ARC Book Review: Belle Morte by Bella Higgin

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Belle Morte 

Author: Bella Higgin
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal 
Released: 03/25/22
Review Source: Netgalley | Wattpad Books

There’s only one way out

Belle Morte. One of five houses where vampires reside as celebrities and humans are paid to be their living donors. While others came here seeking fortune, I came in search of my sister who walked into Belle Morte five months ago . . . and never walked back out.

Now that I’m here, the secrets about this world have proven to be much bigger than I ever anticipated. And lurking around every corner are shocking insinuations of what happened to my sister.

There’s only one person who might have the answers I need, and the undeniable pull I feel toward him is terrifying: Edmond Dantès―a vampire, and my mortal enemy.

The harder I try to resist him, the further I fall under his spell. And in one instant my life is irrevocably changed. My past becomes prologue and my fate becomes sealed behind these doors.

Belle Morte has spoken. And it may never let me go.

It's been a long while since I read a vampire romance and I will always support the community of Wattpad authors on their journey, so naturally I was really excited to read Belle Morte. This book was easy reading with minimal action and a nice addition to the vampire lovers out there.

Renie embarks on a journey to find out what happened to her sister, June. She walked into the doors of Belle Morte and never walked back out, so Renie signs herself up to be a blood donor at Belle Morte to find out why her sister stopped sending letters, and to find out what really happened behind those closed doors because she knows her sister was not transferred to another house. Finding out what happened, though, is proving harder than she thought when everyone either doesn't know what happened to June, or is not willing to talk. So she finds out herself.

My views on Belle Morte are conflicting. I enjoyed the growing relationship between Renie and Edmond. Slowly, Renie learns that she may not hate vampires as much as she originally thought and she may be attracted to Edmond, despite a human/vampire relationship being forbidden. Renie and Edmond's relationship was the only one where I seen natural development. I enjoyed their interactions, Edmond's storytelling and the ending? I need to know what happens next.

Belle Morte was slow progressing with a basic plot. Action didn't pick up until the 60/70% mark and by the time things kicked into action, it was over far too soon with a cliff-hanger. The character growth gave off 'insta friends' vibes rather than seeing the friendships develop throughout which meant I didn't really connect with any of the characters.

While Belle Morte didn't consume me, overall it was still an enjoyable read and the ending really solidified my need to read book two. I hope we see more from Renie and Edmond, and the aftermath from the cliffhanger.

Book Review: Summer's End by Kristy Brown

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Summer's End 
The Summer Solstice #1
Author: Kristy Brown
Reading Level: Adult Fiction
Genres: Romance | Paranormal
Released: July 24th 2018
Review Source: Author

She wakes up in the hospital, badly burned with no identity.

He’s been trained to kill her before she burns the world to ashes.

When they finally meet, will he be able to take her life now that he’s started to feel for her?

His fate is already written.

The prophecy is already set.

Love between them is forbidden.

Summer's End, propels the reader into a possibly deadly romance that neither character fully

understands. You are introduced to two protagonists, Summer and Alex. Summer has lost her

memory in a fire with only a scar on her face as a reminder. Alex is a brooding young man who

is on a mission to save the world. This book playfully allows the reader to see the story between

these two characters. It's a struggle of not only young romance, but powers so enormous it

engulfs them both.

Reading this book made me eager to see how the romance of Summer and Alex would develop.

How and why are they so important to each other when they had never met? Kristy takes her

time to set up all the dominoes so that not only are we rooting for the protagonists, we are also

anticipating so much more. As book one of the series, I'm impatiently waiting to read the

following books.

Cover Reveal OMEGA by Karina Espinosa

Title: Omega (Mackenzie Grey #4)

RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 11, 2017

Synopsis

Being alone is not easy.

Bodies drained of blood are scattered around New York City. With a serial killer on the loose, Mackenzie Grey is obsessed with solving the murders. She dives into her work at the Supernatural Investigative Unit to forget about the events that dismantled her Pack over a year ago. When the killer makes Kenz the target, she falls down the rabbit hole and discovers she has a lot more to do with these murders than she realized.

As her past creeps up behind her, she must swallow her pride and seek aid from old and new friends. Nothing stays hidden as Kenz learns a valuable lesson: rats swim.

In the epic finale of the Mackenzie Grey: Origins series, she will finally become the wolf she is destined to be…

Title: SHIFT (Mackenzie Grey #1)

Published Date: February 10th 2015

FREE on Amazon!

Synopsis

It's hard enough being an undergraduate student, an intern at Downtown Manhattan's police station, and a bouncer at a local bar. Add her now ex-boyfriend who recently dumped her for the school's resident bimbo—oh, and she's a werewolf.

Mackenzie Grey meets her match when she is kidnapped by the Brooklyn Pack and tossed between Sebastian and Jonah—the Alpha and the Beta. Being a lone-wolf in the city is dangerous, and now that the Pack has found her, so can every supernatural being in the Tri-State area. And not even her sarcastic, smart mouth can get her out of this.

When a string of kidnappings involves Mackenzie in supernatural politics, she questions her new acquaintances and finds unlikely allies. Can she escape Pack law and keep her freedom—or will she be condemned to an unwanted path?

Title: CAGED (Mackenzie Grey #2)

Published Date: April 26th 2016

99 CENTS on Amazon!

Synopsis

It’s hard out there for a lone-wolf.

Mackenzie Grey has started a brand new life in an attempt to escape the Brooklyn Pack. She settles in as a detective in a special unit of the LAPD when her identity is put at risk, and she has no choice but to run again. The question is: does she want to run forever?

