Mundie Moms

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Book Review: Wings of the Wicked by Courtney Allison Moulton



Published by: Harper Teen / Katherine Tegen Books
Released on: January 31st, 2012 TODAY
Source: ARC from the author to review
5 stars: I LOVED It!
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound
Series: Book #2

Life as the Preliator is harder than Ellie ever imagined.
Balancing real life with the responsibility of being Heaven’s warrior is a challenge for Ellie. Her relationship with Will has become all business, though they both long for each other. And now that the secret of who she really is has come out, so have Hell’s strongest reapers. Grown bold and more vicious, the demonic threaten her in the light of day and stalk her in the night.

She’s been warned. Cadan, a demonic reaper, comes to her with information about Bastian’s new plan to destroy Ellie’s soul and use an ancient relic to wake all the souls of the damned and unleash them upon humanity. As she fights to stay ahead of Bastian’s schemes , the revelations about those closest to her awaken a dark power within Ellie that threatens to destroy everything—including herself.

She’ll be betrayed.
Treachery comes even from those whom she loves, and Ellie is broken by the deaths of those who stood beside her in this Heavenly war. Still, she must find a way to save the world, herself, and her love for Will. If she fails, there will be hell to pay. -quoted from Goodreads

Talk about needing to catch my breathe... Wings of the Wicked is a non stop, action packed, thrilling sequel that's sexy, dark, and emotionally gripping. Courtney Allison Moulton pulls out all the stops in this book and I have no idea how she's going to top this sequel with book #3. I don't think I've ever read over 500 pages this quickly before. There is so much that happens that I literally was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Between the plot twists, the battles and those who get killed off, this is one book that will appeal to readers who enjoy endless action.

I loved the characters in this sequel, and was really blown away with how much Ellie changes. She deals with some very realistic concerns. She's the Preilator, she's powerful, she's being hunted and she also wants to enjoy just being human. I understood the range of emotions she deals with. The time has come for her to embrace her true self and sacrifice one life for the other... the angel side or the human side. As readers will learn, when the two worlds collide it's costly for her and all involved. The things between Will and Ellie really heat up and their chemistry is smoking in this sequel. Their scenes together were some of the ones that emotional grabbed me. There's so much history between the two of them, an undeniable love, and danger. Courtney couldn't have written their relationship any better than she does in this book. I can't even begin to sum up what is developed and revealed between Will and Ellie. It's so fitting for their history and the way the story line goes.

Along with Will, whom I adore, is Caden. I seriously have fallen in love with Caden, though not as much as I have with Will. He shows up when you least except it and delivers quite the plot twist when he does. When he's around it's hard to tell if there's something he's hiding or if he's really the guy you'd least except to fall for. There's plenty of swoon worthy and gut retching moments that will leave you clinging to the pages of this book. There's an epic battle though I'm sure this isn't the last one we'll witness in this series. I liked that there were times Ellie had to decipher where the fine line between good and evil stood. There's betrayal, unlikely allies and plenty of scenes that will leave you thinking, "I can't believe she just went there." Oh Courtney definitely goes there and it's fabulous!

This is a fantastic sequel and one I highly recommend picking up. There is an underage drinking scene, an attempted rape scene, plenty of butt kicking scenes that obviously contain violence, the subject of domestic violence, very mild language, grief, guilt and the actions that can stem for those. I will say Courtney does a great job in the way she handled each of those topics in her story. Due to some of the content, I think this is a book older YA fans will enjoy the most. If you loved Angelfire just wait till you read Wings of the Wicked! If you're looking for a book that will sweep you off your feet, is full of brilliant writing, breathtaking romance and a well developed storyline than this is one you need to read. Now that I've caught my breathe I may need to sit and read it again. I can't wait to read the next book in this exciting trilogy.



Guess what!?! Courtney will be in Austin on 2/17/12 for the Dark Days stop! I am so excited I'll be there to interview her along with Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows and Brodi Ashton. Find out all the details HERE.

Find out more about Fear The Reaper HERE

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

I have 2 SETS of bookmarks that feature Will, Ellie and Caden on them to GIVEAWAY and one set of Will and Ellie!! Just leave me a comment with your name and email address to enter. This giveaway will end on 2/13/12. It's OPEN INTERNATIONALLY!

Catching Jordan Blog Tour: Guest Post w/ Author Miranda Kenneally

"Breaking through the Ranks: Jordan is symbolic for the many girls/women who choose to fight the status quo. What have some of your own experiences been like?"

When I was in elementary school, I wasn’t popular to say the least. Kids teased me because I liked Star Trek and science and animals and wanted to know how hurricanes worked. I didn’t know what the popular radio stations were and I barely knew which bands were cool. Some people at my school couldn’t believe I loved reading at night. Books and Discover magazine and National Geographic. I was a dorky, unattractive nerd who boys did not like.

