Happy Monday, Muses!
So, I know things have been a bit sparse on my blog and I said last week I was going to be posting double reviews since I am behind on my review schedule. Yeah, it didn't happen. But, I did finish a review over the weekend so I can promise everyone that there will be a new review posted on Wednesday! And a giveaway, so stay tuned for that :)
There are a few new releases worth mentioning this week. In adult books, check out the science fiction apocalyptic novel
THREE by debut author Jay Posey. I am currently reading it now and it is totally kick ass! In Young Adult books,
Indelible by Dawn Metcalf finally hits bookshelves. There has been a lot of buzz surrounding this one and can't wait to read it!
In Movies,
G.I. Joe: Retaliation, the highly anticipated sequel will be available this week. I'm also looking forward to
Cloudbust, starring Olympia Dukakis and Brenda Fricker. In TV shows, Cinemax's
Banshee: Season 1 and
Hunted: Season 1 both are released this week, but I think Hunted is an amazon.com exclusive only.
Enjoy!
BOOKS (30th JULY)
ADULT
Blood Warrior (Dragon Kings, #2)
by: Lindsey Piper
The second in a
fierce and sensual new paranormal romance series featuring demonic
gladiators, ruthless mafia villains, and the choices made by a proud
race on the brink of extinction.
As a young man,
sarcastic, violent Tallis Pendray believed the Dragon Kings’ survival
depended on a prophecy delivered in dreams by a woman named “the Sun.”
His role has been to complete inexplicable, even reprehensible tasks.
First, by murdering a priest, he united his fragmented clan in their
hatred of him. Dubbed “the Heretic,” Tallis fled his family’s Highland
estate. Now disillusioned, he seeks revenge on the woman he holds
responsible for two decades of exile.
Telepath Kavya Indranan is a
charismatic, seductive cult leader born to a prominent family. However,
she grew up terrorized by the ominous threat of her powerful, insane
twin brother. On the run and hiding among the poor, she witnessed the
destruction wrought by her clan’s centuries-old civil war. Maturity
nurtures Kavya’s determination to end the cycle of bloodshed. Those who
follow her call for peace have nicknamed her “the Sun.”
Release Date: 30th July 2013
Complete Me (Stark, #3)
by: J. Kenner
This sexy, emotionally
charged romance continues the story of Damien Stark, the powerful
multimillionaire who’s never had to take “no” for an answer, and Nikki
Fairchild, the Southern belle who only says “yes” on her own terms.
Our desire runs deep. But our secrets cut close.
Beautiful, strong, and commanding, Damien Stark fills a void in me that
no other man can touch. His fierce cravings push me beyond the brink of
bliss—and unleash a wild passion that utterly consumes us both.
Yet
beneath his need for dominance, he carries the wounds of a painful
past. Haunted by a legacy of dark secrets and broken trust, he seeks
release in our shared ecstasy, the heat between us burning stronger
each day.
Our attraction is undeniable, our obsession inevitable.
Yet not even Damien can run from his ghosts, or shield us from the
dangers yet to come.
Release Date: 30th July 2013
Website | E-book | Paperback
Darkest Craving, The (Lords of the Underworld, #10)
by: Gena Showalter
Having endured weeks of
torture in the bowels of hell, Kane wants nothing to do with his
beautiful rescuer, Josephina Aisling. The half-Fae female threatens to
awaken the demon of Disaster inside him—a beast he’s determined to kill,
no matter the price.
Josephina is hunted by a brutal enemy—her
royal family—and Kane is her only source of protection. He’s also the
only male to ever set her aflame, and even he succumbs to the heat. But
as they navigate the treacherous world of the Fae, they are forced to
make a choice: live apart…or die together.
Release Date: 30th July 2013
Exhale
by: Dakota Harrison
She is the one dream that never had a chance to come true…until now.
Takeshi
is finishing up a brutal double shift in the ER when a familiar—and
bloody—face erases all thought of heading home. The broken body of the
woman fighting for her life belongs to Gabby, his best friend’s mother. A
woman he has rarely seen since he turned nineteen and foolishly
declared his love for her.
She’s not dying today. Not on his watch. And not with a promise left unfulfilled.
Gabby
has never forgotten the taste of the kiss Taka gave her under the
mistletoe all those years ago. Or the silly promise that surely by now
he’s forgotten. She’s wrong. Taka remembers. And she melts as he uses
every trick in his highly trained surgeon’s hands to heal her—and
rekindle the heat between them.
But there’s a secret lurking in
Gabby’s past. And when it follows her all the way to Seattle, it
threatens to drag the one man she loves into the nightmare she thought
she’d left behind.
