Monthly Archives: September 2012

DARK LIGHT OF DAY (Noon Onyx #1) by Jill Archer-a review

Posted on by
10

DARK LIGHT OF DAY (Noon Onyx #1) by Jill Archer-a review

DARK LIGHT OF DAY (Noon Onyx #1) by Jill Archer is set to release September 25, 2012.

Book blurb: Armageddon is over. The demons won. And yet somehow…the world has continued. Survivors worship patron demons under a draconian system of tributes and rules. These laws keep the demons from warring among themselves, the world from slipping back into chaos.

Noon Onyx grew up on the banks of the river Lethe, daughter of a prominent politician, and a descendant of Lucifer’s warlords. Noon has a secret—she was born with waning magic, the dark, destructive, fiery power that is used to control demons and maintain the delicate peace among them. But a woman with waning magic is unheard of and some will consider her an abomination.

Noon is summoned to attend St. Lucifer’s, a school of demon law. She must decide whether to declare her powers there…or attempt to continue hiding them, knowing the price for doing so may be death. And once she meets the forbiddingly powerful Ari Carmine—who suspects Noon is harboring magic as deadly as his own—Noon realizes there may be more at stake than just her life.

DARK LIGHT OF DAY is the introductory storyline in Jill Archer’s Noon Onyx series. Archer’s series focuses on the simmering truce between Angels and Demons 2000 years after Armageddon , and the destructive nature of the Maegester and their dark ‘waning’ magic. But for 21 year old Nouiomo Onyx (aka Noon) a reversal of fortunes has occurred at her birth-she was imbued with the dark waning magic (once only accorded to men) and her twin Nocturo (Night) was the waxing magic (once only accorded to women). Women were the creators not the destroyers. An embarrassment to her parents, Noon’s only recourse is to hide in plain sight.

Hoping to avoid her destiny as a future Maegester and the power to decide life or death for a demon, Noon must try to suppress her powers before she declares. But her powers have been recognized while away at Demon Law school by a demon hunter and a Maegester-in–training and her future choices could be fatal. But a friend is convinced he can help Noon.

Peter Aster is an angel and has been Noon’s bestfriend since childhood. Trying to keep Noon’s true identity a secret, Peter will risk everything to help his childhood friend including his family, his education and his friendship with Noon. But Peter’s revelations and his true feelings for Noon pushed Peter beyond his limitations.

Ari Carmine is a Maegester-in-training and with his waning magic he recognized Noon’s powers immediately. Hoping to come to an understanding, Ari gives Noon the option of declaring herself a Maegester before the people in power declare her death. Ari has ulterior motives for Noon’s declaration-his motives were personal. But a classroom assignment will pit Ari against Noon, and their attraction to one another could prove each other’s fall. 

Meanwhile, a rash of demon attacks has everyone on edge. When the truth about the attacks is finally revealed, Noon will have lost at friend, a client and possibly the love of her life.

The novel is divided into two sections. Winter and Spring. Winter reveals the darkness and magic that surrounds Noon, as well as the man who marks her as his own. Spring’s revelations will throw Noon into a world that she never thought would be possible-a world of love, of betrayal, of guilt and revelations.

DARK LIGHT OF DAY is a fascinating storyline. There is a phenomenal amount of back-story, information, and otherworldly terminology that at times had me confused, but once I got my head out of reviewer mode, I placed myself into the storyline and experienced the adrenalin and excitement first hand. The character development is smooth, but I kept waiting for the proverbial ‘other shoe to drop’. Jill Archer has created a dark world that will grab your attention from the very start.

LINKS TO ORDER
The Book Depository
Amazon Paper
Amazon Kindle
B&N Nook and Paper books

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

Share

HOW TO DRIVE A DRAGON CRAZY (Dragon Kin #6) by G.A.Aiken -a review

Posted on by
19

HOW TO DRIVE A DRAGON CRAZY (Dragon Kin #6) by G.A.Aiken -a review

HOW TO DRIVE A DRAGON CRAZY (Dragonkin #6) by G. A. Aiken

LINK TO : G.A. Aiken/Shelly Laurenston Website

HOW TO DRIVE A DRAGON CRAZY is the 6th full length novel in G. A. Aiken’s Dragon kin series. Many fans of the series have been waiting for this particular storyline for a long time surrounding Izzy and Eibhear, but the author made sure that ten years has past since the last storyline, allowing for the teenaged human Izzy to develop and mature into a young woman. No longer the young 16 year old step-daughter of Briec, Izzy is approaching her 30th winter and ‘by the gods’ Eibhear is ready to claim what he has know to be his all along.

