Book Review and Giveaway: Fire by T.G Ayer

Check out the rafflecopter at the bottom of this page for the giveaway :)

Title: Fire (The Hand of Kali #1)
Author: T.G. Ayer
Publisher: T.G. Ayer Books
Release Date: July 25th 2013
Source: Received from the author in exchange for an honest review

Normal people sneak out to a party and have fun. Maya Rao ends the evening by incinerating the guy who attacks her.

Nik Lucas, sexy, new in town and totally forbidden, happens to walk in on her. Normal guys would run for the hills. Nik knows a whole lot more than he's telling.

Maya doesn't believe the gods are real, doesn't waste her time with mere mythology. But when gods, demons and hellhound's become the new normal and wielding fire becomes her new skill, she must decide what it is she really believes.

Can Maya accept that normal is something she will never be because it isn't normal to be... the Hand of Kali

My Thoughts

*For the sake of full disclosure, I recently started working as PA to this author*

I cannot tell you how much I have fallen for Maya, Nik and this absolutely gorgeous YA book by T.G. Ayer!

Fire is an intricate story that wraps itself in the wonderfully vibrate world of Hinduism. Its fierce and often brutal gods and goddesses, each with a vested interest in Maya, in the hand of Kali, need her help to keep the balance - for the sake of all mankind.

A vast array of characters from different times, places, upbringings and worlds; they are warm and welcoming, mean and nasty, naive and immature, but all with a purpose, all very easy to relate to, and all another beautifully woven thread in this utterly intriguing tale.

I have fallen in love with this authors ability to create such rich and powerful, beautifully descriptive mystical and mythological stories. T.G. Ayer has created a world full of characters that easily become addictive, that drag you by your heartstrings from one page to the next, demanding your complete and utter attention until you’re finished - and even then - you can’t stop thinking about them!

Full of rich Hindu mythology, Fire is a beautifully written story for young and old to fall in love with. A delightfully different and engrossing 5 star read.

Purchase Links
 
Amazon for Kindle http://amzn.to/11ehs5j
Smashwords for Nook Kobo etc http://bit.ly/11ehFW5

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.

Author website | Facebook | Blog | Amazon | Goodreads

Here is the giveaway...
One person will win a kindle copy of Fire by T.G. Ayer
AND this beautiful peacock bracelet
(if you read Fire, you'll understand the significance)
giveaway IS open internationally :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Quickie Book Review: Shattered Promises by Jessica Sorensen

Title: Shattered Promises (Shattered Promises #1)
Author: Jessica Sorensen
Publisher: Indie author
Release Date: February 26th 2013
Source: Amazon *freebie*

For twenty-one year-old Gemma, life has never been normal. She knows nothing about her past and has been haunted by the same monsters in her nightmares for the last few months. Unemotional and numb to life, she feels disconnected from everyone. Until the very first day she cries. After that, nothing in her life is the same.
Her emotions slowly surface and she starts experiencing love, happiness, and anger, feelings she never knew existed. But they leave her confused and she doesn’t know whether to embrace them or run away from them.
Her life only gets more complicated when she meets Alex. Sexy, arrogant, and secretive, Alex can get under Gemma’s skin like no one can. Yet she’s drawn to him by an invisible connection she has no control over. She’s also seen him before. In her nightmares.
Every part of Gemma’s mind is screaming at her to stay away from Alex, but every other part of her is begging to get close to him. But the closer she gets, the more she realizes Alex knows more about her than he originally let on.
As secrets about her past unravel, Gemma’s life becomes threatened. She needs to figure out what’s going on, before she winds up dead. But the only person she can turn to for answers is the one person she isn’t sure she can trust.
 
**Mature Content Warning** 17+ for language and sexual content.
(A re-imagining of my young adult book, The Fallen Star, told as a New Adult Paranormal)

My Thoughts

Shattered Promises had a lot going for it and I was initially intrigued and enchanted by the prologue, but the constantly changing story parameters and never ending added elements of the supernatural just frustrated and annoyed me. Just when I thought there were answers to be had, there wouldn't be and another element would be added and I just floundered around a so-so story with only so-so interest.

I was actually looking for and hoping for much more growth and connection, something of substance from this couple, but I was left unsatisfied by everything in this story and my perseverance to make it to the end had no payoff.

An underwhelming 2 star read.

Book Review: Branded by Abi Ketner and Missy Kalicicki

Title: Branded (A Sinners Series)
Author: Abi Ketner and Missy Kalicicki
Publisher: Abi and Missy Books
Release Date: June 28th 2013
Source: Received from the publisher via Netgalley (originally received as part of a blog tour)

Twenty years ago the Commander came into power and murdered all who opposed him. In his warped mind, the seven deadly sins were the downfall of society. He created the Hole where sinners are branded according to their sins and might survive a few years. At best.
Now LUST wraps around my neck like blue fingers strangling me. I’ve been accused of a crime I didn’t commit and now the Hole is my new home.

Darkness. Death. Violence. Pain.

Now every day is a fight for survival. But I won’t die. I won’t let them win.
The Hole can’t keep me. The Hole can’t break me.
I am more than my brand. I’m a fighter.
My name is Lexi Hamilton, and this is my story.

My Thoughts

*I have to start by saying that I received this book in exchange for an honest review as part of a blog tour. One of the conditions of that blog tour was to not post my review for Branded during the tour if it did not rate above a 3 star review. In keeping with that request, I did not post my review at that time*

I’m not sure that I fully understand what the authors were trying to do with Branded because for me, what sounded great in the blurb failed to be great in the book. 

Lexi is a very hard person to like; I just couldn’t get past her wanting to top herself one moment and fighting for survival the next.  Her actions did nothing to endear her to me; I only ended up disliking her and her flip-flop attitude all the more.

