Review: Cold Light by Traci L Slatton

Title: Cold Light

By: Traci L Slatton

Series: After Trilogy #2

My Copy: Ebook from Author for Review

BookWhisperer Rating:

The end of the world brings chaos, madness, and psychic powers. For Emma and Arthur, separated by an ocean, it brings a love that demands everything. Emma's beloved daughter is kidnapped by vengeful raiders, and Emma embarks on a soul-crushing journey to rescue her. When Arthur finds Emma, can she trust him? Against impossible odds, Emma draws near the rogue camp, where she also confronts the deepest choice of her heart....

Book two for the After Trilogy. With the heart stopping conclusion with Emma’s husband arrival to bring her home was completely unexpected. While I am completely understanding to the guilt and responsibility Emma feels for her family is unbelievable. I would hope that I would be a loyal person to my family in such a situation, but the feeling and emotion Slatton wraps in these pages has me questioning Emma loyalty. What is the right answer? I honestly DO NOT KNOW. What I do know, is that after the entirety of this story I am no closer to having the answer to this question. Even more importantly I am I frustrated with Emma and her final decision. This world of vicious destruction continues here, and it did not appear to give any finality to its end. I look for this book to have wound and set the stage for an incredible finale.

Discovering Us Giveaway!!!!

Contest for two ebook copies of Discovering Us..... Sign up now!!!!

Ellen has loved Jagger since she was five and he was seven when they kissed through the chain link fence at school. She’s had their wedding planned since she was twelve and is ready for a happily ever after with him, but life just isn't that neat and tidy. Although they lost contact over the years, which broke her heart, during Jag's senior year in high school, sophomore Ellen catches his eye once again and their friendship is back on. When things between them gradually develop into something more, Ellen wants to give herself completely to Jag, but he’s not so sure he wants to risk their relationship in taking things to the next level. When Jag is drafted to the Dodgers as the hot, new pitcher of the team, Ellen decides to go with him, transferring colleges and leaving her friends and family behind. But things get more and more complicated when busy schedules, a slimy agent and a supermodel disrupt their lives, which makes Ellen question whether they’ll ever get their perfect forever.

This is the first book of the True Love Trilogy.

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Review: Fallen by Traci L Slatton

Title: Fallen
By: Traci L Slatton
Series: After Trilogy #1
My Copy: Ebook from Author for Review
BookWhisperer Rating:


When the world ends, all that is left is love....

As chaos descends on a crippled Earth, survivors are tormented by strange psychic gifts. In this time of apocalyptic despair, love is put to the test. One woman with mysterious healing power guides seven children to safety. Charismatic Arthur offers her a haven. Slowly Emma falls for him. But at the moment of their sweetest love, his devastating secret is revealed, and they are lost to each other. Will Emma stay with him?
The first in a romantic trilogy set during the end times.

Wow! What can I say, but WOW! This is not just a story, but an adventure. It is a dark and dismal journey that will not leave readers unscathed. Following this post apocalyptic story is far from just entertainment; it is absorption. The first glimpse into this book is this woman with a mess of children. It is a life altering moment of selflessness to accept the fact she is getting ready to take her own child's life to save her. Not from death, but from the slow and agonizing pain that will accompany her upcoming death. I was captured in the words, and carried throughout the remainder of the story. Sometimes frustrated, but all together enraptured in the story line and the untold future. Arthur and Emma are the light in the darkness, and I found myself clinging to their possibility for the duration of this novel. The story is very creative, and nothing that I really anticipated. The mist is a villain that we have yet to see in any other story, but it worked perfectly here. I am a fan, and will be wrapping myself quickly into the next two books. As an avid readers, it is unusual for me to find a story that hold no predictability. That is what I have here: unpredictable, shocking, and at times overwhelming. This is another story that is not for the light hearted. It is gruesome, dark, and deadly. Fallen is a story for something bigger than themselves, and something with just might tilt the world on its axis for you. 

Excerpt: Greed (The Seven Deadly Sins #2) by Fisher Amelie

Prologue

Greed is a strange, strange sin.

