Waiting on Wednesday #12

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine

As the queen of pre-orders I thought I would join in with the Waiting on Wednesday meme highlighting some of the upcoming books that I’m keen to get my hands on.

 

Unbeautifully

Undeniable #2
Madeline Sheehan
Publication date: 5th June 2013

 

The story of Ripper and Danny.

The first time I fell in love it was with a pair of blue eyes and a wide dimpled grin.

“Your old man loves ya, Danny girl,” He whispered. “You never ever forget that, yeah?”

I never did. And I never thought I could ever love any man as much as I loved my father. But as we grow, we change, we begin to make our own decisions and thus become independent and self sufficient and start turning away from our parents and turning to others. We form friendships, strong bonds and ties and begin experiencing life outside of the bubble we grew up inside of.

And we fall in love…a second time.

The second time I fell in love it was with a badly scarred face, the stuff of nightmares; the sort of disfigurement that mothers steer their children away from. Ugly, jagged slashes marred the skin from the top of his skull, down over his right eye, an eye that had been dug out of his face with a serrated blade. The scars continued across his cheek, over his lips and down his neck, ending at the top of his shoulder. His chest was a hundred times worse; scar tissue as far as the eye could see.

“Baby,” He said gruffly, “Man like me got no business with a girl like you. You’re nothin’ but fuckin’ beauty and I’m a whole lot of fuckin’ ugly who’s already halfway to hell.”

But he was wrong.
Everything has beauty. Even the ugly. Especially the ugly.
Because without ugly there would be no beauty.
Because without beauty we would not survive our pain, our sorrow, and our suffering.
And in the world I lived in, the world he lived in, a secret world within the world, a world of of constant crime and cruel, cold, death, there was almost nothing but suffering.

“You may not be beautiful the way you were before,” I whispered, cupping his ruined cheek. “But you’re still beautiful. To me.”

  

I really enjoyed Undeniable, despite the age gap between Eva and Deuce I loved their story that seemed to span their entire lives. Unbeautifully's blurb makes me think it will be the same kind of unconventional romance and I'm always a complete sucker for a rough hero with scars. 

 

  

Review: Shadow’s Claim by Kresley Cole

Shadow’s Claim
Kresley Cole
Publication date: 27th November 2013
Reviewed by Lesley

I got pretty excited when I saw that Kresley Cole had a new series out, her books ALWAYS have a place on my real keeper shelf because I really do love her brand of feisty and a little bit bonkers kind of heroines. Shadow's Claim is a bit unusual (in a good way) in that it could be read and enjoyed both as a standalone by a new reader and by a long term Kresley Cole fan. It has a few links and cameos from her Immortals After Dark series but not too many that it would be confusing for a first time Kresley Cole reader so if you haven't read any of her books previously then I would recommend that Shadow's Claim is a great place to start.

Bettina is a halfling demon and sorceri who after a serious attack from four evil Vrekeners which almost left her for dead has had her power syphoned off to prevent it from being reincarnated into a newborn sorcerei when she dies which leaves her both frightened and at risk. Bettina's Godparents the powerful and slightly scary-crazy Morgana and demon Raum arrange a tournament to find Bettina a worthy protector. They want to find the strongest champion in the Lore for her and offer up Bettina's hand in marriage as the prize. Bettina however, is already infatuated with childhood friend and tracker Cas who unfortunately only sees Bettina as a sister rather than potential bride.

Trehan Daciano, Prince of Shadows and deadly assassin has been sent to Bettina's realm to find and kill Cas but instead himself drawn to Bettina who is actually his fated Bride. Trehan has searched for hundreds of years to find his Bride, the one woman who will make his Vampire heart beat for the first time ever, give him a pulse and allows ahem, "down below" to really start working. However, not only does Trehan find that his fated bride is in love with another man, but that man is the one man he must kill and Trehan realises that he runs the risk of never winning over Bettina if he is the one to kill off Cas.

Trehan finds himself entering the tournament, which has been opened to all creatures in the Lore, to protect Bettina and win her hand in marriage but in doing so has to for the first time ever, come out of the shadows which basically means he can never return to his kingdom, and although Trehan has lived his life obeying and enforcing the rules he is willing to leave it all behind to protect his Bride.

