Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Challenge: 2012 Patricia Briggs Werewolf Challenge


The 2012 Patricia Briggs Werewolf Challenge hosted by Darlene's Book Nook!

The books in the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs are:
  1. Moon Called
  2. Blood Bound
  3. Iron Kissed
  4. Bone Crossed
  5. Silver Borne
  6. River Marked
  7. Frost Burned (expected publication: Spring 2013)

The books in the sister series, Alpha & Omega, by Patricia Briggs are:
  1.  Alpha and Omega: A Companion Novella to Cry Wolf (originally published in the 'On the Prowl' anthology by Patricia Briggs, Eileen Wilks, Karen Chance, and Sunny)
  2. Cry Wolf
  3. Hunting Ground
  4. Fair Game
Here are the challenge details:

1. This challenge will run from April 10, 2012 to April 9, 2013.

2. You can join the challenge at any time. All books read during the challenge period count for the challenge, regardless of when you sign up.

3. This challenge can cross-over to your other reading challenges.

4. You do not need a blog to participate! If you are not a blogger, you can post your reviews at Goodreads, Shelfari, or LibraryThing and link them up here.

5. All formats of books are acceptable: Bound copies, e-books, and audiobooks (unabridged only). 

6. There are three levels for the challenge:

a. One Paw In: Read 1-3 werewolf books.
b. Running With The Pack: Read 4-7 werewolf books.
c. Alpha: Read 8-11 werewolf books.

7. When you write your sign-up post, you must choose your level. You can go up, but you cannot go down!

8. There will be a link-up for your reviews, which will be posted on THIS page.

9. There will be a link for your wrap-up post at the end of the challenge, which will be posted on THIS page. 

10. Create a sign-up post and link back to this post. Sign up with Mister Linky below! Be sure to use the direct url to your sign-up post and not the url to your blog.

11. Grab the challenge button and post it in your sidebar. 
 
2012 Patricia Briggs Werewolf Challenge


For this challenge I'm going to start at the lowest level: One Paw In: Read 1-3 werewolf books. And depending on how it all goes I'll move up the levels.

I'll keep track of my progress below:

1. 

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Tour Review: Forgiving Trinity by Liz Reinhardt (Giveaway)

Title: Forgiving Trinity
Author: Liz Reinhardt
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Liz Reinhardt
Format: Kindle Edition, 190 Pages
ASIN: B006PU8NBW
Release Date: December 23, 2011
Source: Tour Host {Letters Inside Out}, Author {Liz Reinhardt}
Rating: 4.5/5

Tagline(s): ~NONE~

Summary: At seventeen, Trinity McCabe has already made enough mistakes to fill a lifetime. Especially the one where she got high, drove a car, and almost killed a dog. And then let her friend Aidan take the blame.

She’s clean now and desperate to fix the messes she’s made, but first she’s going to have to get out of her pajamas.

As Trinity struggles to stop sleepwalking through life, she faces the painful, tingling sensation of waking up. It’s sometimes embarrassing (she really didn’t want to have lunch with Aidan’s mom), sometimes terrifying (group therapy is beyond intimidating), and sometimes, amazingly enough, pretty romantic (who’d have though Aidan would be such a great kisser?)

Trin is lucky, though—luckier than she deserves, she’s sure—and she doesn’t travel this road alone. Her family, her therapist, and her new friends are all pulling for her. And it turns out, some of them have made pretty big mistakes, too.

But before she can embrace her new life completely, Trinity has to be forgiven by the one person who is holding out the hardest: herself. It’s not easy changing everything, especially when you don’t think you deserve a second chance. Trinity might make an even bigger mess of things before she figures that out.

When the smoke clears on her latest disaster, will anyone still be standing there?


Review:

Forgiving Trinity is a much darker and serious book about addiction that I've read up to this point. There are points when the story is pretty slow, but I think that works best with the seriousness of the story. Forgiving Trinity is a really interesting story, and I loved reading from Trinity's POV as she struggles to come to terms with the events of her past and start living life again. We see this from a psychological viewpoint and what goes through the mind of a person recovering from addiction.

