Book Nerds Across America

I love to read and I love authors! I have been trying to figure out a way to give back to the authors that I love and that is why I came up with 31 Days of Authors. FOR THE WHOLE MONTH...YES the WHOLE MONTH...I will be giving away a prize for an author I love.

Here is the CATCH: you will be able to enter in the allotted time. Each day there will be a Rafflecopter at the end of the post. ENTER ENTER ENTER!!!

I WILL ANNOUNCE ALL THE WINNERS ON JULY 14!

DAY 1 AUTHOR

RACHEL HIGGINSON

I was so blessed to meet my favorite author at UtopYA. It was so amazing! She is just as sweet in person as online!

Rachel Higginson and I at UtopYA 2013

I fell in love with Rachel when her second book of The Star Crossed Series came out, Hopeless Magic. I followed her on Twitter and I thought "Why Not?".

Let me refresh your memory on my post. It was the end of Hopeless Magic that I slammed Kindle my down and cracked it. BUT, that is why she is so amazing!!! Then I counted the days down to her next book of the series and it was just as good and the fourth was OMG GOOD! Now the amazing Rachel has the Starbright series out and Rush Series AND Bet In The Dark. *phew* I am tired just thinking about it

Now if you do not know Rachel, follow her here.

Twitter

Facebook

Goodreads

YouTube

Website

I bet you want to know what you can win.......


a Rafflecopter giveaway

We LOVE LOVE LOVE our Fictional Boyfriends and we thought it would be nice to do a "12 days of Fictional Boyfriends".  It is like the "12 Days of Christmas" but with hot men!

We are on day 2 of the 12 days of fictional boyfriends.  I have chosen Kiran from Rachel Higginson's Star-Crossed Series.

Oh, Kiran you are beyond sexy and perfect!!

picture from Just Jared

To celebrate the 8 days of Hanukkah, the four book nerds will each select an author or book series that is meaningful to us to share with all of you.

Goodreads description:


Avalon St. Andrews has endured Hell and war in an attempt to secure freedom and immortality for his people. Raised and conditioned to be both warrior and leader, he now sits on a throne with his sister Eden, governing the Kingdom in peace. While his people enjoy the benefits of his struggle and loss, he is restless, bored and alone. 

Avalon is summoned to fight to save his people once more as the Kingdom is threatened by a brand new evil. In addition to reigning in a kingship he doesn’t want, he is fighting against the very people he has fought so hard to protect. They are determined to throw away their newfound freedom and their newfound leaders.

In this war and in this kingship he feels alone. And for the first time he feels hollow. That is until Amelia Cartier shows up, invading his every thought and shaking up his carefully controlled world.

Now he faces yet another battle—making Amelia his queen.

MARY'S REVIEW

Rachel Higginson do you even know how talented you are?? If anyone has ever read any of this site you know that Rachel Higginson holds a special please in my Book Nerd Heart.  I will read anything and everything she writes HOWEVER this series is near and dear to me!!

Best part of the book: Oh holy stars this book is full of twist and turns and LOVE!! Yes, Kiran is in this book even though this is from Avalon's point-of-view! I love Kiran, always will! Everyone is back in this book, which makes me so very happy!  I love that Rachel made this book just as exciting as the others!! I couldn't put it down and LOVED EVERY WORD!!  Rachel Higginson left us with a great cliffhanger and (yes) I shed a tear!

Not so great about book:  This book is awesome! The "mission", the twists and the LOVE is everything I could hope for.

Now I am patiently waiting for the next part of this series!

If you want to purchase the book, you can here:


If you haven't read the Star cross series here is the first book. It is free:

Mary's Fictional Boyfriend:

Kiran Kendrick.  His name alone makes me *swoon*.  Although, this was not always the case.

Rachel Higginson is the ONLY AUTHOR that has made me love a character, hate that same character and then fall back in love with that character.  Kiran was that character.

In Reckless Magic, I fell in love with Kiran. It was not a love at first sentence.  Kiran was kind of a tease but then he officially declared his love to Eden and I was so happy.

Then came Hopeless Magic, I still loved him.  He showed more of a loving side for Eden (even though some of it was not public).  It was not till towards the end of the book that my hatred began for Kiran.

Next came Fearless Magic, my hatred for Kiran grew.  I could not stand him and it was almost to the point that I was not going to finish the series.  However, I stuck with it.

At last, Endless Magic, the beginning of the book I was still on my "Die Kiran Die" band wagon.  However, as the story continued I saw what was really happening and my love came back.  His love was still there; however, he just had a plan that we (as readers) did not see. (Very clever Rachel Higginson) 

By the end of the series I do not think I could have loved Kiran more!!  That is why he is this week's Fictional Boyfriend!

