Friday, March 29, 2013

A Prescription for Delirium Tour



Today I'm proud to be a part of the 'A Prescription for Delirium Tour', hosted by Dark World Books. To view other stops on this tour and to join in on a special international giveaway, just click on the banner.


A Prescription for Delirium
(Van Helsing Organization #1)
Ninety years ago, Gabriella di Luca promised to protect the family of her dying lover. She failed to keep that promise. She was too far away to stop the devil that murdered the eldest Van Helsing son. Years later, Gabby learns the devil has resurfaced. She arrives in Hampton, TX, determined to stop the devil before it can lay a bloody hand on the remaining three brothers.
However, madness is spreading through Hampton. She suspects the devil is using this madness to test a drug which has a side effect of demonic possession. Gabby rushes to end the source of the madness only to fall victim to it. For a woman cursed with eternal life, dying is no threat. However, Gabby must stop the devil’s plot or risk losing her most precious possession: her mind.
You can purchase it from: Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Smashwords

A Prescription for Delirium Excerpt 

Used with permission, copywrite Noree Cosper

CHAPTER ONE

Hampton, TX, Present Day

Not five minutes in this backwater town and I had a demon sniffing my trail. He scanned the room with the nostrils of his wide nose flaring. His hair lay plastered against his forehead in greasy brown locks. He towered over everyone, even the people standing, as he squeezed between the large round tables and the gathering at the bar. The frayed threads of his jeans and his leather vest matched the dress of the rest of the roadhouse.

I lifted my drink to my mouth and shifted to my second sight. Most people say the eyes are the windows to the soul. Those people can’t see auras. The lights on the walls dimmed, and the air took on a gray haze, like seeing things under water. Colors bloomed out from each human in the building, blending together in a rainbow. The demon was another matter.

The shaggy black dog the size of a pony stood semi-imposed on all fours over the form of the man. Flames blazed from its eyes as it scanned the room. Was there really a dog walking through a busy Texas bar? No. Demons had no corporeal form and had to possess physical bodies. This one chose a werewolf. Dio, I had a hellhound on my ass.

Talk about bad timing. Ose already had some of his minions patrolling. If it found me, it would go running to its master to let him know I was in town. My hunt was in danger of ending before it even started.
Breathe, Gabby.

I leaned forward and let my black curtain of hair obscure my face. The lid of the salt shaker twisted off in my empty hand and I knocked it over, allowing the grains to spill on the floor. The salt should cover my scent. I slid closer to the group at the next table until I looked like I belonged with them.

One of the men grinned at me, his aura a happy yellow orange. “Hey babe.”

I nodded and raised my glass, but kept my gaze on the hellhound. He paused at a man at the bar who had caught my attention, or more his aura did. A ghostly image of a woman leaned over him, whispering in his ear. My hand tightened around the beer mug, but the mutt moved on. I relaxed. The colors around the people in the bar faded, as did the ghost woman when my sight returned to normal. The haze remained, more from cigarette smoke. I turned my head to the front of the bar. One window and one door were not much of an escape route. Fifty feet of inebriated patrons stood between me and freedom.

Two of the three men I had been waiting for walked through the door. A familiar tingle ran down my spine. For a moment, I flashed back to a dressing room, staring down another Romanian hunter. We’d come across the same prey, though he thought it was a vampire. I inhaled, bringing myself back to the present. This wasn’t the twenties, I wasn’t in Paris, and these brothers weren’t Dimitri.

Both had his chiseled features and his straight nose, though their hair was more of a burnt sienna. The one in front wore his cut short and had a tuft on his chin. He towered over his brother, which meant he would be a mountain compared to my small height. The other kept his hair tucked behind his ears. He stood with his arms crossed, wearing a smirk to let the world know he knew everything.

They cast their eyes over the room. The tall one adjusted the glasses on his face and approached the man sitting at the bar. Several women watched them as they passed. A smile touched my lips. The boys knew how to dress to make an impression. Their leather coats and slacks spoke of sophistication yet still provided enough flexibility to move if needed.

