Book Review: Everbound by Brodi Ashton (Everneath, #2)

Where To Buy: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository, Books-A-Million   

Goodreads Summary: Nikki Beckett could only watch as her boyfriend, Jack, sacrificed himself to save her, taking her place in the Tunnels of the Everneath for eternity — a debt that should’ve been hers. She’s living a borrowed life, and she doesn’t know what to do with the guilt. And every night Jack appears in her dreams, lost and confused and wasting away.

Desperate for answers, Nikki turns to Cole, the immortal bad boy who wants to make her his queen — and the one person least likely to help. But his heart has been touched by everything about Nikki, and he agrees to assist her in the only way he can: by taking her to the Everneath himself.

Nikki and Cole descend into the Everneath, only to discover that their journey will be more difficult than they’d anticipated — and more deadly. But Nikki vows to stop at nothing to save Jack — even if it means making an incredible sacrifice of her own. 

**Do NOT read if you haven’t read Book One!**

My Review: I actually think this will be my favorite book of the Everneath trilogy and I haven’t even finished Evertrue yet. BUT this book had everything I needed — just enough exposition, tons of emotion, literary tie-ins (greek mythology), emotional turmoil, and character development.

Ashton, in my opinion, did a phenomenal job with Cole’s character in this book. I’m actually going to go out on a limb and say that he is her best character in this series. While Nikki didn’t annoy me as much as she did in Everneath, Cole really stole the show for me throughout this entire book. He’s still complicated, manipulative, charming, and very attractive. I can definitely see the allure about him — as can Nikki. But of course, she is entirely focused on Jack, which is understandable & appropriate.

Here’s where things get a little off for me – we all know that you will/typically do anything in the name of love (whether it’s logical or illogical, stupid or smart) and Nikki, in my opinion, was very stupid. Not judging her at all. Who knows, if I was in her situation, I would probably do something equally as stupid. But I’m not her, so I’m going to pick apart this whole situation.

We know that Jack is in the Everneath as a Forfeit because he took Nikki’s place at the end of the first book.

All of book two is about Nikki and her desperate measures to get him back. She learns early on that the only way to get to the Everneath and get Jack back is to have an Everliving escort her — meaning Cole. Red flag #1.

Taking in to consideration all that we know about Cole, it’s obvious that he is NOT going to help her (unless there is something in it for him). Nikki knows this. Or she should have. You see my issue? Book one gave her all the reason in the world to NOT trust Cole, but she risks it anyway — for Jack.
Stupid. Understandable, but stupid. Red flag #2.

And then let’s not forget the fact that the Everneath is rules by a queen and there are all of those emotion sucking minions that do her dirty work. Nikki knows nothing of the Everneath and how it works, and as she learns it, she is either learning it from Cole (Red flag #3) or from that old lady, whose name I can’t remember.

The decision to trust Cole and go into the Everneath figuratively blind unlocks a whole mess of BS that take place, including learning more about Cole. This was a fun book. Watching Nikki realize how big of a situation she got herself it, experiencing her struggle with trusting Cole and being away from Jack. It was all part of a great reading adventure.

I really enjoyed this book. A lot. In spite of Nikki being one of my least favorite characters (she still annoys me, but not as much), I really enjoyed this journey. Learning about how Jack fell in love with Nikki. Learning about Cole’s background and his feelings as well. And then experiencing the Everneath as a reader. It was a lot of fun. Max is a cool dude, as well.

The end of book two makes me eager for book three, but it also makes me anxious because I’m nervous about how this story is going to end, especially with this “love triangle”.

Oh well, onto the final chapter of this trilogy!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars!

Teen Wolf Season 3 Episode 20 - Echo House Recap & Review Vlog!

Hey everyone!

Check out my latest vlog where I discuss episode 20 of Teen Wolf Season 3B. This episode was really freaky and I am still shaken up over it! Make sure to stay tuned as I continue to do these recap & review vlogs every week for each episode of Teen Wolf.

Enjoy and Please Subscribe to my YouTube Channel! :D

 

Book Review: Moth and Spark by Anne Leonard + Book Giveaway!

