Follow Friday #1

Feature & Follow Friday is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read

Q: Best cover? What is the best cover of a book that you've read and loved?.

Answer: Ok, I was trying to think but this is the first one that popped into my mind when I read the question. So I will go with it. This is the cover of The Last Bastion Of The Living: A Futuristic Zombie Novel.  I loved, loved, loved, this book and she just looks like a BAD A.. Zombie Killer. Doesn't she?

Throwback Thursday #3

It's Thursday here again on Mom with a Kindle and that means I give you guys a short & sweet review of a book I read in a former life... NO I'm just kidding! A review from a book I read before I started blogging which hasn't been that long ago, so I have some pretty new books to pick from. And today it's one of my favorites, it's...

The Immortal Rules

(Blood of Eden #1)

 by Julie Kagawa

Summary: Goodreads

"In a future world, vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity."Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.

Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of "them." The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked--and given the ultimate choice. Die...or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend--a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn't easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what--and who--is worth dying for.




REVIEW

It was definitely a wonderful read. After vampires have been over used by every means in the word, Julie comes in and using the post apocalyptic theme. does an awesome job with it. It brings a whole new view of vampires.

Allie was orphaned when her mom died. She now lives outside the city in the Ruins, with a group called the Unregistered. They have to fend for themselves to keep from being used as blood slaves by the vamps that have taken over the city. Also, Rabids roam the ruins outside the city. So Allie is forced to hide from the Vamps and the Rabids to survive. She is strong, courageous, and determined to survive. Until one night she's attacked by Rabids and into her life walks Kanin. Either he can save her and turn her into a vamp or she will die. Her choice.

Not that I want to leave you hanging or anything but I did say this would be short & sweet. So it's your decision. Do I read this or not? But see, Julie did a great job spinning this tale and you will get so engrossed in it you won't want to put it down until you're finished. It's unlike ANY vampire story you have read. Then like me and my daughter, you will be looking impatiently to the next one. JULIE I hope you heard that!! ;)


4 Daisy's...It was a wonderful read.

   

W.W.W. Wednesday & Waiting On Wednesday

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?

• What did you recently finish reading?

• What do you think you’ll read next?

~What are you currently reading?

Well I am still reading The Rise Of Nine by Pittacus Lore.The reading has been slow going because I'm also reading The Grimm Chronicles by Isabella Fontaine & Ken Brosky  for a Blog Tour. :)

~What did you recently finish reading?

An AWESOME book Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout. It was OH so good!

~What do you think you'll read next?

I'm still going to read The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna. I can't wait to read it!

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, originally started by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that highlights upcoming book releases everyone is waiting on. 

**This is one that I am anxiously waiting on. Two of my favorite things...fairy tales and ZOMBIES!!!

Alice in Zombieland 

(White Rabbit Chronicles #1)

by Gena Showalter

Hardcover, 404 pages

Expected publication: September 25th 2012 by Harlequin Teen

Summary: Goodreads

She won’t rest until she’s sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.

Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real….

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies….


I wish I could go back and do a thousand things differently.
I'd tell my sister no.
I'd never beg my mother to talk to my dad.
I'd zip my lips and swallow those hateful words.
Or, barring all of that, I'd hug my sister, my mom and my dad one last time.
I'd tell them I love them.
I wish... Yeah, I wish

Publication Day Splash for THE LOST GIRL by Sangu Mandanna

TODAY IS THE DAY WE HAVE BEEN WAITING ON! 

THE PUBLICATION DAY OF

THE LOST GIRL BY SANGU MANDANNA

PUBLISHER:  Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins Children's Books

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Eva’s life is not her own. She is a creation, an abomination—an echo. Made by the Weavers as a copy of someone else, she is expected to replace a girl named Amarra, her “other”, if she ever died. Eva studies what Amarra does, what she eats, what it’s like to kiss her boyfriend, Ray. So when Amarra is killed in a car crash, Eva should be ready.

But fifteen years of studying never prepared her for this.

Now she must abandon everything she’s ever known—the guardians who raised her, the boy she’s forbidden to love—to move to India and convince the world that Amarra is still alive.What Eva finds is a grief-stricken family; parents unsure how to handle this echo they thought they wanted; and Ray, who knew every detail, every contour of Amarra. And when Eva is unexpectedly dealt a fatal blow that will change her existence forever, she is forced to choose: Stay and live out her years as a copy or leave and risk it all for the freedom to be an original. To be Eva.

