Meet the Professor!

Hi, book buddies ☺ I want to tell you about an addictive new series. You won't be able to stop reading once you meet professor Maximus Kane in Blood of Zeus. He's heaven and sin all rolled into one hot man.

http://bloodofzeus.com/

 AN ANCIENT GRUDGE.

 A FORBIDDEN LOVE.

What is this beauty about?

The only thing worse than being a demon is being a Valari. As an undergraduate at Los Angeles’s Alameda University, Kara Valari can sometimes succeed at forgetting she’s both. Lost between the pages of the classics and tucked into the shadows of lecture halls, she can dodge the paparazzi’s lenses as well as her family’s publicized dramas—not to mention their private expectations. She has one more year to feed her true passions. Then she’ll be expected to fulfill a much darker destiny.

Cursed with inexplicable strength and god-like stature, literature professor Maximus Kane knows all about darkness. Every day he’s reminded of the missteps of his childhood and the devastating consequences they’ve had on those dearest to him. To atone, Maximus spends his nights alone and his days submerged in the quiet life of academia. His existence has become a study in control, and he’s become a master at it—until Kara Valari walks into his toughest course.

Viscerally, Kara’s everything he craves. Logically, she’s everything he rejects. She’s a starlet of privilege. She’s also a student. And after one touch, he can’t deny that she’s awakened something in him that may never go dormant. Nothing about her makes sense, but everything about her feels right. Especially in the deepest strands of his DNA, which are still shadows of mystery to him—a mystery Kara seems determined to uncover.

She’s Hollywood royalty. She’s forbidden fruit. And he’s pretty sure she could be the answer to everything. 

MY OPINION 

Epic romance! If the cover isn’t enough to tempt you, the forbidden love story inside will surely conquer you.

Luxurious power, endless wealth and notorious family name all compete to bestow a dark legend around Kara Valari. Not even the fires in hell can drag her away from her fascination for literature professor Maximus Kane. A man, but not just a mortal man. And the tragedy is born.

So very exciting!

This is a beautiful romance forged in mythology, tormented souls, sectarian traditions, and fate. The atmosphere blends modern luxury, ancient mysticism and a paranormal biology with a lust that vibrates through the pages.

The characters bring sophisticated talks about Dante and Hell to their dance of seduction. The pull and push of mind-blowing chemistry and untapped dangers play its magic in scenes where the couple challenges and tempts each other. They are fighting their fiery desire while attempting to decipher their connection, his foggy origins, and her mafia-like family.

The result is addictive. I really can't say what I enjoyed the most. The arousing buildup of impossible intimacy? The nagging secrets about the characters' mysterious identities? Maybe the horrible, yet darkly erotic fate that awaits Kara as her biblical duty? That Lucifer look alike was my undoing :-D

When Maximus and Kara finally succumb to their passion it is truly a moment of tempestuous bliss. True scorcher! That cliffhanger in the end is a portal to a veritable source of devilish plots that I am eager to explore. Bring the underworld on!

PAPERBACKS

AMAZON PAPERBACK

BARNES & NOBLE

BOOKS A MILLION

INDIE BOUND

EBOOKS

AMAZON KINDLE

NOOK

APPLE BOOKS

GOOGLE PLAY

KOBO

THE REST OF THE SERIES

I can’t wait for book 2! 

💕

Enjoy your reading time 😘 

Moonlight Scandals is a worthy finale

Hi, book buddies :-) Happy Monday!

Finally! Jennifer L. Armentrout delivers a fantastic and eery finale to the de Vincents paranormal romance series. And it is gooooooood ;-)

MY OPINION

Since the three de Vincent brothers appeared in the first novel in this series, I've wanted to read Devlin's story. He seems to be so cold and aloof that I wanted to learn what made him tick and what lurked beneath his immaculate exterior ;-) Perfectly handsome, eerily frightening...

Now, the female character, Rosie, is no wilted flower. She can face a storm and tame it. The exchanges between them are never dull. Far from that, they are fiery, funny, and promising. They grow in intensity until it seems there is an inferno of lust and wit flaring up. Magnificent!

Dev shows a new side to him. The imposing head of the family is hiding, and protecting, many secrets, and I loved finding out about them and his real reasons for his hard-hearted attitude.

Accordingly, that provokes some misunderstandings and hot/cold encounters with the sassy, smart, no-nonsense-from-men Rosie which I relished to the point of good out-loud-laughs.

The romantic relationship wraps itself around a convoluted, disquieting plot of suspense, ghost and paranormal investigation, family secrets and trust issues. It is a slow unraveling of terrible crimes that affect the three brothers in the de Vincent family that's deeply rooted in the city of New Orleans. The couple's relationship is quite complicated, but I couldn't fathom all the dark, depraved surprises that would start popping up at the climax of the novel. Shocking is an understatement! :-D

It's a spectacular finale for a very interesting series.

Rosie's job as a paranormal activity hunter is professionally presented. I loved her snark and her strong chemistry with this man who carries so much weight on his shoulders.

I loved that after a gripping resolution to the secrets (though I never understood why the evil guy went there at that particular time), they had a beautifully romantic epilogue. Good read!

Favourite quotes:

Devlin kissed like a man staking a claim, like someone who'd never had the luxury of doing so before.

Being with Rosie was a revolution of the soul.

Moonlight Scandals: 

a de Vincent novel 

from New York Times bestselling author 

Jennifer L. Armentrout 

is available now!

