Mundie Moms

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

City of Lost Souls Teaser!


By now we all know what an awesome job Cassie does at un-nerving us with her teasers, and this is one of those teasers that will leave you wishing it was already next year!

Magnus and Izzy, mid-book.

“Alec isn’t happy,” said Magnus, as if she hadn’t spoken.
“Of course he isn’t,” Isabelle snapped. “Jace —”
“Jace,” said Magnus, and his hands made fists at his sides. Isabelle stared at him. She had always thought that he didn’t mind Jace; liked him, even, once the question of Alec’s affections had been settled. Out loud, she said:
“I thought you were friends.”
“It’s not that,” said Magnus. “There are some people — people the universe seems to have singled out for special destinies. Special favors and special torments. God knows we’re all drawn toward what’s beautiful and broken; I have been, but some people cannot be fixed. Or if they can be, it’s only by love and sacrifice so great it destroys the giver.”
Isabelle shook her head slowly. “You’ve lost me. Jace is our brother, but for Alec — he’s Jace’s parabatai too —”
“I know about parabatai,” said Magnus, his voice rising in pitch. “I’ve known parabatai so close they were almost the same person; do you know what happens, when one of them dies, to the one that’s left —”
“Stop it!” Isabelle clapped her hands over her ears, then lowered them slowly. "How dare you, Magnus Bane,” she said. “How dare you make this worse than it is —”
“Isabelle.” Magnus’ hands loosened; he looked a little wide-eyed, as if his outburst had startled even him. “I am sorry. I forget, sometimes . . . that with all your self-control and strength, you possess the same vulnerability that Alec does.”
“There is nothing weak about Alec,” said Isabelle.
“No,” said Magnus. “To love as you choose, that takes strength. The thing is, I wanted you here for him. There are things I can’t do for him, can’t give him . . .” For a moment Magnus looked oddly vulnerable. “You have known Jace as long as he has. You can give him understanding I can’t. And he loves you.”
“Of course he loves me. I’m his sister.”
“Blood isn’t love,” said Magnus, and his voice was bitter. “Just ask Clary.”

Ugh, Cassie you're killing me!! I NEED TO KNOW more!

This teaser was quoted from Cassie's site.

LIVE chat with Other & Bloodborn Author Karen Kincy




*Our chat will start at 8 pm CST/ 9 pm EST. To join, hit join and enter a screen name.

*We do our best to make sure all comments are published, but not all the questions may be answered in the hour time frame of the chat. Even if your questions and comments are not published, we and our guest can still read them.

* The reason why we moderate our chats is to allow our guest(s) to be able to come on and chat with their fans with out feeling overwhelmed by everyone talking to them at the same time.

*In respect to our guest's time, we will only publish comments that pertain to their current writings, and book.

* We often times have other author guests who join out chats, but we only publish questions pertaining to the author who is chatting with us tonight.

*We will not post any personal questions or comments.

* Any rude, disrespectful, or spam like comments will not be published.

*Thank you and we look forward to chatting with everyone tonight!

**No part of this chat is allowed to be used with out our permission**

Waiting on Wednesday- Crave by Melissa Darnell


Published by Harlequin Teen
To Be Released on October 18th, 2011
Pre-Order from: Amazon| The Book Depository

Savannah Colbert has been shunned all her life by the kids of the Clann. And when she undergoes some drastic changes after a strange illness, Savannah learns secrets about the group and about herself—dangerous secrets. For the Clann are powerful magic users, and Savannah herself is half Clann and half vampire—a forbidden, unheard of combination. Falling for Clann golden boy Tristan Coleman isn't just a bad idea—it could be deadly if anyone finds out. But her attraction to Tristan—and his to her—isn't something either of them can resist for long.

I recently had the opportunity to read and it's FANTASTIC! Here's my spoiler free blurb I recently posted on Goodreads:

"An enticing mix of forbidden love, magic, betrayal and heartache, this romance will leave you craving more. Melissa Darnell's beautifully told love story mixed with a rich vampire and witch mythology creates one of this year's most spellbinding paranormal romances."

I am really looking forward to this book's release so I can sit and read it again. It's such a refreshing paranormal read that really breaks the mold with vampires and witches. It's a must read! What up coming release are you looking forward to?

Book Review: Other


Published by Flux
Released on September 1st, 2010
Source: bought
3 stars- It was a good read
Purchase from: Amazon| Barnes & Noble

Gwen Williams has been hiding a strange and fantastic secret: she's a shapeshifter. Although society may tolerate vampires, centaurs, and "Others" like Gwen, there are plenty of folks in her small Washington town who don't care for her kind.

When a new werewolf pack moves into the area, tensions rise—and Others start showing up dead, including someone close to Gwen. Despite the methodical murders, the police are ignoring evidence that suggests a serial killer. In the midst of terrible loss and danger, Gwen—along with a mysterious and sexy guy who happens to be a Japanese fox spirit—risks her life to find the murderer. But Gwen is already the killer's next target . . .

