Trailer Thursday: Bitterblue

I have been waiting for this one for a while now

and on May 1, 2012 the wait is finally over!!

Review: Tomorrow Land

By: Mari Mancusi
Releases March 8, 2012

Source: Review copy provided by NetGalley for review.

This was an exciting dystopian adventure by Mari Mancusi that I could not put down. It is set in 2030 so there are some futuristic concepts that are really cool but don’t get used to them because it-the-end-of-the-world. Peyton Anderson is a very interesting heroine. All she wants to be popular, shop, have a hot boyfriend but she has the nutty father who is planning for the apocalypse. He has her training in martial arts, not allowing her to have the newest technology or her LTF (Liscense to F…) as the kids in the book call it. Yes on of the concepts in 2030 is the government regulates who can breed and have sex.

The hero of the book is Chris/Chase who is the nerdy boy down the street and have a massive crush on Peyton. He has his own strengths and weakness he overcomes through the book. He has a very funny and take charge of the situation brother named Trey/Tank. After the apocalypse they all got new names based on what they were known for. Trey is as big as a tank. They have a moply crew of kids they have found and need to take care of.

I liked how Mari Mancusi wrote the book as every other chapter being before the apocalypse and then present tense 4 years later. It made it so the reader never knew about Peyton and Chris’s past history while their present was already happening. It made so that to the very end we never knew all the answers of their past.

 Can true love survive the end of the world?

 Imagine finding your first love, only to be ripped apart by the apocalypse. Peyton Anderson will never forget the day she was forced to make a choice--between her family--and Chris Parker, the boy she'd given her heart. Now, four years later, as she steps from the fallout shelter and into a dead and broken world, he's the only thing on her mind.

 All Chris "Chase" Parker wanted was to take Peyton away and keep her safe from harm. But he waited for hours in the rain on judgment day and she never showed--breaking his heart without ever telling him why.
 
 Now the two of them have been thrown together once again, reluctant chaperones to a group of orphan children in a post-apocalyptic world where the dead still walk...and feed. As they begin their pilgramage to the last human outpost on Earth, can they find a way to let go of old hurts and find the love they lost--all while attempting to save what's left of the human race?

Review: Witch Witch (Coven series, #1)

By: Trish Milburn

Releases March 1, 2012

Source: Review copy provided by NetGalley for review.

 

Trish Milburn is a new author for me and I was not disappointed. This is a new series about a girl trying to escape her family/coven. She is a witch but does not want to use her powers for evil so she runsaway. She wants a normal life, school, friends, prom, and maybe a boyfriend. However, Jax is anything but normal.

Jax is starting high school for the first time and it is like scenes from Mean Girls. You have three pretty yet bitchy girls who are cruel to Jax since she is the newest prettiest girl in school getting all the attention. Jax is supernaturally pretty but she only has eyes for Keller. I love the idea of love at first sight and that what these two have. Everyone around them recognizes it too. I liked the core group of friends Jax does make. Toni is a little spitfire with pink stripes in her hair. Keller is her cousin and supernatural hunter. Eric and Paige are very sweet to her too.

This book had everything it needed and was not drawn out. It was 188 pages so everything moves pretty quick but it doesn’t feel rushed. I liked the pase and can’t wait for the next book.

Witchcraft Is Her Family’s Business.

No One Quits The Family And Lives To Tell About It.

“Jax” Pherson has power, enough power to know her future will end in service to the dark coven her father controls. Unless she can stay hidden in a small community in the mountains of North Carolina. She must find a way to live without magic and deny the darkness she feels welling up inside her—the same dark power that fuels the covens around the world. All she wants is a normal life. A boyfriend. Friends. Some place to belong, but all too soon Jax’s barely begun new life hangs in the balance when she discovers that the boy she’s attracted to is sworn to kill her kind. He’s a hunter with good reason to kill everything that goes bump in the night. Even the most fleeting use of her power is tantamount to signing her death warrant and will bring both hunter and coven down on her. But can she walk away when her friends are threatened by an old evil? Something created by the magic of witches? Jax’s only hope of survival is to convince the boy she loves to forget everything he’s ever been taught and help her find a way to fight the covens. To believe there is some good in her.

 Favorite Quote:
“Okay, okay, we get it. You two really like each other,” Egan says. He nudges Keller aside. “It’s my turn. I think I have a date up there somewhere.”

Bit Toni doesn’t appear at the top of the stairs.

“Toni?” I say.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Egan adds.

“She’s, uh…I’ll go get her.” I don’t want to reveal how nervous Toni is. That will put too much importance on this date, on Egan.

“Nah, I’ll go get her.” Egan bounds up the stairs.
  The Coven Series
1. White Witch (Released March 1, 2012)
2. Bane
3. Magick

What If? A Merit and Ethan scene

I found this on Chloe Neill's blog. I love Merit and the Chicago world she lives in.

"This is a scene I wrote four or five years ago.
It is a sketch of how events might have transpired after a very, very angry Merit discovered her father had paid Ethan to make her a vampire. Unlike in the books, this scene supposes Ethan accepted the money."

