May 31, 2014

Top 5 Sundays

Top 5 Sundays is a weekly blog meme created by Larissa at Larissa and Friends' Bookish Life

 Every Sunday I will post a TOP 5 list on the blog. It can be about anything and every week I'll have a new theme {You can vote on next week’s theme on my left sidebar!} and I will ad the Mr.Linky bellow the post so you can do a list with the theme and add you link to it. 

Rules: 
1 - Write a post listing your TOP 5 choices within the theme I chose (or was chosen on a poll) for the week. 
2 - Mention this Blog on the post and link back to it. 
3 - Feel free to use the Feature's image (there is a smaller size version of it bellow) 
4 - After you've finished your post, add you link (of the post, not your blog's main page) to the Mr.Linky at the end of that week's post. 
5 – If you don’t have a blog to post, just leave your list in the comments =)



This week's topic is: Upcoming TV Series that I Wanna Check Out!


*in no particular order


Oddly enough I had to google this since I'm not up on what's coming this fall! Started off with one that sounds pretty awesome too!


EMERALD CITY

Obviously it will tie into Oz, but it sounded pretty intriguing! Love different twists to beloved classics!



GOTHAM

A sort of Batman prequel I believe. Basically falls Commissioner Gordan before he became the Commissioner and how the city of Gotham was just a scary place!



GIRL MEETS WORLD

I think I am way more excited for this than I should be! A sort of sequel/continuation to Boy Meets World?! With Cory and Topanga's kids?! Yes please!


THE McCARTHYS

I found this one in a list of upcoming fall shows! Really I'm just curious to see it since Laurie Metcalf's in it! I love watching Roseanne repeats, so I thought I'd look into this one too!



iZOMBIE

A slightly odd looking show, but sounded interesting. This chick is a zombie and works at the morgue so she can eat a few brains to survive and gets the people's memories. Might give it a go on the DVR to see how it pans out!



 

May 30, 2014

New Cover Look--Arcana Chronicles

So I noticed that Kresley Cole's Arcana Chronicles will have an entirely new look for the release of the last book Dead of Winter.

Firstly, it gets kind of annoying when the covers change right at the end or even right at the beginning and don't even get me started on the middle! Now I KNOW this has nothing to do with the author and that it's more a publisher thing. For sales likely, or something else entirely! I don't know! I would love to know though!

The covers are...different. Now don't get me wrong, they're nice, but I liked the old ones better! Even when I thought the characters didn't quite look YA-enough, more like adults. Maybe that plays a role in it. But pretty much after I read Poison Princess I loved the cover better for understanding it! And Endless Knight! Wow!

Here's what the first two used to look like:

Aren't they awesome? The guy on the second--won't say who it is in case you haven't read it yet, kind of reminds me a bit of James Marsters in his iconic role of Spike. Granted this guy doesn't have James's chiseled cheekbones, but it's a pretty good likeness!

Now here are the new covers:

They just aren't very...eyecatching. You know? The colors are nice, the font's good...but where's the lure? I don't feel very drawn into the story because there's not much to see. These books are kind of a post-apocalypse setting and you can kind of see that with the settings on the covers, there's a lack of...anything.

So now it's really going to make my own collection of these look weird because I have the hardcover of the original Poison Princess, a mass market paperback of the old Endless Knight and then there'll be the hardcover of Dead of Winter with the new look! And the first two are signed! Guess I should've bought the hardcover of Endless Knight at RT, that way at least they'd all be hardcovers, but it can be tiring to constantly buy the same book in different formats. I've done it before, but yeah...it's tiring and costly.




Review--Darkness Falls by Erin Kellison

Agent Malcolm Rook is hunting for people with the rarest of talents—the ability to master dreams. He finds the undeniably gifted Jordan Lane, but she’s wary of mysterious Rook and resists his pursuit as long as she can. Yet the dreamwaters they enter are too exhilarating to resist, and attraction soon ignites electric passions. Delving too deep stirs a nightmare, one they must defeat, or be forever lost to darkness.

Fans of paranormal romance and bad boys, get ready for a dark, sexy plunge into fantasy and desire. The Reveler Series is set in a contemporary world in which people can indulge in RĂªve, or shared dreaming—a pop culture phenomenon sweeping the world. Imagine being able to fall asleep at night, only to wake in a dream world, one in which you are lucid and in control—where you can be anything you want to be and do anything you like. But you must be careful…dreaming can be as dangerous as it is seductive.



