Early Review: The Beautiful Ashes by Jeaniene Frost

The Beautiful Ashes by Jeaniene Frost

The Beautiful Ashes by Jeaniene Frost
Series: Broken Destiny #1 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: August 26th 2014
Purchase: EbookPaperback • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher (Harlequin) in exchange for an honest review

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…

I’m a HUGE fan of Jeaniene Frost–she does paranormal like no other. And when I found out she was writing a new paranormal series that was also NEW ADULT? I totally jumped for joy! I loved her Night Huntress series, so of course I had to read this new series. Plus, there aren’t that many new adult books that dab in the paranormal genre, but what better way to be introduced to this genre than with Jeaniene Frost?

I really, really liked The Beautiful Ashes. It wasn’t perfect, but I enjoyed myself the whole time reading this. We have our heroine, Ivy, who sees visions of different realms. She doesn’t know if what she sees is real, or why she sees them, or even how, but she mainly ignores it to keep her insanity intact. But when her sister gets kidnapped, her whole world is turned upside down, because those visions? They’re real.

“Well, Ivy. I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is, you’re not crazy. The bad news is, everything you’ve seen is real, and now, it’ll be coming for you.”

In the midst of finding out about all this craziness–demons, angels, and parallel realms are totally real and they totally exist–the one thing Ivy can focus on is saving her sister. And the one person who can help Ivy is Adrian, a man that sparks something in her she’s never felt before, a man who is destined to become her enemy.

I have to say, even though I didn’t fall for Adrian as much as I wanted to, I can see myself wholeheartedly loving him in the upcoming books in the series. I’m not even sure why I didn’t LOVE Adrian from the start–he’s a total badass, he’s mysterious, he protects Ivy with everything he’s got, and there’s a delicious tension between him and Ivy I lapped up. Adrian and Ivy are destined to be enemies, which makes their attraction to each other all the better.

“You’re the light I can never have… and I’m the darkness you’ll never succumb to.”

Ivy herself is a good heroine–I could connect with her, but up to a point. Still, I liked her well enough, but Ivy and Adrian together is what made the story for me. As Ivy and Adrian search for a relic to save her sister, they grow closer together. I really enjoyed watching their relationship slowly develop–the scenes I loved reading were always the ones with the two of them together.

There’s excitement, action, and intrigue, as well as a little humor here and there that is typical from Jeaniene Frost. The Beautiful Ashes met my expectations, but… it didn’t surpass it. I wanted to love it, but my only problem was that the world building fell a bit flat for me. It felt like I, along with Ivy, was thrust into this world too quickly without knowing anything. It gave me a ton of information without letting me have the time to process it. I like being given bits and pieces of a world so I can map it out myself, but it was difficult to do with this book.

The main thing about The Beautiful Ashes is that it holds potential. I honestly can’t wait to see what Jeaniene Frost has in store for us with the rest of the series. Now that we’ve got the world-building over and done with, I’m so excited to see this potential grow into so much more.

4 hearts
lacey

Quotes are taken from the arc and are subject to change in the final version.

Reading Order: Broken Destiny series

The Beautiful Ashes by Jeaniene Frost The Sweetest Burn by Jeaniene Frost

#1 ~ The Beautiful Ashes: EbookPaperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ The Sweetest Burn: EbookAudible • Goodreads

Book News, Sales, Recent/Upcoming Releases & Weekly Recap! {20}

Cover Reveals!!

Take a Chance by Abbi Glines

Take a Chance (Chances #1; Rosemary Beach #6) by Abbi Glines
Release Date: February 25th 2014
Preorder: Amazon

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Abbi Glines comes the story of Grant, the sexy playboy who first captured readers’ hearts in Fallen Too Far.

When Harlow Manning’s rocker father goes on tour, he sends her to Rosemary Beach, Florida, to live with her half-sister, Nan. The problem: Nan despises her. Harlow has to keep her head down if she wants to get through the next nine months, which seems easy enough. Until gorgeous Grant Carter walks out of Nan’s room in nothing but his boxer briefs.

Grant made a huge mistake getting involved with a girl with venom in her veins. He’d known about Nan’s reputation, but still he couldn’t resist her. Nothing makes him regret the fling more than meeting Harlow, who sends his pulse racing. Yet Harlow wants nothing to do with a guy who could fall for her wicked half-sister, even if there are no strings between Grant and Nan. Grant is desperate to redeem himself in Harlow’s eyes, but did he ruin his chances before he even met her?

Saving Quinton by Jessica Sorensen

Saving Quinton (Nova #2) by Jessica Sorensen
Release Date: February 4th 2014
Preorder: Amazon

From the # 1 New York Times bestselling author of Breaking Nova comes a gripping story about what it takes to save the one you love . . .

Nova Reed can’t forget him-Quinton Carter, the boy with the honey-brown eyes who made her realize she deserved more than an empty life. His pain was so similar to her own. But Nova has been coming to terms with her past and healing, while Quinton is out there somewhere, sinking deeper. She’s determined to find him and help him . . . before it’s too late.

Nova has haunted his dreams for nearly a year-but Quinton never thought a sweet, kind person like her would care enough about a person like him. To Quinton, a dark, dangerous life is exactly what he deserves. And Nova has no place in it. But Nova has followed him to Las Vegas, and now he must do whatever it takes to keep her away, to maintain his self-imposed punishment for the unforgivable things he’s done. But there’s one flaw in his plan: Nova isn’t going anywhere . . .

Love, in English by Karina Halle

Love, in English by Karina Halle
Release Date: April 22nd 2014

He’s thirty-eight. I’m twenty-three.

He speaks Spanish. I speak English.

He lives in Spain. I live in Canada.

He dresses in thousand-dollar suits. I’m covered in tattoos.

He’s married and has a five-year old daughter.

I’m single and can’t commit to anyone or anything.

Until now. Because when they say you can’t choose who you fall in love with, boy ain’t that the f*#king truth.

***

To a restless dreamer like Vera Miles, it sounded like the experience of a lifetime. Instead of spending her summer interning for her astronomy major, she would fly to Spain where she’d spend a few weeks teaching conversational English to businessmen and women, all while enjoying free room and board at an isolated resort. But while Vera expected to get a tan, meet new people and stuff herself with wine and paella, she never expected to fall in love.

Mateo is unlike anyone Vera has ever known, let alone anyone she’s usually attracted to. While Vera is a pierced and tatted free spirit with a love for music and freedom, Mateo Casales is a successful businessman from Madrid, all sharp suits and cocky Latino charm. Yet, as the weeks go on, the two grow increasingly close and their relationship changes from purely platonic to something…more.

Something that makes Vera feel alive for the first time.

Something that can never, ever be.

Or so she thinks.

Archer's Voice by Mia Sheridan

Archer’s Voice (Sign of Love #4) by Mia Sheridan
Release Date: January 28th 2014

When Bree Prescott arrives in the sleepy, lakeside town of Pelion, Maine, she hopes against hope that this is the place where she will finally find the peace she so desperately seeks. On her first day there, her life collides with Archer Hale, an isolated man who holds a secret agony of his own. A man no one else sees.

Archer’s Voice is the story of a woman chained to the memory of one horrifying night and the man whose love is the key to her freedom. It is the story of a silent man who lives with an excruciating wound and the woman who helps him find his voice. It is the story of suffering, fate, and the transformative power of love.

The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

The Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy #3) by Deborah Harkness
Release Date: July 15th 2014
Preorder: Amazon

The highly anticipated finale to the #1 New York Timesbestselling trilogy that began with A Discovery of Witches

After traveling through time in Shadow of Night, the second book in Deborah Harkness’s enchant­ing series, historian and witch Diana Bishop and vampire scientist Matthew Clairmont return to the present to face new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home at Sept-Tours, they re­unite with the cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches—with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its miss­ing pages takes on even more urgency. In the tril­ogy’s final volume, Harkness deepens her themes of power and passion, family and caring, past deeds and their present consequences. In ancestral homes and university laboratories, using ancient knowl­edge and modern science, from the hills of the Auvergne to the palaces of Venice and beyond, the couple at last learn what the witches discovered so many centuries ago.

