Wednesday 16 April 2014

Waiting On Wednesday #31 Of Neptune by Anna Banks


Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine It’s a chance to showcase upcoming releases we are interested in or drooling over.



Of Neptune by Anna Banks
The Syrena Legacy #3
13 May 2014




Emma and Galen s kingdom and their love is threatened by long-lost Syrena in the brilliant conclusion to Anna Banks bestselling trilogy.

Emma, half human and half Syrena, and her Syrena love, Galen, need time together alone. Away from the kingdoms of Poseidon and Triton. Emma s grandfather, the Poseidon king, suggests the two visit a small town called Neptune.

Neptune is home to both Syrena and Half-Breeds alike. But Emma and Galen didn t sign up to be peacemakers between the ocean and the land-dwelling, freshwater Syrena. They didn t bargain for meeting a charming Half-Breed named Reed, who can barely disguise his feelings for Emma. And they especially didn t expect to find themselves in the middle of a power struggle that threatens not only their love but their ocean kingdoms.

In this stunning conclusion to her bestselling Syrena Legacy, Anna Banks thrills fans with more action and romance than ever.

Saturday 12 April 2014

Book Haul & Blog Weekly #33


Book Haul & Blog Weekly is a weekly featute here at Katie's Corner inspired by Stacking Shelves by Tynga's Reviews and The Sunday Post by Caffeinated Book Reviewer.


Book Haul:



Purchased/Freebies:



Tempus by Holly Lauren
Existence by Abbi Glines

NetGalley/Edelweiss:

N/A

Author Request/Tour:



Dark Prophet by K.N. Lee



N/A


Gifted:

N/A


Blog Weekly:


Friday 11 April 2014

Tour Stop : Taking Back Sunday by Cristy Moran


















After five years on the run, Sunday has finally settled into a seemingly normal life in Columbia, South Carolina. What her two best friends don’t know is that Sunday has a secret past. She is the Incarnate, a conduit of mystical energy transcendent of the mundane and the divine. For most of her life, she served under Bernadette, the most powerful witch in the Northwest. Her power is terrifying, and what she remembers of her past—and what she doesn’t—haunts her. In the year that she’s been attempting to be anything but the Incarnate, Sunday has fought her abilities tooth and nail, but it’s been worth it. When Sunday joins her friends’ coven for an innocent gathering, Sunday discovers a darkness hidden beneath the blanket of the coven’s magic and she is determined to find out who is behind it and what she has planned.

For the last four years, Cyrus has been the point man on the contract to recapture the Incarnate and deliver her to the Pastophori of Iset. A gifted tracker and a fearless werewolf, he harbors a wild, inexplicable passion for the Incarnate that has driven him to hunt her. He was one of the original captors that brought her to Bernadette when his obsession with her began. Having found her, Cyrus and his pack find themselves torn between two objectives: take her by force and deliver her to yet another group of fanatics, or help her uncover the traitor among her coven.

Taking Back Sunday (Incarnate, #1

Cristy Moran



Excerpt 1 – from Chapter Four (haunted by memories of her past)

