Book Review: Split Second (Pivot Point #2) by Kasie West

Title: Split Second (Pivot Point #2)
Author: Kasie West
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publishing Date: February 11th 2014
Length: 360 pages 
Keywords: YA, fiction, romance, paranormal gifts, friendship
Source: Publisher

Life can change in a split second.

Addie hardly recognizes her life since her parents divorced. Her boyfriend used her. Her best friend betrayed her. She can’t believe this is the future she chose. On top of that, her ability is acting up. She’s always been able to Search the future when presented with a choice. Now she can manipulate and slow down time, too . . . but not without a price.

When Addie’s dad invites her to spend her winter break with him, she jumps at the chance to escape into the Norm world of Dallas, Texas. There she meets the handsome and achingly familiar Trevor. He’s a virtual stranger to her, so why does her heart do a funny flip every time she sees him? But after witnessing secrets that were supposed to stay hidden, Trevor quickly seems more suspicious of Addie than interested in her. And she has an inexplicable desire to change that.

Meanwhile, her best friend, Laila, has a secret of her own: she can restore Addie’s memories . . . once she learns how. But there are powerful people who don’t want to see this happen. Desperate, Laila tries to manipulate Connor, a brooding bad boy from school—but he seems to be the only boy in the Compound immune to her charms. And the only one who can help her.

As Addie and Laila frantically attempt to retrieve the lost memories, Addie must piece together a world she thought she knew before she loses the love she nearly forgot . . . and a future that could change everything.

Summary by Goodreads  

You know that PIVOT POINT was among the top three of my favourite books of 2014. I read it as a standalone and was ecstatic when I found out there was going to be a sequel, because things weren't completely wrapped up in the end of book one. Now I poured all my hope in SPLIT SECOND for Addie and Trevor to find their perfect ending. These two characters really grew on me in the first book and I was heartbroken about how things ended for them.

So I'd pinned my hope on SPLIT SECOND, but after reading the second book early in December I wasn't sure this book was the sequel I had been dreaming about for so many months. That was mostly because Addie and Trevor's romance couldn't pick up right where it was at its best in the first book and practically repeated itself only in a much more unfortunate way. Nonetheless, I adore the idea behind it that they would always find back to each other, no matter how many times you'd wind back things to a point where the two wouldn't know each other. 

What I thought of as a nice bonus in advance fast became my favourite part about SPLIT SECOND. I'm talking about the additional point of view that has been added to the story. Chapters are alternating between Addie and her best friend Laila. Now that Laila has got her own story to tell, we are granted an extra hot romance in her chapters. Connor is just as tough and unrelenting as Laila and theirs is a very fierce love story that will have you fanning yourself.
Furthermore there's a great emphasis on the close and honest friendship between Addie and Laila which was another of my favourite parts about SPLIT SECOND. Not many YA stories are all set on taking time to develop a profound girl friendship beside all the drama that would be possible in other parts of the story.

Believe me, you will want to read this and want to know what happens to Addie, Laila and her friends. It isn't like I've completely fallen out of love with the characters and the world, on the contrary. Sometimes the plot just didn't feel like it was going in the right direction, at least not purposeful enough. Knowing that SPLIT SECOND would be the final book in this duology, I often criticized that the story was too hesitant and undaring in the end to pose as a model of a final book.

Kasie West didn't make as much use of Addie's talent as in book one. And that where Addie's special power to see two alternate futures, go through them and pick only one, contributed a lot to an irressistibly fast-paced, multidimensional PIVOT POINT plot.

While I was torn about the love story of Addie and Trevor and absolutly swooning over Connor and Laila, their paranormal community, hidden from people's eyes, continued to amaze me. Abilities are expanded, boundaries pushed and authorities provoked to dangerous extends. 

What I love so much about the two books is that the story is set in a secret part of our world. It's not a completely new world, but something that's special enough to be kept from anyone who's not a part of it. If this book series were a TV show it could easily be one of my favourites. The mystery factor and paranormal activities would be its strong suit and there would be enough room for awesome romances and conspiracies, drama of all kinds. 

