After escaping from the Hollows and the Michaelea lightwarriors, Jordan takes Alyx and Israel to Aradale, a secret Rogue community, where they appear to be safe − for now. But did they bring the enemy with them? “Mini”, the strange and speechless young girl they rescued from the Hollows, is not as she seems. Why was Elder Michael keeping her locked up? What is she hiding? Alyx and Israel are driven further apart as Israel continues to obsess over making Adere human and Alyx hides two secrets from him: that he may be part-demon and that she may be carrying his child, a tri-blood keye that can be used to unlock Hell. Out in the mortal cities, pieces of Black Stone, the only material that can disrupt the angels’ healing abilities, continue to be stolen to make weapons for Samyara’s dark army. Alyx and her friends must stop them, but this means infiltrating holy and guarded places to steal the Black Stone − a monastery in remote China, a mosque in Saudi Arabia, an art gallery in Florence and a cathedral in Peru. Can they win this deadly race against the Darkened?
Hanna Peach
A writer of fantastical things, especially stories with fangs, magic or wings. I want to tell you tales that will rip away the glamour from your life, keep you running and fighting and gasping long past the devil’s hour and maybe, just maybe, reality will look a little bit different when you return. Sit with me around this witchlight. Let me tell you a story.
See my review for the first book,Angelfire Here, And Here for Book one is extra info, and a link up of extras. And a Promo Post Here for many chapters to read. Trailer for Book 1
She’s sixteen. He’s seventeen. They don’t know each other…at least not yet. She has a secret and her whole life revolves around keeping it. Every few months and with little warning, she simply disappears, pulled into the past for hours or even days. She’s terrified it will happen in front of someone, changing her life forever. So far, the only witnesses have been her parents, and that didn’t end well. She has no control over it and no idea why it happens to her. She wants answers. He has answers—at least he understands what’s going on. He has a secret, too. He’s part of an organization that goes back in time to rewrite reality. But he also has a problem. He broke the organization’s number-one rule by altering his own timeline. As punishment, he’s been blocked from time travel, which is most unfortunate. Because the changes he made to his timeline, accidentally resulted in disaster for his family. A disaster he’s now prevented from repairing. No one can travel beneath the organization’s radar except a Shadow. But they’re rare, so rare he’s never even met one. Then he moves to her town.
This is a YA romance with paranormal/sci-fi elements.
Check out this awesome trailer, you can see how both A.J. and Constantine has strange eyes, looks dilated that's how the time travelers look (its explained why in the book)
My Review
Wow, got to say I am stuck in this world, meaning the worst book hangover ever. I do not want to immerse myself in any other book, though I need to, but loved this book so much I just keep absorbing what I just read. Its longer than a lot of books I read, but I didn’t care, I loved is all, and just wanted to devour it all. I could easily read this again, now, but won’t, but know I will in the future. It’s that good!!
Also, it’s written so well, I mean, really, really well. I usually get a headache almost thinking of all the time travel stuff, but this is all explained and laid out for you so well, you just get it.
I loved these characters too. I was sucked into this world and fell in love with them all, I cared about them, and felt what they felt. I also really love the alternating points of view, it was consistently back and forth from the 2 main characters, A.J (Autumn) and Constantine, it was great being in both of their heads.
I found one part of the time traveling very interesting, intense, scary and funny too. Its when A.J. Accidently gets sucked back to the olden days, as she called it, yeah, cowboys and Indians, those days, and one part when she sprayed one of them with her modern pepper spray to ward off his offensive attack was hilarious. Lol.
See A.J. doesn’t know why she is like she is, she randomly gets pulled into the past, and has no control. She does not realize there are others like Constantine out there that are called Editors, who go into the past and rewrite small pieces on history to help the future.
Anyway she is a little different than they are, more powerful for starters, and she learns a lot about it when Constantine comes to her town. He helps her learn how to control it, and is also amazed at what she can do, like the healing others, that is special to her.
I found the part where Constantine first sees A.J. funny, he felt her energy and she feels his too but is not sure what it is. Here is a part of that, it’s from Constantine’s point of view:
The first girl was blonde, hot, and dressed to kill. I focused on the waves of energy radiating from her direction thinkingthiscould be interesting. Then a smaller girl appeared from behind her and stopped short as if she’d hit a wall. Her book bag crashed to the floor. She clutched her chest and let out a gasp with her mouth in an O.
