[Book Review] The Last Hour by Charles Sheehan-Miles

The Last Hour
Charles Sheehan-Miles 

Twenty-seven year old Carrie Thompson-Sherman has the life she always wanted: her PhD, a prestigious fellowship, and an amazing husband. Her life begins to unravel as a jealous colleague puts her fellowship in jeopardy and a haunting secret Ray Sherman carried home from Afghanistan comes to light. 

Hounded by a federal investigation and the ensuing media feeding frenzy, Carrie and Ray desperately lean on each other, until a disastrous accident puts both Ray and her sister's lives at risk. In the last hour, Carrie and Ray will each find themselves faced with a choice.

A choice that will change everything.

Overall Score: 4.5 Stars

I have not had the pleasure of reading some of the previous works of Charles Sheehan-Miles but really see that I have been missing out. I was not sure what exactly to expect from The Last Hour since I have not read many books of these types (of course except romance) and I was very surprised on the turn of events. The story starts right with the accident in which Carrie, her husband Ray and her twin sisters are in. After rushing to a hospital, Carries finds out that Sarah, one of the twins, and Ray are in terrible situation and may not survive. The book goes on with flashbacks between the past and the present, episodes from Afghanistan and the choices that everyone had to make.

"Sometimes you have to make choices, and they're imperfect, but they're the only choices you can make and live with yourself."

                       

All I can say is WOW. After hearing about this book for awhile, I did not expect to see this sort of emotion. I can be a pretty sensitive person but pretty tough to crack when it comes to books and movies. I wasn't even a quarter done with the book when I was already crying. Every single little memory was so touching, it was incredible. I felt like I had to hang onto every single word right from the start just so I wouldn't miss anything. The relationship between Carrie and Ray was so deep and sincere, it really made you believe in love.  A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!

 

[Book Review + Giveway] The Circle by Cindy Cipriano

The Circle 

Cindy Cipriano

Calum Ranson is sure of three things:  his cousin Finley is alive, Calum will find him, and no one knows Calum and his family are Sidhe.  No one until Laurel shows up at his mother’s bookstore wearing a dark clan’s mark.  When Calum learns the details surrounding the disappearance of Laurel’s brother, he suspects the evil Hobayeth clan.  Calum and Laurel work together in the Realm of Man and the Otherworld to rescue her brother – revealing a connection between Calum and Laurel that may cost Finley his life.

About the Author

Cindy Cipriano lives in NC with her husband, son, and 27 pets. Okay, more like one cat, three dogs, and many, many fish. Cindy is an award winning science teacher, who this past August celebrated her 12th first day of sixth grade.

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Overall Score: 4 Stars

This middle grade story was truly magical filled with adventure, mystery and a world that was beautiful and unique. When Calum's cousin goes missing, he needs to figure out how to find him and helping Laurel will show him the way to the solution. 

The Circle by Cindy Cipriano really opened my eyes to a world that was so beautiful and simple but yet was complex and united at the same time. It was hard for me to believe at times that this world was a product of imagination and was completely made up by the author. And the characters! I absolutely adored each one of them and they were very realistic. Every conversation was true and defined which never left me confused.

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[Book Spotlight] Unleash by Felicity E. Heaton

Unleash

Felicity E. Heaton 

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?

Excerpt

Pain. Blinding. Debilitating. Sickening. Pain.

It rocked every inch of him. Throbbed deep in his marrow. Lived inside him and refused to die, no matter how hard he struggled to contain and obliterate it.

There was peace too though, a strange sense of calm and warmth that felt as though it was trying to subdue the pain and drive it away. There was also a weird notion that he hadn't been alone.

Snow's head thumped the hardest, fiery lightning splintering across his skull and causing his eyes to ache. He opened them a sliver but the light pierced them, increasing his agony, and he screwed them shut again. He tried to rub the salt and grit from his eyes and grimaced when steel cuffs bit into his wrists, causing sharp lances to jab across them.

His ankles blazed too.

He managed to crack his eyes open enough that he could see his wrists. Shackled and scarred. Multiple lacerations. Dried and fresh blood.

Snow focused on them and his body, taking mental note of any injuries and how weak he felt, trying to gauge how long he had been chained to his bed. Possibly a few days. His senses came fully back online.

He wasn't alone.

About the Author

Felicity Heaton writes passionate paranormal romance books as Felicity Heaton and F E Heaton. In her books she creates detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons!

In 2011, five of her six paranormal romance books received Top Pick awards from Night Owl Reviews, Forbidden Blood was nominated as Best PNR Vampire Romance 2011 at The Romance Reviews, and many of her releases received five star reviews from numerous websites.

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[Release Event] The Forgotten Ones by Laura Howard

Title: The Forgotten Ones

Author: Laura Howard

Release date: May 15, 2013

Genre: Paranormal

Age Group: New Adult

Cover reveal organized by: AToMR Tours

On sale for .99 cents until May 19^th!!!

Allison O'Malley's plan is to go to grad school so she can get a good job and take care of her schizophrenic mother. She has carefully closed herself off from everything else, including a relationship with Ethan, who she's been in love with for as long as she can remember.

What is definitely not part of the plan is the return of her long-lost father, who claims he can bring Allison's mother back from the dark place her mind has gone. Allison doesn't trust her father, so why would she believe his stories about a long forgotten Irish people, the Tuatha de Danaan? But truths have a way of revealing themselves. Secrets will eventually surface. And Allison must learn to set aside her plan and work with her father if there is even a small chance it could restore her mother's sanity.

EXCERPT

“Allison?” His voice was soft and serious, sounding warning bells in my mind.

“Mm-hmm?” I was afraid to look at him, afraid of the way he said my name, so I kept looking at the sky.

“I want to know why you never date,” he said.

I opened my mouth, but I couldn’t come up with an appropriate answer so I closed it.

“You could have anyone you wanted. Why is it you’re always alone?” I could feel his eyes on me as I stared into the star-studded night.

“Anyone I wanted? That’s a little excessive.”

“Come on, I’m being serious.”

I sighed, trying to think of the right response, one he would understand. “I guess I’m just always busy.”

He chuckled. “Everyone is busy. You have to give me a better reason than that.”

My mouth felt like cotton. Why did I have such a hard time forming coherent sentences when he was looking at me like that? I licked my lips and looked over at him. He stared directly into my eyes, the question still hanging between us.

“I want to take care of my mother. It’s all I want. So, I need to make that happen.” I curled my fingers into fists and pulled my shoulders back, looking back up at the stars. I’d had this conversation countless times with Nicole over the years.

“I know you do,” he said softly. I glanced back at him, surprised he wasn’t telling me that what I wanted was ridiculous. “But...who will take care of you?”

“I will take care of me.” I shook my head sadly. “My whole life everyone has had to take care of me. My grandparents, my aunt and uncle. They all sacrificed so much for me.”

“You act like it’s your fault, but it’s not.”

Now I was back in familiar territory. “My mother was normal before I was born, Ethan. When I came along she began her descent into schizophrenia. You don’t think that’s connected?”

He shifted in his seat. “I just know sometimes things happen, things that can’t be explained. But you still deserve to be happy.”

About the Author 

Laura Howard lives in New Hampshire with her husband and four children. Her  obsession with books began at the age of 6 when she got her first library card. Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High and other girly novels were routinely devoured in single sittings. Books took a backseat to diapers when she had her first child. It wasn’t until the release of a little novel called Twilight, 8 years later, that she rediscovered her love of fiction. Soon after, her own characters began to make themselves known. The Forgotten Ones is her first published novel.

