Cover Reveal" Across the Stars and Ashes by Pixie Lynn Whitfield!!

Okay lovelies, I'm extremely excited to announce the cover reveal of Across the Stars and Ashes, which is the third and final installment in the Guardians of the Night trilogy written by my dear friend Pixie Lynn Whitfield!

As with the first two covers she entrusted me with designing this one as well!! And I'm so glad I was able to take the ideas she had in mind, and create something that really captured the essence of the story and title and make a cover that she loves! :)

Okay so, without further ado, I give you the cover of Across the Stars and Ashes!

----------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------

Across the Stars and Ashes (The Guardians of the Night #3):

"In the final conclusion of The Guardians of the Night Trilogy, bonds are tested, unlikely allies are made, and a world is on the brink of destruction.

Zarah has been in captivity with the Fallen Warriors. There she learns that things are much worse for the world than she'd thought. Allies with the humans, the Fallen have started an apocalyptic war sending the world into chaos. Then there's Lucas, Fallen Master and source of a shocking secret. When she makes an unexpected friend out of a Warrior during her captivity, she realizes there's no rescue—only she can be the hero. But at what cost?

Draven never could remember his past. Now he knows why. After learning the truth, the flashbacks start and the memories are returning. He was one of them once.... But what would Zarah say if she knew everything? Because his mission is clear—to get his Bond Mate back, even if it means destroying everything in his path.

Told in dual PoV between Zarah and Draven, Across the Stars and Ashes presents the thrilling final installment packed with action and emotion, romance and family, and supernatural intensity."

Estimated/Expected Release Date: October 22nd, 2013

----------------------------------------------

Be sure to check it out on Goodreads and add it to your TBR lists!! Also if you haven't read the first two books in the series, Darkness Comes This Way and Through These Wicked Nights, be sure to check those out and add them to your TBR lists as well!

Also if you want to connect with the lovely miss Pixie Lynn Whitfield you can find her at her blog: The Bookaholic as well as her authors blog: Pixie Lynn Whitfield

You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter! She loves comments, tweets, ect. from readers and friends so be sure to look her up!!

Wednesday's Poetry Watch #3

This is a new feature I’ll be posting once a week, and in each post I’ll feature a different poet or poem that I really love. I’ll share a few facts about the poet and recommend an additional poem(s) that you may enjoy as well. Poetry has always been a HUGE passion of mine whether it’s writing it, reading it, or discussing it. And I’m really looking excited to share some of the mad love I have for it with all of you lovelies! 

-----------------------------------------

This week I'm featuring a poet that I may be slightly obsessed with... but if you've read any of his work how can you possibly blame me? The poet I'm referring to is William Butler Yeats, not only are his poems gorgeous to read but he's from Ireland.. and it's well known that I have an obsession with all things Irish! 

A few facts for you: "William Butler Yeats (pronounced /ˈjeɪts/) was an Irish poet and dramatist, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years Yeats served as an Irish Senator for two terms. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival, and along with Lady Gregory and Edward Martyn founded the Abbey Theatre, serving as its chief during its early years. In 1923 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for what the Nobel Committee described as "inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation." He was the first Irishman so honored. Yeats is generally considered one of the few writers who completed their greatest works after being awarded the Nobel Prize; such works include The Tower (1928) and The Winding Stair and Other Poems (1929).
Yeats was born and educated in Dublin but spent his childhood in County Sligo. He studied poetry in his youth, and from an early age was fascinated by both Irish legends and the occult. Those topics feature in the first phase of his work, which lasted roughly until the turn of the century. His earliest volume of verse was published in 1889, and those slow paced and lyrical poems display debts to Edmund Spenser and Percy Bysshe Shelley, as well as to the Pre-Raphaelite poets. From 1900, Yeats' poetry grew more physical and realistic. He largely renounced the transcendental beliefs of his youth, though he remained preoccupied with physical and spiritual masks, as well as with cyclical theories of life." ~Wikipedia

 -----------------------------------------

One of my absolute favorite poems by Yeats would have to be, "He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven". 

"He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven"

"Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,

Enwrought with golden and silver light,

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths

Of night and light and the half-light,

I would spread the cloths under your feet:

But I, being poor, have only my dreams;

I have spread my dreams under your feet;

Tread softly because you tread on my dreams."

