Short & Sweet Review is turning 1!

Hi Guys & Gals,

On August 1, 2012 Short & Sweet Reviews Blog will be turning 1 year! I can't believe it's been almost a year already, times flies by so fast.  I've ''met'' (talked) to a lot of great readers, bloggers and authors over the year. I would have never thought this blog would be where it is today, but this blog and I wouldn't be here without the support of all you readers, blogger, authors and publicist.

A special shout out to Anna @ Anna's Book Blog! When I first started this blog, and didn't know the in-and-out of blogging she was so kind; answering all of my questions. She also showed me awesome book related sites to help me start my blog, and without her I wouldn't have create a twitter or Facebook fan page account! Thank you Anna for guiding me in my first couple months of blogging. If you haven't been to her site, you should definitely head over there now! She also reads urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and everything paranormal related, I adore her blog.

 I know I haven't posted much in the last couple weeks, I just started a summer session for my college capstone class and it's taking up majority of my time reading and writing case analysis. For those who don't know what a capstone class is, it's a senior level class, where we demonstrate all that we learn from our major. In my case I'm a business management major, and this class is no joke. I only have two more weeks to go, so pray for me! LOL.

As a celebration and a thank you to all my readers/friends, I was thinking about doing a five day celebration giveaway!  I don't end the summer class till August 2, but was thinking about having the giveaway run from August 1-5 (one giveaway per day) and all giveaway will end on August 5. I'm planning to do separate giveaway for US and INT, majority will be US because it's too costly to ship to another country.

This is where I want your input. :) What would you like to see for the 1-year blogiversary?
- Books (from Amazon, or Book depository)
- ARCS (I have some hot upcoming titles!!)**update** June M. suggested that I give you a sneak peek/idea at what I have to offer, so that you can tell me if you're interested or not.
Entice by Jessica Shirvington
Magisterium by Jeff Hirsch
Claws by Mike & Rachel Grinti
Angel's Ink by Jocelynn Drake
Time between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone
The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls by Claire Legrand
Every Day by David Levithan

- Gift Card (Amazon, or Book depository)
- Box of mystery used book (My books are always in great condition, I don't like bending the pages or spine)**update** Mostly YA, some PNR, UF...some might be new, used condition
- What are some of your favorite genre?
- Do you like swags (book marks, postcard)?

Please leave all comments on this post, I would really love to hear what you all think!

Review: God save the Queen by Kate Locke

Title: God Save the Queen
Author: Kate Locke
Genre: Fantasy, Steampunk/Futuristic
Series:  The Immortal Empire #1


Hardcover, 354 pages
Published July 3, 2012 by Orbit


BUY THE BOOK:
||AMAZON||BOOK DEPO||

Reading level: 17 & up
Source: Publisher


||SUMMARY||
London, present day - and Queen Victoria still rules with an immortal fist.

She's the undead matriarch of a Britain where the Aristocracy is made up of werewolves and vampires, where goblins live underground and mothers know better than to let their children out after dark. A world where technology lives side by side with magic, where being nobility means being infected with the Plague (side effects include undeath) and Hysteria is the popular affliction of the day.

Xandra Vardan is a member of the elite Royal Guard, and it's her duty to protect the Aristocracy. But things get complicated when her sister goes missing. Xandra will not only realise she's the prize in a dangerous power struggle - but she'll also uncover a conspiracy that threatens to topple the empire itself.


||REVIEW||
In Ms. Locke’s debut novel when the bacterium of the Black Death killed humans across Europe it also created new races from the aristocrats. The Plague resulted in a regulatory protein called the Prometheus Protein that turned aristocrats into either vampires or werewolves. When one parent is a vampire and the other a werewolf, the offspring is a hybrid, a goblin. Vampires and werewolves become the nobility of London, while the goblins live underground and are the most feared creatures (above vampires/werewolves). This world has humans, halvies, vampires, goblin and werewolves living in an open world, side by side. Our main heroine Alexandra ‘Xandra’ Vardan, a halvie, who is half vampire-half human is in search of her missing sister Dede. It turns out Dede was taken to Bedlam, a mental institution; because people think she gone ‘hatters’ mad for attacking an aristocrat. Days later Xandra receives a call saying that Dede committed suicide by setting herself on fire, but Xandra doesn’t believe it for one second. As Xandra sets out to find the truth about her sister, revelation about herself and the aristocrats government comes to light.

