Wings is the third and final book in Elizabeth Richards Black City series.
To celebrate the cover reveal, Elizabeth is hosting an international giveaway.
Wings won't be released until 2014, but both Black City and Phoenix are available now.
You can contact Elizabeth by visiting her Website Facebook Twitter and her Goodreads author page.
Elizabeth Richards is an award-winning journalist, who spent her early career reviewing videogames before making the bold (or crazy) move into travel writing, despite suffering from terrible travel sickness. In her spare time, she ran a successful lifestyle website aimed at teenage girls, where she got to interview many of her favourite bands, go to gigs and basically blag loads of free swag all in the name of ‘research’. Elizabeth lives in Buckinghamshire, England, with her husband. Black City is her debut novel.
Ash and Natalie are
just starting to build a life together when things in the United Sentry
States go from bad to worse. Ash and Natalie find themselves at the
center of turmoil when dictator Purian Rose threatens Natalie’s life
unless Ash votes in favor of Rose’s Law, a law that will send Darklings
and other dissenters to a deadly concentration camp known as the Tenth.
When
Ash can’t bring himself to trade Natalie’s life for those of millions
of Darklings, her fate is sealed. Enter Elijah Theroux, the handsome
Bastet boy Natalie once saved from her mother’s labs, where he’d been
experimented on and tortured. It was his venom the Sentry used to create
the lethal Golden Haze, the heart of the government conspiracy that led
to Black City’s uprising and Ash’s rebirth as the Phoenix, the face of
the rebellion. Elijah is back and Ash doesn’t like him; it’s clear he’s
taken with Natalie, and Ash fears she may have feelings for him as well.
But
Elijah also may have the answer to taking down Purian Rose for good, a
powerful weapon called the Ora. Ash, Natalie and Elijah just have to
escape Black City undetected to find it. But fleeing the city and
finding this weapon (if it even exists) are easier said than done, and
the quest could tear Ash and Natalie apart, even pushing them into the
arms of others.
This enthralling sequel to Black City is just as
absorbing, delicious and steamy as the first book, leaving readers
hungry for the series conclusion
Ash is now the the uniting tie between humans and Darklings, the icon representing the Humans for Unity revolution, and the war has just begun. Known as The Black Phoenix, Ash was sentenced to death for allegedly killing a tracker. Purian Rose wants nothing more than to spill Darkling blood but he didn't plan on Ash rising from the ashes and given a second chance. He will fight for his life for Natalie, the Darklings and the city against Rose's Law.
The Voting has commenced and Ash will be seen as a leader in the deciding ballot, but Purian Rose has made it clear, vote publicity in favor or Natalie will face the consequences. Does Ash risk thousands of Darklings to be sent to the Tenth concentration camp to be enslaved and exterminated, or save Natalie's life? The Humans for Unity rebellion are entrusting him to vote against the bill. But it isn't Natalie he's after, he wants an easier target.
But when the law is passed, the cities who voted against Purian Rose will be punished, amending the segregation laws to include those who didn't vote in favor will now be considered a race traitor and will meet the same fate as the Darklings. Citizens are turned against one another, offering rewards to bring race traitors to justice, offering refuge and sanction. They need to escape the city before the Sentry demolish everything they've worked for, but they never expected a traitor among their rebellion.
When Elijah arrives with a proposition for the rebellion, it's an offer too good for Humans for Unity to resist. If the weapon Elijah is offering really does exist, it may be the only opportunity they'll have to take out Purian Rose.
Natalie fears she's fallen ill to the Wrath virus, slowly deteriorating each day. She can't risk infecting Ash, and starts to distance herself from their relationship. Will she make it to see the revolt against Purian Rose succeed?
Phoenix was difficult to read, as there was little to no back story provided to refresh your memory about Black City, the first novel in the series. And as any avid reader will tell you, it's important to remind us where the story left off. Sadly, Phoenix only launched into the continuation. It wasn't until I was over half way through when I begun to remember, and by then my interest wasn't there.
I really enjoyed Black City, but didn't want to reread it just to continue the series, but still had to skim through to understand what was going on in Phoenix.
