The Veil Blog Tour

Seven years ago, the Veil that separates us from what lies beyond was torn apart, and New Orleans was engulfed in a supernatural war. Now, those with paranormal powers have been confined in a walled community that humans call the District. Those who live there call it Devil’s Isle.
Claire Connolly is a good girl with a dangerous secret: she’s a Sensitive, a human endowed with magic that seeped through the Veil. Claire knows that revealing her skills would mean being confined to Devil’s Isle. Unfortunately, hiding her power has left her untrained and unfocused…
Liam Quinn knows from experience that magic makes monsters of the weak, and he has no time for a Sensitive with no control of her own strength. But when he sees Claire using her powers to save a human under attack — in full view of the French Quarter — Liam decides to bring her to Devil’s Isle and the teacher she needs—even though getting her out of his way isn’t the same as keeping her out of his head.
As more and more Sensitives fall prey to their magic, and unleash their hunger on the city, Claire and Liam must work together to save New Orleans, or else the city will burn…

Pre-Order The Veil: 

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Powells | Books-A-Million | Kobo | Indiebound

The fun doesn’t stop here. Want more chances to win? You can also enter THE VEIL Grand Prize Giveaway, which runs July 27 through August 7 on Chloe’s web site.
What is the Grand Prize Giveaway prize?

• Fleur de Lis Amulet Pendant Necklace from New Orleans jewelry designer Mignon Faget
• $50 Amazon Gift Card
• THE VEIL 5″x5″ cloth screenwipe
• THE VEIL tote bag
• THE VEIL bookmark, sticker, and pen
• Chicagoland Vampires bookmark, sticker, pen, keychain, and lanyard

Review is yet to come . . .
I'd just finished the book and after a long day of traveling, I couldn't force out a review without having the time to really digest the whole book while I wrote the review. 
 
On a Side note: The Veil had a distinct and different theme from what I'd normally read and while I had been meaning to start the Chicagoland Vampires also by Chloe Neill I hadn't yet. The Veil was set in New Orleans and the way Chloe paid close attention to locations of the city, made me felt like I was in the City. 

 

THE VEIL Blog Tour Schedule

Week One
Monday, July 27 – SassyCat’s Book Review | Paranormally Yours
Tuesday, July 28 – Fantasy Is More Fun | Reaffirming My Bookworm Status
Wednesday, July 29 – YA Book Nerd | Happiness is a Book
Thursday, July 30 – Star Crossed Book Blog | Dandelionn Wine Book Blog | The Book Swarm
Friday, July 31 – Parajunkee | All Books Considered | Wild Wordy Women | Professional Fan Girls

Week Two
Monday, August 3 – Dark Faerie Tales (Deadly Destinations Event) | Creative House Blog | True Bookies Review | Andrea Heltsley
Tuesday, August 4 – Reed’s Reads & Review | The Saucy Wenches | My Lifes, Loves and Passion
Wednesday, August 5 – Bad Bird Reads
Thursday, August 6 – Booklovers for Life | Spines & Covers
Friday, August 7 – The Book Nympho (Stomp v. Romp)

Hide & Seek: Beauty & the Werewolf

Beauty and the Werewolf by Kristin Miller San Francisco Wolf Pack #2 

Publication Date: August 2015 

Genres: Paranormal, Romance

 

Synopsis

Unmated werewolves don’t normally live past three hundred years old...and billionaire Jack MacGrath is cutting it close. Sure, he has almost everything—the respect of his peers, a mansion in San Francisco, a private jet, and fast cars. But without a mate, Jack's in trouble. Then he sees her. Gorgeous, proud...and his enemy.

Isabelle Connelly is good at hiding things from her father. Like her success as a painter, or the incredibly intense attraction she has to Jack MacGrath. After all, she's royalty and falling for anyone lesser—to say nothing of a rival pack—would be, er, unseemly. Now she must choose between her duty to her family and her pack...or her perfect fated mate.

