REVIEW: "DEMON EVOLUTION" (Oceans of Red, Vol 2) - by Willow Cross

Title: “Demon Evolution”

Series: (Oceans of Red, Vol. 2)

Author: Willow Cross

Publisher: Self-published

Publication Date: December 1, 2011

Genre: YA, Paranormal

Reviewed by: Books4Tomorrow

Source: Received from author for review

My star rating: 4/5

SUMMARY

Remy's saga continues as the siblings uncover a sinister plot to not only posses the human race, but to replace them entirely. Will she accept her destiny and learn to control the new-found power within her?

REVIEW

After having read the first novella in this series, I couldn’t wait to get started on the second one. As with the other books I’ve read by this author, I was not disappointed. The fast-paced action continues where it left-off in the first book, and in this novella Remy discovers more about herself and even more of the shocking truth of the world around her. The reader also gets to meet a new character, Daelin, who is a druid and who helps Remy on the path that was set out for her. Remy not only has to come to terms with her newfound power, but is also faced with new challenges and some hard decisions.

In this follow-up novella to Rise of the Demons (Oceans of Red Volume One), the author, with her superb writing, once again draws the reader into the terrifying midst of a chaotic post-apocalyptic world overrun by demons. She mercilessly keeps you on the edge of your seat with truckloads of unrelenting suspense and new discoveries. I was really creeped out by the discovery of the baby demons and can’t wait to find out how this will play out in the third volume of this series. As it is only fifty-eight pages in length, I devoured this novella in less than an hour and am eagerly anticipating the release of Oceans of Red Volume 3. I’m dying of curiosity to see what the future holds for Remy, her siblings, and the human race.

 

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Demon Evolution by Willow Cross has 29 reviews on Goodreads. Read it here.

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FEBRUARY AUTHORS KINDLE FIRE GIVEAWAY

Kindle Fire HD Giveaway!

The winner will have the option of receiving a Kindle Fire HD (US Only)

Or $199 Amazon.com Gift Card (International)

Or $199 in Paypal Cash (International)

This giveaway is sponsored by these Authors:

The Reluctant Bachelorette by Rachael Anderson
One Classic Latin Lover, Please by Marcia Lynn McClure

Betrayal by Anne Patrick

Belleyache by Crystal Marcos

Ethan Justice: Origins by Simon Jenner

I Have People by Taylor Dean

For What It's Worth by Karey White

A Kiss of Ashen Twilight by Rae Lori

The Unraveling by Holly Barbo

Fateful by Cheri Schmidt

Dracian Legacy by Priya Kanaparti

Cascade Brides by Bonnie Blythe
A World Apart by Camelia Miron Skiba
Reality Bites, Tales of a Half-Vampire by Shaunda Wenger
Face-Off by Stacy Juba
Two Equals by Marta Szemik

The Ghost of Josiah Grimshaw by Suzy Turner
One for Kami by Charlene A. Wilson

Freak of Nature by Julia Crane

Grace Doll by Jennifer Laurens

The Secret of the Scarlet Stone by T.L. Clarke

Gallagher's Hope by M.K. McClintock

The Spy Lover & Prize Winning Pacific Stories by Kiana Davenport

Rejected by Heather Bixler
Rapunzel Untangled by Cindy Bennett

A Hard Act to Follow by Henry Bushkin

Starseed by Liz Gruder

Giveaway Details

1 winner will receive their choice of a Kindle Fire HD (US Only), $199 Amazon Gift Card or $199 in Paypal Cash (Internaitonal).

Ends 2/28/13

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the authors. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.


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REVIEW: "A SHADE OF VAMPIRE" - by Bella Forrest

Title: “A Shade of Vampire”

Author: Bella Forrest

Publisher: Self-published

Publication Date: December 14, 2012

Genre: YA, Paranormal

Reviewed by: Ellen Fritz

Source: Received from author for review

Ellen’s star rating: 5/5

SUMMARY

On the evening of Sofia Claremont's seventeenth birthday, she is sucked into a nightmare from which she cannot wake.
A quiet evening walk along a beach brings her face to face with a dangerous pale creature that craves much more than her blood. 
She is kidnapped to an island where the sun is eternally forbidden to shine.
An island uncharted by any map and ruled by the most powerful vampire coven on the planet. She wakes here as a slave, a captive in chains. 
Sofia's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn when she is the one selected out of hundreds of girls to join the harem of Derek Novak, the dark royal Prince. 
Despite his addiction to power and obsessive thirst for her blood, Sofia soon realizes that the safest place on the island is within his quarters, and she must do all within her power to win him over if she is to survive even one more night.
Will she succeed? ...or is she destined to the same fate that all other girls have met at the hands of the Novaks?