Phoenix
(Black City: Book Two)
Written By Elizabeth Richards
Published 04 / 06 / 2013
368 Pages
Keep your friends close
and your enemies closer. Isn’t that what they say? But how close is too
close when they may be one in the same?
The Seven Stages War
left much of the planet a charred wasteland. The future belongs to the
next generation’s chosen few who must rebuild it. But to enter this
elite group, candidates must first pass The Testing—their one chance at a
college education and a rewarding career.
Cia Vale is honored
to be chosen as a Testing candidate; eager to prove her worthiness as a
University student and future leader of the United Commonwealth. But on
the eve of her departure, her father’s advice hints at a darker side to
her upcoming studies, trust no one.
But surely she can trust
Tomas, her handsome childhood friend who offers an alliance. Tomas, who
seems to care more about her with the passing of every grueling (and
deadly) day of the Testing. To survive, Cia must choose: love
without truth or life without trust.
The Earth has been ravaged by what history calls, the Seven Stages of War. Countries decimated one another through nuclear weapon attacks, leaving the planet barren, an unlivable wasteland, during the first four stages. The remaining stages... Is where the world fought back.
Cia has officially become an adult, the newest member of the Five Lakes Colony to graduate, the youngest in her class. The nine hundred citizen, once desolate colony, is now a thriving community. Where graduates can be accepted into The Testing, a process which determines who, if any, are suitable for further study. It is seen as a privilege to be chosen, and Cia wants to follow in her father's footsteps and be the first graduate in ten years to attend university. Every year the United Commonwealth selects a group of graduates to be tested, to ultimately work towards regeneration of the baron earth and quality of life, to become the future scientists, doctors, teachers and officials... And Cia has been chosen.
With her father's warning to trust no one clear in her mind, Cia makes the journey to the capital with four other graduates from Five Lakes, along with government escort Michal. Joining over a hundred other graduates, Cia realises the Testing begun as soon as she was accepted into the prestigious group of hopefuls. They are being watched. The Testing comprises of several levels, and only the best and brightest will move onto the next round. But it isn't a fair fight, other graduates aren't above sabotage, taking other competitors out of the running and often by deadly means. When Cia's roommate is found dead, she realises that with cameras tracking the students, the officials did nothing but watch her die. Her father warned her, but Cia confines in the handsome and charismatic Tomas, one of her fellow Five Lakes graduates. She needs Tomas's strength for what is still to come, survival throughout the war ravaged lands, fellow graduates that are on the hunt, rigged explosions and avoid mutated animals, making their way back to the civilisation of Tosu City. It's kill or be killed.
But there is more to The Testing than Cia realises, the betrayal, the officials watching and listening and the strange human creatures living throughout the land. But when Cia receives aide from beyond The Testing boundaries, kind hearted Cia knows that it's every man, or every seventeen year old girl, for themselves.
The Testing is The Hunger Games, retold. Not an exact carbon copy, but a similar storyline, characters and fight to the death. It was well written, and I'm a fan of anything dystopian really, so I enjoyed it. It's basically a barren world with pockets of forced communities. After teens graduate, they have the opportunity to further their education, but only those selected for The Testing and pass, will be able to attend. If you're chosen to be tested, there isn't any choice and you must attend. Failure to do so, results in being charged with treason and given the death penalty. Obey, and you need to fight for your life in a viscous game they disguise as a test of intelligence, wits and bravery.
The romance was terrible. I would have rated The Testing an extra star, if not for the forced relationship between Cia and Tomas. Michal, the official simply disappeared, but I wonder if he'll become of some importance in the second in the series.
Overall, if you loved The Hunger Games, you'll probably enjoy this. You'll at least be entertained. I'll definitely be continuing with the series.
The Testing
(The Testing: Book One)
Written By Joelle Charbonneau
Published 04 / 06 / 2013
352 Pages
They hear the most silent of footsteps.
They are faster than anything you've ever seen.
And They won't stop chasing you... Until you are dead.
Amy
is watching TV when it happens, when the world is attacked by Them.
