Holidaying in the sun :)

Hello everyone!! I'm just writing a quick note while I'm sat in the departure lounge at Manchester airport to say that I'll be out of touch with you guys for the next week or so. Sorry, but I'll be enjoying the lovely weather of Cyprus!!! I'm so excited...I haven't been on holiday in ages!

Anyway, I'm there for 1 week so this time next week I'm be back! I'll upload pics whin I get back of where I've been reading haha :) My kindle will be keeping me company and I have a couple of ARC's to work my way through so expect many reviews to be posted when I get back :)

See you soon!

Review: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Review time!! Today I bring you one of the most anticipated books of this year. This is the epic The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa, book 1 in her brand new Blood of Eden series.

Title: The Immortal Rules
Author: Julie Kagawa
Publisher: MIRA Ink (UK) | Harlequin Teen (US)
Release Date: 24th April 2012
Series: Blood of Eden, Book 1
Source: I received my copy from the publishers via NetGalley, in exchange for a honest review.

Blurb from Goodreads
"In a future world, vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity."Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.
Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of "them." The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked--and given the ultimate choice. Die...or become one of the monsters.
Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.
Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend--a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.
But it isn't easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what--and who--is worth dying for.

Review
First Line: 'They hung the Unregistereds in the old warehouse district; it was a public execution, so everyone went to see.'
The age old line "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore" has never been more pertinent. Set in a future where vampires reign supreme and humans little more than food THE IMMORTAL RULES has a setting that truly seems bleak for mankind. A virus has wiped out the vast majority of the human population, and has forced the vampires into the open...to prey on what is left of mankind.
In order to survive, every human must tie themselves to the vampire ruler of the city, providing blood at regular intervals to feed the city's vamps. It's either that...or starve. Unregistered humans have no access to food, shelter or safety. Allie Sekemoto is one of these humans. At least until a failed scavenge for food ends with her dying alone from a rabid attack...that is until a vampire makes her an offer. Die here and now...or become the thing she despises and live to see another day (figuratively speaking). Allie chooses life, only she can't go back to how she was...she can never go back. Master vampire and her maker Kanin trains Allie in the 'art' of being a vampire...that is until Allie foolishly breaks Kanin's number 1 rule. Do not contact people from your human life. This costs Allie and Kanin the security they had built for themselves, and they have to split up and run...Kanin is the distraction while Allie runs from the city, never to see Kanin again.
Allie is now on the run, outside the relative safety of the city and is stalked by the rabids (creatures that were once vampires...until someone injected them with the Red Lung virus that wiped out humanity). Struggling to control the bloodlust raging inside, Allie attacks a gang of raiders. Continuing to wander she stumbles across a troop of humans looking for Eden. Jeb and Zeke lead the rag-tag bunch across the country...looking for a mythical place where humans are safe from vampires and rabids. Allie decides to help them any way she can. But death stalks this band of humans...and before she knows it, the violence Allie is trying to hide, maybe the very thing needed to save herself and those she loves.

In this world, the only law was to obey the Masters, and the Masters didn’t care if their cattle occasionally turned on each other. Run into a bored, hungry gang, and you’d be lucky if all they did was kill you. I’d heard stories of certain gangs who, after having their “fun” with a trespasser, would slice them up and eat them as well. Urban legends, of course, but who was I to say they weren’t true? That was why venturing out of familiar territory was a bad idea at best, suicidal at worst. I knew which parts of the Fringe were gang turf and had avoided them like the plague.
And now we were walking right into their territory.
I eyed the vampire at my side. “You know they’re going to kill us for being here.”
He nodded. “I’m counting on it.”
“You know that they eat people, right?”
Kanin stopped, turning to me with intense black eyes. “So do I,” he said evenly. “And now, so do you.”

Our heroine is Allie, although young in years, everything she has had to do to survive has aged her soul. Now as a vampire Allie wonders if she can deny everything in her new vampire nature in order to maintain her life as it was. Kanin has other ideas. Kanin is Allie's maker, and he is determined to make Allie the best vampire she can be. This includes sword training (who wouldn't want their own katana?!) and ventures into the worst parts of the city to force Allie to defend herself and face her lust for blood. Allie is a strong heroine, but in a moment of weakness she reaches out to a member of her old gang. A kid who owed her everything - that she looked out for. However as soon as he realises what Allie has become, he runs screaming and alerting everyone to a vampire in their midst. Even those who knew her can't see beyond the fact Allie is a vampire. To them she's pure evil.
Allie wants to be different, she refuses to victimise and kill people in order to feed. That may have worked in the city, but it's a whole new ball game out in the world. It's very interesting to watch Allie come to terms with who and what she is. She's adaptable and although not always likable, you have to admire her inner strength. After fleeing the city Allie struggles to survive. Rarely finding shelter she's forced to bury herself alive to protect her from the sunlight and only running across animals and rabids, she is unable to feed. She begins to feel the madness of bloodlust and then her vampire nature comes out to play. Gorging herself on raiders who thought to take advantage of the 'harmless teenage girl' wandering alone, Allie rationalises what she's done as self defence. But is it? This is almost the turning point for Allie. She sees what she can do when she denies her vampire nature...so acceptance for feeding without killing is the lesser of the two evils. Allie's double sided nature starts to work in harmony, making her human qualities stronger and becoming a better adjusted vampire.
Allie has a love interest in the form of leaders son, Zeke. He's everything she can't have as a vampire and fighting the urge to sink her fangs into his neck is as hard as fighting the urge to kiss him. But Kanin is invading her dreams, and he's in trouble. Captured fleeing the city, Kanin is being tortured for the knowledge he holds and now Allie has a decision to make. Stay with Zeke or fight to save Kanin. Choices, choices.

