Review Copy Cleanup 3.0 – Wrap-Up

Review Copy Cleanup is over. Can't believe how fast this month has gone by. I didn't manage to get through all my review books, but at least I read some of them.

Tough Girl by Libby Heily (review)

Recalled by Cambria Hebert (review)

A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest (review)

These are actually half of my review books. All of the books were pretty good and I am really glad about it. Also I have to say I am satisfied with what I managed to read this month. Hopefully I will get through the rest of my review books next month.

Fire & Ice: Karina Halle

Today's Giveaways:

Heidi@Rainy Day Ramblings: Miranda Kenneally: Things I Can't Forget
Christy@Love of Books:Cambria Hebert: Recalled

Today I am welcoming Karina Halle on Mostly Reviews. She is the author of  Experiment in Terror, Devils and The Artists series and she is here to talk about Kick-ass heroines, with good reason since all her main characters are kick-ass heroines.

Why kick-ass heroines need to make a comeback
by Karina Halle

I’m not sure if anyone else has noticed this, but lately when you pick up a book that’s collecting a lot of buzz and hype, you’ll find the male lead to be hot and charming (and maybe a bit of douche – but that’s okay) but the female is virginal and weak, with no backbone. I’m no feminist, but isn't it better to have a female that’s worthy of the man she’s fighting for (or with)? She doesn’t even have to kick literal ass, but she should at least have conviction, determination and a pair of woman balls. Wouldn’t that make for a more interesting story, being able to root for someone that’s brave and gutsy and pro-active?

Personally, I think so. I’ve written three different series with three different sets of heroines and they’re all pretty different but still kick-ass in their own way. Yes, they all have their own insecurities and flaws – and who doesn’t? But they’re also strong with a sense of self-respect.

My heroine in the Experiment in Terror Series, Perry Palomino, is probably the weakest of the bunch. When you first see her in Darkhouse (book one), she comes across as terribly insecure and indecisive. She just doesn’t know what she wants or how to get it. But despite these flaws, Perry manages to be completely brave in situations where I’d be running the other way and stands up for what she believes is right. This makes her a wonderful for foil to Dex, her partner, a man who needs someone to put him in his place every now and then. And of course, as the series goes on, Perry grows up. She loses some of the insecurities and as she discovers what she wants (Dex, mainly) she goes after it. She also gets stronger in a physical sense as well, battling demons and ghosts and mess of other creatures. Does she get knocked down? Yes. Does she get back up? Always.

In The Devil’s Metal, we have the character of Dawn Emerson. Now Dawn is around the same age as Perry (early 20’s), but she’s from a completely different time period – the 1970’s. Because Dawn is a feisty and intelligent woman with big dreams and ambitions, her strong traits are magnified. After all, in the 70’s, women were still fighting for their rights and the women’s movement was underway. Though I think Dawn would be an admirable, self-sacrificing female nowadays, her era really makes her moxie stick out. It wasn’t easy for a young female music journalist to go on the road with her favorite rock band in 1974, but Dawn was more than up for the challenge – even when it put her life at risk.

Last, but certainly not least, we have Ellie Watt from Sins & Needles. In some ways, Ellie is the strongest of all my characters. I mean, she’s a con artist, surviving on the road by lying, cheating and scamming people. She knows how to handle a gun with ease, can hold her own in a fight against an angry mobster, and has big enough balls to go after the leader of a drug cartel. But while Ellie is as tough as nails, she has this aching vulnerability inside, and insecurity that clouds her judgement at times. This combination of being hard and cold on the outside yet damaged on the inside makes Ellie an extremely kick-ass heroine. She will kick your ass…then take your wallet. She won’t let anyone walk all over her. But she’s certainly not perfect and I think that makes her strength all the more powerful.

I’d love to see more strong women in fiction these days. Some of my favorite kick-ass heroines range from having conviction and self-respect (Jane Eyre) to being physically and mentally tough (Buffy Summers) to having determination and sexuality (Mac Lane) to having intelligence and bravery (Dana Scully). All of these women are perfect examples of how a good, strong female character can drive your story and give you someone worth rooting for. After all, if these ladies can do it – why can’t we? They become role models to the reader and make us want to toughen up in our everyday lives, even if it means just standing up to your boss at work or lacing up a pair of fabulous shit-kicker boots.

I sure love a good kick-ass heroine and can't wait to read more about the three ladies Karina has created.

The Books

These are just the first books in each series. Click the images for the goodreads page of each book.

The Giveaway

Karina is offering one of you a paperback copy of one of her books, your pick.

US only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fire & Ice: Empath Chronicles by Selina Fenech

Today's Giveaways:

Heidi@Rainy Day Ramblings: Michelle Rowen: Wicked Kiss
Pragya@Reviewing Shelf: Crimson Footprints by Shewanda Pugh

As for my lovely post, today I am featuring a series that I adore. The Empath Chronicles by Selina Fenech. Besides a talented author she designs her own covers too. So, she is here today to talk about the designing process of one of her covers.

