UK Cover Alert: Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor.

The countdown to Days of Blood and Starlight, the sequel to Laini Taylor's most excellent Daughter of Smoke and Bone is on, and here (kinda-lukewarm-off-the-press as I was sent this last week!)  is the UK cover. What do you think of this one?

Days of Blood & Starlight (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2) by Laini Taylor

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Release date: November 8th 2012

Ages: 14+

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a new way of living - one without massacres and torn throats and bonfires of the fallen, without revenants or bastard armies or children ripped from their mothers' arms to take their turn in the killing and dying.

Once, the lovers lay entwined in the moon's secret temple and dreamed of a world that was a like a jewel-box without a jewel - a paradise waiting for them to find it and fill it with their happiness.

This was not that world.

 

And here are the US and UK covers side by side.  Which one is your fave?  Let me know in comments!
 

Book Review: Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann.

Product details:
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company.
Release date: July 17th 2012.
ebook, 336 pages.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Ages: Adult.
Source: Netgalley.

Nick and her cousin, Helena, have grown up sharing sultry summer heat, sunbleached boat docks, and midnight gin parties on Martha's Vineyard in a glorious old family estate known as Tiger House. In the days following the end of the Second World War, the world seems to offer itself up, and the two women are on the cusp of their 'real lives': Helena is off to Hollywood and a new marriage, while Nick is heading for a reunion with her own young husband, Hughes, about to return from the war.

Soon the gilt begins to crack. Helena's husband is not the man he seemed to be, and Hughes has returned from the war distant, his inner light curtained over. On the brink of the 1960s, back at Tiger House, Nick and Helena--with their children, Daisy and Ed--try to recapture that sense of possibility. But when Daisy and Ed discover the victim of a brutal murder, the intrusion of violence causes everything to unravel. The members of the family spin out of their prescribed orbits, secrets come to light, and nothing about their lives will ever be the same.

Brilliantly told from five points of view, with a magical elegance and suspenseful dark longing, Tigers in Red Weather is an unforgettable debut novel from a writer of extraordinary insight and accomplishment.

An accomplished debut of masterful storytelling and sumptuous prose, Liza Klaussmann’s Tigers in Red Weather is a gripping quarter-century saga detailing the lives, loves, betrayals and obsessions of one family as they spend long hot summer days at their family estate of Tiger House on Martha’s Vineyard.

The tone of Tigers in Red Weather, when it opens, is deceptively carefree and enthusiastic with nothing to hint at the darkness that will enter the lives of cousins Nick and Helena as the years pass by. But how could they have known what lay ahead of them? When we first meet Nick and Helena in the days following the end of the Second World War, they have the world at their feet, and are about to embark on new lives, which they hope will be abundant with love, excitement and opportunity.  Free-spirited Nick is to be reunited with her dashing husband, Hughes, who has been away at war, while timid Helena finds herself a newlywed in glare of the bright lights of Hollywood. On paper, Nick and Helena lead charmed lives, but the reality is very different indeed.  Nick soon finds out that post-war Hughes is a very different character to the man she married.  Nick craves spontaneity and excitement in her marriage, while Hughes wants nothing more than a wife who is happy to stay at home and have a baby.  Nick could think of nothing better to bore her to tears. And Helena, while content to dote on her baby, finds herself increasingly unhappy in her marriage to a man she doesn’t even know.

Already the veneer of Nick and Helena’s perfect lives is starting to splinter, and when, in 1959 we meet the cousins again, the events that will shatter them forever are set in motion.   Nick’s daughter Daisy takes over the narration here and so we witness these events first hand when, along with her cousin Ed, she stumbles upon a dead body, brutally murdered. When Nick calls her husband to Tiger House to deal with the fallout of these disturbing events, Hughes immediately senses that something is not quite right, and while the murder is seemingly unconnected to his family, he digs deeper only to find that there is something very dark and disturbed lurking within the walls of Tiger House.

The  question is whether Hughes can find out what it is and if he can stop it before it’s too late?

Compelling, captivating, and completely engrossing, Tigers in Red Weather is a perfectly woven tale of broken families and fractured friendships, secret obsessions and the importance of a promise made, never to be broken.  Though this is a great beach read, Tigers in Red Weather also contains a devilishly dark edge that will keep you reading late into the night. 

Book Review: Dreamless by Josephine Angelini.

Product details:
Publisher: Macmillan
Release date:  July 5th 2012
Paperback, 503 pages.
Rating: 3½ out of 5
Ages: 13+
Series: Starcrossed #2
Other books in series: Starcrossed
Source: Received from publisher for review.

Can true love be forgotten?

As the only Scion who can descend into the Underworld, Helen Hamilton has been given a nearly impossible task. By night she wanders through Hades, trying to stop the endless cycle of revenge that has cursed her family. By day she struggles to overcome the fatigue that is rapidly eroding her sanity. Without Lucas by her side, Helen is not sure she has the strength to go on.

Just as Helen is pushed to her breaking point, a mysterious new Scion comes to her rescue. Funny and brave, Orion shields her from the dangers of the Underworld. But time is running out—a ruthless foe plots against them, and the Furies’ cry for blood is growing louder.

As the ancient Greek world collides with the mortal one, Helen’s sheltered life on Nantucket descends into chaos. But the hardest task of all will be forgetting Lucas Delos.

Josephine Angelini’s compelling saga becomes ever more intricate and spellbinding as an unforgettable love triangle emerges and the eternal cycle of revenge intensifies. Eagerly awaited, this sequel to the internationally bestselling STARCROSSED delivers a gritty, action-packed love story that exceeds expectation.

Please note: This book is part of a series. There may be spoilers for previous books in the series in this review.

How many times can one girl walk through hell to save the lives of those she loves?

