#BookReview: The Chrysalis by Brendan Deneen

Reviewed By: Jessica P. 

Publisher: Tor Books

Recommended Age: Adult 

Genre: Horror 

Goodreads | Amazon

About the Book:

"Creepy, powerful, wonderfully twisted."--New York Timesbestselling author Jonathan Maberry

Spawned by Brendan Deneen’s own experiences relocating to a New Jersey suburb with his young family, The Chrysaliscombines chills, thrills, and a literal monster in the basement with commentary on love, marriage, and impending parenthood.

Welcome to the dark side of suburbia.

Barely employed millennials Tom and Jenny Decker have to grow up fast when they lose their cheap Manhattan apartment. Leaving “the city” is hard, but the blow is softened when they stumble upon a surprisingly affordable house in the suburbs.

For Tom, the bills, the mortgage, and Jenny's unexpected pregnancy add up to terror. He's not ready for this kind of responsibility.

Then he finds the thing in the basement. It makes him feel like a winner even as it scrambles his senses. A new job soon has him raking in the big bucks—enough that Jenny can start making her entrepreneurial dreams come true.

The Deckers' dream home conceals more than one deadly secret. As Tom's obsession with the basement grows, Jenny realizes that to save her family, she must expose everything. Before it destroys them all.

No one ever really wants to grow up…but sometimes behaving like an adult is the only way to survive.

#CoverReveal: Who by @MeganMMMitcham, designed by Shayne Leighton @XpressoTours

Who
Megan Mitcham
(Stalker, #1)
Publication date: October 2nd 2018
Genres: Adult, Psychological Thriller, Romance
A billionaire in high heels. A relentless stalker. A chance rooftop meeting. Her choices could send everything crashing down.
Billionaire Larkin Ashford is fiercely independent, but even she has to admit her fashion empire was built on the backs of brides. When her company has the opportunity to go public, her board of directors won’t pull the trigger unless she settles down. A series of threatening messages aren’t making her decision any easier. As she retreats to her rooftop hideaway to clear her head, she finds herself imprisoned in the strong arms of a mysterious man who thinks she was about to jump.
Despite her friends’ warnings that her wannabe savior could be her stalker, she can’t get his body off her mind. Determined to find the truth, she searches the city for her mystery man and discovers a dark secret that could bring everything she’s worked for crashing down. With her empire in danger, she’ll have to uncover the truth before her fortune and her life zero out.
Who is the first standalone novel in a pulse-pounding psychological thriller series. If you like headstrong women, steamy chemistry, and twists you won’t see coming, then you’ll love Megan Mitcham’s high-rise romantic thriller.
Buy Who to live the high life with a sleek, sexy billionaire psychological thriller soon!

#BookTour: Sadie by @courtney_s @WednesdayBooks

Reviewed By: Jessica P. 

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Recommended Age: Young Adult 

Genre: Contemporary (Mystery) 

Goodreads | Amazon

About the Book:

Sadie hasn't had an easy life. Growing up on her own, she's been raising her sister Mattie in an isolated small town, trying her best to provide a normal life and keep their heads above water.

But when Mattie is found dead, Sadie's entire world crumbles. 

After a somewhat botched police investigation, Sadie is determined to bring her sister's killer to justice and hits the road following a few meagre clues to find him.

When West McCray—a radio personality working on a segment about small, forgotten towns in America—overhears Sadie's story at a local gas station, he becomes obsessed with finding the missing girl. 

He starts his own podcast as he tracks Sadie's journey, trying to figure out what happened, hoping to find her before it's too late. 

#BookBlitz: The Return Home by @jentalty @XpressoTours #Giveaway

The Return Home
Jen Talty
Publication date: September 6th 2018
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Major, Dylan Sarich, knows only one thing: Delta Force. He has dedicated his life to the Army and his country and can’t imagine doing anything else.

Until the unthinkable happens.
During a top-secret operation, Dylan is nearly sent home in a body bag with the rest of his team. With his wounds still fresh and on extended medical leave, Dylan returns to his hometown in Jupiter, Florida to heal his body. However no amount of physical therapy will destroy the demons lurking deep in Dylan’s soul.
Dr. Kinsley Maren is an expert in PTSD and brain trauma. When her neighbor comes to her, begging for help with her son, Kinsley can’t say no, especially when she meets Dylan. She’s certain she can break through the anger and help restore his confidence and mend his broken heart. Only she never expected he’d steal hers.

