Devon Ashley's Blog, page 21

So I'm cutting the giveaway for August a day short cause I'm going on vaca this weekend and I wanna get this done before I go. Not to mention, I have a HUGE giveaway going on that'll begin September 1st too! So come back in a few hours to check that out. Seriously. HUGE!

Anyways, August's Previously Loved Book Giveaway winner of The Forest of Hands and Teeth is...EMILY!!!
All winners have 72 hours to respond to their winning emails or new winners will be chosen. And now,
September's Book Giveaway


A paperback of The Luxe by Anna Godbersen.
Wanna enter to win? Head over to my giveaway page.

Undead
Kirsty McKay
Exp. Pub.: Sept. 1, 2012

Out of sight, out of their minds: It's a school-trip splatter fest and completely not cool when the other kids in her class go all braindead on new girl Bobby.

The day of the ski trip, when the bus comes to a stop at a roadside restaurant, everyone gets off and heads in for lunch. Everyone, that is, except Bobby, the new girl, who stays behind with rebel-without-a-clue Smitty.

Then hours pass. Snow piles up. Sun goes down. Bobby and Smitty start to flirt. Start to stress. Till finally they see the other kids stumbling back.

But they've changed. And not in a good way. Straight up, they're zombies. So the wheels on the bus better go round and round freakin' fast, because that's the only thing keeping Bobby and Smitty from becoming their classmates' next meal. It's kill or be killed in these hunger games, heads are gonna roll, and homework is most definitely gonna be late.
Bloody Freakin' Zombtastic! Love, love love! What does the new girl, the rebel-without-a-cause, a nerd and a social snob have in common? They've each become the diner's new red plate special.I absolutely adored this. It's total Breakfast Club characters with British humor. New girl Bobby has moved back to the British Isles from America, and she's not too happy about it. Neither are her fellow classmates, who she's forced to interact with on a school ski trip so she can make new friends. Too bad they all walk into a diner and come back out a little ripe. Or is it too bad? It's not like they were nice to her or anything...
Stuck on the bus with three students that come from completely different social cliques, they're forced to put up with each other's clashing personalities and commentary while trying to outsmart the undead circling the bus. Once a gas explosion fails to bring help, the foursome is forced to leave the gas-dry bus and trek to the nearest town in the middle of a blizzard. Once they run across an entire town of zombies, they're forced to hide out in a nearby castle. Yeah, the castle's exterior protects them from a mob of following zombies, but it also locks them inside with something just as dangerous. Will nothing go their way?
I haven't bothered to read zombie books before, but I loved Shaun of the Dead, and I loved that cover! So I excitedly dove into this and came back up happy. I'm not sure how Undead compares to the other zombie books out there, but I sure found it humorous and entertaining.

 
ARC provided by NetGalley for honest review.

So I was approached to participate in another blog tour, and to my surprise, it wasn't for an author, but a photographer that also creates book covers for so many people. Awesome! We see these pictures all the time, comment on how pretty they are, but how many of us actually think of the artist behind the work? I have had people ask me in the past if my cover was done by a particular artist before, but I was kinda like, "Huh?"...cause I've done my own so far. But after seeing what she can do, I'm defininitely thinking of using Michelle in the future! Wanna see a few of her covers?    So what can I ask a photographer that's relevant to her work? Her inspirations? Her favorite genres to create? What made her put a camera into her hands in the beginning? All good questions, but what I chose was for her to share with us some of her favorite fellow photographers/cover artists. So here we go!  
1. DAVE HILL - Dave Hill has the most unique style I have ever seen. I aspire to be able to make compositions as elaborate and full of motion as his. Everything in his pictures came from a photograph and nothing was made digitally which is what I am trying to achieve with my art as well.
2. ALEXIA SINCLAIR - I love how she combines painting and photomanipulation. Her photos look so soft and surreal. 3. NATHALIA SUELLEN    4. ELIZABETH MAY - really enjoy her romance pictures. I've never seen someone capture the essence of love as perfectly as her.  5. ROBIN ALFIAN    6. WILL MERZLAK - His photos are the most emotive to me. The concept, color, light, model expression... everything is perfect. Even his photos of simple objects are so well done they feel nostalgic.   7. JILL GREENBERG  8. ANNIE LEIBOVITZ  WOW! Some of those are absolutely gorgeous. Yeah, I'm a lover of the romantic pics. :) If you'd like to check out what Michelle can do, go to her Deviant Art site. And if you'd like to pick up on the rest of the tour to learn more about Michelle Monique and her work, check out the schedule below: September 22nd - August 3rd 22: Raschel's Reads: Interview - www.raschel-reads.blogspot.com24: Andrea Heltsley: Promo/Interview - andreaheltsley.blogspot.com
26: Jessica Redmerski: '10 Weird Things' - www.jessicaredmerski.com
27: TK Knox: Interview - www.tk-knox.blogspot.com
28: Devon Ashley: Favorite Photographers - www.devonashleywrites.blogspot.com
29: Beverly Sharp: Artwork Feature/Bio - www.wormyhole.blogspot.com
30: Amy Fournier: www.booklovingme.com
31: Inna: Art Feature - thebookconfessions.blogspot.com
2: Kassondra Leigh: Musical Inspirations - http://www.kasonndraleigh.com
3: Urban Fantasies: Teenage Garage Sale - www.urbanfantasyinvestigations.blogspot.com/ 

