The Skyriders: The Rise of the Sunbird by K. L. Cooper | Reivew

Title: The Skyriders: The Rise of the Sunbird
Author: K.L. Cooper
Pages: 380
Publisher: UnderCover Press
Goodreads Rating: 4.43
Published: May 30th, 2017
Source: eBook/bought

Description:

SOAR INTO THE WORLD OF THE SKYRIDERS

DRAWN BY DESTINY
Determined to rescue her family's failing museum, Alia Relic auctions a mysterious book with an unknown past. But when the chance to bid draws a lot more than fancy pearls and fat pocket books, what may really be on the block is her life.

BOUND BY DUTY
Wren Cordilleran has been sent to find the one woman who can save his kind from destruction. But what he finds at the Four Winds Museum will test every honorable bone in his body and threaten all that he stands for.

FORBIDDEN TO DESIRE
Dragged away from everything Alia knows and thrust into the hidden world of a forgotten race, this new reality will challenge both her will and her deepest fears. Within the walls of Castle Cordilleran, she'll discover that her future was never a matter of choice and...
SECRETS CAN BURN HOTTER THAN THE SUN. 


My Thoughts:

I had picked this eBook up as a steal of a deal after seeing it on a Storygram Tour and oogling the beautiful cover.  I wasn't disappointed, other than the fact that I have to wait until who knows when for the next installment!

The story starts out with Alia Relic in her late mother's museum, which she has been managing.  A lover of history and artifacts, its the perfect place for Alia, even though being in charge of it for years has left her feeling tied to it and unable to travel and see all the history of the world in person.  Maybe that's for the best, since she is terrified of flying and it would take a long time to get anywhere relying on cars, boats and trains.  Plus, what with struggling to keep the museum's finances in the black, it's not like she has the extra money to fund any ventures of her own.

The museum has numerous atrifacts that have been donated, but none as mysterious as an ancient book.  An ancient book that has no known origins, but seems to be something everyone wants.  Including three mysterious men who come to bid on it at the auction Aria put together, and leave with a little more than just a large tome.

Aria agrees to go wtih Wren Cordilleran and his two companions when it becomes apparent that her life is in danger and they seem to be the ones who can help her.  She flies with them *gasp* to their home that is literally in the mountains.  Despite her fears, she finds herself enjoying Wren's company and those of the other Skyriders around her.  Oh, and did I mention they all have wings?  And some are downright birdish?  And she needs to get ready, because she's about to become the weilder of the Sunbird...

It's been a while since I've read such a good adult fantasy.  I really enjoyed the different POVs {it's always nice to get into more than one character's head!}, and I was a little amazed at how well Alia took everything!  It's one thing to have ideas and theories about another humanoid species, but seeing them in person after having them save your life because some crazy guy is attempting to kidnap you?  That would have me questioning my sanity!

The world building was really quick, but fairly detailed in The Rise of the Sunbird.  I swear, at one point while I was reading late into the night, I thought I was in the mountain.  Maybe the perks of living in the middle of farmland with air conditioning making my house really cool? Ha ha!  I swear, at one point I was ready to sclimp into my "nest" and curl up for bed.  But, of course, I had to finish my book first!

It was really interesting to see how much some of the characters knew about humans and their way of life, and how little the majority of the Skyriders seemed to know.  Those in the military or royalty had pretty extensive knowledge of humans, seeing as the Sunbird {their queen} inhabits the body of a human woman every 150 years or so {did I mention they have prolonged lifespans?  And a couple of them are immortal??}.

You guys, I really, really want the second book in the installment.  I want to see what happens with Aria, Wren and the rest of the Skyriders!  And Goodreads is giving me no hope, since it doens't even have book two listed in its database!

Only You {Mephisto Mark} by Stephanie Feagan Giveaway!

