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Book Review: Allure by Lea Nolan

Allure by Lea Nolan
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Pub Date: October 1, 2013
ebook, 304 pages
ISBN: 9781622660230
The Hoodoo Apprentice #2


My Review:


I was so excited to visit with Emma, Cooper, Jack and Miss Delia again that I dove right into Allure during Dewey's 24-hour read-a-thon this past weekend. Conjure was so enjoyable and different exploring the South Carolina low country, the Gullah people a little and the magic and responsibility of hoodoo that I was enthralled by the setting the Ms. Nolan created for these books.

This was a great book to read during the read-a-thon. It continued the exciting story from Conjure, it delved deeper into the characters, the curse, the general setting of the area and more learning of hoodoo for Emma. First I loved the characters again. Emma, Jack, Cooper and Miss Delia make such an interesting team. And the romance between Emma and Cooper is sweet. Of course there are some new characters in Allure who liven things up a bit (or frustrate you like they really should). Miss Delia's great-granddaughter comes to stay and boy does she bring trouble. I found some of this predictable, but it didn't take away from the story in the least for me. All three main characters go through some changes in different ways and I enjoyed watching their growth. Growth is always essential for me when I consider the characters in a book, and Ms. Nolan does a great job maturing and changing the characters just enough that it seems reasonable in the short period of time that this book takes place. I also like that they have some guidance from adults like Jack and Emma's father and of course Miss Delia who is one of my favorite secondary characters of all time.

As far as plot, wow, it's very fast-moving. From the very first page the plot starts with a bang. You know the main premise is that the four characters are in a race against time to stop the curse from taking Cooper's soul when he turns 16 in a few weeks. So it's a ticking clock and of course there is more than just the curse to hinder the group from finding the right hoodoo to reverse the curse. I loved watching the plot develop. It was done in an amazing way that kept me enthralled from beginning to end. And just when I thought that the book was done, another monkey wrench was thrown into the plot. I'm not really sure how Ms. Nolan could have packed much more into this 300 page book, but she makes sure it is a thriller.

As a great continuation to the first book in the series Conjure, Allure makes a wonderful second installment. And while things come to a natural completion at the end of Allure I cannot wait for the third installment. This series is so interesting to me. I love the characters, the plot line and the setting. And I feel that Ms. Nolan has tried to be as true as she can to the hoodoo tradition so it fascinates me and makes me feel that I am learning something new about a very interesting group of people. This series is for the young and older alike, it holds your interest, it has great characters and it's just different which is one of the main reasons I love it. So if you haven't read Conjure get it and read it. If you have read it, then run and grab Allure because you know you want to know what happens next. Now to just wait for the next book . . .

My rating: 5.0/5.0

About the Book:
Worst. Summer. Ever.Emma Guthrie races to learn the hoodoo magic needed to break The Beaumont Curse before her marked boyfriend Cooper’s sixteenth birthday. But deep in the South Carolina Lowcountry, dark, mysterious forces encroach, conspiring to separate Emma and Cooper forever. When Cooper starts to change, turning cold and indifferent, Emma discovers that both his heart and body are marked for possession by competing but equally powerful adversaries. Desperate to save him, Emma and her twin brother, Jack, risk their lives to uncover the source of the black magic that has allured Cooper and holds him in its grip. Faced with the horror of a soul-eating boohag, Emma and Jack must fight to resist its fiendish power to free Cooper long enough to join their strengths and face it together, before it destroys them all.

***I received this book from the publisher for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any other way except receiving the book for free.  ***

The Wager by Rachel Van Dyken is on sale for 99 cents + Giveaway!

THE WAGER is currently on sale for 99 cents

What is it about a junior-high crush that can send an otherwise intelligent woman into a tailspin? TV reporter Char Lynn wishes she knew. Jake Titus is too rich, too handsome, too arrogant: a trifecta that once lured Char into the best night-and worst morning-after-of her life. Now they've been thrown together in a wedding party. It's awkward, but survivable . . . until Jake stops acting like a jerk, and starts acting like the man she'd always hoped he could be.

