Review - Zodiac Station by Tom Harper

Title: Zodiac Station

Author: Tom Harper

Pages: 400

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Release date: 19th June 2014

Blurb from Goodreads:

Death waits at the world's end.
Deep inside the Arctic circle, the US Coast Guard icebreaker Terra Nova batters its way through the frozen sea. One day, a gaunt figure skis out of the fog. The crew bring him aboard and give him medical treatment for prolonged exposure, malnutrition - and a gunshot wound.
The man has escaped from ice-bound research station two hundred miles south of the pole. And the tale he tells is one of secrets, insanity and death.

Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US

My Review:

*I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley*

3/5 stars

Terra Nova, a US Coast Guard icebreaker is making its way through the frozen sea of the Arctic Circle when they come across a man on skis, a man who claims to be the only survivor of a scientific research station - Zodiac Station. 

Why did Zodiac Station blow up? 

Is Anderson telling the truth? 

Are there any other survivors?

This book is essentially a whodunit set in the arctic.

We find out parts of the story from different characters which was interesting as you could try and piece together what had happened.

As someone with a scientific background I found the science intriguing.

While I wasn't gripped by the writing or plot I did want to find out what had happened.

Overall this was a unique read that I enjoyed.

Month9Books Friday Reveal + Giveaway - The Night House by Rachel Tafoya

Welcome to this week’s M9B Friday Reveal!

This week, we are revealing the first chapter for

The Night House by Rachel Tafoya

presented by Month9Books!

Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!

Bianca St. Germain works at a Night House, a place where vampires like the aristocratic Jeremiah Archer, pay to feed on humans, and she doesn’t much care what others think of her. The money is good, and at least there, she’s safe. Bianca also doesn’t care that the Night House is killing her. All she cares about is: nauth, the highly addictive poison in vampire bites that brings a euphoria like no drug ever could.

But when Bianca meets James, a reclusive empath who feels everything she does, for the first time, she considers a life outside of the Night House and a someone worth living for. But Jeremiah has decided to keep Bianca for himself; he won’t allow her to walk away.

As she allows her feelings for James to grow, she struggles to contain nauth’s strong hold on her life. If they are to have a future, James must make her see what she’s worth, what she means to him, before Jeremiah and nauth claim her for good.

Title: THE NIGHT HOUSE
Publication date: December 9, 2014
Publisher: Month9Books, LLC.
Author: Rachel Tafoya

Excerpt

Enjoy Chapter One! Happy Reading!

