Naomi's Reading Palace

Review: Bane by Trish Milburn

Author: Trish Milburn
Title: Bane
Series: Covern #2
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books
Published: June 1, 2012
Format: eBook – NetGalley Preview Exclusive

Summary from Amazon

To protect those she loves from herself, Jax will leave them all behind. She'll risk everything in a desperate search for answers.

Jax Pherson fled the darkest of covens and from her own father's evil. For a brief moment, her courage was rewarded. She found everything she'd ever wanted. A normal life. An amazing boyfriend. An envy-worthy best friend .

But her past put them all in danger, forcing a confrontation with the dark covens. In a life-and-death battle to save those she loved from the covens, Jax gained staggering power. Power so intense, so dangerous, she fears the darkness that now dwells inside her like a living thing.

If she can't control the power, she may yet become as evil as the witches she conquered.

With her friend Egan, Jax leaves all she's built and heads for the one place that might hold the answers she desperately needs to hold back the darkness-Salem, Massachusetts. Her research unearths a shocking discovery: the Bane, a secret group of witches dedicated to thwarting the covens.

Jax desperately needs their help in her fight against the covens, but finding the Bane is easier said than done and takes all her skills and courage. As Jax gets closer, her dark powers begin to rise and control her actions. If she succumbs to the darkness, Jax may have as much to fear from the Bane as the evil covens and the determined hunter on her trail.

Arrgh!! Just when things were getting interesting, the story ends on a cliffhanger!! But I want to know more now!! Haha!!

I thought the White Witch was more a lively read, watching a young girl turn her life around and doing normal teenage things until evil basically lands on her doorstep. But in Bane it was completely different, very intense and serious. There weren’t many laugh out loud scenes as everyone is on edge most of the time. It was a sensational second book in the series; I just wished that it didn’t finish so quickly.

Bane continues on where White Witch left off. We follow Jax, into Salem, where the Salem Witch Trials took place back in the 1600's. She is trying to find answers to her problems. She wants to know more in regards to the White Witch and how to deal with the Dark and Light powers that are battling within her. But most of all she wants to find a way to rid the world of the Dark Covens to protect the rest of the human race.

In Bane Jax is a more determined person. After the incident at Shiprock at Bakers Gap she has decided to step up and take responsibility of herself and her friends as well as trying to keep everyone safe. This book is very nerve wracking as Jax and Egan feel as though they are being watched by someone almost everywhere they go and I was expecting someone to jump out at them all the time!

We meet some new people in Bane that weren’t in White Witch, who fit into this storyline perfectly! They help with the research into her past and even try to teach Jax things about herself. But for Jax it means more people for her to protect.

Trish has created an intriguing world involving witches and the supernatural. She has left me sitting on the edge of my seat at the end of Bane and I can’t wait for the next book!!

Check out my review for Book 1 – White Witch.

For more information or to purchase this book, go to

Amazon or Goodreads

Naomi

Swoon Thursday #2 - The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

The fabulous girls over at YA BOUND created this super HOT meme. Here's how it works.

From the book you’re currently reading, or one you just finished, tell us what made you SWOON. What got your heart pounding, your skin tingling, and your stomach fluttering.

Shout it out on Twitter with the hashtag #YABound, post it here in the comments, or grab the adorable button above and share it on your blog! I want to know & so do the chicks at YABound!

This week I picked my Swoon from The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead. I love the Vampire Academy and the Bloodline series, which this book is from. I hope you enjoy!!

The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

“‘Historically inaccurate.’ ” Adrian gestured at me with his other hand, the one not on my shoulder. “Who the hell looks at you and says ‘historically inaccurate’?”

“Well,” I said. “Technically it is.”

“He shouldn’t have said that.”

I shifted, knowing I should move away ... but I didn’t. “Look, it’s just his way.”

“He shouldn’t have said that,” repeated Adrian, eerily serious. He leaned his face toward mine. “I don’t care if he’s not the emotional type or the complimentary type or what. No one can look at you in this dress, in all that fire and gold, and start talking about anachronisms. If I were him, I would have said, ‘You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen walking this earth.’”

Page 246

Oh my.... how I love Adrian!!

While you are here please check out my giveaway! I’m giving away an eBook copy of Mystery Falls by Marilyn Phillips which I featured in last week’s Swoon!

