Thursday, 6 June 2013

June 2013's New Releases!

Myself and my mum (from JeanzBookReadNReview) have decided to use this feature each month to spotlight some books, whether they be "Mainstream" or "Indie", that have caught our eye!

Siege & Storm
By Leigh Bardugo 

Siege & Storm, the second book in The Grisha series, will be released on the 4th of June.

Darkness never dies.

Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land. She finds starting new is not easy while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. She can’t outrun her past or her destiny for long.

The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka.

Crushed 
By Sara Shepard

Crushed, the thirteenth book in the Pretty Little Liars series, will be released on the 4th of June.

It's springtime in suburban Rosewood, which means iced soy lattes, fresh manicures in shimmering pastels and prom. But while everyone else is flipping through the racks at Saks in search of the perfect dress, Hanna, Spencer, Emily, and Aria are on a different kind of hunt: They're looking for A. . . .

Hanna puts her campaign for prom queen on the back burner to volunteer at the burn clinic, where one of A's victims is recovering. Emily digs into Ali's past at the mental hospital with some very crazy consequences. Spencer contacts a private eye to help her stalk her stalker. But when their sessions get a little too private, they may forget to keep their eyes on A. . . . And Aria's worried that A is even closer than she thought. When her dark secret from Iceland finally comes to light, she discovers that maybe, just maybe, the one person she's been trying to hide the truth from has known all along.

The liars are finally taking the fight to A. But no matter what they do, A's always one step ahead, ready to crush the girls completely.

PODs
By Michelle K. Pickett

PODs will be released on the 4th of June.

Seventeen-year-old Eva is a chosen one. Chosen to live, while others meet a swift and painful death from an incurable virus so lethal, a person is dead within days of symptoms emerging. In the POD system, a series of underground habitats built by the government, she waits with the other chosen for the deadly virus to claim those above. Separated from family and friends, it's in the PODs she meets David. And while true love might not conquer all, it's a balm for the broken soul. 

After a year, scientists believe the population has died, and without living hosts, so has the virus. That's the theory, anyway. But when the PODs are opened, survivors find the surface holds a vicious secret. The virus mutated, infecting those left top-side and creating... monsters. 

Tidal
By Amanda Hocking

Tidal, the third book in the Watersong series, will be released on the 6th of June.

Her only hope lies with her greatest enemies.

Gemma is facing the fight of her life. Cursed by beautiful but deadly sirens, her extraordinary powers have a terrifyingly dark side, and becoming human once more is proving her greatest challenge yet. As she struggles to break the curse, the sirens, Penn Lexi and Thea are determined to kill her before she can set herself free.

Gemini Rising
By Eleanor Wood

Gemini Rising will be released on the 7th of June.

How far would you go to fit in? Sorana Salem is ok with being not quite bottom of the pile at her exclusive private school. Until the mysterious Johansson twins arrive unexpectedly mid-term. 

Hypnotically beautiful and immensely cool, magnetic Elyse and mute Melanie aren’t like the school’s usual identikit mean girls.Soon Sorana’s sharing sleepovers and Saturday nights out with the twins. 

But their new world of Ouidja boards and older boys might not be as simple as it seems. And the dark secrets that they share could be about to take Sorana down a path that’s impossible to turn back from…

Dare You To
By Katie McGarry

Dare You To, the second book in the Pushing The Limits series, will be released on the 7th of June.

If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does.... 

Linked
By Imogen Howson

Linked will be released on the 11th of June.

Elissa used to have it all: looks, popularity, and a bright future. But for the last three years, she’s been struggling with terrifying visions, phantom pains, and mysterious bruises that appear out of nowhere. 

Finally, she’s promised a cure: minor surgery to burn out the overactive area of her brain. But on the eve of the procedure, she discovers the shocking truth behind her hallucinations: she’s been seeing the world through another girl’s eyes. 

Elissa follows her visions, and finds a battered, broken girl on the run. A girl - Lin - who looks exactly like Elissa, down to the matching bruises. The twin sister she never knew existed. 