Moth and Spark

by Anne Leonard

Release Date: February 24th, 2014

SUMMARY:

A prince with a quest. A commoner with mysterious powers. And dragons that demand to be freed—at any cost.

Prince Corin has been chosen to free the dragons from their bondage to the Empire, but dragons aren’t big on directions. They have given him some of their power, but none of their knowledge. No one, not the dragons nor their riders, is even sure what keeps the dragons in the Empire’s control. Tam, sensible daughter of a well-respected doctor, had no idea before she arrived in the capital that she is a Seer, gifted with visions. When the two run into each other (quite literally) in the library, sparks fly and Corin impulsively asks Tam to dinner. But it’s not all happily ever after. Never mind that the prince isn’t allowed to marry a commoner: war is coming to Caithen. Torn between Corin’s quest to free the dragons and his duty to his country, the lovers must both figure out how to master their powers in order to save Caithen. With a little help from a village of secret wizards and a rogue dragonrider, they just might pull it off.

REVIEW:

If you are looking for a story filled with dragons, magic, and romance then this is the book for you!

I have always enjoyed the escape provided while reading books such as this and this one certainly did not disappoint. This book is very well paced and while so much happens in it, everything is tied up in the end very well. One thing that made me especially love this book is that while Prince Corin and Tam's love story is very prominent, it is not the main focus with just a bit of fantasy and magic thrown in here and there. All aspects of the story seemed to be provided pretty evenly without having too much of one thing and too little of the other. Something that made this an easy read was that Corin and Tam were the two main characters and there were not so many characters that I would get easily confused. What I enjoyed most is that both Corin and Tam have very strong personalities, values, and fight for what they believe in. This is a short book that many will get through fast, but greatly enjoy.
 

I highly recommend you all read this book!

Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16239655-moth-and-spark

GIVEAWAY:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

About the Author:

She was born in Chicago and has lived in 8 different states, eventually ending up in California.  She graduated with a BA from St. John’s College and went on to get her MFA at the University of Pittsburgh. After this came a Ph.D. in English from Kent State University, and then a dry spell with no school for about six years before she started law school at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.  She is a licensed attorney.  She wrote the first draft of MOTH AND SPARK while in law school.

When she was in her doc program, she edited what was then the first scholarly collection of essays on race and color in science fiction and fantasy (Into Darkness Peering, Greenwood Press, 1997.) She authored the chapter on race in The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction (Cambridge, 2003). Additional critical work and reviews have appeared in various academic journals.

She has a husband, teen-aged son, and two black cats: When she's not writing or having family time, she takes walks and goes on photography expeditions, or listens ever-hopefully to Chicago Cubs games on the radio.

For more about Anne, visit her website at: http://anneleonardbooks.com

Twitter: @anneleonardauth

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anneleonardbooks

Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7124979.Anne_Leonard

Teen Wolf Season 3 Episode 19 - Letharia Vulpina Recap & Review Vlog!

Hey everyone!

Check out my latest vlog where I discuss episode 19 of Teen Wolf Season 3B. This episode was insane! I was freaking out the whole time while watching it and shocked during one scene in particular. Make sure to stay tuned as I continue to do these recap & review vlogs every week for each episode of Teen Wolf.

Enjoy and Please Subscribe to my YouTube Channel! :D

 

COVER REVAMP REVEAL: Games of Fire by Airicka Phoenix

Games of Fire

by Airicka Phoenix

Release Date: February 12th, 2013

SUMMARY:

Sophie has enough problems in her life without Spencer turning her blood to fire, without his eyes freezing and burning her, without his hatred of her. Since his migration into the house next to hers, Sophia Valdez isn’t sure whether she wants to toss him under a bus or kiss that smirking mouth of his. But even as the temperature rises around them, leaping flames of passion, want and desire, everything either has ever known will be shattered by the lurking shadow hounding their every step, wanting revenge.