Did you get swooned this week?

What did you think of mine?

Leave me a comment!

Naomi

Review: White Witch by Trish Milburn

Author: Trish Milburn

Title: White Witch
Series: Coven #1
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books
Published: March 1, 2012
Format: eBook – NetGalley Preview Exclusive

Summary from Amazon

Witchcraft Is Her Family's Business.
No One Quits The Family And Lives To Tell About It.

"Jax" Pherson has power, enough power to know her future will end in service to the dark coven her father controls. Unless she can stay hidden in a small community in the mountains of North Carolina. She must find a way to live without magic and deny the darkness she feels welling up inside her-the same dark power that fuels the covens around the world.

All she wants is a normal life. A boyfriend. Friends. Some place to belong, but all too soon Jax's barely begun new life hangs in the balance when she discovers that the boy she's attracted to is sworn to kill her kind. He's a hunter with good reason to kill everything that goes bump in the night.

Even the most fleeting use of her power is tantamount to signing her death warrant and will bring both hunter and coven down on her. But can she walk away when her friends are threatened by an old evil? Something created by the magic of witches? Jax's only hope of survival is to convince the boy she loves to forget everything he's ever been taught and help her find a way to fight the covens. To believe there is some good in her.

I haven’t read any books prior to this where the main character is a witch. I’ve read plenty of other Paranormal books featuring Vampires and Werewolves, but not witches. What has taken me so long? This book was fantastic!!

It wasn’t your typical Witch story involving old witches with warts stirring their big black cauldrons. Trish Milburn has taken a piece of history, the Salem Witch trials from 1692, and given it a bit of a twist. She states that human’s didn’t record the history correctly, that there was eighty-nine extra people murdered at the time around the trials, so the Witches decided to rebel and draw on old and dark powers to retaliate. They raise their children in these beliefs and basically brainwash them into doing what they’ve been destined to become.

However not all of the children feel this way. Jaxina Pherson was raised with these beliefs, but after the death of her mother she started making plans to escape her coven. She ends up in Baker Gap, North Carolina, trying to live a life as a normal teenage girl, going to school, making friends and trying her best not to tap into her powers so she doesn’t attract her family.

The characters in the book are easy to connect with and I found them all quite likeable. Jax is very independent; she relies on herself and her instincts to survive. Keller was raised as a hunter and it is his job to kill all things supernatural. He is portrayed as a tough character, but he is starting to see some shades of grey when it comes to his job, causing him to question some of his beliefs.

Toni is a fun and witty character. She seems to just float through life not caring about what anyone thinks of her. She has her own style and seems to go with it, much to the disappointment of her mother! Toni and Jax hit it off early as they have similar interests. And Egan: smart and good looking who has quite a carefree approach. What girl doesn’t like a boy on a bike!!

I really was bewitched by this book!! I thought it had an intriguing plot, involving witch history in the modern world. There’s romance and action, what more could I want from a Paranormal book!

For more information or to purchase this book visit

Amazon or Goodreads

Naomi

Teaser Tuesdays #2 - Mystery Falls by Marilyn Phillips, Review and Giveaway

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The book I picked today, Mystery Falls, I used in my Swoon Thursday post, and I found a little snippet in it that I thought would be fun for Teaser Tuesdays. Here it is:

My Teaser

Mystery Falls by Marilyn Phillips

Forcing myself to meet him eye for eye, I said in a determined voice, “Listen, I am not interested in you. You’re arrogant, egotistical, annoying, conceited, self-centered...” unbelievably gorgeous, incredibly sexy, and right now, I wish you would stop talking and just kiss me. The last part I added in my head as I paused to take a breath. Suddenly afraid that he might discern my most private thoughts, I cast my eyes down and observed his reaction through my lashes.

Pg 83 of 431 on iPad

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your ‘teasers’ in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks for stopping by!!

BUT DON’T RUNAWAY JUST YET!!

I’ve also included my Review for Mystery Falls and a Giveaway for an ebook below. Feel free to check it out and enter!!

Review – Mystery Falls by Marilyn Phillips

Mystery Falls is the debut novel in a series by a new Australian Author, Marilyn Phillips.