I stood and nodded at the boys who’d been trying to talk to me. Rude, but it was time to work. Besides, they were too young for me. I straightened my red tank top and brushed any wrinkles from my jeans. I couldn’t approach them looking like a guttersnipe. A stool opened up on the other side of them. I took the seat and tried to look casual while listening in on the brothers’ conversation. The bartender stood in front of me, waiting for an order.

I pointed to a beer and leaned back to get a better look at the third man. His back remained mostly to me, giving me a glimpse of his bearded cheek and a ponytail a shade darker in color than the other two. Brother number three. I inched forward to hear better over someone’s bad rendition of “Bad Moon Rising.”
“Ader.” The tall man spoke in Romanian. “Your prison sentence hasn’t ended yet.”

“I got out for being brilliant,” the man at the bar said without turning around.

“Does the warden know that?” the third one asked.

If I remembered correctly, this generation of Van Helsings had four boys. Adam, the oldest, had passed away ten years ago. So that left Esais, Adrian, and Tres. The smirking boy had to be Tres he looked the youngest. Was Ader short for Adrian?

Ader chuckled. “The warden didn’t have much of a say.”

Esais, the tall one, pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. He shook his head, letting out a long sigh as he looked at his brothers.

“Honestly,” he said. “First you end up in jail, and now you’re breaking out. You haven’t changed.”

“You expected me to?” Adrian asked.

"Why are you here?” Esais asked.

“Same reason as you. Revenge.”

Tres crossed his arms. “Why do you even care? You were never around when we needed you.”

Adrian turned to face his brothers, causing both of them to gasp. A patch covered his right eye while the other stared hard at Tres. Esais reached out to touch Adrian’s arm, but he pulled away.

“What happened?” Esais asked.

“Not important.” Adrian turned back to the bar. “Who were you told to meet?”

“A woman named Gabriella Di Luca.”

“Any idea what this woman looks like?”

Esais glanced in my direction with hesitation and opened his mouth.

I cleared my throat, raising my hand in a small wave. “Buna seara.”

Adrian and Tres turned their heads with near identical expressions of distrust. They didn’t expect someone to speak their native language here. I was a stranger invading their family circle.

“Who are you?” Adrian asked.

“Gabriella.”

“Convenient.” The word dripped with sarcasm.

We didn’t have time for this. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. My gaze traveled to the table-filled area further in the room. The hellhound’s wiry form had disappeared through a large door to the right. The atrocious singing wafted through there. This would be a perfect time to exit.

“We need to speak, but not here,” I said.

“We’re not going anywhere with you.”

“Ader,” Esais said.

Adrian looked back at his brother. “We have no proof she is who she claims to be.”

“He’s right. You could be a demon,” Tres said.

“Then you already revealed yourselves with your conversation,” I said. “Look, how much do you know of demons?”

“I’ve read several books on the subject,” Esais said. “That question doesn’t answer our doubts.”

“Do I fit the description you were given?”

Esais adjusted his glasses before nodding.

“Then, can we leave? I may not be one, but there is a demon here.”

Two turned their heads, their muscles tensing as they scanned the bar while Adrian kept his eye on me. The hellhound stepped back into the room and turned his head in my direction. His gaze locked on me, and he began shoving his way through the crowded tables and chairs.

I stood. “Too late.”

About the Author

Noree Cosper
Noree Cosper loves writing about magic in the modern world. While growing up in Texas she constantly searched for mystical elements in the mundane. She buried her nose in both fiction and books about Wicca, Religion, and Mythology. Everyday became an adventure as she joined a group of role-players, acting out her fantasies of vampires, demons, and monsters living in the world. She embraced her nerdom wholeheartedly. Noree grew, but never left her love for fantasy and horror. Her dreams pushed her and her hand itched to write the visions she saw. So, with her fingers on the keys, she did what her heart had been telling her to do since childhood. She wrote.
Website – Blog – Twitter – Facebook

Thursday, March 28, 2013

A big announcement


For those who  have been following me for a while now know that I have been working hard on my novel, Shadow Embraced. It's taken several years and a lot of hard work, but I am pleased to announce that Shadow Embraced is being published. For those that haven't heard about Shadow Embraced before, here is the blurb for the book:

No escape! 

