Blog Tour: Savor by Kate Evangelista (Review + Giveaway)

Welcome to my stop of the blog tour for Savor by Kate Evangelista!

I just want to say that I'm really glad I've been able to review this book for this tour. I really enjoyed the book. :)

Now scroll down for my review and giveaway!

Title: Savor
Author: Kate Evangelista
Series: Vicious Feast #1
Publication: December 2, 2013 by Crescent Moon Press
Genre: New Adult Paranormal
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Cover Rating: 3/5
Overall Rating: 4/5

Review copy provided in exchange for an honest review.

Mature and explicit content. Not recommended for readers below 18-years-old. Yup, you've got to be that old to read my story. Consider yourself warned.

I’m Dakota Collins, a tough talking, eye patch wearing, workaholic photography student. Why am I important? Well, maybe because I get to spend an entire month with Vicious, only the sickest indie rock band out there.

You see, I needed a subject for my Spring Showcase introspective in order to graduate. During a chance encounter at a club I’d been sent to cover for the Daily Gossip, our ironically named college paper, the features writer I usually teamed up with introduced me to the band—by accident, I might add. It involved a run in with a scary, bald bodyguard. Anyway, long story short, I signed a contract to take pictures of Vicious.

I should have known their handsome yet way too serious for his own good bassist, Luka Visraya, wouldn't be able to keep his hands to himself. He’s gorgeous and all, but the way he smiles spelled trouble with a capital L. I’m in for a long month with him around.

Crazy shit happens and then some. So, if you want the skinny on Vicious and the events revolving around my stay at Lunar Manor, read my story.

Again, refer to the warning above.

~My Thoughts:

I decided to read this book for the blog tour basically because I liked Taste, which is not a part of the series but it does feature a lot of the characters from that book, like Phoenix, Demitri, Dray, Yana and of course Luka but not the main character. Do you have to read Taste to read Savor? No, but it's nice to have read about these characters when they were younger.

I really, really liked this book. I actually liked it more than Taste to be honest. Is it because Kate's books are getting better or because it's an adult novel? I have no idea. Maybe a little bit of both. There's a huge difference between both books but I enjoyed Savor way more. I liked the main character, Dakota. I loved getting to know the other characters all over again and I loved the story and writing.

Dakota has definitely grown into one of my favorite female characters of all time. She has an eye patch, people! Yes, it's obvious she's been through really bad stuff, things that haven't been revealed except in some sort of dream/memory things but it's still cool that Dakota's character isn't perfect in the physical sense with the way she only has one eye and those awful scars. Aside from that she's just plain awesome and I love how she's really her own person with a lot of confidence and basically says, 'here I am? Don't like it? Screw you.' I love that about her. 

And Luka? Oh my rock god! He was delicious. I have to admit he was very different from the person he was in Taste but it seems like they have all changed. It's normal I guess, since four years have past but it's still a bit to take in. It also left me a little bit confused as to what happened to get them from the end of Taste (and everything that happened in that book) to Savor. Also with knowing Taste, I had expected more paranormal aspects since I know what the characters are. The paranormal aspect did came, although it was very minor but it was a huge twist. But this book was so awesome overall that all that stuff I was confused about didn't really matter as much. But anyway, Luka... Much much love for him. 

Hot, funny and so entertaining, Savor by Kate Evangelista made for a great read. I really enjoyed reading this book and I must say that I think it's this author's best book so far (of the ones I have read). If you're looking for a fun book that's fast-paced with awesome writing, you definitely need to read it. Oh and it has Luka. You'll definitely want to read Savor!

Favorite Quotes:

Sometimes I think I'd make the perfect Bond villain. I already had the eye patch. All I needed now was the perfect motivation to take over the world. And a white Persian cat.

Three hours in a car with Luka? Inhaling all that sexy couldn't be good for me, could it?

"Dray's our resident mad scientist." Luka grinned, clear affection for his cousin in his tone.
"When he's not pounding sick beats on the skins, he's in his lab."
"Like Dexter," Dray added.
I could only hope he'd meant the boy scientist and not the serial killer.