That’s the question facing Helen Hamilton who must descend into the Underworld night after night in order to find and destroy three sisters known as The Furies, and break the cycle of revenge that is threatening to tear apart the lives of everyone she loves.  It’s an almost impossible task for Helen, but as the Descender, she’s the only one who can do it.  And she has to do it without the love and support of Lucas, because he’s gone, and Helen is on her own as she sets out on a quest that will ask her to sacrifice family, friendship, love and maybe even her own life as hidden enemies emerge and Helen is no longer sure who she can trust.

An accomplished modern day re-imagining of the ancient Greek myths of legend, Josephine Angelini’s Starcrossed was one of the big hits of last summer, and in its masterful storytelling and slow-burning romance it captured hearts everywhere. Then, with what can only be described as a brilliant but wicked evil plot-twist, Angelini broke the hearts of two kids in love, and in one fell swoop changed the whole tone of this trilogy.  If Starcrossed was a joyful book about falling in love against the odds, and against the gods, then Dreamless is all about hearts broken, denied and set adrift.

At over five-hundred pages, Dreamless is a big book, particularly in YA terms, and in keeping with its size, it’s a little slow to get going, and took me a while to get into.  It’s complex too.  Greek myths and legends are always complicated, and that’s  certainly true of this book, although to her credit Angelini does a good job of keeping everything on track here, but between scions and  gods, monsters, descenders, descendants, houses at war, heirs, and trying to figure out who is out for revenge, who is related, who is not,  who is talking to who, and who is going to kill the next person who shows up because of some internal fury that they can’t control, well, it does get a tad confusing at times, but it’s fun too, especially when the gods of the Underworld are introduced. Angelini’s imaginings of the rulers and dwellings of the Underworld couldn't be more perfect. I  especially enjoyed  reading about Morpheus, the god of dreams, and Persephone, the goddess Queen of the Underworld.

 I can’t believe I’ve gotten so far into this review without mentioning the boys, especially since the boys in this book are so hot!   With Lucas missing from a large part of the action here, off suffering from what I like to call Edward circa New Moon syndrome, there’s place for another guy in Helen’s life in the shape of Orion. As much as any of you love Lucas, and I love Lucas as much as anybody, you won’t be able to hate Orion. You just won’t be able to do it. This guy is perfect. He’s an actual Adonis! No, he really is. I mean that literally.  Oh, but Lucas. Things are really hard for Lucas in this book, and I don’t know if he’ll ever be the same again. He tries hard to remove himself from Helen’s life and to take away the temptation they both feel whenever they are near each other, but hearts can’t be denied, and Lucas always finds a way back to Helen, even if it’s just to watch over her from afar. I’m still holding out for a Helen and Lucas happy ending, but I can totally appreciate Orion’s hotness, and the fact that he’s an all round nice guy too.  Oh, and I can’t forget Hector. Love that guy. Circumstances dictate that he’s not around a whole lot in this book, but whenever he is he pretty much steals the show. Once again, just like in Starcrossed, Angelini excels at characterization, by which I mean, she writes really hot guys.

 Dreamless, was, for me, very much a second in series book, where the lovers are torn apart, a possible new love interest is introduced, strings are left untied and questions left unanswered.  But you know what, while I had my quibbles with this one, I was still left wanting more, and so I’ll be counting down the months, weeks and day to the third and final installment in the trilogy, Goddess, releasing 2013.  Gods, I can't wait to see how it all ends!

UK Cover Alert: The Diviners by Libba Bray.

In case you missed the cover reveal on the Atom Books Blog last week, here in all its glory is the UK cover for The Diviners by Libba Bray. Isn't it gorgeous?! I seriously can't wait to read this one!

The Diviners by Libba Bray

Publisher: Atom

Release date: September 18th 2012

Ages: 15+

It's 1920s New York City. It's flappers and Follies, jazz and gin. It's after the war but before the depression. And for certain group of bright young things it's the opportunity to party like never before. 


For Evie O'Neill, it's escape. She's never fit in in small town Ohio and when she causes yet another scandal, she's shipped off to stay with an uncle in the big city. But far from being exile, this is exactly what she's always wanted: the chance to show how thoroughly modern and incredibly daring she can be. 


But New York City isn't about just jazz babies and follies girls. It has a darker side. Young women are being murdered across the city. And these aren't crimes of passion. They're gruesome. They're planned. They bear a strange resemblance to an obscure group of tarot cards. And the New York City police can't solve them alone.


Evie wasn't just escaping the stifling life of Ohio, she was running from the knowledge of what she could do. She has a secret. A mysterious power that could help catch the killer - if he doesn't catch her first.

And here are the US and UK covers side by side.  Which one is your fave?  Let me know in comments!

Book Review: Easy by Tammara Webber.

Product details:
Publisher: Self-Published
Release date: May 25th 2012
Ebook, 304 pages
Rating: 3½ out of 5.
Ages:New Adult
Source: Purchased

When Jacqueline follows her longtime boyfriend to the college of his choice, the last thing she expects is a breakup. After two weeks in shock, she wakes up to her new reality: she’s single, attending a state university instead of a music conservatory, ignored by her former circle of friends, stalked by her ex’s frat brother, and failing a class for the first time in her life.

Her econ professor gives her an email address for Landon, the class tutor, who shows her that she’s still the same intelligent girl she’s always been. As Jacqueline becomes interested in more from her tutor than a better grade, his teasing responses make the feeling seem mutual. There’s just one problem—their only interactions are through email.

Meanwhile, a guy in her econ class proves his worth the first night she meets him. Nothing like her popular ex or her brainy tutor, Lucas sits on the back row, sketching in a notebook and staring at her. At a downtown club, he disappears after several dances that leave her on fire. When he asks if he can sketch her, alone in her room, she agrees—hoping for more.

Then Jacqueline discovers a withheld connection between her supportive tutor and her seductive classmate, her ex comes back into the picture, and her stalker escalates his attention by spreading rumors that they’ve hooked up. Suddenly appearances are everything, and knowing who to trust is anything but easy.