I received this ebook for review from the publishers via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. I was in no way compensated for this review.


I adore Erin Kellison's Shadow and Shadow Kissed series, so this new series she wrote definitely piqued my curiosity. Darkness Falls is definitely a different kind of read, there are no paranormal creatures running about, but there's still an element of magic, of other, of some pretty weird stuff. So it definitely had a lot of appeal going for it from the beginning.

It's a contemporary/future-ish setting, where the very rich can pay to experience the Reve, which is a sort of dream world place where you can be anyone you want to be, do anything you want to do. You live your dreams. Jordan and her sister Maisie go to one of these very expensive parties, and it's not at all what Jordan had been expecting. Feeling an obligation to protect her younger sister from all things, as she had since their mother passed away, she wanted to go to keep her safe. But the Reve is a complicated place to behold.

I'll admit, there are some things that still kind of confuse me with this one, and it's mostly the groups of people. There's Rook, he's a Chimera which is basically a police force (of sorts) for the world of Reve. He makes sure people aren't sneaking in or you know, doing things they shouldn't be. And for some reason, Jordan is special and has Chimera potentiality and she gets "recruited" to be one, Rook takes her under his wing.

Then there's some bad people, I don't think they had much of a name. Basically we got bad guys vs good guys and the bad guys, naturally, want Jordan too. Since this is the first in a series and they're novellas on top of it, I gather that we just can't know everything just yet. Other than those few complications that I had with the "groups" of characters and their purposes, Darkness Falls was a rather enjoyable read! I love new series and new world-building, new characters...just all the newness!

Naturally, there was definite romance between Jordan and Rook. It treads the lines of insta-love. Sure, the moment they see one another it's not love, but lust, but you can bet before the novella ends, it's love. I kind of have a love-hate relationship with insta-love. Here, it didn't bother me so much, but I guess I just hope to see more relationship developing between Rook and Jordan as the series moves along. That is if Erin returns to characters. I have the second novella to read as well and it will star Maisie, Jordan's younger sister and a "coworker" of Rook's! Should be fun!


Overall Rating 4/5 stars

*As of 5/30/14 it's currently a FREE download on Amazon!




May 29, 2014

Follow Friday

This is a weekly blog meme hosted by Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read.

Here are the general rules to Follow Friday:
1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts and any one else you want to follow on the list
2. Follow our Featured Bloggers
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!
8. If your new to the follow Friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

This week's question is: How important is good writing to you? In an ideal world, a book would be beautifully written AND have great character development, plot, etc. But in the real world, which do you prefer: (1) Great characters and plot with lousy writing or (2) Middling character development and plot but gorgeous writing?

MY ANSWER: Ooh that's a true toughie! Let's ponder this for a moment...I think the characters, plot, and world-building, etc. would have to be the best! If I can't get into the storyline or characters or understand the world...I'm not going to enjoy what I read. It can be beautifully written, but I won't like it. The elements to the story are what draw me in. The writing can be so-so or whatever, but I'd still love it! 

This is where some self-published or even small press reads come in! I totally enjoy the storylines and characters and all that jazz. Maybe the writing isn't quite up to NYC standards, but it's still pretty darn good! I've given lots of 4 and 5 star ratings to reads like that!

So yes, characters, plot, world-building, etc are more important to me!




Review--Sixth Grave on the Edge by Darynda Jones

Few things in life can come between a grim reaper and her coffee, but the sexy, sultry son of Satan is one of them. Now that Reyes Farrow has asked for her hand, Charley Davidson feels it's time to learn more about his past, but Reyes is reluctant to open up. When the official FBI file of his childhood abduction lands in her lap, Charley decides to go behind her mysterious beau’s back and conduct her own investigation. Because what could go wrong?

Unfortunately, another case has fallen into her lap—one with dangerous implications. Some very insistent men want Charley to hunt down a witness who is scheduled to testify against their boss, a major player in the local crime syndicate. If Charley doesn't come up with an address in 48 hours, the people closest to her will start to disappear.

