The Goddess Legacy by Aimée Carter

The Goddess Legacy by Aimée Carter

Books Stats:
Reading level: New Adult
Genre: Paranormal/Greek Mythology
Trade paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release date: July 31, 2012

Series: Goddess Test #2.5

Source: Netgalley

Reviewed by: Stéphanie

Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository

For millennia we’ve caught only glimpses, of the lives and loves of the gods and goddesses on Olympus. Now Aimée Carter pulls back the curtain on how they became the powerful, petty, loving and dangerous immortals that Kate Winters knows.

Calliope/Hera represented constancy and yet had a husband who never matched her faithfulness….

Ava/Aphrodite was the goddess of love and yet commitment was a totally different deal….

Persephone was urged to marry one man, yet longed for another….

James/Hermes loved to make trouble for others-but never knew true loss before….

Henry/Hades’ solitary existence had grown too wearisome to continue. But meeting Kate Winters gave him a new hope….

Five original novellas of love, loss and longing and the will to survive throughout the ages.

I rarely read anthologies. I tend to stay away from them because most of the time, I only know one of the authors that have written the stories and I’m not interested in reading short stories or novellas from series I’ve never read before. However, reading an anthology like THE GODDESS LEGACY really appeals to me because it’s only written by one author, and all the novellas in the book are from the same series (of which I’ve read all the books).

THE GODDESS LEGACY was a good addition to THE GODDESS TEST and GODDESS INTURRUPTED. If it’s even possible, I think I enjoyed some of these novellas more than the previous books. The novellas add so much more background information about many of the characters. First, we meet Hera and we more or less begin to understand why she did those things in the previous books. Then we see Hephaestus and Ares fight for Aphrodite’s love. Persephone makes an appearance in her own novella and we truly learn why she left Hades. Hermes also has his own story in which he learns more about the mortals and explains to the other gods why they should take on new, modern names. And of course, the anthology wouldn’t be complete without Hades’ story where we learn how hard it was for him to find his new queen.

Personally, I don’t find the novellas are meant to be read individually. Combined, the five novellas tell one big story, with five different point of views. The flow from story to story is perfect and allows the reader to enter a new story without any problems.

One theme that is dominant in each story is love. Whether it’s a tragic love story or a heart warming love story, the main character of each novella face difficult issues as they deal with love and unfaithfulness. Not only was Aimée Carter able to give us more information about the individual gods and goddesses, she also found similarities in each of them by drawing out the human emotion out of each character. Fans of The Goddess Test series will enjoy this anthology because it answers so many questions about the mystery surrounding Persephone’s past and all the other gods that are so important in Aimée’s series. Also, it’s a good teaser as we wait for book 3 to be published!

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by Unknown at Friday, September 21, 2012

 Aimée Carter, Gods, Harlequin, Review  Leave your mark

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Daring You To Read...The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Daring You To Read is a weekly feature here on Tynga’s Reviews where we dare you to read some of our favorite older releases (at least 6 months old). All the books/series we choose to feature are titles we adored and think you should give them a shot! We think it’s a super awesome way to discover that special book who might have slipped off your radar!

You’ve already read the book? Let’s us know what you thought!

You are accepting the dare? We’d love to know!

Have a dare of your own? Leave a comment ^^

This week, I am daring you to read THE SCORPIO RACES. Maggie Stiefvater is one of my favorite authors. With each new book, she finds a way to outdo herself. In my opinion, this is her best book by far. I'm really hoping to introduce everyone to her writing if they have not given her a chance yet. But that's not the reason that I have chosen this book for this week's Daring You To Read post.

I'm daring you to read this book because of the message that is hidden within its pages. This book explores the relationship between humans and animals, man and beast. It shows the importance of companionship and its necessity to both survival and sanity. It shows that while a romantic relationship is important, any other form of relationship that is shared between two living creatures is equally as important and just as powerful. And it also shows that something other than a cheesy love story can move you to the point of tears. Not that I actually cried or anything, maybe just teared up slightly at the end...you know...

This story is told from the alternating perspectives of Kate "Puck" Connolly and Sean Kendrick. Both are wounded spirits. Both cannot live without their respective animals. Both are desperate to win the Scorpio Races to grab the prize money and ensure that they keep what is most valuable to them. For Kate, it is keeping a roof above her family's head. For Sean, it is Corr, the only thing on the face of the planet that has ever mattered to him. (Oddly enough, that one thing shouldn't matter to him.) But both are unprepared for the journey that this years Scorpio Races will take them on and will find themselves battling between their own desires and their desire to save each other.

