KINGDOM OF ASHES BLOG TOUR+GIVEAWAY

Kingdom of Ashes (A Wicked Thing #2)
by Rhiannon Thomas
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: February 23rd 2016

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retellings, Fairy Tales, Romance, Magic, Fiction, Teen

Synopsis:

Asleep for a hundred years, awoken by a kiss, Aurora’s life was supposed to be a fairytale. But since discovering that loyalty to the crown and loyalty to her country are two very different things, Aurora knows she can only dream of happily ever after. Once the enchanted princess, savior of her people, she is now branded a traitor.

Aurora is determined to free her home from the king’s tyrannical rule, even if it means traveling across the sea to the kingdom of the handsome and devious Prince Finnegan—someone who seems to know far more about her magic than he should. However, Finnegan’s kingdom has perils of its own, and any help he gives Aurora will come at a price.

As Aurora and Finnegan work together to harness her power—something so fiery and dangerous that is as likely to destroy those close to Aurora as it is to save them—she begins to unravel the mysteries surrounding the curse that was placed on her over a century before…and uncover the truth about the destiny she was always meant to fulfill.

Brimming with captivating fantasy and life-threatening danger, the sequel to A Wicked Thing takes Sleeping Beauty on an adventure unlike any she’s ever had before.

Aurora flees her kingdom after breaking her engagement with Prince Rodrick. As Aurora starts to unravel the secrets behind her curse, she finds herself in possession of fire magic which she can barely control. She unwillingly hurts townspeople and the king uses it to his advantage to make her people hate her. Alone and desperate, Aurora and Nettle journey to Vanhelm to accept Prince Finnegan's offer of refuge and help. But in exchange Aurora will have to get rid of the dragons in Vanhelm while trying to resist the growing romance between Finnegan and herself....

Yep. This book has DRAGONS! Awesome fire-breathing glorious dragons that can't cross water! So basically since they woke fifty years ago, they have destroyed Vanhelm except for its capital which they can't reach because they can't cross water. So they live in the destroyed part of Vanhelm where everything has been turned to ash and only crazy people take boats to try and get close to them! Finnegan hopes that with Aurora's connection to fire magic, she will be able to make them go back to sleep so he can reclaim his lost land...The presentation of the dragons and the mystery surrounding them and their fear of water was EPIC! Their descriptions were awesome and the setting was so unique!

The romance, i LOVED! Finnegan is more than a witty and arrogant pretty-faced prince, We learn that he doesn't want to rule specifically and how he feels very insecure about his position. I think Aurora falls for him because he wasn't imposed on her like all the other things were:become queen, marry this dude, wear this, go there etc... She kept affirming herself that Finnegan was her choice and i could really feel it! They took some time to get the smooching on but it was worth it :P It was not rushed and had a great build up!

You can also feel the character growth for Aurora as she explores her new found freedom, gains courage and fights back, I also really liked that she wasn't overly righteous..she wanted to save her kingdom obviously but you see peeks of her selfishness peeking through as she questions why she should save people that hate her? That really made her humane and three-dimensional to me!

The plot was fast paced compared the first book, It was exhilarating and full of surprises! I really could not put it down and Celestine really brought on that evil sorceress vibe. You think you know where things are going you're sure of it even along with Aurora and then you find out that you've been fooled just like her! It really felt like we were on the journey with her!

To conclude, i cannot say how much i LOVED this exhilarating journey of Sleeping Beauty as she finds her not "true-love" and tries to find her identity in a world that's a century ahead of her! I cannot wait till the third book!

Follow the Kingdom of Ashes by Rhiannon Thomas Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Rhiannon Thomas is a recent graduate from Princeton University, where she studied English and Japanese, and smuggled bubble tea into the library on a regular basis. She now lives in York, England.

As well as reading and writing YA fiction, she runs the blog FeministFiction.com, where she discusses TV, books, and all kinds of fannish things from a feminist perspective.

I don't hang out on Goodreads much, so if you want to contact me, please swing by my personal website or message me on Twitter.

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February 23, 2016

2 Comments

promotions

A WICKED THING REVIEW

TITLE: A Wicked Thing
AUTHOR: Rhiannon Thomas
SERIES: A Wicked Thing Book 1
PUBLICATION DATE: February 24 2015
PUBLISHER: HarperTeen
SOURCE: Free review copy from publisher

Rhiannon Thomas's dazzling debut novel is a spellbinding reimagining of Sleeping Beauty and what happens after happily ever after.