And the power practically lifted me out of my seat.
Every cell in my body electrified and stood at attention. It waved over me, sending synaptic brushfire through my nervous system. I was so startled; my own energy slipped a little—my bad—and probably slammed right into her.
She turned and tore out of the room.
Abruptly, the connection snapped like a rubber band. I slumped in my seat, gasping for air. Luckily, no one noticed, since everyone was focused on the fleeing girl. This all took place in the span of, say, five seconds. But it was one of those gonna-crash-my-car-slow-motion scenarios, where it seems like ten times as long. And to make things worse, I was almost certain I gave the kid a power-slam.
My bad, my frickin bad.
The blonde tossed her stuff on a desk and glanced at the teacher, who nodded. The blonde grabbed the fallen book bag and took off after the other girl.
I just sat there, stunned. I couldn’t believe it! It was the little chick.
Here is the scene that I mentioned earlier, where she is in the past, the old west days, and the Indian who is with the cowboys (he is a guide) is protecting A.J. So when he falls asleep, they decide to have a little “fun” with her, if you catch my drift, so here is that scene, and it had the Indian laughing too, lol.
Joe toppled towards me, losing his hold. The next second, he was inches from my face, hands on either side of me against the tree. His breath was hot and disgusting. Those beady eyes looked straight into mine. He smirked. And then he whispered in my ear, “We’re gonna have ourselves a little fun, Sweetheart.”
I don’t think so,I thought—not if I can help it.
I closed my eyes. I felt the tree behind me. Quickly, I sank into its vibration until I reached its core. I soaked up the power, pulling everything I could hold. I brought my legs in even tighter against my chest. Then, as hard as I could, I slammed my feet straight into Joe’s stomach.
I heard a loud grunt and then a thump.
I opened my eyes to see Joe twenty feet across the campsite, crash landing on the log by the Indian.
The Indian was up in a flash, knife in hand, looking stunned to see Joe on the ground. The shock made Edgar loosen his grip enough for me to reach my pepper spray. I whipped it out and squirted it behind my head. The hand on my face dropped, as Edgar howled, clutching his eyes. I screamed and spit out the filthy taste.
And then somehow, I was up the tree in two seconds flat, watching the scene from above.
Joe lay moaning in the dirt. The Indian just stood there looking up at me with his mouth open. Edgar was screaming bloody murder and rolling on the ground.
High in the tree, my heart pounded like a hummingbird on speed. I looked down and realized that the lowest limb had to be…ten, maybe fifteen feet from the ground. The cottonwood had drawn me up like a Slurpee straw. One moment I was on land and the next I…and how had I kicked Joe clear across the campsite? I’d hoped for a little extra strength from using the tree power, but that had been cartoon kickboxing. I couldn’t make sense of it.
Yes, this book is captivating for sure. Those scenes are just a very few of the awesomeness of this book. I do not want to say too much more. I want to keep this as spoiler free as I can. I really recommend you pick this book up. It made a huge impact on me, and I hope others get a chance to enjoy it as much as I did.
I give this 5 out of 5 huge mega sized stars. Its one of my favorite books now, and can’t wait for the sequel. (no cliffhanger, so that’s cool) I just love Constantine and need more of him!
I received this book from the author for my honest review. This review is also posted at Amazon Here, and Goodreads here.
Excerpt of Chapter one
A.J. Jones, Boulder, Colorado, present day.
I killed my mother.
Okay, I didn’t exactly shoot her or stab her in the back or anything. But if I’d never been born, she’d still be here, simple as that.
Guilt by existence.
It wasn’tpremeditated mom-slaughter—I’m not some monster. But it was my strangeness that did her in, no doubt about it. If you saw me, you’d never believe one skinny, sixteen-year-old girl could be responsible for so much tragedy.
But you’d be wrong.