Add to that a desperate man in search of the soul he lost in a card game, a dogged mother determined to find the ghost of her son, and a beautiful, young Deaf boy haunted by his new ability to see the departed as clearly as he sees the living, and Charley has her hands full. The fact that Reyes has caught on to her latest venture only adds fuel to the inferno that he is. Good thing for Charley she's used to multi-tasking and always up for a challenge…especially when that challenge comes in the form of Reyes Farrow.


Sixth Grave on the Edge is the latest installment in the fabulously talented, Darynda Jones's Charley Davidson series. I kid you not, if you're a paranormal mystery fan at all and love to laugh, then you NEED to read this series asap because it is just that freaking incredibly amazing!

We pick up a few weeks where we left off and Reyes had asked Charley a very important question, one she has yet to answer. But her plate gets a little full when she has a naked ghost haunting her Jeep, Misery, trying to help a dying man get his soul back from the demon he lost it to, figure out what secret her father is keeping, find the witness the bad guys want her to or else someone she loves will be hurt, and deal with the possibility of having found Reyes's biological parents. And naturally she will have to find several cups of coffee along the way!

I just...wow! Really, there are no words! Darynda is a brilliant and talented author! She just writes such engaging stories that you cannot ever put the book down. It's freaking hard! Sleep, ha! Who needs sleep! Work? Psssh! Yeah, it's that kind of cannot put down kind of novel!

And the humor, oooooohfreakingmygosh is the humor funny! Charley is loads of laughs! She's snarky, sarcastic and just plain funny! She's quick with the quips and her attitude towards life and all that jazz really is endearing. She's just a simple grim reaper girl trying to do the right thing and live life the way she pleases and helping people and drinking lots of coffee and yes, possibly drooling over Reyes Farrow! And even the quotes before every chapter are laugh worthy! They're totally Charley!

The action to this one was yet again a fast paced one, where you really don't want to stop for anything! It's just one of those series that I fell incredibly hard for! And to think I hesitated to read it at first! I could slap my past self for that! Darynda is pretty much on my autobuy list now! Whatever she doles out, I have to read it! Charley Davidson and naturally, Reyes Farrow have wormed their way permanently into my heart! Sounds creepy when I use "wormed" but oh well!

And the romance, omg, it's to die for! Reyes is just that freaky sexy alpha male that you just gotta love! And Charley doesn't always take to his alpha-ness, but then there are times she does! They're completely magnetic and I love that about them! I love seeing a couple where they are just so in sync with one another. Sure there's some obstacles for them, but nothing really horrible where we have to wait til the series ends to get them together! 

And the ending here! Oh my god! Thank goodness the next book comes out in October or I would be a tad upset! There's more huge revelations to the prophecy or whatever you want to call it that surrounds Charley and her destiny. Some major, major revelations! 

And if you buy the print novel, which why wouldn't you?, you get an extra special chapter that is a snippet from Reyes's point of view from another steamy chapter of the novel! Totally worth it! 

This is a series that I cannot recommend enough! If you are to ever to listen to my recommendations, this is one you should abide by! Because it's just that amazing and awesome of a series that you really won't want to miss out on it!


Overall Rating 5/5 stars



Random Thursday

Time for another Disney Fun Fact!

Did you know...

That Part of Your World was almost cut from The Little Mermaid?

OR

That Can You Feel the Love Tonight was almost cut from The Lion King?

Luckily, Elton John convinced the producers to keep it. And it won him an Oscar!





May 28, 2014

Waiting on Wednesday

I hate waiting...
Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly blog post by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights releases we're eagerly awaiting.

A standalone companion book to the internationally bestselling Shiver Trilogy.

Sinner follows Cole St. Clair, a pivotal character from the #1 New York Times bestselling Shiver Trilogy. Everybody thinks they know Cole's story. Stardom. Addiction. Downfall. Disappearance. But only a few people know Cole's darkest secret -- his ability to shift into a wolf. One of these people is Isabel. At one point, they may have even loved each other. But that feels like a lifetime ago. Now Cole is back. Back in the spotlight. Back in the danger zone. Back in Isabel's life. Can this sinner be saved?







It's been years since I read these books but I am excited to return to the world! Hopefully Cole's character will come back to me as I read it! But I am terribly excited for it!