Both Puck and Sean have two of the most distinctive and strong voices that I have come across in young adult literature. Puck is always putting everyone before herself and Sean is doing everything in his willpower to become a free man, which means keeping to himself. Where Puck is daring, Sean is quiet and brooding. With their alternative perspectives, you begin to see how the same event can be interpreted so differently or so alike between two separate people.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is willing to read it. It's a book that I can pick up and re-read countless times without the tale ever getting old. The feelings that you experience while reading will linger with you for months after its completion. While part of me wishes their story continues, I know that this novel is so perfectly written that another book just couldn't do Puck, Sean, Dove, and Corr justice.

It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die.

At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.

Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

Read my Review

Read an Excerpt

Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository

Do you think you can take this week's dare?

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by Lili at Thursday, September 20, 2012

 Daring You to Read, Maggie Stiefvater, Scholastic  9 People left their mark

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Smart Chicks Kick It Tour – Event Recap

Saturday was a really awesome day for me. Not only did I travel to Montréal to meet Tynga and many other Montréal bloggers, but I also got to meet these lovely ladies:

Yes! Those are the Smart Chicks (or les poulettes intélligentes as Margaret Stohl would say) from the Smart Chicks Kick It Tour. Their stop in Montréal might not have been as huge as some of their other stops (I mean, it had to compete with cities like Las Vegas!) but it was a chance of a life time I could not pass up.

The Pointe Claire Chapters was nice enough to host the event and I think they did a pretty good job of it. I mean, they had to deal with us book bloggers, taking over their area. Look at how much room we took. You can see Cindy from Cindy’s Love of Books (left), Tynga (middle) and myself (right) surrounded by piles of books, ready to be signed. It was practically a fire hazard!

Unfortunately, the authors told us that we weren’t able to take any video or audio recordings of the event because they sometimes say things that they shouldn’t. And of course, they didn’t want people to actually have proof of their “bad behavior.” One author (she will remain nameless because I don’t want to get her into trouble), even said that that if you’re an new author and you want to get published, the first step is getting an agent. Because an agent is a monster you keep on a leash whom you can unleash on the publisher or someone else when things go bad.

The authors also shared some of their book news, and some of their books-to-movies news. Of course, Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl was filmed this summer and is coming out February 13, 2013 (awesome release date, right?).

And even more exciting news is from Kelley Armstrong who told us that the first book from her Women of the Otherworld series, Bitten, will be made into a 13 episode TV series by Space! Personally, I think TV series are way better than movies because it allows so much more of the story to make it to the screen. According to Kelley, casting should begin early 2013 and the show will premiere sometimes in the fall of 2013. You can find out more about it here. Yay for Canadian television!

During the event, many books and Chapters Indigo gift cards were given away. But I was lucky enough to get this prize pack from Rosemary Clement-Moore since I travelled almost 10 hour to get to the event. Usually it takes me about 8 hours and a half to travel from my small town near Sudbury to Montreal but on Saturday, took me about an extra hour to get there. Problem was, I decided to leave really early in the morning (like at 3 am), which in theory would have been good to avoid as much traffic as possible. Unfortunately, there was an area of the highway they were repaving and I got stuck waiting for about 20 minutes. And then, sometimes after the sun rose, it truly hit me that I only go 3 hours of sleep so I decided to stop for a little break and have a good breakfast (and a quick nap). Oh, and then there’s the fact that I went to the wrong place when I got to Montréal. I had a hard time finding the Chapters that hosted the event but hurray! for my Iphone that guided me to the right place! So, for all this extra trouble, I go a Texas themed prize. I have to say, that Texas Two-Step chocolate was awesome! If I ever visit Texas, I’ll have to make sure to stock up! Thanks Rosemary!

I was really happy to get all my books signed (see image on the right). The authors were nice enough to sign all our copies. Of course, most of my books were from Kelley Armstrong. She was probably the most popular author there, since she is Canadian. I won’t bore you with pictures of all the signatures. You’ll just have to take my word for it. =D

I also bought a few books, including Enthralled, which is an anthology written by many of the authors of the tour. Melissa Marr explained to me that since this a tour organized by authors and not their publishers, the travelling expenses must be paid by the authors themselves. That’s where the idea for an anthology came from. It was published more or less to help pay for the Smart Chicks Kick It tour. I thought it was pretty genius idea.

This will definitively be a day I never forget. I’m glad we took many pictures including some with the authors. I was actually surprised how warm and friendly they all were. And I must say, Margaret Stohl was a riot! She had a quirky and hilarious comment for everything.

Thank you again to all of the people who organized this tour, especially Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr. Also, this event would not have been possible if it weren’t for Chapters Indigo, so thank you!

