Challenge Completed! Book Review ~ Spark by Rachael Craw

Title: Spark (Spark #1)
Author: Rachael Craw
Publisher: Walker Books Australia
Release Date: July 1st 2014
Source: Purchased

Evie doesn’t have a choice.

One day she’s an ordinary seventeen year old, grieving for her mother. The next, she’s a Shield, the result of a decades-old experiment gone wrong, bound by DNA to defend her best friend from an unknown killer.

The threat could come at home, at school, anywhere. All Evie knows is that it will be a fight to the death.

And then there’s Jamie. irresistible. off-limits.

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Initially, I simply set out to read a book from cover-to-cover without getting distracted and losing interest as my recent track record has been - but very quickly, all that changed...

Spark is the first book in a YA trilogy about genetically engineered people with superhuman powers and a creepy secret organisation that tries to control everything and everyone associated with it (it has a very cool 'The Tomorrow People' vibe to it).

Evie is an average girl who has just buried her mother and she's trying to adjust to living with her aunt - but right off the bat you know she's sick, you know that weird stuff is about to go down, and it is so, so good.

If you love young dystopian novels like The Maze Runner, The Hunger Games, and Divergent; there are definitely those same crazy institutional overlord vibes going on within the Affinity Project (the bad guys) but Spark is so much more than that - it has fabulous friendships, amazing first loves, and super awesome secrets that hold you to the edge of your seat!

And the writing is so damn good - I saw it all playing out in my head! The author has an incredible talent for painting such lifelike scenes, I actually felt like I was watching a CW show. (Supergirl, The Flash, Supernatural, Legends of Tomorrow, TVD, iZombie, Arrow, etc, etc, etc, I am a CW show fa-na-tic!! and Spark would totally rule as a CW show!!)

Full of twists and turns, mystery, adventure, and forbidden desire - Spark is a roller coaster read and quite easily the best YA book I've read in a very long time. And as an added bonus, I described this book to my fourteen year old and it's now on her tbr pile, and honestly, my nine year old is lining up to read it too and as a parent, any book that will get my kids off their devices is a blessing!

Spark is a heart poundingly good read and completely deserving of a 5 star rating.

Last Chance Blog Tour ~ Guest Post with T.G. Ayer

The 3rd installment in the DarkWorld: SkinWalker series.

With the loss of her sister still weighing down both her conscience and her heart, Kailin Odel must take on the next part of her mission - find her mother and Anjelo and bring them back from Wrythiin.

Kailin uses her mother's portal key and enters the Wraith world intent on saving the ones she loves, but from the moment she arrives her mission is fraught with peril.

Arriving in Wrythiin, Kai steps right into the middle of a Wraith rebellion. And only to find that though Anjelo is safe, her mother is held captive by a subversive faction of Wraiths once led by the Wraithlord that Kai had killed.

From Wraiths to Shapeshifters, rebel causes to fraying family ties, to inexplicable new powers, Kai must fight her darkest demons while entering the blackest pits of Wrythiin to save her mother.

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Guest Post

What is the best thing about being a self published author?

I love the flexibility of it. I’m a bit of a control freak so I like to be able to make choices for myself and in my own time.

With covers I love the fact that the cover choice is mine in the end. I don’t have someone making my main character’s hair blonde when it’s supposed to be black or giving me a bare-chested male when I don’t want a guy on the cover. I love coming up with mockups and talking to my amazing cover artist Kate Strawbridge from Dwell Design and Press, about whether it will work, comparing mockups and making the final decision. Some covers I do myself and I’m still amazed that they looks so good :)

With formatting for both ebook and print I enjoy the hands on aspect of it, the ability to change proof errors whenever I want without having to wait for someone else to do it, or without having to pay for each change. I understand why formatters charge for changes but I prefer to do the formatting on my own more especially because I actually do enjoy fiddling with the file until it’s ready.

I love being in charge of choosing my own editor and proofreader, of maintaining good friendships with everyone who has contributed to my little book being ready for the world.

And lastly, I enjoy being able to set my own deadlines for releases and delaying them or bringing them forward if I so choose. I also like being able to write a book and have it release within a few months of having been written. I love the knowledge that I can choose to write 3 books for the year or I can up the ante and write 10 just because I want to.

And of course I love interacting on a personal level with bloggers and readers. Bloggers have been amazing to me ever since I began my writing career and I can never thank them enough for their part in helping indies like me get exposure to readers.

I have been a writer from the time I was old enough to recognize that reading was a doorway into my imagination. Poetry was my first foray into the art of the written word. Books were my best friends, my escape, my haven. I am essentially a recluse but this part of my personality is impossible to practice given I have two teenage daughters, who are actually my friends, my tea-makers, my confidantes... I am blessed with a husband who has left me for golf. It's a fair trade as I have left him for writing. We are both passionate supporters of each others loves - it works wonderfully...