About The Author:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

When Kate Evangelista was told she had a knack for writing stories, she did the next best thing: entered medical school. After realizing she wasn't going to be the next Doogie Howser, M.D., Kate wandered into the Literature department of her university and never looked back. Today, she is in possession of a piece of paper that says to the world she owns a Literature degree. To make matters worse, she took Master's courses in creative writing. In the end, she realized to be a writer, none of what she had mattered. What really mattered? Writing. Plain and simple, honest to God, sitting in front of her computer, writing. Today she lives in the Philippines and writes full time.

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ARC Review: Temptation by Fire by Tiffany Allee

Title: Temptation by Fire
Author: Tiffany Allee
Publication: December 30th 2013 by Entangled: Ignite
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Cover Rating: 5/5
Overall Rating: 4/5

Review copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review.

 

Visions of death haunt her . . .

Ava Keller sees the future. When she suffers a horrifying vision of a man's violent death, she knows from experience nothing she does will stop it from becoming a reality. But when she meets a strong, broken man, he makes her want to believe in second chances.

Vengeance consumes him . . .

Tortured by his past, Karson has worked tirelessly to wreak vengeance on the demons who murdered his family. But when Ava inadvertently disrupts his intricate plan for revenge, his focus shifts to an all-consuming need to keep her alive and in his arms.

Love could save their souls . . .

Thrown together by fate, Ava and Karson explore their new feelings and discover hope for the future. But they must battle the demons threatening humanity to find a destiny worthy of their love.

Temptation by Fire was a really good story. I got it from NetGalley and actually pretty randomly started it because I didn't really know what else to start even though I have so many unread titles on my Kindle. I'm super glad I did decide to start it already!
I actually hadn't expected to love it as much as I did but I actually managed to read it in ONE freaking day. Believe it or not but I kept on reading and reading because it was really good. I couldn't stop myself. I must say it wasn't all that easy to read, and this has nothing to do with the story or anything, but the formatting was kind of messed up, but obviously that didn't stop me. 

Though this book wasn't intense or really deep like some books I recently read, it was more a light and quick but steamy paranormal romance. And I do love those. The characters were great, the story was nice with some twist I didn't see coming (always great and shocking!) and the romance was hot. I couldn't ask for more.

I really liked both Ava and Karson from the start. Although I'm not such a huge fan of people who think their "gift" is a "curse", I liked the start and where it all was going. Ava was pretty awesome in her own way and Karson was just very bad-ass and swoon-worthy. Definitely a new book boyfriend! I also really liked Ava's friend Miriam. She was fun to read about. And I keep wondering if there might be a story in the future about her and Caleb. I can definitely see that happening.

This book isn't very long, only 200 pages and some might say that's not enough for character, world or romance building but I thought Tiffany Allee did a very good job there, especially on the romance. I loved the way she wrote it, how Ava and Karson has this connection and spark. 

Overall, Temptation by Fire was a funny, light and hot paranormal romance that I really liked. I'm still a huge fan of Tiffany Allee and the kind of books like this she writes. She's so good at it. I would definitely recommend this one!

Favorite Quotes:

"Scared I have cooties?" he asked after I pulled the gloves on.
The teasing in his tone almost made me drop the peroxide bottle. Who knew the man could tease?
"Scared you have another arsenal hidden in your pants." Oh, damn. That wasn't what I meant. "I'm just not big on touching."

I bit my lip, searching my mind for a way to tell her that it was the fugliest thing I'd ever seen without offending her.

I supressed a shudder at the idea of wearing something so flashy in public. But that was Miriam. Brave and fun and willing to journey into the scariest places fashion offered.

"I'd thought Thomas was hot the other night, but now that I think of it, Karson's actually totally hot. I mean, unless he turns out to be a psycho trying to use you. That would dull the hotness a bit. Although, let's be honest, he'd still be sort of dark in that hot villain sort of way. Like Spike from Buffy."