All you want to do is acquire. Acquire money, acquire material, acquire time, acquire energy, acquire attention. The running mantra is “I want, I want, I want” but that quickly turns to “I need, I need, I need.”
Suddenly there just isn’t enough time for friends, for family, for anyone. Your goal is to acquire and to make sure what you acquire stays acquired. Your life depends on it. You don’t see truth because the truth is shadowed by enormous homes, incredibly fast cars, in lavish spending. Your life no longer belongs to you, but you are blind to it all because those around you are seeking the same.

So you shuffle along at an impossible rate, and you pass the real world around you.

But what you’ll come to realize, altogether too late, is that it’s never enough. It’s simply never enough.

Chapter One

“It’s confirmed. Peter Knight of Evergreen won’t approve the acquisition. You know what to do,” my snake of a father told me, not two steps into his front door.

“I just got off a seven-hour flight. You can’t let me settle in? Possibly say hello?”

He stood, watching me, a slight tick in his square jaw. He tucked his hands into his Italian silk pants. His six-foot frame followed the steps up to the foyer and stopped a few inches away from my own. We were face to face. Although I fell an inch shorter, he no longer intimidated me. I knew if I had to, I could kick his ass.

“Hello, Spencer,” he said, a serpent’s smile spread wide across his mouth before falling flat. “Get to work. I don’t pay you to sit around. I don’t care if it is your Christmas break.”


We stayed where we were, each waiting on the other to back down. The tension was palpable. In the end, his face relaxed and he began to chuckle, stepping aside and making way for me. I picked up my bags and headed for my room, giving myself plenty of space to pass him without touching him.
When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I changed my mind and threw my bags on the second to last step, intending to pick them up later. I stretched my muscles, loving the feel of my back popping, and started for the kitchen.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” he asked, still standing in the foyer, watching my every move.

“If I don’t say hi to Mom and Bridge, they’ll think something’s up,” I told him and continued on.

He didn’t respond, but I felt his stare burning into the back of my head.

Review: Discovering Us by Harper Bentley

Title: Discovering Us

By: Harper Bentley

Series: True Love #1

My Copy: Ebook from Author for Review

BookWhisperer Rating:

Ellen has loved Jagger since she was five and he was seven when they kissed through the chain link fence at school. She’s had their wedding planned since she was twelve and is ready for a happily ever after with him, but life just isn't that neat and tidy. Although they lost contact over the years, which broke her heart, during Jag's senior year in high school, sophomore Ellen catches his eye once again and their friendship is back on. When things between them gradually develop into something more, Ellen wants to give herself completely to Jag, but he’s not so sure he wants to risk their relationship in taking things to the next level. When Jag is drafted to the Dodgers as the hot, new pitcher of the team, Ellen decides to go with him, transferring colleges and leaving her friends and family behind. But things get more and more complicated when busy schedules, a slimy agent and a supermodel disrupt their lives, which makes Ellen question whether they’ll ever get their perfect forever.

This is the first book of the True Love Trilogy.

What just FRICKIN HAPPENED!?!?!?!?!?!?! Discovering Us is a slowly building intense romance. These two characters are perfect from the start. Everything about them, about their lives points to one another. It is wonderful slowly learning and loving them both as the story unfolds. I love the beginning approach of each chapter, "When I was twenty I knew Jag was my soul mate." That is not actually what they said, but every chapter starts out exactly like this. Almost halfway through I wondered if this would be just a slow progression of heart stopping romance with none of the typically suspense and climax that we are so used too. Let just suffice it to say that was not the case. This story packs on hell of a punch, and it will leave readers dangling over the pit of despair with no release. At a minimal length readers will have this story completed in no time. An awesome read for someone looking for some deep and soul shattering emotions. 

Cover Reveal: Wild Card

WILD CARD

by: Jamie Wyman

Release Date: 11/25

Genre:  Urban Fantasy

Synopsis:

It was bad enough that gods gambled with human souls, but Catherine Sharp’s soul just had to be won by the Greek goddess of Discord, Eris. As if working a dead-end tech support job didn’t suck the life out of her as it was. Now, Cat finds herself performing random tasks for the goddess in her free time.

But when Coyote, the Native American trickster himself, claims to have won her own soul in Mayhem's weekly poker game, Cat wants in on the action. With five sneaky gods upping the ante, Cat needs to find a way to collect the winning chips that could save her soul. 