Another Little Piece
By Kate Karyus Quinn

Another Little Piece will be released on the 11th of June.

On a cool autumn night, Annaliese Rose Gordon stumbled out of the woods and into a high school party. She was screaming. Drenched in blood. Then she vanished.

A year later, Annaliese is found wandering down a road hundreds of miles away. She doesn't know who she is. She doesn't know how she got there. She only knows one thing: She is not the real Annaliese Rose Gordon.

The Registry
By Shannon Stoker

The Registry will be released on the 11th of June.

The Registry saved the country from collapse. But stability has come at a price. In this patriotic new America, girls are raised to be brides, sold at auction to the highest bidder. Boys are raised to be soldiers, trained by the state to fight to their death.

Nearly eighteen, beautiful Mia Morrissey excitedly awaits the beginning of her auction year. But a warning from her married older sister raises dangerous thoughts. Now, instead of going up on the block, Mia is going to escape to Mexico - and the promise of freedom.

Winter Queen
By Amber Argyle

Winter Queen will be released on the 19th of June.

Becoming a winter queen will make Ilyenna as cold and cruel and deadly as winter itself, but it might be the only way to save her people from a war they have no hope of winning.

Mortally wounded during a raid, seventeen year old Ilyenna is healed by winter fairies who present her with a seductive offer: become one of them and share their power over winter. But that power comes with a price. If she accepts, she will become a force of nature, lose her humanity, and abandon her family.

Spartan Frost
By Jennifer Estep

Spartan Frost, book 4.5 in the Mythos Academy series, will be released on the 25th of June.

Professor Metis and Nickamedes say that I'm fine, that Loki and the Reapers don't have a hold on me anymore, but I can't risk it. I can't risk hurting Gwen again. So I'm leaving Mythos and going somewhere far, far away.

I know Gwen wonders what's happening to me, whether I'm safe. I can't tell her, but this is my story. . .

Hidden
By Marianne Curley

Hidden will be released on the 25th of June.

For as long as Ebony can remember, she's been sheltered. Confined to her home in a secluded valley, home-schooled by her protective parents, and limited to a small circle of close friends. It's as if she's being hidden. 

But something is changing in Ebony. Something that can't be concealed. She's growing more beautiful by the day, she's freakishly strong, and then there's the fact that she's glowing

Weather Witch
By Shannon Delany

Weather Witch will be released on the 25th of June.

In a vastly different and darker Philadelphia of 1844, steam power has been repressed, war threatens from deep, dark waters, and one young lady of high social standing is expecting a surprise at her seventeenth birthday party - but certainly not the one she gets!

Jordan Astraea, who has lived out all of her life in Philadelphia’s most exclusive neighborhood, is preparing to celebrate her birthday with friends, family and all the extravagance they might muster. The young man who is most often her dashing companion, Rowen Burchette, has told her a surprise awaits her and her best friend, Catrina Hollindale, wouldn’t miss this night for all the world!

But storm clouds are gathering and threatening to do far more than dampen her party plans because someone in the Astraea household has committed the greatest of social sins by Harboring a Weather Witch.

Have any of June 2013's New Releases caught your eye?

Click on the images below to check them out on Amazon!

