Leap Into Books Giveaway Hop
February 28th to March 7th
Co-hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & Jinky is Reading
It's finally time for another giveaway guys!! As usual I'm offering a book of choice worth up to £10 from the Book Depository so the giveaway is international as long as the Book Depository ships to you. If you want to check, you can find the list of countries here.
All you have to do to enter is fill in the rafflecopter form below.
Title: Magic Rises
Author: Ilona Andrews
Series: Kate Daniels #6
Publisher: Ace
Publication date: 30 Jul 2013
Format: Paperback | 368 pages
Genre: Adult | Urban Fantasy
Mercenary Kate Daniels and her mate, Curran, the Beast Lord, are struggling to solve a heartbreaking crisis. Unable to control their beasts, many of the Pack’s shapeshifting children fail to survive to adulthood. While there is a medicine that can help, the secret to its making is closely guarded by the European packs, and there’s little available in Atlanta.
Kate can’t bear to watch innocents suffer, but the solution she and Curran have found threatens to be even more painful. The European shapeshifters who once outmaneuvered the Beast Lord have asked him to arbitrate a dispute—and they’ll pay him in medicine. With the young people’s survival and the Pack’s future at stake, Kate and Curran know they must accept the offer—but they have little doubt that they’re heading straight into a trap…
My thoughts:
I have no idea what to think about what just happened. I've just been taken on one hell of an emotional roller coaster. This is most likely going to be a really short review just so I can stop myself from fangirling all over the place.
I didn't think this series could get any better but this book blew every book before out of the water completely. There was so much action - and amazing action at that - I couldn't take it all in at once and ended up reading over the best fights over and over just to take in the sheer awesomeness that just happened. I'm hardly making any sense right now in all the excitement.
Magic Rises makes a huge step forward in terms of plot development. Everything pretty much changes in this book and I have a feeling it will carry on changing throughout the rest of the series. The cat is definitely out of the bag.
Overall I seriously enjoyed every moment of this read and I can't fault it for the life of me. I loved Curran and Kate's every moment together, all the action, the new characters and all the emotions this book has made me feel. Please, please, please read this series - you won't regret it.
My rating: 10/10
Ilona Andrews:
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Kate Daniels:
Title: Til Death
Author: Kate Evangelista
Series: Fractured Souls #1
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Publication date: March 4th 2014
Format: ebook | 320 pages
Genre: YA | Paranormal
Sixteen-year old Selena Fallon is a dreamer. Not a day-dreamer, but an I-see-the-future kind of dreamer. Normally this is not a problem as she has gotten pretty good at keeping her weird card hidden from everyone in her small town. Except from her best friend Kyle and her grandparents, of course. But when Selena dreams of her own rather bloody death, things get a little too freaky even for her.
Enter Dillan Sloan. Selena has seen the new guy in a different dream, and he is even more drool worthy in person. Beyond the piercing blue eyes and tousled dark hair, there is something else that draws her to him. Something…electric. Unfortunately, Dillan makes it more than clear that he does not feel the same. They just met, so why would he act like he hates her?
When Dillan and Selena are forced together one weekend to work on a school project, Selena prepares to be ignored as usual. But when she stumbles across a few undead in the backyard, Dillan comes to her rescue and reveals a whole lot more. Not only is he part of a society that hunts otherworldly creatures…she is too. And she is being targeted by a force bigger and darker than anything she ever imagined. Despite her death dream, Selena is not going to give up easy, especially when she discovers that Dillan might not actually hate her after all.
My thoughts:
Selena Fallon has visions. And not particularly nice ones at that. Seems like a lot of pressure to keep that big of a secret right? It gets even worse when Dillan Sloan gets transferred to Selena's school. Til Death follows Selena's battle to not only get the answers to the questions that have been plaguing her mind and the meanings behind her terrifying dreams, but to find out what on earth Dillan's problem is...
I don't know about Dillan but my problem right now is that I'm having a hard time getting my thoughts about this book out of my head and down into a review. I pretty much found this book to be an okay read. It had its moments, but that was it. One of the better parts of this read that come to mind is at the beginning of the book where Dillan is pretty much unbearable. I liked the way he interacted with Selena when he was confused or frustrated with the on and off feelings of guilt and the like.
To be honest, that's where it ended for me. I was actually only a few chapters into the book when I realised I wouldn't get on with it. Mostly for one reason which was predictability. I'm not exaggerating when I say I saw every single thing coming. I guessed which characters were the villain-type and what would happen at the end. I only found myself finishing the book just to find out if I could possibly be right.
If you're into original stories then I definitely wouldn't recommend this one. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a particularly bad read, I just have all the problems I had with it roaming around in my mind for me to be able to focus on what was some of its good points. It weighed far too much on the 'bad' side of the scale for me.
My rating: 5/10
Kate Evangelista:
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Fractured Souls:
Title: The Fall
Author: Robert Muchamore
Series: Cherub #7
Publisher: Hodder
Publication date: 15 Mar 2007
Format: Paperback | 352 pages
Genre: YA
When an MI5 operation goes disastrously wrong, James Adams needs all of his skills to get out of Russia alive.