REVIEW

I was apprehensive when I saw the title of this book; instantly picturing a victimized Annastasia Steel cuffed to a medieval vampire torture device with a fanged Christian Grey hovering over her with who-knows-what in mind. What a wonderful surprise for me then when I started reading and found A Shade of Vampire an utterly enthralling, highly exciting and beautifully sensitive story.  Sofia Claremont, the main character, who is captured and taken to the Blood Shade, home of the Novak vampire family and their coven, is not at all a victim.  She has this to say about Victimhood:

“I know an excuse when I hear one. Don’t you dare deceive yourself into believing that you’re the victim.”

She is also not stupidly rebellious, brave or tough, and knows when to stand down for her own good when the odds are stacked against her. As the story unfolds we get to meet Lucas the not so nice brother, Ben - Sofia's more than best friend, Corrine the witch, and several very interesting, well crafted characters; and, yes, vampires also have some delicious intrigue in their society!

This story gets started and just never gives the reader a chance to get bored. Although fast paced, I still understood the plot and characters with the greatest ease. The author works information about the vampire world and society into conversations thus sparing the reader lengthy descriptions of the who, what, why, where and how.

I had thought that I was utterly immune to the handsome, romantic vampire male but, Derek Novak, the hero of this book, made me reconsider this attitude.  The romantic relationship that develops during the story is so tender, caring and bittersweet that it often brought tears to my eyes while smiling at the same time. Talk about fate sealed with a kiss ... Oops, before I say too much, let me just point out that the title of the book was actually very well chosen.

I highly recommend this book to readers of paranormal romance or to anybody who just loves a thrilling, quick read with a liberal measure of depth and wisdom to it. Five stars and a standing ovation for A Shade of Vampire and its wonderful author, Bella Forrest.

 

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A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest has 96 reviews on Goodreads. Read it here.

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REVIEW: "THE SELECTION" (The Selection, #1) - by Kiera Cass

Title: “The Selection”

Series: (The Selection, #1)

Author: Kiera Cass

Publisher: Harper Teen

Publication Date: April 24, 2012

Genre: YA, Dystopian

Reviewed by: Books4Tomorrow

Source: Won in giveaway

My star rating: 3/5

SUMMARY

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself--and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

REVIEW

I can’t even begin to describe how disappointed I was that The Selection didn’t turn out to be the five-star read I was hoping it would be. I’ve been looking forward to reading it since forever. I won it in a giveaway and out of all the books I could choose for a prize, I chose this one. You can almost say my disappointment have thus been doubled as had I known that the first 40% of this book would be a carbon copy of The Hunger Games (which I loved, so by the way), I might’ve picked something else. But anyway, it’s really my own fault. I, as always, didn’t read the blurb and was enchanted by the absolutely gorgeous cover. 

Let’s get to the “why”.  Why was I so disappointed in the first 40% of this book? Well, simply because the endless similarities to The Hunger Games were a little too much. Yes, of course the author changed it slightly and added something minuscule here and there, but the similarities to THG were so overwhelming, I didn't feel she added anything new to capture my imagination in a way THG hadn't already done. Another 10% into the book the story reminded me a lot of Megg Jensen’s Anathema, but only because the palace scenes brought back memories of this terrific first book in the Cloud Prophet series.

Don’t even get me started on the main character. Ugh. Can you say drama queen? America’s woe-is-me treatment (due to her own preconceived ideas) of Maxon shortly after she met him for the first time was cringe-worthy. This of course is no reflection on the overall feel of the book, but only my personal dislike of characters who - when the world doesn’t revolve around them - turns it into an overly dramatic production. Naturally, once she gets over “the hurt” and “betrayal” and blah blah blah, of being dumped by Aspen, she becomes more likeable – that is, until she meets up with him again near the end of the book. I just couldn’t get a liking in Aspen either. Compared to Maxon, he seemed so…annoying. At times he was a bigger drama queen than America. It’s just so darn annoying always having to first suffer through the drama and angst of yet another love-triangle.  Heaven only knows why I’m a magnet for books with the he-loves-her-but-she-loves-someone-else theme in the plot. If it wasn’t so predictable, I wouldn’t be complaining about it. But nooooooo, most such books are all the friggin’ same. I can name half a dozen books that are the exception.