These vile creatures are rapidly devouring mankind. Most of the
population is overtaken, but Amy manages to escape, and even rescue 'Baby', a toddler left behind in the chaos. Marooned in Amy’s house, the
girls do everything they can to survive, and avoid Them at all costs.
After
years of hiding, they are miraculously rescued and taken to New Hope, a
colony of survivors living in a former government research compound.
While at first the colony seems like a dream with plenty of food,
safety, and shelter, New Hope slowly reveals that it is far from ideal.
And Amy soon realizes that unless things change, she’ll lose Baby, and
much more.
Rebellious, courageous, and tender, this unforgettable
duo will have you on the edge of your seat as you tear through the
pulse-pounding narrow escapes and horrifying twists of fate in this
thrilling debut from author Demitria Lunetta
Imagine if everyone you knew, were violently killed, flesh torn from their bodies by what the world is calling, an alien race. Murky green, hairless skin, yellow eyes and a pungent stench, Them. They hunt during the day and retreat to the sewers as the sun sets. They're incredibly fast and on the hunt for human prey. It isn't survival of the fittest, it's survival of the meek and quiet. Don't turn on the light and don't make a sound, it's the only choice that may keep you alive. Amy is living proof.
Amy was fourteen when They arrived. Home alone, her security conscious mother installing fail safe measures to the house to protect her projects, now keeping Amy alive. Amy learns how to avoid Them, so imagine her surprise when she stumbles upon a little girl, alone in a derelict and destroyed supermarket. Starved for human company, Amy affectionately names the little girl Baby, bringing the supposed orphan home to care for. Baby is quiet and surprisingly understands the need for survival, and the two girls learn to communicate through their own form of sign language.
It isn't until years later, when the girls come across the loud and dangerous Amber, and Baby takes an instant liking to her, after fleeing her brother and a group of males using her as bait, to lure Them out. But as quickly as Amber begins to settle into the quiet and seemingly complacent life, she disappears.
When the girls are captured, by what they believe is Them, instinct survival kicks in. But it seems that Amy and Baby are only two of a community of survivors, rescued and taken to New Hope, a post apocalyptic, converted college campus. First impressions are that New Hope is a hideaway haven in a decrepit world, over three thousand citizens who live happily within the safety of the pulse the perimeter omits to keep Them at bay. Amy suddenly finds herself thrown into a world of new friends and familiar faces, but there is something amiss about the community compound. That citizens are strongly discouraged from asking questions, women of age are impregnated every three years by a stranger, that those who don't comply with their ideals are sent to The Ward, questions are answered via practised slogans and that they are keeping Them detained for experimentation.
When Amy discovers what New Hope isn't telling it's citizens, she'll need to learn to fight for her survival... Again.
In The After had me intrigued from cover to cover, and wasn't at all what I'd expected. It was thrilling, entertaining and surprising. The concept was unique and the storyline held a few twists that I couldn't anticipate.
I found it hard to put down, driven by needing to know about Them, and kept reading into the early hours of the morning. It just needed that extra something more to move onto incredible, but In The After is just really, really good.
In The After
(In The After: Book One)
Written By Demitria Lunetta
Published 25 / 06 / 2013
464 Pages
Fifty years ago the
Commander came into power and murdered all who opposed him. In his
warped mind, the seven deadly sins were the downfall of society. He
created the Hole where sinners are branded according to their sins and
might survive a few years. At best.
Now LUST wraps around my neck
like blue fingers strangling me. I’ve been accused of a crime I didn’t
commit and now the Hole is my new home.
Darkness. Death. Violence. Pain.
Now every day is a fight for survival. But I won’t die. I won’t let them win.
The Hole can’t keep me. The Hole can’t break me.
I am more than my brand. I’m a fighter.
My name is Lexi Hamilton, and this is my story.
In Lexi's world, no one is given a fair trial. You're accused of a crime and branded a sinner, and there is only one place where sinners are taken to rot, the looming concrete walls of The Hole. Assigned a guard for protection, Lexi's brand makes her a target, lust.
