My Thoughts: Defiance by C.J. Redwine

First let me just apologize for the uber generic background. Blogger is not my friend right now. Moving on.

Within the walls of Baalboden, beneath the shadow of the city’s brutal leader, Rachel Adams has a secret. While other girls sew dresses, host dinner parties, and obey their male Protectors, Rachel knows how to survive in the wilderness and deftly wield a sword. When her father, Jared, fails to return from a courier mission and is declared dead, the Commander assigns Rachel a new Protector, her father’s apprentice, Logan—the same boy Rachel declared her love for two years ago, and the same boy who handed her heart right back to her. Left with nothing but fierce belief in her father’s survival, Rachel decides to escape and find him herself. But treason against the Commander carries a heavy price, and what awaits her in the Wasteland could destroy her.

At nineteen, Logan McEntire is many things. Orphan. Outcast. Inventor. As apprentice to the city’s top courier, Logan is focused on learning his trade so he can escape the tyranny of Baalboden. But his plan never included being responsible for his mentor’s impulsive daughter. Logan is determined to protect her, but when his escape plan goes wrong and Rachel pays the price, he realizes he has more at stake than disappointing Jared.

As Rachel and Logan battle their way through the Wasteland, stalked by a monster that can’t be killed and an army of assassins out for blood, they discover romance, heartbreak, and a truth that will incite a war decades in the making.

Have you ever read a book and, after closing the cover once you've read the last glorious word, you sit back as a writer and think..."I will never write like that!"

Me too. After almost every awesome book I read.

DEFIANCE was that kind of book. I finally sat down and read this ditty after picking it up at C.J. Redwine's book launch. Yeah, I know, I'm horrible. I am so very glad I did, though. There are so many things that I adored about this book that I'm having difficulty on where to start.

Baalboden is one of several city states in a sort of post-apocolyptic world. The walls are thick, the borders secured by lethal guardsmen, the people are oppressed, women are meek and mild, men are Protectors and worthy of anything more than a tea set, and the whole place is run by Commander Jason Chase; a man who makes Hitler seem warm and fuzzy. Loyalty and fidelity to the Commander are the only things that will keep you alive and all citizens are 'tagged' like sheep in a flock.

I was totally blown away by C.J.'s world building. Details were laid out perfectly as to not overwhelm but provide the reader with a vivid vision of what Baalboden was. The politics of Baalboden were well thought out and positively ruthless. And before you start thinking, "This sounds like Hunger Games" let me just say, there is a super cool fantasy element to DEFIANCE that I didn't expect.

Rachel and Logan... LOVE these characters. Rachel is impulsive, fiery, fierce, determined, and loves her family to the depths of her soul. Logan is logical, intelligent, methodical, unpredictable, lethal, and will do anything to keep those in his life he cares about safe. He's your creeper character, and I don't mean that in a bad way. Where Rachel is very take-her-at-face-value, Logan reveals himself to us slowly, and I sort of love him for that. Don't get me wrong, there are many layers to Rachel-Girl, but like her blunt personality, she doesn't hold punches.

Another thing I admired about DEFIANCE is the slow-to-build love. I think, at its core, DEFIANCE is less a romance than an adventure type of book. It's riddled with conflict that left me in awe. Many writing panels and advice sources say to "punish your characters" and good LORD did C.J. take them seriously. She drags us (willingly) on this horrible journey with Rachel and Logan. Once that we simply cannot see as going well, and then sucker-punches us in the gut every time you think that things will start to work out. And in the middle of all of this, Rachel and Logan find this slow-to-burn type of love that is unwavering. And I have to admit, Logan's initial incompetence in this area is beyond hysterical. Seriously. Well done.

If you haven't picked up Defiance, you seriously need to. C.J. is a wonderful storyteller and she sucked me in with the uniquely independent voices of Rachel and Logan, as well as this tale of heroism and suffering. I have this habit of dog-earing pages that I find epic in their voice, their writing, their descriptions; anything that really blows me away. This is sacrilege to many of you, I know. It's my tick. Let me just say, there are a LOT of dog-ears in my copy of DEFIANCE.

Buy it. Read it. Love it.

Trailer Park Tuesday (2): AWRY

Blood, Sweat and Books hosts the Trailer Tuesday meme and you can check out their awesomeness as well. Since I live in Middle Tennessee, I decided to country-fy my meme and go the trailer park route. *snortle* In my home away from him, I will spotlight some of the awesome book trailers out there in the world. Since the bigguns don't really need my meager help with anything, I will focus on the little dogs; the indie authors and the self pubbers out there.

The little guys need love too, y'all!