Sunday’s eyes shot open, and she jolted upright in bed. Her body was covered in sweat, and her heart was racing. Gripping the sheets in a white-knuckled fist, she scanned the room frantically to make sure that it was only a dream.
Curtains veiled the room from the early morning sun outside. When her eyes landed on the photo on the nightstand, she drew in a hard breath and slowly blew it out. She was in her room in Columbia, not a stone basement beneath Bernadette’s once-sprawling Washington estate. She ran to the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face.
“When will this be over?” she muttered to her reflection.
Black and blue bags tugged at her bloodshot eyes, and worry lined her forehead. Hair mussed and tangled from tossing relentlessly in bed stood at all ends.
Half a decade earlier, nightmares like the one last night had been the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. They had tipped Sunday off to the world hidden behind the veil of Bernadette’s sorcery. Until that time, Sunday couldn’t remember anything before her life at the right hand of the powerful witch. She didn’t even remember thinking that there was a time before then.
Her first real memory, at the time, had been waking as an amnesiac to the first thirteen years of her life. Through slits for eyes, Sunday made out the blurred shape of a man carrying her down a dim hallway. He radiated heat. Cradled in his arms, Sunday remembered thinking that she had never felt so warm in her life. Teeth chattering and freezing, her body shook uncontrollably against his chest. When her body jerked, he tightened his arms around her and held her closer. Her head fell against his chest, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Mind as blank as a newborn’s, Sunday had known no comfort in her life but this. As she closed her eyes again, she fell asleep.
For the first few weeks, her body healed. Open wounds turned to scabs and later scarred. Bruises turned green, and then yellow until they disappeared. During the weeks of her recovery, Bernadette visited Sunday regularly. She sat on the edge of Sunday’s bed and lay the girl’s head on her lap.
“My little girl,” she cooed as she petted Sunday’s head and caressed her gently. “I will teach you all the ways of the Incarnate, and you will shine as a star shines, only brighter. Yours will be the light of the sun, and we will be strong together.”
Under the witch’s hand, Sunday’s spirit relinquished itself and its authority to Bernadette. The witch had burned her, but the witch had saved her.
“I will show you the world that most do not see because they cannot see. I will show you of our kind’s dominion over the world of man and the world of magic. I will teach you of your power and of the power we hold over all that we can see, all that we can touch, which is so much more than that which other men can see, be they human or beast.”
As Bernadette lulled her to sleep, every cell in Sunday’s body tingled. Little by little, her life before the witch drifted further and further away until it all but disappeared. There was nothing then, nothing but Bernadette.

Purchase Links

Dreamcast



Playlist

1.       Rebel Girl - Bikini Kill
2.       Little Lies - Fleetwood Mac
3.       Midnight Creeper - Eagles of Death Metal
4.       Devon - Grimes
5.       Burn the Witch – Queens of the Stone Age
6.       It's a Curse - Wolf Parade
7.       Wolf Like Me - TV on the Radio
8.       Soon - My Bloody Valentine
9.       If the World Ends - Guillemots
10.   The Queen of all Returns - Dead Meadow
11.   Demons - Sleigh Bells
12.   Witchcraft – Wolfmother
13.   The Lucid Dream - The Life and Times
14.   Gold Dust Woman - Fleetwood Mac

Teasers

  

Ten Fun Facts about Cristy Moran

1.       One time, I was offered a job at the White House. But I was in middle school then, and I couldn’t take it. True story.
2.       Neil Diamond called me on the phone one time and woke me up from a nap. Yes. That Neil Diamond. And I cried because, seriously, it was amazing and I was overwhelmed.
3.       I know all the words to Wayne’s World by memory and can recite the entire script at the drop of a hat.
4.       My favorite fictional character of all time is Dr. John “Trapper John” McIntyre from the novel and movie MASH.
5.       I am tall: 5’11”, and I’ve been this height since I was thirteen years old.
6.       I did a two-week-long Shakespeare study abroad at Stratford Upon Avon in England when I was in college.
7.       I absolutely love going to the dentist.
8.       Technically, I was once in a high-speed police car chase. I wasn’t the felon, nor was I the cop. I was somewhere in the middle when my friend who was driving at the time said, “Wanna be in a high-speed car chase?” to which I answered, “Gun it!” and we did.
9.       Of all the colors I’ve dyed my hair, I prefer washed out blue the most.
10.   My cat is named after a comic book character of a little girl who doesn’t realize that she is dead, Lenore, and my dog is named after Indiana Jones and Sherlock (Henry Holmes). 

Excerpt 2 – from Chapter Seven (Sunday and Cyrus meet)

