worries about her feelings for Charlie and if acting on them would end up cutting down the freedom she fought so hard for, to the point of crossing the Atlantic on her own. And I loved how Jackaby's reactions and advice were odd but somewhat on point (rather reminded me of the Tenth Doctor in those moments, with a lil of 11th too!).

So threads seemed to be unconnected: Jenny's acting unusually ghoulish, the strange kittens, and odd man that Abigail sees twice, the whole murders case...

It was a super fast read and I was never bored but I did get a bit frustrated because I felt that they took too long to put two and two together and I had guessed something rather big quite early on, although I had not guessed exactly who or how was responsible for it.

I was extremely excited about the end because it opens rather epic possibilities for the next book! A mastermind behind paranormal cases! Jenny's case! Cannot wait!

Well deserved 3.5 stars for this one! Quite recommended to those who want something that mix urban fantasy with historical fiction!



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Blog Tour for The Nightmare Charade by Mindee Arnett: Review & Giveaway!!!

Hey there guys!!

Today I'm more than honoured to be part of The Nightmare Charade Blog Tour hosted by IFB Tours!
Mindee is one of my auto-buy authors and I'm really sad to say goodbye to The Arkwell Academy series and Dusty and Eli! But with Nightmare Charade we say goodbye to the series with a proper bang!

Before I share my spoiler-free as possible review of The Nightmare Charade and you guys can enter the giveaway, I'll let you know a bit more about book and author, in case you aren't familiar with either of them!

And don't forget to check the rest of the tour schedule HERE!

The Nightmare Charade by Mindee Arnett

Series: Arkwell Academy #3

Release date: August 4th 2015
Publisher: Tor Teen
Purchase: Amazon | B&N

Synopsis via Goodreads:
 
The final installment in a thrilling fantastical mystery series.
 
Sixteen-year-old Dusty Everhart breaks into houses late at night, but not because she’s a criminal. No, she’s a Nightmare. Literally. Dusty is a magical being who feeds on human dreams.
 
Being the only Nightmare at Arkwell Academy, a boarding school for magickind, and living in the shadow of her mother’s infamy is hard enough, not to mention the crazy events of the past year. Dusty may have saved the day, but there are many days left in the year, and with an old foe back to seek revenge, she'll need all her strength to defeat him and save her friends. 

Mindee Arnett thrills again in this stunning final installment in the Arkwell Academy series.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

YA Author of THE NIGHTMARE AFFAIR, a contemporary fantasy coming March 5, 2013 from Tor Teen (Macmillan) and AVALON, a YA sci-fi thriller coming Winter 2014 from Balzer+Bray (HarperCollins). Represented by the fabulous Suzie Townsend of New Leaf Literary. Addicted to jumping horses and telling tales of magic, the macabre, and outer space.

                    WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | GOODREADS | INSTAGRAM

REVIEW

From the first moment that I read The Nightmare Affair, I fell in love with Dusty and her slightly awkward charm and loved this school for different magickind and here I am now trying to review the final book...

Whenever we read the final book in a series we've loved and enjoyed, it's always a very bittersweet feeling and there's a lil trepitation about how well the final book will wrap up the story. In this case, I'm more than happy to report that we needed not fear! Mindee did a fantastic job to solve the big mysteries, move the story along, keep us turning pages like mad and worry about everyone because it seemed like no one was really safe!

I will try my best to remain spoiler free for not just this book but also the previous books in the trilogy, but keep in mind something might slip if I get overenthusiastic, as it might happen!

We knew to expect a mystery since we're talking about the Dream Team after all! (is it cheesy? Yes, but hell I love it!) But things are getting darker and creepier and even more dangerous than ever before! Do you see that barge/boat on the cover? You won't look at it in the same way after you've read the book, let me tell you that!

Not only we have out main guys fighting to be together as the star-crossed lovers they're now (some revelations happen here) but we also have more distrust and misdirection that ever since our new bad minion can be anyone!

