{Review} Black City - Elizabeth Richards

Black City by Elizabeth Richards
Series: Black City #1
Release Date: 11/13/2012
Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons BYR

A dark and tender post-apocalyptic love story set in the aftermath of a bloody war.
In a city where humans and Darklings are now separated by a high wall and tensions between the two races still simmer after a terrible war, sixteen-year-olds Ash Fisher, a half-blood Darkling, and Natalie Buchanan, a human and the daughter of the Emissary, meet and do the unthinkable—they fall in love. Bonded by a mysterious connection that causes Ash’s long-dormant heart to beat, Ash and Natalie first deny and then struggle to fight their forbidden feelings for each other, knowing if they’re caught, they’ll be executed—but their feelings are too strong.
When Ash and Natalie then find themselves at the center of a deadly conspiracy that threatens to pull the humans and Darklings back into war, they must make hard choices that could result in both their deaths.

{Review} Insignia - S. J. Kincaid

Insignia by S. J. Kincaid
Series: Insignia #1
Release Date: 07/10/2012
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

More than anything, Tom Raines wants to be important, though his shadowy life is anything but that. For years, Tom's drifted from casino to casino with his unlucky gambler of a dad, gaming for their survival. Keeping a roof over their heads depends on a careful combination of skill, luck, con artistry, and staying invisible.
Then one day, Tom stops being invisible. Someone's been watching his virtual-reality prowess, and he's offered the incredible--a place at the Pentagonal Spire, an elite military academy. There, Tom's instincts for combat will be put to the test and if he passes, he'll become a member of the Intrasolar Forces, helping to lead his country to victory in World War III. Finally, he'll be someone important: a superhuman war machine with the tech skills that every virtual-reality warrior dreams of. Life at the Spire holds everything that Tom's always wanted--friends, the possibility of a girlfriend, and a life where his every action matters--but what will it cost him?
Gripping and provocative, S. J. Kincaid's futuristic thrill ride of a debut crackles with memorable characters, tremendous wit, and a vision of the future that asks startling, timely questions about the melding of humanity and technology.

{Review} Crewel - Gennifer Albin

Crewel by Gennifer Albin
Series: Crewel World #1
Release Date: 10/16/2012
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux

Enter a tangled world of secrets and intrigue where a girl is in charge of other’s destinies, but not her own. Sixteen-year-old Adelice Lewys has always been special. When her parents discover her gift—the ability to weave the very fabric of reality—they train her to hide it. For good reason, they don’t want her to become a Spinster — one of the elite, beautiful, and deadly women who determine what people eat, where they live, how many children they have, and even when they die. Thrust into the opulent Western Coventry, Adelice will be tried, tested and tempted as she navigates the deadly politics at play behind its walls.  Now caught in a web of lies and forbidden romance, she must unravel the sinister truth behind her own unspeakable power.  Her world is hanging by a thread, and Adelice, alone, can decide to save it — or destroy it.

Waiting on Wednesday #14 - The Boyfriend App

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Breaking the Spine

that spotlights upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating.

{Review} Crimson Frost - Jennifer Estep

Crimson Frost by Jennifer Estep
Series: Mythos Academy #4
Release Date: 12/24/2012
Publisher: Kensington

For a moment, a face flashed before my eyes—the most hideous face I’d ever seen. No matter how hard I tried to forget what had happened, I saw him everywhere I went. It was Loki—the evil god that I’d helped set free against my will.
I should have known that my first official date with Logan Quinn was destined to end in disaster. If we’d gotten into a swordfight, or been ambushed by Reapers, I’d have been more prepared. But getting arrested mid-sip at the local coffee hangout? I didn’t see that one coming.
I’ve been accused of purposely helping the Reapers free Loki from his prison—and the person leading the charge against me is Linus Quinn, Logan’s dad. The worst part is that pretty much everyone at Mythos Academy thinks I’m guilty. If I’m going to get out of this mess alive, I’ll have to do it myself…

Stacking the Shelves #19

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews

where book bloggers showcase the books they got this week.

{Review} Opal - Jennifer L. Armentrout

Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Lux #3
Release Date: 12/11/2012
Publisher: Entangled Publishing

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.

Waiting on Wednesday #13 - Spies and Prejudice

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Breaking the Spine

that spotlights upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating.

