The Iron King

Title:  The Iron King

Author:  Julie Kagawa

Publisher:  Harlequin Teen

Publish Date:  21 February 2010

Pages: 363

ISBN:  9780373210084

Source:  library

Genre:  Young Adult, Faeries

Series:  The Iron Fey

Other books in series:  Winter’s Passage, Iron Daughter, Iron Queen, Summer’s Crossing, Iron Knight, Iron Legends (28 August 2012)

Meghan Chase has a secret destiny; one she could never have imagined.

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face; and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

What would you do if your life was not as you expected?  That is what happened to Meghan Chase.  After her father disappeared, her mom and she moved.  Her mom later married Luke and then had Ethan.  Meghan is in high school now and all she wants is her driver’s permit.  That way, she wouldn’t have to walk to the bus.  Her best friend, Robbie Goodfell, and she could drive.  In what, she doesn’t know that yet, but she’ll work on that later. 

After being humiliated in school by the most popular jock, she goes home and finds that her brother has changed.  At first, she is not sure of what she is seeing, because she has been seeing a lot of weird things lately.  It is when her brother attacks her, that Robbie tells her that it is not her brother.  She then learns of changelings and goes on a quest with Robbie, whom she later finds out is Puck, to find her brother.

She also learns a lot of things when she crosses over into the Nevernever.  The most important of those, is who she is, a princess of the Seelie Court.  Her father is the King and never wanted her to know of the fey and their land.  Getting Ethan back is the most important thing to her and she doesn’t let anyone deter her from that objective.  Will Meghan get Ethan back with the help of Ash and Puck?  Why does Puck and Ash hate each other so much?

After reading Kagawa’s book, The Immortal Rules, I thought it was time that I checked out her other works.  I had heard great things about the Fey Series and I’m glad to say that I wasn’t disappointed.  I really liked this book and thought it was a good way to start the series.  I was drawn into the story of Puck and Ash.  I’m not sure which one I’m behind just yet.  I’ll have to read more of the series before I make that determination.

The cover shows a female, whom I’m presuming to be Meghan Chase.  I like the font that they used for the title.  And the color green.  Also the quote on the cover: 

Iron.  Ice.  A love doomed from the start.

•Meghan Chase.  She is the main character in the Iron Fey series.  Well, one of THE main characters.  She is a “half-breed” and doesn’t always have the same reactions that other fey have.  She cares about people and not always about the outcome.  She is strong is this book and doesn’t waver from her objective.

•Ash.  He is the prince of the Unseelie Court – or the Winter Prince.  He officially meets Meghan at Elysium, when the Summer and Winter Court meet together, where a son and daughter of opposite territories must dance.  Meghan’s first impression of him isn’t that great.  When she leaves the Seelie Court, she runs into Ash again.  This time, he has made a vow to Queen Mab, to bring Meghan to her.  Only Meghan has other ideas and he winds up helping her rescue Meghan’s brother, Ethan.  You learn a lot about Ash in those travels.

•Puck, Robbie Goodfell, Robin Goodfellow.  Those are the names that he goes by.  In the mortal realm, he was given the task to look after Meghan, unbeknownst to her.  He was her best friend and the first person to tell her about Nevernever.  He went against King Oberon’s wishes and brought Meghan there to find her brother.  He is always there for Meghan and she is grateful for that.

•Grimalkin.    He is the cat who helps Meghan.  He always appears when she needs something.  His help doesn’t come free or cheap. There is always something that he wants.  Bargains in Nevernever aren’t made cheap.

 

•King Oberon.  He is Meghan’s father.  When she first arrives at the Seelie or Summer Court, he is angry because she was never supposed to know about Nevernever and the faerie world.

•Queen Mab.  The Queen of the Unseelie or Winter Court, which is the enemy of the Summer Court. She wants to use Meghan for her own purposes and commissions her kingdom into finding her.

•King Machina.  He is the Iron King.  During Meghan’s quest, you learn of him and that he also wants Meghan, but for different reasons. 

•Grimalkin.  Sometimes he can be a little snooty, but he is a cat after all.

I got these off of Julie Kagawa's website and I thought that they were cute, so I'm sharing them with you.  It didn't say on there who drew them, and the signatures are too small to read.  They are cute, nonetheless.

Ash & Meghan

Bad Kitty

Ash & Puck

Fated: Contest and free gift

Title:  Fated

Author:  Alyson Noël

Publisher:  St. Martin’s Press

Publish Date:  22 May 2012

Pages: 306

ISBN:  978-0-312-66485-5

Source:  ARC from publisher

Genre:  YA,

Series:  Soul Seekers

Other books in series:  tbd

The first book in a magnificent new series about a girl who can navigate between the worlds of the living and the dead by #1 New York Times bestselling author Alyson Noël.