The Night House
Rachel Tafoya

Bianca
It’s been one day since I last had nauth.
A chill is starting to set into my bones. As some giant carelessly spills orange and red over the sky, I hurry back to the Night House. This tiny black pillowcase that I call a dress is tighter than it should be, and I’m in heels that force me to walk on my toes. I never took ballet, but I’m pretty sure I’ve been walking on pointe since I came to Philly.
When I reach the building, the sun is long gone. My boss, Finn, waits behind the black double doors. I can’t see him, but I can feel him—or maybe I’m just used to his grimace greeting me. My shoes click against the stone steps. I love that sound. Sometimes I spend my days just listening to everyone walk by. The click, thud and slap of shoes are the real soundtrack of the city.
But the Night House is quiet.
Finn opens the door for me with a scowl. He could be beautiful like the others, if he tried, but he is the laziest vampire I have ever met.
“Bianca St. Germain.” His voice is bored, as usual. “You’re late.”
“Figured you’d rather I take my time than break my ankle in these shoes.” I breeze past him. The chilly night air follows me in, pawing at my back like a neglected pet.
“I can fix ankles,” Finn is still facing the door like I haven’t moved. “Your pitiful lack of manners, however … ”
I shrug him off. “It’s a couple of minutes, cut me some slack.”
“This isn’t high school, Bianca. You’re not a teenager when you’re in here.”
“Sorry, I’ll start investing in stocks or something. That’s what old people do, right?”
He huffs in my direction as I feel my way around the darkness. The whole place is pitch black until the thin hallway forks. To my left, pale blue lights beckon the customers. I go right, through the heavy curtain that leads to the girls’ rooms. Vampires with their night vision don’t need guidance, but I’m fairly certain every girl has tripped at least once down here.
The doors are nearly invisible except for the strips of space at the bottom where they don’t quite reach the floor. Those spaces cast light on my feet as I teeter past on these impossible heels. They’re new, and I’m still breaking them in, but I’ve never felt this tall before.
I hear scuffling and shifting behind those doors. The other girls hide in their rooms all day. They don’t understand why I still crave the sunlight, why I don’t make my room my little home and never leave until I’m called. That’s what Finn wants me to do, what the girls think I should do, but I would rather sleep on the cracked unyielding sidewalks of Philly than in the Night House. I would rather be homeless than call this place home.
When I find my room, I turn the knob and bump my hip into it. It opens with a groan. My door has been broken for at least three months. Finn keeps saying he’ll fix it, but he couldn’t care less and we both know it. Still, I keep bugging him. I can’t give up that easily.
My room is like two closets that had the walls knocked out between them. A bed is nestled in the corner. Most of my important stuff is underneath there, like sketchbooks, novels and accessories to hide my scars. One wall is dominated by a large mirror with huge lights, like an actress might have for her dressing room. Though I’m sure an actress would have working lights. I slump into the folding chair and rest my fish-netted legs on the dresser. Makeup and various beauty tools—eyeliner, lipstick, blush—lay scattered over it. This is the only time I can bear to look at myself. Right before I become another person.
I start with the lips. Blood red, the way they like it. Then I frame my eyes in black so that the green pops. I don’t need to do anything to appear pale. That one comes naturally. But I smooth my face with lotion and foundation, and then add rosy cheeks. When I unravel my scarf, I have to close my eyes. That way, when I open them, I can pretend it’s someone else’s neck covered with scars. Some crazy girl with her makeup on. The scars are nearly invisible, thanks to Finn and his healing blood, but I
can still see clumps of white scar tissue, just a shade paler than my skin. I hate not being able to cover my scars with anything—makeup doesn’t taste good.
When I am done with makeup, I change out of my dress and tights and heels and put on an awful old corset. Each girl has at least one old-fashioned outfit because sometimes vampires prefer to live in the old days. We all have different specialties. My friend Alex is all about the 1950s. I got stuck in the 19th century.
Tonight, I have an appointment with Jeremiah, and he’s very old and very proper but he’s not above throwing a tantrum if I’m not perfectly in period. Jeremiah is a regular here. For a while, he used to switch between the girls until I showed up. He’s something of a collector, and when he found out I had AB negative, he became my regular. Apparently AB neg means something, or that’s what Finn told me anyway. It’s tricky having the same guy come by all the time because you start to know each other. That doesn’t make it easier. I wish they were all strangers. Unfortunately, I know Jeremiah very well.
So I put on this musty old dress with frills and lace and after it’s on, I am a dusty layer cake. I hate Jeremiah, but he pays nicely so I always get a tip from him. That means a new sketchbook, or maybe I’ll treat myself to a cupcake.
Finn knocks on my door even though it’s open. “Jeremiah is here.”
I stifle a groan and meet his gaze.
He gives me a once over. “Fix your hair.”
“One hundred strokes, right?”
“He’s in the Fire Room.” Finn leaves before I can say anything else.
I pick up my paddle brush and make my hair as flouncy as I can, but it’s thick and heavy and sits the same way no matter what I do to it. It could take hours to make my hair salon styled. Besides, it’s fine the way it is. Maybe not 1800s fine, but Jeremiah will have to deal. It’s not my hair he comes for, anyway.
I step out of my room, and I feel like I walked out of Sense and Sensibility. I like Jane Austen. She writes happy endings.
I hate Jeremiah.
The hallway takes me past all the doors which start to open, like night-blooming flowers. Alex flashes a smile. Her hair is full of curlers. Jessie tries to zip up her dress by herself even though we all know she can’t. Yvonne runs between her room and Jordan’s, trying to decide which shoes to wear. Both pairs are ugly.
I take the back way into the lounge, away from the front doors. One of Finn’s guys waits by the entrance. He is even less animated than Finn, which is hard to accomplish. He’s probably well paid with some name like Tank or Gunn. We both pretend this isn’t awkward, and he lets me through.
Yet another hallway lies ahead. Another thick set of curtains separates the lounge from the rooms, but I can see a bit of the blue lights on the other side. There, one of the luckier girls gets to pretend she isn’t vamp food in order to be the hostess, taking names. There, vampires sit idly on a long winding couch, tapping their feet, waiting their turn, while they ignore their thirst. There, Finn handles all the customers and tells them to be patient while the girls get ready. Then we can sneak into the rooms and appear like we’ve been there all along. We’ll ask sweetly, “What took you so long?” and they’ll blame Finn, but they’ll thank him later.
Inside the Fire Room, creatively named for being the only room with a fireplace, is where it starts. My hunger. It is different from the vamps’. It is a void, embedded deep in my veins, which can never be filled.
Nauth.
The word echoes in my head and sends chills down my spine.
I want it.
I want it now.
But I must be patient and distract myself by taking in the decorations in the Fire Room. It really seems like it was transported straight from some Victorian’s living room. From the stiff baroque curtains and the velvet couch, to the unused silverware sitting on the dark wooden table, I blend right in.
This is one big show for the vampires. The whole Night House feels like a movie set. I am an actress. Finn directs us. Still, I know it’s real. So I face the fire and let it warm my skin as I wait for everything to get too close.