Release Date: 30th July 2013
Highlander's Desire, The
by: Margo Maguire
Lachann MacMillan's
watched his older brother, the laird of his clan, find a passionate
marriage, but he suffers no illusions that his path will be the
same--especially as the woman he loved was stolen from him years ago.
He's ready to leave his homeland and make his mark. He'll even enter
into a passionless marriage to the daughter of the Laird of Kilogorra if
it means a chance at his own land…and leaving behind his painful
memories. A simple enough plan until he meets Anna MacIver, a mere
serving maid with the face of an angel who ignites a fire in him that is
anything but angelic.
Anna has been a lowly servant in her
uncle, the Laird of Kilogorra's home, since her mother died years ago.
She has no envy for her cousin's matrimonial fate as observation of has
taught her that freedom--no matter the serving chains--is far more
precious that being under the command of a husband. But when Lachlann
arrives to marry Anna's cousin, she finds herself longing for something
she never knew she wanted. Together the maid and the highlander may find
that some things are worth having, no matter the cost.
Release Date: 30th July 2013
Last Blood (House of Comarre, #5)
by: Kristen Painter
In the final showdown
between the forces of dark and light, Mal and Chrysabelle face not only
Tatiana, but the ancient evil that now controls her: the Castus Sanguis.
Chrysabelle gathers her friends and family around her, forming a plan
to bring an end to the chaos surrounding them. But the Castus is the
most powerful being they've ever come up against. Defeating such evil
will require a great sacrifice from someone on the side of light.
One
of them will change sides. One of them will die. No one will survive
unscathed. Can Chrysabelle save those she cares about or will that love
get her killed? What price is she willing to pay to draw last blood?
Release Date: 30th July 2013
Pile of Bones (Parallel Parks, #1)
by: Bailey Cunningham
In one world,
they’re ordinary university students. In another world, they are a
company of heroes in a place of magic and myth called Anfractus……
The Cree called the area Oscana, "pile of bones," a fertile hunting
ground where game abounded. The white settlers changed that to Wascana.
And centuries later, it became Wascana Park, a wooded retreat in the
midst of the urban sprawl of Regina.
For a select few, who
stay in the park until midnight, the land reverts into a magical
kingdom, populated by heroes and monsters. They become warriors, bards,
archers, gladiators. In the city called Anfractus, they live out a
real-life role playing game.
All harmless fun—until they find
themselves in the middle of an assassination plot which threatens to
upset the balance of everything. Politics are changing, and old borders
are about to disappear. The magic of Anfractus is bleeding into the
real world—an incursion far more dangerous than the students suspect.
Only they know what is happening—and only they can stop it...
Release Date: 30th July 2013
Scent of Salvation (Chronicles of Eorthe, #1)
by: Annie Nicholas
Love blooms across species, culture, and time.
Stranded
in another dimension, on a primitive version of Earth, Dr. Susan Barlow
needs to find a way to survive. There’s no electricity, no cities, and
to her shock, no humans. Instead, she faces a population of werewolves,
vampires and incubi. The people are vicious but she must find her place
among them. And live.
An illness is killing Sorin’s pack. As
alpha it’s his responsibility to save them, but it’s a battle this
warrior doesn’t know how to fight. Then a blue light in the sky brings a
creature he’s never seen. She calls herself human, but to him she
smells like hope.
Sorin offers Susan a safe haven in return for a
cure, but she’s not that kind of a doctor. She’s a doctor of physics,
not a physician. Yet as they search for a cure to save a dying people,
they find something special—each other.
But even with Sorin’s protection, Susan can’t help but wonder how long she can survive in a world without humans…
Release Date: 30th July 2013
Three (Legends of the Duskwalker, #1)
by: Jay Posey
The world has collapsed, and there are no heroes any more.
But
when a lone gunman reluctantly accepts the mantel of protector to a
young boy and his dying mother against the forces that pursue them, a
hero may yet arise.
Release Date: 30th July 2013
YOUNG ADULT
All Our Pretty Songs
by: Sarah McCarry
Set against the lush,
magical backdrop of the Pacific Northwest, two inseparable best friends
who have grown up like sisters—the charismatic, mercurial, and beautiful
Aurora and the devoted, soulful, watchful narrator—find their bond
challenged for the first time ever when a mysterious and gifted musician
named Jack comes between them. Suddenly, each girl must decide what
matters most: friendship, or love. What both girls don’t know is that
the stakes are even higher than either of them could have imagined.
