Is change good, or bad?

Recently there have been numerous cover changes like Wolfsbane's cover change from this: To this:

And even more recently, this:

To this:

And even more recently, this:

To this:

What I want to know is what do you guys, as readers, think of these changes? Like, dislike, don't really care...

A Book That Looks HAWT!

I've been coveting a certain book that's been floating around some people's In My Mailbox Posts lately. The book looks seriously tantalizing and I need it like yesterday! It's called Embrace by Jessica Shirvington and it's originally an Australian release.

And those are just the ARC pictures! March 2012 is the tentative release date and I don't think I can wait that long!

Here's the blurb:

I slowly opened my eyes. The sun speared its first bright rays of golden orange into the sky and I leapt from the cliff, with the sorrowful knowledge that no matter what the outcome, at least part of me would die that day...

Violet Eden is dreading her seventeenth birthday dinner. After all, it’s hard to get too excited about the day that marks the anniversary of your mother’s death. The one bright spot is that Lincoln will be there. Sexy, mature and aloof, he is Violet’s idea of perfection. But why does he seem so reluctant to be anything more than a friend?

After he gives her the world’s most incredible kiss – and then abandons her on her front doorstep – Violet is determined to get some answers. But nothing could have prepared her for Lincoln’s explanation: he is Grigori – part angel and part human – and Violet is his eternal partner.

Without warning, Violet’s world is turned upside down. She never believed in God, let alone angels. But there’s no denying the strange changes in her body ... and her feelings for Lincoln. Suddenly, she can’t stand to be around him. Luckily, Phoenix, an exiled angel, has come into her life. He’s intense and enigmatic, but at least he never lied to her.

As Violet gets caught up in an ancient battle between dark and light, she must choose her path. The wrong choice could cost not only her life, but her eternity...

SHUT OUT Book Trailer

Spread the Book Love

I recently became fascinated by a book that releases this November and I thought that I'd share it.

Destined by Jessie Harrell

When Psyche receives a prophecy gone horribly wrong, she learns that even the most beautiful girl in Greece can have a hideous future. Her fate? Fall in love with the one creature even the gods fear.

As she feels herself slipping closer into the arms of the prophecy, Psyche must choose between the terrifyingly tender touch she feels almost powerless to resist and the one constant she's come to expect out of life: you cannot escape what is destined.

Destined is a fresh and heartachingly romantic retelling of the Cupid & Psyche myth from debut novelist, Jessie Harrell.

Release Date: November 17th

Sounds good right?

Review: Elemental Reality by Cesya Marae Cuono

Elemental Reality by Cesya Marae Cuono

When Callie Pierce was ten, her mother disappeared without a trace. On the eve of her disappearance twelve years later, the Earth seemingly comes alive. The elements speak to Callie, and that's only the beginning. Everything she has ever known was a twisted fabrication to protect her. Now the truth is set free. Callie and her sister are more powerful than any Faerie ever born. Now they have to use their powers to save their mother and family from the evil hands of fate that threaten to tear them apart. Welcome to her elemental reality.

My Review:

Holy cow! This book was totally not what I was expecting. The first thing I noticed about this book was most definitely the cover, I mean look at it! It's gorgeous! What I wasn't expecting was an awesome story to go with the fabulous cover!

Callie Pierce is unlike the other main female characters of YA paranormal these days. She has a backbone. She also has this cute sense of style that I wish I could pull off! I adored her and her quirkiness. The side characters also held their own amount of fabulousness. Her sister had me laughing at practically every oppurtunity. (Red Bull!) And the love interest is so cute! He blushes! OMG how adorable!

Now that I'm done gushing about characters let's talk about the plot. It was nothing like I was expecting! The characters weren't what I was expecting! But I loved it! Who the heck would have thought that they'd be *******!? (No spoilers here people. ;)

I really loved Cuono's writing style and I'm excited to get my hands on a finished copy of Elemental Reality along with the next two books in this HAWT new series!

Release Date: August 21, 2011

Cesya MaRae Cuono hails from a small town in northeastern Pennsylvania. She is a graduate of Alvernia University where she majored in Business Administration and also received her certificate of Multi-Media & Production makeup from Cosmix School of Makeup Artistry. You can find any updates from Cesya on her website at www.cesyacuonobooks.blogspot.com.

*I received an eARC of this book to review from Revolution Publishing. This in no way altered my opinion/review.

Has anyone read Half-Blood???

Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout

The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi-pure-bloods-have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals-well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures.Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden.Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.

Release Date: September 15th

I've heard some great things about this book and I was just wondering if it's as good as people say. If you've read it and loved it, please tell me because I'm really thinking about buying it.

POSSESS by Gretchen McNeil

My Most Anticipated Book of 2011

The book I am most looking forward to releasing in the next five months is most definitely Rachel Vincent's If I Die.

If I Die by Rachel Vincent

No one wants to be this teacher’s pet . . .

Everyone else is talking about Eastlake High’s gorgeous new math teacher, Mr. Beck, but Kaylee Cavanaugh has bigger things on her mind. Kaylee’s a banshee—her scream is a portent of death.

But the next scream might hit too close to home. Kaylee’s borrowed lifeline has almost run out.