My heart is currently broken in two. One half resides in South Africa where my old roots still remain, and my heart still longs for the endless beaches and the smell of moist soil after a summer downpour. My love for Ma Afrika will never fade. The other half of me has been transplanted to the Land of the Long White Cloud. The land of the Taniwha, beautiful Maraes, and volcanoes. The land of green, pure beauty that truly inspires. And because I am so torn between these two lands - I shall forever remain cross-eyed.

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I love talking to my readers so email me if you have any questions or even if you just want to chat...

Email: tgayer@xtra.co.nz or tgayerauthor@gmail.com

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Book Review ~ The Beautiful Ashes by Jeaniene Frost

Title: The Beautiful Ashes (Broken Destiny #1)
Author: Jeaniene Frost
Release Date: August 26th 2014
Publisher: Harlequin
Source: Received an ARC from the publisher
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In a world of shadows, anything is possible. Except escaping your fate.

Ever since she was a child, Ivy has been gripped by visions of strange realms just beyond her own. But when her sister goes missing, Ivy discovers the truth is far worse—her hallucinations are real, and her sister is trapped in a parallel realm. And the one person who believes her is the dangerously attractive guy who's bound by an ancient legacy to betray her.

Adrian might have turned his back on those who raised him, but that doesn't mean he can change his fate…no matter how strong a pull he feels toward Ivy. Together they search for the powerful relic that can save her sister, but Adrian knows what Ivy doesn't: that every step brings Ivy closer to the truth about her own destiny, and a war that could doom the world. Sooner or later, it will be Ivy on one side and Adrian on the other. And nothing but ashes in between...

Jeaniene Frost has thrown her hat into the new and popular New Adult ring with the first installment, The Beautiful Ashes, in her Broken Destiny series.

Angels and Demons are my all time favorite stories and while I have loved some of Ms Frost's adult novels, they've not all gained my favor. So I really wasn't sure what to think and went into The Beautiful Ashes with pretty low expectations to be honest, purely due to this being a new writing vein for her.

There is quite a lot of world building in The Beautiful Ashes as you would expect for any first in a series, but it felt flat and one dimensional for me. I can't put my finger on any one thing to say this is what it is missing, but it was missing something.

I did enjoy the overall theme; the David and Judas storyline is intriguing and fresh, and I love a good quest! However, the actual journey through the portals and into the different realms was repetitive and long winded. And although touted as a NA read, I found the voices of Ivy and Adrian far too annoying and immature to be anything but mid teens opposed to being twenty, and when you take into account Adrian's actual age, they just weren't believable.

Although The Beautiful Ashes wasn't a perfect read for me, it did have some redeeming qualities and because I'm interested enough to read more books in this series, it gets 3.5 stars.

Cover Reveal ~ Girls On Fire

WITCH FALL – Amber Argyle

High Fantasy

Supreme in their dominion over seasons, storms, and sea, the witches have forgotten the unmatched destructiveness of mankind. And among the weapons men seek are the magical songs of the witches. Born of witches but raised among their enemies, Lilette searches for a way to heal the rift between mankind and the witches. But it may be too late to save either. For if there is one thing Lilette has come to know for certain, it’s that all things fall.

ETERNAL STARLING – Angela Corbett

Paranormal Romance

For centuries, Alex Night and Emil Stone have yearned for Evie Starling. When both men claim to be her soul mate and tell her about an unbelievable past, Evie learns that she’s not the person she thought she was, and her soul is about to become the rope in an eternal tug-of-war.

AWAKENING – Christy Dorrity

Fantasy

When an ancient curse threatens McKayla McCleery's family, she must decide what in her life is real and what is fantasy. Based in Celtic mythology, Awakening is a gripping young adult fantasy that is rife with magic, romance, and mystery.

INEVITABLE – Tamara Hart Heiner

Suspense

Visions of death plague Jayne, who thinks watching her sister die is the worst that could happen to her. But when she witnesses a murder, Jayne realizes that the next death she sees might be her own.

WATCHED – Cindy M. Hogan

Romantic Suspense

Change. She longed for it.

A murder. She will never be the same.

THE FORGOTTEN ONES – Laura Howard

Fantasy

ELEMENTAL HUNGER – Elana Johnson

Futuristic Fantasy

Sixteen-year-old Gabriella Kilpatrick can shoot fire from her hands, which would be great if she didn’t get blamed for a blazing inferno that kills 17 schoolmates. Gabby will have to learn who she can trust, how to control her own power, and most of all, how to lead a Council of Elementals, most of whom have more control over their power than she does. If she can’t, she’ll find herself just like those 17 schoolmates: burned and six feet under.

