Been gone a long time now....

Ok so I know I haven't posted anything is a long time here, and i'm sorry for that, things have been really busy and hectic. But things are starting to calm some so I will be able to post more again, even if it's a mass review day, one day a week. I just want to thank everyone who has continued to follow me through my absence and that I love you all dearly for this.

ASCENSION~BY~ STACEY ROURKE

ASCENSION
BY: Stacey Rourke
SERIES: Gryphon #4
GENRE: Urban Fantasy/Young Adult
PUBLICATION: November 2013 by Anchor Group Publishing
AVERAGE RATING: 4.92

SYNOPSIS

From best selling and award winning author Stacey Rourke comes the heart-pounding continuation of the acclaimed Gryphon Series. 

The turning point of the Gryphon saga is at hand …

Battle looms. Three unstoppable forces prepare to clash in a colossal explosion that could wipe Gainesboro off the map. Fate and a sacred calling have landed nineteen year old Celeste Garrett in the middle with nowhere to run. 

Her trust wavers as she uncovers dark secrets of the Council, powerful enough to test her loyalty and turn her against those she swore to protect. Playing to the longing of her heart, a malevolent enemy uses her weakness against her to form an alliance. 

With the trumpets of war about to sound, which side will the Conduit choose, and who will be left standing?

MY REVIEW

I was given an ARC copy of this book, in return for an honest review.

Ascension starts off after everything was said and done in Sacrifice. About like a week or so. After having expelled Calebs demon, making him human, he was to have forgotten all about Celeste. She sure hadn't forgotten about him. Though that wasn't about to stop her from what was needing to be done. To get prepared for the battle, the battle among her and the countess. 

In this book secrets are revealed, that have been a lingering question in my mind throughout this series, "who was leaving the scrolls". Other things like another member of Celeste's, Kendall's, and Gabe's family is revealed. More of the past is recovered which made things make more sense. And you take a trip into the spirit realm, though it seemed like a mix between Wizard of Oz and Alice and Wonderland there, it kind of through me for a loop, but really it made sense with the characters in the book. However, the ending, was quite confusing there for a while, but it all came together nicely, and set it up for the next book. Which of course I'm dying to read now lol. 

What I loved about this book was that the story line was easy to follow, the world was easy to get sucked into, and the character you just can't help but to fall in love with. What I didn't like about this book is that along with the confusion near the end, there were a few other parts that confused me for a minute, that I felt could have used a little more detail on. But other than that this was another fantastic book from Stacey Rourke.

ASCENSION BOOK TOUR~ November 18- 22

Sorry this is being posted late, I've been sick.... but here you go!!!  Also Stayed Tune where on the 22nd I will be posting my review of the Ascension. As my part in the Ascension blog tour.

ABOUT STACEY:

There is nothing worse than being put on the spot and asked to talk about yourself. For me it brings back that inevitable moment in a new school when the teacher would ask me to stand up, introduce myself and tell the class something about myself. I was always worried I would blurt out something stupid that I would get teased for. Something like, “My name’s Stacey and I like pickles!” Then for the rest of the school year I’d be known as the Pickle Girl and let’s be honest, no one wants that. So to avoid such a faux pas I will simply say that I love to write. It allows me to get my crazy out just enough that I can function as a normal member of society.

Best selling award winning author of the Laugh-out Loud Gryphon Series and the nonfiction book I'm Not Crazy I'm on Lupron; a Journey Through Infertility. Learn more about Stacey's books at www.staceyrourke.com or diaryofasemi-crazyauthor.blogspot.com. If you are a blogger or reviewer interested in reviewing any of Mrs. Rourke's work please contact her publicist Sara O’Connor at info(AT) gliterarygirlmedia(DOT)com 

                                                

ABOUT ASCENSION:

From best selling and award winning author Stacey Rourke comes the heart-pounding continuation of the acclaimed Gryphon Series.

The turning point of the Gryphon saga is at hand …

Battle looms. Three unstoppable forces prepare to clash in a colossal explosion that could wipe Gainesboro off the map. Fate and sacred calling have landed nineteen year old Celeste Garrett in the middle with nowhere to run.

Her trust wavers as she uncovers dark secrets of the Council, powerful enough to test her loyalty and turn her against those she swore to protect. Playing to the longing of her heart, a malevolent enemy uses her weakness against her to form an alliance.

