Showing posts with label Cassandra Rose Clarke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cassandra Rose Clarke. Show all posts

Monday, October 19, 2020

It's Monday! What Are You Reading #489, October 19th

It's Monday! What Are You Reading is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week...and anything in between! This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well...you never know where that next "must read" book will come from!

What happened in the past week:

Weekly Memes:
It's Monday! What Are You Reading #488
Teaser Tuesday #496
WWW Wednesday #496
WOW #492
Will the Time Come #489
Third Sentence Thursday #479
Random Reads #465
First Lines Friday #492
Book Blogger Hop #158
The Reward Challenge Update #474
Wheel of TBR #21
How Well I Stuck to It #326
Wrote that Review Update #323

Week 42 Reviews:
Defending Elysium
Shadows for Silence in the Forest of Hell
Pride and Premeditation
The Art of Theft
Murder on Cold Street
Mexican Gothic
Words of Radiance
Sixth of the Dusk


Random:

OK, so I got 51 posts in 7 days, I read a great deal of great books, and I had a pretty great week! What about you guys? Happy reading!

So this week I want to read Shadows of Self, The Bands of Mourning, Secret History, and White Sand.

Shadows of Self is the sequel to the USA Today bestselling The Allow of Law, part of the Mistborn series

When family obligations forced Waxillium Ladrian to forsake the frontier lands and return to the metropolis of his birth to take his place as head of a noble House, he little imagined that the crime-fighting skills acquired during twenty years in the dusty plains would be just as applicable in the big city. He soon learned that there too, just being a talented Twinborn —one who can use both Allomancy and Feruchemy, the dominant magical modes on Scadrial —would not suffice.

This bustling, optimistic, but still shaky society will now face its first test by terrorism and assassination, crimes intended to stir up labor strife and religious conflict. Wax, his eccentric sidekick Wayne, and brilliant, beautiful young Marasi, now officially part of the constabulary, must unravel the conspiracy before civil strife can stop Scadrial's progress in its tracks.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, the Mistborn series is a heist story of political intrigue and magical, martial-arts action.

Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, Scadrial is now on the verge of modernity, with railroads to supplement the canals, electric lighting in the streets and the homes of the wealthy, and the first steel-framed skyscrapers racing for the clouds.

The Bands of Mourning are the mythical metal minds owned by the Lord Ruler, said to grant anyone who wears them the powers that the Lord Ruler had at his command. Hardly anyone thinks they really exist. A kandra researcher has returned to Elendel with images that seem to depict the Bands, as well as writings in a language that no one can read. Waxillium Ladrian is recruited to travel south to the city of New Seran to investigate. Along the way he discovers hints that point to the true goals of his uncle Edwarn and the shadowy organization known as The Set.
Mistborn: Secret History is a companion story to the original Mistborn trilogy. As such, it contains HUGE SPOILERS for the books Mistborn (The Final Empire), The Well of Ascension, and The Hero of Ages. It also contains very minor spoilers for the book The Bands of Mourning. Mistborn: Secret History builds upon the characterization, events, and worldbuilding of the original trilogy. Reading it without that background will be a confusing process at best. In short, this isn't the place to start your journey into Mistborn. (Though if you have read the trilogy—but it has been a while—you should be just fine, so long as you remember the characters and the general plot of the books.) Saying anything more here risks revealing too much. Even knowledge of this story's existence is, in a way, a spoiler. There's always another secret.
A brand new saga of magic and adventure by #1 New York Times best-selling author Brandon Sanderson! On the planet of Taldain, the legendary Sand Masters harness arcane powers to manipulate sand in spectacular ways. But when they are slaughtered in a sinister conspiracy, the weakest of their number, Kenton, believes himself to be the only survivor. With enemies closing in on all sides, Kenton forges an unlikely partnership with Khriss -- a mysterious Darksider who hides secrets of her own.

Thursday, October 15, 2020

Forget This Ever Happened: Review

From Goodreads:
Sometimes there's a town called Indianola.