TITLE: Sinner
AUTHOR: Maggie Stiefvater

PUBLISHER: Scholastic Press
GENRE: Paranormal YA
RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2014


 



May 27, 2014

Cover Copy Reveal--Captive

For the past two months, Kitty Doe's life has been a lie. Forced to impersonate the Prime Minister's niece, her frustration grows as her trust in her fake fiancé cracks, her real boyfriend is forbidden and the Blackcoats keep her in the dark more than ever.

But in the midst of discovering that her role in the Hart family may not be as coincidental as she thought, she's accused of treason and is forced to face her greatest fear: Elsewhere. A prison where no one can escape.

As one shocking revelation leads to the next, Kitty learns the hard way that she can trust no one, not even the people she thought were on her side. With her back against the wall, Kitty wants to believe she'll do whatever it takes to support the rebellion she believes in—but is she prepared to pay the ultimate price?




Eep! Looks amazing! Love how it has similarities to Pawn, yet still pretty different! I soooo needz this one like yesterday! ;)



Captive releases November 25, 2014



 

ARC Review--Aces Wild by Amanda Carlson

Welcome to Vegas. Home of the Sin City Collectors. The job description is easy: Bring the offending supernatural in to the Boss and don’t ask any questions.

Nevada Hamilton has learned a few things since becoming a Sin City Collector, and staying away from vampires is one of them. After botching her first Collection, the vamp getting away after causing as much damage as possible, she hasn’t been assigned to another one since.

But when she receives her next playing card, she’s in for a surprise. Not only is a vampire her next target, but they’ve paired her up to make sure she gets the job done right. Refusing a Collection is not an option, but when she discovers who she’s working with, making the mission as difficult as possible for her new partner becomes her top priority…

Being a hellhound isn’t enough to protect Jake Troubadour from Nevada Hamilton, no matter how thick his skin is. Finding out he has to work with the beautiful dhampir, after not seeing her for three years, is a low blow—but Jake is a professional. He takes his Collections as seriously as he does running his bar. He’ll do whatever it takes to get the job done, but after that, he’s out. No more chances for the girl who wrecked his bike and scarred his soul so long ago. But even with his heart dead set against it, this hellhound quickly finds he’s not immune to love after all.

What’s Collected in Vegas, stays in Vegas...


I received this ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review, I was in no way compensated for this review.


Amanda Carlson starts off this new series of novellas, Sin City Collections, with Aces Wild and what a read it was! This is something entirely new for me, a series of novellas written by different authors to be released one at a time! Normally I'd read an anthology where we have a theme of some sort, but these novellas will all take place in the same world! So it's definitely going to be an exciting series to read! And quick too!

Nevada Hamilton is a dhampir and a Collector. From what I could gather, it basically sounds like a police force for supernaturals. I wasn't able to get a good grasp on the Collectors and their buildup, other than that they collect supernatural bad guys for The Boss, who remains a nameless figure, but this is the first in the collection, so I guess answers are meant to be given so soon!

When her boss, not The Boss, tells her she has to Collect a certain vampire and that her partner will be the hellhound, Jake Troubadour, Neve is not a happy camper. She and Jake had a thing once three years ago and she's never looked back on it. Needless to say, it didn't end well. Having to work with the hellhound after so much time has passed by doesn't please her. She's been doing her best to push him out of her life.

Jake on the other hand, isn't too thrilled with working with Neve either. He's a bit hurt from her actions three years ago. He hasn't been able to get her out of his mind either. And naturally this leads to a boatload of romantic tension between the two.

I have to say that Amanda did one helluva job writing this novella! She packed sooo much into so few pages. There was history between Neve and Jake, and we got the details along the way and then there was even more buildup around the mysterious villain! And even a hint at what her next novella from this series would be come August! It was remarkable! I always find trying to write a novella is harder than the novel, because you basically have to combine all those novel writing elements into the novella, but give the story in under a hundred (or so) pages. That's freaking hard!! Which is probably why I didn't do so hot in my high school short story class...in college my first critique group loved my over the page limit story!

