Blog Tour- MORTAL HEART by Robin LaFevers and a Giveaway!

Hey y'all I'm trilled to have Robin LaFevers here today to kick off the MORTAL HEART blog tour! I absolutely love this series it will go down as an all time favorite and I can't wait for everyone to read Anith's story. I have a post from Robin about Mortain's origins and why he isn't an evil god of death.  Oh how I love Death/Mortain in these books!!!. Oh and make sure to stick around and enter the giveaway! 
Haven't heard of MORTAL HEART? Check it out!

Title: MORTAL HEART

Author: Robin LaFevers

Pub. Date: November 4, 2014

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers

Pages: 464

Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Find it: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads

Annith has watched her gifted sisters at the convent come and go, carrying out their dark dealings in the name of St. Mortain, patiently awaiting her own turn to serve Death. But her worst fears are realized when she discovers she is being groomed by the abbess as a Seeress, to be forever sequestered in the rock and stone womb of the convent. Feeling sorely betrayed, Annith decides to strike out on her own.

She has spent her whole life training to be an assassin. Just because the convent has changed its mind doesn't mean she has...

Now on to the post!

The Origins of Saint Mortain

Oh that, Death! What a fascinating and misunderstood figure he is, as both Ismae and Sybella have already discovered. One of the questions I am most often asked is where did I get the idea for his character.

Well, the first answer is that the vast majority of cultures had some sort of death figure or personification of Death. And Mortain, just like the other Nine old gods in His Fair Assassin, was constructed from bits and pieces of lore from earlier Celtic gods and goddesses and seasoned liberally with embellishments of my own.

I knew absolutely that I did not want my god of death to be vengeful or punishing, for there are many indications that those views of death did not develop until the early middle ages. I have always been struck by how death was once viewed as part of the fabric of life, but during the middle ages, with the Black Plague and accounts of hell and damnation that grew ever more elaborate, it changed into something more akin to punishment and filled with terror.

Mortain in particular, was inspired not only earlier gods, but by the Breton folktale of the Ankou, a personification of death. Other influences upon which I drew heavily were: Arawn, lord and king of the Welsh Otherworld and the Irish god of the dead, Donn, who was also considered the father of the Irish people. He was known to be somewhat retiring and chose to remain aloof from the other Irish gods. According to some Christian accounts, the souls of the damned resided with him before departing for heaven or hell.

According to the Romans, the Gaulish Celts worshipped a god the Romans called Dis Pater. He was one of their primary gods and thought of as an ancestor to the entire race. What drew me in particular to the Dis Pater material was that it tied him to even older beliefs that enveloped not only death and the underworld, but the entire cycle of life and rebirth. He was believed to derive from an earlier god who not only ruled over the riches of the underworld, but fertility and regeneration, not unlike the Egyptian god Osiris. I liked the fullness of that concept, that death had both a rich, giving aspect as well as something that took loved ones away from us, which in turn became a thematic thread of the trilogy.

Thanks Robin this was awesome! 

About Robin:

Robin LaFevers was raised on a steady diet of fairy tales, Bulfinch’s mythology, and 19th century poetry. It is not surprising she grew up to be a hopeless romantic.

Though she has never trained as an assassin or joined a convent, she did attend Catholic school for three years, which instilled in her a deep fascination with sacred rituals and the concept of the Divine. She has been on a search for answers to life’s mysteries ever since.

While many of those answers still elude her, she was lucky enough to find her one true love, and is living happily ever after with him in the foothills of southern California.

In addition to writing about teen assassin nuns in medieval Brittany, she writes books for middle grade readers, including the Theodosia books and the Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist series. You can learn more about those books at www.rllafevers.com.

Where you can find Robin:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest | Tumblr

Giveaway Details:

(1) One winner will receive a rustic arrow necklace, a leather bound notebook and a hardcover of MORTAL HEART! US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out the Tour Schedule for more awesome posts!

Week One:

10/27/2014- Two Chicks on Books- Guest Post

10/28/2014-Katie's Book Blog- Review

10/29/2014- Once Upon a Twilight- Interview

10/30/2014- Magical Urban Fantasy Reads- Review

10/31/2014- Reading YA Rocks- Guest Post

Week Two:

11/3/2014- Mundie Moms- Review

11/4/2014- Tales of the Ravenous Reader- Interview

11/5/2014- The Starry-Eyed Revue- Review

11/6/2014- Step Into Fiction- Interview

11/7/2014- Parajunkee- Guest Post

Review- ENDLESS KNIGHT by Kresley Cole

ENDLESS KNIGHT (The Arcana Chronicles Book 2)

Kresley Cole

Release Date: October 1, 2013

Hardcover: 336 pages

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

ISBN:  978-1442436671

Source: Hardcover from the publisher

Rating: Obsessed!!!!!!!!!!!

