GCReading

A CHILD FATED TO START A WAR.
A LOVE SHE’LL RISK EVERYTHING TO PROTECT.

Set in New 2, a dangerous and lush alternate New Orleans, the fourth book in Keaton’s Gods & Monsters series, finds the God-killer Ari and Mistborn Sebastian on the hunt for Archer, infant son of Athena, a child fated to bring about the Blood Wars, the ultimate showdown between the gods and the monsters they created, a war that will trap mankind in the middle of a destructive conflict thousands of years in the making.

As Ari and Sebastian attempt to rescue the child, forces pull them apart, sending Sebastian on a perilous journey to the desert sands of Egypt and into the lair of a dark, enthralling entity, and Ari to the Halls of Olympus and, darker still, the very heart of the Underworld where Death awaits with a bargain that brings Ari’s worst nightmares into sharp and heart wrenching focus.

 The Dark Mother’s power crept over him like a heavy black sludge, sinking into his pores, snaking around the inside of his skull and into his brain, eating away his will and self control.

“Come closer,” she said.

God, that voice . . . her lure, her scent, her unbelievable ability to inspire in him devotion, loyalty, and desire was so strong he wanted to weep.

Mine.

She was his and he’d kill anyone who got close to her. The magnitude of that thought, the utter faith and strength of it made him stumble back and shake his head. He blinked hard. Sweat beaded on his skin. He saw a flash of surprise in Phillip’s gaze. Saw the advisor’s brows knit with worry.

Yeah, he was pretty sure not many vamps stepped back when the Dark Mother said come closer.

As he stayed there, shaking from the weight of her lure, trying to regain control and force her dirty drug from his system, he saw her creepy eyes light with curiosity. No, they sparked, ignited. She stilled like the predator she was. Her hands gripped the sides of her cold throne and she leaned forward slightly. Eagerly.

And then she was on him, slamming into him so hard he flew back with her clutched to him, her nails digging into his arms as he hit the ground hard. Pain exploded through his neck as she sank long, ancient fangs into his skin and muscle and vein.

She angled his head to the side, holding it down hard against the floor, her palm flat against his forehead, her nails ripping into his scalp and skin as she drank.

Her presence, her power suffocated him. It was too much. He was overdosing. Losing it. She was sucking him dry. Every tug of her mouth and every movement she made against his skin elicited a bewildering mix of wild need and deep stomach-clenching disgust.

Everything in him fought. He squirmed under her, fighting to be free, yet his hands were gripping her hips tightly, pulling her closer.

His delirious gaze flew to her court as they watched in total shock.

No one was going to save him. He was alone on a sinking ship. And his fate was sealed. Just as it had been sealed with Athena’s vampire servant Zaria, who’d tortured him relentlessly. Never a chance, never a choice. Neither one gave him a choice. He’d killed Zaria, killed her good. He ground his hips against the Dark Mother. Pleasure shot through him. He’d kill her, too, kill her dead and good.

Her hair brushed over his face. It smelled so good and yet in another instant it reeked of sweat, blood, and years of oil and dirt.

Jesus. What was on him? Eating him alive...

A shot of fear plugged him in the heart and he lurched against her, all his faculties returning in a blinding moment of reality. He screamed, a guttural roar, as if fear itself had reached down and yanked it out of the deepest part of him.

And then he was fading again, sinking, being sucked down into the vortex of a beautiful lie.

She was all lies.

And he loved her so much.

Such was the power of his goddess, his Dark Mother.

He closed his eyes and let his muscles go slack, accepting her love.

Kelly is a multi-published author with nine novels currently in print. She writes the YA series, Gods & Monsters (Simon & Schuster), and the Charlie Madigan urban fantasy series (Pocket Books), which are written as Kelly Gay. She is a two-time RITA® Finalist, an ARRA nominee, a Goodreads Choice Award finalist, and has landed on the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance's Okra Picks list. Kelly is also a recipient of North Carolina Arts Council's fellowship grant in Literature. She lives in NC with her family.

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When college freshman Rowan Michaels meets gorgeous, up-and-coming rock star Adam Everest, she knows a player like him is the last thing she needs after her ex-boyfriend shattered her heart. But she can't stop thinking about the kiss they shared on his tour bus.