 Marius, a handsome yet irritating satyr with his own debt to Eris, might finally come in handy for something. If they play their cards right and work together, Cat and Marius may just get their freedom back. If they don't kill each other or fall in love first.

Blog: http://www.jamiewyman.com/bloggery/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BeeGirlBlue

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jamie-Wyman/245049885569291

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7234286.Jamie_Wyman

Website: http://www.jamiewyman.com/

Blog: http://www.jamiewyman.com/bloggery/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BeeGirlBlue

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jamie-Wyman/245049885569291

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7234286.Jamie_Wyman

Author Bio:

After a misspent adulthood pursuing a Music Education degree, JAMIE WYMAN fostered several interests before discovering that being an author means never having to get out of pajamas. (However, she can eat/spin fire, tell you a lot about auditioning to be a Blue Man, and read/write in Circular Gallifreyan.) As an author, Jamie’s favorite playgrounds are urban fantasy, horror and creepy carnival settings. When she’s not traipsing about with her imaginary friends, she lives in Phoenix with two hobbits and two cats. She is proud to say she has a deeply disturbed following at her blog.  

Jamie’s debut novel, WILD CARD, will be coming to an e-reader near you November 2013 thanks to Entangled Publishing. You can also find her short story “The Clever One” in the anthology WHEN THE HERO COMES HOME 2 (Dragon Moon Press, August ’13).

Release Day Post: Tattoos and Tangles

RELEASE DAY PARTY!

HEAD ON OVER TO MY FB PAGE TO CELEBRATE!

CLICK HERE  >>>>>>>>>  ENTER TO WIN!

Tattoos and Tangles, a nail-biting romantic suspense novel, releases on Kindle today. 

I'm really excited about it, and I want to share my excitement, so I'm giving away some swag! (Because what's better than spreading the love?) I've got a limited number of signed postcards, featuring the stunning Tattoos and Tangles cover. I've got 3 Kindle copies of the book. And I've got a virtual amazon gift card valued at $10. To win, simply click the link above and interact with the RELEASE DAY POST! (Share, like, comment...) I can't wait for everyone to read it!

Add Tattoos and Tangles to your Goodreads TBR!

Review: Willing Captive by Belle Aurora

Title: Willing Captive
By: Belle Aurora
My Copy: Amazon.com
Book Whisperer's Review: 

Delilah “Lily” Flynn is used to her drab existence. Lily’s been living it for twenty two years.

Her boring life is suddenly turned on its head when she’s rudely kidnapped from her bedroom.

Or so she thinks.

Nox Taylor is far too high up in his field to be assigned a babysitting job.

There’s nothing more he wants than to complete his mission so he can be rid of the smartass tomboy, Lily.

Day after day, Nox watches Lily and her strange ways. She’s unlike any woman he’s ever met.

Getting close to the girl is purely for her own protection…right?

Lily never imagined she’d make her first real friends in captivity.

What lengths would she go through to keep them?

Contains mild spoilers

My mind is confused.  I have seen all these wonderful ratings for Willing Captive and I was so pumped when I started reading it because I knew, I just knew it was going to be great.  After I finished the last page, I was torn.  Did I think it was a great plot? Yes!  Did it rock my world from the first page to the last? No.  Oh man, is there something wrong with me?

After I found out why Lily was “kidnapped”, I loved her ‘screw you attitude’ up to a certain point.  What can I say? Nox was a jerk sometimes and deserved a rant thrown his way, however it felt like every interaction between them was a fight.  These fights at first used to make his jaw tick but after a while, he craved her attitude and I guess I missed the in-between part where this annoyance changed into like.

Also, there were just some other things that I couldn’t understand that made me slightly confused about the plot.  First, Nox and Lily leave the safe house because it isn’t safe and stay in a motel for three days until it is safe again; why go back?  Isn’t the place compromised at that time?  That is just one out of a few but I’m not going to list them all.

But I didn’t hate it; I promise.  I thought the whole “kidnapping” was a great twist.  I loved the eye opening experience that Lily had while she created friends (yay for Boo!) for the first time in a long time and was able to be herself instead of a hermit locked in her bedroom.  I loved being able to read how torn up she was throughout the book because it made her a real person to me.  However, I can’t rate it a 5/5.