About Kristin Miller

New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Kristin Miller writes sweet and sassy contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and paranormal romance of all varieties. Kristin has degrees in psychology, English, and education, and taught high school and middle school English before crossing over to a career in writing. She lives in Northern California with her alpha male husband and their two children. She loves chocolate way more than she should and the gym less. You can usually find her in the corner of a coffee shop, laptop in front of her and mocha in hand, using the guests around her as fuel for her next book.

Website • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Catty Chat: Books I left behind

It's been awhile since I did an Catty Chat Meme, mostly because there hadn't been anything to really be catty about. But Now I have a wonderful topic but also a wonderful disappointment because it's about books that I left behind.

Books I left behind means books that I had planned to read but never got around to and it's just sitting in my kindle. 

But mostly on my kindle is where I left behind . . .

Iron Pendulum by Megan Curd

 

I had anticipated this book for so long, however when it came time to get the book . . . I just got really side-tracked with Life and never bothered to read it. So now it's nearly on the bottom of my Kindle books list because I haven't opened it in a long time. I will have to reread Steel Lily and then read Iron Pendulum, the cover is beautiful isn't it? And I think it fits perfectly for this year UtopYA which is time travel.

Lucidity by Stephanie Thomas

 

Now I did really DID read this book, but I never got around to do an review so I have to reread it. 

Sun Damage by Nikki Rae

 I KNOW I read this book, but why hadn't I review it?

Take Me On by Katie McGarry

 

I love Katie's books, and I know I read this book and the review is just sitting in my drafts but I read this book so long ago that I can't remember certain details about the characters or what made me fall in love with them. 

Opposition by Jennifer L Armentrout

 

Okay same excuses, i read it, did a partial review but now I need to reread it again and with this being the final book I'm sure I'll have the same reaction like I did when I read it the first time.

Family Secrets by Kat Nichols
 

It's the same old same old, I read and then I don't write a FREAKING REVIEW!

Amulet of Destiny by Katie Lynn Johnson


I read the book like months ago and yet I still didn't write an review.

Two Author Request Books that I haven't started yet
 


Netgallery Requests
 

I've left behind a few Netgallery requests because I just requests too much and I can't read fast enough. I do prefer physical books over ebooks so that's part of it.

Now I do plan to read Heather Hildenbrand's Clone Chronicles books and Denise Grover Swank Curse Defiers and This is Your Destiny but I just haven't gotten around to it and they aren't far far away from when I requested the titles. 

Newly Requested on Netgallery


Also a couples other titles by Stacey Kennedy, but I've read those and there's may be some that still need to be reviewed. 

Netgallery Requested but Won Physical Copy

So what's my dilemma as far as reading these titles? Well one its that same scenarios where every readers hit, there''s a title out there that you HAVE TO READ!!! Then those other books get shifted down the ladder of what's the next book to read?

I'm thinking about and have tread this idea of where I won't accept any more requests from authors because There's about 15 draft reviews of books that I've read and wrote partial reviews but its not completed.  Plus once school starts back up, who knows when I'll have time if I have time. I know I'll read because that's a stress reliever but to Review? UGH I don't know. 

I've also consider taking a hiatus, I'm not active as much on my blog so people will probably think I'm already on a hiatus but I guess you could say that. I'm opened to sharing any promotions for authors because they now contact me through my facebook page. 

As a reader/Blogger/Reviewer, the whole reviewing and blogging aspect have gotten much more tasking for me to do and it shouldn't be that way but it is. I'll review and blog when I can, it' something that can't be forced on me anymore and I need to take time to really enjoy just reading the books than reading it to review it. 

Book Review: The Stars Never Rise

The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent

Sixteen-year-old Nina Kane should be worrying about her immortal soul, but she's too busy trying to actually survive. Her town's population has been decimated by soul-consuming demons, and souls are in short supply. Watching over her younger sister, Mellie, and scraping together food and money are all that matters. The two of them are a family. They gave up on their deadbeat mom a long time ago.

When Nina discovers that Mellie is keeping a secret that threatens their very existence, she'll do anything to protect her. Because in New Temperance, sins are prosecuted as crimes by the brutal Church and its army of black-robed exorcists. And Mellie's sin has put her in serious trouble.

