Sep 30, 2014

ARC Review--Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick

Sometimes danger is hard to see... until it’s too late.

Britt Pfeiffer has trained to backpack the Teton Range, but she isn't prepared when her ex-boyfriend, who still haunts her every thought, wants to join her. Before Britt can explore her feelings for Calvin, an unexpected blizzard forces her to seek shelter in a remote cabin, accepting the hospitality of its two very handsome occupants—but these men are fugitives, and they take her hostage.

In exchange for her life, Britt agrees to guide the men off the mountain. As they set off, Britt knows she must stay alive long enough for Calvin to find her. The task is made even more complicated when Britt finds chilling evidence of a series of murders that have taken place there... and in uncovering this, she may become the killer’s next target.

But nothing is as it seems in the mountains, and everyone is keeping secrets, including Mason, one of her kidnappers. His kindness is confusing Britt. Is he an enemy? Or an ally?

BLACK ICE is New York Times bestselling author Becca Fitzpatrick’s riveting romantic thriller set against the treacherous backdrop of the mountains of Wyoming. Falling in love should never be this dangerous…


I received this ARC from a fellow book blogger to review, I was in no way compensated for this review.


Becca Fitzpatrick wowed me with her Hush, Hush series and now she has left me utterly speechless with Black Ice! Seriously, I do not remember what the last book I read that left me totally speechless. There are really no words, and this isn't even a paranormal read people! It's a thriller! And a decidedly good one at that! You all may know by now that the paranormal reads hold my attention--any degree of paranormalness--but there are times when I can be totally taken away with a good thriller! Usually it ends up being a YA one, but no matter!

The story starts off pretty ordinary, Britt and her best friend Korbie are going to spend their spring break at Korbie's parents' cabin in the mountains/woods. Britt wants to go hiking along the trail that expands over the area. Mostly, she is wanting to do this because her boyfriend, Calvin, also Korbie's older brother broke up with her. He always used to do things like this and she's ready to prove to him that he left behind something great. 

It doesn't take long for things to go incredibly wrong, when the weather gets bad the girls must abandon their vehicle along side the rode and seek shelter in a cabin with two guys. They're like a year or two older than them, but things prove to be just as dangerous outside as it is inside with two strangers. And it turns out that they are in fact, quite dangerous and are on the run from the police. Claiming to know the mountain well, Britt says she can take them to the road so that they can be on their way. Britt secretly has a map of the mountain that she pilfered from Calvin and knows where things are, lakes, cabins, ranger stations that can hopefully provide a ranger to help her.

But naturally, things aren't as easy as they should be. 

This read was so, so intense! I loved every minute of it. That it lacked paranormalness didn't bother me, the intensity of it all was such a thrill! There's a lot more going on here to the story than we initially thought. And around halfway I started to realize what was really going on and oh wow was that a shocker!

I don't want to get into many other details for lack of shock factor for you guys. Only know that this read was A-MAZING! This truly is a thriller to behold, as danger lurks everywhere for Britt, not only is she traveling with two criminals, but the weather itself is a danger to them all. You can only go so long with being in the cold, plus there are still wild animals in these woods. Yeah, danger is all around and there's definitely more than one way Britt could possibly die out there.

One of the kidnappers, Mason, is a bit of mystery though. There's definitely more to him than Britt initially thinks because there are times when he acts downright polite and considering. It's hidden sometimes by scorn or derision, but there's definitely a mysterious vibe coming off that dude! And there are answers to those conclusions, but again, not saying anything!

I have to say that I absolutely LOVED this one! The final chapter definitely made this out to be an enjoyable read! Without that, I would've felt utterly lost and devastated. Black Ice is truly one of the most amazing reads this year! It's kind of a dark and twisted read at times, but coupled with moments that make you rethink everything you thought was true! Read this now!


Overall Rating 5/5 stars


Black Ice releases October 7, 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



"'There is a crisis of epic proportions at hand and you are thinking of chocolate?' he asked.

'No, I'm thinking about ice cream. Ice cream with peanut butter and hot fudge and whipped cream on top,' I said, heading north through the usual midday cluster of people on Michigan.

'There is a crisis or epic proportions at hand and you are thinking about ice cream?'

I laughed, taking his hand. 'I'm pregnant and I will not be denied. Besides, there's a crisis of epic proportions every five seconds around here.'" p 55*



*Quote comes from my ARC copy, therefore it and its page number are NOT final



TITLE: Black Spring
AUTHOR: Christina Henry

PUBLISHER: Ace
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: October 28, 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 That Were Hard For Me To Read


*in no particular order


 1. Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead--I just struggled overall with this one. Perhaps it was all the character pov's even though I'm used to some multiple ones. It was really hard to get into for some reason as well.
2. Cinder by Marissa Meyer--another one that was hard to get into at first. I almost gave up on it, but decided to give it one more go. And it did get better. I think I was confused with its futuristic setting and also "moon people" and the whole separate worlds thing.
3. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi--I struggled a tad with this one at first as well. I think it was Juliette as the narrator that made it difficult, but I put that on how she was treated and lived for most her life. Despite the struggles, I did end up enjoying this series!


