Sunday 30 November 2014

Stacking the Shelves (73)

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.


So, how was everybody's week? Mines been eh. I believe I'm getting into a blogging funk and haven't felt like reading much since finishing Anna, Lola & Isla, and my two current reads are going sloooooow, not that the books are slow (okay, The Bone Season is) but everything seems to be dragging and blah, maybe it's the holidays? I always seem to get into a depressive mood for some reason. But anyway, books!




Friday 28 November 2014

DNF Review: Get Even (Oh-so-fucking-believable)




Get Even
Author:
Publication Date: September 16th 2014        
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars in Gretchen McNeil’s witty and suspenseful novel about four disparate girls who join forces to take revenge on high school bullies and create dangerous enemies for themselves in the process.

Bree, Olivia, Kitty, and Margot have nothing in common—at least that’s what they’d like the students and administrators of their elite private school to think. The girls have different goals, different friends, and different lives, but they share one very big secret: They’re all members of Don’t Get Mad, a secret society that anonymously takes revenge on the school’s bullies, mean girls, and tyrannical teachers.

When their latest target ends up dead with a blood-soaked “DGM” card in his hands, the girls realize that they’re not as anonymous as they thought—and that someone now wants revenge on them. Soon the clues are piling up, the police are closing in . . . and everyone has something to lose



Here's some advice while reading Get Even. Get Lost.
Okay, that's mean. The DGM team might try and pay me back by finding some humiliating video of me (there's none of the sort, unless I was drunk. Moving on...) So here's a nicer way of saying it.
When your brain tells you to stop.
STOP.

Thursday 27 November 2014

On What People Call "Gay" Music







This post was originally for #LGBTApril month but I couldn't seem to get it finished in time, and I was going through my draft posts the other day and while it's not longer #LGBTApril or about books, and while I love book blogging, why not add a little something different? (And okay, any excuse to talk about music really.) So I'm combining another one of my loves, music. I read an interview ages ago, and I'm not sure which one it is so I've linked the two that I re-found today, with Tegan and Sara, where they're asked about their sexuality effecting their music, and how others see that music because of being gay.

Wednesday 26 November 2014

Waiting on Wednesday (#74)

"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases.




Expected publication: January 8th 2015 by Penguin



  
The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park in this compelling, exhilarating, and beautiful story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die.

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.

Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister's recent death.

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.

This is an intense, gripping novel perfect for fans of Jay Asher, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Gayle Forman, and Jenny Downham from a talented new voice in YA, Jennifer Niven


Excuse me while I cheat. I already have this, and already read it, and will hug my ARC forever and ever because. This. Book. It's beautiful and sad and just everything.
What're you waiting on?


Tuesday 25 November 2014

DNF Round-Up: September & October




Wow, going through my reading schedule, I haven't DNF'D that many (okay, I've DNF'D a few more than just one, but these are the ones that I didn't really give a chance, when I usually read up until at least 50%, and therefore to a DNF review.)





Apparently, I'm feeling really mean today, because this was the book that inspired my Bad Taste in Words post, which I did say I wouldn't name the book. Oops?






Can't even remember why with these two.





Monday 24 November 2014

Review: Sweet Unrest (Voodoo, who?)





Sweet Unrest
Author:
Publication Date: October 8th 2014         
Publisher: Flux
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

Lucy Aimes has always been practical. But try as she might, she can’t come up with a logical explanation for the recurring dreams that have always haunted her. Dark dreams. Dreams of a long-ago place filled with people she shouldn’t know…but does.

When her family moves to a New Orleans plantation, Lucy’s dreams become more intense, and her search for answers draws her reluctantly into the old city’s world of Voodoo and mysticism. There, Lucy finds Alex, a mysterious boy who behaves as if they’ve known each other forever. Lucy knows Alex is hiding something, and her rational side doesn’t want to be drawn to him. But she is.

As she tries to uncover Alex’s secrets, a killer strikes close to home, and Lucy finds herself ensnared in a century-old vendetta. With the lives of everyone she loves in danger, Lucy will have to unravel the mystery of her dreams before it all comes to a deadly finish.



That's it, you and me Voodoo, are breaking up. I'm done. I give up trying to find a good Voodoo book. You win, YA.
We were promised a Murder mystery, there wasn't much of one. Century-old vendetta? I'll give you that, though what was the reason of the vendetta? Deadly finish? Nope. You'd think it would be intense and dark and scary with Vooodoo and all, but it didn't feel like danger or anything.

