Cloak and Dagger (THE IMA) by Nenia Campbell

"They plan to kill us both."

I came across Cloak and Dagger in a discussion on Goodreads, when someone recommend I read it. 

I shall have to thank them immensely! 

When we meet Christina Parker her main worries in life are getting through high school and trying to forget the mean things her mom says about her weight. 

Unbeknownst to Christina her dad has hacked into the files of an organization of mercenaries called the IMA. The IMA is so powerful even the government denies it exists. 

Thinking the IMA will come after them, Christina's parents leave her home alone under the pretense that they are going on a holiday.

Christina isn't so lucky.
Michael Boutilier is the best and always gets results. He kidnaps Christina from her family home and holds her hostage in a safe house for months. 

But even Michael is being tested by the IMA who believe he plans to take over and run the organization himself.

This book was beautiful. Christina wasn't a girl who was going to give up and even though she was scared she fought back against her captors even when the odds were stacked against her. It was a refreshing change from heroines who just hide in a corner until the storm passes.

Michael is one of the most intriguing characters i have read this year.

Yes, he's hot.

Yes, he has his softer moments.

But the reader never forgets what Michael is . A killer.

What I liked most about his relationship with Christina is you understand where it developed from and the author didn't make Christina try and justify Michael actions to the read. Christina knows what Michael is capable of and fears him along with her growing attraction to him. Understanding, that he is her best option to staying alive, but knowing she is alive only because he wishes it.

Michael also knows what he is. He isn't the torn soul trying to do good but keeps doing bad. He's an assassin and has killed men. There is blood on his hands and if he has to he will kill again without hesitation. 

Normally when reading a series i never go from one book to the next, as i feel it can make the two stories seem like one long never ending one. Saying this, i have already ordered the sequel Armed and Dangerous on paper back.

There are only two things i can really fault with this story.

1. It needs to be professionally edited. The story is let down slightly by the amount of spelling and grammar errors. 
2. The one things about the story that confused me is Christina saves her parents when they are trapped on an Island, but it doesn't tell you how Christinas parents escaped the Island. Michael and Christina escaped on one of the boats that Michael had to hot wire. So did her parents do the same?

Overall though this was an amazing story and one i can't wait to continue. I'm already dreading it ending and i have two more books in this series to read!!

 

 
I just want to leave you with some quotes i have saved from the book.

"There are two things about me you should know. 

Don't fight me, unless you're prepared to kill me.

And don't kiss me, unless you prepared to fuck me." - Michael

"Have you ever fired a gun before?" I queried already knowing what the answer would be. 

"No."

"Do you want to learn?"

"No."

"Let me rephrase that, then. You're going to learn."

"You think you fucking know me? I'm an assassin. I kill people for a living. Good people, bad people, it makes no difference to me as long as I get paid." I spoke slowly, giving each word time to sink in. "And that girl you just sold out? She's the only thing in this world that makes me even remotely human."

"You told me you loved me." 

I shook my head. "I said emotions make people weak, too. Fucking look at me now. Look at you. Look what love gave us. You're worth ten of me."

"If you care about him, and yourself, you'll let him go. Some people...Truly aren't meant to be together."

The Light of the World by Tara Brown

Light series book 1

To be honest, i don't know where to start with this one.
For me, it was bad. I only made it to chapter 6 and then gave up.

We are introduced to Rayne at the start of the book who is starting college against her hippie mothers wishes. 
Due to her mothers beliefs Rayne doesn't smoke, drink and has been warned to stay away from boys.

When Rayne first arrives at college her mothers senses a bad aura so goes around cleansing the halls and gets other students to meditate, which i thought was quite entertaining. Rayne also meets her room-mate (who's name i can't remember) who the author repeatedly refers to being a body double of Blair from Gossip Girl. Which is why i most likely can't remember the characters real name. Fair enough mentioning the similarity the character has to an actress, but within 6 chapters this is mentioned at least once in every chapter. The room-mate often being referred to as 'Gossip Girl' or 'Blair Waldorf's stuntwomen' for me it was just a little OTT. 