4. Blood Bath & Beyond by Michelle Rowen--I think this series was a smidgen hard to get into right away because I didn't read the "before" books. This was like a continuation of the main series, but yet the "mystery" books could be read as standalones and as a standalone series.
5. Blood Bound by Rachel Vincent--this one was hard to get into at first because it was the whole new series kind of adjustment one has when reading a beloved author's brand new series.
6. Weather Witch by Shannon Delany--this kind of goes with what I said in my previous pick. We entered a whole new world in this one and the world itself was a little hard to grasp for me, but I still liked it. Just didn't love it like I did with her previous series.



7. Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr--perhaps the one I didn't enjoy as much in the Wicked Lovely series. For some reason, I really did enjoy Ink Exchange despite being sad with the ending and I liked Aislinn's books but when we got to this one, I found I struggled to get used to yet another new heroine. Still liked it though!
8. Mind Games by Kiersten White--this one was a tad confusing for me if I recall. It was hard to get into for many reasons, one being that there was no paranormal goodness or weirdness. It was a contemp, but still edgy. I couldn't really get into it all the way so I never did read it's second and final book.
9. Tangled Souls by Jana Oliver--I read this one and liked it, but I think I struggled a tad with some of the world rules and that kind of thing. Still a decent read!


10. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness--I sooo wanted to like this one, but I just couldn't get into it at all. It was too slow for me I think. I didn't even get around to finishing it because my TBR mountain is too big to try to push a reallllly long book on myself.






Sep 29, 2014

ARC Review--The Spiritglass Charade by Colleen Gleason

After the Affair of the Clockwork Scarab, Evaline Stoker and Mina Holmes are eager to help Princess Alix with a new case. Seventeen-year-old Willa Aston is obsessed with spiritual mediums, convinced she is speaking with her mother from beyond the grave. What seems like a case of spiritualist fraud quickly devolves into something far more menacing: someone is trying to make Willa "appear lunatic," using an innocent-looking spiritglass to control her. The list of clues piles up: an unexpected murder, a gang of pickpockets, and the return of vampires to London. But are these events connected? As Uncle Sherlock would say, "there are no coincidences." It will take all of Mina's wit and Evaline's muscle to keep London's sinister underground at bay.


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


Colleen Gleason continues on with the marvelous world of London in The Spiritglass Charade. In this London there's vampires, Venators, possible spirits, and more than a few familiar faces!

Little time has passed since Evaline and Mina worked what was dubbed The Clockwork Scarab case. And all too soon another possible case falls into their lap from the Princess Alix. Willa is a young lady who believes she is communicating with her dead mother in order to locate her missing brother. She has been seeking the assistance of psychics in order to commune with her mother's ghost better. All too soon though, the psychic helping Mina is murdered and so goes Evaline and Mina's best suspect.

I truly love this series and one of the best parts about it, for me, is that we're still in the same world as Colleen's first heroine Victoria Gardella...only some odd years later. Evaline is our Venator, destined to hunt vampires, except London's been vampire free for awhile...until now that is.

I really enjoyed the pacing of this one, as there was a lot of buildup surrounding the mystery and the girls have quite a bit of investigating to do! I didn't quite foresee our villainous mastermind, but then again, I had a long weekend in between reading in this where I didn't read at all! Shame on me!

I love the romantic tensions we have going on here. There's definitely more than one! And to think it's dear Mina who finds herself in the love complication (not quite a triangle at this point, hence my preferred "complication"). Mina finds herself crushing on Dylan--our mysterious boy from the present (2016) day! I love this aspect of the story too! How time-traveling gets subtly mixed into the storyline. I will be interested to see how things either work out or don't with Dylan and if he ever returns home. Mina's second possible amour choice is none other than Inspector Grayson, the young inspector who Mina clashes with quite regularly these days. There's a definite tension between these two. And while both Mina and Grayson are intelligent, it seems when it comes to attraction, these two have no idea what they are doing!

And then there's Evaline and her romantic tension! Pix is yet another mystery that I can't help but love! This guy has been mysterious from day one, aka book one! And while I feel like we might have more Pix time in this book, we still don't know much about this guy and it is driving me bonkers! He's very mysterious and even Evaline notes that his appearance is always altered. While there were definitely more than a few moments between Evaline and Pix, I'd be just as eager to get to know more about his character as I am to see more romantic moments between him and Evaline!

The action was very well paced, as I might have alluded to! Colleen writes an incredibly engaging story alternating between Mina and Evaline's points of view! I do enjoy this tactic, especially since Evaline and Mina are so different in their mystery solving. One who goes with gut instincts moreso and then other is all about logic and deduction, traits passed down to her from her father and most famous Uncle Sherlock!

