August 1, 2012

Review ~ Lord of the Abyss by Nalini Singh

Title: Lord of the Abyss
Author: Nalini Singh
Series: Royal House of Shadows #4
Length: 288 pages (e-book)
Released:  NOVEMBER 2011 by Harlequin Nocturne
Once upon a time…the Blood Sorcerer vanquished the kingdom of Elden. To save their children, the queen scattered them to safety and the king filled them with vengeance. Only a magical timepiece connects the four royal heirs…and time is running out.…

As the dark Lord who condemns souls to damnation in the Abyss, Micah is nothing but a feared monster wrapped in impenetrable black armor. He has no idea he is the last heir of Elden, its last hope. Only one woman knows—the daughter of his enemy.

Liliana is nothing like her father, the Blood Sorcerer who'd cursed Micah. She sees past Micah’s armor to the prince inside. A prince whose sinful touch she craves. But first she has to brave his dark, dangerous lair and help him remember. Because they only have till midnight to save Elden.


Read an Excerpt



Lord of the Abyss is part of the Royal House of Shadows series written by Gena Showalter, Jill Monroe, Jessica Andersen and Nalini Singh. It is a short series where each book is written by a different author, but there is a backstory that runs through all of the books. The stories are connected by four royal siblings and the kingdom of Elden.

My Thoughts:

I've received the e-book from netgalley months ago, but I had no time (or the right mood) to read it. I'm suffering from reader's block right now. I can re-read my favorite books, but lately I find myself picking one book after another, reading a few pages and leaving them for a later date, or moving very slowly through them. Anyways, I checked my netgalley account and saw that I still have to write a review for LotA. So I found the perfect antidote to reader's block: AUDIOBOOKS!! 

Isabelle Gordon did a FANTASTIC job reading it. I don't like female narrators but this woman ROCKS!
Why is that important? Because not sure I would have liked the book as much as I like it now if I had to read it. As I mentioned below, this is book four in the series, but this was a first for me. So it can be read out of order, Nalini did a good job on explaining the backstory. 

The gamer in me sees an awesome game story.
The movie whore in me wants (and saw traces of the "Legend of the seeker") a movie or a tv show rigth now!
The reader in me (ok I listened, but still) really enjoyed it. 

Since I haven't read the first three books, I can't speak about them, but Lord of the Abyss was like a fairy-tale for adults. I don't know who/how they came up with the backstory of the series, but THANK YOU! 

Most of the time we're in the Black Castle and Liliana trying to "help" the Guardian of the Abyss - I counted how my times we heard/read this - 48 times, it was a bit annoying, I understand, that he didn't remember and didn't want to remember his real name, but sometimes It was just too much - to remember the past, his family.  Of course, he doesn't corporate very well and they running out of time if they want to save Elden and its people and defeat the Blood Sorcerer.

Magis is everywhere! There are various kind of magical creatures, Elden's people are touched by magic. You literally can see before your eyes how beautiful it was. 

The sexual tension was... well we're talking about Nalini here! It was perfect and when they finally got to the sex scenes... I don't even...YOU HAVE TO READ/LISTEN THE BOOK!! 

Action... there was a LOT of action scenes close to the end. Seriously, their journey to Elden was harder than Frodo's journey to Mount Doom. If you're tend to cry over dramatic scenes, then you'll need a few tissue. 

I loved the characters.

Liliana isn't flawless at all! She doesn't look like a supermodell, not even close. But she is in some way better than average. I love flawed characters. She has a big heart and an awful past. I just wanted to kill his evil father over and over everytime when we found out how he brutalized her. But she's a strong woman. She has to be. Sometimes her humor cracked me up.

Micah a.k.a. the Guardian of the Abyss is the youngest of the Elden heirs. And he is their only hope. I love how his character changes through the entire book, but never changes completely. He's still the Dark Lord of the Black Castle, but he's also Micah. And when he teases...man! I think I will add him to "my top 10 book boyfriends" list.

Jissa is a brownie, a magical creature - kinda like pixies. Her character is sweet and loveable. She becomes a true friend of Liliana. 

The Blood Sorcerer - Liliana's father - is a true villain. He is evil to his heart. A total psycho... but that makes a good enemy.

The final battle (excluding the road that led to it) seemed a little easy. But the dangerous road compensates it I guess.

I definitely will read the other books in the series!

 




Rift trailer + extra

Aaaand finally we got a trailer for Rift by Andrea Cremer!


Chronicling the rise of the Keepers, this is the stunning prequel to Andrea Cremer's internationally bestselling Nightshade trilogy!