Bettina really annoyed me at times with her "love" for childhood friend Cas who clearly is not in the least bit interested in her, it took me a while to really warm to her. I did however, love Trehan pretty much from the start as he's a ruthless assassin who loves to read. What's not to like about that? As a dutiful Royal assassin he's really just been going through the motions for hundreds of years and is only finally awoken by discovering his Bride. I loved how protective he was even if he was a bit cavemanish at times!

Much of Shadow's Claim is centred around the actual rounds of the tournament which made it really fast paced and entertaining as each round brought something a little bit different to the story. Although I knew that Trehan's ruthless assassin skills would come in handy in disposing of some of the slimy creatures that entered the tournament some of the other contestants seemed pretty unbeatable. As a Kresley Cole fan I did squeal with excitement when previous Immortals After Dark characters were mentioned, seeing Nix trying to start a Mexican wave at the tournament not only made me laugh it made me want her book even more, I'm thinking that we will probably get to see more of Trehan's cousins Viktor, Stelian and Mirceo before we finally get Nix's book though. Overall, I loved every minute of Shadow's Claim, my copy now sits proudly beside all of Kresley Cole's other books on my real keeper shelf.

The Jessica McClain Ultimate Swag giveaway!

To celebrate the release of HOT BLOODED Amanda Carlson has organised another fab swag giveaway. Look what's up for grabs!

 

 

 

You can enter via the Rafflecopter thingy below:

 



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Waiting on Wednesday #11

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine

As the queen of pre-orders I thought I would join in with the Waiting on Wednesday meme highlighting some of the upcoming books that I’m keen to get my hands on.

 

 

One Sweet Ride
Play by Play #6
Jaci Burton
Publication date: 4th June 2013

 

Race car driver Gray Preston enjoys fast cars and an uncomplicated life, until political aide Evelyn Hill enters the picture and complicates the hell out of it with a request that he help out his estranged father’s political campaign. Racing and politics don’t mix, but Gray and Evelyn’s sexual attraction sizzles like asphalt in August.

 

I absolutely adore Jaci Burton's Play by Play series, it's one of my favourite sports romances series. The yummy covers demand me to pick up the book but it's the delicious romance inside that ensures I come back to this series time and time again. I love them. 

 

Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass
Throne of Glass #1
Sarah J. Maas
Publication date: 2nd August 2012
Reviewed by Rebecca

I really struggled with this book and debated whether to give it a 3 or 4 star review. I hit a reading slump not long after I started it and took quite a while to get out of it. Whether it was the books fault, I do not know but I pride myself on honest reviews and have to admit that the book did start off quite slowly.

 

The main gist of the story is that Celaena Sardothien has been serving a year of hard labour in the salt mines of Endovier for her many and varied crimes - Celaena, before she was captured, was an assassin - and a very good one at that. One day, she is unexpectedly called for an audience with the Crown Prince Dorian who informs her that she must compete in a competition for the new royal assassin - and in return, he will grant her the freedom she truly desires. Of course, she is not the only champion entering this competition and her identity is kept secret from the many men she faces. They think very little of Sardothien, believing her to just be a female jewel thief - no match for them. But if her true identity was to be revealed, the men would be left quaking in their boots!

Although the book started off slowly, once I came out of my slump and back reading again, I actually sped through this novel. The parts where Sardothien, Dorian and Captain Westfall are travelling to the royal palaces are quite boring but as soon as she arrives, the action really heats up. Just the fact that no one except the Prince, the Captain and her maid know who she truly is keeps the suspense built up and when a second storyline is introduced alongside the competition; where competitors are getting murdered one by one; it really helps the story in reaching its conclusion.

 

I am intrigued to see just what will happen in the second novel and in what direction the kind of 'love triangle' goes - there are a few stolen kisses and a lot of secret thoughts throughout the novel but I can't wait to see who Celaena chooses overall.

I cannot give this 5 stars as I do believe that the beginning of the novel should pick up pace a little more - however, when the story gets going, boy do you want to keep on reading! 4 out of 5.



New books and what's on my TBR list

Hey everyone I hope you're having a good weekend.

Here's the new books I got over the last few weeks:

 

 

I bought

Rogue Descendant by Jenna Black and Oath Bound by Rachel Vincent were both pre-ordered ages ago from The Book Depository and I bought Etiquette & Espionage from The Works.

For review

Blind Attraction by Eden Summers

 



 From Netgalley

I went a bit mad with the contemporary romance requests, I think.

 

Kindle bargains







 I haven't had much time to read over the last two weeks as work has been pretty exhausting but I really enjoyed Wicked Cravings by Suzanne Wright which I finished last night, it's turning out to be a pretty good shifters series.

