Showing posts with label Ember. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ember. Show all posts

August 24, 2013

Ember Blog Tour: CHAOS Review + Giveaway

 

Ember Blog Tour 

"Our fires burn brightly for our readers and as a way to say thanks to our readers we've launched our latest division of Entangled Teen and it's name is Ember. We have two exciting launch titles: Darker Days by Jus Accardo and Chaos by Christine O'Neil. Read away!" 

Entangled Teen Ember is a division of Entangled Teen that specializes in digital-first YAs.



CHAOS (Kardia Chronicles #1)
Author: Christine O'Neil
Genre: YA Fantasy
Release Date: August 19, 2013
Publisher: Entangled Teen - Ember

Description:

My name is Maggie Raynard. After sixteen years being just plain me, suddenly, when I lose my temper, my fingers become weapons of mass destruction. Turns out I'm a semi-god, descended from Aphrodite. Sounds cool in theory, but when I accidentally put my ex-boyfriend in a coma, things go downhill pretty fast.

Now some new guy named Mac Finnegan has made it his mission in life to continually piss me off. I'm stuck learning how to use my new powers while also dealing with regular high school problems, and with this annoying—and super-hot—guy all up in my business, I'm about to flip out.

But it gets worse. I just learned there's this watchdog council of semis who keeps an eye out for any bad apples. They think I'm the baddest of the bunch and want to take me out before I do any more damage. My nemesis Mac might turn out to be my salvation, only he's got secrets of his own...and they may just kill us both.
 


CHAOS is the first book in a young adult fantasy series that follows main character Maggie Raynard who suddenly learns that she's a semi-god descended from Aphrodite. When she loses her temper, things go horribly wrong - especially when she accidentally puts her ex into a coma. Enter the mysterious and handsome new guy named Mac Finnegan. He's continually on Maggie's nerves and definitely knows how to push her buttons. So on top of leading a normal teenager's life with school, friends, and boys, Maggie has to learn how to control her powers while not using them on Mac. To make a bad situation worse, Maggie learns that there's a council of semi-gods watching her every move and they're prepared to take her down if she makes a wrong move. Now Mac seems to be the only one on her side, but he's definitely hiding something - something that might get them both killed.

This was a really fun and exciting first novel in a new YA fantasy series that deals with mythology. The plot wasn't completely original since mythology is a big trend in the genre lately, but the author use of semi-gods and their powers along with the council and other story elements made it stand out from the others. The characters were realistic, all with their own personalities, strengths, and weaknesses. I really liked Maggie as a main character. She was believable, witty, smart, and definitely has attitude. I liked watching her character change and grow throughout the book as she learns about her powers and who she really is and then stepping up when she has to. The relationship between Maggie and Mac was rocky at the beginning and kind of cliched, but I liked their bantering and the way they eventually warmed up to each other. I loved all the detail and description the author put into the book about the mythology, especially the gods, semi-gods, their powers, and the council and its history. I found all of that really fascinating and I think it added a great dimension to the book. I hope that the next installment will allow us to go even further into that world and learn more about it. The writing was incredibly well done with a great pace that kept me reading eagerly to see what was going to happen next. I really liked this book and I'm glad that it's just the beginning of what promises to be an awesome series, but now I have to wait for the next book to be released. Highly recommended for fans of YA fantasy and paranormal fiction.

Christine O'Neil was born and raised in Connecticut, where she spent most of her childhood outdoors catching salamanders, frogs and colds. When she wasn't terrorizing Mother Nature, she was curled up under the covers with her nose in a book. As an adult, she's stopped stalking amphibians, but still loves books. When she isn't reading, she likes to spend her time people-watching. In fact, she's probably watching you RIGHT NOW O_O She's also pretty obsessed with writing YA books, but if she had to pick another profession she would be a ninja...or a Professor of the Dark Arts. Christine also writes adult romance under the pen name Christine Bell. 





About Ember's other title:


Darker Days (The Darker Agency #1)
Author: Jus Accardo
Genre: YA Fantasy/Paranormal
Release Date: August 19, 2013
Publisher: Entangled Teen - Ember

Description:

Jessie Darker goes to high school during the day, but at night she helps with the family investigation business. Cheating husbands and stolen inheritances? They’re your girls—but their specialty is a bit darker. Zombie in your garage? Pesky Poltergeist living in your pool? They’ll have the problem solved in a magical minute. For a nominal fee, of course...