#BookReview: That's Not What Happened by Kody Keplinger

Reviewed By: Jessica P. 

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Recommended Age: Young Adult 

Genre: Realistic Fiction (School Shooting Aftermath) 

Goodreads | Amazon

About the Book:

It's been three years since the Virgil County High School Massacre. Three years since my best friend, Sarah, was killed in a bathroom stall during the mass shooting. Everyone knows Sarah's story--that she died proclaiming her faith. 

But it's not true. 

I know because I was with her when she died. I didn't say anything then, and people got hurt because of it. Now Sarah's parents are publishing a book about her, so this might be my last chance to set the record straight . . . but I'm not the only survivor with a story to tell about what did--and didn't--happen that day. 

Except Sarah's martyrdom is important to a lot of people, people who don't take kindly to what I'm trying to do. And the more I learn, the less certain I am about what's right. I don't know what will be worse: the guilt of staying silent or the consequences of speaking up . . .

#BookReview: The Sacrifice Box by Martin Stewart

Reviewed By: Jessica P. 

Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers 

Recommended Age: Young Adult

Genre: Horror 

Goodreads | Amazon

About the Book:

A horror story about friendship, growing up, and finding a place in the world: Gremlins meets The Breakfast Club by way of Stephen King and Stranger Things.

1982, the summer before seventh grade. Five kids with nothing in common--Sep, Arkle, Hadley, Lamb, and Mack--become instant friends. On the last day of summer, they find a stone box buried in the forest, and each places an object inside to seal their friendship. And they make rules:

Never come to the box alone. 
Never open it after dark. 
Never take back your sacrifice.

1986, the summer before eleventh grade. The five haven't spoken since that day in 1982. Sep has gone through the past four years alone and plans to escape to boarding school. But strange things are happening--mirrors are breaking unexpectedly, electricity is flickering in and out, and people are coming down with inexplicable physical ailments.

Someone has broken the rules. And it seems the five committed more than objects to the box's ancient stone--they gave it their deepest secrets and darkest fears, and now these are being returned in a flood of shambling corpses, murderous toys, and undead pets. The gang must reunite in an attempt to discover the secrets of the sacrifice box--and Sep might be the only one who can stem its tide of evil before it's too late.

#BookReview: Questions I Want to Ask You by Michelle Falkoff

Reviewed By: Jessica P.

Publisher: HarperTen

Recommended Age: Young Adult

Genre: Contemporary

Goodreads | Amazon

About the Book:

Patrick “Pack” Walsh may not know exactly where he’s going in life, but he’s happy where he is. He’s got a girlfriend who gets him. His single dad is his best friend. After graduation, he has a desk job lined up at the local crossfit gym, maybe he’ll even work his way up to trainer. He can’t see himself ever leaving the small town of Brooksby, MA. And he’s fine with that.

Then, on his eighteenth birthday, a letter from Pack’s mother changes everything.

Pack hits the road, searching for a mother he’s never known and a family he had no idea existed until now. His journey unearths questions about both of his parents that he never saw coming. And by the end of the summer, Pack has a whole different understanding of his past—and most importantly, where he wants his future to lead.

#BookBlitz: A Court of Blood and Void by Meg Xuemei X @YA_SIRENS #Giveaway @XpressoTours

A Court of Blood and Void: a Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance
Meg Xuemei X
(War of the Gods, #1)
Publication date: September 6th 2018
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance
They call me beautiful. They call me a monster. Soon, they’ll call me death.
As a direct descendant of the God of Death, Cassandra Saélihn is considered the most dangerous monster of all time. Her own mother locks her in a cage to protect the world from her lethal potential. Cass thought this imprisoned life would be her fate, but then four sexy, formidable warriors–a vampire lord, twin fae princes, and a demigod–find her.
They claim she’s not a monster, but a powerful weapon, one who can kill the Olympian gods, who have returned to Earth with a vengeance. But Cass has a mind of her own and can’t be told what to do, no matter how drawn she is to her four warrior saviors. To their dismay, the four warriors can’t tame the wild, cunning, and volatile Cass. But they have a bigger problem–their growing attraction toward her.
To turn the woman they desire into the ultimate weapon and ensure Earth’s survival, they’ll have to conquer her body and heart, which seems even more impossible than winning the war against the atrocious gods. But nothing turns these alpha males on more than an impossible dare. And nothing turns Cass on more than being stalked.
Warning: This is a full-length reverse harem fantasy/paranormal romance that features one hell of strong woman and her four powerful supernatural mates. It contains brutal battles, explicit love scenes, raw language, magic, swordfights, Greek gods, dark fae, vampires, shifters, and a lot of assholes.