I picked up Tammara Webber’s Easy partly because of the Goodreads buzz surrounding the book, partly because I’m on a total contemp binge right now, and yes, okay, mainly because I heard the kissing scenes were out of this world steamy and also because I just had to meet Lucas, the guy featured in those aforementioned steamy kissing scenes.  On those counts this book gets all the stars. Holy hot make-out scenes! *fans self*

But to truly love a book, I find that it has to stay with me long after I’ve read it. I want to go back and re-read favorite passages, I want to bookmark quotes and crush on book boyfriends - all that good stuff.  That just didn’t happen with Easy.  While I enjoyed reading this one, I found that once I finished the book I pretty much left the characters behind, and I guess that’s why, rather than being the great read I hoped it would be this one was just a good read for me.  Easy is a good read though, don’t get me wrong, and its well worth reading. I don’t award all the stars quite easily, and because there is so much love going round for this book, I though I should make clear the reasons why before going any further in this review.

Webber deals with some important issues in Easy, such as the loss of self and identity in relationships, and the importance of truth and trust, all of which are relevant in Jacqueline’s life.  We meet Jacqueline a couple weeks after she’s been dumped by her boyfriend of three years, a pretentious douche named Kennedy, who, mindful of the fact that a future career in politics may be jeopardized if he’s caught fooling around with an intern, decides he wants to sow his wild oats while at college.  Obviously long-term girlfriend Jacqueline, or Jackie, as Kennedy calls her (she gave up everything for him including her music college dream and her name) doesn’t figure in this plan, so he brushes her aside to go hook up with cheerleaders and sorority girls and the like. I love this guy already, don’t you?

Jacqueline is at an all time low.  She’s flunking a class she shares with Kennedy, because she can’t bear the thought of going along and seeing him there with his girl du jour, and then, while walking back to her car one night after a party, she’s assaulted by a guy she knows.  Thankfully Lucas, the hot stranger of this piece, turns up just in time to stop the attack, but Jacqueline’s nightmare at the hands of her assailant is just beginning, because he’s not going away, and he doesn’t like taking no for an answer. This all just leads to further complications in Jacqueline’s life and while I couldn’t fully understand her actions at times, I could at least sympathize with Jacqueline, because she made the mistake of making one guy the center of her life, and in doing so, she lost an important part of herself.

For this reason and others, Jacqueline is not the most forthright or confident character, but this book is all about Jacqueline finding out who she is, it’s all about standing up for what’s right, and it’s all about a girl learning how to trust and to love again, even when she’s had her heart broken so badly that it physically hurts.  But at least there are hot guys to help Jacqueline get over her ex. First up is Lucas, hot, intense and all round yummy, Jacqueline is physically drawn to him, as he is to her, or at least she thinks so, because his signals are mixed, to say the least.  Then there’s Landon, the online tutor whose mind she loves, and who likes to flirt.  However, it soon transpires that Lucas and Landon may not be all that they seem, and soon Jacqueline is wondering if she can truly trust anyone but herself.

 A strong contemp with some tough issues, a raw edge, and a sweet ever after Easy by Tammara Webber is a compelling read that will be loved by many, especially those who like their contemps with a healthy dose of steam!

Reviewed by Liz: Seraphina by Rachel Hartman + Exclusive Prequel + Book Trailer!

Product details:
Publisher: Doubleday Childrens
Release date: July 19th 2012.
Hardcover, 368 pages.
Rating: 4½ out of 5.
Ages: 12+
Source: Received from publisher for review.
Reviewed by: Liz

Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty's anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high.

Seraphina Dombegh has reason to fear both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a member of the royal family is murdered—in suspiciously draconian fashion. Seraphina is drawn into the investigation, partnering with the captain of the Queen's Guard, the dangerously perceptive Prince Lucian Kiggs. While they begin to uncover hints of a sinister plot to destroy the peace, Seraphina struggles to protect her own secret, the secret behind her musical gift, one so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life.

In her exquisitely written fantasy debut, Rachel Hartman creates a rich, complex, and utterly original world. Seraphina's tortuous journey to self-acceptance is one readers will remember long after they've turned the final page.

Rachel Hartman’s Seraphina reminded me of why I love fantasy so much. Fantasy is a difficult genre to get right – sometimes the descriptions can drag on, sometimes the world isn’t explained properly, sometimes the characters lack depth because the story is too focussed on plot (or vice versa). But Seraphina is definitely a fantasy done right. Half dragon, half human, Seraphina is a music mistress in the court of Queen Lavonda, the Queen of Goredd who signed a treaty with the dragons in order to bring peace to the lands. However, when the Queen’s son is murdered, the peace is threatened as a dragon is suspected of committing the crime. Seraphina has always been told to hide her secret and avoid drawing attention to herself – but her unique position may allow her to solve the mystery of Prince Rufus’s death. Is maintaining the peace worth risking her secret – and her life?

The dragons in Seraphina were unlike any dragons I’ve read about before. My first thought while reading the book was that they were a bit like Vulcans; they were very rational creatures that did not understand human emotion or how to deal with it, and saw things such as art as having no rational value. The reason Seraphina was such an interesting character was because she was human and dragon. She quite clearly understood emotion and didn’t have much trouble expressing it. She often got upset when her full dragon uncle, Orma, seemed as if he didn’t care for her. She could be funny too, and I really liked her subtle sense of humour. 

