Crimson Frost

Title:  Crimson Frost      

Author: Jennifer Estep

Publisher: Kensington

Publish Date:  24 December 2012

Pages: 384

ISBN:  9780758281463

Source:  ARC

Genre:  mythology, YA

Series:  Mythos Academy

Other books in series:  First Frost, Touch of Frost, Kiss of Frost, Dark Frost, Midnight Frost (August 2013)

For a moment, a face flashed before my eyes—the most hideous face I’d ever seen. No matter how hard I tried to forget what had happened, I saw him everywhere I went. It was Loki—the evil god that I’d helped set free against my will.

I should have known that my first official date with Logan Quinn was destined to end in disaster. If we’d gotten into a swordfight, or been ambushed by Reapers, I’d have been more prepared. But getting arrested mid-sip at the local coffee hangout? I didn’t see that one coming.

I’ve been accused of purposely helping the Reapers free Loki from his prison—and the person leading the charge against me is Linus Quinn, Logan’s dad. The worst part is that pretty much everyone at Mythos Academy thinks I’m guilty. If I’m going to get out of this mess alive, I’ll have to do it myself…

This is the fourth book in this series.  This is a series that I love!  I love to read about the Gwen's experiences at Mythos Academy.  Especially those with Logan.  Estep has provided YABR with an excerpt of the upcoming novel which is set to be released on 24 December 2012.

And the men knew Logan too, enough to greet him. Sergei gave him a hearty slap on the back, while Inari respectfully nodded his head. Linus nodded his head as well, although his posture was still stiff, and his face remained cold. If anything, I could feel his dislike for me increase, as he looked back and forth between me and the Spartan.

“Logan?” I asked. “Who are these men?”

“Sergei Sokolov, Inari Sato, and my dad, Linus Quinn.”

A sinking feeling filled my stomach. Why, oh why, couldn’t Sergei have been Logan’s dad instead? He at least seemed somewhat friendly. Linus, not so much. Not at all, in fact.

“And what do they want with me?” I asked. “Why are they here to arrest me?”

Logan frowned. “They’re members of the Protectorate, which is basically the police force for the mythological world. But why would they want to arrest you? There must be some mistake.”

“There’s no mistake,” Linus said. “Unless there’s some other girl I don’t know about who helped Loki escape.”

Shocked gasps rippled through the coffee shop, and everyone looked at me. After a few seconds, the surprised stares shifted to horrified looks that quickly melted into harsh, accusing, angry glares. Now, all the kids had pulled out their phones and were taking photos of me and texting them as fast as they could. The news would be all over the academy in minutes.

Jennifer Estep has agreed to award one reader of YABR a print copy of Crimson Frost.   Fill out the rafflecopter form below to enter.  Sorry, this contest is US only.

Rules

-You will have 48 hours to respond or you will forfeit your prize.

-I reserve the right to cancel the contest at any time without reason. 

-I am not responsible for parcels lost or damaged in the postal system.  I will make every attempt to avoid this.

-You must be 13 years or older to participate.

-Contest is US only.

-Names will be drawn by Random.org that is within rafflecopter. 

-Winner will be announced in this blog post at the conclusion of the contest and notified by the e-mail provided to enter the contest.  MAKE SURE THAT THIS IS THE E-MAIL YOU WANT ME TO CONTACT YOU!!  I am not responsible for e-mails that were sent to accounts that you don't normally check.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Dark Frost: Blog tour, excerpt and giveaway

Title: Dark Frost

Author: Jennifer Estep

Publisher: Kensington Books

Publish Date: 29 May 2012

ISBN: 978-0-7582-6696-5

Genre: Young Adult, Mythology

Source: ARC from author

Series: Mythos Academy

Other Books in Series: First Frost, Touch of Frost, Kiss of Frost

I’ve seen so many freaky things since I started attending Mythos Academy last fall. I know I’m supposed to be a fearless warrior, but most of the time, I feel like I’m just waiting for the next Bad, Bad Thing to happen. Like someone trying to kill me—again.

