Seiyuu Kaa Manga Review

Author: Maki Minami

Artist: Maki Minami

Genra: Comedy, Drama, Gender Bender, Romance,
School Life, Shoujo, Slice of Life    

Year: 2009

Original Publisher:

Hakusensha

Volumes: 

  12 Volumes (Complete)

 Licensed (in English)

Yes
English Publisher

VIZ

Summary
Kino Hime is a 15 year-old girl who just started her first year in a high school for voice actors (Seiyuu) called Hiiragi Academy. She dreams of becoming the voice of the main character in one of the most popular series in Japan, "Magic Fighter Lovely Blazers". The academy is the number one school which allows students to make their voice acting debuts and also includes other departments such as general education, sports, music, acting, and art.

Of course this Academy is full of celebrities, too. Two of Hime's upperclassmen are none other than the two rising idols of the group "Idol Unit AQUA".

But Hime's dream is hard to fulfill. Her voice is not really suitable for a voice actress and her new classmate Kudou Senri doesn't waste time in pointing that out. Will Hime prove everybody, especially Senri, what she is capable of despite the first appearance?

Review
The ending is not what I expected from this series, it was to fast. It left to many questions left unanswered and to many plotlines unfinished. Besides the disappointing ending this story was just so good. I loved every moment of it. 

Yes the story centers around a girl who is in school for voice acting. Only problem is when she tries hard her voice comes out very bad. I wonder how she would have been able to become a voice actor in the first place with out the help of a boy who is in a singer group. Even then she can only make male voices, now if you ask me if she ever was able to make female voices I don't know. The mangaka probably got bored with this manga and decided to let everyone guess how she made her dreams come true, because being a female voice actor and a male voice actor is two different things. I would have perferd if the mangaka had continue this manga but sadly she didn't. 

Kino is a cute girl and tries hard even though her mother hates her. Her reason for the hate is so small i believe the author didn't want to put detail into it, since we find out the reason in the very LAST chapter. Besides that Kino is strong and even with her crush on Kudou Senri and hiding it from him as well as the fact that she disguise herself as a boy for most of the manga. Each character Kino meets she helps in some way like Kudou showing him that it's okay for him to make friends. I believe if he hadn't met Kino he would still believe he has no soul and he's just a empty shell. 

Design


So much detail put in all the characters, at first I didn't like the design of Kino but she grew on me over time. Each character is different and you can see their expressions so well in the way the mangaka drew them. Also the background detail is good in this manga as well. The art work is great and I do recommend reading this series even if the manga didn't end on a good type of ending.

The white hair boy in this panel is actually Kino in disguise. You will find out why if you read this manga. The black hair boy is Kudou.

 
Rating
3.5 out of 5 Howling Wolves
     .5

It would have been a better rating if the mangaka didn't leave so many things unanswered.

Shifty Business Book Tour!! Promo!

Shifty Business
(The Bend-Bite-Shift Trilogy #3)
Author: Olivia HardinISBN: 1481225324
ASIN: B00AM0P1PC
Release Date: January 20th 2013
Genre: Paranormal Romance

 

Amazon  BN   Smashwords

Summary
Gerry Hinton thought she had the perfect career as an operative for the Company. Her next assignment should have been another "mission accomplished", but hell was delivering hand baskets that day.

When a little girl gives a mysterious silver box to Gerry, her world self-destructs. Suddenly under constant mental attacks, the only person who can save her is her partner, Nicky--but nothing comes without a cost. Secrets buried deep in the past begin to rise, threatening everything she holds dear.

Excerpt 6

A few paces and he stopped a moment to admire the airplane waiting for them on the ramp. It was an older model Cessna 172, not painted white as most planes were but sporting its original polished silver skin. The accent stripes were gold and resembled what Nicky had seen in old aviation books. LaGrone hadn’t said, but he knew it was probably a late 1950s model because it had the straight tail feature that phased out of that model just a year or so into the ‘60s.

Gerry touched his shoulder to get his attention. “What’s wrong?”