An ancient curse says, “May you live in interesting times,” meaning dangerous and turbulent. That pretty much sums up my life. I mean, when your very existence intime is out of control, life can get prettyinteresting. Every few months, I get yanked back in time for hours or even days. I don’t know why. I don’t know when. I have absolutely no control over it. I feel a tingle, and seconds later, I just shimmer, fade, and poof, I’m in the past.
Seriously.
My biggest fear was that it would happen at school, and before you could say, “Did you seethat?” I’d be the next viral freak on YouTube. It would be a short walk from YouTube to a government laboratory somewhere remote. Yeah, like I wanted that to happen. My strategy was to fade into the woodwork, so if I vanished at school, no one would even notice.
The first time I disappeared, I was six months old. In the beginning, my trips were short, and I was only gone about a minute. Of course I don’t remember this happening, but I’d heard the story a million times. It was the primary topic at my house…until my mom checked out.
I was born in the fall. By spring, I had just learned to sit up and was grabbing everything I could get my hands on. It had been a long, cold winter, and my mom had waited weeks for it to warm up enough to show me the tree house. Built with love by her grandfather, it had always been her special place. Once inside, she lifted me up to touch the trunk that rose right through the middle of the room. And as soon as my tiny hand touched the bark—BAM, I was gone.
She totally freaked—I was in her arms one moment and simply gone the next. But before she could do anything other than just stand there in shock, I morphed back into existence fast asleep with my thumb in my mouth…or so the story goes.
If that had been the end of it, maybe she could have dealt…chalked it up to too much caffeine or something. But it kept happening two or three times a year, just enough to keep her on edge. The problem was that every time I disappeared—which wasn’t all that often, butstill—my mom was the only witness.
She told her friends, but they just looked at her funny and began avoiding her. She tried desperately to convince my dad, Sam. But since he never saw it happen, what could he say? Talk about a rock and a hard place. He wanted to believe her, but he just couldn’t. Sam was a scientist. He needed evidence.
My mom tried a few times to getme to tell my dad—and I did. But Sam thought I was saying what she wanted me to say—you know, siding with my mom out of loyalty. I mean, I was disappearing, but I was just a kid. What did I know? I was confused and too young to make sense of it then. I just wanted them to not fight about it.
It was a dangerous equation. Scientist/nonbelieving dad + I-swear-it-really-happened mom = seriously-screwed-up-no-win situation.
They argued about it constantly. I’d listen to them late at night, huddled outside their door, wrapped in a blanket. My mom would lay out her argument, and Sam would bring in science. She’d say she saw it happen. Sam would say it was impossible. It tore them apart. Finally she gave up talking about it. Sam pretended she’d be fine if she got enough rest. I just hid in the tree house with my friends, Lex and Ipod.
I was seven the last time she saw it happen. That one was the last straw. She totally lost it. The doctors gave her drugs, and she walked around like a zombie, barely recognizing Sam and me. She started talking to herself, mumbling, and watching me like a hawk. She got all twitchy and jumped at the slightest noise. She lost her appetite.
It was another dangerous equation, this time for my mom. Disappearing kid + disappearing’s impossible = she must be crazy.
Near the end, she got caught up remembering her Grandpa Charlie, staying up all night, looking through photo albums. She was obsessed abouthis going crazy, thinking the same thing was happening to her, that it was genetic. Finally, I think, it was just too hard living with the uncertainty. So one day she took a boatload of pills and made the uncertainty go away.
At least for her.
My world got cold and empty real fast. I got through the funeral…barely. I never would have made it without Lex and Ipod. But I survived.
Then about a month later, Sam and I were alone in the back yard, and I felt the tingle. Looking down, I saw that I was starting to shimmer. I remember being so surprised. Somehow I thought it would all stop when my mom was gone…like maybe the craziness was because of her. That’s when I realized that everything—our whole, weird family nightmare—wasmy fault.
I looked up from my shimmering hands at Sam. He was staring at me as if he’d seen a ghost. I felt this hollow feeling in my chest…a dark, frigid emptiness. And then I disappeared right in front of a supremely stunned Sam.
I was only gone a few minutes. But when I returned, he was standing there, rigid as a statue, tears running down his face. I walked up to him and touched his hand, waiting for him to say something. He looked down at me with empty eyes and didn’t say a word. He just walked into the house, poured himself a drink, and that’s about all he’s done ever since. He’s never talked about it…not even once.
