FREE - WARPED by EMMA JAMES - FIRST TIME EVER ON SALE

The Hunt Is On.

WHISPER

I was never meant to be free.

Evil has taken from me again.

I’ve lost the two people I’ve grown to love because another of Hell’s bastards has staked his claim on me and stolen me away.

What gives another human being the right to take another’s innocence and try to destroy their soul?

EDGE - ENFORCER for the SOULLESS BASTARDS MC

We were never meant to meet.

Our lives collided and spun out in different directions.

Now it’s a race against time.

Time she doesn’t have.

This is on my head.

I f*cked up.

What happens when a Soulless Bastards MC enforcer is on the hunt for the f*ckers involved in taking the sweet and wild girl? 

No Mercy happens.

Please note: This series has MC influence, but don't expect an MC read.

This is a dark suspense/thriller series with twists around every corner and a love worth fighting for. 

This is one of those series, you won't see coming.

WARPED

US: http://amzn.to/29HNTkq

UK: http://amzn.to/29T82rc

AUS: http://amzn.to/2ulrchq

CAD: http://amzn.to/29ZS66K

GIVEAWAY - AFTERLIFE OF ALANNA MILLER by DEMELZA CARLTON - NIGHTMARES TRILOGY # 3 - RELEASE DAY BLITZ - MYSTERY THRILLER

 

AFTERLIFE OF ALANNA MILLER

(Book Three in the Nightmares Trilogy)

By Demelza Carlton

 

Genre: Mystery Thriller

 

Synopsis:

 

Five years ago, Nathan's world came crashing down. The witness protection program stole the woman he loved and now he's lost everything - including hope that she's still alive. His security job is a daily reminder of the girl he failed to protect, dragging him deeper into despair.

Forced to assume the identity of a dead girl, Caitlin struggles to rise from the ruins of the life she lost. A career change summons her home, but Perth isn't the safe haven it seems. Someone is hunting her - one of her kidnappers, a long-lost relative or another terrorist with an axe to grind?

When nightmares from their past threaten to engulf Nathan and Caitlin, can a broken hero and a girl living another woman's afterlife finally fight their way free?

Purchase from Amazon

 

Trailer for Afterlife

Or watch it HERE

Afterlife Excerpt #1

"Seriously, what the hell is this, mate?"

Navid swallowed his huge mouthful of pie. "What do you mean?"

"This!" I shook the letter at him. "Is ASIO trying to buy my silence or what?"

Navid took the letter, held it at arm's length and squinted at it. Looked like he needed reading glasses. Was he really getting that old? He passed the paper back to me. "It's not a bad sum for not telling a story you're not going to talk about anyway. I'd take it and book a nice holiday with it, if I were single like you. You could spend a month touring in the US or Europe for that, including flights."

"But I can't take a holiday if you need me as a witness in the inquiry. Have they finally set a date yet? It's weird, getting offered money for silence before the hearings. Is this because there'll be press coverage on the inquiry into that bastard Mott? And they want to make sure we won't talk to the press?"

Navid stared at something in the distance. "No, no one's set a date for the inquiry."

"So why now?" I persisted. "Why are they throwing money at me? It's Caitlin they have to worry about, and this is nowhere near as much money as the TV stations or magazines offer. I don't see her agreeing to take ten grand to keep quiet. Not when she can get a hundred times that for an exclusive."

Navid coughed. "I think they'll be offering her a lot more than that. After all, she's the one who almost died."

"So it's not just hush money? It's compensation for damages suffered and…all the other shit it says in the letter? What about my sister? What about Alanna? Did she get a posthumous payout, too? And a hypocritical letter saying the department deeply regrets her kidnapping, rape, torture and death, but here's some money to make it feel better? Shit, if Caitlin's letter says that, expect fireworks." My heart ached at just the sound of her name. I'd give anything to see her explode. I'd know she was alive and okay, wherever she was.

He lowered his voice. "If they can find her. There's a rumour in the department that all the documents in her file are gone. Papers, digital, recordings of statements…everything, just gone. And the details of her witness protection arrangements, too, so that means she's disappeared."

I stared at him in shock, silence money forgotten. "You don't know where she is? She could be dead or hurt or God knows what! You have to find her! She'll need to give evidence at the inquiry, too. I mean, she nearly died because of him." And I'd get to see her if she came for the inquiry, even if I had to camp outside the building. I'd know she was alive and okay, even if only for a moment. "Ask him where she is. He'll know."

"She was never going to be part of the inquiry. She didn't have any contact with him beforehand and her statements will be enough, or they would have been, if we could find them. Now, I don't even know if there'll be an inquiry at all." He sighed and lobbed his empty pie bag into the nearest bin.

I stopped dead. "What do you mean, no inquiry? I get paid off to shut up while that dickhead gets off scot-free? Fuck that."

Navid sighed. "The justice system isn't geared toward punishing dead people."

"Yeah, which leaves Mott, seeing as everyone else is dead. Wait, hang on…are you saying he's dead, too?" My mouth hung open. "Who killed him? Whoever did it's a legend and I owe him a carton of beer. I've wanted to do it for years!"

Navid coughed out a laugh. "Then you owe Mott a carton of beer, because the official report says he killed himself. With an ornamental dagger, no less. Bit melodramatic, if you ask me."

I found myself shaking my head. "That can't be right. Mott was a mean bastard. He'd never do the world a favour and off himself. And if he did, he'd take people with him, or at least set someone up for his murder, so he could laugh all the way to hell. Who do you suspect?"

Navid shrugged. "Well, how many people hated him? It could be anyone."

Caitlin was good with a knife, I thought idly, not willing to believe it was her. If anyone deserved to be on the point of her blade, it was him. His negligence…his indifference to what she might suffer had almost gotten her killed.

"Look, I got to get back to work. They've got Michael and me looking for her. One girl in twenty million people, if she's even still in the country. The guys in Canberra want this whole affair over and done with as quickly as possible, so we got pulled off other projects to look for a girl who doesn't want to be found." He laughed, but sobered quickly. "Hey, she never mentioned anything to you, did she? About where she was headed, or the new name she'd be using? I remember the day Mott told her about the arrangements. She was really pissed off about them. Wish I'd asked her then."

