Showing posts with label jennifer l. armentrout. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jennifer l. armentrout. Show all posts

Nov 27, 2013

Waiting on Wednesday #8

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

MY PICK FOR THIS WEEK:

Title: Bitter Sweet Love
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: December 1st, 2013
Series: The Dark Elements #0.5

Synopsis via Goodreads


Dez wasn't just Jasmine's crush. A gargoyle Warden like Jas, he helped her come to terms with her destiny—fending off demons and maintaining balance between good and evil. He was her everything...right until the moment he disappeared without a trace. It didn't help that Jas's father had just announced that she and Dez would one day be mated. Hard not to take that personally.

And now he's back, three years older, ten times hotter, ready to pick up exactly where they left off. But Jas isn't taking that risk again. Dez has seven days to meet all her conditions and earn back her trust. Seven days filled with terrifying danger and sweet temptation. Seven days to win her heart—or shatter it all over again...

WHY I'M WAITING: 
I know, I know. You're probably thinking Damn Taylor, another JLA book? (Oh, and if you weren't thinking that, well, take a seat, stay a while, and browse my past WOWs 'cause I think like three of 'em are JLA books.)

Anyway, it's not my fault! She just...Keeps. On. Writing. I have a conspiracy theory about that, you know. It may or may not involve cyborgs. (Did I spell that right lol?)

Back to the book. I'm waiting on Bitter Sweet Love by the lovely Jennifer L. Armentrout. Guess what? It's YA. Totally wasn't expecting that. The cover's kinda...*shivers* HAWT.

Oct 2, 2013

Waiting on Wednesday #7

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

MY PICK FOR THIS WEEK:

Title: Sentinel
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Release Date: November 2nd, 2013
Series: Covenant #5

Synopsis via Goodreads


It's a beautiful day for a war.

As the mortal world slowly slips into chaos of the godly kind, Alexandria Andros must overcome a stunning defeat that has left her shaken and in doubt of their ability to end this war once and for all.

And with all the obstacles between Alex and her happily-ever-after with the swoonworthy Aiden St. Delphi, they must now trust a deadly foe as they travel deep into the Underworld to release one of the most dangerous gods of all time.

In the stunning, action-packed climax to the bestselling Covenant series, Alex must face a terrible choice: the destruction of everything and everyone she holds dear… or the end of herself.

WHY I'M WAITING: 
I feel like I should re-dedicate my blog to pimping out JLA's books. Really. I swear she's a lean-mean-writing-machine. She writes more books in a year than I could even think up a concept for one. The best part? THEY'RE ALL AWESOME BOOKS. I'm certain she has magical powers. There's just no other option.

Anywho, back on topic. I'm waiting on Sentinel.

Okay, not really. I'm more sobbing myself to sleep every night & trying to fill the void with other books. There's not much actual waiting involved. (I'm melodramatic. Sue me.)

Sep 1, 2013

Review - Origin - Jennifer L. Armentrout


Title: Origin
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Release Date:August 27th, 2013
Series: Lux #4
Add to Goodreads | Purchase

Synopsis via Goodreads


Daemon will do anything to get Katy back.

After the successful but disastrous raid on Mount Weather, he’s facing the impossible. Katy is gone. Taken. Everything becomes about finding her. Taking out anyone who stands in his way? Done. Burning down the whole world to save her? Gladly. Exposing his alien race to the world? With pleasure.

All Katy can do is survive.

Surrounded by enemies, the only way she can come out of this is to adapt. After all, there are sides of Daedalus that don’t seem entirely crazy, but the group’s goals are frightening and the truths they speak even more disturbing. Who are the real bad guys? Daedalus? Mankind? Or the Luxen?

Together, they can face anything.

But the most dangerous foe has been there all along, and when the truths are exposed and the lies come crumbling down, which side will Daemon and Katy be standing on?

And will they even be together?