 

I'm not sure what I'm going to read next I know I have quite a few series to catch up with so I might try to ignore my many kindle bargains and concentrate on books on my shelf.

 

 

I still have a giveaway on to win an e-copy of Inked Ever After you can check out the giveaway here.

 

After Fifty review: Inked Ever After by Elle Aycart and a giveaway

Inked Ever After
Bowen Brothers #2.5
Elle Aycart
Publication date: 26th March 2013
Reviewed by Lesley

Ahhhhhhhh more quality time with Mr James Bowen my favourite alpha male hero, this makes me happy. If you haven't read More Than Meets the Ink the first of the Bowen Brothers series then you are seriously missing out (you can check out my review here). James got major swoonage points from me because his bedroom talk was scorching hot and although he was bossy he was also patient with his heroine Tate and had a heart of gold. I pictured him looking a bit like this with a smile that would make your ovaries explode. So, you can see why I was desperate to get my hands on this novella.

Quite simply, I loved it. There were a lot of sexy times in the beginning, which is fantastic of course but it was Tate that really affected me in Inked Ever After. She loves James and wants to marry him that is never in any doubt, but it's on big occasions such as the planning of their wedding that the sorrow just threatens to overcome her when she realises that her beloved Dad and brother Jonah are not alive to see her get married. It's always been hard for Tate living without them and she feels guilty when she's happy without them, it's almost as if she's never really finished grieving for them and sometimes that grief just wells up and results in private tears.

Instead of talking to James about it Tate bottles it all up and pretends she's ok. She really doesn't want to hurt him or for him to get the wrong idea. Tate has always been the one who has taken care of everyone else and I just got the feeling she didn't really know how to ask James for help. I cried buckets of tears (twice) along with Tate, it just really got to me and I felt her sorrow. To me, as a reader I love those perfect books where I connect emotionally with the characters, and I just felt for Tate even though I did have some moments where I really wanted her just to be honest with James.

Of course James (being pretty perfect in my eyes anyway!) knows what's going on, he understands her and knows she has to let him in. She doesn't want him to see this non-perfect side of her even though it's very clear he loves every part of her. His way of forcing the issue made my heart melt, his present to her was absolutely perfect but more than that he listened to her and yep, that had me crying again.

Overall, Inked Ever After has that perfect blend of hot sexy times, some funny moments, some touching moments and some very heart wrenching sad moments so I laughed and cried in abundance. I would also recommend reading the final "extra" epilogue which is the perfect ending to James and Tate's story you cannot miss it. Well worth a 5 out of 5 rating, I can't wait for what Elle Aycart has in store for younger brother Max and Tate's sister Elle and Jack.

Favourite quote:
"I love you. Taking care of you is not a bother, princess. It's my prerogative. I want you, forever. All of you. Yes, sometimes you make me spitting mad, and yes, you've given me headaches, and you'll probably give me many more, but I'll take all of them gladly for a chance to wake up with you every morning for the rest of my life. There is nothing about you I'd change. And as sure as fuck I don't regret you. I'm crazy in love with you Tate."




After Fifty rating: 5 out of 5
More of alpha male James Bowen
Scorching hot scenes 
Heart breaking moments that made me cry. Twice. 
Hint of more Bowen brothers 

Want to win a copy of Inked Ever After?

The author Elle Aycart has kindly agreed to giveaway an e-copy (in the format of your choice) to one winner.

All you need to do is enter via the easy peasy Rafflecopter thingy below.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Waiting on Wednesday #10

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine

As the queen of pre-orders I thought I would join in with the Waiting on Wednesday meme highlighting some of the upcoming books that I’m keen to get my hands on.

 

Siege and Storm

The Grisha #2
Leigh Bardugo
Publication date: 4th June 2013

 

Darkness never dies.

Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land, all while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. But she can’t outrun her past or her destiny for long.

The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling’s game of forbidden magic, and farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her–or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm.

 

I loved Shadow and Bone the first book in Leigh Bardugo's The Grisha series, I used the word "fantastic" a lot in my review and I still remember nearly falling off my chair half way through it and then I may have shouted at my kindle a little bit too. Anyway I gave it 5 out of 5 so I'm desperately waiting for Siege and Storm to be released on the 4th of June. I secretly liked the Darkling so I'm eager to see how Alina's story progresses. Can't wait!