To keep them both alive, Nina will need to trust Finn, a fugitive with deep green eyes who has already saved her life once and who might just be an exorcist. But what kind of exorcist wears a hoodie?

Wanted by the Church and hunted by dark forces, Nina knows she can't survive on her own. She needs Finn and his group of rogue friends just as much as they need her.

Hardcover, 368 pages

Published June 9th 2015 by Delacorte Press

Review

You abide to the Church, you confess your sins, you repent yours sins.

If you commit a sin keep it discreet . . . OR ELSE

Nina Kane grew up thinking that she would devote herself to the Church but then something happen, something unexplained

She's an EXORCIST, an natural born Exorcist but being just that can get her on the most wanted list

Nina get saved by the mysterious green-eyes FINN but her sister Melanie gets left behind

Now it's a rescue to save her sister before its too late but getting to her will be a little tricky, can Nina save her sister in time? 

What lies under the secrets of the Church?

I give this an 4.5 Cat's Tails Up, Rachel Vincent wrote a wonderful sinful dystopian world for The Stars Never Rise.

MEOW . . . MEOW . . . MEOW

Whoo! The book is out and of course it made it on the top to read reading list, and I'm glad I made this book a priority.

So what did I think?!?! Rachel wrote a world where even I was terrified! And a whole bunch of demon possessing going around. It has a mixture of Supernatural and The Walking Dead in a good way.

Nina Kane is an 16 year old girl whose about to get the biggest realization about the Church and herself, Nina was about ready to devote herself to the Church until her younger sister Melanie gets KNOCKED UP, while they scrap for items and food. The last thing Nina need is her sister getting knocked up, and with their mother slowly declining in health only to find out that their mother is a DEMON!!!

The realization kicks in where your Demon mother has had plans for you and having it all fall through the cracks raise up ugly stuff. Nina defends her sister and attack their demon mom only when Nina is about to lose the fight, an strange glow lights up from her hands and the demon mother is no more.

Then the mysterious Green-eye exorcist appears that save her a few nights ago from a dengerate and now at her house. He tells her that she need to leave her sister behind and come with him, but how can you leave your sister for a stranger? Nina runs with the mysterious Green-Eye . . .

Who is this mysterious Green-Eye Boy?

Well first his name is just AWESOME! And his name is FINN.

Mysterious is the correct word to describe Finn but he's also very compassionate towards everyone he's around especially with Nina BUT Finn is a whole different kind of individual to describe. I think many people will love Finn when they read The Stars Never Rises but they'll be left wondering one thing about him. Something extremely unique.

The world that Rachel built is so beyond scary and wonderfully done, with everything being run by the Church. You abide to the Church rules or get Anathema. If you are under suspicious of demon possession, you are taken in to the Church and is "Exorcist" but there's a greater problem that lies within the Church.

YOU ARE NOT SAFE WITH THE CHURCH!!!!!!

With a small group that Finn is with along with Nina now, she learn the truth and turns out the only places that are considered "safe" is the badlands where tons of demons, dengerates lies. But it's their only option to get away from the corrupt Church. What will they face once they enter the Badlands? More Anathemas, more exorcists? More Demons?

I can't wait for The Flame Never Dies!!!!! On another note, the cover for The Stars Never Rise is beautiful and I honestly envision book two of a butterfly in flames or flame colors.

Book Review: All Played Out

All Played Out (Rusk University #3) by Cora Carmack\

First person in her family to go to college? CHECK.
Straight A’s? CHECK.
On track to graduate early? CHECK.
Social life? …..yeah, about that….

With just a few weeks until she graduates, Antonella DeLuca’s beginning to worry that maybe she hasn’t had the full college experience. (Okay... Scratch that. She knows she hasn't had the full college experience).

So Nell does what a smart, dedicated girl like herself does best. She makes a "to do" list of normal college activities.

Item #1? Hook up with a jock.

