Week in Review: 6/2-6/8

Books Ive Bought/received

* Don't Bite the Bridesmaid by Tiffany Allee- Ecopy-Publisher

* Viral Nation by Shaunta Grimes- Publisher

* The Night Beat by Gini Koch- ecopy- Author

Books I Read

Fiery Edge of Steel by Jill Archer
Viral Nation by Shaunta Grimes

Reviews Posted

Shapeshifted by Cassie Alexander
Pods by Michelle K. Pickett
Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead

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

* Thursday I posted a giveaway for the Noon Onyx series by Jill Archer.

*Friday was a promotional post for Vampire Elite; Prophecy by Irina Argo

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

Promotional Post: Vampire Elite; Prophecy by Irina Argo

Vampire Elite; Prophecy
Vampire Elite Volume 1

How can you make a choice between saving your people and destroying the one you love?

A millennia-long war between two immortal races is about to come to an end. Long ago, the Vampire Elite began capturing members of another race of immortal beings, the Amiti, forcing them to become their blood suppliers—bloodstock—and locking them in underground cells, where they are treated like livestock. Now, the few remaining free Amiti are making a final attempt to strike back. The Queen of the Amiti has been proclaimed a traitor and executed. Her death makes possible the rise of a new Queen, her young daughter Arianna, who becomes the last hope of her dying race.

Arianna totally embraces her mission and is ready to fight for her people to the last drop of her blood but encounters an unexpected challenge—the vampire King Tor. The Amiti Queen and the King of the vampires are drawn into a trap of love where each has to make the ultimate choice: to kill their loved one or risk the extermination of their people.

Vampire Elite is an epic story of a bitter conflict between two peoples, and the effect of that conflict on everyone living in its grip. The characters are driven to love and betrayal, vengeance and sacrifice in a world without easy black-and-white answers.

Based on an ancient Egyptian legend, packed with action and intrigue, Vampire Elite will pull you into the entrancing world of immortals and open new portals into their hidden universe.

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 Irina Argo is a combined pen name for two authors, Irina  and Jo-An .


Irina

Irina’s world is dark. She works as a clinical psychologist in a Juvenile Correctional Facility dealing with the extremes of human behavior on a regular basis and takes are of her paralyzed husband who suffered a stroke several years ago. To bring light into her life she writes. Writing has always been her passion. She is originally from Russia where she was employed as a TV journalist.

Jo-An

Jo-An is a Leo, a lioness who has emerged to follow her dream, to someday write a book of her own. She owned a costume shop for 15 years and was able to satisfy and excel in her creative nature. She is an overachiever and believes that anything is possible if you believe in yourself and ignore the nay-sayers.  Her philosophy is based on Shakespeare “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny, but in ourselves.” She currently resides in California with her 5 cats and 1 husband.

Website / Facebook

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Giveaway: The Noon Onyx series by Jill Archer

*US ONLY*

Fiery Edge of Steel 

Noon Onyx #2

Lucifer and his army triumphed at Armageddon, leaving humans and demons living in uncertain peace based on sacrifice and strict laws. It is up to those with mixed demon and human blood, the Host, to prevent society from falling into anarchy.

Noon Onyx is the first female Host in memory to wield the destructive waning magic that is used to maintain order among the demons. Her unique abilities, paired with a lack of control and reluctance to kill, have branded her as an outsider from her peers. Only her powerful lover, Ari Carmine, and a roguish and mysterious Angel, Rafe Sinclair, support her unconventional ways.

When Noon is shipped off to a remote outpost to investigate several unusual disappearances, a task which will most likely involve trying and killing the patron demon of that area, it seems Luck is not on her side. But when the outpost settlers claim that an ancient and evil foe has stepped out of legend to commit the crimes, Noon realizes that she could be facing something much worse than she ever imagined…

Dark Light of Day

Noon Onyx #1

 Armageddon is over. The demons won. And yet somehow…the world has continued. Survivors worship patron demons under a draconian system of tributes and rules. These laws keep the demons from warring among themselves, and the world from slipping back into chaos.

Noon Onyx grew up on the banks of the river Lethe, the daughter of a prominent politician, and a descendant of Lucifer’s warlords. Noon has a secret: She was born with waning magic, the dark, destructive, fiery power that is used to control demons and maintain the delicate peace among them. But a woman with waning magic is unheard of, and some would consider her an abomination.