He laughed at his own sentimentality and shook his head. “Nothing. She’s just a beautiful plane is all.”

LaGrone told him he’d done a walk-around inspection for him already, but there were some things Nicky didn’t compromise on. He sensed Gerry watching him as he started at the nose and worked his way around the entire plane, examining the prop, the wings, the tail and other mechanical workings before opening the door to get inside.

He took several moments to familiarize himself with the gauges and knobs in the cockpit, then hooked up the GPS. After connecting the two sets of headphones – provided by LaGrone for another extra fee – he turned to hand a pair to Gerry. He noticed she had buckled her seatbelt and harness so tightly that it looked like the straps would sever her into pieces.

He reached across to loosen them so she would be allowed to breath, then he helped her place the headphones on her head. Pulling the master switch to power up the electronics, he adjusted the mic on his headphones and turned to her. “Can you hear me?”

She just nodded, her face pale and her eyes wide.

“Baby, I need you to answer me so I’ll know your mic works.”

Her hand flew to the arm of the microphone extending from the headphones and she pulled it to her mouth. “Okay?”

“Yeah,” he grinned, patting her knee. “Okay. I hear you loud and clear.”

Turning his mouth toward the pilot-side door, he lowered his mic and called out “Clear prop!” to warn any people in the vicinity that he was about to start the engine.

Author

When Olivia Hardin began having strange movie-like dreams in her teens, she had no choice but to begin putting them to paper.  Before long the writing bug had her and she knew she wanted to be a published author.  Several rejections plus a little bit of life later, and she was temporarily “cured” of the urge to write.  That is until she met a group of talented and fabulous writers who gave her the direction and encouragement she needed to get lost in the words again.

Olivia’s attended three different universities over the years.  She toyed with majors in Computer Technology, English, History and Geology until one day she heard the term road scholar and she knew that was what she wanted to be.  Now she “studies” anything and everything just for the joy of learning.   She's also an insatiable crafter who only completes about 1 out of 5 projects, a jogger who hates to run, and she’s sometimes accused of being artistic.

A native Texas girl, Olivia lives in the beautiful Lone Star state with her husband, Danny and their puppy, Bonnie.

Connect with Olivia and Get information about releases, contests, news and more here:

http://booksbyolivia.com

http://oliviahardinwriter.com  

http://twitter.com/oliviaH_writer

http://www.facebook.com/oliviahardin

The Lost Immortals Saga Book Tour Review and Giveaway!

When Silver Moon Rise(The Lost Immortal #2)
Author: KaSonndra LeighISBN: 1482000121 (ISBN13: 9781482000122)
Release Date: January 20th 2013
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian
Paranormal Romance, Fantasy
Series: Lost Immortals #2  

 

Summary
Facing an unstable future, Chela Prizeon leaves Castle Hayne and crosses over to enemy territory in pursuit of Faris--the boy of royal blood who is cursed by a bitter rival. But soon Chela learns that he has been taken deep into the treacherous frozen prisons--a majestic, but deadly place where people enter and are never seen again. To find the boy she loves, Chela must join forces with one of her greatest enemies. And even though she pulls strength from the good in her powers, she finds herself drawn to the dark side's temptation as well.

Narrated from both Chela's and Faris's point of view, this enchanting sequel to When Copper Suns Fall will take them on a voyage into unknown lands, where the dark, twisted, and revengeful wait to make this their most dangerous journey ever.

Please Note: This book contains mature content including profanity, drug/alcohol use, and sexual situations/language.

Review

Where do I start with this awesome second book to the “Lost Immortals” series? It had action, some twists and turns and I started to like a person I never thought I would like. Damn Seth for having a good side with his bad boy attitude!

The author knows how to write her plots. I loved every moment of it and I wasn’t bored not once throughout this story. While Chela is in search for Faris, things happen which cause her to split up with her friends. When she gets into trouble, she's saved unexpectedly by Seth. Hello! Seth actually saving someone! Faris is trapped, and while he’s tormented you get to read about his past. You learn more about his sister Asa and even more about Seth. The past explains also how the three of them first get their curses. What makes this book even more interesting is the fact that now people with angel in them, which are being captured and drained of their blood. This makes it a lot worse for our gang and hoping everyone turns out find in the end is what you hope for till the very end of this book.