They’re not the only ones who have noticed Jack’s gift; his music has
awakened an ancient evil—and a world both above and below which may not
be mythical at all. The real and the mystical; the romantic and the
heartbreaking all begin to swirl together, carrying the two on journey
that is both enthralling and terrifying.
And it’s up to the narrator to protect the people she loves—if she can.
Release Date: 30th July 2013
Boy on the Bridge, The
by: Natalie Standiford
A new breathtaking novel from Natalie Standiford about love and trust during the Cold War.
Laura
Reid goes to Leningrad for a semester abroad as Cold War paranoia is
peaking in 1982. She meets a young Russian artist named Alexei and soon,
with Alexei as her guide, Laura immerses herself in the real Russia--a
crazy world of wild parties, black-market books and music, and smuggled
letters to dissidents. She must keep the relationship secret;
associating with Americans is dangerous for Alexei, and if caught, Laura
could be sent home and Alexei put under surveillance or worse. At the
same time, she's been warned that Soviets often latch onto Americans in
hopes of marrying them and thus escaping to the United States. But she
knows Alexei loves her. Right?
As June approaches--when Laura
must return to the United States--Alexei asks Laura to marry him. She's
only nineteen and doesn't think she's ready to settle down. But what if
Alexei is the love of her life? How can she leave him behind? If she has
a chance to change his life, to rescue him from misery, shouldn't she
take it?
Release Date: 30th July 2013
Brother, Brother
by: Clay Carmichael
The day his grandmother dies, seventeen-year-old Billy “Brother” Grace
discovers that he has a twin who has recently made headlines by nearly
overdosing on drugs. His twin also happens to be the son of a powerful
senator. His newly discovered family may not be all that interested in a
cheery reunion, but Brother is determined to get answers. When he
arrives on the secluded island off the coast of North Carolina where the
senator and his family live, sparks will fly, old resentments will be
released, and secrets revealed. Part coming-of-age story, part love
story, Clay Carmichael's
Brother, Brother is a book about finding out that who you are and where you come from aren't necessarily the same thing.
Release Date: 30th July 2013
Earthbound (Earthbound, #1)
by: Aprilynne Pike
Tavia Michaels is the
sole survivor of the plane crash that killed her parents. When she
starts to see strange visions of a boy she’s never spoken with in real
life, she begins to suspect that there’s much about her past that she
isn’t being told.
Tavia immediately searches for answers,
desperate to determine why she feels so drawn to a boy she hardly knows.
But when Tavia discovers that the aunt and uncle who took her in after
her parents' death may have actually been responsible for the plane
crash that killed them--and that she may have been the true intended
victim--she flees for the safety of Camden, Maine, where the boy she
sees in her visions instructs her to go.
Now, Tavia is on the run with no one to trust. No one, that is, except for her best friend and longtime crush, Benson.
Tavia
feels torn between the boy who mysteriously comes to her at night and
the boy who has been by her side every step of the way. But what Tavia
doesn't know is that the world is literally falling apart and that to
save it she will have to unite with the boy in her visions. Only
problem? To do so would mean rejecting Benson's love. And that's the one
thing Tavia Michaels swore she'd never do.
Release Date: 30th July 2013
If I Ever Get Out of Here
by: Eric Gansworth
Lewis "Shoe" Blake is
used to the joys and difficulties of life on the Tuscarora Indian
reservation in 1975: the joking, the Fireball games, the snow blowing
through his roof. What he's not used to is white people being nice to
him -- people like George Haddonfield, whose family recently moved to
town with the Air Force. As the boys connect through their mutual
passion for music, especially the Beatles, Lewis has to lie more and
more to hide the reality of his family's poverty from George. He also
has to deal with the vicious Evan Reininger, who makes Lewis the special
target of his wrath. But when everyone else is on Evan's side, how can
he be defeated? And if George finds out the truth about Lewis's home --
will he still be his friend?
Acclaimed adult author Eric
Gansworth makes his YA debut with this wry and powerful novel about
friendship, memory, and the joy of rock 'n' roll.
Release Date: 30th July 2013
Indelible (The Twixt, #1)
by: Dawn Metcalf
Some things are permanent.
Indelible.
And they cannot be changed back.
Joy
Malone learns this the night she sees a stranger with all-black eyes
across a crowded room—right before the mystery boy tries to cut out her
eye. Instead, the wound accidentally marks her as property of Indelible
Ink, and this dangerous mistake thrusts Joy into an incomprehensible
world—a world of monsters at the window, glowing girls on the doorstep,
and a life that will never be the same.
Now, Joy must pretend to
be Ink’s chosen one—his helper, his love, his something for the
foreseeable future...and failure to be convincing means a painful death
for them both. Swept into a world of monsters, illusion, immortal honor
and revenge, Joy discovers that sometimes, there are no mistakes.