With more than one million copies sold in the United States and appearing in thirty-eight foreign editions and translations, A Discovery of Witchesand Shadow of Night have landed on all of the major bestseller lists and garnered rave reviews from countless publications. Eagerly awaited by Harkness’s legion of fans, The Book of Life brings this superbly written series to a deeply satisfying close.

Whisper of Sin

Whisper of Sin (Psy-Changeling #0.6) by Nalini Singh
Release Date: February 25th 2014
Preorder: Amazon

New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh returns to her phenomenal Psy-Changeling world as a woman in peril finds herself in the arms of a dangerously beautiful shapeshifter…

San Francisco is under threat from a violent gang…a gang that has no idea who they’re challenging. The DarkRiver pack of leopard changelings has already claimed the city as their territory, and they will fight with wild fury to protect its residents. Emmett, a lethally trained leopard soldier, isn’t about to let outsiders muscle in on his home ground—especially when they target a human named Ria.

Emmett has one word for the smart stranger with her curvy body and tough spirit: mine.

Possessive, dominant, unyielding in his demands and desires, Emmett is unlike anyone Ria has ever before met. But while the sexy leopard changeling makes her body ignite, his kisses molten and his touch addicting, she’s no pushover and she has a few demands of her own. This leopard has met his match…

Revealed on the blog (covers go to Amazon page if available):

Dazed by Kim Karr Enjoy Your Stay by Carmen Jenner Keep Me by Faith Andrews
Fully Automatic by Jade C. Jamison Perfect Kind of Trouble by Chelsea Fine
The Wild One by Magan Vernon Worth the Chance by Vi Keeland

Snippets!!

★ OMG!!! Colleen Hoover has a teaser from Maybe Someday!!

I’m mindlessly tapping my feet and singing along to his music with my made-up lyrics when he stops playing mid-song. He never stops mid-song, so naturally, I glance in his direction. He’s leaning forward, staring right at me. He holds up his index finger, as if to say, Hold on, and he sets his guitar beside him and runs into his apartment.
What the hell is he doing?
And oh, my God, why does the fact that he’s acknowledging me make me so nervous?
He comes back outside with paper and a marker in his hands.
He’s writing. What the hell is he writing?
He holds up two sheets of paper, and I squint to get a good look at what he’s written.
A phone number. Shit. His phone number? When I don’t move for several seconds, he shakes the papers and points at them, then points back to me. He’s insane. I’m not calling him. I can’t call him. I can’t do that to Hunter. The guy shakes his head, then grabs a fresh sheet of paper and writes something else on it, then holds it up.

Text me.

When I still don’t move, he flips the paper over and writes again.

I have a ?

A question. A text. Seems harmless enough. When he holds up the papers with his phone number again, I pull out my phone and enter his phone number. I stare at the screen for a few seconds, not really knowing what to say in the text, so I go with:

Me: What’s your question?

He looks down at his phone, and I can see him smile when he receives my text. He drops the paper and leans back in his chair, typing. When my phone vibrates, I hesitate a second be- fore looking down at it.

Him: Do you sing in the shower?

I shake my head, confirming my initial suspicion. He’s a flirt. Of course he is, he’s a musician.

Me: I don’t know what kind of question that is, but if this is your attempt at flirting, I’ve got a boyfriend. Don’t waste your time.

I hit send and watch him read the text. He laughs, and this irritates me. Mostly because his smile is so . . . smiley. Is that even a word? I don’t know how else to describe it. It’s as if his whole face smiles right along with his mouth. I wonder what that smile looks like up close.

Him: Believe me, I know you have a boyfriend, and this is definitely not how I flirt. I just want to know if you sing in the shower. I happen to think highly of people who sing in the shower and need to know the answer to that question in order to decide if I want to ask you my next question.

I read the lengthy text, admiring his fast typing. Guys aren’t normally as skilled as girls when it comes to speed-texting, but his replies are almost instantaneous.

Me: Yes, I sing in the shower. Do you sing in the shower?

Him: No, I don’t.

Me: How can you think highly of people who sing in the shower if you don’t sing in the shower?

Him: Maybe the fact that I don’t sing in the shower is why I think highly of people who do sing in the shower.

This conversation isn’t going anywhere.

Me: Why did you need this vital piece of information from me?

He stretches his legs out and props his feet up on the edge of the patio, then stares at me for a few seconds before returning his attention to his phone.

Him: I want to know how you’re singing lyrics to my songs when I haven’t even added lyrics to them yet.

My cheeks instantly heat from embarrassment. Busted.
I stare at his text, then glance up at him. He’s watching me, expressionless.
Why the hell didn’t I think that he could see me sitting out here? I never thought he would notice me singing along to his music. Hell, until last night, I never thought he even noticed me. I inhale, wishing I’d never made eye contact with him to begin with. I don’t know why I find this embarrassing, but I do. It seems as if I’ve invaded his privacy in some way, and I hate that.

Me: I tend to favor songs with lyrics, and I was tired of wondering what the lyrics to your songs were, so I guess I made up a few of my own.

He reads the text, then glances up at me without a hint of his infectious smile. I don’t like his serious glances. I don’t like what they do to my stomach. I also don’t like what his smiley smile does to my stomach. I wish he would stick to a simple, unattractive, emotionless expression, but I’m not sure he’s ca- pable of that.

Him: Will you send them to me?

Oh, God. Hell, no.

Me: Hell, no.

Him: Please?

Me: No.

Him: Pretty please?

Me: No, thank you.

Him: What’s your name?

Me: Sydney. Yours?

Him: Ridge.

★ Preorder Maybe Someday (releases March 18th 2014): Amazon
★ Preorder Ugly Love (Colleen’s other upcoming release, out Aug. 5th 2014): Amazon

★ Teasers from Kiss the Sky by Krista & Becca Ritchie!

KISS THE SKY — EXCERPT — Rose’s POV

“I struggle to keep my eyes on his. I am so aware of the people in the room, of the cameras, of the fact that he’s on top of me, my legs hanging with uncertainty around him.

As his crotch digs into me, my nerves prickle, and my toes constrict in my high heels. Oh my God…

Is this really happening? In front of everyone? And soon-to-be nationally televised.

What did I get myself into?”

Kiss the Sky teaser quoteKiss the Sky teaser

Series order:
★ (#1) Addicted to You | My review
★ (#1.5) Ricochet | My review
★ (#2) Addicted for Now | My review
Spinoffs:
Kiss the Sky (Rose & Connor)
Hothouse Flower (Daisy & Ryke)

★ Monica Murphy has an excerpt from Drew + Fable Forever (Drew + Fable #4) here!

Drew + Fable Forever teaser

Series order:
★ (#1) One Week Girlfriend | My review
★ (#2) Second Chance Boyfriend | My review
★ (#3) Three Broken Promises | My review
★Preorder (#3.5) Drew + Fable Forever (out Jan. 14th 2014)
★ Preorder (#4) Four Years Later (out Feb. 25th 2014)

★ Jeaniene Frost has quotes and a snippet from Up from the Grave (Night Huntress #8)! Read it here.

★ Preorder Up from the Grave: Kindle | Paperback

★ Another teaser from Be with Me (Wait for You #2) by J. Lynn!

Be with me teaser

Pre-order Be with Me: Amazon Kindle | Amazon Paperback | B&N

Series order:
★ (#1) Wait for You ($0.99!)
★ (#1.5) Trust in Me ($1.99!) | My review
★ Preorder (#3) Stay with Me (out Sept. 2nd 2014)

★ An excerpt from Rare and Precious Things (The Blackstone Affair #4) by Raine Miller!

We both stood there panting,  our faces so close, but yet, not touching; him in his tux with the purple brocade vest, me in my vintage inspired lace wedding dress, the sexual tension crackling in the air between us like a raging electrical storm about to go nuclear.

I told Ethan what I wanted.

“I n-need to get ready for you,” I managed on a shaky breath, hoping he understood this was something important to me.

He swallowed hard, making his Adam’s apple flex at his throat.  “All right,” he said slowly.  “I’ll do the same.”

I looked back to where the glow from the en suite bathroom showed me the way.  “Where will you go?” I asked him, feeling slightly guilty about kicking him out, even if for just a short while.