How would one of you lovelies like to win a fabulous book by the fabulous Stephanie Feagan?  Her Mephisto Covenant series is on its third book {first two written under her YA pen name Trinity Faegen}.  I freakin' love her books, and her third Mephisto is the best so far!  So, with that, I have an extra copy to give away!  This copy is kinda special... its from the first printing, back when Only You was titled The Mephisto Mark and was still under her YA/NA pen name Trinity Faegen.  So, while it looks like this on Goodreads and Amazon:

You will be getting this lovely copy{!}:

So what do you need to know about this giveaway?  Well, here are the rules:

• One person will win The Mephisto Mark book.
• I will be checking all the entries.  If you say you commented, and I don't see a blog comment, your entry will be invalid.  Ditto with Twitter posts and following via twitter.  If I can't verify it, that entry is invalid.
• This is open to US and Canadian readers only.  Sorry, guys, not international, because I really don't have the money to do that!
• The winner will be contacted via email and will have 48 hours to respond. If I don't hear back within that time frame, a new winner will be chosen.
• Must be 17 or older to enter {this is technically a New Adult book, and covers some pretty tough/graphic material... please keep that in mind when entering!}
• By entering this giveaway, you're agreeing to the terms/rules listed above.

 {Also, I know this doesn't end for a while... I'm going to be on vacation starting the 25th for several days, and I want to be able to mail in out to the winner as soon as it's over, not have you wait a week!}

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Sweet Reckoning by Wendy Higgins | Review

Title: Sweet Reckoning
Author: Wendy Higgins
Pages: 464
Publisher: HarperTeen
Goodreads rating: 4.54 stars
Published: April 29, 2014
Source: Paperback/Bought

Descprition:

It’s time.

Evil is running rampant and sweet Anna Whitt is its target. Nobody knows when or how the Dukes will strike, but Anna and her Nephilim allies will do anything necessary to rid the earth of the demons and their oppressive ways.

The stakes are higher than ever, and Anna is determined that the love she feels will be her strength, not a liability. But trying to protect the ones she loves while running for her life and battling demonic forces proves to be perilous—especially as faces are changing and trust is fleeting. When the Duke of Lust sends Anna’s great love, Kaidan Rowe, to work against her, Anna must decide how much she’s prepared to risk.

In the most sensual and fast-paced installment yet, Sweet Reckoning brings all the beloved Neph together one last time to fight for their freedom.


This trilogy had me hooked from the first chapter of the first book.  It was seriously that good, and Sweet Reckoning did not disappoint! If you haven't picked these up yet, I would suggest it (especially if you're a fan of Jennifer L Armentrout's Lux series).

Sweet Reckoning picks up right where Sweet Peril left off, and the pace Higgins has set is fast. There is no part that feels slow or irrelevant. Every single word is important to the story and plot, and is written is such a way to hook the reader. I'll admit, I had a difficult time putting this down when D woke up from his naps!

Anna is the same beautiful character I loved at the beginning of Sweet Evil, only stronger and more sure of herself. And I absolutely love how Higgins brings in Anna's faith into this final chapter of the Sweet Trilogy and everything it means to all of the Nephs (but without being preachy... This isn't Christian fiction, so I honestly didn't expect as much spiritual references, but it was pretty refreshing to see). Two words sum up Anna in this book: warrior woman. 

And Kaidan... Still just as swoon worthy as ever, even more so as you see his bond with Anna strengthen and mature. What's more swoony than a man so in love with his woman that he would do anything for her? And I mean anything. Yeah, kinda hard not to get all swoony over him and his relationship with Anna. 

Wendy Higgins has concluded this trilogy wonderfully. Her characters have grown and really stand on their own. Out of all the conclusions I've read for various trilogies and series lately, this one is one of my favorites. It's has love, betrayal, heartbreak, life, death, angels, demons and even an earthquake. And it just goes to show that the most powerful weapon one can have on their side is love. 

Sweet Peril by Wendy Higgins | Review

Title: Sweet Peril
Author: Wendy Higgins
Pages: 371
Publisher: HarperTeen
Goodreads rating: 4.38 stars
Published: April 30, 2013
Source: Paperback/Bought

Descripton:

Anna Whitt, the daughter of a guardian angel and a demon, promised herself she’d never do the work of her father—polluting souls. She’d been naive to make such a vow. She’d been naive about a lot of things.

Haunted by demon whisperers, Anna does whatever she can to survive, even if it means embracing her dark side and earning an unwanted reputation as her school’s party girl. Her life has never looked more bleak. And all the while there’s Kaidan Rowe, son of the Duke of Lust, plaguing her heart and mind.