 -----------------------------------------

It's not a very long poem, but some of the best poems are on the short side. It doesn't take an extreme amount of words to get the point and the feeling across, it just takes the right ones. And in keep with my theme of the whole "grave site visiting" thing, I would most definitely love to see his, as well as the part of Ireland where he lived/grew up! :D

A few of my other favorites are, A Faery Song, Lullaby, and The Cap and Bells.

Do I have any fellow Yeats fanatics out there?! Or must I convert you? *mwahahaha....* :D

“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I Thought I'd Like MORE/LESS Than I Did

Top Ten Tuesday is an original weekly event hosted at The Broke and the Bookish.

This weeks topic: Top Ten Books I Thought I'd Like MORE/LESS Than I Did

I'm going to split my list this week, these first five are the books I thought I'd like less but was pleasantly surprised by:

1. Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
2. Dead of Night by Jonathan Maberry
3. True Grit by Charles Portis
4. Send Me a Sign by Tiffany Schmidt
5. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

These next five are books I was really excited about but unfortunately fell short for me:

6. When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle
7. Dearly, Beloved by Lia Habel
8. Kissing Shakespeare by Pamela Mingle
9. Insurgent by Veronica Roth
10. Legend by Marie Lu

What's your Top Ten this week?

Also I just want to mention that since non-Blogger members aren't able to follow through GFC anymore, I would really appreciate it if you'd consider following me through email subscription, RSS feed, or Bloglovin (I'm officially on there now!). I'd also just like to say thanks so much to everyone who follows already and to any new followers!

Review: Sweet Shadows by Tera Lynn Childs

Title: Sweet Shadows
Author: Tera Lynn Childs
Publication Date: September 4th, 2012
Genre: YA Fantasy - Mythology - Paranormal

"Gretchen may have known she was a descendant of Medusa long before her sisters--after all, she's spent her life fighting the monsters that escape the abyss--but that doesn't mean it will be easy to teach the other girls the ropes. Can she rely on Grace and Greer, or even trust herself to keep them safe?Greer has pressing social commitments on her plate and precious little time to train in her newfound powers. But that wretched second sight won't leave her alone, and her fabled heritage seems to be creeping into her fashionable life.Grace has worries closer to home--like why her brother, Thane, has disappeared. He's hiding something. Could it possibly be related to the secret heritage the triplets share?
With the warring factions among the gods of Olympus coming for them, the creatures of the abyss pushing into their world, and the boys in their lives keeping secrets at every turn, the three girls must figure out where their fate will take them and how to embrace the shadows of their legacy." ~See it on Goodreads!

--------------------------------------- 

I really loved Sweet Venom, which is the first book in this series. So naturally, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Sweet Shadows (the second book) to see how the story would continue. And I’m glad to say I loved this one just as much of the first! I know sometimes with series I’ll have that whole “second-book-syndrome” thing, and you end up not liking the second book as much as the first, but I’m so glad to say that wasn’t an issue with this one!

This book was definitely a little more intense than the first one, and the action starts right from the beginning. I really liked how you get to see the change and growth in the relationships between Gretchen, Grace, and Greer. They’re all still getting to know each other and trying adapt to the knowledge that they’re triplets and not to mention huntresses. And even though it’s all still new to them you can see how much they really care about each other, and would do anything to keep each other safe.

In particular we really get to know Greer better in this book, she was introduced later than Gretchen and Grace in the first book so you didn’t get to learn as much about her then. We also learn more about Nick, he’s definitely grown on me more through this book, and we find out a big part he plays in the whole scheme of things. I’m still extremely curious about Grace’s brother Thane though! He doesn’t appear much in this book but when he does show up it just raises even more burning questions about him!

There is a bit more focus on romance in this book, I won’t go into too many details for those who haven’t read either book yet. But I do like the pairings pretty well so far, and I’m interested to see what unfolds between two certain characters.

The incorporation of Mythology in this book is just as seamless and balanced as it was in the first book, it doesn’t feel strange or misplaced at all. I was glued to the pages from the start and couldn’t stand to put it down when I had to go and do pesky things like work, or eat. I mean really who does those things anyways?

Needless to say this book ended and left me with so many burning questions and had a bit of a cliffhanger as well, and now I’m likely to go a bit mad waiting for September 3rd to get her so I can get my hands on a copy of Sweet Legacy!

4.5 Stars!