Noon is summoned to attend St. Lucifer’s, a school of demon law. She must decide whether to declare her powers there…or to attempt to continue hiding them, knowing the price for doing so may be death. And once she meets the forbiddingly powerful Ari Carmine—who suspects Noon is harboring magic as deadly as his own—Noon realizes there may be more at stake than just her life.

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Shapeshifted by Cassie Alexander

Shapeshifted

Author:Cassie Alexander

Release Date: June 4, 2013

Publisher: St Martins Paperback

Edie Spence Book #3

ISBN:  0312553412

ISBN13: 9780312553418

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: Publisher

Nurse Edie Spence is once again called upon to save a life…and this time, it’s personal. Can her new community of zombies, vampires, and shapeshifters come to her rescue when she needs them most?

When Edie was fired from her paranormal nursing job at County Hospital, her whole world came crashing down. Now she’s is once again shaken to her core. Her mother is deathly ill and there’s only one thing that will save her: vampire blood. But with the paranormal community shunning Edie, where can she obtain it…without losing her own life in the process?

SHAPESHIFTED

Edie hopes to procure it at her new job at the clinic across town, where the forces of evil loom large. Vampire gang wars are rampant. Old underground enemies are rising to the surface. And Edie’s zombie ex-boyfriend has arrived at the scene—but is he the same man he used to be? And what should she make of the enigmatic doctor with whom she shares an unexpected connection? She’ll have to figure it out soon, because all hell is about to break loose—literally—and time is running out…

SHAPESHIFTED started out a bit depressing. Edie is miserable. She hates her job working at a sleep clinic. She is seeing a therapist who thinks she is mental. She has no friends anymore and then she gets the news that her mom is dying. She immediately goes to talk to the shadows. They refuse to help and send her out to find a myth.


Edie decided to take a job at a clinic in a bad part of town and things start shifting for her and people that she thought she would never see again started showing up. One was TI and I was not happy to see him but it all worked out for the best. We get introduced to a few new characters, one of which Olympio I think will make a future appearance.  I was not surprised with the clinic doctor, I guessed pretty early on why he was in the story. The story itself was a nice mystery.

SHAPESHIFTED was not my favorite of the series but it kept me interested and I enjoyed it overall. The ending specifically was pretty awesome. I'm so proud of Edie and can not wait to see where Cassie takes her next.

I gave it 4/5 stars

Book Review: Pods by Michelle K. Pickett

Pods

Author:Michelle K. Pickett

Release Date: June 4, 2013

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

Pods Book #1

ISBN:  1937053288

ISBN13: 9781937053284

Genre: YA/Dystopian
Review Copy Source: Publisher

Seventeen-year-old Eva is a chosen one. Chosen to live, while others meet a swift and painful death from an incurable virus so lethal, a person is dead within days of symptoms emerging. In the POD system, a series of underground habitats built by the government, she waits with the other chosen for the deadly virus to claim those above. Separated from family and friends, it's in the PODs she meets David. And while true love might not conquer all, it's a balm for the broken soul.

After a year, scientists believe the population has died, and without living hosts, so has the virus. That's the theory, anyway. But when the PODs are opened, survivors find the surface holds a vicious secret. The virus mutated, infecting those left top-side and creating... monsters.

Eva and David hide from the infected in the abandoned PODs. Together they try to build a life--a new beginning. But the infected follow and are relentless in their attacks. Leaving Eva and David to fight for survival, and pray for a cure.

PODS was much more than expected. A deadly virus has been released into the world and only some are chosen to live protected in the POD system. Eva has to leave everyone she knows behind for a chance to live. When the PODS open and the occupants are released lots of things have changed and Eva no longer wants to follow the path that is set out for her if it means she has to be without her POD mate David.

I don't love the cover for PODS but the book was pretty good. Eva is pretty smart and determined. She is chosen to live in the POD system but her parents can not come with, therefore are expected to die.  She has to endure a lot of blood tests and quarantine before she can get into the PODS and the test continue once she is there. She is put with a group of strangers about the same age as her and for the most part everyone gets along besides one. It was a tad bit boring during some of the PODS time but it went by quickly and picked up once Eva was released. 