This week let's take a look at the latest from the super sweet Chelsea Fine, AWRY. I had the pleasure of meeting Miss Chelsea at UtopYA a couple weeks ago. The woman is just too cute and reminded me of my little sister in so many ways I got homesick. She was totally down to earth and I totally fan-girled her over Tristan. Yuuummmm.... Tristan....

Anyhoo... AWRY is the second installment to the Archers of Avalon series and A MUST READ! I have not had the chance to get my greedy paws on AWRY (wink, wink Chelsea!) but I cannot wait. Team Tristan all the way, y'all!

Check out the trailer for AWRY and tell me, them boys is not de-LISH!

Author: Chelsea Fine

Publication Date: 6/10/12

Goodreads Connection

Sometimes love is meant to be. But sometimes...love is the death of you....

Seventeen-year-old Scarlet has just died. Only, dying isn't unusual for a girl under a centuries old curse that left her semi-immortal. 

This time, though, she comes back to her current life instead of awaking in a new one, and she realizes the curse is changing. Together with the immortal Archer brothers, Scarlet must piece together her life and try to break the curse before her impending death comes again.

Double yum. Oh yes, we will be reading AWRY.

Oh! and as an added bonus, tell me this is not just super juicy.... Love a hot guy with hot tattoos. Grrrr...

Tristan Archer and his wicked tattoo

You are soooo welcome! Happy reading, y'all!

TIMEPIECE: A piece of work

A threat from the past could destroy the future.

Kaleb Ballard was never supposed to be able to see ripples--cracks in time. Are his powers expanding, or is something very wrong? Before he can find out, Jonathan Landers, the man who tried to murder his father, reappears. Why is he back, and what, or whom, does he want?

In the wake of Landers's return, the Hourglass organization is given an ultimatum by a mysterious man. Either they find Landers and the research he has stolen on people who might carry the time gene, or time will be altered--with devastating results for the people Kaleb loves most. Now Kaleb, Emerson, Michael, and the other Hourglass recruits have no choice but to use their extraordinary powers to find Landers. But where do they even start? And when? Even if they succeed, just finding him may not be enough ...

The follow-up to Hourglass, Timepiece blends the paranormal, science fiction, mystery, and suspense genres into a nonstop thrill ride where every second counts.

Myra, oh Myra. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways… Okay, seriously, enough with the swoony crap! I can’t help it, though. The woman is awesome.

TIMEPIECE, the second installment to the Hourglass books, released just last month. I know, I’m a wee late in my reading. *sheepish grin* If you haven’t read HOURGLASS, you seriously need to. Here, let me help. Click HERE to snag yourself a copy and read up on the little spitfire known as Emerson Cole. You also need to understand Em to really appreciate some of TIMEPIECE.

See, Myra McEntire flipped the script on us and TIMEPIECE was written entirely from Kaleb Ballard’s POV. Yummmm….Kaleb…. Sorry, I was typing something wasn’t I? Back on track. Ahem… So yeah, Kaleb is so different to read from than Em. HOURGLASS was from her POV. We got a sense of Kaleb in HOURGLASS, but he shines in TIMEPIECE like the sweat on my brow from trying to eat a Fireball.

Some time has passed when we pick up TIMEPIECE. But it opens with a bang, I tell you. I thought I was seriously gonna have to stalk Miss Myra and sucker-punch her for such an opening! Alas, all came around and I cooled my heels.

Jack Landers is still on the loose, we meet a creepy Poe guy who has a freak time related ability our Team Hourglass can’t figure out, Teague may not be as bad as we think, or possibly just worse, Chronos is just a myth along with the Infinityglass…or are they?

TIMEPIECE hooked me in with Kaleb’s unique voice and snarky southern gentleman who remembers his manners…in most occasions. Many questions from HOURGLASS are answered, but many more take their place with TIMEPIECE. We learn more about Jack, along with a face-slap that I saw coming. (giggle) Kaleb and his dad play a little emotional ping-pong that broke my heart at times. Sometimes a big, tatted, pierced, screw-up (at least that's how he sees himself) like Kaleb needs a hug too! Geez!

Then we have Lily. Our little Tiger Lily. Oh, I just thought I loved Emerson. And I do, but Lily is my kind of GIRL! Feisty, smart, feisty, direct, feisty, doesn’t put up with anyone’s BS, feisty, and she has a heart of pure platinum! Did I mention she’s feisty? The banter between Lily and Kaleb KILLED me. Love it. I also have to admit there were numerous occasions where I screamed out “kiss her already!” Scared my dog when I did.

