Blog Tour: Tremble by Jus Accardo - Review

Thanks for stopping by for our Tour Stop for

Tremble (Denazen #3) by Jus Accardo

presented by Entangled Pub!

Be sure to check out the preview for Jus Accardo’s new book coming out this summer 

from Entangled DigiTeen called Darker Days.You can view it at the end of the post!

I'm here to tell you a little more about Tremble, book three in the Denazen series. So yes, that means you're here to read my awesome review ;P 

Title: Tremble
Author: Jus Accardo
Series: Denazen #3
Length: 352
Publisher: Entangled Publishing

Original Publication Date:  May 14th  2013

Dez Cross has problems. She’s almost eighteen and on the verge of losing her mind thanks to the drug Denazen used to enhance her abilities. People close to her have turned their back on the underground and are now fighting for the wrong side. And then there’s Kale... Things couldn’t get any worse.

Until of course, they do. Denazen is about to start a new trial—this one called Domination—and it works. But that means out with the old and in with the new. The order has been given to terminate all remnants of the second trial—including Dez. The good news is that there’s a survivor from the original trial. A woman who’s blood may hold the cure for the second generation of Supremacy kid’s defect. But the underground Sixes aren’t the only ones who know about her….

Cross is willing to throw everything he has to keep Dez from getting the cure—including the one thing that might tear her apart from the inside out.

It's really hard to talk about this book without giving away anything important, so this won't be a long review where I go deep into the story. 

Tremble was top notch, adventurous, dramatic with a good amount of dark humour and sarcasm. The events in Tremble are definitely game changer. Readers better prepare for pulse-pounding action and stirring battle scenes, unexpected losses in many ways, shocking secret reveals and most of all.... to have their emotions rollercoastered (shhh, it's a word now!)! So many people to hate, and many more to mourn and to root for. 

Kale has changed. And I extremely enjoyed it. It's fair to say that Tremble made me really love his character. And oh snap! His sort-of-new ability kicks ass hard!!  Dez is still amazing and she's learning from her mistakes, and growing up but still keeping her sassy attitude that we all love. The minor characters were pushed back a little bit this time, but that's completely okay and I wouldn't list it as a negative. However, I'm mad about what happened with Alex (no spoiler here). I hope Jus will read this and will not kill me by saying goodbye to my favorite character and their hilarious brawlings with Kale!! Also, I want to see more Able & Aubrey, please (the bonus scene was awesome).

The book is not flawless and has it's upside downs, but frankly, I don't really care about those as long as Jus keeps giving us such a compelling, energetic story with this insane crew leading the way. I liked the series from the moment I read Touch, but Tremble took it to a whole new level and made me absolutely adore it. So here I am, desperately waiting for the next one.

"I was an adrenaline junkie by nature. But this was different. Taking risks for a cheap thrill was one thing. Standing in front of a ravenous bear with no place to run was something else. Courting death, Brandt called this. Fitting, considering Ginger, long before he was born, had dubbed Kale the Reaper. 
So here I stood. In front of Death, daring it to take me."

Get it now!

COMING SOON FROM JUS ACCARDO!

The first book in a brand new series!

DARKER DAYS by Jus Accardo.

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.

Read an excerpt here!

About Jus Accardo

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 and is currently working on the first book in a new adult series due out summer 2013. A native New Yorker, she lives in the middle of nowhere with her husband, three dogs, and sometimes guard bear, Oswald.

Find Jus Accardo on her

• Website
• Blog
• Twitter
• Facebook

EXCLUSIVE Cover Reveal for Darker Days by Jus Accardo

We've got the EXCLUSIVE cover reveal for the long-awaited first book, Darker Days in Jus Accardo's newest upcoming YA series The Darker Agency featuring Sins (no, that's not a typo. It's about the 7 Deadly Sins). Also, keep reading for an exclusive excerpt and to find out more about the series!

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.

“So not your biggest fan at the moment,” I said, closing the office door behind me. The runofffrom my jeans had soaked my sneakers pretty good. With each step, I gave a slight squishing noise accompanied by an annoying squeak against the old tile floor.