Thanks to Veronica for inviting me to guest post on her blog. I’m an author of young adult stories. I’m also an artist and designer, so I design my own covers, and sometimes even illustrate my novels.

Veronica asked me to share the process of one of my cover designs, so here is the most recent cover I designed for the next installment in my young adult paranormal series, the Empath Chronicles.

I stumbled across the perfect photo for the cover of Emotionally Unstable on a designers pre-made covers site, so I bought their premade cover just to get the photo. The models and pose were just what I wanted so I couldn't resist getting to work on this cover design!
  Once I had the file to work with from the designer, I removed their text and enlarged the photo so it filled the space better. Because this is part of a series I want the covers to be similar, and none of the other covers so far show the characters faces, so I push the faces up off the top of the cover a bit.   
I already have the title text design ready to go because it will also match the other covers in the series. The glow around the title text was created by doing a radial blur on a copy of the text, which was placed behind the main text (which has an outer glow effect applied), and then a swirly light stock photo was overlaid over the top.
Now it’s time to go crazy with colour! The idea behind the Empath Chronicles series is that there are people, Empaths, who have the power to feed on other’s emotions to give themselves superpowers. There are also people with the ability to close off their emotions, and block an Empath’s powers. On the cover we have both an Empath, and a Blocker, and I want the colours to reflect their clashing powers. So I’ve overlaid a gradient of blue through to red across the photo.
I use some stock photos of swirling smoke and overlay them over the photo as well, to create a sense of movement, like energy flowing into the characters.
My main character, Livvy, had some wacky stuff happen with her powers in the first book, Emotionally Charged. Emotionally Unstable will deal with the issues relating to her, well,unstable powers! I wanted to ramp up the energy on the image of her on the cover. I found a great photo of spraying sparks which I add over the model, and also add in some strands of hair blowing to give the image more movement. Then I think I’m about done! What do you think of the final cover design?
Emotionally Unstable is some time away while I work on releasing my next Memory’s Wake book. The first book in the Empath Chronicles series (Emotionally Charged) and a short story about one of the characters (Emotionally Scarred) are both available now on Amazon.

I love to see how other people work one their covers. And this series covers are all pretty awesome. Take a look and read my reviews to find out more about the books. Also click the images for the Goodreads page.

My Review of Emotionally Scarred

My Review of Emotionally Charged

The Giveaway

Selina is offering one of you a signed copy of Emotionally Charged.

US only

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fire & Ice: Eden by Janelle Stalder

Today's giveaways:

Kimba@ The Caffeinated Reviewer:Misty Evans: Kali Sweet Series
Jennifer @ Some Like it Paranormal: Michelle Rowen: Wicked Kiss

As for my post, the talented Janelle Stalder is here today to talk about Bad Boys. Yes, I know, I love them too. So let's hear what she has to say...

I think Jennifer L. Armentrout said it best when she wrote, “Beautiful face. Beautiful Body. Horrible attitude. It was the holy trinity of hot boys.” – Obsidian

The wonderful and talented Veronica has asked me to come on here today and talk about bad boys. Poor me – not! As if talking about bad boys in books is any hardship. I don’t know what it is, but no matter what kind of girl you are there is just something about them bad boys we all seem to love. I think I get a new bad boy love every week. They are addictive and intriguing, and we just can’t seem to get enough. And thankfully there are so many talented authors out there that write such amazing bad boys for us to fall in love with!

To say exactly why we seem to love that one boy that just doesn’t seem to care what anyone thinks, is hard to say for everyone. I don’t think I can speak for all the bad boy lovers out there, but I can definitely speak for myself and give some insight as to why I gravitate toward them. There is just something attractive about a man with confidence. I don’t mean a cocky ego that gets on your nerves. Let’s be honest, some guys need to tone that down a bit. I mean the guy that looks bad, talks bad, walks bad, but is fundamentally good when you get past all that. His confidence and self-assurance is what catches the eye, but his personality is what ultimately seals the deal. It’s those redeeming qualities that turn us from flesh and blood, to complete mush and goo. I find that the bad boys are also the protective kind. The ones that won’t hesitate to stand up for their girl and fight off any sort of threat. They don’t mince words, or are afraid to express their feelings when the time comes. Personally I like a guy that I can’t walk all over. This is another reason I love the bad boys. It’s not attractive when a guy does everything you say. There is something very non-masculine about a guy who takes all his cues from the female. I like to be challenged. Bad boys love to challenge. When the lead boy and girl bicker it makes us readers giddy and excited. That tension builds up and when it explodes we’re all about ready to melt.

