Monday, March 11, 2013

Waiting for Mercy - Review

Waiting for Mercy (Cambion, # 2)

By: Shannon Dermott

Published: April 17th 2012 by Wicked Truth Publishing (first published 2012)

448 pages

Source: Borrowed from my SNL, Holly @ Words Fueled by Love

( Goodreads | Amazon )

Goodreads description--What do you do when you’ve been to hell and back, literally? For Mercy, it meant the beginning of the end for everything. Love, Happiness, Life.

When the people important to her are thrown into danger and she is forced to choose who to save, what will Mercy do? When the demon within her has its own agenda, going to new lengths to fulfill it, how will she cope? And when a new nemesis arrives, with a sole focus to take what belongs to her, how will she survive?

Some situations make you stronger, some make you weak. She used to run from confrontation but the need to uncover secrets will harden her resolve to make new choices.

In the end, someone else will suffer the consequences. Who will be burned by her very existence? And what will become of everything she holds dear?

Mercy’s life wasn’t easy before and things aren’t getting easier now.

I need to say up front that I did enjoy Waiting for Mercy. But I have a feeling that this review is going to come off more negative than I intend, so I wanted to get that out up front.

As mentioned in my review of Beg for Mercy, Mercy finds herself in the middle of a love-pentagon instead of a love-triangle. There's Luke who she loves, but being with him will supposedly condemn him. There's Flynn who claims to care about Mercy a lot, and we see instances where it's clear that he does. But just as often he appears apathetic and spiteful as any other positive emotion he might feel towards her. There's Paul who she had a crush on a couple of years ago. They became best friends of sorts, and because of her relationship with Luke, Mercy realizes that she loves Paul like a brother more than anything else. And then there's Sebastian who she claims to have a "connection" with.

I struggle with this. On the one hand, I get being a flirt. I get having feelings for two different people and struggling with to do with that. But I really struggle with a girl having four guys that she bounces back and forth between. And if it's so obvious to her who she loves, then why is it so difficult for her to be around these other guys without finding herself in compromising situations? I don't handle cheating well in any circumstance and I don't want to read books, watch movies, or even hear about cheating. And granted I'm not sure I can say 100% that Mercy did cheat on Luke, but she certainly doesn't close herself off to the advances of other guys. And I've only mentioned the main 4 competing guys. As with book 1, Beg for Mercy, there are other guys who compete for Mercy's attention making brief appearances here and there. The only way I ended up making it through was chalking up her behavior to being influenced by her succubus. Granted more so in Waiting for Mercy than Beg for Mercy, but it's fairly obvious when Mercy's overtaken by her succubus. So how does she explain all of these other times when she was the one in control? She can't. All she can say is that she has a "connection" with all four of these boys. And I find that to be borderline bull.

Shannon Dermott does a good job conveying Mercy's frustration about being kept in the dark to the reader, because I'm just as fed up as Mercy is about not having a clue what's going on. It truly does appear that every other character (just about) knows what's up except Mercy, and if that be true, then surely somethings could be disclosed that wouldn't make everything turn to pot--not any more than it already has.

Our minor characters were allowed more development in Waiting for Mercy and interesting things appear to lie ahead for some of these characters, specifically Maggie. And there's an event at the very end that I need to know what happens next. So I'm definitely looking forward to reading the next book. But one thing's for certain, Mercy's got to make some decisions when it comes to these guys and stick to them.

Aside from that, my last complaint is the sheer amount of errors in this book. I always hesitate to call out errors because I know I have typos, misspellings, and incorrect grammar on my blog and most certainly would need some major editing if I ever tried to write a book. But come on! Beg for Mercy was the same way. Missing words, incorrect words, sentences that don't make sense. Hire a new editor! Seriously. One or two can be overlooked, but this book was FILLED with them.

Overall, I'd give Waiting for Mercy 4 stars. Have you read it? What did you think? Let me know!

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Sunday Post - 36 & Stacking the Shelves - 9

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.

Husband is sick again. Bless him! It's not the flu this time, but whatever it is seems to be worse than when he had the flu back in January. They diagnosed it as bronchitis, but he doesn't really seem to be getting better. In other news, I ordered "My Favorite Thing" for my upcoming girls' beach trip in April. There are 6 of us girls that went last year and are going this year, and we each bring a gift for everyone called "My Favorite Thing." Although it's really fun, it's also extremely difficult to come up with ideas that aren't going to overlap with someone else's. Oh well, it's loads of fun, and I finally found mine. Now...I just hope they each like what I picked out.

THIS PAST WEEK:

Monday: Review of Notorious Nineteen (Stephanie Plum, # 19) by Janet Evanovich (3 Stars)

Tuesday: Top 10 Series I Want to Start

Wednesday: Waiting on Dark Triumph - Bummer that I never saw the linky go up for the day.

Thursday: Review of Beg for Mercy (Cambion, # 1) by Shannon Dermott (4 Stars)

Thursday/Friday: Lunar Love Giveaway Hop - Ends March 13th

UPCOMING THIS WEEK:

Monday: Review of Waiting for Mercy (Cambion, # 2) by Shannon Dermott

Tuesday: Top 10 Tuesday: Top 10 Books on my Spring 2013 TBR List

Wednesday: Waiting on Wednesday & Lunar Love Giveaway Hop Ends

Thursday: Review of The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

Because I'm participating in Take Control of Your TBR Pile hosted by Kimba The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, I figured it was only fitting to forego acquiring any new books this week to focus on reading the ones already in my possession and on my TBR list. I can't promise that I'll keep this up all month though. We'll just have to see.