I shook my head. "If she'd told me anything, I'd have given in and started hunting for her long before now. I'd change my name and go into hiding, too, if I had to." His words started to sink in. "Hang on. She never met Mott. He visited her in hospital when she was unconscious, but never afterwards. I'd never have let that bastard anywhere near her!"

He wouldn't meet my eyes. "She spoke to me privately when you weren't around, requesting a meeting with your superior. I made the arrangements and I drove her to the office and home again for both meetings. She spotted some inconsistencies in what he said, and told me she suspected he was corrupt. I dismissed it at first, figuring she was just a teenage kid with on overactive imagination, but some of the things she said rang some pretty loud alarm bells. Then I started to see him make mistakes, too. It took me four years to get enough evidence together to warrant an enquiry, and now he's dead, so we'll never know why he did it, or what else he knew." He laughed quietly. "I wonder if she knew. I'd love to ask her now."

I hesitated, then ploughed ahead anyway. "If you find her, can you tell me? I just want to know that she's okay. It's killing me, not knowing."

He shook his head and wouldn't meet my eyes. "Nathan, you know I can't do that. She's in witness protection for a reason, even if the official five years are up and she can let up on the secrecy now. She's not the sort to go splashing her photo on every social media channel she can find just because she can." He inhaled sharply, considering. "I'll tell you what. If we do find her and I get a chance to speak to her, I'll tell her that you wanted to know she was okay, and that you'd love to talk to her, but only if that's what she wants. It's not like you offered to go into hiding with her."

"I would have if she'd asked me, or even wanted me," I whispered, more to myself than to him.

 

---

 

BOOK ONE

Nightmares Of Caitlyn Lockyer

 

Synopsis:

 

Six months ago, Nathan's sister was brutally murdered.

Now the former playboy desires only one thing: revenge.

Late at night, Nathan trudges down the beach where his sister's body was found. He's searching for answers, but all he finds is a new nightmare: another girl's tortured body.

Only this one isn't dead . . . yet.

The unlikely hero becomes the prime suspect. Saving Caitlin's life was just the start. Nathan must win her trust and unlock the memories hidden in her nightmares to find out who's really responsible . . .before it's too late.

Purchase FREE on Amazon

 

---

 

 

BOOK TWO

Necessary Evil Of Nathan Miller

 

Synopsis:

 

"And now in breaking news, Caitlin Lockyer has been found. In the early hours of this morning, a man discovered her body dumped on a south-west beach. A police spokesperson would not confirm whether the girl known as the Absent Angel is alive or dead..."

Caitlin wakes in hospital, her damaged body telling a brutal story of torture, kidnap and rape that she will never forget. Her only lifeline is Nathan, the mysterious man who saved her life and promised to protect her. But Nathan is a broken man, hounded by his own demons and secrets he can't bear to tell.

Burning for retribution, Caitlin will stop at nothing to get her life back. Can she trust Nathan to help her - or will his past destroy them both?

Purchase from Amazon

 

---

 

About the Author:

 

Demelza Carlton has always loved the ocean, but on her first snorkelling trip she found she was afraid of fish.

She has since swum with sea lions, sharks and sea cucumbers and stood on spray-drenched cliffs over a seething sea as a seven-metre cyclonic swell surged in, shattering a shipwreck below.

Sensationalist spin? No - Demelza tends to take a camera with her so she can capture and share the moment later; shipwrecks, sharks and all.

Demelza now lives in Perth, Western Australia, the shark attack capital of the world.

The Ocean's Gift series was her first foray into fiction, followed by the Nightmares trilogy. She swears the Mel Goes to Hell series ambushed her on a crowded train and wouldn't leave her alone.

The suggested reading order for each series is as follows:

 

Turbulence and Triumph series:

Ocean's Justice

Ocean's Trial

Ocean's Triumph

 

Ocean's Gift series:

Ocean's Gift

Ocean's Infiltrator

Water and Fire

Ocean's Depths (to be released in 2015)

 

Nightmares Trilogy:

Nightmares of Caitlin Lockyer

Necessary Evil of Nathan Miller

Afterlife of Alanna Miller (to be released 15 January 2015)

 

Mel Goes to Hell series:

Welcome to Hell

See You in Hell

Mel Goes to Hell

To Hell and Back (to be released on 1 February 2015)

The Holiday From Hell (to be released on 26 March 2015)

If you'd like more information about the background behind her books, you can visit her website at: demelzacarlton.com

Website | Facebook | Twitter 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

BOOK COVER REVEAL & GIVEAWAY - HONOR RECLAIMED by TONYA BURROWS - HORNET # 2 - ADULT SUSPENSE THRILLER ROMANCE - ENTANGLED PUBLISHING

Here is the cover reveal for Honor Reclaimed by Tonya Burrows. I have read Seal of Honor , Hornet # 1 from Entangled Publishing and I'm rather excited to read # 2 in this series, Honor Reclaimed.

This looks like Seth's book, the sniper who was MIA from Seal of Honor.  The lads had to go on their mission without him. I do love the cover and this lad is rather dreamy looking.

Honor Reclaimed 

by: Tonya Burrows 

Release Date: 5/27/2014 

Genre: Romantic Suspense 

Synopsis 

Former Marine scout sniper Seth Harlan is new to HORNET and anxious to prove he can still do his job despite an ongoing battle with PTSD. He remembers all too well what it's like to sit inside an enemy camp, praying for rescue and waiting for death. So when a black ops soldier contacts HORNET to rescue a buddy who was left behind, all sorts of nasty memories strain his newfound stability.

When an interview with a runaway Afghan child bride leads photojournalist Phoebe Leighton to an arms deal involving a suitcase bomb powerful enough to wipe out a mid-sized town, she realizes this is one battle she can't win on her own. Forming an unlikely alliance with a ragtag team of military and government delinquents, she meets Seth, a sniper carrying as many emotional scars as physical, who impresses her with his steely will and ignites passions within her she thought long dead.

