Wednesday Wishes

Seems like I say this a lot, but it feels like ages since I’ve done a WW post!!

If you haven’t noticed BW is back to regular posting! So look forward to more activity and hopefully it will be smooth sailing from here on out. I’ve missed my baby! Especially, I’ve missed you guys.

Though my internet is out, so if I don’t respond swiftly, it’s because I’m not smooching off of someone!

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The Assassin’s Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke 

Get it: Amazon | Goodreads
Genre: YA Fantasy
Series: Assassin’s Curse, Book 1

Ananna of the Tanarau abandons ship when her parents try to marry her off to an allying pirate clan: she wants to captain her own boat, not serve as second-in-command to her handsome yet clueless fiancé. But her escape has dire consequences when she learns the scorned clan has sent an assassin after her.

And when the assassin, Naji, finally catches up with her, things get even worse. Ananna inadvertently triggers a nasty curse — with a life-altering result. Now Ananna and Naji are forced to become uneasy allies as they work together to break the curse and return their lives back to normal. Or at least as normal as the lives of a pirate and an assassin can be.(

Pirates, assassins, a runaway bride! Hello! Why would I not want to read this book?

Avalon by Lana Davison 

Get it: Amazon | Goodreads
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: N/A

Holly was forced to leave Avalon at the tender age of twelve, simply because she refused a union with her chosen one. She believes love ruins everything. Holly is sent to earth to live with her guardian family and lives on earth like any normal teenage girl, but she is different, she has a gift. In her senior school year, Holly attends boarding school in England and is introduced to a new student, Leo. She cannot understand why she is so drawn to his dark confident nature. His touch awakens a part of Holly she believed was dormant forever. All is not what it seems. What secret is Leo hiding? And is there more to Leo’s presence in her life?

This one doesn’t come out until November, but I’m very excited about it. The author has promised me a copy. *wink-wink*

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson 

Get it: Amazon | Goodreads
Genre: YA Fantasy
Series: Fire and Thorns, Book 1

Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.

Elisa is the chosen one.

But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can't see how she ever will.
Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.

And he's not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people's savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.

Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn’t die young.
Most of the chosen do.(

This is a title that I just found out about! It sounds amazing and the reviews sound wonderful. I love YA fantasy and this one sounds so much more promising then The Glass Throne.

Review: Full Moon Rising by Keri Arthur

Full Moon Rising (Riley Jenson, Book 1) by Keri Arthur

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Edition Reviewed: eBook
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle
Goodreads: Full Moon Rising

A rare hybrid of vampire and werewolf, Riley Jenson and her twin brother, Rhoan, work for Melbourne’s Directorate of Other Races, an organization created to police the supernatural races–and protect humans from their depredations. While Rhoan is an exalted guardian, a.k.a. assassin, Riley is merely an office worker–until her brother goes missing on one of his missions. The timing couldn’t be worse. More werewolf than vampire, Riley is vulnerable to the moon heat, the weeklong period before the full moon, when her need to mate becomes all-consuming.

Luckily Riley has two willing partners to satisfy her every need. But she will have to control her urges if she’s going to find her brother….Easier said than done as the city pulses with frenzied desire, and Riley is confronted with a very powerful–and delectably naked–vamp who raises her temperature like never before.

In matters carnal, Riley has met her match. But in matters criminal, she must follow her instincts not only to find her brother but to stop an unholy harvest. For someone is doing some shifty cloning in an attempt to produce the ultimate warrior–by tapping into the genome of nonhumans like Rhoan. Now Riley knows just how dangerous the world is for her kind–and just how much it needs her.

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Review:

This is one of those books (or series) that I've heard extreme opinions on. Some love it, and others hate it with a passion that makes me tremble in my metaphorical boots. The main issue is that the leading lady, Riley, is given a great introduction as a strong female lead, but it’s all wasted. Her brother goes missing and instead of going out and moving earth and heaven to find him she's having sex. Personally, that's a big character fault and many readers who didn't like this first book stated that it was one of those PNR tropes where the magic of the world is developed so that the lead HAS to have sex. That's a huge turn off for me. So what lead me to picking up this book? A group of friends on GR with similar tastes as me loved these books. Missing great reads is something I hate to do, and so I went into Full Moon Rising with low expectations. Then I was blown away!

Riley is a great lead, a werewolf/vampire half breed. It sounds cheesy (at least to me), but Arthur works out the myths around it well. Riley isn't some kind of super killer. In fact, she's a liaison for the Directorate—a supernatural crime fighting department. When lives are on the line she will step up to the task, especially when her brother is missing. Riley is smart heroine with her own set of human flaws, she's resourceful. This is not one of those books where everything just falls into her lap, Riley has to work to solve the mystery and she does not always win. All this is going on as the Moon Heat is happening. Now don't snicker!

To elaborate on the Moon Heat. Yes, it makes werewolves once a month have to have sex. If they don't get down and dirty with it the werewolf will go into a killing rage. The government even lets werewolves have a week off to take care of these needs—which is a realistic idea for something like this. Now I thought I would have a huge problem with this in the plot line. Arthur takes a plot trop that I hate—HATE—and makes it realistic. Riley struggles trying to deal with the Moon Heat as she seeks her brother. It's realized enough that I don't feel like it steals from the story. It's a legitimate crisis that has to be dealt with. Also it's sooooooo nice having a lead female who isn't a virgin, or simply hasn't slept around a lot. Now, I'm not saying a want my lead to be a slut. What I'm saying is that Riley likes sex, she's not ashamed of it and I enjoy reading about a woman that is comfortable with her sexuality. Strangely enough in UF and PNR even though the women are strong they always have hang-ups or issues with sex.