One of the characters that i loved was Michelle. Rayne knew Michelle from high school but back then she was known as Michael before her sex change. I have never come across this in a book before so really liked this idea in the book. However, Michelle's outrageous antics and hilarious behavior still wasn't enough for me to continue this story.

Some of the main points i have regarding the problems of this story are :

1. Rayne meets a boy (can't remember if his name had been mentioned by chapter 6, or if again i have just forgotten it) she falls in love at first sight but holds back because something tells her he's dangerous, and whenever he is around she gets pains in her stomach. I understand that this is something that was going to be developed more in the book, but seemed like a weak reason. 
2. Chapter 5, Rayne is still a virgin, has no plans to lose her virginity, but because she keeps pushing the guy away and is quite mean to him when he is trying to help her - especially when she gets herself plastered in a club. She is feeling bad about herself because of a run in with said guy. Then Chapter 6 hits, Rayne is no longer a virgin and has not only slept with one guy but seems to be getting a few notches on her own bed post. (WTF! moment)
3. It is then stated that the guy she lost her virginity to - a character we haven't met previously - has been attacked. Her mother calls her as she can sense something has changed in Rayne, but without picking up on the sex thing she says she knows Rayne has eaten meat.

Overall, it felt like two different stories that had been plastered together. I actually though i had missed a chapter and back tracked, but i hadn't.
Rayne is very determined in what she wants at college as it is the first time she has been away from her over-protective mother, and without warning that all changes without any build up.
I get the feeling that this is something the author started writing, stopped for a while and then went back to it, but without re-reading what she had already written, as the characters personalities just seem to change like it's a different book being written. 

I'm not even going to give this one star, as i think that is too much for this.

Loki's Daughters by Delle Jacobs

 It was love, if ever she had seen it.

This was another one that had been sitting on my kindle for some time.
After finally deciding to read it, i am disappointed i didn't do so earlier.

At the beginning we meet the celtic woman Arienh. She has assumed the position a man would normally have in her small village after all the men have died. Most due to raids by the vikings, including her own brother, father, her sister was raped by a viking and her other brother was taken by the vikings as a slave.

Understandably, Arienh has a deep hatred for the vikings. Expect one who she couldn't forget. One that frightful night her brother was killed and her sister was taken against her will, a viking chased Arienh, and if it hadn't been for a young viking boy hiding her and leading the Norse man astray she would have most likely suffered the same fate as her sister.

Then one day Arienh is going to the stones she stumbles across a viking, in her panic she stabs him and runs away. After discussing it with the woman of the village they give Arienh the task of going back and making sure the viking is dead and if not, to kill him.

But Arienh isn't like the vikings and refuses to kill him. What she doesn't know is that the viking who she is sheltering in her cottage until he has healed is the viking that saved her all those years ago. Ronan has come back for Arienh, the celtic girl he could never forget. He wants to bring his family to these lands and make a home there. But even when the truth is found Arienh, can't trust the vikings for the memories that others have caused her. However, Ronan isn't going to give up to easily. He will prove to the women of the village and Arienh that his men can be trusted and he won't back down until Arienh is his wife.

This was a beautifully written story. The characters fitted each other well and the story continued at a good pace, never too slow or too rushed. The author didn't overload you with Norse history but gave you just enough information to understand the world they book was set in.

Tragically Flawed by A.M. Hargrove

I read roughly just over half of this book then stopped.
The story itself wasn't bad, but there was nothing really keeping my attention.
I was continuing to read just because i had started it, not because i wanted to know what was going to happen to the characters.
In truth it just felt like something i have read over and over again.
A girl who has been hurt in the past, therefore she doesn't really trust anyone, specifically men. Then she meets a man who is going to change that, but he has his own past to deal with, so to some extent they heal each other, yada yada yada.
If you're going to write a story where the plot is popular amongst other books then you have to do something to make your book stand out.

