[Blog Tour] Shudder by Samantha Durante: Review + Excerpt + Giveaway

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Shudder (Stitch #2) by Samantha Durante

Release Date: June 15th, 2013

Publisher: Self-Published

Format: Paperback

Pages: 348

Source: Author, in exchange for an honest review

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Amazon/ B&N/ Goodreads

Goodreads Synopsis:

-- Book 2 in the Stitch Trilogy --

It's only been three days, and already everything is different.

Paragon is behind her, but somehow Alessa's life may actually have gotten worse. In a wrenching twist of fate, she traded the safety and companionship of her sister for that of her true love, losing a vital partner she'd counted on for the ordeal ahead. Her comfortable university life is but a distant memory, as she faces the prospect of surviving a bleak winter on the meager remains of a ravaged world. And if she'd thought she'd tasted fear upon seeing a ghost, she was wrong; now she's discovering new depths of terror while being hunted by a deadly virus and a terrifying pack of superhuman creatures thirsting for blood.

And then there are the visions.

The memory-altering "stitch" unlocked something in Alessa's mind, and now she can't shake the constant flood of alien feelings ransacking her emotions. Haunting memories of an old flame are driving a deep and painful rift into her once-secure relationship. And a series of staggering revelations about the treacherous Engineers - and the bone-chilling deceit shrouding her world's sorry history - will soon leave Alessa reeling...

The second installment in the electrifying Stitch Trilogy, Shudder follows Samantha Durante's shocking and innovative debut with a heart-pounding, paranormal-dusted dystopian adventure sure to keep the pages turning.

 

Review:

The Story

I liked this story a lot. In a way much more than the other one because we are able to get a little more dystopian goodness this time around. But I will say that missed the crazy twist ending from that last end. Really through me off!

The Writing

The writing is great as always! And now that its in a different setting (than a college) it makes  more sense and fits more.

The Characters

I really like that we get to know the characters better this time around. Which really helps with the alternative POV's.

I like to know my heroines and I really got to know Alessa better this time around. Which was great because one negative factor for me from  Stitch was that I really had was indifferent towards the characters.

The Good

List 'em:

1. The writing
2. Improvement on the characters
3. More adventure and dystopianess? (I know, that's not a word)

4. Creative
The Bad

List 'em:

1. Slow sometimes
2. Like to get into characters more

My Final Thoughts

Good Book! I do recommend. Though it was better than the first although if you don't read the first book you be very much behind :)

Excerpt:

 

The crunch of broken glass outside the dumpster broke Isaac’s train of thought. Alessa looked up at him with alarm and he just held her tighter in his arms, his ears straining to track the movement of the sound.

The noise moved back and forth, back and forth, as if someone were pacing only steps away from the dumpster. Isaac held his breath, his pulse pounding in his ears, his skin crawling with every snap reverberating through the empty dumpster.

And then suddenly the noise came faster, like more sets of feet tramping across the pavement in a violent rush. His ears pricked at the intrusion of their snarls and growls, eerily raspy and shrill at the same time. He couldn’t place the sound at all – it was unlike anything he’d ever heard.

Squinting in the darkness, he tipped his head back and strained the muscles in his neck, hoping for a glimpse through the crack in the lid of the predators beyond.

There was a quick flash as a hulking mass darted past the front of dumpster; Isaac jumped, quelling the gasp at his lips. Alessa convulsed under his arms, her face still buried in the front of his coat.

For a moment everything grew quiet. Isaac fought the tingling in his limbs and willed himself a statue, not daring to move or breathe, his senses prickling at the slightest hint. Had the hunters left?

BOOM, BOOM.

The force of whatever had just landed on the lid thundered through the dumpster, the walls and floor ringing with an earthshaking rattle. Isaac and Alessa flinched as one, him bearing down instinctively over her curled, trembling body as the center of the ceiling crumpled inwards under the weight of their attackers.

From above their heads, a magnificent piercing howl penetrated their hiding place, resonating off the walls of the hollow enclosure and chilling Isaac to his core. Any sense of security that Isaac had felt was shattered with that nightmarish wail; whatever it was that wanted them was directly above their heads.

BOOM.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

A series of crashes shook the dumpster from the sides, Isaac and Alessa lurching away from one thunderous bang only to be bombarded from the other side with the next.

BOOM.

Another jolt from above and a savage grating snarl sent Isaac jerking to the floor, his eyes wide with terror as he gaped at the buckling ceiling. This was no wolf, and no cougar – this was something far more dangerous.

He seized Alessa in his arms and said a silent prayer for mercy. The only thing they could do now was wait to live or die.

Giveaway:

Enter the Giveaway HERE!!!

