Winner!

The winner of the Hunger Games giveaway is Selena Donnetto!  I have contacted her and she has 48 hours to reply. Happy Friday!

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Taken at Dusk by C. C. hunter

Goodreads Blurb

Step into Shadow Falls, a camp for teens with supernatural powers. Here friendship thrives, love takes you by surprise, and our hearts possess the greatest magic of all.

Kylie Galen wants the truth so badly she can taste it. The truth about who her real family is, the truth about which boy she’s meant to be with—and the truth about what her emerging powers mean. But she’s about to discover that some secrets can change your life forever…and not always for the better.

Just when she and Lucas are finally getting close, she learns that his pack has forbidden them from being together. Was it a mistake to pick him over Derek? And it’s not just romance troubling Kylie. An amnesia-stricken ghost is haunting her, delivering the frightful warning, someone lives and someone dies. As Kylie races to unravel the mystery and protect those she loves, she finally unlocks the truth about her supernatural identity, which is far different—and more astonishing—than she ever imagined.

I received Taken at Dusk from St. Martin's Press/Griffin, including Born at Midnight and Awake at Dawn, book one and two in the Shadow Falls Series, since I hadn't read the series then. But I can promise you, that I devoured this series in two days (three books in two days!) and absolutely loved it.

This is a popular series among paranormal junkies out there, but when I first heard of it, I decided not to read it. Why? Because at the time, I had been reading Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins, and the blurb sounded suspiciously like that of Hex Hall. Once all the starred reviews started pouring in though, I regretted it, so I'm glad to have a chance to read the entire series!

Taken at Dusk starts immediately where Awake at Dawn left off, Kylie about to meet her adoptive parents, the ones who just might have the clue to finding out exactly what she is. But when she gets there, her "adoptive parents" and her barely get ten minutes before they're ushered out and it looks as if the couple weren't her adoptive parents, but were, instead, imposters. Shocking! And then animals are suddenly protecting her. An eagle that suddenly catches a snake mere inches from her feet, a deer jumping in front of her just before lightning strikes the spot she would've been in if not for the deer. But why? Taken at Dusk raises more questions than it answers, leaving readers shocked and mystified.

I fell in love with our characters in book one, wanting to hug the life out of them in book two, and started crying for them  in book three. Kylie had that strong personality we love in heroines, Holiday had that older-sister feel, helping Kylie along the way, Burnett was like Kylie's protector, and he was absolutely adorable when it came to Holiday! Lucas was edgy and dangerous, while Derek was sweet and caring. And I loved the ghosts! I don't know why, but I've always loved ghost-paranormal stories. No matter how much they creeped me out. And we finally meet the dreaded Ellie whom I loved!
This third installment of the Shadow Falls series was absolutely breathtaking, and I enjoyed every page! Kylie has fully accepted her paranormal blood and she's learning, slowly, to trust her father again. The ending scenes had me flipping to the end and leaving me shell-shocked. And to those who have read Taken At Dusk, what do you think a chameleon is? I have a theory. But I'm not sharing it!


Summary: The writing is beautiful, the characters are even more wonderful, and I don't think I can wait until Whispers at Moonrise comes out! This is definitely a paranormal romance that Fiction Freaks should read, whether or not its your thing.

Pages:380
Series: Shadow Falls #3
Genre: Paranormal/Romance
Rating: 5 stars

"Jane swerved toward Catherine and held both her fists up in front of her face, her body tight with fury. 'How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not Berta! I did not kill my own child. I would never kill my baby. I loved my baby.'"

Random Musings: Soul Mates

An akward random musings that I thought of before. I know, it's actually kind of stupid...

Soul Mates: If a soul mate is the other half of your soul as many books say they are, then aren’t you falling in love with yourself, basically? So maybe in another life, but if before you’re born your soul is split, then wouldn’t one soul be split in two, then when reincarnated, those two souls split into two each? My opinion? That we decide who our soul mates are. We don’t control who we fall in love with; we never could. Yes, I do believe in soul mates, but not the theory stated above; I think, instead, that it’s our past lives, or perhaps our first life. (Yes, I’m a believer of reincarnation; books got to me.) Who we fall in love when we died, is who we would fall in love with now. I don’t know, some of you might think I’m crazy, but I just thought I’d post this. It’s been nagging me for days…

Glimmer by Pheobe Kitanidis

Goodreads Blurb

What if you forgot your identity and had to rely on other people to tell you who you were?

And what if to discover your true self, you first had to unravel a mystery so big and terrifying you were not sure you’d survive solving it?

When Marshall and Elyse wake up in each other’s arms with zero memory of how they got there or who they are, it’s the start of a long journey through their separate pasts and shared future.

