Blog Tour and Giveaway: Chameleon by Kelly Oram

Title: Chameleon

Author: Kelly Oram

Series: Supernaturals #1

Publisher: Bluefields

Publication date: June 25th 2013

Format: ebook

Genre: YA | Paranormal

Goodreads

 

For small-town rebel Dani Webber magic and monsters are no more real than the Easter Bunny… until the day she accidentally stops time. Dani quickly discovers that not only do supernaturals exist, but she herself is one of them. This is great news for her life-long best friend Russ, who can finally come clean about his own supernatural status and his undying love for her. Before the two can start to enjoy the long overdue relationship, Dani is taken by a powerful council of supernaturals who believe she is the Chosen One destined to save them from extinction. 

As if being kidnapped and expected to save the world isn’t bad enough, an ancient prophecy warns of the Chosen One’s dark nature: “Only the truest love will keep her an agent for good.” The council believes they know who this “true love” is and, unfortunately, that person isn’t Russ. The mysterious, powerful and devastatingly handsome Seer is the last person Dani wants in her life, but when she starts having visions of a horrific future, she has no one else to turn to for help. 

Soon Dani finds herself torn between two very different boys with two very different opinions of whom she can trust. With the visions getting worse and time running out, Dani is forced to put aside her feelings and work with both the Seer and Russ before an ancient evil is unleashed upon the earth.

My thoughts:

I normally don't go for love triangles. They never seem to work in my favour and a lot of the story is always taken up by who the main character is going to choose as their ultimate love interest. I felt that this one was kind of obvious though so I was in safe waters. 

To get all the bad stuff out of the way I thought this read was a lot longer than it needed to be. Some of the arguments and events going on were repeated a lot, especially when it came to the love interests. It got a little repetitive and therefore, it frustrated me a little. I also didn't like Russ…at all. I thought he was great at first but he became too much after a while. 

Aside from that I really enjoyed the story. I thought it was incredibly fast paced with no dull moments. The plot took no time at all to start moving forward and kept up with the pace. I was always turning pages and struggled to put this down so a definite good sign!

Aside from Russ I loved the characters. I thought Dani was a perfect mix of vulnerable and the strong heroine we all seem to love in books. Gabriel was intriguing to say the least. He definitely played the part of the mysterious character very well. I couldn't wait to find out all I could about him and what his motives were.

Overall I liked the story and enjoyed reading this one. I would recommend it to fans of the paranormal genre if you can handle a love triangle.

My rating: 7/10

You can find out more about this blog tour here.

Kelley Oram:

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Review: Tempest's Legacy by Nicole Peeler

Title: Tempest's Legacy

Author: Nicole Peeler

Series: Jane True #3

Publisher: Orbit

Publication date: 01 Sep 2011

Format: Paperback - 336 pages

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Goodreads

Jane True feels she's finally been accepted in small-town Rockabill. To get there, she's had to face up to her supernatural heritage…but mastering her powers over water has turned out to be a whole lotta fun. Her good mood is shattered, however, when she is brought some shocking news.

Someone has been carrying out a series of gruesome attacks on females - both supernatural and human - in her area. After demanding to help investigate, Jane finds herself confronting her darkest nightmares as well as her deepest desires. And she's not sure which she finds more frightening.

My thoughts:

I've been in love with this series since the first Jane True book and this one was no exception. Most of all I just love how there's a big mix of everything I love in a book. There's witty one liners, amazing characters and lots of action with some romance thrown in. 

 

The characters are so loveable. I loved how Jane really came into her own in this book - she's steadily changing as the series goes on, becoming stronger and more sure of herself. I'm a huge fan of a lot of character development, especially in a series. I find it so easy to get bored of a protagonist if they stay the same throughout 6 books or so - change makes a character relatable if it's done right and I thought Jane was reacting to change perfectly.

 

I also really, really loved Anyan. That's a whole lot of man right there. I found him to be so much more mysterious than ever in this book and that's saying something. I especially love the way he interacts with people he cares about. With Jane he just melts my heart - he's just so considerate of her feelings as well as being the protective type. Anyan is just yummy.