4/5 **** SPLIT SECOND - Addie and Laila are two leading YA ladies who are linked by a strong friendship and who can conquer anything with their cohesive forces. 

While SPLIT SECOND is just as remarkably well-written as PIVOT POINT, there were plot deficiencies not even a very strong second leading lady and her swoon-worthy love story could completely counterbalance. And even if I didn't get all the feels and heartbreak and excitement from this sequel like from Kasie's debut novel before, I can easily imagine reading two or three more books set in her secret community of paranormally gifted. Now I'm wishing on the gift of thought manipulation so that I could persuade Kasie West to write more books about Addie and Laila. 

"He slammed the case shut. I tried a memory wipe one more time, but it didn't work. Tucking the chip into my pocket, I left his garage. What was wrong with me? Was I losing my ability? No. That was impossible. He must've been using something that protected him from Memory Erasers. Did he know that was my ability?

I'd get information from him. I'd just have to find another way." ― p. 42

SPLIT SECOND you might also enjoy LINKED by Imogen Howson, TAKEN by Erin Bowman and ARCLIGHT by Josin L. McQuein. I haven't read any of these, but can imagine that they could cure my pain of parting with the PIVOT POINT series. All three have mystery and paranormal aspects to their stories that sound so very thrilling.

* Want to read something different by Kasie West? Then you should read THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US, her YA contemporary debut.

* Click here to read an excerpt of PIVOT POINT.

* Want to meet Kasie West? Here are the dates of her The Lovestruck Tour with three other YA authors.

* For further information about Kasie and her books visit www.kasiewest.com.

* Thanks to Harper Collins International for sending me a copy of SPLIT SECOND for review! 

Read More

Book Review: Uninvited (Uninvited #1) by Sophie Jordan

Title: Uninvited (Uninvited #1)
Author: Sophie Jordan
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publishing Date: January 28th 2014
Length: 384 pages
Keywords: YA, fiction, romance, kill gene, sci-fi
Source: Publisher

When Davy Hamilton's tests come back positive for Homicidal Tendency Syndrome (HTS) - aka the kill gene - she loses everything. Her boyfriend ditches her, her parents are scared of her, and she can forget about her bright future at Juilliard. Davy doesn't feel any different, but genes don't lie. One day she will kill someone.

Only Sean, a fellow HTS carrier, can relate to her new life. Davy wants to trust him; maybe he's not as dangerous as he seems. Or maybe Davy is just as deadly.

Summary by Goodreads 

UNINVITED is the story of prodigy and good girl Davy who tests positive for Homicidal Tendency Syndrome. Other stories often take ages to get to the point where the reader is distinctly interested in its main characters' fate. Sophie Jordan's newest YA release jumps right into action and it doesn't take twenty pages for Davy to find out about the fatal kill gene she's carrying inside her.

After Davy's life changed so radically and early in the story, I was prepared for a fast and overall action-packed continuation in the following chapters. Against expectations there wasn't much about relentless battles and killers endangering Davy's life at first. So the beginning felt a bit generic, monotonous and not nearly as thrilling as it could have been. Now Davy has to go to a special school for HTS carriers only and has to face the torments of being one herself. She has to experience how everyone treats her differently after the test results. The middle part of UNINVITED could be considered a social study. If I could've cut scenes from the first book, I would have chosen almost every school scene. They might be important for the story, because Davy meets Sean and Gill there and becomes friends with them, but I would've preferred for the main portion of the story to be set in one of the camps for HTS carriers where they train to become better and fight for their lives.

Sophie Jordan tells her characters' stories in regard to political and social developments concerning the HTS carrier situation in the country. And so after various developments and events, it is decided that Davy and her new friends are transferred from school to those special camps for HTS carriers.
Here the story definitely goes in a more dangerous direction. The other carriers around Davy are all unpredictable, violent and unstable. The chapters set in camp were my favourites because they bring the action and trials, fear, power struggles and murder I originally thought about when I picked up UNINVITED.

Davy the model child. Sean the bad boy. Gil the geek. Despite the light stereotypic feel, our UNINVITED characters are pretty easy to like. Davy and Sean's romance was good, but I'm still wishing for more time for Davy and Sean to engage in deeper and more intimate conversations in book two rather than their hasty whispers or stormy kisses (which were great nevertheless). 