We also get a good look at profiling and discrimination done through how different kinds of magickind are treated by each other. Easier to digest when it's not presented as obvious as it'd be through our normal reality but will give plenty of food for thought if applied to our every day life.

High stakes, evil that can be anyone and anywhere, and loved ones that keep on disappearing make for a tense read and if we add the very disquieting dreams that are the only clues our Dream Team has, along with some memories from the sword... Guessing who the bad guy is, turning the page hoping things can be fixed somehow, it all makes for a tense and at the same time fun read, because no matter how high the stakes are, there is always a lil bit of humour in these books, and I'm really thankful for it!

Very well deserved 4.5 stars to this final chapter! Fantastic way to end this trilogy full of charm, fun and plenty of mystery!

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Friday Reads: ARC Review of The Veil by Chloe Neill!!

Hey there guys!

Happy Friday! I'm trying to clear up my review pile a lil before jumping head first into ARC August!
The book for this week's Friday Reads is an ARC that I was approved for by Penguin on NetGalley! I cannot say thank you enough to the Penguin guys for being so kind to approve me so often over there!

It counts towards my 105 challenge since it is a 2015 release (an August 4th to be more precise!).

The Veil by Chloe Neill

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I'm a huge fan of Chloe Neill's other UF series, the Chicagoland Vampires series, and I was quite intrigued about this one.

I'm happy to report this is another UF series I will be faithfully following now. It has the trademarks of Chloe's writing without feeling like a rehash of Chicagoland.

The setting is New Orleans after a war with the paranormals in which the Veil that separates their world from ours was torn. Claire lives in a recovering from war NOLA, where magic is outlawed and paranormals are kept in a special prison. Times are tough and she runs an antiques + survival shop she inherited from her dad.

Claire is a wonderful character. She had plenty to be afraid of and she had a secret she kept from everyone in her life, but even fear of discovery and punishment wouldn't stop her from trying to help and do what's right. And even when her life threatens to change too much too fast she doesn't shrink back from what she can do to help. Not even what she would prefer to do is hide her head in the sand and pretend nothing happened. She's resilient, strong and a bit of firecracker, but not overly impulsive.

Liam is a bounty hunter with alpha tendencies but that doesn't really go to the "so alpha he ends up being an arsehole" side, which is always a relief. He's got his own issues and secrets but he's willing to help Claire be safe and also make her understand that there's more to the paranormals and the war that is public knowledge. I love that he wants to help her but doesn't treat her like a breakable thing but acknowlegdes who she is and what she can do.

The pacing was a bit slow through the first half or maybe a lil more of the book because there was some real basic world building to do and characters to stablish, but once the action started to pick up and the game started to be revealed... I couldn't turn the pages fast enough!

There's romance here but it's more on the attraction and the "should we should we not act on it", and "with the state of things and what can happen to you, maybe it's better if we keep our distance for reasons", but I cannot wait to see how these two deal with their attraction as the series progresses! They can make a great team.

Thankfully there's no real cliffhanger on this one, the first chapter of the larger story ends neatly although we know there's more coming and we are left really looking forward to see what's next for the gang!

3.5 well deserved stars on the higher side of the 3.5!



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Mark This Book Monday: Burn and The Wrath & The Dawn!!!

Hello there guys!!

I hope all you US peeps had a brilliant weekend with the 4th of July and the Women's World Cup win, and I hope that my fellow Europeans are surviving the bloody awful heat wave!

Today for Mark This Book Monday I have two mini reviews for two books that have been part of a very good reading binge, until I ended up with a massive book hangover last weekend. Both count towards my 105 Challenge, one as a 2015 Release and the other as Fantasy book! And since one of them is also a debut, it counts towards my 2015 Debut Author Challenge!

Burn by Paula Weston

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is what a final book in a beloved series needs to be! And this is the perfect finale for this series, with the good and the bad and the fights and everything! 5 stars doesn't start to describe it properly!

