Cover Reveal: Destined by Ali Cross

Genre:  Paranormal Fantasy

Desolation Series, Book 3

Ali Cross' website

Expected publication date:  December 2012

Goodreads

Description (taken from Bookish Brunette's cover reveal):

Choosing is a bad idea, because Desi always makes the wrong one, and sometimes there are no do-overs. Certainly not this time, when all has been lost and Desi can’t even save herself, let alone her friends. For Desi, the hardest thing is letting someone help her, to accept their sacrifice on her behalf. But that’s exactly what she’ll have to do in order to save the worlds from Helena’s destruction.

The goddess of Helheimer, long imprisoned by Desi’s father, Loki, is free at last, and she’s bent on reclaiming what once was hers. The nine worlds will be drawn into war, over Hell, over Earth, with innocent humans meaningless collateral. While Michael and the Gardians of Asgard, along with the golden-armored Valkyrie lead the battle for freedom, it’s Desi who holds the destiny of all the worlds in her hands.

Can she set aside her doubts, once and for all, and claim the gifts that are hers to bear? Can she accept the sacrifice that is made for her and Become all that she was created to be?

Her final choice will define not only her future, but the fate of humankind, forever more.

So, I'm one of the few who's been following this series but has yet to read the books.  The covers are beautiful, and I'm really hoping to start this series one day.  And for those who haven't heard of this series, the first two books are below:

Become and Desolate by Ali Cross
Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Description for Become (taken from Goodreads):

Sixteen-year old Desolation Black wants nothing more than to stay in Hell where it’s cold and lonely and totally predictable. Instead, she’s sent back to Earth where she must face the evil she despises and the good she always feared.

When Desi is forced to embrace her inner demon, she assumes her choice has been made—that she has no hope of being anything other than what her father, Lucifer, has created her to be. What she doesn’t count on, is finding a reason to change—something she’s never had before—a friend.

manda-rae's Haul

Stacking the Shelves consists of books we received in the last week, hosted by Tynga's reviews.

It's been a couple of weeks since I received new books to read.  But my tbr pile doesn't seem to be getting smaller.  I hope everyone else has been having a good reading week!

For Review:

• Auracle by Gina Rosati plus swag
• Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads
• Astral projection?  This book sounds so interesting.  I was super excited to join a tour for this one.  Thanks goes to Parafantasy ARC Tours.  And a bracelet and a bookmark!  I need to check out Dust by Devon Ashley now.

From the Library:

• Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry
• Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads
• I've heard so many good things about this book.  Being a contemporary romance, it's slightly out of my favorite genre range.  But I couldn't help myself; I have to know why everyone's talking about it.

manda-rae's Past Three Weeks

Reviews:

• Solid by Shelley Workinger
• Forbidden by Jacquelyn Frank
• The Diviners by Libba Bray

Memes:

• Top Ten Books To Get In The Halloween Spirit
• Waiting on Wednesday: Breaking Point by Kristen Simmons
• Top Ten Favorite Kick-Ass Heroines
• Waiting on Wednesday: Fragments by Dan Wells
• Characters (and Literary Figures) That I'd Name My Children After

Promos:

• Sound by Shelley Workinger

Giveaways:

• Solid by Shelley Workinger (ends 11/17)

The Diviners by Libba Bray

Genre:  YA Historical Paranormal

Diviners Series, Book 1

Libba Bray's website

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Description (taken from Libba Bray's website):

Evie O’Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City—and she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It’s 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult.

Evie worries he’ll discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer.

As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfold in the city that never sleeps. A young man named Memphis is caught between two worlds. A chorus girl named Theta is running from her past. A student named Jericho hides a shocking secret. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened.

I must admit that I solely grabbed this book because it was written by Libba Bray.  I am a fan of her novels and just had to pick this one up.  I thought the cover was kind of bland and boring, and I had no idea what the book was about.  Wasn't I in for a surprise when I started reading about ghost stories in the 1920s...

This book captures the reader immediately with an awesome ghost story that gives you shivers and tingles.  And the story continues to manifest and unfold along with Evie's story.  I fell in love with her almost instantly.  A stubborn, selfish, and obnoxious girl trying to make something for herself.  But she's also got an uncanny ability to figure your darkest, deepest secrets.  It also helps to see the 1920s setting; I loved the flappers.

This contains multiple people's views.  And it works really well at weaving all of the stories together into a tightly knit ball.  The only problem is this ball looks kind of messy in the end.  I know they're all connected and as the murder mystery wraps up, everything kind of goes nuts and gets super tangled.  If you couldn't tell, I wasn't a huge fan of the ending.  The last twenty or so pages occur after the main story has completed and work to wrap some things up while blatantly listing all of the questions that you must have answered by reading the second book.

Libba Bray does an excellent job of connecting everything within a book and making sure you're dying to figure our more by the last page.  While I don't have a clear picture as to what a 'diviner' is, I'm dying to read the next one in the series.

Challenges:  Young Adult Reading Challenge

Characters (and Literary Figures) That I'd Name My Children After

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's post is a freebie, and I'm doing Characters (and Literary Figures) That I'd Name My Children After.

I think my best future baby names come from the books I read.  And while my husband makes fun of one of my favorite names, I'm still hell-bent on using it some time in the future.

Gemma from the Gemma Doyle Series by Libba Bray

Elena from Women of the Otherworld Series by Kelley Armstrong

Vincent from Revenants Series by Amy Plum

Ismae and Gavriel from Grave Mercy by RL LaFevers

Aura from Shade Series by Jeri Smith-Ready

Phedre from Kushiel Series by Jacqueline Carey

Okay, so I couldn't get ten future children names.  Hence, these next ones are my future dog's names...

Myrnin from the Morganville Vampires Series by Rachel Caine

Dobby from the Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling

Release Day and Giveaway: Sound by Shelley Workinger

Sound by Shelley Workinger

Solid Series, Book 3

Shelley Workinger's website

Amazon | Goodreads

Description (taken from Goodreads):

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?

For those of you who are new to this series, check out the description for book one below.  You can  also check out my review.

Solid by Shelley Workinger
My Review
Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Description (taken from Goodreads):

Clio Kaid may be 17 and just beginning the last summer before her senior year, but her life is anything but typical.

She's just discovered she was genetically altered before birth and is now headed to a top-secret Army campus to explore the surprising results of the experiment.

Follow Clio and the other teens as they develop fantastic super-abilities, forge new friendships, and find love as they search for answers.

Giveaway

In celebration of her latest book release, Shelley Workinger is offering one of my readers a free copy of Solid.  This copy will be available in Kindle or .pdf format.

• This giveaway is open internationally.
• Giveaway ends on November 17, 2012.
• You can enter via the Rafflecopter form below.  You can enter by doing one of the following:
• Free entry.  Just click to enter.
• Follow Shelley Workinger's blog.  List how you follow and name.
• Follow @SWorkinger on Twitter.  Click follow and leave Twitter name.
• Like Solid Series Facebook Page.  Click like and then enter.
• Add Solid Series to Goodreads List.  Leave Goodreads name.
• Tweet about giveaway.  Leave link.

a Rafflecopter giveaway