How do I warrant a three-star rating for this book? Simple, really. There are a lot of good things to be said about a book which keeps me reading way past my bedtime into the early hours of the morning. With character names such as America, Aspen, Tuesday, Tiny, Bariel, and May, not to mention the very imaginative last names Singer and Farmer, this is testament to the author’s creativity and original way of thinking. But it doesn’t end there. Stellar characterization of Prince Maxon made him the only character I liked from start to end. Even though I didn’t like America one bit in the first half of the book, I liked her a lot more once she and Maxon became steady friends. Their friendship was sincere and their easy dialogue made it feel real. I especially enjoyed the scenes in which they were together and they were being open with each other. Once the Hunger Games fanfic chapters came to an end and the author started introducing her own ideas into the storyline, it held my interest straight through the last half of the book to the cliff-hanger ending. The world building was done incredibly well and while inside the palace, I found the story to be a lot more enjoyable. The writing is flawless and engaging, and the story moves at a comfortable pace allowing the reader to indulge in every little detail from the beautiful dresses to the magnificent palace decor.

Although the hours spent reading The Selection was not a complete waste of my time, I’m not sure yet if I’ll read the second book in this series, but I’ll admit that I would love to see if America’s character will be a little more mature and less dramatic in the next installment, and of course who she’ll choose.

  

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The Selection by Kiera Cass has 4683 reviews on Goodreads. Read it here.

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BOOK BLAST & $50 GIVEAWAY: "PRIZE-WINNING PACIFIC STORIES" - by Kiana Davenport

Prize-Winning Pacific Stories 

(Special Edition Boxed Set Vol. I-III)

House Of Skin, Cannibal Nights, Opium Dreams

Bestselling author, Kiana Davenport (The Spy Lover, Shark Dialogues) is pleased to offer a Special Edition Boxed Set, featuring the first three volumes of her Prize-Winning Pacific stories, many of which have appeared in the O.Henry Awards, the Pushcart Prizes, and The Best American Short Stories. Set across the Pacific, in islands where the author has traveled and lived, the stories comprise tales of love, lust, racism, family, murder, rape, the search for identity, and the universal search for human dignity.

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Volume l, HOUSE OF SKIN, comprises stories set in Hawaii, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Fiji, Vanuatu.

Volume ll, CANNIBAL NIGHTS, comprises stories set in Hawaii, Tonga, Easter island, Marquesas Islands, Tahiti, Australia.

Volume lll, OPIUM DREAMS, comprises stories set in Western Samoa, Aotearoa, New Zealand, Honolulu, Georgia, and the title story, a novella set in Kohala, Hawaii.

READER REVIEWS FOR THE PACIFIC STORIES

(5 Stars) "BRUTALLY BEAUTIFUL...Tales of tragedy, triumph, murder, of rape, lust and love. Important literature for the 21st century." -- Robert Carraher

(5 Stars) "FLAWLESS PROSE...Rivetting characters. A must-read for anyone who wants to delve into the dark side of Paradise." -- Honi Aumiller

(5 Stars) "EXTRAORDINARY!...Absolutely stunning. She has introduced me to a world I might never have known." -- Scott Fitzgerald Gray

(5 Stars) "GORGEOUS. BRILLIANT...Recommended to anyone who loves
beautiful writing." -- Violette Vane

Purchase

Amazon Kindle

Author Kiana Davenport

KIANA DAVENPORT is descended from a full-blooded Native Hawaiian mother, and a Caucasian father from Talladega, Alabama. Her father, Braxton Bragg Davenport, was a sailor in the U.S. Navy, stationed at Pearl Harbor, when he fell in love with her mother, Emma Kealoha Awaawa Kanoho Houghtailing. On her mother's side, Kiana traces her ancestry back to the first Polynesian settlers to the Hawaiian Islands who arrived almost two thousand years ago from Tahiti and the Tuamotu's. On her father's side, she traces her ancestry to John Davenport, the puritan clergyman who co-founded the American colony of New Haven, Connecticut in 1638.

Kiana is the author of the internationally best-selling novels, SHARK DIALOGUES, SONG OF THE EXILE, HOUSE OF MANY GODS, and a new novel, THE SPY LOVER, now available in paperback and on Kindle. She is also the author of the collections, HOUSE OF SKIN PRIZE-WINNING STORIES, CANNIBAL NIGHTS, PACIFIC STORIES Volume II, and OPIUM DREAMS, PACIFIC STORIES, VOLUME III. All three collections have been Kindle bestsellers. She has also been a guest blogger on Huffington Post.

A graduate of the University of Hawaii, Kiana has been a Bunting Fellow at Harvard University, a Visiting Writer at Wesleyan University, and a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts grant. Her short stories have won numerous O. Henry Awards, Pushcart Prizes, and the Best American Short Story Award, 2000. Her novels and short stories have been translated into twenty-one languages. She lives in Hawaii and New York City.

