No IMM this week

Hey guys!

I hope you're all having a fab week filled with lots of books! There'll be no IMM from me this week as I have more assignments than I know what to do with and no free time.

Link to your posts and I'll check out what you all got this week if I have time. I'll be back next week though, so until then...happy reading!

Cover Reveal: Whisper by Heather Hildenbrand!

Today I have the pleasure of sharing with you the cover of Whisper, a new book by author Heather Hildenbrand, one of my favorite self-published authors!

Introducing Whisper!


The Cherokee believe when a person dies, their soul is reborn. Life is repeated. An endless cycle of lessons to be learned, love to be found, destiny to be fulfilled. For the past six months, in every flower, every bird, I’ve imagined my parents, relieved of their human forms.

Now, after five months at the Skye View Wellness Center, it was summer, a time for parties and friends, but that’s the last thing I want to do. So when my best friend Erin convinces me to attend a bonfire at Eagle Point, I can’t handle the crowd full of sympathetic stares or drunk class clowns who would use my tragedy as a way into my heart – or my pants. The solitude of the woods offers an escape, until I stumble upon a boy, unconscious and bleeding, his pockets stuffed not with identification but with poetry illustrating the beauty of dying. I’ve seen enough death. I will not leave this boy’s side.

Even after he wakes, when the only thing he can remember are visions of events that haven’t happened yet....


Whisper will be out around mid April and I think it looks fabulous. I love Heather Hildenbrand's books and I'm really excited to read this one! Hope you all decide to check it out!

Add it on Goodreads!

Visit Heather to learn more:
Website // Goodreads // Facebook // Twitter

Book Shelf: Winter's Light (Winter Saga #2) by M.J. Hearle

Blake is gone.

He sacrificed himself to save Winter, leaving her alone, unprotected... hunted.

An ancient enemy is rising, but Winter is no longer the innocent girl who was fated to die at Pilgrim's Lament. She will not wait to be saved. She will do what she must to survive, even accept an unsavoury alliance with those who destroyed her love.

In the gathering darkness, the enemy of an enemy is not always a friend, and Winter must find the strength to stand alone and fight for the one she loves. For she is the key to unlocking the secrets beyond the veil of shadows.

And she is Blake's only hope.

(Blurb from Goodreads.....)


Review:

Winter’s Light is a darkly intense follow up to Winter’s Shadow by M.J. Hearle that doesn’t disappoint with it’s rich description and enthralling storyline!

I find the world crafted by Hearle in this series to be hauntingly beautiful. Hearle’s prose is exquisite; deeply gothic and one that flows easily, sweeping you up straight into the story. It captures you from the very beginning and it’s easy to get immersed in the tale. In Winter’s Light, the storyline from Winter’s Shadow continues and the tragic events of the first book continue to impact on the storyline of it’s sequel.

The combination of past and present that Hearle blends is both tantalizing and intriguing and the inclusion of new mysteries and new characters weave with old to leave you glued to the pages and eager to know what’s next. I loved getting a glimpse into some of the events that are a part of the history of the Malfaerie and Demori and learning more about Lamara, the young woman we’ve only heard about proved to be insightful. It was easy to be drawn to her desperate plight and brave nature.

Winter has been through an incredibly lot lately. The last three months have been hard on her and loosing Blake has taken its toll. I find Winter to be a fantastic heroine to follow! M.J. Hearle writes her voice with such perfection that it’s no problem at all to slip into her head. She undertakes such growth throughout this book in her determined quest to save her lost love and her inner strength that she demonstrates definitely endeared her more to me. Her ability to make tough choices and her desire to do the right thing make her a force to be reckoned with; I can’t wait to see what she’ll do next.

