BLOG TOUR! REDEMPTION (Children of the Gods #3) by Jessica Therrien

REDEMPTION (Children of the Gods #3)

Lead Council member, Christoph, is dead by Elyse’s hand, and Descendants have begun to emerge, exposing their secret to the world. Some see this as the prophecy come to fruition, but the prophecy caries a heavy consequence. It was never meant to be as peaceful as most had hoped.

Humans and Descendants struggle to live together in a world that isn’t ready for such a change. America is divided. Those who glorify the supernatural race believe Descendants truly are the gods they claim relation to. Others see them as a threat.

When Elyse gives birth to the next generation oracle, she sees one final vision—war. The destruction of the country’s major cities, and the end of America as we know it.

After her daughter is born, Elyse finds herself without the ability she needs to predict the future. Desperate to save the world from such conflict, she puts her faith in the hope that Descendants are the key to survival. After all, they have the power to supply a broken society with the means to survive.

Only from the ashes can a new world be born.

EXCERPT

OUR SECRET WAS OUT. As I lay awake beside William the night after my escape, it was the first time I allowed that thought to sink in. Of the hundreds of Descendants who sought refuge in these caves months earlier, only my friends and family had waited for me to return. The rest were out there, and the world was watching.

A part of me felt relief. It was out of my hands. Those who’d trusted and followed me were free, and in a differ-ent way, so was I. No more prophecy weighing me down. Still, as the twinkling lights that lit the cave at night dimmed and withdrew into darkness, I couldn’t find peace enough to sleep.  

After all I’d been through, the fighting, the death, the seclusion, I’d survived. We’d won. But I still felt like I’d lost the one thing I’d always counted on—William. I stared through the pitch black to where he slept next to me, warm and real. He was alive. He was mine. For that I was grate-ful, but my heart felt empty. He didn’t remember.

He’d always told me he’d lose me to this war. I never imagined I’d be the one to lose him.

The moment I killed Christoph, the Council shifted generations. Dr. Nickel’s power fell to his daughter, Edith. Now she was the one who could mimic the ability of any Descendant she came into contact with. The cave’s stars belonged to her tonight. At first I was hopeful she could give her brother his memories back, but at her young age, she hadn’t been in contact with many abilities, mind-wipers included.

A piece of me had been convinced I’d get William back, the man I married, the man who loved me before I knew him. Now our love was one-sided.

I stared at him through the darkness. He used to know me intimately. Knew my fears. My secrets. Now all of our wordless moments were lost. I wondered if he’d ever get any of it back, the tangled legs and warm skin of so many nights together.

GOODREADS | AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE (Links available soon)

Elyse’s Story…

OPPRESSION (Book #1)

UPRISING (Book #2)

REDEMPTION (Book #3)

The Children of the Gods Series

The Descendants have waited long enough for freedom…

About The Author

JESSICA THERRIEN spent most of her life in the small town of Chilcoot, California, high up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In this town of nearly 100 residents, with no streetlights or grocery stores, there was little to do but find ways to be creative. Her mother, the local English teacher, inspired her to do all things artistic, and ultimately instilled in her a love for language. Jessica currently lives in Southern California with her husband and their two children.

You can visit her online at

www.jessicatherrien.com

OUT TODAY! Redemption by Jessica Therrien

Redemption (Children of the Gods #3)

Nobody promised freedom would be peaceful…

AVAILABLE TODAY!

Lead Council member, Christoph, is dead by Elyse’s hand, and Descendants have begun to emerge, exposing their secret to the world. Some see this as the prophecy come to fruition, but the prophecy caries a heavy consequence. It was never meant to be as peaceful as most had hoped.

Humans and Descendants struggle to live together in a world that isn’t ready for such a change. America is divided. Those who glorify the supernatural race believe Descendants truly are the gods they claim relation to. Others see them as a threat.

When Elyse gives birth to the next generation oracle, she sees one final vision—war. The destruction of the country’s major cities, and the end of America as we know it.

After her daughter is born, Elyse finds herself without the ability she needs to predict the future. Desperate to save the world from such conflict, she puts her faith in the hope that Descendants are the key to survival. After all, they have the power to supply a broken society with the means to survive.