However, she often displayed several dragon-like qualities too. She could think like a dragon, with impressive logical thought processes, and was very intelligent, able to put things together and work things out quickly. It was interesting to see how she fit (or how she didn’t fit in) in both worlds. She was also a good teacher (in charge of teaching Princess Glisselda music) and was also a capable leader, often put in charge of organising concerts by her master, Vividius. I also loved the fact that she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, even in front of Princess Glisselda and her fiancé, Prince Lucian Kiggs. She also acted fast in times of distress, and saved Prince Lucian a fair few times (which I thought was completely awesome). I really loved her character, and felt for her as she struggled to understand her own mind (she suffered from visions, and had created a garden in her mind to isolate the people she saw in them – which I thought was very original and clever) and her status as half human, half-dragon. Things were made worse by the fact that she had to spend a lot of time with Prince Lucian (or Kiggs, as he preferred to go by) and started to develop feelings for him. I felt so bad for her; not only was he engaged to her friend, the Princess, but she could never tell him secret and they could never be together even if she did. 

Kiggs was an interesting character and love interest, because he didn’t seem to care much about the fact that he was a prince and Seraphina was a music mistress. He seemed very genuine, and I liked the way he was curious about Seraphina. He appreciated her talents but also understood how being different made you stick out and feel uncomfortable (being illegitimate, that was something he could relate to). He liked her curious nature, and was often surprised by Seraphina. I liked him because he showed real interest in her, and seemed to really want to get to know her better. I loved the way they spoke to each other and the time they spent trying to solve the mystery of Rufus’s death, and by the end, I was rooting for them, despite knowing it was a doomed relationship. The thing is, I liked Glisselda too.  She was confident and fun and wanted to Seraphina and Kiggs to get along, so I was so torn because I knew that if Seraphina ever acted on her feelings, she’d be betraying her friend.

Orma was another character I loved. As a dragon, he was expected to act rationally, and not get too emotionally attached to his niece, Seraphina. If he were to put her wellbeing first before the rational course of action, he would be labelled as emotionally compromised and would suffer the consequences. And though he tried to act in the most logical way, there were hints throughout that suggested that he really did care for Seraphina.  I loved the way he supported her from the background, subtly but still there. He was a scholar, and valued knowledge, but the time he spent in his human form changed him quite a bit – and after that ending, I am very curious to see what will happen next!

The plot was very engaging, and I was always kept on my toes, wondering whether it really was a dragon who killed the Prince, and if so, why? I was curious as to which dragon would want to break the treaty, and how it was even possible for them to attack the Prince without being caught. I loved the way the romance developed – it was slow, but it was amazing – and there were a lot of twists I did not expect. The world building was excellent, probably one of my favourite things about the book, with rich descriptions and attention to detail and some truly beautifully written parts. I loved so many of the characters too – I found Seraphina’s master to be hilarious, and Fruit Bat (one of the people Seraphina saw in her visions) was so intriguing because he seemed to know Seraphina and want to protect her.

Overall, Seraphina was a brilliant fantasy, and as I reached the last few chapters, I kept thinking, “I don’t want this to end!”  I absolutely cannot wait for the sequel! Definitely recommended to all fantasy fans.

Seraphina: The Audition

Broken by A.E. Rought - Cover Reveal, Extract & Giveaway (UK Only!)

Today sees cover reveal excitement on the blog in the form of Broken by A.E. Rought publishing January 2013 from Strange Chemistry.   I really like the sound of this modern day re-imagining of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and can't wait to read it when it releases.

One of you lucky readers won't have to wait that long though, because I have an ARC of Broken to give away.  The winner of this competition will get the ARC hot of the press (as they are not printed for another month or so!) and will be one of the first people to read this book, like, ever. Pretty cool! 

Broken by A.E. Rought

Publisher: Strange Chemistry

Release Date: January 2013

Imagine a modern spin on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein where a young couple’s undying love and the grief of a father pushed beyond sanity could spell the destruction of them all.

A string of suspicious deaths near a small Michigan town ends with a fall that claims the life of Emma Gentry’s boyfriend, Daniel. Emma is broken, a hollow shell mechanically moving through her days. She and Daniel had been made for each other, complete only when they were together. Now she restlessly wanders the town in the late Fall gloom, haunting the cemetary and its white-marbled tombs, feeling Daniel everywhere, his spectre in the moonlight and the fog.

When she encounters newcomer Alex Franks, only son of a renowned widowed surgeon, she’s intrigued despite herself. He’s an enigma, melting into shadows, preferring to keep to himself. But he is as drawn to her as she is to him. He is strangely…familiar. From the way he knows how to open her locker when it sticks, to the nickname she shared only with Daniel, even his hazel eyes with brown flecks are just like Daniel’s. The closer they become, though, the more something inside her screams there’s something very wrong with Alex Franks.

And when Emma stumbles across a grotesque and terrifying menagerie of mangled but living animals within the walls of the Franks’ estate, creatures she surely knows must have died from their injuries, she knows.

Here's a Sneak Peek of Broken.... 

A heavy breath escapes me, and if he wasn’t holding me so close, I might melt and pour from this dress.
 

Alex clings to me like I may honestly be a fairytale princess and when he lets go, I’m going to disappear. He pulls off one glove, tingles following his bare hand as it glides over the curve of my back, up my neck to tangle in my curls. He guides my head to his chest. Thunder rumbles in his heartbeat, and his electric surge slicks over my skin like warm oil.

Neither of us speak. Words have less meaning than time in his arms.

“There’s so much I want to say,” he whispers in my ear. I press my fingers to his lips. My heart jolts when Alex kisses them. Then he curls them in his gloved hand and holds my hand pressed above his heart. “Feel that? It doesn’t beat for me, Emma.”


a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can find more excerpts and  ARC's of Broken by A.E Rought on these blogs: 

Some of these ARC giveaways will be open to US/Canada residents & some will be UK only!

http://carlybennett.blogspot.co.uk/
http://hannahmariska.blogspot.co.uk/
http://yabluewater.blogspot.co.uk/
http://www.chapter-by-chapter.com/
http://www.ilikethesebooks.com/
http://www.prationality.com
http://amberinblunderland.blogspot.com/

UK Cover Reveals: Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black, The Blood Keeper by Tessa Gratton, Vortex by Julie Cross & More!