From across the room, Mom stared. “What happened to you?”

           “It attacked me.” Tossing my bag on the couch, I sank into her chair and made sure to grind my butt into the cushion. Got it nice and wet. I was all about sharing the love—and right now, the love was soggy.

           She laughed, waving a folder in my direction. “Surely you’re overreacting. It was one little zombie. They don’t attack people.”

           “I’m serious, Ma. It tried to drown me. And the client assaulted me with ugly footwear. As far as punishments go, I’d say we’re probably square. I’ve learned my lesson.”

           “You’re serious?” Amused expression now replaced by concern, she crossed the room and leaned over her desk to get a better look at me.

           “As a coronary.” Once I was sure the chair had sponged up all it could, I stood and huffed past her. Pulling at my favorite T-shirt—the word Fate inside a blood red heart, is a four letter word on the back—I said, “Child welfare would not be happy to hear you tried to feed your only child to a walking corpse…”

“But why would it attack? Did you provoke it?” Folding her arms, she frowned. “Insult it, perhaps?”

           I winked at her. “Provoke it? Sure. I went and wiggled my ass in front of it yelling lunch just to see what’d happen.” I’d called it Stinky, but that didn’t count as an insult. Something couldn’t be considered an insult if it was true, right?

           Right eyebrow twitching, she fought against a smile. “But you’re okay, right? No bites, broken bones, head injuries, possessions…?”

I smiled and did a little twirl. “All in one piece and still me.”

Mom had a checklist she went through at the end of each job. I was known for taking almost as much damage as I inflicted.

“Oh, and you’re probably going to get a call from the client. I sorta smashed her fence in the process.”

           Mom groaned. “I told you to be more careful.”

           “It’s not like I tried to break anything.”

           “Something tells me you didn’t try hard enough not to break anything, either.”

           “In my defense, it wasn’t a simple trap and slap…”

           “We can’t afford this.” She reached down and pulled a white envelope out from under a stack of papers. “This is the bill for that Mercedes you smashed.”

           “Oh! So not my fault. How was I supposed to know that Spring Heel was gonna land on the car? If it makes you feel any better, I think he was aiming for my head…”

           “If you keep this up, we won’t even be able to afford the rent.”

           She was right, of course, and it made me feel horrible. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m a wrecking ball wrapped in blue jeans. Take my cut of this job and put it toward the repairs. Keep my paycheck for the next month, too.” A good start, but it didn’t feel like enough. Sure, it would cover the damages—I hoped—but I felt guilty about upsetting her. The bills that were piling up kept her awake at night. This was only going to make things worse. We got a fair amount of business, but the overhead in our line of work was sky high.

As much as I hated the idea, I knew what would cheer her up. “I’ll even throw in pet possessions for the next month.”

About Jus Accardo

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 and is currently working on the first book in a new adult series due out summer 2013. A native New Yorker, she lives in the middle of nowhere with her husband, three dogs, and sometimes guard bear, Oswald.

Find Jus Accardo on her

• Website
• Blog
• Twitter
• Facebook

Review: Twice Tempted by Jeaniene Frost

Title: Twice Tempted
Series: Night Huntress CompleteWorld #10 / Night Prince #2
Author: Jeaniene Frost
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Avon
Date of publication: March 26th, 2013
Goodreads || Amazon || The Book Depository

Dating the Prince of Darkness has its challenges...
Leila’s psychic abilities have been failing her, and now she isn’t sure what the future holds. If that weren’t enough, her lover Vlad has been acting distant. Though Leila is a mere mortal, she’s also a modern woman who refuses to accept the cold shoulder treatment forever–especially from the darkly handsome vampire who still won’t admit that he loves her...

Like choosing between eternal love and a loveless eternity...
Soon circumstances send Leila back to the carnival circuit, where tragedy strikes. And when she finds herself in the crosshairs of a killer who may be closer than she realizes, Leila must decide who to trust– the fiery vampire who arouses her passions like no other or the tortured knight who longs to be more than a friend? With danger stalking her every step of the way, all it takes is one wrong move to damn her for eternity...