Lately strange things have been happening to Daire Santos. Animals follow her, crows mock her, and glowing people appear out of nowhere. Worried that Daire is having a nervous breakdown, her mother packs her off to stay in the dusty plains of Enchantment, New Mexico with a grandmother she’s never met.

There she crosses paths with Dace, a gorgeous guy with unearthly blue eyes who she’s encountered before...but only in her dreams. And she’ll get to know her grandmother—a woman who recognizes Daire’s bizarre episodes for what they are. A call to her true destiny as a Soul Seeker, one who can navigate between the worlds of the living and the dead. Her grandmother immediately begins teaching her to harness her powers—but it’s an art that must be mastered quickly. Because Dace’s brother is an evil shape-shifter who’s out to steal her powers. Now Daire must embrace her fate as a Soul Seeker and find out if Dace is one guy she’s meant to be with...or if he’s allied with the enemy she’s destined to destroy.

I've got some wonderful news to share with the book blogging community.  St. Martin's Press has e-mailed me about a free gift that they are promoting for when you pre-order Fated.  (I will have the links later in the post that will show you where you can pre-order them from.)

The first 3,000 people who pre-order Fated in any format, will receive a pair of Soul Seeker inspired feather earrings, shown on the right.  All you have to do is either forward the e-mail that you get when you pre-order, scan or mail you receipt to the address on the webpage for this promotion.  Just click on the title graphic above and it will take you to the site with all the details. 

I have read Fated and it is a wonderful book.  I recommend it and will post my review closer to the release date.  To read an excerpt and a special bonus scene, head over to the Soul Seekers Facebook page.

I was fortunate enough to meet Alyson Noël at the RT Booklovers Convention in Chicago, Illinois earlier this month.  She was really nice and gave me some swag to give away to my wonderful readers.  So, to sweeten the deal, I'm going to host my own giveaway along with the St. Martin's Press promotion.

I have four autographed poster cards that I am going to be giving away.  These cards are approximately 8 ½  by 11 inches and are made from heavy card stock.

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 international.
• 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!  

Daemon Invasion 2012

Over the last couple of weeks, you’ve heard us talking about the upcoming #daemoninvasion and we’re so excited to finally share with you what is going on.

The beautiful and über cool models, Pepe Toth and Sztella Tziotziosz, who grace the Lux covers, will be joining us in the United States!  You heard right.  They are flying here, from Hungary to spend a few days as Daemon and Katy! While they are here, they will be working with Vania, from VLC Productions (the team behind Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments, Melissa de La Cruz, Kimberly Derting, Moira Young, Kami Garcia and Margret Stohl, Hillary Duff, Lauren Destefano, and many, many more authors’ book trailers), to film book trailers for the Lux Series.

During the filming in Atlanta, they will be accompanying us on tour! What does that mean? You get to meet them. In the flesh. They will be participating in the signings and events. At those signings, we’ll be giving away signed posters, photos, and other swag. There will also be meet and greet events you can join in on.
At each signing, there will be advanced copies of Onyx given away!

And to top things off (as if this isn’t enough, but we don’t do anything small), there’s something very, very exciting in the works! It involves advanced copies of Opal, water, and a little destination known as the Bahamas.

Are you excited? I am! This tour is going to be so, so much fun, and I’m so thrilled that Pepe and Sztella are a part of it. We owe them a huge thank you and a giant welcome making the 16 hour flight to meet the readers of the Lux Series.  You!

Daemon Invasion Signing and Event Schedule

June 8^th
FoxTale Book Shoppe
Woodstock, GA
3:00pm

June 10^th
Barnes and Noble
St Johns Town Center
Jacksonville, FL
3:00pm

June 13^th
Barnes and Noble
Waterford Lakes Town Center
Orlando, FL
3:00pm

June 14^th
Barnes and Noble
The Palladium at City Place
West Palm Beach, FL
4:00pm

There are several #daemoninvasion street teamers out there and if you want to join a team to win exclusive prizes, search down the #daemoninvasion hashtag to join one of the teams!  (Or you can comment on this post and I'll add you to my team.)

Don’t forget to visit Jennifer L. Armentrout’s blog to win a signed set of Half-Blood and Pure in celebration of her adult romance release, Tempting the Best Man, under pen name J. Lynn.  It can be purchased here.

