Enigma (Schrodinger's Consortium #2) by Tonya Kuper

* * *

Releases July 4th, 2017

The highly anticipated sequel to Anomaly will be released the summer of 2017!

Worst. Road Trip. Ever.

Escaping with Reid Wentworth should have been fun, but how can I enjoy it when I just (accidentally) killed someone, my mom and brother are in danger, and the Consortium is trying to enslave humanity? (Yeah, they aren’t fooling around.) So feeling something for Reid Wentworth was not part of the plan. Trying to help unite the Resistance against the Consortium means I can’t be distracted by hot boys.

The Resistance secret hideout isn’t exactly the rebel base of my dreams. A traitor there wants me dead, but we have no idea who it is. And with both the Resistance and the Consortium trying to control me, the only one I can trust is Reid. If we’re going to have any chance of protecting my family, controlling my unstable powers, and surviving the clash between the Oculi factions, I’m going to have to catch this traitor. By using myself as bait. 


Sometimes you're not quite sure what you'll get with a sequel, especially one as heart-pounding as its predecessor. When it comes to Enigma there's no need to worry. The start gives you just enough time to gather your thoughts and take a few deep breaths before Josie and Reid have to run a few errands like find the mole within the Resistance and you know, save the world. 

Josie has barely had enough time to absorb the full impact of how her life has turned upside down and now the fact that her family is in danger reverberates throughout the book. Rather than run away, she chooses to take on the danger heading straight for the Resistance headquarters to find support and most importantly the mole. Reid is as ever loyal but also reeling from the shock that his partner turned out to be not so trustworthy. This is one of the central themes of the book - trust. How to find it again after the rug has been pulled out from under them. Going to the Resistance means a fine balancing act of trust and also independence in search of the truth. Both Josie and Reid are fully aware of this which means they must be even tighter than ever in order to survive and win the fight.

My favourite thing about what Tonya Kuper has created here is Josie. This girl owns who she is. She's a nerd, loves science and geeks out on all things superhero. She has never succumbed to the pressure to dumb down or be embarrassed by her nerdiness. She is full of grit and determination, a logical thinker but also pays heed to her heart. Reid admires her as she is and it's great to have a male character not feel intimidated or emasculated by her strength and powers. I think she's a fantastic role model for young girls.

As for the story, I actually enjoyed Enigma even more. In Anomaly, Josie was just getting to understand who she was. In Enigma, no longer isolated and now surrounded by her peers, she puts her I-mean-business hat on. Now they work together towards the greater good. Josie grows up fast taking on responsibilities she couldn't have imagined a year before. 

Enigma has adventure, action, love and intelligence. It's about a young woman who instead of asking "why me" adds purpose to her life. Definitely read this one!

 ~ Bel

Enigma Cover Reveal

Let us know what you think of the cover for Enigma (Schrodinger's Consortium, #2) by Tonya Kuper, which releases July 4, 2017!

This cover reveal is brought to you by Entangled TEEN & YA Books Central!

About Enigma (Schrodinger's Consortium, #2):

Worst. Road Trip. Ever.

Escaping with Reid Wentworth should have been fun, but how can I enjoy it when I just (accidentally) killed someone, my mom and brother are in danger, and the Consortium is trying to enslave humanity? (Yeah, they aren’t fooling around.) So feeling something for Reid Wentworth was not part of the plan. Trying to help unite the Resistance against the Consortium means I can’t be distracted by hot boys.

The Resistance secret hideout isn’t exactly the rebel base of my dreams. A traitor there wants me dead, but we have no idea who it is. And with both the Resistance and the Consortium trying to control me, the only one I can trust is Reid. If we’re going to have any chance of protecting my family, controlling my unstable powers, and surviving the clash between the Oculi factions, I’m going to have to catch this traitor. By using myself as bait.

Want to read more? Pre-order your copy of Enigma (Schrodinger's Consortium, #2)

 by Tonya Kuper today!

Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | Amazon CA | Amazon UK

About Tonya Kuper:

Tonya Kuper writes young adult science fiction and contemporary novels. She first fell in love with reading in elementary school, which eventually lead to earning a BA in Elementary Education and a MS in Reading Education, but she never thought she’d write a novel, let alone several. When Tonya isn’t writing, she teaches Young Adult Literature Writing Workshop at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, laughs as much as possible, loves music, and nerds-out over Star Wars, Sherlock, and all things pop-culture. She lives in Omaha, NE with her husband and two rad boys.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Google + | Instagram

Enigma Pre-order Campaign!

Whether you were you planning to pre-order Enigma anyway or are intrigued by the idea of the pre-order campaign that Tonya Kuper has devised for  this release, you can all benefit from pre-ordering either the eBook or paperback edition, sharing a screenshot of your receipt, and registering your pre-order with Entangled Teen!

When you pre-order Enigma between now and Friday, June 30, 2017 at 11:59 pm EDT and send both the proof of your pre-order and register your pre-order, you'll automatically receive an Enigma swag pack, including a signed book plate, as a FREE Gift. (US only)

AND if you're one of the first 20 people to pre-order Enigma, send us proof and register your pre-order, you'll also receive a custom vinyl decal of the dragon eye symbol that is important to the Oculi in the Resistance as a FREE Gift! (US only. Tonya will hold a special "international only" giveaway soon.)

In addition, all US residents who pre-order, send us proof, and register their pre-orders using the form below will get an extra entry into the Enigma Nerd Gift Basket Giveaway (more details below)!

Register Your Enigma Pre-order Here

Enter to Win the Enigma Nerd Gift Basket!

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Daring the Bad Boy by Monica Murphy - Amazon Gift Car Giveaway!

Hi all!  Monica Murphy - the awesome author of a bunch of adult and new adult books has a new YA out, Daring the Bad Boy!  Check out this cover!  

To celebrate, Monica is doing a giveaway here on the blog.  Enter the rafflecopter below and you could win a $5 gift card to Amazon - which is perfect, because it's selling for $3.99!  

Here's the blurb - this book sounds so good, I can't wait to read it!

Truth or Dare was never this much fun…

Annie McFarland is sick of being a shy nobody. A session at summer camp seems like the perfect opportunity to reinvent herself—gain some confidence, kiss a boy, be whoever she wants to be. A few days in, she’s already set her sights on über-hottie Kyle. Too bad her fear of water keeps her away from the lake, where Kyle is always hanging out.

Jacob Fazio is at Camp Pine Ridge after one too many screw-ups. Junior counseling seems like punishment enough, but the rigid no-fraternizing-with-campers rules harsh his chill. When a night of Truth or Dare gets him roped into teaching Annie how to swim, she begs him to also teach her how to snag Kyle.

Late-night swim sessions turn into late-night kissing sessions…but there’s more on the line than just their hearts. If they get caught, Jake’s headed straight to juvie, but Annie’s more than ready to dare him to reveal the truth.

Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains references to drinking, sexual situations, adult language, and an intense bad boy hero who will melt your heart.

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About Monica Murphy:
Monica Murphy is the New York Times, USA Today and #1 international bestselling author of the One Week Girlfriend series, the Billionaire Bachelors and The Rules series. Her books have been translated in almost a dozen languages and has sold over one million copies worldwide. She is a traditionally published author with Bantam/Random House and Harper Collins/Avon, as well as an independently published author. She writes new adult, young adult and contemporary romance. She is also USA Today bestselling romance author Karen Erickson.

She is a wife and a mother of three who lives with her family in central California on fourteen acres in the middle of nowhere, along with their one dog and too many cats. A self-confessed workaholic, when she’s not writing, she’s reading or hanging out with her husband and kids. She’s a firm believer in happy endings, though she will admit to putting her characters through many angst-filled moments before they finally get that hard won HEA.

Paper or Plastic by Vivi Barnes

****

From Entangled Teen:

Welcome to SmartMart, where crime pays minimum wage…

Busted. Alexis Dubois just got caught shoplifting a cheap tube of lipstick at the local SmartMart. She doesn’t know what’s worse—disappointing her overbearing beauty-pageant-obsessed mother for the zillionth time…or her punishment. Because Lex is forced to spend her summer working at the store, where the only things stranger than the staff are the customers.

Now Lex is stuck in the bizarro world of big-box retail. Coupon cutters, jerk customers, and learning exactly what a “Code B” really is (ew). And for added awkwardness, her new supervisor is the totally cute—and adorably geeky—Noah Grayson. Trying to balance her out-of-control mother, her pitching position on the softball team, and her secret crush on the school geek makes for one crazy summer. But ultimately, could the worst job in the world be the best thing that ever happened to her?