Those words haunt Scar's dreams. She thinks the creature that terrorises her while asleep isn't real, but when she's abducted and taken to a reform school meant to contain creatures too dangerous to function in society, she starts to wonder whether she isn't some monster. 

She turns to an underground fight club full of vampires, werewolves and witches established by the students to control her urges, and who is she kidding, she loves to fight. When fighters begin to disappear, turning Scar into the prime suspect, she must race to prove her innocence before her true nature is exposed. 

 The only problem is that she's not entirely sure she's innocent.

Shadow Embraced is due out April 29th and the fantastic ladies over at Dark World Books are preparing a huge cover reveal (and believe me the cover is fantastic, thanks to the very talented Silvia Paoletta) which is happening on April 15th.

You can find the Shadow Embraced Goodreads page here
I have also set up an author page over at Facebook

Everything is moving and I'm so excited. I can't wait to show you all the cover.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Cover Reveal: The World Among Us by Beth Ann Masarik

Today I am revealing four covers for Beth Ann Masarik's short stories based off her soon to be released novel, The World Among Us: Prince of Darkness, which is YA urban fantasy.


Murderous Regrets 

 Leon Greene is accused of murdering his best friend, Jason Aysel, and the world wants to know if he really did it. Cue Elise Stevenson, the top news reporter for the Daily Gazette who gets the scoop. Will Leon tell her the truth and his motives behind the murder?





Moon Spirit 

 Raul Blackoak's world is tossed upside down one evening when he stumbles upon a damsel in distress. What he wasn't expecting was that his life would be changed forever by her. Because he risks his own life to save her, he is caught between two worlds; the world to which he belongs, and the human world. Will he be able to balance being in both worlds? Or will he have to give up one to be happily ever after in the other?


Hell Bound 

 After impressing her boss with her interview with werewolf, Leon Greene, Elise is Hell Bound to an interview with the Lord of the Underworld himself. Mr. Murphy wants her to find the dirty scoop on Hades himself, and foil his plot to take over the world. Will she survive the clutches of Hell?    

Hell’s Captive

 As if interviewing Hades himself wasn’t enough, Elise gets sucked into doing an interview with his son, Prince Damien. It turns out that the Prince of Darkness has a few tricks up his sleeve himself, and is head over heels for the girl he murdered. Will Elise uncover the Prince of Darkness’s deepest, darkest secrets?



About the Author
Beth Ann Masarik was born on Long Island, NY in the year 1984 with an over-active imagination. She used to love playing make-believe games, and now loves creating her own fantasy worlds. Masarik has been writing since she was 15 years old, and had her first newspaper article published in her high school newspaper in her sophomore year. She has taken several creative writing classes, and started writing her very first novel in college, and is currently searching for the right literary agent. Aside from writing novels, Masarik enjoys bowling, gaming, and role playing online. She enjoys reading fantasy novels written by Richelle Mead, L.J. Smith, and J.K. Rowling, and looks to them for role models.

 Beth is recently married, and when she isn’t writing or role playing, she is found volunteering down at her church. Masarik is also the founder of Literary Lunes Magazine/Literary Lunes Publications, a bi-monthly zine that is dedicated to promoting authors.

You can find out more about Beth and her stories at: www.bethannmasarik.com, www.theworldamongussaga.com and www.literarylunespublications.com
 

Friday, March 22, 2013

Feature & Follow #2




Follow & Feature is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee & Alison Can Read.