My rating:

WARNING: Possible spoilers ahead, depending on what you count as spoilers. Also contains multiple, annoying uses of the word “badass” and “badassery”, a bunch of unnecessary totally necessary exclamations, and some angsty gifs.
Jennifer L. Armentrout has reached a whole new level of awesome epicness. I’m 100% sure epicness isn’t even a word, but that’s the only thing that describes this fast-paced, swoony, hilarious, action-freaking-packed installment of the Lux series. She’s outdone herself. No book in the series has ever compared. Origin was good. Foam at the mouth good. Fangirl like there's no tomorrow good.
Everything about it was badass. Katy was badass. In the previous book, Opal, it ended abruptly with her being captured by Daedalus. And I was all “Oh noooooooooo!” But then Origin came out and we see that Katy handled things like a pro. And by “like a pro” I mean, after the initial suckiness of her situation wore off, she was all enraged and determined and righteous. She endured ass-kickings and threats and faced the possibility that she’d never be free of Daedalus’s evil little clutches.

“The words that came out of my mouth were my own. I felt them. I believed them.
        ‘I’m going to kill you one day,’ I promised.”

See? Badassery!

Daemon was, like always, rocking his own kind of constant badassery. Like anyone could guess, he goes after Katy. He turns himself in to Daedalus (Not exactly a spoiler. If you hadn’t inferred what he’d do from the beginning, it lets on pretty quickly.) Mother of alpha males, Daemon’s unrelenting resolve to get Katy back was out of this world! (Hehe, it’s funny ‘cause he’s an alien!) He didn’t care who he had to mow down or steal from or lie to in order to get to her. And he did it all with his usual sarcastic, cocky flair that I just love so much! (Shout out to JLA for doing dual perspectives!)
“Going down on one knee, they leveled a dozen or so semiautomatic rifles on me. Stopping so many bullets would prove tricky.
      People were going to die.
     That sucked, but it wouldn’t stop me.” 
                                                                          ***
“’I’ve been waiting a long time to run tests on someone like you,’ he said to Daemon, voice high-pitched.
      Daemon arched a brow. ‘Another fanboy. I have them everywhere.’”

Swoony batches of badassery!

Also, the romance! Despite Kat & Daemon’s circumstances, their romance was the fiercest it’s ever been! Gah, their love jumped off the page and squeezed my heart to pieces! Plus something very, very big with their relationship happens towards the later half that you would not believe! So if you haven’t read this book yet, do it!
“I caught the tear with a kiss. ‘And I’m not going to let you do this by yourself. You’re my—you’re my everything, Kat.’ At the sound of her soft inhale, I smiled again. ‘Come on, Kitten, did you really expect anything less from me? I love you.” 
And Kat was all like:
  
 Oh, yeah, and there’s a bunch of sexytimes, too!
“Daemon squared his shoulders and cracked the door open. I couldn’t see anything beyond his bare back, which, if I had to be stuck staring at something, at least it was that.”
Like I’ve been coming to expect from any JLA book nowadays, the ending was…was…badass! OMG was it all kinds of badass! There was a huuuuuuuuge awesome, catastrophic, unbelievable, devastating battle of epic proportions that fully displayed the amounts of badassery that Luxen can bring to the table! And not only was it was filled with the Luxen but also the hybrids and some other types of things that I can’t really give away, but the title “Origin” had something to do with it! There’s a ton of new players entering the game now! There are also a few plot twists at the end, some I did see coming and some I didn’t. And holy freaking cow, the one at the end with the conversation between Dawson and Daemon about Beth!! And also the betrayal by someone important!!!! (For once, it isn’t Blake, but there’s a reason for that.)
I can’t! I just can’t anymore! I’m about to explode with the feels that this book has brought. Plus, I feel like if I use the word badass one more time, I’ll have irritated the hell out of everyone, including myself. So just suffice it to say that this book was a big game-changer. The best book in the series yet. And it didn’t end with a gigantic cliffhanger, so I’m good with that.

Anywho, let’s end things with a quote from the book that actually had me laughing out loud at the imagery:
“Man, it was so quiet you could hear a grasshopper karate chop a fly.”
Read this book! The karate-chopping grasshopper demands it!

Aug 14, 2013

Waiting on Wednesday #5

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

MY PICK FOR THIS WEEK:

Title: Unchained
Author: J. Lynn
Publisher: Entangled : Edge
Release Date: September 17th, 2013
Series: Nephilim Rising #1

Synopsis via Goodreads


Between the pissed off creatures that want demon-hunter Lily Marks dead and the fallen angel who just...wants her, Lily is about ready to trade in forever for a comfy job in a cubicle farm.