My guess is it wasn’t so much the shock of his reality blasting apart, or even the mysteriousness of my disappearance. It was the realization that he let my mom down. That he’d failed her. That she was right all those years and he was wrong. So now he’s following in her footsteps…via slow motion alcohol poisoning.
I suppose I’m at fault for taking him out too.
*******************
There was no explanation for the way I was, although I spent a lot of time over the years trying to figure it out. If time travel had been the only weirdness, I would have pounced on the theory that I was just a normal girl who was being acted upon by some unexplained outside force. Like maybe I’d gotten caught up in some kind of bizarre time loop that kept sweeping me into the past for little stretches of time. As scary as that sounds, I would have loved that to be the answer. I really wanted to be a normal girl.
But somewhere along the line, I had come to accept the inevitable. It wasn’t an outside force. What was strange wasme.
For as long as I remember, I’ve sensed things other people don’t. Ipod was the one who first called it “energy.” There are two types. The energy from trees, especially my tree, was soothing and healing. It kept me sane. The energy from out in the world, especially inside buildings and around crowds, was dissonant and jarring. It took a lot out of me just to manage it.
To minimize the impact and protect my secret, I kept a low profile and went virtually nowhere. But the one place I couldn’t avoid was school. To make it through, I had the code of invisibility. It had ten rules and I stuck to them religiously. At that moment, as I made my way down the noisy hall to P.E., I was following rules three and four—hug the walls and keep flowing in the direction you’re heading.
It worked well except for the snarky glare I got from Sloane Cheney, AKA the Bratz Doll, as I passed her ginormous, cheerleader chest. That chest was a powerful force at Boulder High. She carried it around like a display case, thrusting her “twins” in everyone’s faces as if she was selling popcorn at a ballgame. I’m guessing they each have names—cute ones. She probably sings them to sleep at night.
Why do I care?
Well, it’s her belief in the spectacularness of that chest that she thinks entitles her to step all over girls like me, who are, shall we say, cleavage-challenged. But it’s not my chest or lack thereof that makes her treat me like dirt. She’s hated me since seventh grade when my essay won over hers in some stupid, mandatory contest. It wasn’t my fault she bragged that she was going to win and then looked like a dork when she didn’t.
Whatever.
But her hatred of me meant she was invulnerable to my invisibility. That made her dangerous. I avoided her like the freakin West Nile virus, but then, I avoided pretty much everyone. When you are my kind of strange, you do whatever it takes to stay under the radar.
My downfall was P.E.
If my brain had a search engine and you entered “things that suck,” the very first entry would be P.E. I hated it with a vengeance. It isn’t that I’m clumsy. I’m not. There’s just something about school that seems to drain the life out of me, literally decimating my strength by the hour. The longer I’m in a building, the weaker I get—brick buildings in particular. And crowds, especially loud ones, make my brain whack-out.
That made P.E. my kryptonite.
By my seventh period class, there was no way I could possibly get a ball over a net, or through a hoop, or to do whatever stupid ball thing the sport required. And since the Bratz Doll was in my class, it was a double hit. Still, her I could ignore. The bigger problem was that I had nothing to hide behind. More specifically, I had no hoodie.
I felt naked.
Waiting till the last minute, I snuck through the locker room and into a bathroom stall to change. No way was I going to brave the bench area. There was the routine fight over who had to take me on their team—the highlight of my day. That done, I played my usual game of keep-out-of-the-way with some degree of success, occupying myself with mental chatter and stealth wall hugging. I did okay with that until my mind wandered a little too far, and I lost my ball-avoiding focus.
“Move it, Moron!”
I jumped backwards, almost getting slammed by a kid twice my size.
“Keep out of the freaking way you stupid, little twerp,” growled the Bratz Doll, two inches from my ear. “I’m not going to have my team lose points because of your worthless ass. Next time you’re going down.”
I ignored her, following rule four, but the empty feeling in my chest grew a little colder. I shoved it down deep and checked the clock for the hundredth time.Come on already…let this class be over!
Finally, Ms. Norris blew her whistle, and the hordes rushed from the gym. I waited till the crowd thinned, and the Bratz Doll was gone, before I braved the locker room.