Dreamless resumes where Starcrossed left off.  Hector is now an outcast and cannot interact with his family without the furies trying to make them kill one another.  Lucas and Helen are still under the false impression that they are cousins and are struggling to suppress their feelings for each other. 

Helen is descending to the underworld each night with hopes of finding the furies and putting an end to the blood debts, which have been plaguing the Scions for ages.  It is even more important to her now that she has seen first hand the impact the furies have had on Hector and the rest of the Delos family. She is determined to fulfill her obligation as the Descender, but it is taking its toll on her physically and mentally.  She is alone in the underworld and wandering aimlessly.  Even though Casandra, the Oracle, is trying her best to research history, they can't quite determine how to bring happiness to the furies. 

One evening, she encounters another person while in the underworld.  She later finds out that Orion was sent by her mother to assist and protect her because he, too, can descend into the underworld.  This is where the love triangle comes into play.  Lucas and Helen are adamant about their need to move on...so Josie has to throw a hot guy, the descendant of Aphrodite, into the mix.  I really enjoyed this new character, but I am still TEAM LUCAS 100%. 

I enjoyed how Josie gave Claire and Matt, Helen's long time BFFs, a larger role in this book.  I am excited to see how their relationships and roles within the Demigod world will continue in Goddess, the final book in this series.  There were a lot of new Gods, Goddesses, and mythological creatures mentioned throughout the book.  I actually found myself at Barnes and Noble one afternoon browsing a National Geographic book on Greek Mythology in order to get a better understanding of all of the characters. Josie did a REMARKABLE job of weaving Greek Mythology throughout the story without overwhelming the reader.  She has set up an explosive conclusion to this series, which is scheduled to be released in May of 2013.

Mary's Review


WOW! Josephine really knows how to give a girl a heart attack! Seriously!

I could not put this book down once I started it.  I felt so bad for Helen.  She was having to go into the Underworld every night trying to figure out the Fates.  Finally, she sees someone down there with her. A new character, Orion, who is helping her in the Underworld.  He was sent by Helen's mother to help her.

Now, I cannot forget Lucas.  (I am TEAM LUCAS).  Even though I think Orion is a awesome friend to Helen, Lucas will always hold her heart.  I just wish Helen's mother would tell the truth! The one thing that I DID NOT LIKE: Lucas' attitude problem.  I understand why he has it, but I am so over it!

Just like Jacque's review I LOVE how Josie can weave in the Greek Mythology into the story and not make it sound so "old world".  Like I have always said, she is an amazing author!

Now, I am counting the days till Book 3!!!

Book 1: Reckless Magic
Good Reads Description:

16 year old Eden Matthews has been in and out of private schools for the last two years. Kingsley is her last chance to finish high school and she is determined to simply do that. But when she meets Kiran Kendrick and her world opens to something she thought only existed in fairy tales, she's unsure what her future will hold. Suddenly she is captivated by a boy who seems to be the source of all of her problems and struggling to rescue her best friend from a foreign prison. When attempts are made on Kiran's life, Eden alone must save him. Thrust into a world that is more make-believe than reality, Eden has to find her own destiny without losing those she loves most. Reckless is an intricate story of mystery, adventure, magic and love. Eden Matthews is an unlikely heroine set on a path to save the world and her loved ones before its too late.

Book 2: Hopeless Magic
Amazon Description



After returning home from Romania, and successfully saving her best friend Lilly, Eden Matthews must now come to terms with her future as an Immortal. She is in love with the Crowned Prince, but he is betrothed to someone else. Her family desperately wants her to join their rebellion, but that would mean fighting against her one, true love, Kiran Kendrick. She must fight off assassins that want her dead, an Immortal rite of passage that takes her to India and a deadly disease that no one has thus far survived. Danger seems to lurk around every corner as Eden struggles to keep her true identity a secret and protect those that she loves. Eden must find a way to be with Kiran, or turn her back on him forever and fight to save her people. Hopeless Magic is the second installment of the Star-Crossed series.

 Book 3: Fearless Magic

Good Reads Description:

Eden Matthew's world is in shambles. Her grandfather viciously murdered, her twin brother held without magic, and her best friends imprisoned, all at the hands of the one man that was supposed to love her for eternity. She has been betrayed, and now she is being hunted by a king that wants her dead. Eden must pick up the pieces of her life and stand alone against the tyranny that threatens to destroy her world. Alone she must find a way to rebuild the Resistance, locate her missing parents, save her loved ones and take down the monarchy. Everything is against her, including forbidden feelings of a love that she thought was buried. She has declared war and now stands on the precipice of defeat. Losing is not an option however, and Eden must find a way to overcome her emotions, fight through her pain and restore the magic to her kingdom. Fearless Magic is the third installment of The Star-Crossed Series.