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Friday 14 March 2014

Cover Reveal - Collide by Melissa West

Today Melissa West and Entangled Teen are excited to reveal the cover for Collide, the thrilling conclusion to The Taking series releasing in December 2,2014! Check out the gorgeous cover, exclusive excerpt, and enter to win an eARC!



About the book:

Collide by Melissa West (The Taking #3)
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Publication date: December 2, 2014
Military legacy Ari Alexander has survived alien spies, WWIV, and a changing world order. But when the new leader of Earth uses Jackson—the only boy she's ever let herself care about—to get to her, Ari has no choice but 
to surrender. To free Jackson, she agrees to travel to the national bases to train others to fight. 

What she discovers is a land riddled with dying people. Ari has the power to heal by turning the fighters into aliens—half-breeds like her. If she succeeds, together, they have a chance at overthrowing the alien leader, Zeus. But if she fails, everyone she holds dear will be wiped away forever.

Once again, everything Ari’s come to believe is thrown into question. In a world of uncertainty, loyalties are tested, lies are uncovered, and no one can be trusted. If Ari and Jackson have any hope at survival and at preserving a life for the future, they must fight the final war with their eyes wide open.
Find Collide Online:

Exclusive Excerpt:


“Wake up!”

I feel as though someone has pinched my mind, shaken my brain around, and asked it to work again. I try to open my eyes, but they’re heavy and clouded and I begin to worry that maybe they are open. I just can’t see.

“Wake up!”

I flinch at the sound, so close to my ear, yet far away. Or maybe it’s my understanding that’s far.

“Ari. We’re out of time. Wake up!”

My mind flashes into focus, but I don’t open my eyes. I can feel, sense, everything around me. The beeping sounds that alternate in succession. The breathing in and out of the person beside me, yet I can’t make out who the person is. Even if it’s a he or she. But what I can sense is danger, danger so intense that the hairs on my arms are at full attention and the xylem in my body has sparked, causing me to instantly want the person beside me dead. If he or she—it—is dead then I am free to escape, even if I have no idea what or who I am escaping from.

“Fine. Just call this payback.”

I have one second to realize that the person is Cybil, before a gut wrenching pain slices through my left arm. My eyes snap open and she’s in front of me, so pale and rattled that she looks like a ghost of herself. I glance down at my arm to see that Cybil ripped out my IV and is now holding it in her hand like a toy.

“I warned you. Look. This likely triggered an alarm. We have to get out of here. Right now.”

I try to nod, but my body is sluggish and I’m not sure that I’ve moved at all. Cybil loops her arm under my back to help me sit up, and instantly the room begins to move in and out of focus. “What happened to me?”

“They happened. Now move.”

I start to climb off the table I’m on, when Cybil’s eyes round out and her body begins to quake. “Cybil? What is it?” I reach out for her, just as her body collapses to the ground and a metal door behind her slides open. Two men dressed in thick white suits rush in, followed by a shorter man. A man I recognize.

“Hello, Ari. Nice to see you awake,” Kelvin says. Kelvin Lancaster. I remember him from the talks with Earth, how he seemed to be in control, how everyone around him acted uneasy in his presence. Like he was more enemy than friend. I start to respond to him, when I feel a sharp pinch in my arm. I look up to see another white-suited person behind me, syringe in hand. I try to push the person away. I try to open my mouth to scream. But suddenly my lips feel tingly, my arms limp. I focus back on Kelvin, on the grin on his face, and then the world around me disappears, and I’m once again alone in the darkness.
 

About Melissa: 

Melissa West writes young adult and new adult novels for Entangled Teen and Embrace and Penguin/Intermix. She lives outside of Atlanta, GA with her husband and two daughters and spends most of her time writing, reading, or fueling her coffee addiction.

She holds a B.A. in Communication Studies and a M.S. in Graphic Communication, both from Clemson University. Yeah, her blood runs orange.

 Connect with Melissa at www.melissawestauthor.com or on Twitter @MB_West.

Find Melissa Online:

Website | Twitter | Facebook 

Giveaway

 Want to win your very own eARC of Collide?  Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway.  Good luck everyone!
 

Thursday 6 March 2014

***Review*** And All The Stars by Andrea K Host


And All The Stars by Andrea K Host

Released:  1st October 2012
Publisher: Andrea K Host
Series: No
Format: Digital ARC
Source: Netgalley
Find at:  Goodreads | Amazon UK

Author Site: Andrea K Host

Many thanks to Netgalley and  the Publisher for my review copy, this is in exchange for an honest review.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Come for the apocalypse. Stay for cupcakes. Die for love. 

Madeleine Cost is working to become the youngest person ever to win the Archibald Prize for portraiture. Her elusive cousin Tyler is the perfect subject: androgynous, beautiful, and famous. All she needs to do is pin him down for the sittings. None of her plans factored in the Spires: featureless, impossible, spearing into the hearts of cities across the world - and spraying clouds of sparkling dust into the wind. Is it an alien invasion? Germ warfare? They are questions everyone on Earth would like answered, but Madeleine has a more immediate problem. At Ground Zero of the Sydney Spire, beneath the collapsed ruin of St James Station, she must make it to the surface before she can hope to find out if the world is ending.


My Review

I happen to love love love apocalypse books. Granted the bulk of those I've read have been post apocalyptic, so to read a book that is set during the happenings was a different spin for me.  The blurb had me hooked I loved the line about the apocalypse and cupcakes.  

Even though  I managed to take in all the detail, and believe me there is plenty of detail to the story, I still felt that there was something missing for me.  I did enjoy this book but I didn't love it.  Hence the three stars.  Would it be worth reading?  I would say yes, if you want something a little different in the apocalypse genre then I would say it's worth picking up.  The air of mystery does keep you turning the pages, it makes you wonder what the heck is happening.  I wouldn't say the story is fast paced,  I think I missed that with this book, I do like a story to keep me on the edge of my seat.

I enjoyed the attention to detail and the way it describes what is happening around Madeline.  For someone going through an unknown situation she copes remarkably well.  Would you be able to do the same?  Make you wonder doesn't it.......  I have to say it was nice to see the bonds forged by the characters as they had to navigate the difficult situation.  
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Overall
Made a nice change to have a different angle on the whole apocalypse theme

My Thoughts on the Cover
I do really like this cover, it captures the main element of the story.  I would definitely pick this up in the book store.

 
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