Sixteen-year-old Ember Morrow is promised to a group called Conatus after one of their healers saves her mother's life. Once she arrives, Ember finds joy in wielding swords, learning magic, and fighting the encroaching darkness loose in the world. She also finds herself falling in love with her mentor, the dashing, brooding, and powerful Barrow Hess. When the knights realize Eira, one of their leaders, is dabbling in dark magic, Ember and Barrow must choose whether to follow Eira into the nether realm or to pledge their lives to destroying her and her kind.

With action, adventure, magic, and tantalizing sensuality, this book is as fast-paced and breathtaking as the Nightshade novels.




Book trailer:

Well, the actors are better than in the Bloodrose trailer, and the girl's voice isn't annoying, but there isn't much. I love motion picture trailers, but this could have been so much better. I love the narrator man's voice at the beginning ;)

July 31, 2012

Teaser Tuesdays (July 31)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teasers:


“When I think of what might have happened . . .” His voice is barely a whisper. 


“I’ll tell you later when you’re no longer burning with rage.” 
- E.L. James: Fifty Shades Freed 

July 30, 2012

Manday Hotties Blog Hop (July 30)

It's Monday again = lots of eye candies!!

YES! You see that right! 
I decided to participate in this hop.
Frankly, who would complaining about starting
Mondays with these hotties??
Not me!  

Enjoy the view! ;-)

July 29, 2012

Top 5 Sundays #100 - Fictional WORLDS You'd Love to Live in


Hey everyone!
It's the Top 5 Sunday again!! 

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:
Fictional WORLDS You'd Love to Live in
*in no particular order

Guild Hunter's World
Drop-dead gorgeous Angels EVERYWHERE!

 Dark-Hunter's World
That would be and interesting world with gods and goddesses around us.
I want to be a DH :P

The League's World 
"In the universe where the League is law, most live in fear. We fight back. Welcome to a world where corrupt assassination politics dominate everyone. It’s kill or be killed." Yes, I am masochist, and I want to be a member of the Sentella dammit!! 

Cassandra Palmer's World
Mages, vamps and other supernatural creatures. And the world is awesome! Yep, I would want to live there, especially around Cassie. Her life is never boring! 

Firelight's World
Beautiful dragons, angry dragon hunters... sign me up!! I'd be a dragon shifter anytime! 


Attention! Please HELP! If you have any theme ideas for the next Top 5 Sundays Posts, please leave them a comment on Larissa's post! NEED NEW IDEAS! Your input would be much appreciated!

July 17, 2012

Oops! It's Monday again!! What's that mean? 
It means that I'm late and it's actually Tuesday here, but you can't be mad at me, because I brought some eye candy!

  
Enjoy the view! ;-)

July 15, 2012

Top 5 Sundays #98 - Favorite Names of Female Characters!


Hey everyone!
It's the Top 5 Sunday again!! 

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:
Favorite Names of Female Characters
*in no particular order

July 13, 2012

Review ~ Once Burned by Jeaniene Frost

Title: Once Burned
Author: Jeaniene Frost
Series: Night Prince #1
Length: 346 pages (mass market)
Released: June 26th 2012 by Avon
She's a mortal with dark powers...

After a tragic accident scarred her body and destroyed her dreams, Leila never imagined that the worst was still to come: terrifying powers that let her channel electricity and learn a person's darkest secrets through a single touch. Leila is doomed to a life of solitude...until creatures of the night kidnap her, forcing her to reach out with a telepathic distress call to the world's most infamous vampire...

He's the Prince of Night...

Vlad Tepesh inspired the greatest vampire legend of all—but whatever you do, don't call him Dracula. Vlad's ability to control fire makes him one of the most feared vampires in existence, but his enemies have found a new weapon against him—a beautiful mortal with powers to match his own. When Vlad and Leila meet, however, passion ignites between them, threatening to consume them both. It will take everything that they are to stop an enemy intent on bringing them down in flames.

July 11, 2012

Vampirerotique Summer Book Tour: Character Interview + Giveaway


Hey hey hey Everyone! 

This is the day we've been waiting for! We have Felicity Heaton here today and she's brought Lilah from Covet with her for an interview. Plus, Felicity has something to offer up as a giveaway for TWO lucky winners here on our blog AND a fantabulous Amazon GC and fantastic book goodies tour wide giveaway to enter! So be sure to follow the tour carefully! I'd like to say a big thank you to Felicity for letting me be part of this tour! So, I won't leave you guys hanging anymore...It´s time for me to stop talking, and give the word to our guests instead. Felicity, The word is yours!

July 3, 2012

Lethal Blog Tour: Interview with David & Giveaway


Welcome everyone!


Along the tour, there will be multiple stops with Interviews, character interviews, excerpts, reviews, and, of course, BIG GIVEAWAY!!

Thank you for the wonderful girls at TSK TSK What to read for hosting this tour. And a big thanks to Nely for the generous giveaway! 


For those of you who haven’t read Creaura, I’ll give you a chance to check out the description before hearing what David has to say in his interview.