#CoverReveal: Merciless by @SybilBartel @XpressoTours

Merciless
Sybil Bartel
(Alpha Bodyguard #2)
Publication date: November 6th 2018
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Bodyguard.

Mercenary.

Gun for hire.

I didn’t care what you called it, the end result was always the same.

You paid me for a job, you got results. The Marines trained me to shoot, but life taught me to aim. Working for the best personal security firm in the business was a stepping stone. Put in my time, build the résumé, then move on. I didn’t do attachments, on any level.

Until a smoking-hot former one-night stand crossed the street in front of me, holding a kid who was my spitting image. She tried to play it off, deny he was mine. She said she didn’t remember me, right before she turned around and ran. She thought she’d made a clean escape.

But she was about to find out how merciless a bodyguard could be.

*MERCILESS is a sexy new standalone book in the Alpha Bodyguard Series.

The Alpha Bodyguard Series:

SCANDALOUS

MERCILESS

RECKLESS

RUTHLESS

#BookReview: Uprooted by @naominovik 10 Million Stars to this one!

Reviewed By: Jessica P. 

Publisher: Del Ray

Recommended Age: Young Adult, New Adult, Adult (see disclaimer)

Genre: Fantasy 

Goodreads | Amazon

About the Book:

“Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. We hear them sometimes, from travelers passing through. They talk as though we were doing human sacrifice, and he were a real dragon. Of course that’s not true: he may be a wizard and immortal, but he’s still a man, and our fathers would band together and kill him if he wanted to eat one of us every ten years. He protects us against the Wood, and we’re grateful, but not that grateful.”

Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.

Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.

The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows—everyone knows—that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn’t, and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her.

But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.

#BookReview: Bellewether by Susanna Kearsley

Reviewed By: Jessica P. 

Publisher:  Sourcebooks Landmark 

Recommended Age: Adult 

Genre: Historical Romance (Fantasy) 

Goodreads | Amazon

About the Book:

"The house, when I first saw it, seemed intent on guarding what it knew; but we all learned, by the end of it, that secrets aren't such easy things to keep." 

It's late summer, war is raging, and families are torn apart by divided loyalties and deadly secrets. In this complex and dangerous time, a young French Canadian lieutenant is captured and billeted with a Long Island family, an unwilling and unwelcome guest. As he begins to pitch in with the never-ending household tasks and farm chores, Jean-Philippe de Sabran finds himself drawn to the daughter of the house. Slowly, Lydia Wilde comes to lean on Jean-Philippe, true soldier and gentleman, until their lives become inextricably intertwined. Legend has it that the forbidden love between Jean-Philippe and Lydia ended tragically, but centuries later, the clues they left behind slowly unveil the true story.

Part history, part romance, and all kinds of magic, Susanna Kearsley's latest masterpiece will draw you in and never let you go, even long after you've closed the last page.

#BookReview: The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by @kierstenwhite

Reviewed By: Jessica P. 

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Recommended Age: Young Adult 

Genre: Historical (Retelling)

Goodreads | Amazon

About the Book:

Elizabeth Lavenza hasn't had a proper meal in weeks. Her thin arms are covered with bruises from her "caregiver," and she is on the verge of being thrown into the streets . . . until she is brought to the home of Victor Frankenstein, an unsmiling, solitary boy who has everything--except a friend.

Victor is her escape from misery. Elizabeth does everything she can to make herself indispensable--and it works. She is taken in by the Frankenstein family and rewarded with a warm bed, delicious food, and dresses of the finest silk. Soon she and Victor are inseparable.

But her new life comes at a price. As the years pass, Elizabeth's survival depends on managing Victor's dangerous temper and entertaining his every whim, no matter how depraved. Behind her blue eyes and sweet smile lies the calculating heart of a girl determined to stay alive no matter the cost . . . as the world she knows is consumed by darkness.