About The Author:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

CPA-turned-romance-author Tiffany Allee used to battle spreadsheets in Corporate America, and now concentrates on her characters’ battles to find love. Raised in small-town Colorado, Tiffany currently lives in Phoenix, AZ, by way of Chicago and Denver. She is happily married to a secret romantic who tolerates her crazy mutterings.
She writes about ass-kicking heroines and the strong heroes who love them. Her work includes the suspense-driven From the Files of the Otherworlder Enforcement Agency series which revolves around a group of paranormal cops solving crimes and finding love, and Don’t Bite the Bridesmaid, a lighthearted paranormal romance (Entangled Publishing).
Tiffany has an MBA in accounting and nearly a decade of experience in corporate finance. All super useful stuff for a writer who spends far too much time trying to figure out fun ways to keep her characters apart, and interesting ways to kill people (for her books—of course!).
Tiffany is represented by Jill Marsal of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

Arc Review: Anyone But You by Kim Askew & Amy Helmes

Title: Anyone But You: A Modern-Day Spin on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
Authors: Kim Askew & Amy Helmes
Series: Twisted Lit #3
Publication: January 18th 2014 by Merit Press
Genre: Young Adult ~ Retelling
Format: e-Arc from NetGalley
Cover Rating: 3/5
Overall Rating: 4/5

Review copy provided in exchange for an honest review.

   

These violent delights have violent ends...

Gigi Caputo is fed up. A vicious act of vandalism has dealt another blow to her family's proud pizza heritage, and the Montes--owners of a rival Italian restaurant--are clearly to blame. The hostility goes far beyond bragging rights for best pizza in Chicago. The Montes have been bent on destroying Cap's for four generations. Even if it means putting herself in harm's way, Gigi's determined to get to the bottom of the feud. Instead, in a secret encounter with Roman Monte, the very boy whose relatives have brought her family such grief, she finds both danger and love at first sight. If the daughter and son of these two warring families fall for each other, can it be anything but a recipe for disaster? Slowly, Gigi and Roman learn that their story is fatefully linked to the summer of 1933, when two twelve-year-olds, Benny and Nick, hop the turnstile at the Chicago World's Fair. The most stunning wonder of the fair is Stella, who innocently causes a lasting rift between the two boyhood. Wending its way through past and present day, this modern take on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is bittersweet, funny, and intensely exciting. It's classic romance--a tale of hate and the only force that can ever defeat it: love.

~My Thoughts:

Ever since I discovered this series on Goodreads I've been intrigued by them. I love Shakespeare's stories although I haven't read Romeo and Juliet yet. I've wanted to start the Twisted Lit series but I never really got my hands on any of the books until I got contacted with a review request for the latest book in the series, Anyone But You. And because you don't have to read the other books in the series and because I adore retellings of any kind, of course, I jumped on the chance to do so. 

Starting this book and meeting the main character and modern day Juliet, Gigi, I had a good feeling about Anyone But You right away. I liked Gigi a lot. She was very likable instantly and liked how, although she didn't want to tell her father that she really doesn't want to take over the restaurant, she has a pride about her family. Her encounter with Roman was short but I liked how their connection was like fireworks. They just clicked. One could say this is insta-love and I sure as hell don't want to scare people away by saying it the word but I personally liked it. 

Beside the story about Gigi, Roman and the restaurants there were also chapters that involved flashbacks to the past where we find out how the feud got started into the first place. I loved, loved, loved those! But I must admit when that first 'flashback' chapter started I had no idea what was going on. It was a little confusing because when it's chapters in someone else's point of view I prefer there be some kind of warning at the beginning of the chapter that either says what year it is or who's chapter it is. But after the first two of those I was finally catching on and started to looking forward to finding out more because I was also interested just like Gigi as to why there was such a huge feud between the Caputos and Montes. 

I also should mention that when it came to the feud I knew where things would be going. It was pretty obvious but it's not like that was something negative for me. It stil devoured this book like let's say... pizza. *chuckles*
But seriously, I really liked this book and there were also some parts where I was shocked with some things that happened. So it's not such an obvious book after all...