The empty feeling lifted a little, the moment I pulled on my oversized black hoodie. I zipped it up and yanked the hood, so it hung down like Kenny onSouth Park. I put on my tinted glasses. I slung my bag over my shoulder. Then I hugged the walls on the way to my locker, relieved once again, to be invisible.
About the Author
My life has been rather unconventional. Born insanely curious into an authoritarian, religious family, I know what it’s like to not fit in. My teen years were a struggle, and I remember them in all their intensity. That’s why I like writing for young adults. I grew up in Central America, surrounded by jungle, and was never too far from the ocean. I observed other cultures, including an indigenous tribe that, at the time, had seen little of the modern world. While there, I slept in a hammock in a bamboo hut, dressed in tribal clothing, and helped bring three babies into the world in at the tender age of fourteen. I survived a hurricane aboard an ocean liner, canoeing through alligator infested waters, P.E., my brother’s pet tarantulas, sky diving, parasailing over the Pacific shoreline, rock climbing, a ropes course blindfolded, and walking barefoot across hot coals. I’m not done having experiences. I attended the University of Colorado, Boulder, but was so obsessed in my quest to understand human behavior; I left midstream to travel the country and study with people doing groundbreaking work in the field. I’m certified in Ericksonian Hypnosis, am a Master of Neuro-linguistic Programming, and have worked with world-class athletes, including members of the U.S. Ski Team. I’ve completed advanced studies with some of the most brilliant minds of my time in the field of NLP and am a perpetual student of sociology and human behavior. I live with my photographer husband in the foothills of the Colorado Rockies. I’m surrounded by trees. And I will always remain insanely curious.
He wasn't supposed to remember. Callie is a royal vampire. She hunts by taking the blood from her victims and erases their memories afterwards. She goes undetected until a victim named Chase approaches her with all his memories intact. He is intrigued and attracted. She is terrified. What happens when a human mixes with the immortal world? Chaos. Callie’s 18th birthday has passed and she is coming out at the annual blood ball. Will she find a mate or will she suffer the repercussions of her indiscretion? She is brought to the Vampire council and they must decide what to do with Chase. Do they kill him, or turn him to protect their secret?
My review
Oveall I enjoyed the story of this book, it didn’t have much action in it or even romance really. It had enough going to keep me reading, but will say, at the ¾ mark I was waiting for something else to happen, and it never did, kind of a letdown really. It was wrapped up nice with a fairytale ending I guess.
The main characters were not really developed a lot, I never got to that point where I fall in love with them, I did with Cody, but even he got a bit chessesy at times. But not too bad.
The odd man out, Chase, I never got a chance to like or not, he was a big issue in the story, but was not developed very well. I have a hard time pinpointing what was missing. Just something was missing for me.
Its still a good quick vampire read for young teens I think,
I didn’t dislike this book, but was unhappy with some inconsistencies in it, and a few things that were repeated that got on my nerves. The main one is through the whole book the word Moment was capitalized no matter how it was used. Even when used in a normal way, it’s almost like if you’re in Word and you do the find and replace, like that was done, and everyone was changed to start capitalized. (ok, so there is like 4 out of the 34 uses of that word that are not capitalized, did a Kindle search) It bugged me, lol. That was the main grammar error of that type. Other issue was the way these vampires spoke, sometimes old like, and other like little kids in this day and age, the main characters are teens for real, not 150 that look like a teen. The world is different, but not explained well.
I do recommend like I said for young teens, and anyone who wants to read a quick sweet vampire tale that is a bit different. I was captivated for the most part to not stop reading, until about ¾ when it got stalled out to me.
I give it 4 stars. I liked it, but not a favorite to me.
I was provided this book from the author for my honest review.
Excerpt
Prolouge
Present Day
I sit in the bed cross-legged and gently bang my head against the bars behind me. The sheets are stiff and scratchy. The pillow is flat and the room is sparse. The only amenities accessible are a bed and a small, basic bathroom. Fortunately, I don’t have to pee in public. That’s something, at least.
My hair feels stringier than usual and the desire to wash my face with something other than plain soap is strong. It’s hard to believe how much I actually miss the normal creature comforts I’m so accustomed to. I don’t think I’ll ever take them for granted again, if I live that is.
