Roar - Book Review (repost)

 

Roar (Stormheart #1)
by Cora Carmack

What is it about:
In a land ruled and shaped by violent magical storms, power lies with those who control them.

Aurora Pavan comes from one of the oldest Stormling families in existence. Long ago, the ungifted pledged fealty and service to her family in exchange for safe haven, and a kingdom was carved out from the wildlands and sustained by magic capable of repelling the world’s deadliest foes. As the sole heir of Pavan, Aurora’s been groomed to be the perfect queen. She’s intelligent and brave and honorable. But she’s yet to show any trace of the magic she’ll need to protect her people.

To keep her secret and save her crown, Aurora’s mother arranges for her to marry a dark and brooding Stormling prince from another kingdom. At first, the prince seems like the perfect solution to all her problems. He’ll guarantee her spot as the next queen and be the champion her people need to remain safe. But the more secrets Aurora uncovers about him, the more a future with him frightens her. When she dons a disguise and sneaks out of the palace one night to spy on him, she stumbles upon a black market dealing in the very thing she lacks—storm magic. And the people selling it? They’re not Stormlings. They’re storm hunters.

Legend says that her ancestors first gained their magic by facing a storm and stealing part of its essence. And when a handsome young storm hunter reveals he was born without magic, but possesses it now, Aurora realizes there’s a third option for her future besides ruin or marriage.

She might not have magic now, but she can steal it if she’s brave enough.

Challenge a tempest. Survive it. And you become its master.

What did I think of it:
I first heard about this book when I was investigating the authors who would be at the Love Letter Convention in Berlin last month. It sounded awesome and when I read the description of the June FairyLoot box I was 90% certain it would have Roar in it. This sounded like a win-win situation for me: Get a box full of cool loot and a book I really wanted to read, so I immediately ordered.

When I was in Berlin I was cheeky enough that I asked Cora Carmack if she could confirm Roar was in the June FairyLoot box, and she did!

So you bet I immediately started on Roar when my box arrived last week. (The rest of the box was totally awesome as well, btw.)

And for once I think this book is certainly worth the hype.

I really liked Aurora. She's had both a sheltered and a hard life, making her both inexperienced at some things, while hardened at other things. I could relate and rooted for her from the start. She really wants to do the right thing, but when she has to choose between what looks like the fast route to a secure future and her own happiness she decides to let her happiness come first.

There are 4 other viewpoint characters if I counted correctly. All were interesting, but some were more likeable than others. There were two viewpoint characters I'm very interested in learning more about. One of those is clearly an ally to Aurora, the other can still go in either direction. It will be interesting to see how both of them develop in the next book.

I loved the world building and the storm hunting. The team of storm hunters that Aurora encounters is a diverse bunch and I liked how they interacted with each other. I hope some of them will get bigger roles in the next book as well.

There's lots of cool action and a bit of romance. I wasn't impressed with the love interest, so for once I'm hoping for some triangly drama to spice things up.

All in all this is a really cool and fun YA Fantasy that ends not in a cliffhanger perse, but it does end in a way that makes me eager for the next book. You bet I'm going to get my grabby trotters on that as soon as it releases.

Why should you read it:
It's an awesome action-packed YA Fantasy read


Buy from bookdepository

Rage - Book Review

Rage (Stormheart #2)
by Cora Carmack

What is it about:
Princess or adventurer.

Duty or freedom.

Her Kingdom or the Stormhunter she loves.

If Aurora knows anything, it's that choices have consequences. To set things right, she joins a growing revolution on the streets of Pavan.

In disguise as the rebel Roar, she puts her knowledge of the palace to use to aid the rebellion. But the Rage season is at its peak and not a day passes without the skies raining down destruction. Yet these storms are different—they churn with darkness, and attack with a will that’s desperate and violent.

This feels like more than rage.

It feels like war.

What did I think of it:
I absolutely loved Roar so you bet I pre-ordered Rage and have been waiting for it to release so I could get my greedy trotters on it.

And Rage was well worth the wait!

Picking up where Roar left up, Aurora/Roar is soon in the thick of things. She wants to save her kingdom from the family who took over the throne, but she still has to tell her companions she's a princess. And there's an angry Stormlord targeting Pavan with storm after storm as well.

There is lots of action and intrigue in this second book of a trilogy and I was hooked from the start. Once again there are several viewpoint characters, and all are interesting to follow, if only to learn the true nature of some of them.

I especially enjoyed Nova's storyline in this book. She already was a favorite in the first book, and my love for her only grew in this one. There was one very interesting new character as well, who didn't have their own viewpoint, but certainly made me eager to find out more about them.