Overall, Anyone But You, the third in the Twisted List Series was a quick but entertaining story that I'm glad I got to chance to read. If you like Shakespeare, retellings or just a great book, you won't be disappointed with this one. 

About The Authors:

Los Angeles-based writers Kim Askew and Amy Helmes have been writing and blogging together since 2007. Askew, whose work has appeared in Elle and other magazines as well as the anthology The May Queen, is a content manager for the Webby-award winning teen site www.FashionClub.com and the FIDM/Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. Helmes is a West Coast editor for Soaps In Depth magazine and a contributor to The Rundown, a daily e-mail service that keeps subscribers informed on what’s new and cool in L.A.

Find them both on:

Website | Facebook 

Find Kim Askew on:

Goodreads | Twitter | YouTube | Website

Find Amy Helmes on:

Goodreads | Twitter | Website

Purchase Anyone But You on: 

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

Review: Sentinel by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: Sentinel
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Covenant #5
Publication: November 2nd 2013 by Spencer Hill Press
Genre: Young Adult ~ Paranormal
Purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
Cover Rating: 4/5
Overall Rating: 4/5

   

It's a beautiful day for a war.

As the mortal world slowly slips into chaos of the godly kind, Alexandria Andros must overcome a stunning defeat that has left her shaken and in doubt of their ability to end this war once and for all.

And with all the obstacles between Alex and her happily-ever-after with the swoonworthy Aiden St. Delphi, they must now trust a deadly foe as they travel deep into the Underworld to release one of the most dangerous gods of all time.

In the stunning, action-packed climax to the bestselling Covenant series, Alex must face a terrible choice: the destruction of everything and everyone she holds dear… or the end of herself.

~My Thoughts:

The ending of a series is not an easy thing for me, hell, I tend to avoid last books in a series as long as I can sometimes. However, I could not do this with Sentinel. Though I've only been reading this series since January 2013, I've come to love it so so much. I love the Greek mythology, the characters, the story and of course Jennifer L. Armentrout's writing makes it all super awesome. I will definitely miss this series. It was one hell of a ride!

“Some people say when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. But when life gives you one seriously ticked off god gunning for your ass, you prepare for war and you hope for paradise.” 

First of all, I have to admit that I had a hard time liking the beginning of this book. It wasn't until after the first 70 pages that I actually started liking it. And yes I know why, that was when Seth finally came back into the book. I was so freaking happy to see him and where JLA decided to take his character. (and he gets his own series! *fangirling*) But before that? It was really going negative for me. I can't believe I'm saying this, but Alex? She was annoying the hell out of me. I'm not sure where this is coming from because I didn't feel this week in the other books. You can say it could have something to do with those two gods she had in her body and sorry for the tiny spoiler but what the heck... but even so with the two gods inside her which caused her to be a total negative Nancy, even after that she was a little annoying to me. And don't get me wrong, I still really like her. She's awesome and kickass and everything, I still felt like that. And as for Aiden? I never did really like him. I think he and Alex are pretty good together, but that's it. And I also didn't really care for all the make out scenes between them in this book. I was more fixated on all the action and the yummy gods (yes, Apollo, I'm talking about you!).

As for the story... it went in a total different direction that I thought it would. There were a few surprises that shocked me. But that's a good thing. I love the unexpected. Also, I read Origin right before reading this book and, well, JLA killed off a lot of characters there so of course I thought a bunch would die also in Sentinel but not many actually died. So I'm not sure to be happy about that or disappointed. Probably happy but still... kind of anticlimactic for me. Oh and there was also a cool new character, a titan no less! Perses. He was something. He was brutal and lusting after blood but also pretty freaking hilarious to read about. And of course Seth kind of liked him. It was all really funny to read about. As for the other characters like Deacon, Luke, Marcus, Apollo. They were all pretty awesome. Especially Apollo. I kind of have a thing for this character no matter what book it is. lol. Also a lot of other gods appeared in it, making me really happy to see them, like Athena, Artemis, Hades. Hades is something... 
Anyway... yes, I kind of disliked Alex and Aiden but it didn't make the story any less good. It was still kickass awesome, hilarious and entertaining to read and I'm glad to have read it.
And the ending? I'm still not sure how I feel about it but I tend to lean more towards disappointed. It wasn't what I expected and kind of weird. I had liked to see things work out differently for Alex, though what Seth did for her was amazing. Can you tell that Seth is my favorite character? Seriously, he was the best thing in this book. Him and Apollo both.
Also I wished the ending had also involved the other characters like Deacon, Luke, even Alex's dad. I wanted to know what they would say to Alex. But alas, it wasn't meant to be this way. And honestly? I still have too many questions to really like this ending.


