The Darkest Powers series review

 The Darkest Powers Trilogy

By Kelly Armstrong

Book one The Summoning

 My name is Chloe Saunders and my life will never be the same again.

All I wanted was to make friends, meet boys, and keep on being ordinary. I don't even know what that means anymore. It all strated on the say that I saw my first ghost - and the ghost saw me.

Now there are ghosts everywhere and they won't leave me alone. To top it all off, I somehow got myself locked up in Lyle House, a "special home" for troubled teens. Yet the home isn't what it seems. Don't tell anyone, but I think there might be more to my housemates than meets the eye. The question is, whose side are they on? it's up to me to figure out the dangerous secrets behind Lyle House...before its skeletons come back to haunt me.

 Book two The Awakening

If you had met me a few weeks ago, you probably would have described me as an average teenage girl — someone normal. Now my life has changed forever and I’m as far away from normal as it gets. I’m a living science experiment — not only can I see ghosts, but I was genetically altered by a sinister organization call the Edison Group. What does that mean? For starters. I'm a teenage necromancer whose powers are out of control: I raise the dead without even trying. Trust me, that is not a power you want to have. Ever.

Now I’m running for my life with three of my supernatural friends - a chaming sorcerer, a cynical werewolf, and a disgruntled witch - and we have to find someone who can help us before the Edison Group finds us first. Or die trying.

  Book Three The Reckoning

Chloe Saunders is fifteen and would love to be normal. Unfortunately, Chloe happens to be a genetically engineered necromancer who can raise the dead without even trying. She and her equally gifted (or should that be 'cursed'?) friends are now running for their lives from the evil corporation that created them.

As if that's not enough, Chloe is struggling with her feelings for Simon, a sweet-tempered sorcerer, and his brother Derek, a not so sweet-tempered werewolf. And she has a horrible feeling she's leaning towards the werewolf...

Definitely not normal!

 About the Author

Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers' dismay. All efforts to make her produce "normal" stories failed.

Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She's the author of the NYT-bestselling "Women of the Otherworld" paranormal suspense series and "Darkest Powers" young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.

 Where to Find More Info

Website: http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/KelleyArmstrong

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Armstrong/114772395200932

 My Reviews

The Summoning:

This book is so good! I was only a hundred  pages in when I jumped on line to order the next two books in the series. The characters are great and I love the story line.

Cloe is a girl interrupted sent to a half way house for teens with mental illness. Thinking she can converse with ghosts she finds out she's schizophrenic, or is she? She becomes friends with Rea, Simmon, Derick and Liz. All wonderfully written characters even mean girl Tori is a character with a sympathetic side. When Cloe starts figuring out who and what she really is she finds she's not alone. With her friends at her side they decide to take their fate in there own hands. Thank goosness she has friends on her side because people she thought she could trust start to betray her.

 I loved the flow of this book and I am going to be stalking my mail man for the next week for the next books in this series.

The Awakening:

Thankfully my mail man got my books here in a timely manner so I didn't have to wait long.

The Awakening starts right where The Summoning leaves off which I love. When I have all of the books I like it when it's a seamless transition from one book to the next. In this book Chloe along with her kinda friend Tori have to escape from the Edison group and join Simon and Derek on the run. Where the last book was Cloe realizing what she was and being trapped in a house trying to figure out what to do about it, this book is her life on the run with her friends. Well I won't give too much away but I will say NOTHING goes their way.

Cloe and Derek get separated from their group and find themselves not only running for their lives but fighting for their lives on their way to catch up to Simon and Tori. I'm a little glad for that It gave Cloe and myself time to get to know the sullen and brooding werewolf. 

This book has a nice flow to the story with lots of action as well as nicely placed unspoken tenderness. I am still really loving the series and can't wait to hit the save button on this so I can start The Reckoning.

 

The   Reckoning:

Ok so here's where a series review gets tricky. I don't want to give away too much about the last book. So won't spoil the series for other readers so I'll try to generalize my review as much as possible.