Here are some recent UK cover reveals that have caught my eye! I'm especially excited to read Yelena Black's Dance of Shadows - how awesome does that one sound? Totally crushing on the cover candy too!

I've included the US cover counterparts where available, so tell me what your favourites are! Some of these UK covers are very different to the US looks, so I'll be interested to hear what you think!

****************

Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Release date: Jan 2013

Ages: 12+

Dancing with someone is an act of trust. Elegant and intimate; you're close enough to kiss, close enough to feel your partner's heartbeat. But for Vanessa, dance is deadly - and she must be very careful who she trusts . . .

Vanessa Adler attends an elite ballet school - the same one her older sister, Margaret, attended before she disappeared. Vanessa feels she can never live up to her sister's shining reputation. But Vanessa, with her glorious red hair and fair skin, has a kind of power when she dances - she loses herself in the music, breathes different air, and the world around her turns to flames . . .

Soon she attracts the attention of three men: gorgeous Zep, mysterious Josh, and the great, enigmatic choreographer Josef Zhalkovsky. When Josef asks Vanessa to dance the lead in the Firebird, she has little idea of the danger that lies ahead - and the burning forces about to be unleashed . . .

International Editions:

US cover for Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black

 

The Blood Keeper (Blood Journals #2) by Tessa Gratton
Publisher:  Doubleday
Release date: August 2012
Ages: 14+

For Mab Prowd, the practice of blood magic is as natural as breathing. It's all she's ever known. Growing up on an isolated farm with other practitioners may have kept her from making friends her own age, but it has also given her a sense of purpose - she's protective of the magic, and is able to practice it proudly and happily out in the open with only the crows as her companions. But one morning while Mab is attempting a particularly tricky spell, she encounters Will, a local boy who is trying to exorcise a few personal demons of his own. He experiences Mab's magic in a way his mind cannot comprehend and is all too happy to end their chance meeting. But soon, secrets that were kept from Mab by earlier generations of blood magicians are revealed, and she and Will are drawn back together, united against a dangerous force looking to break free from the earth and reclaim its own dark power.

International Editions:

Vortex (Tempest #2) by Julie Cross

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books

Release date: January 2013

Ages: 14+

Series side by Side

New Tempest Paperback Edition & US Cover of Vortex

Missing Me (Girl, Missing #3) by Sophie McKenzie

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Books

Release date: September 2012

Ages: 12+

Six years have passed since the end of Sister, Missing and Madison is now a teenager. During a visit to older sister Lauren, she learns that their biological father was an anonymous sperm donor and sets out to track him down. Her search bears fruit sooner than she expects, but is the father she discovers all he seems? As Madison gets drawn into a mysterious investigation involving missing girls and secret hideaways, she finds herself in more and more danger…

Burning Bright (Falling Fast #2)

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Books

Release date: January 2013

Ages: 12+

The sequel to Falling Fast. Four months have passed and River and Flynn's romance is still going strong. River thinks Flynn has his anger under control, but when she discovers he has been getting into fights and is facing a terrible accusation at school, she starts to question both Flynn's honesty - and the intensity of their passion. Things come to a head at a family get together when River sees Flynn fly into one unprovoked rage too many. The consequences for both of them are devastating and threaten to tear them apart forever.

Possessed by Niki Valentine

Publisher: Sphere

Release date: October 2012

Ages: Adult

Who do you trust when you can no longer trust your own mind?

Emma's life has always been a struggle, and now she's been accepted at a prestigious music school, she is determined to excel. But when the impossibly chic twins, confident Sophie and quieter Matilde, come crashing into her life - surrounding her with champagne and parties - they demand Emma's full attention. 

Then shy Matilde commits suicide and shockingly, her identical twin Sophie flourishes. Now odd things are happening to Emma: blackouts, waking up in strange places, bizarre dreams. Something, or someone, is consuming Emma's mind. Terrified, Emma begins to doubt everything and everyone around her, especially the beautiful Sophie...

* Please note: These covers may not be final and may be subject to change. Images sourced from publishers websites, Goodreads & Amazon. 

Book Review: Shift by Em Bailey.

Product details:
Publisher: Egmont
Release date: May 7th 2012
Paperback, 320 pages.
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Ages: 12+
Source: Received from publisher for review.

Olive Corbett is not crazy. Not anymore.

She obediently takes her meds and stays under the radar at school. After "the incident," Olive just wants to avoid any more trouble, so she knows the smartest thing is to stay clear of the new girl who is rumored to have quite the creepy past.
But there’s no avoiding Miranda Vaile. As mousy Miranda edges her way into the popular group, right up to the side of queen bee Katie – and pushes the others right out – only Olive seems to notice that something strange is going on. Something almost . . . parasitic. Either Olive is losing her grip on reality, or Miranda Vaile is stealing Katie’s life.

But who would ever believe crazy Olive, the girl who has a habit of letting her imagination run away with her? And what if Olive is the next target?

A chilling psychological thriller that tears through themes of identity, loss, and toxic friendship, Shift will leave readers guessing until the final pages.

A psychological thriller reminiscent of Rachel Klein’s The Moth Diaries and Poison Heart by S.B. Hayes Em Bailey’s Shift welcomes us into the world of Olive Corbett, a girl with a whole lot of problems in her life.  Following the breakdown of her parents’ marriage, which in turn led to her own personal breakdown, Olive no longer cares about school, or the popular girls and hot guys who were once so important in her life.  All that matters now is her family, her friend Ami, and her meds.

But then one day new girl Miranda Vaile arrives at school, and rumour has it that Miranda is a murderer, killing both her parents when she was just a little girl.  Right from the off, Olive senses that there’s something not quite right about Miranda. Maybe she’s just another mean girl, but Olive reckons that there’s something far more sinister at play. After a couple of minutes spent searching the internet, Olive is convinced that Miranda is a Shifter,  one who feeds on the energy of others before taking their lives as her own.  And it looks like Olive ex-best friend Katie might be her next target.