Meanwhile, his sister Lauren is on her first solo mission, trying to uncover a brutal human-trafficking operation.
And when James does get home, he finds that his nightmare is just beginning…
My thoughts:
I don't really have much to say about this read apart from 'I loved it'.
If you've read my reviews of the other books in the series, you'll realise I'm mostly just repeating myself most of the time now. I'm a big fan of this series so far, and part of the reason why is that this author has managed to keep the same great characters, amazing action and some hilarious moments running throughout all of the books in the series. The one and only thing that changes every time is the plot.
This plot was a lot more focused on James and Lauren rather than other characters. There wasn't anything at all on what missions the others were on so it was a great book for getting to know more about James and Lauren both individually, and their relationship as siblings. I thought the plot was a whole lot more intense than past books have ever been. There was an element of suspense where James is fearful of being kicked out of Cherub and Lauren is fighting to free girls from a trafficking operation.
Overall this is a great read and as usual, it only makes me look forward to the next book more, especially with what James did towards the end the little idiot.
My rating: 8/10
Robert Muchamore:
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Cherub:
Title: Divine Madness
Author: Robert Muchamore
Series: Cherub #5
Publisher: Hodder
Publication date: 06 Apr 2006
Format: Paperback | 384 pages
Genre: YA
When CHERUB uncovers a link between eco-terrorist group Help Earth and a wealthy religious cult known as The Survivors, James Adams is sent to Australia on an infiltration mission.
It's his toughest job so far. The Survivors' outback headquarters are completely isolated, and the cult's brainwashing techniques mean James is under massive pressure to conform.
This time he's not just fighting terrorists. He's got to battle to keep control of his own mind.
My thoughts:
I'm a big fan of this series so far and this book was no exception. I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book and find out where James was going next. I loved that it went back to Help Earth as well since that was part of James' very first mission.
Like the past books, Divine Madness was full of action the whole way through with tons of suspense, especially towards the end. These books have always turned out to be incredibly fast reads so far, if only because I couldn't turn the pages fast enough to find out what happens. This plot had somewhat of an added intensity since more of the Cherub characters were involved in this one mission, including Dana and James' sister Lauren. Each character played a slightly different part in the mission.
As usual, I loved James and Lauren's personalities and ways of interacting with each other. Their relationship as siblings is totally believable and it makes for some great moments in the story. Most of all though, I loved Rat's introduction to the Cherub world. I found him to be such a loveable character, flaws and all, and I seriously can't wait to find out what he gets up to in the coming books. He really made me laugh.
Overall I really enjoyed reading this one. It was a great addition to this series so far and I can't wait to pick up the next book to find out where it goes from here.
My rating: 7/10
Robert Muchamore:
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Cherub:
Title: Gunmetal Magic
Author: Ilona Andrews
Series: Kate Daniels #5.5
Publisher: Ace
Publication date: 31 Jul 2012
Format: Paperback | 448 pages
Genre: Adult | Urban Fantasy
Some people have everything figured out—Andrea Nash is not one of those people. After being kicked out of the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid, Andrea's whole existence is in shambles. All she can do is try to put herself back together, something made easier by working for Cutting Edge, a small investigative firm owned by her best friend, Kate Daniels.
When several shapeshifters working for Raphael Medrano—the male alpha of the Clan Bouda, as well as Andrea's former lover—die unexpectedly at a dig site, Andrea is assigned to investigate…and must work with Raphael. As her search for the killer leads her into the secret underbelly of supernatural Atlanta, Andrea knows that dealing with her feelings for Raphael might have to take a back seat to saving the world…
My thoughts:
I was pleasantly surprised by this read because I initially thought it would be another novella type deal and not a full blown novel. I soon noticed the number of pages it contained on goodreads though and immediately got excited - anything more of Ilona Andrews is a good thing in my book.
So…Andrea. I never thought I could like her any more than I already did from her appearances in Kate's life, but reading this book from her perspective was a breath of fresh of air. I loved getting to know her better and I have to say, she seems like a completely new character now - I definitely won't see her in the same light in the next Kate Daniels book. Andrea used to be so much meeker in the past books, partly because of the Order she was a part of, but also because she was so unsure of herself: her identity and who she wanted to become. Everything changes in this book though and her story is not an easy one.
But of course, I still have to mention my favourites, Kate and Curran. I adored seeing their relationship through Andrea's eyes. It was beyond adorable. I also feel a need to mention Raphael - is it just me, or did anybody else start to really dislike him at the beginning of this book? He did redeem himself towards the end, but I find myself unable to really forget what he did and said - he went a little too far in my eyes.
As usual for a Kate Daniels novel, the plot was a perfect mix of humour, romance and amazing action that has you biting your nails in anticipation. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.
My rating: 9/10
Ilona Andrews:
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