Swept Away by Michelle Dalton (Blog Tour + Giveaway)

Title: Swept Away (Sixteenth Summer)
Author: Michelle Dalton
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: May 5th 2015

Summary:

Beachfront love blossoms in this refreshing summer romance, in the tradition of Sixteenth Summer and Seventeenth Summer. Mandy Sullivan isn’t exactly looking forward to the summer months as tourists invade her seaside hometown on the coast of Maine. Her best friend, Cynthia, has abandoned her for camp and her older brother just announced he’ll be staying at college taking classes for the summer, leaving Mandy with nothing to do and no one to hang out with. Hoping to keep herself busy, Mandy takes a volunteer job at the Rocky Pointe Lighthouse. On her very first day, Oliver Farmingham asks for a private tour. A new—and incredibly cute—face in Rocky Pointe, Oliver seems more interested in Mandy than the lighthouse and its history. Without her best friend at her side, Mandy is scrambling to act the right way and say the right things when Oliver is around. Cynthia—not Mandy—has always been the confident, flirtatious girl that everyone wanted to be around. As Mandy and Oliver spend more time together exploring the coast, biking through the woods, and attending the local summer festivals, their budding friendship becomes much more. But with Mandy’s insecurities creeping to the surface, can she open her heart to someone who will only be in town for three months?

Follow the Swept Away by Michelle Dalton Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Michelle Dalton is one of the many names Carla Jablonski uses when writing. Her two YAs written as Carla Jablonski (published by Razorbill/Penguin), Thicker than Water and Silent Echoes, were included on the NYPL Books for the Teen Age list, and her graphic novel trilogy Resistance (illustrated by Leland Purvis, published by :01 Books) has won several awards, including the Sydney Taylor Silver Medal. In addition to writing novels she is an actor, playwright, and former trapeze artist. A native New Yorker, she is eternally grateful to her friends who invite her to their beach houses.

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ARC Review: Crash by Eve Silver

Title: Crash (The Game #3) 
Author: Eve Silver
Genre: Science Fiction
Source: Edelweiss
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Publication Date: June 9th 2015
Add it to Goodreads / Buy it on Amazon

Summary:

Miki’s life is falling apart around her. Her dad and best friend are lying in the hospital. The Game is glitching, making missions more frequent and more deadly. And someone close to her is waiting for the right moment to betray her. Miki feels like she’s hanging on by a thread and the only thing keeping her tethered is Jackson’s hand in hers. Yet telling him how much she needs him, how much she loves him, feels like the biggest challenge of all. And if Miki really wants the missions to end for everyone, she’ll have to let go and be ready to fight when the walls between the Game and reality come crashing down. Because if there’s one thing she’s learned, it’s that she’s got a whole lot left to lose.

Review:  

I was terrified how this trilogy was going to end, it was unpredictable, fast paced and could go in any direction. I thought it was all wrapped up nicely leaving the reader with a clear picture of what is going to happen long after you've read the last page. Eve didn't fail to deliver in the conclusion of The Game trilogy, giving her readers an awesome mix of action, suspense, and romance. 

Miki had it together in this book, though with the events that were happening in her life I wouldn't have be all that surprised if she didn't. At the end of book two both Miki's dad and Carly are in a car crash, leaving both terribly injured. The committee doesn't care though, and pulls both Miki and Jackson into the game. Where this time everything is different. Miki comes face to face with a Drau, where it dropped its weapon and begged for mercy. The rules of The Game has changed and as Miki and Jackson come closer to learning how Jackson's sister can still be alive in The Game, they will unwrap the secrets to the war they thought they were fighting.

I compared my notes from Miki in Rush to Miki in the end of Crash and she has come a long way. She fell in love, became a leader, stood up for what she believed in, saved countless amounts of lives. Miki was pretty much on top of the world during this book. She handled her father and Carly's hospitalization, The Game, The Committee and countless other things with out even batting her eyelashes. One thing that stands out to me is that Miki kept true to herself through out all three novels, she questioned in what she wasn't sure in and protected those she cared about. Things that were valuable to her retained their importance among other things. 

Jackson seemed a little soft in this book. Which I appreciated because we mainly got the cocky ass in Push and Rush. We see Jackson vulnerable and unguarded a few times in Crash which really added to my love of Him. The romance was perfectly done, it wasn't too much or not enough. Eve got the mix perfect, I even had butterflies when I read the last page of Crash. There are so many "WTF" moments in Crash. Betrayal. Lies. Nothing is what it seems. The rug was literally ripped out from beneath Miki and Jackson when they find out that maybe the committee isn't the good guys. After the death of a good friend, they realize that nothing was what they thought it was. 

