Going Under Series Tour - Shallow Review

Going Under
Author: Georgia Cates
ASIN: B009FC6242
Release Date: September 21st 2012
Format : Kindle
Genre: Young Adult, Romance,
Contemporary
Series: Going Under #2

Summary
Payton Archer's best friend, Claire, strives to be perfect in every way. Payton doesn't and this is her story.

Nick Hawke likes his car fast and his girls even faster. He blows through females quicker than his muscle car races down the "The Strip" in Collinsville and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Determined to avoid the devastation he has watched his father endure in the aftermath of his mother leaving, he believes there is no room in his life or his heart for a relationship lasting more than one night. He seeks happiness in things that won’t let him down...fast cars, adrenaline and one night stands. To his absolute dismay, all of that changes when he unexpectedly runs into an old friend and is introduced to Payton Archer, the first girl he ever wanted for more than one night. There’s only one catch...she is completely immune to him and his smooth talking ways.

Payton Archer is looking for what Claire has with Jessie, but she has given up on finding it...at least until she leaves for college in the Fall because she is certain that is where she will find the perfect guy to fit into her perfect world. She plans on Summer being nothing but three uneventful months of fun, but it turns out to be anything but ordinary when Payton is introduced to Nick Hawke, one of Jessie’s old Collinsville friends. She is shocked by her immediate and intense attraction for “Hawke” because nothing about him is what Payton is looking for. Sure, he’s hot and sexy but he comes from Collinsville and that is definitely not on her list of prerequisites. Everything about him makes Payton’s heart speed because he is exciting and dangerous, but his fast car and the dangerous chances he takes aren't what scares Payton the most...it’s the way Nick Hawke makes her feel every time he looks at her. Can Payton find that moment of total fearlessness and make the decision to leave the safe, shallow end of love to risk going under completely?

My Thoughts on the Book

 "Shallow" really drew me in, and exceeded my expectations. Though it might have to do with Hawke, the new bad boy of the book series. I was also excited to see that this book had an epilogue, as the first book, giving a better bridge for the reader. The writer has a talent for writing bad boy redemption stories.

This book centers around Claire’s friend Payton, and how she met Jessie’s Collinsville friend, Hawke (Nick). The writer leaves you wanting to read more about how they met and came together. You learn more about Payton’s parents and who they are, and you learn about Hawke’s past. Don’t worry, you still get to read about Claire and Jessie in this book, since they make a lot of appearances.

Overall, "Shallow" shows a great story development in the way that it shows how two different worlds can still be together. They strive to be together even when their family and friends tell them not to. He does what ever he can to make Payton happy, even if he has to change himself for her. He makes a promise to never hurt her, because she is the first girl he ever truly cares for. But his past quickly catches up to him, and his jealous ex-girlfriend appears to ruin their blossoming relationship.

Payton is as big as a smart mouth in this book as she was in the last. She is a someone who can stand her ground for what she wants in a guy, and knows when she found the right one. Hawke was everything she wanted in a guy (someone like Jessie), and she fell for him right away, even though at first she told herself she shouldn’t.

Hawke isn’t your normal teenage boy. He loves adrenaline junkie and what he does to get it is racing. That’s how he meets Payton. She was at one of his races. He's one of the few guys who really stands up to Payton and her smart mouth. His past is questionable at first, but after he meets Payton, he sees a reason to become the good boy.

I did find that their romance was a bit fast. At first, Payton tells him that she doesn't want to have sex, but then they end up having sex! It seems to send a bad message, that if you give up on your morals that you'll find Mr. Right. It does turn out alright in the end, and it made me feel a little better abut their fast romance. I did enjoy the moments when they kissed because it was sweet, and the ‘I love you’s’ at the right moments were cute.

If there is another book to this series sign me up, because I just love these bad boys.

