Kiss of Frost by Jennifer Estep

****1/2
From Kensington:

 Logan Quinn was trying to kill me.



My Spartan classmate relentlessly pursued me, swinging his sword at me over and over again, the shining silver blade inching closer to my throat every time. A smile tugged up his lips, and his ice-blue eyes practially glowed with the thrill of battle…

I’m Gwen Frost, a second-year warrior-in-training at Mythos Academy, and I have no idea how I’m going to survive the rest of the semester. One day, I’m getting schooled in swordplay by the guy who broke my heart—the drop-dead gorgeous Logan who slays me every time. Then, an invisible archer in the Library of Antiquities decides to use me for target practice. And now, I find out that someone at the academy is really a Reaper bad guy who wants me dead. I’m afraid if I don’t learn how to live by the sword—with Logan’s help—I just might die by the sword…

Kiss of Frost chronicles the continuing adventures of my favorite Gypsy, Gwen Frost. This time, the kids at Mythos Academy are taking a field trip and poor Gwen may not make it back alive if the Reaper of Chaos stalking her has anything to say about it. But Gwen is busy trying to ignore Logan and his girlfriend, while keeping her BFF, Daphne, from worrying or getting hurt, training to protect herself and flirting with a hot guy from the New York Academy. Kiss of Frost is full of surprises, plot twists and intrigue.
 

If it is possible, I think I enjoyed Kiss of Frost more than Touch of Frost. Gwen is more confident and assertive in Kiss. Sure, she is still trying to figure out her Gypsy gift and her place at Mythos, but she is not nearly as indecisive and meek as she was in Touch of Frost. Plus, she’s chock full of smack-talk, which I love. Really, the only thing that needs to be said here is – Vic, the talking sword.

Fans of Jennifer Estep’s snarky and sassy heroines will adore Kiss of Frost! Also, the bonus Chapter 1 of Dark Kiss at the end of the book nearly made me throw my e-reader, which would have been bad. The teaser, is just that, teasing and taunting me that I have to wait forever to read Dark Kiss (releasing May 29, 2012). 

Also, in case you missed it - Jennifer Estep's short story, Halloween Frost is in the Entangled Anthology.  Proceeds from the sale go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.  It is only available in ebook and is sold by all major retailers.  A great short story for a great cause!

~Shel

A Peek in the Biblio-Bin - #5

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. It is a way for bloggers to share what books they have won, received for review, bought from the bookstore, borrowed from the library or friend, etc.

This week Shel gives you a peek into the Biblio-Bin.

Their love was meant to be.

When Megan Rosenberg moves to Ireland, everything in her life seems to fall into place. After growing up in America, she's surprised to find herself feeling at home in her new school. She connects with a group of friends, and she is instantly drawn to darkly handsome Adam DeRÍs.

But Megan is about to discover that her feelings for Adam are tied to a fate that was sealed long ago—and that the passion and power that brought them together could be their ultimate destruction.

I, Cassia Bernard, do solemnly swear to find pure red—my passion—this summer. Dad's passion is art. When he's painting, no one can reach him, not even me. My mom's passion was the ocean. She said the ocean allows you to see whatever you want to see. That was one of the last things she ever said to me...

Sometimes what your heart desires isn't what it needs. Over the course of a hot Miami summer, sixteen-year-old Cassia discovers that sometimes it takes bullies and basketball, a best friend, and a gorgeous guy to help you understand what you actually need—and to help you see that, maybe, everything isn't so black and white.

The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it's the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago.

Soon "Rippermania" takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was walking with her at the time, didn't notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, why has Rory become his next target? In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities.

Logan Quinn was try­ing to kill me. My Spar­tan class­mate relent­lessly pur­sued me, swing­ing his sword at me over and over again, the shin­ing sil­ver blade inch­ing closer to my throat every time. A smile tugged up his lips, and his ice-blue eyes prac­ti­cally glowed with the thrill of battle...

