So what’s the game now? This, or the life I used to
know?
When Miki Jones is pulled from her life, pulled through time and space into
some kind of game—her carefully controlled life spirals into chaos. In the
game, she and a team of other teens are sent on missions to eliminate the Drau,
terrifying and beautiful alien creatures. There are no practice runs, no
training, and no way out. Miki has only the guidance of secretive but
maddeningly attractive team leader Jackson Tate, who says the game isn’t really
a game, that what Miki and her new teammates do now determines their survival,
and the survival of every other person on this planet. She laughs. He doesn’t.
And then the game takes a deadly and terrifying turn.
Available from:
Teaser #1:
He
smiles, a faint curve of his lips that reveals the barest hint of a long dimple
carved in his right cheek. “No, but I can read your expression. And I’ve been
doing this long enough that I know what most people tend to think when they
first open their eyes.”
“Doing
what long enough?”
“This,”
he says, and nothing more.
A
second of silence stretches into two. Though I can’t see behind his glasses, I
have the feeling he’s not looking at me anymore, that he’s scanning the area,
looking for…something. But as I stare at him, I see me—tiny distorted reflections of me in the shiny, convex
lenses.
Color
and sound explode, too bright, too loud. Even the air on my skin feels like
it’s too much. My fingers go lax. The bag’s handle slides down my palm, then
along my fingers to the tips, impossibly slow. The world tips and tilts and I
flail for balance.
Luka
grabs my hand and holds tight.
I
blink. My house, my open front door, Dad, they’re all gone. My breath comes in
short gasps and every muscle in my body feels like it’s knotted up tight.
I’m
standing in a grassy clearing bounded by trees.
About the Author Eve Silver lives with
her gamer husband and sons, sometimes in Canada, but often in worlds she dreams
up. She loves kayaking and sunshine, dogs and desserts, and books, lots and
lots of books. Watch for the first book in Eve’s new teen series, THE GAME: RUSH,
coming from Katherine Tegen Books, June 2013. She also writes books for adults.
Once you’ve seen, you can’t unsee. Everything changes when you’ve looked at the world through . . .
ANGEL EYES
Brielle’s a ballerina who went to the city to chase her dreams and found tragedy instead. She’s come home to shabby little Stratus, Oregon, to live with her grief and her guilt . . . and the incredible, numbing cold she can’t seem to shake.
Jake’s the new guy at school. The boy next door with burning hands and an unbelievable gift that targets him for corruption.
Something more than fate has brought them together. An evil bigger than both of them lurks in the shadows nearby, hiding in plain sight. Two angels stand guard, unsure what’s going to happen. And a beauty brighter than Jake or Brielle has ever seen is calling them to join the battle in a realm where all human choices start.
A realm that only angels and demons—and Brielle—can perceive.{Goodreads}
Giant angels with metal wings and visible song. A blind demon restored from the pit of darkness. And a girl who has never felt more broken.
Brielle sees the world as it really is: a place where the Celestial exists side by side with human reality. But in the aftermath of a supernatural showdown, her life begins to crumble. Her boyfriend, Jake, is keeping something from her—something important. Her overprotective father has started drinking again. He’s dating a much younger woman who makes Brielle’s skin crawl, and he’s downright hostile toward Jake. Haunting nightmares keep Brielle from sleeping, and flashes of Celestial vision keep her off kilter.
What she doesn’t know is that she’s been targeted. The Prince of Darkness himself has heard of the boy with healing in his hands and of the girl who sees through the Terrestrial Veil. When he plucks the blind demon, Damien, from the fiery chasm and sends him back to Earth with new eyes, the stage is set for a cataclysmic battle of good versus evil.
Then Brielle unearths the truth about her mother’s death and she must question everything she ever thought was true.
Brielle has no choice. She knows evil forces are converging and will soon rain their terror down upon the town of Stratus. She must master the weapons she’s been given. She must fight.