Rating

5 out of 5 Howling Wolves

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Dazzle Release day Blitz

Dazzle
Author: Amber Garza
ISBN: 1479226033 (ISBN13: 9781479226030)
Publish: October 10th 2012
Pages: 354
Genre: YA Paranormal

Summary
Sixteen-year-old Delaney Scott possesses a special gift. Ever since she was a child she has known about her calling and the duty she’s expected to fulfill.
However, all Delaney wants is to be normal. That’s why she is drawn to Sam. He can offer her the life she’s always desired. Only Sam has secrets of his own.
Secrets that are deadly. Secrets that can change everything.

Advanced Praise for Dazzle:
A definite MUST read!! Amazing new series! - Alexia Purdy, author of Reign of Blood

Torn between the unconditional love of a lifelong friend and the intriguing allure of a bad boy, you won't know who to root for in Garza's new young adult series. But one thing is certain, you'll be rooting for a sequel! Megan Squires, author of Traced--The Outlier Chronicles (Coming September 2012)

Playlist for DAZZLE

Poison and Wine – The Civil Wars

The Tip of my Tongue – The Civil Wars

Hero – Skillet

Savior - Skillet

Safe and Sound – Taylor Swift

Seen a darkness – John Mark McMillan

Fallling – The Civil Wars

 

About the Author:

Amber Garza lives in California with her amazing husband, and two beautiful children. Amber has had a passion for writing since she was a little girl, making books out of notebook paper and staples. As an adult she has worked hard to make her dream of being a published a reality.

She is the author of Christian teen thrillers- the Prowl Trilogy, and the suspense novel, Engraved.

Dazzle is the first book in her new young adult paranormal romance series.

Author Blog http://www.ambergarza.wordpress.com/

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Derailed Book Tour Review and Giveaway!

 




Derailed
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy
 ISBN13  9781479209132
Release Date:  September 26^th 2012
Format: Ebook/Paperback

Genre: Contemporary, Romance, New Adult

Summary
When you're lost, sometimes the only place you can go is home.

Broken over the death of her fiancé, Molly leaves law school to return to her childhood home in North Carolina. Expecting to lay low until she can figure out what else to do with her life, she finds herself in the arms of her high school sweetheart, the boy who represents everything from the past she tried to leave behind.

Looking for an escape, she instead finds a way back to the girl she almost forgot existed and a future she never dreamed possible.

My Thoughts on the Book

I quite enjoyed this book, it had its moments where I thought it wouldn’t go anywhere but I kept reading and I did like how the plot was. This story makes me think this is like something that could happen in real life. That’s how contemporary this book was as I read it.

The plot of this story centers on a girl named Molly who just returned to the place where she grew up. She’s someone whose trying escape a tragedy that had happen in Boston. Returning back to her hometown though has its own bad memories but she could deal with those more then she could in the city. There she runs into her ex high school boy friend Ben.  It’s a great plot but a little to predictable in some cases, though in other cases it surprises you. The ending was sweet and it couldn’t have ended any better then that.

Molly is the main character of this story. She is not your average strong heroine type in most books out there. She has to many loses that are close to her, which made her depress and want to run away from it all. She ran away once from the small town she tried to leave and she ran away a second time in Boston where she thought she could make a life for herself. I am proud of her by the end of the book where Ben helps her realize that nothing was her fault. I also like that she decides to stay with Ben this time.

Ben is a really sweet guy who still has strong feelings for Molly even after five long years. What surprises me most about him was his jealousy. I do find jealousy in guys attractive but he just went a bit overboard with driving away. At least he came back when he was calm to talk things over with Molly. He loves taking care of Molly and he would do anything to make her happy. Ben also helps Molly realize that she wasn’t the cause for the deaths in her life.

This romance thing is all over the place, first it’s basically friends with benefits, then it’s friends with benefits exclusive meaning they only see each other no one else. We all know how they will end up but it takes so long for Molly to give in it’s frustrating at times. Though it does get better by the ending and it’s really sweet and adorable how they end up together.