When an unexpected lost message from the angels surfaces, Anna finds herself traveling the globe with Kopano, son of Wrath, in an attempt to gain support of fellow Nephilim and give them hope for the first time. It soon becomes clear that whatever freedoms Anna and the rest of the Neph are hoping to win will not be gained without a fight. Until then, Anna and Kaidan must put aside the issues between them, overcome the steamiest of temptations yet, and face the ultimate question: is loving someone worth risking their life?


Sweet Evil won me over.  And Sweet Peril picked up with stealing me away into this awesome, unique world that Wendy Higgins has created.  These books are addictive in the way of pretty much anything written by Jennifer L Armentrout.  In fact, I would think it's safe to say that these do for Nephilim what the Lux Series did for aliens.  Hot dang!  ::swoon::

This story follows Anna, but now she has to play the part of the daughter of the Duke of Substance Abuse.  She's being watched by demon whisperers, who want to cause mayhem and see humans fall and sin, which is what good little Nephs should want, too.  You watch her struggle as the angel in her doesn't' want to lead people to party and drink, and the little devil in her that occasionally gives in and says "yes!".  The beauty about Anna is she listens to the angel side more than the devil.

The snippet at the vary beginning of the book gives a glimpse at Neph history, and a little into some of the Dukes and the way they run things {and how heartless they really are, as well as some of the Nephs}.  Wendy Higgins is the master at writing characters as soulless {pretty much all the Dukes} and the most kind, caring, considerate people {Patti and Anna}, not to mention those who are tormented {Kaidan, I'm looking at you}.  It amazes me how effortlessly the writing flows from the various characters and the emotions I saw in them while reading.

Wendy Higgins is offically one of my Auto-Buy Authors now.  I can't wait to see what happens with Kaidan and Anna in the third {and final ::sobs::} installment of the Sweet Trilogy. 

Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins | Review

Title: Sweet Evil
Author: Wendy Higgins
Pages: 453
Publisher: HarperTeen
Goodreads rating: 4.21 stars
Published: May 1, 2012
Source: Paperback/Bought

Description:

Embrace the Forbidden

What if there were teens whose lives literally depended on being bad influences?

This is the reality for sons and daughters of fallen angels.
Tenderhearted Southern girl Anna Whitt was born with the sixth sense to see and feel emotions of other people. She's aware of a struggle within herself, an inexplicable pull toward danger, but it isn't until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage and her willpower is put to the test. He's the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna.

Forced to face her destiny, will Anna embrace her halo or her horns?


I've had this on my shelf for-eh-ver, and I've been following Wendy Higgins on Twitter for just as long... the ONLY reason I'm happy it took me so long to read this is I think I would have gone nuts having to wait a year for each book to come out.  I read this in two days, which is huge because, HEY!, I have a kiddo I'm running around with most of the day, plus I'm keeping a house clean like we don't even live here in case we need to do a showing {yep, trying to sell our house and buy another!}.  So, yes, reading any book has been taking a little while for me, but not this one!  I devoured it.  Wendy Higgins is officially on my Author Auto-Buy List.

Anna is the definition of "goody-two-shoes".  If you were to Google it, you should see her picture.  She's been blessed/cursed with knowing other people's emotions {and feeling them, but this is less prevalent in the book}.  She seems pretty normal, acts normal, flies under the radar for the most part.  She has one really good friend, Jay, who's her buddy and has "never felt that way" toward her {she should know: his emotions are literally swirling around him in a cloud of colors for Anna to see}.  Anna is thisclose with her step-mom, Patti, who adopted her as a baby after her birth mother died in childbirth and her dad went to prison.  The only thing about Anna that's maybe not so great is she feels this weird pull towards certain vices...

Enter Kaidan Rowe, with his swoony looks and {drum roll please} British accent {its okay to have Tom Hiddleson's voice in your head while you read Kaidan's lines... or Henry Cavill}.  He's what every good girl is told to stay away from: band member {drummer}, womanizer, bad boy.  And he's very, very good at getting the ladies to swoon - he is the son of the Duke of Lust, after all.  He quite literally know exactly what to say or do to get any woman to want to be with him.  When he spots Anna at one of his gigs, tagging along with her friend Jay, he knows she's different... she's like him...