Sunday 23 November 2014

Stacking the Shelves (#72) & Recap

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.


So, how was everybody's week? Mines been okay stressful, but it's sorted itself out and phew because I hate being a ball of stress, which is also why I've had a cute and fluffy reading week. I'm on my third one. In a row. I don't do that, ever. I'm not a cute and fluffy type of reader until I need one, but I finally got around to reading another Kasie West, and Anna and the French Kiss and of course after Anna I had to read Lola, because Stephanie Perkins.

Also, uhm, I was being really good about not picking up so many e-arcs, had around 4 in two weeks. And this thing happened. Called the Harper Collins upload.



Friday 21 November 2014

Review: The Walled City






The Walled City
Author:
Publication Date: November 6th 2014
Publisher: Orion
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

730. That's how many days I've been trapped.
18. That's how many days I have left to find a way out.

DAI, trying to escape a haunting past, traffics drugs for the most ruthless kingpin in the Walled City. But in order to find the key to his freedom, he needs help from someone with the power to be invisible....

JIN hides under the radar, afraid the wild street gangs will discover her biggest secret: Jin passes as a boy to stay safe. Still, every chance she gets, she searches for her lost sister....

MEI YEE has been trapped in a brothel for the past two years, dreaming of getting out while watching the girls who try fail one by one. She's about to give up, when one day she sees an unexpected face at her window.....

In this innovative and adrenaline-fueled novel, they all come together in a desperate attempt to escape a lawless labyrinth before the clock runs out.



The Walled City is not a bad story. It has an important story to tell. Keep that in mind throughout this, but I don't think that story was highlighted as much as it should have been and was dragged down by other perspectives and a lot of inner monologue we didn't really need. For the first half, from each perspective, we basically had the same things happening, the same thoughts going on a loop that didn't seem to end up going anywhere. Like I said, it isn't a bad story, it has the foundations there to be that important story, but instead it only touched upon it.

Thursday 20 November 2014

Bad Taste in Words




Bad Taste in Words



I've read a lot of books with colourful language. I've read my fair share of books that have had a few bad taste in words, but none that have bothered me that much. You cringe. You move on. None have really bothered me that much. And I'm not saying that it should be censored in any way, but (you knew that was coming) I came across this book, a book that inspired this post, because it affected my reading experience. And once it does affect my reading experience that's when I'm done. The book? I'm not going to name it, because I'm not mean but just a few pages in I knew I wouldn't like it because of the way it's written, the words that are used. I'm not squeaky clean with language, okay? I swear, a lot. It's a problem, and I like swearing in books, especially in YA because what teen doesn't swear in high school?

Spotlight: Court Q&A with Cat Patrick



Title: Court
Author:
Date of Publication: October 23rd 2014


For more than 400 years, a secret monarchy has survived and thrived within the borders of the US, hiding in plain sight as the state known as Wyoming. But when the king is shot and his seventeen-year-old son, Haakon McHale, is told he will take the throne, becoming the eleventh ruler of the Kingdom of Eurus, the community that's survived for centuries is pushed to the limit. Told through four perspectives, Court transplants us to a world that looks like ours, but isn't. Gwendolyn Rose, daughter of the Duke of Coal, is grudgingly betrothed to Haakon -- and just wants a way out. Alexander Oxendine, son of the Duke of Wind and Haakon's lifelong best friend, already grapples with external struggles when he's assigned to guard Haakon after the king dies. And commoner Mary Doyle finds whispers in the woods that may solve -- or destroy -- everything, depending on your bloodline.

Money. Love. Power. Community. What's your motivation?


Q&A


1) Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

I feel like the red thread in all of my books is that people should be who they are and not who someone else wants them to be. Life is much more interesting that way.
2) Writing mentors?
I find inspiration from every good book I read. I’d recently finished Justin Cronin’s The Passage as I was getting going on Court, and it inspired me to be more thoughtful about description of landscapes, for example.

Wednesday 19 November 2014

Waiting on Wednesday (#73)


"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases.


  Expected publication: May 5th 2015 by Balzer + Bray
 
 



When Rachelle was fifteen she was good—apprenticed to her aunt and in training to protect her village from dark magic. But she was also reckless— straying from the forest path in search of a way to free her world from the threat of eternal darkness. After an illicit meeting goes dreadfully wrong, Rachelle is forced to make a terrible choice that binds her to the very evil she had hoped to defeat.