Lexi is put to work at the hospital, meeting the kind and gentle doctor Sutton. Sutton is everything the oppressive regime is not, taking Lexi under his wing. Many of the patients are gravely ill, none more so than thirteen year old Alyssa. The terminal virus that is killing her, only leaves the wise beyond her years teen, with weeks to live.
Cole has orders to guard the newly branded inmate with the turquoise coloured eyes. Cole isn't cruel like other guards, working under the unjust, unforgiving regime of The Commander. In their world, guards are to be feared and being accused of a crime never goes unpunished, even if the accused is innocent.
With trusted guard dog Zeus, Cole protects Lexi with his life. Guards are forbidden to pursue any form of relationships, and falling in love with a sinner of lust is punishable by death. But he can't walk away.
As the violent streets worsen, pitting Hole residents against guards, it seem the revolt I'd imminent. With her father dead, her brother who left her and the hate she carries for her mother, all Lexi has is Cole and father figure Sutton. There is more to Lexi's new family that she ever thought possible, it seems a change is coming.
Lexi will fight for Alyssa, for those wrongly accused, to love Cole freely, to see the hatred and violence end, and for herself... The strong young woman she has become.
I was utterly swept up in Branded from the very first page. I salivate over dystopian novels with oppressive regimes, leading to revolutions, and Branded is one you simply won't be able to put down. Lexi is a bright young woman, who's tragic past has left her broken, a shell of her former self when her father was alive. It isn't until she meets Cole and forms a forbidden and strong attachment, where she starts to finally live again.
Well paced and gritty, fans of Shatter Me will see the similarities between the main protagonists. Abi Ketner and
Written By Abi Ketner &
Expected Publication 28 / 06 / 2013
Thank you to CBL Tours
Abi and Missy met in the summer of 1999 at college orientation and have been best friends ever since. After college, they added jobs, husbands and kids to their lives, but they still found time for their friendship. Instead of hanging out on weekends, they went to dinner once a month and reviewed books. What started out as an enjoyable hobby has now become an incredible adventure.
Abi and Missy met in the summer of 1999 at college orientation and have been best friends ever since. After college, they added jobs, husbands and kids to their lives, but they still found time for their friendship. Instead of hanging out on weekends, they went to dinner once a month and reviewed books. What started out as an enjoyable hobby has now become an incredible adventure.
You can find the girls over at Their Website Facebook and Twitter
A hint of Recovery Road, a sample of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, and a cut of Juno.
A Really Awesome Mess is a laugh-out-loud, gut-wrenching, heart-warming
story of two teenagers struggling to find love and themselves.
Two teenagers. Two very bumpy roads taken that lead to Heartland Academy.
Justin
was just having fun, but when his dad walked in on him with a girl in a
very compromising position, Justin's summer took a quick turn for the
worse. His parents' divorce put Justin on rocky mental ground, and after
a handful of Tylenol lands him in the hospital, he has really hit rock
bottom.
Emmy never felt like part of her family. She was adopted
from China. Her parents and sister tower over her and look like they
came out of a Ralph Lauren catalog, and Emmy definitely doesn't. After a
scandalous photo of Emmy leads to vicious rumors around school, she
threatens the boy who started it all on Facebook.
Justin and Emmy
arrive at Heartland Academy, a reform school that will force them to
deal with their issues, damaged souls with little patience for
authority. But along the way they will find a ragtag group of teens who
are just as broken, stubborn, and full of sarcasm as themselves. In the
end, they might even call each other friends.
A funny, sad, and
remarkable story, A Really Awesome Mess is a journey of friendship and
self-discovery that teen readers will surely sign up for
Heartland Academy is a place for wayward teens to find inner strength, resolve issues and take the pathway to physics and emotional heath. But if you ask most of the teen residents, they'll tell you what utter rubbish that is. It's a prison in the middle of cornfields as far as the eye can see. No internet, no television, just therapy, tailor made education and behaving yourself.