Things have gotten desperate. I never thought something like this could ever happen, let alone to me. Due to the bizarre set of circumstances, I’m being held for possible treason. The thought that anyone would ever purposely betray our kind is unthinkable and makes me shudder.
Then there’s the fact that this is dragging two royal families’ reputations through the mud. That means I have practically ruined four council members in the process. I can’t help but be ashamed of myself. It’s not really my fault, but that doesn’t change the situation.
Being royalty brings with it so many expectations to uphold, but being a teenage vampire is what really sucks. Ha, ha sucks. Anyways, I digress. I close my eyes and let my mind take me back to a time when things were simple, beforehim.
Note: I am sorry if anyone was looking for a giveaway, if you seen that at the Tour host site. I never received the giveaway info, and wonder if the tour host is not doing this anymore again. I went ahead and did this post anyway. If I do get the info soon, I will update this. Maybe emails are getting lost. Thanks for stopping by. I do have other giveaways, they are always in upper right of sidebar.
You can find the other blogs on this tour at SupaGurl Tours, here
Kailey Rooke, timid accountant, dedicated to philanthropic work, finds herself spiraling into a deep depression after she suffers a horrifyingly odd and humiliating assault, to only discover more of these freakish assaults occurring across the globe.
A chance discovery leads Kailey to a meeting with elderly Gunthreon, actual master of persuasion. Gunthreon, who seems to know too much of Kailey's history for her liking, opens Kailey's eyes to a coexisting realm she never knew existed: Renhala, while entrusting her with the knowledge of her newfound power as karmelean, serving as a beacon to the Higher Ones. Kailey slowly starts revealing new talents, and Gunthreon is fascinated with what she starts achieving.
She soon discovers that Renhala is in danger, and this danger has been leaking into her own realm. As she uncovers secrets within herself, and attempts to toughen up, she fuses with an unlikely band of fellow travelers (including a dragon, woodsprite, six-hundred-pound greble, her faithful female canine companion, and a "giver"), falls into an unexpected love triangle, deals with her sexy and flirtatious best friend’s “issues,” and finds the courage to master a new deadly weapon.
On her mission to save Renhala, Kailey will find herself running from life-threatening disasters, such as greble Tartarin, who likes to remind Kailey that when he catches her, he plans on eating her brains with ice cream; she'll run from the deadly meeples: small cute bunnies with talons and an undeniable thirst for imposing self-destruction on others. Kailey will also run into the possibility that a centuries-old Renhalan rumor is true, that advanced technology existing in Kailey's realm shortens all life spans.
As blood is shed and puzzles near completion, Kailey pulls from deep within herself, conjuring up mystical qualities that enable her to astonish as once predicted at her birth, but despite the newfound strength, Kailey will discover that monsters not only come in ugly packages, but can be easily disguised as those she has come to love and trust.
AUTHOR BIO:
Born in Chicago, Illinois, a few days prior to watching her first movie, at a drive-in theater. Yes, drive-in theater. And yes, her mother believed she was possessed by the devil after said first movie. Grew up in the Chicagoland area and graduated from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, where she simply became a number, but decided it was a good number. Loves cooking (mostly candy-cooking), gardening (putting holes in the ground for perennials, DONE!), designing and constructing jewelry (everything from silversmithing to lampworking), and living with her wonderful husband, two children, black Labrador, and frog—and maybe even the chipmunk family that likes to destroy her aforementioned perennials. Also hopes that you enjoy her writings, and won’t criticize her for her aversion of eating things in multiples of three.
I was impressed with the details (not too many) and work that went into this urban fantasy book. The world building was top notch for sure.
This book does start of a bit slow for me. I was actually confused as I thought for sure that there was some supernatural in it. It read like a normal non-fantasy book in the beginning. As I only read books that are paranormal/fantasy etc. I almost stopped reading, but went back and read the blurb, and made sure, so then I knew, I just had to keep going. I am glad I did. It was a bit long, but I did enjoy it. It is not a quick read at all. Takes time to get through this book, but enjoyable too.