Three years later, Rachelle has given her life to serving the realm, fighting deadly creatures in an effort to atone. When the king orders her to guard his son Armand—the man she hates most—Rachelle forces Armand to help her find the legendary sword that might save their world. As the two become unexpected allies, they uncover far-reaching conspiracies, hidden magic, and a love that may be their undoing. In a palace built on unbelievable wealth and dangerous secrets, can Rachelle discover the truth and stop the fall of endless night?

Inspired by the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, Crimson Bound is an exhilarating tale of darkness, love, and redemption.

(This is a standalone novel, not part of the Cruel Beauty Universe.)


Okay, I know Cruel Beauty was confusing, but I loved it. Sad this isn't in the same Universe as Cruel Beauty (especially with that cover!) but so excited about it!


What're you waiting on?

Tuesday 18 November 2014

Novella Review: Half Lies (The Half Blood Trilogy #0.5)







Half Life
Author:
Publication Date: November 13th 2014        
Publisher:  Penguin ~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~



Set in the months before Half Bad, Half Lies takes the form of a diary written by Michele, the sister of Gabriel, Nathan’s Black witch friend. Having fled Europe for Florida, Michele falls in love with a local White witch boy. There, she finds that the divide between the Black and White witch communities is just as dangerous as it was in the life she's left behind.


HALF WILD, the sequel to HALF BAD will be published in March 2015. You can pre-order your copy now here! and read the first chapter here.

I don't usually read any novella's, mainly I only read the ones from my favourite series, and I can count on one hand how many I have, Half Lies being one of them. As you can gather, I loved Half Bad, and Gabriel was one of my favourite characters, so it was nice to be able to get to see more of him before he became the Gabriel in Half Bad, and since this was focusing on his sister, Michele, and getting to know her through the diary entries, and seeing how her end came to be.

Monday 17 November 2014

Review: Court





Court
Author:
Publication Date: October 23rd 2014
~A copy was provided by Rock Star Lit PR in exchange for an honest review~

For more than 400 years, a secret monarchy has survived and thrived within the borders of the US, hiding in plain sight as the state known as Wyoming. But when the king is shot and his seventeen-year-old son, Haakon McHale, is told he will take the throne, becoming the eleventh ruler of the Kingdom of Eurus, the community that's survived for centuries is pushed to the limit. Told through four perspectives, Court transplants us to a world that looks like ours, but isn't. Gwendolyn Rose, daughter of the Duke of Coal, is grudgingly betrothed to Haakon -- and just wants a way out. Alexander Oxendine, son of the Duke of Wind and Haakon's lifelong best friend, already grapples with external struggles when he's assigned to guard Haakon after the king dies. And commoner Mary Doyle finds whispers in the woods that may solve -- or destroy -- everything, depending on your bloodline.

Money. Love. Power. Community. What's your motivation?



I've read every Cat Patrick, which is why I was so excited to read Court, unfortunately, it didn't live up to her others. You could say that's because it's different to what she's done before, and it is, but it's not because of that. It's because there's not much going on. Court, in one word, is boring. I'm sorry to say it, but it is, and I can see why it wasn't picked up by the same publisher. I'm not saying Court is bad per say, but it doesn't seem up to her usual standard, and maybe that's just because it's something completely different or what, I don't know, but I wanted to root for it, but I couldn't.

Sunday 16 November 2014

Stacking the Shelves (#71) & Recap

STSmall
Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.
 
 
So, how was everybody's week? Mines been okay, I finished All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven last night and there might have been tears. A lot, a lot, of tears, but it is such a beautiful book in so many ways. I'm now going to go watch Mrs Brown's Boys because I need a good laugh right now, haha.




 

Saturday 15 November 2014

Book Blitz: Gears of Brass


Gears of brass giveaway


gob



A world like ours, but filled with gears of brass, where the beating heart is fueled by steam and the simplest creation is a complex clockwork device. Within this tome, you’ll find steampunk fairy tale re-tellings, as well as original stories that will send your gears turning. Welcome to the steampunk realm, with eleven authors guiding your path.

  Gears of Brass is a steampunk anthology published through Curiosity Quills. Within the pages, you’ll come across clockwork inventions and steampunk-ified fairy tale retellings. Eleven authors will guide you through worlds filled with airships, top hats, and corsets.