The fact that she and Julian are civil to one another is enough to have her thrown out of the Sanctuary, but she can't shake her not-so-angelic stalker or how he brings her dangerously close to ecstasy.

Her forbidden relationship with Julian provides the perfect fuel for suspicion when a traitor is discovered to be working within the Sanctuary. Lily quickly finds herself hunted by well, everyone.

Her only hope is to discover the real traitor before she loses everything--and she'll need Julian's help. That is, if Julian is really there to help her...and not destroy her.

Yeah, being a Nephilim isn't everything it's cracked up to be.

WHY I'M WAITING: 
New series by J. Lynn? SQUEEEEEEEEEE!
 
I solemnly swore that I'd read every single book by this woman. Okay, I actually didn't swear it, but I do right now! She's been my favorite author ever since I read her Covenant series...and then proceeded to read everything she'd ever dared to type including her books, her deleted scenes, her entire blog, etc. I'm not a stalker, I swear. *eye twitch*

Whether it's as Jennifer L. Armentrout or as J. Lynn, I'll read it. I'll devour it. And I'll love it. Plus, this book just sounds really cool. So there.

Jul 24, 2013

Waiting On Wednesday #2

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

MY PICK FOR THIS WEEK:

Title: Origin
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Harlequin HQN
Release Date: August 27th, 2013
Series: Lux #4

Synopsis via Goodreads


Daemon will do anything to get Katy back.

After the successful but disastrous raid on Mount Weather, he’s facing the impossible. Katy is gone. Taken. Everything becomes about finding her. Taking out anyone who stands in his way? Done. Burning down the whole world to save her? Gladly. Exposing his alien race to the world? With pleasure.

All Katy can do is survive.

Surrounded by enemies, the only way she can come out of this is to adapt. After all, there are sides of Daedalus that don’t seem entirely crazy, but the group’s goals are frightening and the truths they speak even more disturbing. Who are the real bad guys? Daedalus? Mankind? Or the Luxen?

Together, they can face anything.

But the most dangerous foe has been there all along, and when the truths are exposed and the lies come crumbling down, which side will Daemon and Katy be standing on?

And will they even be together?

WHY I'M WAITING: 
With that cliffhanger ending JLA left us with in Opal, there's no way I'd miss this. Plus, since this is one of my favorite series' of all time, to be doing anything less than vibrating in my seat with excitement is unnaceptable. August 27th cannot come fast enough!

Jul 18, 2013

Review - Frigid - By: J. Lynn


Title: Frigid
Author: J. Lynn
Publisher: Spencer Hill Contemporary
Release Date: July 15th, 2013
Series: Frigid #1
Add to Goodreads | Purchase

Synopsis via Goodreads


For twenty-one-year-old Sydney, being in love with Kyler isn't anything new. They'd been best friends ever since he pushed her down on the playground and she made him eat a mud pie. Somewhere over the years, she fell for him and fell hard. The big problem with that? Kyler puts the 'man' in man-whore. He's never stayed with a girl longer than a few nights, and with it being their last year in college, Syd doesn't want to risk their friendship by declaring her love.

Kyler has always put Syd on a pedestal that was too high for him to reach. To him, she's perfect and she's everything. But the feelings he has for her, he's always hidden away or focused on any other female. After all, Kyler will always be the poor boy from the wrong side of tracks, and Syd will always be the one girl he can never have.

But when they're stranded together at a posh ski resort due to a massive Nor'easter, there's nothing stopping their red-hot feelings for each other from coming to the surface. Can their friendship survive the attraction? Better yet, can they survive at all? Because as the snow falls, someone is stalking them, and this ski trip may be a life-changer in more ways than one.

My rating:


J. Lynn's Frigid was just the pick-me-up I needed after having just put two books at DNF about halfway through each. I've yet to read a story by this woman that I didn't love, and I can't say that about any of my other favorite authors, which is why J. Lynn (otherwise known as Jennifer L. Armentrout) ranks #1 on my "omg-why-can't-I-write-like-you" list of both contemporary & paranormal fiction authors. With Frigid she delivered like she always does. It was a quick and light read, yet still contained the deeply emotional undertones infused with the dry, witty humor that I've come to expect from J.L.