One hundred years after falling asleep, Princess Aurora wakes up to the kiss of a handsome prince and a broken kingdom that has been dreaming of her return. All the books say that she should be living happily ever after. But as Aurora understands all too well, the truth is nothing like the fairy tale.

Her family is long dead. Her "true love" is a kind stranger. And her whole life has been planned out by political foes while she slept.

As Aurora struggles to make sense of her new world, she begins to fear that the curse has left its mark on her, a fiery and dangerous thing that might be as wicked as the witch who once ensnared her. With her wedding day drawing near, Aurora must make the ultimate decision on how to save her kingdom: marry the prince or run.

Rhiannon Thomas weaves together vivid scenes of action, romance, and gorgeous gowns to reveal a richly imagined world … and Sleeping Beauty as she’s never been seen before.

Aurora wakes up to find some random dude kissing her. She is stupefied and overwhelmed with loneliness when she realizes that her family is long dead and that she is all alone in this unfamiliar world of politics and fights for her throne, She is immediately swept into preparations for her wedding so she can once again safeguard her throne but she feels stifled and lost. As Aurora yearns for a freedom she cannot pinpoint and a happily ever after everyone thinks she has, she battles her way through her solitude and the witch that had once cursed her, all while trying to keep the castle safe from rebels.

Sleeping Beauty is my favorite fairy tale and i have heard loads about this book..and yet i never bought it. So when i saw there was a Tour sign up (stay tuned within a week for that) for ARC's of book 2, i immediately requested book 1 along with it.

I think this book was a real eye opener because i like many of us, i was one of those people that just loved the idea of Aurora waking up to her prince, them getting married straight after. I never thought of how she'd react after 100 years and what if she just didn't fall in love with the prince? At first she came out pretty weak to me, the first half of the book she was pretty much walking around in a daze( totally understandable) but i kinda hoped she would step up to the queen and be like "Eyo! I know i've slept for a hundred years but this is my kingdom pal, so back off!" It did happen,.kinda..just not as soon as i wanted it to.

Rodrick-the prince has got to be the cutest and sweetest thing ever. He's not super hot or super cool, just a blushing sweet guy that finds their situation as awkward as much as Aurora does. Prince Finnegan-i AM LOVING! Handsome with an attitude and ulterior motives-YES PLEASE! Tristan i really liked also! He was this carefree guy that Aurora needed to escape with after all the stress, Please don't panic, this book is the farthest thing from insta-love and there is technically no love triangle or whatever. Aurora isn't confused about the guys, she just knows that her choices are not exactly what is expected. And Finn, though he is uber hot, is not a love interest..though i'm hoping that changes in Book 2(which i'll be starting right away!)

I don't really know what to think of the Queen..i got the immediate instinct to hate her-well because all queens are evil normally (Lunar chronicles, Red Queen etc..) but she doesn't actually seem mean, Yeah she is manipulative and dominates Aurora but you can't put the blame entirely on her,,,being a woman and a daughter of a rival land, the people don't like her much and her husband doesn't seem to appreciate her at all...

The plot was great! I loved one of these sentences-it was about how when she woke up, the stairs to her tower were covered in dusts but thinner in some places where princes had walked and free of dust on the space where Rodrick had just climbed! It was such a minute detail and i was just like :AWWWW THAT IS AWESOME!!!

The next book will definitely be filled with magic-and hopefully DRAGONS and of course more of Celestine(evil witch)! I cannot wait to start it!

February 17, 2016

3 Comments

ARCs from authors

THE VAMPIRE GAMES ARC REVIEW

TITLE: The Vampire Games
AUTHOR: Stephanie Archer
SERIES: The Vampire Games Book 1
PUBLICATION DATE: January 31 2016
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
SOURCE: Free ARC from Netgalley

My name is Bianka, and I live in a world a lot like yours. Or at least, I used to.

Then I got harvested.

Taken into eerie darkness underneath the surface of my world, I’ve learned that cities like mine – Hidden Oaks – are just places that the vampires keep humans until it’s time to drink their blood. Now it’s my turn. They’re harvesting me.