Overall: I was afraid that the lack of Vlad in the first half of the book, and a possible love triangle will make me hate the book, but my fears proved utterly invalid. It is really fast and enjoyable. It has a dark tone, but still entertaining. It’s filled with losses – in more than one way, secrets, and betrayals. A real Urban Fantasy with a massive storyline and strong characters.

Read my full guest review at Exina Art 

ARC Review - Unleash by Felicity Heaton

"He couldn’t control himself, couldn’t tame the dark need to maim and destroy, to bloody his hands and drink until the burning thirst receded. He had to feed. He had to kill."

Title: Unleash
Series: Vampire Erotic Theatre #6
Author: Felicity Heaton
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Date of publication: May 18th, 2013 by Felicity Heaton
Goodreads || Amazon || Barnes and Noble

A powerful vampire lost deep in his bloodlust, Snow is a savage animal, mindless with rage and a thirst for violence, and trapped with no hope of awakening from an endless nightmare… until a song draws him up from the abyss, restoring his sanity but leaving him haunted by the sweet feminine scent of lilies and snow, and fragmented familiar lyrics.

When the mysterious and beautiful songstress reappears in Snow’s room at Vampirerotique, she awakens a fierce protective streak and stirs dark desires that drive him to claim her as his female, even when he knows his touch will destroy her innocence.

A single forbidden taste is all it takes to unleash emotions in Aurora that she shouldn’t possess, tearing her between duty and desire, and luring her into surrendering to her wildfire passion and embracing hungers that burn so hotly they threaten to consume them both.

One act of kindness can lead to one thousand acts of sin though, each a black mark against the bearer’s soul and another grain of sand that slips through an hourglass. The clock is ticking and time is almost up. Can beauty save the beast?

This was probably the most anticipated book in this series among the fans, and Felicity knew that and was cruel enough to write this last. Nonetheless, noone can be mad at her, because with Unleash she has delivered an eminent ending to the series. Although I have a little hope, that she will give us a few more books about the next generation, maybe (hint, hint).

Snow's and Aurora's story is captivating, dramatic, emotional and very intense. It's about salvation, forgiveness and second chances, betrayal, but most of all, it's about what's worth living...Love.

This book is not action packed (I should mention the final battel part because, Devil, that was freaking E-P-I-C), but this story digs deep into the reader's heart and soul. The characters' fascinating history and their connection, their goals worked perfectly with the main conflict of the story.

Aurora's true identity brought something fresh, some plus to this world. And Snow was exactly the character I hoped for. As for the side characters, it was great to see the wole crew together several times and I can easily believe this is a freaking big, but a real family.

The reason I give it 4,5 stars instead of 5 is because there was much more internal monologue and way less real dialogue. I think Snow and Aurora should have comunicated more.

Unleash took the series to a whole new level. It was already more than just an erotic paranormal romance series for a while now, but the icing on the cake was definitely Snow's divine story. Absolute favorite of mine in the series. Perfect ending!

Top 5 Sundays #141 - Best Book Sidekicks! {Part II}

Hey everyone!

It's the Top 5 Sunday on Monday...yes, I'm late.

Here is this really cool event, i'm following for a while now, called "Top 5 Sundays" hosted by "Welcome To Larissa's Bookish Life"

Rules:

1 - Write a post listing your TOP 5 choices within the theme I chose (or was chosen on a poll) for the week.

2 - Mention this Blog on the post and link back to it.

3 - Fell free to use the Feature's image (there is a smaller size version of it bellow)

4 - After you've finished your post, add you link (of the post, not your blog's main page) to the Mr.Linky at the end of that week's post.

The theme for today is:

Best Book Sidekicks! {Part II}

ARC Review - Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead

Title: Gameboard of the Gods
Author: Richelle Mead
Series: Age of X #1 
Length: 464 pages
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)

Original Publication Date: June 4th 2013

In a futuristic world nearly destroyed by religious extremists, Justin March lives in exile after failing in his job as an investigator of religious groups and supernatural claims. But Justin is given a second chance when Mae Koskinen comes to bring him back to the Republic of United North America (RUNA). Raised in an aristocratic caste, Mae is now a member of the military’s most elite and terrifying tier, a soldier with enhanced reflexes and skills.