The rules are simple enough:
  1. Follow the hosts (check – check) 
  2. Follow the Featured Blog (check)
  3. Link back in a feature and follow post of your own  
  4. Sign up on the linky linky thing. Visit a few blogs. Follow a couple of other ones – be sure to let them know you did! 
  5. Answer the question posted on the host site 
  6. Always remember to follow back if someone followed you. Don’t be rude now!

This weeks Question:

Q: What is your guilty pleasure as far as reading? Is it a genre, or is it a certain type of book?.


Mmm, well this is definitely not an easy question. I would have to say my guilty pleasure as far as reading would have to be anything dark and scary. I know I gravitate to the paranormal and fantasy when I read, but I really am a sucker for something that can really give me goosebumps and make me turn on every light in the house and check in the cupboards.

So, what about you? What is your guilty pleasure in reading? What can't you get enough of?

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Getting what you paid for

As I said, on the weekend I took my brother to the Airport so he can start the exciting life of living as an ex-pat over in Japan. To do this, I had to venture into the city of Sydney. I used to live there (like 13 years ago), and I'm not regretting my choice of moving.

Okay, so for the past year I've been living in a small country town and before that I was living on a coastal suburb where it was definitely a more laid-back and relaxed attitude, but my experience in Sydney over the weekend really made me glad to be living in the country.

One experience that I had, which made me think not only of the term 'customer service' but of any product including books, involved going to a cafe and ordering a simple fruit mocktail. My mother and I have a bad allergy to oranges and whenever we order we make sure we stick clear of every drink and food that mentions the word "orange", so Mum thought it would be safe to order a drink that listed "strawberry, apple juice and watermelon", but when she got the drink there was a definite strange taste to it. Yep, they had put orange juice in it.

So, yeah we got a replacement (which took 20 minutes because the manager placed us back in the cue rather than dealing with it straight away), and when we mentioned it to her at the checkout she says that she doesn't have to list everything she places in her items. Yeah, she also said some things that could probably get them closed down by the health inspector (I've been in hospitality for 14 years before becoming a teacher). This is the first place that I've come to that has just thrown a random fruit juice into a mocktail that lists all of their juices. But it did get me thinking, just how far can businesses go to deceive the customer? This isn't only in hospitality, but also with books where the back blurbs aren't exactly honest or promotions that don't reveal all the fine print (yeah, I've come across those as well where they want you're business but won't honour their deal).

To wrap up this cafe, apparently this mistake was all our (the customers) fault and the cafe did not have any part in deceiving or giving us the wrong product.

This leads to my question for the day: Have you ever come across a product or service where you didn't get exactly what you paid for?

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Synopsis (From Goodreads): Mara Dyer doesn’t think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. 

 It can. 

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed. 

 There is. 

She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love. 

 She’s wrong.

Ever since Mara Dyer woke up in hospital with no recollection of how she got there, only being told about the tragic accident that she was lucky to survive that also claimed the lives of her friends, she has been having horrible nightmares and flashbacks as her memory tries to piece together what happened that night. Don't forget about the hallucinations of her dead friends that keep popping up, she struggles to keep a hold of what is reality. In an effort to start a new life, her whole family move to Miami, she meets Noah who doesn't care how broken she may be and with his help they start to piece together Mara's memories of that night and uncover the mystery behind how she came out of the accident unharmed.

I was looking forward to reading since I first heard about it, even though I didn't know that much about it, and I wasn't disappointed. The plot moved at a quick and thrilling pace with lots of twists and turns that will keep the reader guessing from beginning to end. Mara was definitely a different character who had been through a lot before the story had even started, this made her a realistic heroine that made me want to root for her, even though at times I felt as though she was making some downright stupid decisions. Noah, at first was confusing to understand what his motivations were towards Mara with his smooth-talking and hidden agenda, but he became one of my favourite characters as the story progressed.