When gorgeous new client, Lukas Scott, saunters into the office requesting their help to find a stolen box, it sounds like a simple case—until the truth comes out. The box is full of Sin.

Seven deadly ones, in fact.

They’ve got five days to recapture the Sins before they're recalled by the box, taking seven hijacked human bodies with them. Easy peasy—except for one thing...

There’s a spell that will allow the Sins to remain free, causing chaos forever. When the key ingredient threatens the life of someone she knows, Jessie must make the ultimate choice between love and family—or lose everything.
 


JUS ACCARDO spent her childhood reading and learning to cook. Determined to follow in her grandfather’s footsteps as a chef, she applied and was accepted to the Culinary Institute of America. At the last minute, she realized her path lay with fiction, not food, and passed on the spot to pursue writing. Jus is the bestselling author the popular Denazen series from Entangled publishing. A native New Yorker, she lives in the middle of nowhere with her husband, three dogs, and sometimes guard bear, Oswald. 


a Rafflecopter giveaway



 

August 5, 2013

The Omnific Angels Event & Giveaway!

 

Omnific Publishing is celebrating all things Omnific, Romance, and Angels! August 5th-10th, participating blogs will be featuring different guest posts, interviews, and excerpts by the authors of The Omnific Angels. Don’t forget to enter the giveaways and visit the other stops by clicking the linky list below. 

Click here to view the other YA Angels of Omnific stops...

Omnific and the authors would like to invite you to join the Angel Goodreads Group! Head over to Goodreads and see what’s going on: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/100102-angels-in-romantic-fiction.


I'll be highlighting YA author Carol Oates and her EMBER series on the blog today!



Ember (Ember #1)
Author: Carol Oates
Genre: YA Fantasy/Paranormal
Release Date: July 19, 2011

Buy Link: Amazon

Description:

When Candra Ember wakes up in hospital after a dangerous encounter with a red-haired woman, she is shocked to discover that seeing a winged boy wasn’t her imagination. Candra is exposed to a world of rivalry and sacrifice she never knew existed, and the aftermath of a war to save humanity thousands of years ago. Soon she finds herself relentlessly stalked by Sebastian, a beautiful and arrogant Watcher Angel and romantically pursued by his darkly seductive rival, Draven. Ultimately, dubious about her own goodness, Candra’s very existence compromises a tentative peace in the city of Acheron.


“She is not a toy,” she hissed like a cat arching its back and instinctively unfurled her jet black wings tipped with scarlet, resembling an oil slick creeping outward in a pool of blood.

Sebastian felt Candra’s weight against him increase when she leaned forward to look over his shoulder. There was no longer merely a shadow of Ananchel’s wings. Candra’s warm breath made the hairs on his neck rise when she gasped at the sight of Ananchel’s magnificent, dark, silken plumage brushing against the unsuspecting dancers around her.

Sebastian knew Ananchel’s words were for Candra’s benefit. If it was to her advantage, Ananchel would be just as willing to claim Candra as he was.

“This isn’t the time or the place for this discussion,” Sebastian told her pointedly.

“Excuse me,” Candra screeched from behind him, once again push­ing to get past.

He heard her utter a small gasp and felt her breath against the back of his neck when all the air left her lungs. Just like everything he seemed to do lately, uncurling his wings wasn’t intentional. His only thought was to keep Ananchel away from Candra. As soon as his mind thought the word barrier, there they were. He was sure Ananchel could see his weakness; his desire to protect Candra at any cost to himself was perfectly apparent. He turned his head to catch a glimpse of the girl behind him, and her shocked eyes stared back at him. Her mouth was hidden behind her two hands.

“Go!” Sebastian bellowed fiercely to Ananchel without fully turning from Candra, his nails digging into the palms of his clenched fists.

“You go,” Ananchel laughed in return, apparently amused by Candra’s reaction.

When his eyes met Ananchel’s again, he confirmed by the way her smile faded infinitesimally that he had exposed himself. She had forced him to prove to Candra once again that he wasn’t human, not even in the smallest measure. He should have known she wouldn’t stop there. They had played this game a long time.

The trembling began in his stomach, shooting downward like tiny electrical pulses, and his already tense muscles tightened further. All over his body, his skin felt like it was on fire, and it made him shudder. He fought it, closing his eyes to keep from looking at Ananchel and keeping Candra out of his peripheral vision. He couldn’t look at Candra now. The volume of the music seemed to grow until the bass was an eruption inside his brain and every thump matched his heart.




