Defiance by Lilith St. Crow & Winner

The Strange Angels series is one of my favorite series that I am currently reading. I hate that I have to wait so long between books because I really enjoy the story line and the characters. Here’s the description of the latest installment from Amazon.com:

Now that sixteen-year-old Dru's worst fears have come true and Sergej has kidnapped her best friend Graves, she'll have to go on a suicidal rescue mission to bring him back in one piece.

That is, if she can put all of Christophe's training to good use, defeat her mother's traitor, Anna, once and for all, and manage to survive another day. . .

Dru is an incredible female lead. I think she is by far one of the most interesting characters because of her vulnerability and her brutal honesty. In one moment she is extremely strong and will risk anything and in another instance she is incredibly vulnerable and open. Her character continues to be dynamic in the stories.

The love triangle in this book only gets more confusing. I am still trying to figure what is up with the apple pie smelling Christophe and who Dru would be better off with. Graves is absent for the most part in this book since he has been kidnapped so we get to see a lot more of Christophe. Sometimes it seems like he is a perfect fit for Dru and at other times it seems that he keeps too much from her.

I wish I had seen more of Ash in this book. There are only a few scenes with Ash in it and I find his character really interesting. In fact there are some really big surprises with him. That’s probably the only criticism that I have about this book. I really want to see more of Ash in the upcoming books.

The plot to this book is the usual fast paced rollercoaster that Lilith always writes. There is a little less action as the book is centered around Graves kidnapping and Dru’s training. Most of the action that happens is between Dru and Christophe in her training. Overall I give the book a full 5/5.

Winner:


The winner of the Easter Blog Hop is Holly @ boudoirbooks.blogspot.com. Congrats!

Hoppy Easter Extravaganza

Happy Easter Everyone! In honor of a great holiday I will be doing a giveaway from April 20 - 25 with a bunch of lovely bloggers. This time I will be giving away a copy of Elixir.

You can find my review of it here

To Enter:

1. Leave a comment with your favorite Easter Candy

2. Open to US only

3. You must be a follower to win. Please enclose your follower name in your comment

The winner will be chosen using random.org

Happy Easter Everyone and check out the other awesome blogs that are participating!

The Friday Five (5)

1. There will be some blog silence over the next two weeks. I finally got my general exams and proposal scheduled and am preparing for both of them! I know I will be stressed later but right now I am just glad graduation is in sight! It looks like my general will be the Thurs after Easter and the proposal will follow right after that. I have been in school for waaay too long and am looking forward to completing my journey and getting my PhD.

2. My daughter is FINALLY walking! I'm so excited that soon she will have the hang of it good enough and I won't have to carry her everywhere :) Plus she is really adorable in all the dresses I can now put her in since they won't slow her crawling down. The down side is that she is into EVERYTHING! This of course gives me less time to read and do my reviews.

3. I am having a lot of difficulty picking my next review book. It seems many of the books that I have been waiting on are coming out on May 3 which is now so close. I just can't bring myself to find any new books because I am so excited about the ones that are already coming out. Tues. the next book in the Strange Angels series comes out and that will likely be my next review since I love that series. I am just use to reading a book a day and have nothing to read in between. That might be a good thing since I should be working on my general exam. ...

4.  It's the school fair weekend for my work. I severely dislike this weekend. Working all weekend outside until 10 at night or later is not my idea of fun. I would much rather be home with my kids and carting them all over the place for various activities. In the meantime, however, I will have to resign myself to working the video game booth to benefit my son and my math club's booth.

5. I think there is a good chance that I have become anemic. I seem to be abnormally cold, bruising easy and extremely tired. I am going to go hunting for a good vitamin today. I was wondering if anyone had a good multi-vitamin suggestion? I tend to get sick from taking vitamins so I usually stick to a children's one but that has not solved my problem. I think I need something a bit stronger for a while. If anyone has a vitamin they like let me know in the comments!