For the past 10 years Eibhear has been stationed and fighting with one of the fiercest and most despised battalions in the Queen’s army. His latest assignment was to bring Izzy home, but he hadn’t seen his ‘niece’ in over a decade. Hoping that she has forgiven him for sins of the past, Eibhear has never stopped longing for the only woman who would one day be his mate. But bringing Izzy back to the family would only present itself with many unanswered questions for both.

Izzy and Eibhear were first introduced to each other in G A Aiken’s second Dragon Kin novel About a Dragon. As the human daughter of a Nolwenn witch, Izzy had always believed she was without the power of her mother’s people, but when circumstances presented themselves, Izzy knew that her only recourse was to travel the distance to meet the grandmother she has always despised. But what and whom she found would bring sorrow and tears to a woman who had not grieved the loss of her first love.

G A Aiken has blended all of the previous storyline’s main characters including the now 16 year old twins of Annwyl and Fearghus, as well as Talaith and Briec’s powerful young daughter Rhiannwen, into this particular novel.  As the storyline progresses we are privy to the little nuances that separate the young teens from their family. Unlike any other children born, this trio will be a force never before seen.

The relationship between Izzy and Eibhear continues to be sarcastic, full of innuendo and on the surface one that is barely tolerated. But deep down, the separation of the two has only made the inevitable more pronounced. Izzy has always known that Eibhear was the only dragon and male for her. And while she and her cousin Brannie continue to make a mockery of their ‘uncle and niece’ relationship, it is obviously apparent that EVERYONE else is well aware that these two people have always belonged together.

The consummation of the relationship is anti-climactic (comparatively) since this has been one of the most anticipated storylines of the series. I had hoped for something ‘more’ but was actually disappointed – the love/sex scenes seemed rushed as though –“well, we did it, now what?” There was always an attack or emergency every time Izzy and Eibhear got together. Even when Eibhear comes to ‘claim’ and mark Izzy as his own there was no struggle or affirmations of love similar to the other storylines. But I digress, the storyline does explain why, yet it felt like an excuse to skip over the scene.

Overall, I enjoyed HOW TO DRIVE A DRAGON CRAZY. Some questions about Talon, Talwyn and Rhiannwen were answered, but many questions have yet to be addressed, which leaves plenty of storyline for upcoming novels. There is a surprise ending as well, that leads me to hope that one of my favorite couples may one day start a family of their own.

READING ORDER
1. Dragon Actually
2. About a Dragon
3. Can’t Get Enough (Everlasting Bad Boys Anthology)
4. What a Dragon Should Know
5. Last Dragon Standing
6. Dragon on Top (Supernatural Anthology)
7. How to Drive a Dragon Crazy

LINKS TO ORDER:
Amazon Kindle
Amazon Books
B&N Nook and Books
KOBO
The Book Depository

Reviewed by Sandy

Share

HOWL FOR IT Anthology by Shelly Laurenston/Cynthia Eden-a review

Posted on by
17

HOWL FOR IT Anthology by Shelly Laurenston/Cynthia Eden-a review

This review will cover LIKE A WOLF WITH A BONE only.

Back Cover Copy:
LIKE A WOLF WITH A BONE
Quiet little Darla Lewis couldn’t be happier when the most-feared member of the South’s rowdiest pack kidnaps her. A girl gets real tired of being overprotected by her own shifter family, and there’s nothing like an oh-so-big bad wolf to start a pack feud, unleash her instincts—and have her surrender however and whenever she wants…

Eggbert *Eggie* Ray Smith is feared by everyone, the members of his own pack, his fellow Marines, mostly due to being very good at his job: killing……. Everyone except Darla Mae Lewis, (who is a pacifist), whom he encounters while on leave in Smithville, NC, where the Lewis Pack is based. She lives in San Francisco and works as a pastry chef for the Van Holtz pack in one of their exclusive restaurants. Mr. Van Holtz, for some unknown reason, sent Darla Mae home, insisting that she take a little vacation.