As I said, Eve ended The Game trilogy off beautifully, I am sad it is over but it ended on a bittersweet note. I found the ending a bit open, that maybe it could be expanded on someday (Please!) but as a reader I was content. Crash deserves more then five stars, it was full of suspense and action making it perfect for Science Fiction and Alien junkies! 

Rating:

Check out my reviews for Rush & Push:

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ARC Review: The Devil You Know by Trish Doller

Title: The Devil You Know
Author: Trish Doller
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Thriller 
Source: NetGalley 
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Publication Date: June 2nd 2015
Add it to Goodreads / Pre-order it on Amazon

Summary: 

Eighteen-year-old Arcadia wants adventure. Living in a tiny Florida town with her dad and four-year-old brother, Cadie spends most of her time working, going to school, and taking care of her family. So when she meets two handsome cousins at a campfire party, she finally has a chance for fun. They invite her and friend to join them on a road trip, and it's just the risk she's been craving-the opportunity to escape. But what starts out as a fun, sexy journey quickly becomes dangerous when she discovers that one of them is not at all who he claims to be. One of them has deadly intentions. A road trip fling turns terrifying in this contemporary story that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. 

Review: 

I've done a lot of thinking about this book since I finished reading it, and honestly? I don't know what I feel. On one hand I really enjoyed it and found it totally thrilling and on the other I really thought the characters were stupid and didn't like it at all. I think I keep trying to put myself in Arcadia's shoes and see if I would have made the same decisions. I wouldn't have though, I hate going out with my friends. Why, would I go on a road trip with two strange boys? 

Arcadia has been forced to grow up. Her mother died when her brother was just a baby, and her father shut down. Leaving all the responsibility on Arcadia. I liked Arcadia, she was brave and confident. She had all the characteristics that make me a life a female lead. I just can't wrap my head around why she would do something as stupid as she did. On her way to a party she spots a boy near a car (Matt) and invites him to a beach party. Later that same night she meets Matt's older cousin Noah and they immediately hit it off. Both boys are spending the summer camping around Florida. Through talking both Arcadia and another girl Lindsey are invited to go along with them. But when Lindsey leaves unexpectedly and Arcadia learns some new information about the boys she is now traveling with, is anyone who they really tell you they are? 

I did like Arcadia, as I said she has all the characteristics that I like in a female lead. I think she was at her breaking point. That she needed that away time from her father. She was her brother's parent figure because he couldn't step up to the plate, she worked long hours at their store, she was getting over a breakup with a boy she thought she would be with forever. I think everything played a factor in her sudden rebellion. It was a stupid rebellion in my opinion, but I can see why she did it. Arcadia should have left though when she first learned about Lindsey disappearing, or when she learned about Noah's past, or when that hiker turned up dead. Arcadia made stupid decision after stupid decision that almost resulted in the lost of her life.

Both Noah and Matt were well written in interesting. It was hard to try and guess which one was actually a killer and who was innocent. Just as I would make up my mind on who I thought it was Arcadia would learn something knew about the other person to make them look guilty. Towards the end though it became predictable and it wasn't that much of a shock. Though it wasn't a shock I wasn't sure how it would all play out. Trish Doller defiantly knows how to give her readers a thrill, I think I might be staying out of the waters of Florida when I go there. Overall I really did enjoy The Devil You Know despite Arcadia's stupid actions. 

Rating:

ARC Review: Powerless by Tera Lynn Childs & Tracy Deebs

Title: Powerless (The Hero Agenda #1) 
Author: Tera Lynn Childs & Tracy Deebs
Genre: Science Fiction
Source: NetGalley
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: June 2nd 2015
Add it to Goodreads / Pre-order it on Amazon

Summary: 

Kenna is tired of being "normal". The only thing special about her is that she isn't special at all. Which is frustrating in a world of absolutes. Villains, like the one who killed her father, are bad. Heroes, like her mother and best friend, are good. And Kenna, unlike everyone else around her, is completely ordinary— which she hates. She’s secretly working on an experiment that will land her a place among the Heroes, but when a Villain saves her life during a break-in at her lab, Kenna discovers there’s a whole lot of gray area when it comes to good and evil and who she can trust.. After all…not all strength comes from superpowers.

Review: 

This book was so much fun! Superheros? That is some what new to me. It was an interesting concept that I wasn't 100% sure about, but by the end of the story I knew that this series is going to be amazing. Growing up my favorite movie was Sky High (The one about the superhero teenagers that go to a superhero high school along with children of Villains) and this book reminded me of that. Though this book was much better. 