This was a fun book! I enjoyed the pacing of the story; there was enough mystery, action and snarky dialogue to balance everything out. The year is 2012 and Queen Victoria (vampire) is entering her 175^th year of reign. The book had a steampunk-futuristic setting, and while the dialogue reflects that, half the time I thought I was reading a book set in our present day which wasn’t so bad. Xandra was a cool, kick-ass heroine, I loved everything about her. She’s confident, a natural born leader (works as a Royal Guard for the queen), she never doubts herself and with everything that happens to Xandra in this book (and boy is there a lot of stuff that gets dumped on her) you just got to admire her perseverance.

The characters that make up Ms. Locke’s world are so colorful and unique; it’s a world you definitely want to come back to over and over again. This is one of my top reads of 2012; I’ve never read a fantasy quite like this. It’s not your run of the mill vampires/werewolves novel, I highly recommend this to all steampunk, and urban fantasy fans. If you haven’t read a book in the steampunk/fantasy genre this book would be a great introduction to either genre. Go out and grab this book…it’s unquestionably a shelf-keeper!!

The book itself is nothing like I’ve ever seen either LOL (as pictured below). It’s a little bit bigger than a mass market paperback and smaller than a regular/typical hardcover. The book is a small hardcover, and what makes it different than other hardcover books? There’s no dust-jacket!! The cover is printed on the hardcover itself. I love it, it’s so small and light and if a mass market paperback and a hardcover had a baby this is what you would get :P. I wished more books were printed like this, and readers wouldn’t have to worry about taking their dust-jacket off to keep it from getting bent/ruined.

An example of the sizes (from left to right, mass market paperback, GSTQ hardcover, and a typical hardcover book) 

The cover is a great depiction of what you can expect from reading the book, and the model is a good representation of Xandra Vardan. Everything from the bright candy-red hair down to the clothing, the only thing that is wrong is Xandra’s eye color. The description in the book described the Vardan children with having green eyes, and the model on the cover has red/marron eyes other than that…everything is perfect. I wonder if the art department read the book lol, because while they did a great job; covers I’ve seen in the past sometimes have nothing to do with the book, or doesn’t give a good representation of the book.

**Thank you Orbit Books for providing me with this book for review**

Ebook deals & giveaway!

[Bonus excerpt]

[Bonus excerpt]

Home Place and Far Harbor by Joann Ross are both available now for $3.99  until July 10th! Click the image above to purchase your copy today.

on sale for $2.99  until July 15th! Click image to purchase your copy today!

Available July 24th!
[GIVEAWAY, details at the bottom of the post]

On sale for $2.99 until July 15th, click on the image to purchase your copy today!

[Bonus excerpt] 

Available July 30th!

[GIVEAWAY, details at the bottom of the post]

***********************************************************************

 Gallery Books has generously offered a copy of An Unsuitable Bride (physical copy) by Jane Feather and a copy of Deception (physical copy) by Kris Kennedy to readers of this blog!  

If you would like a chance to win either copy please leave your pick, name/GFC username and email in the comments section.


U.S. only, books will be sent directly from the publisher.


Winners will be picked and notified on July 13, 2012! 

Review: Legend by Marie Lu

Title: Legend
Author: Marie Lu
Genre Dystopian, Young-adult
Series: Legend #1


Hardcover, 305 pages


Publication: November 29, 2011by Putman Juvenile


Source: Purchase for my own reading.

||BUY NOW||AMAZON||BOOK DEPO||

||SUMMARY||
What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.


||REVIEW||

Legend is set in a futuristic Los Angeles, where the United States no longer exist. There is one type of ruling government, which is The Republic. Anyone who is against the republic is known as The Patriots. The Republic issues a trial/test that everyone must take at the age of 10, to determine their fate in life. If you get a high score, you’re looking at a college education and working with the republic, like a top military figure. If your score is average, you will get something similar to a high school education, and a low score will result in a manual/poor labor. Finally, if you’re worst of the worst and you fail the trail, you’re sent away to a “camp”.