Their adventures on the run continue to be one set back after another. Every time they start feeling safe they find that their not. Every time they think they can trust someone they are betrayed. Cloe does make a couple of allies that she didn't think were trust worthy only to find out that it's true what they say about the enemy of your enemy.

There's also a "family" twist you don't see coming that made me say "hmm I can see that"

  Their is sort of a love triangle and I have to say that I'm happy about where it ended and that in the end there were no hard feelings.

My final thoughts are: Its a great trilogy that I'm hoping will either turn into more or at least have a spin off series. I am not done with these characters and I WANT MORE! 

Giveaway

There will be two winners:
The first will receive a signed copy of The Reckoning (from Kelly)
The  second  will receive an ecopy of The Summoning
All you have to do is follow the directions in the rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

weighted

Weighted

Release date August 21, 2012

A prequel to 

The Neumarian Chronicles

By Ciara Knight

The Great War of 2185 is over, but my nightmare has just begun. I am being held captive in the Queen’s ship awaiting interrogation. My only possible ally is the princess, but I’m unsure if she is really my friend or a trap set by the Queen to fool me into sharing the secret of my gift. A gift I keep hidden even from myself. It swirls inside my body begging for release, but it is the one thing the Queen can never discover. Will I have the strength to keep the secret? I’ll know the answer soon. If the stories are true about the interrogators, I’ll either be dead or a traitor to my people by morning.

About the author

Ciara Knight began her writing career in 2008. She writes to ‘Defy the Dark’ with her fantasy, paranormal, and dystopian books. Her first Young Adult Series, Battle for Souls, will be published by Turquoise Morning press, with her prequel novella, Love’s Long Shadow, releasing in October 2011. Followed by Rise From Darkness (Book I) in March 2012, Fall From Grace (Book II), and Ascension of Evil (Book III).

Also in 2012, her adult fantasy, Curse of Gremdon will be published by Crescent Moon Press.

When not writing, she enjoys reading all types of fiction. Some great literary influences in her life include Edgar Allen Poe, Shakespeare, Francine Rivers and J K Rowling.

Her first love, besides her family, reading, and writing, is travel. She's backpacked through Europe, visited orphanages in China, and landed in a helicopter on a glacier in Alaska.

  More info
 website: http://www.ciaraknight.com

goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/ciaraknight

 facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ciaratknight

facebook fan page: https://www.facebook.com/Ciaraknightwrites

My Review

This book is only a thirty one page prequel to what I am sure will be an amazing series. I entered a two hour contest to win this book and i am glad i did. I truly felt like I was reading a full length novel and by the time I was done I was left wanting more.

Weighted is amazing! It's got alot to offer in alot of different areas. It has paranormal, dystopian, fantasy, and steampunk aspects that all fit together very well. 

I am really loving the way this story flows. The characters are very quickly introduced (it is a short story) but they are really well defined. I can picture every character in vivid detail and love what I envision.

 If this thirty one page story is just a setting up to a series of books then I am one hundred percent invested and can not wait to dive into these books but add them to my library so I can read them over and over. 

I can say with great certainty that this series will be one of my all time favorites! 
 

Desolation

The Desolation Serties

books one and two

by Ali Cross

BECOME

Sixteen-year old Desolation Black wants nothing more than to stay in Hell where it’s cold and lonely and totally predictable. Instead, she’s sent back to Earth where she must face the evil she despises and the good she always feared.

When Desi is forced to embrace her inner demon, she assumes her choice has been made—that she has no hope of being anything other than what her father, Lucifer, has created her to be. What she doesn’t count on, is finding a reason to change—something she’s never had before—a friend.

 

DESOLATE

Where darkness lives, all becomes desolate . . .

It’s been two months since sixteen-year-old Desolation Black chose Earth over Hell and her friend Miri over her eternal love, Michael.

Desi goes through the motions of life: school, training, remaining vigilant against the forces of darkness, but her dreams are full of the choices she wishes she could change. When she’s injured by a strange demon, old temptations arise, and the lines between good and evil blur. Desi discovers those choices aren’t so final after all.