Now through Tuesday, Falling in Between will be ON SALE at Amazon and Barnes and Noble for just $1.99!!! (foreign Amazon will probably experience a 2 day delay). This is the first sale I've done for this novel and I probably won't do one again for another six months, so grab it while you can!
 eBooks available on Kindle US, UK, DE, FR, IT and ES, and Nook Finally! A private conversation. And all I had to do was throw myself off a cliff, drown in a pond in my undies and let him put his hands on my breasts to bring me back to life. Yay me! (yeah, that’s sarcasm)

Yep, that pretty much sums up the most craptastic night of Jenna Baker’s life. She drowns after jumping off a cliff, meets a hotty named Chance in the pearlescent in-between and is brought back to life by her soon-to-be boyfriend Robert.

Just when things start to move forward with Robert, the guy she'd been crushing on for a year now, in walks the man of her dreams – literally. Chance suddenly appears in her dream every time she closes her eyes. So it's Robert by day and Chance by night. One in the real world and one in the dream world. What could possibly go wrong?
Absolutely nothing – until she comes face to face with the guy she met in the in-between, and realizes her romantic rendezvous with Chance may be more than just her imagination.

Last Summer
Rebecca A. Rogers
Exp. Pub: July 20, 2012

All Chloe Sullivan wants to do is get through the summer. Her life has been in disarray for more than six months, and she knows the only reason her parents made one final trip to Sandy Shores is because of her. They are, after all, two seconds away from filing for divorce. When Chloe stumbles upon a boy in one of her childhood hangouts, she’s in for more than just a relaxing summer vacation.

Logan Andrews is exhausted, famished and, quite frankly, kaput. His parents kicked him out when he refused to attend a rehabilitation program for his drug addiction. Now, he wishes he would’ve listened; he’d be receiving appropriate medical care rather than living in a dingy, godforsaken shack, holing up from money-hungry drug dealers.

Logan’s godsend arrives in the form of Chloe, who can’t hold her tongue when it comes to matters of the heart. They’re both in for a rude awakening when Logan’s past catches up to them, though. Can they escape the drug dealers showing up at every twist and turn, or will things end much worse than they ever imagined? Chloe Sullivan knew she was in for a craptastic summer. Her parents dragged her to their summer home for what she knew would be their last summer ever as a happy family. Cause seriously, Chloe ain't' blind; she knows divorce is on the way, no matter how hard her parents try to put up a friendly front. Depressing herself over lost friends and the betrayal of her father with some young bimbo, Chloe is tired of everything falling apart. So it's no wonder she gets it in her head to help a homeless teenage boy she comes across. Chloe's family life is falling apart, but maybe she can help Logan reconnect with his.
But there's more to Logan than meets the eyes. He's completely responsible for the bad decisions that made him homeless and addicted to drugs...and on the hitlist of the local drug dealer. As a stubborn Chloe forces herself onto a less than willing fixer-upper, Logan comes to realize he does need a little help. As their relationship develops, Chloe sees more in Logan than just the failed football hero with an addiction to herione. He might just have potential and the desire to right his wrongs, but the road won't be easy, as his past haunts their every step and endangers their lives at every wrong turn.
Last Summer was a quick, easy read with some scenes that'll make you gasp and tingle and test the thump-thump of your heartbeat! (Not to mention fan yourself)... Get it on that GoodRead's to-read list if you haven't already. :)
***For those of you that think this summer novel sounds as cool as cherry lemonade, be warned this is New Adult and does contain some drug use and sexual situations. Not recommended for anyone under the age of 17.
The Last Summer Blog Tour is going on right now, so stop by and enter to win some copies!