Check it out here

Waiting on Wednesday: Once Burned (Night Prince, #1)

By: Jeaniene Frost

Releases: June 26, 2012

She’s a mortal with dark powers...

 

After a tragic accident scarred her body and destroyed her dreams, Leila never imagined that the worst was still to come: terrifying powers that let her channel electricity and learn a person’s darkest secrets through a single touch. Leila is doomed to a life of solitude... until creatures of the night kidnap her, forcing her to reach out with a telepathic distress call to the world’s most infamous vampire...

 

 He’s the Prince of Night...

 Vlad Tepesh inspired the greatest vampire legend of all — but whatever you do, don’t call him Dracula. Vlad’s ability to control fire makes him one of the most feared vampires in existence, but his enemies have found a new weapon against him – a beautiful mortal with powers to match his own. When Vlad and Leila meet, however, passion ignites between them, threatening to consume them both. It will take everything that they are to stop an enemy intent on bringing them down in flames

Review: Cipher (Southern Arcana, #4)

By Moira Rogers

Release Date: August 07, 2012 (print)

Source: Review copy provided by Author Moria Rogers for review.

Fans of Moira Rogers’s Southern Arcana series are jumping for joy now that Kat and Andrew finally got their story. I have been waiting for this since meeting them and their easy going flirtatious relationship. All that went to hell when Kat and Andrew were attacked and they both were too dangerous to be together. It broke my heart knowing they belonged together. Both were in so much pain being a part.

Now, they have had time a part to learn their powers and how to have control over them. Andrew has used that time to learn skills to keep Kat safe. Kat has avoided Andrew because it is so hard to be around him and learning from Zola defense skills so she is capable of protecting herself. However, when she is digging into her mother’s past she needs Andrew’s help. It starts them down a path neither of them expected. There is action, pain, tears, passion, and a budding relationship.

I loved the way Kat and Andrew knew they had to get over their devastating past in order to have a future. I thought they both were incredibly strong to realize they aren’t the easy-going architect and geeky computer student anymore. They are a strong alpha wolf and extremely powerful empath that love each other. The way they got over relationship road blocks was amazing. I truly love their relationship. They both realize what each other needs and not blame each other for it. Like how protective Andrew is, his wolf instinct can’t be helped and Kat knows it so she does not fight it.

Before this book I didn’t who the next stories would be about but now I do and I can’t wait. Both future couples should be just as fabulous. Great job Moira!

Fourteen months ago, Kat Gabriel's life changed forever when she used her empathy as a weapon. Now she can't escape the weight of those deaths--or the loss of the easy friendship she and Andrew once shared. Obsessed with her mother's violent past, Kat is determined to learn the truth of her inner-darkness by understanding her legacy.

Since the attack that turned him into a wolf, Andrew Callaghan has done everything possible to make himself stronger. More capable of protecting Kat--both from the supernatural world that forced her to kill, and from their own volatile connection. Pushing her away hurt them both, but he's finally made himself into the protector she needs.

As Kat's quest leads her into the darkest underbelly of the psychic world, Andrew is determined to be at her side. But every step forward reopens old emotional wounds and shakes their control. For a dangerous alpha and a deadly psychic, distraction could be fatal--especially when the greatest threat they pose is to each other.

Southern Arcana Series

1. Crux
2. Crossroads
2.1 Holiday Cheer (Nick and Derek’s Christmas Story)
2.5 Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romances 2 “Zola’s Pride”
3. Deadlock
3.5.Two Weddings (and One Near Funeral)
4. Cipher
5. Impulse (Releases Fall 2012)
6. Enigma (Releases 2013)

Movie Review: One for the Money

Oh Stephanie Plum (Katherine Heigl)…I so could be a bounty hunter too. I went with my family today to see Janet Evanovich’s One For the Money based off the first book in her Stephanie Plum series. I loved the movie. I think the casting was perfect. Joe Morelli (Jason O’Mare) and Ranger (Daniel Sunjata) were very hot and fit into their roles very well. I enjoyed Lula (Sherri Shepard), Grandma Mazur (Debbie Reynolds), Mrs. Plum (Debra Monk), and the creep Vinnie (Patrick Fischler).

I thought the screenwriters did an excellent job keeping with the original book. Some changes but none that bothered me. I got worried at the end when the final scene wasn’t going down like the book but all turned out ok since Joe Morelli still ended up in the back of the truck. It was great.

Does anyone know if they will make anymore of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum movies? I would definitely be going to see them.

Movie Monday

Underworld: Awakening

Released January 20, 2012

Stars: Kate Beckinsale, Michael Ealy, and India Eisley

I liked this trailer the best becasue it gave a recap up until this point.

I love this movie series and can't wait to see it. What about you?

Early Review: A Perfect Storm

By Lori Foster

Releases March 27, 2012

Source: Review copy provided by NetGalley for review.

 

Fans of the Men Who Walk the Edge of Honor series you will not be disappointed in this latest installment. It might be my favorite so far.

Arizona got a story? Oh ya I loved Arizona when we met her in Savor the Danger. Jackson rescued her when human trafficiers threw her over a bridge so she would drown to death but I never thought she would get her own story. I am so glad she did. Dare, Trace, and Jackson treat her like a troublesome but loved little sister but Spencer doesn’t. He may believe he is too old for her but that does not stop his thoughts about her sexually.