Only from the ashes can a new world be born.

GOODREADS | AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE

Elyse’s Story…

OPPRESSION (Book #1) – ON SALE $0.99

UPRISING (Book #2) – ON SALE $0.99

REDEMPTION (Book #3) – AVAILABLE NOW $2.99

The Children of the Gods Series

The Descendants have waited long enough for freedom…

About The Author

JESSICA THERRIEN spent most of her life in the small town of Chilcoot, California, high up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In this town of nearly 100 residents, with no streetlights or grocery stores, there was little to do but find ways to be creative. Her mother, the local English teacher, inspired her to do all things artistic, and ultimately instilled in her a love for language. Jessica currently lives in Southern California with her husband and their two children.

You can visit her online at

www.jessicatherrien.com

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COVER REVEAL: Children of the Gods by Jessica Therrien

REDEMPTION (Children of the Gods #3) is ready and waiting! Along with it, Jessica Therrien will be re-releasing the first two books in her series. All of them have wonderful new covers designed by Carrie Butler, and OPPRESSION will even include a bonus chapter. I am bloody excited!! Can't wait for number three. Here is what you need to know:

OPPRESSION

(Children of the Gods #1)

September 2, 2015

There are others like her. Many of them. And they have been waiting for her for a long time.

Elyse knows what it means to keep a secret. She's been keeping secrets her whole life. Two, actually. First, that she ages five times slower than average people, so that while she looks eighteen years old, she's well over eighty. Second, that her blood has a mysterious power to heal.

For Elyse, these things don't make her special. They make life dangerous. After the death of her parents, she's been careful to keep her secret as closely guarded as possible. Now, only one other person in the world knows about her age and ability.

Or so she thinks. 

Elyse is not the only one keeping secrets. There are others like her all over the world, descendants of the very people the Greeks considered gods. She is one of them, and they have been waiting for her for a long time. Some are waiting for her to put an end to centuries of traditions that have oppressed their people under the guise of safeguarding them. Others are determined to keep her from doing just that. But for Elyse, the game is just beginning-and she's not entirely willing to play by their rules.

UPRISING

(Children of the Gods #2)

October 2, 2015

The Descendants have waited long enough for freedom.

Elyse has done everything she can to protect her friends from The Council's reach. As long as they believe she's dead, she has time to rest and train for war. And war is inevitable. 

When Kara arrives with the news that Anna and Chloe have been captured, Elyse is faced with the realization that no one is safe until The Council is stopped and Christoph is destroyed. She doesn't need a prophecy to tell her to lead an army. Christoph has done the one thing that ensures she'll fight to the death. He's threatened the people she loves. 

It will take more than the words of an oracle to help them fight against the most powerful Descendant alive. To break The Council's oppression and rise up against a plot so many years in the making, Elyse will need to get dangerously close to her enemy. So close, in fact, she may not survive.

REDEMPTION

(Children of the Gods #3)

November 2, 2015

Nobody promised freedom would be peaceful.

Lead Council member, Christoph, is dead by Elyse’s hand, and Descendants have begun to emerge, exposing their secret to the world. Some see this as the prophecy come to fruition, but the prophecy caries a heavy consequence. It was never meant to be as peaceful as most had hoped.

Humans and Descendants struggle to live together in a world that isn’t ready for such a change. America is divided. Those who glorify the supernatural race believe Descendants truly are the gods they claim relation to. Others see them as a threat.

When Elyse gives birth to the next generation oracle, she sees one final vision—war. The destruction of the country’s major cities, and the end of America as we know it.

After her daughter is born, Elyse finds herself without the ability she needs to predict the future. Desperate to save the world from such conflict, she puts her faith in the hope that Descendants are the key to survival. After all, they have the power to supply a broken society with the means to survive.

Only from the ashes can a new world be born.

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ARC Review: Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge

Pub. Date: May 5th 2015
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 448
Readership: Young adult
Genres: fantasy

When Rachelle was fifteen she was good—apprenticed to her aunt and in training to protect her village from dark magic. But she was also reckless— straying from the forest path in search of a way to free her world from the threat of eternal darkness. After an illicit meeting goes dreadfully wrong, Rachelle is forced to make a terrible choice that binds her to the very evil she had hoped to defeat.  