On the first day of school, Rowan is stunned when Adam saunters into her French class. He's soon failing miserably, and, on a whim, she offers to tutor him. But Adam doesn't recognize her as a makeup-free, glasses-clad college student—a far cry from the beautiful, mysterious "Peach" he met at his concert.

During a wild weekend on tour with the band, Rowan can't help falling for the sweet guy buried beneath Adam's rocker persona. Yet she knows she could never compete with the girls constantly throwing themselves at his feet. She'd just end up hurt … again.

Peach is all Adam thinks about, though, and when Rowan realizes this, she has a decision to make: stay just friends to protect her fragile heart … or reveal the truth about the night they met and admit she's fallen completely, hopelessly in love with him.

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Let me start by saying that Mayhem took me by surprise. I started reading it with the intention of just reading a couple of pages to get a feel for the author’s writing, the characters, and then come back to it another time, but instead I ended up finishing it the same day. It’s a fast read. I also want to add that I am completely burned out on New Adult Contemporary, so being able to finish this story says a lot. I can’t even begin to tell you how many books I’ve started that are Contemporary New Adult and I quit mid book. Not that they are horrible, but it all just starts to read the same. I do have some issues with MAYHEM, but I will get to that in a bit.

The story kicks off with girl is out with her best friend, best friend gives her a make-over, tells her to live a little, etc. You get the gist, right? I immediately thought, here we go… goodie goodie falls for bad boy rocker. Bad boy rocker has some kind of past he can’t deal with and pushes her away, blah, blah, blah. But nope! It was a lot more than that, and a lot better than I was expecting.

Rowan’s night goes from okay to horrible in just minutes. I was a bit iffy on if I would like Rowan or not. Her reaction to what she just witnessed was not a normal one. At least not in my world. I wouldn’t have just sat back and eaten it the way she did. It really bugged me the way she handled things in the beginning. To me it just wasn’t real. However, this leads her to Adam. Adam is everything you would expect of a bad boy rocker. Drinks, sleeps around, parties, and just lives his life on the edge. However, Jamie Shaw didn't not go overboard on his personality. He wasn't disrespectful or abusive to woman in any way. I think I would have thrown my kindle if he was. He sort of had a clean attitude about things. He had his fun, but kept everything cool and wasn't too crazy.

Adam and Peach meet at this club, and immediately there is a connection. Peach (Rowan) turns to Adam for a quick, but sort of clean hook-up. She just wanted to forget what happened, and knew Adam would do the job. What she didn't expect was that Adam would forever be hooked on her after that night.

Stepping back into her normal life, Rowan did not expect to see him ever again. When she does, it's in her french class. Adam has no idea that Rowan is Peach, and actually ignores her for like a quarter of the book. It isn't until Rowan puts herself in a situation where she is forced on the road with Adam and to tutor him in French, and help him pass his classes.

This is where the story really got interesting for me. I loved EVERYTHING about Rowan and Adam while on the road. I laughed so much! I loved that Rowan was a goodie, goodie, but she sure as hell had a mouth on her. The girl defended herself, and even though there was some back forth between her and Adam, when made up her mind about something, she stuck with it.

My issues with the story are that till the very end, the characters felt a little younger than what they were supposed to be. At times I felt like I was reading a young adult. I know that new adult isn't too far from the whole young adult years, but there were times that they felt a lot younger than eighteen.

Another issue I had was that I don't think there really was any closure to Rowan's huge dilemma. The beginning of the book she gets slapped in the face with the truth, and yet, she ignores it for almost the entire book. Doesn't really face the issue. I honestly don't know what was the point of adding all the extra stuff, when she treated it like it was over and done with. Maybe it's just me, and I missed something, but I don't get the point of it all except that she met Adam.

Aside from that, I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the next!

Paperback, 416 pages
Expected publication: February 3rd 2015
by NAL Trade

The emotional and unforgettable new romance from the New York Times bestselling author of the On Dublin Street series.

Alexa Holland’s father was her hero—until her shocking discovery that her mother and she weren’t his only family. Ever since, Alexa has worked to turn her life in a different direction and forge her own identity outside of his terrible secrets. But when she meets a man who’s as damaged by her father’s mistakes as she is, Alexa must help him.

