Sunday, April 22, 2012

In My Mailbox (31)

"In My Mailbox" is a meme, created by Kristi at The Story Siren, that features books I have
received/ purchased/ borrowed during the week. 

I don't know about you guys, but I'm loving the nice weather! We've already gone to the zoo and everything. Though there wasn't much there but I saw chickens... yeah... anyways. I've got a bunch of book/blog news to highlight from the past week. First I had the Untouched blog tour come by on Wednesday; I interviewed Jus and you have a chance to win - find it here. Then I had the Until Next Time tour drop by for a hot dream cast - have a look! I also received 2 copies of Revived by Cat Patrick so I'm giving one away here. On my Facebook page I posted the City of Lost Souls book trailer, and The Right & The Real book trailer. Last but not least, I also shared the hot new cover for Losing Lila, the sequel to Hunting Lila (which I loved) that you have to see!

Ook so now on to the books I got for review this week:

 -Revived by Cat Patrick (Enter to win the extra copy HERE)

*A big thank you hug to Faber and Faber, St. Martin's Press, Harlequin, Hachette Book Group Canada and Simon & Schuster Canada for the review copies*

What's in your haul this week?
Link me up! :)

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Review: Untouched by Jus Accardo

Untouched
Jus Accardo
Series: Denazen, #1.5
Release date: March 28th, 2012
by Entangled Publishing

Goodreads / Purchase
Until he met Dez, Kale’s days were filled with violence and death. He was used as a weapon of destruction by the power hungry men of Denazen. He’s a Six. A person with an abnormal ability. Some people call them gifts, but not Kale. Kale’s touch means instant death.

But now there’s Dez, the girl he can touch, and they’re hunting down Sixes and warning them about Denazen. Kale is learning about the world outside captivity and trying to put his dark past behind him. But they underestimated how badly Denazen wanted him back.

When Dez sacrifices herself to save the new Six they’d rescued from falling into the corp’s hands, Kale is lost. Denazen has brought out its best to get the job done. Samsen, a nightmare from Kale’s past—the only person he’s ever truly feared—has come for them, and it soon becomes obvious he has his own twisted agenda.

Kale will need all his training to get Dez back and ensure they make it out, free—and alive. But will it be enough?
*A copy was provided by Entangled Publishing for review purposes*

Kale is a character like no other. Being imprisoned by Denazen his whole life, he never got to learn social behavior. Social skills and etiquette are completely lost on him. He doesn't understand slang or why people lie. He gets bewildered by elementary things. It's sad in a way because of what he went through, but it's strangely fascinating to see how human behavior is perceived to such alien eyes - and not to mention terribly amusing. You gotta admit, a lot of the things we say and do ARE bizarre when you sit down and think about it.

"She was excited. To be rolling around in colorful balls." 
-Quote from Kale while in a ball pit with Dez

In this novella, we get a delightful look inside this unfledged mind. However, it's not an unperturbed one. Kale went through a lot of mental abuse. Being used as a prosecutor and torturer, imprisoned and isolated; he's not completely stable. We get a glimpse of the darkness inside of him. I truly enjoyed getting to know him better; I now understand his way of thinking, as well as what he went through. What he's still going through. And of course, we also see how madly in love he is with Dez, which is absolutely adorable. The romance in Touch is one I highly enjoyed that has passion and substance. Untouched simply ascertains this by showing us Kale's candid feelings for her.

Novellas are always fun to bridge the gap while waiting for the next installment but aren't always important. Untouched has us delving into Kale's mind where we get to understand HIS world, thus it does have considerable character development that makes it a highly recommended read for fans of the series. Even if you don't usually read novellas, if you want to have a bigger grip on this complex character, don't skip on this one!

4 Hot Espressos
 
The Denazen series:
Have a look at what I thought of book 1:
Click here for my review of Touch!

Have you entered to win a copy of either Touch or Untouched?
Click here!

Fresh Batch (April 22nd - 28th)

Exclusively titled for Xpresso Reads, Fresh Batch features the hottest releases of this upcoming week.

Flavor of the week:
Siege
Rhiannon Frater
Series: As the World Dies: A Zombie Trilogy, #3
Release date: April 24th, 2012
by Tor Books

Goodreads / Purchase
The zombie illness has shattered civilization. The survivors who have found tenuous safety in Texas defend their fort against the walking dead and living bandits.

Katie has made peace with the death of her wife and is pregnant and married to Travis, who has been elected Mayor. Jenni, her stepson, Jason; and Juan—Travis’s righthand man—are a happy family, though Jenni suffers from PTSD. Both women are deadly zombie killers. In Siege, the people of Ashley Oaks are stunned to discover that the vice president of the United States is alive and commanding the remnants of the US military. What’s left of the US government has plans for this group of determined survivors.
Make sure to drop by the blog on Monday for the Siege blog tour!

As The World Dies: A Zombie Trilogy:

Want to read my thoughts on the previous books?

Rhiannon Frater is the award-winning author of the As the World Dies trilogy (The First Days, Fighting to Survive, Siege,) and the author of three other books: the vampire novels Pretty When She Dies and The Tale of the Vampire Bride and the young-adult zombie novel The Living Dead Boy and the Zombie Hunters. Inspired to independently produce her work from the urging of her fans, she published The First Days in late 2008 and quickly gathered a cult following. She won the Dead Letter Award back-to-back for both The First Days and Fighting to Survive, the former of which the Harrisburg Book Examiner called ‘one of the best zombie books of the decade.’ Rhiannon is currently represented by Hannah Gordon of the Foundry + Literary Media agency.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Giveaway - Revived by Cat Patrick (US/Can)

Revived
Cat Patrick
Release date: May 8th, 2012
by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Goodreads / Purchase
As a little girl, Daisy Appleby was killed in a school bus crash. Moments after the accident, she was brought back to life.

