SALVATION by Skyla Madi COVER REVEAL!

Coming April 2013…SALVATION!

Synopsis:

In the aftermath of a battle that forced Ruby to flee the safety of the guardian angels, she settles into a small town, hoping to blend in and forget about the ones she loved. It isn’t until Hunter stumbles across her working in a bar and a well-timed email from Ivan Aleksandrov that she realised she could go back to Sage Sanctum—for a few days, at least.

Out for revenge, Lucian will stop at nothing until he has Ruby for himself, but he isn’t the only one that needs her. The council, a group of gods/goddesses have a mysterious hand in Ruby’s return to Sage Sanctum and Mr Aleksandrov is eager to find out what it is.

Destroying Lucian is the least of her worries when Ruby comes face to face with Eli De Luca, the love of her life. It seems her departure has affected him more than she thought it would, but his frustration with her isn’t strong enough to hide the electricity that crackles relentlessly between them.

Determined to end her very real nightmare once and for all, Ruby fights the biggest battle of her life, one that affects not only her, but everyone involved.

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17305534-salvation

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Skyla Madi was born in the small town of Port Maquarie, New South Wales in

1993. She spent half her life growing up in Wauchope, a thriving rural town at the heart

of the Hastings River Valley before making the leap to the busy city of Brisbane.

Whenever this young Australian writer isn’t changing diapers, watching cartoons, cooking for her husband or doing other motherly-wife things she is actively working on her writing and improving her writing skills.

Skyla loves to read just as much as she loves to write and since discovering that YA/paranormal romance/urban fantasy/ are her favourite genres, she has embarked on her own writing journey and is currently working on a YA series titled ‘Your Guardian Angel’.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/SkylaMadi

Twitter: www.twitter.com/Skyla_Madi 

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/SkylaMadi 

Website: www.skylamadi.com

Beta Reading ~ Sophie Davis' Upcoming Novel!

Pawn (Nightmare Trilogy #1)
By Sophie Davis

Rating: 5

One dare gone too far...

Two teenagers bound by death...

A bond worth fighting for...


Love mythology?

You'll love this book. Keep a look out for Hermes (who is literally the guy of your dreams...and possibly nightmares)!!

Love mystery?

Then get your Nancy Drew on! Unsolved mysteries and secrets are a hazard of this tale. 

Love romance?

Then you'll love Sophie's latest couple - Kannon and Endora (a.k.a Eel). 

This book is sure to be a hit with fans of YA fiction with a bit of a mythological twist.

Aussie Picks ~ Under the Hood by Juanita Kees

Under the Hood
By Juanita Kees

Rating: 3.8

Cars, smouldering eyes, troubled teens and ice cold beers - that and more in Under the Hood, an Aussie novel with a raw undertone.

Scott and TJ are your Couple in Crisis. Their love-hate relationship is magnetic from the start, and TJ is one badass heroine! Scott tries his best to take charge of the struggling car dealership, but little does he realise the complexity of the dealership and its employees. The dealership is tied up in a teenage rehabilitation program, and gangs, drugs, violence and danger are an ever-present cloud that hangs over the day to day goings-on.

TJ's kind, open heart towards these teenagers makes you love her from the get-go. Scott is a hottie, but his smoking exterior isn't his only attraction. His friendliness, concern for the teenagers and his protectiveness when it comes to TJ are admirable qualities in a 'pompous arse' (as TJ eloquently describes him as). The teens are loveable; from Marty to the unfortunate Tiny. And Scott's dog Sarge is a heart-stealer as well.

Put all these characters in the setting of semi-rural Western Australia and you have yourself a winner!

My only criticism (not really a criticism - more like a note on what could be improved) was that I thought the attraction between TJ and Scott often overpowered the storyline somewhat. TJ's 'hot and cold' reaction to Scott was understandable, but did tend to get tiring when it occurred repeatedly. I would also have liked to have seen the main plot line develop further and to have been completed - I'm not sure whether a second book is in the making, but the book left the story unfinished. Towards the end (with the clues Tiny left behind) I was engrossed in the plot. But once again, with the ending, the emphasis turned once more to the Scott-TJ relationship.

Which isn't a bad thing (they're a very cute couple!) but I would have liked an ending that tied up the loose ends.

The humour was often spot-on, and made for some good laughs. An 'Aussie' myself, I wasn't completely sold on the amount of beer they all consumed - it seemed almost like each character downed two or three beers a day! - but I guess everyone has their preferences! And TJ definitely needed a good drink after some of the situations she had to deal with.