Goodreads/Amazon/Barnes & Noble/The Book Depository

From Goodreads.

In this seductive follow-up to Poison Princess, #1 New York Timesbestselling author Kresley Cole takes us deeper into the dark world of the Arcana Chronicles.

Shocking Secrets

Evie has fully come into her powers as the Tarot Empress, and Jack was there to see it all. She now knows that the teens who've been reincarnated as the Tarot are in the throes of an epic battle. It's kill or be killed, and the future of mankind hangs in the balance.

Unexpected Allies

With threats lurking around every corner, Evie is forced to trust her newfound alliance. Together they must fight not only other Arcana, but also Bagmen zombies, post-apocalyptic storms, and cannibals.

Gut-Wrenching Treachery

When Evie meets Death, things get even more complicated. Though falling for Jack, she's drawn to the dangerous Endless Knight as well. Somehow the Empress and Death share a history, one that Evie can't remember—but Death can't forget.

So it took me a bit longer to get out of my reading slump than I thought but ENDLESS KNIGHT was the perfect book to do such that!

I loved POISON PRINCESS with a fiery passion and I didn’t think that ENDLESS KNIGHT could come close but peeps let me tell you IT WAS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH BETTER!!!!!!!!! 

We finally get to meet Death and of course I fell head over heels in love with the guy. We also get to meet a couple new cards... I won’t spoil here but they’re both very intriguing characters. Oh and there were some scenes in this one that were so hot I felt like my book was going to light on fire from all of the sexiness! I mean I can’t believe Kresley got away with it in a YA book! I just love Kresley’s writing and I can’t wait for book 3 since she left us with a killer ending that actually had Mindy from Magical Urban Fantasy Reads and I in a debate over what happened lol

I chose a passage from the beginning of the book because I loved it. It was sexy and I didn’t want to be too spoilery and Jack makes me laugh. I’d do a death one but it’d be too spoilery ;)

He was right; I was gone for him. Stupid to fight it. I gazed up at

him, whispering, “Just, just don’t hurt me again. If I kiss you, and then

you get disgusted . . .”

He gave a low laugh, moving his hips against mine. “Does it feel like

I’m disgusted?”

I gasped. “Jackson!”

“You smell like honeysuckle. You likin’ ole Jack now?”

“I never stopped liking you. Even when you were warding me away

with the power of Catholicism.”

“Can’t help the way I was raised—anything supernatural is supposed

to be either a miracle or satanic.”

I rolled my eyes. “And you’re still trying to figure out which I am?”

“Non. I’m trying to figure out if I’m still Catholic.” He grinned that

heart-stopping grin.

Gorgeous lips. I wanted them on mine.

Just before he kissed me, he said, “You might be different from what

I thought, but I’m goan to protect you anyway. I’m goan to try to accept

all this. But you got to accept me.”

“Accept you? What are you talking about?”

“I’m a nineteen-year-old bayou boy. I got a fondness for liquor. I’m

goan to say stupid shit. Doan you go getting your feelings hurt at the

drop of a hat.”

I laid my palm against his face. “You’re going to get more than your

feelings hurt if you stay with us. And it will be my fault because I don’t

want to separate from you. You wanted me to let you go.”

“That was before I realized something this week. I wasn’t goan to

live a long life even before the apocalypse. Before there were Baggers,

cannibals, and plague. Now I figure I’ll spend my limited time left

doing what I want.”

“And what do you want?”

His grin deepened. “You’re what I want, and I’d like to be doing

you.” He leaned down, pressing his lips to mine.

At that contact, the rain began to pour down at last, pelting the cabin’s

tin roof. I hadn’t heard that sound since the night I’d gone to Jack’s

home in the bayou.

He drew back. “Christ, your lips are sweet. Douces comme du miel.”

Sweet like honey. He yanked off his shirt, revealing his damp chest, the

rosary around his neck. I’d missed seeing him like this.

My fingers skimmed over the raised scar on his arm. How I loved

that mark. If he hadn’t been getting that wound tended to the night of

the Flash, he would’ve died like most everyone else.

His hands landed on my ass, giving it a possessive squeeze. “T ’es

pour moi, Evie. You’re mine. Every part of you.” He leaned down, took

my lips once more. Between kisses, he said, “I told you once and I’ll

tell you again: there is nothing that can happen to you that we can’t get

past. Just give me a chance to get to you. Promise me.”

“Jack . . .”

“Promise me. You doan leave me again.”

“I promise.” Staring at his lips, I said, “Would you always come for

me?”

He drunkenly murmured, “Chase you like a junkyard dog.”

Dying to Read (31)- Endless Knight by Kresley Cole

Hey y’all thanks for stopping by to see my Dying to Read post and of course as always I have to give credit to the lovely Jill over at Breaking the Spine for the Waiting on Wednesday Meme!