 

As for the plot, it was also amazing. There wasn't a dull moment reading this book whether it be for all the action or romantic drama. One of the easiest ways to tell whether or not I really love a book is simply by knowing I want to read it again as soon as I finish it. I honestly finished this book wanting to start it all over again I loved it so much.

 

Overall I recommend this book to fans of urban fantasy. If you haven't read this series yet then I strongly urge you to start it - you won't be disappointed.

 

My rating: 10/10

 

Nicole Peeler:

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Books in the series:

1. Tempest Rising
2. Tracking the Tempest
3. Tempest's Legacy
4. Eye of the Tempest
5. Tempest's Fury
6. Tempest Reborn

Review and giveaway: Suddenly Beautiful by Boone Brux

Title: Suddenly Beautiful

Author: Boone Brux

Publisher: Entangled

Publication date: June 2013

Format: ebook

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Amazon | Goodreads | B&N

Being the son of Aphrodite isn’t a walk in the clouds. Rebelling against his demi-god status, billionaire make-up mogul Toraos Stephanos fights to separate his personal life and the immortal world by swearing off demi-god girlfriends forever. Too bad his newest employee can’t take the hint.

Though Nikki secretly pines for her smoking hot boss, no way will she jeopardize her job and independence professing her love to a guy so clearly out of her league. Too bad that leaves her with only imagining him naked and thinking evil thoughts about the new girl.

After a single bottle of Ambrosia and one night of passion… Nikki finally thinks she has a chance with the man of her dreams. But the next morning, Tor pretends like nothing happened, leaving Nikki with an emerging drive for combat—after all, turns out she is the daughter of Ares and she’s about to make her mama proud.

All is fair in love and war… and Nikki’s not about to let anyone forget it.

My thoughts:

This is a great read for a little bit of fun. I didn't start reading with any huge expectations of complicated plots and big secrets - I wanted a cute read with a little quick romance. And that's what I got.

 

I liked that this read had a little of everything. It had enough of the Gods and Goddesses aspect to satisfy my curiosity, romance and quite a bit of humour thrown in. 

 

The characters were endearing. Nikki was sweet half the time and feisty the other half so she had a nice well rounded personality to keep me interested. Tor was just hot. I loved the fact he couldn't figure out his own feelings until he was pushed into it. It gave him a little vulnerability which made him relatable in my opinion - not just a bachelor wanting his next fling. 

 

As for the plot, like I mentioned before, it's not amazing. I think people will like this read if they want to read it for the romance which is its main focus. It's really predictable but at the same time I still enjoyed reading about what happened with the characters anyway. 

 

Just as a side note, I loved Ares, he was hilarious.

 

My rating: 6/10

 

 

As a multi-published and an award winning author, Boone's writing drips with experiences from real life.

 

Addicted to anything that might make a good story, she weaves tales that range from dark fantasy to humorous romance. Settled in the icy regions of Alaska with the love of her life and twin daughters, it's not uncommon to find her tapping away on her iPad on a windy beach or the barren tundra.

 

Be warned, anyone and everything is fodder for one of Boone's novels.

 

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Onto the giveaway! This giveaway is open to the US only and offers an Amazon gift card worth $25.

 

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Review: Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

Title: Shadow of Night

Author: Deborah Harkness

Series: All Souls Trilogy #2

Publisher: Headline

Publication date: 14th Feb 2013

Format: Paperback | 672 pages

Genre: Fantasy | Paranormal | Historical | Romance

Goodreads

IT BEGAN WITH A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES

Historian Diana Bishop, descended from a line of powerful witches, and long-lived vampire Matthew Clairmont have broken the laws dividing creatures. When Diana discovered a significant alchemical manuscript, she sparked a struggle in which she became bound to Matthew. Now the fragile coexistence of witches, daemons, vampires and humans is dangerously threatened. Seeking safety, Diana and Matthew travel back in time to London, 1590. But they soon realise that the past may not provide a haven...

My thoughts:

I'd been waiting for a while for this book and I have to say, I loved it even more than the first book in the trilogy, A Discovery of Witches.

The only problem I had was that i had to keep stopping and starting again since I'm doing exams at the minute. I literally had to read this a few chapters a day so as you can imagine it took a while longer than what I would've liked. 