The story is told in the first-person perspective, with alternating chapters between our hero, Day and our heroine, June. The layout for this book is very unique, Day’s chapters are written in gold and June’s chapters are written in black. I have never seen this type of format before in any books I’ve read which makes this novel stand out more. Legend has a Romeo and Juliet feel to the novel, where June is the Republic’s prodigy child and Day is a poor street-smart kid who is the Republic number one most wanted criminal.  The way they think and act is almost one in the same, but at the same time are total opposite, with June living in the life of comfort and Day wandering the streets for whatever he can find and sell. As I mentioned before June and Day are one in the same except their gender and where they live, but they are both likeable-kick ass characters.  

I pretty much loved everything about this novel; it’s full of action, mystery and a sprinkle of romance (yay for no love triangles!). The only flaw is the world-building and the ages of the characters, I wish I knew more about The Republic and The Patriots. Also the characters are both 15 years-old and the way they think and act are so mature for their age, and at times makes it unbelievable. Theses are just small flaws that don’t take about from the great storytelling.  While Legend is somewhat predictable at time, it’s still a gripping read that will keep you on your toes and flipping through the pages till you reach the end.  I can’t wait to read the second book in the series, Prodigy which hits stores January 2013. 

REVIEW: The Reckoning by Alma Katsu

Title: The Reckoning
Author: Alma Katsu
Genre: Historical-Romance/Paranormal
Series: The Taker #2


Hardcover, 352 pages
Publication: June 19, 2012 by Galley Books

BUY||AMAZON||BOOK DEPO||

Source: ARC, Publishers


||SUMMARY||

SECOND IN ALMA KATSU’S GRIPPING SUPERNATURAL TRILOGY THAT BEGAN WITH THE TAKER

Lanore McIlvrae is the kind of woman who will do anything for love. Including imprisoning the man who loves her behind a wall of brick and stone.

She had no choice but to entomb Adair, her nemesis, to save Jonathan, the boy she grew up with in a remote Maine town in the early 1800s and the man she thought she would be with forever. But Adair had other plans for her. He used his mysterious, otherworldly powers to give her eternal life, but Lanore learned too late that there was a price for this gift: to spend eternity with him. And though he is handsome and charming, behind Adair’s seductive façade is the stuff of nightmares. He is a monster in the flesh, and he wants Lanore to love him for all of time.

Now, two hundred years after imprisoning Adair, Lanore is trying to atone for her sins. She has given away the treasures she’s collected over her many lifetimes in order to purge her past and clear the way for a future with her new lover, Luke Findley. But, while viewing these items at an exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Lanore suddenly is aware that the thing she’s been dreading for two hundred years has caught up to her: Adair has escaped from his prison. He’s free— and he will come looking for her. And she has no idea how she will save herself.

||REVIEW||

The Reckoning is the second book in Alma Katsu’s The Taker Trilogy, which takes places where the first book left off. Lanore has started her new life in a new place with a new man, but the past has finally caught up to her. Adair, the man that gave Lanore immortality has finally escaped captivity and he is seeking revenge for the person who put him there: Lanore. Lanore knows Adair will stop at nothing till he finds her so she seeks aid from the people she only knows; the other immortals.

I’ve wanted to read The Taker for a long time but never got the chance to. Then the second book in the trilogy was released, so I took a chance hoping there was enough background information to get through the book. As I thought, the book provided enough information that made everything easy to follow. This book is written very different from any book I’ve ever read before. The chapters alternate between Lanore and all the other characters. When it’s Lanore’s chapter it is written in the first person perspective and the other character chapters are told in third person. There is not much action in the book, but the characters are so interesting that you’re glued to the page. There was a lot of flashback sprinkled through the book, which gave readers a more in depth perspective of the characters.

While this is more of Lanore’s book, I was especially intrigued with Adair. He is an evil-cruel man but it was interesting to see how he adjusts to the twenty-first century. He had to learn everything from the clothing, transportation, technology, to theway people think now a day. Readers see how he slowly changes, that there is another side to Adair. Which make us wondering, is it really possible for people to change? This was a captivating novel, which will have readers hungry for the final book. The Reckoning is a blend of brutality, retribution, betrayal, and the power of love, unquestionably a series not to be missed. I definitely suggest picking up the first book, The Taker to get the full experience of the series!