Anyway, this novella was just awesome! I loved it! The action was well paced and the romance was to die for! I loved that there was even something "chemical" between Neve and Jake. Something threatens to keep them apart and it will take a lot of willpower from the two of them to work it out. And let's just say wow! I wasn't expecting my own kind of reaction from the two of them! I was totally thrown into their ordeal and dying to see what would happen between them! Novellas can sometimes have an odd effect on me! I might enjoy it, but never feel totally involved in the loving of it or whatever, so yeah, I was surprised by how much I sank into this one like I do with a regular novel!

To make an insanely long review short, ha!, this was the first in a new novella series and I have to say that if you love Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy, then definitely check this series out! There's a great lineup of authors and if you see even one name you are at all familiar with, then I suggest you buy, buy, buy the entire lineup! The series is going to have different characters with each novella, but they are all in the same world, so we might yet again see Neve and Jake pop up in the next one!

Authors to look for in this incredibly amazing series are: Amanda Carlson, Kristen Painter, Sara Humphreys, Angie Fox, and Shawntelle Madison!



Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars--again, my only complaint was not fully understanding who the Collectors are as a group and who the mysterious Boss is. But it might be too soon to know that second bit!


Aces Wild releases June 1, 2014



Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays

http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com/
Here are the rules:
1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a page
3. Pick out 2 lines that are SPOILER FREE
4. Name the title, author, etc.


Okay since there's the holiday I hadn't had a chance to start this one really, so I will share with you the first few lines!

"'What's this supposed to mean?' Nevada Hamilton plucked the playing card off the table between the tips of two fingernails like it had a disease. Buddy Randle, her casino dealer, had the decency to look slightly abashed. 'I don't Collect vampires,' she said. 'The Boss knows that.'" p 1*

*This quote comes from my ARC copy, therefore, it and its page number are not final










TITLE: Aces Wild
AUTHOR: Amanda Carlson

PUBLISHER: Amanda Carlson, Inc
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: June 2, 2014





Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list  that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.



This week's topic is: Top Ten Books I'd LOVE to Re-Read if Only I Had the Time!
Might have already done a similar post to this at one time, but I can't find it. So here we go!


*in no particular order


 1. The Forbidden Game (Omnibus) by L.J. Smith--yes it's three books, but you're going to find that I'm using series for some of these picks!
2. Old Magic by Marianne Curley--this was one of my fave fantasies when there wasn't much in Paranormal YA, this is early Paranormal YA (magic, witches, time-traveling, curses, sorcerers!)
3. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling--yup, I would love to re-read all 7 of these babies!


4. Stray by Rachel Vincent--would love to go through this series again! All the emotion pulling Rachel put us through! Eep!
5. Nocturne by Syrie James--despite being in tears, I'd definitely love to re-read this baby!
6. Demon in My View by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes--the one that started it all...I could so do this one in a day! My copy's buried in my closet though. Top shelf, towards the back of the stacks buried at the bottom most likely! I've officially run out of closet shelf space as of the end of RT 2014!


7. Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost--would love to re-read this series! In fact, I think I did re-read this one once, it was just at the cusp of the rise of paranormal reads!
8. Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison--again, another series I'd love to read over again!
9. Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder--actually re-read this one too! Again, at the time just before paranormal books broke out! Loved this story! Could read it endlessly if I didn't already have too many books!


10. Bitten by Kelley Armstrong--another incredible series that I'd love to re-read! This series was just so spectacular! It's how I decided I'd like to set my own writing series on, the fact that you get different heroines and repeating heroines in the books!





May 26, 2014

The RT Contest!!

As promised I have books to giveaway after my awesome week at RT! Since my computer is still out of commission, I have to use my Netbook, which isn't the easiest when it comes to creating my posts. So I won't be able to share any pics. Mostly they were just author ones anyway!


So most of these books are signed! In fact the only one I was unable to get signed was Don't Look Back. But then there are books that got signed out to me, Jessica, before I could say otherwise. But I knew that wouldn't really matter to you guys! In fact I ended up buying 2 books that were signed out to someone else, I have yet to decide if I want to cover up the other name somehow!

Anyway, the ones that are signed out to Jessica--so if you're a Jessica, look for which titles you want!--are the ones in the second row from the right all the way down (in both pictures).

