Continuing On (4)

Sometimes I find myself getting so caught up counting down to new releases that I forget about some of the books and series that I'm looking forward to continuing on.  So recently I went back through and checked in with some of my favorites to see what was going on.  I'll admit I was surprised (in a good way) to find that new installments had come out within a series I'd enjoyed.  So rather than counting down in these posts, I decided to list some titles that have come out that I need to back track and read in order to catch up.  Here are just a few...

Catch Up #1:  The Calling (Darkness Rising, #2) by Kelley Armstrong

Maya Delaney's paw-print birthmark is the mark of what she truly is -a skin-walker. She can run faster, climb higher, and see better than nearly everyone else. Experiencing intense connections with the animals that roam the woods outside her home, Maya knows it's only a matter of time before she's able to Shift and become one of them. And she believes there may be others in her small town with surprising talents.

Now Maya and her friends have been forced to flee from their homes during a forest fire they suspect was deliberately set. Then they're kidnapped, and after a chilling helicopter crash, they find themselves in the Vancouver Island wilderness with nothing but their extraordinary abilities to help them get back home.

In THE CALLING, the sizzling second book in the Darkness Rising trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong pumps up the romance, danger, and suspense that left readers of THE GATHERING clamoring for more.

I shouldn't have let myself fall behind on this one!  With the third installment having come out last month I've got to get in the game so I don't miss out.  Armstrong had me on the edge of my seat with her cliffhanger in the series opener, The Gathering, and I want to dig in and see where she'll take us next.

Catch Up #2:   Override (Glitch, #2) by Heather Anastasiu

Zoe is free. She has escaped the enslavement of the Community, disconnected from the hardware that had controlled her every thought and emotion, and evaded capture by the Chancellor intent on killing her. She is finally free, but she is far from safe.

Zoe and Adrien hide themselves from detection at the Foundation, an academy that trains teen glitchers to fight in the Resistance movement. Together, Zoe and her new team of superhuman fighters must risk their lives to rescue other glitchers and humans from the Chancellor's control. Challenges abound at every turn, and Adrien, who has become silent, distant, and tormented by his visions of the future, only adds to the growing certainty of defeat. But worst of all, as Zoe's team fights against impossible odds, distrust and betrayal leads to the terrible discovery that their greatest threat could already be lurking behind the safe walls of the Foundation.

Full of high-adrenaline action and shocking twists, Heather Anastasiu's Override is an exciting continuation of this popular young adult trilogy.

This is the book that started these posts.  I went to check online for a release date for this title only to find that it's already on the shelves!  The third in the series, Shutdown will be following close on its heels in July and I'm not going to let it slip away.  I want to see if the gang can get their revolution together and bring down the bad guys!

Catch Up #3:  Accused (Ganzfield, #4) by Kate Kaynak

"We have ways of making you talk."

Who now has Isaiah's files?
Someone in the government knows about Ganzfield... and he has special reasons to target Maddie.

So its not that I forgot about this series.  I just came into discovering the Ganzfield series a little late and I'm doing my best now to get caught up as quickly as I can.  I did manage to get myself a copy of this book and have already started it and will posting a review soon.  Kaynak is a machine and has popped out Operative and Soul Mate already, with Solitary releasing this year as well.  Its a lot to get through but I'm loving this series so its no hard feat.  I'm not sure how Kaynak has managed to keep everything going, keep the material constantly exciting and interesting, not to mention coming up with all these crazy ideas for how to further the plot and keep things moving forward, but somehow she's done it and I'm hoping has no plans to stop any time soon.

Catch Up #4:  Hallowed (Unearthly, #2) by Cynthia Hand

For months Clara Gardner trained to face the fire from her visions, but she wasn't prepared for the choice she had to make that day. And in the aftermath, she discovered that nothing about being part angel is as straightforward as she thought.

Now, torn between her love for Tucker and her complicated feelings about the roles she and Christian seem destined to play in a world that is both dangerous and beautiful, Clara struggles with a shocking revelation: Someone she loves will die in a matter of months. With her future uncertain, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning.

In this compelling sequel to Unearthly, Cynthia Hand captures the joy of first love, the anguish of loss, and the confusion of becoming who you are.

I don't want this series to end!  I've got this sequel on my Kindle already but was waiting for Boundless, the third and final installment in the series to come out so I could bang them out all at once.  But of course I'm slacking and now have to catch up.  From what I've heard the series ending was great but bittersweet...I'm looking forward to seeing for myself if this is true.

In My Mailbox (71)

This is a meme that I first heard about from Kristi over at The Story Siren and immediately wanted to jump on board. I'm always picking up new books, because I never tire of reading, but the other thing I like about this meme is that it gives everyone an opportunity to check out what other book fanatics, bloggers, etc... got for themselves. I've gotten great recommendations from this meme and hope that keeps up in the future.

