The Debt Collect, Episode 1 - Delirium

Goodreads Blurb:

What’s your life worth on the open market? 
A debt collector can tell you precisely.

Lirium plays the part of the grim reaper well, with his dark trenchcoat, jackboots, and the black marks on his soul that every debt collector carries. He’s just in it for his cut, the ten percent of the life energy he collects before he transfers it on to the high potentials, the people who will make the world a better place with their brains, their work, and their lives. That hit of life energy, a bottle of vodka, and a visit from one of Madam Anastazja’s sex workers keep him alive, stable, and mostly sane… until he collects again. But when his recovery ritual is disrupted by a sex worker who isn’t what she seems, he has to choose between doing an illegal hit for a girl whose story has more holes than his soul or facing the bottle alone—a dark pit he’s not sure he’ll be able to climb out of again.

Contains mature content and themes. For YA-appropriate thrills, see Susan’s Mindjack series.

Delirium is approximately 12,000 words or 48 pages, and is one of nine episodes in the first season of The Debt Collector serial. This dark and gritty future-noir is about a world where your life-worth is tabulated on the open market and going into debt risks a lot more than your credit rating. 

My Review:

Oh man, I think I found my next addiction. This is some good stuff. The main character Lirium's voice is so strong you are wrapped up in his world from the first sentence. The way the author unveils more of the world slowly, teasingly had me gobbling up this novella in about twenty minutes. I absolutely cannot wait to read the next one. The premise of the book is so different and I can already tell (even though the first "episode" is only about 48pgs) that the world building in this series is stellar. 

If you are looking for the next sci-fi, futuristic novel with a hint of romance go get this now. I promise you, you won't be disappointed. If you don't go out and get the next one I will be shocked. Well done Susan, you created a fan within 48 pgs. Not many authors are that talented, I'm just so glad I had the opportunity to review it! Looking forward to all the rest of the episodes! I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend this. 

Find Delirium on Amazon, B&N, and Goodreads!!! 

IT'S FREE RIGHT NOW ON AMAZON!!!!

Beautiful Broken Rules

5 out of 5 Stars!!!

Goodreads blurb:

What happens when you create rules to keep others out?

One thing Emerson Moore has come to terms with is that she is the school slut. She knows her way around a frat house and how to get what she wants. She doesn’t make any excuses for her actions and she doesn’t pretend to be anything different. She is who she is and with that she knows how to have a good time. She’s made rules to keep relationships at bay and avoid the demons of her past.

When her best friend, Cole has his two friends from back home move in with him she begins to think she has met her match with Jaxon Riley. Jax is the perfect mixture of tattooed muscle and a sweet-talking mouth. With “hand” written notes, a voice that exudes sex and knowing just how to get under her skin, Jaxon learns how to break all the rules. 

But will he just end up breaking her heart anyway?

My Review:

Ok let me just say kudos to the author for writing a female character who is sexually active and owns it. Yes, maybe her reasons for doing so stem from a traumatic past, but still. I loved her. She was unapologetic and I loved her rules. Emerson is a tough cookie. Stuff went down when she was younger that makes her skittish of relationships. She never sleeps with a guy more than three times, never sleeps with a guy a friend has feelings for, and never sleep with a guy that is in a relationship. She believes that by sticking to these rules everyone gets what they want and no one gets hurt. That is until she meets Jaxon, her best friend Cole's new roommate/best friend. Let me tell you, peeps, their "meet cute" is so damn embarrassing and funny I was cringing and LOLing at the same time. I could picture it perfectly. 

Jaxon is such a sexy sweetheart. That describes him perfectly in my opinion. He's open with Emerson about his feelings for her and is willing to be patient...to a point. ENTER CONFLICT. Guess you'll have to read it to see what happens. But in all seriousness, he is a perfect example of a great guy. The thing he does with her textbooks, lets just say that if you don't melt there is something wrong. It is the sweetest thing ever and I will be dropping hints to my future boy to do this. So damn romantic.  Also did I mention he has a hot twin? Did I also mention that this twin is a genius of epic proportions? SWOON! Please, author lady, please let him have a book! PLEASE! I want to visit all my book friends again! 

Now for the technical stuff? The pacing was done really well, the dialogue was great, and most importantly NO CLIFFHANGERS!!! I believe we are left with an opening for Jace's book (Jax's sexy twin). Anyways, I loved it. It could have gone so wrong. Emerson could have come across as a slutty ho-bag with no redeeming qualities, but there is a depth to her and a genuine need to protect the people she cares about that makes what she does kind of heart breaking. I want to hug her and party with her. If that makes sense LOL! Jaxon is caring and strong, he doesn't put up with her unnecessary BS, but when he needs to give he does. Quinn, Cole, and Jace round out our main cast and they are fantastic friends. They really care about each other and are very close. It reminds me of my group of friends and I loved that. Go buy it, you won't regret it. I'm already stalking the authors blog for news on her next release. Total fan mode. Come join me! I'M CALLING IT NOW!! THIS IS THE NEXT BIG BOOK CRAZE!!! Hop on the train now! 

Find Beautiful Broken Rules on Amazon, B&N, and Goodreads!!

Happy Reading!!

Swoon Thursday #13

From the book you’re currently reading, or one you just finished, tell us what made you SWOON. What got your heart pounding, your skin tingling, and your stomach fluttering.

Shout it out on Twitter , post it here in the comments, or grab the adorable button above and share it on your blog! I want to know & so do the chicks at YABound!

This weeks Swoon is...