I love this book, it was cute, sassy and full of heart.  Having worked in retail as a teen myself, I related to the cast of characters and remembered a few of our heartthrobs as well.  :-)  

Paper or Plastic is a touch Pride and Prejudice with a dash of Awkward and a hint of Mean Girls.  It's all about finding your voice, your confidence and figuring out when it's okay to stray from the pack to find what you really want.  And how that can end up being so much more than you originally hoped for.  This should be a definite addition to your summer reading list!

~Shel

Atlantis Rising by Gloria Craw

****

From Entangled Teen:

We’ve stayed hidden too long…

I am different. I have always been different, but no one can know or my life will be in danger. So I hide in plain sight, wearing drab clothes and thick glasses and trying to be invisible. I’m so good at hiding, no one has ever noticed me. Until Ian…the mysterious and oh-so-cute boy I know I need to avoid.

Now I have been seen. And more terrifying still, I am wanted—by those who would protect me and those who would destroy everything and everyone I love. But if they’re all terrified about who I am, wait until they see what I can do…

Atlantis Rising makes it onto my best of 2015 list (so far).  I was in a heck of a reading slump until Entangled sent me this unknown book by an unknown author and I figured, what the heck.  Holy Thor, this book drew me in like Chris Helmsworth's abs and kept me just as captivated.  I love the cast of characters - Alison, Ian and Brandy and all the supporting cast are great.  The story is engrossing and fun and the perfect way to spend a day.  If you enjoy paranormal YA, I cannot recommend this book enough.  

Atlantis Rising is about a waning group of people who are the descendants of the inhabitants of Atlantis.  Of course, there's the clueless heroine, the hottie hero, the fun, crazy BFF and of course, the completely psycho villain.  All pretty typical, but Craw puts it all together in a way that will have you laughing, crying and rooting for the good guys.  Craw's created a fascinating mythology of Atlantis, and I hope there are more stories to come!

~Shel

Anomaly (Schrodinger's Consortium #1) by Tonya Kuper

* * * *

Reality is only an illusion.

Except for those who can control it…

Worst. Birthday. Ever.

My first boyfriend dumped me – happy birthday, Josie!- my dad is who knows where, I have some weird virus that makes me want to hurl, and now my ex is licking another girl’s tonsils. Oh, and I’m officially the same age as my brother was when he died. Yeah, today is about as fun-filled as the swamps of Dagobah. But then weird things start happening…

Like I make something materialize just by thinking about it.

When hot badass Reid Wentworth shows up on a motorcycle, everything changes. Like, everything. Who I am. My family. What really happened to my brother. Existence. I am Oculi, and I have the ability to change reality with my thoughts. Now Reid, in all his hotness, is charged with guiding and protecting me as I begin learning how to bend reality. And he’s the only thing standing between me and the secret organization that wants me dead…

Anomaly carries a lot of charm in its pages starting with our spunky heroine Josie who isn’t as self-conscious as other heroines I’ve come across. She doesn’t waste time picking apart her appearance or comparing herself to her best friend. Instead, she's a conscientious high school student who also happens to be a bit obsessed with sci-fi shows, DC and Marvel Comics and good old Sherlock himself, Benedict Cumberbatch. I like her! She's not easily perturbed, that is until some guy shows up to school one day, looking very much like the one she's dreamed up in her head, right down to the tattoo and the slight resemblance to Thor. Hey, I’m all over that!

Josie’s world is thrown into chaos on her birthday, not so much from being dumped by her boyfriend but more so by her mysterious ailments. Reid, super-hottie-Thor-look-alike, offers immediate answers. This I liked because I tend to get irritated when the hero or heroine is kept in the dark for too long about their fate. It's a lot to absorb but she's strong AND smart enough to handle the truth. Josie's constantly assessing the facts, deciding on how she should address the situation. The gravity of the responsibility that now rests upon her is overwhelming but she’s determined to handle it. No one treats her as a weakling and Reid balances a fine line between being protector and teacher.

Anomaly is a sweet thrill ride once the action gets going. Josie takes to her powers well and learns quickly. She struggles to keep her feelings for Reid in check, as does he. Her family's history and their place in the Oculi world is enough of a puzzle to keep her on task. Once again we’re shown how courageous she can be even when faced with the impossible because she will protect those she loves.

I enjoyed Anomaly a lot. It's hard not to like Josie especially since Kuper injects plenty of her own fun, geeky, sci-fi loving personality into her. Josie does try to live as normal a life as possible by keeping close to her friends as much as she can - a bittersweet reminder that she's a teenager who happens to have a ridiculous weight on her shoulders. Things are left in a precarious state by the end but not before witnessing the strength of Josie's conviction to the cause and to her family. Oh you know it's only going to get even better from here! Looking forward to book two, Tonya!

