Showing posts with label demons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label demons. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Soulbound Release Week Blitz



OH. MY!! Look at this irresistible cover! We're so pleased to be a part of the Release Week Blitz for Soulbound, book 6 in the phenomenal Darkest London series by Kristen Callihan. This series is a must-read for anyone who enjoys paranormal romances and adventure. You want rapid wit, sizzling chemistry and those "I need to fan myself" moments? Well then, here you go. And you're welcome! Much thanks to Forever Romance for the wickedly delightful excerpt.  And don't forget to enter the giveaway - you could be one of five lucky winners to win a set of the Darkest London books!  Go for it!




ABOUT SOULBOUND

Once two souls are joined . . . 

When Adam's soul mate rejected him, there was more at stake than his heart. After seven hundred years of searching, his true match would have ended the curse that keeps his spirit in chains. But beautiful, stubborn Eliza May fled-and now Adam is doomed to an eternity of anguish, his only hope for salvation gone… Their hearts will beat together forever.


No matter how devilishly irresistible Adam was, Eliza couldn't stand the thought of relinquishing her freedom forever. So she escaped. But she soon discovers she is being hunted-by someone far more dangerous. The only man who can help is the one man she vowed never to see again. Now Adam's kindness is an unexpected refuge, and Eliza finds that some vows are made to be broken…


EXCERPT

Eliza sat back on her heels, while Adam merely stared at her as though he had all the time in the world. “Fine,” she said. “Three weeks. I free you and you help me.” She gave him a warning look. “I’ll need your word that you will help me, that this” she waved her hand between them, “isn’t merely a way to trick me into freeing you.”
“This business was your idea, woman,” he said with affront.
“Nevertheless, I’ll need your word.”
The demon’s nostrils flared with a sharp exhalation. “My word then.” Eliza did not look away from him, and he glared back in obvious exasperation. “What now?”
“I’m merely considering if I ought to trust your word,” she said.
A low growl rumbled in his chest as he bared his teeth. “I keep my word, whether I want to or not. My word is my bond. Honor, Miss May. Unlike you, I have it.” 
“How dare you—” 
“How dare you?” He craned forward, the muscles along his shoulders bunching. “Not so long ago you broke your promise of fealty. To me!” 
“Oh, yes, how quick you are to remind me.” Eliza leaned close, grinding her teeth to keep in a shout. “You enjoy being quick, don’t you?” 
His thick, dark brows furrowed. “What in the bloody blazes are you talking about?” 
“You gave me all of ten seconds to make a choice.” Eliza’s fists ached from clenching them. “And what a choice. I was dead, my body sliced open, my blood on the ground. I would have done anything, anything,” she thumped her fist to her chest, “to get back my life.” 
“So that makes it better?” he snapped back in outrage. “Desperation gives you leave to go back on your word?” 
“No. That is not what I meant.” 
“Then you agree that you bloody well have no honor—” 
“You never explained what was involved. You never said I’d be chained to you, like some animal, for the rest of my days,” Eliza shouted. “I was told I would be a GIM. I was ready to serve you in that manner. You knew full well that’s what I believed. If anything, you swindled me!” 
All at once, he sagged, though he still eyed her with resentment and distaste. Well, she had a healthy helping of those feelings for him too. 
“Tick, tock, Eliza,” she mimicked. “You rushed me because you didn’t want me to think things over.” 
When he broke eye contact, his hard jaw twitched. 
“I’m correct, aren’t I?” Ire and a red rage surged up within her. “And you have the brass to sit on your high horse and talk of honor. Well let me tell you something, demon. There is little honor in forcing a person’s hand. Or using your power to coerce those weaker than you.”
A black scowl twisted the demon’s face as he glared at some distant point. “Fine. May I continue, or have you more complaints to heap upon my head?”
“Please do continue,” Eliza granted.
His golden gaze flicked back to her. “I want to kiss you.”
“No.” The word burst out of her with force. “Absolutely not.”
Unfazed, Adam shrugged. “Unless you have something to offer in exchange for your freedom, Mellan and Mab will, as you say, merely hunt us down, and you’ll be back to where you started.”
“Then I shall find out what he wants.” Eliza straightened her back. She could do that. She must. Like hell was she going to kiss this demon.
Adam simply gave her a slow, wicked half-smile. “Fortunately for you, lass, I already know what he wants. What they both want. More than controlling you. More than torturing me, even.”
“Then why in blazes haven’t you used it to secure your own freedom?” Eliza blurted out.
“I’m only alive because they cannot break me into revealing where this item might be.” The belligerence burning in his eyes was gone in a blink, replaced by a look of pure cunning. “However, I might be persuaded to help you use the knowledge. All I require is— ”
“Fine,” she snapped, irritation getting the best of her. “I’ll kiss you.”
Silence fell, and Adam stared at her with those eyes of his. Devil’s eyes. Eyes that made a woman forget herself. Heat rose up over her breasts and crawled along the back of her neck. Eliza grasped her skirts, her fingers twitching. She would kiss him. Kiss a man who had brought her nothing but irritation. Maybe she’d bite him to boot.
His chest, gleaming with sweat, rose and fell in a soft pattern. A bead of perspiration broke free from the top of his shoulder and ran down along the firm rise of his pectoral muscles, straight toward the dark nub of his nipple. All this time arguing with him, she’d forgotten his state of undress. Not so now. She’d have to press up against those hard muscles, touch his skin. Eliza wrenched her gaze back to his face, and his sinful lips curled in a knowing smile.
“You know,” he said casually, “I believe I shall pass for the moment. I’d rather it be when you aren’t wearing such a sour face. Kills a bloke’s ardor, you realize.”
Eliza blinked. And then his meaning hit her. “Why you…rutting…cheap, trickster…”
He laughed, a flash of even teeth. “Come now, Eliza, fret not.” He stopped then, that obnoxious smile growing and heating with promise. “I’ll take that kiss soon enough. ”
She rose to her feet in a rustle of skirts. “And I’ll be sure to bite that wicked tongue when you do!”
She marched out of the cell, slamming it behind her, as he began to laugh again. Bastard. She might just leave him here to rot after all. His laughing taunt echoed through the dark. “Now that I know tongues are involved, I’ll be sure to collect.”