This title will be released on September 25, 2018.

#CoverReveal: House of Falling Embers by @planetkrystal @XpressoTours

House of Falling Embers
Krystal Jane Ruin
Publication date: October 1st 2018
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Retelling
Once upon a time there was a witch. She was a kind witch, but that didn’t matter. The people were afraid, and fear often turns to hatred.
When Artemis was thirteen, her best friend Aris was swallowed by the crumbling house they found in the woods. Like a coward, she abandoned him to the horror within.
She moved away. She tried to forget. But when she finds herself back in her old neighborhood after college, the ghosts—and her guilt—are waiting. A charred figure stalks her dreams, and someone, or something, haunts her from the trees.
Going back into the woods might be the only way to save her sanity.
Because nine years later, the house is still there. Still waiting. Still restless.

#BookBlitz: Twilight Siege (The Fae Games #2) by @JRamsower #Giveaway @XpressoTours

Twilight Siege
Jill Ramsower
(The Fae Games #2)
Publication date: September 1st 2018
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance

After her carefree world is ripped apart, Rebecca Peterson must accept her new life and the dark powers that come with it. Navigating this new landscape of deceit and manipulation is paramount if she is to stop hordes of blood-thirsty Faeries from invading Earth.

Now that Ronan’s motivations are clear, Becca looks to Lochlan for help, but the sweltering tension between them is a dangerous distraction. He draws her in, like no man she has ever met, and lives his life by rules she never knew existed. He takes her deep into the treacherous Shadow Lands, where both her knowledge and courage will be tested—but will it be enough to take on a centuries old enemy hell-bent on death and destruction? To keep those she loves safe, Becca is willing to risk it all.

#BookReview: I Do Not Trust You by Laura J. Burns Melinda Metz #IDoNotTrustYou #NetGalley

Reviewed By: Jessica P. 

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Recommended Age: Young Adult 

Genre: Fantasy 

Goodreads | Amazon

About the Book:

Memphis "M" Engle is stubborn to a fault, graced with an almost absurd knowledge of long lost languages and cultures, and a heck of an opponent in a fight. In short: she's awesome.

Ashwin Sood is a little too posh for her tastes, a member of an ancient cult (which she’s pretty sure counts for more than one strike against him), and has just informed Memphis that her father who she thought was dead isn’t and needs her help. 

From the catacombs of Paris to lost temples in the sacred forests, together they crisscross the globe, searching for the pieces of the one thing that might save her father. But the closer they come to saving him—and the more they fall for one another—the closer they get to destroying the world.


This title will be released on September 11, 2018.

#BookReview: Deliverance (Defiance #3) by @cjredwine

Reviewed By: Jessica P. 

Publisher:  Balzer + Bray

Recommended Age: Young Adult 

Genre: Fantasy (Dystopian)

Goodreads | Amazon

About the Book:

Everything hangs in the balance, and nothing is certain: Rachel has been kidnapped by enemy forces and is being taken to Rowansmark while Logan, imprisoned and awaiting trial, is unable to leave Lankenshire. Separated from each other and their Baalboden comrades, each must find a way to achieve what they desperately want: to rid their world once and for all of the Commander and the tech that controls the deadly Cursed One.

Fighting through her pain and embracing the warrior she’s become, Rachel will do whatever it takes to escape her enemies’ clutches and join Logan in his fight. But when she learns a secret that changes everything, she realizes that escaping Ian and his tracker friends is no longer an option if she wants to save the people she loves. Instead, she’ll have to destroy Rowansmark from the inside out—if she can survive the journey through the Wasteland.

Logan needs allies if he wants to thwart Rowansmark’s power grab and rescue Rachel. But securing allies will mean betraying his beliefs and enlisting the help of the man he hates more than anyone: Commander Jason Chase. Driven by his fierce love for Rachel and his determination to make their world safe, Logan may be just the weapon the city-states need to defeat the Cursed One.

But as Rowansmark bears down and uneasy alliances are tested, will Rachel and Logan’s love for each other be enough to surmount the unbelievable odds against them?

#YABC: The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking #1) by Patrick Ness @WinterHavenLib 5pm

Reviewed By: Jessica P. 

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Recommended Age: Juvenile, Young Adult 

Genre: Science Fiction 

Goodreads | Amazon

About the Book:

Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him -- something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn't she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd's gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.