~ Bel

  
By the way, don't forget to check out the Anomaly Giveaway! There are 4 prize packs up for grabs - you could be a winner! 

Anomaly Book Trailer Reveal

Available November 25th, 2014

We are so STOKED about the upcoming release of Anomaly by the lovely, Tonya Kuper! We were lucky enough to meet Tonya at a couple of events at RT2014 recently and people, she is a blast! November 25th cannot come soon enough. In the meantime, enjoy the book trailer over and over and over again!

Anomaly Book Trailer

Book synopsis:

Reality is only an illusion. Except for those who can control it… Worst. Birthday. Ever. My first boyfriend dumped me—happy birthday, Josie!—my dad is who knows where, I have some weird virus that makes me want to hurl, and now my ex is licking another girl’s tonsils. Oh, and I’m officially the same age as my brother was when he died. Yeah, today is about as fun-filled as the swamps of Dagobah. But then weird things start happening… Like I make something materialize just by thinking about it. When hottily-hot badass Reid Wentworth shows up on a motorcycle, everything changes. Like, everything. Who I am. My family. What really happened to my brother. Existence. I am Oculi, and I have the ability to change reality with my thoughts. Now Reid, in all his hotness, is charged with guiding and protecting me as I begin learning how to bend reality. And he’s the only thing standing between me and the secret organization that wants me dead… 


Buy Links:

Amazon    I    Barnes and Noble    

Goodreads    

About Tonya Kuper: 

Tonya Kuper is the author of ANOMALY, the first in the Schrodinger’s Consortium Series, a young adult science fiction trilogy, releasing November 25, 2014 by Entangled Teen. She fell for Young Adult lit while earning her Master’s degree in Reading Education. She's a mom to two awesome boys, an alt music junkie, a Star Wars nerd, and in love with Sherlock. 



Find Tonya online: 

Website    I    Twitter    I    Goodreads     

Doesn't the trailer look great? We're so excited for Tonya and wish her the best. And now, here's your chance to win one of three copies of Anomaly. Go forth and enter and don't forget to pre-order your copy today!

~ BiblioJunkies

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Anomaly

by Tonya Kuper

Giveaway ends November 15, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Love and Other Unknown Variables by Shannon Lee Alexander Release Day!

Love and Other Unknown Variables by Shannon Lee Alexander released today!!!  Go forth and read!

About the author:

Shannon Lee Alexander is a wife and mother (of two kids and one yellow terrier named Harriet Potter). She is passionate about coffee, books, and cancer research. Math makes her break out in a sweat. Love and Other Unknown Variables is her debut novel. She currently lives in Indianapolis with her family.

Love and Other Unknown Variables Blurb:

Charlie Hanson has a clear vision of his future. A senior at Brighton School of Mathematics and Science, he knows he’ll graduate, go to MIT, and inevitably discover the solutions to the universe’s greatest unanswerable problems. He’s that smart. But Charlie’s future blurs the moment he reaches out to touch the tattoo on a beautiful girl’s neck.

The future has never seemed very kind to Charlotte Finch, so she’s counting on the present. She’s not impressed by the strange boy pawing at her until she learns he’s a student at Brighton, where her sister has just taken a job as the English teacher. With her encouragement, Charlie orchestrates the most effective prank campaign in Brighton history. And in doing so, he puts his own future in jeopardy.

By the time he learns Charlotte is ill—and that the pranks were a way to distract Ms. Finch from Charlotte’s illness—Charlotte’s gravitational pull on Charlie is too great to overcome. Soon he must choose between the familiar formulas he’s always relied on, or the girl he’s falling for (at far more than 32 feet per second).

 Love and Other Unknown Variables Links:

Amazon

B&N

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Additional Links to Shannon’s pages:

Twitter

Facebook

Website

Goodreads

Lux Series by Jennifer L. Armentrout Launch Day!

OMG - if you have not read Jennifer Armentrout's Lux Series, you definitely should start right now and what better way than the brand spankin' new Collector's Editions.  The first two in the series are in Lux: Beginnings and the second two are in Lux: Consequences. Daemon Black is such a wonderful ass!  Check out the info below and don't forget to enter the contest!

It's here! Today is the day you can get the beautiful new bindups of Jennifer L. Armentrout's LUX Series! Are you as excited as we are?