Everyone at Mythos Academy knows me as Gwen Frost, the Gypsy girl who uses her psychometry magic to find lost objects—and who just may be dating Logan Quinn, the hottest guy in school. But I’m also the girl the Reapers of Chaos want dead in the worst way. The Reapers are the baddest of the bad, the people who murdered my mom. So why do they have it in for me?

It turns out my mom hid a powerful artifact called the Helheim Dagger before she died. Now, the Reapers will do anything to get it back. They think I know where the dagger is hidden, but this is one thing I can’t use my magic to find. All I do know is that the Reapers are coming for me—and I’m in for the fight of my life.

Can anything more happen at Mythos Academy?  Gwendolyn Frost is back at Mythos Academy as the tale continues in Dark Frost.  The story starts out in Crius Coliseum, a museum near the academy.  Every second-year student was supposed to go through the exhibit on artifacts.  Most left this until the very last day of winter break.  Gwen went with her best friend Daphne and Daphne’s boyfriend, Carson.  She ran into Logan there, who is the object of her affection.  She is sure if they have a relationship or not.

When they are talking and going over the artifacts, they hear screaming.  They soon know that the Reapers of Chaos have entered the coliseum and are looking for a certain artifact, the Helheim Dagger. This is the last artifact that they need to free Loki and have him return to Earth.  They are sure that it will be there in the exhibit.  This turns into “chaos” as the students who are attending the exhibit are trained to fight reapers.

This also makes up Gwen’s mind that she needs to find the dagger before the Reapers of Chaos do.  Since it was her mother who originally hid the dagger, this should be easy, right?  Wrong.  Will Gwen find the dagger?  Will the Reapers of Chaos free Loki?  What is happening between Gwen and Logan?

On the cover, you see Gwen Frost wearing the necklace that Logan gave her before Christmas break.  You also see Mythos Academy.  Again, I like how the “T” in “dark frost” is a dagger or sword.

 

•Gwen.  She always has the best intentions.  Even though some people think otherwise and think the she really doesn’t belong to Mythos Academy because she is a gypsy.

•Logan.  He is always there to help Gwen and this book is no different.  Gwen isn’t sure what their relationship is at the beginning of this book.  

 

•Loki’s champion.  I won’t say any more about her because I don’t want to spoil the book for you.  Gwen sees glimpses of her in a dream, but doesn’t know who she is.  She does things for Loki that you would, well expect a Champion of an evil God to do.

•The other Reapers of Chaos.  Killing people to get what you want is a surefire way to end up on my “did not like” list.

•Loki.  The evil God.  You don’t hear a lot about him in this book, but what you do, I don’t like.  He is the one who gets his “reapers” to do horrible things.  Okay, that sounded really bad, but I don’t know how else to put it.

The Crius Coliseum was shaped like a giant wheel, with one main space in the middle and the hallways and rooms branching off like spokes. The doorway we stood in opened up into the center section of the museum. When Daphne, Carson, and I had walked through it a few minutes ago, folks had been milling around the exhibits, looking at the artifacts and browsing through the expensive replica jewelry, armor, and weapons in the gift shop. Besides the staff, most of the other people here had been second-year Mythos students, trying to get their homework assignment done, just like the three of us.

Not anymore.

Now, figures wearing long, black, hooded robes stormed through the coliseum—and they all carried sharp, curved swords. The figures swarmed over everyone in their path, their blades slashing into the students who’d been staring at the artifacts just a few seconds before. More screams and shouts tore through the air, echoing as loud as gunshots, as people realized what was happening.

But it was already too late.

“Reapers,” Daphne whispered, voicing my own horrific thought.

The Reapers of Chaos ran their swords through everyone they could get their hands on, then shoved the dead and dying to the floor. The museum staff, adults, kids. It didn’t matter to the Reapers who they killed. Wax figures, statues, and display cases crashed to the floor, splintering into thousands of pieces. Blood spattered everywhere, a cascade of scarlet teardrops sliding down the white marble walls.