THE IMMORTAL RULES is a fabulous addition to the genre with a kick-ass, smart-mouthed, stubborn heroine. My type of girl ;)
I highly recommend giving this a read, the world is amazingly detailed and Allie is a superbly written character. I'll definitely be reading book 2 :) you should too!

My Rating: 4/5

Waiting on Wednesday {6}

Hello!! This is the first WOW I've done in a while and I'm having to schedule this in advance to post because I'm currently fast asleep after what was probably a gruelling night shift at the hospital...I'm hoping it wasn't that bad, but in reality I'm probably in a deep state of unconsciousness right now. Anyway, back to the post...this WOW selection I actually mentioned in a post I did way back in January about the books I was most looking forward to this year. Since then, more information had been released (along with some super cool excerpts) and I'm super super excited about this release!

Title: Fury's Kiss
Author: Karen Chance
Publisher: Signet Books
Release Date: 2nd October 2012
Series: Dorina Basarab, Book 3

Blurb form Goodreads
Dorina Basarab is a dhampir—half-human, half-vampire. Subject to uncontrollable rages, most dhampirs live very short, very violent lives. But so far, Dory has managed to maintain her sanity by unleashing her anger on those demons and vampires who deserve killing...

Dory is used to fighting hard and nasty. So when she wakes up in a strange scientific lab with a strange man standing over her, her first instinct is to take his head off. Luckily, the man is actually the master vampire Louis-Cesare, so he’s not an easy kill.

It turns out that Dory had been working with a Vampire Senate task force on the smuggling of magical items and weaponry out of Faerie when she was captured and brought to the lab. But when Louis-Cesare rescues her, she has no memory of what happened to her.

To find out what was done to her—and who is behind it—Dory will have to face off with fallen angels, the maddest of mad scientists, and a new breed of vampires that are far worse than undead…

Why am I waiting on it?
1. I am a HUGE Karen Chance fan, her Cassie Palmer series was way up there at the beginning of my Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance book interest. So she'll always have a special place in my heart.

2. Dory kicks major ass. As the daughter of the big bad Mircea (and niece of Dracula might I add) this Dhampir has some major skills that have enabled her to live well beyond a Dhampir's normal lifespan. She's 500 years old and knows every trick in the book. Plus she reads Tolkien...how can she not be awesome ;)

3. Louis-Cesare is awesome. The lovely 400 year old auburn haired, French master vampire is both beautiful and skilled, more than a match for our Dorina. Louis-Cesare keeps Dory on her toes, but she is more than a match for him. After the events of Death's Mistress, I can't wait to see where these two are now.

4. Plot sounds interesting and different to the previous 2 books. Book 1 had Dory trying to kill Dracula...and Book 2 had her protecting her friends when someone is offing Senate members. Dory with no memory will probably be a handful. Wait...scratch the probably and pencil in defiantly!

5. I just want it. Want it soooo bad!!

For those whose interest has been piqued, chapters one and two are available by following the link below. I reccomend reading them...they are so good!

Read Chapters 1 and 2 of Fury's Kiss here!

WARNING! You will likely be so sucked in that you rant and scream when you reach the bottom of the page...Enjoy!

Watch out for: Time Keepers by Nicki J Markus

Hello! Right, today I'm proud to be part of a blog tour for Nicki J Markus' new book Time Keepers!! Some of you may know Nicki on the book blogging circuit and I am delighted to be able to help her promote her new book! Time keepers certainly sounds intriguing I must say! I am also a fan of the cover...if I saw this on a shelf, it would certainly catch my eye :)
Time Keepers will be released on the 7th July 2012 from Silver Publishing :)

Here's the Blurb!
In the not so distant future, Supernaturals have announced their
presence to the world. But now a secret government agency is rounding them up, hoping to use them for its own purposes.