The ending was quite a jawdropper too! It was really astounding what Colleen did to us there in the last sentence! I mean really?! And now I must wait a year plus until the next one! Regardless, The Spritglass Charade is not one to be missed by fans of Colleen or fans of a good mystery mixed with paranormal goodness and steampunk delights!


Overall Rating 5/5 stars--(we could say 4.9 stars for that last little grouping of sentences but I won't begrudge Colleen or the book that! It's merely the wait that is excruciating!) 


The Spiritglass Charade releases October 7, 2014




It's Monday! What are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. It's a fun meme where we gather to share what we've read last week and our reading plans for this week.



Last Week I Read:

Cress by Marissa Meyer (4 stars)
Unforgotten by Jessica Brody (4.5 stars)
Eternal by C.C. Hunter (ARC)--Review to come at a later date


Reviews That Were Posted:

Invisible by Dawn Metcalf (ARC) (4.5 stars)
The Queen of Zombie Hearts by Gena Showalter (ARC) (5 stars)


Currently Reading:

Gray Bishop by Kelly Meade (ARC)


What I Plan to Read this Week:

Black Spring by Christina Henry (ARC)
A Cursed Bloodline by Cecy Robson (ARC)


Other Posts of Interest:








Sep 28, 2014

Stacking the Shelves

This weekly meme is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

Stacking The Shelves is all about the books we are adding to our shelves each week, sharing with you our excitement for our newest titles and maybe have you discover a new book in the process!



Made it through another week! Whew! After the insane-ness of last week's haul, it was kind of nice having a low key haul this week! Even better is that I'm already halfway through one of the new reads, so it's one less to add to the TBR Mountain of Doom--yes I had to give it a new name! ;)


For review from the publiher via Netgalley, I received and am already reading:


Gray Bishop by Kelly Meade (ARC)

THANK YOU Intermix & Netgalley!


Then books I bought were (due to having coupons from B&N last week and a 20% off offer this weekend):

The Merciless by Danielle Vega
The Beast Within by Serena Valentino
Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis


And then not bookish, but totally DISNEY, I found myself finally using up a gift card and made myself not spend much more than it was worth, you want to talk about willpower, that was it! Here's what I bought:

a Disney Vinylmation: Mickey as a nerd!
a Pascal ornament where he's wearing a dress Rapunzel made in her daily activities!*
*since there wasn't a Maximus, I went with Pascal, as he was my second fave character in the movie!



And that was my haul this week! What did you get?





Sep 27, 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: Favorite Female Book Characters [Part 2]



*in no particular order


CHARLEY DAVIDSON
Darynda Jones's Charley Davidson series

Charley is definitely a new favorite heroine! I loooove her snark and humor! She's so funny and down to earth!



ALEXIA TARABOTTI
Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series

Alexia was awesome! For being in a different century, this girl definitely had spunk! Of course her BFF Ivy was also a hoot!



MERIT
Chloe Neill's Chicagoland Vampires series

Merit is another heroine I've loved from the beginning! I miss her jeans and t-shirt days like you see above, now she's the leather wearing kickass Sentinel. Still an awesome heroine and her journey isn't over yet!



SYDNEY SAGE
Richelle Mead's Bloodlines series

When we first met Sydney in Blood Promise, I didn't think she would become a favorite character. By the end of the Vampire Academy series, she had grown on me. And now, in her own series, I am adoring her! She's such a strong heroine who's really come a long way. She's overcome many personal challenges about herself and opened herself up to sooo many things it is simply amazing!


MADDY BLACK
Christina Henry's Black Wings series

Maddy is another character I've enjoyed watching grow. Obviously in a different way than a teenager, but she's grown stronger too. She's overcome many challenges and heartaches and I am looking forward to what I believe is her last book as seen above. (Not certain of that, but saw Christina mention her new series, so I am thinking Maddy's journey is about to end!)







 

Rick Yancey Winner!

Hey all! Sorry I was out this morning, so I didn't get around to picking the winner of my Rick Yancey contest until just now!

So onto it! The winner of the SIGNED copy of The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey is...

STACY RENEE!


Congrats Stacy! I've emailed the winner and she'll have 48 hours to respond or else a new winner will be chosen!

Halloween is nearly upon us, so no worries! There'll be another giveaway in the coming month and as you all know, this is my favorite giveaway and I tend to go a little crazy with it! Tried to subdue myself this year, but only by a little! ;)






Sep 25, 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: Book character(s) you’d like to see with their own Twitter page …via  a GREAT read--YAY! Another one of my suggestions!


MY ANSWER: Oooh, this is a toughie! Why did I make these so hard? LOL!
 
Well, one that comes to mind is Jackal form Julie Kagawa's Blood of Eden series! He'd be fun to read tweets from!

Ian would definitely be another! Oh lordy that man would definitely have some interesting things to tweet! ;)

Charley Davidson is another hilarious character! She definitely needs her own twitter page!

Paige from Cara Lynn Shultz's Dark World series would be a fun heroine to follow too! She has some intriguing adventures on a near daily basis! Would love to see her have time to stop and tweet!