{Review} Indigo Awakening - Jordan Dane

Indigo Awakening by Jordan Dane
Series: The Hunted #1
Release Date: 12/18/2012
Publisher: HarlequinTeen

Because of what you are, the Believers will hunt you down.
Voices told Lucas Darby to run. Voices no one else can hear. He’s warned his sister not to look for him, but Rayne refuses to let her troubled brother vanish on the streets of LA. In her desperate search, she meets Gabriel Stewart, a runaway with mysterious powers and far too many secrets. Rayne can’t explain her crazy need to trust the strange yet compelling boy—to touch him—to protect him even though he scares her.
A fanatical church secretly hunts psychic kids—gifted “Indigo” teens feared to be the next evolution of mankind—for reasons only “the Believers” know. Now Rayne’s only hope is Gabe, who is haunted by an awakening power—a force darker than either of them imagine—that could doom them all.

{Review} Fallen Too Far - Abbi Glines

Fallen Too Far by Abbi Glines
Series: Fallen Too Far #1
Release Date: 12/14/2012

To want what you’re not supposed to have…
She is only nineteen.
She is his new stepfather’s daughter. 
She is still naïve and innocent due to spending the last three years taking care of her sick mother. 
But for twenty-four year old Rush Finlay, she is the only thing that has ever been off limits. His famous father’s guilt money, his mother’s desperation to win his love, and his charm are the three reasons he has never been told no.
Blaire Wynn left her small farmhouse in Alabama, after her mother passed away, to move in with her father and his new wife in their sprawling beach house along the Florida gulf coast. She isn’t prepared for the lifestyle change and she knows she’ll never fit into this world. Then there is her sexy stepbrother who her father leaves her with for the summer while he runs off to Paris with his wife. Rush is as spoiled as he is gorgeous. He is also getting under her skin. She knows he is anything but good for her and that he’ll never be faithful to anyone. He is jaded and has secrets Blaire knows she may never uncover but even knowing all of that…
Blaire just may have fallen too far.

Teaser Tuesday #12 - Confessions of a Murder Suspect

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along. Just follow the rules:

1. Grab your current read

2. Open to a random page

3. Choose your teaser sentences from that page

4. AVOID SPOILERS!!!

{Mini Review} Incarnation - Emma Cornwall

Incarnation by Emma Cornwall
Release Date: 09/18/2012
Publisher: Gallery Books

Amazon / B&N / TBD / Chapters

In the steampunk world of Victorian London, a beautiful vampire seeks out the author of Dracula–to set the record straight . . . If one is to believe Bram Stoker’s legendary vampire tale, Lucy Weston is Dracula’s most wanton creation, a sexual creature of the night who preys on innocent boys. But the real-life Lucy is nothing like her fictional counterpart—and she demands to know why the Victorian author deliberately lied. With Stoker’s reluctant help, she’s determined to track down the very fiend who transformed her—from the sensual underworld where humans vie to become vampires, to a hidden cell beneath a temple to madness, and finally into the glittering Crystal Palace where death reigns supreme.
Haunted by fragmentary memories of her lost life and love, Lucy must battle her thirst for blood as she struggles to stop a catastrophic war that will doom vampires and humans alike. Ultimately, she must make a choice that illuminates for her—and for us—what it means to be human.

Incarnation took me a while to get through and even after two weeks, I still haven't made up my mind on it. I guess it is pretty okay. I've never read Dracula so I can't say how it compares to that. But it is certainly refreshing. It included King Arthur's story and how all that played out. I don't actually know if I will pick up the second book (if there is one). The Victorian England setting didn't interest me that much that much either so this book is one big, fat MEH.

{Manga Review} A Bride's Story, Vol. 2 - Kaoru Mori

A Bride's Story, Vol. 2 by Kaoru Mori
Release Date: 10/25/2011
Publisher: Yen Press

Acclaimed creator Kaoru Mori's tale of life on the nineteenth-century Silk Road continues as the young bride, Amir Halgal, struggles to remain with her new groom despite the wishes of her family, who would see her wed another. Will Amir be able to preserve the bonds she has cultivated in her new home?

Waiting on Wednesday #11 - Vengeance Bound

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Breaking the Spine

that spotlights upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating.

{Monthly Craving} January 2013

Monthly Craving is a monthly meme I created

that showcases books I'm impatiently waiting for that month.

*Click on cover for goodreads links*