Chela is just as strong as ever. She never backs down from a fight, and she always stands up for herself and what she believes in. Even when she doesn’t want to stand up for someone, she does it anyways because it’s the right thing to do. We don’t see much of her powers in this book, but by the end of the book something happens and she gets a all new strange power. What surprises me most is her reaction towards Seth. Sure she’s weary of him, but that doesn’t last long and I feel that there is something between the two. I know that she loves Faris, but I just don’t know with how this book will end. Chela’s mind is a mystery and I do hope it gets more interesting in the next few books.

Don’t mind me if I say that Seth has gotten so much more appealing in this book then in the last. He has a bad boy attitude, willing to hurt people without caring. This book shows his his more intimate moments and other emotions. Chela is the one that brings this positivity from him. What I would give to be with a guy like him and calm his damage heart. I always end up falling for the second guy of any book and I can’t wait to see more of his and Chela’s adventure together, with Faris in the mix!

Faris spent most of his time in this book locked up. I couldn’t believe how strong he is. His strength comes from wanting to reunite with Chela, and I think this is romantic. I still don’t understand why he’s so scared of his beast self. Twice now he has turned into his beast form around Chela and NOT ONCE HAS HE HURT HER. Sure, she’s standing right there and could have told him that, but in this rare moment of her not asserting her views, he continues to think his beast form is bad. If anything, I just want to go up to him in his beast form and lay against him petting him. That’s how cute I find him, not scary in my eyes at all.

Rating
4 out of 5 Howling Wolves

Giveaway

Okay, now on to the giveaway! There will be two winners for the entire tour (One Domestic and One International) along with the bloggers who have the winning entry. Here are the details on the prizes!

1) Signed copies of Dark Seraphine and Lost Immortals Book One! (Domestic winner only)

2) Ebook Copies of Dark Seraphine, Lost Immortals, Silver Moons, and Morbid Seraphic to both the Domestic & International winners.

3) $15.00 gift card for each winner

4) Surprise gifts for the blogger(s) who has the winning entry.

5) Digital music from the Glitch Mob 

-OR-

Lisa Gerrard's Silver Tree

USA Only Giveaway a Rafflecopter giveaway

International Giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Darkmoon by SM Reine Review

Darkmoon

(Seasons of the Moon - Cain Saga #5)
Author: SM Reine
ASIN: B00B0H3CB6
Release Date: January 19th 2013
Genre: Young Adult,
Paranormal, RomanceSeries:Seasons of the Moon: Cain Chronicles #5   

 

Summary
Rylie Gresham has survived becoming a werewolf, going crazy from silver poisoning, and being hunted by her fiance's family. But that was nothing compared to the challenge Rylie faces now: being pregnant...with twins. And it definitely doesn't help that her fiance's brother has declared himself the father, either.

The brothers, Seth and Abel, are at each other's throat over Rylie, even as the twins are fast approaching term. But it may be too late for all of them. The government has revealed the existence of werewolves, threatening everything that Rylie holds dear. And the evil werewolf Cain is preparing for his final act of revenge: destroying the pack and stealing Rylie's children.

Review

Where to begin with this awesome ending to the series. I just couldn’t stop reading it, and I loved every moment of this book. S.M. Reine knows how to make people love her werewolves. The ending was a total shocker, and I never saw it coming. At least it is a (sorta) happy ending.


The setting, of course, took place at the Gashham ranch, where it was a werewolf sanctuary for a while now.


The plot was amazing, and I’m glad the author decide to make this volume the longest one, instead of four parts. It made me enjoy the book all that much more. Rylie is becoming more pregnant by the day, and she’s only 19. Not only that, but the government has begun a crack down on demons, angels and Werewolves, no longer treating them like normal beings. Who, may you ask, is behind this? Well, none other then Cain, the half brother of Abel and Seth. If that’s not stressful enough for Rylie, there is the added bonus of having to make her final decision on who she wants to be with, because of course she can’t have both brothers. We also get to meet a few new characters who help Rylie and the pack. It left me guessing about who they really are, and wanting to learn more about them.