WHERE TO PURCHASE THE LOST GIRL (Click the link)

Amazon

The Book Depository

Barnes & Noble

Indie Bound

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

“Both an interrogation of bioethics and a mesmerizing quest for identity, this debut succeeds through its careful development of the oh-so-human Eva and those around her. A provocative and page-turning thriller/romance that gets at the heart of what it means to be human.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“THE LOST GIRL was the most honest portrait of grief and loss that I’ve read in a long time. Filled with heartache, love, and things that would stir Mary Shelley’s ghost, this is a story not to be missed.” (Lauren DeStefano, New York Times bestselling author of The Chemical Garden trilogy)“Mandanna’s debut novel is lovely and at times heartbreaking... A thoughtful study of both a girl’s search for her identity and the human reaction to death.” (Publishers Weekly)

Sangu Mandanna's Bio

Sangu Mandanna was four years old when she was chased by an elephant and wrote her first story about it and decided that this was what she wanted to do with her life. Seventeen years later, she read Frankenstein. It sent her into a writing frenzy that became THE LOST GIRL, a novel about death and love and the tie that binds the two together. Sangu now lives in England with her husband and baby son.

Sangu's Links
Website www.sangumandanna.com
Blog http://sangumandanna.blogspot.com
Twitter @SanguMandanna

Obsidian by Jennifer L Armentrout

Obsidian

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Summary: Goodreads

Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring.... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something...unexpected happens. 

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades. 

If I don't kill him first, that is.


REVIEW:

WOW! For someone who thought I didn't like YA Romance novels Jennifer just hit a home run with me. What a smokin' hot romance with a little good alien vs. bad alien thrown in. I loved it and then started to think...hmmmm, I have read this before. Well not this steamy romance but one much like it that included a few vampires and one Bella and Edward. But I was determined not to let that make this book any less than what it was and this one did NOT disappoint me. I can honestly say I did like this book better. Bella always seemed like a hurt or injured animal but not Katy.

Katy (Kitten as she's refereed to by Daemon) was a girl who moved into a small West Virginia town. And giving a shout out to book bloggers everywhere, she loved to read and had her own blog. After the death of her dad you could tell she had become a very strong and independent girl. She could pretty much stand up for herself. In any situation she seemed very determined and wouldn't give up.

Daemon right from the beginning we are drooling over him *wiping mouth*. He was a dark headed, no shirt, low pants, quirky grin, kind of guy that makes all the girls fall deeply in lust with him. ;)But when he opened his mouth he was a bad attitude, mean, disrespectful kind of guy. He was the strongest "of his kind" and will protect his family under any circumstances and even if that means having to run off humans to keep his sister, Dee, safe. Dee was an immediate like for me. She was very bubbly and you could tell she just wanted a good friend.

The chemistry between Daemon and Katy was intense. They had quite the love/hate relationship. WOW...the scene where he finally gives into his feelings for Katy is quite simply...WOW!
I CANNOT wait to start the next one and see where Jennifer goes with this series. :)

5 Daisy's for this steamy hate/love story...LOL!

View all my reviews

Free Friday #4

Every Friday here on Mom With A Kindle I will tell you about a book or books on Amazon that are free for your KINDLE!! Yes... Because that's what I use so I'll be passing the good ones on to you. ;) **(Please note that product prices and availability are subject to change. Prices and availability were accurate at the time this blog was posted; however, they may differ from those you see when you visit Amazon.com.)

I have 3 for you today that all look AWESOME!!! :)

Parallel (Travelers Series Book 1) 

by Claudia Lefeve

Summary: Amazon

Destiny has a way of catching up. 

Saddled with powers she doesn't understand, Etta Fleming's world is turned upside-down the day she meets Cooper Everett, the man who transports her to an alternate reality. A reality she was meant to be a part of. 

One minute, she's an orphan living at Dominion House for Girls, an institution for delinquent foster kids, then finds herself attending the exclusive Dominion Hall Academy. 

Plucked from the only world she's ever known, Etta now has to deal with an aunt she never knew, a boyfriend she doesn't know, and a best friend who can't know. 


PARALLEL is the first book in the Travelers Series 
PARADOX, book two, is now available! 

Glimpse (Zellie Wells #1) [Kindle Edition]

Stacey Wallace Benefiel

Summary: Amazon

Zellie Wells has a devastating crush on Avery Adams, the son of her mom’s high school sweetheart. At her sixteenth birthday party, held in the basement of her dad’s church, she finally finds the courage to talk to him. Turns out, the devastating crush is mutual. 