ABOUT KRISTEN CALLIHAN

Kristen Callihan is an author because there is nothing else she'd rather be. She is a three-time RITA nominee and winner of two RT Reviewers' Choice awards. Her novels have garnered starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal, as well as being awarded top picks by many reviewers. Her debut book, Firelight, received RT Book Reviews' Seal of Excellence, was named a best book of the year by Library Journal, best book of Spring 2012 by Publisher's Weekly, and was named the best romance book of 2012 by ALA RUSA. When she is not writing, she is reading.




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Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Stone Cold Touch by Jennifer L. Armentrout


****1/2

From Harlequin:

Every touch has its price 

Layla Shaw is trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life—no easy task for a seventeen-year-old who's pretty sure things can't get worse. Her impossibly gorgeous best friend, Zayne, is forever off-limits thanks to the mysterious powers of her soul-stealing kiss. The Warden clan that has always protected her is suddenly keeping dangerous secrets. And she can barely think about Roth, the wickedly hot demon prince who understood her in ways no one else could. 

But sometimes rock bottom is only the beginning. Because suddenly Layla's powers begin to evolve, and she's offered a tantalizing taste of what has always been forbidden. Then, when she least expects it, Roth returns, bringing news that could change her world forever. She's finally getting what she always wanted, but with hell literally breaking loose and the body count adding up, the price may be higher than Layla is willing to pay….




I LOVE the Dark Elements Series. JLA hooked me with Bitter Sweet Love – Dez and Jasmin's story is sweet and snarky, just the way I like them. Then White Hot Kiss – holy cow! It's super steamy for YA and I ADORE Roth! I was devastated at the end of White Hot Kiss, which made me crazy psyched for his return in Stone Cold Touch. I don't get the whole Zayne – Roth debate, to me, there is no triangle, it's Roth all the way. I was told I would feel differently after SCT, but I don't. The "relationship" between Zayne and Layla seems forced and unnatural to me. Roth and Layla just fit, so all this argument over Team Roth or Team Zayne seems like much ado about nothing to me.