Terrified by their amnesia, the two make a pact to work together to find the answers that could jog their missing memories. As they piece together clues, they discover they’re in the idyllic mountain resort town of Summer Falls, where everyone seems mysteriously happy, but as Marshall and Elyse quickly learn, darkness lurks beneath the town’s perfect facade. Not only is the town haunted by sinister ghosts, but none of its living inhabitants retain bad memories of anything—not the death of Marshall’s mom, not the hidden shame in Elyse’s family, not even the day-to-day anguish of high school.

Lonely in this world of happy zombies, Marsh and Elyse fall into an intense relationship...but the secrets they uncover could be the death of this growing love—and the death of everyone, and everything, they love in Summer Falls.

I received Glimmer from another blogger and I am so happy that I got it! Honestly, when I first heard about it, I wasn’t interested. My eyes basically zeroed in on the word “zombies” and decided not to read it. But then, with all the excitement, I decided to read the entire summary. And guess what? I ended up vying for this book! I’ve always, always, always, loved those amnesia-filled stories. When the characters don’t know anything, it makes it more anticipating for the reader since, after all, the main character doesn’t know anything either, so that we learn everything as the MC does.

The story starts with Elyse and Marshall literally waking up tangled in each other’s arms, like it says in the description. They have no idea who they are, and are suspicious of everything and everyone. And guess what? Elyse can see the ghosts that haunt the town, the ones that erase the memories of traumatic events, and Marshall can somehow repel ghosts. They have a future of action, a present full of questions, and a past filled with holes. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

I loved Glimmer! It exceeded my expectations completely, and I was whisked away by the plot! Questions were raised, but when everything was slowly explained, I realized that there were scattered hints about their past and the secret that haunts Summer Falls. They were just so cleverly hidden, and I absolutely loved re-reading it just so I could point and yell "Hey! He did that because ________!" By the end of the day, several people had looked at me like I was crazy.

The writing was beautiful, switching between the POV's of both Marshall and Elyse. The writing also portrayed the town perfectly, creepy. As in, very, very creepy. Honestly, I kept imagining ghosts popping out and my memories being erased. So I definitely can't complain about Glimmer being boring.

The scenes were rushed just a bit at the end, confusing me as to what happened when, but I remember reading somewhere that in the final copy, the scenes are less rushed, which is great. However, there was one thing I disliked. It was mainly the factor that though Elyse wrote to herself, she believed so easily. I uderstand the "habit" of it, but it was still a slightly far stretch.

Glimmer was an amazing read, showing you just how strong, and important, memories are, bad or good. I just ate it up!

Pages: 352

Series: Stand-alone

Genre: Paranormal/Romance

Rating: 5 stars

"How could I stay away from Elyse? How could we abandon each other to this place? Protecting her has been my purpose, almost from the moment I woke up to this new life."

Showcase Sunday (Catch-up)

This week is actually the same as last week's. This way, I can catch up on reviewing the books I wanted to, and it also gives me a chance to read the other books I've been dying to read!







Some books that I'm mainly going to try to review this week are:
                   


These are pretty much it. After all, there are only seven days in a week! But trust me, there may be more. ;)

Author Interview: Jessica Shirvington

So excited to announce my interview with Jessica Shirvington, the author of Embrace, called the “Hottest YA Debut of 2012”.

Fiction Freak: What inspired Embrace? What were you thinking when you decided to write it?

Jessica Shirvington: At the time I started writing Embrace I'd been reading a lot and had reached the point where I wanted to try and craft my own story. There were things I was looking for in my reading experience that I wanted to be able to put into a story. It's strange how some things happen. I just sat down at the kitchen table, opened my laptop and started to write a story. I didn't know what it would all be about, I didn't know if I would get past the first paragraph let along a full novel. The idea that it is now a published series is mind-boggling!

I knew when I started the story process I wanted my heroine to deal with 'the big issues' and a perfect way to manifest these into a story is to incorporate the paranormal. This led to the use of angels. I realize there is now a number of YA angel themed books in the marketplace but when I started writing Embrace, there were none. I loved the idea of exploring the theme of angels and of choice and consequence. From there the research began and the story started to take shape.

FF: What is one of the funniest moments you've witnessed?

JS: Actually it was one I was involved in. My best friend and I were in Portugal, in a little seaside town. We decided to hire a moped for the day and explore. Anyway, we were only about 18 at the time and made a huge deal of which bike we wanted to hire, which helmets we thought looked the best. All in all we took about an hour of laughing and deliberating in the hire shop before we were ready to go. The guy hiring us the moped asked if we'd ever driven one before and we were like "ah...no. But we'll be fine!" He ran through a few quick tips and then my best friend jumped on the back and I was driving. We made it to the end of the little road (about 10 meters) before we needed to turn ... To this day I swear there was something wrong with the bike. It just wouldn't turn. And, ok, I forgot to use the brake. Long story short - we cruised right into a brick wall. I stood up, picking the bike up from under us. My best friend stood up, the broken-off side mirror dangling from her hand. The second I saw her standing there with a piece of the bike in-hand - in her perfectly selected helmet - I lost it. Needless to say, our moped experience ended there, but it's now fifteen years later and we still crack up whenever we relive the story.