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[Cover Reveal] Damaged 2 by H.M. Ward

Title: DAMAGED 2 (Damaged, #2)

Author: H.M. Ward

Expected release date: June 24, 2013

Genre: Romance

Age Group: New Adult

Cover reveal organized by: AToMR Tours

Click here to pre-order on Amazon

  The steamy sequel to the New York Times bestselling New Adult novel DAMAGED by H.M. Ward. Home isn't supposed to be dangerous, but for Sidney it is. Returning home means that she has to face her past. It's not just the man who hurt Sidney that makes it horrible, but the family that didn't believe her. They were dead to her, but now that her mom is really dying things seem different. It's a chance to set things right. What Sidney doesn't realize is that she's dragging Peter into a collision course with his past. Peter must deal with the demons haunting him if he wants to move forward with Sidney. He's willing to give up everything for her, even wade deeper into his past life to help her move forward. But, Peter isn't sure if he can get over what happened to him in New York.

About the Author

NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, DIGITAL BOOK WORLD, & USA TODAY Bestselling author H.M. Ward is a native New Yorker living in Texas. She loves purple, glitter, and Disney World. Her bestsellers include THE ARRANGEMENT series, SCANDALOUS, and DEMON KISSED.

Don't want to miss a H.M. Ward release date: Text AWESOMEBOOKS to 22828 and get an email reminder on release dates.

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[Release Day/ Book Review] Lucid by Natalie Roers

Lucid

Natalie Roers

Disfigured at birth and ostracized at school, Travis Hunter dreams of acceptance and secretly yearns for the affection of a beautiful young woman named Corrine. When a mysterious doctor promises to help Travis through something called lucid dreaming, Travis gets more than he ever bargained for and soon finds himself learning the secrets of love and life in a fantastic unconscious world.
*A fresh paranormal take on one of the best-selling stories of all time, Lucid explores the classic themes of Beauty and the Beast in a way that all of today's readers will be able to relate to.*

Overall Score: 3.5 Stars

Travis Hunter never felt like he fit in anywhere. In fact, the only thing that he can remember since he was a little boy is being judged by his disfigured looks. So he did the only thing he knew what to do best - try to ignore everyone, hoping that everyone else will ignore him too. Everything changes when his therapist gives him a talisman which she claims was a part of The Lucid group that created their own world while dreaming. He never thought to discover that his dream world would have Connie - the most beautiful girl in town that he cannot help but fall in love with. 

This was such cute read! I felt bad for Travis but was also inspired by him. He didn't care what others think of him, even when he had disfigured looks. I think it was kind of sad that his parents thought exactly the same thing that everyone else thought, even though they were trying not to show it. Either way, I loved reading about the magical world that he experienced in his dreams and just wish the story was longer. It was sort of one of those endings that were "WTF! It's over already!!" but I really enjoyed reading this quick and entertaining book. 

About the Author

A veteran writer, voice artist, and on-air personality, Natalie Roers has been the host of hit radio and television shows in just about every region of the United States. She also owns her own voice-over business where she creates everything from songs and ringtones to commercials and sound effects for clients around the globe. A journalist by trade, Natalie is excited to venture into the world of fiction and hopes to raise money and social awareness for worthy causes with each book she writes. She lives with her husband Cory, and son Austin, in Columbia, South Carolina.

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[Book Blast] The Enemy by Larry Bograd

A red-hot political thriller from a blue state author. Buried among the thousands of financial transactions he reviews each day, analyst Randy Duncan finds a secret web of laundered money financing the assassination of the President, which, in turn, will lead the country into war. Can Randy and his law-student daughter Clare follow the money and stop the enemy in time? In a political thriller worthy of Dan Brown, Richard Condon, and Allen Drury, award-winning novelist Larry Bograd charts a political thriller sure to keep you reading and leave you sleepless wondering and worried about who really controls America.

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Goodreads

      Author Larry Bograd Larry Bograd has published more than two dozen books, primary for children and young adults--and now his first eBook original, "The Enemy." He is also a playwright, screenwriter, and filmmaker. He is president of Roundtable Media Group, which produces documentary films, Web shows, and events.  

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Book Blast Giveaway

$100 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash Ends 5/31/13 Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the participat author/publisher. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. Prize value $100 US.   a Rafflecopter giveaway