And this time, the power of love—for a friend, for a lover—may not be enough to save her from the darkness that lurks within.

About the Author

Ali Cross is the sensei of the Writer's Dojo where she holds a black belt in awesome. She lives in Utah with her kickin' husband, two sparring sons, one ninja cat, two sumo dogs and four zen turtles.

Where to find more info

Her writer's dojo:  www.ninjaswrite.com.

websites:  http://www.alicross.com 

blog: http://www.alicross.blogspot.com

Face book pages:

 http://www.facebook.com/authoralicross

http://www.facebook.com/ninjaswrite

http://facebook.com/happygrrl 

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/happygrrl 

My Reviews

Become

This book was soooo amazing! Okay I know I say that about every book I love but I have not felt this much emotion while reading a book for awhile. Become had me at the prologue. Before I was even introduced to the main character I knew this book would be one that I couldn't put down.

Desolation Black is the daughter of Loki aka Lucifer. Living in Hell the only way she can defy her father is to deny him by not giving in to what he truly wants from her, to "become", and give in to become the demon she holds within. All he wants is for her to step up and except her place at his side.

When she's sent to Earth for some training in human behavior she finds something she never thought she'd ever know or deserve, Love. Now she not only has to choose or not choose her fate to "become" she also has to choose between the cold dark within her or embrace the warmth that she now feels growing through the dark giving her a new destiny. 

This book has a great flow. It was so easy sink into the story. To see it so clearly in my mind, I could easily imagine the settings, the characters and the emotions. The characters were very well defined and the emotion felt real. I'll admit to being a very emotional woman but it's been awhile since a book has made me cry. Not just a lump in my throat cry but a tears streaming down my cheeks, hand me some tissue kind of cry. Everyone knows that any book that can bring on that kind of emotion is a best seller (at least in my opinion it should be).

This book is an amazon and barnes and noble freebie so everyone with a Nook or Kindle should open up a new tab and grab this book while it lasts, as for me I'm off to amazon myself to pick up Desolate the next book in the series.

Desolate

Desolate: ADJECTIVE 

1. empty: bare, uninhabited, and deserted

2. alone: solitary, joyless, and without hope

3. grim: dismal and gloomy

Desolation:  

grief, sadness, loneliness,devastation, ruin

When reading this book you have to keep in mind not only the name of the book but the name of the main character.  They both say so much about the way this book and story unfolds. Where Become makes you feel hope Desolate is quite opposite. I feel so sad for Desolation  she has such a genuine and good heart that you have no choice but to feel  her sadness and loneliness. 

Just when I thought my tears would dry up and Desolate would be on the road to a happy ending I started the second book and realized that she has such along way to go. Not only does she need to shed her life in Hell which at times she misses (she did live there for centuries), her father Loki aka Lucifer who is the only parent she's ever known. She also needs to embrace her lighter side and the warmth within her that she doesn't think she deserves.

And then there's Michael whom she sacrificed to her father to not only to save his life but the life of her best friend Miri. I feel so sad for her because she feels the need to keep her demon side close as penance for everyone who has been hurt just by getting close to her. And I really hate that she never allows her self a moments worth of happiness.

The beginning of the book is from Desi's point of view but half way though the story changes from chapter to chapter between Desi and Michael. I love stories that are told for more than one point of view but in Desolates case it means twice the sadness, guilt and grief. This story makes my heart ache for the characters. But as I've said before the way I know a book will be imprinted on my soul is the feelings it invokes within me be it happiness or sorrow and not every amazingly great book has a happy ending.

 Excerpt

"Your love for Desolation has shaped this world. you have taught us to love.Your heroic deeds in the Great War are told as bedtime stories. Michael and Desolation--there have been few other loves as powerful as yours, and certainly none greater. Do you agree?
"Yes my king." My heart felt like it had been ripped out of my chest. I could barely breath, couldn't think. My mind filled with memories of Desi. Memories of love.

I felt I had to put a excerpt there to show you the love that is trapped in all of the sorrow. A love that Desi doesn't think she is capable of or deserves because she is Hell's daughter after all.