I praise Juanita for not over-doing the Australian aspects of the novel. So many authors tend to do this - and movie producers - but not Juanita. She manages to transport you directly to WA, but you're comfortably settled into your surroundings. The Australian lifestyle and environment are not thrown in your face every five seconds, with koalas and kangaroos invading the house and the neighbours wearing cork hats.

Juanita does away with stereotypes and gives you a raw novel that entertains as well as informs.

Hybrid (Nevermore #2) by K.A. Poe Review

Hybrid (Nevermore #2)
By K.A. Poe

Rating: 4.4

And the plot thickens...

If you're expecting a soppy tale of an insipid heroine who is silly enough to fall for a vampire who could snack on her for his dinner, and their epic love story that involves candlelight sonatas and fervent confessions of everlasting love...you will be disappointed.

I suggest you look elsewhere for a stereotypical tale of vamps and their girlfriends. :)

This is a tale with so many layers; that doesn't ignore the dangers of the relationship between the girl and the vampire, and that puts emphasis on how each and every 

person has a choice. A choice whether to be the best version of themselves, or theworst. That prejudices can be deadly, family can mean the world and yet it can also be your undoing, your weakness, your blind-spot.

Love makes you blind, but it also gives you strength through its beautiful fragility...a lesson well learnt in the second book in theNevermore series.

Assets will be used...

Alexis has the gift of turning into a raven - an 'asset' of her vampire hunter lineage. But this book explores how differences, especially ones that could harm or change one person in the relationship, can put strain on it. Alexis is originally ashamed of her gift; a gift that is meant to be used to kill vampires. Salem is a vampire. And Alexis can't help but worry that he'll view her as the monster, that becoming more of a hunter will destroy whatever it is they have between them.

(My fanart above ~ Salem and Alexis :))

Mortality - a strength, or a weakness...?

Alexis has common sense. She isn't an airhead, like some YA girls who are so in love that reality hits them harder than a truck coming full speed down a highway. She realises that sooner or later the matter of her mortality, and Salem's immortality, will have to be addressed. They can't live in their 'happy cocoon' forever.

But there are pros and cons to both, and Alexis finds herself wondering what choice she would make, if she was forced to decide. If circumstances, if Fate, made it so she had to choose...between dying, or living as a vampire, forever, with Salem.

Girls that are suspicious as hell...

Okay. I found one teeny, tiny flaw in this novel.

It was kinda obvious...the thing to do with Clare. Salem is concentrating extra hard on finding Hannah, they find the locket, Clare reacts to his name, plagues her dreams - you get the picture. I guess I found it hard to know what was going on - and yet Salem and Alexis didn't. It made the reveal a little anti-climatic. Which was a shame, because it was an awesome thing toreveal! Perhaps making it subtler would have added to the reveal a little more :)

Parental problems. Need I say more?!

If you think Paul was a tough cookie to crack, let me just say...you ain't seen nothin' yet!

I won't give it away...but it was kinda neat...

No. No. I won't.

I can't!

But it's so good!

No!

I won't reveal the best reveal of the entire novel. But I will say this: I will never think of teddy bears the same way again.

Ever.

Again.

Everytime I see a teddy bear, I will picture deserted rooms, blood, hostages, psycho parents and hot vampire boyfriends. The last part will ease the blow a little, I guess!

And as Alexis embraces her destiny and her powers, we turn to the future...

I'll now be heading off to read Book 3; discovering what Salem and Alexis will be up to next!!

Novella Review ~ Captivated by Sophie Davis

Captivated (Talented #3.5)
By Sophie Davis

Rating: 5

I thought I couldn't possibly fall any more in love with the dynamic duo that is Erik and Talia.

I was wrong.

I thought that my heart couldn't possibly be shattered into more pieces than it was by the ending of Hunted.

I was wrong.

I thought that there was no way that Erik could become hotter than he already was.

I was so, so wrong!

Captivated is more than just a novella. 

It is a glimpse into the minds, hearts and special moments of our favourite couple of the Talented series' - completing the reading experience and fulfilling every fangirl's dreams.

A big thanks to Sophie for being given the opportunity to read Captivated. I am super excited to see what Created will have in store for Erik and Talia!

Clockwork Princess ~ Review

Clockwork Princess (Infernal Devices #3)
By Cassandra Clare

Rating: 5


“For this I would be damned forever. For this I would have given up everything.”


“The world is a wheel...when we rise or fall, we do it together.”


"My heart is my own. It is beyond you to control it. It has been beyond me to control it."