FF: How does it feel to have YOUR book called "The Hottest YA Debut of 2012"?

JS: Incredibly flattering. I'm so passionate about this story and the characters. I love them so much and so naturally, I want readers to care for them too. That's what it's all about. :)

FF: When your book became international, we readers were excited, but how did you feel?

JS: Excited is a good word for it. Overjoyed, delirious, ecstatic, nervous, and humbled are also words that would apply!

FF: Lets approach the subject of your characters; Phoenix or Team Lincoln? (I'm a Phoenix all the way.)

JS: I love them both. Unlike Violet I don't have to choose and unlike Violet, I know all of their secrets and motivations so I feel differently about them. That's not to say that at times I don't feel like one would be the better choice for her or that one is behaving very badly. They all, Violet included, make their fair share of mistakes!

FF: Your take on angels is different than most fallen angel stories. What gave you the idea of exiles and light and dark as equals/balances?

JS: It comes from considering how any one event can at the same time produce a good result for one person and a bad result for another. It happens in all aspects of life - like getting a job. When one person gets a job, it's great for them and you never know just how important it is to them or how desperately they needed the income for themselves and their family, BUT, what about the other person who didn't get the job - what if they were down to their last $50 and this was a make or break moment. For the person that got the job they might think they had someone looking over them at that point, but what about the person that didn't get the job? And what does this mean for each of these people's futures and the people in their lives? This led to the idea that if angels played an active role in our universe and in the function of influence over our wills, then there had to be both good and bad that came from them, otherwise it simply couldn't work. (if that makes sense...!)

FF: How did it feel to know that Embrace was receiving such positive responses in another country?

JS: Awesome. Positive response makes it all worthwhile!

FF: What do you do in your regular day?

JS: The interesting thing about writing is that every day is different. Sometimes I am in draft and writing constantly. Sometimes my time is dictated by research, sometimes by editing, and at other times with publicity. Basically, there is always a lot going on so the main constant in my regular day is that once I get the kids off to school, it is very busy.

FF: Did anyone ever recognize you in public? If so, what did they do?

JS: Every now and then. Mostly if I'm with my husband (he's a TV personality / ex-Olympian). They tend to recognize him and then put two and two together if they have read my books. Usually they just want to say hi, or have a chat about the books or writing, which are two of my favorite subjects so it's all good.

FF: Describe your book in 9 words.

JS: Exiled angels are vengeful. Violet must choose her path.

FF: Last one, why don't you live in the US?! ;)

JS: Actually, I've been asking myself that question as well lately! I love the US and will be there in September for the release of ENTICE and am hoping to visit as many cities as possible. I'll also be back there in December to holiday with my family. So, whilst we don't live in the States, we do plan on visiting as much as possible!

Embrace Blurb:

It starts with a whisper

“It’s time for you to know who you are…”

Strange dreams leave her with very real injuries and there’s a dark tattoo weaving its way up her arms. The guy she thought she could fall in love with just told her he’s only half-human—oh, and the same goes for her. And she keeps hearing a distant fluttering of wings.

Violet Eden is having a very bad 17^th birthday.

But if angels seek vengeance and humans are the warriors, you could do a lot worse than betting on Violet Eden…

Short Author Bio:

Jessica Shirvington is the author of THE VIOLET EDEN CHAPTERS also known as THE EMBRACE SERIES. An entrepreneur, author, and mother living in Sydney, Australia, Jessica is also a 2011 finalist for Cosmopolitan’s annual fun, Fearless, Female Award. She’s also one of the lucky few who met the lover of her life at age seventeen: Matt Shirvington, a former Olympian and current sports broadcaster for FOXTEL and Sky News. Married for almost eleven years with two beautiful daughters, Sienna and Winter, Jessica knows her early age romance and its longevity has definitely contributed to how she tackles relationships in her YA novels. Previously, she founded a coffee distribution company, Stella Imports, in London, and before that was involved in the management of restaurants Fuel Bistro and MG Garage in Sydney. Jessica is not a full-time novelist and living her dream.

Contact Info:

Embrace Website

Violet Eden Chapters Website

Violet Eden Chapters Facebook

Jessica's Shirvington's Website

Jessica Shirvington's Goodreads