This book contains some graphic scenes, and is not suitable for readers under 18 years old. 

**Thank you to Simon & Schuster/Gallery Books for sending me an arc of this novel**

[Review] Soul Born by Kevin James Breaux

Title: Soul Born
Author: Kevin James Breaux
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Soul Born Saga #1

Paperback, 316 pages
Published on November 30, 2010 by Dark Quest, LLC

Purchase book||AMAZON|| BOOK DEPOSITORY||

Source: Author

||SUMMARY||
All Opal wanted was to be respected as a wielder of magic, but her teachers passed her over time and time again. When a mysterious warlord embarks on a conquest to destroy the lands of Illyia Opal seizes an opportunity to step out from the shadows of her instructors and take her rightful spot among them.


Tala, an alluring young elf, was banished from her tribe, hunted and nearly killed by the beasts that dwell in the deep forests, but more than anything else she is a survivor. Joining forces with an ancient elemental power Tala finds herself in the center of an unrelenting human war. She never wanted any of this.


Flesh like leather and bone as strong as steel Karn, a veteran from the first kingdom to fall, is fueled by vengeance. While pushing ever headlong into battle Karn begins to recall memories of another life; ghosts that haunt his dreams.Through death of soul, their world is born.


||REVIEW||

Soul Born is the first book in Kevin J. Breaux’s Soul Saga series. Having read Mr. Breaux series out of order, I already knew the outcome of the book. When reading a book I like the element of surprise and mystery, and to not know the end until I get there! So when I started this book I couldn’t stop thinking about the second book, even though it centers on a different group of characters. Soul Born focuses on three main characters; Opal, Karn and Tala. Opal is a powerful mage, Karn is a warrior and Tala is a beautiful elf that was exiled from her tribe. The readers are dropped into an unexplained scene at the beginning of the novel with Karn fighting the guards, and where his lover Opal comes to rescue him. A lot of things are happening in the first one-hundred pages or so, and the secondary characters were a blur to me. There were so many characters and multiple plots/problems all occurring at once that I felt overwhelmed and confused as what was occurring. For example there was a council of mages, but there were so many, I didn’t know who was who. As I read past the half way mark, everything started to make more sense as information is brought forward.

As I wrote before I’ve read his second novel, Blood Divided before Soul Born…and while they all had the same exceptional elements for a great fantasy novel, Blood Divided was written better in my opinion. The characters didn’t stand out as much as the 2^nd book’s characters. The characters in this book like the second book are neither good nor bad. The choices they make might seem to be bad, but then again people do crazy things for love or what they believe is right/in their best interest. After reading about Karn, Opal, and Tala in the second novel, it was great to see how they were before everything happens in book two. While not the best in the series, it is still pretty good. I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys an action packed fantasy novel.  

The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda [Audiobook]

||SUMMARY||

Don’t Sweat.  Don’t Laugh.  Don’t draw attention to yourself.  And most of all, whatever you do, do not fall in love with one of them.

Gene is different from everyone else around him.  He can’t run with lightning speed, sunlight doesn’t hurt him and he doesn’t have an unquenchable lust for blood.  Gene is a human, and he knows the rules.  Keep the truth a secret.  It’s the only way to stay alive in a world of night—a world where humans are considered a delicacy and hunted for their blood.

When he’s chosen for a once in a lifetime opportunity to hunt the last remaining humans, Gene’s carefully constructed life begins to crumble around him.  He’s thrust into the path of a girl who makes him feel things he never thought possible—and into a ruthless pack of hunters whose suspicions about his true nature are growing. Now that Gene has finally found something worth fighting for, his need to survive is stronger than ever—but is it worth the cost of his humanity?

The Hunt is available now in audiobook format, kindle and hardcover edition. 

||PURCHASE THE AUDIOBOOK ON AMAZON||

My REVIEW of The Hunt


Macmillan has generously provided us with a clip from The Hunt Audiobook, check it out below!! 

Check this out on Chirbit