Can Olive find out the truth about Miranda before it’s too late?

Shift has a totally intriguing premise that hooked me right from the start, but as I got further along in my reading of this one, my interest started to wane. For me, Olive wasn’t a particularly interesting or likeable character.   With all she’s been through, it’s easy to understand why she’s such a defensive person, but with her constant sarcasm and downright rude behaviour at times, she began to grate on me pretty quickly, and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why hot surfer guy Lachlan was so taken with her and stuck around even though she generally treated him like dirt.

My main issue with this one though wasn’t the characterization, but the absolute vagueness of the plot, certain seemingly major points of which meandered into nothingness.   I’ve read quite a lot of books of this type –psychological thrillers that hint at paranormal goings on – and they are by their very nature, vague, but with this one there was just too much left unexplained and unresolved, and I found the conclusion particularly limp and unsatisfying.

When I read a psychological thriller I want to be shocked, but I’m afraid that never happened with Shift.  There are a lot of tried and tested plot devices used here, including the kind of major twist that I’ve seen used to great effect in other books of this type.  Here though, what could have been a shocking turn of events was just predicable and something that I figured out early on in the novel. Maybe if I hadn’t read several books with this same twist I would have been more surprised, so I will just blame myself for that one!

Overall, I was a little disappointed with Shift.  Usually when a book doesn’t give me all the answers I need, I find myself pondering on it for days afterwards.  But unfortunately with this one, it was a case of out of sight, out of mind.

Blog Tour: Shattered Dreams by Ellie James - Guest Post, Extract & Book Trailer!

I was very excited to see a copy of Shattered Dreams by Ellie James pop through my letterbox a while back. This sounds like my kind of book and I can't wait to read it soon!

For this Friday the Thirteenth blog tour stop, Elllie has written a guest post all about the day when things go wrong. It's a great post, which I really enjoyed reading, and it even spooked me a little, because, guys, there are thirteen letters in my name. Does this mean I have the touch of the devil? Eeek!

Shattered Dreams by Ellie James
Publisher: Quercus
Release date: July 5th 2012
Ages: 12+

Upon the death of her grandmother, Trinity arrives on her aunt's doorstep in New Orleans with virtually no knowledge of her mysterious heritage. Dropped into high school, she is trying her best to fit in, but there is something about her, connected to the mysterious city and her parents death, that makes her different.

When a game of truth or dare in a deserted New Orleans house gets out of control, Trinity starts to see things; twisted visions of the future that she tries to suppress. But all too quickly the dreams accelerate – terrifying images of a girl locked in a dark room. And when the head cheerleader goes missing, Trinity has to decide whether to step forward with what she's seen: a tough choice when the police are desperate for a suspect and she's falling in love with the missing girl's boyfriend.

Nothing prepares her for the dark odyssey that ensues, the surprising romance she finds along the way, or the shocking truths she learns. Not just about the girl who has gone missing, but the past that has been hidden from her, and the future that awaits.

When Friday Met Thirteen

Ellie James

“Forget it. I am so not going out tonight.”
 “Um, hello? Friday night? Awesome party? The guy you’ve been dying to meet?”

“Yeah, but have you seen the calendar? The nifty little 1 in front of the 3?”

“Don’t tell me—” But she did. My roommate absolutely refused to go to the biggest party of the semester simply because it fell on the 13^th of the month and a Friday. For her, that was reason enough to stay home, alone, where she was convinced nothing bad could happen.

Here we are again today, many years later, one of three times during 2012 when the 13^th lands on a Friday. That means everywhere you turn, you’ll hear people talking about bad luck, ill omens, and warning you to be careful.

The superstition has a name, two of them actually. Upon mentioning this to my husband, he narrowed his eyes in that thinking way of his, then after only a few seconds rattled them off: friggatriskaidekaphobia (Frigga being the Norse goddess after whom Friday is named and triskaidekaphobia for fear of the number thirteen) and paraskevidekatriaphobia (Paraskevi and dekatreis being the Greek words for Friday and thirteen, attached to good ole phobia meaning fear). Yeah, I wanted to smack him. He’s not someone you want to oppose in Trivial Pursuit.

But why all the fear? What’s the deal with Friday the 13^th, anyway? As a lover of All Things Freaky, I decided to do a little research!

Bad Friday

While I tend to be a big fan of Fridays, historically speaking the day has a rather bad reputation. You could say it all started with Adam, Eve, and the fateful offer of an apple one afternoon. Yep, a Friday.

 Then there was the Great Flood, which also began on a Friday. And the tongue-tying of the builders of the Tower of Babel. And the destruction of the Temple of Solomon. And, of course, we can’t leave Good Friday off the list of significant Fridays. In early Rome, Friday was execution day. During the Middle Ages, pagans considered Friday the most holy of days, prompting the Church to deem Fridays as the Witches Sabbath. Significantly more recently, we have the Black Friday stock market crash.

Over time, the legends began:

Don’t change your linens on Friday. You’ll have bad dreams.
Don’t begin a trip on Friday. You’ll encounter ill fortune.
Don’t cut your nails on a Friday. Bad luck is sure to follow.
Don’t get married on a Friday. You’re destined to a cat-and-dog life.
Don’t start a job on Friday. It won’t last for long.
And finally: Don’t set sail on Friday. You’re journey is sure to be unfortunate.

That brings us to the number thirteen.

The Devil’s Dozen

Have you ever stepped into a high-rise elevator and noticed there’s no button for the thirteenth floor?

 That’s because the number thirteen has an even worse rap than Friday. According to numerology, the number twelve is that of completeness: twelve hours of the clock, twelve months of the year, twelve gods of Olympus, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles, twelve successors of Muhammad, etc. Add one, however, and you throw everything out of balance. How many were seated at the Last Supper? Yep, thirteen.

It’s not surprising, then, the number thirteen has its own cache of warnings:

If thirteen people sit down for a meal together, one of them is soon to die.