Rylie has grown over the time between 'The Cain Saga' and the 'Season of the Moon' series. She grown from a normal teenage girl, to a werewolf, to the 19-year-old Alpha of a pack, and now a soon to be mother. She is strong and brave, and in this book you kind of see a side to her which you haven’t seen since she was a human. That is her scared side. Scared of what’s going to happen when she gives birth. Although, any first time mom, especialy a young mom, would be scary for anyone. With her being pregnant, she can’t deal with normal pack stuff, like acting like an Alpha. The stress for her would be too much. She is told to let someone else handle the pack, and I don't blame her at all for being angry at the order. She finally picks a brother, which I'm glad about, but come on! She dragged those two along for almost the whole 'Cain Saga'. I wanted to slap her and tell her pick already, and stop leading them by the chain (dog joke for werewolves haha!).


Seth gave me one surprise after another. First, I find out he isn’t all what I pictured him to be. Second, how stupid can you get for thinking everything would be fine in your relationship, only coming home once in a while and only staying in the bedroom with your girlfriend. Third, you so had it coming with your brother wanting to snatch your girlfriend away. Besides all that, he is really a great character. He too has grown since I’ve read about him in the 'Season of the Moon' series. He has become a better hunter, and even found a new liking for the werewolves. He also has a kind heart, so when it was time for him to choose between Rylie being with him, or letting her make her own choices, he let her make her own choice. I was happy with which ever choice she made. All in all, a great guy, and hopefully he has a happy ending soon.


Abel is a great character and I’ve grown to like him a lot more in 'The Cain Saga' then in the 'Season of the Moon' series. He has more of a role in this series too, being a wolf and Alpha. Abel is tough when he needs to be, and despite being an Alpha, he tends to be alone most of the time. He is also a very nervous type of father. It was funny when I read how he freaked out, not knowing what to do when Rylie started having contractions, and he ran off wanting to get help right away. He got help, but it left him feeling bad about leaving Rylie. He was about to let her go, which pissed me off. If I could, I would tell him to fight for her and forget about your mistakes, because they’re nothing if you love her enough. I almost freaked out at the end, when I thought the worst. I’m glad Rylie was there for him.


Levi caught my attention a while back when (SPOILER!!), I found out he was gay. I had always thought of him as a kind, quiet werewolf. He's proved that he’s far from it. All throughout 'The Cain Saga', he has been after Rylie’s pack, wanting to own it. I can see why, when the one person he loved had to leave because he had to care for another werewolf who was in trouble. That was no reason to treat so many pack members badly though. He tries to get back together with Tate, after finally meeting him after all this time. I was all for Levi and Tate getting back together, though I hated how dimwitted Tate turn out to be. Tate ended up going something bad, that effected the entire pack, and he thought that everything would turn out fine. I hope that Levi can have his own short story, maybe his own spin-off series. (Hint, hint).

Rating
5 out of 5 Howling Wolves

Kodoku na Tonakai Manga Review

Author: Saori

Artist: Saori

Genra: Romance, Shoujo,
Supernatural  

Year: 2012

Original Publisher:

Shueisha

Volumes: 

  1 Volumes (Complete)

 Licensed (in English)

No
English Publisher

Summary

A short story of a reindeer who becomes human in order to find the boy who called her "pretty" five years ago.

Review
Very cute manga I enjoyed reading this very much.

They never really call her by her name but she is called Sempi by a newbi santa clause. She really is a nave girl but then she wasn't really a human girl to start with she's a reindeer. She has been wishing for so long to meet a boy who had called her pretty 5 years ago that the first boy she meets she automattically thinks it's Inoue. Don't worry the real Inoue appears and helps her stop crying.

Short but very sweet and cute story that I wished was much longer then it really is.