The novel's concept itself was enough to keep me interested. Two best friends both in love with the other but afraid to ruin their friendship. From the start, I sensed I was in for a gritty, relatable story with characters I'd sympathize with and a relationship I'd root for. And by the end, that's what I got. BUT there was a bit of frustration on my end that I had to endure before I could easily accept their HEA.

So, the book is told in dual first-person P.O.V. with the main characters being Sydney "Syd" Bell and Kyler Quinn. (Love that name, btw. Reminds me of Sleeping With Siren's lead singer Kellin Quinn.)


*insert dreamy sigh*

Now, where was I?

Oh, right. So Syd seemed sympathetic enough in the beginning, with her unrequited love for her best friend and all. She'd apparently been in love with him since he pushed her down in the playground when they were little. (My cliche detector bristled a bit at that, but it's J.L. so I looked over it.) As for Kyler. He'd always seemed to be yucking it up (or fucking it up, if you're not into sugar coating things) in a sea of endless women and booze since high school. (Which brings to mind other man-whore males in the genre, but that's a different story. Story in question? Namely: Thoughtless By: S.C. Stephens.)

All right, I'm done being sidetracked. Promise.

So, I have to admit, I was a little confused with their dynamic at first. I thought Syd simply had repressed feelings for her clueless best friend. And I thought the same for Kyler. Emphasis on REPRESSED & CLUELESS. Yet, within the first few chapters, they were both getting grabby. I had to stop myself and think: "Huh? I thought they weren't being open about their mutual lust. So why are they suddenly getting so touchy feely?" It all just seemed a little unfounded. Like, there'd been nothing leading up to it and them BAM! They're playing grab-ass (metaphorically--sort of) while I was still stuck on the part where they were just friends. But as the story progressed and I had the opportunity to really delve into their emotions, my confusion vanished so everything was cool by the end.

Most of their conflict consisted of these two young-and-restlessly-horny hard-heads confronting their love for each other. That's it. Simple, right? Uh, no. Like I said--hard-heads. Syd had to get over the insecurities of her past as well as her present insecurities over all the girls Kyler had "dated". And by "dated" I mean "had done the horizontal tango with". Or, in less corny terms, slept with. Anyway, that was Syd's problem. Kyler's problem was that he needed to 1) keep it in his pants and 2) get over his notion that he wasn't good enough for Syd. But with all the horizontal tangoing going on with countless girls, I could see how he'd get that idea. Just sayin'.

As for the conflict outside of their relationship: when they get snowed into a cabin on a ski trip, they find out some psycho is out trying to sabotage their lives. Now, I don't know if the culprit was supposed to be a mystery or not, but they weren't. I knew exactly who it was the WHOLE TIME. I'm surprised the characters themselves didn't figure it out. I mean COME ON. All they had to do was think "hey, who have we pissed off in the last day or two?" and the answer would've been right there. Yet, for some reason, when the culprit was revealed, Syd was still shocked. I felt like the chick in the movie theater yelling at the screen with this one.


All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed Frigid. Then again, I'd expect nothing less from J.L. Seriously, I doubt I'll ever live to see the day this woman writes a horrible book. It's just impossible. No pressure or anything, J.L.!!!

Favorite Quotes
Grabbing my suitcase, he grunted. "What did you pack in here? A legion of fat and angry babies?"
***
He got his foot in a groove and propelled himself up to the limb closest to my window. Wrapping his hands around it, he looked at me. His cheeks were rosy from the cold and his eyes glittered in the moonlight. "If I fall and break my neck, will you say something nice at my funeral? Like 'Kyler was usually more graceful?'"

Dec 15, 2012

Review - Opal - By: Jennifer L. Armentrout (Lux Series #3)



Title: Opal
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Release Date: December 11th, 2012
Series: Lux #3
Add to Goodreads | Purchase

Synopsis via Goodreads


No one is like Daemon Black.

When he set out to prove his feelings for me, he wasn’t fooling around. Doubting him isn’t something I’ll do again, and now that we’ve made it through the rough patches, well... There’s a lot of spontaneous combustion going on.