TEASERS (each teaser is from a different tale in the anthology)

“Stealing a few steps backward, I reached for him and brushed my fingertips along his cheek. Static energy crept across my palm. It glowed blue and pulled like taffy, sticking to my fingertips, then snapping back to his skin. My hand jerked back so hard I hit myself in the chest. My eyes traipsed down his neck, his shoulders, finally stopping at his midsection. It was almost as though I could see inside him. “

“The guards struggled forward, but failed to move even an inch. Everyone was frozen in place, except the uninvited guest. The man floated toward Lord and Lady Miller. “You see, my lord, your wife made a deal with me that cannot be broken. Your daughter is mine.”  

“I swiped my hand across my nose, wishing I could smell the green of the trees. Eyes burning, I swallowed hard, feeling the incision in my throat where they’d cut out my sinus enhancer. I would never be able to smell my exotic perfumes again.”

“Anthie watched the lissom liquid slip inside the carrying tube. I could see her inhaling the smell of the lubricating oil. So could Dr. Holmgren. From time to time he looked across at us through his reinforced goggles. They gave him the appearance of a baby owl, which was at odds with his general nastiness. I knew he was taking everything in. And I knew he had a special eye on Anthie.”

“In a hidden room deep inside the base of the great clock there was a click, a whir of gears, a valve opened, and the key chamber was flooded with air. Several minutes later, Bella awoke. The girl coughed, choked then screamed as blood began to once again flow through her veins: the first time in a millennium.”

“Something growled near to her right. The hairs along Redyn’s arms stood up and she held her breath. The sound came again, deep, guttural. Redyn turned her head, her lips parted, her gaze scanning the forest. They’d told her not to wander far from the cottage, but they couldn’t have expected her to play with that hideous excuse for a doll near everyone else. A wolf crept out of the shadows, his gray fur standing on end like hers.”  

“Three years ago, your father ruined my life. He terminated my family’s reputation.” “Um…” Amethyst wished she could back up further. Wind pushed at her top hat, so she shoved it up higher to straighten it. “I don’t understand.” “Now, I’ll ruin his life.”  


BUY Links: Amazon / B&N / Kobo Add to Goodreads here Learn more about the authors behind Gears of Brass over at Curiosity Quills Press   Don’t forget to enter the mega giveaway below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway  

Friday 14 November 2014

Review: Spiders





 
Spiders
Author:
Publication Date: November 6th 2014        
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

From the author of Thirteen: a fast-paced thriller for teens set in a world where ordinary kids are confronted by evil.

Adam may have survived once, but a cult still has him in its sights. And this time he may not escape with his life...

Abbie's dad is an undercover agent, tasked with exposing dangerous cults. He's normally able to maintain his distance, but this time Abbie's worried he's in too deep.

Megan was sure she and Adam were safe, but now he's gone missing on a school ski trip in Scotland and she's the only one who can help him . . .

The web is closing in around them . . .




Spiders is hard to review, though I knew what it was about I was still confused, it's written in third person so we have a range of different perspectives that it's a jumble of just names at first and never one for long to get comfortable with until the ball started rolling.

Thursday 13 November 2014

Book Blitz: Breaking the Rules





Breaking the Rules (Pushing the Limits #1.5)
Release Date: 12/08/14
Harlequin Teen

Summary from Goodreads:
A summer road trip changes everything in this unforgettable new tale from acclaimed author Katie McGarry.

For new high school graduate Echo Emerson, a summer road trip out west with her boyfriend means getting away and forgetting what makes her so... different. It means seeing cool sights while selling her art at galleries along the way. And most of all, it means almost three months alone with Noah Hutchins, the hot, smart, soul-battered guy who’s never judged her. Echo and Noah share everything — except the one thing Echo’s just not ready for.

But when the source of Echo’s constant nightmares comes back into her life, she has to make some tough decisions about what she really wants — even as foster kid Noah’s search for his last remaining relatives forces them both to confront some serious truths about life, love, and themselves.

Now, with one week left before college orientation, jobs and real life, Echo must decide if Noah's more than the bad-boy fling everyone warned her he'd be. And the last leg of an amazing road trip will turn... seriously epic.