ARC provided by author for honest review.

Velveteen
Daniel Marks
Expected Pub: October 9, 2012

Velveteen Monroe is dead. At 16, she was kidnapped and murdered by a madman named Bonesaw. But that’s not the problem.

The problem is she landed in purgatory. And while it’s not a fiery inferno, it’s certainly no heaven. It’s gray, ashen, and crumbling more and more by the day, and everyone has a job to do. Which doesn’t leave Velveteen much time to do anything about what’s really on her mind.

Bonesaw.

Velveteen aches to deliver the bloody punishment her killer deserves. And she’s figured out just how to do it. She’ll haunt him for the rest of his days.

It’ll be brutal... and awesome.

But crossing the divide between the living and the dead has devastating consequences. Velveteen’s obsessive haunting cracks the foundations of purgatory and jeopardizes her very soul. A risk she’s willing to take—except fate has just given her reason to stick around: an unreasonably hot and completely off-limits coworker.

Velveteen can’t help herself when it comes to breaking rules... or getting revenge. And she just might be angry enough to take everyone down with her.  
Riddle me this: Why does a book description that goes off about a ghost seeking revenge against her serial killer, but is mostly about an uprising in the weirdest purgatory I've ever heard of, have so many good ratings? Answer: I have no idea.
Oh, yeah...there are spoilers ahead, because this book was just a modge podge of wtf-ery.
Velveteen started off so promising with Velvet using her ghost mojo to destroy things in the serial killer's home, and then realizing the sicko had collected another girl to torture. Instead of moving forward with that story, she leaves because she has to slip back into purgatory because somebody might notice she's missing. Hmm...okay. (Why does she have to be butt naked to travel through - and arrive in a dark alley that's frighteningly similar to Nocturn Alley? Cobblestone pathways, weird clothing...totally felt like I was in Harry Potter). And I've never heard of a ghost that practically had to be present for roll call and participate in something I can only call group counseling in purgatory. They're dead...leave 'em alone already. If they wanna hang out in purgatory, that's their decision. Then out of nowhere some shadow thing comes along whipping up souls into its tendrils and showing them really bad things. O-kaaaay.... They're dead right? It's not like this shadow can destroy their soul or anything, but they scatter like it's that deformed monster from Cloverfield snatching them up. 
Apparently, our girl Velvet, who's just a kid and been in purgatory for only a few years, is the leader of a team of scavengers that have the best fight record against the shadows. Say what? It's purgatory! How can someone so new have the best record? People have been there for thousands and thousands of years and this two year old is better? (You can't see it, but I'm shaking my head right now, cause her out of this world - ahem...purgatory - number is 57.) Sigh...Velveteen is just filled with things that make my eyes roll and my head shake, and I'm not even gonna get into how quickly Velvet and Nick are rolling around in her bed groping each other - oh, wait...yes I am - a few hours after they met!
Are you sure were not just in the head of some delusional mental patient in Bellevue? Cause this book is filled with crazy stuff all over the place. Now I try to find the good in every book I read, but Velveteen made this really hard. Luckily, I loved the chapters where she faced off with her killer, and I was ready to upgrade this nightmare to two stars, but they were so few and far between, I just couldn't mislead my readers into thinking this was worth two stars. And I hate giving one stars. Oddly enough, I had to upload my one star pic from the harddrive cause it had never been used before on the Crazy Dream blog. The first chapter with her screwing with Bonesaw was awesome...but then I had to suffer through totally unawesomeness for 200 more pages before I was given another short glimpse of Bonesaw. I'm so disappointed right now, cause the author was onto something really great with this whole ghost-revenge-on-a-serial-killer thing, but fell flat when the focus shifted onto this ridiculous version of purgatory.
I'd pass on this one peeps. It took me forever to read cause it put me to sleep every night. And to be honest, I pulled the sheet over Velveteen and called her death at 277 pages.
Novel provided by publisher via NetGalley.