The one thing that I felt was unnecessary was some of the padding of the scenes. At times I just wanted the story to get back to the action and I didn't understand why some of the scenes were even in the novel. I suppose these scenes might become important in book two, but it still detracted from the action of the first book.

Overall, Mara Dyer was a creepy and intense mystery with a difference and I look forward to seeing where this mystery goes next with the second book. I recommend this book to anyone who loves a good paranormal mystery.

Source: kindle
2013 TBR Pile Reading Challenge: #4 of 21

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Preparing for change


A lot in my life has changed recently, and on the weekend I drove to Sydney to take my brother to the airport for the biggest change in both of our lives. He's moving to Japan, and will be there for at least a year, so now I'm all alone in this big house and my number one beta reader is going to be a lot harder to get feedback from than just asking him to read my WiP and getting instant critiques. I'm pleased for him, he has always wanted to go and teach in Japan and now he has the chance.

Not all change is bad, but you have to be willing to embrace it and accept the path where the change will take you. So, today I thought I'd post some tips for dealing with change (these are tips that I'll definitely need to follow):

  1. Be open minded
    If you are not open minded you will not be able to accept change and refuse to let that change happen (I have seen people like this).
  2. Try to get used to the change
    By jumping straight in and getting used to what is new in your life it soon becomes old and familiar, and therefore, less daunting. 
  3. Remember that nothing is permanent
    Remember that anything can change and nothing in life can really stay the same, so don't force things to stay the same if they want to change.
  4. Try to forget about the change
    If the change is still bothering you, then pamper yourself, go to the movies or do something else to take your mind off it and then maybe after that everything will feel better.
  5. Remember change can be good
    Not all change is bad. If everything in life remains the same, then you will never discover hidden opportunities that may come up. Embrace change and let it take you wherever it wants to.
Like I said, my life has been changing in so many ways recently. My brother moving has only been one way, I've been working frantically on another one of those changes, but I'll be revealing what that is here later. All I can say is that this is definitely a good change.

How about you? Do you accept change? Or do you prefer things in your life to stay the same?

Friday, March 15, 2013

Feature & Follow #2




Follow & Feature is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee & Alison Can Read.

The rules are simple enough:
  1. Follow the hosts (check – check) 
  2. Follow the Featured Blog (check)
  3. Link back in a feature and follow post of your own  
  4. Sign up on the linky linky thing. Visit a few blogs. Follow a couple of other ones – be sure to let them know you did! 
  5. Answer the question posted on the host site 
  6. Always remember to follow back if someone followed you. Don’t be rude now!

This weeks Question:

Q: Activity! Hopefully warm weather for most of us is here soon…so tell us about your favorite outdoor reading spot. Or take a picture.


Well, here it's actually still hot, but I'm not expecting that's going to last much longer with winter just around the corner. But, anywhere that's secluded with a nice bit of shade. I live in the country so I have plenty of nice, serene parks and landscapes to have a great escape if I need to get out while reading. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the place at the moment to show.

Where do you like to go to read? Where's your favourite reading spot? Are you an outdoor reader or an indoor reader?


Review: Mind Games


Mind Games by Kiersten White

Synopsis (From Goodreads): Fia was born with flawless instincts. Her first impulse, her gut feeling, is always exactly right. Her sister, Annie, is blind to the world around her—except when her mind is gripped by strange visions of the future. 

Trapped in a school that uses girls with extraordinary powers as tools for corporate espionage, Annie and Fia are forced to choose over and over between using their abilities in twisted, unthinkable ways…or risking each other’s lives by refusing to obey. 

In a stunning departure from her New York Times bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy, Kiersten White delivers a slick, edgy, heartstoppingly intense psychological thriller about two sisters determined to protect each other—no matter the cost.

