Review: The Trouble with Fate by Leigh Evans

The Trouble with Fate
Author: Leigh Evans
Release Date: December 24, 2012
Publisher: St Martins Paperback
Mystwalker Book #1
ISBN:  1250006406
ISBN13: 9781250006400
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Review Copy Source: Publisher/Netgalley

Meet Hedi Peacock. She's half Fae. Half Were. And all trouble…

I Have Two Words For Werewolves:

My name is Hedi Peacock and I have a secret. I’m not human, and I have the pointy Fae ears and Were inner-bitch to prove it. As fairy tales go, my childhood was damn near perfect, all fur and magic until a werewolf killed my father and the Fae executed my mother. I’ve never forgiven either side. Especially Robson Trowbridge. He was a part-time werewolf, a full-time bastard, and the first and only boy I ever loved. That is, until he became the prime suspect in my father’s death…

Bite Me.

Today I’m a half-breed barista working at a fancy coffee house, living with my loopy Aunt Lou and a temperamental amulet named Merry, and wondering where in the world I’m going in life. A pretty normal existence, considering. But when a pack of Weres decides to kidnap my aunt and force me to steal another amulet, the only one who can help me is the last person I ever thought I’d turn to: Robson Trowbridge. And he’s as annoyingly beautiful as I remember. That’s the trouble with fate: Sometimes it barks. Other times it bites. And the rest of the time it just breaks your heart. Again…

The story behind THE TROUBLE WITH FATE interested me as soon as I saw the blurb. For some reason I went into the book thinking it was a YA book but quickly found out it was Paranormal Romance. I'm not really sure why I thought it was YA, cover maybe?!?

I really liked the idea of a character being half Fae and half Were.  I can not recall any other book where that has happened so I as intrigued with the idea. I felt Evans she did pretty well with her main female character Hedi. I liked the mix of powers and the struggle Hedi had with herself and her mixed heritage. The romance between Hedi and Robson went from mutual hate to sex/love in a blink of an eye. I thought there could have been another scene or two thrown in to make it a bit of a smoother act but I ended up getting over it pretty quickly. Both characters had major issues but ended up fitting together well and I like them together better than I liked them apart.  Make sense? There were times where I couldn't put the book down and others I wanted something to happen a little faster. The transition from scene to scene did not always feel smooth. I often found myself waiting for the transition only to find out I missed it causing me to go back a bit to re-catch up on the new scene. There was great back story revealed at a nice pace to give you a good understanding to all the rivalry that is revealed between the different groups introduced. I like the amulet storyline and I enjoyed the supporting characters as well as the main ones.

The ending left me going "huh? Really after everything that just happened? Seriously?" Definitely not an ending I was expecting but even after feeling like that the cliffhanger makes me want to pick up book two because I have to know what will happen next so I guess the ending did its job!! So although there were some obvious flaws in places and I wasn't always 100% in to the book I still enjoyed it.

I gave it 3/5 stars

New Releases: 1/6-1/12

Mon Jan 7

Reaper by L.S. Murphy

Tues Jan 8

The 13th Sign by Kristin O’Donnell Tubb
Blood Prophecy (Drake Chronicles, #6) by Alyxandra Harvey
Broken by A.E. Rought
Crash (Visions, #1) by Lisa McMann
Delusion by Laura L. Sullivan
Doomed by Tracy Deebs
Dream Eyes (Dark Legacy, #2) by Jayne Ann Krentz
Fangtabulous by Lucienne Diver
Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff
Prince of Power (Chronicles of Yavn, #1) by Elisabeth Staab
Rise (Nightshade Prequel, #2) by Andrea Cremer
Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky, #2) by Veronica Rossi
Timekeeper (Timeless, #2) by Alexandra Monir

Happy Reading!!

Winner: Shattered Circle by Linda Robertson

Thank you to everyone who entered!!

Prize:ARC copy of Shattered Circle

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Review: Crimson Frost by Jennifer Estep

Crimson Frost
Author:Jennifer Estep
Release Date: December 24, 2012
Publisher: K-Teen
Mythos Academy Book #4
ISBN:  0765328089
ISBN13: 9780765328083
Genre: Young Adult
Review Copy Source: Publisher

For a moment, a face flashed before my eyes—the most hideous face I’d ever seen. No matter how hard I tried to forget what had happened, I saw him everywhere I went. It was Loki—the evil god that I’d helped set free against my will.

I should have known that my first official date with Logan Quinn was destined to end in disaster. If we’d gotten into a swordfight, or been ambushed by Reapers, I’d have been more prepared. But getting arrested mid-sip at the local coffee hangout? I didn’t see that one coming.

I’ve been accused of purposely helping the Reapers free Loki from his prison—and the person leading the charge against me is Linus Quinn, Logan’s dad. The worst part is that pretty much everyone at Mythos Academy thinks I’m guilty. If I’m going to get out of this mess alive, I’ll have to do it myself…

CRIMSON FROST is book 4 in the Mythos Academy series by one of my favorite Authors Jennifer Estep. Gwen has done a lot and come a long way from book 1 so I would definitely suggest starting the series from A TOUCH OF FROST so you can get the full effects of Gwen and the world in which she lives in. 

The reapers are once again causing trouble for Gwen and her allies, they somehow convinced everyone that Gwen is Loki's champion and working for them and she is now under arrest and awaiting trial. Gwen continues to grow in her role as Nike's Champion. She has a way of figuring out just about every obstacle that is thrown at her even if its after trouble has gone on a little to long. She is always the first to fight for those she sees the need to protect and is very easy to relate to. Even with the troubles she faces in book 4 she is still fiercely worried about other. I continue to love all the characters in the series. Gwen's Grandma as always continues to surprise me and I enjoyed the addition of Alexei to the series. The love story that is Gwen and Quinn just cant seem to catch a break, it makes me sad and I'm not sure what could possibly happen to them next. 