5 Stars!!

I wasn't always in love with Colton Calloway; I was in love with his younger brother, Kyle, first. Kyle was my first one true love, my first in every way.

Then, one stormy August night, he died, and the person I was died with him.

Colton didn't teach me how to live. He didn't heal the pain. He didn't make it okay. He taught me how to hurt, how to not be okay, and, eventually, how to let go.

Swoon Time!!

I want to kiss her. Need to. Or I might never breathe again.

I'm an asshole, so I kiss her. She deserves ultimate gentility, and my lips are feathers against hers, ghosting across hers. I can feel every ridge and ripple of her lips; they're chapped and cracked and rough from crying, from thirst. I moisten them with my own lips, kiss each lip individually. First the upper, caressing it with both of mine, tasting, touching. She breathes a sigh.

I think I'm okay, I think she wants this. I was honestly terrified at first she'll wig out, slap me, scramble away. Tell me she can't stomach a kiss from a blood-soaked monster like me. I don't deserve her, but I'm an asshole, a selfish bastard, so I take what I can get from her, and try to to make sure I give her the best I've got. 

Honestly, Colton breaks my heart. He is one of the sweetest, strongest, sexiest male leads I've read about in a long time. Today's swoon isn't so much RAWR sexiness as it is Le Sigh. Oh Colton, you give good woo. 

Cover Reveal: Once Upon a Darkness by Aria Kane!!

Once Upon a Darkness by Aria Kane will be available from Entranced Publishing June 17!

Gretchen and her twin brother, Hank, were abandoned to a zombie horde when they were five years old. Intended to be a sacrifice by their zealot parents, they were instead rescued by The Company. Raised to become soldiers in the war against zombies, they now provide safe passage through danger zones, one contract at a time.

Clint's only skill is war, but he's weary of killing other men. When his contract with the Marines runs out, he takes a job on Gretchen's team, hoping that the search-and-rescue life will suit him better.

On Clint's second day, their four-man team is attacked, drugged, and taken to a prison full of frightened civilians. The only way in or out is by helicopter and, here, their enemies are human. One by one, the captives are culled from the holding area.  Rumors say the facility director uses the prisoners as experimental subjects for the testing of a zombie cure.

When Hank is taken, Clint and Gretchen must put aside their personal feelings and find a way out of the prison, surrounded by thousands of starving zombies, before Hank becomes just one more disposable guinea pig in the hands of a twisted mad woman.

Add Once Upon a Darkness on Goodreads!

About the Author

Aria Kane is a recovering mechanical engineer and romance writer. She lives in sunny Florida with a 60 lb mutt who thinks he's a Chihuahua. You can learn more about her on her website or on Twitter!! 

Giveaway

To celebrate the Once Upon a Darkness cover reveal, Aria is giving away a $20 giftcard and an ecopy of an Entranced book of the winner’s choice. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Strange Academy

4 out of 5 Stars!!

From Goodreads:

For fans of Katie MacAlister, Julie Kenner, and MaryJanice Davidson, a funny, sexy paranormal romance set at a school for superheroes.

Determined to uncover the secret behind her eccentric aunt's mysterious death, Sadie Strange, a quirky substitute teacher with a Master’s degree in comic book superheroes, takes a job at isolated private school Strange Academy. Her biggest obstacle? Haughty hottie Lorde Gray, the chemistry teacher who looks down his Roman nose at her as he tries to get her fired.

Undercover demon hunter Gray vows to use his spell-brewing powers to protect Strange Academy's true purpose—educating extraordinary children with paranormal gifts. If the world knew the school's secret, it would start a war that would destroy humanity. Gray won't let a feisty mortal threaten that, no matter how much she swishes her heart-shaped ass.

When fate throws them together, strange allies Sadie and Gray seek to uncover the hidden forces behind her aunt's death before they destroy Sadie—and the school. But when the demon hunter forbidden from associating with mortals and the mortal woman who can't trust her own judgment around alpha males find themselves falling for each other, love is going to get a little strange...

My Review:

Ok, well, I loved this book. It was fun and mysterious. The magical world they live in is easily woven into the world Sadie was used to, a non-paranormal one. Sadie deals with a lot in this story: the guilt of not having a better relationship with her aunt, the guilt of denying so many truths of her family and those at the school because it seemed too impossible to comprehend, and who she really is. Sadie was a great heroine. She was strong, funny, smart, and didn't give up on finding out what happened to her aunt. I liked her a lot. I felt her storyline was one that a lot of people will relate to. 

Gray was sexy as hell. He did frustrate me a lot in the beginning, but he came around in the end and swooning did happen. He was a pain in the ass about the whole "family first/ no nons." For a lot of the book, I felt like he was using Sadie and maybe that's how it was in the beginning, but I think he surprised himself. He gets a little preachy/racist with the whole "non's" thing. For someone who apparently was supposed to protect them, he didn't respect them a whole lot. He changes in the end and I really like how the author did this because it could have been a real cop-out if he found out the "big news" about Sadie before making his decision. Good on you, Ms. Wilde! 

 I loved all the secondary characters too. They really added a humorous flavor overall. I kind of wish this was a series, in all honesty, because I really want to read more about this world. Maybe Sterling's story? How about Carmina? I would definitely like a story for those two kids. 

Would I recommend this? Uhhhh yep! I'm also going to be keeping an eye out for future books by this author. I'm a fan!! ARC received in exchange for honest review. 

Find Strange Academy on Amazon, B&N, and Goodreads!!!

Happy Reading!!