Ever since Fia and Annie lost their parents and were taken to a special school that promised to help Annie with her blindness, Fia has felt trapped. She has been forced to do unimaginable things or risk the life of her sister, Annie. Both girls are special. Annie, even though she is blind, she is capable of seeing future events, especially when her sister, Fia is involved. But Fia is the one the school has their eyes on. Fia has flawless instincts. Her first impulse, gut feeling, is always right, and that definitely helps in the field of espionage. When Fia is unable to take out a target she has been sent after has she doomed her sister's life or will she be able to find a way for the two of them to escape?

I loved Kiersten White's first series, Paranormalcy, and as soon as I heard about Mind Games I knew I had to read it. I was not disappointed. Mind Games is a psychological thriller that kind of reminds me of Minority Report for teenagers, with plenty of twists and turns that had me wanting to find out what's going to happen next.

Fia is definitely a complex character. She's been through a lot. She's just a teenager who has been forced to commit so many atrocities while still being a protective sister. Annie was a more grounded character, who tried to protect her sister and made mistakes along the way. It was interesting seeing the story from her perspective.  James made things interesting. It's unknown what he was really after in the story. Was he really interested in Fia? Was he working for his father or did he have his own agenda?

The one thing that I felt became grating, but I know they were necessary to tell both Fia and Annie's complete story, were the flashbacks. They came at the most inappropriate times, at times, because they snapped the story out of the action. It was interesting to learn about the girls past, but when the action was building I just wanted the story to keep flowing.

Overall, Mind Games was a thrilling read that will keep readers guessing until the end. I would recommend this for any fan of Kiersten White or Spy Thrillers. I look forward to seeing where Fia's story goes next.

Source: audible
2012 Audio Book Challenge: #3 of 25

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Cover Reveal: Ash-Eater's Fugue, Anno 2021 by Kim Koning



A sleeping town is pulled out of the night into a fiery world of chaos. Do they know that fire cleanses the damned soul?
Rejected by her parents at birth and raised by the mad zealot in charge of the Cremona Orphanage, Chiara has always been known as the dark one. Cursed with the ability to see the future, her life has always been a waking nightmare. The future is darker than even the dark one can foretell. As the country around her becomes a battleground, Chiara’s only salvation lies in a battered old violin. As the town struggles against the death that is their destiny, Chiara must embrace her delusions to play the final requiem. The town’s fate is sealed with the haunting song of a battered old violin. Sanity shatters as music, madness and the mystical dance in a requiem to fiery chaos. The damned must die a little death for the pure to triumph. The dark one is the only one who can bring light to a fallen world.
Add Ash-Eater’s Fugue, Anno 2021 on your Goodreads list
Like The Firebird’s Requiem on Facebook!


Kim Koning

Kim is a dark fiction writer with the heart of a poet and the soul of a gypsy while the ancient rhythms of Africa, the birthplace of storytellers, courses through her veins. Wanting to be either a pathologist or a criminal psychologist, life took her on a few twists and turns while studying journalism and after a couple of meandering offshoots that did not involve fiction, fiction finally chose her when she was asked to write a short story for a NZ anthology (which was a National Award Winner). Kim now lives on the beautiful East Coast of New Zealand’s North Island and is lucky enough to call the Pacific Ocean her backyard. She can often be found wandering the cliff tops above the crashing ocean and walking through the lush farmlands that surround the area. But with a heart caught between two lands, the sunburned, ancient Africa and the lush, green islands of New Zealand, she finds her true home within the white pages covered in ink. Her fiction is caught between the dark and mysterious, the truth and the what ifs, secrets and reality, shadows and light. Kim really does see ghosts and her loved ones believe ghosts and extreme weather phenomenon follow her around. She grew up spending holidays and weekends at her grandparents’ large old farm homestead which had a hidden wing that was haunted. These early experiences with haunted homes ignited her imagination and started a spark that made her question what else is out there that we couldn’t see, what is around us observing us? Why could she see these ghosts/spirits and many others couldn’t? The spark was lit and the stories started coming as fast as she could write them down.
Website/Blog – Twitter – Facebook – Goodreads

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Sad vs happy endings

I have to admit that I don't mind watching a movie or reading a book where the hero doesn't have a happy ending. Okay, it has to be done well because I have seen some movies where I just feel like the director just wanted to trash the main character, but then I have also seen some movies where the happy endings felt to have come around through too much of a coincidence and everything is "too" happy. 