Caine Carraway wants nothing to do with Alexa’s efforts at redemption, but it’s not so easy to push her away. Determined to make her hate him, he brings her to the edge of her patience and waits for her to walk away. But his actions only draw them together and, despite the odds, they begin an intense and explosive affair.

Only Caine knows he can never be the white knight that Alexa has always longed for. And when they’re on the precipice of danger, he finds he’ll do anything to protect either one of them from being hurt again...

I promise the minute you read the first page you will not be able to put HERO down for a second!!!

The story immediately starts with drama. Sexy drama!

Alexa’s life completely changes within one chapter. The one person she should not be standing in the same room with is only a couple of feet away from her. She tries to keep her cool and just go about her business as if nothing, but all that accomplishes is attracting Caine’s attention. I loved how Samantha Young set Caine and Alexa’s story up. I had made so many predications by reading just the first couple of pages, but by the end of chapter one, I already knew this story was not going to go in the direction I thought it was.

You find out in Chapter one who Caine is to Alexa, and what type of history they (sort of) have. Once Caine realizes who Alexa really is, he immediately cuts all ties with her. Despite the way things end in the beginning for Caine and Alexa, she still decides to try and at least explain her side of the story to him. Without giving away any spoilers, Alexa’s father has caused some serious damage to Caine. Alexa knows saying sorry really isn’t going to make things better for Caine, but if she could at least show him that she isn’t her father, and in fact, she hates her father just as much as he does, then maybe she will find some sort of peace. And that is exactly what Alexa sets out to do. She hunts Caine down and doesn’t stop until he hears her out.

Mind you, this is all in like the first two chapters. Loved it!

All it took Alexa was one visit to Caine’s office for these two to go down a path they both never come off of. Their chemistry bled off the pages. I literally laughed out loud at how stupid they were being, but yet so cute. Their relationship was hot and steamy, romantic, but also a little cheesy. There was a lot of back and forth for a while, but the end result was worth it. They were both dealing with an issue that has forever scarred them, but being together they were slowly healing one another. It was so sweet!

I will say, there was a part of the story that I wish Samantha never added. Caine has a past that came out of left field. At least it did for me. It also reminded me of another book that I will not name. When I came to this part of the story, it sort of took away some of the excitement for me. But, because it’s Samantha Young, I kept reading and in the end I really enjoyed this story. She throws in a nice twist that completely changes the pace of the story, but doesn’t take away from Alexa and Caine.

As always, another great read from Samantha Young! I look forward to her next book! I am sure it’s going to rock!

Set in a terrifyingly brutal Rome-like world, An Ember in the Ashes is an epic fantasy debut about an orphan fighting for her family and a soldier fighting for his freedom. It’s a story that’s literally burning to be told.

LAIA is a Scholar living under the iron-fisted rule of the Martial Empire. When her brother is arrested for treason, Laia goes undercover as a slave at the empire’s greatest military academy in exchange for assistance from rebel Scholars who claim that they will help to save her brother from execution.

ELIAS is the academy’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias is considering deserting the military, but before he can, he’s ordered to participate in a ruthless contest to choose the next Martial emperor.

When Laia and Elias’s paths cross at the academy, they find that their destinies are more intertwined than either could have imagined and that their choices will change the future of the empire itself.

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Hey GCReaders!


Where are all our J.R. Ward fans?

We just got a pretty exciting e-mail this morning with some awesome news on a BRAND NEW Contemporary series coming in 2015 by J.R Ward called THE BOURBON KINGS.

In Beacon Heights, Washington, five girls—Ava, Caitlin, Mackenzie, Julie, and Parker—know that you don’t have to be good to be perfect. At first the girls think they have nothing in common, until they realize that they all hate Nolan Hotchkiss, who’s done terrible things to each of them. They come up with the perfect way to kill him—a hypothetical murder, of course. It’s just a joke...until Nolan turns up dead, in exactly the way they planned. Only, they didn’t do it. And unless they find the real killer, their perfect lives will come crashing down around them.

From Sara Shepard, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Pretty Little Liars series, comes another story of dark secrets, shocking twists, and what happens when five beautiful girls will do anything to hide the ugly truth.

On the morning of Nov 6th Sara Shepard will be chatting with the read-along hosts and YOU! Stay tuned for an exact time and hashtag, to be released soon!

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