As Avery takes her hand and leads her out onto the makeshift dance floor, Zellie is overwhelmed by her first vision of his death; shocking because not only are they both covered in his blood, but they’re old, like thirty-five, and she is pregnant.

Afraid to tell anyone about the vision, (she’d just be labeled a freaky black magic witch, right?) Zellie keeps the knowledge of Avery’s future to herself and tries to act like any other teenager in love. When they get caught on their way to a secret rendezvous by her mom and his dad, they are forbidden to see each other.

Convinced that their parents are freaking out unnecessarily, Avery and Zellie vow to be together no matter what. They continue their relationship in secret until Zellie learns that their parents are just trying to prevent her and Avery from suffering like they did. The visions are hereditary, they’re dangerous, and if they stay together the visions will come true. 

Now Zellie must choose between severing all ties with Avery, like her mom did to prevent his father’s death, and finding a way to change Avery’s future.

Ashes to Ashes and Cinder to Cinder 

( A Grimm Diaries Prequel #2 ) 

by Cameron Jace

Summary: Amazon

What if all you knew about fairy tales was wrong?



Seventeen-year-old Alice Grimm,  a descendant of the Brothers Grimm, is one of few in the world
who can locate fairytale characters who don't know who they really are. She is sent to Venice where archeologists found an 800-year-old
witch's skeleton in the city that invented the art of glassblowing in the past. The corpse is surrounded with seventeen glass slippers, and it is suggested that it might belong to the real Cinderella. 

With the help of Loki, a Dreamhunter who enters dream of the immortal, they both follow a trail of evidence that leads them to the shocking origins of the Real Cinderella.

This Grimm Diaries Prequels are a number of short books in the form of epistolary diary entries. The diaries are more of teasers for the upcoming series: The Grimm Diaries, allowing you to get a glimpse of what to expect of the series.

Series Description:

The Grimm Diaries is a book with pages made of sand where fairy tale characters confessed the true stories altered by the Brothers Grimm two centuries ago. To keep the truth about fairy tales hidden, the Grimm Diaries were buried in the dreams of immortals to never be found again. But every one hundred years, the diaries will be read by a human again. Only once. 
Every diary is written by a different fairy tale character who still lives among us. It's already 200 hundred years since 1812, when the first Bothers Grimm book was written. And it's only him or her who reads the diaries who has the choice expose the truth or prefer to keep it lost forever. This time the choice might be yours.

Throwback Thursday #2

It's THURSDAY and here on "Mom With A Kindle" Thursdays are THROWBACK Thursdays. Reviews of books I have read before I started my blog. They are the ones that stick out in my mind and I love. And now I want to share them with you. 

The Last Bastion of the Living: A Futuristic Zombie Novel

by Rhiannon Frater 

A walled city surrounded by lush land, protected by high mountain summits, and fortified by a massive gate to secure the only pass into the valley, The Bastion remained humanity’s last hope against the fearsome undead creatures known as the Inferi Scourge. On one fateful day, the valley gate failed and the Inferi Scourge overran and destroyed the human settlements outside the walls, trapping the remaining survivors inside the city. Now, decades later, the last remaining humans are struggling to survive in a dying city of dwindling resources…and dwindling hope.

Vanguard Maria Martinez has lived her entire life within the towering walls of steel. She yearns for a life away from the overcrowded streets, rolling blackouts, and food shortages, but there is no hope for anyone as long as the Inferi Scourge howl outside the high walls. Her only refuge from the daily grind is in the arms of Dwayne Reichardt, an officer in the Bastion Constabulary. Both are highly-decorated veterans of the last disastrous push against the Inferi Scourge. Their secret affair is her only happiness.

Then one day Maria is summoned to meet with a mysterious representative from the Science Warfare Division and is offered the opportunity to finally destroy the Inferi Scourge in the valley and close the gate, reclaiming the lost lands and energizing the populace with renewed hope for the future. The rewards of success are great, but she will have to sacrifice everything, possibly even her life, to accomplish the ultimate goal of securing the future of humanity and saving it from extinction.

REVIEW: (Previously reviewed on Goodreads)

Rhiannon Rhiannon Rhiannon!!! That was awesome! 

Again Rhiannon put me right in the middle of this book. The Last Bastion, a walled city,  has been cut off from everything. They have a shortage of food and the electricity is sporadic. Outside the walls the  Inferi Scourge otherwise known as zombies, are pressing against the walls.. The Bastion has to set out on one last mission to try and save humanity as they know it. If they can just get outside the walls and get rid of the Infei Scourge the people can again have power and grow food to survive. The Science Warfare division decide to turn some of there military into Scourge to wipe out the Inferi. In comes Maria. She is one BAD soldier, great friend and a ZOMBIE. KILLER. This book had so much going for it-action and romance.  