Suddenly this mission is about a lot more than an abandoned soldier. Racing against the clock, Seth, Phoebe, and the rest of HORNET struggle to stop that bomb before it reaches it's final destination: The United States.

Author Bio:

Writing has always been my one true love. I wrote my first novel-length story in 8th grade and haven't put down my pen since. I received a B.A. in creative writing from SUNY Oswego and I'm now working on a MFA in popular fiction at Seton Hill University. 

When I'm not writing, I spend my time reading, painting (badly), exploring new places, and enjoying time with my family. Give me a good horror movie over a chick flick any day. (And, let's be honest, I'll take a bad horror movie too!) I'm a geek at heart and pledge my avid TV fandom to Supernatural and Doctor Who. I'm also a big fan of The Voice. What can I say? Guilty pleasure.

I share my life with two dogs and a ginormous cat. I'm from a small town in Western New York, but I suffer from a bad case of wanderlust and usually end up moving someplace new every few years. Luckily, my animals are all excellent travel buddies.

Website: http://www.tonyaburrows.com/

Blog: http://www.tonya-burrows.blogspot.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tonyaburrows

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tonyaburrowsauthor

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/Tonya_Burrows

Newsletter: http://tonyaburrows.us6.list-manage2.com/subscribe?u=e03d7c5ec1a8fdc67db99bac3&id=3cafb9c112

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18594360-honor-reclaimed 

Purchase From Amazon

Purchase From Barnes & Noble 

GIVEAWAY TIME

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ARC BOOK REVIEW - THE LAST SHOT by MICHAEL ADAMS - THE LAST TRILOGY # 2 - ALLEN & UNWIN - YA APOCALYPTIC

By: Michael Adams

Published By: Allen & Unwin

Released : March 2014

Details: From Publisher for honest review, Paperback 407 Pages

RATING: 4.25 APOCALYPTIC STARS!

Blurb: Goodreads

I glance at my fellow fugitives in the glow of the fire: black-streaked, white-eyed, faces fearful but fierce. Whoever any of us were a week ago, we've now become people we could never have imagined.

After facing the heartbreaking truth in Shadow Valley, Danby is determined to have her revenge on Jack.

With Jack dead, her little brother Evan and hundreds of other Minions will be free of his control. With Jack dead, she and her friend Nathan will be able to revive thousands more from the millions of catatonic Goners.

But what if she's wrong - about everything?

After Danby confronts Jack on a dying stretch of highway, all of her beliefs are turned inside out. Not only are his feelings for her real, he's working against the clock to save lives and rebuild society. To Danby's horror, it's Nathan who appears to threaten the new order.

With her emotions raging and blood on her hands, Danby has to take a side in a deadly battle that'll decide the future of the world. And as allies become enemies and foes turn into friends, she'll have to embrace methods so dark that the price of survival may be her very soul ...

BOOK REVIEW by Michelle:

Michael Adams really puts the A in apocalypse. 

I wrote in my review for The Last Girl that I wanted to read ‘more page turning adventure and action’ in The Last Shot.

I believe Michael delivered this.

There is shiz going down. 

The first hundred plus pages were a more slowed down pace as Michael has us spending time with Danby almost alone, she has Lachie and then Jack enters the picture. Mentally she is spending that time working through her theories. Trying to convince herself of what needs to be done.

Jack became so much more in this book. He is very cleverly written. I had to keep reminding myself of his age because he comes across as such a seasoned villain.

Man, he is manipulative and evil isn’t the word because in his mind he truly believes he is doing the right thing. Selecting the right people. He has a bigger picture in his head of the world and how he is going to recreate humanity and who he will allow to participate in it.

He is like a Messiah. A God in a teenagers body.

Quite frightening the influence, power he has over his minions.

Can he be trusted with the words he has for Danby?

“Danby,” he says, “I think you’re the only person who can stop a war that really might finish us all.”


Danby also has an ability to get people to help her with Evan, even though he is slowing them all down, could expose them and he is a type of baggage to be lugged about.

Why would they be invested in Evan?

But they all are. For Danby. So she too has her own influence, but it is for the good of humanity. She doesn’t make the types of decisions Jack does. He is filtering out the remaining humans.

It’s such an unfair playing field with Jack the ultimate puppet master and Danby who has a dwindling motely crew of rebels. I will call them rebels because they are rebelling against Jack.

What saddens me is that the people out there aren’t organized because ego and fear and selfishness and all the other species of silliness are still getting in the way.


My concerns are still that I am not feeling a great loss for the dwindling sub characters. I am still looking for that character connection to the reader that has me feeling emotion for these characters, whether it is anger or sadness.

Jack grabbed me so much more in this book. His villainess side is very well played out. He went from obscurity on the planet to something being bestowed upon him that has immense power and responsibility.

Jack nods. “Right--you’re reading, writing, researching, surfing websites, messaging people, talking on the phone, listening to music and watching videos -- whatever. Point is your brain’s multitasking like a mofo and your fingers and arms and muscles and bones are making it all happen seamlessly. You’re not even aware of them. You hardly thinking about any of it. What I’m doing with my guys is like that. Just bigger. Their brainpower and physical energy accounts for ninety-nine point nine-nine per cent of what needs to be done. The other bit’s me, when it needs to be. Does that make sense?’


Danby is surviving. Just. Her motley crew are putting their lives on the line for this tiny group that want to fight the good fight. 

Danby is stronger. In such little time, she has become quite hardened to the life she is living and the lives she must end.

A week ago she wouldn't have been packing a gun.

She has been given no choice.

Kill or be killed.

They are up against an almost impossible to beat villain who has such great resources and mind mojo power.

How do you fight that?

How do you overcome Jack?

Michael really does paint a most vivid picture of an apocalyptic landscape. He won’t let you forget the bodies strewn about the place and the decay and rot that comes with it all.

You can almost smell the stench of death. I don’t think I have read an apocalyptic read that paints such a vivid image in your mind as you are reading.

This takes work.

But again, I can understand why some authors don’t because it slows the story down, but at the same time it feels more real. More in the moment

I am there.