But I’m fighting hard, and the vampires have noticed. A sponsor is buying me. A handsome, mysterious vampire with piercing eyes, who wants me to fight other humans in The Vampire Games. If I lose, I’ll be harvested. If I win, I’ll join my sponsor, Phillip, as one of them.

I’ll be turned into a vampire.

All I must do to spend an eternity with Phillip is sell my soul.

The scary part? I’d do a lot worse for him than that.

Bianka is a normal girl, struggling with grades and all until one day, she comes home and her parents hand her off to this weird group of men. She is taken into this new community where humans are harvested and kept as blood bags for hungry vamps. Worst of all? They got her best friend, Marc too.

As Bianka fights to escape and rescue Marc, she is left with only to choices. Loose in the combats against other humans and become a reserve blood bag or win and become a vampire like her hot new sponsor.

The Vampire Games was a quick and easy read. The story wasn't overly complex and the principle was simple enough, it has a lot of The Hunger Games vibe in it.

I liked Phillip a lot, to me his character was the most developed, Bianka i didn't really know her enough to decide how i felt about her.,.the character development was pretty low and so was the world building. It was a good read, but lacked depth and it was quite predictable.

If you're not into insta-love then this book isn't for you, but if you're looking for a fast an easy YA vampire book then definitely check this out! Cause i don't know about you guys but sometimes when you're feeling low and sad, you just really need a cliche book!

February 11, 2016

2 Comments

ARCs from authors

ENERGY REBORN ARC REVIEW

TITLE: Energy Reborn
AUTHOR: Lynn Vroman
SERIES: Book 4 Of The Energy Series
PUBLICATION DATE: 2016
PUBLISHER: Untold Pres
SOURCE: Free ARC from author

*Final book of The Energy Series!*

After the trauma from their final battle with Exemplar, Tarek is certain Lena is better off without him. She deserves a life without the baggage he carries. She deserves someone…real. As he fights alongside Oren in Exemplar, one thought keeps him sane: He didn’t let Lena go. He gave her an out.

Lena has spent the last eight months trying to move forward. She can’t think about Tarek; she has to raise fifteen-year-old Peter, who suffers from the same ghosts as her love. All she wants is to make Peter happy. But then Peter runs away to fight in Exemplar—again.

This time is different. This time, Peter doesn’t come back.

Desperate, Lena reaches out to the one person able to help her, the person who needs saved, too.

Tarek.

For Lena, the only answer to saving those she loves is to finish what they started—end the Synod’s reign over Exemplar for good. She’ll not let Tarek or Peter hide behind a war anymore, even if it kills her.

find my review of Book 1 here

find my review of Book 2 here

find my review of Book 3 here

I cannot believe this series is over!!! all the tears and the feels and the awesomeness has finally come to an end!!!

This whole series has been an action-packed roller coaster filled with secrets, twists, treacheries and lies!

Lynn Vroman has created a gang! A group of tight-knit friends that just form this amazing connection! You come to love each and every member of their team so much! They all play such an important role in the story and i honestly cannot imagine any of them missing from these books!

As much as Lena and Tarek's love story touches my heart, Farren and Belva's is my favorite one. I cannot really explain what happens in this book without spoiling the first three so you can just read my review for book 1 ..and all you have to know is..THIS SERIES IS AWESOME!

Lena's character development throught out the series is one of the most intense ones i've ever read about and absolutely spectacular! I cannot believe we won't see more of her snarky/kick ass attitude! I love every bit of her journey and loved watching her gain confidence and grow into a strong and awesome woman!

Her world building as always is vivid, unique and so gorgeous! The stakes were so high for me going into this book because it was the last one and i was kind of scared about how things would wrap up..because this series is so complex, beautiful and shocking you never know who's gonna end up dead or locked in another world or..well dead basically :P

Lynn Vroman has weaved a complex web of worlds with awesome characters and spine tingling action! ANY fan of hunger games, divergent etc PICK THIS UP NOW,

February 03, 2016

2 Comments

blitzes and cover reveals

THIRST BLITZ+EXPERT

240+ Pages
WITH BEAUTIFUL PHOTOGRAPHS

~ Kira Sutherland ~

After a near fatal accident (and getting cheated on by her 'boyfriend'), and beating up the lead cheerleader (with whom the boyfriend cheated...), and being labeled as having 'issues' in her school because she, uhm, sees ghosts, Kira is left with two choices:

1. Continue her 'therapy' (where she's told the ghost is a hallucination and also gets her legs ogled too often...)

2. Go to Starkfield Academy, a boarding school for "Crazies and Convicts" (as the social media sites call them.)

She chooses the latter...