Inspiration on Monday (4)

Today I am inspired by my marriage. Yesterday me and my husband celebrated our 7 year anniversary. This is a big deal for us because we chose to get married really young by today's standards. I was 20 and he was 22. Then we had a kid 10 months later. So many people thought our marriage wouldn't work out because we were so young and had the added stress of a child. After making it through seven years we have pretty much defied the divorce statistics for people our age. Not to mention, we have another beautiful 13 month old girl and I am about to finish graduate school with my PhD. I don't mean this to brag, I mean it to be inspiring to anyone else in a similar situation. Just because things don't work out for everyone doesn't mean that they won't work out for you. Only you know what is right for yourself. Our marriage is certainly in the minority to have survived this long and have as many strains put on it with our young age and kids. It has certainly not been an easy 7 years because all relationships are work. However, I wouldn't trade any of it or do anything differently. I hope someone finds some inspiration from this :)

Elixir by Hilary Duff

I picked up a copy of Elixir through the Amazon Vine program. I was really curious to see how good of an author Hilary Duff turned out to be. Here’s the description from Amazon:

Clea Raymond, 17, lives a charmed life. She travels the world with her best friend, Rayna, partying in countries near and far. Her mother is kept busy by her work as a United States Senator, but she loves her daughter with all her heart. And Clea has a cute guy trailing her every move–her bodyguard/voice of reason, Ben. Everything would be just perfect, except for the fact that her beloved father, a world-renowned surgeon, has gone missing while on a humanitarian mission in Rio. She can't stop thinking about him and his disappearance, and one night she stumbles onto something that might help her find him. Looking through photos she took on vacation, Clea notices a strange man who lurks in the background of every picture. Then, she starts having dreams about him. She's always a different woman in a different time period with him–and she always dies a brutal death. With the help of Ben, Clea travels to Rio to try and figure out the mystery behind her father's disappearance and the identity of the stranger in her pictures and her dreams. This entertaining book has a good mix of romance and suspense with a little reincarnation thrown in for good measure. Clea is caught up between the love she feels for the mystery man and the feelings she starts to have for Ben. Yet she soon figures out that there's more to this love triangle than she realizes.

I was pleasantly surprised by Hilary Duff as an author. Her strongest point was the romance in this book. The romance is brilliant between Clea, Ben and the mysterious stranger. She demonstrates a true understanding of friendship and love. In all honesty the friendship and love of this book is what makes it great.

The paranormal concept is almost distracting at times from the love story. I could almost have done without some of the paranormal events that happened because I really liked the simplicity of the love story.

As far as the characters go they are beautifully crafted to complement each other perfectly. Clea is a strong protagonist and demonstrates a lot of inner strength and poise for a young girl. Rayna is her perfect complement. She is the carefree laissez faire one. They keep each other in balance throughout the story.

I personally rooted some for Ben. I liked the way he had always cared for her. I know the whole soul mates concept should win out but really I kindda liked the idea of Clea and Ben. Although I went back a forth in the book a bit. Hilary makes you want both of the guys to be with her. I did find this different from other love triangles since I usually am for one guy or another. 

The main problem I had with this book is that I HATE the ending. I feel like an attempt was made at a cliffhanger but it seemed to go awry. It wasn’t left open enough to understand that it was going to be a series so I was really disappointed until I did some internet research and found out there is a sequel on the schedule. The ending does not work well in a stand alone book but doesn’t seem to segway into a sequel very well either. It seemed really closed to me.

Overall, I give the book a 3/5. I really can’t get over the way it ended. However, I will still pick up the next installment to see how things wind up and hopefully it will have a better closing note than this book.