As Cyrus and Sunday’s eyes met, the world shifted. The stale stench of cigarette and pungent clove smoke lifted. The penetrating music and the muffled shouting that passed for conversation at the club quieted. In less than a second, Cyrus was utterly changed. Cyrus’ soul settled. In the place of the consuming hate he’d nursed for over a decade, he knew peace. His entire body relaxed, and his mind quieted. His heart froze. The breath caught in his chest.
Sunday’s body swayed as her friend tugged to keep her moving forward, but she stood her ground. Even after Cyrus released her arm, her eyes remained locked with his while her friend asked what the matter was. Her cheeks flushed. As soon as she smiled, her eyes followed suit shimmering like honey.
Another handful of seconds passed when she finally looked away, bent her head slightly, and lowered her chin. She was blushing. Smiling. Tilting her face up, she wrinkled her nose coyly and batted her eyelashes.
“Do I know you?” When Sunday spoke, her voice drowned out every other sound in the room. She smiled again, awaiting his response.
His chest tightened.
All those years he obsessively chased her, and she didn’t even know he existed. Now, she looked up at him sheepishly and more adorable than he ever imagined. She wasn’t rushing to leave. She wasn’t running away. Minutes ago, he was dead-set on tearing her to pieces. It had occurred to him in the past that he would be unable to turn her over to his contractors alive. He considered the very real possibility that, when he eventually found her, she would inspire such blind fury that he might unleash his wolf and tear out her throat. Now, however, confronted with her in the flesh, his anger melted.
“No,” he painfully responded. For such a small word, it took a mountain of effort to say it. It was all he could do to keep from choking on the lie. She looked at him for another long moment.
“Too bad.”
She turned and walked away. Seconds later, Cyrus remained, staring at the gaping hole left by her absence. Her words echoed as she left him standing there feeling more lost and confused than ever in his life.
“What was that about, Cy?”
Cyrus didn’t have an answer. Not allowing his thoughts to delve into their momentary encounter any longer, Cyrus focused on the task at hand. The wolf couldn’t afford to let his prey on too loose a leash. Now, more than ever, she couldn’t get away. 

About the Author

Cristy Moranlives in Miami, FL. She is a college librarian some of the time, a reader and writer most of the time, and a knitter much less of the time than she was six months before she took up writing again. She’s also a nerd and a geek, and proud to be.

Cristy writes the books that she likes to read. Her women are strong and out-spoken and her men run the gamut. Love stories abound in Cristy's work because, really, aren't love stories the best? There's always a killer soundtrack running in the background of her novels - all you need to do is turn to the playlist to know what's up. 
•         Facebook http://www.facebook.com/cristymoranwrites
•         Website http://www.cristymoranwrites.com
•         Goodreadshttp://bit.ly/1iD1Ujy
•         Amazon http://amzn.to/1g0t4kf
•         Smashwordshttp://bit.ly/OBKwRb






Wednesday 9 April 2014

Waiting On Wednesday #30 : The Warrior by Victoria Scott


Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine It’s a chance to showcase upcoming releases we are interested in or drooling over.

The Warrior by Victoria Scott
Dante Walker #3
6 May 2014





War between heaven and hell is coming, but Dante Walker makes it look damn good.

Dante’s girlfriend, Charlie, is fated to save the world. And Aspen, the girl who feels like a sister, is an ordained soldier. In order to help both fulfill their destiny and win the war, Dante must complete liberator training at the Hive, rescue Aspen from hell, and uncover a message hidden on an ancient scroll.

Dante is built for battle, but even he can’t handle the nightmares where spiders crawl from Aspen’s eyes, or the look on Charlie’s face that foretells of devastation. To make matters worse, the enemy seizes every opportunity to break inside the Hive and cripple the liberators. But the day of reckoning is fast approaching, and to stand victorious, Dante will have to embrace something inside himself he never has before—faith.

Cover Reveal : The Sapphire Crucible by Rival Gates


Hi everyone, today's the cover reveal for the second book in the Sapphire Chronicles by Rival Gates. the book will be out on 10th of April, don't miss it out!

If you haven't read the first book, i suggest you check it right now, because it's on sale for only 0.99$. get ready to be thrown in a completely amazing world created by the author. i loved every page of the book, now it's your turn. 

Buy the book here : Amazon


Summary: 

Captured! In ”Sapphire Crucible” (Book 2 of the Sapphire Chronicles) Linvin Grithinshield and his party find themselves prisoners on the maniacal Lord Mandrean and his Necromancer. The Emperor has a surprise for Linvin. He knows where the Red Sapphire is! In order to attain it he needs Linvin's help. With his family as hostages he has no choice but to help. Now they must find a way to escape, find the Red Sapphire and make it home alive. Along the way they must fight ever-growing odds of survival.

About the Author:




I was born in the USA and moved to Canada when I was 5. My mother was American and my father was originally Canadian before trading his citizenship. I lived in Canada until I graduated highschool. I returned to the United States where I graduated from Michigan State University. While I was there I met the most wonderful woman on this earth and amazingly she agreed to be my wife. We have been married well over 20 years and have three beautiful children.