~ Cory Rand ~

Cory Rand has not had an easy life. His mother died in a car accident when he was twelve, and so did his mother's best friend...sort of. You see, Janice made a promise to take care of Cory just before she died, and so she lingers. Undead. A ghost that watches out for him.

Brought up in an abusive home, Cory quickly falls into a life of disreputable behavior. After his third offense (which was prompted by a girl, as usual - he has a weakness) he's left with two choices:

1. Be tried as an adult and share a cell with a guy named Bubba (he thinks...)

2. Go to Starkfield Academy, which Cory is pretty sure is run by vampires. But, hey, at least he'll get an education.

He chooses the latter...

It's at Starkfield that Kira meets Cory Rand, a boy with an insatiable Rage who sees ghosts, too. As well as other things, other things from his past, things that confuse him, things like fire and witches and demons.

Things he's always ignored.

Until now.

Genres:

Young Adult Romance

Paranormal Romance

High School

Vampires, Demons, Witches

Dark Fantasy

Horror

Buy Links

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018M5GTLI

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B018M5GTLI

$20 Amazon Gift Voucher Giveaway

At the back of the book there is a giveaway link. Once the book hits fifty reviews on Amazon, one of those reviewers will win a $20 (US Dollars) Amazon Gift Voucher!

Author Bio

R P Channing started writing three years ago, but never published anything even after churning out over a million words of fiction. Thirst: Blood of my Blood is the first book he dared to publish. When asked why, he said, “Because it’s the first thing I wrote that my wife actually enjoyed reading.” When not hammering away (most literally) at his keyboard, he can be found buried in a book, reading anything from romance to horror to young adult to non-fiction to comedy.

Author Links

Website
http://blog.rpchanning.com

Twitter

https://twitter.com/RPChanning

Amazon

http://amazon.com/author/rpchanning

PROLOGUE

-1-
The Puppy Eyes

My life was perfect.

I had the perfect shoes and the perfect friends and I lived in the perfect house. My nails were perfect and my hair was perfect (except on Sundays, it was always windy on Sundays) and I had the perfect clothes. My lips were a perfect red and my hair perfectly straight. My eyeshadow was perfect, my hips were...okay, and my waist...well...also okay. Nothing was wrong in my life.

But then there was Jack.

Jack was a problem.

He needed to go. I mean, when you’re dead, you’re dead! I had told him this endlessly. Somehow, Jack didn’t get it. I mean, I felt sorry for the guy. Sure. Being stuck between this life and the next. But just because I found him, does that mean I needed to keep him?

I think not!

Sadly, when Jack got that look in his eyes, that weary, almost teary (if his tear-ducts worked) look, I melted. I just couldn’t send him away. Not even Jack knew where he would go after he died.

Would he, like, die? As in — dead, nada, kaput, finito, gone, no more? Bye bye, sayonara, ciao, hasta la vista baby and all that?

I couldn’t have that on my conscience. No way.

I lay on my bed, wondering what to do about him. “Jaaaaaaack,” I hollered.

“Jaaaaaaack!”

Still no answer.

“Jack!”

Jack...materialized.

His eyes rolled down to the ground. He was making those puppy eyes again. “Jack, I told you not to do that. I told you not to play on my sympathies.”

His puppy eyes became worse.

His skin was gray and, well, dead.

“Oh, brother,” I said. “I have to do something about you. If mom finds out I have another ‘imaginary friend’ — at my age — well, I’d die of embarrassment. But, like, really die. Not like you.” I wondered about this. Would I die? Was Jack a freak accident, or did all people live on like him? Think of the cemeteries...

The idea excited me somewhat.

“What would you have me do, Miss Kira?”

“Knock off the Miss Kira crap. I told you it’s just Kira.”

“Yes, Miss Kira.”

The dead. There’s just no reasoning.

“Fine, Miss Kira it is then.” Rover barked like a lunatic in the garden. No one else might be able to see Jack, but I was sure my dog could.

“I have to do something about this,” I mumbled.

-2-
The Rat

Mike knocked on the door before I had time to leave the house. Mike was the guy I thought (at the time) was perfect.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, baby.”