What I Didn't Say
Keary Taylor
Pub.: April 30, 2012

Getting drunk homecoming night your senior year is never a good idea, but Jake Hayes never expected it all to end with a car crash and a t-post embedded in his throat.  His biggest regret about it all? What he never said to Samantha Shay. He's been in love with her for years and never had the guts to tell her. Now it's too late. Because after that night, Jake will never be able to talk again.

When Jake returns to his small island home, population 5,000, he'll have to learn how to deal with being mute. He also finds that his family isn't limited to his six brothers and sisters, that sometimes an entire island is watching out for you. And when he gets the chance to spend more time with Samantha, she'll help him learn that not being able to talk isn’t the worst thing that could ever happen to you. Maybe, if she'll let him, Jake will finally tell her what he didn't say before, even if he can't actually say it.
You know that guy you were totally crushing on in high school? You know the one I'm talking about... The one you never had the courage to confront because you feared any type of rejection on their part would shred your heart and rip apart your very soul. Yeah...that one.
Meet Jake. Typical high school hero, and totally in love with Samantha. He began making the moves on her before last year, but with summer approaching fast, he wanted to wait until school began to ask out the girl he's loved for like forever. But come Fall, Samantha seems to brush him off. In fact, she seems to brush everyone off, and for some reason quits all her extracurricular activities and keeps to herself now. After getting drunk following the homecoming game, Jake's friends convince him to just shout it out to her already, and they leave the party and head for her house. But they don't make it. Long, tragic story short: a car accident leaves Jake's vocal chords permanently damaged. Now he'll never be able to tell Samantha he loves her.
Drinking is bad, boys and girls. Bad, bad, bad.
But with despair comes hope. The only person in the high school that can teach Jake sign language happens to be Samantha, who volunteers to be his personal study buddy in their very own class period. As happy as he is to be spending time with Samantha, Jake can't help but notice her appearance slowly degrading before his eyes. Her body is thinning and her clothes are thread-bare. As their friendship finally get backs on track, Jake learns the truth about Samantha and comes to realize the outcome of his tragic accident isn't nearly as dire as Samantha's reality.
Sigh....this was a really sweet novel, even though it's filled with tragic circumstances suffocating both characters. Jake and Samantha are both dealing with loss in their own way, and the repercussions that followed. You can tell the two characters deeply care for one another (sans stupid mistake all boys seem to make) and it's a nice, slow build to love. Be sure to check this one out when you need a nice, good love story.

Novel provided by author through NetGalley for honest review.

OMG there are a lot of winners this month! And it's because I've been so busy I'm a little behind on getting these out.  Did you miss out on some of these awesome prizes? Check by each week to see what goodies are pending here at The Crazy Dream blog! All of these were up for grabs during the past few weeks:


Laney and Darkness: Signed Paperbacks (Julie R), Bookmarks (Becky P, Kelly F, Andreea, Mary Anne G, Mary P, Ricki MCD, Jennifer W, Paige, Natalie C, and Holly H.

Pitch: wni

Summer Reads Giveaway Hop: Kelsey S.

Ordained Blog Tour: Signed Paperback (Holly H), ebooks (Susand C and Riz B), Bookmarks (Tiffany W, Krystal L, Jenna E, Beth D, Danielle, Lauren M, Molly F, Elizabeth R, BN100 and Morgan)

July's Previously Loved Book Giveaway winner of an ARC of Never Knowing is... Nicole H.

All winners have 72 hours to respond to their winning emails or new winners will be chosen. And now,

August's Book Giveaway


A paperback of In The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. Wanna enter to win? Head over to my giveaway page.

Florence
Ciye Cho

Seventeen-year-old Florence Waverley is out of her depth. Literally. Kidnapped and taken below the waves to the mer world of Niemela, she is the ultimate gift for merman Prince Kiren: a human familiar tied to his side. But nothing is what it seems amid the beauty and danger of a dark ocean.