To finish off my post, here are a few more pictures!

From left to right: Lucy from Moonlight Gleam’s Bookshelf, Kelley Armstrong, Melissa Marr, Kami Garcia, Tynga, Cindy from Cindy’s Love of Books, Rosemary Clement-Moore, Emilie from Emilie’s Book World Ciara from Lost at Midnight Reviews, Stéphanie (me), and Rachel Caine.

 
Left: Tynga and myself.  Right: Kelly Armstrong and Tynga with her stack of Kelley books.

Book bloggers rule! Top (left to right): Myself, Ciara (Lost at Midnight Reviews), Tynga and Cindy (Cindy’s Love of Books). Bottom: Emilie (Emilie’s Book World), Lucy (Moonlight Gleam) and AH (Bad Ass Book Reviews)

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by Unknown at Wednesday, September 19, 2012

 Kami Garcia, Kelley Armstrong, Margaret Stohl, Melissa de la Cruz, Melissa Marr, Rachel Caine, Rosemary Clement-Moore  11 People left their mark

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Otherkin by Nina Berry

Otherkin by Nina Berry

Book Stats:
Reading level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
ARC: 294 pages
Publisher: K Teen
Release date: July 31, 2012

Series: Otherkin #1

Reviewed by: Lili

Source: Publisher

Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository

I thought I knew myself. Then I met Caleb.

Dez is a good girl who does as she’s told and tries not to be noticed.

Then she rescues a boy from a cage, and he tells her secrets about herself.

Now inside her burns a darkness that will transform her.

Everything is about to change -- and neither Caleb, nor the Otherkin, nor those who hunt them are prepared for what Dez will unleash.

I was really looking forward to this book, so it’s really unfortunate that I have to admit that this book was rather disappointing. While it did tell the tale of a female shifter trying to come to terms with her powers, I felt as if I drifted through Dez’s story in a bubble—immune to feeling anything. I didn’t find myself connecting with any characters, and instead I was just along for the ride. I was immersed in a story full of characters with names that made me cringe, but I was somehow detached from the story all the same.

This story literally just jumps right into things. Within the first two pages, Dez shifts for the very first time. Similar to Of Poseidon by Anna Banks, you hop right into the action from page one, no back-story to the character(s). While I know that some readers like to immediately get down to business, I am a reader that likes to know a little about the characters so that I can feel for them. Because I literally knew nothing about Dez besides the fact that she believed herself to be a good girl within the first two pages, I felt very removed from her character through the remainder of the book. I often found my eyebrows knitting together when the tiger in her awakened dangerous thoughts about killing or maiming people. Even more surprising, such a good girl accepted this dark world so easily. But then I realized that this was a reoccurring theme throughout the novel. It seems like every time something should have freaked a character out, they just accepted it and moved on, no questions asked. It was slightly frustrating because it seemed so unrealistic.

The romance in the novel seemed incredibly forced as well. Unfortunately, I have to diagnose OTHERKIN with an extensive case of insta-love.  Caleb—one of the few normal names!—was a very hot and cold character, but he was attracted to Dez from their very first meeting. He has a lot of secrets, which made him separate from her for a while, only to steal her away for kisses against his better judgment before he retreated back into his make-believe world where he did everything in his power to ignore her. It felt like they skipped the whole flirting phase then he was talking about Dez naked half the time. And, of course, when their lives are in the utmost danger he tells her that he loves her. Needless to say, I think I liked the supporting cast of shifters—Siku, November, Laurentia, and Arnoldo—more than the main characters because they were not surrounded by cliches.

There was one line in this book that I found to be very irksome as well. Taken off of page 110, it reads: “Shifting heals everything—tattoos, piercing holes, scars where losers like London like to cut themselves just to feel alive.” After reading this line, my mood soured for the remainder of the book. I find this line to be very offensive, but it hit home more because someone I know did struggle with cutting before, and it truly hurts to know that you can't help. I thank the heavens everyday that she’s so much happier now, but she wasn't a loser, she was just somebody who was temporarily lost in life. The character mentioned did it all because she had a persona of self-hate complete with a bad dye job and fake piercings. The context that this was used in the book almost seemed like it's okay to do such a thing because the cuts disappear when you shift. Well, in the real world, the cuts will never heal and this is a growing problem among my generation. I support the education of the seriousness of such a thing, but I do not appreciate when such a serious topic is used in such a non-serious manner.