UNINVITED is a story of social exclusion of large segments of the population and its consequences. What would you do if all your friends left you because of one genetic test with the wrong result? How would it feel to have almost no one believe in your goodness?

 4/5 **** UNINVITED - Sophie Jordan's kill genes are the most imaginative and original YA idea of 2014! 

I only needed to read the summary of UNINVITED once to be fascinated by the idea of a kill gene that could change the future of humankind forever. It's unbelievable that small biological determinants like genes have the power to change a human's life so radically. Sophie Jordan's a genius for building her story on one of the greatest fears of humankind, the unalterability of what's inside us, in this case the tendency to be evil and a murderer.

"It sounds like Mom believes I'm this...thing. A monster waiting for darkness to come so that I can leap out. 

I bury my face in my knees. My shoulders shake but I don't cry. Don't make a sound. I'm not a killer. Although I'm going to become one. It's just a matter of time." ― p.22

UNINVITED you might also enjoy UNRAVELING by Elizabeth Norris, REBOOT by Amy Tintera and 3:59 by Gretchen McNeil, three books with sci-fi and mystery character. REBOOT is about humans who wake up as unfeeling killing machines, so this could be the one that's thematically most like UNINIVTED.

* Haven't read Sophie's FIRELIGHT trilogy yet? Get started with FIRELIGHT now.

* Click here to read an excerpt of UNINVITED.

* UNINVITED book trailer.

* Visit www.sophiejordan.net for more information about Sophie and her books.

* Thanks to Harper Collins International for sending me UNINVITED for review!

Read More

Mini Reviews #22

What do the three books of today's Mini Reviews post have in common? THROUGH THE EVER NIGHT by Veronica Rossi, DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT by Laini Taylor and SHADOW AND BONE by Leigh Bardugo are all extremely easy to love. Have you read any of them?

Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky #2) by Veronica Rossi

After months of being separated, Aria and Perry are finally reunited. Perry has become Blood Lord of the Tides and is struggling. How can he convince his people of his capability? Meanwhile Aria is set on finding the Still Blue. 

It doesn't take long for the young lovers to realise that they can only succeed if they face the tasks ahead on their own. How are they gonna deal with the fatal Aether storms that are annihilating the country? And when will they get a chance to be together again?

Can you imagine THROUGH THE EVER NIGHT being even better than the first book in the series, knowing Aria and Perry aren't together most of the time? I couldn't either, but it really is just as good, if not better, than the first. It took me maybe about fourty pages or so and I was drawn into Aria and Perry's story like the first time I picked up UNDER THE NEVER SKY. I love that Aria and Perry get to tell chapters from their own perspectives and although they are on their missions, they are always connected through a major common goal.

This second book in Veronica Rossi's UNDER THE NEVER SKY series deserves a loud roar, it's that good (pun intended). Her characters are as strong and unique as in the first book and the trials they see themselves faced with are even harder to endure. Roar and Liv's story was just as intriguing as Aria and Perry's. So many feels! 

With nature lashing out at the Tides, Reverie and all the other tribes, Veronica Rossi built in a relatable and reliable time bomb, putting high pressure on our characters and making sure to upset the reader, too. As Aether storms got stronger, my emotional involvement with Veronica Rossi's world grew exponentially stronger, too. I never get tired of this world!

4,5/5 ****/* THROUGH THE EVER NIGHT – A fearless and glowing second book in a beloved YA dystopian series!

I'm so delighted I gave UNDER THE NEVER SKY a try back when I thought I wouldn't like it a bit. Now I do like it so, so much. As much as Aria and Perry's story is inflicting heartache from time to time, I'm still craving to read more about them. I'm already wondering what I'll do when the series comes to an end.

