Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that everyone's anticipating.

The Last Bastion of the Living: A Futuristic Zombie Novel by Rhiannon Frater

A walled city surrounded by lush land, protected by high mountain summits, and fortified by a massive gate to secure the only pass into the valley, the Bastion remained humanity’s last hope against the fearsome undead creatures known as the Inferi Scourge. On one fateful day, the valley gate failed and the Inferi Scourge overran and destroyed the human settlements outside the walls, trapping the remaining survivors inside the city. Now, decades later, the last remaining humans are struggling to survive in a dying city of dwindling resources…and dwindling hope.

Vanguard Maria Martinez has lived her entire life within the towering walls of steel. She yearns for a life away from the overcrowded streets, rolling blackouts, and food shortages, but there is no hope for anyone as long as the Inferi Scourge howl outside the high walls. Her only refuge from the daily grind is in the arms of Dwayne Reichardt, an officer in the Bastion Constabulary. Both are highly-decorated veterans of the last disastrous push against the Inferi Scourge. Their secret affair is her only happiness.

Then one day Maria is summoned to meet with a mysterious representative from the Science Warfare Division and is offered the opportunity to finally destroy the Inferi Scourge in the valley and close the gate, reclaiming the lost lands and energizing the populace with renewed hope for the future. The rewards of success are great, but she will have to sacrifice everything, possibly even her life, to accomplish the ultimate goal of securing the future of humanity and saving it from extinction.

Isn't that cover just fabulous? So, what are you waiting for?



Onyx Review

Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Being connected to Daemon Black sucks…

Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is more than a product of our bizarre connection. I’ve sworn him off even though he’s running more hot than cold these days. But against all common sense, I’m falling for him. Hard.

Our relationship issues aren’t out biggest problem…

The Department of Defense is here. If they ever find out what Daemon can do and that we’re linked, I’m a goner. So is he. And when a new boy shows up a school with a secret of his own, things get complicated fast. I need to choose between my own instincts and Daemon’s.

But then everything changes…

I’ve seen someone who shouldn’t be alive. Daemon’s never going to stop searching until gets the truth. What happened to his brother? Who betrayed him? And what does the DOD want from them—from me?

No one is who they seem. And not everyone will survive the lies.

My Review:

Daemon Black is back! He's hot, snarky and totally whipped!

Katy is the same girl that we met in Obsidian. She stands up for herself and knows what she wants and when she wants it. And what she wants is for Daemon to quit being such a jerk. He starts wooing her. He actually buys her food and asks her to eat it from his mouth like a sexy Lady and the Tramp scene. He can't stay away from Katy and its so cute to see this womanizer following her around like a lost puppy.

The plot of the book had me a little upset. While it was good, it was extremely predictable. And of course Daemon had to be right and Katy got blamed for everything that happened to go wrong despite Daemon making some bad choices as well. And poor Dee! (That's all I can say without getting into some major spoilage.)

All of these elements came together to make a good book. It most definitely wasn't a great book. The first one was epic, but this just kind of fell short, despite Daemon being as adorable as he can be.

4/5

*I received a copy of this book to review from the publisher. This in no way altered my opinion/review.

Underworld Review

Underworld by Meg Cabot

Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back.

Seventeen-year-old Pierce Oliviera isn’t dead.

Not this time.

But she is being held against her will in the dim, twilit world between heaven and hell, where the spirits of the deceased wait before embarking upon their final journey.

Her captor, John Hayden, claims it’s for her own safety. Because not all the departed are dear. Some are so unhappy with where they ended up after leaving the Underworld, they’ve come back as Furies, intent on vengeance…on the one who sent them there and on the one whom he loves.

But while Pierce might be safe from the Furies in the Underworld, far worse dangers could be lurking for her there…and they might have more to do with its ruler than with his enemies.

And unless Pierce is careful, this time there’ll be no escape.

My Review:

I wasn't sure what to think with Underworld. This book starts off directly after the events of Abandon. You're thrown right back into the world of Pierce and John, a.k.a. the Underworld.

Pierce is still a strong character that can make things happen when she wants to, but during the course of the book she comes to rely upon John more and more. He gets to throw around those bad guys while she sits back and watches the gloriousness that his John Hayden. Lucky girl. ;) Of course John and Pierce have their arguments, who wouldn't have a little something to say to the guy who drug her down to the underworld for the second time? Their relationship is a little wacky, but it makes fpr great reading material. Hee hee...

The plot of this book was fast! It went ten times faster than the first book and the first book seemed to fly by as well. I almost cried finishing Underworld simply because I couldn't comprehend how it had ended so suddenly. Also, the climax of the book wasn't as big as I would have imagined. Something about it just didn't trigger my awesomeness meter.

So while Underworld was a good, quick story, it didn't perfectly hold up to Abandon. It was still a good book, just not a great one. That being said, I can't wait until the third and final installment, Awaken.

3.5/5 stars

*I received an ARC of this book to review from the publisher. This in no way altered my opinion/review.

Daemon Invasion

Over the last couple of weeks, you’ve heard us talking about the upcoming #daemoninvasion and we’re so excited to finally share with you what is going on.

Really excited.