Doesn't it look amazing? You don't want to miss these or the bonus content included in each bindup! We have all the information for you below, and a fabulous giveaway for you. Make sure you check it all out and enter for your chance to win!

LUX: Beginnings

Amazon ** Barnes and Noble

LUX: Consequences

Amazon ** Barnes and Noble

ABOUT LUX: Beginnings: Now available together for the first time, don't miss Obsidian and Onyx, the first two books in Jennifer L. Armentrout's bestselling Lux series. Also includes bonus content exclusive to the print edition! "A thrilling ride from start to finish," says RT Book Reviews. Starting over sucks. When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I’d pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring…. until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up. And then he opened his mouth. Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something…unexpected happens. The hot alien living next door marks me. You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon’s touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I’m getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades. If I don’t kill him first, that is.

ABOUT LUX: Consequences: Now available together for the first time, don't miss Opal and Origin, the third and fourth books in Jennifer L. Armentrout's bestselling Lux series. Also includes bonus content exclusive to the print edition! "A thrilling ride from start to finish," says RT Book Reviews. No one is like Daemon Black. When he set out to prove his feelings for me, he wasn’t fooling around. Doubting him isn’t something I’ll do again, and now that we’ve made it through the rough patches, well... There’s a lot of spontaneous combustion going on. But even he can’t protect his family from the danger of trying to free those they love. After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different... And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever. Together we’re stronger...and they know it.

OPPOSITION Comes out August 5^th! Pre-Order It Now!

Amazon ** Barnes and Noble

About Jennifer L. Armentrout: # 1 NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki. Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her book Obsidian has been optioned for a major motion picture and her Covenant Series has been optioned for TV. She also writes adult and New Adult romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

Find Jennifer L. Armentrout

Website ** Twitter ** Facebook ** Jennifer L. Armentrout’s Goodreads

Add the LUX Series on Goodreads!

LUX: Beginnings Goodreads ** LUX: Consequences Goodreads ** Opposition

Find Entangled Publishing

Entangled Website ** Entangled Twitter ** Entangled Facebook

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The Warrior Release Day Blast

BiblioJunkies - especially Bel - is super thrilled to help celebrate one of our favourite (read: Bel's favourite) books!

Entangled Teen is excited to be announcing the release of Victoria Scott’s, The Warrior, the third and final book in the Dante Walker series, which readers are already raving about!

About The Warrior:

War between heaven and hell is coming, but Dante Walker makes it look damn good.

Dante’s girlfriend, Charlie, is fated to save the world. And Aspen, the girl who feels like a sister, is an ordained soldier. In order to help both fulfill their destiny and win the war, Dante must complete liberator training at the Hive, rescue Aspen from hell, and uncover a message hidden on an ancient scroll.

Dante is built for battle, but even he can’t handle the nightmares where spiders crawl from Aspen’s eyes, or the look on Charlie’s face that foretells of devastation. To make matters worse, the enemy seizes every opportunity to break inside the Hive and cripple the liberators. But the day of reckoning is fast approaching, and to stand victorious, Dante will have to embrace something inside himself he never has before—faith.

Find The Warrior Online:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Goodreads

Author Bio:

Victoria Scott is a teen fiction writer represented by Sara Crowe of the Harvey-Klinger Literary  Agency. She’s the author of the FIRE & FLOOD series published by Scholastic, and the DANTE WALKER trilogy published by Entangled Teen. Her books have been bought and translated in eleven foreign markets including the UK, Turkey, China, Poland, Israel, Germany, Australia, Brazil, Taiwan, New Zealand, and the Netherlands.

Victoria lives in Dallas with her husband and hearts cotton candy something fierce.

Find Victoria Scott Online:

Website: http://www.victoriascottya.com/

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/VictoriaScottYA

Author Facebook: httpss://www.facebook.com/AuthorVictoriaScott

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3251728.Victoria_Scott

Psi Another Day by D.R. Rosensteel Release Day Blast

Spring is here! And what better way to spend those spring showers than with a good book from Entangled Teen? We are excited to be announcing the release of D. R. Rosensteel’s, Psi Another Day, which readers are already raving about!

About Psi Another Day

THERE’S A NEW SUPERHERO IN TOWN.

By day, I'm just another high school girl who likes lip gloss. But by night I'm a Psi Fighter—a secret guardian with a decade of training in the Mental Arts. And I'm about to test those skills in my first battle against evil.

BAD GUYS BEWARE.