Emmy's adoptive parents had no choice, after her stint of Facebook bullying against a boy who was sexually and racially offensive. Born to Chinese parents who gave Emmy up for adoption, hearing the racial slurs each day have taken their toll. Always comparing herself to her tall, slim and blonde sister, the 'biological' child, Emmy is angry, disgusted and believes that her happiness lies within meager meals, extreme exercising and jutting hip bones, but that isn't the reason she's at Heartland. Life isn't easy when you're the self proclaimed dark, chubby china doll, adopted into the all American family as their beautiful 'Chinese Star'.
Justin didn't try to commit suicide, taking a fatal dosage amount of Tylenol was a cry for attention.Justin was caught in a compromising position with a girl he had only just met, failing classes at his previous school, the failed un-serious suicide attempt... Being an asshole is just part of the package. Justin has depression, a deep seeded hatred for his father choosing to be absent in his life and his mother marrying again adding to the already mismatched family. Justin is emotionally similar to most sixteen year old boys, he enjoys porn, girls, sarcasm and more porn, but his ability to communicate and express his feelings are destroying him.
Both Justin and Emmy are the newest residents and slot into the roles of the anorexic freak and the moping depressed kid, in their new merry band of misfits. The thirteen year old violent girl with the mouth to match. The hardcore addictive gamer, the girl with selective mutism and the boy with the identity issues. What bonds the odd group together, is the agreement that they all need something from one another. But what they didn't expect were loving, yet at times violent and jovial relationships with their group peers that they wouldn't have found if it weren't for Heartland.
A Really Awesome Mess was simply that, awesome. Told in both Emmy and Justin's points of view, the two main characters are completely different, yet find a kindred spirit in one another, seeing they've both been sent to Heartland Academy. The supporting characters are absolutely hilarious, and will have you snorting with laughter at their antics. The basis of the book surrounds the group of unlikely friends who are experiencing self loathing, mental illnesses or issues with social interaction, but yet it rises above the serious diagnosis of each teen in a positive, fun and hysterical light.
I absolutely loved it.
A Really Awesome Mess
Written By Trish Cook and Brendan Halpin
Written By Trish Cook and Brendan Halpin
Expected Publication 23 / 07 / 2013
288 Pages
Written By C. J. Duggan
Contemporary, Romance
Published July 17th 2013
Add to Goodreads
★★★★★
Sean looked out over the lake, squinting against the sunlight. He turned to me, his expression sobering as his eyes flicked over my face in a silent study.“Come on Amy, I saved you once, I’ll save you again.”I met his stare unflinchingly. “I don’t need saving.”A wicked grin formed slowly. “Don’t you?”After a rebellious summer night that almost claimed her life, Amy Henderson – the Onslow publican’s only daughter – is sent away to suffer a fate far worse than any other punishment:Boarding School.Three years on, a now nineteen-year-old Amy returns to Onslow for the summer. What once was a cauldron of activity with live bands, hot meals and cold beers, the Onslow Hotel now lies dark, deserted and depressing. All fond childhood memories of loitering on the hotel stairs and eavesdropping on customers’ colourful conversations are in the distant past.How had her dad let it come to this?With the new threat of putting the Onslow up for sale, Amy reluctantly turns to a local tradesman for help: Sean Murphy, the very same Onslow boy who saved her life all those years ago. With his help and that of some old friends, the task is clear: spend the summer building the hotel back up to its former glory or lose it for good.In an endless summer, Amy soon realises that sometimes in order to save your future, you have to face your past, even if it’s in the form of a smug, gorgeous Onslow boy
Amy owes Sean her life. Drunk, Amy and best friend Tammy decided to sneak out in search of the Onslow boys, but alcohol and moonlight swimming wasn't the wisest choice. The near death incident, landed Amy being sentenced to an all girls boarding school, where she'll see out her schooling.
Three years later, Amy returns to Onslow to the pub where she spent her childhood, and the vision is heartbreaking. Her parents have never been conventional, her high maintenance mother living in the city, and her father tending to his pride and joy, the Onslow hotel. Her father leaving to move to the city, rekindling his relationship, leaving the pub on the verge of bring condemned.