Three years later, Rachelle has given her life to serving the realm, fighting deadly creatures in an effort to atone. When the king orders her to guard his son Armand—the man she hates most—Rachelle forces Armand to help her find the legendary sword that might save their world. As the two become unexpected allies, they uncover far-reaching conspiracies, hidden magic, and a love that may be their undoing. In a palace built on unbelievable wealth and dangerous secrets, can Rachelle discover the truth and stop the fall of endless night?  

Inspired by the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, Crimson Bound is an exhilarating tale of darkness, love, and redemption.

Let me start out by getting my initial reaction off my chest: yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas!!!!! Ok. Now that that is over with, let me get into my actual feelings regarding Crimson Bound.

I had high expectations going in because Cruel Beauty was definitely in my top five reads of 2014 and those expectations were definitely met. Crimson had the same beautiful prose that Cruel Beauty had, the same plot twists and the same intricate characters.

Rachelle is our lead, and our morally-grey protagonist. She had to make a tough choice at a young age and she choose to stay alive. Now she fights for people while she thinks - knows - her soul is doomed for hell. She does it because maybe she can try to be a little less of the monster she thinks she is. Maybe some of the blood on her hands can be for the good of the people she protects.

I also loved the world of Crimson Bound. It was a high fantasy but with a light touch. We had all the makings of one with it's out of this world creatures, royalty, monsters, powers, the forest and the Forestborn of that very forest but it wasn't such a world that was hard to immerse yourself in like some of the worlds of high and epic fantasies are. It was easy to follow what was happening in that world and not have to stop and remind yourself of all the intricacies of it. Rosamund did a fantastic job of creating a wholly original world that was beautifully built and easy to follow.

I'll admit I wasn't a big fan of Armand at first and it took me a while to warm up to him. I just didn't get him, you know? I had a "I know this guy is going to be a big hit but I'm just not feeling it" kind of feeling but I realized about a hundred pages into his introduction, I liked him. I also loved Erec from the start, and through to the end amidst all the plot twists that came about. Erec my beautifully malicious little [bleep]. I really like it when you can love even the villains of a book. The best villains to me are the ones you can love right beside the protagonists.

Crimson Bound was packed to the rafters with action as well as the superb characters and character development. If you like a book with both, then this is definitely a great one to pick up. If you love beautifully written prose, this is definitely your book.
★★★★★ I LOVED IT *Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for providing an ARC for review!!! Follow @HCCFrenzy on twitter and HarperCollinsCanada on Facebook!* PURCHASE (amazon) (amazon kindle) (the book depository) (chapters/indigo)

★★★★.5

I LOVED IT 

*Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for providing an ARC for review!!! 

Follow @HCCFrenzy on twitter and HarperCollinsCanada on Facebook!* 

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TOUR: Cursed by Fire by Danielle Annett

Cursed by Fire

Author: Danielle Annett

Release Date: January 28th, 2015

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal

Designer: Mae I Design

Blurb:

It has been six years since the Awakening and peace in Spokane, Washington is still tenuous at best. The vampires and shifters are all vying for control of the city and the humans seem to be the ones suffering the consequences, or so it seems.

Aria Naveed has spent the last two years of her life fighting to make the many wrongs of the world right, but soon finds out that the humans aren’t as weak as they appear and may be a more terrifying foe than any of the other races combined.

When a stranger rolls into town with trouble on his heels, Aria finds herself trapped in the middle of a battle that could cost her more than she has bargained for as a fight for justice turns into an unexpected fight for her life.

EXCERPT

The light began to fade from his eyes as I crawled across the floor in an effort to reach my father. My nails were raw and bloody as I struggled to carry myself closer to him, digging into the rough wooden floors with each drag of my body.

“I’m coming,” I panted in between breaths. “Just hang on, Papa, I’m coming.”

I woke gasping for breath, drenched in a cold sweat, clutching the hilt of my dagger as if my life depended on it. I frantically looked around the room in search of our attacker while also taking stock of any injuries. I was perfectly whole.

“It was just a nightmare,” I told myself, though that did little to ease the ache in my chest over the remembered pain. I miss you so much.