I began work on my series of books at age thirteen during a difficult time in my family's and my life. Instead of wollowing in self-pitty, I decided to escape to another world...one of my own creation where I could create the characters. What started as a short story turned into a novel and then a series. 

I sat on my work for years, sharing it only with my immediate family. Then my mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The longest supporter of my writing made me promiss to publish my work and finish the series. This is my attempt to keep that pledge. Enjoy the ride!




Visit Rival at his Website: 

Tuesday 8 April 2014

Monthly Interview with Rival Gates

Today I am having an interview with Rival Gates author of an amazing fantasy novel Quest for the Red Sapphire. 

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title:

Author:

Publication Date:

Publisher:

Goodreads – Amazon – Barnes & Noble







Summary: 


The book centers around Linvin Grithinshield, a half-elf general called home from the goblin wars to 
run the lucrative family trading business after his father's disappearance. Only after his mother's murder does he discover his destiny is to be the Master of the Red Sapphire, the most powerful magic any mortal can possess. Together with his wise but mysterious Uncle Anvar and his infuriating cousins Bander and Rander, Linvin must flee the would-be assassins and find the gem before the sinister forces from whom he flees find the stone and take it for a dark purpose.

Interview: 

Katie: Hello, thank you for this interview, how are you?

Rival Gates:  I am fantastic.  Thank you for taking the time to interview me.  You have a wonderful blog.

K.: It’s nice to hear. Can you tell us more about yourself?

R:  I was raised as the youngest child of an editor and an English teacher.  After dinner we liked to sit around the table as a family and talk.  Every person would tell stories about whatever was going on in their lives.  Between my siblings and parents I heard many different ways of telling tales and everyone seemed to want to tell theirs better than the last.  I learned from my father (the editor) that the best writers were the best story tellers.  If you could tell a good story, you could be a good writer.  That’s when I became interested in being an author.

K.: My first question will be, when did you first start writing?

R:  I took part in numerous writing contests in middle school but started writing for myself when I was 13.  Things in my life were not going so well and I needed an escape from it.  Writing provided me that platform.

K.: Do you remember the first story you ever read and the impact it had on you?

R:  I read “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” in my formative years and was captivated.  I must have read that book a half dozen times.  The characters were so real and the ideas were so new to me.  It drew me to fantasy storytelling and made me follow the genre.  After reading the series I started playing around with my own ideas for stories.

K.: Why did you write this book and what are your expectations on its behalf?

R:  I wrote this book because I felt I had created a captivating story to tell.  It had started as a short story.  Then it grew to a novel.   Then it grew to a series.  I want to share this with the world and have as many people as possible enjoy my work.  It is a fun escape from everyday life.

K.: What’s the story behind your latest book?

R:Former General Linvin Grithinshield is summoned home from the Goblin Wars after his father’s disappearance to run the family trading empire. Soon his mother is murdered and he is on the run with a price on his head. As a faceless enemy pursues him he must seek out the mythical Red Sapphire. In the proper hands it could take up the cause of many unable to fight for themselves.  In the wrong hands he fears the worst.  Together with his wise uncle and intolerable cousins, Linvin strikes out to find the all-powerful gem.  In a world with enemies from without and within, he must fight his way through the dragons in the sky and cutthroats all around to fulfill his destiny or die in the attempt.

K.: What is the greatest joy of writing for you?

R:  Writing the stories and seeing what you have created from nothing is very rewarding.  My greatest joy, however, happens when someone reads my work and tells me how they could not put it down.  They yearn for the next book in the series.  To get such a response means I must have done something right.

K.: What motivated you to become an indie author?

R:  I wanted my story to be read.  No matter what you think of your own work, you always wonder what others will feel about it.  That feedback is something I think every artist craves.  If your work can make a positive impact in someone else’s life, it is worth every minute of time you have put in creating it.

K.: When you’re not writing, how do you spend your time?

R: I spend a lot of time with my wife and children.  They bring tremendous joy to my life.  There always seems to be something going on to keep me occupied.

K.: What are you working on next?

R:  The sequel to ”Quest for the Red Sapphire” is called “Sapphire Crucible” and should be out very soon.