Available for Pre-Order:
 photo 9F3EE1AE-B1F5-45EB-87E4-5D28630C7FC5-7157-000003FF9121E113.jpg  photo 6682AA0B-74D4-4387-95A5-8FF5F06129C8-7157-000003FF90EF4A11.jpg  photo kobobuyicon_zpsb933c957.png  photo C5192E77-11AB-4F0C-A100-1152CA3C5DBB-7157-000003FF90C02846.jpg  photo A2DA65FC-B90B-467F-AF60-4D7E604A5611-7157-000003FF907102DD.jpg  photo bookdepositorybutton_zps03c7c0bd.jpg



 

From Noah’s Point of View

“Me and you,” I whisper, hoping my words will sink into her subconscious, beyond where she overthinks. “It’s how it’s supposed to be.”

Echo’s hand glides over mine, and she links our fingers together. “You like disturbing my sleep, don’t you?”

I kiss her shoulder, permitting my lips to linger on her soft skin. Guess I did wake her. “Just keeping things straight between us.”

“In my sleep?” Damn, I love that groggy voice.

“You argue less that way.”


-------------------

Books in the series:
(covers linked to Goodreads)
 photo pushingthelimits_zps8c06f01f.jpg  photo dareyouto_zps7e2247a9.jpg  photo crashintoyou_zpsba4a938d.jpg  photo takemeon_zps1c41c15a.jpg 






About the Author
KATIE MCGARRY was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. She is a lover of music, happy endings, and reality television, and is a secret University of Kentucky basketball fan.

Katie would love to hear from her readers. Contact her via her website, katielmcgarry.com, follow her on Twitter @KatieMcGarry, or become a fan on Facebook and Goodreads.

Author Links:
 photo iconwebsite-32x32_zps1f477f69.png  photo icongoodreads32_zps60f83491.png  photo icontwitter-32x32_zpsae13e2b2.png  photo iconfacebook-32x32_zps64a79d4a.png



GIVEAWAY:
 




Book Blitz Organized by:

Promo Part Two: Court Excerpt & Giveaway!



Title: Court
Author:
Date of Publication: October 23rd 2014


For more than 400 years, a secret monarchy has survived and thrived within the borders of the US, hiding in plain sight as the state known as Wyoming. But when the king is shot and his seventeen-year-old son, Haakon McHale, is told he will take the throne, becoming the eleventh ruler of the Kingdom of Eurus, the community that's survived for centuries is pushed to the limit. Told through four perspectives, Court transplants us to a world that looks like ours, but isn't. Gwendolyn Rose, daughter of the Duke of Coal, is grudgingly betrothed to Haakon -- and just wants a way out. Alexander Oxendine, son of the Duke of Wind and Haakon's lifelong best friend, already grapples with external struggles when he's assigned to guard Haakon after the king dies. And commoner Mary Doyle finds whispers in the woods that may solve -- or destroy -- everything, depending on your bloodline.

Money. Love. Power. Community. What's your motivation?
 

 

HAAKON

Before he was the enemy, James Haakon McHale III was just a seventeen-year-old in what most people knew as the state of Wyoming, wishing he was somewhere other than the predawn forest with a rifle in his grip.

“It’s colder than moonlight on a tombstone,” Haakon muttered, blowing on his fist. His thick-soled boots swish-thumped on the hard earth as he skillfully avoided twigs, rocks, and low branches.

Alexander Oxendine—youngest son of the Duke of Wind, wide receiver, video game button masher, and Haakon’s best friend—laughed into his collar. It could’ve been mistaken for a cough.

“It’s colder than a whore’s heart,” Alexander said, his tone cautiously low. They were the youngest members of the hunting party, and were only allowed to take part because of their rank. Haakon could think of a thousand superior privileges.

He glanced around to make sure none of the other men were paying attention—especially his father. Smirking, he said, “Colder than a polar bear’s balls.”

The pair stifled laughter.

“Than a witch’s—”

“Too easy.”

“Colder than a dead woman’s touch,” Alexander said.

Haakon checked again, dialed down his voice even more, and said, “It’s colder than Gwendolyn Rose’s kiss.”

“Quiet!”

It was Haakon’s father: dictator, fun-spoiler, and—regrettably for his son—the tenth ruler of the Kingdom of Eurus, also known as the Realm, the monarchy hiding in plain sight in the depths of the Democracy known as the United States of America.

Every schoolchild knew the story. In 1670, after Joseph Dyer’s wife died in the Great Plague in London, he brought his five daughters to what would become the United States one hundred years later, seeking a better life. But it soon became apparent that his family would never thrive under strict Puritan rule in New England–which banned higher education for girls and taught submissiveness above all else, and which centered around extreme religious beliefs that were counter to Dyer’s own.