Kenna's world was always black and white. Heroes are good and Villains are bad. That is until the day three villains break into the lab she works at, claiming to be rescuing Deacon, a villain who is being hidden on sub level three. Only Kenna is pretty sure there is no sub level three, she practically lives at that lab. She would have known. But as secrets come to light and Kenna's mom is kidnapped, she teams up with her sworn enemies to stop the heroes and their twisted games and to find her mother. 

In Kenna's society, everyone has a power. Except her. She is powerless. That doesn't stop her though. While her mother works on serums to help other heroes Kenna is working on her own, to make her a superhero. Kenna is one of the most determined female heroines that I have read about in a long time. It was easy to forget at some points that she didn't have a power. Besides Kenna you have a cast of villains and heroes who are on the run, wanting to rescue Deacon, and Kenna's mother but also stop the heroes and their twisted forms of torture. The banter between this group was awesome. There were many moments when I laughed out loud at something that was said. There was a bit of romance in Powerless. I think that Kenna's feelings for Draven (a villain) really showed her that not every villain is bad as society has told her they are. 

There were a few things that I did have issues with though. The difference between heroes and villain wasn't touched up much, you catch something about a marker here and there but what makes them what they are? Also, is the whole world a hero or villain or are they a secret society? There were a few things that weren't talked about that I hope are expended upon in the next book. 

Overall I really did enjoy Powerless. It was a fun read, that I'm going to recommend to all superhero junkies. This is my first run with Tera Lynn Childs & Tracy Deebs, so it is safe to say that I will be reading more from them soon.

Rating:

Review: Ice Kissed by Amanda Hocking

Title: Ice Kissed (Kanin Chronicles #2) 
Author: Amanda Hocking
Genre: Fantasy 
Source: Finished copy sent by Publisher
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: May 5th 2015
Add it to Goodreads / Buy it on Amazon

Summary: 

Bryn Aven has always longed to be a part of the Kanin world. Though she has no social status because she’s a half-breed, she refuses to give up on her dream of serving the kingdom she loves. It’s a dream that brings her to a whole new realm . . . the glittering palace of the Skojare. The Skojare people need protection from the same brutal rival who’s been threatening the Kanin, and, being half Skojare herself, it’s a chance for Bryn to learn more about her heritage. Her boss Ridley Dresden is overseeing her mission and wants to help. He’s always been her most trusted friend—but as their undeniable attraction heats up, he becomes a distraction she can’t afford. Brynn is about to discover that the Skojare world is full of secrets, and as she’s drawn in deeper and deeper, she doesn’t know who to trust. As she gets closer to Ridley, she realizes she may not even be able to trust her own heart

Review:  

I did enjoy Ice Kissed but I had so many problems with it. I also expected it to live up to the first book in the series and be amazing. Sadly I am disappointed. Ice Kissed was good, but it won't be like Frostfire were I raved about it often. 

Ridley and Bryn return back from Skojare with nothing. The Queen is still missing, no one knows who did it. Then the Queen visits Bryn in a dream, giving Bryn the opportunity to find her. The Queen fears for her safety and to keep alliances strong between the Kanin and Skojare Bryn and Kasper (part of the Hogdragon) are sent to retrain the Skojare guard. But things don't go according to plan. Neither does Bryn's life plan. Who does she trust? What does she want? Is this what she wants for herself?

Bryn starts out Ice Kissed with the same dreams and goals as she had in Frostfire. Become a Hogdragon and protect her kingdom. But we watch as she tries to reclaim herself after loosing Konstantin and Viktor at the end of Frostfire, slowly come to realize that maybe she wants more out of her life. Ridley and Bryn take a huge step in their relationship, which I had hoped would open Bryn's eyes. It did. But she wants to be a Hogdragon and a relationship with her boss would be frowned upon. I wished that Hocking had added a bit more romance to Ice Kissed. There were a few parts that kepts me satisfied but the whole book my mind was: "I want more Ridley and Bryn!" 

In Ice Kissed they seemed more focus on who kidnapped the Queen and why rather then the conflicts that remained from Frostfire. The plot was slow and dragged in some places, it always felt repetitive, and a lot of the minor characters seemed dull and undeveloped. The last twenty pages were my favorite, some questions are answered and a whole crap load of things happen. Which sets the stage for book three. I am optimistic to with Hocking's work because she never disappointed me before. I am crossing my fingers that Crystal Fire will be much better. 

Rating:

Check out my review to Frostfire!