Somewhere between reality and myth lies…
THE TWIXT.
Release Date: 30th July 2013
Under the Empyrean Sky (Heartland, #1)
by: Chuck Wendig
Corn is king in the
Heartland, and Cael McAvoy has had enough of it. It's the only crop the
Empyrean government allows the people of the Heartland to grow ? and the
genetically modified strain is so aggressive that it takes everything
the Heartlanders have just to control it. As captain of the Big Sky
Scavengers, Cael and his crew sail their rickety ship over the corn day
after day, scavenging for valuables, trying to earn much-needed ace
notes for their families. But Cael's tired of surviving life on the
ground while the Empyrean elite drift by above in their extravagant sky
flotillas. He's sick of the mayor's son besting Cael's crew in the
scavenging game. And he's worried about losing Gwennie ? his first mate
and the love of his life ? forever when their government-chosen spouses
are revealed. But most of all, Cael is angry ? angry that their lot in
life will never get better and that his father doesn't seem upset about
any of it. Cael's ready to make his own luck . . . even if it means
bringing down the wrath of the Empyrean elite and changing life in the
Heartland forever.
Release Date: 30th July 2013
MOVIES & TV SERIES (30th July)
MOVIES
Assault on Wall Street
Directed by: Uwe Boll
Starring: Dominic Purcell, Eric Roberts
A security guard for an armored truck, Jim (Dominic Purcell) is a
blue-collar New Yorker who works hard to earn a living. His wages
support himself and his wife Rosie (Erin Karpluk), who is on the upswing
recovering from a near-fatal illness. Yet things start to fall apart
after Rosie's health insurance stops covering her treatment and Jim's
life savings are lost via a disastrous investment his stockbroker had
advised him to make. As a row of professional and personal dominoes
falls, Jim is
confronted by the
realization that, after being abused and exploited by financial
institutions for far too long, he has only one choice: to strike back.
From the mind of notorious German writer/director Uwe Boll (House of the
Dead), ASSAULT ON WALL STREET is excoriating look at the American
financial system that is sure to stir up plenty of Occupy-esque
sentiment.
Release Date: 30th July 2013
Black Rock
Directed by: Katie Aselton
Starring: Kate Bosworth, Lake Bell
Three young women - Sarah (Kate Bosworth), Abby (Katie Aselton) and Lou
(Lake Bell) - get together for a private campout at one of the iconic
settings of their childhood, an empty island off the coast of Maine, to
renew their bond of sisterhood. They quickly learn, though, that the
island is anything but empty, when they encounter three men, who have
come to the island to hunt. A misunderstanding quickly turns to
tragedy, and the three women soon find themselves the targets of the
hunt. What started as a simple playdate to recall old times is now a
race for survival.
Release Date: 30th July 2013
Cloudburst
Directed by: Thom Fitzgerald
Starring: Olympia Dukakis, Brenda Fricker
This hilarious road movie co-stars Oscar-winning actresses Brenda
Fricker and Olympia Dukakis as Dot and Stella, a crackerjack lesbian
couple on the run from a nursing home. You ll laugh so hard you ll cry.
Stella and Dot have been together for 31 years and have faithfully
accompanied one another through life s ups and downs. Now in their
seventies, Stella is hard of hearing and Dot is legally blind. Dotty s
prudish granddaughter, Molly (played by Genie Award-winner Kristin
Booth), decides the best place for Dot is a nursing home that will
provide all the necessities. This forces Stella and Dot to make a bold
decision: they will leave their hometown in Maine and make their way to
Canada, where same-sex marriage is legal. It s a last-gasp bid to stay
together. En route to Canada, they pick up a young hitchhiker, Prentice,
played by newcomer Ryan Doucette. A small-town boy turned modern
dancer, he is returning to Nova Scotia to visit his dying mother.
Despite his bravado, Prentice is a confused and wounded soul who has
much to learn from Stella and Dot as they wage their own unexpected
battle after three decades, can they keep their family together?
Release Date: 30th July 2013
Filly Brown
Directed by: Youssef Delar, Michael Olmos
Starring: Gina Rodriguez
FILLY BROWN is the inspiring portrait of a young woman striving to find
her voice without compromising herself or the fate of her family. Majo
Tonorio, aka, 'Filly Brown', played by Gina Rodriguez, is a young
aspiring hip-hop artist from Los Angeles. With her mother, Jenni Rivera,
in prison and her father, Lou Diamond Philips, struggling to provide
for his daughters, Filly knows that a record contract just may be the
answer to her family's financial problems. So when a record producer
offers her a shot at stardom, she has to choose between selling out her
dreams or saving her family. Directed by Youssef Delara and Michael
Olmos, FILLY BROWN is propelled by an exceptional cast. Fueled by a
fierce hip-hop score, FILLY BROWN heralds the arrival of Gina Rodriguez
in the electrifying title role.