Darla Mae is the baby of her family and her sisters are very overprotective. And she couldn’t be more different than her sisters. Her sisters, whom are all “Maes”, are mated to Eggie’s brothers, whom are all “Rays”. (It really is hysterical!) And, of course, once Eggie and Darla meet, there is an immediate attraction for both. As the story unfolds, there is an attempt on Darla Mae’s life and Eggie takes things into his own hands, literally. Once he has the situation under control, he takes her back to Smithville, TN to his home, where he can better protect her. Of course, his brothers’ mates think he is evil incarnate and are worried for Darla Mae’s well-being, so they all follow them back to Tennessee. Once in Tennessee, things start to happen quickly. There are a few bumps in the road with the Lewis Pack being accepting of Eggie, and of course, the Smith Pack has to make sure that Darla Mae is worthy of Eggie. And, they all find out the reason behind Darla Mae’s boss being insistent that she take a vacation. She saw something she shouldn’t have. There is another attempt on her life and all of the shifters in and around Smithville, TN help out, and once Eggie makes the scene, they are reminded why he is so feared. No one messes with anything or anyone Eggie considers his.

I loved this story. No one writes with humor like Shelly Laurensten. Of course, this is a prequel, going back and telling us how Darla Mae Lewis tamed the enigma that is Eggert Ray Smith. We also hear from the Magnus Pack in this book, which was a hoot. The interaction between the brothers and their mates, is, as always, too much fun!! Those sisters are a force to be reckoned with. And, Eggie’s Sugar Bug!!! For those of you who haven’t read this series, that’s their daughter Dee Ann, affectionately known as Sugar Bug. And you really have got to read this series in order to understand how hysterical that name is for little ol’ Dee Ann!! The epilogue ends up in the “present day” timeline within this series. I am telling ya’ll, this is absolutely one of the best, funniest, action packed series that I have ever read. Definitely in my top five series of all time. If you’ve read this series, you know what I mean. If you haven’t, there aren’t enough words for me to tell you what ya’ll are missing!! 😉

READING ORDER
1. Pack Challenge
2. Go Fetch
3. Here Kitty Kitty
4. When He was Bad..anthology

5. The Mane Event
6. The Beast in Him
7. The Mane Attraction
8. The Mane Squeeze
9. Beast Behaving Badly
10.Big Bad Beast
11.Bear Meet Girl
12.Howl For It

Reviewed by Vickie M.

Share

Delusion in Death by J.D. Robb – a Review

Posted on by
14

Delusion in Death by J.D. Robb – a Review

Delusion in Death by J.D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts), is the 36th  book in the In Death series. With at least 10 novellas in this series, the number of times we get to spend time with our beloved couple, Eve and Roarke, and their friends is now in the high 40’s. Despite this high number, I never want this to end.  The In Death series is on my automatic buy, and I will drop whatever else I am reading to read the new book. On to Delusion in Death.

Description:
It was just another after-work happy-hour bar downtown, where business professionals unwound with a few drinks . . .until something went terribly wrong. And after twelve minutes of chaos and violence, eighty people lay dead.

Lieutenant Eve Dallas is trying to sort out the inexplicable events. Surviving witnesses talk about seeing things—monsters and swarms of bees. They describe sudden, overwhelming feelings of fear and rage and paranoia. When forensics gives its report, the mass delusions make more sense: It appears the bar patrons were exposed to a cocktail of chemicals and illegal drugs that could drive anyone to temporary insanity—if not kill them outright.  But that doesn’t explain who would unleash such horror—or why. And if Eve can’t figure it out fast, it could happen again, anytime, anywhere. Because it’s airborne. . . .

Review:

Delusion in Death is another excellent book, and J.D. Robb once again gives us an exciting thriller.  Delusion in Death begins as the work day in New York City is ending, and people are either rushing home or stopping for a drink with friends to unwind.  As the story starts we are at a local bar, a nightly hangout for executives. We follow along as 4 friends sit at a table making plans for dinner.  Soon one of them gets a headache, and out of no where becomes violently nasty.  The next scene brings Lieutenant Eve Dallas to the bar, as she was called in to investigate a horrendous crime scene. 