So, how can a sad ending be worthwhile to the reader or viewer? That all depends on how the story and characters develop. I have to believe the main character has tried their hardest to overcome their problem or defeat their antagonist and still nothing has worked. These storylines are often present in apocalypse stories where the viewer knows that no matter what the character does, they're still not going to be able to stop the big tragedy that's coming, but the character still tries to change the outcome. If the character doesn't try and just gives up (yes, I've seen movies like that) then the ending sorts of fizzes out.

Okay, here is my personal choice: I would rather have a character try and fail than to have a character not try and just be given their happy ending. A sad ending with a hero that has put everything into trying to achieve his goals is better than a coincidental happy ending where everyone gets what they want even though they have not earned those things.

What do you think? Would you prefer the happy ending or the sad ending? 

Friday, March 8, 2013

Feature & Follow #1



Follow & Feature is a weekly meme hosted by ParajunkeeAlison Can Read.
This weeks Question:

What is a book you didn’t like that all your friends raved about or what book did you love that wasn’t popular?

This is a very hard question to answer as it makes me think. If I did have to select one, it would have to be a series that I have heard a lot of hype about, and while the first three were interesting the series, to me, has  fizzled out. The House of Night series did start off strong, but after the third one I had lost interest in the characters. Actually, I found the main character quite grating. But some people must like them since the series is still going.

What about you?


Thursday, March 7, 2013

The Forever Girl Review Tour

Blurb:
“Whatever you do, fight.”
Sophia’s family has skeletons, but they aren’t in their graves.
At twenty-two, practicing Wiccan Sophia Parsons is scratching out a living waiting tables in her Rocky Mountain hometown, a pariah after a string of unsolved murders with only one thing in common: her.
Sophia can imagine lots of ways to improve her life, but she’d settle for just getting rid of the buzzing noise in her head. When the spell she casts goes wrong, the static turns into voices. Her personal demons get company, and the newcomers are dangerous.
One of them is a man named Charles, who Sophia falls for despite her better judgment. He has connections that might help her unveil the mystery surrounding her ancestor’s hanging, but she gets more than she bargains for when she finally decides to trust him.
Survival in his world, she learns, means not asking questions and staying out of the immortal council’s way. It’s a line she crossed long ago. If Sophia wants to survive the council and save the people she loves, she must accept who she is, perform dark magic, and fight to the death for her freedom.
Forever Girl will appeal to lovers of paranormal fantasy, mystery, romance, and horror.

My Review:
Sophia finds herself living in a small town, feeling like an outcast by the overly Christian women who feel her own Wiccan Religion is evil and should be run out of town. Not only does she have to deal with feeling like an outcast, she also has to live with a constant buzzing in her head, and even though she manages to go to college and hold down a job it still rattles around her head 24/7. She just wants to be normal and find a cure for this infliction. That is until she finds herself thrown into the middle of a centuries old battle between supernatural beings, and now her priorities have to change. She has to find out about her own ancestry and decide to join this battle in order to save the ones she loves.
This was my first taste at the genre of New Adult and I wasn't disappointed. Rebecca Hamilton has created an intriguing cast of characters all with unique personalities, and powers. Sophia is definitely a girl that can stand on her own without a boyfriend, even with Charles's assistance in the story, she would never be considered weak and that's what I loved about her. Charles on the other hand, for being a paranormal creature, was definitely connected with his humanity and I could see he really cared about Sophia and tried to help her even though she just wanted to do her own thing at times.
Hamilton has done her research into both the lores of the supernatural creatures she has written about and Wiccan Religion, which is obvious with her in-depth descriptions of rituals done throughout the book. At times the pace felt a bit too slow, for romance fans this might be just right, but once all the mystery surrounding Sophia's ancestry started unravelling and the twists and turns leading up to the climax started playing out it kept me wanting to turn the page.
Overall, this was an exciting read with great characters which is a must read for any fans of paranormal romance or urban fantasy.