I found the world building weak; I didn’t get a sense of what was really going on or how the system worked. In fact, I felt Branded as a whole was very underdeveloped and everything from the characters to the story, the relationships, the circumstances, it all just lacked depth.  Everything is flat and one dimensional; and don’t get me started on the makes-no-sense, insta-love, so-called-relationship with Cole.

There are just too many questions that don’t really get any proper answers, and then while trying to tie up loose ends, what is offered up can only be described as boring, nonsensical, contradictory and just plain meh.

Overall, nothing really made a hell of a lot of sense, the dialogue was flat, the characters bland and boring, and the whole book was just a struggle to get through.

Too much wrong, not enough right.
2 stars at best.

LINKS
Amazon US
Goodreads
Book Trailer

Happy Release Day: Pursuit by Caitlyn Nicholas

Happy Release Day!!

Today is release day for Pursuit by Australian author Caitlyn Nicholas
It sounds great, I'm adding it to my TBR pile :)

 

Title: Pursuit
Author: Caitlyn Nicholas

Publisher: Momentum Books

Release Date: August 1st 2013

Legendary hacker, Dimity Pond, is on the run from the law.   

Her landlord’s sold her home, her money has disappeared along with her two-timing husband, a cyber-terrorist named Nemesis is forcing her to wreak havoc with a nasty virus and she's developing a vile migraine.

Six years ago, Nemesis framed Dimity for the collapse of one of Europe's biggest banks. The money was never found, and the bank's failure caused untold damage to its customers. She's been living under the radar ever since. The only way she can clear her name and live a normal life is to uncover Nemesis's identity, but he's always one step ahead.

Since Lord Richard Summerhayes left the Special Forces he's built the best disaster-recovery network in the world, known as The Bunker. Banks, militaries, airports and other major systems around the world rely on him as the last unshakeable digital fortress in the face of disaster. Richard has been keeping an eye on his neighbor who has a dubious hacking past. He doesn't like hackers, and when someone nukes his network with an intriguing new virus he knows exactly who to blame. But when he confronts her, he gets a whole lot more than he bargained for.

When Nemesis commits an unthinkable act of terrorism, the last hope is an encrypted file that only Dimity can crack. Will Nemesis manipulate Dimity into helping him wipe out the world's biggest financial center? Or can Richard and Dimity take Nemesis down once and for all?

Excerpt

When Dimity and Richard first meet its not exactly love at first sight...

The purr of a powerful engine made her glance around. A luxurious car cautiously made its way into the yard, its fat tires creeping through the mud.

A pitchfork leaned against the side of the stables. Dimity grabbed it and stepped out in front of the car. It jerked to a halt, and its driver stared over the steering wheel, as if deciding whether he could run her over and get away with it. Then, with a slow shake of his head, he turned off the engine.

“You’re Dimity Pond,” he said with grim resignation as he got out of the car. He was taller than she’d imagined, lean and dressed entirely in black. His hair was dark brown, same as his eyes, and he had the pale skin of a cave-dweller. There were deep lines of strain around his eyes.

He took a step toward her, keeping a close watch on the pitchfork.

 She tightened her grip.

 “And you’re Richard Summerhayes.”

This couldn’t be about the virus – it was untraceable – so she glared at him, though he didn’t seem to notice. Instead he glanced down, frowning as his black boots sank into the mud. There was a controlled rigidity about him, as if every movement was planned. He wasn’t quite what she’d expected.

Excerpt

“My name is Susan Kiffler.” The woman had a cultured English accent that perfectly matched her outfit.

Kiffler? Dimity’s heart stopped.

“So?”

The woman scrabbled around in her gigantic mauve handbag.

“This is a photo of me and my husband, Jake Kiffler, on our wedding day.” She held out a picture with a hand that shook. Not just trembling, but shaking, like an online gamer at the end of a forty-eight hour session, down to his last quart of caffeinated beverage.

Dimity took the photo from the trembling hand and stared at it, trying to make out what it meant. A stunned, sledgehammered feeling made it hard to concentrate. Thoughts skittered out of her grasp and fragmented, like the smashed mug.

One thing was certain.

Jake was the groom who smiled at her from the photo.

“He said it was a disaster, that his first marriage only lasted a few months.” Dimity lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes.

Jake knew her secrets. He’d helped her create a vague sort of life.

Hiding. Isolated.

“Jake Kiffler and I have been married for eleven years.” The woman pulled out a piece of paper and waved it at Dimity. It was a wedding certificate. “We’re not divorced. He’s still my husband.” She pointed to his name on the paper, then put it carefully away.

“Get away from my house.” Dimity reached forward and flicked the photograph back into the gaping bag. “Go away.”

Susan grabbed her wrist. “He’s disappeared. We’ve got two children.”

Meet the author

Caitlyn Nicholas began writing in 2005. Exhausted, pregnant and coping with a demanding toddler, she decided the time was right to embark on a writing career.

To her family's eternal startlement she is now the author of five novels and a short story.

Her debut novel - and the first manuscript she had ever written - Running Scared, was published in 2007. This was followed by Secret Intentions in 2009, The Danger Game in 2012 and, Drive Me To Distraction, also in 2012.  Her next novel, Pursuit, will be out in August 2013.

Author Links
Website: http://www.caitlynnicholas.com
My blog: http://www.caitlynnicholas.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/CaitlynNicholas
Fb: https://www.facebook.com/CaitlynNicholasAuthor
Google plus: https://plus.google.com/u/0/105412279044420141735/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/783424.Caitlyn_Nicholas
 
Buy links
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D8MYCTM
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00D8MYCTM
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/pursuit/id659158185?mt=11
Momentum: http://momentumbooks.com.au/books/pursuit-2/