Spencer Rowth moves to the sleepy town of River Port with his mother and twelve year old sister, Suzy, to escape a deceitful father, an unfaithful girlfriend and a life crumbling much too fast for him to grapple onto only to be smacked upside the head by the last thing he wanted again. Sophie was everything he refused to want. Her temper, her wit, her laugh, her smile, the way her entire body goes up in flames under his hands are things he would rather slam a lid on and forget. Instead, he finds himself falling for the smart-mouth next door. But how long will he have before the evil chasing them catches up? How long before the very thing he never wanted becomes his only thread to sanity? And who is after them? What do they want and why do they want Spencer and Sophie dead?

EXCERPT:

“I won’t bite,” he said, probably meaning it as a joke. 

“Oh if only that were my only problem,” she sighed under her breath.

“What?”

She shook her head. “Nothing.” 

She took his hand, slipping her icy fingers through his. The electric sparks tore a fiery path down the length of her arms, nearly melting the ice beneath their feet. She shivered involuntarily and felt his fingers flex. 

“All right?” Had his voice always been so husky?

She dampened her lips. “Yeah…” The single word died in her throat as she was pulled towards him. Her heart tripped. Her lungs stilled. The heat of his body rushed over her with the subtle scent peppermint, leather, spices and smoke. 

A soft mist blew around them. Raindrops glistened in his hair, shimmering under the pale glow of the light post. His eyes were shadowed beneath wispy fringes, but the silver in them glinted like pools of liquid mercury. Her breath caught. It must have made a sound because his fingers tightened. His shaky exhale caressed her flushed face.

“This,” he whispered so quietly she almost didn’t hear him. “Is why you are so bad for me.”

Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17202780-games-of-fire?from_search=true

About the Author:

International Best-Selling author Airicka Phoenix lives in rainy British Columbia with her beautiful family. When she's not pounding away at the keyboard, she can be found reading, shining her collection of daggers or chilling with her kids. 

She is the author of the Touch Saga, The Sons of Judgment Saga, The Lost Girl Series, Betraying Innocence and Games of Fire.

Airicka also writes adult paranormal & contemporary romance under her alter ego, Morgana Phoenix. Her first novel, Capture Me, will be out 2014.

For more about Airicka, visit her website at: http://airickaphoenix.com/Author/

Twitter: @AirickaPhoenix

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Airicka-Phoenix/252135634831614

Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5823058.Airicka_Phoenix

Teen Wolf Season 3 Episode 18 - Riddled Recap & Review Vlog!

Hey everyone!

Check out my latest vlog where I discuss episode 18 of Teen Wolf Season 3B. I was crying the whole time while watching this episode because it was so heartbreaking. Make sure to stay tuned as I continue to do these recap & review vlogs every week for each episode of Teen Wolf.

Enjoy and Please Subscribe to my YouTube Channel! :D

 

Book Review: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Where To Buy: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Books-A-Million

Goodreads Summary: Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she's returned-to her old life, her family, her boyfriend-before she's banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance-and the one person she loves more than anything. But there's just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's queen.

My Review: Wow oh wow. What a fabulous story. It was better than I expected it to be. The plot was quite an interesting concept. It's kind of like the retelling of the myth of Persephone, which is one of my favorite stories!

Nikki has basically returned for the underworld, which is called the Everneath. She "returned" because she didn't want to stay away from her love, Jack. Because she is meant to stay in the Everneath, she only has a limited time to immerse herself back into her old world. The Everneath will come after six months to take her back.

It's quite a predicament she gets herself into, because for a while, Nikki does absolutely nothing in regards to Jack, so I'm wondering why the heck she even bothered. It was almost like she enjoyed torturing herself, but remaining around him -- but not being with him. She didn't even really engage in conversation with him, until he put in her a position to. So, for a majority of the book, Nikki pissed me off.

Then there's Cole -- the asshole we all know and hate. Cole is the reason why Nikki is involved in this whole Everneath experience to begin with. And he's so unapologetic for everything he puts her through. He clearly witnesses how much Nikki loves Jack, but he tries to cut her off at every turn. I personally think it's jealousy due to love, but that isn't necessarily specified because it is understood that Cole can't feel love.