Kailey is a young, funny, lovable young women, who recently suffered an appalling physical attack. (something that kindof got to me, I am not fond of reading of that kind of stuff, but there is a personal reason for that) She is still depressed after that, which I can understand, its not something easy to come back from. Once she goes to dinner with her friend Amber the rollercoaster ride starts. She finds out about another world called Renhala were traveling to it is done with a single word. So she gets swept up into this fight for her life along with her cool dog Kioto, trying to save Renhala and its people, as well as herself.
I was impressed with the many characters, though It was hard to keep track of them all, I still loved learning of each new one. Like I said, it’s a long book.
I think one of the things I liked the most, is how we get to see Kailey grow from a scared young girl to a warrior, that was nice to see after what had happened to her.
Overall it is a brilliant piece of work for the first book in this journey. The details of the history and the world were amazing.
I really think anyone who enjoys fantasy books at all will really like this one.
I give it 5 out of 5 stars.
I was provided a copy of this book for my honest review.
Risen By Christine James (formally called Fallen of the Chosen Series, Still same book, new name, new cover, this is Book 1 in the Chosen Chronicles which is new name for the series too)
Midnight Hour Publishing!
Blurb:
Witness the Beginning...A fun night in a small town carnival will change Erin’s life forever with a simple visit to a bizarre and mysterious fortune teller. Scared to death by what the haggard woman reveals, Erin quickly flees and quite literally collides with Angelo, a mysterious and captivating carnival worker. Later that night, he appears in her dreams but he’s not the only one visiting her slumber. Evil is lurking on the edge of the shadows and it is coming for Erin. Angelo is not what he seems, but then again no one ever is. Not even Erin. Loyalties are tested and the lines of friendship begin to blur as long hidden truths come to light and fate bears down upon them all. Everyone has secrets but when some turn out to be more than heart wrenching, Erin has decide who she can trust.Can Erin deal with the harsh past that Angelo has been harboring or will it prevent her from doing what she's been chosen to do? Feeling as if she has lost everything, the fate of man-kind and the apocalypse now sit on her shoulders too.
Coming! May 24th
My Original Review of the old name book
Wow, what can I say, I loved this book, has a great story, about fallen angels, and a chosen one that comes from the bloodlines of Archangel Michael. It’s quite different than any other fallen angel books I had read. Its fast paced and easy to read. I read the Re-edited version, and it’s very well done, very few minor mistakes that really don’t matter is all I seen. I was caught up in the story of Erin and Angelo, that I didn’t care anyway.
It’s not all about them, there is a great story here, so it’s got the romance too, but it’s not just about the romance, which I found refreshing. The best part in a way, not huge cliffhanger, doesn’t end like you’re in the middle of a chapter, I really hate when authors do that, so I loved that. I am still ready and anxious to read the next one, but in a way that I don’t feel forced to, to see what happens in the climax that ended before done. You know what I mean; we don’t have that torture here.
I found the romance between Angelo and Erin very steamy, when they were not fighting their feelings for each other. I didn’t love Erin right away, but she grew on me, and thinking about what she had been through, I could not really blame her for anything she did.
I will say, in the beginning there is a part when Angelo was looking for the chosen one, when he found her many Greats-grand-dad, he mentioned the violet eyes (eyes that are the same as Erin) then, that this man was not really the father to the baby that carries the “chosen” ones line (his wife). I thought there had to be a mistake, but it gets explained so when you get to that, just keep reading, it all gets explained and makes sense.
I like how this story takes place over time, not just Angelo trying to find the chosen one over time, but when he finds her, Erin, the time from then, to the end, is at least several months I believe. Meaning it made it more believable in this world, her being trained, and their attraction turns to love, not just because of the “link” they have. (they are meant to be together, like soul mates) They don’t just instantly fall into bed, but they did want too, lol, but that’s ok, it was fun to read, and pulls you into the story.
I won’t say more on this just that, it’s a great book, written very well. I really look forward to the next 2 books, called Risen and Final Redemption (Chosen Series) I hope I get a chance to review these for Christine, they are defiantly books I want to read. In this first book at least, I am happy to see there isn’t your usual “love triangle” I mean there is a small part that happens with someone else, after Angelo keeps pushing Erin away, but there never was a threat of him losing her, as their “link” is strong.