Aside from my lack of connection to the characters and my personal problem stated above, I didn’t mind this book. Once the action picked up and I settled into this unique plot, I did find myself flipping pages and easily finished it in one sitting. The end of the book is incredibly suspenseful. It was an okay read. Didn’t blow me away, but it had a decent enough plot. The writing is great and I can easily see this book being a hit with a lot of people. In fact, I already know a lot of people liked it, but this is one of those books that just wasn’t for me despite how much I looked forward to it.

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by Lili at Wednesday, September 19, 2012

 Kensington, Review, Shapeshifter, young adult  5 People left their mark

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“When I’m Not Writing…” with Rhiannon Frater + Giveaway

This week’s guest is Rhiannon Frater! She’s visiting us as part of her blog tour for her newest release, PRETTY WHEN SHE KILLS. She is also the award-winning author of the AS THE WORLD DIES zombie trilogy and the author of several other horror novels. She was born and raised a Texan and presently lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and furry children (a.k.a pets). She loves scary movies, sci-fi shows, playing video games, cooking, dying her hair weird colors, and shopping for Betsey Johnson purses and shoes.

 

 

When I’m Not Writing…

…I’m reading books by other fabulous writers. I’m presently beta reading The Unnaturals by Jessica Meigs.

…I’m snuggling on the sofa with my hubby and kittens watching TV shows either on DVD or Netflix. We recently finished Firefly (for the third time) and are watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer (for the second). We just caught up with the last season of True Blood and we’re looking forward to catching up with Dexter and Spartacus on blu-ray.

…I’m baking. I inherited the love of baking from my great-grandmother. My apple pie is the only one she never knocked. My great-aunt was shocked when my great-grandmother pronounced it as “good” and didn’t say anything like “It needs a pinch more salt” or “The crust is a little dry.” I still wear her approval like a badge of honor.

…I’m gaming. I’m completely in love with Guild Wars 2. I have been having a blast playing my mesmer alongside my hubby’s thief, and my best buddy’s warrior.

…I’m walking on the treadmill watching a BBC show. My latest addiction…Dr. Who!

…I’m shopping for deals on Betsey Johnson shoes, purses, and jewelry, or prowling around Sephora looking for the perfect black eyeliner and red lipstick.

…I’m sipping margaritas and eating Mexican food at my favorite restaurant.

…I’m baby-talking my Chihuahua. He loves it.

…I’m daydreaming of the next book I’m going to write.

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What a great post, Rhiannon! Personally, my favorite TV show out of all the ones you listed is True Blood. I’m a huge Sookie Stackhouse fan (or maybe I should say a huge fan of the Bon Temps men)! Thanks for visiting us as part of your blog tour!

For anyone interested in visiting the other blog stops, click the banner to find out where it stops.

For more information about Rhiannon and her books, you can find her online here:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Blog | Pinterest | Goodreads

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Here's the scoop on PRETTY WHEN SHE KILLS, which was release earlier this month:

Amaliya Vezorak never believed in happy endings…

When Amaliya harnessed her necromancer powers to defeat her greatest enemy, she believed she had finally found a happy ending with Cian, her lover and the master of Austin. That happiness is short-lived when the vampire ruling over San Antonio attempts a takeover of Austin in order to capture Amaliya and use her power for his own devices.

To make matters worse, Samantha, Cian’s ex-fiancée, is seeing ghosts, the untested vampire hunters of Austin are running scared as a supernatural war looms, a mysterious man is hunting Amaliya with the help of her one time lover, Pete, and Rachoń, the Summoner’s favorite progeny, appears to be out for revenge.

When Amaliya’s grandmother, a powerful medium, experiences terrible visions that reveal there is another necromancer vampire and she is crying out for help, Amaliya realizes happy endings do not come easily…

Purchase: Amazon

Personally, I haven’t had the chance to read PRETTY WHEN SHE KILLS yet but if it’s anything like the PRETTY WHEN SHE DIES, the first book in the series, it’s probably really awesome. Check out my review of the book that started it, all by clicking on the cover below.

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Rhiannon is kindly offering an e-copy of both Pretty When She Dies and Pretty When She Kills to one (1) lucky winner!

To enter the giveaway, obey the Rafflecopter!

Open Internationally

Ends Monday, October 8th, 2012

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Oh!! And don’t forget to visit Ashley, from The Bookish Brunette, who’s hosting the main tour stop. Check out her post with the awesome Rhiannon Frater video-interview here. She’s also hosting the Grand Prize Giveaway of the tour, where you can win a paperback book, bookmarks and this!

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Do you guys have suggestions for who you’d like to see featured on the blog? If so, you can make your suggestions on this page. No guarantees that your favorite authors will be able to participate but we’ll try!