When I was six, the Walpurgis Knights, our deadliest enemy, murdered my parents. The Psi Fighters put me into hiding, and all traces of my existence evaporated. Then I went through the most accelerated Psi Fighter training possible. And now I go to your school.

’CAUSE I WILL TAKE YOU OUT.

Unfortunately, so do the bad guys. My parents’ killer has sent his apprentice to infiltrate the school to find me. And everyone is a potential suspect, even irresistible new kid, Egon, and my old nemesis-turned-nice-guy, Mason. Fingers crossed I find the Knight before he finds me…

Find Psi Another Day Online:

Amazon   B&N   Goodreads

Author Bio:

D. R. Rosensteel is a research consultant who had no intention of writing anything but technical papers describing his theories of metaphysical psychometry. But when a hoodied teen showed him a device that turned her thoughts into weapons, and told him about a secret society of protectors who trained her in their underground Academy, he knew her story had to be written.

He has put his research on hold to document the adventures of a girl whose face he’s never seen and whose real name he’ll never know. The first book in the Psi Fighter Academy series comes out on May 6, 2014.

Find D. R. Rosensteel Online:

Website   Twitter   Author Facebook   Author Goodreads

The Liberator (Dante Walker #2) by Victoria Scott

* * * *

Bad boy, meet bad girl.

Dante has a shiny new cuff wrapped around his ankle, and he doesn't like that mess one bit. His new accessory comes straight from Big Guy himself and marks the former demon as a liberator. Despite his gritty past and bad boy ways, Dante Walker has been granted a second chance.

When Dante is given his first mission as a liberator to save the soul of seventeen-year-old Aspen, he knows he’s got this. But Aspen reminds him of the rebellious life he used to live and is making it difficult to resist sinful temptations. Though Dante is committed to living clean for his girlfriend Charlie, this dude’s been a playboy for far too long…and old demons die hard.

With Charlie becoming the girl she was never able to be pre-makeover and Aspen showing him how delicious it feels to embrace his inner beast, Dante will have to go somewhere he never thought he’d return to in order to accomplish the impossible: save the girl he’s been assigned to, and keep the girl he loves.

Seriously, why do I love the bad boys so? And this bad boy in particular is such a prize, it’s remarkable I don’t want to punch him in the face. But it’s Dante, and Dante gets away with it because even though he’s a certifiable ego maniac, shallow and overbearing at times, he owns it and manages to surprise us at the same time. Yeah, he’s special.

Dante is now in the very unfamiliar and uncomfortable role as Liberator, working for the good guys now as opposed to being a Collector and working for the underworld camp. It’s like he’s entered bizzaro world and he can barely recognize himself. He’s constantly reminding himself that he IS one of the Good Guys and that he should shed his notorious past but he’s unable to let it go. He feels like a poser essentially. His new assignment to liberate a teenager in Colorado means taking him away from Charlie, the girl whose soul he was previously assigned to take. Who would have thought that Dante could be whipped? Charlie keeps him in check and encourages him to fulfill his assignment and return to her.

It’s not that easy of course. Aspen is rough, very rough around the edges and Dante’s usual charms don’t work on her. Still he manages to infiltrate her social circle and winds up caring about this lost girl. He has no clue as to her importance to the good guys or that somehow she and Charlie are connected. When the worlds collide and the Collectors send their minions after Dante and company, Dante takes a stand not just to protect the girl he loves but also for what’s right.

Dante has come a long way. This continues to be about his story and it's told in his singular voice. Because of this, Charlie feels a bit distant which is what I struggled with slightly with The Collector. However, this time around it didn’t bother me at all because I enjoyed being inside Dante’s head. He’s so full of bravado, incredibly amusing, even making his own eyes roll at his antics. He’s definitely no angel and he has no pretensions to that end.  But he’s evolving into a better man - that fact is alarming to him but endearing to the reader. Despite his deep love for Charlie and his belief in her purpose, there’s a small part of him that feels unworthy of her and of his own redemption. It’s only when he’s finally forced to confront his personal demon that he can be liberated. 

The Dante Walker series is simply fantastic. It has a different pulse that I just can’t get enough of. Just the very first sentence in The Liberator had me all giddy and excited again. It’s hard not to fall for Dante and his ridiculous persona. I think what draws me to the books and to him especially is that every thought in his head and everything he says is honest – even the cringe-worthy, socially incorrect remarks. He can’t help who he is and now that he has figured out who he is becoming, I am eager, no wait, chomping at the bit to read The Warrior that comes out this May.

~ Bel