With the trumpets of war about to sound, which side will the Conduit choose, and who will be left standing? 

  

                                                     

LINKS:

Website: http://Staceyrourke.com

Blog: www.diaryofasemi-crazyauthor.blogspot.com

Twitter

Facebook

 Amazon

With the release of Ascension comes the newest edition of the entire series, complete with amazing illustrations of these dynamic characters. Here’s a sample:

Illustrator Crystal Ord will be bringing some of your favorite Gryphon Series characters to life!


Crystal Smalls Ord is a freelance illustrator and writer who resides in the rainy Pacific Northwest. Her art and stories have appeared in the macabre children's lit magazine, Underneath the Juniper Tree. Last year she illustrated her first children's book, Ethan's Story; My Life with Autism which can be found on Amazon.com. Her art has also appeared in hitRECord.com's musical short, Madamoiselle Noir.


In her free time Crystal plays with her kids, cleans house, teaches music in Sunday School, and lingers in the geekery corner of Pinterest.


Contact her at:

Website: wix.com/fynn47/author-website.com

Facebook: facebook.com/smallsord

The demonic and fantasy elements of the Conduit’s journey will jump off the page thanks to Robert Immings;

In 2000 Robert Immings graduated from the Art Institute of Atlanta with a BFA in graphic design. Since then he’s done work in package design, web development and designed training applications and software interfaces. These days he’s a mild-mannered operations technician with an electronic trading firm in Alpharetta Georgia. Earlier this.year he had a chance to enter Sony's "Treasures of Middle Earth" design contest which was a promotion for the hobbit movie. He came in as a runner-up. More recently he had the opportunity to do some sketches and collaborate on the cover for Emily Fogel's wonderful fantasy novel Dragon Wars and created the cover for her soon to be released book "Chasing Flames". Right now he’s excited to be working on a collection of illustrations for Stacey Rourke's Gryphon Series.


He’s always interested in illustration and graphic design projects and can be contacted at robertimmings@hotmail.com.

excerpt 1;


Somewhere between sleep and awake he came to me. The mattress shifted under his weight as he settled in beside me.


Warm breath teased against my ear. “I could ne’er leave you, lovey.”


His wandering hands gripped my waist and rolled me to face him. This warbled land governed by sleep couldn’t conjure his whole essence—too much time had passed for that. Instead it teased me with glimpses of what I’d been missing; silky hair caressing my cheek. Hot kisses traveling down my neck. Emerald eyes filled with an insatiable hunger. The sensual awakening that jolted through me when his mouth found mine.


“I’m always with you,” Caleb whispered against my lips.


I twined my arms around his neck and pulled him closer; a move that garnered a low groan of appreciation. His hands roamed up my arms and encircled my wrists. In a sudden, shockingly violent, move he forced them down against the mattress and pinned me there.


I gaped in confusion as green eyes blinked to sapphire blue. His seductive stare twisted into visible disgust and hatred. Like ink dumped from a bottle, the black drained from Caleb’s hair. The dripping color leaked away to reveal long strawberry blond hair ponytailed at the nape of his neck. Alec. Not the latest version of him currently possessed by a three-hundred-year-old demon, but the Alec I first met whilst rolling a tire. The carefree boy I had started to fall for before fate intervened. Yet the look that darkened his gaze was more murderous than welcoming. I thrashed and bucked beneath him but couldn’t seem to summon one iota of strength. His grip on my wrists tightened to the point of pain.


“Is he worth it?” he hissed in my face. “Is he worth the blood on your hands?”


Crimson red blood bubbled up Alec’s throat. It seeped between his teeth and dribbled down his chin. “Will he still want you when he knows what you’ve done and what it cost?”


Squeezing my eyes shut, I cringed further into the mattress as blood rained down. The warm stickiness, with its pungent rusty smell, dripped on my face and soaked my shirt.


I risked a glance up to see Alec’s lips curl in an evil grin. “Now, how ‘bout a kiss?”


He bowed his head and crammed his blood soaked lips to mine. My muffled scream quickly turned into a gurgled gasp for air as I fought not to drown in this crimson hell.