About the Author

Rachel Tafoya studied creative writing while at Solebury School and was published in their student run literary magazine, SLAM. She attended a writing program for teens at both Susquehanna University and Denison University, and the Experimental Writing for Teens class and Novels for Young Writers program, both run by NY Times bestselling author, Jonathan Maberry. Rachel is the daughter crime author Dennis Tafoya.

Connect with the Author:  

Tumbler | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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Review - Hidden Sins by Karice Bolton

Title: Hidden Sins (Luke Fletcher series, #1)

Author: Karice Bolton

Pages: 376

Publisher: Bulldog Press

Release date: 8th June 2014

Blurb from Goodreads:

Luke Fletcher asks himself one simple question. Is she worth dying for?
His answer is yes.
When Hannah Walker rolls into her new town on fumes, she doesn’t expect her past to catch up to her so quickly. But the moment her card is declined for a lousy cup of coffee, she realizes nowhere is safe, and her life on the run has just gotten more complex.
Luke Fletcher has made it his mission in life to protect. When he meets Hannah Walker, she makes it clear that his services aren’t needed and neither is he, but there’s something in her eyes that tells another story. Once he begins investigating the woman with many names, he realizes one thing is clear. Whoever, she’s running from won’t stop until she’s dead.
Determined to gain Hannah’s trust and break down her walls, Luke begins to share his own history, but where that leads could cost them more than their hearts as the sins of others threatens to destroy them both.

Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US 

My Review:

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Xpresso Book Tours and Karice Bolton*

DNF (1/5 stars)

Hannah Walker is on the run. 

Her hopes to escape her past are dashed when her credit card is declined making things more complicated.

Luke Fletcher works in security and tries to save everyone he can. Hannah instantly catches his attention. 

Luke can tell that she’s in trouble but Hannah refuses his help.

I enjoyed the prologue as it was intriguing and made me want to read on but after the first few chapters I lost interest. 

I couldn’t connect to the writing style or the characters. 

Unfortunately this wasn’t for me.

 

Cover Reveal - Swept Away by J. Haymore

Swept Away by J. Haymore
Publication date: October 20th 2014
Genres: New Adult, Romance, Suspense

Synopsis:

He is everywhere. He surrounds me, permeates the air, wends his way under my skin. I can’t escape his strength, his intensity, his presence.

I’m trapped.

There’s nowhere to run.

Nowhere to hide.

But even if I could escape…would I be strong enough to leave?
I needed something—something big—to get myself out of the rut I’d fallen into after the car accident that killed my sister. This sailing trip was meant only to mark a new chapter in my life. Until Ethan Williams stepped on board.

Ethan radiated confidence. His darkly handsome good looks and ocean-blue eyes mesmerized me. But it was the way he looked at me that drew me in. He wasn’t looking at my past or at my scars, but the real me behind all that baggage I was trying so hard to leave behind.

But Ethan had secrets—dark, dangerous secrets. I was trapped in the middle of the ocean in a tangle of lies, sex, and violence. The problem was, I was happy to be trapped forever…if it meant I could have him.

Warning: Swept Away is a 4-part serial. This story is messy and twisted and very, very sexy. It is not for people under 18.

Goodreads

 

 

 

 

AUTHOR BIO

Jennifer holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from UC Berkeley and a master's degree in Education from UCLA. Before she became a full-time writer she held various jobs from bookselling to teaching inner-city children to playing bit roles in soap operas.

You can find Jennifer in Southern California trying to talk her husband into yet another trip to England, helping her three children with homework while brainstorming a new five-minute dinner menu, or crouched in a corner of the local bookstore writing her next novel.