Writing a bad boy can be difficult, because you have to make sure that despite all his “bad boy” qualities, he does have some good in there to redeem himself. He’s not bad deep down, he’s just not conforming to what others want him to be. He’s walking his own road, and just doesn’t give a crap. He can be temperamental and a bit crass at times, but as a writer you have to make sure that he’s balanced. It also helps to make sure he looks as gorgeous as possible. Kissable lips and eyes you can get lost in don’t hurt. And you can’t forget the ink! Who doesn’t love a bad boy with some artwork permanently tattooed on a well sculpted body?! The only downside to these boys is that they’re fictional!

To narrow down all the bad boys I’ve loved in books is hard, because there are so many. I’m going to list as many as I can think of off the top of my head, but I know I’m going to miss some. Here’s what I can think of:

• Travis Maddox – Beautiful Disaster by: Jamie McGuire (as if that’s a surprise he came first to mind lol)
• Hunter Zaccadelli – My Favorite Mistake by: Chelsea M. Cameron
• Alex Fuentes – Perfect Chemistry  by: Simone Elkeles
• Daemon Black – Lux Series by: Jennifer L. Armentrout
• Kellan Kyle – Thoughtless series by: S.C. Stephens
• Beau Vincent – The Vincent Boys by: Abbi Glines (you’ll see a lot of her for bad boy lists!)
• Lucas – Easy by: Tammara Webber
• Cage York – While it Lasts by: Abbi Glines
• Shane Maxton – Fall From Grace, Mad World Series by: Christine Zolendz
• Preston Drake – Just For Now by: Abbi Glines
• Noah Hutchins – Pushing the Limits by: Katie McGarry
• Wolf – Eden Series by: Janelle Stalder (who!?)
• Callum – Eden Series by: Janelle Stalder (no idea…)
• Patrick Henley – The Wild Ones by: M. Leighton
• Rush Finlay – Fallen Too Far – Abbi Glines (told you she’d be one here a lot!)
• Dean Holder – Hopeless by: Colleen Hoover
• My most recent, Rule Archer – Rule by: Jay Crownover

There are so many more. I didn’t even really go into the adult side of things. This list would have been ten pages if I had. My all-time favourite bad boy is without a doubt, hands down, no questions asked …

Jericho Barrons – Fever Series by: Karen Marie Moning

No one tops Barrons lol well I would!lol Just kidding. (No I’m not) Those are just some, and I’m sure there are so many more to come, but it gives you an idea. If you haven’t read some of those books, you need to do so now!

Thank you so much to Veronica for having me on here today! She is such an amazing supporter of me and my books, and it means the world to me that she asked me to do this post for her.

The Books

Click the covers for the Goodreads page

My Review of Eden

My Review of Eden-West

As you can see from my reviews I love these books. Janelle has created a world that I just want to jump into.

The Giveaway

One of you will win a signed copy of one of the two first books in the series. Your pick.

US only

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review Copy Cleanup 3.0: Week Three – Wrap Up

The third week of the Review Copy Cleanup is over and I didn't manage to read any of my review books this week but there are still a few days and hopefully I can finish another one.

Tough Girl by Libby Heily

Recalled by Cambria Hebert 

Red Fox by Karina Halle

A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest 

Finding ELE by Rebecca Gober & Courtney Nuckels [currently reading]

Ashuliya: The Lost Kingdom by Sabine A. Reed (There is no link for it yet)

Last week I started Finding ELE, but also started two other books so I still haven't finished this one. My goal for the last few days is to finish Finding ELE.

How did you do?

Fire & Ice: Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

Today's giveaways:

Christy@Love of Books: Jax Garren: Tales of the Underlight Series
Heidi@Rainy Day Ramblings: Juliet Dark: Water Witch
Kimba@ The Caffeinated Reviewer:H. M. Ward: Secret Series
Sel @ Bookcase to Heaven: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

I was supposed to write a review about Born Wicked today, but after I started the book I couldn't manage to finish it. So here's what my Goodreads review says:

I did not finish this one. I tried to. Even reached page 93 but this book was terribly boring for me. The characters were ok, but the story and the execution of the story not so much. It was really slow, even after all those pages nothing major had happened and honestly I didn't care to learn anything more about the story. I was really hoping to love this one, cause I love the cover and witches but it just wasn't for me.

Still I am giving away my copy to one of you, 'cause a lot of people loved this book and I have the beautiful hardcover version. So hopefully whoever wins it will like it more than I did.

The Giveaway

Since I will be the one shipping the book this is a Europe only giveaway.  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Unpack This [Feb.18 - Feb.24]

Unpack This is a meme I started instead of my usual IMM. It was inspired by my love to open boxes, yes I love doing that.

Hey, guys. I was expecting to have some pretty cool books this week but they are a bit late so I only have one e-book that I won during the Fire & Ice blog hop.

Whisper by Heather Hildenbrand: This seems very unique and different from what it's out there and I can't wait to give it a try.

What did you Unpack this week?