Review: Falling for the Marine (McCade Brothers #2) by Samanthe Beck

Title: Falling for the Marine
By: Samanthe Beck
Series: McCade Brothers #2
My Copy: Ebook from Author
Book Whisperer's Rating: 

USMC helicopter pilot Michael McCade has two goals: Get his damn back into alignment and keep his nose clean until his commanding officer clears him to fly again. The doctor-recommended massage therapy seems like a necessary step toward returning to the cockpit, but when his too-hot-to-handle neighbor, Chloe Kincaid, turns out to be his masseuse, he strays from the straight and narrow in a major way.

Chloe Kincaid is looking for a simple, no strings attached, ego-boosting hook up. But when her positively panty-melting neighbor, USMC Major Michael McCade, (aka Major Hottie), shows up on her massage table, she lets desire get the better of professionalism. Now they’re pretending to be engaged to avoid a whole lot of unanticipated consequences of a momentary lapse in judgment. But can a girl who avoids attachments at all costs fake an engagement to a straight-arrow soldier without falling hard?

If you liked Trevor and Kylie’s story (Lover Undercover) then I can guarantee that you will feel the same way about Michael and Chloe.  From their first encounter, and what a sexy/embarrassing encounter it is, Michael and Chloe’s chemistry is off the charts.  Michael handles Chloe like a perfect gentleman with respect and tenderness throughout the book but when Chloe decides respect and tenderness is what she no longer needs right now, Michael gives her what she wants.  And that does include some dirty talk (which happens to be my favorite parts of the entire book.) 

Like any great book, these characters land themselves into a situation in which they need to come together and create a lie to cover each other’s behinds but it becomes much more than they bargain for.

Thank you Samanthe Beck for bringing me such a hot, steamy read that was filled with wit and Michael McCade.  Please bring me another!

Review: Making Faces by Amy Harmon

Title: Making Faces

By: Amy Harmon

My Copy: Ebook from Author for Review

BookWhisperer Rating:

Ambrose Young was beautiful. He was tall and muscular, with hair that touched his shoulders and eyes that burned right through you. The kind of beautiful that graced the covers of romance novels, and Fern Taylor would know. She'd been reading them since she was thirteen. But maybe because he was so beautiful he was never someone Fern thought she could have...until he wasn't beautiful anymore.
Making Faces is the story of a small town where five young men go off to war, and only one comes back. It is the story of loss. Collective loss, individual loss, loss of beauty, loss of life, loss of identity. It is the tale of one girl's love for a broken boy, and a wounded warrior's love for an unremarkable girl. This is a story of friendship that overcomes heartache, heroism that defies the common definitions, and a modern tale of Beauty and the Beast, where we discover that there is a little beauty and a little beast in all of us.

Oh Dear, Amy Harmon!! Where have you been hiding? I see that this author has a couple of other titles, and I must find them….. Now!!! How have I not read anything by her yet? Making Faces was given to The BookWhisperer for an honest review, and an HONEST REVIEW is what you will get. This book was INCREDIBLE!!!! I am so messed up after finishing this story that I am worried for the next title I will pick up. It might just be impossible for anything else to hold a candle in the shadow of this wonderful story. Ambrose, Bailey, and Fern are three of the most unique and intriguing characters I have met, and for completely different reasons. Let’s break them down shall we! Bailey so wise beyond his years proves to be a teacher through this entire story. Knowing that his days are numbered makes this a very realistic and heart breaking story. Readers know from the start that this is going to most likely be the climax of the story; watching it is like observing a train wreck, and it proving impossible to look away even as the situation proves traumatizing at times. As each lesson plays out I believe Bailey is unaware of the strength and guidance that he offers his friends. I fell in love with this character, and when his end plays out I felt as though I lost my own best friend.

Ambrose, on the other hand,  is a genuine character. He is beautiful, yet subdued. He is amazing, yet humble. The good guy at heart is impossible not to love from afar. As Fern watches him over the years it is impossible not to see the unfolding of his future as well. Readers will experience a mixture of emotion when his future unfolds. While it is horrible to watch fate unfold; it is a pertinent component to the growth of his character. A lovely life lesson that enforces the moral, and that some things happen for a reason. More importantly enforcing that only God knows why.