Design
This mangaka style of artwork reminds me a bit of another's author's work. Though she has her own uniqueness added to this style. Yes this is the girl and she does have weird hairstyle only because she's hiding her antlers. The mangaka does put detail in her characters and background which makes it eye catching enough to want you to read this manga. I believe I shall check out this mangaka's other work.

Rating
3 out of 5 Howling Wolves

Winter Eve Review Tour

Winter Eve
(Ashwood Falls, Prequel )
Author: Lia Davis
Release Date:  December 18th 2012
ISBN: 1623220165
(ISBN13: 9781623220167)
Genre: Romance,
Paranormal, Fantasy
Series: Ashwood Falls 0.5


  

  

 

Summary
There comes a time when setting your differences aside isn’t just necessary, it’s a means of survival. After losing over half of their dens to a group rogue shifters, the wolves and leopards merged as one Pack, but living together is much more of a challenge then they expected.

Danica Welsh was born to be the leopard pack healer. An accident involving a drug induced youth left her badly burned and scared—emotionally and physically. Without the ability to heal by touch, she secludes herself to the edge of town, away from Ashwood Falls’ overly concerned citizens. All hope of mating and family become a distance dream. When she finally starts to accepts the long, lonely existence ahead of her, a stranger crashes into her life, and her heart.

After Nevan Mathews’ fiancé died three ago, he submerged himself into his work, cutting off all reminders of a life he dreamed of with the woman he loved. He lets his step-mother talk him into taking the first vacation in five years to visit for the holidays. But an accident delays his travel plans, sending him to Danica’s doorstep and raises a need he thought he would never feel again.
Can they tear down the walls around their hearts and submit to the passion before another claims Dani for his own?

Warning: Contains a shifter who's scars run deeper than skin, a human who has the heart of a shifter, and a snow storm that's sure to have them both reaching for warmth.

Review

My final thought was, “THAT’S IT!” I wanted this to be longer, but being a prequel, I can see why it would short. It ended very suddenly though. One minute I was in the middle of reading, and the next it just ended. If you didn't know any better, you'd think that a chapter was missing. It's not a writing technique I like, so I hope gaps are filled in the next book

"Winter Eve" takes place in Ashwood Falls. I can say this for sure, this is an interesting plot for shape shifters. The book features a human town where a pack of two different shifters live together. The reason is because of something that happen about 200 years ago. I wish there was more depth of this part of the story, but I’m just going to hope there will be more of this in the first book of the series. It seems weird, to have a prequel that gives little details about the past. The way the author writes about the characters is great and detailed, especially with their painful pasts. I did find one point of this story useless; Jared (a shifter) was after Danica, and he saw how much Danica and Naven loved each other, but still challenged Naven for Danica. To me, this felt like pointless filler, and it would have been better filled with details about the people who attacked the shifters 200 years ago. I guess this was meant to show who Jared really was as a person. I found the ending to be weak, but I did enjoy it, and I want to read the next book in this series.

Danica is both strong and weak as a character. She stands up for herself when it comes to her love for Naven, but she doesn't like the way she looks. She doesn't want to show anyone, nor does she want to see people's pity towards her. I can see why she wants to hide, but she is a shifter. I would expect  her to lift her head and take it. When she meets Naven, she begins to change, and it’s really sweet.  I wish there was more of her story, but I was happy with this.

Naven is a human, but there is a twist to him being a human. His family isn’t normal, and he can feel the feelings of people. His depth of character is interesting, and how he stands up to people who are a lot stronger then him, all for love. He doesn’t let him being human slow him down.

The romance in this book is a bit fast, so it disappointed me a bit, but it wasn’t totally bad. They fell for each other fast, but I found the love triangle to be useless. I can see how Nevan and Danica fell for each other right away, but it would have been a lot better if it was slower. As a prequel book, it was alright.

Rating
3 out of 5 Howling Wolves

Author

Lia Davis is a mother to two young adults and two very special kitties, a wife to her soul mate, a paranormal romance author, graphic designer, and co-owner to Fated Desires Publishing, LLC. She and her family live in Northeast Florida battling hurricanes and very humid summers. But it’s her home and she loves it!