Every Niemelan has a role to play, from the mermaids who weave towers out of kelp to the warriors who fight sea monsters. But in trying to survive, Florence will end up in the middle of a war between the mer and the Darkness. A conflict that will push her between two brothers: Kiren, the charmer inexplicably drawn to both her and the monsters; and Rolan, the loner who has been pushing her away since the day they met. But in order to take a stand--and find out where she belongs--Florence will have to risk it all: her life, her heart... and her very soul.
Florence Waverley was merely minding her own business when she was forced underwater and dragged to her death...or so she thought. When she awakes, she discovers herself living amongst fictional characters with a polyp attached to her back that somehow allows her to breathe underwater. Meant to be a familiar for Kiren, the upcoming king, her presence is unwanted by practically everyone, and she's immediately threatened with death by the current king. If for not the young princess' offer to keep her out of trouble and prove her place in the new world, she'd easily have been drowned.
But Florence doesn't know how to fit into this dark world, and she doesn't really want to. She longs to return home, but she soon realizes she has nothing to return to. Not really... So Florence slowly begins to accept her new fate, trying to hide and ignore the awful glares of the mer people, who detest all humans and the negative impact they cause to the earth. But it seems she can't stay hidden, and every little thing she does seems to attract more and more unwanted attention - except for Kiren, whose attention she's more than happen to lure. But when Florence discovers the real reason she was brought to this underwater neverland, losing her life is the least of her worries, cause it might just cost her very soul.
I was a little surprised by the abrupt ending, cause I thought it would go a little further than it did. Right now this looks like a stand-alone, and if it is, I would have liked a little more closure than what I got. I also would have liked better explanation for how the polyp attached to Florence's back allowed her to breathe underwater. She justs accepts that it works and doesn't question it in anyway, but I have a scientific mind, so I love to know how things work. And I'm also left wondering how Florence developed mermaid-like power. Was this because of the polyp too? Cause you can pull a fish out of water, but you can't make it walk. So when, after only one day, Florence was suddenly able to control the creatures living in that world by only thinking what she wanted them to do, I was left wondering how the heck she pulled that off. My only guess is that the polyp was tapped into her mind and relayed her wishes to the creatures for her, but my hunch was never confirmed. All in all, Cho's  underwater world was very detailed and easy to picture, and the story easy to follow along with. Mermaid lovers will definitely want to check this one out. 

Novel provided by author for honest review.

Kindred (The Darkwoods Trilogy #2)
J.A. Redmerski
Exp. Pub.: July 20, 2012 TOMORROW!!!

***THIS FRIDAY, JULY 20th, KINDRED IS ONLY $1.99.***
Synopsis: Isaac Mayfair is hiding a dark secret. And just when Adria Dawson thinks the worst of her life among the werewolf world is over, she learns the secret that can rip her and Isaac’s love apart. Adria must come to terms with what the truth means for her. What it means for her life and how much time she has left to live it. She must choose between two different fates, neither of which can offer life as a certainty.

As if Isaac’s betrayal isn’t enough, Adria learns that there are things out there older and more powerful than werewolves could ever be. An archaic entity known only to few as the Praverian, unlike anything Adria has ever known or heard of.

As Adria struggles with her own fateful dilemmas, she must also try to find out why the Praverian is so interested in her and do everything in her power to stay out of its way.
Sigh...I think Isaac Mayfair just kicked and clawed his way to the top of the Book Boyfriend list. Sorry boys...hope he didn't infect you along the way.
It's been seven months since Adria was kidnapped by Vargas, the leader of Isaac's enemy pack, since the night she almost died, since the night her uncle was permanently mauled, since her life was forever changed. She didn't know it then, but now suspects while she was unconscious, Vargas forced an unwanted Blood Bond on her. Her physical and mental health is waning, and fear of losing Isaac has kept her from admitting her suspicions openly. Her delusions become more apparent as Adria begins to frequently converse with Genna, who incendently, no one else can see. Her delusions drain her and time becomes lost to her. As her health begins to fade, Adria knows there's only one way to fix it, but it's entirely possible the process will take her life.

Whew! Kindred was quite the ride. It begins with a great bang - immediate action as Adria runs blindly through the forest, desperately trying to outrun a vicious werewolf, and the suspense that builds until the end will have you guessing her condition and ultimate plan of action. If you loved The Mayfair Moon, you're gonna be incredibly happy with Kindred. There are fresh (and somewhat creepy) new characters, werewolves from rival packs fighting to be alpha of the Mayfair's territory, an ancient group known as the Praverians that like to the suck the energy right out of you, and an ending that will sate your hunger but still leave you craving for more!

*Kindred is New Adult Urban Fantasy and there is some sexual content. So if that offends you, steer clear. Those okay with it...it's so steamy you'll be fanning yourself cause Isaac's freakin hot!




ARC provided by author for honest review.