I do like Nathan, but I think I am missing an element from their character’s that connect me so I am more invested in their losses and pain. The parts of Nathan I got, I liked. I felt more endeared towards him in this installment.



“I got you a gift.” Nathan takes something from his jeans pocket. “Cosmetics.”

I laugh when I see he’s holding a little round tin of black shoe polish. “seriously?”

“You whiteys will all need it,” Nathan says with a laugh.



Nathan had his moments where he said what needed to be said and did what needed to be done, but Danby is the leader. Men twice her age and older are looking to her for answers. Leadership.


“Are you retarded?” Nathan’s knuckles are tight around his weapon. My friend is sweet, smart and sensitive but it’d be a mistake to think he’s soft. This is the boy I met seconds after he punched a nail through the skull of a maniac attacking me. “Well, are you?”

Alex swallows hard. “No, no, man, it’s like --“

“You think we’re not scared?” Nathan demands. “That this is something we’ve done before?”


Michael can paint the destruction of humanity very very well, but those main characters leading us on the adventure, I need to be more invested in them.

I really liked the book part titles.

1. Get Set

2. Ready or Not

3. Here I Come.

This was a great ride with a very clever ending.

O.M.G.

What does this mean?

Creepy. Much.

Michelle

BOOK REVIEW - THE LAST GIRL by AUSTRALIAN AUTHOR - MICHAEL ADAMS - THE LAST TRILOGY # 1 - YA APOCALYPTIC THRILLER - ALLEN & UNWIN

By: Michael Adams
Published By: Allen & Unwin
Released: Available Now
Details: Paperback from publisher for honest review, 382 Pages

RATING : 3.75 JACK STARS!

Blurb: Goodreads

The end of the world happened quickly. The sun still shone, there was no explosion - just a tsunami-sized wave of human thought drowning the world in telepathic noise as everyone's inner-most secrets became audible. Everyone's thoughts, that is, except sixteen-year-old Danby.

Everyone looked like bad actors in a poorly dubbed movie. Their expressions didn't match their emotions and their lips didn't sync with what they were saying. But they were all so loud.

God-he-looks-hot-Can't-she's-my-best-friend-How'd-she-lose-that-weight-No-don't-you-dare-Oh-no-please-

The end of the world happens in the blink of an eye.

When The Snap sweeps the globe, everyone can instantly hear everything that everyone else is thinking. As secrets and lies are laid bare, suburbs and cities explode into insanity and violence. What might have been an evolutionary leap instead initiates the apocalypse.

Sixteen-year-old Danby Armstrong's telepathy works very differently. She can tune into other people but they can't tune into her. With only this slender defence, Danby must protect her little brother and reach the safety of her mother's mountain retreat. But it's 100 kilometres away and the highways are blocked by thousands of cars and surrounded by millions of people coming apart at the psychic seams.

Danby's escape is made even more dangerous by another cataclysm that threatens humanity's extinction. And her ability to survive this new world will be tested by a charismatic young man whose power to save lives may be worse than death itself.

BOOK REVIEW by Michelle:

This was a great start to Australian author Michael Adams’s debut YA apocalyptic thriller, set in and around Sydney Australia. I have lived in Sydney for a few years, it brought home the whole apocalyptic feel , even more for me. 

I have read quite a few apocalyptic reads and there is something about being in the head of the few survivors as they work towards a common goal. It can feel quite real.

That is something I loved about The Last Girl, Danby’s character was very real and made very real choices for her age. This apocalypse felt very real with all the fall out. I can tell how much work and thought Michael put into his world.

Danby Armstrong is only sixteen years old, she is a survivor. She has a good heart. She finds herself alone after The Snap has helped to kill off a large portion of the world’s population.

Michael has thought up a very unique idea.

A clever idea.

I have read a lot of zombie apocalyptic stories and even watched movies made about them. I have read about alien apocalyptic stories and we have seen movies made, most notably War of The Worlds. Who can forget that one?

What is The Snap?

Michael brought a refreshing take using instant global telepathy.

You can go to my interview chat I had with Michael and read about his idea. He explains it well. 

http://novelsontherun.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/interview-with-australian-author.html

Michael’s world he has built for the reader has humans being exterminated via, suicide, murder, being in the wrong place at the wrong time because they can hear each other’s thoughts. Imagine hearing what somebody thinks of you, multiplied by many voices. Enough to make you go crazy, jump off a building, turn murderous and kill. Michael will give you many examples and prove his apocalyptic idea, convince you of its deadly outcome.

This I thought was fantastic. Not been done before. We have all read about a character in a paranormal read who is telepathic and can converse with somebody else. But what happens to humanity when everybody can hear every ones thoughts at once?

Some people go into shut down mode. Catatonic. But who wakes these people up before they starve to death, die of dehydration?

What happens when some survivors work out how to revive the catatonic, but you could be reviving a potential killer or a druggie, even a rapist?

Very few people are pure at heart and want to fight for the good guys. People have ulterior motives. People are frightened.

Danby finds herself fighting for her autistic brother’s life and her own life. She must learn to trust and get to her mother’s home, one hundred kilometres away.

Many obstacles lie in her path.

Many threats to her existence.

Michael can paint a visually frightening panoramic view of Danby’s surroundings. He uses what I call floating characters that are there to show the reader examples of why humanity is not safe when trying to wipe the slate clean and start a new world.

Nathan Kapur is a great character. He becomes somebody Danby is forced to trust, she needs his knowledge. But, is he totally trustworthy?

For me personally the book got real interesting when Jack’s character came into play. There is something that has you staying wary of him. It’s a natural reaction, he has power among the people. 

‘I’m serious,’ he protested. ‘With great power comes great responsibility and all that.’

I felt the last section of the book was the liveliest for me.

Michael does take his time showing us around the streets of Sydney and its suburbs, cementing his world in our minds. This book is written from ground zero. We watch The Snap happen and that takes time.

This book is well written but for me personally I am looking forward to The Last Shot, book # 2, I want to feel a connection between myself and the main characters. I want more focus on them. The bigger picture is always massive in any apocalypse but can slow a book down. 