The characters and the world building were so good in this book, I would be transported every time I opened it.  I just could not get enough {thankfully I'd purchased Sweet Peril a while back}.  Even though he's this charmer bad boy, I was cheering for Kaidan and Anna the whole time, cringing when various Dukes came in the picture {okay, pretty much any Duke other than Anna's dad}.  Kaidan's father makes me want to run away every time I read about him... Or take a hot, cleansing mind rub.  The man/fallen angel is evil.  As he's supposed to be - he is one of the twelve Dukes of Sin who roam the earth, pushing humans to give in to their sinful natures.  And almost all the Dukes have children who do their bidding as well {Nephilim, or Nephs, in this book}, which makes it harder for Kaidan and Anna to even be in the same area together, much less be together.

Sweet Evil was just the book I needed to get me to start diving into reading again {my TBR pile is a little scary at the moment}, and Sweet Peril was even more so {review on that one will be up a bit later}.  So, in a nutshell, if you haven't read this book and you're a fan of pretty much any supernatural YA, you need to.  Even if you aren't a fan of supernatural YA, you should read this.  Saying "it's SO good" just does not cut it for this book.  It's beyond awesome.

What I've been reading {mini reviews}

Since I've been gone and haven't written any reviews, I wanted to update everyone on what I've read during that time {and possibly do wee little bitty reviews... or at least say if I liked them ;-)}:

The Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead.  Yep.  I finally read all of them, and they were SO good.  I almost went out and bought Bloodlines and The Golden Lily that day, but with prepping for Baby {ie buying tons of stuff because its cute or "we might need this" and/or missing work because I'm so tired or nauseous} I reminded myself that the Hubs and I just really don't have that kind of money laying around anymore.  So I've been hitting up my local library for some good reads.  One of which I will need to write a review for, because I just loved it!:

Jodi Meadows is a brilliant author, and Incarnate is right up there with Brightly Woven for me.  Absolutely loved it.  And I'm so happy that, unlike Brightly Woven, this is not a stand alone!  Now to have patience until the next one comes out...

I also finally found myself picking up Aimee Carter's first two books in the Goddess Test trilogy {one from Half Price Books, and the other from the library}.  Great reads, very quick {which was so bad in this case, because I really loved them!}.  I loved the characters and how they portrayed each of their Greek counterparts so faithfully {also the fact that Henry tends to talk a little more old-fashioned makes it seem much more like he is from another time}.  Now I just need to get my hands on the two little novellas to attempt to tide me over until the last one comes out!

Another subject I attempted to love was that of angels.  The book Halo completely turned me off to them.  I know some people {bloggers} who loved that book, and good for them.  I think most every author deserves to have people love their books.  Two books that made me really love angels were ones with angels not quite as we think of them:

This was a great find!  Scott Speer is a wonderful writer and he made it realistic to think of angels "coming out" and being known in the world in Immortal City.  It was a little hard to wrap my head around at first {and I was still being skeptical of the topic of angels in the first place}, but he did good.  And there are some shockers in this book like you wouldn't believe.  Way to keep us readers on our toes!

Branded by Keary Taylor was the last book I read.  Again, an angel book.  I actually got this free for my Kindle a while back, and just now picked it up to read {I honestly really just love reading actual physical copies of books so much better}.  The story line itself promised to bring in a whole new kind of angel to my world, which was promising in and of itself.  I wasn't disappointed.  I loved Jessica and Alex like you wouldn't believe, and I kept cheering for them to win and discover a way for her to stop having her nightmares.  And Cole... well, I knew who he was from the beginning ;-)... I think this one is only $.99 right now for Kindle, and the next two are pretty inexpensive as well.

I'm hoping to write full reviews for a couple of these, so be on the lookout for that.  And, guys, I am finally going to be posting a giveaway very, very soon!  I feel like such a bad blogger, but when it comes down to reading the books or reviewing them, I'm going to read.  Also, growing a baby is life-draining work!  I'm attempting to finally be productive and pregnant ;-).