A sick, sick feeling filled my stomach at the bloody chaos in front of me. I’d heard about Reapers, about how vicious they were, about how they lived to kill warriors—about how they lived to kill us. I’d faced down two Reapers myself, but I’d never seen anything like this. I was so shocked by the scene in front of me that I felt stuck in place, just like my friends. I knew we should be doing something, anything, to try to help the other students, but I didn’t know what it could be.

Some of the Mythos students tried to fight back, using their fists or whatever they could get their hands on. But it didn’t work, and one by one, the Reapers swarmed over the kids. Samson Sorensen fell to the floor, screaming and clutching his stomach, blood spurting out from between his fingers. A few Mythos students tried to run, but the Reapers just grabbed them from behind, rammed their swords into the kids’ backs, and then tossed them aside like trash.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Morgan McDougall duck down and squeeze in between a tall, wide pedestal and the wall, putting her parallel to the doorway that my friends and I were next to. Green sparks of magic shot out of Morgan’s fingertips like lightning, a clear sign of her surprise and panic, and she curled her hands into tight fists and tucked them under her armpits to try to smother the colorful flashes. Morgan knew as well as I did that if the Reapers saw the sparks, they’d find her and finish her off. The pretty Valkyrie spotted me watching her and stared back at me, her hazel eyes full of fear.

“Stay there! Hide! Don’t try to run!” I shouted, although I didn’t think Morgan could hear me above the screams and the alarms that had started blaring.

In less than a minute, it was over. The Reapers regrouped in the middle of the coliseum, talking to each other, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying over the moans, groans, and whimpers of the dying kids on the bloody floor.

“Reapers,” Daphne whispered again, as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing any more than I could.

It was almost like they’d heard the Valkyrie’s low murmur because several of the black-robed figures turned and headed in our direction.

This contest is for one finished copy of Dark Frost.

Rules

• You will have 48 hours to respond or you will forfeit your prize.
•  I reserve the right to cancel the contest at any time without reason.  
•  I am not responsible for parcels lost or damaged in the postal system.  I will make every attempt to avoid this.
• You must be 13 years or older to participate.
• Contest is U.S. only.
• Names will be drawn by Random.org that is within rafflecopter.  
• Winner will be announced in this blog post at the conclusion of the contest and notified by the e-mail provided to enter the contest.  Make sure this is the e-mail that you want me to contact you! 

Kiss of Frost

Publisher: Kesington

Publish Date: 29 November 2011

Series: Mythos Academy

Source: bought

Other books in the series: First Frost, A Touch of Frost, Dark Frost (June 2012)

I’m Gwen Frost, a second-year-warrior-in-training at Mythos Academy, and I have no idea how I’m going to survive the rest of the semester.  One day, I’m getting schooled in swordplay by the guy who broke my heart – the drop-dead gorgeous Logan, who slays me every time.  Then, an invisible archer in the Library of Antiquities decides to use me for target practice.  And now, I find out that someone at the academy is really a Reaper bad guy who wants me dead.  I’m afraid if I don’t learn how to live by the sword – with Logan’s help – I just might die by the sword…

Gwen Frost is a student at Mythos Academy, which is a school for training to defeat the Reapers of Chaos and prevent the evil God, Loki from escaping his prison and starting the second chaos war.  In Touch of Frost, Gwen found out that her family has a history of fighting for the God Nike.  Gwen and her family are gypsies.  She doesn’t think that this will enable her to fight because she doesn’t have physical gifts like the other students at Mythos. 

Gwen was not going to go to the Winter Carnival at the Powder, a ski resort.  Her best friend, Daphne talked her into it because a Reaper is after Gwen.  Gwen thinks Winter Carnival would be a good place to meet someone to help her forget about Logan, who is dating another person and practically ignores her.  She first meets Preston in the lobby of the hotel when waiting for Daphne and her boyfriend Carson to check into the rooms.  Preston seems like the perfect guy to help keep her mind off of Logan.  He is from the New York Academy. 

