ARC Review: The King Slayer by Virginia Boecker

Title: The King Slayer
Author: Virginia Boecker
Series: The Witch Hunter #2
Publication: June 14th 2016 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Genre: Young Adult ~ Fantasy
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Google Play | Kobo
Rating: 4/5

 

Former witch hunter Elizabeth Grey is hiding within the magically protected village of Harrow, evading the price put on her head by Lord Blackwell, the usurper king of Anglia. Their last encounter left Blackwell ruined, but his thirst for power grows stronger every day. He's readying for a war against those who would resist his rule--namely Elizabeth and the witches, wizards, pirates, and healers she now calls her friends.

Having lost her stigma, a magical source of protection and healing, Elizabeth's strength is tested both physically and emotionally. War always means sacrifice, and as the lines between good and evil blur once more, Elizabeth must decide just how far she'll go to save those she loves.

In this sequel to The Witch Hunter, Virginia Boecker delivers a powerful story full of action, suspense, camaraderie, and romance.

My god, I absolutely loved The King Slayer. With a sequel you never quite know what you're getting. It can be either really great or turn out disappointing. This book definitely exceeded my expectations. 

One thing showing that this book was just as good as its predecessor was how fast I read it. It took me less than two days. It was so hard to stop reading, so addictive!

In this book everything is different for Elizabeth Grey. She doesn't have her stigma anymore so she's more vulnerable than ever. The people in Harrow are suspicious of her because of her past as a witch hunter. Luckily she still has John. Although, because he has Elizabeth's stigma he is unmistakably changing into someone she doesn't recognize anymore. And more than that, war is coming with Blackwell and sacrifices are needed.

How I love Elizabeth. She is practically the epitome of a heroine. She had a tragic past but can kick some serious ass and is willing to sacrifice herself for her friends if needed. I also have learned to love John. I wasn't a fan of him and Elizabeth in the last book but that all has changed in this one. I really love him now, even though for the better part of the book he was changing a lot. And I especially love his and Elizabeth relationship. Just... *swoon*

The secondary characters were also all so so great. Peter, Fifer, Schuyler and some of the new characters made me smile. I even enjoyed the part where Blackwell, even as he was, came in. Gotta love an evil villain. I just wish we had seen more of George. I love him to bits and pieces but he wasn't much in this book. Of course he was doing something important but still... 

The end sure was an explosive one. The battle at the end definitely left a great impression with me. It was super epic! The story does keep being suspensful until the very end and I was really anxious because I wasn't sure it would end well, to be honest. But in the end, I'm very pleased with how the story turned out and which characters survived. 

As much as I loved the first book, I loved The King Slayer even more. It was suspenseful full of surprising twists, with a bit of swoony romance. It definitely was a great ending to this duology. 

       About the Author:

       Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Virginia Boecker recently spent four years in London obsessing over English medieval history, which formed the basis of The Witch Hunter. She now lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and spends her days writing, reading, running, and chasing around her two children and a dog named George. In addition to English kings, nine-day queens, and Protestant princesses, her other obsessions include The Smiths, art museums, champagne, and Chapstick. She is represented by the incomparable Kathleen Ortiz at New Leaf Literary & Media.

Monday Madness: The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon

Monday Madness is a bookish meme hosted by Bookfever & Booklover's Teaparty

You know that feeling when you feel like you are gonna go mad if you do not get a certain book right away, when you are obsessed and all you want is that one book and you will be happy? That is what Monday Madness is about. All those books you that drive you mad.

Pick a book. Talk about it- why do you want it? What has drawn you to it? Why is it making you mad with want for it?

The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon
Outlander #5
Published August 30th 2005 by Dell

The year is 1771, and war is coming. Jamie Fraser’s wife tells him so. Little as he wishes to, he must believe it, for hers is a gift of dreadful prophecy—a time-traveler’s certain knowledge. Claire’s unique view of the future has brought him both danger and deliverance in the past; her knowledge of the oncoming revolution is a flickering torch that may light his way through the perilous years ahead—or ignite a conflagration that will leave their lives in ashes.

I want this book because although I've only read the first two Outlander books and own the first four in a boxed set, I would love to have book #5 too. I love the books, I also love the tv series and I sure as hell love Jamie Fraser. Who wouldn't love him?

And don't forget to check out Christina's post! ♥

Book Blitz: Je Suis à Toi by Pepper Winters + Giveaway (INT)

Je suis à toi
Pepper Winters
(Monsters in the Dark #3.5)
Publication date: May 29th 2016
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

“Life taught me an eternal love will demand the worst sacrifices. A transcendent love will split your soul, cleaving you into pieces. A love this strong doesn’t grant you sweetness—it grants you pain. And in that pain is the greatest pleasure of all.”
Q made me the happiest esclave in the world. He gave me his heart, his empire, his ruthless unforgiving love. And life finally left us in peace.
A man like my maître has special needs though, growing stronger as our lives intertwine. The only way to survive his monster is to agree to all his desires.
Including his latest wish.
I’m his.
And I won’t refuse.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo

EXCERPT:

Tess and I remained quiet, letting the others do the entertaining.
The staff cleared the table, appearing and disappearing effortlessly. It felt as if we were alone and in a private sanctuary rather than a cavernous castle.
Finishing his wine, Frederick stood up, helping Angelique to her feet with a doting smile. They made a handsome couple with their svelte frames and similar features. I didn’t have many close friends, but those I did, I cherished.
“Let’s play a few parlour games. What do you say?” Frederick clapped his hands, encouraging us to stand.
Tess rolled her eyes as Franco plucked Suzette from her chair.
“I don’t think monopoly or scrabble are what most of us have in mind tonight.” Tess murmured too low for anyone but me to hear as she came toward my side.
Wrapping an arm around her waist, it came off as kind and loving, but the fierce way I glued her to my side spoke of domination and desire. “Shall we retire and find our own entertainment?” I whispered in her ear.
She smiled coyly. “I think that’s a—”
“Come on. No excuses. A few games together and then we’ll head to bed.” Frederick in his bossiness didn’t let us say no.
With a mixture of grumbles and half-hearted hesitation, he ferried us into the room attached to the great hall and motioned us to sit in the mismatch velour love-seats and wingbacks grouped together around a low coffee table. Nestled by the chairs were a whiteboard, markers, and other paraphernalia.
“What the hell are you planning, mon ami?” I asked, reluctantly letting Tess pull me onto a love-seat with her.
Angelique answered for him, tugging her long dark hair over her shoulder. “Well, we’re in a castle. We thought it would be fun to play some of the parlour games that would’ve been their entertainment back in the day.”
I groaned dramatically. “I’d much rather drink.” I pinched Tess beside me, hissing in her ear. “And then play with you.”

Author Bio:
Pepper Winters is a NYT and USA Today International Bestseller. She wears many roles. Some of them include writer, reader, sometimes wife. She loves dark, taboo stories that twist with your head. The more tortured the hero, the better, and she constantly thinks up ways to break and fix her characters. Oh, and sex... her books have sex.
She loves to travel and has an amazing, fabulous hubby who puts up with her love affair with her book boyfriends. She's also honoured to wear the IndieReader Badge for being a Top 10 Indie Bestsellers, best BDSM series voted by the SmutClub, and recently signed a two book deal with Grand Central. Her books are currently being translated into numerous languages and will be in bookstores in the near future.
To be the first to know of upcoming releases, please join Pepper's Newsletter (she promises never to spam or annoy you.)

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Newsletter

GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hosted by:

ARC Review: Hold You Against Me by Skye Warren

Title: Hold You Against Me
Author: Skye Warren
Series: Stripped #4
Publication: May 31st 2016
Genre: Adult ~ Dark Romance
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | Kobo
Rating: 4/5

Review copy received in exchange for an honest review.

Once upon a time the daughter of a mafia king fell in love with a foot soldier.

This fairy tale didn’t have a happy ending.

My sister and I barely managed to escape alive, and we’ve lived in relative hiding ever since. I’m safe now, but I can never forget the boy who gave his life to save mine.

Except there’s a chance that he’s still alive. And he’s fighting a war.

Even knowing the risks, I have to find him. I have to find some way to protect him, the way he protected me. But he isn’t the boy I left behind. He’s a violent man. A criminal. And he’s been waiting for me—the final pawn in a dark game of survival and love.

"I think there could be a million different incarnations of you, and I'd fall in love with every single one."

Hold You Against Me is Clara and Giovanni's story and let me tell you, it was so good. I was hooked right from the start. It's a bit different from the other books in the Stripped series. It's slightly darker and more on the romantic side but I ended up loving it. 

This story isn't quite my favorite out of all the books because that was Pretty When You Cry but it's definitely my second favorite out of them all. And can we just focus on Giovanni for a moment? I totally fell for him. He might not be quite the boy Clara remembers but the man he grew into was ah-mazing! Him and Clara had such great chemistry, too.

I also liked reading Clara's point of view and loved the appearance of Honor. I missed her! The author's prose as always was on point and I highlighted the shit out of my Kindle with beautiful quotes of the story.

Hold You Against Me by Skye Warren was a different kind of fairy tale in the best way possible. I can't get enough of this series and the fierce characters in it. The romance was hot, the writing fantastic and oh I just loved Clara and Giovanni. Especially the end left me smiling. 

       About the Author:

              Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Instagram

Skye Warren is the New York Times bestselling author of dark romance such as Wanderlust and Prisoner. Praised as a “true mistress of dark erotica”, her books have been featured in Jezebel, Buzzfeed, USA Today Happily Ever After, Glamour, and Elle Magazine. She makes her home in Texas with her loving family, four dogs, and one evil cat.

Fantasy Favourites Read-a-Thon 2016 — My TBR

This read-a-thon is hosted by Olivia @ Olivia’s Catastrophe and Inge and Aly @ Of Wonderland

This is my first time participating in a read-a-thon so I'm pretty stoked for it! 

And here are the books I plan on reading:

Reign of Shadows by Sophie Jordan

Ivory and Bone by Julie Eshbaugh

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

You can find all the additional information about this read-a-thon here and here.