Author: Marilyn Phillips

Title: Mystery Falls
Series: Mystery Falls #1
Publisher: Marilyn Phillips, via Smashwords
Published: July 3^rd, 2012
Format: ebook supplied by author for review

Goodreads Summary

Secrets. Lies. Deception. For the past six years, Samantha Hunt has lived with the belief that the untimely death of her parents was the result of an unfortunate accident—that by the cruel hand of fate, she had been left an orphan. But it was a lie, a terrible lie told to her by those who wanted to keep her in the dark. And the truth... when revealed, will change her life and haunt her forever.

Suddenly plagued by a series of events which find her in danger and in need of a savior, Samantha is repeatedly rescued by the mysterious and elusive Shadow—a stranger who seems to know more about her past and the tragedy which befell her family, than she does. Drawn to him despite the antagonism she feels whenever in his presence, Samantha soon discovers that Shadow is not what he appears to be. Determined to learn his true identity and why he has come to Mystery Falls, the small town in which she has spent all of her seventeen years, Samantha not only uncovers the secrets he refuses to share, but also the truth about her own past. A truth which forces her to acknowledge that things are not always as they seem, and sometimes, not even those close to you can be trusted.

Resolved to seeking justice for the unwarranted death of her parents, Samantha embarks on a journey which brings her perilously close to her own demise. Can Shadow use his angel powers to save her yet again, or this time, will he be too late.

This is a beautiful love story where opposites do attract!! I really enjoy novels about Angels and Humans and this was definitely another great read. It wasn’t action packed (no fight scenes); it has a more romantic storyline, revolving around the growing relationship of Sam and Shadow. However it has a little bit of mystery about it too.

After a tragic accident which resulted in the death of her parents when she was 11, Samantha moved in with her Uncle Mike, Aunt Carole and Cousin Claire. Sam and Claire were like sisters prior to the accident, but after Aunt Carole moves away, the girls have a falling out. Sam becomes quite withdrawn and her only friend is Mia, who 5 years later, is still her best friend.

Sam is a very shy character who lacks confidence. Most of the decisions she makes in regards to Shadow are usually encouraged by Mia. She is always making plans for Sam and giving her the courage to act on her feelings.

Shadow is a very strong character and in one scene Sam describes him as “arrogant, egotistical, annoying, conceited, self-centered...” He, of course, is all of those things, but he is also very caring, especially towards Sam, not that she always knows about it. He appears to be moody every time Sam tries to speak to him and he is able to stir her emotions so easily!! Even I was getting frustrated with Shadow at times when he manipulated her feelings. Ahh... Men!!

Mystery Falls is an easy read and I was absorbed into the book so quickly that I couldn’t put it down. I love the cover, the mysterious blue of the falls and the feather (which gets a mention in the book). Marilyn has done a fantastic job writing her first novel; it is a great start to the series. I am eager to see where things go next!!

About Marilyn Phillips

Marilyn lives in Melbourne, Australia and writes young adult fantasy mixed with romance.

She tends to drink way too much coffee and eat way too much chocolate. She loves fantasy novels, and from that love, has grown a passion to write her own story. Hence the creation of Mystery Falls.

Her favourite book series are:

Trylle Trilogy by Amanda Hocking

Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer
Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
Evernight by Claudia Gray
Fallen by Lauren Kate

When not absorbed in a book or writing, she likes to spend time with her husband and two children, take long walks in dark forests and watch romantic movies with satisfying endings.

Find out more about Marilyn and her book at Goodreads or on her website. You can purchase Mystery Falls through Smashwords.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Naomi

Review: Grasping at Eternity by Karen Amanda Hooper

Author: Karen Amanda Hooper
Title: Grasping at Eternity
Series: The Kindrily Series #1
Publisher: Smashwords Edition
Published: May 25^th 2012
Format: ebook supplied by author for review

Goodreads Summary

Leave it to Maryah Woodsen to break the one rule that will screw up eternity: Never erase your memories.

Before entering this life, Maryah did the unthinkable—she erased. Now, at seventeen years old, she’s clueless that her new adoptive family has known her for centuries, that they are perpetually reincarnated souls, and that they have supernatural abilities. Oh, and she's supposed to love (not despise) Nathan, the green-eyed daredevil who saved her life.