The Friday Five (4)

      1. I am so excited about the new layout and design of the blog! I am so thankful to Tammy over at Visions Graphics Studio for coming up and designing the components. I finally feel like I have a great expression of who I am for my blog. You can find Tammy on facebook at www.facebook.com/visionsgraphicsstudio

          2. I am driving myself crazy waiting for several books to come out. I am stalking (not literally) Chloe Neill, Lilith St. Crow and several other authors, through the web, looking for sneak peaks or the first chapter of their upcoming books. Mid-April to early May there are two or three books that I would like to read. This is a small problem since it is also when my seniors are leaving and I will be busy getting their grades finalized. In fact I just counted. On May 3 there are six books that I have been waiting forever for that come out. I am going to keep my fingers crossed that some of them are available on Amazon Vine this month!

            

      3. I changed my major professor this week and am really excited about it. The move made sense for me since I was going to her more and more for help with my dissertation. So I’m really excited to meet with her next week and hopefully get my defense and all that scheduled so that I can graduate.

I am really excited to be judging the teen section of the summer reads competition. See the graphic in my sidebar. If you know of any great authors that have late spring/summer releases send them over to submit their book. I am hoping to discover some really great books through judging the contest. If you are a blogger interested in judging they may still be taking judges.

5. My 10 year reunion is close to being here. I am really excited to go and see all my old classmates. I am trying to get everything lined up so my kids are taken care of so that I can go. Since I went to a boarding school most of us keep up with each other on a regular basis and are simply excited to get to all be in one place. 

Winners

The winners of the A Dragon Forsaken & The Witches Lottery giveaway are:

Mandy Lum from Embrace your Oddities

Jadis from Juniper Grove

&

Alicia

Congrats to all the winners I hope you enjoy the goodies!

200 Follower Giveaway by Embrace you Oddities

Hey everyone! Mandy over at Embrace Your Oddities has a great giveaway going on. Click the button below to enter her 200 follower giveaway!


 

We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han

I was so excited to get an early copy of We’ll Always Have Summer! In fact, I was so excited because I didn’t even know that there would be a third book in the series. I read both the previous books through an Amazon recommendation and didn’t know there was a third one coming out until I received a copy. Here’s the description from Amazon:

Belly has only ever been in love with two boys, both with the last name Fisher. And after being with Jeremiah for the last two years, she's almost positive he is her soul mate. Almost. Conrad has not gotten over the mistake he made when he let Belly go even as Jeremiah has always known that Belly is the girl for him. So when Belly and Jeremiah decide to make things forever, Conrad realizes that it's now or never--tell Belly he loves her, or lose her for good.

Belly will have to confront her feelings for Jeremiah and Conrad and face a truth she has possibly always known: she will have to break one of their hearts.

This book speaks to me in an interesting way. I grew up close to two guys and I couldn’t imagine at that young of an age having to choose between them. Luckily for us it didn’t turn out where any of us wound up dating but I can see the potential for disaster in this book. I can also relate to Belly having these two guys and wanting to keep them to herself. My friends and I, didn’t go to the same school and our friends usually didn’t mesh.

Aside from identifying some with Belly, I love her character. She is strong and stubborn and yet very young and vulnerable. She struggles with her relationship but it doesn’t seem as angsty as other YA writing. I would liken the love story in this book to something similar to Sarah Dessen. If you enjoy her love stories you will like the story in this book.

I will admit that the first part was hard for me to get through because I was really upset with a twist that happened in Belly and Jeremiah’s relationship. However, it had a purpose and in the end I know it was part of the story. I just wasn’t so thrilled with the way that it seemed to work out.

I succeeded in not reading the end of the story. The whole book I was going back and forth with who she was going to wind up with. I actually didn’t figure it out until pretty close to the end and even then I wasn’t sure. This only added to the interesting part of the book.

I definitely give this book a 5/5. I think it is extremely good and will make a great summer read. It is a light romance and leans toward the older part of YA as Belly is now farther in college and so is Jeremiah. If you haven’t read this series you can find the first book The Summer I Turned Pretty on Amazon. 

Fool for Books Winner!

Congrats to Brenda Jean for winning a copy of Clarity from the Fool for Books Blog Hop! Stay posted for a really great Easter giveaway!