While I’ll be the first to admit I missed Blake, Jasmine continues to be a fantastic character and best friend to Winter and Sam steps up in his search for redemption. I love Jas. Her witty remarks and devotion to her best friend is beautiful and I found I really loved Sam in this book. I liked him in the first book, but here he truly touched my heart with his desire to make up for his actions in the first book and his desire to be a friend to Winter. I also liked Elena. As one of the new characters introduced and part of the mysterious Bane, I admit she wasn’t who I thought she was at first sight and I loved seeing Hearle unveil her character. I’d definitely like to see more of her in future books.

With twists, turns and betrayal, Winter’s Light is a spectacular read! A heart-racing and surprising ending is bound to leave you begging for more and desperate to know what Hearle has in store for this series next!

Rating:
Source: Sent for review by Pan Macmillan Australia (Thank-you sooo much Charlotte!)
Format: Bound ARC
AU Release Date: May 2012
Expected AU Price: $16.99
Recommend: Yes!
Recommend borrow or buy: Buy it.
Cover: Am I the only one in love with this cover?!? It's stunning, just stunning!
Read sequel/continue with series: Yes! Oh, yes.

Waiting on Wedesday #24

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking The Spine where you can spotlight an upcoming release that you're eagerly anticipating.

This week I'm waiting on....



Valkyrie Rising by Ingrid Paulson
Releases on: October 9th
Add it: On Goodreads.

Nothing ever happens in Norway. But at least Ellie knows what to expect when she visits her grandmother: a tranquil fishing village and long, slow summer days. And maybe she’ll finally get out from under the shadow of her way-too-perfect big brother, Graham, while she’s there.

What Ellie doesn’t anticipate is Graham’s infuriating best friend, Tuck, tagging along for the trip. Nor did she imagine boys going missing amid rumors of impossible kidnappings. Least of all does she expect something powerful and ancient to awaken in her and that strange whispers would urge Ellie to claim her place among mythological warriors. Instead of peace and quiet, there’s suddenly there’s a lot for a girl from L.A. to handle on a summer sojourn in Norway! And when Graham vanishes, it’s up to Ellie—and the ever-sarcastic, if undeniably alluring Tuck—to uncover the truth about all the disappearances and thwart the nefarious plan behind them.

Deadly legends, hidden identities, and tentative romance swirl together in one girl’s unexpectedly-epic coming of age.

Thoughts:
Two words. Valkyrie Rising. That's it guys. All I have to hear is the name of the title and I'm in! I've always been a massive fan of anything Valkyrie or involving Valhalla, so that was guaranteed to get me wanting this but that storyline...*SQUEE* Mythological warriors, deadly legends, hidden identities...oh, and a romance! Looks. Awesome! I want! I neeeeed! Gimme! Please, please October come soon!

What are you all waiting on this week? Tell me, I'd love to know!

Book Shelf: Afterlife (Evernight #4) by Claudia Gray

Destiny awaits Bianca and Lucas . . .

Bianca and Lucas have always believed they could endure anything to be together. When a twist of fate not only transforms Bianca into a wraith but also turns Lucas into a vampire--the very creature he spent his life hunting--they are left reeling.

Haunted by his powerful need to kill, Lucas can turn to only one place for help . . . Evernight Academy. Bianca is determined to remain with him. But with the vampire leader of Evernight waging a war against wraiths, her former home has become the most dangerous place she could be, despite the new powers her ghostly transformation has given her.

A battle between wraiths and vampires looms, and Bianca and Lucas face a terrifying new reality. They've overcome every obstacle life has thrown at them, but is their love strong enough to survive the challenges "after" life?

(Blurb from Goodreads.....)


Review:

Afterlife marks the end of Claudia Gray’s Evernight series and it ends with a heart-pounding conclusion bound to leave you feeling satisfied.

Despite all the vampire books out there that litter the YA genre, I still find the Evernight series to be fun, exciting well written reads. Each book has been of a high standard and has continued to entertain me, even though vampires are something I’ve seen quite a bit. Gray’s plotline and her vampiric myths have been engaging and interesting and are never boring. I’m always drawn into the Evernight books and Afterlife is no exception!