If you live on the thirteenth floor of a building, bad luck will follow. Hence, many buildings try to “cheat” by not labeling a floor thirteen.

If you live on the thirteenth street, misfortune awaits you. Accordingly, cities all over the world skip from twelve to fourteen when it comes to naming streets and avenues.

If you have thirteen letters in your name, you have the touch of the devil. To save you the research, I present: Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bunch, and Albert De Salvo. 

Oh, yeah: there are thirteen witches in a coven.

So now we’ve got Bad Friday and The Devil’s Dozen. Add them together and you get the worst of the worst, a Friday that falls on the 13^th. Interestingly, however, this simply seems to be a case of Bad + Bad = VERY Bad. Mentions of this superstition (or anything terrible, freaky, or cataclysmic linked to this day) are rarely found prior to the 20^th century. Dan Brown made a case in The DaVinci Code that dread of Friday the 13^th stems from the 14^th century arrest and subsequent massacre of hundreds of Knights Templar, but historians counter that this is a recent connection. And…to muddy the waters even more, in Greece and Spanish-speaking countries, instead of Friday, it’s Tuesday the 13^th that’s considered an ill omen. For the Italians, it’s Friday the 17^th.

What do you think? Is there something to Friday the 13^th? Would you start a trip that day? A new job? Go on a first date?  Cut your nails? What’s YOUR biggest taboo?

Read an Extract of Shattered Dreams by Ellie James

http://extracts.quercusbooks.co.uk/shattered-dreams/

Watch the Shattered Dreams Book Trailer

Visit Ellie James online at: http://elliejames.net/

Reviewed by Jen: Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe by Shelley Coriell.

Product details:
Publisher: Amulet Books
Release date: May 1st 2012
Hardcover, 299  pages.
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Ages: 14+
Source: Received from publisher for review.
Reviewed by: Jen

Big-hearted Chloe Camden is the queen of her universe until her best friend shreds her reputation and her school counselor axes her junior independent study project. Chloe is forced to take on a meaningful project in order to pass, and so she joins her school’s struggling radio station, where the other students don’t find her too queenly. Ostracized by her former BFs and struggling with her beloved Grams’s mental deterioration, lonely Chloe ends up hosting a call-in show that gets the station much-needed publicity and, in the end, trouble. She also befriends radio techie and loner Duncan Moore, a quiet soul with a romantic heart. On and off the air, Chloe faces her loneliness and helps others find the fun and joy in everyday life. Readers will fall in love with Chloe as she falls in love with the radio station and the misfits who call it home.

One of the reasons I love writing for Daisy Chain Book Reviews is that Leanna does an excellent job of sending me a variety of awesome books to review.  Some of these books I would never have picked up on my own.  That would have been the case with Shelly Coriell’s Welcome Caller, This is Chloe if Leanna had not sent me a copy for review.  Yet Chloe is now my most favorite book of the year.  I absolutely loved this story!!

Seventeen- year old Chloe Camden firmly believes that you can survive anything as long as you have your best friends at your side, and as winter break winds down she cannot wait to be reunited with hers.  Unfortunately, Chloe’s two BFF’s, Mercedes and Bree, don’t quite feel that way about her.  They have shut Chloe out of their lives and refused to give her a reason why.  What’s worse is that Bree embarks on a campaign to ensure that the entire school despises Chloe as much as she now does.  To make matters even worse Chloe is assigned to work at the fledgling school radio station with a group of “outsiders” she never would have even looked at, let alone talked to.  Yet, without her “BFF’s” at her side telling her how to think and feel Chloe realizes that this group of misfits might be a better match for her after all. 

I loved Chloe.  Her spunky personality, mixed with a not so perfect home-life, made me care about what happened to her.  She is witty and fun and truly cares about the people around her, although at times can become too absorbed in her own drama to notice that others are hurting too.  The journey she takes after her friends’ abandon her help Chloe realize that you can’t fix every problem with a joke and sometimes listening is more important than talking.  Soon Chloe realizes that there is more to people than what you see on the outside and that she was often too judge-mental and harsh only because she was following Bree’s lead. 

While the overall tone of Chloe is light-hearted and fun the story does have its darker moments.  Chloe is devastated as she watches her beloved Grams lose her freedom due to her worsening health.  Bree’s campaign of hate towards Chloe appears to be the precursor to a complete mental breakdown and Duncan, the boy who steals Chloe’s heart, has a secret so shameful he would rather forgo love than allow Chloe into his life.  

Welcome Caller, This is Chloe had me laughing and crying all on the same page.  I stopped reading it too quickly because I didn’t want it to end.  The trials Chloe goes through were events that I could relate too and her insightful and generous personality made me cheer for her until the end.  I don’t read too many books twice, but Chloe Camden is a character that I might just have to visit with again some time.

Dreamless Blog Tour: Extract & Giveaway! (UK & ROI Only!)

Who out there isn't excited to read Dreamless, the second instalment in Josephine Angelini's Starcrossed trilogy? This is one of my most anticipated reads of 2012 and it's coming up next on my TBR, so I get to find out all about this hot new guy Orion very, very soon!

As part of the Dreamless UK Blog Tour I've been provided with a great extract to share with you and I also have two copies to give away to two lucky readers! Thanks to Josie's UK publishers Macmillan for those goodies.

Speaking of goodies you might want to click here for more Starcrossed and Dreamless treats!

C H A P T E R   O N E

Red blood bloomed from underneath Helen’s torn fingernails, pooled in the crescents of her cuticles and trailed down her knuckles in little rivers. Despite the pain, she gripped the ledge more tightly with her left hand so she could try to slide her right hand forward. There was grit and blood under her fingers, making her slip, and her hands were cramping so badly that the centre of her palm was starting to spasm. She reached with her right, but didn’t have the strength to pull herself any further forward.