Desi has so much guilt she can't let go of and so easily falls prey to her fathers influence becoming what she never wanted to be "his". Little does she know there are more player fighting for her soul (her light) than she knows. At 84% (kindle) I began to cry and I didn't stop until the end. 

And in the end this book held my sadness and sorrow, Does it have a happy ending after all.......Well I guess you have to read it and see. I can say this: I am so glad I picked up Become (It's still free on amazon.com) and I can not wait until the next book in the series.

Ali your an amazing writer!!! 


Now for the giveaway

There will be two winners. 

The first winner will receive: an ecopy of Desolate

the second winner will receive (from Ali herself) a prize pack consisting

 of a bookmark, leather heart bracelet handmade (by Ali) and a tee shirt.

and all you have to do is fill out the rafflecopter below

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Little Death

A Little Death

By Susan Sizemore

Angels and werewolves and demons, oh my! A collection of five paranormal romance stories from NYT bestselling author Susan Sizemore.

Escape into romantic fantasy in this collection of five tales of paranormal lovers. Meet and angel of death who finds the man of her dreams in "A Little Death". A wizard saves a lady in distress from her demon-haunted house in "Every Little Thing She Does". A defective unicorn brings a king and a lady of negotiable affection together in "New Yorke Snow". "The Weaver and the Werewolf" must overcome their tumultuous past to save the land they love. And a surgeon is pulled from our world to find true love in "Butterfly Dreaming"

About the Author

Susan Sizemore's life and interests include such varied activities as medieval costuming and embroidery, being a chef, and working in the defense industry.She is owned by her spoiled rotten, beloved mutt dog, rather than the other way around, and this is just fine with her.Current hobbies include hiking and studying t'ai chi. She travels whenever she can, loves history, loud music, movies, good coffee, and writes constantly.She hopes readers enjoy her stories as much as she enjoys writing them.She has won the Romance Writers of America's Golden Heart Award and has been nominated for two Romantic Times awards.

Where to find more info

Website:  http://www.susansizemore.com/ 

Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/SusanSizemore 

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/susan.sizemore.39

My Review

Normally I don't like short stories. Every time I just start getting into the story bang "the end" and I just feel like I'm cheated. But when it comes to and amazing author like Susan well I just want to soak up anything she has to give me. 

A Little Death is five short paranormal stories about falling in love. Each story is completely different  from the others and all of them were great in their own way. I am not going to go into any detail about the stories because they are short and to give anything away would be to give it all away. So instead I am just going to to tell you the order in which I liked them starting with my favorite and so on. 

Keep in mind that I felt that they were all amazing stories and would love to read more about each and every one of them in full length novels.

1.-Every Little Thing She Does. This story was very sassy and humorous.

2.-A Little Death. This story was very touching and sweet.

3.-Butterfly Dreaming. This story makes you pause and think.

4.- New Yorke Show. this story is witty with a side of happily ever after

5.-The Weaver and the Werewolf. This story is a tale of long lost love and forgiveness.

A Little Death is a definite must read for any one who has a love for paranormal romance. 

Fifty Shades of Alice in Wonderland

Fifty Shades of Alice in Wonderland

By Melinda DuChamp

BEYOND 50 SHADES OF GREY...

Eighteen-year-old Alice is unhappy. Her boyfriend is nice and polite, but he's also quick and careless in bed, and doesn't give Alice the attention and variety she craves. But he's not entirely to blame, because Alice herself doesn't understand her own needs. She's heard about what sex is supposed to be like, but has never felt anything remotely close to what she's read about in runaway bestselling books.

BEYOND 9 1/2 WEEKS...

Then Alice follows a vibrating white rabbit down a deep, dark hole, which leads to a place beyond her wildest imagination. There are no nice boys--or girls--down here. Only those who indulge in secret, forbidden, kinky fantasies.

BEYOND PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES...

Alice is confused and frightened and... aroused. She is bound. Teased. Spanked. Toyed. Brought to the limits of sexual endurance. And during her trials, she begins to understand her body's needs for the very first time.