Publisher: Harper Collins

Publishing Date: January 8^th 2013
Length: 341 pages
Keywords: YA, dystopian fiction, fantasy, romance, science-fiction, friendship

Source: Netgalley

Goodreads Summary 

Through the Ever Night Excerpt 

Author's Homepage

Days of Blood and Starlight (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2) by Laini Taylor

"Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war. This is not that world. [...] She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it."
How could one not want to read DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT after the ending of DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE? Took me a while to get into the story and feel moved though. This could be because we are following the stories of a bunch of new characters now. The many perspectives mean there's less time to learn more about our beloved Karou and Akiva, too. Akiva's siblings are playing a major role. Then there are chapters about what Zuzana and Mik are up to and how they are planning on getting Karou back. The evil angel leaders' plans on the one side, the forming of a chimaera revolution on the other. We are travelling with a slave caravan and find out how the victims are treated in a war without rules. Many new characters, that could bring new meaning, too,  make sure that this sequel is a well-rounded read regarding the narrative emphases Laini Taylor is setting.
Unforunately, there's not as much travelling in the real world, than in Eretz (One of my favourite parts of DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE were Karou's travels). But Laini Taylor takes us back to Prague where Zuzanne and Mik are worrying about Karou and a second setting in the real world which is located in the desert, under the blazing sun and the bright starry sky. Again, I did feel like I was in a different country and time when I read DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT. Laini Taylor's writing is so vivid and grasping.

4/5 **** DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT - A brutal and, later into the story, very emotional read with strong character additions.

A war-torn country, beasts and angels are fighting for their lives when the battle had been thought to be lost. I pretty much guess the pages of this sequel to DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE capture the darkest moments in our character' lives. DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT didn't have the immediate stun effect on me that the first book had. What can we expect from DREAMS OF GODS AND MONSTERS now?

Publisher: Little Brown Books For Young Readers

Publishing Date: November 6^th 2012
Length: 513 pages
Keywords: YA, fiction, fantasy, romance, chimaera, angel, war

Source: Bought

Goodreads Summary 

Days of Blood and Starlight Excerpt 

Author's Homepage

Shadow and Bone (The Grisha #1) by Leigh Bardugo

The nation of Ravka is destroyed by monsters and darkness. No one could've guessed that orphan Alina has the power that could destory Ravka's enemies and threats. Suddenly she's seeing herself becoming a part of the Grisha, the magical elite of the kingdom. And in the midst of Ravka's largest battle, Alina's heart is struggeling between her childhood friend Mal and the Darkling, the dangerous leader of the Grisha.

Leigh Bardugo set her story in Ravka, on the territory of today's Russia, whose culture has a big influence on how this story feels. The story's strong features aren't any high tech gadgets, but man power, traditions and elemental magic that hold the reader's attention easily. 

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about SHADOW AND BONE is darkness. It's a lot about war, fighting for justice and against evil.
But there's time for friendship and love, too. Alina and Mal's is an original love story, one I wouldn't have wanted to be any different. They grew up together and have been friends for as long as they can remember. Now Alina's feelings are changing and you desperately hope that Mal's have, too. Because, honestly ladies, he's a very good catch. Strong and loyal and passionate. You definitely want him at your side when it's time to face off the evil enemies. 

It's like they were cut out of the very same fabric. Frayed and  a little bit beaten, cut here and there, patched up. They were separated on their journies to become the person they are today. And now sewn together, reunited, they are only stronger than before. They stand for a bond and cloth that can't be torn too easily. 

All the while the Darkling is reigning the nation with an iron fist. He holds great power over Alina, too, is even considered a legit love interest. Many, many girls will fall for his dark magic.

5/5 ***** SHADOW AND BONE - A dark and original read, set in a winter wonderland of magic and cruelty with an old soul. 

Leigh Bardugo introduces us to a world full of dream-like beauty. Magicians and witches, soldiers and lovers. You practically feel the magic drifting off the pages and filling up your imagination jar. SHADOW AND BONE is fabricated like your classic, old, very skillfully written fairy tale.

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

Publishing Date: June 5^th 2012
Length: 358 pages
Keywords: YA, fiction, fantasy, romance, friendship, magic, Grisha, Darkling

Source: Bought 

Goodreads Summary 

Shadow and Bone Excerpt 

Author's Homepage

Read More

Behind The Pages #1 - The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver

Welcome to my first Behind The Pages post! This is my new feature in 2014 and one I've been waiting for months now to share with you all.