Waiting On Wednesday: Glitter by Aprilynne Pike

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that I'm eagerly anticipating.

Glitter by Aprilynne Pike
Expected publication: October 25th 2016 by Random House Books for Young Readers

Outside the palace of Versailles, it’s modern day. Inside, the people dress, eat, and act like it’s the eighteenth century—with the added bonus of technology to make court life lavish, privileged, and frivolous. The palace has every indulgence, but for one pretty young thing, it’s about to become a very beautiful prison.

When Danica witnesses an act of murder by the young king, her mother makes a cruel power play . . . blackmailing the king into making Dani his queen. When she turns eighteen, Dani will marry the most ruthless and dangerous man of the court. She has six months to escape her terrifying destiny. Six months to raise enough money to disappear into the real world beyond the palace gates.

Her ticket out? Glitter. A drug so powerful that a tiny pinch mixed into a pot of rouge or lip gloss can make the wearer hopelessly addicted. Addicted to a drug Dani can sell for more money than she ever dreamed.

But in Versailles, secrets are impossible to keep. And the most dangerous secret—falling for a drug dealer outside the palace walls—is one risk she has to take.

Everything about this book speaks to me. The cover is so gorgeous, I love the synopsis. And it's a new book by the amazing Aprilynne Pike! I definitely will get my hands on it as soon as the book releases.

What book are you waiting for?

Leave me the link to your post so I can stop by!

Cover Reveal: Love the Way You Lie by Skye Warren

Love the Way You Lie
Skye Warren
(Stripped #1)
Publication date: Adult, Romance
Genres: Dark Romance

A dark romance about the lies that lead us down…
I’ll do anything to get safe, even if that means working at the scariest club in town.
I’ll do anything to stay hidden, even if it means taking off my clothes for strangers.
I’ll do anything to be free. Except give him up. When he looks at me, I forget why I can’t have him. He’s beautiful and scarred. His body fits mine, filling the places where I’m hollow, rough where I am soft.
He’s the one man who wants to help me, but he has his own agenda. He has questions I can’t answer. What are you afraid of?
You.

Goodreads / Amazon

The complete series:

Author Bio:
Skye Warren is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of dark romance. Her books are raw, sexual and perversely tender.

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter / Newsletter

Hosted by:


My reviews of the Stripped series:

Tough Love (Stripped #0.5)
Love the Way You Lie (Stripped #1)
Better When It Hurts (Stripped #2)
Even Better (Stripped 2.5)
Pretty When You Cry (Stripped #3)
Caught for Christmas (Stripped #3.5)

Monday Madness: The Bird and the Sword by Amy Harmon

Monday Madness is a bookish meme hosted by Bookfever & Booklover's Teaparty

You know that feeling when you feel like you are gonna go mad if you do not get a certain book right away, when you are obsessed and all you want is that one book and you will be happy? That is what Monday Madness is about. All those books you that drive you mad.

Pick a book. Talk about it- why do you want it? What has drawn you to it? Why is it making you mad with want for it?

The Bird and the Sword by Amy Harmon
Published May 10th 2016

Swallow, daughter, pull them in, those words that sit upon your lips. Lock them deep inside your soul, hide them ‘til they’ve time to grow. Close your mouth upon the power, curse not, cure not, ‘til the hour. You won’t speak and you won’t tell, you won’t call on heaven or hell. You will learn and you will thrive. Silence, daughter. Stay alive.

The day my mother was killed, she told my father I wouldn’t speak again, and she told him if I died, he would die too. Then she predicted the king would sell his soul and lose his son to the sky. My father has a claim to the throne, and he is waiting in the shadows for all of my mother’s words to come to pass. He wants desperately to be king, and I just want to be free.
But freedom will require escape, and I’m a prisoner of my mother’s curse and my father’s greed. I can’t speak or make a sound, and I can’t wield a sword or beguile a king. In a land purged of enchantment, love might be the only magic left, and who could ever love . . . a bird?

I haven't read anything by this author yet but seriously... How amazing does the synopsis sound? It's what makes me want to read this book so badly. I hope to someday soon get my hands on it. I also have seen nothing but great reviews of it so far. The cover is lovely as well. 

And don't forget to check out Christina's post! ♥

Stacking The Shelves: May 21, 2016

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted @ Tynga's Reviews.

Bought:
Wasted Words by Staci Hart

Preordered for .99 and I've already heard amazing things about it.

Gifted to me:
Smut by Karina Halle
This was a surprise gift to me by Christina @ Booklover's Teaparty. I'm so excited to read it!

For Review:
The Encore by Christine S. Feldman

Received this from Christina to read for review. I can never resist her books.

For Review:
Chaos Bound by Sarah Castille
Recieved for the blog tour in July. It's my favorite biker series so I'm super stoked for it!

For Review:
Je Suis à Toi by Pepper Winters

The cherry on top of all the books I've gotten this week is definitely this one. More Tess and Q! Oh I've waited so long for this! 

What books did you add to your shelves?

Leave me links to your hauls so I can stop by! :)