Nathan is convinced his family’s plan to spark Maryah's memory is hopeless, but his love for her is undying. After spending (and remembering) so many lifetimes together, being around an empty version of his soulmate is heart shattering. He hates acting like a stalker, but has no choice because the evil outcast who murdered Maryah in their last lifetime is still after her.

While Maryah’s hunter inches closer, she and Nathan make assumptions and hide secrets that rip them further apart. Maryah has to believe in the magic within her, Nathan must have faith in the power of their love, and both need to grasp onto the truth before they lose each other forever—and discover just how lonely eternity can be.

Loved it, loved it, loved it!!

Karen Amanda Hooper gave me the opportunity to read her book and in return I was to give her book a review, so obviously I snapped her up on it. I'm not the kind of person to give big reviews because I don't see the point of rewriting the story for you, especially because the writer has done a better job already.

So, if you read the first chapter of 'Grasping At Eternity' and are not drawn into it from the very beginning, well the book just isn't for you. But to me, I was hooked from that first chapter and was left in a bit of shock because I didn't expect something like that to happen straight up! From that moment, I just could not put it down!!

Karen has written a fantastic story about Soul Mates and explored reincarnation on a different level. To be able to remember all your past lives and have some supernatural abilities to go along with it.... Simply fabulous! Also, throw in the bad guys who want you to join them or you will die, it just screams fun!!

It has a great romantic storyline and has been written from two POV's, Maryah and Nathaniel, and it has been done to perfection. To see both sides of these Soul Mates, knowing that Maryah has erased her previous lives from memory and is finding it hard to rebuild her life with her new family, while Nathaniel is finding it difficult to be around Mariyah and is unable to believe that she can recover her memories.

As it is the first book in the series, Maryah and Nathaniel's journey in this life has only just begun. I have so many questions that have been left unanswered, so I can't wait for the next book in the series, Taking Back Forever, expected to release in early 2013.

For more information go to Goodreads

Naomi

Stacking the Shelves #1

Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews. It is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

I didn’t need to go to the shops this week, as I received a few ebooks for review.

Mystery Falls by Marilyn Phillips (Received from Author)

White Witch and Bane by Trish Milburn (From Bell Bridge Books)

Samantha Moon by J.R.Rain (From BenBella Books)

The First Four Vampire for Hire Novels, Plus the Christmas Moon Novella and a Never-Before-Published Short Story

When Temptation Burns by J.K.Beck

(From Random House Publishing Group)

What did you receive this week? I’d love to know!!

Naomi

Review: Delicate Freakn’ Flower by Eve Langlais

Author: Eve Langlais
Title: Delicate Freakn’ Flower
Series: Freakn’ Shifters #1
Publisher: Self Published
Published: June, 2011
Format: ebook purchased myself

This is a Erotica/Paranormal Novel.

Goodreads Summary

Dammit, just how many toes was she going to have to stomp on before people realized she was a Delicate Freakn’ Flower?

Naomi doesn’t want to follow tradition and settle down with a violence-loving, chest thumping shapeshifter. She grew up in a household with five, testosterone laden brothers where none of the dishes ever matched, the ugly-as-sin furniture could withstand any catastrophe, and where crazy glue was bought by the case.

When fate—with a snicker—makes her meet not one, but two mates, Naomi digs her heels in and refuses to do what her wolf—and her body—demands. No way is she voluntarily allowing herself to get hitched to a pair of dumbass—totally hot and muscled—lacrosse players.

Can Ethan, the towering Kodiak bear, and Javier, the sexy, tanned jaguar convince this she-wolf that life with them won’t be all chaos? And can this delicate freakn’ flower unbend her prejudices enough to recognize she needs a pair of men who can handle her thorns—and her passion?

Warning: this is a hot threesome story where all the focus is on her with pleasurable consequences.

I was really excited to read this book, as the main character and I share the same name!! Could this Naomi be my alter-ego?? Hehe!! My favourite song at the moment is “She’s So Mean” by Matchbox 20, and after reading Delicate Freakn’ Flower I think that that song suits this story to a tee!!

After growing up in a home with five shifter brothers, who are full of testosterone and are always resorting to violence, Naomi has always had a plan of finding a human male to settle down with so she can have a normal, quiet life. Francine, Naomi’s best friend, convinces her to go to a Lacrosse game and while they are there, her inner wolf stirs and finds her mate. Not only is he into sports and violence, but he appears to be a jock, all the things she despises in a male.