What is Behind The Pages all about? I asked some of my favourite authors and a bunch of promising 2014 debut authors to annotate a scene, page or more of one of their books. I see the feature as a chance to show readers what's behind a page. Authors can share their favourite writing memories, the music that influenced a certain scene or anything else that comes to their mind. We might get hints to what the characters were thinking and feeling that exact moment or other fun details about their story. 

Hope you enjoy Behind The Pages as much as I do. I'm intending this feature to be a monthly post here on the blog, with Lauren Oliver kicking off the feature with her second MG novel THE SPINDLERS and being my Behind The Pages January author. Thanks to all the fabulous authors who took the time to annotate a page or scene for us, your comments are always so insightful and fun to read. When readers can't get enough of a book and its characters it only shows how much the author's work means to them, to us. Thank you! 

_____________________________________________________

Looking across the breakfast table one morning, twelve-year-old Liza feels dread wash over her. Although her younger brother, Patrick, appears the same, Liza knows that he is actually quite different. She is certain that the spindlers—evil, spiderlike beings—came during the night and stole his soul. And Liza is also certain that she is the only one who can rescue him.

Armed with little more than her wits and a huge talking rat for a guide, Liza descends into the dark and ominous underground to save Patrick's soul. Her quest is far from easy: she must brave tree-snakes, the Court of Stones, and shape-shifting scawgs before facing her greatest challenge in the spindlers' lair, where more than just Patrick's soul is at stake.

Jonathan Alpeyrie, 2011

Lauren Oliver comes from a family of writers and so has always (mistakenly) believed that spending hours in front of the computer every day, mulling over the difference between “chortling” and “chuckling,” is normal. She has always been an avid reader. 

She attended the University of Chicago, where she continued to be as impractical as possible by majoring in philosophy and literature. After college, she attended the MFA program at NYU and worked briefly as the world’s worst editorial assistant, and only marginally better assistant editor, at a major publishing house in New York. Her major career contributions during this time were flouting the corporate dress code at every possible turn and repeatedly breaking the printer. Before I Fall is her first published novel. 

She is deeply grateful for the chance to continue writing, as she has never been particularly good at anything else.

Book Summary & Author Bio from Goodreads 

_________________________________________

The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver
- In case the notes need translation Lauren Oliver provided it on the right side.

* So in my front yard we really did have a little fir tree next to a birdbath. One time, my sister and I buried a time capsule there!

  

*I was thinking of my mom's garden here, which was wild and magical.

*My best friend's name is Patrick. I even have his initials tattooed on my arm!

Want to find out more about THE SPINDLERS and not only what's behind a single page, but an entire book? Then I can recommend watching Lauren Oliver's seven-video series about HOW A BOOK IS MADE. In the first episode Lauren Oliver tells you how she developed the idea for her book.

The Spindlers Art by Iacopo Bruno

 G

     i

       v

        e

        away

Here's your chance to win the THE SPINDLERS copy Lauren Oliver used to annotate her page. She was so kind to donate the copy for a giveaway. Thank you very much! The giveaway is open to US residents only and ends February 15th 2014.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Read More

Book Review: Evertrue (Everneath #3) by Brodi Ashton

Title: Evertrue (Everneath #3)
Author: Brodi Ashton
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publishing Date: January 21st 2014
Length: 368 pages
Keywords: YA, fiction, romance, underworld, evil queen
Source: Publisher

Now that Nikki has rescued Jack, all she wants is to be with him and graduate high school. But Cole tricked Nikki into feeding off him, and she’s begun the process of turning into an Everliving herself... which means she must feed on a Forfeit soon — or die.

Terrified for her survival, Nikki and Jack begin a desperate attempt to reverse the process using any means possible. Even Cole, who they expected to fight them at every turn, has become an unlikely ally — but how long can it last? Nikki needs to feed on Cole to survive, Cole needs Nikki to gain the throne in the Everneath, Jack needs Nikki because she is everything to him — and together, they must travel back to the Underworld to undo Nikki’s fate and make her mortal once more. But Cole isn’t the only one with plans for Nikki: the Queen has not forgotten Nikki’s treachery, and she wants her destroyed for good. Will Nikki be forced to spend eternity in the Underworld, or does she have what it takes to bring down the Everneath once and for all?

