Sunday Post - 25

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ The Caffeinated Book Reviewer ~this meme was inspired in part by ~ In My Mailbox~ It's a chance to share News. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

I'm not doing IMM this week. I'm just going to wait until after Christmas (and maybe after the New Year) to showcase all my new books. But don't you worry. There are plenty of goodies to show off and more to come.

I can't believe Christmas is actually here. We'll be spending Christmas Eve with my family and leaving Christmas Eve night to head to my husband's family in Georgia. But *sigh*, we both have to go back to work on Wednesday. I hope every one has a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays (whatever they might be).

THIS PAST WEEK:

Monday: Review of The Iron King by Julie Kagawa (4 Stars)

Tuesday: Top 10 Books I Read in 2012

Wednesday: Waiting on Last Kiss Goodnight

Thursday: Review of Deadlocked 2 by AR Wise (4 Stars)

My December New Release Giveaway is still open (until December 31st). Don't forget to enter to win one of six new December releases.

UPCOMING THIS WEEK:

I debated on whether to take this week off or not, but I'm going to try to keep up my original plan and go with the posts I've scheduled for this week.

Monday: Review of Magisterium by Jeff Hirsch

Tuesday: Top 10 Tuesday: Freebie/Favorite Book Blogs

Wednesday: Waiting on Wednesday

Thursday: Review of Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Friday: Best in Books 2012 Blog Hop Giveaway Make sure to come back and enter for a chance to win one of my favorite books from 2012.

That's it for my mailbox and recaps of my past and upcoming week. What did you get in your mailbox this week? Any bookish news you want to talk about? Let me know!

Deadlocked 2 - Review

Deadlocked 2

By: AR Wise

Published: December 2011

77 pages

Source: Borrowed from my sister-in-law, Holly @ Words Fueled by Love

( Goodreads | Amazon )

Goodreads--Part two of this series picks up immediately after the end of the first. David's wife, Laura, is forced to take over the protection of their family as the boat travels out into Hailey Bay, away from the zombies. However, the boat's pilot plans to dock back in the overrun city to rescue his own family, which will put Laura's in jeopardy.

Laura is forced to overcome unimaginable horrors as the zombie apocalypse explodes around her, but it is the evil intent of the humans around her that present her greatest challenge. The reader is taken far beyond the edge of their seat as Laura pushes forward to the inevitable end. No one is safe in a world where the dead hunt the living.

Guys…seriously…intense zombie-ness! Book 1 follows David as the main character in his attempt to find his wife and daughter in the beginning of a very new zombie outbreak. We meet up with Laura and the girls, Kim and Annie, at the end of book 1. That installment ends with David’s ultimate sacrifice for his family. Picking up with book 2, we switch to Laura’s point of view as she watches her husband's sacrifice and realizes that she too is willing to do anything for her girls.

Laura’s story is extremely intense and emotional even more so than David’s was. Laura does things in this book that blew me away. Whatever it takes. Not only does she have to protect her daughters from zombies, but also, even more so in this book, from the remaining human populace that’s seemingly lost all of their morals. Survival of the fittest abounds—kill or be killed. And despite rooting for the main characters, I saw the logic in a lot of the arguments from the other humans they ran into. The couple they came across on the boat…while I agree that the husband was a bit of a DB, he had some good points. Same thing with the “cops” who need to feed the masses they’ve assembled. Normal rules of "what’s mine is mine and what’s your’s is your’s" just do not apply anymore. It’s more like "what’s your’s is mine as long as I can take it from you."

Despite being a short book, AR Wise packed Deadlocked 2 with more action and story than some books 5 times the size, and I’m excitedly looking forward to continuing the story with Billy’s point of view in book 3.

AR Wise yet again added an author’s note to the end of this book. And on the one hand, it could easily come off as boasting how he describes all of his writing “tricks”—I can’t think of a better word there—such as mirroring the scene where David jumps into the water and being pulled under by zombies from book 1 to Laura’s scene in the water being pulled under by a shark, and how everything ties in together. And maybe I’m just dense, but I didn’t pick up on everything he explained in the author’s note while reading the book, so it actually made the book that much better for me (I did get the similarities of the specific scene I mentioned with the water though—I’m not that dense). So I’m torn between thinking it would have been better for AR Wise to let the reader discover all of this themselves, and feeling like he’s just so excited about his story that he can’t help but share as much of the story and the process as he can. Plus as I said, I didn’t pick up on all of the things he discussed in the author’s note, so I’m happy to know them now. They enrich the story.