When Justin and Mae are assigned to work together to solve a string of ritualistic murders, they soon realize that their discoveries have exposed them to terrible danger. As their investigation races forward, unknown enemies and powers greater than they can imagine are gathering in the shadows, ready to reclaim the world in which humans are merely game pieces on their board.

Gameboard of the Gods, the first installment of Richelle Mead’s Age of X series, will have all the elements that have made her YA Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series such megasuccesses: sexy, irresistible characters; romantic and mythological intrigue; and relentless action and suspense.

Everyone who knows me knows that I'm a big fan of Richelle Mead. I consider her a very good writer who writes her characters with great love and builds up the world in which the story takes place always with great care and professionalism. So I was really looking forward to this novel as well, since Richelle posted a lot of interesting things about the background info of the story, we constantly got brief details, quotations, which are just increased my want for GotG. After that, my joy knew no bounds when I had to opportunity long before the release, to get an ARC copy.

What did I expect?  What we always got from Richelle. Lovable, funny and strong characters,  an exciting and well-constructed world and a lot of twist in the story, which we can think of a lot and an ending that after I'll bite my nails and demand the sequel.

The first chapter gave me what I expected, a strong, brave, cool heroine, Mae Koskinen, a conflict which she dealt with her own specific way, and so it she got herself into a lot of trouble. The book is written in the third person. Most of the time it's from Justin's and Mae's perspective, but it will occasionally switch and spend time in the mind of and other character. So when the point of view has switched so suddenly from Mae to Justin I got really confused. After the exciting beginning, the story picked up a much slower pace, we got a lot of descriptions - I understand the need to introduce a world - but it was a bit much for me. When it comes to Richelle's books, I'm used to fast spinning events and the first half of this book was very slow and at times I felt that we were getting nowhere. The second half of the book was good, I loved when the  investigation (finally) set off, the mystery, and the complete meanings of the lot of information from the beginning were all falling into place like a jigsaw puzzle. And in the end! We got the punch line that we were waiting for, at least.

The Dystopian part of the world was perfect - at least for me. The classes, the background story, the cities, the people, the school, the ultra-modern equipment and any other description were very professional, well worthy of Richelle's reputation. However, then came the paranormal part. Religion, unexplained phenomena, mythology, constantly talking ravens in Justin mind. Separately, both world building would deserve a novel, or a series, but together...nah. Sometimes it created a big chaos and way hard to understand - not only for the characters, but for me too - what was going on.

As for the characters: As I already mentioned before, Mae is a strong, brave, cool heroine. I loved every inch of her, and in my humble opinion she would have been able to carry the whole story on her own.  I really liked that in addition to being almost perfect - because she's a beautiful young and hardcore professional soldier, she's lives in reality and walks on the ground. But still she has some flaws, her history and family background haunts her constantly making her vulnerable. I loved reading about her stuff and devoured the pages when she appeared. BUT - there was the other main character, Justin. Every heroine need a hero by her side. Well, we got one. But not exactly the kind of hero that I was hoping for. I'm used to Richelle creates such male characters with whom I'm able to instantly fall in mad love. The kind that where the author does not have to describe to me how HOT and good the guy is, because I can perfectly tell that based on his actions and behavior and I'd give anything for his real existence. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case here. Justin could not charm me. For me, he's a shallow, debased figure, whose only positive aspect is that he's capable of anything for his loved ones. But if Richelle wouldn't have describe how Justin is a charming, HOT guy, whom every woman has a crush on, I would have not found out myself. So the love story, which slowly developing between Mae and Justin,  for me was a pale and inauthentic. I just could not believe that a woman with such qualities as Mae, what could possibly like about a man like him. But in other cases, Richelle managed to create a my kind of hero. Mae's ex-boyfriend. There was no more than five pages involving him, but still, I knew, I FELT what she loved about him. Shame, really. Oh yeah, and Justin is smart, that's why they believe will have a chance to find out more about the mysterious murders, than the RUNA's best detective could.  In comparison, there is an interesting moment at the end of the book. I - who is not as smart as Justin -  had a pretty good call on who or what was behind these crimes. Justin faced with it, he got enough traces and clues and it was like a neon sign pointing the way to the answer and yet .. he had to think about it for long hours, before he realized what it was. TADAMMM, congratulations! * Lupi quietly banging her head against the wall *. I would have preferred if Mae would be the main character and Justing her partner (as it is now, unfortunately, vice versa), because she is much more interesting character, but this is unfortunately not a request show.