"Faith has brought us this far; it will bring us a little farther. The Angel watches over us, and we shall win out."

The final battle begins...

Like a clock without cogs, Mortmain's master plan is missing its key component: Tessa. Without her, he cannot use his army of automatons, to destroy the Shadowhunters. He cannot exact his revenge.

Secrets will unravel...

As Tessa's nuptials quickly approach, she clings to the moments of happiness she finds with Jem - refusing to dwell on his inevitable death, Will's broken heart and her own. But their are bigger things at stake than hearts. The secrets behind Tessa's creation may hold all their lives in the balance. What is she and how did she come to be? 

Only Mortmain holds the answers.

The Infernal Devices will rise...but who will stop them? 

'THE INFERNAL DEVICES ARE WITHOUT PITY.
THE INFERNAL DEVICES ARE WITHOUT REGRET.
THE INFERNAL DEVICES ARE WITHOUT NUMBER.
THE INFERNAL DEVICES WILL NEVER STOP COMING.' 

My thoughts on the book:

By the Angel!

I. Just. Died.

I have overwhelmed with a sea of emotions. I have nothing left - I have laughed, gasped, screeched, cried, sobbed, sobbed some more and then 'aww'd a little more after that. 

This is all too much.

Cassie is a genius.

If you're in need of a good cry, then Clockwork Princess is the book for you - just stock up on Kleenex tissues before reading!

Embrace Your Destiny ~ Twin Souls by K.A. Poe Review

Twin Souls (Nevermore #1)
By K.A. Poe

Rating: 4

"Everything you have ever read about vampires - most of it is inaccurate or downright false. We are not beautiful, we don't turn into bats, we don't shrivel up in the sunlight and we are most definitely not afraid of something as fickle as garlic."


Turning eighteen for Alexis, means taking part in the family business. Which just so happens to be vampire hunting.

All she wanted was a new laptop - maybe even the complete works of Edgar Allen Poe. But discovering that her parents aren't her real parents, that her Uncle Paul is actually her father and that vampires exist, was not on her birthday list. 

Dealing with the news remarkably well, Alexis finds an ally - and a friend - in the new boy at school, Salem Young.

Who just happens to be a vampire.

On first dates, some guys get the talk from the girl's dad. Salem gets the crossbow.

Her father, a vampire hunter himself, is less than pleased with his daughter befriending a vampire - let alone falling for one, which Alexis seems to be in danger of doing. Alexis tries hard to balance spending time with Salem with her hunter training; reluctant to actually do any of the killing, despite her father's enthusiasm for the 'hunt'. 

But Paul isn't easily placated. No daughter of his will date a vampire while he's got breath in his body.

Myths are just myths...or are they?

Alexis believes it's a co-incidence that her last name, Waldron, translates into the word 'wall-raven'. But when Salem tells her of the myth that speaks of how some hunters can transform into ravens, Alexis begins to have doubts. Does she have abilities she doesn't know of? And will they aid her in dealing with those vampires out there that wish to harm her?

Or will they make her a target?

Like a beautifully composed piano composition, Twin Souls connects with readers - presenting a vampire novel that makes them question who thereal monsters are.

A Conspiracy of Alchemists (The Chronicles of Light and Shadow #1) by Liesel Schwarz ~ ARC Review

A Conspiracy of Alchemists (The Chronicles of Light and Shadow #1)
By Liesel Schwarz

Rating: 4.9

'When I was young and living among my people, the Dryad, I once had a different name. But that was many years ago, at a time when anise and wormwood were nothing more than plants that made up my world. A time before sacred dreams could be bought for a few sugar cubes.

I knew from the moment I saw her she would offer salvation. But salvation often comes at a price.' 


Meet Eleanor “Elle” Chance - airship pilot and and daughter of the famous spark-reactor scientist.

Flying airships is a risky business. But Elle is to be dragged into an adventure that is riskier than any mid-air manoeuvre she has ever undertaken. 

Creatures of Light and Shadow walk the streets. Wars rage behind cultured smiles and top hats. 

The Alchemists and Warlocks stare one another off, eyes conveying silent threats that their powers can easily follow up. Nightwalkers and fae occupy opium dens, train carriages and the bottom of absinthe bottles. 

Elle's eyes are opened to worlds she never dared believe existed; and to a fate she never knew she had. 

A box. A simple box twists Elle's fate forever, throwing her into the path of the handsome enigma Mr Marsh. Unlikely allies, they must retrieve the box in order to prevent the Alchemists from unleashing a magical apocalypse upon the world. 