I’m Gwen Frost, a second-year warrior-in-training at Mythos Acad­emy, and I have no idea how I’m going to sur­vive the rest of the semes­ter. One day, I’m get­ting schooled in sword­play by the guy who broke my heart — the drop-dead gor­geous Logan who slays me every time. Then, an invis­i­ble archer in the Library of Antiq­ui­ties decides to use me for tar­get prac­tice. And now, I find out that some­one at the acad­emy is really a Reaper bad guy who wants me dead. I’m afraid if I don’t learn how to live by the sword — with Logan’s help — I just might die by the sword …

.

So tell us.  What books did you pick up this week?

Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep

Jennifer Estep, author of two successful adult series, introduces a new young adult series.  Touch of Frost is the first book, released July 26, 2011.  First Frost is a prequel short story, which you can grab for free from most ebook sellers.  First Frost chronicles the events that lead to Gwen's attendance at Mythos Academy.  Touch of Frost picks up the story a few months after Gwen's admittance.  From Kensington Publishing:

My name is Gwen Frost, and I go to Mythos Academy -- a school of myths, magic and warrior whiz kids, where even the lowliest geek knows how to chop off somebody’s head with a sword and Logan Quinn, the hottest Spartan guy in school, also happens to be the deadliest.

But lately, things have been weird, even for Mythos. First, mean girl Jasmine Ashton was murdered in the Library of Antiquities. Then, someone stole the Bowl of Tears, a magical artifact that can be used to bring about the second Chaos War. You know, death, destruction and lots of other bad, bad things. Freaky stuff like this goes on all the time at Mythos, but I’m determined to find out who killed Jasmine and why – especially since I should have been the one who died …

We have already discussed my love of mythology, so it should not surprise anyone that I would be drawn to this book.  Mythos Academy sounds like an ideal high school to me. 

This book creates another whole world of alternate mythology which unites all cannons of myth to fight "The Chaos" led by the Norse God, Loki (very timely with Thor's release this summer).  Mythos Academy is where the children of myth learn the skills to wage the war against the Chaos.  After tragedy strikes, Gwen finds herself enrolled in Mythos.  She has no idea why she is there or why her family seemed to view her enrollment as inevitable.  After Gwen finds the body of a fellow student, she becomes obsessed with finding out why the popular, beautiful student was murdered and no one seems to care.

Gods, monsters and heroes, what's not to love?  The characters are snarky and sarcastic.  Like Buffy, except with mythology.  Jennifer Estep did an amazing job of honestly dealing with the emotional issues Gwen faces as she struggles to find her place among the students at Mythos.  I felt like Gwen was perhaps a little too accepting of certain things when I wanted her to stand up for herself, but this was a minor irritation in an otherwise fantastic book.  More than anything, this story is about empowerment, friendship and the lengths one will go to understand and deal with loss.  I give Touch of Frost 4.5 stars and encourage you all to pick it up! 

I also want to KISS someone at Kensington Publishing for only making me wait until November 29, 2011 for Kiss of Frost (Book 2)!  Thank you for only torturing me for a few months instead of a year!  Book 3, Dark Frost is scheduled for release June 2012 - I will forgive you for this because I only have to wait until November for Kiss of Frost.  Check out the awesome cover for Kiss of Frost -

I leave you with one of my favorite exchanges in the book:

"Are you actually ... going to eat lunch with me?" I asked.

"No," Daphne said, breaking a buttery breadstick in half and dipping it into the spicy marinara sauce on her plate.  "I'm a figment of your imagination.  You're only imagining that I'm sitting here eating with you.  Because I'm just so freaking awesome that people daydream about being seen with me." 

"Funny," I muttered.

The Valkyrie smiled at me and took a bite of her breadstick.

"But why?" I asked.  "You hate me."

Daphne chewed and swallowed.  "I wouldn't say hate, exactly.  You're kind of like fungus, Gwen.  After a while, you start growing on people."

"So I'm mold.  Wonderful."  p. 131 - 132.

~Shel