It’s taken me a while to get to this book and I’m almost sorry, however I’m glad I can now dive straight into Balthazar. I easily read this book in one sitting and its gripping storyline had me eager to see how Bianca and Lucas’s journey would end. One of the things I’ve loved about this series are the characters that litter it’s pages. They have such a great dynamic together and actually have personality. With our main characters Bianca and Lucas front and centre, we’ve also had the pleasure of seeing some of the other characters including, Balthazar, Raquel, Dana, Vic, and Ranulf shine. Written perfectly to fit the story, I’ve loved seeing them throughout the series and the humour, romance and excitement they constantly have brought to the series has been a pleasure to read about. Personally, I’d continue reading just to see them!

As far are star-crossed lovers go Bianca and Lucas have been great to read about. I’ve enjoyed reading about their adventures and seeing them develops both as individuals and as a couple. Throughout the series their unwavering dedication to one another and love has been sweet and as a heavy focus during the series I always enjoyed seeing them together. There’s no doubt that they’ve both changed throughout the series, but they’re still very much the great characters they were in the first book. In Afterlife, Lucas faces his worst nightmare and it was humbling seeing him not to be quite as strong as he’s always been as he struggled with being a vampire. It made him more human and I liked seeing him in a different light. I felt sorry for him even as I enjoyed watching he and Bianca find their way in their new lives.

I thought it was really interesting how Claudia Gray developed Bianca’s character. The history between the vampires and the wraith were really intriguing from the beginning and I enjoyed seeing how this played out into Bianca’s life. As a person, Bianca was always easy to read about, a good individual with just the right amount of spirit to make her fun to read about but it was the complicated history of her existence that made her awesome to follow. I thought it was exciting and I was constantly on edge to see what would happen with Bianca and her existence.

As I’m sure you’re well aware, Gray has also written a companion novel featuring Balthazar, the saddest, loneliest and perhaps the most intriguing of all the Evernight side characters. In the beginning, when there was the hint of a love triangle, he always remained noble and true and while I still cheered on Lucas, Balthazar managed to worm his way into my heart. In Afterlife, we have our first glimpse of Skye, the new character and human girl at Evernight Academy that will be his love interest in his book. Seriously, I love Skye already. Her fire, kindness and bravery throughout her small parts of this novel have me dying to learn more about her already!

Afterlife is an exciting read. As the final novel in the series it doesn’t disappoint with all the action, humour and romance that have made this series so brilliant! Gray weaves together a complicated story with on your seat action, betrayal and excitement that will have to glued to the last page and desperate to know how it all ends!

Rating:
Source: I bought.
Format: Paperback.
Recommend: Yes.
Recommend borrow or buy: Buy.
Cover: It's pretty and fits in well with the others.
Read sequel/continue with series: While this is the last in the series, I'll definitely be reading Gray's companion novel and anything else she puts out!

Buy it here:

In My Mailbox #31

Hey everyone!

Welcome to In My Mailbox!

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren where we can share the books we bought, borrowed or received throughout the week. For more info on just what it is and how to participate, head here.



For Review:
From Pan Macmillan.....
~Forgiven by Jana Oliver
.....Thank-you Charlotte so much!

From Simon & Schuster....
~Choker by Elizabeth Woods
.....Thank-you so much guys!

I Bought:
~A Beautiful Evil by Kelly Keaton


SQUEEE! Forgiven! Freaking Forgiven! Beck! Beck, Beck, Beck, BECK!! So excited for this one in case you couldn't already tell. I adore this series and I'm totally in love with Beck. This is most definitely my next read. Really it's a struggle not to start it right now! I also received Choker for review and although it's not my kind of thing usually, I may get to it one day. I HAD to have a copy of A Beautiful Evil by Kelly Keaton as I loved Darkness Becomes Her and I'm eager to have more of Ari!