Rusk University wide receiver Mateo Torres practically wrote the playbook for normal college living. When he’s not on the field, he excels at partying, girls, and more partying. As long as he keeps things light and easy, it's impossible to get hurt... again. But something about the quiet, shy, sexy-as-hell Nell gets under his skin, and when he learns about her list, he makes it his mission to help her complete it.

Torres is the definition of confident (And sexy. And wild), and he opens up a side of Nell that she's never known. But as they begin to check off each crazy, exciting, normal item, Nell finds that her frivolous list leads to something more serious than she bargained for. And while Torres is used to taking risks on the field, he has to decide if he's willing to take the chance when it's more than just a game.

Together they will have to decide if what they have is just part of the experiment or a chance at something real. 

Paperback, 320 pages

Published May 12th 2015 by William Morrow & Company

Review

The bucket list that started it all . . .

Nell is the quirky focused college girl who doesn't have much experiences in LIFE, so in order to change that she created her own bucket list. 

Mateo is the jock that everyone wants their hands on, but nobody ever stood out to him except and until Nell came along. 

With Nell wanting to experiences a lot of FIRSTS, Mateo is determine to make sure that all of her FIRSTS goes right, including her most intimate ones.

During the time they share together . . . there's just might be something that either one of them expected. 

Falling in Love . . .

I give this 4.5 Cat's Tail Up! Cora's writing is impeccable! I really can't believe that I'd never pick up her book until now. A Bucket list that started it all. 

 

MEOW . . . MEOW . . . MEOW

First off the writing is unbelievable! Cora writes as if she's is the age her characters are, Nell and Mateo are two polar opposite. Girl genius vs Jock. 

Now myself as a reader/blogger I am too an college student but I never lived in dorms and I never went to colleges parties because yeah it's not my scene at all. Nell is sort of the same way but then she goes making a list of things to do before she graduates. To add some life experiences, that's where Mateo comes along . . . Sort of but he did come with a warning.

Mateo is very athletic and I don't think when I read the book, there was a mention to what college degree he was studying. So is he smart? Geeky? Which I don't see. Or average? I don't know! But he certainly knows a lot about doing Firsts. 

Having your first drink

Having your first time 

Having your first keg stand 

Let's just say a lot of firsts . . . Especially for Nell.

Nell and Mateo don't really know what's to expect between each other and with Mateo pushing all the buttons Nell has and helping her with her bucket list you wonder what else will get added on.

All Played Out has all of that opposite attracts chemistry, even more so Mateo who's a jock actually like girls like Nell. With this "relationship" moving so fast, is the fire going to burn out?

Between finding out about how sexy a library can be, skinny dippy, and Nell having her first time that there could be something real between Mateo and Nell but sometimes their differences in life can ruin that. When Mateo finds out about Nell's graduating, he realizes that he may only have a short time with her and when he started putting his own health at risks Nell doesn't think she could be with someone who is only thinking about sport as a logical career.

Maybe somethings aren't meant to last . . .

Nell took the risk of creating a bucket list, but she really didn't think that
A. She would fall In love.
B. Get her heartbroken.
 
and

C. Wants it all back again.

The ending of this book was bittersweet, both Nell and Mateo want it all back! These two I think deserve to be getting engaged in the future, having their own place together, and having a lot more firsts.

Top 10 Tuesday: Anticipating Releases

It's another Tuesday! and that means it's time for Top 10 Tuesday meme hosted by The Broke and Bookish. Today topic is Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases For the Rest of 2015

Thirty-Five and a Half Conspiracies by Denise Grover Swank 

No Synopsis yet

Released date plan is November 2015

Six of Crows (The Dregs #1) by Leigh Bardugo 

Game of Thrones meets Ocean's Eleven in this brand-new book in the world of the Grisha by New York Times-bestselling author Leigh Bardugo.

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone...

A convict with a thirst for revenge.

A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.

A runaway with a privileged past.

A spy known as the Wraith.

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don't kill each other first. 

