Stacking the Shelves - September 2014 - New & ARCs!

Welcome to September, my favorite month of the year! Autumn is upon us, the perfect time to take a trek through the forest with nothing but a good book. Maybe some coffee, of course! These are the reviews that I have committed myself to reading this month. Some are grouped with book tours, some just caught my attention and I couldn't resist! This post is really for me, so that I can keep track of what I'm supposed to be doing here (:

I recently purchased the first two Stay With Me books by J. Lynn (Jennifer Armentrout), and am looking forward to the third coming out later this month! This woman creates the most amazing male characters EVER! Sigh.

I loved Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey Series, so I recently got all three books in the Blood of Eden Series. If it is anywhere near as good as Iron Fey, I will be falling in love with this series soon!

I've been looking forward to reading The Broken Series by Jen Wylie for a while now. It has crazy high ratings on Goodreads, so I purchased both books in the series, and plan to read them soon!

Josephine Angelini's new book, Trial by Fire releases September 2, 2014, and I fully intend to buy it the day that it comes out! I loved her Starcrossed Series, and hope this book lives up to the reviews it's already gotten!

Look for my reviews for these upcoming books and more this month!

Soulless by Amber Garr (ARC)

*This is an ARC from Hallowed Ink Press

*When it comes to death and love, only one is guaranteed..
Nora died over forty years ago. Instead of her death being the end, it was a new beginning. She was given the chance of a lifetime, literally. To become one of the elite Death Wardens. The Wardens escort newly dead souls to their place in the light. As always, there are two sides to everything; the Shadow Hunters try to sway the souls to the dark side. Nora's souls are becoming targets, and she realizes there is a power at force beyond anything she could have imagined. The balance between dark and light is precariously held in the hands of her shamanic powers, as well as her new ward, Jason. He is a healer, one with amazing powers that she has never seen before. But will he stay on the right side when the approaching battle is imminent? Nora's connection with him is instant, as is the attraction she feels for him. When she is forced to face her ex, Theron, now on the side of the Hunters, can she forget her feelings for him with the help of Jason and her friends?

This is a wonderful start to a new, promising series. Death Wardens is original, fast paced, and addicting. Nora is a well written protagonist; she's not whiny about everything wrong in her life, even though her heart was shattered by the man she is still in love with. Jason is a wonderful character.. I fell in love with him instantly. As far as love triangles go, the one between Nora, the jerk- Theron, and Jason is typical 'girl can't make up her mind' drama. I'm team Jason all the way. He's a sweetheart; sexy and confident, yet mysterious and powerful. The world building in this book is just alright in my opinion, and hopefully it will get more intricate with future books in this series. The only complaint I really have is that it was way too short for an introduction to a new series. I felt like I didn't have time to get to know the characters and the world before the final page. It was a great book though, and definitely worth a read for the urban fantasy junkie in all of us.. :)

"No one invites Death to a party. Luckily, I wore a disguise... and I wasn't Death, exactly. It's true I might linger around humans on their way out of this world, but I wasn't the one who decided their fate. I just had to explain it all." - Nora by Amber Garr

"I wasn't expecting a fight over this one, but any chance I get to wrestle with you is an experience worth treasuring. The glint in his eyes represented a threat, just as it did his longing for our past physical relationship." -Theron and Nora by Amber Garr

Connect with Amber Garr: AmberGarr.com; Goodreads; Amazon

Tags: paranormal, book reviews, urban fantasy, soul, angel, demon, death, amber garr, death wardens, series, book reviews, ya, young adult, new adult

Haze - Rephaim Book 2 by Paula Weston (ARC)

*This is an ARC from Tundra Books

Gaby used to be fairly normal; with a job at a library and a house she rented with her best friend, Maggie. Sure, her nights were filled with dreams of slaughtering monsters from hell. Definitely, she lost her twin brother in a horrible accident a year earlier. But her entire life twists upside down the night Rafa comes to town. Gaby finds out that everything she knows is wrong, everything she believes happened never actually did. Her memories of her previous life are gone, all 139 years of it. Gaby is a Rephaim, part of a group of half angels that hunt demons and The Fallen. Gaby is stuck between two groups of Rephaim, with no memory of which one she should owe allegiance to. The Outcasts are a group of Rephaim that left the sanctuary. Rafa and her brother, Jude- a part of this group that left had to have a reason for their rebellion. And why didn't Gaby go with them? And if she is still alive after they all thought she was dead, can Jude be alive too?

This book picked up exactly where Shadows ends. The sexual tension between Rafa and Gaby is palpable. I don't want to give any spoilers, but the ending was awful Ms. Weston. Sigh. The third book has already been published in Australia and I am tempted to see if I can purchase it out there somewhere. The cliffhanger at the end of this book is worse than any that I've read before. I have a feeling that Nathaniel is a traitor, working with the demons as well as the Rephaim. (Just a prediction) I really want to like Jason as well, but he has done nothing but lied and avoided telling the truth since the beginning of this series. My fingers are crossed for Maggie that he doesn't end up turning his back on his Rephaim cousins. This book kept me in suspense the entire way through, just like the first one. I hear there will be four in the series, so please write quickly Ms. Weston! I couldn't put this down, and I cannot wait until Shimmer comes out in the U.S.!

“I know things are messy with us, but do you really think I could just walk away from you?" This time he doesn't look away. "Do you really think I'd let you?” - Rafa and Gaby - Paula Weston

“You believe what he's saying - that they're demons?"
Simon nods.
"Like, from hell?'"
"No," Rafa says, "from Comic-Con." He shakes his head. "Yes, from hell.” - Paula Weston

Book reviews relating to this one: Shadows - Rephaim Book 1
Connect with Paula Weston: Paula-Weston.com; Twitter; Goodreads; Amazon; Barnes & Nobles

Tags: angel book, book reviews, paranormal, urban fantasy, angels, demons, nephilim, heaven, ya, young adult, fantasy, book reviews, series