I immediately got sucked back into Deborah's descriptive, heavily detailed writing and loved every second of it. Especially since this book has the aspect of time-travelling added to it - the way London was described and the differences between the times mentioned in the book were excellent and beyond captivating.

Of course I fell in love with the characters all over again. I really thought Diana came into her own in this book and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of following her schooling as a weaver/witch. Diana became such a well rounded character by the end of the book, full of depth which I found wonderful. I felt the same way about Matthew if not more so. I can't believe how many secrets were revealed about his past in this book - one or two huge ones as well that you will not expect. I didn't think I could like Matthew any more than I did already but I was wrong. They both work so well together.

As for the new characters introduced I found it really hard to remember who was who for the most part. There were definitely a few who stuck out, but the rest seemed a little too inconsequential. The characters who I did know and love were amazing. They had such distinct personalities and I loved the part they played in Matt and Diana's story.

The plot was delicious. There are so many different aspects to consider in this book that I wouldn't be surprised if I read it again and found I missed out on a whole lot. It's definitely one of those complicated story lines. Can't wait to see what happens after this.

My rating: 8/10

Deborah Harkness:

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Review: Zenn Scarlett by Christian Schoon

Title: Zenn Scarlett

Author: Christian Schoon

Publisher: Strange Chemistry

Publication date: 2nd May 2013

Format: Netgalley

Genre: YA | Science Fiction

Goodreads

Zenn Scarlett is a resourceful, determined 17-year-old girl working hard to make it through her novice year of exovet training. That means she's learning to care for alien creatures that are mostly large, generally dangerous and profoundly fascinating. Zenn’s all-important end-of-term tests at the Ciscan Cloister Exovet Clinic on Mars are coming up, and, she's feeling confident of acing the exams. But when a series of inexplicable animal escapes and other disturbing events hit the school, Zenn finds herself being blamed for the problems. As if this isn't enough to deal with, her absent father has abruptly stopped communicating with her; Liam Tucker, a local towner boy, is acting unusually, annoyingly friendly; and, strangest of all: Zenn is worried she's started sharing the thoughts of the creatures around her. Which is impossible, of course. Nonetheless, she can't deny what she's feeling.

Now, with the help of Liam and Hamish, an eight-foot sentient insectoid also training at the clinic, Zenn must learn what's happened to her father, solve the mystery of who, if anyone, is sabotaging the cloister, and determine if she's actually sensing the consciousness of her alien patients... or just losing her mind. All without failing her novice year....

My thoughts:

I'm not normally a big fan of sci-fi but this one caught my eye, plus I like to step out of my favourite genres every once in a while and broaden my horizons. This was a pleasant surprise though.

What I noticed straight off was that a lot of people will definitely give up on this read because of the language at the start. I felt like I was thrown into the deep end completely with the space lingo thrown into the story here and there. It got a little much sometimes for the beginning of a story so occasionally I got a little lost. I stuck with it though and eventually got the hang of what on earth everybody was talking about.

I really started to enjoy the imagination put into this book. The descriptions of the planet, different races of people and the variety of bizarre alien creatures really allowed your mind to run away with itself imagining what they would be like in real life. Eventually the read started to have a life of its own and I really enjoyed being part of that experience as a reader.

The plot was short and sweet in my opinion. It was nothing overly complicated and sometimes I could see from a mile off exactly what would happen - I didn't think it took anything away from me enjoying the read, but I would have loved a few more surprises. 

I really loved Zenn. She was a perfect character for the world this book is set in. Zenn had a load of different flaws which made her relatable, she had a mysterious and compelling backstory and a lovely personality to boot - plenty of depth for any character in my opinion. I was a little disappointed that I didn't see much of the other characters - there were some great ones that I would love to see more of. Liam in particular though I expect to see him a lot more often in the sequel. I'm assuming there will be a sequel based on the ending. There better be...

Overall I do recommend this read. Especially for someone wanting to get their hands on sci-fi - I would start off with this one, if only because of the amazing world-building.