And sometimes there isn't.

Summer, 1993. Claire has been dumped in rural Indianola, Texas, to spend her whole vacation taking care of mean, sickly Grammy. There's nothing too remarkable about Indianola: it's run-down, shabby, and stifling hot, a pin-dot on the Gulf Coast.

Well, there is one remarkable thing, she discovers. Something otherworldly.

But if you leave Indianola, you forget about it... and if you stay, you have to live with it every day.

Because there's a confluence of energies at Indianola, a fissure in time and space, a gap in reality. Nothing is as it seems. And unless Claire can figure out this town--the talkative lizards under the pecan trees; the honey-sweet but terrifying girl next door; the cute daughter of a powerful family, who would answer Claire's questions if she had any answers; the pervasive sense of history coming unspooled, like a video tape--she might never leave.

Featuring a mindbending plot, heartfelt queer romance, brilliant writing, and intricate worldbuilding, Forget This Ever Happened is a lush and thrilling genre-bender perfect for the Black Mirror generation. 

My Review:
Yeah, I really enjoyed this book! The whole concept of a town that has a gap in reality, it's just so fascinating. And I really enjoyed going on this journey of Claire's, she was a really great character! It was just a really great book to read! 

This was a little bit of a horror book. After all, there are monsters or something, and they can mess with your mind, and erase themselves from your mind the further you get from the town. So that's pretty scary. And Claire doesn't want to get trapped in this town, so that's a problem.

I love the fact that this book is set in the 90's. I felt immersed in the culture, like the video tape reference in the synopsis. It felt natural, and this is only the 2nd book that I've read like this, so I really enjoyed that! 

Finally, the romance was just so adorable! And I loved the rep, because there can never be enough well done rep until it's not rep, it's a normal part of society, you know? I just loved Claire and Julie, they were a great couple to read about! 

This was a really great, original book, and I really enjoyed reading it! 

Author: Cassandra Rose Clarke
Read: October 14th, 2020
Source: YA Bound Review Copy
Reason Why: Sounded really great, and it's a SAC 2020 Book!
Publisher: Holiday House
Published: September 1st 2020
5/5 Hearts
5/5 Books
5/5 Stars
Bio:
Cassandra Rose Clarke's novels have been finalists for the Philip K. Dick Award, the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award, and YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults. Her poetry has placed second in the Rhysling Awards, been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, and appeared in Strange Horizons, Star*Line, and elsewhere. Her latest novel is Halo: Battle Born, out now from Scholastic. 

Cassandra graduated in 2006 from The University of St. Thomas with a B.A. in English, and two years later she completed her master’s degree in creative writing at The University of Texas at Austin. In 2010 she attended the Clarion West Writer’s Workshop in Seattle, where she was a recipient of the Susan C. Petrey Clarion Scholarship Fund. She is currently the associate director for a Houston-based literary arts nonprofit, Writespace.

Cassandra is represented by Stacia Decker of the Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency.


A collection of manuscript materials related to Cassandra's work, including her unpublished master's thesis, are now available digitally through the Cushings Manuscript Collections Database at Texas A&M University.

Contact and Buy AKA Links:


Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Page-a-Thon Update 29

 So I read my next book for Page-a-Thon, Forget This Ever Happened, and I'll be reading A Stitch in Time next!


My Reading Journey:

Three Charms for Murder by Honor Raconteur
Started On: October 1st
Finished On: October 1st, 12:58 PM
Pages Read: 250

Tamiko and the Two Janitors by Forthright
Started On: October 1st
Finished On: October 1st, 7:57 PM
Pages Read: 490

Mikoto and the Reaver Village by Forthright
Started On: October 1st
Finished On: October 1st, 11:42 PM
Pages Read: 502

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
Started On: October 2nd
Finished On: October 2nd, 10:49 PM
Pages Read:1258

The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson
Started On: October 3rd
Finished On: October 3rd, 11:46 PM
Pages Read: 383

Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania by Brandon Sanderson
Started On: October 4th
Finished On: October 4th, 11:30 AM
Pages Read: 40

These Rebel Waves by Sara Raasch
Started On: October 4th
Finished On: October 4th, 5:21 PM
Pages Read: 471

These Divided Shores by Sara Raasch
Started On: October 4th
Finished On: October 4th, 10:51 PM
Pages Read: 576

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
Started On: October 5th
Finished On: October 5th, 8:26 PM
Pages Read: 336

Caraval by Stephanie Garber
Started On: October 5th
Finished On: October 5th, 11:42 PM
Pages Read: 432

It Was Always You by Brenna Aubrey
Started On: October 6th
Finished On: October 6th, 9:01 PM
Pages Read: 70

For the Taking by Brenna Aubrey
Started On: October 6th
Finished On: October 6th, 10:25 PM
Pages Read: 363

In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren
Started On: October 7th
Finished On: October 7th, 11:40 AM
Pages Read: 336

Sideswiped by Kim Harrison
Started On: October 7th
Finished On: October 7th, 7:44 PM
Pages Read: 91

The Drafter by Kim Harrison
Started On: October 7th
Finished On: October 7th, 11:01 PM
Pages Read: 480

Waylaid by Kim Harrison
Started On: October 7th
Finished On: October 7th, 11:53 PM
Pages Read: 112

Freeze Warning by Suzan Krinard
Started On: October 8th
Finished On: October 8th, 8:34 AM
Pages Read: 32

Mist by Suzan Krinard
Started On: October 8th
Finished On: October 8th, 8:35 PM
Pages Read: 356

The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli
Started On: October 9th
Finished On: October 9th, 9:27 PM
Pages Read: 416

Defending Elysium by Brandon Sanderson
Started On: October 10th
Finished On: October 10th, 9:38 AM
Pages Read: 43

Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell by Brandon Sanderson
Started On: October 11th
Finished On: October 11th, 3:09 PM
Pages Read: 89

Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price
Started On: October 11th
Finished On: October 11th, 6:30 PM
Pages Read: 368

The Art of Theft by Sherry Thomas
Started On: October 11th
Finished On: October 11th, 8:41 PM
Pages Read: 304

Murder on Cold Street by Sherry Thomas
Started On: October 11th
Finished On: October 11th, 11:57 PM
Pages Read: 368

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Started On: October 12th
Finished On: October 12th, 2:25 PM
Pages Read: 352

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson
Started On: October 12th
Finished On: October October 12th, 11:03 PM
Pages Read: 1310

Sixth of the Dusk by Brandon Sanderson
Started On: October 12th
Finished On: October 12th, 11:57 PM
Pages Read: 96

Unrestricted Access by James Rollins
Started On: October 13th
Finished On: October 13th, 10:08 PM
Pages Read: 416

Forget This Ever Happened by Cassandra Rose Clarke
Started On: October 14th
Finished On: October 14th, 11:41 PM
Pages Read: 336

A Stitch in Time by Kelley Armstrong
Started On: October 15th
Currently On: Page 0 of 378

Books Read: 29
Pages Read: 11251

WWW Wednesday #496, October 14th

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you'll read next?

Thanks to MizB of Should Be Writing now A Daily Rhythm for starting this meme!

I'm currently reading Forget This Ever Happened, and it's really thrilling and I'm enjoying it! 
I read Unrestricted Access, and it was really great to read this collection of James Rollins short stories! 
I'm going to be reading A Stitch in Time, and I can't wait, I love her books, and I read the teaser that was the first few chapters, and I just want to read more! 

What about you guys? Happy reading! 

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Page-a-Thon Update 28

So I read my next book for Page-a-Thon, Unrestricted Access, and I'll be reading Forget This Ever Happened next!

