Month: February 2013

Too Many Books and Not Nearly Enough Time

So i am back to work and as is usually the case, I am left with or no time to read. Although to be fair, I did manage to squeeze in Archangel by Sharon Shinn (more than halfway through it) and its quite enjoyable. I doubt i’ll post a review though because when i read in installments its becomes hard for me to sort out my thoughts about the book.

I have soooo many books on my to-read list and that list keeps growing. I recently realised that there were series that i had been following (like Shadow Falls and Mythos Academy) and i had forgotten to keep up with because i thought that I would wait for the series to conclude. The flipside to that logic is that by the time i get around to reading those concluding books, I would have lost the thread of the narrative and forgotten most of what happened in the previous books. So I am trying to rectify that. One of the books I am very eagerly awaiting is Darkness, Kindled, book 5 in the Fire Spirits Series. I was heartbroken when the release date pushed from November (i think) of last year.. The release date is closer and i won’t have to wait too long to read it. The Fire Spirits is one of my favourite series and I am little sad to see it end and also happy the Samantha Young is not dragging it endlessly.

In other news, I suffered from a reader’s block during this bout i ended up quitting 2 books even before i was halfway through them and then i finally stumbled upon Touched by Corinne Jackson. I read that and i liked quite a bit. It was fun read and well-paced narrative. There was something happening all the time, the middle got a little slow but that also served a purpose in making things appear calm when really, the shit was about to hit the fan. But very well done and I am looking forward to reading the sequel, which unfortunately comes out in December 2013. That’s not all that bad either considering how many books i have yet to read.. I’m conflicted whether i should read 2 Gena Showalter books: Beauty Awakened and Last Kiss Goodnight or Jennifer L. Armentrout’s Waiting For You, regardless of which i pick it’ll have to be after i’m done with the project i’m currently working on which will be post the 13th of March.. 12th is the last day of shoot so obviously I’m going to spend the next day sleeping and generally doing absolutely nothing..

Gotta get going now, stay tuned for more about my reading woes in future posts..

Wait for You by Jennifer L. Armentrout Cover Reveal

Hey guys, so the cover for Wait For You is finally here and without further ado, here you go:

WaitForYou Amazon

Synopsis

Some things are worth waiting for…

Traveling thousands of miles from home to enter college is the only way nineteen-year-old Avery Morgansten can escape what happened at the Halloween party five years ago—an event that forever changed her life. All she needs to do is make it to her classes on time, make sure the bracelet on her left wrist stays in place, not draw any attention to herself, and maybe—please God—make a few friends, because surely that would be a nice change of pace. The one thing she didn’t need and never planned on was capturing the attention of the one guy who could shatter the precarious future she’s building for herself.

Some things are worth experiencing…

Cameron Hamilton is six feet and three inches of swoon-worthy hotness, complete with a pair of striking blue eyes and a remarkable ability to make her want things she believed were irrevocably stolen from her. She knows she needs to stay away from him, but Cam is freaking everywhere, with his charm, his witty banter, and that damn dimple that’s just so… so lickable. Getting involved with him is dangerous, but when ignoring the simmering tension that sparks whenever they are around each other becomes impossible, he brings out a side of her she never knew existed.

Some things should never be kept quiet…

But when Avery starts receiving threatening emails and phone calls forcing her to face a past she wants silenced, she’s has no other choice but to acknowledge that someone is refusing to allow her to let go of that night when everything changed. When the devastating truth comes out, will she resurface this time with one less scar? And can Cam be there to help her or will he be dragged down with her?

And some things are worth fighting for…

There are also reviews from those lucky people who got to read it way ahead of the rest of us and this what they had to say about Wait For You:

“J. Lynn creates a wonderful cast of characters that will make you laugh, swoon, and cry. Cam stole my heart.” – Cora Carmack, NYTimes and USA TODAY Bestselling Author of LOSING IT

“For the love of all that is Cameron without a shirt on! Wait for You will have you laughing out loud, fanning yourself and anxiously waiting to know what will happen next.” – Molly McAdams, NYTimes and USA TODAY Bestselling Author of FROM ASHES and TAKING CHANCES

“I don’t think I have ever read a NA Contemporary novel with as much depth as this one. It really moved me and by the end I was just speechless over how inspirational and uplifting it was as well as being sexy and cute and funny and emotional.” – K Books

 

“Wait For You is uniquely different from anything else J. Lynn’s written but it might possibly be her best work yet.” – Jenuine Cupcakes

“For all of you in love with Aiden and Daemon, PREPARE YOURSELVES! Your heart will have to expand a little more for Cam.” Total Bookaholic

“For the love of all things CAM, this book deserves more than 5 stars.” – Mundie Moms

“I cannot even begin to explain how much I adored this perfectly crafted contemporary.” – Shortie Says

Wait For You is available now and you can order it from the following links (so glad it released ahead of schedule):

Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Wait-for-You-ebook/dp/B00BLTOXEI/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1361958795&sr=1-1&keywords=wait+for+you
Barnes and Noble
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wait-for-you-j-lynn/1114701569?ean=2940016231921

