Spark Rising (Progenitor Saga #1) by Kate Corcino BLOG TOUR: Excerpt & Giveaway!!!

Spark Rising by Kate Corcino
Publication date: December 15th 2014
Genres: New Adult, Post-Apocalyptic, Science Fiction

Synopsis:

All that’s required to ignite a revolution is a single spark rising.

Two hundred years after the cataclysm that annihilated fossil fuels, Sparks keep electricity flowing through their control of energy-giving Dust. The Council of Nine rebuilt civilization on the backs of Sparks, offering citizens a comfortable life in a relo-city in exchange for power, particularly over the children able to fuel the future. The strongest of the boys are taken as Wards and raised to become elite agents, the Council’s enforcers and spies. Strong girls—those who could advance the rapidly-evolving matrilineal power—don’t exist. Not according to the Council.

Lena Gracey died as a child, mourned publicly by parents desperate to keep her from the Council. She was raised in hiding until she fled the relo-city for solitary freedom in the desert. Lena lives off the grid, selling her power on the black market.

Agent Alex Reyes was honed into a calculating weapon at the Ward School to do the Council’s dirty work. But Alex lives a double life. He’s leading the next generation of agents in a secret revolution to destroy those in power from within.

The life Lena built to escape her past ends the day Alex arrives looking for a renegade Spark.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22705139-spark-rising?ac=1

Purchase:

Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00R0AT93C

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/spark-rising-kate-corcino/1120911400?ean=9780990732808

AUTHOR BIO:

Kate Corcino is a reformed shy girl who found her voice (and uses it…a lot). She believes in magic, coffee, Starburst candies, genre fiction, descriptive profanity, and cackling over wine with good friends. A recovering Dr. Pepper addict, she knows the only addiction worth feeding is the one that follows the “click-whooooosh” of a new story settling into her brain.

She also believes in the transformative power of screwing up and second chances. Cheers to works-in-progress of the literary and lifelong variety!

She is currently gearing up for publication of Ignition Point and Spark Rising , the first books in the Progenitor Saga, a near future dystopian adventure series with romantic elements, science, magic, and plenty of action.

Author links:

http://katecorcino.com/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8381085.Kate_Corcino

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKateCorcino

https://twitter.com/katecorcino

EXCERPT!!!

       Spark Rising’s Lena Gracey does things her way, with few apologies, even as Alex Reyes uses her need for vengeance to draw her into a revolution. Frustrated, angry, and tired, all she wants is a physical release, and she turns to the one man she thinks can give her that with no strings attached. But the strong chemistry born of hard-won friendship and the electrical power that seethes in both of them guarantees they both get more than they bargained for…

“I know you want me.”

Alex growled and narrowed his dark eyes. “We all want you, because you’re special.”

“Then give me fifteen minutes. You want to fix it. That will. Give me that.”

“Fifteen minutes of tension relief? That’s what you’re asking for?”

This isn’t about feelings, she told herself. No feelings.

Lena lifted her chin. She wouldn’t play by anyone else’s rules. “Yes.”

“Yes?” Alex nodded. “It’s not me, then. Not personal.” He looked past her, his eyes hooded. When he brought them back to her again, she could see the decision he’d made. “Sounds like something I can live with.”

She leaned in as he reached to slide his hand up her jaw.

His palm cupped her face, fingers tangling in her hair as it slid forward. His thumb moved across her lips. Lena slid her knees up onto the seat to either side of him, straddling him as he pulled her mouth to his.

Like the first time, the contact was more than lips meeting, the electric flare deeper and brighter than it had been with Jackson. But this time, the only thing soft about his kiss was his lips.

Energy surged between them. As his tongue traced the inside of her lips, a blazing trail of shocks flared in her skin and exploded like bright lights behind her eyelids. He sucked at her lips, first one and then the other, and energy welled up from her. As he pulled and coaxed, the rising flow felt like fingers stroking deep inside. Each time he drew her lip into his mouth to suckle at the energy, those fingers of power slid up inside of her, moving toward him, leaving a quivering, electrified trail behind. He drew her power into himself.

Lena pulled away, and the electricity crackled white energy between their wet mouths. It hurt, little sparks popping against nerve endings. Alex’s eyes were glazed. He wanted more. But it was her turn.

She lowered her mouth again, pulling the energy from him this time as she darted her tongue between his lips. She framed his face with her small hands and tapped the energy deep within him to draw it up into her through his nerves, his skin, his lips, and tongue.  exploded like bright lights behind her eyelids. He sucked at her lips, first one and then the other, and energy welled up from her. As he pulled and coaxed, the rising flow felt like fingers stroking deep inside. Each time he drew her lip into his mouth to suckle at the energy, those fingers of power slid up inside of her, moving toward him, leaving a quivering, electrified trail behind. He drew her power into himself.