My Reading Journey:

Three Charms for Murder by Honor Raconteur
Started On: October 1st
Finished On: October 1st, 12:58 PM
Pages Read: 250

Tamiko and the Two Janitors by Forthright
Started On: October 1st
Finished On: October 1st, 7:57 PM
Pages Read: 490

Mikoto and the Reaver Village by Forthright
Started On: October 1st
Finished On: October 1st, 11:42 PM
Pages Read: 502

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
Started On: October 2nd
Finished On: October 2nd, 10:49 PM
Pages Read:1258

The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson
Started On: October 3rd
Finished On: October 3rd, 11:46 PM
Pages Read: 383

Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania by Brandon Sanderson
Started On: October 4th
Finished On: October 4th, 11:30 AM
Pages Read: 40

These Rebel Waves by Sara Raasch
Started On: October 4th
Finished On: October 4th, 5:21 PM
Pages Read: 471

These Divided Shores by Sara Raasch
Started On: October 4th
Finished On: October 4th, 10:51 PM
Pages Read: 576

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
Started On: October 5th
Finished On: October 5th, 8:26 PM
Pages Read: 336

Caraval by Stephanie Garber
Started On: October 5th
Finished On: October 5th, 11:42 PM
Pages Read: 432

It Was Always You by Brenna Aubrey
Started On: October 6th
Finished On: October 6th, 9:01 PM
Pages Read: 70

For the Taking by Brenna Aubrey
Started On: October 6th
Finished On: October 6th, 10:25 PM
Pages Read: 363

In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren
Started On: October 7th
Finished On: October 7th, 11:40 AM
Pages Read: 336

Sideswiped by Kim Harrison
Started On: October 7th
Finished On: October 7th, 7:44 PM
Pages Read: 91

The Drafter by Kim Harrison
Started On: October 7th
Finished On: October 7th, 11:01 PM
Pages Read: 480

Waylaid by Kim Harrison
Started On: October 7th
Finished On: October 7th, 11:53 PM
Pages Read: 112

Freeze Warning by Suzan Krinard
Started On: October 8th
Finished On: October 8th, 8:34 AM
Pages Read: 32

Mist by Suzan Krinard
Started On: October 8th
Finished On: October 8th, 8:35 PM
Pages Read: 356

The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli
Started On: October 9th
Finished On: October 9th, 9:27 PM
Pages Read: 416

Defending Elysium by Brandon Sanderson
Started On: October 10th
Finished On: October 10th, 9:38 AM
Pages Read: 43

Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell by Brandon Sanderson
Started On: October 11th
Finished On: October 11th, 3:09 PM
Pages Read: 89

Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price
Started On: October 11th
Finished On: October 11th, 6:30 PM
Pages Read: 368

The Art of Theft by Sherry Thomas
Started On: October 11th
Finished On: October 11th, 8:41 PM
Pages Read: 304

Murder on Cold Street by Sherry Thomas
Started On: October 11th
Finished On: October 11th, 11:57 PM
Pages Read: 368

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Started On: October 12th
Finished On: October 12th, 2:25 PM
Pages Read: 352

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson
Started On: October 12th
Finished On: October October 12th, 11:03 PM
Pages Read: 1310

Sixth of the Dusk by Brandon Sanderson
Started On: October 12th
Finished On: October 12th, 11:57 PM
Pages Read: 96

Unrestricted Access by James Rollins
Started On: October 13th
Finished On: October 13th, 10:08 PM
Pages Read: 416

Forget This Ever Happened by Cassandra Rose Clarke
Started On: October 14th
Currently On: Page 0 of 336

Books Read: 28
Pages Read: 10915

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Write on Review-a-Thon Update 15

Write On Review-a-Thon
Wrote my next review, The Assassin's Curse, and I'll be reviewing Shanna next.



Goals: 20
Reviews: 15

Write on Review-a-Thon Update 14

Write On Review-a-Thon
Wrote my next review, 3:59, and I'll be reviewing The Assassin's Curse next.



Goals: 20
Reviews: 14

Friday, October 17, 2014

Cassandra Rose Clarke Author Page

The Story: The Assassin's Curse was on NetGalley, and I don't think I requested it, but yeah, it sounded really fantastic, so sometime, when I remembered it, I read it, and yeah, it was just awesome! And I did request-and get-The Pirate's Wish from NetGalley, which I hope to read soon-ish!