With Supernaturals going missing every day, Nick has been careful to guard his own secret, never giving anyone reason to notice him. That is until Ellie comes careering into his train carriage.
Instantly drawn to her, he tries to help. But soon both their secrets are revealed and they find themselves on the run in a desperate bid to escape from the mysterious Time Keepers, whose net is closing in around them.

Nicki has also kindly provided us with an excerpt to grab our attention.

Excerpt
Say No To Fur!!
The poster caught his eye as he stood on the muggy, station platform waiting for the southbound Jubilee Line tube.
Nick frowned, tilting his head slightly and staring at it. The hologram of a wolf's head hovered in the centre, the trademark tinges of reds and greens, which even modern technology could not erase completely from the image, were just visible behind its charcoal grey fur. It rippled there in seeming innocence, a benign look in its yellow eyes as it watched the passers-by.
In some ways it seemed inconspicuous, lost as it was amidst the neon graffiti tags that covered every free inch of wall space, and yet it drew the eye somehow, creating a sense of disquiet that made everyone give it a wide berth as they walked past.
Then a woman stepped a little too close.
The wolf's head leapt out from the poster, eyes bloodshot and jaws open wide, revealing glistening pointed teeth that dripped with saliva and snapped viciously at her. The woman shrieked and jumped back in fright, dropping her handbag as the wolf retreated, reverting once more to its former pose.
Nick bent down and retrieved the worn leather bag, holding it out to her. He could hear the heavy pounding of her heart within her chest, and he waited patiently while she took a moment to compose herself. Finally her watery grey eyes focused on him, and she reached out a gnarled and wrinkled hand to reclaim her possessions.
"Thank you, young man." She carefully eased the handles of the bag back over her emaciated arm, the additional weight making her hunch her shoulders as she supported one arm with the other. "It shouldn't be allowed."
"No, the tube station really isn't the place for posters like that," he agreed with her readily, casting a wary glance at the wall where the wolf still hovered, looking peaceable once more.
"No, not the poster, young man; I mean these Werewolves—and the Vampires too. As if there isn't already enough wrong in the world without such evil creatures roaming around free. The sooner the Government stamps them out the better." The woman turned away and waddled off farther down the platform.

About the Author

Nicki J Markus was born in England in 1982, but she now lives in Adelaide, South Australia with her husband. She has loved both reading and writing from a young age and is also a keen linguist, having studied several foreign languages. She has completed a BA (hons) English with French from the University of Greenwich, London and a PGDip in Translation from the University of the West of England, Bristol. She is currently studying for diplomas in Editing and Publishing.
Nicki J Markus launched her writing career in 2010 and her fiction work has been accepted for e-book publication by both Wicked Nights Publishing and Silver Publishing.
In her spare time, Nicki J Markus also enjoys many other creative pursuits including music, theatre, photography, sketching and web-design. She also has a keen interest in history, folklore and mythology, pen-palling and travel.

Find Nicki:

Website

Goodreads

Facebook

Silver Publishing Author Page

Cover Love: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Hi guys, so I've been keeping an eye on Marissa Meyer ever since the release of CINDER which seemed to be a huge hit with most people. I noticed that the cover for book 2 SCARLET, has been unveiled. Naturally I had to check it out. So here it is...SCARLET by MARISSA MEYER, book 2 in the Lunar Chronicles.

Blurb from Goodreads:

This book will feature Cinder and Little Red Riding Hood and will take place in France.
"Book two, Scarlet, is based on Little Red Riding Hood. It continues Cinder’s story as she attempts to escape Queen Levana’s vengeance and learn more about her past. The story also introduces readers to Scarlet, a girl living in southern France whose grandmother has mysteriously disappeared. In order to find her, Scarlet seeks the help of Wolf, a street fighter with more than a few mysteries of his own."

The blurb sounds really great...I adore my childhood fairytales and re-telling them is an art. Red Riding Hood's storys sounds like it's going to be fab!!I absolutely LOVE this cover. It's gorgeous isn't it!!! I love the colours and the font for Scarlet is very cool :) I love me a good fairytale re-telling and although I'm still waiting to read Cinder (but I have heard great things) I will definitely be getting my hands on a copy of SCARLET when it's released in early 2013. I know it's a long wait but hopefully it will all be worth it :)

Looking at these two covers side by side you can see a definite resemblance, both in colour and theme. They both feature the most prominent...or famous...part of their fairytale characters, the Glass Slipper for Cinderella in CINDER and Little Red Riding Hood's...erm...red hood. Anyway, I think the cover for SCARLET fits really well and I can't wait to see it on the physical copy of the book :)
For those who can't wait, a sneak peak at chapters 1 and 2 are available online at the links below. Hope you have all had a good week and are enjoying the weekend!!

Chapter 1 in Full

Excerpt from Chapter 2 plus interview with Marissa Meyer

Enjoy!!