Author photo

J. Lynn, also known as Jennifer L. Armentrout, is the USA TODAY Bestselling author of the adult romance Gamble Brothers’ series, the young adult Lux Series and award winning Covenant Series. She pretty much writes everything—contemporary, paranormal, and fantasy. All of her books have one thing in common no matter the name or genre: kissing… and stuff. When she’s not busy writing, which is never, she’s usually hanging out with dog Loki, watching reruns of The Walking Dead, or procrastinating on the Internet. You can find out more about Jennifer by visiting the following websites:

Twitter
https://twitter.com/JLArmentrout

Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/JenniferLArmentrout

Website:
http://www.jenniferarmentrout.com/

Chronicles of Elantra (Books #01 – #08) Review

tumblr_m7aj4pLuos1rbpq87o1_1280Its been sometime since I have been this invested in a series. I’m usually a little wary of starting a series when it is already about 8 books down and in part I started reading it because I thought that the 9th book would probably be the last in the series, but having read the rest of them, I don’t think that’s very likely. But I am very glad I did because it is one of the most intense series I’ve read in a while, very well written and the world and the characters in it are so well conceived.

This review is very hard to write because there are just so many things happening in the books and so many characters that I have no idea where to start and how much to mention because I don’t want to give away any plot points. But I’ll try and I hope it makes sense to those of you who take the time to go through this muddled mess. Here goes.

I read them back-to-back and this can sometimes be a bad thing because the intensity becomes tiresome and repetitive. Thankfully, that didn’t happen here. The writing style definitely helped, it was very descriptive and the world the characters inhabit grew more detailed with each passing book. Also it didn’t hurt that the problems that had to be overcome in each of the books bordered on the apocalyptic.

The main protagonist of the series is Kaylin Neya. At 20 years of age, she is a private and serves the Hawks. This is the investigative wing of the Halls of Law, which also includes the Swords (peacekeepers) and the Wolves (Empire sanctioned assassins and man-hunters sent in search of fugitives and criminals) But what makes Kaylin very different from the rest of the populace of Elantra (I’ll get to the other races in a bit) are the strange marks on her body. The significance and meaning of these marks becomes more apparent as the books progress.

She is one of most ‘human’ characters that I have read in popular fiction. Kaylin had a very tough childhood growing up in the ‘fiefs; these are the relatively lawless and unregulated lands that border the Empire of Elantra but they’re outside the purview of the Emperor. All kinds of activities that would be illegal in the Empire, flourish here. Naturally then, the fiefs are no place for the young and protected. Kaylin, when she lived in the fiefs, was both, orphaned at a young age, she survived because she found help in the form of other fieflings but that survival came at a price, one that defined her choices well into adulthood.

And I loved that despite those challenges she retains spark and spunk and a healthy dose of sarcasm. She is stubborn and loyal (to a fault.) She has strong prejudices but is unwilling to let them dictate her actions. That she rushes into dangerous situations without any concern for herself. And of course, her absolute inability to reach anyplace on time. Something a lot of my friends also have trouble with unfortunately.

The world of Elantra is inhabited by very different beings ranging from the immortals races of the Dragons and the Barrani (tall and pale beings and they have pointy ears), to the mortal ones of the humans, Leontines (lion-like but stand upright), Aerians (human in appearance except they have wings growing out of their back and can therefore fly) and Thala’ani (also human in appearance except they have 2 stalks growing out of their heads.)

Each of the books more or less focuses on one of these races and this was great because it gave the readers an insight into that particular race’s culture, history and quirks. There are many secondary characters in the series. Normally when you have so many of them, more often than not, they tend to get lost as the narrative progresses or are so poorly conceived that they retain no personality of their own. This was not the case here. The secondary characters here were an absolute treat and made the series so much fun. They are such a great foil for Kaylin and her growth results not just from her experiences but also from her interaction with these characters.

As far these secondary characters go, it was very hard to really dislike them and I think that just goes to show just how well envisioned they were. Ok, that’s not completely honest, there was one character that I absolutely couldn’t stand but when you have a list of characters this long, this is saying something. Some of the more important characters are Severn (Human), Teela (Barrani) (she became one of my favourites early on) Marcus (Leontine), Tiamaris, Sanabalis, the Arkon (all of them Dragons), Nightshade (Barrani). There are others but I don’t want to give out their names and reveal something without meaning to. What is really striking about this series, is that these characters grow just as Kaylin does and we learn more about them as we read on. The villain in most of these books is a Dragon Makkuron and slowly his story is also emerging and giving us a better sense of who he was.

My only grouse is that, throughout the series, we heard a lot about the Dragon Emperor but he hasn’t made an appearance yet. I thought maybe we would finally meet him in the 8th book, but alas, no such luck. And I doubt that he’ll make an appearance in the next installment Cast in Sorrow. The silver lining? The series doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon, so maybe we can hope that it won’t be long before we meet him. The dark cloud? Now, I’ll have to wait till the next book and then after reading that, for the one after that and so on… UGH!! So not looking forward to that! Cast in Sorrow will at least release in 2013 but I don’t think it’ll be anytime before August because so far the release date only says 2013. So we have a bit of a wait ahead of us.

This review doesn’t really do these books justice at all. I loved the series and it’s very highly recommended. Also before I forget, there is some great fan art that I stumbled upon by this guy called Mathia Arkoniel. Be sure to check them out. His chibi illustrations are especially funny, although they may not make a lot of sense to you if you haven’t read the 7th and 8th books. (The image on top is his work and another one of my faourites)  Enjoy reading!! 😀