Even Eve, who is always exposed to terrible crime scenes, and vicious murderers, finds herself fighting to maintain her calm composure seeing this mass destruction. We learn early on that within 12 minutes, 83 people were dead, having attacked each other like animals. The few survivors describe seeing hallucinations, of being attacked by monsters, animals, insects, and reacted in their own maddening rage of self defense.  The virus is a short acting virus, but unless they can escape, no one can survive.

Eve calls in her entire team to help with the bodies, and begin their investigations as to what caused this behavior, and to move quickly before it happens again.  Of course, as normal, Roarke arrives on the scene to help, and we find out that he owns the bar, which isn’t much of a surprise, as Roarke owns everything. 🙂  Working with Morris and Dickie, it doesn’t take Eve long to figure out that an airborne virus from a mixture of lethal drugs was used, causing massive deaths.  The immediate worry was if this was a terrorist attack, and the threat and fear of more to come. The scary part was this was the type of attack that can come with no warning, at anytime, anywhere, with massive deaths, if this was not confined within a small indoor area.  

What I really love about this series is how you find yourself totally immersed into the case with Eve, as you see and know everything she is thinking, and you follow the case as if you were along side her.  It was an exciting story, as Eve slowly, with the help of Roarke and her super team, begin to thread through all the details of the victims, and survivors to find the clues to unravel this mystery before another mass murder happens again.  We also get to learn more about the Urban wars, and possible terrifying scenarios that may have begun from those ugly war days. 

This story also brings back memories of some previous books, as they reference some of those cases.  Eve still has her nightmares, but now they were in-twined with her dead mother and father, and the victims of this mass murder.  Eve seems to finally have moved forward, and perhaps we can put those monsters to the hell they belong in.

What can I say about Roarke; how much he loves his cop, and how he ensures she takes care of herself, even if he has to push her to eat, and sleep.  Eve Dallas is my all time favorite female in the literary world.  She is a tough cop, with a horrendous childhood, and despite the odds, made herself into the best there is.  But she is also madly in love with the most perfect man Roarke (he is also my favorite male character), and together they help each other survive in a wild and dangerous world. 

The last half of the book is extremely exciting, more violence, as Eve and her team race against the clock to find those responsible. Along the way to the exciting climax, there are some twists and surprises.

Kudos to J.D. Robb (Nora), for keeping this series fresh, allowing us to share our love of Eve & Roarke, as well as the best secondary group of characters around.  It was great to be able to enjoy Peabody, Mira, Summerset (it was nice to see them civil to each other), Nadine, Baxter, Trueheart, McNab, Feeney, Morris and the rest of the gang.  I did think though that this book missed some of the humor between those secondary characters and Eve, though there was some.  Make no mistake, the In Death series is about murder, police, violence; but it is the love of Eve & Roarke, and the camaraderie between those wonderful secondary characters that makes this special.  Hopefully we see more of that in the next book, coming in February, 2013..Calculated in Death.

Reviewed by Barb

Share

ARTEMIS RISING by Cheri Lasota-a review

Posted on by
13

Artemis Rising by Cheri Lasota- a review

Artemis Rising is young adult story based in the myth of Arethusa and Alpheus and Tristan and Isolde.  The beginning of the story has the main character, Eva, deciding to follow the pagan beliefs of her mother.  She was raised a staunch Catholic, but has decided to follow her mother.  Eva and her mother begin the ritual to dedicate Eva to Artemis, Goddess of the Moon, only to be discovered by her father and the ritual stopped.  They then begin their trip from America to the Azores aboard a ship that belongs to a wealthy man whose son, Diogo, is believed by Eva’s mom to be Alpheus.  The ritual is finally performed by Eva’s mother and Eva dedicates herself to Artemis and assumes the name Arethusa.