I was so pleasantly surprised with this book! I have been in a reading funk and I think it got me out of it. The writing was supurb, the story line was unique and intriguing and the characters were phenominal. I loved them all. Bad and good. I was with this book from the first page and stuck with it till the very last sentence...at 3:30 if I must add. ;D
I think one of the major things that made this book so unique was the meaning behind it. You could tell the author wanted to make a point. Faith. That was one major message twined in its pages. And it was not just faith in the almighty God. It was faith in yourself, your companions and faith in letting go and moving on. It actually opened my eyes a bit more. This series is inspiring.
Shannon is a wonderful writer! She has officially made me a huge fan of hers. Her story telling is amazing! I can't wait to find what happens in the next book. There is something about Dittemore's writing that just grabs you and keeps you turning the pages. I have no clue how many times I told myself "Just a few more pages. Ok just one more chapter." Obviously that didn't work out too well. It just kept getting better and better and the intensity rating shot through the roof not allowing me to put the book down. Her writing is smooth and effortless.
The characters in this book grow on you. I had a few problems with Brielle. Sometimes should just plain out annoyed me. She came off whiney at first but I grew to love her throughout the books. She had reasons to be sad and depressed. I couldn't imagine going through what she went through. When she finally opened up she was a great character. I LOVED Jake. When we first meet him in the beginning of Angel Eyes, he instantly gives off great charisma. He is humorous and lively. Like I said I loved him. #CrushListWorthy (I am starting that trend ok??) There are other characters throughout the story are all charismatic to a point. I couldn't help but love hating Damien. He was a really good bad guy (too many contradictions hah?) ;D
If you haven't started this series yet I recommend you do. You might find yourself just as happy as I was. I honestly didn't know what to expect when starting this. There aren't too many angel books trending now-a-days but each one is different in someway. There are SO many ways you can write a story with angels/demons/fallen angels. You never know what your going to get. What you get with this one is great! Go out and get your copy! I think its worth it! :D
This review was a part of the Broken Wings Blog Tour with YA Bound Tours.
Shannon Dittemore has an overactive imagination and a passion for truth. Her lifelong journey to combine the two is responsible for a stint at Portland Bible College, performances with local theater companies, and a focus on youth and young adult ministry. The daughter of one preacher and the wife of another, she spends her days imagining things unseen and chasing her two children around their home in Northern California. Angel Eyes is her first novel.
~The Giveaway~
The Prizes:
1) Print copies of Angel Eyes and Broken Wings (US Only)
(5) Print copies of Broken Wings (US only)
Indigo Awakening
Series: The Hunted #1
Author: Jordan Dane
Release Date: December 18, 2012
by, Harlequin Teen
Source: *a copy was provided by the tour host for review purposes via Netgalley*
Pages: 304
Because of what you are, the Believers will hunt you down.
Voices told Lucas Darby to run. Voices no one else can hear. He’s warned his sister not to look for him, but Rayne refuses to let her troubled brother vanish on the streets of LA. In her desperate search, she meets Gabriel Stewart, a runaway with mysterious powers and far too many secrets. Rayne can’t explain her crazy need to trust the strange yet compelling boy—to touch him—to protect him even though he scares her.
A fanatical church secretly hunts psychic kids—gifted “Indigo” teens feared to be the next evolution of mankind—for reasons only “the Believers” know. Now Rayne’s only hope is Gabe, who is haunted by an awakening power—a force darker than either of them imagine—that could doom them all. {Goodreads}
~Trailer:
~Review:
Starting this book I kind of forgot what it was about so everything that happened totally took me by surprise. Then I went to goodreads and found there weren't too many positive reviews...I don't see why. Lately I have been the black sheep. The books that haven't gotten great reviews I have really enjoyed! And I did just that...enjoyed Indigo Awakening. It was unique and totally off track anything I have ever read before which did it good!