Rating
3 out of 5 Howling Wolves

About the Author:

Alyssa Rose Ivy is a Young Adult and New Adult author who loves to weave stories with romance and a southern setting. Although raised in the New York area, she fell in love with the South after moving to New Orleans for college. After years as a perpetual student, she turned back to her creative side and decided to write. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and two young children, and she can usually be found with a cup of coffee in her hand.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads |

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Jikan Akima Jinbutsu Manga Review

Author: Miki Rinno

Artist: Miki Rinno
Genra: Drama, Horror, Josei,
Psychological, Yaoi 

Year: 2006

Original Publisher:

  Ichijinsha 

Volumes: 

1 Volume (Complete)

 Licensed (in English)

Summary (First Chapter Summary)
"There’s only one rule: don’t leave this apartment."

After his girlfriend was murdered, Takeshi brings the killer, Koichi, back to his apartment in order to carry out an unprecedented form of "revenge". By treating the man who he should hate gently, what does he hope to accomplish? And what is the actual result of carrying out his revenge? A unique book about an eccentric type of "Love".

My Thoughts on the Manga

First chapter is what the summary of this manga is about. I was confused, I didn’t understand why Takeshi brought his girlfriends killer back to his place. Then I started to realize what was going on and dreaded the ending to this chapter. Don’t read this story if you can’t handle things ending badly.

The second story is about a doctor who has a brother who can’t remember anything. He can’t store the memories so he forgets things right away because he’s stuck in the past. Nothing seem wrong with this manga at first until you learn why the younger brother is stuck in the past. I went crazy mad I couldn’t believe someone would do that to a child.

Takashi is a host who is in serious debt because he has lets women take advantage of him. When he moved into his new apartment he hears noises coming from next door. At first he thought it was two people saying they love each other but peaking in through a hole in the wall he releases it was only one person who was in love with himself. This story was sad from beginning to end. A person was so in love with himself that he couldn’t eat or drink much water. His reason fro this was because if he loved something he would only end up being hurt in the end. I’m glad in the end that Takashi saved him.

Design




Not really any difference in characters in this manga. Each character looks the same from the last chapters. I would have liked this authors design better if the characters has some differences in them but they don't. I don't mind the way it's drawn either I got use to it right away because I was focus so much on the story line to think of anything else.

Rating
3 out of 5 Howling Wolves

Fever Moon by Karen Marie Moning GN Review

Author: Karen Marie Moning

Artist: Al Rio and Cliff Richards
Genra: Paranormal, action, adventure

Year: 2012

Volumes: 

1 Volume (Complete)

English Publisher
Del Rey Books

Summary
An all-new Mac & Barrons story by #1 "New York Times" bestselling author Karen Marie Moning, marvelously adapted into a full-color graphic novel by writer David Lawrence and illustrator Al Rio 

In "Fever Moon, " we meet the most ancient and deadly Unseelie ever created, the Fear Dorcha. For eons, he's traveled worlds with the Unseelie king, leaving behind him a path of mutilation and destruction. Now he's hunting Dublin, and no one Mac loves is safe.

Dublin is a war zone. The walls between humans and Fae are down. A third of the world's population is dead and chaos reigns. Imprisoned over half a million years ago, the Unseelie are free and each one Mac meets is worse than the last. Human weapons don't stand a chance against them.

With a blood moon hanging low over the city, something dark and sinister begins to hunt the streets of Temple Bar, choosing its victims by targeting those closest to Mac. Armed only with the Spear of Destiny and Jericho Barrons, she must face her most terrifying enemy yet.

Review
It was interesting reading a new story from the fever series in a form of a graphic novel. We only meet the Fear Dorcha in the book series for a short while so to see Mac and Barrons defeat this interesting fea was great! It was great to read about Mac and Barrons again after I had a Fever Series marathon last year, reading all the books in the span of two months because I had to wait for the last book (Shadow Fever) to come out.

This graphic novel held my attention from beganing to end. Mac is still the same girl as ever protecting her close friends and running her mouth off at barrons. She is as strong as she was in the fever series books.