There is a storm that blows in and the ship crashes and Eva is rescued by a local boy, Tristao, who takes her to the orphanage where he lives.  And she discovers that she is the only survivor of the shipwreck.  Eva is resigned to the fact that she is on her own now and sets out to follow through with the plans her mother had laid out for her.  Diogo eventually shows up and Tristao is not pleased.  Diogo believes himself to be Alpheus and that Arethusa is his.  Through a series of events, Eva and Tristao are adopted by the padre’s brother, who then tells them of the legend of Tristan and Isolde and that he believes they are the embodiment of them.  Eva questions everything that she has been led to believe, and eventually makes her decision to follow in the path set forth by her adoptive father, as does Tristao.

This is the type of story that I would not normally read, but many enjoyed the story, so I gave it a go.  About half way through the book, I found myself wanting to see what happens next, then the story changed.  It went from the Arethusa and Alpheus legend to Tristan and Isolde.  At certain points I was confused as to which legend I was supposed to be following and honestly had trouble following the story as the storylines branched out.  And, if you’re familiar with the legend of Tristan and Isolde, there is not a happy ending.  This story stops before we find out if the legend comes to fruition.  With that said, I did like the main two characters, Eva and Tristao.  There are some sweet moments between them and the author does a good job of letting you feel their angst.  It was an interesting read.

Reviewed by Vickie M.

Copy supplied by author

Share

COVER REVEALS

Posted on by
4

COVER REVEALS

 

 

TITLE:  The Eldritch Conspiracy

AUTHOR  Cat Adams

SERIES:  Bloodsinger #5

RELEASE DATE:  January 2013

 

 

 

 

TITLE:  Blood of the Sorceress

AUTHOR:  Maggie Shayne

SERIES:  The Portal #3

RELEASE DATE:  January 2013

 

 

 

 

TITLE: Oath Bound

AUTHOR: Rachel Vincent

SERIES: Unbound #3

RELEASE DATE: February 2013

 

 

 

 

TITLE:  Frost Burned

AUTHOR:  Patricia Briggs

SERIES:  Mercy Thompson #7

RELEASE DATE:  March 2013

 

 

 

 

TITLE:  Mating Instinct

AUTHOR:  Katie Reus

SERIES:  Moon Shifter #3

RELEASE DATE:  March 2013

 

 

 

 

TITLE: South of Surrender

AUTHOR: Laura Kaye

SERIES: Heart of the Anemonie

RELEASE DATE: April 2013

 

 

 

 

 

TITLE: Born of Fury

AUTHOR: Sherrilyn Kenyon

SERIES: League

RELEASE DATE: April 2013

 

 

 


TITLE: Nameless

AUTHOR: Lillith St. Crow

SERIES: Tale of Beauty and Madness

RELEASE DATE: April 2013

 

 

 

TITLE: Undone

AUTHOR: Sara Humphreys

SERIES: The Amoevo Legend #4

RELEASE DATE: May 2013

Share

Jennifer Armentrout-Interview with the Author

Posted on by
11

Jennifer Armentrout-Interview with the Author

FROM the Website: USA TODAY Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russel Loki.

Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She also writes adult romance under the name J. Lynn.

TRC: Hi Jennifer and welcome to The Reading Café. We would like to start with some background information. Would you please tell us something about yourself?

Jennifer: I currently live in West Virginia and like most authors, I’ve always wanted to be a writer. I’m a big fan of scary movies and zombies, which is strange because zombies scared the crap out of me as a kid. I write adult and YA in pretty much every genre. I have a hard time parting with books, that’s why I have duplicate copies of some signed and way too many.

TRC: Many authors develop their interest in writing at an early age. Do you remember what was the catalyst that sparked your interest in writing? Who or what do you credit with your desire to write?

Jennifer: I’m not sure what the catalyst was, but I’ve always wanted to be a writer. I think it had to do with the fact that I read so much growing up–the old school YA and historical romance novels.

TRC: What difficulties or challenges have you faced as a writer?

Jennifer: The biggest challenge is focusing. When you have multiple books out or multiple books coming out, it can become very difficult to keep focus on writing, because there’s a lot of other stuff that needs to be done. Hours are spent catching up with emails or on the phone with editors/agent/publicists/crit partners and before you know it, you’re too tired to write. So focusing and making time can be a big challenge.

TRC: The LUX series focuses on a town of aliens trying to blend into regular life. Where did you come up with the idea of aliens posing as humans? What triggered your imagination as it pertains to alien life forms in a Young Adult storyline?