#CoverReveal: Hush (Nights Series, #8) by A.M. Salinger @XpressoTours

Hush
A.M. Salinger
(Nights Series, #8)
Publication date: October 16th 2018
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Tom Sutherland is an arrogant prick. There, I said it. Okay, so he’s also my assistant and I couldn’t survive without him, but that doesn’t make him less of an irritating bastard — Lana

Lana Keele is a witch. A beautiful, frustrating witch placed on this earth to torment me. Yeah, she’s my boss, but she’s still the most maddening creature I’ve ever had the misfortune to cross paths with — Tom

When Lana Keele, president of Keele Industries and only surviving heir to business tycoon Oliver Keele, wakes up in her devil-of-an-assistant’s bed after a drunken night out, she fears the worst. That is, until prissy Mr. Perfect Tom Sutherland declares that she’s the last woman he’d ever want to sleep with.

After surviving four years in the company of the infuriating woman he’d lusted after since his teens, Tom has had just about enough of the unholy siren that is Lana, especially when she turns up inebriated on his doorstep one night and demands sex. Convinced that Lana will never return his affections, Tom decides that it’s high time to get over his unrequited love.

Except Lana doesn’t quite seem to agree with this plan. Not after she sees him with another woman. Not after she confronts him about it. And most definitely not after he succumbs to temptation and kisses her.

As they finally ignite the fire that has burned so long between them, Tom cannot help but be certain that for Lana, this is just about sex. Will he be satisfied with only having the body of the woman he loves and not possess her heart? Or will Lana convince Tom that she truly means to give him her everything?

Discover Lana and Tom’s story in this sexy and stormy addition to the hot, contemporary romance series Nights by A.M. Salinger. Note from the author: although each book inNights can be read as a standalone, you will enjoy this series even more if you read the books in order!

This is a novella length MF romance with a HEA.

#BookBlitz: Jaclyn and the Beanstalk by @maryting #Giveaway @XpressoTours

Jaclyn and the Beanstalk
Mary Ting
Published by: Vesuvian Books
Publication date: September 4th 2018
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
What fate awaits a girl who hears monsters at night…
Sixteen-year-old Jaclyn looks up to her father. An honest man who once fought for the king, he now teaches Jaclyn how to use her wits—and her sword.
But he has a secret. And his secret may have a connection to the one thing Jaclyn is hiding from him.
Upon hearing “monsters” are terrorizing the small villages around Black Mountain, Jaclyn’s father and his friends head out to hunt them … but they don’t return.
Armed only with her sword and three magic beans—a gift from a mysterious old woman—Jaclyn sets out for Black Mountain to save her father.
On her climb, one bean drops and grows into a beanstalk, catching her when she falls.
She isn’t the only one that takes the ride. Jack, her childhood friend and secret crush, is following her.
Together, Jaclyn and Jack must battle to save not only their fathers, but the townspeople the beasts plan to lay waste to before it’s too late.

#BookReview: Fawkes by Nadine Brandes

Reviewed By: Jessica P. 

Publisher: Thomas Nealson

Recommended Age: Young Adult 

Genre: Historical Fantasy 

Goodreads | Amazon

About the Book:

Thomas Fawkes is turning to stone, and the only cure to the Stone Plague is to join his father’s plot to assassinate the king of England.

Silent wars leave the most carnage. The wars that are never declared, but are carried out in dark alleys with masks and hidden knives. Wars where color power alters the natural rhythm of 17th century London. And when the king calls for peace, no one listens until he finally calls for death.

But what if death finds him first?

Keepers think the Igniters caused the plague. Igniters think the Keepers did. But all Thomas knows is that the Stone Plague infecting his eye is spreading. And if he doesn’t do something soon, he’ll be a lifeless statue. So when his Keeper father, Guy Fawkes, invites him to join the Gunpowder Plot—claiming it will put an end to the plague—Thomas is in.

The plan: use 36 barrels of gunpowder to blow up the Igniter King.

The problem: Doing so will destroy the family of the girl Thomas loves. But backing out of the plot will send his father and the other plotters to the gallows. To save one, Thomas will lose the other.

No matter Thomas’s choice, one thing is clear: once the decision is made and the color masks have been put on, there’s no turning back.