Helen slid back with a gasp until she was dangling from her rigid fingertips. Six storeys beneath her kicking feet was a dead flowerbed, littered with mouldy bricks and slates that had slid off the roof of the dilapidated mansion and broken into bits. She didn’t have to look down to know that the same would happen to her if she lost her grasp on the crumbling window ledge. She tried again to swing a leg up and catch it on the windowsill, but the more she kicked the less secure her grip became.

Down here in the Underworld Helen didn’t have the supernatural strength, speed or agility she had in the real world.  She also didn’t have the ability to fly like she usually did.

A sob escaped from between her bitten lips. She had been hanging from this ledge since she’d descended into the Underworld that night. It felt to her like hours, maybe days, had passed, and her endurance was flagging. Helen cried out in frustration. She had to get off this ledge and go find the Furies. She was the Descender – this was her task. Find the Furies in the Underworld, defeat them somehow and free the Scions from the Furies’ influence. She was supposed to be ending the cycle of vengeance that compelled Scions to kill each other off, but instead here she was, hanging from a ledge.

She didn’t want to fall, but she knew that she would get no closer to finding the Furies if she went on clinging here for an eternity. And in the Underworld every night lasted forever. She knew she needed to end this night and start the next anew, in some other, hopefully more productive, infinity. If she couldn’t pull herself up, that left only one option.

The fingers of Helen’s left hand began twitching and her grip gave way. She tried to tell herself not to fight it, that it would be better to fall because at least it would be over. But still she clung to the ledge with every bit of strength remaining in her right hand. Helen was too afraid to let herself go. She bit down on her bloody lip in concentration, but the fingers of her right hand slid across the grit and finally came away from the edge. She couldn’t hold on.

When she hit the ground, she heard her left leg snap.

Helen slapped a hand over her mouth to keep the scream from erupting across her quiet Nantucket bedroom. She could taste the flinty grit of the Underworld on her cramped fingers. In the pewter-blue light of pre-dawn, she listened intently to the sound of her father getting ready for the day down the hall. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to hear anything out of the ordinary, and he went downstairs to start cooking breakfast as if nothing was wrong.

Lying in bed, trembling with the pain of her broken leg and her pulled muscles, Helen waited for her body to heal itself. Tears slid down either side of her face, leaving hot tracks across her chilled skin. It was icy cold in her bedroom.

Helen knew she had to eat to heal properly, but she couldn’t go downstairs with a broken leg. She told herself to stay calm and wait. In time, her body would be strong enough to move, then stand and then walk. She would lie and say she’d overslept. She’d hide her sore leg from her father as best as she could, smiling and making small talk as they ate. Then, with a little food in her, she would heal the rest of the way.

She would feel better soon, she told herself, crying as quietly as she could. She just had to hold on.

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Book Review: No Such Thing as Forever by Ali Cronin.

Product details:
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd.
Release date: June 7th 2012.
ebook, 200 pages.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Ages: 14+
Source: Purchased.

Real love. Real lives. The real thing . . . Girl Heart Boy is the irresistible new romantic series for teens, combining the romance of The OC with the realism of Skins and the sexiness of E L James' Fifty Shades of Grey - for a teen audience. Girl Heart Boy is perfect for fans of Twilight and the Hunger Games looking for their next must-have read.

Four girls, three boys, turning 18. Get set to follow their eventful final year at school . . .

Cass is Ms Monogamy. Ashley is a player. Donna is a party girl. But what about Sarah? Her friends tease her for being uptight, but she's waiting for The One. Now she's found him, but is he forever - or is Sarah just his summer fling?

Perfect for fans of Sugar Rush and Skins, No Such Thing as Forever, the first book in Ali Cronin’s Girl Heart Boy series, is an addictive read that will add a whole lot of sizzle to your summer!

Sarah’s group has been best friends all through school and they share everything with each other. There’s Ashley, who loves them and leaves them, Donna, the all-night-party girl, and Cass, who’s been in a relationship with Adam for what seems like forever. And then there’s Sarah. She’s the sensible one, the one that ‘doesn’t do men’, the only virgin in the group.  Until now, that is.  While the girls were broken up for the summer, Sarah met older guy Joe while on holiday in Spain. So now she’s got stories to tell and secrets to share with the girls. But what if Joe isn’t all Sarah’s cracked him up to be?  What if he’s just using her? What if he is just in it for the sex?

Ali Cronin doesn’t hold back in this book.  It’s definitely one that’s at the mature end of the YA scale with themes that are raw, gritty, real, and, oh yes, steamy! Sarah and Joe spend a few stolen weekends at his student digs in London, and let’s just say they don’t sit around staring into each others eyes and whispering sweet nothings to each other during that time. No Such Thing as Forever is just not that kind of book! Instead it’s a whole lot of fun with its realistic portrayal of teens and the situations they find themselves in as they attempt to navigate the rocky path of first love, or at least first lust, and all the hopes and fears, and heartbreaks that come with it.

 No Such Thing as Forever is narrated by easy-to-relate-to Sarah as she tries to maintain her long distance relationship with Joe, who is at Uni in London.  She falls for Joe fast and is not ready to write him off as just a summer fling. She wants them to be something special, something that matters.  But Joe seems distant. He takes ages to reply to her texts, never calls her, and when they do meet up, it’s just for sex.  And then there’s the problem of his friend Mimi, who hates Sarah on sight. Is Mimi just a typical run of the mill bitch? Or is there something more behind her behaviour?  Sarah’s friends give her advice on Mimi, they tell her that Joe’s not the one for her, that she’ll only get hurt in the end, but like all true addicts, Sarah can’t give Joe up until she finds out the ugly truth for herself.

No Such Thing as Forever is a great start to this new series. Its fun, fast-paced plot along with Cronin’s witty and engaging writing style meant that I read it in one sitting.  I can’t wait for more fun and frolics when the next book in the series Rumour Has It releases soon!