READING ORDER:  Obsidian/Shadows/Onyx

Jennifer: My adult editor at Entangled had asked me if I’d be interested in writing about aliens in high school. Initially, I laughed and was like no. Who wants to read about aliens? But the more I thought about it, the story started to take place in my head. Having the aliens try to blend in adds conflict and coming up with the type of alien was the most difficult part. For half the book, I kept picturing giant insects eating brains. Seriously.  Finally, the idea of them being made of light just popped into my head. The rest was history. =)

TRC: Occasionally you take the LUX series cover models with you on your promotional tours. Who are the models and why the decision to tour with the actors and models?

Jennifer: The models are Pepe Toth and Sztella Tziotziosz. The decision kind of came from the publisher’s wanting to get new pictures of them for the book covers, and we thought we might as well do some book trailers while they were over here…. and that spun into going on tour with them. Both of the were great and we hope to have them back for another tour.

TRC: ONYX is your August release in the LUX series. Would you please tell us about the premise of the storyline?

LINKS TO ORDER:
Amazon Paper Books
Amazon Kindle
The Book Depository
B&N Nook and Paper Books

Jennifer: Onyx is the sequel to Obsidian, so I don’t want to say too much for those who haven’t read Obsidian, but it deals with the consequences of what happened at the end of Obsidian, delves more deeply into the world of the Luxens and their interactions with the DOD. There’s romance, action, a bit of heart break, and a lot of secrets revealed.

Click HERE for our review of OBSIDIAN.

TRC: With the popularity of the characters, have you considered continuing the series? Any spin-offs?

Jennifer: There has been some talk about a companion novel. It’s almost completely written, but there isn’t much I can really share about that right now.

TRC: DEITY is the next instalment in the Covenant series. Would you please tell us about the premise?

LINKS TO PREORDER:
Amazon Paper books
The Book Depository
B&N Paper Books

Jennifer: Like Onyx and Opal, the premise is really spoilery. But It picks up where Pure left off. Seth and Alex return to Deity Island. A lot of things happen in Deity and Alex faces a lot, but you do find out who Alex wants to be with in Deity and a lot of the gods start popping up.

TRC: The covers for the Covenant Series are beautiful. Who designed the covers? Where you involved in the cover selection for this particular series?

READING ORDER:  Daimon/Half Blood/Pure/Deity/Elixir

Click HERE for our review of DAIMON- the prequel novella in the Covenant series.

Jennifer: The publisher had the covers designed and I did have a say in them, but they get all the credit for those beauties.

TRC: CURSED is your September new release. Would you please tell us something about the series?

LINKS TO ORDER:
Amazon Paper Books
B&N Paper Books
The Book Depository

Jennifer: Cursed is currently a standalone and deals with a girl who was brought back to life by her little sister. I kind of think that if someone  dies and comes back to life, they aren’t going to be right, you know? And Ember isn’t. Everything she touches dies. The book has a big mystery element to it, and instead of really focusing on the different gifts, it’s about Ember finding out who was responsible for the accident that took her life and that of her father’s.

TRC: The premise is similar yet different to the X-men comics. How many books do you have planned for the series? Will Hayden and Ember be the primary characters for each novel?

Jennifer: Right now there is only one book. I think whenever you have a group of kids that have abilities, you cannot escape the comparison to X-Men. If you have a bunch of adults with super powers, you’ll hear the same comparison. It just comes down to if the premise goes it a different direction, which Cursed isn’t about saving the world or doing heroic acts. It’s about a girl who’s trying to accept the life she’s been dealt with.

TRC: DON’T LOOK BACK is your new series schedule for release in the fall of 2013. Would you please tell us something about the new series?

Jennifer: Don’t Look Back is scheduled for March 2014, and there isn’t much I’m allowed to really share about that book yet. What I can say it’s a mystery/thriller that deals with less of memory and murder. And the book has successfully creeped out my crit partners if that tells you anything =)

TRC: What have been some of the challenges you have faced with regards to research, logistics and publication?

Jennifer: The biggest challenge is waiting for a book to come out when it has a far out release date. You kind of forget about the book until it gets closer to that date.