If watching your brother marry your best friend is weird, being attracted to your best friend's other best friend is downright bizarre. Unfortunately for Jake, Char hasn't forgotten how he once tossed her aside. Worse still, Jake's already-nutty grandma is even crazier about Char. Cue meet-cute shenanigans and all manner of meddling, and somehow, Jake's falling. For Char. Now all he has to do is make her believe it . . .

Available now  at e-tailers for 99 cents:

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About Rachel Van Dyken

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/RachelVanDyken

Twitter – https://twitter.com/RachVD

Website – http://rachelvandykenauthor.com/

Author Biography

Rachel Van Dyken is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of regency and contemporary romances. When she's not writing you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and plotting her next book while watching The Bachelor. She keeps her home in Idaho with her Husband and their snoring Boxer, Sir Winston Churchill.

Giveaway:

For those who want to get caught up with the Titus brothers, Rachel Van Dyken is giving away 10 copies of Book 1 in the series, THE BET. Enter here:

(10 winners will receive a copy of Book 1 in The Bet series – ends Sunday, October 20^th)

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Bold Tricks by Karina Halle, Release Day Blitz, Excerpt and Giveaway

BOLD TRICKS

by Karina Halle

Publication Date: October 15, 2013

Genre: Contemporary/Romantic Suspense/New Adult

Digital Original eBook

ISBN: 9781455552214

Summary:

The Faster They Live, the Harder They Fall . . .
 
Raised by con artists, Ellie Watt has a lot of crazy childhood memories-but none crazier than being scarred with acid by the demented crime boss Travis Raines. Now Ellie is a full-grown woman who lives for revenge, and Travis is a full-blown drug lord who kills for pleasure. The sadistic bastard has kidnapped her good friend Gus as well as her mother, whom he's been holding as prized possessions in his heavily guarded lair. And Ellie has only one chance in hell of getting them out alive-using two dangerous men who love her to death . . .

One is Camden McQueen, a talented tattoo artist who's made a permanent mark on Ellie's heart. The other is Javier Bernal, her fiery ex-lover who's busted more than a few heads in his time. From the crime-ridden streets of Mexico City to the predatory jungles of Honduras, this unlikely trio forms an uneasy alliance in the deadliest game of all-a gun-blazing battle to the finish that will pit enemy against enemy and lover against lover. And Ellie must choose the right man to trust . . . or die.

Buy Links:

 

Author Bio:

The daughter of a Norwegian Viking and a Finnish Moomin, Karina Halle grew up in Vancouver, Canada with trolls and eternal darkness on the brain. This soon turned into a love of all things that go bump in the night and a rather sadistic appreciation for freaking people out. Like many of the flawed characters she writes, Karina never knew where to find herself and has dabbled in acting, make-up artistry, film production, screenwriting, photography, travel writing and music journalism. She eventually found herself in the pages of the very novels she wrote (if only she had looked there to begin with).

Karina holds a screenwriting degree from Vancouver Film School and a Bachelor of Journalism from TRU. Her travel writing, music reviews/interviews and photography have appeared in publications such as Consequence of Sound, Mxdwn and GoNomad Travel Guides. She currently splits her time between her apartment in downtown Vancouver and her sailboat, where a book and a bottle of wine are always at hand. She’s hard at work on her next novel.

Authors Social Networking links:

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Excerpt:

Ugh. Sharing a room with Javier would be a nightmare at this point, but Camden did have a point. I didn’t trust Javier and knew he was capable of screwing us over at the first opportunity. Staying in separate bedrooms this early in the game would be the perfect opportunity for him to up and leave us. Javier’s alliance only extended to his sister, not to Gus, and the fact that he was even agreeing to help us at all said a lot. Unfortunately, I didn’t know exactly what it said.