I'm slightly disappointed with the ending but in general, Sentinel by Jennifer L. Armentrout was pretty good. Not the best book or series ever by her but also not the worst. I definitely enjoyed this book more than the previous one and all in all it did work out good for almost everyone. And I'm so very excited to see Seth having his own series starting in 2015! Go Seth! 

Favorite Quotes:

“Hades will be here in twenty minutes," Apollo announced from somewhere way too close to the bed. "Either speed this up or pick it up later, kids."
"Oh my gods," I whispered, horrified.
"Oh, and I hope you two are being responsible," Apollo added.
And then he was gone. There was a muffled, hoarse shout from a room nearby.
"Damn him," Aiden muttered, dropping his head onto my shoulder. He shuddered. "Damn him to the Underworld and back again."
My cheeks burned. "A bell—the first chance we get, we are buying him a bell.”

“We need a plan," he replied.
"Wow," Seth folded his arms. "That's a unique concept."
"Seth," I hissed, shooting him a look.
"That's okay," Apollo replied, smiling at Seth in a wholly creepy "hide your kids" kind of way. "When you least expect it, I'm going to turn you into a pink flower that smells like cat pee.”

“Alex, open your eyes. Come on, baby, open those eyes."
I really wanted to, because for him I'd do anything. Fight a horse of half-blood daimons? There. Tangle with ticked-off furies? Sign me up. Break a dozen or so rules for one forbidden kiss? Done. Open my eyes? Apparently that was asking too much.

About The Author:

USA TODAY Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russel Loki.
Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She also writes adult romance under the name J. Lynn.

Twitter | Facebook | Website | Goodreads

Review: Charming by Elliott James

Title: Charming
Author: Elliott James
Series: Pax Arcana #1
Publication: September 24th 2013 by Orbit
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Format: ebook from NetGalley
Cover Rating: 5/5
Overall Rating: 4/5

Review copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review.

   

John Charming isn't your average Prince...

He comes from a line of Charmings — an illustrious family of dragon slayers, witch-finders and killers dating back to before the fall of Rome. Trained by a modern day version of the Knights Templar, monster hunters who have updated their methods from chainmail and crossbows to kevlar and shotguns, he was one of the best. That is — until he became the abomination the Knights were sworn to hunt.

That was a lifetime ago. Now, he tends bar under an assumed name in rural Virginia and leads a peaceful, quiet life. One that shouldn't change just because a vampire and a blonde walked into his bar... Right?

~My Thoughts:

This was a book I kind of randomly started. Usually I plan the books I'm reading next but I saw it on NetGalley, ready to download and the description sounded so awesome that I decided to start it instantly. I love urban fantasy reads but had never read one in a male point of view or one that's written by a guy so, yes, I had high hopes for this book. 
Let me jus tell you this, the beginning? Awesoooooome! That's a way to start a book and capture the readers' attention right away. I very much liked the way the author was going with this book the way he started it and I hoped it would be this great throughout the whole book. 