Fern is best explained in the story; Wilbur from Charlotte’s Web, a rut herself, but in the end will save everyone. These three characters are truly amazing, and together it is almost as if anything is possible as long as they have one another. The majority of the story is told by Fern, and her honest and innocent character is a great pov for such a story. Without any bias or judgments she will offer a nice unbiased observation. Readers will root for her future, and gratefully accept it as it unfolds splendidly.

Amy Harmon is a natural born storyteller. This book reminded me why I love reading SO MUCH!! Why I enjoy a story over a movie, and ultimately why words are the key to creativity and emotion. Her story had me wrapped up so tightly that the emotion tore through me as this story flowed like waves of the ocean. When we find ourselves at the peaks of those cresting waves it was joy and love overflowing, but when we reached the lows of those crashing waves it was a depressing and aching that not many story can generate. It was heart breaking, but combined with a reassuring sense that everything is as it should be. That although there is darkness in life, the light can overcome. The light will bring us home, and it can be recognized by HOPE!!!! Kudos to Harmon great job girl, and I hope to have more opportunities to read masterpieces such as this in the future.

Review: Sweet Peril by Wendy Higgins

Title: Sweet Peril
By: Wendy Higgins
Series: The Sweet Trilogy #2
My Copy: Bought from Amazon
BookWhisperer Rating: 

Anna Whitt, the daughter of a guardian angel and a demon, promised herself she’d never do the work of her father—polluting souls. She’d been naive to make such a vow. She’d been naive about a lot of things. 

Haunted by demon whisperers, Anna does whatever she can to survive, even if it means embracing her dark side and earning an unwanted reputation as her school’s party girl. Her life has never looked more bleak. And all the while there’s Kaidan Rowe, son of the Duke of Lust, plaguing her heart and mind.

When an unexpected lost message from the angels surfaces, Anna finds herself traveling the globe with Kopano, son of Wrath, in an attempt to gain support of fellow Nephilim and give them hope for the first time. It soon becomes clear that whatever freedoms Anna and the rest of the Neph are hoping to win will not be gained without a fight. Until then, Anna and Kaidan must put aside the issues between them, overcome the steamiest of temptations yet, and face the ultimate question: is loving someone worth risking their life?

Boy Oh Boy!!! This is why I absolutely love Young Adult literature. I would probably say that this is more of a mature young adult, but regardless it is still innocent enough to be labeled young adult. Wendy Higgins is a BookWhisperer favorite author, and after following this series alone I don't look for her to ever leave her position any time soon. Her stories are so captivating and action packed that I am on the edge of my seat for the duration. Due to other responsibilities being a book blogger it has taken me a bit to get this into my schedule, but the entire time I was reading I was kicking myself in the butt for waiting so long to experience this wonderful and amazing book. This series has so many vibrant characters, but every single one of them is loved for each and ever of their own unique qualities. Throughout the story have been some very deep threads of romance throughout this story, but is is not soley a love story. Actually, more of an adventure with a mouth watering romance twisted right through the middle. Sometimes these reviews of deeply emotional and detailed books can be hard, because I don't like to include spoilers. So, I have to review on the basics like plot, characters, and author style. As many of you will know from my first review in this series every one of these aspects are truly incredible. The story line of Dukes and their Neph Workers was carefully constructed into this knitted masterpiece of wonder. As I said emotions run high, and seeing what each and every one of these Children (I use this word loosely) are forced to do in order to conduct their father's bidding is heartbreaking. As I said before this is a jam packed cast. Every single one of them is created to perfection, and have a very essential position in this group that makes them unique. As for the author style, if saying that she is a highly valued author to a book blogger doesn't say enough. Then I guess you will have to read the darn book!!! When she lifts you off your feet from the first page through the last you will have your answer. If that is not enough, when all you can do nothing for days but reflect on our wonderful this story was, then you have your answer. If you still need more reassurance, when months out you are still craving more of this story, because of how engrossed you are this Sweet Higgins world. THEN YOU HAVE YOUR ANSWER!!! This story is not for the faint hearted; it is a vicious and cruel world that my friends here live in, and a truly emotional read. Be careful if you don't want a story that will make you feel it all the way to the tips of your toes.