A friend, John Seymour, who was—controversially—married to a Native woman, suggested that they set out together in search of a new home deep within America’s treacherous unknown. Seymour’s wife had been attacked; her family persecuted. Seymour believed that rather than fighting the Natives, they should live in harmony with them.

Dyer, Seymour, and several other men and their families snuck away. After a long and dangerous journey, together they created their version of paradise: a kingdom that blended the best of England with Native cultures. Dyer was thought of as the Father of the Realm, and Seymour’s Native wife, who ensured their survival through tribal relations, the Mother.

Rather than cause a revolution, the founders decided to keep the kingdom secret. Inside the borders of what they’d eventually stake claim as Wyoming, they’d follow their own rules. Outsiders wouldn’t know they were different because they wouldn’t understand.

Outsiders weren’t to be trusted.

Dyer’s youngest daughter, captivated by the ancient Greek she wouldn’t have been allowed to learn in Puritan society, named the new kingdom Eurus, meaning east wind. She pronounced it “air-us.”

“But the winds here blow from the west,” Haakon had asked his father once—before Dad was King James. That was when it was okay to ask questions. When curiosity wasn’t an imposition.

“That’s right, Haakon,” his father had replied, straw between his teeth. They’d gone on a walk together. The sun was setting on an easy day. His dad had pointed toward the eastern horizon. “The wind here does primarily blow from the west, but our founders blew in from the east. That day, the wind changed directions.”

Haakon frowned away the memory of days never to return, and refocused on the trees. He walked as soundlessly as he could in his camo fleece jacket and vintage Levi’s, his rifle nestled in the crook of his left arm, a round in the chamber. He was on the left edge of the group, three rows behind his father. Evenly spaced gaps between them, the men were like migrating geese, locked in formation.

Geese hunting deer.

“Were you drinking last night?” Haakon’s father had demanded on the way to the meeting point that morning. “Is that why you’re so tired?”

“I’m tired because it’s so early that the birds aren’t even awake yet.”

“Good. Because you know what the consequences will be if you start drinking again.” They’d shared the backseat of the armored SUV; Haakon had done his best to preoccupy himself with his cell phone.

“Yes, sir, I know.”

“You need to turn that thing off before we arrive. And when’s your next haircut? You look slovenly.”

Will you just get off my back? Haakon had thought at the top of his lungs. What he’d said, though, was simply, “Yes, sir.”

There, in the forest, Haakon toyed with the idea of raising his gun and shooting King James square in the back of the head. Right there under his hat, just above the rise of his custom down hunting vest. He could do it. Even with the others present, he knew there’d be no trial, no trip to Corby. But offing his father wouldn’t solve anything. In fact, it would make life a lot worse. Because with his father gone, Haakon would be in charge.

Haakon would become the King of Eurus.

The thought made him want to puke.

 
 Giveaway!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
--------------------
 
About Cat Patrick:
 

Raised in a house that was struck by lightning–twice–Cat Patrick is the author of young adult books ForgottenRevived, and The Originals, and the co-author of Just Like Fate.
As a child, Cat could be found making up stories like her first book, Dolly the Purple Spotted Dolphin; growing corn in the backyard; or performing with a traveling sign-language troupe. She earned a journalism degree from the University of Wyoming and a master’s degree from Boston University, and worked in public relations for fifteen years. She lives outside of Seattle with her husband and twin daughters, and is on Twitter @seecatwrite, or Facebook at authorcatpatrick.

 
Cat once…
• Interrupted Warren Beatty’s lunch to snap a picture with him.
• Appeared on a game show, but not as a competitor.
• Climbed a 50 foot tower and rappelled back down. (At least she thinks it was 50 feet.)
• Met Muhammad Ali.
• Was on the high school golf team.
• Got a tattoo.
• Was pooped on by a dolphin.
• Performed a high kick routine to Personal Jesus.
• Interviewed Carmen Electra.
• Worked as a “concessionist” at a movie theater.
• Met the guy who created Sonic the Hedgehog. 

Cat likes… Crunchy snacks, decaf nonfat lattes, mint chip ice cream, Alan Rickman, zombies from afar, traveling, reading, easy hikes, challenging plotlines, stargazing, silly hats, and boots.
Cat dislikes… Talking on the phone, socks with holes, zombies close up, the flu, mean people, touching ice, copyedits, flying, spiders, squeaky windshield wipers, black licorice, and salmon.