Website

Series: The Assassin's Curse, The Hanna Duology

The Assassin's Curse: The Witch's Betrayal and my review, The Automaton's Treasure and my review, The Assassin's Curse and her site, my review, The Pirate's Wish and her site, my review.

The Hanna Duology (Spin Off Series of *The Assassin's Curse*): The Wizard's Promise and her site, my review, The Nobleman's Revenge and her site, my review.

Stand Alone's: The Mad Scientist's Daughter and her site, my review, Our Lady of the Ice and her site, Forget This Ever Happened and her site, my review.

Monday, December 16, 2013

It's Monday! What Are You Reading #132, December 16th

It's Monday! What Are You Reading is a weekly meme hosted by Book Journey where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week...and anything in between! This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well...you never know where that next "must read" book will come from!

What happened in the past week:

Weekly Memes:
It's Monday! What Are You Reading #131
Teaser Tuesday #139
WWW Wednesday #139
WOW #136
Will the Time Come #132
Third Sentence Thursday #122
Random Reads #107
First Lines Friday #127
The Reward Challenge Round 88
Follow Friday #110

Week 50 Reviews:
Shanna
The Assassin's Curse
3:59
Broken
Abandon
Men of the Otherworld
Tales of the Otherworld
Demonology
Becoming
Truth and Consequences
Territorial
Escape
Adventurer
Chaotic
Bargain
Framed
Checkmate
Recruit
13
Brazen
Confessions of a Murder Suspect
The Private School Murders
Hot Six
Seven Up
Hard Eight
Deception
Lightbringer
Infinityglass
Adaptation
Natural Selection
Inheritance
Pride

OK, so I got 24 posts in 7 days, and yeah, great week in books, and I'm going to be going on a plane on Friday, and then a boat on Saturday, so this week and next week, well, soon to be on vacation!! What about you guys? Happy reading!

So this week I want to read Predatory Game, Legacy of the Clockwork Key, Dance of Shadows, The Ward, Arclight, Hooked, Etiquette & Espionage, Pantomime, Rush, Midnight City, Venom, The Last Oracle, The Doomsday Key, The Skeleton Key, The Devil Colony, The Archived, Exit Strategy, Made to be Broken, Wild Justice, This Strange and Familiar Place, Naturals, Time Between Us, Time After Time, Graceling, Fallen, To the Nines, The Queen's Choice, Shadowlark, Spirit's Chosen, The Madness Underneath, Escaping Reality, and Resist.
When a fire consumes Meg’s home, killing her parents and destroying both her fortune and her future, all she has left is the tarnished pocket watch she rescued from the ashes. But this is no ordinary timepiece. The clock turns out to be a mechanical key—a key that only Meg can use—that unlocks a series of deadly secrets and intricate clues that Meg is compelled to follow.

Together with the handsome stable hand she barely knows but hopes she can trust, Meg is swept into a hidden world of deception, betrayal, and revenge, uncovering evidence of an elite secret society and a dangerous invention that some will stop at nothing to protect.
Dancing with someone is an act of trust. Elegant and intimate; you're close enough to kiss, close enough to feel your partner's heartbeat. But for Vanessa, dance is deadly – and she must be very careful who she trusts . . .

Vanessa Adler attends an elite ballet school – the same one her older sister, Margaret, attended before she disappeared. Vanessa feels she can never live up to her sister's shining reputation. But Vanessa, with her glorious red hair and fair skin, has a kind of power when she dances – she loses herself in the music, breathes different air, and the world around her turns to flames . . .

Soon she attracts the attention of three men: gorgeous Zep, mysterious Justin, and the great, enigmatic choreographer Josef Zhalkovsky. When Josef asks Vanessa to dance the lead in the Firebird, she has little idea of the danger that lies ahead – and the burning forces about to be unleashed . . .
No one crosses the wall of light . . . except for one girl who doesn’t remember who she is, where she came from, or how she survived. A harrowing, powerful debut thriller about finding yourself and protecting your future—no matter how short and uncertain it may be.