The characters were great. Each one brought their own personality and background to the story. The situations these 'kids' are put into are pretty nuts. They weather the storm pretty well though. Eva and David butt heads a lot but quickly develop feelings for each other. I enjoyed following their romance. I loved the reveal of the mutated virus. I was not expecting that and it was a great addition to the story. 

I didn't realize that PODS was part of a series until I saw that there was a sequel coming from the authors website. I would have been fine with the ending being just that but I am glad we will get more. 

I gave it 4/5 stars

New Releases: 6/2-6/8

Tues June 4

Abandon (Possession, #3) by Elana Johnson

A Captain and a Corset (Steam Guardians, #2) by Mary Wine

Bled & Breakfast (Immortality Bites Mysteries, #2) by Michelle Rowen

Compliance (Dust Chronicles, #2) by Maureen McGowan

Darkness Unmasked (Dark Angels, #5) by Keri Arthur

Elegy (Hereafter #3) by Tara Hudson

The Elementals (The Vespertine, #3) by Saundra Mitchell

Gameboard of the Gods (Age of X, #1) by Richelle Mead

Heart of Obsidian (Psy-Changeling, #12) by Nalini Singh

His Clockwork Canary (The Glorious Victorious Darcys, #2) by Beth Ciotta

The Impossibility of Tomorrow (Incarnation, #2) by Avery Williams

The Keep (The Watchers, #4) by Veronica Wolff

Lost Souls (Caitlyn O’Connell, #2) by Delilah Devlin

Midnight’s Kiss (Dark Warriors, #5) by Donna Grant

Phoenix (Black City, #2) by Elizabeth Richards

Siege and Storm (The Grisha, #2) by Leigh Bardugo

Shapeshifted (Edie Spence, #3) by Cassie Alexander

Sleeping with the Entity (Entity, #1) by Cat Devon

Soul Taken by Katlyn Duncan

The Testing (The Testing, #1) by Joelle Charbonneau

Tiger Magic (Shifters Unbound, #5) by Jennifer Ashley

Trail of the Dead (Scarlett Bernard, #2) by Melissa F. Olson

Wicked Memories (Castle of Dark Dreams, #7) by Nina Bangs

Happy Reading!!

Early Review: Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead

Gameboard of the Gods

Author:Richelle Mead

Release Date: June 4, 2013

Publisher: Dutton Adult

Age of X Book #1

ISBN:   052595368X

ISBN13: 9780525953685

Genre: Dystopian
Review Copy Source: Edelweiss

In a futuristic world nearly destroyed by religious extremists, Justin March lives in exile after failing in his job as an investigator of religious groups and supernatural claims. But Justin is given a second chance when Mae Koskinen comes to bring him back to the Republic of United North America (RUNA). Raised in an aristocratic caste, Mae is now a member of the military’s most elite and terrifying tier, a soldier with enhanced reflexes and skills.

When Justin and Mae are assigned to work together to solve a string of ritualistic murders, they soon realize that their discoveries have exposed them to terrible danger. As their investigation races forward, unknown enemies and powers greater than they can imagine are gathering in the shadows, ready to reclaim the world in which humans are merely game pieces on their board.

Gameboard of the Gods, the first installment of Richelle Mead’s Age of X series, will have all the elements that have made her YA Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series such megasuccesses: sexy, irresistible characters; romantic and mythological intrigue; and relentless action and suspense.

I am still not quite sure how I would rate this. Maybe it will come to me as I write. The first part of GAMEBOARD OF THE GODS was boring. I hate to say that but I had to force myself to stay with it. There was a whole section where I had NO clue what was going on, who was who, what was what, and why the heck it was even being done. You know, looking back I honestly still have no clue what that section was all about. OK wait I do kinda remember it now. Are you confused yet? Yeah, me too.

The second part of the book was not as bad. You actually learn a little bit more about the 'Gods' the book is referring to and what each characters place is in the story. The mythology was interesting but not always as clear as It should have been. I enjoyed some of the characters and could have done without some others. There was a great amount of action and I enjoyed learning about Mae. The romance between Justin and Mae is frustrating to say the least. 1 step forward 4 steps back. I could have done without the different POVs. There are only 3 but I had times where I wanted to skip ahead to read another's thoughts.

I did not hate GAMEBOARD OF THE GODS but don't feel like I am glad I read it either. OK thanks for reading this if you got that far, I now know how I am going to rate this and I am not sure if I will read book 2 or not but it is a slight possibility.

I gave it 2.5/5 stars