“The adjoining bedroom is also very nice.”  He gestured toward a door in the wall to the left of the bed.  “These old manor houses always had lord and lady connecting bedrooms so they could meet up for the real important, private stuff that happened in the night.”  He drew a finger across the low neckline of my bodice, moving especially slow over the swell of my breasts sitting against the lace of my gown.

“Oh?  The important private stuff you say.”

“Undoubtedly, baby.  The shagging…is…very…very…very…important.”  He gave me soft, seductive kisses between each of the words.

“Which room are we in right now?  Lord’s or lady’s?” I asked breathlessly.

He shrugged.  “No idea.  Don’t care either.  I shag and sleep wherever my lady is, and I always will.  Pick a room, Mrs. Blackstone.”

I sighed with need and forced myself to take a step backward, creating some distance between our bodies.  “Okay…how does this room in fifteen minutes sound?” I stepped backward again, moving closer toward the bathroom door, my eyes never leaving his blues as they tracked my movements.

Those same beautiful blue eyes also glittered at me with all the shuttered heat of a man who would be ravishing me very soon.  Please, and thank you.

He gave me the serious Ethan-stare, the one I’d seen many times and was well familiar with—the one raw with male prowess…and the overpowering sexual dominance.

“Like fifteen minutes too fucking long, my beauty.”

Series order:
★ (#1) Naked
★ (#2) All In
★ (#3) Eyes Wide Open
★ (#3.5) Cherry Girl
★ Preorder (#4) Rare and Precious Things (out Feb. 28th 2014)

★ Read a deleted scene from Tangled by Emma Chase here!

★ An Unbeloved (Undeniable #4) teaser from Madeline Sheehan!

UnBeloved Teaser
By Madeline Sheehan
© Madeline Sheehan Books 2014

Grinning, Cox raised his glass in the air. “To Prez,” he said, “for giving all us idiots a home, and to Eva…” Shifting his gaze to Eva, he flashed her a wide, genuine smile, far different than his typical shit-eating grin.

“To Eva,” he repeated, “for makin’ us a family.”

“You’re a goddamn woman,” Ripper muttered, punching him the arm. “You know that, yeah?”

Ignoring Ripper’s jab, Cox whirled around to face the bar. “And to Blue!” he shouted, “for always takin’ the best seat at the bar, for always hidin’ the Patrón where I couldn’t find it, for never shuttin’ the fuck up and mindin’ his own damn business, for—”

“Dibs on Blue’s seat!” Ripper shouted. Shoving Cox out of his way, he took off running for the bar.

© Madeline Sheehan Books 2014

Series order:
★ (#1) Undeniable
★ (#2) Unbeautifully
★ (#3) Unattainable
★ (#4) Unbeloved

★ Phenomenal X teaser from Michelle A. Valentine!

He grabs the drink from my hand and slams the plastic cup down on the floor, splattering its pink liquid all over a group of guys standing a little too close while watching the action unfold. X tugs me behind him, effectively putting a wall of muscle between Jared and I, shielding me with his body. He stares down at Jared, his fingers flexing into fists at his sides like he’s ready to rip into my would-be dance partner. “You think I didn’t see what you put in her drink back there, motherf**ker? There’s no way in hell I’m going to allow a little pecker-stain like you to attempt to drug this girl and get away with it.” All the blood drains from Jared’s face, leaving his skin pale while his mouth hangs open in shock. At first I think there’s no way a nice guy like Jared would do that, but when he doesn’t deny the accusations instantly, I know he’s guilty.

X shakes his head in disgust. “You just gave me the green light to end your f**king world.”

★ Pepper Winters has an excerpt from Destroyed (releases February 2014)!

His hands wrapped around my throat and slammed me against the wall.

I dropped the sheets and fought. My nails raked along his forearm, drawing blood instantly. The scar on his cheek only amplified the empty tomb of a soul inside him. His eyes showed nothing. No remorse. No excitement. Nothing.

My heart galloped as his fingers squeezed tighter. It was as if he wasn’t there. A robot. A well-oiled machine.

So, I did the only thing available to me.

I pushed off the wall and fought his devoidness with humanity. I kissed him. I bit him. I fought him.

And his fingers instantly loosened the noose and I slithered to the floor in shock. Lucky number third. This scarred stranger was the third man who ever dared hurt me against my will and he would pay.

Not by police or a judge, but by me. I took care of me. No one else.

Standing on shaky feet I launched into his body, tackling him to the bed. I expected a fight, but he did nothing. Nothing until I punched him square in the legs.

Then life exploded into his vacant eyes. The pain woke him from whatever slumber he’d been in and instead of the monster who just attacked me, a bomb of confusion and horror erupted in his eyes.

“Oh, my fucking God. I didn’t. Not again. Not again.”

Shoving me off him, he sat upright and clutched his skull in his hands. Rocking on the side of the bed he said. “It happened again.”

This man hurt my heart. Not because he’d shown me just how unstable he was, but because he looked on the edge of breaking. Holding onto his sanity with the slipperiest of grips, destined to fall down and down until he it lost completely.

I couldn’t let that happen. “Let me help you.”

And that’s when he lost it. Completely.

★ Loving Cara (Love Under the Big Sky #1) by Kristen Proby snippets!

loving cara teaser
Loving Cara teaserLoving Cara teaser 2

★ Preorder Loving Cara: KindlePaperback

★ Snippet from Cora Carmack’s upcoming book All Lined Up (Rusk University #1)!

I look over at Carson as I sit back, and catch him staring at the strip of skin on my back where my shirt had ridden up.

I raise an eyebrow. “You’re a little slow on the uptake when it comes to this friendship thing, huh?”

He grins. “Practice makes perfect.”

★ Preorder All Lined Up

★ Teaser from Perfectly Damaged by E.L. Montes!

perfectly damaged teaser

★ Amy A. Bartol has a teaser from Iniquity (The Premonition #5) here!

Series order:
★ (#1) Inescapable
★ (#2) Intuition
★ (#3) Indebted
★ (#4) Incendiary

★ Read a teaser from Abandon (Shattered Hearts #3.5) by Cassia Leo here!

Series order:
★ (#0.5) Forever Ours (out April 2014)
★ (#1) Relentless
★ (#2) Pieces of You
★ (#3) Bring Me Home
★ Preorder (#3.5) Abandon (out Jan. 27th 2014)
★ (#4) Chasing Abby (out July 2014)

★ Teaser from More Than Him (More #3) by Jay MacLean!

More Than Him teaser

Series order:
★ (#1) More Than This
★ (#2) More Than Her

Other News!!

★ Katie Ashley’s The Pairing (The Proposition #3) now has a blurb!

After her former boyfriend left her pregnant and alone, Megan McKenzie swore off men. She spent the last eighteen months focused solely on her son, Mason, along with finishing nursing school at the top of her class. Although she’s not ready to complicate her life with a long-term relationship, a nice no-strings attached hook-up is just what she needs. At her godson, Noah’s, baptism, she finds the perfect candidate in the soft-spoken godfather, Pesh Nadeen. After all, the widower could use a good time too. But after drinking too much, the night doesn’t end the way she thought it would. Forced to leave Pesh’s house through a walk of shame, Megan hopes to never, ever see him again.

For Pesh Nadeen, the very sight of Megan sends him into an emotional tailspin. Since she reminds him too much of what he has lost, he wants to be out of her sight…at first. But the more he gets to know her, there’s something about the diminutive blonde that causes his protective side to go into overdrive, and he finds himself wanting more. When Megan is assigned to him to complete her nursing clinicals, he sees it as fate, but she’s having no part of it. She only wants a physical relationship while he wants far more.

What happens next is a sexy game of cat and mouse to see who will break first or if both of them will eventually get more than they ever bargained for.

Go here to read a teaser.

Series order:
★ (#0.5) The Party (FREE!)
★ (#1) The Proposition
★ (#2) The Proposal

★ Deleted excerpt from Addicted for Now (Addicted #2) by Krista & Becca Ritchie:

“You know those days where you wake up from bed and you just can’t move? It feels as if your muscles are weighed by cinder blocks, chained to the mattress. And yet, it’s not slumber that keeps you motionless like a drug. It’s this sense that nothing is going to turn out okay. That everything in your life looks a little different, like a Picasso painting on crack. It’s crying without the tears, and screaming without the sound.I am rooted to everything and nothing at all.”

Plus, read an amazing interview with the authors here!