I really liked that Trinity wasn't the only character that needed to overcome past events. Aidan also struggles with recovering from addiction, and Ruth struggles with recovering from an assault. The fact that the two people that are closest to Trinity aren't seemingly perfect and can understand and relate to her was also appealing. In other books I've read about addiction the people closest to the one recovering seem too perfect and the one recovering feels ostracized. That's not the case in Forgiving Trinity. Trinity, Aidan, and Ruth can all find strength in each other and their commonalities.

Aidan and Trinity's relationship was really beautiful, but also really fragile. The fragility is what makes it feel real. I think that they became too close to each other too soon. Aidan was looking for an emotional connection and Trinity was looking for a physical connection, but they ended up offering each other the opposite of what they wanted. There were points when they were completely in sync, but then something would happen to put them out of sync. In the beginning of the book, Trinity and Aidan moved too fast; wanted too much and didn't offer enough. The disruption in the middle of the story is probably the best thing that could have happened for their relationship; it put things in perspective for them. By the end, they slowed down and I'm sure that they can appreciate each other more now.

Though I absolutely loved this book, this story, and these characters; this is definitely not a book for everyone. But I believe that it's worth it to give this book a shot, whether you end up liking it or not. Liz Reinhardt is an amazing writer and I look forward to checking out her other works.

About this Author: 

Liz Reinhardt was born and raised in the idyllic beauty of northwest NJ. A move to the subtropics of coastal Georgia with her daughter and husband left her with a newly realized taste for the beach and a bloated sunscreen budget. Right alongside these new loves is her old, steadfast affection and longing for bagels and the fast-talking foul mouths of her youth.

She loves Raisinettes, even if they aren't really candy, the Oxford comma, movies that are hilarious or feature zombies, any and all books, but especially romance (the smarter and hotter, the better), the sound of her daughter's incessantly wise and entertaining chatter, and watching her husband work on cars in the driveway.

You can read her blog at www.elizabethreinhardt.blogspot.com, like her on Facebook, or email her at lizreinhardtwrites@gmail.com.


 Links:


Tour Wide Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway  

Tour Schedule:

3/26  
Fire Star Books - Guest Post  
Respiring Thoughts - Review  
3/27  
Insightful Minds - Review & Author Interview  
Reading in Winter - Review  
Addicted to Books - Guest Post from Trinity 
3/28  
A Diary of a Book Addict - Review & Character Interview w/ Trinity  
Nose in a Book - Guest Post 
3/29  
Book Briefs - Review  
A Written Rhapsody - Guest post 
3/30  
Kindle Fever - Guest post  
Reviewing Shelf - Review  
It's a PenPal World - Review & Author Interview 
4/2  
Rondo of a Possible World - Guest Post  
Nose in a Book - Review  
(Love of Books) - Guest Post 
4/3  
Sweeping Me - Guest Post  
Kindle Fever - Review 
4/4  
Catch The Lune - Top Ten  
Simply Infatuated - Review & Character Interview w/ Aidan 
4/5  
Catch The Lune - Review  
A Tale of Many Reviews - Author Interview  
The Book Barbies - Guest Post  
4/6  
Actin' Up With Books - Guest Post  
Addicted to Books - Review  
4/9  
Forbidden Passions - Review  
A Book & A Latte - Guest Post  
4/10  
A Daydreamer's Thoughts - Guest Post  
Reviewing Shelf - Author Interview  
Zodiac Book Reviews - Review  
4/11  
Nyx Book Reviews - Guest Post  
4/12  
My Shelf Confessions Guest post  
Reading in Winter - Author Interview  
Seeing Night - Review  
4/13  
Ed and Em's Reviews - Review & Author Interview  
My Life With Books - Guest Post


Tour Hosted by Letters Inside Out

Review: Finding My Faith by Carly Fall

Title: Finding My Faith
Series: Six Saviors #1
Author: Carly Fall
Genre: Science Fiction, Supernatural Fiction, Fantasy Fiction, Romance Fiction
Elements: Aliens, Psychic Abilities, Spirits
Publisher: Westward Publishing
Format: eBook, 214 Pages
ASIN: B007E25F72
Release Date: February 27, 2012
Source: Tour Host {Bewitching Book Tours}
Rating: 5/5

Tagline(s): ~NONE~

Summary: Growing up in a small Northern Arizona town, Faith Cloudfoot’s life was spent playing in the forests surrounding her house under the protective eyes of her father, and learning about the legends of her Native American heritage.