Elemental

Title:  Elemental

Author:  Brigid Kemmerer

Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp

Publish Date:  27 March 2012

Pages:  50

ASIN: B006MLKZAG 

Source:  bought

Genre:  YA, paranormal

Series:  Elemental

Other books in series:  Storm, Spark (28 August 2012), Fearless (September 2012), Spirit(2013)

As an air Elemental, 17-year-old Emily Morgan doesn’t have much power. That’s okay—she knows what happens to kids who do.

Like Michael Merrick. He’s an earth Elemental, one with enough power to level cities. Which makes him sexy. Dangerous. And completely off limits. At least according to Emily’s family.

But her summer job puts her in close contact with Michael, and neither of them can help the attraction they feel. When forces of nature like theirs collide, one misstep could get someone killed. Because Emily’s family doesn’t just want her to stay away from him.

They want him dead.

What happens when your one safe haven isn’t safe anymore?  That is what happens to Michael Merrick. He is an elemental, a strong one known as a pure.  His element is the earth.  He can use the power that he finds in it to make things happen – cracks in the pavement, earthquakes, et cetera.  

Pures are feared because of the power that they hold and because of this, most of them are put to death by the Guides.  It is the law that if you know of a pure, you are to tell the Guides so they can be taken care of.  An agreement was made that would keep Michael safe if he only doesn’t use his power.   This would be easy, if not for people like Seth Drake and Tyler Morgan, who constantly bullied him trying to get him to retaliate.

He goes to the batting cages every Wednesday and Friday to let off some steam and just be in a place where he doesn’t have to worry about people trying to get him to use his element.  This is where he first sees Emily Morgan, Tyler’s sister.  He immediately feels angry because the one place that he could go to for solace was taken over by the people who wanted to turn him over to the Guides.  His parents tell him that he cannot go to those batting cages anymore.

Emily Morgan is scared at the sight of Michael Merrick coming into the place where she works.  She thinks that he did it on purpose to get at her.  When she tells her parents, they think the same thing and worry for her safety.   Emily refuses to quit her job because it took her so long to get a job in the first place and this job is her ticket out of this town after graduation from high school.

What happens when neither Emily nor Michael refuse to do what is asked of them?  Will Tyler and Seth interfere?  Is Emily safe?

I was anxious to read this book because of the hype around Storm.  You get the first glimpse into the Merricks and the problems that being pure elementals cause them.  I really liked this book because it gave you a backstory, and I always like backstories.  It showed you some of Michael that you don’t really see in Storm.  I will be sure to keep this series on my radar and cannot wait until August when Spark is released. 

On the cover is a picture of whom I’m presuming to be Michael.  He is surrounded by branches, which is appropriate, since his element is earth.   I like the green on the cover.  I think this conveys the mystery in Michael Merrick well.  

•Emily Morgan.  She works at a “sports complex,” even though she doesn’t think it is much of one.  She doesn’t get a lot of customers, so when Michael Merrick appears, she is not only surprised to see him, but scared as well.  She doesn’t let other people push her around, including the Merricks.

•Michael Merrick.  How can you not like the guy who constantly gets picked on for things that are not his fault?  He didn’t ask to be a pure elemental.  He is persistent and doesn’t want his life to change for things beyond his control.

 

•Tyler Morgan and Seth Drake.  They are the bullies in this story who try to get Michael to use his power.  If he uses his power, he will be killed by the Guides.

•The Morgans and the Merricks – Emily’s and Michael’s parents.  I put them both in the same group because they both say the same thing, only for different reasons.  The Merricks tell Michael not to go to the batting cages anymore because they want to protect him.  The Morgans freak out when they learn that Michael went to the sports complex where Emily works and told the Merricks about it and that they didn’t want any trouble, meaning they didn’t want him to go there anymore.

World Book Night

I participatd in World Book Night this year.  This was the first year that they had this and I was a book giver.  The book that I was chosen for was Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson.  We got to choose three books out of the 30 books that were chosen by WBN. The books had a special cover and all the books (I think there were a half million total) were donated by the publishers for this event.

“Dead girl walking,” the boys say in the halls.
“Tell us your secret,” the girls whisper, one toilet to another.
I am that girl.
I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through.
I am the bones they want, wired on a porcelain frame.

Lia and Cassie were best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies. But now Cassie is dead. Lia's mother is busy saving other people's lives. Her father is away on business. Her step-mother is clueless. And the voice inside Lia's head keeps telling her to remain in control, stay strong, lose more, weigh less. If she keeps on going this way—thin, thinner, thinnest—maybe she'll disappear altogether.

In her most emotionally wrenching, lyrically written book since the National Book Award finalist Speak, best-selling author Laurie Halse Anderson explores one girl's chilling descent into the all-consuming vortex of anorexia.