★ Karina Halle is currently writing a story called Dark Paradise, and you can read it for FREE as she writes it! Read more about it here.

Thoughtless fans! S.C. Stephens is currently writing Kellan’s POV of Thoughtless!

I haven’t done a “What are you working on?” update in a while. Why? Because I wasn’t sure if the story I was working on would ever see the light of day. Now that I am over halfway through writing it though, I am 99.9% sure I’m going to publish it.

So, what have I been working on? Kellan’s point of view of Thoughtless. Yes, I’m going to give you the story through his eyes, and let me tell you, it’s not always easy experiencing it through Kellan’s POV. I’ve cried more than once. It has been a lot of fun though, and I hope that you enjoy the companion piece to Thoughtless, which I have tentatively titled Thoughtful.

I’m currently writing the last third of the book, and I don’t have a street date for you yet. I also can’t predict when it might be available, since several different people will be involved with the process of choosing a release date: editors, publishers, cover designers, formatters, and more! Know that it’s coming though, and soon you’ll have more Kellan!

Read more on her blog post here.

Series order:
★ (#1) Thoughtless
★ (#2) Effortless
★ (#3) Reckless

★ Nashoda Rose has a Logan POV scene from her Tear Asunder series! There will be SPOILERS for those who haven’t read Torn from You yet. Read the scene here.

Series order:
★ (#0.5) With You | My review
★ (#1) Torn from You | My review

★ New book from Jamie McGuire (author of Beautiful Disaster)! It’s called Apolonia! From her Facebook:

Pulled the third all-nighter in a row, and APOLONIA is finished. Oh, my. Oh, oh my. Lotsa romance. Lotsa angst! Lotsa action! Lotsa WHAT THE HELL IS MCGUIRE GOING TO THROW AT US NEXT?! This is the first time I’ve had to stop myself from going back and reading it because it’s so fun and get back to work so I could finish since Beautiful Disaster! I am really loving this one. Can’t wait to share it with you! Agh! I hate waiting!

★ Gail McHugh has something great in store for Collide’s first birthday! Go here to read about it (it miiight include… Gavin).

Series order:
★ (#1) Collide
★ (#2) Pulse

★ You can see what Jessica Sorensen will be releasing in 2014 here!

★ Carmen Jenner is writing a Sugartown novella, book 2.5 of the series, called Greetings from Sugartown, coming mid-2014!

Series order:
★ (#1) Welcome to Sugartown
★ (#2) Enjoy Your Stay (out March 3rd 2014)

Sales!!

  • $0.99 – Bully (Fall Away #1) by Penelope Douglas | Purchase (LOVE LOVE LOVE this book!)
  • $0.99 – Sempre (Forever #1) by J.M. Darhower | Purchase | My review (A mafia romance!)
  • $0.99 – Mystery Man (Dream Man #1) by Kristen Ashley | Purchase (Has a total alpha-male hero!)
  • $0.99 – Play it Safe by Kristen Ashley | Purchase
  • $0.99 – Heaven and Hell (Heaven and Hell #1) by Kristen Ashley | Purchase
  • $0.99 – Arouse (Spiral of Bliss #1) by Nina Lane | Purchase
  • $0.99 – A Little Too Far (Too Far #1) by Lisa Desrochers | Purchase | My review (Love this series!)
  • $1.99 – A Little Too Much (Too Far #2) by Lisa Desrochers | Purchase | My review
  • $0.99 – Relentless (Shattered Hearts #1) by Cassia Leo | Purchase
  • $0.99 – Night Owl (Night Owl Trilogy #1) by M. Pierce | Purchase
  • $0.99 – A Different Blue by Amy Harmon | Purchase (Student-teacher romance!)
  • $0.99 – Ride (Bayonet Scars #1) by J.C. Emery | Purchase
  • $0.99 – Poughkeepsie (Poughkeepsie #1) by Debra Anastasia | Purchase | My review (Beautifully written love story)
  • $0.99 – Tears of Tess (Monsters in the Dark #1) by Pepper Winters | Purchase
  • $0.99 – Playing for Keeps (Neighbor from Hell #1) by R.L. Mathewson | Purchase (So funny and sweet!)
  • $0.99 – Perfection (Neighbor from Hell #2) by R.L. Mathewson | Purchase
  • $0.99 – Kaleb (Alluring Indulgence #1) by Nicole Edwards | Purchase
  • $0.99 – A Beautiful Lie (Playing with Fire #1) by Tara Sivec | Purchase
  • $0.99 – Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress #1) by Jeaniene Frost | Purchase
  • $0.99 – Beauty from Pain (Beauty #1) by Georgia Cates | Purchase (A very hot and sexy romance!)
  • $0.99 – Exquisite Betrayal by A.M. Hargrove | Purchase
  • $0.99 – The Seaside series by Rachel Van Dyken | Purchase
  • $0.99 – Wait for You (Wait for You #1) by J. Lynn | Purchase (Such a good NA contemporary romance!)
  • $1.99 – Trust in Me (Wait for You #1.5) by J. Lynn | Purchase | My review
  • $1.99 – Love Unscripted (Love #1) by Tina Reber | Purchase
  • $1.99 – Reason to Breathe (Breathing #1) by Rebecca Donovan | Purchase
  • $1.99 – Barely Breathing (Breathing #2) by Rebecca Donovan | Purchase
  • $1.99 – Out of Breath (Breathing #3) by Rebecca Donovan | Purchase
  • $1.99 – Crash (Crash #1) by Nicole Williams | Purchase | My review (One of my all-time fave series!)
  • $1.99 – Hard As It Gets (Hard Ink #1) by Laura Kaye | Purchase
  • $1.99 – Torn (Torn #1) by K.A. Robinson | Purchase
  • $1.99 – Twisted (Torn #2) by K.A. Robinson | Purchase
  • $1.99 – One Pink Line by Dina Silver | Purchase
  • $1.99 – Outlander: with Bonus Content by Diana Gabaldon | Purchase (A nearly 900 page book for only 1.99!)
  • $2.99 – Walking Disaster (Beautiful #2) by Jamie McGuire | Purchase (Travis! <3)
  • $3.99 – Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful #1) by Jamie McGuire | Purchase
  • $5.50 – Slammed (Slammed #1) by Colleen Hoover | Purchase (FAVE BOOK EVER!! Slammed has a $2 price drop!)

Bully by Penelope Douglas Sempre by J.M. Darhower Mystery Man by Kristen Ashley Play It Safe by Kristen Ashley Heaven and Hell by Kristen Ashley Arouse by Nina Lane A Little Too Far by Lisa Desrochers A Little Too Much by Lisa Desrochers Relentless by Cassia Leo Night Owl by M. Pierce A Different Blue by Amy Harmon Ride by J.C. Emery Poughkeepsie by Debra Anastasia Tears of Tess by Pepper Winters Playing for Keeps by R.L. Mathewson Perfection by R.L. Mathewson Kaleb by Nicole Edwards A Beautiful Lie by Tara Sivec Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost Beauty from Pain by Georgia Cates Exquisite Betrayal by A.M. Hargrove The Seaside Series- Boxed Set by Rachel Van Dyken Wait For You by Jennifer L. Armentrout Trust in Me by J. Lynn Love Unscripted by Tina Reber Reason to Breathe by Rebecca Donovan Barely Breathing by Rebecca Donovan Out of Breath by Rebecca Donovan Crash 2 by Nicole Williams Hard As It Gets by Laura Kaye Torn by K.A. Robinson Twisted by K.A. Robinson One Pink Line by Dina Silver Outlander by Diana Gabaldon Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire Slammed by Colleen Hoover

Recent Releases!!

Brutally Beautiful by Christine Zolendz Masquerade by Nyrae Dawn Rome by jay Crownover Before Jamaica Lane by Samantha Young The Destiny of Violet and Luke by Jessica Sorensen Awaken by Nina Lane Come to Me Quietly by A.L. Jackson Unhinged by A.G. Howard Being Sloane Jacobs by Lauren Morrill Howling for You by Chloe Neill Ethan by Nicole Edwards Lucky Number Four by Amanda Jason After the Storm by Maya Banks Hope Flames by Jaci Burton Erased by Jennifer Rush Love Reborn by Yvonne Woon Too Consumed by Skyla Madi Nude Caucasian Woman Thrash by J.C. Emery Undone by R.E. Hunter

Upcoming New Releases!!