Favorite character(s): Mae
Favorite scene(s): Mae's decision after the ball and generally all of her parts.

Overall: Despite its flaws I see a great story in the depths of the book somewhere and as the second half of the book we jumped in the thick of things, I feel that it will be better. So I am looking forward to the sequel, because I'd like to read further about Mae and I also hope that Justin's character is going to be improved as well.

Reviewed by:

Review - Toxic by Jus Accardo

Title: Toxic
Author: Jus Accardo
Series: Denazen #2
Length: 317
Publisher: Entangled Publishing

Original Publication Date: October 16, 2012

When a Six saved Kale's life the night of Sumrun, she warned there would be consequences. A trade-off. Something taken for the life they gained. But Dez never imagined she'd lose the one thing she'd give anything to keep... And as if it's not enough Dez finds her immunity to Kale fading, the Six brought in to help Kale learn to control his killer touch starts drooling on him the moment they meet. Worse than that? Jade can touch Kale. But bimbo Barbie is the least of Dez's problems.

After Dez and Kale got away at Sumrun, her father lost not only his most powerful weapon but an important piece of the Supremacy project. Forced by Denazen to remedy the situation, he poisons Dez and offers her a choice--surrender to Denazen for the cure...or die. Determined to find a solution that doesn't involve being bagged and tagged--or losing someone she loves--Dez keeps the poison a secret. But when a rash of Denazen attacks hit a little too close to home, Dez is convinced there's a traitor among them. Jade.

Sacrifices, broken promises, and secrets. Dez will have to lay it all on the line if there's any hope of proving Jade's guilt before they all end up Residents of Denazen. Or worse, dead...

Top 5 Sundays #140 - Best Evil Villains!

Hey everyone!

It's the Top 5 Sunday on Monday...yes, I'm late.

Here is this really cool event, i'm following for a while now, called "Top 5 Sundays" hosted by "Welcome To Larissa's Bookish Life"

Rules:

1 - Write a post listing your TOP 5 choices within the theme I chose (or was chosen on a poll) for the week.

2 - Mention this Blog on the post and link back to it.

3 - Fell free to use the Feature's image (there is a smaller size version of it bellow)

4 - After you've finished your post, add you link (of the post, not your blog's main page) to the Mr.Linky at the end of that week's post.

The theme for today is:

 Best Evil Villains!

Review - Touch by Jus Accardo

Title: Touch
Author: Jus Accardo
Series: Denazen #1
Length: 284
Publisher: Entangled Publishing

Original Publication Date: November 1st 2011

When a strange boy tumbles down a river embankment and lands at her feet, seventeen-year-old adrenaline junkie Deznee Cross snatches the opportunity to piss off her father by bringing the mysterious hottie with ice blue eyes home.

Except there’s something off with Kale. He wears her shoes in the shower, is overly fascinated with things like DVDs and vases, and acts like she’ll turn to dust if he touches her. It’s not until Dez’s father shows up, wielding a gun and knowing more about Kale than he should, that Dez realizes there’s more to this boy—and her father’s “law firm”—than she realized.

Kale has been a prisoner of Denazen Corporation—an organization devoted to collecting “special” kids known as Sixes and using them as weapons—his entire life. And, oh yeah, his touch? It kills. The two team up with a group of rogue Sixes hellbent on taking down Denazen before they’re caught and her father discovers the biggest secret of all. A secret Dez has spent her life keeping safe.

A secret Kale will kill to protect.