An accounting major, Lia has always been a dreamer with a very activity imagination. The wheels in her head never stop. She ventured into the world of writing and publishing in 2008 and loves it more than she imagined. Writing and designing are stress relievers that allow her to go off in her corner of the house and enter into another world that she created, leaving real life where it belongs.

Her favorite things are spending time with family, traveling, reading, writing, chocolate, coffee, nature and hanging out with her kitties.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | G+ | Amazon author page |

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Dominion Book Tour Excerpt!

 

Dominion

Author: Melody Manful

ISBN: 0615739458

ISBN13: 9780615739458

Release Date: February 16th 2013
Genre: Young Adult, Romance,
Paranormal, Fantasy
Series: Guardian Angels #1

 

 

 

   

 

Summary
I Dare You.
Look Over Your Shoulders.
Do You See Them?
They are behind you...
They are always behind you.

Abigail Cells had a nightmare the day before she met Gideon, the new guy in school who has every girl drooling just to be near him. In her nightmare, she was murdered by a magical creature. As she gets to know Gideon, she begins to remember pieces of her nightmare, and was shocked when Gideon turned out to be the creature from her nightmare. Who is Gideon really? Should Abby allow herself to fall completely for him, or is he the next disaster waiting to happen?

Excerpt

“I’m going to divide you into groups for our Titanic memorabilia speech, which if you all remember, is this week.” Mr. Bernard said. “Speeches are due before the week is over.”

One of the students murmured, “Oh, no.”

“Mr. Silas, you and Miss Cells will be group one,” Mr. Bernard said, looking at Tristan and me. “Miss Tate, you and Mr. Duran are—” Mr. Bernard was interrupted by the sound of the door as it busted open. Everyone looked toward the noise.

Standing in the doorway was the guy I bumped into. The moment I saw him, my heart dropped. I prayed he was lost and wasn’t in our class. Frankly, I didn’t understand my uneasiness upon seeing him. He gave me bad vibes.

“You must be Mr. Chase,” Mr. Bernard said, and the boy walked toward him.

“I am,” he answered. He looked around the classroom, and his gaze stopped on Tristan.

To my surprise, Tristan looked like he knew the boy because he gave him a half-hearted smile.

“You’re late,” Mr. Bernard said, and the boy looked at the clock on the wall.

“I was actually here before the bell rang.” His eyes moved to mine. “Miss Cells can vouch for me.” I froze at the mention of my name. I wondered how he knew my name, but then I remembered I was known pretty much everywhere—the price of being famous. “She bumped into me and ran off.”

Someone please shoot me now. A few people chuckled. Jake cast a backward glance at me and grinned.

“You’re excused this time, Mr. Chase. Find a seat. I’ll assign you to a group.”

“Mr. Chase can join Jake and me,” Danny volunteered. I wasn’t surprised.

“It’s Gideon,” the boy said. “Gideon Chase.”

“What?” I blurted out in surprise at the mention of his name, and then all eyes turned to me.

Gideon? His name was actually Gideon? Why Gideon?

“Miss Cells, are you all right?” My outburst had obviously startled Mr. Bernard. Gideon stood beside him, confused, but the moment his eyes met mine, he smiled as if he knew why I was scared.

“I—I’m sorry, I didn’t—” I looked down in humiliation.

Maybe it was just a coincidence. This guy couldn’t be the same Gideon from my nightmare.

“Well,” Mr. Bernard continued, “take a seat, Mr. Chase.”

My first impression of Gideon was that he was hot.

My second impression of him was dangerous.

My third impression of him was murderer, because if he was anything like the guy from my nightmare, he was going to kill me.

Author

 

Melody Manful was born on June 8, 1994, in a town in Ghana called Tema. She started writing at a very early age and has been doing it ever since. Melody has two siblings and lives in Denmark with her family. She loves music, reading, and writing, and she puts a great deal into making her friends happy.

www.melodymanful.com

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9747943-dominion

http://www.facebook.com/guardiananagelsaga

@melodymanful

a Rafflecopter giveaway