I only have one thing to say that I don’t like, it’s the cover. I think a better done cover would help a lot. But give it a chance, I highly recommend this book. It’s not YA either, more New Adult (Erin is just turning 21, lives on her own) There is some sexual content and some fighting type violence, 17 up should be ok, and adults will enjoy this too.
5 out of 5 stars for my rating.
Here are a few teasers for you below to enjoy.
“You will find her,” he gasped. “She is in my blood.”The boy coughed and sucked in one last sharp breath. As that breath hissed out between his lips,his head lolled to the side. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth and dropped onto the already bloody grass. He was gone.Angelo sat back on his haunches. “It’s a girl?” he mused out loud. A girl was going to save his kind, as well as the human race. He stared down at the boy.Angelo’s hair was pulled back tightly and secured at the nape of his neck. It was hard to tell,but it looked to be black as coal. The flashing lights seemed to make it shimmer. His cheekbones were high and hidden beneath dark stubble. Normally,she wouldn’t have found that attractive, but for some reason,it was immensely appealing at that moment. Dark eyebrows sat neatly above light gray eyes.Huh?she thought.She could have sworn they were dark gray earlier, but as she looked at them again, they seemed to grow lighter before her eyes. They were the exact shade of a new nickel.His eyes were fringed by thick black lashes, the type of lashes most women dreamed about having.Damn,he’s flawless.
Excerpt
Erin could see him standing across the street, looking dashing in a tuxedo and a broad smile. He held out his hand, beckoning her. She stepped down off the curb but something caught her eye. Looking down, she saw she was wearing a beautiful red satin gown that shimmered beautifully in the pale street light. The strapless bodice fit snugly, pushing up her ample chest, while the bottom fanned out gracefully in waves. On her feet was a pair of matching red heels with thin straps and sparkling rhinestones. Never before had she felt so beautiful.
She went into his arms with ease and he swept her along the street, dancing and twirling around to softly lilting music. He held her close, her body fitting to his easily. She could feel his heart beating steadily against hers. The same smell from earlier seemed so much stronger than before. His eyes were such a light shade of gray, they were almost transparent. Dense fog swirled around their legs as they twirled and moved as one.
Then something changed and they were no longer dancing. She was standing in the middle of the street alone, wearing her pajamas. Somewhere a streetlight began to flicker eerily. The light made the fog appear bluish white and very sinister. Erin looked around, frantically searching for Angelo. She found him standing at the entrance of the fairgrounds. He no longer wore the tux. Even in the darkness she could see his eyes were no longer shimmering silver but dark gray bordering on black. His hair was pulled back tightly and his once beautiful face had turned stone cold and dangerous. He wore a black t-shirt tucked neatly into a pair of black cargo pants. The pants resembled the style that she’d seen paramedics wearing. The bottoms of the pants were tucked tightly into a pair of snugly laced, slightly worn, combat boots. Something glistened in his hand. It appeared to be a long blade that glistened in the dim light. Erin began to slowly back away but he moved toward her. She could see he was saying something but couldn’t make out the words.
When she blinked they were no longer standing in the middle of the street but in the center of a meadow surrounded by trees. The loud sound of beating wings came from somewhere behind her. Briefly she thought of a horror movie where everything was in slow motion. She tried to run but her feet felt as if they were encased in concrete. Slowly she turned. The sound of beating wings stirred the cold night air around her. When she looked up, huge black wings angled toward her. She tried to scream but the smell of sulfur was suffocating. Angry red eyes glared down at her and pain suddenly sliced through her body.
She tried frantically to get away, silently willing her feet to move. She had to get away from the wings and the blinding pain but the pain only intensified with each movement. Erin could smell something foul over the stinging scent of sulfur and she realized it was the unmistakable smell of burning flesh. She looked down and realized it was her flesh that was burning. She screamed as her sweats began to melt to her legs.
“Someone, help me!” she screeched and the answer she received was an angry hiss.
Erin sagged to the ground in pain as the flames raged over her lower body; she could hear the harsh sound of metal clanging against metal. Another shrill hiss and screech sliced through the night and soon the flapping noise was gone. Everything was cast into silence.