Something Jack does at the end of this book, I felt like I needed more of a connection during his section of the book for it to be believable for me. It came out of the blue , I felt. I read a lot of books of all genres and age brackets and I kept looking for this connectivity. I think I needed more time spent with a couple characters. I’m trying not to do any spoiling. I want to say more, but I won’t.

All the questions I asked myself when reading this book, Michael eventually answered. This I liked. He really thought about consequences of things his characters did. They are intelligent characters.

I did feel the book couldn’t help but slow down in parts as Michael had to do the world building for the reader. This is a new type of apocalypse , it isn’t as self explanatory as an alien apocalypse or a zombie apocalypse.

It’s new, it needs time to be set up in the readers mind.

I am looking forward to the next book. I know Michael can write, he visually has me looking around his streets and the carnage left behind by The Snap in much description, but I want to see in book # 2 more dialogue and more connecting with characters so that I am rooting for their survival and having more page turning adventure and action. I want to care more about being betrayed and want to scream at Michael for being so hard on his characters.

Don’t get me wrong, Michael gave me a full viewing of humanity and how it can be quite vile towards others. He showed me tough choices have to be made, you can’t save everyone.

I want the fight for good to be explosive. I want to feel torn up at what the characters are doing. I want to see hurt in characters eyes, feel their pain, feel their outrage.

I recommend reading The Last Girl the first in a three book series.

Michelle

ARC BOOK REVIEW - UNBREAKABLE by KAMI GARCIA - THE LEGION # 1 - YA PARANORMAL THRILLER - SIMON & SCHUSTER - 4.25 STARS!

By: Kami Garcia

Published By: Simon & Schuster

Released : 10th October 2013

Details: Paperback from publisher for review, 305 Pages

RATING : 4.25 TEAM JARED STARS!

Blurb: Goodreads

Kennedy Waters didn't believe in ghosts, until one tried to kill her.

When Kennedy finds her mother dead, her world begins to unravel. She doesn't know that evil forces in a much darker world are the ones pulling the strings. Not until identical twins Jared and Lukas Lockhart break into her house and destroy a dangerous spirit sent to kill her. The brothers reveal that her mother was part of an ancient secret society responsible for protecting the world from a vengeful demon - a society whose five members were all murdered on the same night.

Now Kennedy has to take her mother's place in the Legion if she wants to uncover the truth and stay alive. Along with new Legion members Priest and Alara, the teens race to find the only weapon that might be able to destroy the demon - battling the deadly spirits he controls every step of the way.

Suspense, romance, and the paranormal meet in this chilling urban fantasy, the first book in a new series from Kami Garcia, bestselling co-author of the Beautiful Creatures novels.

BOOK REVIEW by Michelle:

US Cover

I have to say, I totally dig the Aussie book cover it has this real urban fantasy look compared to the more creepier US cover. But, in saying that this book is a darker read , which at times can be quite creepy with some horror thrown in. The Aussie cover feels more urban fantasy. But, it is puurrty.

I liked Kami’s story about seventeen year old Kennedy who finds her life whiplashed, doing a 180 degree flip in a totally different direction with not much time to process.

This book starts off well, we get introduced very quickly to the handsome Lockhart twins, Jared and Lukas, followed by Priest and Alara.

Priest is the character that I got the most depth from. He is a great sidekick. He has some great lines and he is the genius of the group. I loved the way his mind was ten steps ahead already inventing something MacGyver style. Give the boy some duct tape, some aerosol cans, throw in a calculator and watch him work .


He held up the remains of an automatic weapon complete with protruding bolts, crude soldering marks, and duct tape wrapped around the handle. The tape must’ve been his trademark.


Jared and Lukas have issues between them. I immediately had my team guy in Jared. Lukas I noticed likes to give Kennedy things she needs. Jared gives her the looks and he is protective and deeper in his actions with Kennedy. He gives up his bed, he will tend her wounds.

Jared Lockhart stared back at me, still wearing his green army jacket.

I must have been in serious shock last night because I didn’t remember him being this gorgeous. Intense blue eyes and full lips, balanced by a roughness that came from a fight or two, kept him from looking like your average pretty boy.



“Priest said your area of expertise is combat and weapons?”

He examined the excessive amount of tape crisscrossing the bandage. “It’s definitely not first aid.” 

Jared stared at me, his hand still curled around my wrist. “It’s a black dove,” he said quietly. “The priests chose it because black doves are rare and small in number, like the Legion. And a dove is the only bird the devil can’t transform into, which means a demon can’t either.” 

I was not sure if we were getting a JKL sandwich at one stage. Jared, Kennedy and Lukas. Notice the ‘K’ in the middle of that alphabet line up. Lukas doesn’t seem to be as deep as Jared with his feelings for Kennedy. He seems more pissed at his brother.

This teenaged group of five make up the new Legion , by relative association.

The shiz goes down and they must fill the places and find a way to bring Andras the demon, down.

I found this story line to be a fusion of Supernatural with a nod, I thought, to Jared Padalecki with Jared’s character name and moments that reminded me of The Mortal Instruments, throwing in a nod to the Da Vinci Code.

I thought it was a strong start to Kami’s story, but I would have liked it to have been more difficult finding each piece of the weapon needed to bring down Andras.

I really enjoyed Kami’s scenes before each piece was found. She really threw in the creepy/ horror into her scenes.

I would have liked the reader to have been given more twists and a sense of difficulty with finding the pieces to the weapon. They were all very close in distance to each other. I mean this is the weapon when pieced together would apparently bring down a top demon.

I would have thought they would have been hopping planes, trains and automobiles to get to these pieces spread far and wide.

For safety precautions, of course.

No need, all within close distances.

The clues were kinda coded a bit too easy, I thought, considering the end result of this weapon, or too easy to decipher for this new group of Legions.

Kennedy is totally clueless about Legions even existing, yet they don’t make a wrong turn.

I really love the five characters, but I found the twins just didn’t even bat an eyelid at Alara, who I think is a rather cool chick, and beautiful, and she is loaded, compared to them. There wasn’t any acknowledgements, in that guy way, towards Alara, but they sure noticed Kennedy.

