Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Bridges Burned

 

Bridges Burned

By Chris Cannon


Rating: 2.5 Wine Glasses




Frustrating. That is the word I would use to describe this book. There were so many things that happened that just made me want to scream. Sure, there were definitely positives to this book, but not enough to really save the book from its over all hair-pulling-booking-slamming-ness.
So because of my frustration I'm making a pro and con list. (Sue me)
Pros: 
-The Main Character was pretty snarky, and I just can't resist snark. I'm drawn to all that sass.
-She had some great best friend. I loveddddd ivy and Clint. They really helped develop this story, and make it somewhat bearable. 
- Hello, dragons are awesome, and not something you see in a lot of books. I loved reading something uncommon.
-    Bryns knight, yes please. Now that is one character done right. She actually developed a REAL relationship with this person. There was actual character development between the two. HE WAS A FREAKING GENTLEMAN WITH A BRAIN BRYN. YOU BETTER HOP ON THAT BECAUSE YOU'VE MADE FAR TOO MANY MISTAKES.
And cue cons.
Cons: 
-where was the character development in this book? It felt a bit forced at time. The chemistry between her characters were hardly there.
-The scenes were just to choppy and short. Usually I'm down with having little detail, but after reading this book I realized that she really didn't put in half as much detail that was needed to develop this plot.
-    Finally the thing that pissed me off to no end is ZAVIEN. Wow, so can we have a punching booth for this dude. He just thinks he's all high and mighty. And not only is he a completely ass hat, BRYN IS AN IDIOT. She continues to date him and be all confused and stupid after he practically ditches her for another girl (WHO HE IS ENGAGED TO) every freaking time. My gosh women, get a brain and ditch the loser. I just could not stand it. She has a perfectly loving knight WAITING on her every need, but here she is strung up on some jerk face that can't make up his mind.  BRYN might have had snark, but she clearly didn't have a brain.
As much as I wanted to like this book, I just couldn't get past the M.C. And poorly developed plot.





Bridges Burned
By Chris Cannon
January 27, 2015


Don’t just fight the system…burn it.
Since discovering she is a shape-shifting, fire-breathing dragon on her sixteenth birthday (surprise!), Bryn McKenna’s world has been thrown into chaos. Being a “crossbreed”—part Red dragon and part Blue—means Bryn will never fit in. Not with dragon society. Not with the archaic and controlling Directorate. And definitely not when she has striped hair and a not-so-popular affection for rule-breaking…
But sneaking around with her secret boyfriend, Zavien, gets a whole lot harder when he’s betrothed to someone else. Someone who isn’t a mixed breed and totally forbidden. And for an added complication, it turns out Bryn’s former archnemesis Jaxon Westgate isn’t quite the evil asshat she thought. Now she’s caught between her desire to fit in and a need to set things on fire. Literally.
Because if Bryn can’t adapt to the status quo…well, then maybe it’s time for her to change it.

BUY IT ON AMAZON, ITUNES, BARNES AND NOBLE, & KOBO: http://www.entangledpublishing.com/bridges-burned/

~*~ABOUT CHRIS CANNON~*~


Chris Cannon lives in Southern Illinois with her husband and her three dogs, Pete the shih tzu who sleeps on her desk while she writes, Molly the ever-shedding yellow lab, and Tyson the sandwich-stealing German Shepherd Beagle. She believes coffee is the Elixir of Life. Most evenings after work, you can find her sucking down caffeine and writing fire-breathing paranormal adventures. Going Down In Flames is the first book in Chris Cannon's shape-shifting dragon series.

Saturday, January 10, 2015


Title: Lailah
Series: The Styclar Saga #1
Author: Nikki Kelly
Release Date: October 7th
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Summary from Goodreads:
The girl knows she’s different. She doesn’t age. She has no family. She has visions of a past life, but no clear clues as to what she is, or where she comes from. But there is a face in her dreams – a light that breaks through the darkness. She knows his name is Gabriel.

On her way home from work, the girl encounters an injured stranger whose name is Jonah. Soon, she will understand that Jonah belongs to a generation of Vampires that serve even darker forces. Jonah and the few like him, are fighting with help from an unlikely ally – a rogue Angel, named Gabriel.

In the crossfire between good and evil, love and hate, and life and death, the girl learns her name: Lailah. But when the lines between black and white begin to blur, where in the spectrum will she find her place? And with whom?

Gabriel and Jonah both want to protect her. But Lailah will have to fight her own battle to find out who she truly is.