This week the book I’m dying to read is ENDLESS KNIGHT by Kresley Cole!!!!! OKNJGFHGDFDDSXJHKJJLKJ!!!! That’s how bad I want this book! I’ll admit I really didn’t like chapters 2-12 of POISON PRINCESS but after the apocalypse things between Jack and Evie heated up and I fell for the other characters! Now Death is coming and he’s a hawt knight and I know I’m going to fall for him! And the cover AHHHHHHH LOVE IT!!!

Endless Knight (Arcana Chronicles)

Kresley Cole

Release Date: October 1, 2013

Hardcover: 320 pages

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

ISBN: 978-1442436671

Goodreads

Amazon/Barnes & Noble/The Book Depository

In the second book of the Arcana Chronicles Evie has now fully come into her powers as the tarot Empress. And Jackson was there to see it all. In the aftermath of killing Arthur, the tarot Alchemist, Evie realizes that a war is brewing between the other teens that, following the apocalypse, have been given powers and its kill or be killed.

Things get even more complicated when Evie meets Death, the mysterious, sexy Endless Knight. Somehow the Empress and Death share a romantic history - one that Evie can't remember, but Death can't forget. She is drawn to the Endless Knight, but is in love with Jack. Determined to discover why she's been granted these powers, Evie struggles to accept her place in a prophecy that will either save the world, or completely destroy it.

So what do you think? Will you be adding this to your pile? What are you dying to read this week?

Review- Poison Princess by Kresley Cole

Poison Princess

Kresley Cole

Release Date: October 2, 2012

Hardcover: 384 pages

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers

ISBN: 1442436646

Source: ARC from Fiktshun

Rating: Loved

Goodreads/ Amazon/ Barnes & Noble/ The Book Depository

From Goodreads.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole introduces The Arcana Chronicles, post-apocalyptic tales filled with riveting action, the dark mysticism of Tarot cards, and breathtaking romance.She could save the world—or destroy it.                                                                                                     Sixteen year old Evangeline “Evie” Greene leads a charmed life, until she begins experiencing horrifying hallucinations. When an apocalyptic event decimates her Louisiana hometown, Evie realizes her hallucinations were actually visions of the future—and they’re still happening. Fighting for her life and desperate for answers, she must turn to her wrong-side-of-the-bayou classmate: Jack Deveaux.                                                                                                           But she can’t do either alone.                                                                                                                      With his mile-long rap sheet, wicked grin, and bad attitude, Jack is like no boy Evie has ever known. Even though he once scorned her and everything she represented, he agrees to protect Evie on her quest. She knows she can’t totally depend on Jack. If he ever cast that wicked grin her way, could she possibly resist him?                                                                                                       Who can Evie trust?                                                                                                                                                As Jack and Evie race to find the source of her visions, they meet others who have gotten the same call. An ancient prophesy is being played out, and Evie is not the only one with special powers. A group of twenty-two teens has been chosen to reenact the ultimate battle between good and evil. But it’s not always clear who is on which side….

I have a serious love/hate relationship with this book. You can definitely say more love but the hate is still there. I’ll be honest I hated chapters 1 through 13. I hated Evie I thought she was a rich stuck up little bitch and didn’t really care about her backstory. I also thought Jack was an ass and had no idea why anyone would like him. But I loved the prologue and every chapter after 13! Oh and the cover love the bike and the background but I’m not a fan of the Jack on this cover he is soooooo much hotter in my head!

After chapter 13, Evie started to grow on me and I found myself liking her and pulling for her to survive, and figure out her gifts. I also ended up falling, hard, for Jack, with his Cajun accent and broken French which thankfully I understood without translation since I speak passable French. I also loved the idea behind this story that the major Arcana from tarot decks were people. I’ve studied the tarot and to see them as people it was really fascinating! And their gifts were wicked cool! This story really made me scream at times I was so frustrated with both Evie and Jack but not only them; I was frustrated with the secrets that everyone was keeping from everyone else. At the end of the story I understood why but, while I was reading it I wanted to scream at the book and say “Why????? If you you’d have just told them……” ugh it was so frustratingly good! Oh and the sexual tension between Jack and Evie OMG you could cut it with a knife it was so thick! I found myself saying “just do it already!” a few times but I know it’s a YA book so probably not gonna happen. But one can hope.

So yeah as you can see the love definitely outweighed the hate in this book. Oh and the ending broke my heart! I loved it so much I can’t wait to get my hands on book 2!!!!

I’ve chosen a scene between Evie and Jack. And yes it’s one of those sexual tension scenes with a pool lol ;)

“You’re not going in!”

In answer, he pulled his shirt over his head, revealing rigid planes of muscles. Yes, I’d caught glimpses of him shirtless before—but this was the first time I’d utterly lost my breath looking at him.