For me this just didn't do it.

I actually started this review with three stars and ended it with 2.





                                                     

The Assassin's Curse and The Pirate's Wish by Cassandra Rose Clarke

 

+

The Assassins Curse

Ananna of the Tanarau abandons ship when her parents try to marry her off to an allying pirate clan. But that only prompts the scorned clan to send an assassin after her. And when Ananna faces him down one night, armed with magic she doesn’t really know how to use, she accidentally activates a curse binding them together.

To break the curse, Ananna and the assassin must complete three impossible tasks—all while grappling with evil wizards, floating islands, haughty manticores, runaway nobility, strange magic, and the growing romantic tension between them.

I recently bought 'The Assassin's Curse' because I was getting a bit tired of reading the same genres, so decided to try something a bit different. It was a wonderful surprise of a book. I literally couldn't put it down and read it along with the sequel in a few days.

Straight away we meet Ananna and i was instantly sorry for her. She was being forced into an arranged marriage by her pirate parents to the son of other pirates to make an alliance.

The thing i loved most about Ananna is that she isn't a girl who is going to let someone else control her life. Which is why she high-tails it on a camel before she can be married off.

The grooms family however, are too happy about this embarrassment and hire an assassin to find Ananna and kill her. This is how Naji is brought into her life.

While he is attempting to kill her she happens to save him life. Putting him in her debt and them both on a journey to break Naji's curse. For if Ananna tries to leave Naji or even puts herself in harms way, it causes Naji unbearable pain. 

Not only is Naji a great character, but the relationship between him and Ananna is brilliant.  He is more than over -protective of her - even going so far as not let her have a weapon - and sometimes you feel it isn't just because of the curse and his worry of being in pain if something should happen to her.

"Give me your sword." 

He slapped the camel's thigh to get it moving again. "Absolutely not."

We continue with these characters in 'A Pirate's Wish.' Ananna knows not without any doubt that she is in love with Naji. But he is an assassin who is forbidden to love. And he does blood magic. Magic she has been told is dangerous. But they still need to break his curse. 

The story continues to take them to dangerous lands and not only is their lives being intrusted to others but their trust in each other is tested. 

Naji and Ananna's relationship is a lot more deeper in this book. Both wanting what they can't have and to some extent not even sure of what each other wants.

Ananna constantly surprises Naji. She trusts easily and always seems to bring out a side in people and creatures that he never thought possible. 

"I think...I think you're beautiful."

 His face didn't move. "I thought you don't trust beautiful people."

"Not beautiful like that. I mean...I don't ever want to stop looking at you."

The conversations they had and they way they acted with each other was the perfect love/hate relationship that had me in stitches most of the time. 

"For Kaol's sake, Naji, I ain't gonna call down the Otherworld. I just want you to leave me alone!" I whipped my knife at him without thinking. He slid away in a blink. The knife thrummed into the wall.

"That was unnecessary." He said.

"Get out!"

Overall, i think both books were very well written. The characters captivated you right from the start. One of the things i like most about the main book was that it started right in the action. You weren't reading three stories waiting for the plot to begin. Brilliant books, top of my favorites list.

5stars!!!

                                               

Finding Faith Cover Reveal

Title: Finding Faith
Author: Tabatha Vargo
Genre: New Adult / Contemporary Romance
Presented by: As You Wish Tours

BLURB

A little FAITH can get you through…

One night. That’s all Finn had with the only girl he ever loved. Years later, all he has left of that night is a silver cross, a broken give a damn, and the unrelenting desire to drink her memory away. As the lead singer of Blow Hole, Finn has his pick of women, but none are able to squash the need he still carries around for Faith. To hate her offers some relief, but when Finn sees her again after so many years, it’s hard to despise her. Especially when every reason he had to hate her, turn out to be lies.