Sean has only just returned to town, after completing a a successful building project. What he didn't expect to see, was a grown up publican's daughter, after Amy falls into his life, literally,
It's the summer of past friendships, new mates and having a cold one at the Onslow, as the group of regulars rejuvenate the old pub to it's former glory. Before long, Amy realises the banter, the shameless flirting and games with Sean have unnerved her. Sean isn't the slick, womanising Onslow Tigers ruckman he once was, he knows where he's headed and knows what he wants from life. But is that Amy?
Amy's father is contemplating selling the pub after a health scare, but how can he sell her childhood memories, the place that helped her find herself again... The same place that she realised that she was falling in love with Sean Murphy.
The Final Verdict
I love the fictional town of Onslow and what it represents. The Summer series is beautifully brilliant and realistic. Set in a small town where they all know one another, the setting is realistic and anyone who has lived in a small town in Australia, knows that it can either be a blessing, or a curse. In Onslow, they share a sense of community, and genuine warmth towards one another.
C. J. Duggan is a romantic storyteller. She has not only created likeable characters, but an entire town to fall in love with. Thank you to C. J for allowing me to transport back to Onslow again. I absolutely loved it immensely.
The
Registry saved the country from collapse. But stability has come at a
price. In this patriotic new America, girls are raised to be brides,
sold at auction to the highest bidder. Boys are raised to be soldiers,
trained by the state to fight to their death.
Nearly eighteen,
beautiful Mia Morrissey excitedly awaits the beginning of her auction
year. But a warning from her married older sister raises dangerous
thoughts. Now, instead of going up on the block, Mia is going to escape
to Mexico, and the promise of freedom.
All Mia wants is to control
her own destiny, a brave and daring choice that will transform her into
an enemy of the state, pursued by powerful government agents, ruthless
bounty hunters, and a cunning man determined to own her... A man who
will stop at nothing to get her back
In Mia's world, women are second class citizens, without education or ideals or independent thoughts, and the prettier you are, the higher the price you fetch. Mia is a beautiful young woman, the youngest of four daughters and awaiting her eighteenth birthday to join the Registry, where she will be sold to the highest bidder and marry.
It isn't until Mia's sister Corinna, escapes her abusive husband, that her ruthless and cold parents demand she be returned. Having sealed her sister's fate, a week later she had died at the hands of her abuser, without consequence. Neither parent cried, simply focusing their attention on Mia and her monetary worth.
Mia is priced as the most expensive girl that country has ever seen, a handsome half a million dollar price tag, so when Mia refuses to marry the cold and cruel Grant, she needs to run, taking best friend Whitney to her ultimate destination, Mexico. What she didn't factor in, was quiet farmhand Andrew being part of their escape.
Andrew has worked as a farmhand on the property for the last two years, so how did he get involved with the most sought after runaway the country has ever seen? Within months, Andrew is expected to enlist for his four year national service, but aiding two runaway girls has landed him with Grant's unwanted attention.
As the three unlikely traveling companions flee to the boarder, they find unlikely allies along the way, those who believe there is a better life, but Grant is closing in... And quickly. Grant is a tyrant and loves the thrill of the chase. In this dangerous game of cat and mouse, Grant is playing to win. He wants his loyal and beautiful wife to please him, to obey him and fear him, he'll stop at nothing until he catches her. She'll be punished, if he allows her to live.
Mia is revolting against the institution of forced brides, for Corinna who was sold into a life of abuse and against the country that has always been so dear to her. She refuses to be a second class citizen any more.
The registry is set in a dystopian America, where men are forced to serve in the armed services and girls are sold as slave wives, expected to serve her husband with no life of her own. Mia is painted as a female revolutionary, fleeing the unjust system, but unfortunately she wasn't convincing. Brave? Perhaps, but her escape endangered those around her, including those who fought for a free and fair life for the women of the cruel regime America has seemingly become.
I really enjoyed the cat and mouse chase, Grant truly is a cruel villain that readers will love to hate. But sadly the characters weren't at all engaging. I couldn't bring myself to care about any of them, and unfortunately there wasn't enough action within the storyline that compensated for the lack of personality.
The Registry
(The Registry: Book One)
Written By Shannon Stoker
Published 11 / 06 / 2013
297 Pages
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