I Won:
~Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder

I was also thrilled to win a copy of Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder thanks to HarlequinTEEN Australia and Lisa at Read Me Bookmark Me Love Me. Obviously I've already read this but I adored it and am really happy to have a finished copy. Thank-you Lisa! Love ya girlie!

So that's my mailbox this week!
What did you get in your mailbox this week?

Blog Tour: Creepy Hollow series by Rachel Morgan Excerpt

Welcome to the Creepy Hollow blog tour! Today I have the pleasure of sharing my review of Guardian, the first novelette in the new Creepy Hollow series by Rachel Morgan as well as an excerpt from one of my favorite parts of the book--a scene I'm sure will have you begging for more!

First for my review....please check it out here or look to my previous post for my complete thoughts on Guardian. Oh, and just so you know....I loved it!

I was thrilled when Rachel Morgan invited me to be a part of this tour and I'm really excited to share this small excerpt with you. It's such a cheeky sneak peak into one of the interactions between Violet and Nate, the main characters in Guardian.

Now before you dive straight into the excerpt, take a little look at Guardian.....



1. Receive assignment.
2. Save a life.
3. Sleep.
4. Repeat.

Protecting humans from dangerous magical creatures is all in a day’s work for a faerie training to be a guardian. Seventeen-year-old Violet Fairdale knows this better than anyone—she’s about to become the best guardian the Guild has seen in years. That is, until one of her assignments—a human boy who shouldn’t even be able to see her—follows her into the fae realm. Now she’s broken Guild Law, a crime that could lead to her expulsion.

The last thing Vi wants to do is spend any more time with the boy who got her into this mess, but the Guild requires that she return Nate to his home and make him forget everything he’s discovered of the fae realm. Easy, right? But Nate and Vi are about to land themselves in even bigger trouble—and it’ll take all Vi’s training to get them out alive.


Excerpt:

No way,” he says, rustling the leaves as he stands. “You can’t be a faerie. You’re way too big.”

I lower my hands. “Excuse me?” I’ve been called many things in my seventeen years, but big has never been one of them. Quite the opposite, in fact.

“Aren’t faeries supposed to be, like, really tiny? With wings and a wand and faerie dust?”

“I’m not Tinker Bell!”

He takes a step back. “Okay, okay. Since this is a dream I guess you can be whatever you want to be.”

“Did it feel like a dream when I kicked you just now?”

“Actually that did kind of hurt.” He rubs his leg.

I shake my head. “This is such a mistake. You should not be here.”

He crosses his arms. “So you don’t have wings then?” he asks, completely ignoring what I just said.

“Sure I do, they’re in my pocket.”

“Really?”

“No!” I’m trying to think of the best way to fix this, and I wish he’d just keep quiet.

“Oh, wait, you do have a wand though. I saw you using it on my wall.”

“It’s not a wand, it’s called a stylus. Just a stick, really.”

“But it—”

“You know, if it weren’t my sole purpose in life to protect humans like you from crazy magical fae, I’d leave you here to find your own way home.”

“Is that what you were doing in my room?” he asks after a moment.

I sigh. Why am I telling him any of this? “Yes. I was on assignment.”

“I was your assignment?”

Wow, you catch on fast. “Yes.”

He hesitates a moment, then grins. “That’s kind of hot.”



Meet Rachel Morgan!

Rachel Morgan is the author of Guardian, the first novelette in the Creepy Hollow series. She was born in South Africa and spent a large portion of her childhood living in a fantasy land of her own making. These days, in between teaching mathematics to high school children, she writes fiction for young adults.

Buy Guardian from:
Amazon US // Amazon UK // Smashwords

The Creepy Hollow Series:
Website // Goodreads // Facebook // Book Trailer

Author Info
Blog // Twitter // Facebook // Goodreads // Google+

I'd like to say a big thank-you to Rachel for inviting me to participate in the tour and urge you all to check out the complete tour schedule for reviews, guest posts and giveaways!

Check out the complete blog tour over at Rachel's website!