An engaging debut with an enticing mythology, romance, action and a murder mystery, Other is an unique paranormal read. With it's wide array of shapeshifting characters known as Others, Karen creates a world where humans, and others co-exist. Who wouldn't want to live in a world where it's normal to see mythological creatures roaming the streets and working in books store, or going grocery shopping with a centaur? It would seem magical right? Vampires, werewolves, and every other type of shapeshifting character you can imagine all live in a quiet little town nestled into the beautiful back drop of the NW in Washington state.

Mixed into a fabulous mythology and a beautiful setting (yes I was hooked on the setting alone), Karen's debut is full of exciting, magical, mythological creatures. She also introduces a fascinating lore with Pookas, something I've not read about before, but was really intrigued with. Than she also mixes in a fabulous romance and a great murder mystery. The romance was exciting. It's different and it wasn't an instant love type of relationship.

Gwen, the story's main character is an Other and after her human boyfriend finds out, things don't go as she plans and that sends her into the arms of someone who can relate, Tavian. I really liked Tavian. He's definitely not your typical love interest and I loved that about him. I loved that he wasn't a jock or all muscled up. He's a shorter that Gwen, he's totally down to earth, secure with his abilities and helps Gwen learn to embrace her's more. While Gwen was a character who annoyed me at times, Tavian is a character I totally loved. He really made the story for me and I love what he's able to turn into, which made the story a little more unique. I do love the fact that Gwen herself is able to turn into a variety of different animals. The shapeshifting abilities in this story are really captivating.

While the shapeshifting elements keep the story line exciting, the murder mystery adds suspense and action to it. Karen did a great job at keeping me hooked on who did it. While I had my assumptions on who it was, the twists she kept throwing into the plot kept me on my toes and had me guessing until the very end. Other is truly an unique paranormal read and it's one I think fans of YA paranormal books will enjoy. It puts a whole new spin on paranormal characters. I'm looking forward to reading more books from this series. There is some mild language and a mild sex scene in the book.

Book Review: Bloodborn


Published by: Flux
To Be Released On: September 8th, 2011
Source: book from author/publisher to review
2 stars- I wanted to like it more than I did
Purchase from: Amazon| Barnes & Noble


Brock Koeman always hated werewolves and Others like them. While trying to trap a werewolf pack, he and his brother Chris were attacked and bitten—becoming what they have always feared and despised. While Chris fights for his life in the hospital, Brock faces another kind of battle: stifling his terrible urge to transform.

When werewolves kidnap him and the girl he loves, Brock discovers what it means to be Other—wondrous new sensations and experiences, overshadowed by constant danger—and the life that awaits him if he can ever accept his fate.

Like Other, Bloodborn has a fascinating paranormal mythology, only this story focuses more on the werewolves. For Brock, being a wolf is far from natural. In fact, it's one of the things he despises the most, and it seems as though fate plays a cruel trick on him when he and his brother go out to hunt the werewolves and in turn get bitten by one. Now his brother is fighting for his life and Brock is fighting to remain human.

Bloodborn's werewolf mythology is unique in the fact that not all the wolves are born that way, and the ones, like Brock who get bitten, aren't only shunned from society they don't always survive their first turning. Though I never felt like I connected with Brock, I was able to sympathize with his character and how he was feeling. I understood why he was constantly battling with himself, hating the fact he's turning into some he can't stand. He despises his inner wolf and the pack he ends up running with. It took one bite to change everything for him and now he's left with nothing, but a losing battle of turning into a wolf.

Despite being a huge paranormal fan, I had a hard time connecting with this story. I'm not sure exactly why that was, but over all I couldn't get into it as much as I wanted to. The storyline is good, and like Other, Karen has created a world that consists of human, werewolves, vampires and Others who are live together. I should said tolerate each other, because for the most part each paranormal group sticks to their own kind. I like that Karen included werewolf stereotypes in this book, because the werewolves get such a bad rap in this series. They're deemed infectious and like outlaws. I liked seeing how the pack interacted, but over the characters weren't ones I felt like I could connect with, and that made it hard for me to enjoy the book as much as wanted to.

Bloodburn is a book that fans of werewolves and YA paranormal books may enjoy, and I liked that you don't need to read Other to follow this storyline. Brock had a very minor role in the first book, and Bloodborn is a book that focuses solely on his story. Bloodborn's a good sequel to Other, but unfortunately for me this is a book that just didn't connect with me. I'm looking forward to seeing which character gets their own story next and I'm hoping it's Tavian. He's my favorite character from the series so far. There is language and uses of the f-word through out the book and some underage drinking. This is a book I'd recommend to older teen readers and fans of YA paranormal books.

Labels