Authors, would you like to visit and share with us? Please email Jenn at jennblogs (at) gmail (dot) com and we’ll set it up!

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by Unknown at Tuesday, September 18, 2012

 giveaway, Rhiannon Frater, Vampire, When I'm not writing  30 People left their mark

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Redemption by Susannah Sandlin

Redemption by Susannah Sandlin

Book stats:
Reading level: Adult
Trade paperback: 320 pages
Genre: Paranormal romance
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Release date: June 19, 2012

Series: Penton Legacy #1

Source: Review copy from author

Reviewed by: Jenn

Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository

For vampire Aidan Murphy, life has never been so desperate. The vaccine used to treat a global pandemic has rendered human blood deadly to his kind, leaving them on the brink of starvation and civil war. In tiny Penton, Alabama, Aidan establishes a peaceful community of vampires and unvaccinated human donors. He dares to hope they can survive — until his estranged brother descends upon Penton and begins killing the humans. Determined to save his town, Aidan kidnaps an unsuspecting human doctor…and finds himself falling in love for the first time in nearly four centuries.

Dr. Krystal Harris thought she was coming to Penton for a job interview, but Aidan Murphy has other plans. Infuriated by his high-handed scheme to imprison her in the small town, Krys can’t ignore the attraction between them. But is it love? Or does her dangerous, charismatic captor want only to bend her to his will?

Susannah Sandlin is a pen name for Suzanne Johnson, which had me all kinds of excited because I loved her urban fantasy debut, ROYAL STREET. In REDEMPTION, she offers readers something a little different, as she shifts gears to paranormal romance with a focus on vampires, which keeps all of the positives of her other writing while upping the sexy.

First and foremost, I love the setting of REDEMPTION. Vampires are still underground and their very existence is threatened by a vaccination that caused minute changes in people who received it, making their blood poisonous to vampires. Aidan Murphy has started a small colony in Penton, Alabama, where vampires and unvaccinated humans live in harmony, a completely new idea in this world. The humans are all bonded to vampires, who are all bonded to Aidan, and everyone is carefully screened, creating a very Eden-like atmosphere, except for the dangers from the outside. This sort of post-apocalyptic setting (even though it's not an apocalypse for the human population) reminds me a lot of the town in I Am Legend (the movie) or the Epitaph episodes of Dollhouse (or any number of doomed-society-looking-for-a-haven movies/shows/ books), which I always enjoy. Of course, not everyone supports this endeavour, and some fear Aidan because of his revolutionary ideas and the number of vampires in his scathe, which is what brings Aidan's brother Owen into the picture, as he menaces residents trying to undo Aidan's work. As part of his attack, he's killed the town's doctor, which is why Krystal Harris enters the picture.

Of the two main characters, Krys is definitely my favourite. She's got such a dynamic personality! She comes from an abusive family but that wasn't the main focus of her character, which was refreshing. Instead, she finds humour where others might not, is excellent at her job, and actually considers the idea of Stockholm Syndrome when she starts falling for Aidan, which was great because it's something I wonder about -- after all, how many heroines start falling for their captors without questioning it? In contrast, I wasn't all that into Aidan, though he did grow on me over the course of the novel as we learned more about his motivations and back story. Despite being quite old, he's still rather human. He fidgets, he's fallible, and he broods. In fact, the same can be said for a lot of the vampires in this book -- many of them retain a lot of human characteristics and aren't the sort of super still, inhuman vampires you see in other stories. (There are a couple like that but all of the main folks are much more relatable.) My favourite characters in the novel are probably Hannah, one of the members of Aidan's scathe, and Melissa, Aidan's human familiar.

The writing in REDEMPTION is also top-notch. The action is well choreographed and each of the main characters has a very clear voice when the story's being told from their point of view. There's also some nice humour in the story, like the quotation below, which really made me chuckle. I love a bit of dry wit. =)

He [Aidan] took a quick shower and dressed in a pair of black wool pants and a pale blue cashmere sweater he’d never have picked for himself―he didn’t much care what he wore, so he let Melissa shop for him. He wasn’t sure exactly what she meant by calling him a “vampire Ken doll,” but it had to be bad because it amused her so much.

REDEMPTION is the first book in the Penton Legacy series and I'm excited to see what happens for the other characters in this world. The author has done a marvellous job of setting up the series arc and creating characters you'll root for and I can't wait to see what will happen next to/for Penton's residents. REDEMPTION is a wonderful paranormal romance that is sure to delight fans of the genre.

Read an excerpt

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by jenn at Monday, September 17, 2012

 Montlake Romance, Review, Susannah Sandlin, Suzanne Johnson, Vampire  4 People left their mark

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