11 June 2012
Caged Moon by Rachel Deagan [Blog Tour: Book Review, Excerpt, and a Giveaway]
Caged Moon
by Rachel Deagan
260 pages
Original Release Date: January 18, 2012
2nd Edition Release Date: May 8, 2012
*Second Edition containing full edits and additional updates on the Caged Moon Trilogy*Source: Review Copy
My Rating: ★★★★☆
Haunted by an animal attack, seventeen year old Charlotte feels she is being followed. When she runs into a mysterious boy while camping, she’s afraid. Nothing seems right about him. Despite trying to stay away, there is an unmistakable draw to be near him. Even his scent smells familiar. But the closer she gets, the faster the secrets begin to unravel. Not only is he not human, he may have a link to her past. When Charlotte finds out someone wants her dead, she is torn between love and fear. Can she trust him to keep her safe.
Excerpt
He rounded the couch and sat back down on the coffee table. His legs opened to each side of mine and he took my hands. “I just don’t want to talk about my brother.” His expression seemed sad, lost. “I don’t want you to leave.”
“Why do you care so much about me? Is it my scar?”
His fingers squeezed mine. “I didn’t know about your scar when I first met you. I liked you then.”
A feeling of defensiveness came over me out of nowhere and I didn’t know why. “Cause if you think just because a wolf bit me I’m going to go all canine on you, I’ll save you the trouble now. I’m not. It happened eleven years ago. Nothing. So if all I am is some pet project of yours, you might as well forget it. I’m human and always will be.”
Maybe I really should have left.
Liam’s lower lip caught mine and all the air vanished from my lungs. I couldn’t even remember what I just said, and when he pulled back, I realized I had closed my eyes.
His chest rumbled a few inches from mine. I could tell he struggled to remain in human form. I didn’t move.
“Maybe you shouldn’t kiss me,” I whispered.
“I’d rather die.”
Book Review
Werewolf lovers rejoice because this book is that shifter/werewolf book you’ve been looking for. The story centers around Charlotte, a regular girl that is moving into a new town with her dad. All is good with the exception that long ago, when Charlotte was younger, she had been bitten by what she thought was a dog. While staying overnight at a campsite she gets lost and runs into Liam and is immediately attracted to him. His overwhelming scent and something else very mysterious drew her to him and she couldn’t understand why. Soon after Liam just happened to show up everywhere Charlotte went. As well as being attracted to him, and unsure of his real intentions, Charlotte felt a distrust for Liam. A double-edged sword of passion and fear was present at all times in Charlotte as far as Liam was concerned, coupled with the fact that she felt she was always being followed and the feeling that something important was about to happen to her.
About The Author
Rachel grew up in small town Massachusetts where she spent most of her time writing about strange paranormal creatures instead of paying attention in class. She has always been considered the ‘dreamy’ one with her head in the clouds. She now lives in Nevada with her two sons, a cat, and a rat named Sam..
Giveaway
04 June 2012
Undertow by Callie Kingston [Blog Tour: Book Review and Excerpt]
Undertow
by Callie Kingston
230 pages
Release Date: February 17, 2012
Publisher: Carolwood Press
Source: Review Copy
My Rating: ★★★★☆
Reality is slipping away as Marissa sinks deeper into an abyss. Only truth and love can bring her back from the edge.
While she slept on a desolate beach on the wild Oregon coast, a rogue wave pulled her out to sea. Now Marissa dreams each night of a merman who rescued her. Obsessed, she risks her life once again in the frigid ocean. Will Marissa recover or remain forever lost in the eddies inside her mind?
Sometimes, the deadliest dangers lie within.
Excerpt
Marissa thrust the image from the morning away, fighting back the pain. She felt like
vomiting. If she could, she would have puked up every broken promise she’d swallowed over the
years. All those promises: her mother’s . . . her father’s . . . Drake’s. Lies, lies, lies. All lies. The
memories swarmed over her. One deception after another, in brilliant colors, like each scene was
painted with unearthly crayons, her mind shuffling through them like a deck of cards. And at the
bottom, the face of a little girl.
She traced the outline of the tattoo on her calf, brushing the sand away from the mermaid’s
hair and turquoise tail. Underneath, the tattoo artist had inked her sister’s name: Bethany. It was
her first tattoo, and the only one her mother didn’t hate.
The tide changed; each hour, the water reclaimed more of the sand. She hardly noticed.
Staring toward the horizon where the ocean dropped off the curve of the earth and disappeared,
she wished she could too. She envied the whales, swimming through the abyss with nothing to
stress about—no school, no mom, no jerk of a boyfriend. Exhausted, she let the warmth of the
afternoon sun and the steady swooshing of the tide lull her to sleep.