Barron's is the same with his fast temper and mean attitude. I still wonder how Mac can stay with him with the way he acts.

What disappointed me a bit with this graphic novel was the romance factor. There wasn't any at all, which I was looking forward to. This graphic novel would have gotten a higher rating if there was romance but the action and adventure to the book did bring it up not to mention the lovely drawing style.

Design
The drawings are so well done it really did surprise me. It gave off the comic book feel right away with the style. I was surprised to hear that two artist worked on this graphic novel. Al Rio and Cliff Richards, the reason for the two artists was because Al Rio died before he could finish this graphic novel so Cliff Richards took over. I couldn't tell the difference between the art work so Cliff Richards did a great job in sticking with the style of the Graphic Novel.

Rating
4 out of 5 Howling Wolves

Whisper's Edge Tour Promo post

 

 Whisper's Edge
(Whisper Walker Series – Book 2)
Author: London Cole
 ISBN13 9781479272365
Release Date: October 28th 2012

Genre: Young-Adult Paranormal Dystopian

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Summary

Drake and Kelsie quickly discover life won't be quite the same after getting their new abilities, but they hope everything will settle into a sort of normalcy. It doesn't take long for them to realize it's not the kind of normal they were hoping for.

When Kelsie joins Drake for a routine Hunt, they end up stumbling upon an underground bunker that hasn't been opened in nearly a century. When they meet a far-too-friendly ghost, it should be their first indicator to leave things alone and get out of there. Never ones to resist the opportunity for excitement or mystery, they end up in a situation that could cost them dearly–threatening not only everything they've worked for, but their very lives!

Drake's world is turned upside down. A mysterious new girl seems intent on capturing his heart, but that's not all she's after.
Kelsie faces betrayal by the one she holds most dear, only to meet someone new who could change her entire existence; past, present, and future. If only she can stay alive long enough to find out the truth...

Excerpt 1.

I ran as fast as my legs would carry me. Kelsie was moving so fast that I was having a hard time keeping up with her as she frantically made her own trail through the dense woods. The blonde might be short, but when she’s terrified, she can cover some serious ground.

Adrenaline burned through me, blood pounding in my ears. I was more excited than scared. The difference between our fear levels was that I did this all the time. It was part of my job as a Hunter, and I went through it often.

Kelsie wasn’t far ahead of me and let a thorny branch snap back behind her as she pushed past it. I ducked to miss the deadly branch in mid-stride as it threatened to take out my eye, and I felt my ankle slip out from under me on a wet stump. I instinctively rolled into a tight ball and somersaulted on the ground, only to come out of the somersault to find myself plowing headfirst down a brush-covered hill on my stomach.

I winced as I slid over a branch that cut through my shirt and sliced into my chest. My undignified belly-slide came to an abrupt halt at the bottom of the hill, my face centimeters away from a boulder.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I sprinted up the other side of the hill, trying to catch up with Kelsie.

Last night, when Kelsie had asked me if she could come along today, I’d figured, “Sure, it should be a quick and easy snatch-and-grab operation.” But, as anyone should know, especially me, things go wrong.

 

Excerpt 2.

Kelsie climbed up on the back of the couch as I was finishing making the coffee and leapt at me. She flew through the air like an arrow and slammed into me, taking me down into the dining room table. The table burst into a pile of dust and splinters, one of which was driven into the back of my shoulder.

We rolled around for a few seconds, wrestling each other for the top position.

“Ouch, you have a chunk of wood sticking out of your shoulder,” Kelsie informed me, like I hadn’t already noticed.

“Yeah, thanks for that. And thanks for destroying our table. Now what are we going to eat on?”

She pasted on an obviously fake apologetic look while she grabbed the piece of wood sticking out of my shirt. “Not like we ever used it anyway.”

I grimaced, bracing myself for her to pull out the wood. “Yeah, but still. It’s the principle. And you just ruined one of my shirts. Thanks a lot.”

She ripped it out of my shoulder. A nauseating wet sound echoed through the room as she did. I gritted my teeth together in a silent scream – it really hurt.

“Suck it up, baby. You’ll be fine in a few minutes,” she said, climbing off me and tossing the bloody stake on the counter.

“No thanks to you,” I muttered, pushing myself erect.

Snatching the coffee pot off the stove, I poured my coffee into a ceramic mug and then let her get her own out of spite.

Then I peeled my ruined shirt over my head, grunting as it pulled at the already scabbed-over skin. I turned my back to her. “How’s it look?”

“Already healing up. See, no biggie,” she responded, coming over and running her cool fingers over the wound. The tickling sensation caused me to twitch.

 That was the beauty of what had happened to us a week ago on our birthdays. We both healed with unbelievable speed. We were stronger, tougher, and faster than anyone else I knew. We had slightly different strengths, though. I couldn’t speak for Kelsie, but my new strengths were mainly magnifications of what I was good at before. She could climb anything. I could jump really high. The more we used our skills, the better they got, and we learned new ones.

“What the devil happened here?” A girl materialized in the entryway.

Kelsie and I looked up at the newcomer.

“Samantha, don’t you ever knock? Seriously, ghost or not, did they not have manners in your time?” I goaded her.

 She flew at me and bowled me over with her icy form. “I told you not to mention my age!” she raged.

I’d only seen her fly like that once, so it caught me a little off guard.

“Chill, chill.” I snuck a quick peck on her cold cheek.

The pupils returned to her eyes, and she blushed, helping me up.

“Seriously, what happened in here? And where’s your shirt?”

I looked down, having forgotten that I was topless. “Kelsie happened.”

The ghost nodded her head like that explained everything. “I should have guessed.”

“I’m standing right here, you know. I can hear you.” Kelsie scowled. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

“Just thought I’d stop by and see how my two favorite warm-bloods are doing.”

“Boy, I feel special.” I grinned coyly. Kelsie just took a sip of her coffee.

“Want some?” she asked Samantha, holding her cup towards the ghost, knowing full well that Samantha loved coffee, but couldn’t drink it.

Samantha turned her back to Kelsie with an irritated look on her face. “Silly me, I had that wrong. I meant the only warm-blood that I like,” she said to me.

“I was just screwing with you. You’re taking it personally today, aren’t you?” Kelsie said, giving the ghost a half hug.

Author

London Cole is an author of Paranormal Young-Adult novels and novellas. He resides in the large and highly over-heated state of Texas, though he is not originally from there. London was born in the Pacific Northwest, growing up on an Island very near Canada. That means that he is known to slip up and occasionally use words like “ehh” and pronounce “about” like “aboot”.

Growing up, he always wanted to write but never really knew where to start. Then he got sucked into classical music, against his will, at an early age. Unlike many, he never had imaginary friends as a child, though since he was born into a navy family, the constant moving made him a loner. It was easier to be a loner than try to make new friends all of the time. Being a loner, and having been forbidden from watching TV by his loving but sheltering mother, he turned to creating stories to entertain himself out of sheer boredom. Creating stories became a large part of his life to the point that he started narrating everything he did and conducting dialogue between multiple characters while in the shower.

When London wasn’t writing stories, he was reading them. He went through dozens of books a month, mainly mysteries that his mom checked out from the library.

Once he got older, after high school and college, he started to take writing seriously. He became more confident in his writing, and now, here we are today.

www.londoncole.com

@londoncoleYA

www.facebook.com/londoncoleYA

www.goodreads.com/londoncole

 

Going Under Series Tour Review and Giveaway!