Lena pulled away, and the electricity crackled white energy between their wet mouths. It hurt, little sparks popping against nerve endings. Alex’s eyes were glazed. He wanted more. But it was her turn.

She lowered her mouth again, pulling the energy from him this time as she darted her tongue between his lips. She framed his face with her small hands and tapped the energy deep within him to draw it up into her through his nerves, his skin, his lips, and tongue.

Alex groaned and wrapped his hands around the backs of her legs. He slid them up, cupping the curve of her bottom, fingers caressing the crease that led him to her inner thighs. He drew her to him.

She allowed it, pressing against his body. She wanted more of him. More pressure. More skin against skin. Her hands sank down from his face to slip between them, pulling on his shirt. She pulled it up and off, tearing her mouth from his for an instant to yank the shirt over his head.

He worked the buttons of her shirt, fumbling at them in his hurry. He freed the last of them, spreading her shirt open and back and pushing it off her shoulders. He sat back to look at her.

She followed his gaze to his hands. They spread wide across her ribcage, his sun-darkened brown 

skin stark against her pale freckles. Above his hands, her skin curved into the slight swell of paler 

skin and peaked nipples. He slid his hands up to palm her sensitive breasts, and she pressed into him, 

sliding her hands up to cover his.  His thumb circled her nipple then slid away as he pulled her up.

         He drew her into his mouth, the power slicking electric hot up her nerves.  She arched her back, 

melting into him, already shuddering with the force of the energy surging through her as he licked at 

her.  He slid his hands around her back, pulled her closer, holding tight.  Everywhere their skin met, 

the searing flux of energy wove between them.  Each time their skin parted, a white arc of heat 

spanned the distance and danced along their skin, joining them.

         Lena sank lower, pushing her hand between his waistband and his skin.  She slid her fingertips 

along his lower belly before dipping lower.  The soft, almost delicate skin she found was a contrast 

to the rigid flesh it covered.  She wrapped her hand around him and pulled energy along the length of 

him.

         

         Alex's hands and mouth stilled and his eyes closed.

         

         Like that, do you?

GIVEAWAY!!!

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It's the End, My Friends

Expected Publication:  May 6th, 2014

After the End (After the End #1)

By: Amy Plum

HarperTeen

ISBN-13:  9780062225627

She's searching for answers to her past.  They're hunting her to save their future.

World War III has left the world ravaged by nuclear radiation.  A lucky few escaped to the Alaskan wilderness.  They've survived for the last thirty years by living off the land, being one with nature, and hiding from whoever else might still be out there.

At least, this is what Juneau has been told her entire life.

When Juneau returns from a hunting trip to discover that everyone in her clan has vanished, she sets off to find them.  Leaving the boundaries of their land for the very first time, she learns something horrifying: there never was a war.  Cities were never destroyed.  The world is intact.  Everything was a lie.

Now Juneau is adrift in a modern-day world she never knew existed.  But while she's trying to find a way to rescue her friends and family, someone else is looking for her.  Someone who knows the extraordinary truth about the secrets of her past.

Review

     I tried reading Amy Plum's other series, but hated it.  So I was understandably wary about reading this one, even if the idea of it appealed to my likes.  I bit the bullet and signed up for a book tour, figuring that I had nothing to lose.  And let me tell you, I'm really glad that I did!  As you can find out from the synopsis above, this starts out like a post-apocalyptic book but its really a fake-out.  Juneau has been raised her entire life in the wild part of Alaska, just far enough away from civilization that her city's elders got away with a truly big-scale scam.  Juneau and all the children of her "clan" have been raised to believe that WWIII happened thirty years ago, and the only people left outside their village are opportunistic drifters, who'd just as soon kill you as to look at you.  Oh, and they all also have the same genetic mutation (a starburst in their eye) and have been trained to be in touch with the "Yara," otherwise known as the lifeforce of the Earth/Universe and all its components.  The way its written is a lot like magic, but something slightly more on the mystic side of the coin than usual.  It's up to Juneau to rescue her kidnapped family and the others of her clan, but once she gets into the world it gets complicated.  Because she needs the help of Miles, a strange teenage boy, who is the son of someone who is hunting her down.  And he has his own selfish reasons for helping Juneau.  Can they work together or will their agendas collide to form a disaster of epic proportions?