My rating: 7/10

Christian Schoon:

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Review: Harken by Kaleb Nation

Title: Harken

Author: Kaleb Nation

Series: Harken #1

Publication date: Jan 9th 2013

Format: Kindle

Genre: YA | Paranormal

Goodreads

After surviving an assassination attempt, teenager Michael Asher discovers that he is at the centre of a worldwide conspiracy reaching higher than any earthly power. A supernatural organisation desperately wants him dead. He doesn't know why. Everyone who might have the answers has already been killed.

Tumbling into a web of international secrets, Michael is forced to fight back and dig up the truth. He begins to question how much of the world is truly as people are led to believe it is. Are there things that humanity is not being told? Who is the puppet master? And how far into the maze can he venture before he is lost forever?

My thoughts:

I have to say this was not what I was expecting. Not one bit.

What hit me most of all was how original the story was. For me, if a book has any sort of new, unused content instead of the cheesy romances, vampires and werewolves, soulmate kind of thing, then it's already well on its way to becoming a great read. I really liked the new wolverine-esque powers and the way they came about. The plot was also more original than anything I've read in a while - it was refreshing.

 

The plot was incredibly fast paced. There was no doubt in my mind from when I read the first few chapters that the rest of the book would be just as packed with action and suspense. There was always something happening, whether it be action and fighting or something with the characters. There was a great mixture of drama with the bad guys and character development. There is a little bit of romance in the book too - I really loved that the storyline still remained focused on the action instead of Kaleb letting the romance become the main event in the story overall. I have to say as a whole though, sometimes I wished the story would slow down a little - I wanted to get to know the characters a little more and have them bond without them getting shot at.

 

Speaking of the characters, in my opinion, they were good but not great. I was waiting for that little bit of a push from the author - where something inevitably happens in the story that gives characters just a bit more depth. When something really compelling did happen to one of the characters though, I kind of got annoyed with the protagonist. Not in his reaction, but the way he changed after. I thought he lost a lot of what I liked about his personality in the first place. I also think that might be due to me wanting more time to get to know the characters - maybe I just didn't relate to them I don't know.

 

That aside, I thought the writing was marvellous. I was captivated with the story after the first page and stayed that way for the majority of the book - it was only when life got in the way that I would put it down. That alone tells me I will definitely pick up the sequel to Harken. 

 

My rating: 7/10

 

Kaleb Nation:

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Review: The Bane by Keary Taylor

Title: The Bane

Author: Keary Taylor

Series: The Eden Trilogy #1

Publisher: Keary Taylor Books

Publication date: March 5th 2013

Format: Kindle | Netgalley

Genre: YA | Dystopian | Sci-Fi

Goodreads

Before the Evolution there was TorBane: technology that infused human DNA with cybernetic matter.  It had the ability to grow new organs and limbs, to heal the world.  Until it evolved out of control and spread like the common cold.  The machine took over, the soul vanished, and the Bane were born.  The Bane won't stop until every last person has been infected. With less than two percent of the human population left, mankind is on the brink of extinction.

 

Eve knows the stories of the Evolution, the time before she wandered into the colony of Eden, unable to recall anything but her name.  But she doesn't need memories to know this world is her reality.  This is a world that is quickly losing its humanity, one Bane at a time.

 

Fighting to keep one of the last remaining human colonies alive, Eve finds herself torn between her dedication to the colony, and the discovery of love.  There is Avian and West – one a soldier, one a keeper of secrets.  And in the end, Eve will make a choice that will change the future of mankind.

My thoughts:

Unfortunately, this book was my first DNF (did not finish) since I started blogging. I've spent a while thinking about whether it would be fair to actually post a review since I didn't finish the book, but I've decided to just keep it a short and simple review instead of none at all.

 

First off I would encourage you to give this book a go - the reasons I didn't like this book are just my opinion and it doesn't mean you'll feel the same way, as is evident in other reviews of this book. 

 

The main reason I couldn't finish this book was the writing. I just couldn't connect to it on any level and a lot of the time it just frustrated me. It was basically just too many short sentences and not enough depth. As a result of my problem with the writing, I couldn't connect to the characters - not even on the most basic level - I didn't like them. Eventually there wasn't enough reason to carry on and here we are...

 

Again, just my opinion, and as a last point, the book was incredibly fast paced which is one thing it had going for it, but for me, it wasn't quite enough. 

 

My rating: DNF

 

Keary Taylor:

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