A rogue wave surged toward the cliff and soaked Marissa, startling her awake. She
scrambled to escape. The water lifted the tree beside her into the surf where it bobbed like a cork.
Chest deep in the frigid water, she panicked and flailed, desperate to escape.
The surf pushed the log forward, knocking her to the ground and pinning her there, face
down in the wet sand. There was a searing pain in her head. Like a mantra the prayer played in
an endless loop: please don’t let me die, please don’t let me die. She held her breath. When the
ocean withdrew it carved out the sand from beneath her and left her encapsulated like a human
clam near the water’s edge.
Another torrent of icy water swept over her; the wave recoiled and yanked Marissa and the
log past the breakers into the sea.
Trailer
Book Review
In order to get back into some kind of normalcy and to forget her cheating ex-boyfriend, Marissa moves away to college in Portland. Little by little Marissa starts to remember little things about the incident at the beach and starts to realize that what saved her was a mysterious merman. Marissa becomes convinced that her savior is real and that she will one day go back to the sea to be with him forever. Is Marissa’s merman-savior real, or is Marissa losing touch with reality?
Callie Kingston does a great job of keeping you guessing the entire time what is real and what is not real. As a likable main character, I tended to side with Callie and believe that there had to be a real fantasy merman out there that saved her. This fact kept me passionately reading to find out if Callie was right or if she was just imagining the entire incident. I loved that about that book. This was a very fast read and a great book for those that like the mystery. 4 stars.
About The Author
Callie Kingston’s home is in the Pacific Northwest, where she lives with many furry creatures (including her husband). She holds a masters degree in psychology and has worked in schools for many years. When not writing, she likes to explore the outdoors, especially the forests and beaches along the Oregon coast. She also enjoys a great cup of cappuccino, which happily is easily found in her part of the world.
Giveaway
At the end of the tour the author will also offer a signed print copy and a $20 Gift Card at A Tale of Many Reviews blog.
02 June 2012
Angel Eyes (Angel Eyes Trilogy, #1) by Shannon Dittemore [Blog Tour: Book Review and Giveaway]
Angel Eyes (Angel Eyes Trilogy, #1)
by Shannon Dittemore
320 pages
Release Date: May 29, 2012
Publisher: Thomas Nelson Fiction
Source: Review Copy
My Rating: ★★★☆☆
Once you’ve seen, you can’t unsee. Everything changes when you’ve looked at the world through . . .
ANGEL EYES
Brielle’s a ballerina who went to the city to chase her dreams and found tragedy instead. She’s come home to shabby little Stratus, Oregon, to live with her grief and her guilt . . . and the incredible, numbing cold she can’t seem to shake.
Jake’s the new guy at school. The boy next door with burning hands and an unbelievable gift that targets him for corruption.
Something more than fate has brought them together. An evil bigger than both of them lurks in the shadows nearby, hiding in plain sight. Two angels stand guard, unsure what’s going to happen. And a beauty brighter than Jake or Brielle has ever seen is calling them to join the battle in a realm where all human choices start.
A realm that only angels and demons—and Brielle—can perceive.
Book Review
First, let’s talk about how gorgeous this cover is. I love everything about it, including the halo the girl is holding in her hands. I can be very picky when it comes to books about angels and demons, so when I started reading Angel Eyes I had very high expectations. I was not disappointed but I can’t say either that I was blown away. The novel was well written and the plot was interesting. I did find some of it to be quite predictable and cliché, but the characters were interesting nonetheless.
Brielle, the main character, is dealing with the subject of grief over the death of her best friend, and in the process struggling to hold on to her faith. She moves back to her old hometown after this tragedy that has completely changed her and turned her into a self-loathing, depressed, person. Upon her return, she meets Jake who takes a liking to her and who Brielle immediately notices something different about. Warm to the touch, Jake is the sweet guy who makes Brielle see that there just might be light at the end of the tunnel after all. Brielle’s spiritual doubts also makes her the target to some dark forces who zero in on her. They see her as one that can be easily enveloped and whose soul can be taken. I definitely have to say that the MC was my favorite character, even more than the love interest, which is usually my pick for most books.
I enjoyed the religious parts of the book since I am personally a fan of angels but I can see how it might be viewed that the religious aspects of this book border on a bit excessive. Not to say that it makes the book any more or less great, just that it is a matter of preference and not everyone’s cup of tea. All in all I enjoyed this book and I think that those that enjoy reading about angels and don’t mind some religion will enjoy it as well. 3 stars.
Giveaway
Want to win an eBook copy of Angel Eyes? Simply fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Giveaway open to all (U.S. and International). Open through Midnight on 6/11.