Wednesday, 5 June 2013

Excerpt: Bait by K.C. Blake


“No.”  The grin changed to a smirk.  “I break into the homes of random girls all the time... just to talk.  Being a rock star doesn’t keep me busy enough.”  He raised an eyebrow and held up the next CD in the shortening stack.  “Seriously?  I wouldn’t listen to this if someone had a gun to my head.”  He flicked it to the floor.  “Your taste in music sucks.”
Although the CDs in his hands were a mixture of Country and Jazz, she loved Classic Rock like her dad.  The discs didn’t belong to her.  Nothing in the ridiculous girlie neon orange and pink room did with the exception of a few sentimental items she dragged from place to place, but she wasn’t going to explain her way of life to this intruder.  If she wanted to bare her soul, she’d see a psychiatrist.  Knowing it was a dream didn’t make her feel any better about him going through what he thought were her personal belongings.    
“Why did you kill those people?” she asked out of curiosity.  An image of dead bodies on a night club floor surfaced in her mind.  It took effort not to shudder.  “What did they ever do to you?”
He laughed, throaty and deep, sexy.  The sound dried the inside of her mouth and she clenched her teeth, feeling betrayed by her own body.  What was wrong with her?  She hadn’t felt this way about a guy before.  Why now?  Why this murderer?
“What did they do to me?” he repeated her question.  “Nothing.”  Then he pointed a finger at her.  “You, on the other hand, ruined my life.”
“Stop saying that.  I don’t even know you.  Before you killed those people I wasn’t aware we were on the same planet.”
“Ouch.”  He placed a hand over his heart as if she’d wounded him.  “So you aren’t one of my many adoring fans, huh?”
He put what was left of her CD collection on the dresser and reached for the tiny television, flipping it on without seeking permission.  An old sit-com with a noisy family brought the square screen to life.  
“No, I am not a fan.  I don’t follow you on Twitter or turn the volume up when one of your dumb songs comes on the radio.  I never think about you.  Why are you in my head now?”
“You tell me.  It’s your—”
“Dream.  I know.  You don’t have to keep saying it.  I get it already.”
“Until this dream ends, what do you want to do?”  His hungry gaze locked on her face, and he bit his lower lip as if he was once again thinking about kissing her.
Close to panicking now, she froze.  The kisses she shared with Gavin were brief and passionless and always for the benefit of those watching.  What would it feel like to kiss someone she actually wanted?  Her skin burned from just looking at the guy.  The chemistry between them had the potential to blow the roof off the house.  If he touched her, she’d probably spontaneously combust.
Tyler Beck, the hottest rock singer on the planet, the boy every girl fantasized about stared at her with desire in his eyes.  He planted a knee on the bed near her foot.  His hand landed next to her upper thigh.  The other knee and hand joined them on the mattress.  Slowly he crawled up her body, careful not to touch her until he was once again hovering over her mouth.  In a husky whisper he repeated, “What do you want to do?  Talk?  Fight?  Make out?”
The challenging tone sent a chill through her, a bad sort of chill.  Doubts surfaced.  What if this wasn’t a dream?  Maybe a monster had crossed over from the Spirit Realm in a Tyler Beck disguise to kill her.  She needed to do something quick.  If she died, it would be her own fault for being so stupid.
Her hand slid under the pink pillow behind her head to grab the ancient dagger she slept on.  Gripping it hard, she prepared to attack.  Something in her eyes tipped him off.  Before she could bury the blade deep in his chest, he leaped off the bed without warning, flying backwards.  He stumbled and hit the wall near the dresser.  A picture of a girl sitting in a garden rocked sideways before falling off the nail. 
“Another time then,” he mumbled before disappearing.
Bay-Lee blinked at the empty space where his body had been.  A shaky laugh escaped her open mouth.  She was dreaming.  There wasn’t a monster out there that could vanish into thin air.  Relaxed now, she collapsed on the mattress, breathing through her mouth.  Something was seriously wrong with her, having a hot dream about a psycho rock star.
Maybe she should seek therapy.

Promotion: Bait by K.C. Blake

Bait 
By K.C. Blake

Bait is the first book in the Order Of The Spirit Realm series.

At sixteen Bay-Lee is not your typical girl. She doesn't even try to fit in at school. What's the point when she'll be moving to a new place within a few months?
She's lived her whole life on the run, hiding from monsters.

Then a reaper uses her closet to cross over from the Spirit Realm. It has a message for her. Just when she's about to join her father at his school for hunters she finds out they are dying on their birthdays. Something is killing them, slipping past locked doors, never leaving a trace of evidence, and her birthday is only two months away.

Becoming a hunter isn't exactly her dream come true. She's doing it for her mother, for revenge, for justice. Nothing is going to get in her way, least of all love. Then she looks up into a pair of jungle green eyes and everything changes.


Available at Amazon.co.uk.