Guest Blog with Krystal Mclaughlin & Giveaway

I am really excited to be guest blogging for you all today.  Not only will it give me an opportunity to introduce you to the characters of my Enchanted Island Series, I am also going to share with you the adventure of self publishing, something that with the success of Amanda Hocking, has sort of been big entertainment news lately.  For any of you aspiring authors out there, or for any of you who just like to hear an interesting story, read on and I hope that you enjoy!

The Story:

I came up with the idea for The Witches Lottery before deciding it would become a series.  It has changed many times to become what it ultimately is today.  I don't want to give away too much, but I liked the idea of a world like ours, where you don't really know what your talents are going to be.  Unlike the real world, though, each witch must awaken to the talents inside of them.  In The Witches Lottery, you follow Sophia into a world of magic, deception, and power.  Along with her brother Drew, she is taken on a journey that will bring them heartache, strength, and ultimately a new family of interesting characters.  In A Dragon Forsaken, you are taken through an adventure with danger, surprises, and a whole lot of heat, while you see everything through Daphne's eyes.  Even in their world, Daphne is unique and essentially one of a kind, and although she has a tough exterior, she longs for a life where she can be normal.

The Series:

The Enchanted Island Series is ultimately going to be four books long.  Each one from a different characters perspective.  The next book, The Goblin's Daughter, will be seen from Gianna's eyes, while the fourth, The Warlock's Intuition, will close out the series through Drew.  Each character is different, with a variety of powers and emotions.  Each one deals with thier situations in a different way, giving the series a different feel than others like it.  The Goblin's Daughter should be out in the Fall of 2011, with The Warlock's Intuition out sometime early 2012.

My Self Publishing Experiences:

I finished work on The Witches Lottery in the summer of 2010.  I immediately sent out a few queries, and ultimately got a few rejections.  Deciding that maybe it was the paranoraml element that was out (because I read that in an agents blog) I began work on two very different books, both of them without the paranormal element that I love.  The first one, Personal Battles, is a book about young love centered around the harsh realities of military life.  The second, The Beat of a Heart, is an adult work of women's fiction that loosly followed my own experiences in life.  Although both were exciting with well thought out plots and emotionally driven characters, I couldn't get Daphne's story out of my mind long enough to complete them (although I do plan on finishing them one day!).  In December, I read an article about PubIt from Barnes and Noble.  Deciding that self publishing would give me what I have ultimately wanted, I took a deep breath, called my best friend Amber and asked her to create some cover art for me, and then put it up for sale.  For those of you who are curious about my 'ultimate goal', I'll share a secret with you...  It wasn't to make a ton of money.  It wasn't even to find a traditional publisher, although that would be amazing.  My 'ultimate goal' has always and will always be making people fall in the love with the characters and stories and I write.  I have a friend who reads my work chapter by chapter as I finish it.  Hearing her reaction to things is how I decide if I like a certain part of my story and if it is working.  I won't even tell her any of my plot because I want her to be just as surprised as any of you who have picked up my books.  After putting The Witches Lottery up for sale, I immediately began work on A Dragon Forsaken.  Each month since then has been full of interesting experiences, exciting reviews, and meeting amazing reviewers.  I have now not only found a way to get my books out there where people can find them, I have made a lot of wonderful friends along the way.

Upcoming Events:

For any news on upcoming events and release dates, please visit my website at: http://krystalmclaughlin.blogspot.com You can also visit me on Facebook and Twitter via my site.  Both of my books can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords with the print copies coming soon to Amazon.  The next work to be released is the first in my Atlantean War Series entitled The Relic which should be out early summer.

The Giveaway (International) April 1 - 5:

To win you must be a follower of Do Not Disturb My Books 

To enter simply post a comment with your email address, your follower name and whether you consider yourself a reader, writer or both. 


+1 for following Krystal's blog @ http://krystalmclaughlin.blogspot.com

Using random.org I will pick 3 lucky winners to receive a copy of Krystal's new book: A Dragon Forsaken and the first book in the series: The Witches Lottery!

Happy reading!