I had a lot of fun giving the books out.  I went to the Orthodontist, the Dentist, Medical Supply company, McDonalds, a hospital and gave books out.  I was surprised at how many of the 20 books that I actually gave out on that day.  I live in a small rural community and finding people to give books to isn't always easy.  I know that sounds crazy, but that is how it is.  I didn't get a chance to take any pictures, but the reactions of the people that I gave books to made my day.    I found this picture on the internet, and since I have a Sheltie too, I loved it.  Although, I don't recommend letting your dog bite your books.

A Touch Mortal

Title: A Touch Mortal

Author: Leah Clifford

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Publish Date: 22 February 2011

Pages: 422

ISBN: 978-0-06-200499-4

Source: bought

Genre: Young Adult, angels, demons, romance

Series: A Touch Trilogy

Other books in series: A Touch Morbid

Eden didn't expect Az.

Not his saunter down the beach toward her. Not his unbelievable pick up line. Not the instant, undeniable connection. And not his wings.

Yeah.

So long happily-ever-after.

Now trapped between life and death, cursed to spread chaos with her every touch, Eden could be the key in the eternal struggle between heaven and hell. All because she gave her heart to one of the Fallen, an angel cast out of heaven.

She may lose everything she ever had. She may be betrayed by those she loves most. But Eden will not be a pawn in anyone else's game. Her heart is her own.

And that's only the beginning of the end.

Eden was sitting on the beach thinking about how she was going to get out of New Jersey after graduation when she met Az and Gabriel.  After that, things were never the same.  Her and Az hit it off and she fell for him.  What Eden didn’t know was that she is what is termed a “sider.”  Meaning she will commit suicide.  And that Az and Gabriel are both angels. 

Gabriel is bound and Az is not.  Gabriel is trying to prevent Az from becoming one of the fallen.   Luke wants to push Az over the edge, so that he will join him in the ranks of the fallen.  He has tortured everyone that Az has cared about in order to persuade him to his side without fail.  But that was before Eden. 

Eden dies and Gabriel and Az arrange for her to stay with Kristen in the city.  Kristen is also a Sider and is supposed to show her the ropes of giving touch and what exactly everything means.  When Eden wakes up in Kristen’s house after supposedly dying in the ocean, she isn't sure what to expect.  Kristen teaches her and Eden finds out by mistake that she has a gift that not all Siders have.  Kristen locks her away to become one of the “Screamers,” those who are locked in room and scream.

Eden sees Az again and is angry with him when she realizes that he knows what she is, he is alive and he knew what would happen.  Az is on the verge of falling completely and so must be removed by Gabriel.  Kristen promises Az that she won’t hurt Eden, but that doesn’t mean she won’t lock her up again.  When Kristen is gone, Adam, a fellow Sider helps her escape.  They leave Kristen’s house and start off on their own.   What will happen when other siders realize that Eden can help them?  Will Luke ever stop trying to hurt Az?  Will Az fall?

I first heard of this book while at another book signing.  I immediately put it on my TBR list and just never got around to reading it.  I really liked that this book gives you a different angle on the angel story.  I really like the way that Clifford writes.  She draws you in with the emotions that are felt from Eden and Az.  

On the cover is a girl with dark hair with burgundy highlights.  I’m presuming this to be Eve.  I like the contrast in colors on the cover.  I like the quote on the front of the book: “She’s been betrayed by life by love and by death.”

•Eden.  She is a Sider, which meant she would’ve committed suicide and has to spend eternity spreading touch to survive.  Eden doesn’t like spreading touch because that makes the people she touches have bad thoughts or do bad things.

•Az.  He loves Eden.  Plain and simple.  You can easily see how much he cares for her when he talks to Gabriel and what Luke has done to girls he liked in the past.

•Gabriel.  He is Az’s friend and is also Bound.  He is trying to prevent Az from falling completely, which isn’t always an easy task.    He is there for Kristen and Eden, just as he is for Az.

 

•Luke.  Why must there always be someone who has to mettle in things and make it hard for people.  I guess it wouldn’t be a good story if there wasn’t though.  He is trying to “help” Az fall, so he can join his ranks.

•The swearing in the book. I knew to expect it though.  I had first heard about this book from Leah Clifford’s mom, who sat next to me during a Maggie Stiefvater book signing.   She told me that it was a good book, but there was a lot of swearing and f-bombs.  “I don’t know where she gets that from,” she told me.

•Libby.  She is the Sider that Eden, Adam, Jarrod and James took in.  There is just something about her that rubs me the wrong way.  She seemed too eager in the beginning.  Kind of like your much younger sibling wanting to hang out with you and thinking everything is cool.