Yearning for more out of her life, she moves to Phoenix, Arizona at the age of twenty-three where she is kidnapped and almost killed.

Rayner has a special ability, one that weighs on him like a curse. He can see spirits trapped in between life and their final resting place. Because he can’t do much to help them, he studiously ignores them. He concentrates, instead, on working with his fellow warriors to right the wrongs caused by the evil criminals from his home planet.

When Rayner sees Faith in her spirit form while investigating a lead in Phoenix, his attraction to her is immediate, yet he follows his own personal code and ignores her cry for attention. When he realizes that she may be a stepping stone to getting him home to his own universe, he engages Faith and begins to use her as a means to an end: going home.

As the attraction grows stronger, Rayner finds himself breaking all sorts of self-set rules, as well as the code of ethics set by him and his fellow warriors. When Faith nears death, Rayner realizes that he must do everything in his power to save her, because if he doesn’t, he may just lose himself.

Review:

Being someone who has not had the pleasure to read the first book in this series, The Light Within Me, I was glad that the author provided some background information. Because of this, one doesn't have to have read the first book to understand Finding My Faith. In fact, I became really curious about Noah and Abby's story when they were introduced in this book, and I can't wait to go back and read their story for myself. Because I have not read The Light Within Me, I can base this review solely on Finding My Faith, since I have nothing to compare it to.

I loved how Finding My Faith has a mix of genres; there's a little bit of something for everyone: sci-fi action, supernatural abilities, and sweet romance. All of this is blended so well together that this book can't be put into just one genre.

It might seem kind of cheesy, but I really liked how Rayner and Faith always seemed to have everything in common. Not only are their backgrounds similar (each grew up in the forests of their respective homelands), but they also just so happen to like the same foods and TV shows. Their both spiritual people and love nature and the outdoors. And both are free-spirits; although Rayner lost that when he came to Earth, meeting Faith made him want to live again instead of just floating along.

I love legends and folklore, so I really like the legend of The Woman With Fire for Hair and the Red-Eyed Wolf Warrior. The legend states the a woman of the Navajo with flaming red hair and an man with glowing red eyes will produce a son that will be able to harness the earth's energy. This son will only be born when the Earth needs him most, it could be a few years or hundreds of years until he's born. Until then, The Woman With Fire for Hair and the Red-Eyed Wolf Warrior will not age, the Warrior will not lose his wolf spirit, and only after then son is born will they begin to age as humans do. This legend really works in Rayner and Faith's favor. Neither of them will age until their son is born, and who knows how long that will be. And Rayner won't lose his SR44 form (though the legends says wolf spirit, for Rayner it's his SR44 form).

I was kind of disappointed that we never got to see the Colonist's demise. With how hyped up Hudson ans Cohen were to hunt him down, I was looking forward to seeing his downfall. Everyone likes seeing the bad guy lose in the end, but we just don't see it in Finding My Faith. Also, the Colonists are portrayed as these vicious killers, but the Colonist in this book just wasn't. It was just disappointing reading about how they are trying to catch and kill this Colonist and we never get to see it when they finally do.

Other than my issue with how weak I found the Colonist to be, I really loved Finding My Faith. I can't wait to see what's next for the Six Saviors.

About this Author: 

Carly Fall lives in Arizona with her incredibly supportive husband, their son and their dog.
She enjoys the weather in Arizona, and when she isn't writing, you can find her spending time with her family, or lazily floating in the pool.

Carly has spent twenty years writing business materials, and Shackled to the Night was her first foray into fiction.

For more information on upcoming books as well as freebies and giveaways, visit her website at www.CarlyFall.com


Twitter: CarlyFall1


Tour Hosted by Bewitching Book Tours