EXCERPT TWO

Blood pooling.
Seeping.
Merging.
Swirling together to form a detailed map of carnage.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.” The Countess pursed her full lips in a mock pout. “And to think he was trying to save you. You must feel simply dreadful right now.”
Anger quickened my breath making each word come out a breathless gasp. “Shut … up.”
“Why’s that?” She rested her palms on her ample hips and let her head fall to the side in a flowing curtain of scarlet. “Don’t feel like talking about it? Can’t say that I blame you. Here he was marching over here so gallantly to protect you while you called him names and berated him. That’s evil even by my standards and I make a viable vocation out of this.”
One stride into a forward charge toward certain death, I froze. My shocked heart lurched into an awkward stutter beat. The cause of my surprise? Rowan, rolling to his side and yanking the dagger from his gut. The Countess’s painted lips pulled back in a sneer.
Heels clicked across the floor with sharp snaps as she strode straight for him. “I hate it when people don’t have the courtesy to die the first time you kill them.”
With the stiletto heel of her boot, she pinned Rowan’s wrist to the floor … then stomped. Rowan howled and writhed as blood spurted from his wound. His injured hand loosened around the hilt. Before the blade could clank to the ground, the vile enchantress scooped it up. Flipping it in her hand, she arched back for the death blow.
“Nooooo!!”  I channeled everything inside me. Pulling every emotion that ravaged me throughout this god-awful day into my core, I raised both hands and hit her with the full force of my telepathic fury.
The dagger flew from her hand as she pin-wheeled into the darkness.
I rushed to Rowan’s side and eased him to a sitting position. “Row? Rowan?”
It took a minute for his sleepy gaze to find me. Even then his dilated pupils hinted consciousness would be fleeting. In the distance came a soft thud. The Countess must’ve found the other side of this massive hall. My little stunt bought us seconds only.
“Row?” My fingers dug into his shoulders as I attempted to shake him awake. “Can you teleport? I don’t know any other way out of here and we need to go now!”
In place of an answer, his eyes rolled back and his head lulled to the side.
Like rapid-fire gunshots, her heels clicked closer, building around us in an ominous echo.
I slapped Rowan softly once, then a second time with more vigor. “Rowan! Come on! One little poof then you can pass out! I promise! Just get us out of here!”
He woke with a jerk, a protective passion rising on his face. His tensed features sharpened. Turquoise eyes blazed as his injured hand weaved into my hair and pulled me to him. Blood dripped down the back of my neck and dampened my hair, yet pulling away never occurred to me. His lips brushed mine with a tentative question—a plea for acceptance. I hesitated for a fraction of a second before consenting with a resounding mutual urgency. Locked in each other’s embrace, we disappeared in a cloud of smoke.


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REVIEW: DEITY ~BY~ JENNIFER L. ARMENTROUT

DEITY
BY: Jennifer L. Armentrout
SERIES: Covenant #3
GENRE: Young Adult
PUBLICATION: November 6th 2012 by Spencer Hill Press (first published October 31st 2012)
AVERAGE RATING: 4.55

SYNOPSIS

"History is on repeat, and things didn't go so well the last time."

Alexandria isn't sure she's going to make it to her eighteenth birthday--to her Awakening. A long-forgotten, fanatical order is out to kill her, and if the Council ever discovers what she did in the Catskills, she's a goner... and so is Aiden. 

If that's not freaky enough, whenever Alex and Seth spend time "training"--which really is just Seth's code word for some up-close and personal one-on-one time--she ends up with another mark of the Apollyon, which brings her one step closer to Awakening ahead of schedule. Awesome. 

But as her birthday draws near, her entire world shatters with a startling revelation and she's caught between love and Fate. One will do anything to protect her. One has been lying to her since the beginning. Once the gods have revealed themselves, unleashing their wrath, lives will be irrevocably changed... and destroyed. 

Those left standing will discover if love is truly greater than Fate...

MY REVIEW

I'm pretty sure I mentioned that Seth was going to turn nefarious in future books, boy was I dead on, on that one. What a crazy ride this book takes you through. It's like the turning point on the series, what it at first was pretty friendly and fun loving, except for the few daimon attacks and what not. But this book was just OMG WOW!!!!!

REVIEW: PURE ~BY~ JENNIFER L. ARMENTROUT

PURE

BY: Jennifer L. Armentrout

SERIES: Covenant #2

GENRE: Young Adult

PUBLICATION: April 3rd 2012 by Spencer Hill Press

AVERAGE RATING: 4.42

SYNOPSIS

There is need. And then there is Fate. 