Hardcover, 480 pages

Expected publication: September 29th 2015 by Henry Holt and Company 

Every Last Breath (The Dark Elements #3) by Jeniffer L. Armetrout 

Some loves will last ’til your dying breath

Every choice has consequences—but seventeen-year-old Layla faces tougher choices than most. Light or darkness. Wickedly sexy demon prince Roth, or Zayne, the gorgeous, protective Warden she never thought could be hers. Hardest of all, Layla has to decide which side of herself to trust.

Layla has a new problem, too. A Lilin—the deadliest of demons—has been unleashed, wreaking havoc on those around her…including her best friend. To keep Sam from a fate much, much worse than death, Layla must strike a deal with the enemy while saving her city—and her race—from destruction.

Torn between two worlds and two different boys, Layla has no certainties, least of all survival, especially when an old bargain comes back to haunt them all. But sometimes, when secrets are everywhere and the truth seems unknowable, you have to listen to your heart, pick a side—and then fight like hell...

Paperback, 400 pages

Expected publication: July 28th 2015 by Harlequin Teen 

The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent

Sixteen-year-old Nina Kane should be worrying about her immortal soul, but she's too busy trying to actually survive. Her town's population has been decimated by soul-consuming demons, and souls are in short supply. Watching over her younger sister, Mellie, and scraping together food and money are all that matters. The two of them are a family. They gave up on their deadbeat mom a long time ago.

When Nina discovers that Mellie is keeping a secret that threatens their very existence, she'll do anything to protect her. Because in New Temperance, sins are prosecuted as crimes by the brutal Church and its army of black-robed exorcists. And Mellie's sin has put her in serious trouble.

To keep them both alive, Nina will need to trust Finn, a fugitive with deep green eyes who has already saved her life once and who might just be an exorcist. But what kind of exorcist wears a hoodie?

Wanted by the Church and hunted by dark forces, Nina knows she can't survive on her own. She needs Finn and his group of rogue friends just as much as they need her.

Hardcover, 368 pages

Expected publication: June 9th 2015 by Delacorte Press 

Menagerie (Menagerie #1) by Rachel Vincent

From New York Times bestselling author Rachel Vincent comes a richly imagined, provocative new series set in the dark mythology of the Menagerie…

When Delilah Marlow visits a famous traveling carnival, Metzger's Menagerie, she is an ordinary woman in a not-quite-ordinary world. But under the macabre circus black-top, she discovers a fierce, sharp-clawed creature lurking just beneath her human veneer. Captured and put on exhibition, Delilah in her black swan burlesque costume is stripped of her worldly possessions, including her own name, as she's forced to "perform" in town after town.

But there is breathtaking beauty behind the seamy and grotesque reality of the carnival. Gallagher, her handler, is as kind as he is cryptic and strong. The other "attractions"—mermaids, minotaurs, gryphons and kelpies—are strange, yes, but they share a bond forged by the brutal realities of captivity. And as Delilah struggles for her freedom, and for her fellow menagerie, she'll discover a strength and a purpose she never knew existed.

Renowned author Rachel Vincent weaves an intoxicating blend of carnival magic and startling humanity in this intricately woven and powerful tale. 

Paperback, 400 pages

Expected publication: September 29th 2015 by MIRA 

The Veil (Devil's Isle #1) by Chloe Neill 

Seven years ago, the Veil that separates humanity from what lies beyond was torn apart, and New Orleans was engulfed in a supernatural war. Now, those with paranormal powers have been confined in a walled community that humans call the District. Those who live there call it Devil's Isle.

Claire Connolly is a good girl with a dangerous secret: she’s a Sensitive, a human endowed with magic that seeped through the Veil. Claire knows that revealing her skills would mean being confined to Devil’s Isle. Unfortunately, hiding her power has left her untrained and unfocused.

Liam Quinn knows from experience that magic makes monsters of the weak, and he has no time for a Sensitive with no control of her own strength. But when he sees Claire using her powers to save a human under attack—in full view of the French Quarter—Liam decides to bring her to Devil’s Isle and the teacher she needs, even though getting her out of his way isn’t the same as keeping her out of his head.

But when the Veil threatens to shatter completely, Claire and Liam must work together to stop it, or else New Orleans will burn…

Paperback, 336 pages

Expected publication: August 4th 2015 by NAL Trade 

Hotel Ruby by Suzanne Young 

Stay Tonight. Stay Forever.