Baby, urgh — I wasn’t his baby. I dated Mike because he was the quarterback, because girls are supposed to like the quarterback, because it’s just so darn perfect to be seen with the quarterback, like we’re brainwashed into thinking these things from the first romantic doll set mom buys us.

This was my previous life.

“Mike.”

“Uh-huh. Gonna let me in?”

So you can try rub me up and then complain when I don’t let you? This, dear reader, was the big problem with Mike. The second we first kissed, his hand went way too far south for me to be comfortable — and I pulled back.

Mike suddenly wasn’t so perfect.

“Uhm, I was just on my way out,” I said.

“Kira? C’mon, open the door.” He sounded upset. “Is there someone in there with you?”

Boys. As if.

I didn’t know much about love (nothing, actually) but I knew this wasn’t it.

“Uhm, now’s not the time, Mike.”

“C’mon, Kira, what’s going on?” He banged harder.

When in doubt...lie. I opened the door a crack. “There’s a dead rat in the house, Mike. Been here for days. I gotta go get some detergent and stuff to handle the stench.”

Mike stepped back. He peered through the crack of the door.

“It’s really bad,” I said.

“I’ll drive you.”

“I’m afraid the smell” — I stuck my armpit to my nose — “has found its way all over me. I’ll drive myself.”

“O — okay. Fine.” And then he grinned like he wanted something. “Later? My place?”

Urgh. “Uhm, sure...er...later. Not sure when though.”

“Six.”

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. According to girls at school, he was apparently so damn good looking — theoretically. But for me personally, he did nothing. Moved nothing. Twisted nothing. “Look, I gotta go, Mike. I gotta — ”

“Kira.” His eyes grew stern. “You’ve been avoiding me...”

Bingo! Well done contestant number one! And what have you won? A brain!

I tilted my head. “Mike, look, this...rat — I need to deal with it. We’ll talk later, okay? Bye.” I closed the door, not waiting for an answer, and peered out the peep hole. Mike hung around for a second, shoulders wide and eyes glaring straight at me through the door. Could he see me? Did he know I was looking at him?

He kicked something off the ground, and I had the distinct impression he mouthed the word Bitch before leaving. But I wasn’t sure...

-3-
The Mack

“Roll down the window, Jack.” Jack was recently dead, so he still had a smell about him. (Which only I could smell...)

I had purposely skipped breakfast. Maybe Jack would help me lose weight. I was (still am) a little wide, although it had never stopped guys flirting with me. I know how to dress.

But I could be skinnier.

Lucy Rogers was skinny. All bones and no boobs.

Charlene Carverton was a babe. Cheerleader. Big chest (which she pushed out generously with a push-up — if only guys knew). Toned thighs. Charlene only dated college boys (back then), which I still think is pretty gross for a girl her age.

“He’s not for you,” Jack said out the blue.

“Hmm?”

“This...Mike — he’s wrong for you, Miss Kira.” For all Jack’s faults (mainly, being dead), he has a good heart. Factually, probably it’s why I kept him around at first.

“You think I don’t know that?”

“Then why don’t you dump him?”

I braked at a stop sign. Looked left and right. “Because I’d look like an idiot. I flirted with him and showed interest, and one kiss later I can’t stand the sight of him.”

“So dump him.”

“It’s not that simple. Kids at school — they can be vicious. I have to let it fade slowly. If I drop the bomb on him, I’ll never hear the end of it through senior year.”

“And you care?”

Yes, I did. Forget Guantanamo, schools are rough. “You don’t understand, Jack. Maybe school was different in your day. But in mine, well, we walk through metal detectors.”

“Schools weren’t too different in my day.” I noted the sadness in his voice.

“You okay?”

“I’m dead.”

Right. “You miss...your life?”

Jack shrugged. “I like being with you, Miss Kira. And I don’t remember much of my life. I think I’m in limbo.”

“Limbo?”

“Yes, like I have some unfinished business. If only I could remember...what...it is...” He scratched his head.

“Any ideas?”

“Well, it can’t be love. If it were love, I’d be a vampire. That’s who teenage girls fall in love with these days.”

“A vampire? That’s just what I need — two undead beings stalking me.”

“I feel I have something to do around you, Miss Kira. I don’t know what, but something. Something important.”

I looked over at him. “Me?”