All in all I raced through this book to see where things would lead, and was surprised by events several times. The romance is growing on me, although the love interest is far from my favorite character in the books. A secondary romance between some of the other characters made me squee in delight though.

The book ends with quite the surprise, and you bet I'll be pre-ordering the last book asap.

Why should you read it:
It's a really awesome YA Fantasy read.


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The Rage Season is Here!

After reading Roar I pre-oredered Rage as soon as I could, because the world Cora Carmack created is awesome!
And Rage is here! And just as awesome as Roar. Read my review of Rage tomorrow, but in the mean time:

Get ready for the Rage season!


From New York Times bestselling author Cora Carmack, the second in the captivating new YA fantasy/romance Stormheart series, perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and Victoria Aveyard.

Princess or adventurer.

Duty or freedom.

Her Kingdom or the storm hunter she loves.

If Aurora knows anything, it's that choices have consequences. To set things right, she joins a growing revolution on the streets of Pavan.
In disguise as the rebel Roar, she puts her knowledge of the palace to use to aid the rebellion. But the Rage season is at its peak and not a day passes without the skies raining down destruction. Yet these storms are different…they churn with darkness, and attack with a will that’s desperate and violent.

This feels like more than rage.

It feels like war.


RAGE is available NOW!

Amazon - Barnes and Noble
Books-A-Million - Apple Books
Book Depository

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Excerpt:

When the siren sounded, it took even Cassius a few moments to realize that this siren had nothing to do with tempests.

He stood abruptly from his desk, knocking over a bottle of ink in the process. Black liquid spread across his papers like unholy blood, but there was no time to stop it, not even time to be frustrated with himself for his clumsiness.

They were under attack.

Not by storms, but by men.

He hastily pulled on his boots, inserting a spare knife into each one, then grabbed his sword. By the time he entered the main hallway, the edge had left his movements and his steps had grown into a sprawling stalk. This was where he thrived. Give a predator prey and he came alive, no matter how close to death he might feel. His vision sharpened, the exhaustion disappeared, and a hunger rose from deep in his gut.

A fight was exactly what he needed—and not with some far away magic, but up close, hand to hand, face-to-face, blood drawn. He needed to feel victory. Needed to serve up a defeat that was permanent.

When men died, they stayed that way, unlike the enemies he normally fought.

The hallway swarmed with soldiers, all clearly taken by the chaos. He grabbed the highest-ranking officer he recognized and spat, “Tell me what you know.”

“A breach, sir. The main gate.”

Bleeding skies. How had they gotten through the main gate without anyone noticing?

“Where is the fighting located?”


“We don’t know, sir.”


Cassius froze, his eyes narrowing, and his jaw went tight.

“What do you mean, you don’t know?”


“We have not found the intruders.”


His heart slowed, forgoing its beats as his mind raced—not in anxiety, but in deference, as if one knew the other was more needed. What would intruders want? Where would they go? What would their goals be?

One blink, and he knew.

“I want soldiers on every member of the royal family, now.” He was surprised there had not been an attempt at overthrowing them before now, frankly. “Once my family is protected, then every other remaining soldier is to scour this palace until the intruders are found, do you understand?”

An affirmative chorus rang out from the soldiers in blue, and then everyone was in motion, chattering about who would be seeking out his father, brother, and mother. The room emptied quickly of everyone except Cassius and a handful of soldiers who stood behind him.

“I did not mean me,” he growled.


The soldiers hesitated still.


“Go!” he barked. “Find them. Now.”


Then, blessedly, he was left alone, the siren still wailing on occasion, the only company for his scattered thoughts.


He should have gone after them, should have put himself in the thick of things, but instead he turned and headed back the way he came, down the royal wing where the Pavan family had stayed.

He was the only Locke to call this wing home. He was not certain why, but he bypassed his office and went for the door at the very end of the hall, the queen’s rooms.

He listened for a moment, but heard nothing inside. He knocked. Again, he could not say why. The woman rarely ever woke, not since his father had started bribing the nurse to add something extra to her tea.


But sometimes when he looked at this door, he had this feeling in his stomach that he didn’t recognize, a feeling he didn’t know how to name. And it told him to knock before he went inside. When no answer came, he turned the knob and entered on his own.

First, his eyes saw bare ankles, and followed them to the unconscious form of the nurse who cared for the queen. Her arms were askew in front of her, and her face lax, but a quick press of his fingers to her neck told him she was not dead. He lifted his eyes farther and found only rumpled sheets where the queen should have been.


Something in him rose high, pressing right under his skin, the part of him that liked to hunt and hurt.