Rubbing my hands over my face, I pushed back the wet, loose tendrils of hair that had escaped my braid during my fitful rest and returned my dagger to its resting place beneath my pillow. Taking another deep breath I registered a hint of smoke.

Shit!

My eyes roamed over the room, frantically looking for the source of fire.

“You have got to be kidding me!”

I untangled my body from the sheets, tripping and falling into a heap on the floor before I was able to crawl out of my covers and retrieve an old shirt. I frenziedly swatted at the bedroom curtains with the old t-shirt but the flames continued to rise. Deciding there was no other choice, I ripped the curtains from the window and rushed to the kitchen.

Throwing the curtains into the sink and turning the faucet on all the way, I watched as the flames were snuffed and steam began to rise. The curtains ruined.

Turning the water off, I allowed my body to slide down the smooth wooden cabinets until my bottom met the cool tile floor. I folded my arms across my knees and rested my forehead against them. Closing my eyes I took several deep breaths, my heart still racing from the effects of the recurring nightmare. This was getting out of hand. I had thought the nightmares were fading, but something was bringing the memories back with a screaming vengeance and this was the third time this week they’d plagued me. I missed my parents but it’d been over six years now. They weren’t coming back and I needed to let it go. My subconscious needed to let it go and I needed to let Daniel’s death go. Not the case, no, I wouldn’t let that go. But his death was affecting me in ways I couldn’t allow to continue.

I breathed deeply in an effort to calm my nerves. Small tremors racked my body, the nightmare had shaken me more that I’d like to admit. My skin was covered in a fine sheen of sweat. A physical reminder that I needed to relax before I accidentally caught something else on fire.

GUEST POST - FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT DANIELLE

1.1. I crochet. My great grandmother taught me when I was a little girl and I actually really love doing it. I'll admit to not being that great at it but I recently made my niece a baby blanket and my daughter a hot pink beanie.

2. I am addicted to Grey’s Anatomy and have followed the series from the very beginning. It is honestly the only television series that has every held my attention for so long and I'm quit obsessed.

3. I have more of a salt tooth than a sweat tooth and am a sucker for Lays potato chips, though they have to be the originals. No flavors and no ruffles, they're just not the same. 

4. My fiancé and I have been together for six years and are expecting baby number two this coming June. We'll be welcoming a baby boy into our midsts and our daughter who is just not turning 5 is starting to get excited. When she first found out it was a boy, she asked if we could trade it in for a girl but I think she's warming up to the idea of a brother when we mention they can play legos together.

5. I'm as much of a reader as I am a writer. I blog behind Coffee and Characters (www.coffeeandcharacters.com/blog) and probably read around 50-75 books a year. Reading is such a passion for me, I couldn't imagine a world without books and writing has only really taken hold in me within the last two years. I'll also admit that my love of books started when the Twilight craze first hit. I wasn't much or a reader at the time and only read the books after some severe pressure from friends of mine. Its safe to say I devoured the series, giving it credit to my book passion, but quickly moved on to devour all things YA i could find before moving into adult reads which originated with the Sookie Stackhouse series. Book one is the serious had me seriously blushing since prior to it, I'd only really read YA and school assigned books when I was younger

About the Author

Danielle Annett is a reader, writer, photographer, and the blogger behind Coffee and Characters. Born in the SF Bay area, she now resides in Spokane, WA, the primary location for her Blood & Magic series.
Addicted to coffee at an early age, she spends her restless nights putting pen to paper as she tries to get all of the stories out of her head before the dogs wake up the rest of the house and vye for her attention.

Website: http://danielle-annett.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDanielleAnnett

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Danielle_Annett

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7771866.Danielle_Annett

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ARC Review: The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand

Pub. Date: February 10th 2015
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 400
Readership: Young adult
Genres: contemporary

There's death all around us. We just don't pay attention. Until we do.  

The last time Lex was happy, it was before. When she had a family that was whole. A boyfriend she loved. Friends who didn't look at her like she might break down at any moment.  

Now she's just the girl whose brother killed himself. And it feels like that's all she'll ever be.  