Ethan, along with his best friend Javier, go to Naomi’s parents place, so that Ethan can meet his future mate. Naomi’s father and brothers are in the middle of a standoff with the two jocks, when she realises that she may be mated to two men. “Fate wouldn’t be so cruel!”

Naomi is very pig headed and stubborn, and no matter how mean and nasty she is to the guys, they always come back to her and continue to woo her. She tries to deny her inner wolf that these guys are her mates and she even continues to look elsewhere for love.

Naomi is a feisty werewolf and I love her character. She is set in her ways because she had a plan in her head for so long. She tries to stick to it, but these guys may have bought those plans to a crashing halt! The guys are just great. Ethan is a shy massive hunk of a man, while Javier who is not quite as big, has always been very smooth with the ladies! They have been best friends since college and have done everything together since.

It was great to meet these characters and watch them grow and form relationships, even though not all of those characters want to!! We get to enjoy the thrill of the chase and watch the storyline build, as it’s not all about the seduction of the woman, but about her safety and that of her family too.

The only thing I found hard about this book, was trying to connect to Lacrosse. I have never seen a game of Lacrosse in action, as I live in Australia, so it was hard for me to imagine how the game is played out.

Overall, I was captivated by this book. It was a fantastic read and had some very intense sex scenes. I’m not sure if this Naomi could handle it!! (Me LOL!!)

For more information go to Goodreads

Naomi

Swoon Thursday # 1- Mystery Falls by Marilyn Phillips

The fabulous girls over at YA Bound created this super HOT meme. Here's how it works.

From the book you’re currently reading, or one you just finished, tell us what made you SWOON. What got your heart pounding, your skin tingling, and your stomach fluttering.

Shout it out on Twitter with the hashtag #YABound, post it here in the comments, or grab the adorable button above and share it on your blog! I want to know & so do the chicks at YABound!

This is my first time doing Swoon Thursday, and I’ve picked a new Australian Author for this one.

Mystery Falls is the first book in the series written my Marilyn Phillips. Here’s part of the snippet that made me SWOON!!

Resting his forehead against mine, he whispered, “Well, I guess I’m breaking a lot of things these days.”

Through shallow and ragged breathing, I asked, “Meaning...?”

“Meaning... that I just broke my promise not to kiss you,” he explained.

“I think that was kinda my fault.”

Shadow raised his head. Locking his eyes with mine, he said, “It doesn’t matter whose fault it was. The fact is, I’m certain now, it’s a promise I can never keep.”

Page 217 of 455 in ibooks

Did you get swooned this week?

What did you think of mine?

Naomi

Review: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Author: Brodi Ashton
Title: Everneath
Series: Everneath
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: February, 2012
Format: Paperback won from Moonlight Reader

Goodreads Summary

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she’s returned—to her old life, her family, her friends—before being 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 months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there’s a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he’ll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.

As Nikki’s time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she’s 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...

What an amazing book!! I was captivated from the very start and once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down. Brodi Ashton has done a beautiful job writing this book. She has introduced us to some amazing and strong characters, whose lives appear to be tied to each other.

It is told from Nikki’s POV when she returns to her life after being gone for six months on earth. While we watch her try to put her life back together, the story skips back in time to before she disappeared and she retells us the stories that lead her to make the decision to leave. Her life was perfect, her grades were good, and she had her best friend Jules and her boyfriend Jack. Things seemed to change after she meets Cole, who isn’t what he appears to be. She starts to doubt some things and she wants to leave her life behind. But, could her true love keep her anchored to her world?

Through the development of the storyline, we delve into Persephone’s Myth and the Everlivings. The Everlivings live off the emotions of humans, and once every century they must take a human with them back to the Everneath and feed off them for 100 years, consuming all of their emotions until they can no longer remember their past life.

This book was just so beautifully written, that while I was reading it, I kept getting a little pull in my chest too!! The emotion from all the characters in this book is so high and it was so easy to connect with all the characters. It was great to go back to the past and see the whole story, and what lead Nikki to make the decisions that she did.

But can True Love really save them?

I can’t wait for book 2, Everbound, due out January 2013!!