     I liked how the main focus of this book is the adventure and the quest.  It goes from happy, post-apocalyptic village life, to the harshness of an unfamiliar modern world.  Also, this book is a dual-point of view between Juneau and Miles, who couldn't possibly be more different.  And the narrative voice reflects their differences very well, which is something that always impresses me.  Dual-narratives are a bitch, and lots of the time both characters end up sounding exactly the same and turning off/pissing off the reader.  Or at least me, when I am that reader.  Juneau is strong heroine, able to take care of herself by living off of the land and she may not know anything about the modern world, but she calculates her next move with some serious intelligence that I admire.  Confused at times, but always sure of her moral compass, Juneau is a character I admire.  Miles is thoroughly a modern teenage boy, and is spoiled and bratty to boot.  He clashes with Juneau immediately and I love how realistically skeptical his reactions to her life story, explanations about the Yara, etc. happen to be!  No blind acceptance on his part, and above all Miles is always looking out for himself and his own ends.  No insta-love to be found either!  There is grudging respect and the two of them do have some feelings building by the end of the book.  But no declarations of undying love are made. 

     I knew there was going to be a fakeout, in terms of the false apocalypse.  But I wasn't expecting it to be because of a pharmaceutical experiment that everyone wants the patent to!  I thought they were just brainwashing cultists who got taken away by the government, and arrested or something.  Instead, the Yara is something that is real, in the sense that the genetic mutation of the children and their exposure to the drug gives them their abilities.  Also, the clan's lack of aging plays a part in the way the plot progresses.  Yes, I do agree with other readers that there isn't a large amount of resolution when it comes to the missing clan by the end of the book.  We do learn more about mysterious/possibly villainous, cult leader Whit (once upon a time, Juneau's mentor).  I also happened to love the detour taken by Juneau at mountain-woman, hermit Tallie's hidden house.  She is definitely a great secondary character in a book that really only has three characters with a lot of focus (Juneau, Miles and Whit).  But the ending is also a gigantic cliffhanger, with life and death hanging in the balance!  I will definitely be reading the next book to find out what happens next and I really hope it doesn't suffer second book-syndrome!  I highly recommend this if you're looking for something different, fresh and fun to read.  It also is a pretty quick read as well, the 350-something pages flying by.

VERDICT:  4/5 Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book's expected publication is May 6th, 2014.*

Faster Than a Speeding Bullet

Published:  September 24th, 2013

Steelheart (The Reckoners #1)

By: Brandon Sanderson

Delacorte

ISBN-13:  9780385743563

There are no heroes.

Ten years ago, Calamity came.  It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers.  The awed public started calling them Epics.

But Epics are no friend of man.  With incredible gifts came the desire to rule.  And to rule man you must crush his wills.

Nobody fights the Epics...nobody but the Reckoners.  A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.

And David wants in.  He wants Steelheart -- the Epic who is said to be invincible.  The Epic who killed David's father.  For years, like the Reckoners, David's been studying, and planning -- and he had something they need.  Not an object, but an experience.

He's seen Steelheart bleed.  And he wants revenge.

Review

     David still remembers every detail of the day his father died.  He was a man who believed in superheroes and the good that they could accomplish.  He was excited when people began to gain special powers.  But then Steelheart, an "Epic" in their area murdered David's Dad in cold blood - but not until after he managed to wound Steelheart.  Massacring everyone in the bank vault, except for David who escaped, Steelheart has gone on to take over the entire city and everything in it.  David has spent the last decade studying Steelheart in the hopes of revenge and when the Reckoners, a group that takes down Epics, comes to town he thinks the time has finally arrived.  But how can he figure exactly what drew Steelheart's blood the first time, get rid of all his main henchmen and fellow Epics, before finally striking the fatal blow to the man himself?  And who is the traitor amidst the Reckoners, on the verge of destroying the entire rebellion?

     I read two books by Brandon Sanderson this year: The Rithmatist and Steelheart.  The first one, Rithmatist, reminded me of Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokemon kind of, only with chalk figures/demons instead of digitized monsters and little animals to duel others with.  I appreciated a lot of things about that book, not the least of which was complex world building and some great characters.  I really appreciated and liked it, even enjoyed it, but I didn't fall in love with it.  Steelheart however, is a completely different story!  I have always had a fascination with superheroes ever since I was a child.  I was never really into the cartoons, but I did enjoy the comics and live action films.  Well, this book takes on a whole other side of the normal superhero spin.  What if the people who gained these powers didn't choose to do good things with them and instead decided to take over the world?  Thus a race of supervillains - or at the very least super-assholes - is born!