“I’m staying with you,” I quickly said to Javier. I didn’t bother putting on an act, smiling or acting coy. He’d see straight through me anyway. He always did.

He raised his brow. “Is that right, angel? And to what do I owe your angelic company?”

“Because you’re both the same,” Camden filled in. He stepped forward and quickly swiped a key out of Javier’s hand. “You’re meant for each other.” He took off for his room, his back straight and proud. My heart both lurched and ached at his words, how badly he was brushing me off, how I’ll he thought of me.

Javier was surprised and loving it. He turned to me, mouth slightly agape. “Wow. Something tells me he was trying to be insulting.”

I couldn’t even fake a smile. “Which one is our room?” I asked, feeling sick as the words came out.

He grinned at me, all snake, no conscience. “Whichever one I choose, angel. Have you got all your belongings?”

Normally I would have brought out everything from the trunk, but there were an awful lot of lives in there, an awful lot of stuff. With me keeping an eye on Javier all night, it was probably safe.

I shook my head. “It’s fine.”

He smiled again, especially as Camden shut the door to room number one.

“Let’s take numero tres, sí?” Javier asked. “More privacy.” He grabbed my hand and led me toward it, though there was nothing gentle or warm in his touch. Just like that, those days were over. I was back to dealing with the spurned Javier, the hunter and the sadist.

He opened the door and flicked on the lights. A few cockroaches skittered underneath the bed, and moths darted to the threadbare light fixture hanging from the ceiling. The room was as run-down as I’d ever seen, and for one twisted second I was glad I wasn’t sleeping there alone. In the next second, though, I was reminded that the company of insects was preferable to his.

He closed the door behind us and put his hand at my neck, holding me there, and leaned into my ear. “Do you want top or bottom?”

I stiffened for a moment then rammed my elbow back into his gut. “Fuck you.”

He let go of me and coughed loudly, still trying to smile. “You should be glad I’m giving you the option, angel.”

“You’re a sick pig.”

He straightened up and shrugged. “It’s what you liked until about, oh, twelve hours ago. Tell me, angel, what is it about that boy that makes you forget who you really are? Is it the tattoos, because you know I have those.” He quickly shed his linen shirt and stood bare-chested before me, the tattoo of his mother’s name on his inner arm. He turned around slowly, making sure I saw the large cross going down his spine. “Or is it those horrible glasses of his? You know, I can look like a fucking idiot if I really wanted to.”

I narrowed my eyes, keeping far away from him like wary prey. “He sees the good in me.”

He laughed. “The good. Of course. The good. So, is that why you’re spending the night with me? Because I looked into that boy’s eyes tonight and there was no good in there left for you.”

My gaze locked with his, a war without further words. His eyes shone yellow-green in the light, looking more inhuman by the moment. Deep in his insanity, he was making some sense. That’s what I hated most about Javier, that there was always a kernel of truth to his words, a truth that made you fall for the lies.

I sucked back my breath and nodded at the sagging bed. “You better get a good night’s sleep.” Then I grabbed one of the pillows and the top sheet and brought it over to the thin Mexican rug that ran along the foot of it.

“You’re serious?” he asked as I started making my bed on the floor.

“Good night,” I told him, lying down on top of the sheet. I didn’t trust the cleanliness of the floor and it was too hot to have a sheet on top of me anyway. I rolled over so I was facing away from him. He was still standing near the bed.

“Come now,” Javier said. “Sharing a bed with me isn’t that bad. You’ve been doing it for the last week. Is the inevitable sex too distracting?”

I ground my teeth together but didn’t say a word.

Suddenly he dropped to the ground on top of me, flipping me over so I was on my back, pinning both of my arms to the ground, his face just inches from mine. Wild strands of his hair partially obscured his feverish eyes.

“I’ll scream,” I said hoarsely, fear pulsing through my veins.

He grinned. “You know I love that.”

Giveaway:

1  WINNER: iPad mini pre-loaded with all three digital Artist Trilogy books (SINS & NEEDELES, SHOOTING SCARS, & BOLD TRICKS) preloaded, and ON EVERY STREET novella included!