As events force Mackenzie to confront her past, she is met with many surprises—including the revelation of her true ancestry. When Packs across the country learn of who she is, Kenz becomes the object of desire in a deadly wolf hunt, and she must once again fight to keep her freedom.

Witnessing first-hand the barbaric treatment of Lunas, Mackenzie has to make a choice—follow the prediction of her Vision Quest or let herself be CAGED...

Title: ALPHA (Mackenzie Grey #3)

Published Date: November 16th, 2016

Synopsis

It’s hard being a Princess.

Mackenzie Grey never felt as vulnerable as she does now—but that won’t stop her from getting what she wants: revenge. Kenz and her friends journey to a new land where everyone has a motive and everyone is a suspect.

The Lunas find their voices after the massacre but the question still stands—who is the real enemy? If Mackenzie wants to free herself, she will need to free them all; and it won’t be easy. As she approaches her 24th birthday—in the middle of a web of lies, deception, and murder—Kenz has to weave her way to the truth before she’s next on the chopping block.

With her companions, Mackenzie will make her final stand and change the course of the Lycan world forever…

Mostly known for her hipster style, New York City swagger, and South Florida passion; Urban Fantasy author, Karina Espinosa’s true gift is writing snarky but endearing characters in her series like the Sins of the Fallen and the Mackenzie Grey series. When she isn’t writing, you can find Karina binge watching on Netflix or immersing herself in her infatuation with travel, pop culture, and music. You can usually catch her on Facebook, Instagram, and live-tweeting during episodes of The Walking Dead, Orphan Black, and Game of Thrones. 

www.karinaespinosa.com

Follow her on social media!

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorKarinaEspinosa

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/instabykarina

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TweetsByKarina

   

Blog Tour: The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco I Book Inspiration I Giveaway

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The Bone Witch(#1)
by Rin Chupeco
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: March 7, 2017
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal



Synopsis:

The beast raged; it punctured the air with its spite. But the girl was fiercer. 

Tea is different from the other witches inher family. Her gift for necromancy makes her a bone witch, who are feared and ostracized in the kingdom. For theirs is a powerful, elemental magic that can reach beyond the boundaries of the living—and of the human.

Great power comes at a price, forcing Tea to leave her homeland to train under the guidance ofan older, wiser bone witch. There, Tea puts all ofher energy into becoming an asha, learning tocontrol her elemental magic and those beasts who will submit byno other force. And Tea must be strong—stronger than she even believes possible. Because war is brewing in the eight king-doms, war that will threaten the sovereignty ofher homeland...and threaten the very survival ofthose she loves.

The Bone Witch had one main inspiration: my brother. 

 This comes as a surprise to many who know me, because I never had a brother. 

 I wasn't supposed to be the family firstborn; my mother was initially pregnant with a son. Much to my parents' grief, she miscarried. A year later, they had me and then, a couple of years later, my sister. 

They don't talk a lot about it, understandably. My dad had always wanted a son. According to conservative Chinese traditions, it was the son who carried the family name and therefore many of the family privileges. Fortunately, my family wasn't like that, nor was my father hostile or resentful for my sister and I being female. 

 But I was a tomboy growing up. I love my sister, but she was (and still is) pretty enough to be an actress, is quite girly, and therefore my complete opposite – she liked dolls and dresses back when I considered my Ninja Turtles sweater a fashion statement. All the things my dad was hoping to do with a son – sports (basketball, mostly – he coached both adults and students, and won them championships.), playing games, tinkering with gadgets, pop culture (he taught me Klingon), etc. – he did with me. It was in his library, with his collection of books, where I first started reading. He was a frustrated writer himself, and was the first to ever encourage me to write. 

 As I grew older, I started thinking more and more about the brother that I never had. I still pick up on my folks' unspoken longing. Sometimes it's a conversation threaded with quiet what-ifs; sometimes it's the way my dad would mercilessly tease one of my male cousins, proof of his favoritism. It's become a bit more obvious nowadays, considering his delight and excitement when my son, and then my sister's son, were born. He's already planned his schedule around eventually teaching them basketball, and wants to negotiate how many weekends they'll be spending at his and my mom's place (he wants all their weekends till they turn twenty-one). 

 The Bone Witch came about after wondering what it would be like to have the ability to raise a brother from the dead. There's a lot of elements of me in Tea – her personality was partly based on teenage me. Like Tea, I had a lot of bitterness and anger. But unlike her, I felt powerless at that time to affect any change. I've always wondered about the kind of brother I might have had then, and Fox was a product of that curiosity. Fox was based on the kind of brother I'd hoped I had – protective, quick to tease but also quick to tell me when I'm being an idiot. The very act of choosing to have her brother back changed Tea's whole life and is the very reason this book exists. Sometimes people forget the importance of having siblings, I think. 

It's not all just about my brother, of course. Sisterhood is just as important in the books, and Tea's connections with her fellow asha is just as much about my sister through all our highs and lows. But while The Bone Witch's magical setting and plot was my ode to the slow-burn, panoramic Asian fantasies I read growing up, the relationship between Tea and Fox remains the heart of the story. And I hope that's what other people come to realize when they read it, too.

   

Rin Chupeco wrote obscure manuals for complicated computer programs, talked people outof their money at event shows, and did many other terrible things. She now writes about ghosts and fairy tales but is still sometimes mistaken for a revenant. She wrote The Girl from the Well, its sequel, The Suffering, and The Bone Witch, the first book of a newYA Fantasy trilogy. Find her at rinchupeco.com.

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