The characters in this book were all great and interesting and intriguing to read about. But let's start with our main character, John Charming. You might've heard about the Charmings before. No? Not even in fairytales? Charming isn't just one guy, prince, knight whatever... it's a line of Charmings. How great is that? I might've squealed when I read that part. But back to John... to say he's pretty damn awesome is an understatement. I loved him right away, from the moment he started his story. As a half-werewolf/human/knight, his life hasn't been easy. For the last twelve years he's been trying to lay low, but having a misterably lonely life. It's not like he's this bitter, pitty person with everything he has to go through, though if he'd continued on like this he would've become one eventuelly. But even so, he knows it could be worse. He even says so in the book. And that's one of the major reasons I love him. + he's so hot! And funny, sarcastic. You get it, right? 

Then there's Sig, the blonde Valkyrie. That's right! VALKYRIE. I don't know about you but I haven't read too many books about Valkyries, none actually, so I loved that there was one in it. There are a lot of creatures in it that I didn't know about before so yay. But Sig, I really liked her. She was kicking ass all around and saving John's butt a lot. When you least expect it... Bam! There's Sig! And of course they get a little thing going on. If only Sig didn't have that douchebag Dvornik as boyfriend...
I'm sure if you read this book we can all agree that we really, really, really dislike Dvornik and root for John and Sig. I know I was thinking, die motherfucker die all the time he came in the book. But okay. I do love how Sig knew she couldn't cheat on him with John because that would be wrong and she never really did in my eyes but that's open for discussion. Dvornik was an asshole who couldn't handle him getting older while Sig stayed young and did all kinds of really bad things. But all books gotta have a guy like this, no?

We also had some other people in the team like Molly. I liked her. She used to be some sort of priest. She still is but her encounters with the supernatural left her a little bit messed up. I like her quirkiness though. Choo, was also a great character. At the end I felt bad for him with what happened there and I agree that doing these things he does is bad for him. You'll know when you read it. Oh and then there's this guy who's a naga. I also hadn't heard about these creatures but that what I liked so much in this book. So many mystical creatures that you don't read about in other paranormal books.

There was a lot of world building and explaining about the pax arcana, the knights, mythlogy and a lot more. Through the middle of the book this became a little much to me. It was quite a lot information dump and I know that a huge reason why some people didn't like it so much. I felt a little bit the same but got over it pretty quickly when the story got awesome again. And just remember, there's a reason for all the information. It says so at the end of the book. And I think it's pretty great.
Another aspect that I really thought was great were the vampires. They weren't the hot, sexy, brooding kind you see so much these day. I mean there's nothing wrong with vampires like them. I love vampires like them but it's nice to see a twist like this. 
The story in overall was good, too. A crazy teenage vampire having a master plan that involves tunnels, blood, human trafficking, more blood and just overall craziness. And just when you think it's over, it isn't!
Elliott James has a unique writing style, I loved it. I just loved reading John's story and the way he experienced everything that happened to him. I love how he had a lot of epiphanies about how he couldn't go on like this and it pretty much makes a way open for the next story. Because John's story (and Sig's) sure as hell isn't over. Or so I hope...
Oh and the chapter titles in this book are pretty funny too. I laughed my ass off so many times. 


So all in all, a pretty damn great story. Maybe a little too much information that made me crazy and bleh but other than that I really enjoyed this story. The author had a really original take on fairytales' Charming and spun it into something unique and fascinating to read. I can't wait to read the next book in the series and to find out more about this amazing world!

Favorite Quotes:

"I'm going to shove a cell phone so far up your ass that you're going to burp ringtones."

The vampire didn't walk into the bar so much as flow. Like water. Like night. He was wearing a tight black T-shirt and dark jeans over muscles that seemed to have been sculpted from ivory. His hair was black and tousled, framing piercing green eyes that burned with banked passion in spite of the cold smile on his cruel slash of a mouth. OK, just kidding. Sorry. That whole thing about vampires being übersexy Euro-trash? It's a myth.

You play with fire, you get burned. You play with intimacy, you get awkward.

I could feel Parth's gaze on me as well, and I didn't have to glance over at him to know that he was looking at me with that "Ah, if only I had you under a microscope, my lovely" expression.