Yeah—it’s a shock to her, too. So to distract herself from her own problems, Kaylee is determined to defend her school against the latest supernatural threat. That hot new teacher is really an incubus, who feeds from the desire of unsuspecting students. The only girls immune to his lure are Kaylee and Sabine, her boyfriend’s delinquent ex-girlfriend. Now the unlikely allies have to get rid of Mr. Beck…before he discovers they aren’t quite human either.

But Kaylee’s running out of time, and those who love her will do anything to save her life.

Anything.

Soul Screamers: The last thing you hear before you die.

Release Date: September 20th

Touch of Frost Review

Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep

My name is Gwen Frost, and I go to Mythos Academy — a school of myths, magic and warrior whiz kids, where even the lowliest geek knows how to chop off somebody's head with a sword and Logan Quinn, the hottest Spartan guy in school, also happens to be the deadliest.

But lately, things have been weird, even for Mythos. First, mean girl Jasmine Ashton was murdered in the Library of Antiquities. Then, someone stole the Bowl of Tears, a magical artifact that can be used to bring about the second Chaos War. You know, death, destruction and lots of other bad, bad things. Freaky stuff like this goes on all the time at Mythos, but I'm determined to find out who killed Jasmine and why—especially since I should have been the one who died. . .

My Review:

Okay, a mystery with a Greek God, or should I say Goddess, twist is definitely my cup of tea. The idea that all of these descendents from the gods, Spartans, etc. could be in one place is amazing in itself, but having them as wild, moody teenagers is so much better!

Gwen Frost is a sarcastic good girl with a heart of gold. When everyone gave up and left a student's murder go unappreciated, she made it her personal duty to stand up and find the killer. I really liked that she was a character who didn't lie down and take "No" for an answer. She also wasn't one to sob out her problems like some YA characters. But even though she wasn't a vulnerable girl, she was still totally approachable.

The swoon-worthy Logan Quinn is a Spartan hotty that will melt your socks off. (Just thinking about him gives me shivers.) He's extremely mysterious, which I think is appropriate for this mystery, and he can kick butt like nobody's business! I really hope to see a lot more of him in the next book because there wasn't a whole lot of him in this one, just enough to make me want so much more!

All in all this book is a definite must-read for any fan of Greek gods, 300, or gypsies.

5/5 stars

*I received a copy of this book to review from Kensington Books. This in no way altered by opinion/review.

The Cover of My Dreams

I know that this cover has already been spread across the internet, but I just had to have it on my blog. It is SOOOOO awesome!

Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins

Hailed as “impossible to put down,” the Hex Hall series has both critics and teens cheering. With a winning combination of romance, action, magic and humor, this third volume will leave readers enchanted.

Just as Sophie Mercer has come to accept her extraordinary magical powers as a demon, the Prodigium Council strips them away. Now Sophie is defenseless, alone, and at the mercy of her sworn enemies—the Brannicks, a family of warrior women who hunt down the Prodigium. Or at least that’s what Sophie thinks, until she makes a surprising discovery. The Brannicks know an epic war is coming, and they believe Sophie is the only one powerful enough to stop the world from ending. But without her magic, Sophie isn’t as confident.

Sophie’s bound for one hell of a ride—can she get her powers back before it’s too late?

I can't believe that this series is almost over, but at least this cover's going to help it go out on a BANG!

Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country

Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country by Allan Richard Shickman

The prehistoric saga continues in Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country, the sequel to the award winning Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure. In this story, Zan's troubled twin brother, Dael, having suffered greatly during his earlier captivity, receives a ruinous new shock when his wife suddenly dies. Disturbed and traumatized, all of his manic energies explode into acts of hostility and bloodshed. His obsession is the destruction of the wasp men, his first captors, who dwell in the Beautiful Country. When he, Zan-Gah, and a band of adventurers trek to their bountiful home, they find that all of the wasp people have died in war or of disease. The Beautiful Country is empty for the taking, and Zan's people, the Ba-Coro, decide to migrate and resettle there. But the Noi, Dael's cruelest enemies and former tormentors, make the same migration from their desert home, and the possibility develops of contention and war over this rich and lovely new land.

My Review:

After everything that poor Zan-Gah has been through, he still can't seem to catch a break. Poor Dael is causing way too much trouble and old foes are popping up left and right.

The book starts out with an introduction to a character that I absolutely LOVED! Her name is Pax. She's smart, witty, and she can totally show up the boys with all of their macho-ness. I thought that having her introduced in this book will definitely appeal to the girls out there who are wanting to read or are reading this book.

Dael who is in the forefront of this story is crazy with grief. I feel bad for him, but at the same time I want to scream at him. (Does that make sense?) And Zan-Gah, who has already done so much for Dael, now has to deal with all of Dael's moodswings.

The plot of this book wasn't as straight-laced as the first Zan-Gah book mainly because there is no main journey like when Zan-Gah wanted to find Dael in Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure. In this book there are a couple adventures that all come together to form this epic journey.

This book, in my opinion, added to the audience of the first book by throwing in Pax and getting into some female empowerment.

4/5 stars

* I recieved this book to review via Earthshaker Books. This in no way altered my opinion/review.