All in all, Deadlocked 2 gets 4 Stars from me. If you're looking for a quick, intense read involving zombies, it doesn't get much better than the Deadlocked series. Have you read Deadlocked 2? What did you think? Let me know!

Waiting on Last Kiss Goodnight

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Last Kiss Goodnight (Otherworld Assassin, # 1)

By: Gena Showalter

Expected Publication: December 26th 2012 by Pocket Books

400 pages

( Goodreads | Amazon )

Goodreads description--The breathtaking first novel in New York Times best selling author Gena Showalter’s new paranormal romance series, Otherworld Assassins, featuring a black ops agent who is captured and enslaved…and the beautiful deaf girl who holds the key to his salvation…

THE SWEETEST TEMPTATION…

Black ops agent Solomon Judah awakens caged and bound in a twisted zoo where otherworlders are the main attraction. Vika Lukas, the owner’s daughter, is tasked with Solo’s care and feeding. The monster inside him yearns to kill her on sight, even though she holds the key to his escape. But the human side of him realizes the beautiful deaf girl is more than she seems—she’s his.

THE ULTIMATE PRICE…

Vika endures the captives’ taunts and loathing, hoping to keep them alive even if she can’t free them. Only, Solo is different—he protects her. But as hostility turns to forbidden romance, his feelings for her will be used against him…and he’ll be put to a killer test.

Sounds good to me!!! Looking forward to checking it out.

Top 10 Books I Read in 2012

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is Top Ten Books I Read in 2012.

Guys, do you even understand how hard this list is going to be for me. I have a hard enough time keeping a regular week’s list at 10, but Best of 2012….MAN! Ok, here goes…

1) Slammed by Colleen Hoover

2) Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover

3) Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

4) A Storm of Swords by George R R Martin

5) Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

6) Back to You by Priscilla Glenn

7) Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst

8) Push by Chalene Johnson

9) Crazy Love by Francis Chan

10) Boundaries by Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. James Townsend

Honorable Mentions go to: Crossing Oceans by Gina Holmes; Daugther of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor; Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire; Graceling, Fire, & Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore; Divergent & Insurgent by Veronica Roth; City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare; Praying the Names of Jesus by Anne Spangler; The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater; Smokin’ Seventeen by Janet Evanovich; and last but not least, The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead.

It’s been a good year for reading for me that so many books deserve a mention.

The Iron King - Review

The Iron King (The Iron Fey, # 1)

By: Julie Kagawa

Published: February 1st 2010 by Harlequin Teen

363 pages

Source: Freebie download a while back

( Goodreads | Amazon )

Goodreads description--Meghan Chase has a secret destiny; one she could never have imagined.

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face; and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

I’ve had this series on my TBR list for a really long time. And so when I saw The Iron King was available for a free download, I jumped all over that. And I’m glad I did.

Julie Kagawa does an excellent job building her faerie world. The Nevernever, Tir Na Nog, the Iron kingdom. It’s all so wonderfully vivid. She pulls from existing faerie lore as well as adapting and building her own lore. I loved the story of how the Iron fey have come about and the names and forms that they take as well. I could see exactly what she was describing with no trouble at all.

I do have to say that I felt like something was missing in the relationship development between Meghan and Ash. I liked them of course and was rooting for them, but at this point, I don’t feel them being an “epic” couple like others I’ve read. I never felt all nervous and anxious for them. (Now that I think about it, I never really felt what Meghan was feeling during the book at all. Huh, that’s kind of a big deal and not in a good way.) I just felt like what they had was a crush because they hardly talked at all. They didn’t truly seem to know each other. But as so many relationships start off similarly (minus the faerie part), I’m hoping to see the building of their relationship over the next several books.

I also think that there’s something else up with Puck/Robbie/Robin Goodfellow (geez, how many names does one character need?) that wasn’t really addressed in this book. A crush maybe? Wouldn’t be complete without a love triangle involving the best friend. But of course, that’s just speculation at this point and could be completely inaccurate.

All in all, I’m really looking forward to seeing what happens next with Meghan, Ash, and Puck. The ending of The Iron King perfectly set up the next book, The Iron Daughter—which I’m hoping to get for Christmas. The Iron King gets 4 Stars. Have you read The Iron King? What did you think? Let me know!