A secret government agency has developed a drug called Revive that can bring people back from the dead, and Daisy Appleby, a test subject, has been Revived five times in fifteen years. Daisy takes extraordinary risks, knowing that she can beat death, but each new death also means a new name, a new city, and a new life. When she meets Matt McKean, Daisy begins to question the moral implications of Revive, and as she discovers the agency’s true goals, she realizes she’s at the center of something much larger—and more sinister—than she ever imagined.

Guess what? One of these babies is for you!

To my surprise, I have received two beautiful finished copies of Revived by Cat Patrick in the mail. And since I'm already struggling for space on my bookshelf I'm not gonna be selfish and keep both ;) I've decided to give back to my lovely readers for being so awesome and supportive! Thanks to Hachette Book Group Canada for the extra copy!

Sadly this is open to US/Can addresses only. I've got another giveaway next week (another extra copy) for an awesome ARC that I want to have open to everyone and I can't afford both. But you will LOVE it! So stay tuned! In the meantime - go enter my 2000 followers giveaway that ends in a few days!

Until Next Time Tour Stop

Hi guys! Today I've got Amy Lignor dropping by for her blog tour to talk to us about who she would pick to play the roles of her characters if it ever goes on screen.

Until Next Time
Amy Lignor
Series: The Angel Chronicles, #1
Release date: February 1st 2012
by Tribute Books

Goodreads / Purchase
How does a girl choose between the one who steals her heart and the one who owns her soul?

Matt and Emily were created for a specific job. Raised and trained as the ultimate angel/warrior team, they are sent down to save, defend, judge and forgive, depending on the 'life' they've been assigned. What they don't realize is that the power of human emotions, such as love, anger, passion and fear can take over even the best of souls, causing them to make mistakes and follow paths that lead to confusion and heartache.

When the reason for their training is finally revealed, the angel/warrior team find themselves thrust into a world they know nothing about. Matt takes over the life of Daniel, a young man with a great deal of baggage. Emily becomes Liz, a girl living in a remote village who relies on nothing more than her own strength to survive. A violent storm erupts one night, and framed in the window of Liz's establishment is a frightening face. Let in by the soul of a Good Samaritan, the two visitors bring with them a past full of secrets that could literally change an angel's path and a warrior's plans.

From murder to redemption, this angel/warrior team must find a way to keep the faith they have in each other in a world that's ripping them apart.

Guest post with Amy Lignor
The ‘Angels’ in Lights!

When I think about seeing Matt and Emily up on the big screen I always make sure to look into my dog’s eyes so he can roll them and bring me back to reality :), although that is a killer dream.
I have to say this is the most difficult question thus far that I’ve been asked because I actually want the girl who is on the cover of Until Next Time.  But unless one of the graphic artists at the publishing company also moonlights as Dr. Frankenstein, I suppose that’s out.

Callan McAuliffe as Matt

There are many out there who automatically would shout out that Taylor Lautner should be Matt, my warrior.  Problem is, I need his muscles, Shia Labeouf’s sense of humor, the startlingly blue eyes that Daniel Radcliffe owns, and dirty-blond hair.  And they do have to be the right age.  I just can’t have a twenty-four-year-old play a seventeen-year-old.  As things stand in the industry right now, Callan McAuliffe would be my choice for Matt.  I say this because of his acting ability as well as the long, lean form he has.  I’ve seen him look into the camera and laugh, tear up, stay strong, get angry - so he most definitely has the acting chops to carry Matt off. And he has that innocent face still that looks unharmed by the rest of the world.  I’m looking forward to his turn as young Gatsby in the film adaptation of The Great Gatsby that‘s coming in our future.  This, I believe, will really show his range.  He’s truly a face to watch, and being from Australia he adds that little added-extra kick of the ‘unknown foreigner’ factor.

India Eisley as Emily

The female is even more difficult; I wish that Emma Stone could be ten years younger.  I need Emily to be able to come across with so many emotions.  She needs that anger (without a pout, preferably), and she needs to be able to roll her eyes and fall very hard in love, almost at the same time.  The actresses in the age range are lean.  I like Nina Dobrev and Abigail Breslin, but I would have to go with India Eisley.  (The Secret Life of the American Teenager).

She will need those emerald green contacts, but she has the innocent face - like McAuliffe - that would really show the viewer she’s having a very hard time with all these human emotions, but still seem believable and strong to her soul mate.  And now that India has experienced the Underworld, she should be allowed to come from somewhere a little higher up :).


Keifer Sutherland as Mike
For the older readers, I have to add this one thing.  Mike and Gabe are the teachers, the fire starters, friends, fathers, mentors, etc., so I have to say that Keifer Sutherland and Johnny Depp get those jobs hand down.  Certain types of ‘cool’ do NOT go out of style!
Johnny Depp as Gabe















Daniel Radcliffe as
"mysterious love interest"

And there is a love interest in this one that Dan Radcliffe would be perfect for!  I hope I’ll see all of you at the movie!











Until Next Time, Everybody.
Amy


You had me at Johnny Depp! Thanks so much Amy for dropping by the blog. I would definitely be watching this movie! :)

Amy Lignor began her career at Grey House Publishing in northwest Connecticut where she was the Editor-in-Chief of numerous educational and business directories.

Now she is a published author of several works of fiction. The Billy the Kid historical The Heart of a Legend; the thriller, Mind Made; and the adventure novel, Tallent & Lowery 13. She is also the owner of The Write Companion, a company that offers help and support to writers through a full range of editorial services from proofreading and copyediting to ghostwriting and research. As the daughter of a research librarian, she is also an active book reviewer. Currently, she lives with her daughter, mother and a rambunctious German Shepherd named Reuben, in the beautiful state of New Mexico.

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