5 WINNER: A signed print Artist Trilogy (SINS & NEEDLES, SHOOTING SCARS, BOLD TRICKS) prize pack!

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***I received this book from the publisher for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any other way except receiving the book for free.  ***

Book Review & Giveaway: The Deepest Night by Shana Abe

The Deepest Night by Shana Abe
Publisher: Bantam
Publish Date: August 13, 2013
Hardcover, 320 pages
ISBN: 9780345531735
The Sweetest Dark #2



My Review:
I did not realize this was part of a series when I chose it from Amazon Vine. I just read the blurb and thought that sounds different and I want to read it. Boarding school, dragons, WWI, all sounded intriguing to me and also I haven't read Ms. Abe yet, but I had heard great things about her.

I picked this one up as my fourth book during the Dewey's 24-hour Read-A-Thon this past weekend and yes I started reading it around 11:30 pm and I had been reading most of the time since 8am on Saturday. However this was the perfect book to pick up right then. It didn't bog me down, and I was sucked right into the story. There is definitely some backstory I am missing, but I thought Ms. Abe did a good job getting the reader up-to-speed enough that if they accidentally jump in here with The Deepest Night that they won't feel completely lost. I didn't. However I do want to go back and read The Sweetest Dark. Somethings will be spoiled by reading them out of order but at this point I don't mind.

For characters I really enjoyed getting to know Lora (Eleanor) and Mandy (Armand). They are the only two dragons left (that they know of) and Lora began to learn her powers in the first novel, and Armand is coming into his during this one. Not knowing how much they were developed in the first novel, I can only say I think Ms. Abe did a great job continuing to develop both characters through The Deepest Night while focusing on plot and moving it along at a breakneck speed. Both characters are likeable and both characters have mystery. I loved the dragon angle, especially in a time like WWI. It was a fascinating element.

For the plot, as I mentioned, it moves along rather quickly. It's a fast easy read and I easily read 1/3 of the novel in the wee hours of the morning when I am not usually still up. Then I finished it off on Sunday. It's one of those that you can read with commotion around you, it's just flows and flows fast.

In The Deepest Night the storyline captivates, the characters grab your attention and this is not just your everyday paranormal novel. It's also not your ordinary boarding school novel as most of this novel does not happen at the boarding school, though you do get some of the typical cattiness between the girls involved around Lora such as Chloe and Sophia that fits the time frame of the early 1900s. I think Ms. Abe does a great job incorporating history, paranormal and interesting characters to make The Deepest Night a great read. I cannot wait to go back and read the first book and see what happens in the next book. Keep writing Ms. Abe!

My Rating: 4.5/5.0

About the Book:
A rich portrait of post-Victorian England, The Deepest Night seamlessly blends thrilling romance with riveting history and adventure—perfect for fans of Libba Bray and Lauren Kate.

It’s 1915, and sixteen-year-old Lora Jones is finishing up her first year as a charity student at Iverson, a prestigious, gothic boarding school on England’s southern coast. While she’s always felt different from everyone around her, now she finally knows why: She is a drákon, a rare, enchanted being with astonishing magical abilities.

As war hits Britain’s shores, and Lora reels from an unimaginable loss, she finds that her powers come with grave and dangerous responsibilities. At the request of Armand Louis, the darkly mysterious boy whose father owns Iverson, Lora will spend her summer at his lavish estate. To help the war effort—and to keep Lora by his side—Armand turns his home into a military hospital, where Lora will serve as a nurse. For Armand is inescapably drawn to her—bound to her by heart-deep secrets and a supernatural connection that runs thicker than blood.

Yet while Lora tries to sort out her own feelings toward Armand, fate offers an unexpected surprise. Lora discovers there is another drákon, a prisoner of war being held in Germany. And that only she, with her newly honed Gifts, will be able to rescue him.