The Arclight is the last defense. The Fade can’t get in. Outside the Arclight’s border of high-powered beams is the Dark. And between the Light and the Dark is the Grey, a narrow, barren no-man’s-land. That’s where the rescue team finds Marina, a lone teenage girl with no memory of the horrors she faced or the family she lost. Marina is the only person who has ever survived an encounter with the Fade. She’s the first hope humanity has had in generations, but she could also be the catalyst for their final destruction. Because the Fade will stop at nothing to get her back. Marina knows it. Tobin, who’s determined to take his revenge on the Fade, knows it. Anne-Marie, who just wishes it were all over, knows it.

When one of the Fade infiltrates the Arclight and Marina recognizes it, she will begin to unlock secrets she didn’t even know she had. Who will Marina become? Who can she never be again?
When Native American Fredricka ‘Fred’ Oday is invited to become the only girl on the school’s golf team, she can’t say no. This is an opportunity to shine, win a scholarship and go to university, something no one in her family has done.

But Fred’s presence on the team isn’t exactly welcome — especially not to rich golden boy Ryan Berenger, whose best friend was kicked off the team to make a spot for Fred.

But there’s no denying that things are happening between the girl with the killer swing and the boy with the killer smile...

GET HOOKED ON A GIRL NAMED FRED.
Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is the bane of her mother's existence. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper etiquette at tea--and god forbid anyone see her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. She enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But little do Sophronia or her mother know that this is a school where ingenious young girls learn to finish, all right--but it's a different kind of finishing. Mademoiselle Geraldine's certainly trains young ladies in the finer arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but also in the other kinds of finishing: the fine arts of death, diversion, deceit, espionage, and the modern weaponries. Sophronia and her friends are going to have a rousing first year at school.
R. H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic is the greatest circus of Ellada. Nestled among the glowing blue Penglass—remnants of a mysterious civilization long gone—are wonders beyond the wildest imagination. It’s a place where anything seems possible, where if you close your eyes you can believe that the magic and knowledge of the vanished Chimaera is still there. It’s a place where anyone can hide.

Iphigenia Laurus, or Gene, the daughter of a noble family, is uncomfortable in corsets and crinoline, and prefers climbing trees to debutante balls. Micah Grey, a runaway living on the streets, joins the circus as an aerialist’s apprentice and soon becomes the circus’s rising star.

But Gene and Micah have balancing acts of their own to perform, and a secret in their blood that could unlock the mysteries of Ellada.
Cassandra Caravello is one of Renaissance Venice’s lucky elite: with elegant gowns, sparkling jewels, her own lady’s maid, and a wealthy fiancé, she has everything a girl could desire. Yet ever since her parents’ death, Cassandra has felt trapped, alone in a city of water, where the dark and labyrinthine canals whisper of escape.

When Cass stumbles upon a murdered woman—practically in her own backyard—she’s drawn into a dangerous world of courtesans, killers, and secret societies. Soon, she finds herself falling for Falco, a mysterious artist with a mischievous grin... and a spectacular skill for trouble. Can Cassandra find the murderer, before he finds her? And will she stay true to her fiancé, or succumb to her uncontrollable feelings for Falco?

Beauty, love, romance, and mystery weave together in a stunning novel that’s as seductive and surprising as the city of Venice itself.
Seichan is ripped out of the Sigma series for an adventure all her own—but can she survive? The beautiful and elusive assassin wakes in a hotel in Paris with a deadly electronic collar fastened to her throat. Joined by a boy who is similarly threatened, she must rescue the son of a hated enemy, who has fallen under the sway of the nefarious leader of an apocalyptic cult. To survive, she must venture into the dark world beneath the City of Lights, into the infamous catacombs of Paris. Caught between two enemies, she must fight for her life…while time ticks down toward a fiery apocalypse. But in the dark, surrounded by the moldering bones of the dead, even success does not equal survival. In the end, the only true hope for the world lies in a stunning act of betrayal.
Regulars at Nadia's nature lodge don't ask what she does in the off-season. And that's a good thing. If she told them, she'd have to kill them. She's a hit woman for a Mafia family.