THE FAERIE GUARDIAN – Rachel Morgan

Fantasy

Kickbutt faerie Violet is about to graduate as the top guardian trainee of her class, but when an assignment goes wrong and the human boy she’s meant to be protecting follows her back into the fae realm, a dangerous plot is set in motion.

PERCEPTION – Lee Strauss

Dystopian/Romance

Eternal Life is to Die For.

A spoiled genetically altered girl needs the help of a jaded “natural” boy to find her missing brother.

INTRINSICAL – Lani Woodland

Paranormal

The gene that allows the women in Yara’s family to see and communicate with spirits seems to have passed her over. Until the night she rescues a local hottie from an attacking ghost. Her act of heroism attracts the attention of the evil spirit, and she finds herself entrenched in the middle of a sixty-year-old curse that haunts the school, threatening her own life as well as that of her friends.

Publication date: June 16, 2014

Price: 99 cents for 10 amazing YA novels!

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About the Authors

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Amber Argyle

Angela Corbett

Christy Dorrity

Tamara Hart Heiner

Cindy M. Hogan

Laura Howard

Elana Johnson

Rachel Morgan

Lee Strauss

Lani Woodland

Book Review ~ Awakening by Natalie King

Title: Awakening
Author: Natalie King
Release Date: February 28th 2014
Publisher: Penguin Group (NZ)
Source: Received from the author in exchange for an honest review

The cold spread like anaesthetic in her veins. Fear resurged, driving deeper into every cell.
"Why would my looking in a mirror help you see me?"
"Because I see through your eyes."

When Zelie Taylor pulls a lost necklace out of the icy waters of the lake, she has no idea what the consequences will be.
At first the pendant is just freezing cold - unnaturally so - but then she hears a voice inside her head and Zelie thinks she must be going mad. She's not. Seventeen-year-old Tamas' soul has been trapped in the silver necklace since 1918. His body is nearby, sleeping, and Zelie must help him awaken.

At first Zelie would like nothing better than for Tamas' moody, enigmatic presence to be out of her life, but after a while she isn't so sure. And what is waiting for Tamas when he does emerge? It seems that the sinister force that trapped him all those years ago has returned and is growing more powerful.

A hundred-year-old mystery steeped in dark magic will make Zelie question everything she thought she knew.

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During a trip to the lake, freaky girl Kate gets Zelie to fish a necklace from the frigid water, and so starts Zelie’s foray in to the strange and unbelievable world of the mysterious Tamas. Believing she is going mad, Zelie tries to ignore his presence but when things go from just being strange to completely weird, Zelie can do nothing but Tamas’s bidding in an attempt to free them both.

The writing in Awakening is super smooth. The story flows effortlessly and held my attention from start to finish - and I didn't want it to finish!
 

Beautifully set in Tekapo, New Zealand; Natalie King has gone to a lot of effort to describe its beauty in the little details, rather than feeding the reader the tourist brochure version. The author makes Tekapo sound not only beautifully isolated, but eerie and mystical too; the perfect setting for a paranormal adventure-mystery-romance.

There is an innocent sweetness about the romance in Awakening, the young love blossoming, that had butterflies jumping in my stomach. The subtleness of the attraction as it grows from Zelie and Tamas’s hidden feelings for one another, rather than out of a physical attraction – bravo, a true romance.

And the kisses – so beautiful, so gentle and heartfelt, and yet all consuming. Zelie and Tamas have something amazingly true, perfect and pure, and ohmygosh – Natalie King definitely captured the essence of once-in-a-lifetime love. And I really enjoyed getting to know all of the other characters too, their quirks and nuances, good and bad.

I loved the overlapping and intertwining themes and genres that beautifully layer this story with mystery, intrigue, legends of old, magic, romance, and more; and I will definitely be reading this author’s contemporary romance (written as Natalie Anderson) because I all but devoured this book. I think Awakening may be my favourite YA read for the year so far.
A brilliant 5 star read.

Natalie King has always had imaginary friends in her head. This proved a distraction during school and beyond, and she ultimately abandoned her various jobs as researcher, mystery shopper and recruitment specialist because she was forever imagining herself elsewhere. Fortunately she now locks herself in her little garden shed to spend her days scribbling the stories those imaginary characters entice her with.

Natalie also writes contemporary romance as Natalie Anderson. In this genre she’s had more than twenty-five novels published, been translated into more than twenty languages, and sold over two million books.

A USA TODAY bestseller, she’s also been a Romantic Times Award nominee and a finalist for the R*BY (Romantic Book of the Year). She lives in Christchurch, New Zealand. 

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