After arriving at Powder, strange things happen to Gwen there also that make her wonder if the reaper could have followed her to the ski resort.  Part of Gwen doesn’t care and wants to just forget about her broken heart.  What is going on with Oliver and why is he acting strange toward her after she touched his notebook?

Kiss of Frost was a good follow up to Touch of Frost.  I thought the second book expanded on the characters that were introduced to you in the first book.  I loved following Gwen and her experiences; trying to figure out who was trying to kill her.  There is a lot in this book that you don’t expect and made it fun to read.  I had trouble putting this book down also.  I’ve said it before, but Estep knows how to draw readers into the stories that she tells.  She is an amazing author.

“Come on, Gypsy girl. I'm bleeding to death here, in case you haven't noticed. At least make it worth my while and kiss me before I die.” 

On the cover of Kiss of Frost, is Gwen.  She has her eyes closed and snow is all over her face and she has some in her hand.  She has her lips puckered like she is either blowing or kissing the snow.  You also see some architecture on the front.  It reminds you of the Library of Antiquities.  I liked this cover.  I especially like again, how the “T” in frost, is the sword.  I think that this cover fits the story well.  I especially like on the back of the book, the architecture and the quote there:

Logan Quinn was trying to kill me.  My spartan classmate relentlessly pursued me, swinging his sword at me over and over agin, the shining sliver blade inching closer to my throat every time.  A smile tugged at his lips, and his ice - blue eyes, practically glowed with the thrill of battle...

 

•Gwendolyn Frost.  She is the main character here.  Her weakness is finding out other people secrets.  She just cannot leave well enough alone.  Sometimes it works to her advantage and others, it does not.  Using her psychometry magic, she attempts to figure out who wants her dead.

•Daphne Cruz and Carson Callahan.  Daphne is a Valkyrie and Carson is a Celt.  They are boyfriend/girlfriend and Gwen’s closest friends.  Daphne talks Gwen into going to Winter Carnival.  Carson and Daphne spend time with Gwen when at the Carnival.

•Logan Quinn.  Even though he is busy making out with his Amazonian girlfriend, Savannah Warren, doesn’t pay much attention to Gwen, and is the reason for her broken heart, I still like his character.  He is always there for Gwen when she needs him.  She just wishes that she didn’t need him so much because it hurts to see him.

•Oliver Hector and Kenzie Tanaka.  Both are Spartans who are helping Gwen to train with her sword and become better at defending herself.  There are issues with Oliver in Kiss of Frost.  He acts suspicious toward Gwen at Winter Carnival after Gwen had touched his notebook and found out his secret.

•Fenrir wolves.  Gwen encounters one at Powder.  Professor Metis said that there are some Fenrir wolves that are in the wild.  I like wolves.  Yes, they are mean, nasty, growl at you, and are trained by the Reapers to kill you, but that doesn’t mean they are all bad.  Look at Gremlins.  They were cute and look how that turned out.

“What are you smiling at?’ - ‘Oh, nothing much. Just my hero” 

 

•Preston.   Gwen chose him as someone to help her forget about Logan.  From the beginning of the book, I didn’t really like him.  I’m not sure why, but I didn’t.  He seems like a nice enough guy.

•Savannah Warren.  She is Logan’s girlfriend and enjoys making out with him.  If I were Gwen, I’d be sick of it too.  The fact that Gwen has a thing for Logan would be irrelevant.  Savannah also likes to pick on Gwen and others.

“I didn't know if he really meant talk, make out, or something else completely, but I'd be happy with any of them.” 

Touch of Frost

Publisher: Kensington

Publish Date: already out

Series: Mythos Academy

Other books in series: First Frost (e-book), Kiss of Frost, Dark Frost (29 May 2012)

My name is Gwen Frost, and I go to Mythos Academy — a school of myths, magic and warrior whiz kids, where even the lowliest geek knows how to chop off somebody's head with a sword and Logan Quinn, the hottest Spartan guy in school, also happens to be the deadliest.