 Going Under
Author: Georgia Cates
ASIN: B007J7FTZI
Release Date:  March 1st 2012
Format : Kindle
Genre: Young Adult, Romance,
Contemporary
Series: Going Under #1

Summary
Jessie Boone is a self proclaimed bad boy and doesn’t march to the beat of anyone’s drum, but his own. Growing up in less than desirable circumstances has made him no stranger to the hard knock life and his determination to leave it behind is fierce. When he finds himself transferred to East Franklin High School, he sees his opportunity to use his athletic ability to snag a college football scholarship, but Forbes Henderson, the player Jessie means to replace isn’t giving up his spot willingly. In fact, Forbes is willing to go to extreme measures to retain his place as first string quarterback. When Forbes’ malicious plan to injure his replacement fails, Jessie is furious and determined to show him he messed with the wrong person; not only is he going to take the position of first string quarterback, he’s going to take his girl, too.

Claire Deveraux is perfection at it’s best. She is beautiful, intelligent and unaware she just became Jessie Boone’s conquest as revenge against her boyfriend, Forbes Henderson. Like her flawless performance as the perfect daughter and student, Claire’s production of being the perfect girlfriend has everyone fooled, except Jessie Boone, and she fears this tattooed bad boy will see her secret desire to explore his crude threats and promises to rock her perfect world. If she decides to give in to one uninhibited moment with Jessie, will she learn too late that it was all an act of vengeance or will Jessie learn the taste of first love is sweeter than that of revenge?

Review
In my opinion, the ending to this book couldn’t have been more perfect. It just brought the whole story together in a well suited way. I had moments where it brought tears to my eyes as well as heart wrenching moments. This book is far from my normal reading range since I read mostly fantasy/paranormal/sci-fi type books, so to read this Young Adult Contemporary book is a big step. And I don’t regret reading it. What drew me into wanting to read this book was the bad boy aspect of it. I can’t wait to read book two.

The plot is the bad boy/good girl type of love story, where they can’t be together because of how different they are. Jessie is seen as a bad boy because of where he use to go to school, which on the poor side of town. No one likes him because of that, causing him to act like they expected him to be, not his true self. This changes when Claire catches his attention. Claire changes Jessie little by little as they get to know each other.  Claire wants to be together with Jessie, but there's a small problem; she has a boyfriend. To be fair, she's never really loved him. Of course, this is a love story, so this is a minor inconvenience to the plot.

When Jessie's first introduced, you think he’s a bad boy through and through. His character is more then that though, and you see the many sides to him. At first, he doesn’t want to get close to Claire, but soon he starts to fall for her and starts to open up. He’s a sweet guy who has a rough life, but he tries his best to do good. I do like his character, and who couldn’t love a dark hair, blue eyed guy. I do find it also sweet that he lets Claire call the shots about their relationship. She controls when they kiss, and he doesn't push her boundaries about sex. With all the teasing she does, he really is a saint for holding back.

Claire is our main female character. She is a sweet girl and goes to a school for the rich. She was even dating Forbes Henderson, who was the starting quarterback for their school. However, she doesn’t want to be the sweet, rich popular girl who dates the rich star quarterback. She wants something different. She finds that when she meets Jessie. I do enjoy the times she teases Jessie, because she doesn’t realize what she can do to him. 

Payton is a smart mouth teenager who I love. She makes me laugh numerous times because of her great, unique personality. She stays by Claire’s side, no matter what Claire wants. To me, this makes her a true friend. She even helps Claire in her own unique way, as the helps she gives doesn't seem like help in that moment.

Dane is one of Jessie’s only friends in the wealthy school. He’s a great guy, and has known Claire for a long time because of the friendship that their parents share. He’s protective of her, and would do anything to help the situation between her and Jessie.

I find the romance to be a bit fast between Claire and Jessie. Even though Claire has a boyfriend, she ends up falling for Jessie right away. Jessie does try to resist, but there's an instant mutual attraction. Their relationship grows more and more intense, but they do face their challenges as they grow as a couple. If it wasn’t for all the hurdles they had to overcome in the book, I probably wouldn’t have liked how fast they fell for one another.

Rating
5 out of 5 Howling Wolves

US Only: (2) Signed print copies of GOING UNDER (2) GOING UNDER T-Shirts
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International: (5) eBook copies of GOING UNDER and SHALLOW

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