Tough and self-sufficient, Nadia doesn't owe anyone any explanations. But that doesn't mean she always works alone. One of her contacts has recruited her in the hunt for a ruthlessly efficient serial killer cutting a swath of terror across the country. The assassin is far too skilled to be an amateur—and the precision of the killings is bringing the Feds much too close to the hit man community for comfort.

To put an end to the murders, Nadia will have to turn herself from predator to prey as she employs every trick she knows to find the killer. Before the killer finds her…
The author of the acclaimed Women of the Otherworld series returns with her latest novel featuring an exciting heroine with a lethal hidden talent. This time she's hot on the trail of a young woman no one else cares about and a killer who's bound to strike again. Nadia Stafford isn't your typical nature lodge owner. An ex-cop with a legal code all her own, she's known only as Dee to her current employer: a New York crime family that pays her handsomely to bump off traitors. But when Nadia discovers that a troubled teenage employee and her baby have vanished in the Canadian woods, the memory of a past loss comes back with a vengeance and her old instincts go into overdrive. With her enigmatic mentor, Jack, covering her back, Nadia unearths sinister clues that point to an increasingly darker and deadlier mystery. Now, with her obsession over the case deepening, the only way Nadia can right the wrongs of the present is to face her own painful ghosts and either bury them for good, or die trying. Because in her book everyone deserves a chance. And everyone deserves justice.
Protect the innocent. If there is any one principle that drives hit man Nadia Stafford, it’s this. In her own mind, when she was thirteen, she failed to protect her older cousin Amy from being murdered. Now she fails again, disastrously, when she botches a hit. To help her find her equilibrium, her mentor, Jack, brings her a gift: the location and new identity of the predator who killed her cousin and disappeared after the case against him failed.

Vengeance, justice? With the predator in her sights, nothing seems more right, more straightforward, more easy. But finding justice is never as simple as it seems.
These are the things of which Lydia is now certain:

The Montauk Project has been experimenting with time travel for years.

The Project's subjects are "recruits" from across time, recruits like Wes, Lydia's ally, friend, and love.

The Project is now responsible for the disappearance of two members of her family...

The conspiracy theorists were right about the Montauk Project all along. In this sequel to So Close to You, they're coming for Lydia next...
Tess is finally safe from the reach of the Council, now that she is living in the Middlelands with the rebel Isolationists. With James having returned to Templeton, she easily falls back into her friendship with Henry, though her newfound knowledge of Robert’s chosen one status still stings. Even surrounded by people, Tess has never felt more alone. So she’s thrilled when James returns to the settlement, demanding to see Tess — until she finds out that it’s because her sister, Louisa, has been recruited into Tess’s old position at Templeton, and that the dangerously sadistic chosen one George has taken an interest in her.
Deadly Grace

Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight--she's a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graces as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king's thug.

When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change.

She never expects to become Po's friend.

She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace--or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away...
There’s something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.

Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price’s attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah. He’s the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.

Even Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce – he goes out of his way to make that very clear. But she can’t let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, Luce has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret...even if it kills her.
Stephanie Plum's got rent to pay, people shooting at her, and psychos wanting her dead every day of the week (much to the dismay of her mother, her family, the men in her life, the guy who slices meat at the deli...oh, the list goes on). An ordinary person would cave under the pressure.

But hey, she's from Jersey.

Stephanie Plum may not be the best bounty hunter in beautiful downtown Trenton, but she's pretty darn good at turning bad situations her way...and she always gets her man. In
To The Nines, her cousin Vinnie (who's also her boss) has posted bail on Samuel Singh, an immigrant who becomes an illegal alien by violating his Visa and extending his stay in the United States. When the elusive Mr. Singh goes missing, Stephanie is on the case. But what she uncovers is far more sinister than anyone imagines and leads to a group of killers who give new meaning to the word "hunter..."