K.: Can you describe your desk?

R:  LOL My desk is strewn with papers.  Many of them are storyboards in which I have planned out a conversation or series of events.  I actually find them fun to look over again as I see how I listed the points I wanted to make and then started drawing arrows all over to change the order.  The system works great for me because I can see where I have left things out or placed them incorrectly.  It makes the story flow much better.

K: Anything you would like to tell future writers?

R:  Write about something you are passionate about.  If your excitement isn’t there, your reader’s won’t be either.  If it feels more like work to create something and less like fun, you are probably writing about the wrong thing.

K.: Thank you for the interview. Good luck with the book.

R:  It was my pleasure!  And thank you for having me on your blog.  I wish you the best of success in the future.

K.: Today we had an interview with Rival Gates Author of Quest of the Red Sapphire


Monday 7 April 2014

Book Review : Existence by Abbi Glines (Existence #1)



Summary (from Goodreads)

Title:  Existence

Author:  Abbi Glines

Publication Date:  December 13, 2011

Publisher:  Wild Child Publishing

GoodreadsAmazon – Barnes & Noble






Summary:


 What happens when you're stalked by Death? You fall in love with him, of course.

Pagan Moore doesn't cheat Death, but instead, falls in love with him.

Seventeen year old Pagan Moore has seen souls her entire life. Once she realized the strangers she often saw walking through walls were not visible to anyone else, she started ignoring them. If she didn't let them know she could see them, then they left her alone. Until she stepped out of her car the first day of school and saw an incredibly sexy guy lounging on a picnic table, watching her with an amused smirk on his face. Problem is, she knows he's dead.

Not only does he not go away when she ignores him, but he does something none of the others have ever done. He speaks. Pagan is fascinated by the soul. What she doesn't realize is that her appointed time to die is drawing near and the wickedly beautiful soul she is falling in love with is not a soul at all.

He is Death and he's about to break all the rules.



My Thoughts:


This book has been on my TBR for a long time. And thought I have read it back in December, I’m posting the review only now. Because as always I’ve not been patient I started the second book right after the first one, so as always I have everything jumbled up in my brain. But I still can say one thing: the book is really good. It held my interest from the first page till last. And I can never say that I was a bit bored from it. It was quite intriguing and well because the blurb gives a little too much I kind of knew what to see, but no matter that the book didn’t disappoint.

Maybe it’s just me, but I think there was a lack of character description. The only character description I knew really well was Leif’s. Dank is what I saw on cover so I didn’t really see into his description. But well with Pagan, I didn’t even know she had green eyes, until I read book 2. But if you don’t really try to see into it, it’s nothing special and doesn’t disturb you while reading. But well, the book was still great.

The idea of death falling in love isn’t new, but it is always interesting to read new perspectives. Somehow, I really didn’t get why all powerful death was answering to somebody else. I mean it’s quite ridiculous and how can death be cast into hell, for Heaven’s sake, that parts were so frustrating I wanted to shout at somebody. I really liked the whole description o the psychiatry. It was quite interesting, and well I liked Pagan there very much. I can’t say I wasn’t affected by Pagan at all, she was an amazing character. She had her faults, but she still was amazing. I loved her for her selflessness. And that she was always there for her friends. I do think it is a really good story to read and well I wish you all Happy Reading. I hope you will enjoy it. Either say, don’t forget to share your thoughts.

XOXO

Katie

My Rating:



I Am Back!

Hi Everyone! 

I am happy to tell everyone that i am done with my midterms and assigments, well i do have one or two left. but that's not the problem now. i am really sorry, that i couldn't post this past month. i was busy with my club activities and my midterms. but now i am back to work. 

I want to apologize to everyone, who wanted to read my posts and couldn't. i promise, i will be a good person now, and will read more, and will find time to write the reviews and make them as good as i can. 

hopefully, i didn't lose my audience, because of that. the april is going to be really interesting. but i have some amazing books for may and june ready for you. 

on my spring break i will be going home, so i don't know how i will be posting then, but hopefully, i will have enough time at the airport to read at least two books so that you will have some more to read. 

well, to continue my blogger proffesion, i already made i post for today, so don't miss it out. it's Existence by Abbi Glines. 

XOXO

Katie