In fact, allow me to share a spoiler-free favorite line of mine: “I wanted to unzip my skin and pull her inside.” Ooooh nelly! Yum-mmy!

Emerson and Michael take a bit of a backseat in TIMEPIECE, sort of. They are there and the tension between Kaleb and Mike, when it comes to Em, is pretty awesome. Then the tension, AGAIN, between Kaleb and Mike, when it comes to Liam Ballard (Kaleb’s dad), was just wow. Kaleb has, shall we say, some daddy issues. More heartbreak here…

Anyway, I felt the overall feel of TIMEPIECE was sort of like a countdown. Even when the book was done, I still felt the tick-tick-tick of something in the corner. Sure, we learned some about Chronos, the Infinityglass, and how Team Hourglass needs to figure out/find both to secure the time continuum, but so much still hangs in the balance. What is Chronos, really? Can Lily find the Infinityglass? Will Jack find it first? Will Teague? What if Team Hourglass accidentally gets stuck in the new live-and-in-person rips that plague Ivy Springs? If Team Hourglass does find the Infinityglass, will they still have time to put everything right? Or will everyone’s timeline get screwed and our fave freak magnets end up on completely different timelines?

We will have to wait for INFINITYGLASS to know for sure…

Fifty Shades of...Meh

When literature student Anastasia Steele is drafted to interview the successful young entrepreneur Christian Grey for her campus magazine, she finds him attractive, enigmatic and intimidating. Convinced their meeting went badly, she tries to put Grey out of her mind - until he happens to turn up at the out-of-town hardware store where she works part-time. Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.

When I first heard what Fifty Shades of Grey was about I told myself I would not read it. I really had no desire to read a "Twilight for soccer moms" book complete with the...um...intimacy that Twilight lacked. So of course I caved. There was so much discussion over this book I became intrigued. Is it 'Romance' or is it 'Porn?' Is it too graphic in nature or an impossible love story? In the end it was the controversial talk over this book by E.L. James that made me read it. I needed to know what all the fuss was over!

Curiosity kills the cat once again.

Okay, so I am not a huge romance novel follower. I have read a couple and it's really more than enough. I don't need all the seedy (yet swoon inspiring) details. That's why I read YA. *grin* Reading 50 Shades further solidified my love for YA. I am not a fan of 50 Shades. *GASP!* I know! A woman that is not in love with this book! Egads what is our species coming to? Perhaps my X chromosome is not X-y enough. Or perhaps I don't have enough estrogen pumping in my blood. Or perhaps I am just not soccer mom-y enough. Who knows? Maybe, it just comes down to the fact I would like more from my plot and characters than what 50 Shades had to offer.

First, let's talk story. This is where I can see the Twilight reference: ridiculously hot, impossibly wealthy and deliciously conflicted stud of a guy falls head over heels for generally likable, yet infuriatingly naive, mousy wall flower. Okay, check! Now I am not Twilight bashing (huge fan here...like HUGE), but I don't see the similarities other than this tid-bit. And despite this all-too-familiar plot line there really is no story, other than the sex. And that just doesn't do it for me. Granted the shmexy stuff was pretty freakin' hot and I often had to look over my shoulder to ensure nobody saw what I was reading while I fanned my face. Woooo nelly! But I need more than a nice flush to keep me interested in the story. Maybe this is just an erotica thing...

Characters: oh boy we could have done better here. Let's talk Anastasia (Ana). I don't like her. She is way too naive to be believable for me. She is sort of dull, has no life, no real interests (other than books = shocker), and is kind of --- flat. Ana is supposed to be a nearly 22 year old college grad, but is often written in a voice much more immature. This was not so good on my brain. I had to keep reminding myself that Ana was a grown woman and NOT a sixteen year old girl. Then she switches back to Literary guru co-ed with an extensive vocab only to fall back on the sixteen year old again. I found it to be quite irritating and I almost put the book down. One day I actually turned to the friend who had lent me the book and asked, "does Ana get any better?"

But then there is Christian Grey. He is really the reason I kept reading. This man, though the epitome of impossibilities, is a delish character. He is beautiful, closed off, broken, conflicted, powerful, but yet has a softer side that peeks out from behind the multitude of walls around him from time to time. Christian is hypnotic. I loved this guy. When he admitted to being "fifty shades of f----- up" I swear I fist pumped the air. This is what I want! Layered characters! YES! Sorry...let me collect myself again... *grin* This wonderfully broken man was the reason I flipped page after page. I needed to see if he would finally cave and admit to his feelings.