Writing a proper review of this one is gonna be rather difficult, given how easily I might end up spoiling either this book or any of the previous 3, but given how the summary tells you the big ending of the previous book... Just trust me, start reading this series now!

Gaby has to be quite one of my favourite female characters with her flaws, her loyalty and her way of fighting what doesn't make sense and accepting things once they are proven. And I love that despite getting all the missing pieces, she still made herself anew!

We get quite a few twists and surprises when it comes to getting all the pending information, and trust me, we do get it in spades! Some of the twists are quite game changers for all the characters. Some unexpected alliances happen, and some moments of hilarity also unexpectedly happen!

The romance in this series is the most awesome mix of attraction/slow burn/complicated relationship that you can find, and even if we find out what happened in the past between Rafa and Gaby... it made me root for them both even more!! *happy sigh*

Another thing that I loved about this book is how important the relationship between siblings is, because Jude and Gaby and their relationship really is pivotal on everything that happens, the good and the bad. Splitting apart and getting back in touch... and you gotta love how even when choosing different sides, it is a great depiction of a familiar love!

And I don't want to fail to mention how much I loved that friendships are also very much important in this book. Between Rafa and Jude, Gaby and Maggie, and how those friends stand various tests, one of the biggest the revelation of not being human and fighting demons!

If you are a fan of angel books, you NEED to read this series. If, like me, you really aren't too keen on books about angels... you NEED to give this one a try, as I did!! Aussie angels are different mate! ;)





The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! THE NEXT BOOK!!! I NEEEEEED IT!!!!!

*takes a deep breath*

Okay, now I feel like I can attempt to write a somewhat coherent review, now that a pair of days have passed and I still feel very strongly about the book but not as lost for words!

First of all, I haven't read 1001 Nights properly, but I do own a gorgeous edition of the books, and I've read quite a few of the stories as children's stories and know a bit about the general plot of the book.

That might have been for the best given how this one is a loose retelling, and although we get some stories told at night here too and those I was quite familiar with, we get more of the day to day of Shazi and Khalid and how their relationship changes in unexpected ways for them both.

The writing and descriptions are fantastic, lush and visual and I was completely immersed in the book! So much that I completely devoured it in a day! The clothes, the architecture... the FOOD!! I'm still craving Indian and Persian food after reading this book because so much amazing food!!

I loved Shazi as a character, she's loyal, she's fierce and her internal monologues where always very sincere. I love that she can be trying to achieve her goal and protect her family, but she finds herself learning more and her feelings change and she never really lies to herself.

Khalid is a more difficult character to relate at first, because we know so little about him, but we also know there's so much more about him, about the deaths and about his fight for his kingdom, and as Shazi discovers it, so do we. I feel like I fell for Khalid right beside Shazi!

Political intrigue, magic and love, this book has them in spades! Add to that a completely heartbreaking ending and you find yourself as I did, screaming for a sequel! A fantastic debut very much worthy of 5 stars!



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Xpresso Book Tours Blog Tour for Hunting Season by Nikki Jefford!!

Hey there everyone! Today I'm taking part in the Blog Tour for Hunting Season by Nikki Jefford, organized by Xpresso Book Tours!

I will be sharing an interview with Nikki herself & 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?

Hunting Season by Nikki Jefford
(Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter #4)
Publication date: March 3rd 2015
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

Synopsis:

Better to be a hunter, not prey.

Ever since her partner was kidnapped, Aurora Sky has been on a personal mission to get him back. To do that she needs the vampire responsible for destroying her life.
In order to have a snowball’s chance at success, she’ll have to team up with her most loyal friends—including a certain vampire in black with a provoking talent for distraction.
Old cravings aren’t easily quenched, nor past passions. With knowledge comes danger and Aurora is at risk on all sides.

Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo

 About the author:

Bookaholic, nature girl, and animal lover.