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

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Lunar Love Giveaway Hop


2nd Annual
Lunar Love Giveaway Hop
March 8th to 13th

This hop features books with paranormal, supernatural, science fiction or space travel element or books that have something to do with the moon or have a moon on their cover.

Winner gets to choose between one of two books. Considering this giveaway hop is for Lunar Love, what better way to showcase that than with the Lunar Chronicles?
 
 
 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to check out the other blogs participating in the hop and enter their giveaways.

Beg for Mercy - Review

Beg for Mercy (Cambion, # 1)

By: Shannon Dermott

Published: August 7th 2011 by Wicked Truth Pubishing

473 pages

Source: Borrowed from my SNL, Holly @ Words Fueled by Love

( Goodreads | Amazon )

Goodreads description--Everyone dreams of that first kiss. Of that magic moment when your lips finally meet those of that special person you’ve waited your whole life for. A little awkward, a little scary, a little hot and every bit amazing. We speculate that the whole world will shake and time will just stop. No one, however, ever imagines that kiss to bring Death himself knocking.

Sixteen year old Mercy Moore's life just got more complicated. The kiss that originally could have meant she would finally have a boyfriend now was the kiss that could have very nearly ended his life. A small detail her mother conveniently never told her will take her life for an abrupt u-turn. Dating, no love, was now completely and utterly impossible. And the boy well, that boy would never be the same.

But life, however cruel, goes on. Far too soon for her taste, Mercy finds herself at a senior party with the elite students of her school and her best friend. And of all things, playing a stupid game that could very well mean the death of someone in that small room. If it were not for her best friend, the hottest guys in school, and a small need to fit in, she may have been able to escape the disaster that was to come. Her worst nightmare, her personal curse, her very life, only gets dangerously worse.

This is a young adult paranormal romance novel.

I can't say I exactly blew through Beg for Mercy, but I did read it pretty quickly. People complain about getting sick of love triangles, HA! Beg for Mercy was more like a love octagon. There are 4 main guys vying for Mercy's attention and affection but several others make an appearance even if only momentarily.

First, let me back up. As the Goodreads description says, Mercy has no idea that she's not normal. And a few years back she goes in for her first kiss. The problem is, Mercy's a succubus and kissing steals the life-force from the person she's kissing. And thus she almost kills Paul, the guy she's got a huge crush on.

Fast forward two years and Mercy has sworn off dating and Paul is pretty much her best friend. Again as the description says, Mercy finds herself at a senior party playing spin the bottle no less, (why she thought that was a good idea at all blows my mind) and she find herself winning the attention of two other guys, Flynn and Luke--who just happen to be best friends. Enter the love square.

I don't want to give the whole story away, but as I said above, there's at least one other guy that makes for a regular love pentagon. And truthfully I found myself unsure of which guy I'm rooting for to actually be with Mercy. There was probably two that I was leaning toward. One of which hasn't stepped up the way I really need him to in order to fill that position, and the other we find out is truly forbidden above all else. And quite frankly I feel like the forbidden love that finds a way is a bit overdone. What about forbidden love that stays forbidden?

As far as the book itself is concerned, I did find some typos and errors and in general some sentences that never made sense no matter how many times I read them. I find myself trying not to be too critical because I know grammar isn't my strong suit and I'm sure my blog is filled with typos and errors, but these people have editors (or they should). And more than the author, I guess it's the editors that I really do blame for letting this stuff through. Though we are all human and make mistakes.

I found Beg for Mercy to be a fun read that I didn't want to put down. It had moments of hotness and some small moments of frustration. But overall, I'm giving Beg for Mercy 4 Stars. Have you read Beg for Mercy? What did you think? Let me know!

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Waiting on Dark Triumph

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

Dark Triumph (His Fair Assassin, # 2)

By: Robin LaFevers

Expected Publication: April 2nd 2013 by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children

400 pages

( Goodreads | Amazon )

Goodreads description--Sybella arrives at the convent’s doorstep half mad with grief and despair. Those that serve Death are only too happy to offer her refuge—but at a price. Naturally skilled in both the arts of death and seduction, the convent views Sybella as one of their most dangerous weapons.

But those assassin’s skills are little comfort when the convent returns her to a life that nearly drove her mad. Her father’s rage and brutality are terrifying, and her brother’s love is equally monstrous. And while Sybella is a weapon of justice wrought by the god of Death himself, He must give her a reason to live. When she discovers an unexpected ally imprisoned in the dungeons, will a daughter of Death find something other than vengeance to live for?

This heart-pounding sequel to Grave Mercy serves betrayal, treachery, and danger in equal measure, bringing readers back to fifteenth century Brittany and will keep them on the edge of their seats.

I just finished Grave Mercy this past weekend and I'm so excited to get my hands on a copy of Dark Triumph! Although I must say, the cover of Grave Mercy is so much better. What are you waiting on this week? Let me know!