I did see one little flaw in Christian, however. I know.. GROOOAAANN! Despite my love of this character, I found that he often seemed to be written like a woman. I understand that E.L James is a woman, but Christian's voice didn't seem natural at times. It was like listening to what a woman 'thinks' a man 'should' sound like, if that makes sense. Granted, this is erotica so it's 'a woman's fantasy,' but dammit I want my men to be MEN.

I would also like to know why is it the mousy, understated girl is always surrounded by the beautiful people and stalked by the hot guys, but she remains clueless to life. Take Kate, Ana's roommate. She is hot, blond, perfect, and generally everything Ana thinks she, herself, is not. Then there is Jose, Ana's guy-friend who also has an insane crush on her. Jose is tall, dark and super hot too. He has the hots for Ana, but she is not interested. Then we meet Kate's brother who also is perfection on legs and happens to be very friendly with our lead gal. All this just bothers me. Can I get some variety? Please?

The pace was good, the dialogue seemed to flow overall, but the ending sucked. I know this is a trilogy and that as an author you need to leave something open for the next book, but there has to be closure of some kind. Maybe I missed it, but there didn't seem to be any closure in 50 Shades. It was all build-up to something important only to not get there at all. Truthfully, I was left sort of cheated. I am not sure I will pick up the next book. Maybe I will, if just to see if Christian comes around. Or I may just get the highlights from someone who has already read it.

Fated into submission? Maybe.

Scientist and single mother Cara paulsen is used to fighting for what she wants and doing whatever it takes to protect her daughter, Janie. But 'whatever it takes' has never before included a shotgun wedding to a dangerous-looking stranger. Vampire leader Talen says that he's there to protect Cara and Janie. But his idea of a wedding night is more like a sexual taming - dominant and scorching hot. With shapeshifting allies, they must fight against an evil race of vampires that has discovered a way to venture into sunlight, in order to safeguard Janie...and the rest of humanity.

Rebecca, Rebecca, Rebecca…you are a naughty girl! HA! First let me say I am not a huge reader of traditional romance novels. They get a little too much for me sometimes. Sometimes I don’t really want every detail spelled out for me. Give me the foreplay without the …um…details. I have a great imagination so... I suppose that is why I heart me some YA.. =^)

I won Fated from Miss Rebecca Zanetti as a Goodreads First Read and was super excited to read it. Sounded like a saucy Vamp book and boy was I not disappointed. Whew! Let me get the fan blowing on me before I continue. Okay, back to biz.

Cara is a single recluse of a mom. She is a classic science nerdette who gets lost in her work. After a ‘sensible’ pairing with a fellow scientist she has Janie. Now, Cara and Janie are very special. Cara has empathic abilities and Janie is actually a powerful little psychic for a four your old. What Cara does not know is there is a world of evil Vamps out there that covet women with special abilities, the Kurjans. On the flip side there are the good Vamps who also breed with special women, but this pairing is not so….deadly.

Before she can bat an eyelash, Cara is whisked away by a crazy huge Vamp, Talen, that claims she is his mate. Janie has dreamt of Talen so she is on board with her new “daddy,” but Cara is having some serious doubts. Since growing up in a very abusive home, Cara (as well as her sister Emma, another powerful psychic) has some major man-trust issues. Cara’s world is literally turned upside down as she tries to come to terms with the Vampire world and her, and her daughter’s, role in it. Talen, her dangerously HAWT protector and, oh yeah, HUSBAND, is one of five brothers sworn to protect the Realm and the humans in it from the evil Kurjans.

There is no stop in the action with Fated, and you can take that any way you want it. Wink. Miss Rebecca added some great twists to the usual vampire tales. Love the DNA bit….AWESOME! Being a romance there is definitely some hot-and-heaviness going on, but all was very tastefully done and I didn’t feel the need to retrieve the closest wastebasket.

The characters are wonderfully done; Cara is someone you really want to hug, Janie is adorable, Talen is….well…(puts fan on high)…he’s Talen. He is all of tall, dark and handsome with more than a little male dominance that I found strangely seductive. I like to think of myself as a good old fashioned feminist, but sometimes even gals like me want their hair pulled.

The pace was great; really I couldn’t put it down. I had to find out what happened and if Talen would finally admit sometime that he freakin LOVED HER!!! Whew! Sorry, had to get that out of my system. But that is Fated. It’s hot, seductive, and makes you want to seriously submit…for more.

Did Fated rock my world? Is a frog’s ass water tight? 9.5 baby!!

Halo was Heavenly

Three angels are sent down to bring good to the world: Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, a teenage girl who is the least experienced of the trio. But she is the most human, and when she is romantically drawn to a mortal boy, the angels fear she will not be strong enough to save anyone—especially herself—from the Dark Forces.