TRC: You have a very prolific series of storylines and books. Writer’s Block is a very real phenomenon that many authors face from time to time. How do you handle the stress of Writer’s Block?

Jennifer: I try to work through writer’s block when I get it. Luckily that hasn’t really happen. What I get is the case of inability to focus. And once again, I try to power through it. That doesn’t always work and when it’s really bad, I take a day off from writing.

TRC: Many authors bounce ideas between other authors, or family and friends. With whom do you bounce ideas?

Jennifer: With my friends. I’d be lost without them.

TRC: What is happening in the next six months?

Jennifer: Well, the next six months are going to be super busy for me. I have a book coming out every month:

August- Onyx

September- Cursed

October- Unchained (adult/ under pen name J. Lynn)

November- Deity and Elixir

December- Opal

January- Tempting the Player (adult/ under pen name J. Lynn)

LIGHTNING ROUND

Favorite Food
Anything red meat

Favorite Dessert
Chocolate!

Favorite TV Show
Supernatural

Favorite Movie
Don’t really have one

Last Move you Saw
The Darkest Hour

Dark or Milk Chocolate
Milk

Last Vacation Destination
Florida I guess

Do you have any pets?
I have a Jack Russell named Loki!

TRC: Thank you Jennifer for taking the time to answer our questions. We are looking forward to all of your new releases in the coming months. Congratulations on all of your success.

Jennifer: Thank you for having me!

Share

CURSED by Jennifer Armentrout -a review

Posted on by
11

CURSED by Jennifer Armentrout-a review

CURSED by Jennifer L Armentrout

LINK TO Jennifer’s WEBSITE

CURSED is the new Young Adult release (September 2012) by Jennifer Armentrout.  Focusing on 17year old Ember McWilliams, CURSED follows the young woman as she makes her way through a world where everything she touches will die.  After the accident, 2 years prior, that claimed her father’s life, Ember awakens to the knowledge that she has been ‘gifted’ with a curse.

 

Ember’s mother remained catatonic.  With her mother “refusing” to acknowledge her children, Ember became the parent to her younger sister Olivia.  But within a short period of time, Ember realized that her touch could kill.  The kids at school called her a freak. But when a beautiful stranger was able to ‘touch’ Ember, she knew her world was about to change once again.

Hayden Cromwell had been watching Ember since the accident. Something about Ember drew him to her. It was only when he realized that everything was falling apart, that he knew he and the others would have to intervene. Taking her back to his father was his only option.  But the others did not agree.

Like something from X-Men and Professor Xavier, Ember and Olivia will find themselves in a home for gifted teens, only Ember is not nearly so well received-Olivia becomes the child prodigy but Ember is feared by the others.  And school is not much better.  But Ember will find support with the assistance of one of her teachers who appears to sympathize with Ember about the daily attacks.

The relationship between Hayden and Ember grows as Hayden tries to help Ember with her gift.  After experiencing a horrific childhood himself Hayden knows only too well the repercussions of a powerful gift left out of control. And he fears The Facility as much as Ember.  Ember is continuously threatened with The Facility if she is unable to control her temper.

There are several household members that both fear and loathe Ember’s ‘curse’.  With their eclectic family of gifts, each will find their way into Ember’s life, whether she wants them to or not.  But following a series of threats and near-fatal accidents, Ember is sure that one of the household members is willing to take the next step to ensure that she stays dead this time. Only it is not just one of the family members hoping to end her life-there are others who are willing to see her die as well.

CURSED is a fantastic new storyline from the mind of Jennifer Armentrout.  The similarities between X-men cannot be denied, but Jennifer does address the issue in the novel when Ember researchers the household specialties and Googles the likes of the comic book heroes. A group of gifted children, whose parents were unable to handle their situations or refused, and their father-figure who took them in and raised the children as his own.  Along the way, Ember must earn the trust of the others, but it is difficult when she believes she is betrayed every day by the people with whom she now lives.  A wonderful start to a new series, I congratulate Jennifer on another wonderful novel.

LINKS TO ORDER:
Amazon Paper Books
B&N Paper Books
The Book Depository

Copy supplied by publisher

Reviewed by Sandy

Share