I couldn't help but think it was really weird too but hell, weird worked! Magical and totally suspenseful this book worked. I am totally not kidding when I say this book had the suspense factor down to a "T". I think the main thing that made it so suspenseful was the many alternate POVS. The whole book was third person but it was kind of like a movie. It zoomed into one specific character when important, to give you that behind the scene look. Although I really really enjoyed this at times others I was kind of put off. Like, it wasn't chapter after chapter that the POV switched. Sometimes it would just randomly switch in the next paragraph. Again, while at times it worked and flowed very nicely, others I was like what!? and had to proceed to back-track to get a better idea on when the "camera" changed. It kind of made it piecey. And then I hated it because it would switch on very important parts (this one is giggly good hate) making me gasping at the horrid cruelness of Miss Dane ;D
I enjoyed each character we got to see into. Oh! Somewhere along the line we lost Mia...I don't know how I feel about that one...she just kind of dropped off. You can't do that sorry. If you bring a character into it and make her/him important enough to get insight from you can't simply drop them off like leftovers to your dog when you decided you were done. No. Sorry. Give us a reason to drop them off don't just randomly do it. Honestly, I didn't miss her because I truly loathed her but still...no matter the character you can't do that. I liked the other "villains" in the book. They were cool to hate. Then you have your main characters like Gabriel, Rayne, Lucas, Kendra, and Rafe that you truly. I think my favorites to read from were Rafe and Gabriel and not just because both were hot ;D They were truly interesting. They were the ones with the walls and the secrets so I liked to be able to see behind those walls and secrets!
Altogether Indigo Awakening was interesting and I enjoyed it, despite others. The creativity blew my mind. I wasn't sure how I felt when I finished but writing this review...I think I liked it a lot better thinking back on it than while reading it. I now get to look back and see the greatness that I took for granted. There is seriously so much creativity and imagination! You have to literally just sit back and admire the work put into this book. The ending was cruel and now, it feels like a sucker punch to my stomach. I saw the very last sentence coming but the last parts of goodbyes killed me. The ending was action packed and crazy! But the whole book was like that! *admires again*. I think this series has major potential and will most definitely will keep my eyes peeled for book two! I think readers should give it a chance..don't listen to the reviews...be your own reviewer. Did I enjoy it? Hell yes! Is it worth it, especially with all the bad hype? I think so! Now its not screaming you need me or anything but I think everyone should read it cause I have a feeling book two is going to be killer! When you get the chance read it!
This review was a part of the Indigo Awakening Blog Tour via YA Bound Tours.
Bestselling, critically-acclaimed author Jordan Dane’s gritty romantic thrillers are ripped from the headlines with vivid settings, intrigue, and dark humor. Publishers Weekly compared her intense novels to Lisa Jackson, Lisa Gardner, and Tami Hoag, naming her debut novel NO ONE HEARD HER SCREAM as Best Books of 2008. She also pens young-adult novels for Harlequin Teen. Formerly an energy sales manager, she now writes full time. Jordan and her husband share their Texas residence with two cats of highborn lineage and two lucky rescue dogs.
~The Giveaway:
Yippee for giveaways!! This one is totally epic! Want to see whats up for grabs?? :D
HarlequinTEEN prize pack, includes (US
only):
· INDIGO
AWAKENING by Jordan Dane
· ON
A DARK WING by Jordan Dane
· IN
THE ARMS OF STONE ANGELS by Jordan Dane
· THE
JULIET SPELL by Douglas Rees
· BELONGING
by Karen Ann Hopkins (ARC)
· DANCERGIRL
by Carol M. Tanzman
· 2
Harlequin notebooks
4 Infinity Bracelets: (US only)
For anyone who has read an advance copy
of INDIGO AWAKENING, you know that a silver infinity bracelet plays an
important part in the story. Special bracelets will be given away on the
virtual tour so the lucky winners will be part of Rafael’s street family.
Rafe’s bracelet was in black leather, but I’ve added a white leather braid as
my personal remembrance to you for being in MY family.