Author Bio:

Samantha Durante lives in Westchester County, New York with her husband, Sudeep, and her

cat, Gio. Formerly an engineer at Microsoft, Samantha left the world of software in 2010 to pursue her entrepreneurial dreams and a lifelong love of writing. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Jerome Fisher Program in Management & Technology, Samantha is currently working full time for her company Medley Media Associates as a freelance business writer and communications consultant. The Stitch Trilogy is her debut series. Learn more about Samantha at www.samanthadurante.com



Haven’t read the first book in the series? Check it out on Amazon and Goodreads. Just $0.99!

[Blog Tour] Marked for Vengeance by S.J. Pierce: Excerpt + Giveaway

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Marked for Vengeance (The Alyx Rayer Chronicles #1) by S.J. Pierce
Release Date: October 10th, 2012

Publisher: Self-Published

Format: ebook

Pages: 339

Amazon/ Goodreads

Goodreads Synopsis:

Alyx Rayer’s existence in Atlanta, the eternally bustling capital of Georgia, is one of routine and blending in among the worker bees. But her ‘normal’ life is actually a façade for a higher calling; she's a three hundred year old soul, encased in a human vessel and sent from the darkness between heaven and Earth to capture her Marked when summoned by her superiors.

During the initial, routine stake-out of her Marked, a dream prophet named Isaac Walsh, Alyx is thrown for an emotional loop when his allure captivates her heart from two rooftops away. The event marks the very instance when her sense of what’s right and what’s wrong is brutally challenged as her contact with him is strictly forbidden.

While already trapped between honor and desire, her emotional struggles are further challenged by a man in a black suit who continually pops up when she least expects it, his presence evoking a strange response from the scar she was branded with at birth. The scar tingles like a warning beacon, alerting her that something is amiss. Because her superiors never told her what this would mean, or much of anything except what to do when they summon, she can only conclude to try and keep her sanity, and her life, from completely shattering to pieces.

This engaging first book of the series is a Paranormal Romance novel interlaced with twists, turns, and thrilling suspense that is sure to satisfy readers of any genre. (Add on Goodreads)

Excerpt

CHAPTER 11: Marked for Vengeance, The Alyx Rayer Chronicles

Isaac zipped the bag closed and rounded the corner to the kitchen, snatching the butcher knife from the counter on his way to the door. When he emerged from behind the cabinets, he halted. Alyx stood in the middle of the living room between the staircase and the sofa, staring through the broken door.

“Where’s my son, bitch?!” he barked. Seeing her there was of no surprise to him now, he had almost expected her to show up.

At the sound of his voice, she spun around. He dropped his bag, pointing the knife in her direction to show that he meant business, her frightening appearance not deterring him in the least. Because she had occupied his dreams for so long, this didn’t seem any different.

Her dark, polished eyes studied him intently as her body positioned into a careful stance, like a lioness sizing her opponent – or her prey – anticipating her next move. Fairly certain that his face didn’t reveal it, he now felt hunted and vulnerable. “Hello again, Isaac,” she said with a caginess to her voice that harmonized with her posture.

The feral tone in her words almost unraveled him. “Do you know where my son is?” he asked again and hoped she hadn’t noticed the crack in his voice.

Her eyebrows pinched together as she searched the flat, his question taking her by surprise. “Your son?”

“Yes, I have a son! Don’t play around with me,” he said, waving the blade violently through the air.

“Why would I know?”

“Well don’t you?!”

Her brows pinched tighter. “I wasn’t aware you had one.”

Oh, I’m sure.

She placed one foot in front of the other, carrying her smoothly in his direction, reminding him again of a feline.“Do you know who I am?”

He jutted the knife toward her. “I know that you look like a demon and that your name is Alyx… is that even your name?”

“Yes,” she said calmly. “But do you know why I’m here?”

She took another indulgent step, and Isaac lunged forward. “I will use this. I’m not playin’ around!”

She fought an amused smile and held up her hands. “I don’t think that will be of much use to you.”

“All I want is my son, so if you can’t help me with that you need to get out of my way,” he said, grabbing the bag he had dropped, and marched for the door.

“You don’t want to do that,” she warned as she moved into his path.

He stepped around her. “Watch me.”

“No, you don’t understand… you don’t want to do that!” she shouted desperately.

He had almost made it there when she gripped his upper arm, pulling him back with the strength of a man three times her size. Clang! The power behind her quick grasping had launched the blade into the wall and onto the concrete floor. He hollered under the vise of her death grip and dropped to his knees.

“Oh, Isaac, I’m so sorry!” she cried and released her hold. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I don’t know my own strength yet.”