But lately, things have been weird, even for Mythos. First, mean girl Jasmine Ashton was murdered in the Library of Antiquities. Then, someone stole the Bowl of Tears, a magical artifact that can be used to bring about the second Chaos War. You know, death, destruction and lots of other bad, bad things. Freaky stuff like this goes on all the time at Mythos, but I'm determined to find out who killed Jasmine and why—especially since I should have been the one who died. . .

Gwendolyn aka Frost, aka Gwen, has experienced some hardships in her life.  The hardest being the death of her mom, who was hit by a drunk driver.  After that, everything changed:  Her school, friends…  Her grandmother decided that it was time she went to Mythos Academy.  Mythos Academy and it’s students are described in Kiss of Frost as “the descendants of ancient warriors, and they are at the academy to learn how to fight and use weapons, along with whatever magic or other skills they might have.”  These students include the following: Amazons, Valkyries, Romans, Vikings, Spartans and Gypsies.  Gwen currently doesn’t have any friends at the Academy.  All the students who go there are rich and spoiled.

                                                            

Gwen is a gypsie.   More specifically, she has the gift of psychometry, meaning she can touch objects and see things about them.  This comes in handy when she is trying to find things for others students.  That is what she mainly uses it for at the beginning of the book.  Also works well for finding out secrets.  She is a second year student at Mythos.  She not only has her studies, she also works at the Library of Antiquities.   Even for this “strange” school, abnormal things start to happen.  First, one of popular girls, Jasmine Ashton, is murdered in the Library.  What is even stranger is the fact that it doesn’t seem to affect anyone.  Gwen is determined to figure out what happened to Jasmine because secrets are her thing. 

During that time, however, she keeps bumping into the Spartan, Logan Quinn.  He is the labeled as the deadliest guy in the school.  Spartans can kill you with anything.  That is their gift.  He has the reputation of signing mattresses of girls that he has slept with.  Why is she running into him (literally)?  What is happening at the academy?  Is Gwen really safe there and does she belong?  

I had read the synopsis of this book a while ago and wanted to read it.  The opportunity just never presented itself until now and I’m glad it did.  I like the whole mythology angle of this book.  It not only covers the usual Greek and Roman mythology, but there are others as well.  It seems as though Loki has been brought up a lot in recent books/movies.  Overall, it is a really good book with an interesting plot.  

The cover features Gwen Frost.  You can see her signature purple eyes.  You also see part of the architecture and what looks to be gargoyle.  I like how the “t” in Frost is made up of the sword instead of the font for the rest of the word.

•Gwen Frost.  She is the main character.  After going through her mother’s death, she is sent to Mythos Academy and feels as though she doesn’t belong.  She has no friends.  She is not über strong or super-fast like the other students.  She definitely doesn’t have a weapon or know how to use one.  Even still, she sticks to what she knows, psychometry, to solve mysteries.  Even though Jasmine wasn’t very nice to anyone, she still tries to find out who murdered her in the library and cares when nobody else does.

•Daphne Cruz.  The book starts out with Gwen and Daphne in the bathroom where Gwen is talking to Daphne about a missing bracelet.  Daphne is part of the popular crowd.  Even though she doesn’t really acknowledge Gwen, I still like her character.  She is there for Gwen when she needs her, even though it is against her will.  (She is a Valkyrie, so it isn’t TOO much against her will.)

•All the different students.   Amazons, Valkyries, Romans, Vikings, Spartans and Gypsies…Oh my.   They make for a stimulating book.  There are some others mentioned in the book, but those are the main ones.

•“Logan freaking Quinn.”    He is a Spartan that keeps running into Gwen or vice versa.  He doesn’t have a good reputation at Mythos, but he is one of the cutest.  The relationship between Logan and Gwen is hot and cold.  

•Jasmine Ashley.  She is the resident bad/evil person.  She is the girl who is the most popular in the school and because of that, she treats everyone else poorly.  No wonder people didn’t care that she was brutally murdered on the academy campus.

•Morgan McDougall.  She is one of Jasmine’s best friends and takes up her position after Jasmine is murdered.  She (and Jasmine) are Valkyries.