I so wish that Maria and Dwayne's story could go on and on! I hate that this is a stand alone novel! :( And for those of you who haven't read it, it is definitely the one of the best zombie stories I have read. This is why I continue to be a HUGE fan of Rhiannon's work. :)

5 Daisy's... AWESOME book... hands down!

W.W.W Wednesdays & Waiting On Wednesday

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?

• What did you recently finish reading?

• What do you think you’ll read next?

• What are you currently reading?
       The Rise Of Nine by Pittacus Lore

• What did you recently finish reading?
    I just finished the three bonus materials
    by Jonathan Maberry
First Night Memories (Benny Imura #0.5)
In The Land Of The Dead (Benny Imura #1.5)
Dead & Gone (Benny Imura #2.5)

    • What do you think you’ll read next?

      The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, originally started by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that highlights upcoming book releases everyone is waiting on. 

What I'm waiting on?

Outpost (Razorland #2)

by Ann Aguirre 

Hardcover, 336 pages

Expected publication: September 4th 2012

Publisher  Feiwel & Friends

Deuce’s whole world has changed. Down below, she was considered an adult. Now, topside in a town called Salvation, she’s a brat in need of training in the eyes of the townsfolk. She doesn’t fit in with the other girls: Deuce only knows how to fight.

To make matters worse, her Hunter partner, Fade, keeps Deuce at a distance. Her feelings for Fade haven’t changed, but he seems not to want her around anymore. Confused and lonely, she starts looking for a way out.

Deuce signs up to serve in the summer patrols—those who make sure the planters can work the fields without danger. It should be routine, but things have been changing on the surface, just as they did below ground. The Freaks have grown smarter. They’re watching. Waiting. Planning. The monsters don’t intend to let Salvation survive, and it may take a girl like Deuce to turn back the tide.

Teaser Tuesday #2

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly 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 Teaser: 

"I wanted to tell her I've been on something much bigger, something much more impressive than a little airplane. I wanted her to know I came to Earth on a ship from another planet called Lorien and the trip had covered more than one hundred million miles."
                                                                                     ~The Rise Of Nine by Pittacus Lore

                                                                       

REVIEW: The Living Dead Boy And The Zombie Hunters by Rhiannon Frater

The Living Dead Boy: A Young Adult Zombie Novel
by Rhiannon Frater

Summary: Goodreads

Josh Rondell is twelve years old and known as the "living dead boy" due to his rampant love of all things zombie. As the head of the Zombie Hunters Club, he's obsessed with preparing for the zombocalypse. 
Though no one around him really believes that zombies will one day rise to devour the living, Josh is convinced it just might happen. 
When zombies do shamble into his schoolyard, Josh finds himself the leader of the dwindling band of zombie hunters, and he is charged with protecting them all. Josh's baby brother, his closest friends, and the love of his young life try to survive as the undead take over their town. 
Trapped in his treehouse and surrounded by the dead, will Josh be able to save them all?

REVIEW

WELL. DONE. RHIANNON.

Every time I finish a Rhiannon Frater book all I want to do is clap! I have loved every book I have read by her. And this book was no exception. How a writer can make you become part of the story your reading is mind blowing to me. And she does it EVERY time!! For a YA book with the protagonist a 12 year old boy, she did absolutely amazing.


Josh and his friends had a Zombie Hunting Club where they would train for the zombie apocalypse. But what they didn't know was what they had been play "training" for was about to come in use. After seeing events on TV of some "zombie" looking activity, his parents dismissed it and made him come eat dinner. Then after a normal quiet morning the next day at school, the principal announced that they were evacuating the school and that's when it all went south, quick! Josh thought he saw a "zombie" looking man come shuffling up behind the buses. And it was! Everything started going downhill from there. The bus crashes, teachers get eaten, kids start running, and Josh and his friends, plus his little brother and the girl he likes, all end up in his tree house waiting on help. And you'll have to read the book to find out how it all turns out.


I really enjoyed this book. It was such a fun read. I wish there were more in this series...Rhiannon!?!?!? :) If my 11 year old ever decides he wants to read a zombie book, this is definitely the one I will hand him. It was true to life but not so much that it would scar him for life. :)

I give this 5 Daisy's because it was freakin' great! :)

View all my reviews