 

Author links:

 

Website | Facebook | Twitter

 

Book Blitz + Giveaway - Summer Alone Part One by Amy Sparling

Summer Alone (Summer Alone #1) by Amy Sparling
Release Date: 10/01/14 


Summary from Goodreads: 

From the best selling author of Summer Unplugged, comes a new series set in the same world. Becca's senior year of high school is approaching and she's tired of being the dorky best friend. Determined to reinvent herself with help from Bayleigh, she plans to spend the summer breaking out of her shell. When Bayleigh gets grounded and sent away for three months, Becca's plans come crashing down before they've even started. 

Now Becca is alone and can't even talk to Bayleigh on the phone. Not wanting to miss out on the summer before senior year, she takes a job at the local indoor BMX track. The job is fun, her boss is laid back, and the place is packed with hot guys. One of them just might have a crush on her. This may be a summer without her best friend, but it doesn't mean she'll have to spend the summer alone. 

Part 1 of a 4 part novella series.

Add to Goodreads 

Buy Links: 

Amazon 

Excerpt:

It’s the first day of summer and I’m sitting in my bedroom, still wearing pajamas. It’s pretty much where I can be found any time I’m not in school. If there’s one thing to know about me, it’s the one thing everyone knows about me: My name is Becca Sosa and I am a loser. Or in the words of Trey Sheppard at the senior’s party last week, I am a lame-o dork-o. I hate insults like that. The ones that are said behind your back, directed to other people as you walk by. The insults you weren’t prepared to hear because the people who say them—Trey Sheppard—are usually nice to your face. It’s one thing to call someone an asshole if they are being an asshole; that’s a trait you have control over, something you can choose to be or not to be. Like when my best friend Bayleigh accidently dropped a piece of popcorn and it fell on her little brother’s head and he got all confused about it. Then she kept tossing popcorn at him all night, just to mess with him. I told her she was a jerk for doing it. That’s an insult that was deserved, even though she thought it was hilarious. But lame-o dork-o? I didn’t set out to become the lamest, dorkiest person in the city of Lawson. It’s not like I was intentional about it. Besides, I’m normal. I’m not dorky. I don’t wear thick-rimmed glasses with tape holding them together, or suspenders or orthodontic headgear or something like that. That’s why those are the worst insults. Being made fun of for something

that’s just…just you. The sad thing is that I didn’t realize there were people who thought of me that way. Sure, when your best friend is crazy beautiful and wild in the best way and makes friends everywhere, you kind of expect to be known as the less popular one out of the two of you. But I guess I hadn’t realized how low I actually was on the popularity totem pole. Bayleigh has always been more popular and more outgoing than me. She’s had boyfriends since we were in sixth grade, back when having a boyfriend meant holding hands before and after school and telling everyone you had kissed when really you hadn’t. But even with the drastic differences in our personalities and likeability factor at school, Bayleigh has always stuck by me. We met at a daycare when we were four years old, during a time when my stay at home mother had temporarily gotten a job to help pay for Grandma’s nursing home. Bayleigh and I were instant best friends, according to our mothers, and even though I only had to go to that daycare for four months, our moms exchanged phone numbers and we stayed best friends with play dates and sleepovers. I really owe a lot to Bayleigh. She’s the world’s greatest best friend.

About the Author 

 

In case you didn't know, Amy isn't my real name. It's a pen name I use to publish books and novellas for teens that have a romantic theme. My real name is Cheyanne Young and I also publish YA books under that name, but they are usually in different genres and for older age groups.

I chose the name Amy Sparling when I independently published my first book, Deadbeat. I wasn't sure if I would keep the pen name at first--I wasn't even sure if I'd keep publishing. But I got incredibly lucky and found a group of young adults who loved my stories and kept asking for more. You guys seriously have made my writing hobby into the greatest part of my life. I will continue writing books under this name as well as publishing books of a different nature under my real name.

If you'd like to be the first to know about new book releases, sign up for my mailing list. 

Author Links: 

Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook 

 

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Review - Between the Lives by Jessica Shirvington

Title: Between the Lives

Author: Jessica Shirvington

Pages: 336

Publisher: Orchard Books

Release date: 7th August 2014

Blurb from Goodreads:

The perfect life or the perfect love. You choose.