Putting aside my giddiness over the wonderfully dysfunctional and frustrating Roth and the romance elements, the events of STC were shocking. The story was amazing, with love, betrayal, twisty turns and a truly emotional and wild ride. I was reeling at the end of it and have so many awesome ideas for how the trilogy will end (though none as awesome as how it WILL actually end, because I totally could not have predicted SCT). JLA is currently writing Every Last Breath, the finale of the Dark Elements Trilogy and I cannot freaking wait!!! It will be out July 2015 – I am greatly looking forward to Layla and Roth's happily ever after (I refuse to even think it may end any other way!)…

~Shel



Thursday, August 29, 2013

No Angel by Helen Keeble

*** 1/2 

From HarperTeen:


Being the only guy at an all-girls school isn't exactly a dream come true...

That's right.  I, Rafael Angelos, am the sole member of the male sex at St. Mary's School.  Prepare yourselves, ladies.  But while the girls here are ridiculously hot, they also take popularity, cliques, and bullying to new levels of crazy.  So I've decided it's my job to step in.  Protect the meek, smite the wicked, and win the heart of a beautiful victim while I'm at it.  

The whole "guardian angel" thing is getting a little out of hand, though.  I really didn't sign up for a weird, glowing circle around my head - or a pair of wings.  And I'm starting to worry that there's a reason so many of the girls act like they're possessed by demons...

No Angel is a hilarious take on the recent influx of angel related books.  Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of some of these books, but No Angel's spoof-like nature was awesome.  It was also surprising, with twists and turns I never expected.  

As a story about teenagers fighting the battle between good and evil, angels vs demons, No Angel takes a humorous approach to the follies that inevitably follow.  It also takes the battle between teens and adults to new extremes.  All in all, I recommend No Angel for it's belly laughs and witty dialogue.  Excuse me, I need to go download Fang Girl now, you should too.

~Shel

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Wicked Kiss (Nightwatchers #2) by Michelle Rowen

* * *




MY KISS CAN KILL.

I used to be ordinary Samantha Day, but that's changed. Now, after one dark kiss from a dangerous boy, I can steal someone's soul...or their life. If I give in to the constant hunger inside me, I hurt anyone I kiss. If I don't...I hurt myself.

Bishop is the one whose kiss I crave most, but if I kiss him, I'll kill him. Then there's another boy, one I can't hurt. One whose kiss seems to miraculously quell my hunger. They're both part of a team of angels and demons that's joined forces in my city to fight a mysterious rising darkness, an evil that threatens everyone I know and love. I just wonder if I'll be able to help Bishop-or if I'm just another part of the darkness he's sworn to destroy....

NIGHTWATCHERS

When angels and demons must work together, something beyond evil is rising...


Dare I say it? Wicked Kiss is even better than Dark Kiss! Now that Samantha has lost her soul and is a gray she has to deal with that constant hunger to feed off other people's souls. It's a bit of a nuisance. So priority number one is to recover her soul and get her best friend back. Not so easy. The person who could help her most is no longer, evil aunt Natalie, and Stephen her former crush who took her soul in the first place remains elusive. While all that’s going on, Bishop the fallen angel who is burdened with a soul is going mad from it. There are also a string of mysterious teenage deaths raising eyebrows and more grays to be rid off. Still, there's time for Samantha to nurse a longing for Bishop and her curiosity about his past is gnawing at her as much as her hunger for souls.

Our unlikely team of paranormals - angels, demons, gray - has plenty to contend with which makes Wicked Kiss so much fun. There is not one moment of downtime. Even when it’s sort of quiet, there’s always something or someone stirring the pot, whether it's her arch nemesis Jordan or the addition to the team, an angel named Cassandra.  She claims she’s there to assist with the cleanup in Trinity but she has a hidden agenda. There are plenty of trust issues going on and Samantha has a hard time leaving Bishop alone when it comes to getting to know him better. Their constant I-want-to-touch-you-but-it’s-too-dangerous moments are exciting and once Samantha does get glimpses of Bishop’s past it’s almost too much.  But really it’s the dynamic between Samantha and Kraven that was most fun for me. Kraven reminds me of some of my favorite snarky fictional boys – Damon, Jace and Patch – and we know how much I LOVE snark and bad boys. He had me giggling a lot! 

Rowen definitely elevated this story and as each chapter progressed so did the tension and urgency. Introducing a few new elements shaped a story that I genuinely liked. It's simply an enjoyable, fun escape!  