Is love a great enough power against evil?

I have to say this was an incredibly sweet book. It is obvious that Miss Alexandra Adornetto is either close to her religion or has done loads of research. There is a Biblical undertone in Halo that is sort of lacking in other Angel novels. Now I am no avid church-goer, but I really enjoyed this book.

Bethany comes to Earth with her vastly older siblings, Gabriel and Ivy. Darkness has begun to consume and their mission is to stifle the hold of Darkness by getting the communities to bond together and their faiths.

While Ivy busies herself with community outreach projects Gabriel signs up at the local high schools new music teacher. Bethany, Beth, being only seventeen (even in angel years) enrolls as a student. Both of Beth’s siblings have power and wisdom; Gabriel the mighty angelic warrior and Ivy is a healer. Beth is still trying to find her way, but she has a tremendous amount of fascination with the human race that could possibly be her doom.

Beth falls head over wing for a human boy, Xavier. Their budding love is truly sweet and almost poetic. It is through Xavier’s faith in God and Beth that they bond. Of course once he finds the truth of Beth things get complicated. Gabriel thinks it’s reckless for the human to know too much, but Xavier soon shows his worth.

Darkness descends on the small beach community and its high school in the name of Jake Thorn.  He is hot and dangerous. Students begin to flock to this piper and bad things start to happen to the students. It is up to the resident angels to squash this foe before any further damage can be done and/or Beth loses her way.

The characters were nice and fairly well thought out. Gabriel is all angelic warrior, Ivy is the loving older sister, and Beth is not unlike any other seventeen year old, despite her celestial upbringing. As I said, Halo has a strong Biblical undertone, but I did not find it preachy in any sort of way. The love between Beth and Xavier was sweet and innocent.

Everything about Halo I found to be subtle in a nice way. There is action, drama, and love, but not done in an over-the-top way you see in other novels. The only thing that bothered me about Halo was the pacing. Being a larger novel it could have moved faster. I felt like there was so much tedious day-to-day info covered that really didn’t need to be there. It slowed the book down too much for me. Other than that, it was a really sweet read.

Did Halo rock my world? Maybe not rock, but certainly a good sway! 6.0 on the Richter scale.

Becoming with romance

Every three years, Amber Hopkins explodes. Okay, not a blown-to-smithereens explosion, but whatever it is always hurts like hell and leaves her life a shambles. She’s already worked her way through five foster placements, and she’s doing whatever she can to avoid getting blasted into a sixth.

As her eighteenth birthday approaches and she feels the strange and powerful energy building, disaster looms. When the inevitable explosion occurs, her life gets its biggest shakeup yet. She’ll not only learn how her fellow foster and best friend, Gabriel, really feels about her, but she’ll discover that she isn’t really without family.

To top it all off, she’ll finally find out why she’s having the power surges: she isn’t entirely human.

Amber must Become, transitioning to another plane of existence and risking the loss of the most important relationship she’s ever had. Her choice will impact the future of an entire race of beings, and will pit her against an enemy that will prey upon her doubt to try and take her very life.

Kind of makes the explosions now seem like a cakewalk. 

Raine Thomas does a phenomenal job with Becoming. I began following her on Twitter and visited her website to find out more about her books. After hearing some rave reviews I bought Becoming. I was not disappointed.

You meet Amber and learn that she is a very complex person having bounced around foster homes all her young life. She finally lands a stable life with Mrs. B and the hotness that is known as Gabriel. We also get a peek at some strange 'incidents' that happen to Amber, but Raine does a great job of teasing without telling too much. Just enough to keep you flipping through the pages, eager to know more.

When Amber and Gabriel take a trip to Alaska we finally begin to get some answers, but not without more questions of course. Slowly the puzzle that is Amber begins to come together only to have the picture on the box cover change.

Raine pulls us (rather willingly) into her fantastic world of Estilorians. A race of beings that possess great power, but are not without faults of their own. The complexity of this new world was fascinating and, being the fantasy geek I am, totally drew me in.

Amber is fiercely independent and a strong heroine. Gabriel is completely swoon worthy and Amber's pillar of support. We meet Skye and Olivia who, even though they are very much like Amber (wink, wink, no spoilers here) are each adorably unique in their own way.

Becoming is a fantastic coming of age, finding yourself, sort of story with classic romance mixed in. The kind of romance that makes you sigh with envy because of the purity of it. I loved every minute of this book and would recommend it to any young reader as well as us...ehem...mature readers who enjoy a romantic tale with classic chivalry and strong young women you can identify with. 

Did it rock my world? Yes'm, I give Becoming a 7.8 on my Richter scale.