BEYOND THUNDERDOME...

This isn't the fairy tale you grew up reading. This isn't for children at all.

This is for those with dark desires, who wish to explore erotic excess beyond the plain vanilla of everyday life. Follow Alice down the rabbit hole, if you dare...
Fifty Shades of Alice in Wonderland is slightly longer than the Lewis Carroll version, roughly 32,000 words or 115 paper pages long. Melinda DuChamp is the pen name of someone you may know.

LOL

This is usually where I'd put a picture of the author and such well I have looked for  author info and where to find more info but there is none so good luck with that.

My Review

(My BFF can't believe I wrote a review for this book)

Ok so what do I say about this book Hmmmmm. Well first this is absolutely an 18+ years book! I got this book as an amazon freebie but the price is now $2.99. This book is obviously a spoof on one of the hottest series out there right now.It is a very erotic read and definitely not the Alice you grew up knowing and this Wonderland WOW nothing like the one I remember. This book starts off with Alice chasing a "white rabbit" down a hole. Finding and drinking a bottle labeled "drink me"  (I'm thinking it was something like a liquid spanish fly), she finds that all it does is make her breasts grow and her clothes fall off. From there the story takes her on a journey meeting very "friendly" people along the way and discovers herself in more ways than one and in so many different ways that to describe them all would make me blush. The characters and storyline are very interesting to say the least and there is alot of humor and over the top eroticism in this story. It had me saying Hmmm at times and laughing my butt off at the over the top scenes the rest of the time. At a little over 100 pages it's worth the read if you've got an hour to spare and it was a very easy, funny and interesting read.

Awaken Me

Awaken Me

By Emily Gossett

After witnessing the horrific murder that was committed by her fiance just days before their wedding, Aimee immediately flees from the life she knows. Lost in Greece, Aimee is inevitably and uncontrollably thrust into a supernatural world where she is terrified to learn what she really is. Crouching at every corner lies a new confusing memory that torments her from her previous life, while her feelings of love cease to die, but awaken more deeply for the mysteriously handsome stranger, who wants to rescue her. Battling the man, who she mistakenly still loves is a bigger conquest than imagined, but can she free her captured thoughts from the man who owns her? Facing the ultimate decision, to lose all humanity by becoming the weapon the Rogues desire most, or to destroy the creation of love. Can Aimee make the sacrifices needed to overcome deceit, love and her power that is irrepressibly blood thirsty?

About the Author

Born in Blackpool England, December 8,1985. Raised in West Palm Beach Florida. Around the age of nine Emily developed a passion for creative writing as well as playing with her mother's cam corder. Dressing her younger brothers, Sean and Daniel McGuirk up as characters in her movie plots. By the age of 16 Emily wrote her first book entitled Lilly, inspired by events of her friends life. By 18, after working on the set of Miami Vice the movie, Emily discovered that filmmaking wasn't just a hobby it was a passion. Convincing her parents to buy her a Cannon XL2 and raising 10k, Emily made her first feature film, Lilly. After a wild dream, Emily knew she had to write the idea down. Which became Awaken Me.

Where to Find More Info

Website:  http://www.awakenmebook.com

Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/BlurpGirl 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/AwakenMeFanPage

Facebook fanpage:  https://www.facebook.com/AwakenMeBook

My Review

I had been wanting to read this book for awhile and yesterday I saw that it's available for free for a limited time on smashwords.com (everyone should run out and get it while it lasts) so I picked it up. I started reading last night and finished it in one sitting. Awaken Me is an amazing book!! The story picks up in the very first chapter and never slows down (which I love in a book). The story line is so easy to slip into and the characters are so relatable that I just couldn't put it down. I am so glad this book didn't slip though the cracks off my huge TBR pile.

I could not imagine going from absolutely happy in love to being so terrified of the one you love in a blink of an eye. Then to find out that the last six years of your life was one big lie and you don't even know who or what you were before that is the saddest thing I could never hope to go though.