In this stunning conclusion to the Everneath trilogy, Brodi Ashton evokes the resiliency of the human spirit and the indomitable power of true love.

Summary by Goodreads  

"You know the Everneath?"[...]
"Good. Because I'm going to destroy it." [...] 
"I'm taking the whole. Damn. Thing. Down. Are you with me?"

Isn't Nikki's declaration of war at the end of EVERBOUND inflammatory and rousing? Take the whole Everneath down and dethrone the evil queen, who often reminded me of Maleficient from Sleeping Beauty, seems like this impossible and ultimate challenge. How does she intend to do that? What about the dangers that will be awaiting them on their way?
I couldn't wait to find out what would be happening in the conclusion to her story, can you?  Nikki practically mobilises the reader to support her no matter what. And so I grabbed EVERTRUE right after I finished reading EVERBOUND and prepared myself for a strategic meeting with Nikki and Jack.

Brodi Ashton included a mean condition into Nikki surviving the Everneath a second time and so we are quasi burdened with Cole as an additional member of the resistance. You know he isn't my favourite book boy. Like Jack and Nikki got their flashbacks of important moments of the past in the second book, Cole, too, showed us memories that were of importance for his life and first impressions of Nikki in book three now.
Sadly the cool rock star lost a great deal of his authenticity, smashing wit and sarcasm. But one could also see it as some kind of transformation, a way for him to go back to his roots. I didn't mind as much as Team Cole readers might because I'm Team Jack anyway and he was as understanding and sweet as ever.

Nikki and Jack's love was still strong and many times they had small but significant moments to show what they feel for each other. Jack was never anything but swoon-worthy and there wasn't a time in which I didn't want more of him, more for him and Nikki.

EVERTRUE is the third and last part of Nikki's story in the Everneath and the part that somehow I didn't enjoy as much as the two parts before it. In EVERNEATH and EVERBOUND we always learned something new about the Everneath and made great discoveries with Nikki and her fellow travellers. In this last instalment the discoveries didn't feel so grand and stunning anymore. The absolutely amazing labyrinth from EVERBOUND could be the reason why I was harder to impress in the third book, it totally spoiled me. 

Throughout the entire story the task that Nikki and her two boys had to master or the trials they were willing to face, seemed always much bigger, too big, for the three of them and I wasn't entirely convinced by the ways they found to get over the finish line.

But don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed the time I got to spend with Nikki and Jack in EVERTRUE. The ending was quite a stunner. Brodi Ashton solved the conflict between Nikki and the Everneath and Cole and Jack fighting for Nikki in an almost poetic way, giving her characters the chance to show strength, courage and empathy. 

4/5 **** EVERTRUE - The daring and ultimate quest of underworld explorer trio  Nikki, Jack and Cole will leave no reader cold.

Can't wait to see which new world Brodi Ashton comes up with next. I'm open for anything but I wouldn't mind another story influenced by Greek mythology, I'm very into that lately. If you haven't had the chance to read Brodi's EVERNEATH books before, you should use your chance and read all three back to back. Right now!

"I waited for you."
"But it's a race. Why did you wait for me?" He lifted his head so that his eyes met mine. "I always wait for you." He took a deep breath, my ankle still in his hands. "I'm always waiting for you."  ― Everbound p. 229

EVERTRUE you might also enjoy  STARCROSSED by Josephine Angelini, THE GODDESS TEST by Aimée Carter and SWEET VENOM by Tera Lynn Childs, all influenced by Greek mythology. 

* Can't get enough of the Everneath? Then you should read the NEVERFALL novella.

* Read an excerpt of EVERNEATH here.

* EVERNEATH book trailer.

* For more information about Brodi and her books visit www.brodiashton.blogspot.com.

* A huge thanks to Harper Collins International for providing me with an ARC of EVERTRUE! 

Read More

PODs Blitz

PODs
by Michelle K. Pickett



Publication:June 4th 2013
by
Spencer Hill Press











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.