The girl was beautiful -- with long wavy hair, perfectly smooth caramel-colored skin, and dark almond-shaped eyes.


I think I needed more character development with Jared and Lukas. I certainly could tell the two twins apart with their mannerisms, but I felt like the romantic side that was a possible, JKL sandwich , happened without really trying.

Or was it never a triangle just a definite JK?

“I’m not the one. I never was.”

Jared’s cheek brushed mine, as he whispered in my ear. “You’re the only one.”



Jared’s heart beat against my unmarked skin. “Half the time you won’t even look at me.”

His fingers slid down the back of my neck. “And the other half, I can’t stop thinking about you.”

Visually, Kami will really get under your skin with her creepy moments with Vengeance Spirits. She does a really good job of writing those scenes. I was seeing some old movie moments from some horrors with asylums and poltergeists etc. It added that extra creepy.

The ending was really good, I didn’t see that coming. This I liked. 

This was a fast paced, energetic ride with a side order of shock value and a boy that I want to read more about.

I am looking forward to book # 2 and seeing where Kami takes me.

Bring. It. On.

Michelle

BLOG TOUR - INTERVIEW with EVERY BREATH AUSTRALIAN DEBUT AUTHOR ELLIE MARNEY - YA CRIME THRILLER - ALLEN & UNWIN

Today I would like to welcome Australian debut author, Ellie Marney to Novels On The Run for a Q & A session. Her recently released YA debut, is titled Every Breath and I personally loved Mycroft and Watts. Here is my review . So, without further ado, here is the interview with Ellie.

Enjoy!

Michelle: Hi Ellie.

Ellie: Hi Michelle, nice to meet you!

Michelle:  What five words describe Ellie Marney the AUTHOR?

Ellie: Um, let me see… Tenacious (definitely), passionate (which I sometimes have to dial down, so my friends don’t always get ‘here, let me talk to you about books all day’), rural (country people write a little different, I reckon), and always learning! 

Michelle:  Every Breath has quite a different male lead. He is a genius, but he comes with his own skeletons. He is complicated. Mycroft , the name I had to get used to as I kept calling him Microsoft in my head. I know, silly me. It is an unusual name, James being his first name, but you choose to write him as Mycroft. But it suits the whole super sleuth thing you are doing. Watts and Mycroft. Or is it Mycroft and Watts? It has a nice ring to it. How did you come up with their names? Was it intentional to give them that Sherlock and Watson type feel being a fan of the crime genre like you are?

Ellie: I always think of them as Mycroft and Watts. Although my editor pointed out that Watts is relating the story, so really it should be the other way round! But in Conan Doyle’s stories, it was always Holmes and Watson, even though Watson was the narrator, so I guess I’m following the theme! But Mycroft is complicated, and he’s kind of the catalyst for the story – when Mycroft’s around, crazy things happen – so I usually think of him in the lead.

Mycroft certainly has some dark backstory – eccentric characters like Mycroft usually get that way for a reason. Interestingly, I plucked his first name, James, out of the air (he just seemed like a James!), and only when I went back and did more research did I discover that Sherlock’s old nemesis, Moriarty, is actually James Moriarty. So in a way, Mycroft is his own worst enemy!

Michelle:  The more I read Mycroft, the more I kept likening his characteristics to Robert Downey Jr’s version of his Holmes. He is unpredictable, eccentric and addictive. No matter what he comes up with, you go along with his plan or idea. What five words would Mycroft use to describe Watts? What five to ten words would Watts use to describe Mycroft? I just feel like there are more than five words for this lad.

Ellie: In the original canon, Sherlock Holmes was unpredictable, eccentric and addictive – and persuasive! He could talk Watson into going off on an adventure with him at a moment’s notice. I think Mycroft has that same power – everything he says sounds so reasonable and logical, you can’t help but agree to his schemes! Watts has to remind herself all the time that Mycroft’s plans aren’t always the most sensible option, but she finds him rather hard to resist…

Mycroft’s words for Watts, hm… I think he would choose obscure hard-to-pronounce words just for the hell of it! Like cognisant (when he meant ‘being perceptive’), perspicacious (when he meant ‘smart’), homeostatic (when he meant ‘steadfast’), pulchritudinous (when he meant ‘hot’). I think there’s actually a whole lot of words about Watts that Mycroft expends a lot of energy not saying…especially to her, face to face.

Watts would have way more than five to ten words for Mycroft, and a lot of them would probably be swear words! That’s one of Watts’s best characteristics – she calls it like she sees it. So what would she call Mycroft? Probably…tall, sarcastic, too intelligent for his own good, eccentric, extreme, infuriating, exhausting…but in the back of her mind there would be other words too, like incredibly attractive, and alone.

Michelle:  What song would best describe Mycroft’s character and why?

Ellie: Well this is gonna sounds crazy, but Mycroft kind of has a theme song for every book! And actually finding Mycroft’s song has become an important part of writing each book, kind of a touchstone I keep returning to.

In Every Breath, Mycroft’s song is the one we discover him bopping along to when Watts first visits him in his room (‘The Stranger’s Room’) in chapter two – My Sharona, by The Knack. Something about the lyrics and the frenetic energy of that song really drew me! And then I remembered that in the old detective show Monk, the ‘girl Watson’ character was actually called Sharona, so I figured it was perfect. :) 

Michelle: It is almost gender reversal roles for these two characters. Watts is more about the action, she can horse ride, motorbike ride, appears fitter and Mycroft is not. He smokes, drinks, gets thrown into jail and he has his in-room lab. Was this more a conscious thing to do with their characters, or the more you wrote Mycroft, the more he told you how he was going to behave?

Ellie: Oh that was very deliberate, and the characters seemed to want it that way too. It made sense: Rachel Watts is a country girl, she’s pragmatic, down-to-earth, with a lot of practical skills and ruddy cheeks. Mycroft is all about the smarts – he’s a book-learning kind of guy – and he has a lot of vices.