Drew + Fable Forever by Monica Murphy Forever with You by Laurelin Paige Behind His Eyes by Aleatha Romig Fighting For Irish by Gina L. Maxwell In Bed with Mr. Wrong by Katee Robert Falling For Her Soldier by Ophelia London Hollow City by Ransom Riggs

Weekly Recap!!

Reviewed on the blog:

Blog Tours:

Holding Out Blog Tour Banner Tour Banner Vendetta Surrendering to Us Tour Banner Branded tour banner fallen crest public tour banner

Don’t forget to check out the giveaways listed on the blog on the right!

Book News, Weekly Recap & Upcoming Releases! {16}

Cover Reveals!!

Finding My Forever by Heidi McLaughlin

Finding My Forever (Beaumont #3) by Heidi McLaughlin
Release Date: December 30th 2013

Everywhere I look, my friends are settling down – marriage, children, white picket fences; but not me. Marriage isn’t in the cards for me. I’m a ladies man.

A rock star.

I was born and raised in the industry.
I love everything about my life, especially the attention from the women that my status brings me.

Women find me. I don’t chase. I know what they want and they know I’ll deliver.

But after one look, one touch, one night… now I’m the one doing the chasing.

I need to find a way to show her that I’m serious, that I can change.

I need to find a way to show her that I can love her fully, and only her.

I need to find a way to show her that she’s my forever.

Donners of the Dead by Karina Halle

Donners of the Dead by Karina Halle
Release Date: February 24th 2014

***A Standalone Horror Romance coming February 2014***

Jake McGraw was unlike anyone I’d ever known. He was brash, rude, unapologetic and arrogant; chauvinistic, close-minded, and terribly stubborn. He was built like a tree, tall with a hard chest and wide shoulders and hands that looked like they could wrestle a bear. He was a cigar-chomping, scruffy-faced, beast of a man. I was pretty sure I hated him. And I know he hated me. But among the flesh-eating monsters in these snow-capped mountains, he was the only thing keeping me alive 

The year is 1851 and pioneers in search of California gold are still afraid to travel on the same route as the tragic Donner party did years before. When the last wagon train to go into the Sierra Nevada mountains fails to arrive at their destination, Eve Smith, an 18-year old half-native girl with immense tracking skills is brought along with the search party, headed by an enigmatic former Texas Ranger, Jake McGraw.

What they find deep in the dangerous snow-covered terrain is a terrifying consequence of cannibalism, giving new meaning to the term “monster.” While the search party is slowly picked off, one by one, Eve must learn to trust Jake, who harbors more than a few secrets of his own, in order to survive and prevent the monstrosities from reaching civilization.

***This is NOT New Adult***

Nude Caucasian Woman

Surrendering to Us (Surrendering Saga #2) by Chelsea M. Cameron
Release Date: January 2nd 2014

They’re finally together. But the Universe seems intent on tearing them apart…

Rory Clarke might not be Lucah Blythe’s boss anymore, but that doesn’t mean they can sneak off to the boardroom for hot sex whenever they want. Keeping their hands off each other in the workplace is harder than they could have imagined, and that’s not the only obstacle they have to deal with. Between Lucah’s troublesome brother Ryder, and Rory’s bff Sloane’s inability to understand locked doors, they’re drowning in drama.

But it’s only about to get a lot worse when a blast from Lucah’s past surfaces, and chaos at Clarke Enterprises threatens to take away everything Rory has worked so hard for. Can the couple weather the storm and surrender to each other, or will the challenges of staying together destroy their relationship for good?

Phenomenal X by Michelle A.Valentine

Phenomenal X (Hard Knocks #1) by Michelle A. Valentine
Release Date: 2014

Good Girl. Notorious Bad-Boy. One Phenomenal Love.

From the mean streets of Detroit rises the newest superstar of professional wrestling, Xavier Cold, better known as Phenomenal X. His muscular physique makes men cower before him and woman lose their minds with desire.

Anna Cortez is fresh out of college and naive to the harsh realities of the real world. Tired of living under the thumb of her conservative family, she defies them when she accepts a job as the assistant to wrestling’s most notorious bad-boy. Phenomenal X has an animalistic nature that even good girl Anna finds hard to resist.

One night forced to share a bed in a sold-out hotel, lines blur between them and they quickly learn that one lustful night changes everything and neither one of them will ever be the same.

Savor by Monica Murphy

Savor (Billionaire Bachelors Club #3) by Monica Murphy
Release Date: January 21st 2014

New York Times bestselling author Monica Murphy concludes her sexy Billionaire Bachelors Club series with a fiery romance that refuses to be left at the office…

Bryn James can’t take much more. Smart, sexy Matthew DeLuca is everything she wants in a man, but he’s also her boss—the youngest, hottest vineyard owner in the Napa Valley—and he doesn’t see her as anything more than his shy assistant. That’s all about to change. Armed with a hot new look and an attitude to match, Bryn is determined to catch Matt’s eye… professionalism be damned.

With his winery’s grand reopening approaching, Matt is trying to stay focused, but Bryn is suddenly making it very difficult. He’s always thought her prim demeanor effortlessly sexy, but Matt can’t deny that her transformation is jaw-dropping …and going to make it very difficult to keep his hands to himself.

But when one thing leads to another and suddenly Matt is stripping Bryn bare, he’ll be faced with the biggest risk of his career—and his heart. Can he convince her—and himself—that this might just be more than a no-strings office affair?

Redesigned Cover!

Red Fox by Karina Halle

Red Fox (Experiment in Terror #2) by Karina Halle

Snippets!!

★ From Abbi Glines’ Facebook, an excerpt from Misbehaving (Sea Breeze #6)!

MISBEHAVING surprise sneak peek:
Momma took a long pull from her cigarette and then put it out in the plate beside her. She was running out of time, because I wasn’t about to let Jason come to the door. I didn’t trust Momma. She would test him and I wasn’t sure he could pass the test.
“He’s your Logan. Girls don’t marry their Logans.”
She was back to talking about him being my Logan again. That made absolutely no sense. I didn’t even know a Logan. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at her. “What are you talking about?”
Momma cocked an eyebrow at me. “Jason Stone is your Logan. He’s wealthy and impressive and handsome. He’s a fairy tale. But don’t get serious. Guard your heart.”
I let out a frustrated sigh and dropped my arms. “Why are you calling him my Logan?” I asked.
“Gilmore Girls, sweetheart. Gilmore Girls. If you had bothered to watch it with me like I asked you several times, you would know what I mean. Hank is your Dean. He wasn’t meant for you either. He was just the first heartbreak you keep going back to. Now you’ve met your Logan.” – an excerpt from Misbehaving by Abbi Glines. Release date December 17, 2013

And another sneak peek from Abbi’s Facebook for Rush Too Far!

 Blaire reached for the suitcase that Grant was holding. “He’s right. I should go. This was a very bad idea,” she said with a hitch in her voice. Grant didn’t let the suitcase go easily. She tugged hard to get it out of his grasp. I could see the unshed tears in her eyes and it tugged at my conscience. Was there something I was missing here? Did she really expect us to open our arms wide for her? – A little Rush Finlay for your Friday afternoon. And YES that is a tiny sneak peek of Rush Too Far coming in May 2014

★ Julie Kagawa has a snippet from The Forever Song (Blood of Eden #3) on her blog! You can read it here.

★ Jeaniene Frost has a hilarious excerpt of Up From the Grave (Night Huntress #7) here. It’s Ian!

★ Karina Halle put up chapter one and a teaser of Ashes to Ashes (Experiment in Terror #8) which you can read here and here.

Other News!!

★  Larissa Ione (author of the Demonica series and The Lords of Deliverance series) is writing a novella! It’s called Azagoth and will be releasing June 10th 2014.

Even in the fathomless depths of the underworld and the bleak chambers of a damaged heart, the bonds of love can heal…or destroy. 

He holds the ability to annihilate souls in the palm of his hand. He commands the respect of the most dangerous of demons and the most powerful of angels. He can seduce and dominate any female he wants with a mere look. But for all Azagoth’s power, he’s bound by shackles of his own making, and only an angel with a secret holds the key to his release.