Iridescent (Ember #2)
Author: Carol Oates
Genre: YA Fantasy/Paranormal
Release Date: October 16, 2012

Buy Link: Amazon

Description:

Candra Ember used to dream of saving the world one person at a time. She never expected to become an angelic weapon and the last hope in the battle against ultimate darkness.

Falling for a Nephilim wasn’t part of Sebastian’s plan. Distraction is something he can’t afford when his rival, Draven, wants what Sebastian has.

Lies, manipulation, and corruption are twisting the lives of the citizens in Acheron. The Arch is missing from Heaven, and a demon is intent on claiming the city. At a time they should be growing closer, grief and paranoia is driving Candra and Sebastian apart.

If the price of restoring the Watchers to Heaven is a human soul, who deserves to be saved?
 






Sebastian had showered and the scent of death and Guinness no longer clung to him the way it did to her. Instead, he smelled of soap, spices and heat. His damp hair brushed against her forehead. In moments like this, his embrace made her feel secure and loved unconditionally. On other occasions, it was much easier to doubt herself and doubt him. Watchers perceived an innate goodness in her that Candra wasn’t sure of. When given a choice between love and war, she was very much tempted to choose war. Sebastian made no secret of the rage in his heart, a rage she knew could easily destroy him.

“I do,” she murmured, shifting to sit across his lap and linking her fingers around his neck. As always, it brought on a strange little flutter in her stomach. Loving Sebastian was one of those things that was never meant to happen. It had blindsided both of them. If there were two people in the world less likely to fall in love, it was Sebastian and Candra.

She pressed her lips to his quickly, weaving her fingers up into his soft as silk hair. One of his hands tightened on her thigh and the other slid up her spine, stopping between her shoulder blades where his fingers spread out wide.

She pulled back and giggled when Sebastian’s lips chased her with a playful pout. “I wasn’t finished.”

“I haven’t brushed my teeth,” she told him, making a show of covering her mouth when she spoke. “Morning breath.”

“It’s eleven at night.” He pushed forward.

Candra applied pressure against his shoulders, blocking his advance. “And I need a shower. I smell like an Irish man.”

Breath left her in a whoosh followed by a squeal as Sebastian spun her around and pinned her to the bed beneath him. His full weight pressed down on her, giving Candra a comfort she didn’t fully understand. He made her feel protected, hidden away and small. She shivered all the way to her toes. Sebastian would die to keep her safe if he had to.

“Who would have thought I’d find the smell of an Irish man so appealing.” He breathed the words close to her ear and then glided his hot lips to the throbbing artery just below.

Candra felt the warm, grainy flesh of his tongue peek out and swirl in a small circle over her skin. She bit down on the inside of her cheek to hold back the whimpering noise she was sure would escape her lips otherwise. She squirmed below him until she was breathless, and he dragged his fingers down the length of her forearms to secure her wrists by the side of her head.

“You fight me on everything,” Sebastian reprimanded her, slipping his fingers between hers and clasping them firmly. “When will you ever give in quietly?” His eyes blazed and flickered to her mouth.



Carol Oates has never been one to remain still for long. After her parents' mad dash to the hospital through the empty city streets of Dublin, Ireland, Carol made her debut into the world in the early hours of Christmas morning. Since then her pace has not slowed down in the least.
Carol was introduced to the world of supernatural books when, as a child, her family moved to a coastal suburb on the northern border of Dublin known as Clontarf, famous as the birthplace of Bram Stoker, the prolific author responsible for breathing life into the legendary story Dracula. This stirred in Carol an early passion for reading about all things supernatural. Combine that passion with a deep interest in the history and folklore of Ireland, as well as an active and vivid imagination, and Carol Oates the author was born. Carol's love of writing about anything not entirely "human" emerged, and the premise for her debut novel, Shades of Atlantis, was born.

Author Links:



Website -- http://www.caroloates.com/
Twitter -- https://twitter.com/CarolOates
Facebook -- https://www.facebook.com/caroloates.author
Goodreads -- http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3988619.Carol_Oates

Event Giveaway: The publisher/author is offering a YA Event Giveaway of (1) Print Copy of Ember and Iridescent, (1) Beaded angel wings bookmark, (1) Angel wings earrings (gold toned, hypoallergenic, nickel free).  – US Only
a Rafflecopter giveaway