As the daughter of a strict Baptist preacher, Faith Warren lived sheltered from all things sinful. When she met Jimmy Finn, the epitome of all seven deadly sins, she found out exactly what she was missing. After being forced to choose between her soul and the only person in the world who made her feel alive, Faith walked away from Finn and dove head first into her father’s preferred life. But now Finn’s back and he’s getting payback by wreaking havoc on her emotions. Except sometimes bad things feel good, and Faith has to decide once again if she wants to stay in her gilded cage or fly free with the dark angel of lust himself.

AUTHOR BIO
Tabatha's been writing since she could pick up a pencil. Her first publication was a little poem in her elementary school paper, from that point on she was hooked. When she was a teenager, she traded in her girly magazines for personalized writing notebooks.

At nineteen, she met her own personal prince charming and writing took a back burner for a while. She's now married to that prince and the mother of a beautiful seven-year-old princess/rock star. Once her daughter was born, writing came back into her life, and she finished her very first novel, Wicked Fate, in May of 2009.

She's now pursuing her English degree and she hopes to one day teach while continuing to write.

STALKER LINKS
Facebook
Twitter
Website
Goodreads
Amazon Profile

BOOK LINK
Goodreads

"Call me Patch. I mean it. Call me."

This was another book that i had sitting on my book shelf waiting to be read. Recently i have been in a time where no book can seem to catch my interest. Then Hush Hush came along.

The story open with a prologue set year before the actually story takes place. It gives you a little look at one of our main characters but at this point you are unaware of which one.

Then we meet Nora. She lost her dad the year before and just wants to focus on getting good enough grades to get into a good college. Then one fateful day - or rather an annoying biology teacher - brings her Patch. They don't hit it off, especially when he has no interest helping her complete the assignment they have been paired on together to work on. Nora was very likeable for me. She doesn't just let Patch walk over and just because he has a killer smile an gives her butterflies she would rather not have, doesn't mean she just drops to her knees and does anything for him.

"You're not impressing me."

"I haven't started trying yet." 

Patch was hard to work out until almost a third through the book. Even then there were moments that gave you doubt about his character. At times you thought Patch was the romantic lead that was going to come in and save the day, but then other characters make you think that this might not be his role in the book at all. One of my favourite things about Patch was the comments he comes out with to annoy Nora or just to see her blush.

"-how do you know if she's game or if she wants you to move on?"

"I figure out what she's thinking and feeling. She's mot going to come right out and tell me, which is why i have to pay attention Does she turn her body toward mine? Does she hold my eyes, then look away? Does she bite her lip and play with her hair, the way Nora is doing now?"

 For me one of the best things about this book was that it was more like three stories/plots in one. You are trying to work out who is trying to do harm to Nora, if Patch is really who you think him to be, and then new friends come into Nora's life who have secrets. I loved the thriller aspect to this story, and from the sneak peak to Crescendo at the end, this is defiantly a series i will be completing.

Soul Ties Lisa Swallow Review

I received an ARC of this book for an honest review.

At the beginning of the story we meet Ava. She has decided to become a soul-hunter in the hopes of gaining her freedom and bettering her life. But she didn't realize how hard that task was going to be, when Darius gives her the mission or retrieving a Nephilim soul. However, she knows she can't let self doubt cloud her judgement. She has been promised by Darius that this will be the last one, if she completes this mission she gains her freedom. Nephilim or not, his soul was hers.

Keir isn't like the other Nephilim. Instead of taking human souls, he releases souls from demons allowing the souls to be free instead of being captured.The last thing Keir needed was another soul-hunter getting in his way, but when faced with Ava he knows there is more to her than what is on the surface. But can he really risk giving the woman who has come to kill him a chance to change?

Ava thought she knew exactly how to get his soul. What she didn't count on was him being prepared for her. 