Eva and David hide from the infected in the abandoned PODs. Together they try to build a life--a new beginning. But the infected follow and are relentless in their attacks. Leaving Eva and David to fight for survival, and pray for a cure.



B&N | AMAZON | BOOKS-A-MILLION | THE BOOK DEPOSITORY | WAL-MART

EXCERPT

He flinched at the sound of my voice, snapping his laptop shut. Looking over his shoulder, he smiled. “You look beautiful in the morning, Eva. Your blonde hair messy and falling around your face, your eyes— not quite blue, but not quite green— sparkling in the morning sun… or the simulation of the sun,” he said with a crooked grin.
“Stop joking around. What were you just looking at?” I’d seen the picture on his laptop before he’d shut it. People running around their POD, a look of terror in their eyes. I reached out and opened the lid of his computer. My arm brushed against his, sending goosebumps racing across my skin. I had to concentrate to remember what I was asking about. The screen was nothing but static. “They cut off another one? Who?” I let go of his computer and started to pull my hand away. He grabbed it, folding it into his own, threading our fingers together. He grazed his lips over my knuckles.
Oh. Wow. Do that again.
My insides swirled out of place and did things I’d only read about in my mother’s racy romance novels.
“Yes. Someone I know from class. You don’t know him. And who says I’m joking?”
“What?” He was difficult to understand on a good day, but that early in the morning, seeing him in nothing more than blue pajama bottoms, his lips moving against my fingers as he talked, it was nearly impossible.
“You told me to stop joking around. I wasn’t joking.”
My heart was beating so hard and fast in my chest, I was sure he could hear it. I pinched the bridge of my nose between my fingers. My fingernails bit into my flesh.
Say something, Eva! Do Something— anything. Just… something. “So…” I started, only to be interrupted by my yawn. Except yawn, idiot! Kiss him… wait… what?
“What’s your theory on the PODs being cut off? Do you think there’s that many people testing positive for the—”
He stood, turned toward me, cupped his hand around the back of my neck and pulled my lips to his. That shut me up. Shock slammed into me, quickly giving way to pleasure, and pleasure to urgency.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, threading my fingers through his silky hair. David’s hand moved from the back of my neck to cup my cheek, his thumb caressing my skin. The other one moved to the small of my back, pulling me tighter against him. He kissed me long, deep. It was sinfully erotic feeling his bare skin under my fingers.
When he tore his lips away, he looked in my eyes. My first instinct was to turn away, but both his hands cupped my cheeks. He bent his head and grazed his lips over mine before looking at me again.
“I’ve wanted to do that since the first day I saw you. And each day I’ve known you it’s been harder and harder not to.”
“Well, what took you so long?”

Giveaway

First place: Signed copy of PODs, tote bag, and swag (US only see note for international)

Second place: Signed copy of PODs and swag (US only see note for international)

*International winners will receive a print copy of PODs only if www.Bookdepository.com delivers to their country. Otherwise they will receive an e-book. Swag will not be included.

a Rafflecopter giveaway Book Blitz Hosted by:
YA Bound Book Tours

Read More

Coveresque feat. Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi (US vs. UK vs. German)

    US                                                   UK                                                     German

                                        

In 10 days the third book in Veronica Rossi's trilogy following Aria and Perry on their search for the Still Blue will be released into the wild. Veronica Rossi has been graced with gorgeous US covers, INTO THE STILL BLUE being my absolute favourite. Aren't the colors easy on the eyes? The title practically glows with this luminous shade of blue and the background looks like a beautiful aurora borealis show. And I can totally picture Aria looking like the cover girl. 

The next book I would pick up judging by its cover would be the UK edition. The colors are not as great as on the US cover. But I like that it has the sea as its background and that the transparent or glowing girl is becoming one with nature, at least it looks like it to me. 

Why is the German cover so fiery? A hint at the Aether storms intensifying? I'm planning to read INTO THE STILL BLUE next week, so I'll find out then. The German cover is okay. It's anything but exciting that all the covers for book one, two and three are the exact same except changes in color scheme (from green to blue and red) and titles. I have no idea why the A (A for Aria I thought at first), R and G are highlighted. Ideas?

Q! Which cover do you like best? Do you have other covers to add to this list?

Read More