~ Bel

Friday, May 18, 2012

Dark Kiss: Nightwatchers #1 by Michelle Rowen

* * *



I don’t do DANGEROUS.

Smart, über-careful, ordinary Samantha – that’s me. But I just couldn’t pass up a surprise kiss from my number-one unattainable crush. A kiss that did something to me … something strange. Now I feel hungry all the time, but not for food. It’s like part of me is missing – and I don’t know if I can get it back.

Then there’s Bishop. At first he was just a street kid, but the secrets he’s keeping are as intense as his unearthly blue eyes. If he’s what I think he is, he may be the only one who can help me. But something terrifying is closing in, and the one chance Bishop and I have to stop it means losing everything I ever wanted and embracing the darkness inside me…

Nightwatchers: When angels and demons must work together, something beyond evil is rising …




In Dark Kiss, the first installment in the Nightwatchers series, Michelle Rowen introduces an interesting take on angels and demons. Without giving the plot away because I really do like how the author has developed it, I’ll do my best to give you a brief overview.

The first few chapters were a blast because I had no idea what was going on. I love a good set up that way  –  you’re just itching to have any kind of explanation just so you can deduce who the good and bad guys are. Samantha as the heroine is your average teenage girl who lands herself in the middle of trouble because of that one alluring kiss, the result of which has led to a string of creepy events and disastrous consequences. She unwittingly ends up falling in with a group of angels, led by Bishop and demons, led by Kraven, who are working together to stop a sinister threat in the town of Trinity. Something or someone has been feeding on people’s souls and it’s now up to this unlikely group to find The Source.

There’s definitely evil at play and as much as Samantha may want to revert back to normal, her new hunger and abilities have made that unlikely. She strikes a deal with Bishop to help him and Kraven with their mission in hopes that they can help her with her situation. Of all the characters in the book, I liked Kraven and his sarcastic sense of humor the most. Really – coming from me, is anyone surprised by this? Task at hand aside, both Bishop and Kraven have their own personal agenda and Samantha becomes a point of contention between them. Even though she becomes an integral part of their mission, her inexplicable abilities have them on edge. They’re not exactly sure what to make of her much less trust her. And this motley crew of good and bad that’s been charged to save the souls of the people in this town can also be volatile at times. At some point each of these characters has to come to blows with one another.

Aside from serving as a cautionary tale of accepting kisses from longstanding crushes, there’s plenty of action, betrayal, misguided moments and surprise revelations that could make your head spin just a wee bit. Dark Kiss is a fun read that adds some new dimension to the world of angels and demons. You know something has to be going terribly awry for them to be (not so) willingly working together. You also gather that there's something bigger at stake than just what's going on in this one town. After reading Dark Kiss – which provides some answers but a whole new host of questions and problems – I'm eager to know what other bits of intrigue will be added to the mix as the series progresses.

~ Bel


Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Misfit by Jon Skovron



 
**** From Amulet Books, an imprint of ABRAMS:

Jael has always felt like a freak. She’s never kissed a boy, she never knew her mom, and her dad’s always been superstrict—but that’s probably because her mom was a demon, which makes Jael half demon and most definitely not a normal sophomore girl. On her sixteenth birthday, a mysterious present unlocks her family’s dangerous history and Jael’s untapped potential. What was merely an embarrassing secret before becomes a terrifying reality. Jael must learn to master her demon side in order to take on a vindictive Duke of Hell while also dealing with a twisted priest, best-friend drama, and a spacey blond skater boy who may have hidden depths.

I thoroughly enjoyed Misfit. Jon Skovron created a fantastic world of magic, demons and other mysterious beings. More than just action-packed fun, Misfit explores the very complex and complicated relationship between Jael, her father Paul and her Uncle Dagon, a scaley-fish looking demon.
Plus, the magic described by Skovron was just cool. Most magic is described as the practitioner controlling or commanding the elements, in Skovron’s world, magic works when the practitioner and the elements work together and cooperate with one another. One of my favorite scenes in the book takes place in the last couple of pages during a thunderstorm - read it and let me know if you loved it as much as I did!

I recommend Misfit for anyone that enjoyed Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton, Falling Under by Gwen Hayes and the Hex Hall books by Rachel Hawkins. Definitely worth 4 stars!

~Shel