He had been just down the hallway. Had someone managed to steal the old queen right from under his nose? Or did he somehow have even less knowledge and control than he thought? Could she have walked free herself somehow?

He had sent all those soldiers off searching and here was the breach right under his very eye. Where he slept and worked. Humiliation burned deep in his gut, and he charged toward the bed, pulling at the sheets as if he might find some clue there to how he had allowed such a blunder.

Could this be the Stormlord? Another prong in his plan? The meager resistance his brother had been cheerfully exterminating to impress their father? Or something else entirely? There were too many pieces on the board for him to win this game. The board was too damned big for him to even know what the game was sometimes.

Quickly, he searched the rest of the room, searching for any advantage, and he found it in the poorly closed balcony door. Out- side, he found a peculiar crawling vine that had somehow made its way from the ground up to the queen’s balcony even though he had never seen it on any of his walks around the grounds. He touched the leaves, bright green and crisp—fresh. And something else about them—they were real, to be certain, but they hummed under his touch, as if they brimmed with something that was nearly familiar to him.

Cassius knew what he was seeing, knew it by heart from years of engrained warnings and fear. But his father had done such a thorough job of eradicating the practice and the people from Locke, it had often seemed more myth than malevolence.

But here before him was proof.

He rubbed a newly birthed leaf between the pads of his fingers, and plucked it free from the vine. He waited for it to wither or turn to dust, but it stayed—both a truth and a lie all at once.

There was a witch in Pavan.

And whoever they were, wherever they were, they had the Pavan queen.

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About the Author
Cora Carmack is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of New Adult Romance and YA fantasy.  Her books have been translated into more than a dozen languages around the world. Cora lives in Austin, TX, and on any given day you might find her typing away at her computer, flying to various cities around the world, or just watching Netflix with her kitty Katniss and her dog Sherlock. But she can always be found on Twitter and Instagram (@coracarmack), Facebook (www.facebook.com/coracarmackbooks), and her website (www.coracarmack.com).

Faking It - Book Review by Voodoo Bride

Faking It (Losing It #2)
by Cora Carmack

What is it about:
Mackenzie “Max” Miller has a problem. Her parents have arrived in town for a surprise visit, and if they see her dyed hair, tattoos, and piercings, they just might disown her. Even worse, they’re expecting to meet a nice, wholesome boyfriend, not a guy named Mace who has a neck tattoo and plays in a band. All her lies are about to come crashing down around her, but then she meets Cade.

Cade moved to Philadelphia to act and to leave his problems behind in Texas. So far though, he’s kept the problems and had very little opportunity to take the stage. When Max approaches him in a coffee shop with a crazy request to pretend to be her boyfriend, he agrees to play the part. But when Cade plays the role a little too well, they’re forced to keep the ruse going. And the more they fake the relationship, the more real it begins to feel.

What did Voodoo Bride think of it:
Considering that I didn't much care for Cade in Losing It, I was surprised to find that I loved this book more than Losing It.

Cade felt more mature in this book and Max was a perfect fit for him. I very much enjoyed seeing the two of them connect and falling for each other. Max is not an easy character, but she was easy to relate to because of her issues. At some points in the book I feared Cade would be too soft and pliable for her, but luckily he managed to shape up when it was needed.

The tone of this book is a bit more serious than the first book, but there's still lots of fun and fluffy moments. All in all a very enjoyable read.

Why should you read it:
It's an enjoyable New Adult Romance


Buy from bookdepository

Keeping Her - Book Review by Voodoo Bride

Keeping Her (Losing It #1.5)
by Cora Carmack

What is it about:
Garrick Taylor and Bliss Edwards managed to find their happily-ever-after despite a rather . . . ahem . . . complicated start. By comparison, meeting the parents should be an absolute breeze, right?

But from the moment the pair lands in London, new snags just keep cropping up: a disapproving mother-in-law-to-be, more than one (mostly) minor mishap, and the realization that perhaps they aren't quite as ready for their future as they thought.

As it turns out, the only thing harder than finding love is keeping it.

What did Voodoo Bride think of it:
When looking for the next book in this series I noticed this novella. It was less than 4 Euro so I bought it together with the second book in the series.

And this is a nice read.

It's a novella so not a lot is happening, but it is a nice little extra to Bliss' story. There's lots of British ale, meddling family, miscommunication, and a happy end.

All in all a short and fun read for those who want a little bit more Bliss and Garrick after having read Losing It.

Why should you read it:
It's a fun little extra for people who loved Losing It.


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Roar - Book Review

Roar (Stormheart #1)
by Cora Carmack

What is it about:
In a land ruled and shaped by violent magical storms, power lies with those who control them.