What I have to giveaway here is:

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
The Arrivals by Melissa Marr
Sleep No More by Aprilynne Pike*
Don't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Defiance by C.J. Redwine
Waterfall by Amalie Howard
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy* x2
Wait for Me by J. Lynn
Taken by Erin Bowman*
Black Hole Sun by David Macinnus Gill
The Selection by Kiera Cass
Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson x2
Once Burned by Jeaniene Frost
For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund*
Reboot by Amy Tintera
White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Ten by Gretchen McNeil
Born of Illusion by Teri Brown*
All Lined Up by Cora Cormack
Finding It by Cora Cormack
Made for You by Melissa Marr (ARC)
Unearthly by Cynthia Hand
Firelight by Sophie Jordan
The Jewel by Amy Ewing* (ARC)
 
*Notes that book was signed to Jessica, although one Side Effects May Vary is a general signature! 
 
 
 
But wait! There's more! Me and my Jennifer Armentrout Fan Geekdom had a poster AND a Scrabble Tile Necklace (not shown) made of the beautiful cover Origin! And naturally I got the extra poster signed for one lucky winner as well! This winner will receive the poster, the necklace, and all the JLA books I have above! I wanted to get a copy of Origin, but when I got to her table I didn't see any, they might not have had it at all since it's getting reprinted.
 

And of course all winners will get author swag! I have a TON! In fact, I even have some swag from my personal collection I'll be doling out! And buttons! I bought special buttons for my RT badge when Hot Topic had a sale so someone will be getting that too in their prize package!

Okay, so naturally I have to limit this to US only! Sorry peeps, but after all the dough I spent on the trip I can only afford US shipping.

So what we'll have is 5 winners! 1 will get the JLA books and signed goodness, then the other 4 winners will get the remaining 24 books divided, each getting 6 and some swag! I will try to give these 4 as many of their top picks as possible, but it may turn into a first come, first served when I announce winners, but I will be fair about the passing out the books. I may have to ask the winners to rank the books in order of how they want them, but that's for later! Let's get onto the contests!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway



a Rafflecopter giveaway







 



Mini ARC Review--Tiger's Promise by Colleen Houck

Before the curse, there was a promise. A prequel to the bestselling Tiger’s Curse series, this much anticipated novella recalls the beginning of Ren and Kishan’s story. Before Kelsey there was a girl, raised by a villain, whose love for a hero changed the course of history.

Trapped under the thumb of her abusive and powerful father Lokesh, Yesubai struggles to keep her own magical abilities secret while evading his dark powers. When Lokesh promises Yesubai to the prince of a neighboring kingdom, she becomes the central pawn in his plot to destroy the ruling family and take power for himself. Yesubai is trapped by her father's threats and desperate to protect the man she comes to love, but she knows that any decision she makes will have dire consequences. As dark forces gather around her, Yesubai must decide if she's willing to reveal that somewhere deep within her she has the power to change everything.


I received this ARC from the publishers via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, I was in no way compensated for this review.


I was beyond happy when I was contacted and asked if I wanted to read and review Colleen Houck's Tiger's Promise! I mean really, the asking wasn't necessary since I became excited to hear about this novella releasing this year! We still have awhile to go until the next and final book in the series releases as well. What better way to end it by going back to the beginning and getting the story that led us to Kelsey's journey?  

This novella is told through Yesubai's eyes and I can't quite remember what I felt about her when we first learned of her. I guess I was wondering why this girl allowed herself to be so easily manipulated by Lokesh, her evil-evil father. And wow! I so get it now! Her father was downright freaking evil and needless to say that there was a various amount of abuse involved.

Yesubai has her own special abilities that's she kept secret for years, only her handmaid knows of them. And when Lokesh decides he wants Yesubai to marry off to Ren, Yesubai really has no say in the matter. But it's Kishan that she truly longs for, having met him once while invisible, she felt a connection to this prince.

As the story moved along, I found myself growing sad, because Yesubai really is just sixteen years old. She has her own ideas of freedom, love, and what she wants out of life. Mainly, to live her life far from her father. But her father has other plans, as we pretty much know from the rest of the series. And even though I knew how the story ends, it was still a heart-wrenchnig ending to read through. But I felt like Colleen really did the story justice. True, we all know how it goes from the novels themselves. But seeing it through Yesubai's eyes gives the story new light, new meaning. And it was truly an astonishing read that I highly recommend to all fans of the Tiger's Curse Saga!


Overall Rating 5/5 stars


Tiger's Promise releases June 1, 2014