Tuesday, 4 June 2013

Kite Spirit by Sita Brahmachari

ISBN: 9780330517928
Publisher: Macmillan
Pages: 309

How do you pick up the pieces and start again when you lose your best friend?

Kite Soloman is a typical teenager. Just a few weeks off her her sixteenth birthday, she is balancing a hectic schedule of school, hobbies, revision and socialising. Her days are jam packed, her phone always buzzing with a text or a Facebook update - particularly from her best friend and neighbour, Dawn. The girls have grown up together, and share everything. There is nothing about Dawn that Kite doesn't know.

But on the eve of the girls' first GCSE exam, clever, beautiful, talented, Dawn kills herself. And Kite's life shatters.

In a desperate attempt to help their daughter grieve, Kite's parents take her away from the intensity of her London life and constant reminders of her beloved friend, to the calm quiet of the Lake District. There is no phone signal and no internet, just peace, quiet and beauty. Her father is trying to trace his family history, to learn more about his past. Kite is desperate to forget hers. Unable to talk and unwilling to listen to advice, Kite begins to see Dawn everywhere. In the landscape. In her dreams. She is conflicted, filled with guilt over what has happened, anger at Dawn for leaving her and fear of facing an unknown and unpredictable future alone. Who is she without the best friend who has always defined her?

I received a copy of Kite Spirit by Sita Brahmachari for review from Macmillan.  Although I quite enjoyed reading this book, I felt it would have been better if there had been parts written from Dawn's perspective.  Kite Spirit focused more on how Kite was affected by Dawn's death, rather than how Dawn felt and why she committed suicide. I didn't particularly like the parts where Kite felt Dawn's spirit, as I think they could have been done  in a slightly more subtle way. I love the cover of Kite Spirit, as although it could be a very solemn story at times, the vibrant colours and patterns represent the journey of the main character, Kite, quite well. Even though there were a few parts that I didn't enjoy as much, I would definitely recommend Kite Spirit by Sita Brahmachari!

Available at Amazon.com & Amazon.co.uk.

Monday, 3 June 2013

Promotion: Deer In Headlights by Staci Hart

Deer In Headlights 
By Staci Hart

Deer In Headlights is the first book in the Good Gods series.

What do the Greek gods do when they're bored? Because they're always bored, so humans are the perfect players in their games.

Aphrodite owns love; she hasn't lost a competition on her turf in over three millennia. Apollo is on a mission to win. He's counting on it to finally get the one woman he's never been able to have. The two gods will choose their human players, and if Aphrodite can't get them together before the clock runs out, Apollo will get his way. And Aphrodite couldn't have that.


Available at Amazon.co.uk.

Saturday, 1 June 2013

Dystopian, Steampunk, Post Apocalyptic, Zombie Giveaway!


As myself and my mum (from JeanzBookReadNReview) are quite fond of the Dystopian genre we decided to do an international giveaway not only of Dystopian books but also Steampunk, Post Apocalyptic and Zombie books, which are often associated with the Dystopian genre.

There will be three winners, who will each win one of the prize packs!

Prize Pack One consists of:
Outside by Shalini Boland
The Spiral Arm by Peter Boland
The Island by Jen Minkman
Zombies Don't Cry by Rusty Fischer
The Blemished by Sarah Dalton
Silent Symmetry by J.B. Dutton
The Great Collapse by Jeff W. Horton
In Between Seasons by Cassandra Giovanni
Destiny's Fire by Trisha Wolfe
Hair Of Gold by Dai Alanye
Prize Pack Two consists of:
Zoo by Tara Elizabeth
Helper12 by Jack Blaine
Secrets by J. Cunningham
Mortality by Kellie Sheridan
The Bone Road by Mary Holland
The Registry by Shannon Stoker
Eden's Root by Rachel E. Fischer
Zomblog by T.W. Brown
Prize Pack Three consists of:
The End Of All Things by Lissa Bryan
Zombie Fallout by Mark Tufo
Dead: The Ugly Beginning by T.W. Brown
Stitch by Samantha Durante
Shudder by Samantha Durante
The Breeders by Katie French

Use the Rafflecopter form below to enter!