Here's what I got, what did you guys get this week? 

 

For Review:

Sound (Solid, #3) by Shelley Workinger (Thanks to Shelley)

Clio Kaid's had one crazy summer.

After learning she was one of a hundred teens who were genetically modified before birth, she and the others departed for "camp" at a classified military site.

Besides discovering her own special ability, uncovering a conspiracy, and capturing a killer, she's also forged new friendships, found love, and managed to lose them both.

With no answers and the end of summer closing in, Clio's terrified of going home more lost than when she arrived.

Will she finally find everything she's been looking for?

Find out in this exciting conclusion to the Solid trilogy.

Hallowed (Unearthly, #2) by Cynthia Hand 

For months Clara Gardner trained to face the fire from her visions, but she wasn't prepared for the choice she had to make that day. And in the aftermath, she discovered that nothing about being part angel is as straightforward as she thought.

Now, torn between her love for Tucker and her complicated feelings about the roles she and Christian seem destined to play in a world that is both dangerous and beautiful, Clara struggles with a shocking revelation: Someone she loves will die in a matter of months. With her future uncertain, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning.

In this compelling sequel to "Unearthly," Cynthia Hand captures the joy of first love, the anguish of loss, and the confusion of becoming who you are.

Everneath (Everneath, #1) by Brodi Ashton

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she's returned--to her old life, her family, her boyfriend--before she's banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance--and the one person she loves more than anything. But there's just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's queen.

"Everneath" is a captivating story of love, loss, and immortality from debut author Brodi Ashton.

Review: Unearthly (Unearthly, #1) by Cynthia Hand

In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees...

Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make between honest and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.

What a page turner! I've got to hand it to Cynthia Hand on this one...it was unique and interesting, compelling and very moving and had me staying up late into the night reading so I could find out what would happen to Clara and the rest of Hand's fantastic characters. I love a good story about Angels, but this time around I'll admit the spin that Hand put on why there are Angels on earth and the "purpose" each of them has really piqued my interest. I was so excited as I read on to see what new clues Clara would be given and how everything would pan out for her and her purpose on Earth.

I will say Tucker took me by surprise. I was all ready to be planted firmly in the Team Christian side of things, and that went right out the window about half way through the book. While I think both characters are great and the way they interact with Clara made for some very interesting and entertaining reading, I'm still going to say that Tucker won me over in the end.

To make matters worse, Hand threw me for a loop with the last quarter of her book. Wow, can you say intense action? I was on the edge of my seat so anxious to see what choices Clara would make, how they would turn out for her and what the consequences of everything would turn out to be. Now of course Hand left her readers with a cliffhanger, and one that has me ready to get to the store so I can pick up where this opener left off, with her second installment, Hallowed. I can't recommend this series opener enough!

I gave Unearthly (Unearthly, #1) 4 shamrocks!!!!

In My Mailbox (53)

This is a meme that I first heard about from Kristi over at The Story Siren and immediately wanted to jump on board. I'm always picking up new books, because I never tire of reading, but the other thing I like about this meme is that it gives everyone an opportunity to check out what other book fanatics, bloggers, etc... got for themselves. I've gotten great recommendations from this meme and hope that keeps up in the future.

Here's what I got, what did you guys get this week?

For Review:

Wilde's Fire (Darkness Falls, #1) by Krystal Wade (Thanks to Curiosity Quills Press)

"There is no pain in this death, only peace, knowing I am going to die with the one I love the most." - Katriona Wilde.

Katriona Wilde has never wondered what it would feel like to have everything she's ever known and love ripped away, but she is about to find out. When she inadvertently leads her sister and best friend through a portal into a world she's dreamed of for six years, she finds herself faced with more than just the frightening creatures in front of her. Kate's forced to accept a new truth: her entire life has been a lie, and those closest to her have betrayed her. What's worse, she has no control over her new future, and it's full of magic and horrors from which nightmares are made. Will Kate discover and learn to control who she really is in time to save the ones she loves, or will all be lost?

To Read:

Hallowed (Unearthly, #2) by Cynthia Hand

For months part-angel Clara Gardner trained to face the raging forest fire from her visions and rescue the alluring and mysterious Christian Prescott from the blaze. But nothing could prepare her for the fateful decisions she would be forced to make that day, or the startling revelation that her purpose - the task she was put on earth to accomplish - is not as straightforward as she thought.

Now, torn between her increasingly complicated feelings for Christian and her love for her boyfriend, Tucker, Clara struggles to make sense of what she was supposed to do the day of the fire. And, as she is drawn further into the world of part angels and the growing conflict between the White Wings and Black Wings, Clara learns of the terrifying new reality that she must face: Someone close to her will die in a matter of months. With her future uncertain, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning.