Review: Sweet Unrest by Lisa Maxwell

Sweet Unrest by Lisa Maxwell

Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal Romance

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Lucy Aimes has always been practical. But try as she
might, she can’t come up with a logical explanation for
the recurring dreams that have always haunted her. Dark dreams. Dreams of a long-ago place filled with people she shouldn’t know…but does.

When her family moves to a New Orleans plantation, Lucy’s dreams become more intense, and her search for answers draws her reluctantly into the old city’s world of Voodoo and mysticism. There, Lucy finds Alex, a mysterious boy who behaves as if they’ve known each other forever. Lucy knows Alex is hiding something, and her rational side doesn’t want to be drawn to him. But she is.

As she tries to uncover Alex’s secrets, a killer strikes close to home, and Lucy finds herself ensnared in a century-old vendetta. With the lives of everyone she loves in danger, Lucy will have to unravel the mystery of her dreams before it all comes to a deadly finish.

  So. This is one of those books that I'm on the fence about. As soon as I saw voodoo, New Orleans, and Young Adult, I was like sign me right up.

  Don't get me wrong. I got those things. But something felt off. For starters, it was a slow beginning. It felt like a chore to stick around long enough to get into the story. Lucy was a hard character to follow. She wasn't outwardly bad. But I struggled a lot to rationalize some of her reactions and actions. I wanted more from her I think. I still don't exactly know what I wanted from her. Just something different than what I got. I will say that some parts of this book were so haunting that I was legit scared while reading and had to turn on a lamp.

  The romance, and I'm using that term lightly, left me wanting for a lot more. It was predictable and boring. I never got behind Alex and Lucy as a couple. It felt like an afterthought that the author completely got into then forgot all about. Maybe that was the problem with this entire book. It felt underdeveloped. It read like a first draft instead of an ARC copy.

  I feel like Lisa Maxwell had good intentions with Sweet Unrest. The plot could work so well. But it would need a lot of attention for me to give it another go. It has everything I'd want in a book about New Orleans. But the delivery fell short of my expectations. I'm still on the fence if I liked this book or not and that's exactly how I feel about continuing the series. I just don't know.

**I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review with no compensation.

Blitz: Embrace the Heat by Cassandra Lawson

Pre-Order Embrace the Heat today!

Amazon.com      Amazon UK      Amazon CA      Amazon AU

Synopsis

      On her seventh birthday Layla’s mother mysteriously disappeared. Raised by a wood nymph in one of the few remaining human settlements, Layla learned to fight from an early age. She also learned to distrust the vampires who rule most of the land. When a vampire saves her life, Layla finds herself more than a little drawn to him, even knowing he could never give his heart to a human.     

  The trauma of his childhood left Simon weary and distrustful of all humans, until the day he saved Layla’s life. After seeing the spirited human fighting like a seasoned warrior, Simon can’t help but respect and admire her. He soon learns that Layla is much more than he ever imagined, and he finds it hard to stay away from her. Despite the depths of his feelings, Simon knows there can be no future for them.

  Both of their worlds are turned upside down as Layla nears her twenty-seventh birthday. Suddenly the male vampires are inexplicably drawn to her, and Simon is no exception. As they unravel the mystery of Layla’s heritage, an enemy from their past resurfaces and threatens to destroy Simon and all that he cares for.

No Cliffhangers. 

While this book is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone novel.

Sale Alert: Raven's Blood by Cassandra Lawson

Amazon.com   Amazon UK   Amazon CA   Barnes & Noble   iTunes

Synopsis

Following the death of her wood nymph mother at the hands of vampires, Raven worked hard to build a life for herself in one of the few remaining human settlements. Her life takes a frightening turn when she finds herself an unwilling guest in a vampire settlement, but things are not anything like she expected them to be. Still, she cannot help but feel that her attraction to the vampire leader is a betrayal to her mother’s memory and her human friends.

From the moment Connor first laid eyes on Raven she has thrown his entire world off-balance. In order to prove his strength as a leader, he has no choice but to take her up on her offer to trade her freedom for that of her human friends. Having begun his life as a slave, he has no interest in keeping the wood nymph captive. As a man, he has no desire to feel this overwhelming attraction to a woman who hates him and his kind.

As Raven spends more time with the vampires, her feelings for Connor grow even stronger and Connor finds that she may be the one thing he cannot live without. Unfortunately, a new danger emerges that could threaten the survival of vampires and humans alike. As Connor struggles to unravel the mystery of the attacks from a new species of vampire, a madman will go to any lengths to get Raven’s blood.

No cliffhangers.

Review: Dead Over Heels by Alison Kemper

Dead Over Heels by Alison Kemper

Genres: Young Adult, Horror, Post-Apocalyptic

[Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo]

The end of the world just might be their perfect
beginning…

Glenview, North Carolina. Also known―at least to sixteen-year-old Ava Pegg―as the Land of Incredibly Boring Vacations. What exactly were her parents thinking when they bought a summer home here? Then the cute-but-really-annoying boy next door shows up at her place in a panic…hollering something about flesh-eating zombies attacking the town.