     Except if things were that easy, than war and peace would be the simplest concepts on the Earth and half the crap in our history wouldn't be as drawn out and gory as it is.  Killing a human being, even one with unnatural powers, is a slippery moral slope with very little high ground.  You are still a murderer, even if your victim is a despot responsible for the deaths of many.  Is killing Steelheart the right thing?  Many cities are in complete chaos but the one he controls is fairly well run and organized.  People have some semblance of a life outside survival in its most basic state.  So to kill, or not to kill?  That is the question.  Also, not every Epic is evil and not every Reckoner is good.  Who is what in the grand scheme of things?  This book is a complete action, thrill a minute kind of book though.  The twists and turns will keep you guessing, until the ending which leaves you with a cliffhanger that will make you want to bust down Sanderson's door for an ARC of #2!  I'm not going to say anymore so as not to spoil, but suffice it to say that this isn't your average superhero paint by numbers, adventure story.  Great characters, plot and flow.  Truly enjoyed this one and I highly recommend it too! :)

VERDICT:  5/5  Stars

**No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.**

Frozen, But What Can I Do?

Expected Publication:  September 17th, 2013
Frozen (Heart of Dread #1)
By: Melissa De La Cruz & Michael Johnston
Putnam Juvenile
ISBN-13:  9780399257544

Welcome to New Vegas, a city once covered in bling, now blanketed in ice. Like much of the destroyed planet, the place knows only one temperature—freezing. But some things never change. The diamond in the ice desert is still a 24-hour hedonistic playground and nothing keeps the crowds away from the casino floors, never mind the rumors about sinister sorcery in its shadows.

At the heart of this city is Natasha Kestal, a young blackjack dealer looking for a way out. Like many, she's heard of a mythical land simply called “the Blue.” They say it’s a paradise, where the sun still shines and the waters are turquoise. More importantly, it’s a place where Nat won’t be persecuted, even if her darkest secret comes to light.

But passage to the Blue is treacherous, if not impossible, and her only shot is to bet on a ragtag crew of mercenaries led by a cocky runner named Ryan Wesson to take her there. Danger and deceit await on every corner, even as Nat and Wes find themselves inexorably drawn to each other. But can true love survive the lies? Fiery hearts collide in this fantastic tale of the evil men do and the awesome power within us all.

Review

 

     Natasha 'Nat' Kestal is living in the city of sin, New Vegas, as a blackjack dealer.  All she wants though is to find a way out and to the mythical land known as the Blue - which may or may not actually exist.  In a world with nothing but pockets of land left, floating in a sea of toxic waters, the Blue is said to be a land of pure water, sunshine and perfect days.  Nat has a secret though - she is marked, one of those that the government wants nothing more than to exterminate for their special abilities.  When she out-hustles cocky ex-military guy Ryan Wesson, Nat turns around and hires Wes and his crew to sail her out to find the blue.  Drawn to each other, but both wary and hiding secrets, Nat and Wes must learn to trust one another and make some difficult decisions.  If they're both going to survive and make it to the Blue, the time will come to tell the whole truth.  But could that be just as deadly as the secrets they keep?

     I went into this with a bit of hesitance, seeing as when a mysterious 'co-author' is suddenly introduced, it's usually code for "this person is my ghostwriter and I've given up on hiding it."  Thankfully, the difference in the alternating third-person omniscient point of views is distinctly and obviously written by two separate authors.  That said, this was by no means the best book that I've ever read.  Most of the time, reading it was like a cross between an action movie (a la Waterworld), a cheesy romance and a hard boiled noir.  I found myself struggling to get involved in the story at first, but once they finally get out of the city things began to pick up for me.  I loved the character development on the side characters, like Shakes (whose loyalty is beautiful) and the 'little men' that are rescued by Wes' crew from the pirates.  I did feel like I was reading character types, more than actual characters at times with Nat and Wes. 

     There is something that was bothering me about the world-building, sitting in the back of my mind nagging at my suspension of disbelief.  If the water was so toxic, how could there be fish in it that were alive and safe to eat?  And with that in mind, why the HELL weren't they just melting/boiling the damn ice for a water source???  If your whole world is covered in ice, you'd think there'd be a way to utilize that!  I guess that wouldn't make for a very interesting plot though, and would eliminate pretty much the entire conflict of the novel.  So I suppose I can live with that particular plot hole! :)  Even if it is a pretty large one.  This book reminds me of watching an action movie, and that is probably what saved it for me as a reader.  There are some interesting elements to the world-building besides the non-believable water shortage and it did make me do some thinking.  Where the authors lost me was near the end when the fantasy elements came into full swing and added in a dragon.  I guess I'll just have to wait and see if I decide to read the second book when it's released.  If you're able to glibly read some actiony fluff, you may enjoy this.  Otherwise I'd advise you to avoid it.  Unless you live for cheesy, bland romances.  Then you may like it with complete seriousness, heaven help you!

 

VERDICT:  3.5/5  Stars

 

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book's expected publication is September 17th, 2013.*