But curiously enough, Mycroft is also good with people, after growing up in the city – he likes to talk to people, to understand them, as well as find out the word on the street. Rachel has lived in an isolated rural area up to this point, so she’s really not that used to people. I think she finds Mycroft’s easy way with people quite disarming, and charming – it’s kind of an old-fashioned charm she enjoys and appreciates.

Michelle:  Book Two in the series is titled Every Word. Mycroft ends up in London.

What five words can you use without spoiling, that describe Every Word?

Ellie: Dangerous, spontaneous, sexy, angsty, heart-stopping! Oh, there’s so much I love about Every Word – but I don’t want to give too much away!

Michelle:   From when you started the first page of Every Breath , to the last page, what was the most surprising thing you learnt along the way?

Ellie: I think the surprising thing I discovered was how exciting it became, to be caught up in Rachel and Mycroft’s world. I write very early in the morning (5am-7am), and you’d think it would be groan-inducing to get up that early to write…but so many mornings my alarm would go off and I would be like, ‘Yeess!’ It was really exciting to get up and throw myself back amongst the characters! So I think I knew, even before Every Breath was accepted for publication, that if the writing was giving me such a thrill, then the book would be thrilling for readers as well.

Michelle:  We readers, we generally have a book boyfriend. Who is yours and from what book and why?

Ellie: Oh, I have so many book boyfriends! (I really get around!)

No, seriously, I’ve fallen for many book characters in my time – Homer, from Tomorrow When the War Began, and Wolfboy, from This is Shyness, and Jonah Griggs, from On The Jellicoe Road…and I had a major crush on Clarice Starling, from The Silence of the Lambs for a long time.

But my current amour would have to be Will Herondale from The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare. Will is so storm-tossed and angsty and sarcastic…*sigh* He might even be enough to tempt me away from my long-term bf, Sherlock Holmes…well, maybe.

Michelle:  What has been the most memorable book signing event for another author or a book event you have attended, and why?

Ellie: I think probably the most memorable event I’ve been to for another author was the Melbourne Writers Festival, about five years ago, when I saw Margo Lanagan speak. Later, I joined the queue to get her autograph on my copy of Black Spikes – she’s an incredible writer, and I was just so thrilled to meet her!

Michelle: What has been the best advice given to you by another author?

Ellie: I was at the Ballarat Writers Festival a few years ago, with a 10-page excerpt from my own novel in my hot sweaty hand, and I’d just stepped outside the venue for a moment to gather my nerve before attempting to talk to some of the publishers and agents on the panels.

At that moment, another author (who’d been on a panel and whose name I don’t even recall now) was leaving to go home, and she caught my eye on the stairs. She asked me if I had anything to shop, and I said yes. And then she said ‘Don’t wimp out. Go do it. This is your chance to talk to people in the industry, so grab it with both hands’. It really bolstered my courage, and I’ve been appreciative ever since.

Michelle:  To close out the interview, if I gave you a plain T-shirt to write a quote on that meant something to you, what would it say?

Ellie: Oh, that’s easy – it would be this, from the poem The Tryst, by Walter de la Mare. I read it when I was in high school, and for some reason it’s never left me.

‘Flee, into some forgotten night, and be

Of all dark long, my Moonbright Company.

Beyond the rumour even of Paradise, come:

There, out of all remembrance, make our home.’

Michelle: Thank you again for answering my Questions Ellie, and all the best with your writing!


Ellie: Thanks Michelle, I had a great time!

Xx Ellie

BOOK REVIEW - EVERY BREATH by ELLIE MARNEY - YA CRIME THRILLER - ALLEN & UNWIN

By: Ellie Marney

Published By: Allen & Unwin

Released : Available Now

Details : Paperback from Publisher for review, 335 Pages

Rating: 4 MARVELOUSLY QUIRKY MYCROFT & WATTS STARS 

Blurb: Goodreads

Rachel Watts is an unwilling new arrival to Melbourne from the country. James Mycroft is her neighbour, an intriguingly troubled seventeen-year-old genius with a passion for forensics. Despite her misgivings, Rachel finds herself unable to resist Mycroft when he wants her help investigating a murder. And when Watts and Mycroft follow a trail to the cold-blooded killer, they find themselves in the lion's den - literally.

A night at the zoo will never have quite the same meaning again..


BOOK REVIEW by Michelle:

I liked this story. I loved Mycroft and Watts. I uber loved Mycroft.

He is Sherlock’s Robert Downey Jr meets Elementary’s Sherlock aka Jonny Lee Miller in a seventeen year old body. And, you know without the Matrix style combat that Robert has down pat.

I LOVE Mycroft. Just had to say it again.

He is quite an addictive character. He is a different YA male lead that we can crush on.

He is quirky, eccentric, a wild card, spontaneous, a contradiction sometimes, observant, sometimes manic, passionate, seventeen, kind hearted, lonely, curious, angry and a genius. You want to see what he does next.

He is a rule breaker. He sees the inside of a jail cell.

He is interesting.

Rachel Watts is intelligent, more the go getter, action gal, curious, spontaneous, seventeen, observant, angry, dependable. 

Yes, they have similarities but they also don’t. They complement each other. One balances out the others manic. They can calm each other when need be.

Mycroft can convince Watts to do almost anything, yet she can be in charge too, doing the convincing. 

You can forget they are only seventeen.

There is like a gender reversal in their roles to an extent. Mycroft will become the saviour when he is pushed to come through for Watts but she is more the one to do the climbing and jumping.

She is verbs to his nouns.

They are a genuine team.

Mycroft can rattle off all this genius stuff, he knows shiz. He has a website. He wants to discuss and talk, get answers, debate, solve...do stuff with his in-room lab... which he smashed.

Mycroft grins, 'So, you've only been in the city four months and you're already the babysitter for the school's eccentric genius.'

'It's been four and a half months. And if you were such a genius, you wouldn't have a black eye.'

'I'm only a genius with facts. I'm an academic genius and a social moron.'

'At least you admit to being a moron at something.'

'I admit to being a moron at lots of things. Being a moron in one or two areas serves to highlight my extraordinary brilliance in everything else.'

Now I am going to be honest, as this is Ellie’s debut book, and explain why I am not giving this a five star. I really do love the characters, even the sub characters Mai and Gus, Gray Jetta and Mike.