As Lex starts to put her life back together, she tries to block out what happened the night Tyler died. But there's a secret she hasn't told anyone-a text Tyler sent, that could have changed everything.  

Lex's brother is gone. But Lex is about to discover that a ghost doesn't have to be real to keep you from moving on.

Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Heartbreaking. Authentic. These worlds immediately sprung to mind the second I finished The Last Time We Say Goodbye. I absolutely loved Cynthia’s Unearthly series so I had a feeling that I would love this book too. And yeah, I did. More than I loved Unearthly, even.

Lex’s brother died. He committed suicide and it turned Lex’s world upside down as it would anyone. Before she had her family together, a boyfriend, and like the synopsis said, friends who didn't look at her like she might break down at any moment. 

First, let me start with the writing. It was beautiful, absolutely. I loved that we were able to see Lex’s present but also what lead up to Ty’s death. We got to know Ty - through Lex’s journal that her therapist told her to write in - to see him and what he went through and what led to his suicide. While I don’t personally know anyone who has committed suicide, I know people with mental health issues and who have attempted. I know what it’s like to have depression and I know how hard it is to get through it sometimes. Cynthia captured it perfectly: the turmoil of the person that committed suicide themselves and the lives of those left behind. 

Lex’s pain and grief jumped out of the page at me, it felt so raw and so real. She blamed herself. She couldn’t cry, she couldn’t let it out, because no one knew just how deep her pain and blame went. She feels like she’s going crazy because she keeps seeing Ty everywhere, what she thinks is his ghost, and she begins to fracture even more. That is such a real thing, such a normal thing, but she can’t believe that and thinks she’s losing it.

I loved seeing Lex’s friends. All of their reactions are so normal to a death by suicide. They see their friend fragile too, like at any moment Lex could break so they treat her with a tender touch but Lex doesn’t see it that way. This is so normal, for anyone who knows someone that died. They don’t know how to react and all of Lex’s friends reactions in the book are so normal.

The Last Time We Say Goodbye is a book that is going to stay with me. It’s one of those reads that I’ll carry around with me and think about from time to time. It’s as much haunting as it is beautiful. It is about grief and loss and learning to accept it. It is about moving on as much as it is about mental illness and suicide. It was so, so good. 

★★★★★ 

I LOVED IT 

*Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for providing an ARC for review!!! Follow @HCCFrenzy on twitter and HarperCollinsCanada on Facebook!* 

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REVIEW: Fairest by Marissa Meyer

Pub. Date: January 27th 2015
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 222
Readership: Young adult
Genres: sci-fi

In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana’s story is finally told.  

Mirror, mirror on the wall, Who is the fairest of them all?  

Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now. 

Marissa Meyer spins yet another unforgettable tale about love and war, deceit and death. This extraordinary book includes full-color art and an excerpt from Winter, the next book in the Lunar Chronicles series.

Wow. I admit, at first I was a little pressed that Winter wasn’t going to come out until Fall 2015 instead of, well, winter. However, then the news of Fairest was released and I admit, I was intrigued. A Levana origin story… I love me a good villain origin story. I was sure that Fairest would make the wait for winter worth it. 

And it did!

I have always loved Levana in the way that I loved Maleficent and Te Red Queen: they were great, creepy, fantastic villains. They may be bad but damn, they do it so well. 

I love that we got to see Channary. I love that we got to see how Levana was more than just a product of her upbringing. It was chemical. It was both. I loved that we got more of Winter and Cinder’s upbringing and past. 

Marissa was brilliant in that she weaved in what could have potentially been difficult into Levana’s origin: understanding. Not acceptance of the horrible things that Levana was done but an understanding as to why she did what she did and why she is doing what she’s doing. That is not something that is easy to do but Marissa did it perfectly. 

She was also able to make the dislike and resentment of Levana grow more than ever before. Because Evret. Oh, poor sweet Evret the world did you wrong. I loved learning about him and seeing his life unfold, even through the bad. 

Levana became more of a monster than she ever had been and I loved it. It definitely made the wait 

for Winter worth it.

★★★★★ 

I LOVED IT 

*Thank you to Raincoast Books for providing an copy for review!!! Follow @raincoastbooks on twitter and HarperCollinsCanada on Facebook!* 

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