She’s an angel with the extraordinary ability to travel through time and space. An angel with a tormented past she can’t escape. And when Lilliana is sent to Azagoth’s underworld realm, she finds that her past isn’t all she can’t escape. For the irresistibly sexy fallen angel known as Azagoth is also known as the Grim Reaper, and when he claims a soul, it’s forever…

★  Until You (Fall Away #1.5) by Penelope Douglas was released early! Go get your copy! Amazon

Weekly Recap

Reviewed on the blog this week:

Books to review:

Under Different Stars by Amy A. Bartol The Redhead Plays Her Hand by Alice Clayton Pieces For You by Genna Rulon Secret by Brigid Kemmerer After the End by Amy Plum Quintessentially Q by Pepper Winters

Blog Tours:

Covert Assignment Tour Banner

Nov RDL Tour

Gabriel's Redemption blog tour

Out Of Time Tour Banner

Don’t forget to check out the giveaways listed on the blog on the right!

Upcoming New Releases!!

Blue Lines by Toni Aleo Falling by E.K. Blair Thou Shalt Not by J.J. Rossum These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner Avoiding Temptation by K.A. Linde Reviving Izabel by J.A. Redmerski A Beautiful Wedding by Jamie McGuire The Fine Line by Alicia Kobishop Elect by Rachel Van Dyken Snakeroot by Andrea Cremer Ashes to Ashes by Karina Halle

Book News, Weekly Recap & Upcoming Releases! {15}

Cover Reveals!!

Untie Me by Tahereh Mafi

Unite Me (Shatter Me #1.5; #2.5) by Tahereh Mafi
Release Date: February 4th 2014

Perfect for fans of Tahereh Mafi’s New York Times bestselling Shatter Metrilogy, this book collects her two companion novellas, Fracture Me andDestroy Me, in print for the first time ever. It also features an exclusive look into Juliette’s journal and a preview of Ignite Me, the hotly anticipated final novel of the series.

Destroy Me tells the events between Shatter Me and Unravel Me from Warner’s point of view. Even though Juliette shot him in order to escape, Warner can’t stop thinking about her—and he’ll do anything to get her back. But when the Supreme Commander of The Reestablishment arrives, he has much different plans for Juliette. Plans Warner cannot allow.

Fracture Me is told from Adam’s perspective and bridges the gap betweenUnravel Me and Ignite Me. As the Omega Point rebels prepare to fight the Sector 45 soldiers, Adam’s more focused on the safety of Juliette, Kenji, and his brother. The Reestablishment will do anything to crush the resistance . . . including killing everyone Adam cares about.

The Shatter Me series is perfect for fans who crave action-packed young adult novels with tantalizing romance like Divergent and The Hunger Games. This captivating story, which combines the best of dystopian and paranormal, was praised as “a thrilling, high-stakes saga of self-discovery and forbidden love” by Ransom Riggs, bestselling author of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

Unbroken by Jessica Sorensen

Unbroken (Shattered Promises #2.5) by Jessica Sorensen
Release Date: December 2013

Alex thought things were already complicated, but then Gemma shows up possessed by Stephan and she wants to kill him. Normally, he would eliminate someone in Gemma’s position to protect himself, but his feelings for Gemma won’t allow him to do that. She’s too important to him and he knows he has to save her without hurting her.

But can he find a way to save her before someone gets hurt?

Broken Dove by Kristen Ashley

Broken Dove (Fantasyland #4) by Kristen Ashley
Release Date: December 30th 2013

Far too young, Apollo Ulfr lost Ilsa, his wife, the love of is life and the mother of his two children. The grief of her loss does not settle in his soul, it solders to it. But when he discovers there is a parallel universe where his wife may have a twin, he feels there’s hope and sets about bringing her to his world so he can have her back.

But Ilsa Ulfr of our world is married to the parellel universe’s twin, Pol, who is not a good man. Not in any way. She’s on the run from him and the last thing she wants is to be transported to a fantastical world and be forced to take his side as his wife, even if he is not Pol. And Apollo finds the broken, bitter Ilsa nothing like his beloved and he further wants nothing to do with her.

But darkness is looming and evil is amassing. Apollo must protect his land and keep his family safe, including the new Ilsa.

Snippets!!

★ A Thanksgiving snippet from Cassandra Clare’s tumblr for City of Heavenly Fire!

“Did Brother Zachariah just steal our cat?”

★ The prologue of Rush Too Far by Abbi Glines is here! Rush Too Far releases May 2014.

They say that children have the purest hearts. That children don’t truly hate because they don’t fully understand the emotion. They forgive and forget easily.

They say a lot of bullshit like that because it helps them sleep at night. Such sayings make for good, heart-warming clichés to hang on the walls, to bring out a smile in people passing by.

​I know differently. Children love like no other. They have the capacity to love more fiercely than anyone else. That much is true. That much I know. Because I lived it. By the age of ten I knew hate and I knew love. Both all-consuming. Both life-altering. And both completely blinding.

​Looking back now I wish someone had been there to see how my mother had sown the seed of hate inside of me. Inside of my sister. If someone had been there to save us from the lies and bitterness she allowed to fester within us, then maybe things would have been different. For everyone involved.

​I never would have acted so foolishly. It wouldn’t have been my fault that a girl was left alone to take care of her ailing mother. It wouldn’t have been my fault that the same girl stood at her mother’s graveside, believing that the last person on earth who loved her was dead. It wouldn’t have been my fault that a man destroyed himself after his life became a broken, hollow shell.

​But no one saved me.

​No one saved us.

​We believed the lies. We held onto our hate, and I alone destroyed an innocent girl’s life.

​They say you reap what you sow. That’s bullshit, too. Because I should be burning in hell for my sins. I shouldn’t be allowed to wake up every morning with this beautiful woman in my arms, who loves me unconditionally. I shouldn’t get to hold my son and know such a pure joy.

​But I do.

​Because, eventually, someone did save me. I didn’t deserve it. Hell, more than anyone it was my sister who needed saving. She hadn’t acted on her hate. She hadn’t manipulated the lives of our family members, not caring about the outcome. But her bitterness still controlled her while I had been delivered. By a girl…

No, she wasn’t just a girl. She was an angel. My angel. A beautiful, strong, fierce, loyal angel who had entered my life in a pick-up truck, carrying a gun.

★ It’s an excerpt from Burned (Dani O’Malley #2; Fever #7) by Karen Marie Moning!

 The king stirred from his reverie and stared down at the unconscious female in his wings.

Half a million years since he’d last seen her. Held her. Touched her.

It was no illusion. She was here. She was real.

She felt as small and gossamer fragile as the new worlds he spun.

He inhaled. She smelled the same as she had on the day he’d met her, of sunshine on bare skin, moonlight on silver oceans and enormous, sky-no-limit dreams. He closed his eyes and opened them.

She was still there.

After an eternity of grief and regret, he held the only thing he’d ever wanted more than he wanted to be God.

A second chance.

He’d imagined this, dreamed it, hungered for it beyond reason.

They are replaceable, one and all, insisted the Fear Dorcha, his dark traveling companion through insanity. You will forget her.

But he never had.

Grief will pass, lisped the Crimson Hag, one of his more exquisitely terrible creations.

But it never did.

He, who had once been whole was halved without hope of ever being complete again. And when you’ve known that kind of love, to exist without it is to live a half-life where nothing else ever feels real.

He’d fabricated their reunion in countless illusions, slipping in and out of madness for millennia, talking to her as if she were beside him, answering. Drawing to his side one mortal woman after the next that possessed the body, the hair, a pale imitation of the passion, never seeing them, calling them by her name, pretending they were her until they died.

He’d lived lie after lie to escape the unbearable truth: She’d left him by choice, killed herself to escape him. He’d come to believe she’d never loved him at all, or worse—had stopped loving him because of the things he’d done.

Gazing down at her now, he found it easy to pardon Cruce for stealing her, forcing her to drink from the Cauldron and erasing all memory of their time together.

Somehow his soulmate was at long last the very thing he’d struggled to make her: Fae, immortal unless killed in one of a very small number of ways. (He intended to eradicate all of those ways immediately.) Funny how things turned should time enough pass. But the king knew the natural state of Universes was not to list toward entropy, rather wholeness. Universes were healthy. It was sentient beings with free will that were the true disasters.