"An extraordinarily imaginative look into the realms of good, evil, and all that comes in between. Lailah will have you gripped until the very end." -Brittany, Please Feed the Bookworm

“Lailah: Original. Swoonworthy. Captivating. Lailah will make you have all the FEELS, and you’ll find yourself flailing for Book #2, Gabriel!” -Andrew, Endlessly Reading

“Lailah is a fast-paced read that will keep you hooked from cover to cover." -Jess, The Book Bratz

“Lailah is paranormal romance like you have never read before. With its hauntingly beautiful writing it will have you craving for more!” -Dana, Dana Square

“AHHHHHHHH! (in a good way)” - Ri, Hiver & CafĂ©

“Dark. Sexy. Intriguing. Filled with twists and turns and set on a beautiful backdrop, Lailah is sure to enchant and haunt you from the start.” -Rachel, A Perfection Called Books

Q&A with Nikki Kelly! 

What inspired you to write LAILAH?
As all the best stories start... ‘I had a dream!’
Seriously, that’s what happened.
I dreamed of Lailah, and the thought of her simply wouldn’t leave me.

If you could only have one book with you on a deserted island, what would it be?
The Lord of the Rings (I’m taking the box set – I don’t care what you say!)
First, they are some of my favorite books of all time.
Second, because I would be reminded that there are worse places to be than stuck on a desert island, such as Mordor, and at least I don’t have the worry of Orcs and the Nazgul.

Who are your favorite YA authors?
Lori Goldstein
Leigh Bardugo
Jessica Brody
Gennifer Albin
Marissa Meyer
Stephanie Meyer
Charlaine Harris
Mary Pearson
Ann Aguirre
Veronica Roth
... the list could go on and on and on...

What book introduced you to YA?
Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse #1)—Charlaine Harris

How do you write SwoonWorthy moments?
With plenty of swoon ;)
Okay... if you want to get really technical...
When writing a swoon-worthy moment, I think about the five senses – sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch – and I incorporate them into the descriptive language, which helps build the scene. I try to keep an ambiguity around ‘will they, won’t they’ when writing these moments, building them up, only to knock them down again, ready for the next round!

Do you have any traditions you do before you sit and write?
Boil the kettle...
Brew a teapot...
Put my headphones on, and gear myself up for a long writing stretch!

You’re watching TV; what TV show are you watching?
I tend to watch Netflix and almost always re-runs of The Office (American version).
If I switch on the TV, it’s likely that I will be watching The Big Bang Theory.

Who is your ultimate Book Boyfriend? (No cheating!!!)
That’s such an unfair question.
A—I have many!
B—the top spot on that list changes on a book by book basis!
Right now I am loving Tobias from Divergent, having just read the first book! Strong, rugged and brooding... *Le Sigh* *Le Swoon* and, yes, *fans oneself*!

What inspires you most to write? (Songs, dreams, surroundings..etc.)
Lailah came to me in a dream and stayed with me, so I’d say dreams inspire me most. But when it comes to the writing process, I would find it far more difficult to get in the mood to write an action scene, for example, without first playing the ‘Rocky’ soundtrack! Music is SO important.

Why did you decide to write YA?
The best advice I ever received about writing was to 'write what you know, and write what you love.' For me that was YA Fantasy with some uber-swoon thrown in!

What books would you recommend to readers who enjoyed your book?
Lailah is a YA Paranormal Romance / Fantasy, so I'd probably recommend other YA PNR novels… Oh and I have thrown in a few of my fave YA's that aren't necessarily PNR! 

Mortal Instruments—Cassandra Clare
Sookie Stackhouse Novels—Charlaine Harris
The Vampire Diaries—L. J. Smith
Unremembered Trilogy—Jessica Brody
Becoming Jinn (Spring '15)—Lori Goldstein
Divergent—Veronica Roth

Styclar Street Team!

The Styclar Street Team is essentially bloggers and readers who are fans of the story, and wish to declare and spread their love for Styclar!

MEMBERS
Want to become a member of the Styclar Street Team? We'd love to have you!

If you've read Lailah, enjoyed the story, and want to get involved, simply take a selfie with your copy of the book, and tweet it with the following hashtag: #StyclarStreetTeam

Be sure to also email the photo direct to Nikki — nikki@thestyclarsaga.com and your awesome selfie will be uploaded to the Street Team page of The Styclar Saga website! (www.thestyclarsaga.com)

Check out the page to grab buttons for your site, find out about how you can participate in the latest spreading the Styclar word activities' and enter special giveaways!

Nikki's going on the Fierce Reads Tour in October! Want to meet her? Check out the stops here: http://fiercereads.com/

About the Author:

NIKKI KELLY was born and raised only minutes away from the chocolately scent of Cadbury World in Birmingham, England. Lailah was first launched to wattpad, an online readers and writers community. Within six months, the novel had over one million reads. Lailah is Nikki’s debut novel, and the first book in The Styclar Saga. She lives in London with her husband and their dogs, Alfie (a pug) and Goose (a Chihuahua).

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