But even he can’t protect his family from the danger of trying to free those they love.

After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different... And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable of. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.

Together we’re stronger... and they know it.

My rating:

All right, I'll admit it. I couldn't control my inner fangirl once I got my hands on this book. Daemon is just so...Daemon. I can't count how many times I did a mental happy dance once he said something funny or just plain naughty.

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Moving on...this book tops each previous one in the series. And here I thought it just couldn't get any hotter than Onyx with all of the spontaneous combusting going around, but I'm so glad I was wrong. I enjoyed Opal from page one. It was flawless. Each of my expectations were met and then some. Jennifer L. Armentrout kept didn't pull any emotional punches, either.

What I Especially Liked:

1) The Realism of Dee & Katy's Relationship:
In the aftermath of Adam's death, I didn't expect Armentrout to really focus on how Katy & Dee's relationship would be impacted. I thought she'd mostly stick to the main storyline, and either not address the tension at all or have it be non-essential. But I'm so glad that it was a prominent aspect. I'm glad that I got to see how hurt Dee was, and how authentic her reactions were. I'm glad that she took time away from Katy to collect herself, and didn't rush back into their best-friend-hood. It was all so realistically refreshing, and I'm glad that Katy was understanding about it.


2) The Recurring Characters:
Most of the character that are introduced in Onyx are back with a vengeance in this novel. After the first time it happened, I was shocked.

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I didn't expect the person who came back to be back so soon. I was on the edge of my seat wondering how everyone, especially Daemon, would react. After the second time, the character who came back wasn't around for very long...if you know what I mean. So, that character didn't have as much of an impact as the crapstorm they caused did. Still, with each person who came around the action aspect inched up that much more and I loved it all.


3) Katy's Ongoing Frustration w/Daemon:
I think that this was what drew me to the series in the first novel, Obsidian. I liked that Daemon was a cocky asshole and I especially liked that Katy (unlike many heroines in the YA genre nowadays) didn't take any of his crap. In Opal, she still doesn't and I love the consistency. Now that Katy and Daemon are an actual couple, Daemon pulls back the asshole remarks but never stops being his arrogant self. Katy's frustration moves to Daemon's undying need to protect her in this book. I found myself siding with Katy time and time again when her safety was brought up. Daemon's hypocrisy knew no bounds (I still love him, though). There'd be a situation when they were planning something dangerous and Daemon would say something like "I don't want you to go. I just want to protect you." And Katy would argue that if she asked him not to go, he'd refuse. Which was completely true, of course. I felt the same mild annoyance that Katy did, and I think a book it a million times better when I can feel what the character's feeling.


4) The Return of Dawson
Ever since Dawson came back everyone had been on edge waiting for him to go off his rocker and try to rescue Bethany on a suicide mission. And while I did share their fear that Dawson would try to rescue her and end up dead in the process, I also found it endearing. His determination to get to Beth was impressive. His dedication was everlasting. Going through the pain of trying to resist onyx only on the possibility that he'd see her again...Dawson immediately became a character that I liked and will continue to like.

5) The Ending

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IT DESTROYED ME. I knew Armentrout would deliver with a fantastic, unbelievable ending. I knew I would remember it and cherish it and obsess over it until the next Lux novel came out. And I will. But....like I said, it destroyed me. It simply broke my heart in two. Shattered it to pieces. I didn't know whether I should start bawling for Katy & Daemon's relationship or rage at the unfairness of it all. I knew something would go horribly awry. Armentrout kept hinting at it. I knew the shit would hit the fan. I just didn't expect it to do so in the way that it did. I'm so distraught right now. I need the next book. Need it.

Favorite Lines:

1) "Maybe I wouldn't have to worry about her [Katy's Mother] and Will. Maybe I needed to worry about her and Daemon. Cougar."

2) " 'But you've broken the rules, Kitten. Several times. You're owed some punishment.'
My heart jumped. 'I am a rule breaker.'
His lips tilted up on one corner. 'You are.' "

3) "To my left, there was a blur of brown racing away from me. Most likely a deer or, knowing my luck, a chupacabra."