But I was damned good at certain sports, like softball and volleyball.

For a long time in elementary school, when captains chose teams in gym class, it was all based on popularity. I was usually picked somewhere toward the end, even though I knew I could help the captain win games. I had proven myself. But no one ever seemed to notice because my lack of popularity hid my talent.

Then in sixth grade, I made it onto the school’s volleyball team. We were going to play the teachers in a game right before holiday break! Only eight kids were on the team: four boys and four girls. One of the boys was named Josh, and he was extremely popular, but had always been kind to me.

So one night our team went to Open Gym night, to practice so we could beat the teachers. I was practicing my serve – I was the only girl on the team who could do an overhand serve, and it was awesome. A fifth grade boy called out to Josh, “Wow, she’s good!” And Josh replied, “I know she’s good.”

And that was the first time in my life I really felt worth something when it came to sports. I smiled and smiled, and when we played softball in the spring, Josh picked me first when he was captain. When anyone questioned him, he replied, “Have you seen Miranda bat? Or seen her play third base?”

He was a truly good person and a good friend, because he saw my strengths and focused only on them, disregarding any pretense he may have had toward my popularity. I remember in junior high, he wrote in my yearbook, “Stay cool until the Next Generation.” That was incredibly corny but I loved it, because he knew I loved Star Trek: The Next Generation and accepted that about me, that I could like something other kids at my school didn’t like.

In my book CATCHING JORDAN, seventeen-year-old Jordan Woods loves football. She’s been playing the game for a long time and the guys all accept that she loves the game. Her friends don’t question it. She’s the captain and quarterback of her school’s team because she’s proven herself to be a great player and a capable leader.

Early on, when test readers were reading the book, they wanted to know, “Why does Jordan like football so much?”

I couldn’t really answer that. Jordan loves it, so she plays. Isn’t that enough? She likes running and the strategy involved. She likes leading a team. She likes running in for a touchdown.

If I say I love Mexican food, people don’t say, “Tell me why you like Mexican.” If I say I love figure skating, people don’t ask me why. It’s okay that I like those things because it’s normal for a white woman in American to like chips and dip and sparkly leotards.

But people do ask why Jordan’s into football, just because she’s a girl. I know that’s the sole reason.
My view is that people should do what they are good at. And even if they aren’t amazing at something, they should do it if they want to. If they dream of doing something, then they should work toward that dream, tackling obstacle after obstacle.

People will respect that. Maybe not all people, but a good portion will. Besides, you should do what you want to do.

That’s what Jordan Woods does, and that’s what I try to do every day. You should too. And if it ever gets hard, just remember those special people in your life who believe in you and your skills, regardless of sex or race or social status.

*******

Thank you Miranda for joining us today!

Please be sure to follow Miranda via her Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr

Published by: Source Books
Released on: December 1st, 2011
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though - she leads them as the captain and quarterback on her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys, and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university. But now there's a new guy in town who threatens her starring position on the team... and has her suddenly wishing to be seen as more than just a teammate - quoted from Goodreads



You can read my review here and be sure to check out the book trailer here:

Twitter Tuesday - Saundra Mitchell


Can you feel our excitement over Saundra Mitchell's The Springsweet? No, well, take a glance at her newly released book trailer:



Then read this synopsis:

It’s a long way from Baltimore to Oklahoma Territory. But Zora Stewart will go any distance to put the tragic events of her sixteenth summer behind her. So this city girl heads to the tiny frontier town of West Glory to help her young widowed aunt keep her homestead going.

When another Baltimorean shows up in West Glory, Zora couldn’t be more surprised. Theo de la Croix made the long trip out west hoping to court Zora, whom he has long admired from afar.

But Zora has developed an attraction to a rather less respectable fellow: Emerson Birch, a rough-mannered young "sooner" whose fertile land is coveted.

As Zora begins to suspect that there may be more than luck behind Emerson’s good land, she discovers an extraordinary, astonishing power of her own: the ability to sense water under the parched earth. When her aunt hires her out as a "springsweet" to advise other settlers where to dig their wells, Zora feels the burden of holding the key to something so essential to survival in this unforgiving land.

Even more, she finds herself longing for love the way the prairie thirsts for water. Maybe, in the wildness of the territories, Zora can finally move beyond simply surviving and start living.

And finally, here's a snippet from Kirkus Reviews:

Throughout, the author conjures a convincing picture of life on the Oklahoma prairie, painting an absorbing portrait of the landscape and of the people there. Paranormal abilities aside, this is an effective historical novel. Mitchell includes a barn raising and dance, a prairie fire and a town founded and run by blacks, demonstrating solid research. Writing, story and romance maintain interest throughout. A high-quality, absorbing drama.

Okay now you understand why we're excited -- "high-quality, absorbing drama"? I'm so there. Pre-order The Springsweet at your local bookstore now; the release date, April 17th, is just around the corner.

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