Tempers are tested, wits employed and hearts stirred. But Elle must remain clear-headed - this is not her fight. She wants nothing to do with the supernatural world, with the occult doings of Warlocks and Alchemists. But she may have to do just that, in order to save those she loves from a terrible fate.

Dare to believe. Dare to fight. Dare to take flight on an adventure unlike any other.

Steampunk soars to new heights in a novel that is bound to have you laughing over its refreshing wit and its cast of characters - brave, loveable, twisted and broken...all of them have a part to play in Liesel Schwarz's exciting tale of a heroine who isn't afraid to take what Fate dishes out to her.

________
*Original image here

The Girl With the Iron Touch by Kady Cross ~ ARC Review

The Girl With the Iron Touch (Steampunk Chronicles #3)
By Kady Cross

Rating: 5

'It seemed humans, the scientifically minded ones at least, were either tempting death or trying to prolong life. Surely that was an indication of madness.' 



Whilst the occupants of 1897 London slumber, a sinister force awakens below...

Apparently it takes a lot more than a roof to 'off' your enemies these days - as Finley Jayne and her motley group of friends are about to discover.

The Machinist, Leonardo Garibaldi, is not at all dead. He's out for vengeance; to see out his plan for domination, using his unnatural mechanical creations to find a way to bring him back to life.

But automatons can only do so much.

Emily is kidnapped by Garibaldi's machines, snatched away so she can utilise her mechanical genius to resurrect the evil fiend and 'transplant' him into a new body. Conflicted, Emily must somehow find a way to stop The Machinist from coming back to life and torturing those she loves...before the time runs out.

A clock can't function with a missing cog.

With Emily gone and The Machinist's power inching its way into the mortal coil, Griffin is clutching at straws, locking himself away in his study for long periods of time...and emerging drawn and weary. Finley worries that he's keeping some kind of secret - a secret that is slowly tormenting him, taking its toll on his sanity - but her concerns are rebuffed by the man in question, who insists he's just 'under the weather'.

It is imperative that they work as a team, if they are to save Emily, themselves and all of London. But with Griffin - the leader of their group misfits - struggling to remain focused, the burden falls on Finley to keep the group from falling apart...plunging Griffin and her new-found love into speculation and doubt.

Allies come from the most unlikely of places.

Whilst Finley and Co. turn to the notorious Jack Dandy for assistance, Emily discovers The Machinist's newest creation...a creation more human than automaton, a girl by the name of '312'. 312 is to be the host for The Machinist's consciousness - and if Emily succeeds in her task, 312 will be no more.

And The Machinist will be able to roam the gritty streets of London once more.

Love is a powerful and complicated thing...

Sam refuses to stop searching for Emily; trying every way possible to find her location, from mechanical creations and old maps, to Jack Dandy's theories and taking directions from a ghost. He has to find her - to tell her how deeply he loves her and what she means to him. He'd sacrifice the world for her.

He won't let her die...even if it means having to go through hell to do so.

...But is it strong enough to endure the biggest test of faith yet?

Finley Jayne and her friends must face The Machinist - both in the Aether and on the mortal plain - if they are to rid the world of his evil schemes and be free from his torment.

And kind-hearted Emily must steel herself, bar her conscience and harden her heart, if she is to discover what she is truly capable of and save them all from the twisted dreams of a man who wanted to play god.

So strap on your goggles and tighten your corset - the battle for London is about to begin!


My thoughts on the book:

Dear Kady Cross:

You are a literary goddess.

True, your book distracted me from my pile of homework (privately nicknamed 'Everest'), but I would rather immerse myself in a tale full of steampunk magic, romance and adventure over typing up English analysis' any day!!

Please send me a Griffin. And a Jack.

Hugs,
Booknut.

I loved this book. My only critique?

Sam needs a timing devices added to his inner mechanisms. Because interrupting Griffin/Finley time is not okay by any means!! After the first time it happens...dude. It's no longer a coincidence....or maybe he just has really karma :)

At the end of this book - especially after the last scene (Hint: very, very swoon-worthy) - I was in a catatonic state of fangirl bliss:


A big thanks to Kady for yet another brilliant book in the series - and to Netgalley and Harlequin Publishing for the opportunity to review this ARC.


A sneak peek of the book!

“I can't promise that I'll never be an ass, or that I'll never make you cry. I can't promise that I won't make you so angry you want to cosh me over the head with a brick. I can't promise you forever...I'd love to, but I can give you right now. I can give you me in all my defective glory.”

Wonder who says this to who?

Get the book today HERE on Amazon, and find out!