With the act of surprise lost to her now and Keir's best friend Dhalia not willing to leave them alone together, Ava knows she is going to have to work harder than ever before to get the soul that will set her free. She has to befriend Keir and get him to trust her, to let his guard down, because she knows she could never win a fight against him. His powers far outweigh her own. What she didn't anticipate was letting her own guard down and trusting Keir. 

As the leading heroine, Ava was very likeable and you learned just enough about her without feeling like you knew her story before the book had even really begun and as events unfold she doesn't know who she can trust. As I went through the story with Ava, even i couldn't decide who side she should be on sometimes. I just loved Keir (who wouldn't?) he saw more to Ava and was willing to put his own life at risk to allow her a chance to see the truth, even when Dhalia tried to convince him that he should get rid of her. 

Dhalia was an interesting mix into the book. To begin with I thought i knew exactly what part this character was going to play, but it didn't turn out that wall at all.

Darius, although, not a main presence in the book leaves enough effect to remain a threat to the characters, and isn't forgotten by the reader. Though you don't get to see exactly how powerful Darius is, it is clear he is someone not to mess with. 

One of the other main things i liked about this book, was that it doesn't just focus on the main characters. The support characters have interesting back stories also, that leave the puzzling about where they came from and what their future holds for them.

Overall, this book was very well written, kept you interested. Every time the book seemed to lead a certain way and I felt like I had worked out what was going to happen next, it took a completely different turn and surprised me. A new series i know i am going to become addicted to.

Buy links :

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Add it to your list:

Goodreads

Wait for you cover reveal by J.Lynn

Synopsis:

Some things are worth waiting for …

This is the book you’ve been waiting to read since you put down One Day and Fifty Shades of Grey.

Some things are worth experiencing …

‘Cam stole my heart’

‘One of the most endearing, touching and fun friends-to-lovers I’ve read’

‘Gripping … the sweetest yet hottest romance’

And some things are worth fighting for …

Avery knows she should stay away from Cam Hamilton: he might be the hottest guy on campus but she really doesn’t need that sort of drama right now. Love is best left in the past – along with her troubles. But sometimes, the last thing you want, is just the thing you need …

Bio:

# 1 NEW YORK TIMES and 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 Russell 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 is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen.
She also writes adult and New Adult romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JenniferLArmentrout?fref=ts
Twitter: @JLArmentrout
website: http://www.jenniferarmentrout.com/

Release date: August 15, 2013

To Buy links
http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/j-+lynn/wait+for+you/9763383/

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Wait-for-You-Lynn/9780007530984

http://www.hive.co.uk/book/wait-for-you/17611999/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wait-You-J-Lynn/dp/0007530986/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373570427&sr=8-1&keywords=Wait+for+You

Extinguish by J.M. Darhower

"Give in to it, angel"

You know how sometimes you find a book, and even after finishing it you just can't let it go? Well this is one of those books. 

Reading about this book I knew I would like it, but never to this extent.

We meet Serah, who is an angel that has chosen to look over children, make sure the evil of the world doesn't taint them. Until she's sent on a mission that seems impossible. Convince Satan to agree to peace. 

Going to the gates of hell she finds Satan isn't what she thought he would be at all. He's no monster or devil figure like in the stories, he's a man. A man that you just can't take your mind off either because he's so infuriating or because he makes you see things in a new way. 

Perhaps he's not as evil as everyone makes him out to be. Or is he more evil that anyone ever imagined?

I loved Lucifer and I have to admit, if there is a Hell and Heaven, well if Satan is anything like this Lucifer I'm all for hell....as long as i get to stay in the castle with him though. Fire pits aren't really my thing. And yes there are fire pits. 

As a character Lucifer wasn't what i expected either. I was expecting rude, evil and thought i would probably hate him, and while he is rude and evil, he's also cocky and arrogant in the most brilliant way. The things he says had me in stitches and was a perfect counter character for the Serah who was all believing and innocent. Been even Lucifer can make the most patient angel lose patience. 

'Serah.

Lucifer she screamed. I'm coming for you. 