About The Author:

An army brat and gypsy scholar, ELLIOTT JAMES is currently living in the blueridge mountains of southwest Virginia. An avid reader since the age of three (or that's what his family swears anyhow), he has an abiding interest in mythology, martial arts, live music, hiking, and used bookstores. Irrationally convinced that cellphone technology was inserted into human culture by aliens who want to turn us into easily tracked herd beasts, Elliott has one anyhow but keeps it in a locked tinfoil covered box which he will sometimes sit and stare at mistrustfully for hours. Okay, that was a lie. Elliott lies a lot; in fact, he decided to become a writer so that he could get paid for it.

Purchase Charming on: 

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Kobo

Review: Her Mad Hatter by Marie Hall

Title: Her Mad Hatter
Author: Marie Hall
Series: Kingdom #1
Publication: July 7th 2012
Genre: Adult ~ Fantasy
Format: Kindle Edition, 129 pages
Cover Rating: 5/5 (RAWR!)
Overall Rating: 4/5

   

Alice is all grown up. Running the Mad Hatter's Cupcakery and Tea Shoppe is a delicious job, until fate--and a fairy godmother with a weakness for bad boys--throws her a curveball. Now, Alice is the newest resident of Wonderland, where the Mad Hatter fuels her fantasies and thrills her body with his dark touch.

The Mad Hatter may have a voice and a body made for sex, but he takes no lovers. Ever. But a determined fairy godmother has forced Alice into Wonderland--and his arms. Now, as desire and madness converge, the Hatter must decide if he will fight the fairy godmother's mating--or fight for Alice.

~My Thoughts: 

I've been meaning to review Her Mad Matter ever since I finished it but other books came in the way. Yadayada, you know how it goes. Still,  I wanted to write one for this book because I enjoyed it so, so much. 
Just like Alice's character in this book, you could say I'm obsessed with the Mad Hatter. I love anything about Alice in Wonderland and I just adore Marie Hall's take on Wonderland and everything fairytale in this book. So when I found it for free on Amazon I knew I had to start it soon. It's also not a very long book, only 130 pages so I finished it in less than a day. I couldn't and would't stop reading. 

Her Mad Hatter starts out with an awesome fairy godmother named Danika trying to find the 'bad five' mates. I seriously love this aspect of the book and I can't find out what's in store for the other four bad boys. Secretly I wish I could go straight to Hook's story... Anyway, one of the bad five happens to be the Mad Hatter from Wonderland, which obviously is this first story of this series is about. Over time Danika tries to find the right Alice for Hatter because his madness is slowly overtaking him but she never succeeded. Once they thought to have found the right one but that went miserably wrong. So Hatter basically had given up on the thought of someone special for him. Until Danika found Alice Hu who runs the Mad Hatter's Cupcakery and Tea Shoppe. Alice can't believe Wonderland is actually real and that the Mad Hatter is, too. Although afraid to open up to another Alice, the Mad Hatter can't deny his feelings for this Alice for a long time... 
The only question is will she be the one that stays?

Aside from the fact that I love Wonderland and fairytales and everything, this book reminded me a little but of the tv-series Once Upon a Time, which I love so much. So it was hard not to obsolutely fall for this book. It has a very original take on all things Wonderland and like this series' catchphrase says; "Bad boys need love too." Damn straight! I can't wait to discover the other books in the series and read about the other bad five. 
The only slightly negative thing I have to say is that I wasn't too thrilled with the ending although it all ended pretty good for Hatter and Alice. Overall it wasn't such a great ending as I expected but that's just a minor thing compared to the whole story.


All in all, Her Mad Hatter was such a great story about some of my favorite characters ever. It's wonderfully written, a great story overal and very steamy. Who knew madness could be so delicious?

About the author:

Marie Hall has always held a dangerous fascination for creatures that go bump in the night. And mermaids. And of course fairies. Trolls. Unicorns. Shapeshifters. Vampires. Scottish brogues. Kilts. Beefy arms. Ummm... Bad boys! Especially the sexy ones.