Release Date: 30th July 2013
G.I. Joe: Retaliation
Directed by: Jon M.Chu
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Channing Tatum
In this sequel, the G.I. Joes are not only fighting their mortal enemy
Cobra; they are forced to contend with threats from within the
government that jeopardize their very existence.
Release Date: 30th July 2013
Old Dog
Directed by: Pema Tseden
Starring: Yanbum Gyal
In
Old Dog, directed by Pema Tseden, the leading voice of the Tibetan
New Wave, a family on the Himalayan plains discovers their dog is worth a
fortune, but selling it comes at a terrible price. The Tibetan nomad
mastiff is an exotic prize dog in China, potentially fetching millions
of dollars from wealthy Chinese buyers. When a young man named Gonpo
notices several thefts of mastiffs from Tibetan farm families, he
decides to sell his families dog before it is stolen and sold on the
black market. His father, an aging Tibetan herder, is furious when he
discovers the dog missing. He sets off to buy the dog back, sparking a
series of events that threaten to tear the family apart. Weaving
together narrative strands of humor and gravity, Old Dog beautifully
depicts life among the rural Tibetan people and the erosion of Tibetan
culture under the pressures of contemporary society.
Release Date: 30th July 2013
Teen Beach Movie
Directed by: Jeffrey Hornaday
Starring: Ross Lynch, Maia Mitchell
Teen Beach Movie centers around two teen surfers, Brady and Mackenzie,
who are magically transported into a 1960s beach movie where they must
try to blend in until they can find their way out. They soon discover
that there is an intense rivalry between the local surfers and bikers.
Things don't go according to plan when our modern-day duo accidently
change the plot of the movie, and the two lead characters fall for them
instead of each other! As everyone around them starts singing and
dancing, and a fight between the bikers and surfers breaks out, Brady
and Mack must attempt to get out of the movie and back to present day.
Release Date: 30th July 2013
TV SERIES
Banshee: Season 1
Starring: Antony Starr, Ivana Milicevic
From Alan Ball, creator/EP of True Blood, this exciting new Cinemax
action drama charts the twists and turns that follow Lucas Hood (Antony
Starr), an ex-convict who improbably becomes sheriff of a rural,
Amish-area town while searching for a woman he last saw 15 years ago,
when he gave himself up to police to let her escape after a jewel heist.
Living in Banshee under an assumed name, Carrie Hopewell (Ivana
Milicevic) is now married to the local DA, has two children (one of whom
may be Lucas’), and is trying desperately to keep a low profile – until
Lucas arrives to shake up her world and rekindle old passions.
Complicating matters is the fact that Banshee is riddled by corruption,
with an Amish overlord, Kai Proctor (Ulrich Thomsen), brutally building a
local empire of drugs, gambling and graft. With the help of a
boxer-turned-barkeeper named Sugar Bates (Frankie Faison), Lucas is able
to stay on even footing with Kai and his thugs, and even manages to
bring a measure of tough justice to Banshee. But eventually, Lucas’
appetite for pulling heists pulls him and Carrie into a dangerous
cauldron of duplicity, exacerbated when Mr. Rabbit (Ben Cross), the NY
mobster they once ripped off, closes in with vengeance on his mind.
Release Date: 30th July 2013
Hunted: Season 1
Starring: Melissa George, Adam Rayner
Following in the footsteps of Strike Back and from creator/writer and
three-time Emmy® nominee Frank Spotnitz (Strike Back, The X-Files),
Hunted is an edge-of-your-seat thriller that stars Melissa George (In
Treatment, Alias) as Sam Hunter, a highly skilled operative for an elite
private security firm called Byzantium, who narrowly survives an
attempt on her life that may have been orchestrated by members of her
own team. Once Sam returns to work a year later (having told nobody her
whereabouts), she must perform her secretive duties without knowing who
to trust – and who might want her dead. While continuing her search for
the truth – and effort that sheds light on her tragic past – Sam is
ordered to infiltrate a wealthy, high-profile family by posing as a good
Samaritan, which leads her into a mystery more vast, complex, and
dangerous than she could have ever imagined. Brilliant, beautiful,
ruthless, and efficient, Sam is a force to be reckoned with as the first
season of Hunted unfolds.
Release Date: 30th July 2013