Throughout the entire book, I'm naturally rooting for Nikki and Jack to just be together. I want her to be honest with him and I want him to just protect her against Cole, who just continues to act so petty. There's an underlying reason why Cole wants Nikki. He wants to take over ruling the underworld and feels that Nikki is very crucial in making that happen because she's so powerful.

I really enjoyed Jack's character, but I honestly think he was underplayed. I would have loved to hear more about his backstory, especially more on his experience after Nikki left him (for the Everneath). I feel like there's a hidden gem in his backstory.

Nikki's character was a little flat for me, mainly because she kept letting Cole take the reins on how she was going to spend her six months in her old life. Cole dominated Nikki's everything and it got annoying, fast. But I have a feeling that due to the happenings at the end of the book, Nikki will be back and ready for action. I think book one's happenings will force her to get a better head in the game. 

Cole's character does everything I needed it to do -- make me hate him. He was so underhanded in his handling of Nikki, of his own affairs. Of everything. I don't trust him as far as I can throw him, so I'm interested to see what happens with him.

Overall, I was pleased with the book. The ending was such a cliffhanger for me that I NEED to pick up the second book now! I need to know what Nikki's plan of action is.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars! 

The review for the sequel, Everbound, will be coming next week! 

COVER REVEAL: Kissing Eden by T.A. Foster

Kissing Eden

by T.A. Foster

Release Date: March 6th, 2014

SUMMARY:

Have you ever thought of taking a vacation alone? I mean step on a plane, check into your hotel, and lie on the beach completely and utterly alone. No? Me either, but then right before senior spring break I got dumped.

Something about break ups makes you do things you didn’t want to do, and try things you didn’t know you were capable of.

That’s how I ended up at the Palm Palace.

That’s how I met Grey.

That’s how my spring break turned into the most unforgettable week of my life.

BOOK BLURB: 

Have you ever thought of taking a vacation alone? I mean step on a plane, check into your hotel, and lie on the beach completely and utterly alone. No? Me either, but then right before senior spring break I got dumped.

Something about break ups makes you do things you didn’t want to do, and try things you didn’t know you were capable of.

That’s how I ended up at the Palm Palace.

That’s how I met Grey.

That’s how my spring break turned into the most unforgettable week of my life.

TEASER:

 Goodreads link:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20446627-kissing-eden

GIVEAWAY:

Win a $20 Amazon Gift Card and ebook copy of LONDON FALLING. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author:

T.A. Foster is a Southern girl whose heart and spirit are connected to the beach. She grew up catching rays and chasing waves along the North Carolina Outer Banks and now resides in the state with her adventurous pilot husband, two children and two canine kiddos.

Her long love affair with books started at an early age, and as soon as she was able, she transformed imaginative stories into words on paper. Time Spell is T.A.’s debut novel, and the first in a series about a very adventurous, clever, and magical girl named Ivy.

T.A. has an undergraduate degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a graduate degree in Educational Psychology from Texas A&M University. When she’s not chasing her two-legged and four-legged children or trying to escape for date night, you can find her reading, writing or planning her next beach trip.

Blog: http://www.tafosterauthor.com/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/tafosterwriter

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TAFosterauthor

Author Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7164289.T_A_Foster

Cover Reveal hosted by:

Teen Wolf Season 3 Episode 17 - Silverfinger Recap & Review Vlog!

Hey everyone!

Check out my latest vlog where I discuss episode 17 of Teen Wolf Season 3B. This episode was so painful to watch. Make sure to stay tuned as I continue to do these recap & review vlogs every week for each episode of Teen Wolf.

Enjoy and Please Subscribe to my YouTube Channel! :D

 

1 Year Blogoversary Thank You Message!

THANK YOU!

One year ago today I started this site. I did not expect such a wonderful response to it, but I am so grateful to all of you for the overwhelming support. Though this is not a widely known site it is very special to me and I enjoy interacting with all of you about the many books, TV shows, and movies we all love. I want to give a big thanks to some of my bloggers Christina and Megan, who have been very instrumental in helping the site out with their great posts. I look forward to another amazing year and bringing even better things to the site soon for everyone's enjoyment. Once again, thank you all so much for continuing to follow the site and watching my vlogs. Have a fantastic day! I love you all! :D