Then the day came she realized apart from the sexy bad boy she married, there'd be no vampires/shapeshifters/mermaids/fairies/or even stinky trolls in her future unless she wrote about them. More often than not she can be found roaming the wild, lush tropical forest she calls her backyard (a.k.a. Hawaii) and day dreaming constantly about her latest project.

Her Mad Hatter is the first book of her Kingdom Series.

She loves to hear from her readers and can be reached at mariehallwrites@gmail.com!

Find her also on:

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All free to grab!

Review: Saying Goodbye to Warsaw by Michael Cargill

Title: Saying Goodbye to Warsaw
Author: Michael Cargill
Publication: September 8th 2013
Genre: Young Adult ~ Historical Fiction
Format: Paperback, 170 pages
Cover Rating: 4/5
Overall Rating: 4/5

Review copy provided by author in exchange for an honest review.

   

Like any girl who is loved by her family, Abigail Nussbaum loves to chase butterflies, enjoys lying on her back looking for shapes in the clouds, and happily teaches young children to make daisy chains.

In the eyes of certain people, however, Abigail has committed a heinous crime. The year is 1940; the place is Poland; Abigail happens to be Jewish.

Along with half a million other Jews, Abigail and her family are evicted from their home and forced to live in the bombed out ruins of Warsaw, the Polish capital.

Although a handful decide to fight back, is the uprising strong enough to save Abigail’s spirit?

~My Thoughts:

First of all I want to thank Michael Cargill again for sending me his book for review. I really appreciate it. 
This book isn't what I would usually read. Yes, I do like historical fiction but I wouldn't pick up a book about war if I would see it in a bookstore or a library but when I read the description I found myself liking the sound of this book and I decided to take a chance on it. I am SO glad I did. This book really did something to me and I would actually rate it 4.5 but as some of you may know I don't work with halves but still it should be that rating. Anyways, before I start the real review I would say that everyone should at least read this book once in their life. It's pretty damn special. 

Saying Goodbye to Warsaw follows nine (almost ten)-year-old Abigail 'Abbie' Nussbaum and her family which include her older brother, Leo and their mother, Chana, during World War 2 in Poland. After being send to the Warsaw Ghetto life became increasingly hard for them but Abbie manages to live her life as best as she can and seeing things in a rather naive and although not entirely possitive but sweet kind of way.

First of all, let me say that I'm quite surprised by how this book overwhelmed and grabbed my attention. I must admit that the beginning was a little 'eh' for me. And I was going a little crazy with the author's over-ussage of the word 'whilst'. I'm not sure why it bothered me so much but there you go. But after the first 80 pages I couldn't stop reading anymore and I was totally caught up in Abbie's life. Actually, I was caught up in all the characters' lives. Chana's, Leo's, Elenka's even Borys'. My favorite character probably was Leo because I could relate to him the most. (And I just like male points of view the most)

As for the overall story, it was brilliant. And although I wasn't sure about it all at first, I loved the writing when I think back about it. It was quite dark but that's what I would expect from a book like this. And I loved it. Michael Cargill has a real talent writing a book like this that I admire.
The end was pretty shocking to me. When the resistance in Warshow arose I was hanging on every single word. And, yes, I was crying with that end. Actually I was already crying when something happened to Borys. How could I not? It's been a while since a book has impressed me emotionally like this one had. Sure, I couldn't expect a happy ending but yeah... I still hoped.


Overall Saying Goodbye to Warsaw by Michael Cargill was close to brilliant. Not perfect. It had some flaws like every book has but I really liked it. I even cried over it and I don't usually cry with books. The characters were close to my heart which made the ending all the more emotional for me. I'd recommend it to everyone, even if you don't like the genre or topic or whatever. Just read it. You might end up being surprised like me.

About the author:

I'm an author who lives in the sunny, green hills of England. As you can see in the photo to the left, I'm mostly bald.

Over the years people had often said that I should write a book so, in mid 2011, I did just that! Anyone wondering which book of mine to read first should start with Shelter from Thunder. 'tis short and available for free.

Feedback of any kind is always welcome.

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