I thought, and this is my one opinion, that the actual believability of a part of the plot was a little wobbly for me. Seventeen year olds getting the information they got from Professor Walsh and just the whole bit where they didn’t really give Detective Pickup the chance to investigate, they thought they knew better and assumed that the professionals were not smart enough to solve the crime or cared to. I know that is the whole premise of this story, Ellie’s characters are crime solvers. But I wanted it to be stronger and more believable that part of the story line.

What I am trying to say is, what teenagers really could take on a crime solving mission and get as far as they got with getting information from adult professionals, getting a look at the body in the morgue etc. You really don’t just ask and get a yes in the real world. But then that is the magic of these two I suppose. Doing what others can’t. 

AND this is a Sherlock style read. I just thought maybe it wasn’t for me personally, the strongest part of the book. 

I liked where Ellie had them doing their own investigating with things they could do without being involved with the Police/Pathologist/Professionals side of it. That felt more real. I could see them working it out and talking to who they needed to talk to, to get information. More puzzle pieces collected to put towards the bigger picture.

Putting that aside, because that may be me being uber picky, I really like where Ellie is going.

Mycroft has a lot of layers to him, he is driven by his own personal demons to seek justice.

There is a scene in Every Breath which shows us Mycroft's inner pain. It kinda hurt my heart watching him in his stupor. Well, actually a couple of scenes.

He looked pitiful.

I sank on my knees on the booze-sodden carpet, as though I was trying to make myself seem less intimidating to an injured animal. 'Mycroft, take it easy.'

'No, you jes'...'

'Hey.' My hands were up, palms out. 'It's okay.'

One of my fave parts of the book was being introduced to Mycroft's room and essentially Mycroft too. We get a lot of his personality from this scene.

Mycroft's door has a hand-lettered sign, The Stranger's Room, taped to it along with a bunch of other crap: a poster for The Chemical Brothers, a sign saying WARNING: Safety Glasses Must Be Worn at All Times, and a yellow plaque with the universal black skull-and-crossbones danger symbol. I can hear the unmistakeable thump of The Knack oozing from behind the wood veneer.

I rap twice. 'Oi! It's me!'

The door is flung wide. The music is suddenly much louder. A fug of cigarette smoke escapes from the room, taking off for the stratosphere by way of the hall ceiling.

Mycroft stands there with a fag dangling from his lips, nodding along to 'My Sharona' like one of those floppy-headed dogs that sit on the dashboard. He's wearing a burgundy velveteen robe, loosely belted over cotton boxer shorts. His cuts and bruises stand out, and his hair looks particularly frightful.

'About bloody time.' The cigarette wobbles, spills ash onto the carpet. 'I'm starving.'

He puts his hands on his hips and his robe gapes.

'For god's sake, Mycroft, get your gear on. That's more than I really need to see.

The minute I saw the name My Sharona, I heard the song coming out of the book. That very, The Knack's beat, for this song. It just gave this whole 3D feel to being in Mycroft's room with him all burgundy..ed up and nodding to the beat. What can I say, it is my vintage.

Ellie has thrown in some serious issues along the way that show us Mycroft in a different light. A lad that is carrying a lot of pain about with him.

'Thanks, Watts. For getting me squared away.'

What I will say is Ellie gave me such a distraction with Mycroft and Watts.

They are a wonderful escapism to read. 

'I can already see you in ripped fishnets, knee pads and a crash helmet,'Mycroft says in a thoughtful voice. 'Your name would be ... Whacker Watts!'

I really do love them. They have only known each other four months but they gel. I couldn't really imagine these two apart from each other. I see them with little genius kids who are bopping to My Sharona. We can see that Mycroft wouldn't do well without Watts in his life.

'How can someone so smart be such an utter moron? What on earth were you thinking?'

'I WASN'T BLOODY THINKING, okay?'

What I liked was Ellie made the two families, real Aussie battlers. Watt’s family has fallen on hard times and everybody is doing the best they can to get through the day. Nobody is enjoying the job they have, but they are doing what they have to do to pay the bills, put food on the table.

Mycroft’s situation is a little different, a little sadder.

A little lonelier.

His personality, I really absorbed. He has many sides to him. He can be a bit of a hermit when he chooses to be, being anti social to Watt’s family who feeds him, yet he is a bit of a lad about town with all the people he knows that can get him from A to B and a free Baklava . He knows how to work being penniless to his advantage.

'Is there a tram driver in this city you aren't on a first-name basis with?' I ask as I flump down. I'm still stinging from the 'country girl' thing. 'I mean, there's Sharman on the school run, and Glenda on Saturdays. We had Cheryl last week -'

'Nick only does alternating months.' Mycroft checks the thermos and tries to shove it further into his backpack but it won't go. 'The racing keeps him busy.'

'You didn't answer my question.'

He blinks at me. 'Well, Watts, I'll let you in on a secret: people, if you talk to them, often talk back. Staggering concept, I know. And not freqently applied to in the city, but I'm an old-fashioned guy. Chatting's not a crime, is it?'

Yet at the same time, he brings on negativity from his peers by breaking rules, spontaneously, deliberately. He has bigger things on his mind than to worry about little rules. They just get in his way.

I really liked the ending. I was on the edge of my chair, so to speak. I felt very , very tense. I liked the villain. You can’t pick the motive and the weapon. That was a cool twist. A clever well thought out villain. 

The blurb for Every Word # 2 in the series is already telling me something from what I read in Every Breath.

Ellie drops seeds in this book for Every Word # 2. Look for them, you will find them.

I am intrigued to know more. I am interested to see how penniless Mycroft makes it to London. Again were there seeds dropped in this installment? Well there may have been. All I know is Mycroft and Watts may be doing it hard now financially but with their brains, they will go on to much better things eventually, financially. You can’t be this intelligent and stay an Aussie battler.

Oh and he sounds like a gorgeous kisser, too.

'Bossy, aren't you?' He's grinning as he heads for the door. 'Stay over one night, and it's all do this, do that, get me tea - '

Michelle