The beautiful and uber cool models, Pepe Toth and Sztella Tziotziosz, who grace the Lux covers, will be joining us in the United States!  You heard right.  They are flying here, from Hungary to spend a few days as Daemon and Katy! While they are here, they will be working with Vania, from VLC Productions (the team behind Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments, Melissa de La Cruz, Kimberly Derting, Moira Young, Kami Garcia and Margret Stohl, Hillary Duff, Lauren Destefano, and many, many more authors’ book trailers), to film book trailers for the Lux Series.

During the filming in Atlanta, they will be accompanying us on tour! What does that mean? You get to meet them. In the flesh. They will be participating in the signings and events. At those signings, we’ll be giving away signed posters, photos, and other swag. There will also be meet and greet events you can join in on.

At each signing, there will be advanced copies of Onyx given away!

And to top things off (as if this isn’t enough, but we don’t do anything small), there’s something very, very exciting in the works! It involves advanced copies of Opal, water, and a little destination known as the Bahamas.

I am not kidding.

This will be epic.

Aare you excited? I am! This tour is going to be so, so much fun, and I’m so thrilled that Pepe and Sztella are a part of it. We owe them a huge thank you and a giant welcome making the 16 hour flight to meet the readers of the Lux Series.  You!

Daemon Invasion Signing and Event Schedule

June 8^th
FoxTale Book Shoppe
Woodstock, GA
3:00pm

June 10^th
Barnes and Noble
St Johns Town Center
Jacksonville, FL
3:00pm

June 13^th
Barnes and Noble
Waterford Lakes Town Center
Orlando, FL
3:00pm

June 14^th
Barnes and Noble
The Palladium at City Place
West Palm Beach, FL
4:00pm

There are several #daemoninvasion street teamers out there and if you want to join a team to win exclusive prizes, search down the #daemoninvasion hashtag to join one of the teams!

Don’t forget to visit Jennifer L. Armentrout’s blog to win a signed set of Half-Blood and Pure in celebration of her adult romance release, Tempting the Best Man, under pen name J. Lynn.  It can be purchased here.

*Note: If you want to be part of my team just leave a comment and an e-mail address. I can only have 10 so first come first serve.

Sorry for the Absence

I know. I know. I've been a horrible blogger the past couple of months and I'm super sorry. Senior year is kicking my butt. Scholarship deadlines, school field trips, work and homework are taking up a lot of my time. Once school's out I promise I'll be more on top of things but for now posts might be a little scarce.

SWEET EVIL by Wendy Higgins

Gotta Go Grab

Gotta Go Grab is a weekly feature I'm re-starting. It highlights books that I need to buy that have already been released.

I need to go grab:

Radiant Shadows (Wicked Lovely #4) by Melissa Marr

Hunger for nourishment.

Hunger for touch.

Hunger to belong.

Half-human and half-faery, Ani is driven by her hungers.

Those same appetites also attract powerful enemies and uncertain allies, including Devlin. He was created as an assassin and is brother to the faeries' coolly logical High Queen and to her chaotic twin, the embodiment of War. Devlin wants to keep Ani safe from his sisters, knowing that if he fails, he will be the instrument of Ani's death.

Ani isn't one to be guarded while others fight battles for her, though. She has the courage to protect herself and the ability to alter Devlin's plans—and his life. The two are drawn together, each with reason to fear the other and to fear for one another. But as they grow closer, a larger threat imperils the whole of Faerie. Will saving the faery realm mean losing each other?

I already own books 1-3 and 5 but I'm still missing this one... Oh well. What book, that's already out, do you need to go grab?

Independent Book Blogger Contest

I'm sure a lot of you have heard about the Goodreads Independent Book Blogger Contest and the prize it comes with, a round trip to BookExpo America! Submissions need to be in by April 9. Here's the info. Now, I'm most definitely not the best book blogger out there, so I was wondering what you guys think. Should I do it? I would really appreciate some feedback.

New Young Adult Book from Gena Showalter!

I love Gena Showalter. Her books are like oxygen to my starving lungs. Okay, that was creepy, but this book is most definitely not.

Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

Coming September 25th, 2012

She won't rest until she's sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.

Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would changed course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that's all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real.

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn't careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies.

Unraveling Giveaway

Author Elizabeth Norris is giving away a copy of her book, Unraveling, here.

My Very 1st In My Mailbox! (1)

In My Mailbox was inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie and created by Kristi at The Story Siren.

Okay, this is my first IMM so bear with me. I plan on doing these once a month, maybe more if this works out...

So, here's what I got for the month of March:

Bought

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Torn by Amanda Hocking

Embrace by Jessica Shirvington

The Savage Grace by Bree Despain

Illuminate by Aimee Agresti

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins

Wings by Aprilynne Pike

The Darkest Seduction by Gena Showalter

Forbidden by Syrie and Ryan M. James

Won

The Faerie Ring by Kiki Hamilton (Thank you Unabridged Bookshelf!)

Harbinger by Sara Wilson Etienne (Thanks Elizabeth Norris!)

For Review

Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins

Underworld by Meg Cabot

Unafraid by Michael Griffo (not pictured)

Traded

Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr (Thanks to Krystal @ Live to Read)

RAK

Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston (Thanks to Elizabeth!)

*Note: Netgalley copies aren't posted because I can't remember which month I got them in.