So what if he’d suffered an eternity of hell without her? If someone had offered him this bargain a half a million years ago, said—you need only endure a half a million years without her to have her for all time—he would have taken it in a human heartbeat. What was a brief time of madness for eternity with her?

Fire to his ice. Frost to her flame.

He was whole again.

The Unseelie king bent his head and kissed her. Lightly. Reverently. He’d sliced open his soul and bled it out over memories of the woman he would never kiss again. Deep in his chest, thunder rolled.

Lashes fluttered. She opened her eyes. He drew back and stared down at her, unable to speak. Creator of worlds, God, Devil, whatever he was, words failed him now. His massive black wings shuddered with the depth of his feeling. He shifted and resettled them.

There was wonder in her gaze as she stared up at him: a moment of precious, pre-conscious dawn where all is dew and promise and anything at all might bloom.

Beginnings are fragile things.

Was it as he hoped? Was the power of true love greater than the power of the Cauldron of Forgetting? Did the body recall despite the damage done the mind? Memory, carved into gray matter, never obliterated. What would she say? What would her first words to him be?

Time ground to a halt and, as a human might hold his breath, the Unseelie king held his existence in silence, filling the frozen moment with tiny miracles: the blush of her skin, the curve of her lips, the arch of her brows.

Was that a flicker of confusion? Of duality preceding recognition? He knew her face intimately, had never forsaken a nuance, yet these were expressions he’d had no cause to learn.

After all she’d been through—eternities about which he knew nothing and might have contained any number of atrocities spent as they were at the Seelie Court with Cruce—but more recently kidnapped, interred in a tomb of ice and nearly killed by the power-hungry prince, he sought to reassure her:

“My love, you are safe. I have you now.” He paused, to lend emphasis to his next words, a pledge he would keep until the end of time, which he was fairly certain he was in some fashion or another. “And I will never let you go again.”

Envisioning their joyous future together as immortals, he waited for the first sound of her voice in half a million years…

She screamed.

★ You can read the epilogue from Until You (Fall Away #1.5) by Penelope Douglas on her Facebook here! It’s told in Madoc’s POV.

★ A snippet from Ilona Andrews’ Avon book! You can read it here.

Other News!!

★  If you haven’t heard Sylvain Reynard’s new novel announcement, you can read the blog post here. His next book will be called The Raven.

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Gabriel Series comes a dark, sensual tale of romance in a city shrouded in mystery…

Raven Wood spends her days at Florence’s Uffizi Gallery restoring fine works of Renaissance art.  But an innocent walk home after an evening with friends changes her life forever. When she intervenes in the senseless beating of a homeless man, his attackers turn on her, dragging her into an alley.  Raven is only semi-conscious when their assault is interrupted by a cacophony of growls followed by her attacker’s screams.  Mercifully, she blacks out, but not before catching a glimpse of a shadowy figure who whispers to her…

Cassita vulneratus.

When Raven awakes, she is inexplicably changed. She returns to the Uffizi, but no one recognizes her and more disturbingly, she discovers that she’s been absent an entire week. With no recollection of the events leading up to her disappearance, Raven also learns that her absence coincides with one of the largest robberies in Uffizi history – the theft of a set of priceless Botticelli illustrations. When the baffled police force identifies her as its prime suspect, Raven is desperate to clear her name. She seeks out one of Florence’s wealthiest and elusive men in an attempt to uncover the truth about her disappearance. Their encounter leads Raven to a dark underworld whose inhabitants kill to keep their secrets…

★ Gayle Forman’s next book will be called I Was Here, and it comes out in the first half of 2015.

This gritty, powerful new YA novel follows Cody Reynolds in the months following her best friend Meg’s shocking suicide. Delving into Meg’s secret life as she searches for answers, Cody discovers both her strengths and her vulnerabilities, testing her ability to love, to protect, and to forgive.

You can read about it on her tumblr here.

★ Jeaniene Frost’s next novel will be called The Beautiful Ashes, book one of the Broken Destiny series. You can read her blog post here.

Weekly Recap

Reviewed on the blog this week:

Books to review:

Be With Me by Jennifer L. Armentrout Before We Fall by Courtney Cole Gabriel's Redemption by Sylvain Reynard Holy Frigging Matrimony by Emma Chase

The Fine Line by Alicia Kobishop Elect by Rachel Van Dyken Four Seconds To Lose by K.A. Tucker

Blog Tours:

No Good Duke Goes Unpunished Sarah MacLean banner

T. Gephart series banner

undertow blog tour banner

REMY blog tour Banner

Don’t forget to check out the giveaways listed on the blog on the right!

Upcoming New Releases (so many good books releasing next week!)

Addicted for Now by Krista Ritchie & Becca Ritchie Cherry Girl by Raine Miller Kissed by a Dark Prince by Felicity E. Heaton Bitter Sweet Love by Jennifer L. Armentrout Knight & Day by Kitty French Out of Time by Jen McLaughlin Racing Savannah by Miranda Kenneally Gabriel's Redemption by Sylvain Reynard Kicking It Anthology Before We Fall by Courtney Cole Full Throttle by Erin McCarthy Castle Hill by Samantha Young Spellbound by Sylvia Day The Ever After of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorensen Holy Frigging Matrimony by Emma Chase Otherwise Unharmed by Shay Savage

Book News, Weekly Recap & Upcoming Releases! {6}

★ Abbi Glines news! Here’s what she said about her upcoming books:

– Y’all have questions… so here are some answers

– YES Tripp is getting two books next year. I didn’t add Bethy’s POV for fun. There was a reason.

– Woods and Della will be in other books just like Rush and Blaire still show up. I can’t wrap their story up yet because it isn’t over. After I’ve written all the characters of Rosemary a book that I intend to write and it is complete I will give you all a novella wrapping everything up tight. I promise. But right now… the story continues with more couples.

– Grant and Harlow will be getting their first book in February. I’ve already written it. So that is coming. I promise.

– Thanks for reading Simple Perfection! Y’all have made its release day amazing.

Rosemary Beach series:

Too Far series (Blair and Rush):
★ Fallen Too Far (#1)
★ Never Too Far (#2)
★ Forever Too Far (#3)

Perfection series (Della and Woods):
★ Twisted Perfection (#1)
★ Simple Perfection (#2)

Chance series (Harlow and Grant):
★ Take A Chance (#1)
★ This One Chance (#2)

★ The Temptation of Lila and Ethan (The Secret #3) teaser! Read it on Jessica Sorensen’s blog here!

Here is a list of her series reading orders and release dates:

The Coincidence Series:
★ The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden (#1)
★ The Redemption of Callie and Kayden (#2)
★ The Destiny of Violet and Luke (#3) Releases Jan. 7, 2014
★ The Resolution of Callie and Kayden (#4) Release date TBD

The Destiny of Violet and Luke by Jessica Sorensen

The Secret series:
★ The Secret of Ella and Micha (#1)
★ The Forever of Ella and Micha (#2)
★ The Temptation of Lila and Ethan (#3) Releases Oct. 22, 2013
★ The Ever After of Ella and Micha (#3.5) Releases Dec 3, 2013

The Ever After of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorensen

Breaking Nova series:
★ Breaking Nova (#1) My review
★ Title TBD (#2) Releases Feb. 4, 2014
★ Title TBD (#3) Releases March 25, 2014

★ There’s a blurb for Samantha Towle’s upcoming NA book, Trouble! Release date: 2013 (tba).

Trouble by Samantha Towle

Mia Monroe is running. Running from a person she doesn’t ever want to find her. Running from a past she doesn’t ever want anyone to know. Desperate to find a future, that yesterday, she could only dream of having.Jordan Matthews likes easy. Easy women. Easy life.

Then he meets Mia.

She’s damaged, troubled and has more baggage than any person can carry. But the more Jordan gets to know Mia-for the first time in his life-he finds himself wanting to try hard for something… for someone… for her.

And then life isn’t so easy anymore.

Jordan is everything Mia shouldn’t want. A whole bunch of dirty hotness, tattooed, cocky bad boy, who made his money at poker tables and picked his women up in bars. Yet, Mia finds herself falling for him. Then the past Mia was running from, quickly starts to catch up with her. Because that’s the problem with running… you have to stop sometime.