When Audrey Casella arrives for an unplanned stay at the grand Hotel Ruby, she’s grateful for the detour. Just months after their mother’s death, Audrey and her brother, Daniel, are on their way to live with their grandmother, dumped on the doorstep of a DNA-matched stranger because their father is drowning in his grief.

Audrey and her family only plan to stay the night, but life in the Ruby can be intoxicating, extending their stay as it provides endless distractions—including handsome guest Elias Lange, who sends Audrey’s pulse racing. However, the hotel proves to be as strange as it is beautiful. Nightly fancy affairs in the ballroom are invitation only, and Audrey seems to be the one guest who doesn't have an invite. Instead, she joins the hotel staff on the rooftop, catching whispers about the hotel’s dark past.

The more Audrey learns about the new people she's met, the more her curiosity grows. She’s torn in different directions—the pull of her past with its overwhelming loss, the promise of a future that holds little joy, and an in-between life in a place that is so much more than it seems…

Welcome to the Ruby. 

Hardcover, 288 pages

Expected publication: November 3rd 2015 by Simon Pulse 

The Masked Truth by Kelley Armstrong

 
Riley Vasquez is haunted by the brutal murder of the couple she was babysitting for.

Max Cross is suffering under the shadow of a life-altering diagnosis he doesn’t dare reveal.

The last thing either of them wants is to spend a weekend away at a therapy camp alongside five other teens with “issues.” But that’s exactly where they are when three masked men burst in to take the group hostage.

The building has no windows. The exits are sealed shut. Their phones are gone. And their captors are on a killing spree.

Riley and Max know that if they can’t get out, they’ll be next—but they’re about to find out that even escape doesn’t equal freedom.

Hardcover, 320 pages

Expected publication: October 13th 2015 by Doubleday Canada

Passenger (Passenger #1) by Alexandra Bracken

Violin prodigy Etta Spencer had big plans for her future, but a tragedy has put her once-bright career at risk. Closely tied to her musical skill, however, is a mysterious power she doesn't even know she has. When her two talents collide during a stressful performance, Etta is drawn back hundreds of years through time.

Etta wakes, confused and terrified, in 1776, in the midst a fierce sea battle. Nicholas Carter, the handsome young prize master of a privateering ship, has been hired to retrieve Etta and deliver her unharmed to the Ironwoods, a powerful family in the Colonies--the very same one that orchestrated her jump back, and one Nicholas himself has ties to. But discovering she can time travel is nothing compared to the shock of discovering the true reason the Ironwoods have ensnared her in their web.

Another traveler has stolen an object of untold value from them, and, if Etta can find it, they will return her to her own time. Out of options, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the mysterious traveler. But as they draw closer to each other and the end of their search, the true nature of the object, and the dangerous game the Ironwoods are playing, comes to light -- threatening to separate her not only from Nicholas, but her path home... forever. 

Hardcover, 464 pages

Expected publication: January 5th 2016 by Disney-Hyperion

Riders (Riders #1) By Victoria Rossi 

For eighteen-year-old Gideon Blake, nothing but death can keep him from achieving his goal of becoming a U.S. Army Ranger. As it turns out, it does.
Recovering from the accident that most definitely killed him, Gideon finds himself with strange new powers and a bizarre cuff he can’t remove. His death has brought to life his real destiny. He has become War, one of the legendary four horsemen of the apocalypse.
Over the coming weeks, he and the other horsemen—Conquest, Famine and Death—are brought together by a beautiful but frustratingly secretive girl to help save humanity from an ancient evil on the emergence.
They fail.
Now—bound, bloodied, and drugged—Gideon is interrogated by the authorities about his role in a battle that has become an international incident. If he stands any chance of saving his friends and the girl he’s fallen for—not to mention all of humankind—he needs to convince the skeptical government officials the world is in imminent danger.
But will anyone believe him?

Hardcover, 384 pages

Expected publication: February 2nd 2016 by Tor Teen