"I'll be a son of a bitch," he said, unable to stop the smile from turning the corner of his lips.'

"You're unbearbale." 

"You're cute yourself, angel."

 The romance feature of this was perfectly written. Serah finds herself unwilling attracted to Lucifer, but him being Satan and her being an angel isn't the only problem. Serah is the lover the of Archangel Michael, Lucifer's once brother. Trying to convince herself she still loves Michael and her feelings for Lucifer are just a figment of her imagination doesn't work for long. Especially when she starts to see more good in Lucifer than bad. 

'I see beauty and goodness in everything - even you, Luce. And as long as that's there, I can never turn away from it.'

 Can Satan love? Lucifer didn't think so, he believed all the goodness was taken from him when his own brother cast him into the pits of hell for eternity. But there is something about Serah that he just can't ignore. Her stubbornness to continue to come to the gates of hell everyday and beg him for peace when he has denied her every time, and not been the nicest about it. Her hell bent loyalty to her faith and beliefs. Even with the world falling around her, she believes he will still save it in the end. He wants her, more than he even realized himself. She wants him and he knows it, no matter how much she says different, he can sense it, smell it, fell it from her. And when he touches her, he can feel her surrendering to his touch. 

'his hand ran down her neck, trailing along her chest, between her breasts. "Tell me you feel nothing from that. I fucking dare you."'

Seven thousand years he waited to take his revenge on the world, on the angels and release the darkness of hell. Now he has that chance, now he can be free from his imprisonment and take the revenge on Michael. But at what cost? Perhaps even the devil can repent.

This was beautifully written and I just couldn't put it down until i knew how it ended and i still can't believe how it ended. Anxiously awaiting the sequel!!

Amazon UK :  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Extinguish-ebook/dp/B00D614EUW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372799865&sr=8-1&keywords=extinguish

Amazon US : http://www.amazon.com/Extinguish-ebook/dp/B00D614EUW/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1372799918&sr=8-1&keywords=extinguish

 

 

Killing Sarai by J.A. Redmerski

 

This may be one of the most beautiful covers i have ever seen for a book. Just look at it, it's amazing and one of the main things that instantly attracted me to this book.

I found out about this story two days before it's release date and i still couldn't wait. 

Sarai was taken to Mexico by her mother when she was only fourteen years old, to live with her mothers boyfriend and notorious gang lord Javier. Only Javier liked Sarai more than he liked her mother. 

One night when an American (Victor), the first American Sarai has seen in nine years, she takes this as her chance to escape Javier and the compound she has been held prisoner in since she was fourteen. 

Breaking out and sneaking into the American's car, she swaps one bad guy for another, as the American is an assassin. Instead of taking her back to Javier he helps her, and the shotgun Sarai holds to his head had nothing to do with it. 

At first he uses her as leverage to make sure he gets the full amount of money from Javier when he kills his target. Then Sarai becomes a target and Victor feels he has to protect her, that he has to give her a chance at a normal life. 

 Victor could have taken Sarai back, could have used her like Javier used her, could have beaten her or abandoned her. But he doesn't and soon Sarai finds herself falling in love with a killer. 

When i look into his eyes i see something there, although dormant and completely indistinct, i know it's there. And it's powerful. I want to understand it, to feel it, to taste it on my lips.

 And just maybe, the man that couldn't feel, couldn't love, is starting to realise he wasn't as protected from her as he thought. 

Sarai has slowly but surely broken through Victor's tough defenses and reminded him what it's like to feel for someone. He has to protect her even from his own family. Because God knows he can't kill her, even though he knows he should.

I LOVED this and i am slowly dying while waiting on the sequel which i hope it out soon!!

This book takes you on a journey that you won't forget, and i couldn't put this story down. Sarai is a perfect heroine, brave and independent but at the same petrified of the new life she has been handed. Victor teaches her how to survive on her own, and she can do it, she just can't survive without him. And he can't stay. 

A MUST read. One of my tops for 2013