The ending left a lot open and a lot to consider for multiple characters. CRIMSON FROST was a great addition to the series and as always I'm excited to continue the story. Book 5 MIDNIGHT FROST is set to release in July 2013 and I will be one of the first to try and get my hands on it. 

I gave it 4/5 stars

Week in Review: 12/30-1/5

Books Ive Bought/received

* The Rules by Stacey Kade-eARC-Netgalley

* Touch of the Demon by Diana Rowland- Purchased at Barnes and Noble

Books I Read

Blood Kissed Sky by J.A. London
Between by Kerry Schafer
Touch of the Demon by Diana Rowland
Prodigy by Marie Lu
The Essence by Kimberly Derting

Reviews Posted

Blessed By a Demon's Mark by E.S. Moore
Shadow Play by Christie Palmer
Blood Winter by Diana Pharaoh Francis

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* New Releases for the week. Was there anything you were looking forward to reading?

* Tuesday I put up my top 10 looking forward to reading books for 2013.

*A Promotional Giveaway went up on Thursday for Jennifer Lynn Barnes Upcoming release Nobody

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 * I love comments so if you see something you like (or not) please comment away and let me know.

Review: Blood Winter by Diana Pharaoh Francis

Blood Winter
Author:Diana Pharaoh Francis
Release Date: December 26, 2012
Publisher: Pocket Books
Horngate Witches Book #4
ISBN:  1451613865
ISBN13: 9781451613865
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: Publisher

Set in apocalyptic America and featuring a magically enslaved heroine who is “a riveting mixture of guts, compassion, and furious anger as she struggles with a world coming apart at the seams” (Romantic Times), the fourth in a dynamic dark urban fantasy series unlike anything you’ve ever read before.
Winter is coming to Montana and Shadowblade warrior Max is expecting trouble. People are hoarding everything. They are banding together, many flocking to the congregation of Sterling Savage, a fire-and-brimstone preacher. A charismatic cult leader who claims to be the Hand of God, he’s determined to create a human utopia and destroy all magic, starting with witches.

Unbeknownst to him, the “divine” voice he’s been hearing isn’t God but a demon that feeds on hate, death, and destruction. Savage is the perfect puppet for the demon’s ambitions. Max and her people at Horngate are all that stand in its way, and they are woefully unprepared.

Conducting terrible, bloody ceremonies to boost his own power and that of the demon riding him, Savage starts a war between his congregants and two other powerful gangs in the city, fighting for food, fuel, clothing and territory. When he manages to capture Max’s niece, brother, and several teenagers from Horngate, Max tries to free them but finds that Savage has twisted their minds. They worship him—even her brother, who is a witch and whom Savage intends to burn at the stake. Going undercover in the cult compound, Max swiftly realizes just how seductive Savage is. His charisma is reinforced with magic. His followers adore him and will do anything for him. Anything.

But courage, loyalty, and friendship are powerful forces—and Max doesn’t like to lose.

BLOOD WINTER is the fourth book in the Horngate Witches series. This is a series you will want to start at the beginning with.

Max the female heroine has come a long way from the hate filled distant Shadowblade we first met in BITER NIGHT. Max has stepped up to the plate for the members of her team and for the Horngate community and continues to put them first even though she might not make it out of a situation. As for Max and Alexander's relationship. As in previous books there is a lot of up's and down's between the two. Max has a really hard time expressing her feelings and coming to terms with what they are together. Alexander definitely hurts her in BLOOD WINTER and I wasn't totally happy with the ending of their distance. It seemed a little to easy but I wont dwell on it because I love them together. We don't see the Sunspears in book 4 but the Shadowblade's are very prominent from beginning to end and I love their loyalty to each other. Max and Giselle's relationship has grown a ton since book 1. They have a mutual goal but I do love that they still bicker and have their disagreements. Max's family really annoyed me with their continued entitled selfishness. As always I enjoyed the new installment to the Horngate Witches series.

BLOOD WINTER was well paced with plenty of action and danger. We are introduced to some new characters and situations caused by the release of magic. We lose some more people but with the situations going on I'm sure that their will be more in future books if we are lucky enough to get them. Another reviewer mentioned that she read an interview where the author said BLOOD WINTER was the last of the series. I have not seen it and hope she is wrong. Although I like where most of the characters are in the end of Book 4 I by no means want it to be the end and there is so much we still don't know and answers still needing to be revealed. I need more!!!
I gave it 4/5 stars

Giveaway: Nobody by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Nobody by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
January 22, 2013
ISBN:  1606843214
ISBN13: 9781606843215
EgmontUSA
Barnes and Noble 
Amazon 
Indiebound

There are people in this world who are Nobody. No one sees them. No one notices them. They live their lives under the radar, forgotten as soon as you turn away.

That’s why they make the perfect assassins.

The Institute finds these people when they’re young and takes them away for training. But an untrained Nobody is a threat to their organization. And threats must be eliminated.

Sixteen-year-old Claire has been invisible her whole life, missed by the Institute’s monitoring. But now they’ve ID’ed her and send seventeen-year-old Nix to remove her. Yet the moment he lays eyes on her, he can’t make the hit. It’s as if Claire and Nix are the only people in the world for each other. And they are—because no one else ever notices them.

Find Jennifer and her books

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