For as long as she can remember, Sabine has lived two lives. Every 24 hours she shifts to her 'other' life - a life where she is exactly the same, but absolutely everything else is different: different family, different friends, different social expectations. In one life she has a sister, in the other she does not. In one life she's a straight-A student with the perfect boyfriend, in the other she's considered a reckless delinquent. Nothing about her situation has ever changed, until the day when she discovers a glitch: the arm she breaks in one life is perfectly fine in the other.

With this new knowledge, Sabine begins a series of increasingly risky experiments that bring her dangerously close to the life she's always wanted. But if she can only have one life, which is the one she'll choose?

Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US

My Review:

*I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Hachette Children's Books and NetGalley*

3.5/5 stars

Sabine has two lives. 

Every midnight she Shifts from one to the other. 

In one life Sabine lives in the poor part of town with parents who don't approve of her dress sense and her adorable little sister. 

In her other life, Sabine has money, popularity, brothers that she doesn't get on with as well as the perfect boyfriend.

But when Sabine breaks her arm in one life and Shifts to find her arm perfectly fine in the other she realises that it's possible she could choose one life to live.

I enjoyed this.

I felt for Sabine as she struggled to see her two lives as a gift and not a curse. 

I found the writing style easy to follow and apart from one small part the story it held my attention and made me want to read on.

The plot was interesting and while I had an idea of what was going to happen, there was a surprise at the end of the book that I didn't see coming.

Overall this was an enjoyable, unique read that I would recommend.

 

Blog Tour + Giveaway - Hidden Sins by Karice Bolton

Find the tour schedule here.

Hidden Sins by Karice Bolton
(Luke Fletcher Series #1)
Publication date: June 10th 2014
Genres: New Adult, Romance, Suspense

Synopsis:

Luke Fletcher asks himself one simple question. Is she worth dying for?
His answer is yes.
When Hannah Walker rolls into her new town on fumes, she doesn’t expect her past to catch up to her so quickly. But the moment her card is declined for a lousy cup of coffee, she realizes nowhere is safe, and her life on the run has just gotten more complex.
Luke Fletcher has made it his mission in life to protect. When he meets Hannah Walker, she makes it clear that his services aren’t needed and neither is he, but there’s something in her eyes that tells another story. Once he begins investigating the woman with many names, he realizes one thing is clear. Whoever, she’s running from won’t stop until she’s dead.
Determined to gain Hannah’s trust and break down her walls, Luke begins to share his own history, but where that leads could cost them more than their hearts as the sins of others threatens to destroy them both.

Goodreads

Purchase:

Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks

----

AUTHOR BIO

Karice received an MFA in Creative Writing from the U of W. She has written fifteen novels and has several exciting projects in the works. Karice lives with her husband and two English Bulldogs in rainy Washington.

Books currently available:
Luke Fletcher Series: Hidden Sins (Book 1), Buried Sins (Book 2) – coming soon
Beyond Love Series: Beyond Control (Book 1) Beyond Doubt (Book 2) Beyond Reason (Book 3) Beyond Intent (Book 4) Beyond Chance, Beyond Promise, and Beyond the Mistletoe coming soon
Afterworld Series: RecruitZ (Book 1) AlibiZ (Book 2) – October 2014
The Witch Avenue Series: Lonely Souls (Book 1), Altered Souls (Book 2), Released Souls (Book 3) Shattered Souls (Book 4)
The Watchers Trilogy: Awakening (Book 1), Legions (Book 2), Cataclysm (Book 3), Taken Novella (Watchers Prequel)
The Camp

Author Links:

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

Excerpt:

I looked into his eyes as his words etched through the many layers of guilt and confusion that had become my comfort. My gaze fell to his mouth as he spoke and my mind ran wild with possibilities.

“You aren’t responsible for what’s happened to the people back at home or out here. You’re doing the best you can and that’s all you can ask of yourself,” he murmured.

I placed my hand on his shoulder as I leaned my body against his. “How do you know the right thing to say?” I asked, almost breathless.

“Years of therapy.” He smiled, pressing his forehead against mine, looking down at me.

The rawness of the emotions that swirled through my body was nothing compared to the feelings of desire I had for this man. The heat from his body rolled through mine, and I wanted nothing more than to be kissed. He ran his fingers along my spine as I felt my pulse quicken, his firmness pressing against me.

“The diners might be able to see us,” I whispered.

“Then let’s give them a show.” 

  

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