 Aimee is an amazing girl with no memory of who she was or where she came from. When she finds the truth she realizes she's not alone and has some of amazing people in her life to protect her, to help her comes to grips with who she is and to face the man who took everything away.

I just can't put into words how much I really loved this book. Emily Gossett is an amazing writer and I can not wait until the next book comes out. I suggest everyone run out and pick this book up. Again Awaken Me is free for a limited time on smashwords.com and the kindle addition is only $3.03 on amazon.com

Next Book in the Series

Expected publication: October 2012

 

Wings

 Wings

By Aprilynne Pike

Laurel was mesmerized, staring at the pale things with wide eyes. They were terrifyingly beautiful—too beautiful for words.

Laurel turned to the mirror again, her eyes on the hovering petals that floated beside her head. They looked almost like wings.

In this extraordinary tale of magic and intrigue, romance and danger, everything you thought you knew about faeries will be changed forever.

 About the Author

Aprilynne Pike has been spinning faerie stories since she was a child with a hyper-active imagination. At the age of twenty she received her BA in Creative Writing from Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho. When not writing, Aprilynne can usually be found at the gym; she also enjoys singing, acting, reading, and working with pregnant moms as a childbirth educator and doula. Aprilynne currently lives with her husband and three kids in Utah, and dreams of warmer climates. 

Where to Find More Info

 Website:  http://www.aprilynnepike.com/

Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2096360.Aprilynne_Pike

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aprilynnepike

My Review

The thing I like most about paranormal books is that you can take almost any mythological or paranormal creature and no matter how many books there are out there you can still make it all yours. The fea are one of those creatures that can be similar in their basic mythology but unique to an authors own imagination. Wings takes the fea to a whole new level that is so unique that no matter how many books with fea folk I've read (and that's alot) I've never read anything quite like this before. Bravo Aprilynne for a very original and I must say very intriguing way of looking at the complete differences between the fea and humans. She didn't just put a new spin on an old myth she rewrote it all together.

Other Books in the Series

  

Wonderous Strange

By Lesley Livingston

17 year-old Kelley Winslow doesn’t believe in Faeries. Not unless they’re the kind that you find in a theatre, spouting Shakespeare—the kind that Kelley so desperately wishes she could be: onstage, under lights, with a pair of sparkly wings strapped to her shoulders. But as the understudy in a two-bit, hopelessly off-off-Broadway production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, wishing is probably the closest she’s going to get to becoming a Faerie Queen. At least, that’s what she thinks... In this fun, urban fantasy, Kelley's off-stage life suddenly becomes as complicated as one of Shakespeare’s plot twists when a nighttime trip to Central Park holds more than meets the mortal eye.

About the Author 

 Lesley Livingston is a writer and actress living in Toronto. She has a master's degree in English from the University of Toronto, where she specialized in Arthurian Literature and Shakespeare. She frequently performs with the Tempest Theatre Group, of which she is a co-founder. She is also the author of WONDROUS STRANGE and DARKLIGHT.

Where to Find More Info

website: www.lesleylivingston.com

goodreads:http://www.goodreads.com/LesleyLivingston

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lesley.livingston.10

fan page: facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/LesleyLivingstonAuthor

My Review 

 For an authors first novel I have to say it was pretty good the characters were nicely written and the story line was one that has alot of potential. I can not wait to read the next two books in the series.
With that said I enjoyed this book very much and I am hoping that the story will continue as a very long series of books. I love when Shakespeares' fairies are used in new stories especially Puck and i was hoping for more of him in this story so my fingers are crossed for the books to come (which I'm waiting to come in the mail).This book was an easy read with great flow. I'd give this book 4 stars with alot of potential. and I would recommend it to anyone with an afternoon off who is looking for a good book.

Other Books in the Series

Giveaway!!!
Since I won this book on a blog I think it's only fair to pay it forward so one lucky commenter will win an ecopy of Wonderous Strange via www.random.org and all you have to do is leave a comment (make sure you leave your email so I can contact you if you win) I'll anounce the winner at 9 pm on 8-10-12. GOOD LUCK TO ALL!!!