Arthur has clearly created an amazing Urban Fantasy world that's exceptionally fleshed out. The people, society, and the concepts are great. It’s nice to read a UF set in Australia. If the paranormal creatures of legend stepped out I could believe that the government would want to create super soldiers using gene experimentation and cloning. It's great watching the politics work out. Arthur has created a wonderful mix of Urban Fantasy, PNR, mystery, and sci/fi. The legends for the myths are clear and Arthur doesn't forget it. If Riley's strength saved her from one situation, she's not going to suddenly not be able to do it a page later, or book later. Things are consistent. Sure the bad guys might get special powers because of the experimentation's and other stuff, but they're not pulling new magical rabbit tricks out of there butts.

Another plus is the romance. This series is not going to be dominated by the over done love triangle. Riley has two lovers and a potential in a Vampire that appears naked on her door step. Riley might have to use her sexual assets as tools and sometimes weapons to get what she wants, but that's an asset of being a woman. Arthur is not afraid to use the power of a woman's sexuality. It's great watching Riley fall from lust to maybe love, and then watch her deal with the betrayal of a lover(s). The emotions are raw. Most of all I love how she confronts relationship issues head on. She's not one to take it laying down (um, no pun intended).

This first book is edgy and very sexy. It has all the great features of a wonderful Urban Fantasy story and mixes the right kind of romance elements. PNR fans will love it and UF readers can appreciate a book that's sexy while still maintaining a plot. Everything is not solved in one book and there are plot threads that are going to carry on. Love how epic the plot arcs are. If the Moon Heat aspect of this book is what has been stopping you from trying out this series don't. Arthur has talent and she's clearly not going to let those tired old plot tricks most authors love to use muck up her book. She's got talent for world building, character depth, and so much more. Besides how can you say no to a lead who's strong, smart, and comfortable with her sexuality?

Sexual Content: Honestly after the review, I don’t think I need to say it! Though I do have to respond to other reviews, this isn’t erotica. Not. Even. Close.

4/5- Great! Really enjoyed it.

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Previous book(s) in series:
Reviewed on BW:	Amazon:	Goodreads:
Full Moon Rising (1) Kissing Sin (2) Tempting Evil (3) Dangerous Games (4) Embraced by Darkness(5) The Darkest Kiss (6) Deadly Desire (7) Bound to Shadows (8) Moon Sworn (9)	Paperback | Kindle Paperback | Kindle Paperback | Kindle Paperback | Kindle Paperback | Kindle Paperback | Kindle Paperback | Kindle Paperback | Kindle Paperback | Kindle	Full Moon Rising (1) Kissing Sin (2) Tempting Evil (3) Dangerous Games (4) Embraced by Darkness(5) The Darkest Kiss (6) Deadly Desire (7) Bound to Shadows (8) Moon Sworn (9)

Uncontrollable Officially Out!

When you’re on Goodreads you can’t help but notice what books are being talked about, especially when the Kindle sections are talking about amazing books at a great price! Untraceable has been blowing the groups up for the past two months, and has piqued my interest.

So imagine my surprise when S.R. Johannes herself emails me about her books! So of course I jump right on board!

After reading the short story I was hooked! So I’ll be very excited to post my part for the release of book two of The Nature of Grace series.

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As 16-year-old Grace recovers from tragedy, her science class is chosen by Agent Sweeney at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to help with research on the new "Red Wolf Reintroduction Program".

While she’s excited about helping with the conservation of the endangered wolves, Grace knows this means being outdoors in the worst winter recorded, in a place she no longer feels comfortable. It also means working closely with Wyn (her ex) and his annoying girlfriend (Skyler), a girl whose idea of getting close to nature is picking silk plants and growing fake plants.

After a couple of wolves show up dead, Grace almost quits. However, when a fellow project team member goes missing, Grace continues the assignment under a renewed suspicion that someone might be sabotaging the conservation program. She quietly begins to hunt for clues.

Little does she know, she is being hunted too.

Uncontrollable is the second book in "The Nature of Grace" series by S.R. Johannes. Untraceable, the first book in the series, has won and been nominated for several awards including Winner of the 2012 IndieReader Discovery Award (YA), 2012 Georgia Author of the Year (YA Nominee), and a finalist in The Kindle Book Review's "Best Indie Book of 2012 (YA)".

Kirkus reviewed Untraceable as "A thrilling story is a dramatic entanglement of mystery, deception and teen romance.  The action flows like a brisk mountain stream interspersed with rapids, holding suspense to last page."

If you like a page turner, you will love this series!
 
Head over to Mundie Moms for a Big Uncontrollable Launch Party with tons of prizes and then over to SR Johannes blog for even more.
 
To continue on with the blog tour, check out the line up! Where SR talks about anything from marketing to writing to her books to personal interviews and giveaways.

Follow S.R. online on her website, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest

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Untraceable: Amazon | Smashwords
Unspeakable (Currently free!): Amazon | Smashwords
Uncontrollable: Amazon | Smashwords