He rubbed his throbbing arm as he stood, and when he glared at her, a burning remorse showed in her eyes. She told the truth; his pain upset her. “You care that you hurt me?”

“It was a reaction. I’m sorry.”

Isaac’s anger slowly withered away. Maybe he should listen to what she had to say. After all, if she had come to harm him, she wouldn’t be upset over his pain.

About the Author

Susan James Pierce has a degree in Marketing Management, works for a Fortune 500 company in Atlanta, Georgia, and devotes her precious, spare time to writing Fantasy and Sci-fi novels. 

Even though her full-time career has nothing to do with books at all, she has always enjoyed complex storytelling with fascinating characters, and has had a penchant for the written word since grade school. As a matter of fact, her first publishing credit was a poem she wrote at the age of twelve. Why her love for writing never translated into a career, she can only attribute to 'life happens', but her wish is that she can redirect her career path into something that satisfies her creative inner-self.

Where to find her: Website/ Facebook/ Goodreads

Giveaway

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Review: Die for Me by Amy Plum

Die for Me (Revenants #1) by Amy Plum

Release Date: May 10th, 2011

Publisher: HaperTeen

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 341

Source: Library

Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars

B&N/Amazon/Goodreads

In the City of Lights, two star-crossed lovers battle a fate that is destined to tear them apart again and again for eternity.

When Kate Mercier's parents die in a tragic car accident, she leaves her life--and memories--behind to live with her grandparents in Paris. For Kate, the only way to survive her pain is escaping into the world of books and Parisian art. Until she meets Vincent.

Mysterious, charming, and devastatingly handsome, Vincent threatens to melt the ice around Kate's guarded heart with just his smile. As she begins to fall in love with Vincent, Kate discovers that he's a revenant--an undead being whose fate forces him to sacrifice himself over and over again to save the lives of others. Vincent and those like him are bound in a centuries-old war against a group of evil revenants who exist only to murder and betray. Kate soon realizes that if she follows her heart, she may never be safe again. (Add on Goodreads)

Review:

Life is too short.

Life is to short for me to force myself to read this book. I mean, I REALLY hate not finishing books. When I don't finish them it bothers me for a very long time. So it just seems easier to get the book  over with and move on. But I have my limits! This is the first book in the series so I don't feel like I have an obligation to finish it like I do with other books.

"What?!" You say: "Chloe, you didn't finish it. Then how can you say you didn't like it" 

Look I TRIED. I really did and I made it to about the halfway point but once I started to do chores just so I had an excuse not to read the book. That's when I knew I had to stop. I every time I see this series somewhere its going to bother me. And I hate that.

  Positives:

Theres not many for me. The only thing that I liked about the book was the setting. I think its really cool when authors try to give books unique settings, and the story being set in Paris was pretty cool.

  Negatives: 

Ugh! You know, I've relied on Goodreads and the people who review on Goodreads to help me find my next book, so that I can avoid situations like this. An when I see the the book has an average of 4 STARS and everyone and their mom says that they LOVE IT. Then I think "Oh! Well this must be a good book" but no. Just no. I mean even now I'm looking through Die for Me's, and I can't help but wonder if there's something wrong with ME. Why am I the only one who doesn't like this.

Some bloggers have this book listed as their favorite series, on the others liked the first one but said that the second and third are worse. WHAT?! It gets WORSE?! HOW?!

OK. so I probably should say what I didn't like about. Well lets starts with Kate. I can't like a book and not like the main character. And I did not like Kate. She was just so....ugh! There was nothing to her character, she was just so boring. Same with Vincent, the only thing I liked about was his name. I mean I know he was supposed to be all mysterious and whatever. But I was just not buying it.

The secondary characters were okay. I actually kinda liked them. They were a heka lot more interesting than Kate and Vincent, I tell you that. And with  different writing than they could have been a lot more interesting.

I CAN NOT STAND INSTA-LOVE! And that's basically the romance between Kate and Vincent is. No getting to know each other. Nope, none of that. It went to them meeting then not being able to live without one another in like, 60 seconds. Annoying.

I think my eyes almost fell out of my head from rolling them so much.

I definitely commend Amy Plum and on trying to be original with who whole undead revenants thing. But zombies ARE. NOT. SEXY. They just aren't. Do you know how many times I've heard "Zombies are the new vampires" and do you know what I say to that "NO!".    

Final Thoughts:  

Look, I'd like to say that I totally respect Amy Plum as a writer and did not mean to offend anyone at all with the rant. But I just did not like this book. And as far as recommending the book, I don't. However, I really don't think that matters because everyone seems to like it but me. So if this is you type of book. I say go ahead and read it.    

What did you think about the review? Tell me in the comments section!