Nikki Jefford is a third generation Alaskan who found paradise in the not-so-tropical San Juan Islands (WA) where she is, once more, neighbors with Canada in a town without a single traffic light.

She married the love of her life, Sebastien, while working as a teaching assistant in France. They reside with their Westie, Cosmo in Friday Harbor.

Loves fictional bad boys and heroines who kick butt.

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook

Interview

Hi Nikki! Thank you for dropping by my blog and answering some questions!

Thank you for having me! :D

1.- I know you are a born and bred Alaskan, but I've quite wondered on what made you choose Alaska and Anchorage to be the centre of the action in your books, because the great White North might not seem a very typical vampire friendly place!

But it so is! It’s cold, it’s dark; it’s like Florida for seniors. (Summer’s another matter.) ;-) There are so many reasons Alaska makes an ideal paranormal/sci-fi setting. The Northern Lights look like something from a fantasy realm when they’re weaving across the night sky. Alaska is an insanely gorgeous and wild place. The climate is harsh, the citizens bizarre, and there’s an element of danger. I couldn’t dream up a better setting.


2.- I loved how you decided to give a new twist to the vampire myths and origins. How did you choose mixing blood types and virus as the way to develop vampirism?

Thank you. I knew I had to do something different, but I didn’t know what, so I began reading about vampirism hoping for a lightbulb moment. It came while reading “Vampire Forensics: Uncovering the Origins of an Enduring Legend” by Mark Collins Jenkins. 

  

Throughout time, vampire scares almost always follow an epidemic of some sort.

What if vampirism really was triggered by disease?

The first problem with that is the world would be full of vampires. I fixed this by making only people with the rarest blood type in the world capable of turning.


3.- I also love that instead of vampires being a secret to all of society you decided to go with a more government conspiracy angle. How did you choose to make an agency of special forces of vampire hunters?

Come on, you know the government is hiding all kinds of goodies. Aliens and vampires are just scratching the surface. ;-)

I’m an action junkie (Charlie’s Angels, Alias, Buffy, Supernatural, Stargate SG-1…) and a sucker for good battling evil and the blurred line in between.

 
4.- Female characters abound in your books, and they are all quite different and their relationships go beyond the topical ones. Aurora and Valerie are what can be considered antagonists and even frenemies, but it is way more complex than that. My favourite though have to be Aurora's relationship with her mum and grandma. Did you plan that relationship like that or did it evolve organically?

That’s nice to hear! Aurora’s relationship with her mom was planned out for book one. As with my witch novel Entangled, the mom’s been cornered into making a life and death choice for her daughter. It might not be the right one, but what mother wouldn’t make it if given the option?

Aurora’s Gran wasn’t planned. As things fall further apart in Aurora and Mrs. Sky’s lives, she hops a plane from Florida to Anchorage to whip her girls into shape. LOL I love strong, bossy grandmothers.


5.- I'm usually not a fan of love triangles in books, but I'm finding the one in the series quite intriguing and genuine, so kudos for that! Did you always plan to confront Aurora with two different guys that would represent two sides for her to choose, the vampires or the hunters?

I love how you put that! But, no. I loathe love triangles. But I do love Fane and Dante. I love them both equally for different reasons. Unexpected situations keep cropping up… and continue to surprise me. (Just wait until Whiteout releases next month!)

Dante was never meant to be a love interest. He was there for comic relief. But he can be maddeningly sexy when he chooses. It’s difficult to prevent hormones from taking over when he and Aurora are working together so closely on missions.

Probably the biggest challenge, and biggest complaint I hear from fans, is giving Fane more page time. In Hunting Season, he and Aurora get to team up a bit… and finish car rehabilitation. Finally!

Back in the saddle. J

Thank you for the fantastic questions!

Thank you so much for all your even more fantastic answers Nikki, I'm so excited now to continue reading and Whiteout too!!

Giveaway

Tour-wide giveaway (INTL)
Signed Aurora Sky Paperback of choice

a Rafflecopter giveaway