And when you stop, you get caught.

★ If you’re a HUGE fan of Sarah Rees Brennan’s The Lynburn Legacy series (like me!!) then you have to read a new free short story called The Night After I Lost You! You can read it here.

The Night After I Lost You by Sarah Rees Brennan

★ Teaser for Trust in Me (Wait for You #1.5) by J. Lynn/Jennifer L. Armentrout!

Sharp need punched right through me as her body slid down my front. My hands tightened on her hips and she tipped her head back. Her eyes darkened to a deep chocolate brown, and my brain clicked off as I somehow tugged her closer. I knew she had to feel my arousal, and considering we hadn’t even kissed, something about that seemed wrong, but I couldn’t let her go.Her hands pressed against my chest, and I thought she was going to push me away, and swore to God right then and there, no matter how hard it would be, I would let her go if she did.

But she didn’t.

Avery’s hands flattened against my chest, above my pounding heart, and she had to have felt it.

My hand moved on its own accord, curving up her waist and then over her arm, to her throat and then her cheek. She gasped when my fingertips grazed her cheeks, catching the hair stuck to her temples. I tucked the strands back behind her ears, my hand lingering.

“You’re soaked.”

“So are you.”

I smoothed my thumb over the slant of her cheek. “I guess we’re going to have to try this another night.”

“Yeah,” she whispered as her eyes flickered shut and then swept back open.

“Maybe we should’ve checked the weather first.” When she smiled, I shifted my hips in response. Her body shuddered in such a mind-blowing way and her lashes lowered. Her lips parted even further, and I didn’t want to let her go. She felt too good this close.

Her chest rose in short, deep breaths as I lowered my head, wanting and needing to kiss her. Just once. That’s all I wanted. My eyes started to drift closed.

Avery suddenly jerked back, pressing a hand between her breasts. “I think we … we should call it a night.”

For a moment I couldn’t move and then leaned back, tipping my head against the wall. It took a couple of moments before I could speak. “Yeah, we should.”

The trip out of the building and back to the apartment wasn’t easy. I was still strung tight as a bow. Nothing seemed to make the raw edge go away. I tried reciting the alphabet backwards, tried thinking about the old lady who lived in the building nearby, who sometimes walked her dog in a white nightgown. The sight was not pretty, but it still didn’t work.

The rain was still coming down as we dashed across the parking lot and under the awning. I shook my head, spraying water everywhere. Avery stopped at the base of the stairwell leading up to our apartments, and I thought it was all the rain I’d just pelted her with. I opened my mouth to apologize, but she turned sideways, her face pale as she peered up at me.

A very different kind of ache sliced through my chest, stirring up that knot in there, at the stark confusion and fear in her eyes. Fear. I didn’t get it. Had I done that to her? No. I couldn’t believe that. Not the way she had reacted to me. I saw it in her eyes. She had wanted me to kiss her, probably even as badly as I wanted to kiss her, but she had pulled away because … I honestly didn’t know.

I thrust my hand through my hair, pulling it off my forehead. “Go out with me.”

“No,” she whispered.

I grinned slightly, and her chest fell, her shoulders relaxed, as if she needed to hear this. “There’s always tomorrow.”

She followed me up the stairs. “Tomorrow’s not going to change anything.”

“We’ll see.”

“There’s nothing to see. You’re wasting your time.”

“When it concerns you, it’s never a waste of my time.”

And that was the damn truth.

★ New cover reveals:

Be With Me (Wait for You #2) by J. Lynn/Jennifer L. Armentrout

Be With Me by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Teresa Hamilton is having a rough year—she’s in love with her big brother’s best friend, but he hasn’t spoken to her since they shared a truly amazing, mind-blowing, change-your-life kiss. She got out of a terrible relationship. And now an injury is threatening to end her dance career for good. It’s time for Plan B – college. And maybe a chance to convince Jase that what they have together is real.

Jase Winstead has a huge secret that he’s not telling anyone. Especially not his best friend’s incredibly beautiful sister. Even though he and Teresa shared the hottest kiss of his life, he knows that his responsibilities must take priority. He certainly doesn’t have time for a relationship. But it doesn’t help that all he can think about kissing the one girl who could ruin everything for him.

As they’re thrown together more and more, Jase and Tess can’t keep denying their feelings for each other. But a familiar danger looms and tragedy strikes. As the campus recovers, the star-crossed couple must decide what they’re willing to risk to be together, and what they’re willing to lose if they’re not…

City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments #6) by Cassandra Clare (Not the final cover, just the placeholder.)

City of Heavenly Fire cover

ERCHOMAI, SEBASTIAN HAD SAID.

I am coming.

Darkness returns to the Shadowhunter world. As their society falls apart around them, Clary, Jace, Simon and their friends must band together to fight the greatest evil the Nephilim have ever faced: Clary’s own brother. Nothing in the world can defeat him — must they journey to another world to find the chance? Lives will be lost, love sacrificed, and the whole world changed in the sixth and last installment of the Mortal Instruments series!

★ In celebration of 20,000 likes on Facebook, Kristen Ashley has given us a little extra from the Rock Chick series! Read Rock Chick Redux here.

★ Movie news! Tracey Garvis-Graves’s On the Island has been optioned by MGM! Read the article about it here!

★ Colleen Hoover has a teaser for Finding Cinderella, which is Daniel’s (Holder’s best friend in Losing Hope) novella! Read it on her Facebook here.

★ Larissa Ione (whose books I ADORE) is writing a new book, well, novella, titled Azagoth! The ebook has no release date yet, but she said it would be around “late spring/early summer.” But in the meantime, look forward to Reaver (Lords of Deliverance #5) which releases Dec. 17, 2013!

★ The first chapter of Bold Tricks (The Artists Trilogy #3) by Karina Halle is up on her blog! Read it here!

★ The first chapter of Torn (Connections #2) by Kim Karr can be read here!

★ You can now read the first FIVE chapters of Finding It (Losing It #3) by Cora Carmack here!

Finding it by Cora Carmack

Sometimes you have to lose yourself to find where you truly belong…

Most girls would kill to spend months traveling around Europe after college graduation with no responsibility, no parents, and no-limit credit cards. Kelsey Summers is no exception. She’s having the time of her life . . . or that’s what she keeps telling herself.

It’s a lonely business trying to find out who you are, especially when you’re afraid you won’t like what you discover. No amount of drinking or dancing can chase away Kelsey’s loneliness, but maybe Jackson Hunt can. After a few chance meetings, he convinces her to take a journey of adventure instead of alcohol. With each new city and experience, Kelsey’s mind becomes a little clearer and her heart a little less hers. Jackson helps her unravel her own dreams and desires. But the more she learns about herself, the more Kelsey realizes how little she knows about Jackson.

★ Josephine Angelini (author of the Starcrossed series) is writing a new series called Crucible!

★ Oh my goodness! Jeaniene Frost, author of the amazing Night Huntress series, is writing a new series, tentatively called the Realmwalker series. The first book in this new adult series is called The Beautiful Ashes and will be released September 2014.

★ Marissa Meyer also has a new book deal! It’s called Heartless and will be released in the fall of 2015 (which is after Winter releases!).

A prequel to “Alice in Wonderland,” HEARTLESS will tell the tale of how a marquis’s teenage daughter became the infamous Queen of Hearts. It will be a story of whimsy and madness, passion and tragedy, ravens and writing desks.

You can read all about her new book on her blog here.

Reviews this week (I didn’t have time to read much this week 😦 ):

Make sure to check out the giveaways on the right sidebar!

Cover reveals this week:

Wild Child by M. Leighton

This past week’s events:

Upcoming new releases:

How to Love by Katie Cotugno Kami Garcia/Unbreakable Red Hill by Jamie McGuire Eat, Brains, Love by Jeff Hart Drawn Together by Lauren Dane Darkness Fades by Jessica Sorensen Found in You by Laurelin Paige Carter Reed by Tijan Wild Cards by Simone Elkeles Torn by Kim Karr Possession by J.R. Ward Wicked and Dangerous by Shayla Black Beautiful Illusion by Jacquie Underdown My Lady Quicksilver by Bec McMaster The Wager by Rachel Van Dyken