Spencer wants to help heal Arizona’s emotional scars. She is unable to think that sex or anything in a relationship can be good or pleasurable. Spencer is determined to change her mind. I loved the bet he made with her. It was brilliant. Everytime Arizona cursed, she owned him a kiss. Arizona is determined not to curse but she is not perfect. It’s great.

This book had the two main characters grow emotionally while trying to end another human trafficking ring that Arizona uncovered. She wants Spencer as a partner to take them down because she sees him as an equal. Now all the boys need to realize what the fabulous Chris already knew. Arizona is capable of protecting herself and how her life has shaped her into a strong woman. It is a fun to see Jackson and Spencer squirm until they do.

Favorite Quote:
“I want to make a bet with you.”
Her interest perked up. “You do? About what?”
Already knowing it wouldn’t go over well, Spencer braced himself. “I bet you can’t go a month without cursing.”
Her chin tucked in, and her brows came down. “What does that have to do with anything?”
He had no idea, except that it annoying him to hear her be so coarse. “Go a month without cursing.” He hated himself, but he said, “Every time you slip, you owe me a kiss.”

 He never saw her coming…

Spencer Lark already knows too many secrets about Arizona Storm, including the nightmare she survived and her resulting trust issues. But in order to expose a smuggling ring—and continue avenging his own tragic past—the bounty hunter reluctantly agrees to make Arizona a decoy. Yet nothing has equipped him for her hypnotic blend of fragility and bravery, or for the protective instincts she stirs in him.

Arizona wants to reclaim her life, which means acting as bait to lure the enemy into a trap. Sure it's dangerous, especially with a partner as distractingly appealing as Spencer. But as their plan—and their chemistry—shifts into high gear, Arizona may discover there's an even greater risk in surrendering her heart to a hero

Men Who Walk the Edge of Honor Series

.5 The Guy Next Door

1. When You Dare

2. Trace of Fever

3. Savor the Danger

4. A Perfect Storm (Releases March 27, 2012)

Review: Deadlock (Southern Arcana, #3)

By Moira Rogers

Released November 15, 2011

Source: Review copy provided by Author Moria Rogers for review.

This is the third installment of the Southern Arcana where Alec, the unofficial Alpha wolf of New Orleans finds his girl. How many times have we heard “Alec Jacobson is an asshole” well it takes an empath to find out what Alec is really like. Andrew very nicely said he’s a hopeless romantic which is a very sweet quality for the big tough brooding guy to have.

Carmen wants to make a change in the supernatural world and she does so by working at the neural clinic in New Orleans. She has seen the horrible way her Father treats her and other brother, Miguel since they aren’t shifters. Her brother Julio unfortunately is a shifter and her Father and Uncle Caesar both want to use him for power. The council members are more about getting power through manipulations instead of taking care of those in their territory. She wants more and wishes good people would step up, like how Alec takes care of New Orleans.

I really liked how this series keeps all the characters involved even though there are two main characters. I liked how Alec and Carmen took a trip to Wyoming to visit Nicole, Michelle and the newborn very loud AJ (Aaron Jr.). It was nice how we get some more of their stories and they didn’t just end because their story was told in Crossroads. Same with getting to continue tension between Kat and Andrew even though they haven’t had their book. That is the story I really, really need to read. It sounds like the tragic Romeo and Juliet where they might hurt each other but I really hope they get a happy ending.

He’s no one’s hero. She’s no one’s pawn. And now they’re caught in the crossfire…
 Abandoned by her wolf shifter father and raised by her human psychic mother, Carmen Mendoza can’t deny she’s different. She craves things most women shy away from—and she has a trail of shape shifting ex-boyfriends to prove it.

 Working at a clinic for supernatural creatures, she’s escaped the notice of her father’s legacy-obsessed family. Until they need a pawn in their bid for power. Snared by a vicious spell designed to wake her inner wolf, Carmen’s only hope is to trust the one man strong enough to soothe her darkest instincts.

Alec Jacobson was once the heir apparent to the wolves’ ruling elite, until he walked away to marry the woman he loved. She paid with her life. Now he lives as a rebel, a black-sheep alpha who protects the supernatural residents of New Orleans from the wolves’ barbaric class system. Too bad he can’t protect himself from his need for Carmen.

Yet staking his claim on his enemy’s niece will turn his city into a battleground. Unless he can find a way to stop breaking the rules—and start making them.

Warning: This book contains a renegade alpha wolf, a smart empathic doctor, very dirty sex with psychic safe-words, the occasional dominance game in and out of the bedroom, and a group of supernatural citizens ready to take on the corrupt leaders of their world.

Southern Arcana Series
1. Crux
2. Crossroads
2.1 Holiday Cheer (Nick and Derek’s Christmas Story)–free online story
2.5 Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romances 2 “Zola’s Pride”

3. Deadlock

3.5.Two Weddings (and One Near Funeral) –free online story

4. Cipher

5. Impulse (Releases Fall 2012)

6. Enigma (Releases 2013)