Being destined to become some kind of supernatural electrical outlet isn't exactly awesome--especially when Alexandria's "other half" is everywhere she goes. Seth's in her training room, outside her classes, and keeps showing up in her bedroom--so not cool. Their connection does have some benefits, like staving off her nightmares of the tragic showdown with her mother, but it has no effect on what Alex feels for the forbidden, pure-blooded Aiden. Or what he will do--and sacrifice--for her. When daimons infiltrate the Covenants and attack students, the gods send furies--lesser gods determined to eradicate any threat to the Covenants and to the gods, and that includes the Apollyon--and Alex. And if that and hordes of aether-sucking monsters didn't blow bad enough, a mysterious threat seems willing to do anything to neutralize Seth, even if that means forcing Alex into servitude--or killing her. When the gods are involved, some decisions can never, ever be undone.

MY REVIEW

You know its hardfor me to not like Seth especially after reading his point of view. But something just doesn't feel right with him, I have a feeling he's going become nefarious In future books. Aiden well I like him, but I think he's been a big pussy, up until the end of the book when the battle scene ended. I also am unclear on Lucians motives as well. Marcus I have a feeling he's against Alex. 

now onto the next book.

REVIEW: HALF BLOOD ~BY~ JENNIFER L. ARMENTROUT

HALF BLOOD
BY: Jennifer L. Armentrout
SERIES: Covenant #1
GENRE: Young Adult
PUBLICATION: October 18th 2011 by Spencer Hill Press
AVERAGE RATING:  4.23

SYNOPSIS

The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi pure bloods have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals--well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures. Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden. Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.

MY REVIEW

Holy effing WOWSERS! I knew the Jennifer L. Armentrout had blown me away before with her Lux series, but wow she has done it again with this series as well. This woman knows how to create a world, with fantastic characters, and amazing plot line, and hope beyond hope of things as well. However parts of it seemed almost to some point that I was reading Vampire Academy again, with the Trainer falling for the trainee and vice versa, the whole trainer goes out to seek the trainee, and an unbreakble bond formed right at the beginning. But you know what!? I don't care because I loved it in those books, and I'm loving it again in this one. Jennifer L. Armentrout has officially been made one of my most favorite authors.

REVIEW: HAMMERED ~BY~ KEVIN HEARNE

HAMMERED
BY: Kevin Hearne
SERIES: Iron Druid # 3
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
PUBLICATION: July 5th 2011 by Random House Publishing Group
AVERAGE RATING: 4.19

SYNOPSIS

Thor, the Norse god of thunder, is worse than a blowhard and a bully—he’s ruined countless lives and killed scores of innocents. After centuries, Viking vampire Leif Helgarson is ready to get his vengeance, and he’s asked his friend Atticus O’Sullivan, the last of the Druids, to help take down this Norse nightmare.

One survival strategy has worked for Atticus for more than two thousand years: stay away from the guy with the lightning bolts. But things are heating up in Atticus’s home base of Tempe, Arizona. There’s a vampire turf war brewing, and Russian demon hunters who call themselves the Hammers of God are running rampant. Despite multiple warnings and portents of dire consequences, Atticus and Leif journey to the Norse plain of Asgard, where they team up with a werewolf, a sorcerer, and an army of frost giants for an epic showdown against vicious Valkyries, angry gods, and the hammer-wielding Thunder Thug himself.

MY REVIEW

This book was pretty ho hum compared to the others I have read so far, granted this is like the 3rd book in the series.But most of it was slightly dull, and I didn't really need to know every little detail Atticus was making in his move. But once the quest started things really started picking up and once again I was glued, to the very end. Even stayed up late when I should have been sleeping because I had to wake up early in the morning, but no I was determined to finish once I got engrossed. 

Kevin Hearne's world is pretty spectacular. His use of every god pretty much known to man, is and epic use of creativeness. And Jesus in this book, was quite comical I thought. Thor, with loving Thor in the Marvel Movies, it was a little hard to depict him as an epic douche, but I managed it. 

I'm pretty stoked in finding out what happened to the Widow, and to find out what happens now that Atticus and his crew, from what it is sounding like has started the mega end, should be very interesting.