Aurora Pavan comes from one of the oldest Stormling families in existence. Long ago, the ungifted pledged fealty and service to her family in exchange for safe haven, and a kingdom was carved out from the wildlands and sustained by magic capable of repelling the world’s deadliest foes. As the sole heir of Pavan, Aurora’s been groomed to be the perfect queen. She’s intelligent and brave and honorable. But she’s yet to show any trace of the magic she’ll need to protect her people.

To keep her secret and save her crown, Aurora’s mother arranges for her to marry a dark and brooding Stormling prince from another kingdom. At first, the prince seems like the perfect solution to all her problems. He’ll guarantee her spot as the next queen and be the champion her people need to remain safe. But the more secrets Aurora uncovers about him, the more a future with him frightens her. When she dons a disguise and sneaks out of the palace one night to spy on him, she stumbles upon a black market dealing in the very thing she lacks—storm magic. And the people selling it? They’re not Stormlings. They’re storm hunters.

Legend says that her ancestors first gained their magic by facing a storm and stealing part of its essence. And when a handsome young storm hunter reveals he was born without magic, but possesses it now, Aurora realizes there’s a third option for her future besides ruin or marriage.

She might not have magic now, but she can steal it if she’s brave enough.

Challenge a tempest. Survive it. And you become its master.

What did I think of it:
I first heard about this book when I was investigating the authors who would be at the Love Letter Convention in Berlin last month. It sounded awesome and when I read the description of the June FairyLoot box I was 90% certain it would have Roar in it. This sounded like a win-win situation for me: Get a box full of cool loot and a book I really wanted to read, so I immediately ordered.

When I was in Berlin I was cheeky enough that I asked Cora Carmack if she could confirm Roar was in the June FairyLoot box, and she did!

So you bet I immediately started on Roar when my box arrived last week. (The rest of the box was totally awesome as well, btw.)

And for once I think this book is certainly worth the hype.

I really liked Aurora. She's had both a sheltered and a hard life, making her both inexperienced at some things, while hardened at other things. I could relate and rooted for her from the start. She really wants to do the right thing, but when she has to choose between what looks like the fast route to a secure future and her own happiness she decides to let her happiness come first.

There are 4 other viewpoint characters if I counted correctly. All were interesting, but some were more likeable than others. There were two viewpoint characters I'm very interested in learning more about. One of those is clearly an ally to Aurora, the other can still go in either direction. It will be interesting to see how both of them develop in the next book.

I loved the world building and the storm hunting. The team of storm hunters that Aurora encounters is a diverse bunch and I liked how they interacted with each other. I hope some of them will get bigger roles in the next book as well.

There's lots of cool action and a bit of romance. I wasn't impressed with the love interest, so for once I'm hoping for some triangly drama to spice things up.

All in all this is a really cool and fun YA Fantasy that ends not in a cliffhanger perse, but it does end in a way that makes me eager for the next book. You bet I'm going to get my grabby trotters on that as soon as it releases.

Why should you read it:
It's an awesome action-packed YA Fantasy read


Buy from bookdepository

Losing It - Book Review by Voodoo Bride

Losing It (Losing It #1)
by Cora Carmack

What is it about:
Sick of being the only virgin among her friends, Bliss Edwards decides the best way to deal with the problem is to lose it as quickly and simply as possible - a one-night stand.

But her plan turns out to be anything but simple when she freaks out and leaves a gorgeous guy alone and naked in her bed with an excuse that no one with half-a-brain would ever believe. And as if that weren't embarrassing enough, when she arrives for her first class of her last college semester, she recognizes her new theatre professor. She'd left him naked in her bed about 8 hours earlier.

What did Voodoo Bride think of it:
We've been looking forward to Cora's YA book Roar, which releases this month. After Sullivan met Cora Carmack in Berlin last month, I decided I had to try one of her New Adult books as well.

And what a fun read!

Bliss is an awkward, but very likeable heroine and I rooted for her while she keeps doing idiotic things on impulse. Her night with Garrick is cringe-worthy, but funny to read. Then she discovers he's the new theatre professor and she has to handle her attraction to him. Throw in a meddling friend, someone with a crush on Bliss, and you have a book full of fun and hilarious events that might lead to a happy end for Bliss.

I think Carmack did a great job on this story. It never got too embarrassing and even though it felt a bit unbelievable at times, it never felt too out of there for me.

After reading this book I'm even more curious about Roar, and I will confess I already ordered Keeping Her, which continues the adventures of Bliss.

Why should you read it:
It's a fun and funny New Adult read.


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