With Armand, Lora will cross enemy lines on an incredible mission—one that could bond her to Armand forever, or irrevocably tear them apart.

Beautifully written, deeply romantic, and filled with daring adventure and magic, The Deepest Night is a mesmerizing novel of the enduring pull of destiny, and the eternal strength of love.

The Trailer:




Where to Find the Author:

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Giveaway:
I have one copy of the ARC of The Deepest Night by Shana Abe to giveaway.  US only because of shipping costs.  Enter using the Rafflecopter below, ends 10/21.

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***I received this book through Amazon Vine for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any other way except receiving the book for free.  ***

Book Blitz: Crash Into Me by Tracy Wolff

Crash Into Me by Tracy Wolff

She’s totally off limits, but this rocker wants a taste…

Jamison Matthews has lusted after Ryder Montgomery since she was a preteen. But now that Ryder and her brother’s band, Shaken Dirty, has made it huge, she’s just one of many pining for the brooding lead singer. Too bad Ryder still sees her as a little sister. Not that it matters. Her brother would never allow it, and the last thing Jamison wants is to be another notch on a rock star’s bed post. Even if it’s Ryder’s.

Ryder doesn’t deserve happiness. After his fame destroyed his last girlfriend, he swore he’d never fall in love again. So when Jamison, the girl he’s been in danger of loving for years, joins the band on the road, he’ll do anything to deny the sparks between them—even after one hot night together. But Jamison is determined to show Ryder that he’s worthy of love—her love—and that she’s all grown up…and ready to play.

Connect with Tracy

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Blog

Buy Links for Crash Into Me

 

Excerpt CRASH INTO ME-

            Onstage, the band launched into “Awake,” one of the power ballads that had made them famous. The crowd screamed their approval and so did she. Totally not her typical modus operandi, but she couldn’t help it. Something about listening to Ryder croon the darkly haunting lyrics had her knees trembling and her heart beating much too quickly. If she closed her eyes, she could do what all the other women in the audience were doing and pretend that he was singing straight to her.

            So much better than remembering he’d written these heartfelt words for another woman. For Carrie, who had killed herself and broken his heart so many years before. Her own heart ached at the thought. For him. Always for him. At twenty-nine, Ryder had already been through more darkness and despair than any one person should have to handle.

            “Awake” finally came to a close, the last note hanging in the air for long, tension-fueled seconds. Then the band fell silent and the audience did the same, as if they were all holding their breaths. Ryder lowered his guitar, shuffled, and stamped his feet once, twice. It was a familiar gesture, one years of experience had taught her was his way of shaking off excess emotion. Again her heart twisted. It devastated her that more than ten years after the fact he was still eaten up by what had happened. Still determined to bury it under a bunch of layers that not only insulated him from his pain but also hid the real Ryder so deep inside the public Ryder that she wondered sometimes if he even existed anymore. Or if the boy who had held her while she cried, who had let her whisper her pre-adolescent fears without ever making fun of her, had disappeared forever.

            She searched for him in that one endless moment.

            Looked for him in the obsidian eyes that arrowed to the heart of the crowd even as they barricaded his own emotions.

            Combed through her own memories and expectations in an effort to see Ryder as he really was instead of how he portrayed himself.

            And when his eyes—his crazy, beautiful eyes—met hers, she found him. Seconds passed, long, intense seconds where she lost the ability to hear or breathe or even think. All she could do was look into Ryder’s eyes, at the feral heat boiling up and out of them, and want.

            She smiled at him, waved. He snarled back. But it wasn’t a leave-me-alone snarl. No, definitely not. It was his I-want-to-fuck-you-up-against-a-wall snarl—she knew it well, had seen it directed at a lot of women through the years—and her knees gave way when she realized that this time, finally, it was directed at her. It didn’t matter that there was no sign of recognition in his eyes, no knowledge that the woman he was looking at like that was actually her. Jamison. For one moment, he wanted her the way she’d always wanted him.

            It was more than enough.