In a race against time that takes her from the Jersey Turnpike to the Vegas strip, Stephanie Plum is on the chase of her life.
Infinite possibilities….
Infinite passion…..
Infinite danger….

His touch spirals through me, warm and sweet, wicked and hot. I shouldn’t trust him. I shouldn’t tell him my secrets. But how do I not when he is the reason I breathe? He is what I need.

At the young age of eighteen, tragedy and a dark secret force Lara to flee all she has known and loves to start a new life. Now years later, with a new identity as Amy, she’s finally dared to believe she is forgotten–even if she cannot forget. But just when she lets down her guard, the ghosts of her past are quick to punish her, forcing her back on the run.

On a plane, struggling to face the devastation of losing everything again and starting over, Amy meets Liam Stone, a darkly entrancing recluse billionaire, who is also a brilliant, and famous, prodigy architect. A man who knows what he wants and goes after it. And what he wants is Amy. Refusing to take “no” as an answer, he sweeps her into a passionate affair, pushing her to her erotic limits. He wants to possess her. He makes her want to be possessed. Liam demands everything from her, accepting nothing less. But what if she is too devastated by tragedy to know when he wants more than she should give? And what if there is more to Liam than meets the eyes?
The sequel—and conclusion—to Sarah Crossan's Breathe. Three teen outlaws must survive on their own in a world without air, exiled outside the glass dome that protects what's left of human civilization. Gripping action, provocative ideas, and shocking revelations in a dystopian novel that fans of Patrick Ness and Veronica Roth will devour.

Bea, Alina, and Quinn are on the run. They started a rebellion and were thrown out of the pod, the only place where there's enough oxygen to breathe. Bea has lost her family. Alina has lost her home. And Quinn has lost his privileged life. Can they survive in the perilous Outlands? Can they finish the revolution they began? Especially when a young operative from the pod's Special Forces is sent after them. Their only chance is to stand together, even when terrible circumstances force them apart. When the future of human society is in danger, these four teens must decide where their allegiances lie. Sarah Crossan has created a dangerous, and shattered society in this wrenching, thought-provoking, and unforgettable post-apocalyptic novel.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Week 50 Review: The Assassin's Curse

From Goodreads:
Ananna of the Tanarau abandons ship when her parents try to marry her off to another pirate clan. But that only prompts the scorned clan to send an assassin after her. When Ananna faces him down one night, armed with magic she doesn't really know how to use, she accidentally activates a curse binding them together. 

To break the spell, Ananna and the assassin must complete three impossible tasks--all while grappling with evil wizards, floating islands, haughty manticores, runaway nobility, strange magic...and the growing romantic tension between them.

My Review:
This was such a fantastic book! Ananna was such a kick ass female, an a pirate to boot, who wouldn't take an arraigned marriage, and stood up for herself. Though it didn't end quite as well as she could want, having an assassin after her, and then being magically linked to him!

Yeah, loved this world, that they're pirates, which is so awesome! And then there's the magic, and awesome, unique monsters and magic, and yeah, it's not the end, so there's going to be more in the next book-there has to be!

Loved how their relationship developed, from him trying to kill her, to her saving his life, and bringing on the curse, which led to the tasks, which as they accomplish, they learn more about each other, and that, plus a spark, leads to the start of a pretty good relationship, even if they haven't kissed yet!

There were a few things left open in this book, things that I really want to know, that we hopefully get in the next book, or in the novellas, which I haven't read yet, but I will! Because I want to know more about these characters and this world!

Such a great story, so entertaining, and I can't wait for more!

Author: Cassandra Rose Clarke
Series: The Assassin's Curse #1
Read: December 7th, 2013
Source: Tuebl
Reason Why: Sounded good, and it's a Sequel Challenge 2013 Book!
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Published: October 2nd 2012
5/5 Hearts
5/5 Books
5/5 Stars