About the Author:
Rebecca Hamilton writes Paranormal Fantasy, Horror, and Literary Fiction. She lives in Florida with her husband and three kids, along with multiple writing personalities that range from morbid to literary. She enjoys dancing with her kids to television show theme songs and would love the beach if it weren’t for the sand. Having a child diagnosed with autism has inspired her to illuminate the world through the eyes of characters who see things differently. To learn more about Autism Spectrum Disorder, please visit:http://www.autisticadvocacy.org
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Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Judging a book by its cover

Have you ever heard the old saying "Don't judge a book by its cover", well I have a confession. I often judge a book by its cover, especially when I'm just browsing a bookstore (which I do quite frequently).

When I'm in a bookstore, I just stand by, looking at the covers and see which ones jump out at me, which ones are appealing enough to make me want to take them down and have a look at the blurb on the back. To me, I believe the back cover - as well as the title of the story - is the most important element to get a potential reader to want to pick up the story. Don't get me wrong, the story is also a crucial element, but the reader won't know how good the story is without a good cover to entice them to pick up the book.

I think we live such busy lives and there are so many books available vying for our attention that it becomes simply impossible to read the blurb on the backs of all of the books and choose through the story rather than the looks.

Are you guilty of judging a book by its cover? What makes you want to pick up a book to buy/read?

Friday, March 1, 2013

Review: Level 2

Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans

Synopsis (From Goodreads): Three levels. Two loves. One choice. Debut novelist, Lenore Appelhans has written a thrilling otherworldly young adult novel about a place that exists between our world (Level 1) and what comes after life (Level 2).

'I pause to look around the hive - all the podlike chambers are lit up as the drones shoot up on memories ... I've wanted to get out of here before, but now the tight quarters start to choke me. There has to be more to death than this.' 

 Felicia Ward is dead. Trapped in a stark white afterlife limbo, she spends endless days replaying memories, of her family, friends, boyfriend ... and of the guy who broke her heart. The guy who has just broken into Level 2 to find her. Felicia learns that a rebellion is brewing, and it seems she is the key. 

Suspended between heaven and earth, she must make a choice. Between two worlds, two lives and two loves.

Felicia is trapped in limbo, an afterlife between heaven and hell, with nothing to do but replay memories of her family, friends, boyfriend and the boy she doesn't want to remember, Julian. When that very boy breaks into Level 2 to find her Felicia learns that a rebellion is brewing and she might be the key to either its success or its failure. Now Felicia has to decide whether she can trust Julian enough to follow him, but also she has to find enough strength to replay those memories she has tried to avoid... not only the one of her death, but one far worse.

I didn't know much about Level 2 besides it was an afterlife story when I first picked it up, although the cover is what made me want to read this, and Lenore Appelans has created an original debut that gives a different take on what happens after death before one has a chance to move on. Appelhans presented a unique way to tell Felicia's story through all the flashbacks and memories she was viewing, which kept me engaged and wondering what was going to come next, and no they are not in linear order so it made it quite unexpected in places.

All of the characters were interesting and had personalities of their own. Felicia is a strong character and it was interesting to find out about her personality and her traumas through her flashbacks. Neil was so sweet and charming, it wasn't hard to fall in love with him, and Julian, well he acted like a douche at times, but at other times it felt like he really cared for Felicia. All the characters, together with the twists and turns of the story, made this an exciting adventure into the afterlife and I look forward to reading more of Felicia's story (Level 3).

Source: audible
2013 Debut Author Challenge: #2 of 12
2012 Audio Book Challenge: #2 of 25
 
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