At first, Ava’s certain that Cole spent a little too much time with his head in the moonshine barrel. But when someone―or something―rotted and terrifying emerges from behind the woodpile, Ava realizes this is no hooch hallucination. The undead are walking in Glenview, and they are hungry. Panicked, Ava and Cole flee into the national forest. No supplies, no weapons. Just two teenagers who don’t even like each other fighting for their lives. But that’s the funny thing about the Zombpocalypse. You never know when you’ll meet your undead end. Or when you’ll fall dead over heels for a boy…

  I'm next door neighbors with North Carolina. Whenever I'm lying in bed, I can look out our deck doors and see North Carolina and the Smoky Mountains. And let me tell you, I felt like I was right at home whenever I read Dead Over Heels. Alison Kemper was able to capture the essence of my home and it only added even more to this incredible story. I instantly warmed to Cole and his southern ways.

  I'm always a fan of a good zombie book. Though I can admit that a lot of them start to blend together at times. That's the thing with Dead Over Heels that I loved. There were some different aspects of this book that surprised me. I really appreciated Alison Kemper's deviation from the norm.

  The romance in this book is sweet and not overbearing. It fits seamlessly into the story, and I enjoyed it immensely. Like I mentioned before, Cole was instantly a favorite of mine. It took a little longer with Ava, but she's a solid heroine. She is full of courage despite of setbacks that are out her control and scary enough without zombies involved.

 If you're a fan of the less gory types of zombie fiction or Tracey Ward, I really think you'll enjoy Dead Over Heels. Not only did it have zombies, but it also had the perfect amount of wit and romance.

**I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review with no compensation.

Blitz & Giveaway: Private Internship by Kitsy Clare

Private Internship by Kitsy Clare

(An Art of Love Novel)

Genres: New Adult, Romance

Publisher: Inkspell Publishing

Publication Date: September 29th, 2014

[Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo]

Sometimes sugar isn’t so sweet and secrets can be
deadly . . . especially with matters of the heart.

Sienna’s bestie, Harper warned her not to intern for famous bad boy artist, Casper Mason. After all, he just fired Harper who helped Sienna get the interview. But the moment Sienna sees Casper—or Caz—sweaty, practically shirtless and swinging from chains as he works on his sculpture, she’s hooked. He’s the richest, hottest artist in New York, and he lives in the fabulous Williamsburg Sugar Factory. But he’s also an incorrigible game-player, who seems to relish testing Sienna’s loyalty with a string of unsettling tests.

She knows she should get away fast. But by the time Sienna sneaks into his locked storage room and begins to unearth his dark and terrifying secret, she’s fallen way too hard for the handsome, charismatic Caz.

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Kitsy Clare hails from Philadelphia and lives in New York. A romantic at heart, she loves to write about the sexy intrigue of the city, and particularly of the art world. She knows it well, having shown her paintings here before turning to writing. Model Position, her new adult novella is about artist Sienna and her friends. Living in a Bookworld says: "Beautifully written! We get to learn things about art & painting, which is refreshing. A colorful story from a promising new adult author." The next in her Art of Love series, Private Internship launches in September with Inkspell.

Kitsy loves to travel, draw, read romance, speculative fiction and teach writing workshops. She also writes YA as Catherine Stine. Her futuristic thriller, Ruby's Fire was a YA finalist in the Next Generation Indie book awards. Fireseed One, its companion novel, was a finalist in YA and Sci-Fi in the USA News International Book Awards, and an Indie Reader notable. Her YA horror, Dorianna, launches fall 2014 with Evernight Teen. She's a member of SFWA, RWA and SCBWI.

[Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter]

Cover Reveal: Avarice by Khai L. Bayne

I'm really excited to share the cover for Avaris: Sins of Sorrow and Lust b Khai L. Bayne!

It's the second book in her Indebted series!

Artisyn and Theodore’s relationship has always been a tumultuous one. Even up
until his untimely demise. You’ve already experienced the aftermath, but do you
ever wonder what happened to put them at such odds with one another?

After one very intense encounter, Theodore is completely smitten by the woman whom he met at a bar one night. He doesn’t know her name, and after searching weeks to find her again to no avail, he is about to give up. As luck would have it, she finally turns up, but it is in the last place he would’ve ever expected to find her.

Artisyn agrees to help her longtime friend Nikolai Gribkov, the captain of the southeastern division of the Paranormal Investigative Taskforce, with some missions that require her brand of “Depraved Finesse”. As expected she has to prove herself to the men of the division. What she didn’t expect is to run into the vampire playmate that she had a one night stand with weeks ago.

Start at the beginning of the journey and find out what really happened in the chain of events that led up to Artisyn being Indebted to Theodore.

**This book is intended for mature audiences due to language and sexual content.

[Goodreads]

Books That Need More Attention Giveaway Blog Hop

  As a huge fan of Indie books and authors, those are the books that I think will never get enough attention! To an Indie author, support and exposure are priceless! For my giveaway, I'm offering up a $10 Amazon gift card [INT], three winner's who can chose an Indie ebook up to $5.99USD [INT], and a huge Indie author swag pack [US]. If you need help with picking your next Indie read, I have a few suggestions from some of my favorites below!

Sleepless by Tracey Ward

Goodreads | Amazon

YA Romance

My Forever by Kira Adams

Goodreads | Amazon

Contemporary Romance

Impervious by Heather Letto

Goodreads | Amazon

YA Dystopian

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Something Wicked Giveaway Blog Hop

Welcome to my stop on the Something Wicked Blog Hop! We're celebrating all things wicked and spooky! For my stop, I'm giving away a $20 Amazon Gift Card for you to splurge on something wicked for yourself! Enter with the rafflecopter below; this contest is open internationally. 

Good luck!

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Continue hopping for more great prizes!