Website * Blog * Twitter * Facebook

PRAISE FOR KIANA DAVENPORT

"She exhibits the character great writers must have. You can't read Kiana Davenport without being transformed."
-- Alice Walker

"Reading Davenport is an overwhelming experience. Her prose is sharp and shining as a sword."
-- Isabel Allende

"Her writing has an intensity of feeling, a dedication to a level of writing few bestsellers possess."
-- Norman Mailer

"Writing that's timeless, magical! A powerful moving experience."
-- The Washington Post

"Davenport's imagination and her vision will haunt you for a long time."
-- The Chicago Tribune




BookBlast $50 Giveaway

Ends 3/21/13

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.


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ROMANCE IS IN THE AIR GIVEAWAY HOP

Welcome to the

ROMANCE IS IN THE AIR

Giveaway Hop!

This hop is hosted by

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RACHAEL ANDERSON

  

Thank you for stopping by on my leg of this hop! We’re happy to have you here and as a thank you for following our blog and all our other links, I’m offering ONE winner a choice between a $10 Amazon gift card or your choice of book (paperback) up to the value of $10 from the Book Depository. The only requirement is that you choose a Young Adult romance or clean adult romance book if your choice is a book from the Book Depository. Please ensure that the Book Depository ships to your country for free by clicking HERE before you enter this giveaway should your choice be a print book.

Also remember to read my rules for this contest under terms and conditions on the rafflecopter widget, and then fill out the rafflecopter form to stand a chance of winning the fantastic prize up for grabs. You are also welcome to enter any or all of the other giveaways I have on my blog by clicking the Giveaways tab at the top right or just click HERE.

There are over 100 blogs participating in this hop and each one has its own entry rules and geographic limits, so be sure to read the rules before you enter each giveaway.  This hop starts on February 8th and ends on February 14th at midnight (South Africa time). I live in South Africa and our time zone is seven to ten hours ahead of the U.S. and a few other countries, which means this rafflecopter will accept entries earlier, but it will also end earlier on the 14^th, so please don’t leave a comment saying my giveaway ended early. Good luck, everyone!

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REVIEW: "THE DEMON SIDE" (The Demon Side, #1) - by Heaven Liegh Eldeen

Title: “The Demon Side”

Series: (The Demon Side, #1)

Author: Heaven Liegh Eldeen

Publisher: Decadent Publishing

Publication Date: May 25, 2011

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Reviewed by: Books4Tomorrow

Source: Won in giveaway

My star rating: 5/5

SUMMARY

When worlds collide… Every kid has problems. Every kid has even more problems when they move to a new home. But when a kid with problems moves to a new home that has a Demon living inside it—look out! Etta’s world is about to spin out of control when she encounters her new roommate—and Rahovart, that ancient trickster, is in for a few surprises too. So don’t mind all the crashing and rumbling; that’s just the normal noise Angels and Demons make when they’re fighting an epic war in the attic. One thing’s for sure: Etta and Rahovart will have to go through Hell to Heaven and back again before that old Victorian home in Quantico Town finally quiets down…

REVIEW

What a refreshingly different book this is! I have read a gazillion books, but never have I read a book from a demon’s point of view. I’ve had this book on my tbr list for some time now and I wasn’t sure what to expect, but once I picked it up and started reading, I was hooked right from the start.

A couple of things I liked about it was that the writing was clean and the author didn’t feel the need to use excessive profanity or explicit content to get her point across. This book is suitable for young adults, but I’d say it would appeal more to older readers even though the protagonist is eighteen years of age. The main voice in the story is that of Rahovart the demon, and I was surprised how much I liked him and how much sympathy I felt for him. The story starts a little slow but the pace picks up from around the fifth chapter and then speeds along towards the action-packed finale. One of the many things which made this book so memorable is the epic battle scenes between the demons and angels at the end. Nothing was predictable and the plot was rife with twists which kept me engrossed.

Essentially this is a love story, and although I’m not big on romance, this one was like none I’ve ever read before. It was truly beautiful and the author created unforgettable characters which had me rooting for them all the way. The finale is not much of a cliff-hanger ending, but it leaves you curious enough to look forward to the second book in the series. The Demon Side is a quick read which I finished in six hours. It’s exciting, exceptionally unique, and full of surprises. Six hours of my life well spent!

 

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The Demon Side by Heaven Liegh Eldeen has 26 reviews on Goodreads. Read it here.

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