His face and his broad chest were still tanned, his eyes seeming to glow in the moonlight. That onyx rosary around his neck glinted with his movements.

He was stripping before my eyes, yet I couldn’t look away. I bit my bottom lip. 

Any minute I would turn my back. Any minute…

As he began to unbuckle his belt, his stomach muscles rippled.

I grew weak in the knees. Any minute—

When he reached his zipper, he cocked his head and met my gaze.

I was frozen, could do nothing but stare. He raised his eyebrows at me in challenge, his fingers inching his zipper down.

A second after I’d finally found the presence of mind to turn my back, I heard his belt buckle ping on the tile floor, the rustle of his dropped pants. Eyes wide, I snapped, “This is foolish, Jackson—“

In the space of a heartbeat, he’d snagged my pack off my back, looped an arm around my waist—and hauled us both into the pool.

*Fans self* Woo smoking hot right?!?!? I can’t wait for more of Jack in book 2!!!!

 I wish I could have found a trailer for this book but check out Kresley’s description of the book and the characters!

Jaime's Review of Masque of The Red Death by Bethany Griffin

Masque of The Red Death

Bethany Griffin

Hardcover:  336 pages

Publisher: Greenwillow Books (Harper Collins)

Release Date: April 24, 2012

ISBN: 0062107798

Source: ARC from the publisher

Rating: Loved

From Goodreads.
Everything is in ruins.

A devastating plague has decimated the population. And those who are left live in fear of catching it as the city crumbles to pieces around them.

So what does Araby Worth have to live for?

Nights in the Debauchery Club, beautiful dresses, glittery make-up . . . and tantalizing ways to forget it all.

But in the depths of the club—in the depths of her own despair—Araby will find more than oblivion. She will find Will, the terribly handsome proprietor of the club. And Elliott, the wickedly smart aristocrat. Neither boy is what he seems. Both have secrets. Everyone does.

And Araby may find something not just to live for, but to fight for—no matter what it costs her.

I adored this book!!!!!! First let me say I love Poe so when I heard of another retelling of one of his stories I was a bit afraid to read it. There was a very popular book that everyone raved about that I did not like at all. So with that being said I went into this with an open mind but, a little leery. I had no reason to be Bethany took this story and made it her own! It was an excellent mix of post-apocalyptic dystopian and steampunk with an evil tyrant, a scary plague, killer crocodiles, two hot boys, and a heroine that is heartbreakingly real!

I immediately felt a connection to the main character Araby with her twin brother dead and her world collapsing all she wants to do is forget by any means necessary and because of a vow to her dead brother she refuses to fall in love. Enter two of the best written male characters I have read in a long time! In fact they are so well written that I have not chosen a side (yes me who always picks one boy over the other) I just can’t. Will is charming, sexy, tall, dark, caring, tattooed, and has a soft side. Elliott the complete opposite is light haired, sarcastic, arrogant, scary at times, has a fierce protective side, brilliant, and is surprisingly romantic. See why I can’t choose???

On to the story I loved how Bethany wasn’t afraid to push the limits with the plague there are some pretty yucky scenes describing it but I loved it. I don’t scare easily though. Also the descriptions of the Debauchery Club and the other locations she wrote about are so detailed I felt like I was there! 

The ending of the story was just wow and had me itching for book 2 and yes there is a book 2 and I can’t wait for it!

Ok so like I said I couldn’t choose a boy so instead of one passage you guys get 2 ;) First Will!

I have so many things to say to him, but it is almost dark. I know he has to go. So I don’t say anything. He’s the one who breaks the silence. “And thank you for telling me about your brother.”

When he pulls me close, there is no flirtation, no suggestion of anything except comfort. My heart beats faster anyway.

“I’m sorry that you lost him. And that you’ve chosen to punish yourself because of it.”

It was my fault. But there is no point in arguing. We are almost to the end of the alley, and I know he must leave me in just a few steps.

“Be careful,” he says. “If you aren’t, I won’t get a chance to convince you that you are wrong.”

And now here’s Elliott’s passage.

“Hideous isn’t it?” Elliott pulls his steam carriage through a final stone archway and stops.”Be cautious. Do not tell my uncle anything about either of your parents, and don’t give him any indication that we aren’t madly in love.”

“We aren’t madly in love?”

“You scorn me. But I am infatuated with you.”

“You’re a better liar than I thought,” I say lightly.

“I’m a fabulous liar.” He swings down from the carriage and walks around to lift me down. He pulls me close and says quietly, “And you need to be too.”

Again I loved this book!!!!!!!! Oh and make sure to come back here on April the 16th when Bethany will be here answering our questions as a part of the blog tour and we'll have a signed ARC to give away!!!

Add it to your Goodreads shelves.

Pre-order your copy now!