It takes a fearless woman to love the most scandalous man alive in New York Times Bestselling Author Jennifer L. Armentrout’s breathtaking novel

Even a ghost hunter like Rosie Herpin couldn’t have foreseen the fateful meeting between two mourners that has brought her so intimately close to the notorious and seductive Devlin de Vincent. Everyone in New Orleans knows he’s heir to a dark family curse that both frightens and enthralls. To the locals, Devlin is the devil. To Rosie, he’s a man who’s stoking her wildest fantasies. When a brutal attack on her friend is linked to the de Vincents, he becomes a mystery she may be risking her life to solve.

Devlin knows what he wants from this sexy and adventurous woman. But what does Rosie want from him? It’s a question that becomes more pressing—and more dangerous—when he suspects her of prying into the shadows of his past.

Now, the legends surrounding the de Vincents may not be myths at all. 

But if she’s to discover the truth, she must follow them straight into the arms of the man she can’t resist—the handsome devil himself

Download your copy today!

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AppleBooks: https://apple.co/2PMZV4I

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Audible: https://amzn.to/2G09OGW

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Enjoy an excerpt:

Rosie needed to get going. She’d promised to help her friend Nikki move today, so it was time to head back to her apartment, get changed, and be a good friend for the day. She leaned— A soft, swift curse jerked her head up. Normally, she didn’t hear a ton of cursing in a cemetery. Usually things were quite quiet. A faint grin tugged at her lips. Cursing and cemeteries typically did not go hand in hand. She scanned the narrow path to her right and didn’t see anything. Leaning back, she looked to her left and found the source. A man knelt on one knee with his back to her as he picked up flowers that had fallen into a puddle left by the recent rainstorm. Even from where she sat, she could see that whatever delicate bouquet he’d carried was ruined. Placing a hand over her eyes, she squinted in the sunlight as she watched the man rise. He was dressed as if he’d come straight from work. Dark trousers paired with a fitted white dress shirt. The sleeves were rolled up to the elbows, revealing tan forearms. 

It was late September and New Orleans was still circling the seventh level of hot, currently as humid as Satan’s balls in the afternoon, so she figured if she was close to dying in her black dress, he had to be minutes away from stripping off the shirt. Still standing with his back to her, he stared down at the ruined flowers. His shoulders were tense as he turned in the other direction. His pace was brisk as he took the flowers over to an old oak tree festooned with Spanish moss. There was a small trash can there, one of the very few in the entire cemetery. He tossed the flowers and then pivoted, quickly disappearing down one of the numerous lanes. Oh man, that sucked. Feeling for the guy, she sprang into action. 

Carefully, she pulled half of the stems free and then leaned forward, placing the remaining in the vase in front of her Herpin tomb. She picked up her keys and as she rose, she slid her purple- framed sunglasses on. Hurrying down the worn path with patchy grass, she turned down the lane she’d seen the guy go down. Luck was on her side, because she saw him near the pyramid tomb. He hung a right there, and feeling a wee bit like a stalker, she trailed behind him. Of course, she could yell out to him and just hand him the other half of the peonies, but shouting at a stranger in a cemetery just seemed wrong. Shouting in a cemetery at all felt like something her mother would side- eye her over. And no one side- eyed quite like her mother. The man made another turn and then stepped out of her line of sight. Holding on to the flowers, she walked passed a tomb with a large cross and then her steps slowed. She found him. 

  He was standing before a massive mausoleum, one guarded by two beautifully erected weeping angels, and he was just standing there, as still as those angels, his arms stiff at his sides and his hands closed. She took a step for- ward as her gaze drifted to the name on the mausoleum. de Vincent. Her eyes widened and she blurted out, “Holy baby llama.” The man twisted at the waist, and Rosie was suddenly standing within mere feet of the Devil. . That was what the gossip magazines called him. That was what most of her family called him. Rosie liked to refer to him as in her wildest dreams.

Start the Series Today!

Moonlight Sins (de Vincent series, book 1)

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2v8VLen

AppleBooks: http://bit.ly/MoonlightSins-iBooks

Amazon Worldwide: https://mybook.to/moonlightsins

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2EHHQLQ

Nook: http://bit.ly/MoonlightSins-Nook

Audible: http://amzn.to/2DJB1JZ

ABOUT THE MASTERMIND

# 1 New York Times and # 1 International Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Charles Town, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki. 

In early 2015, Jennifer was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a group of rare genetic disorders that involve a breakdown and death of cells in the retina, eventually resulting in loss of vision, among other complications. Due to this diagnosis, educating people on the varying degrees of blindness has become of passion of hers, right alongside writing, which she plans to do as long as she can. Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. 

Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Tor, HarperCollins Avon and William Morrow, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her Wicked Series has been optioned by PassionFlix. Jennifer has won numerous awards, including the 2013 Reviewers Choice Award for Wait for You, the 2015 Editor’s Pick for Fall With Me, and the 2014/2015 Moerser-Jugendbuch- Jury award for Obsidian. Her young adult romantic suspense novel DON’T LOOK BACK was a 2014 nominated Best in Young Adult Fiction by YALSA. Her adult romantic suspense novel TILL DEATH was a Amazon Editor’s Pick and iBook Book of the Month. 

Her young adult contemporary THE PROBLEM WITH FOREVER is a 2017 RITA Award Winner in Young Adult Fiction. She also writes Adult and New Adult contemporary and paranormal romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins. She is the owner of ApollyCon and The Origin Event, the successful annual events that features over hundred bestselling authors in Young Adult, New Adult, and Adult Fiction, panels, parties, and more. She is also the creator and sole financier of the annual Write Your Way To RT Book Convention, a contest that gives aspiring authors a chance to win a fully paid trip to RT Book Reviews.

Connect with Jennifer L. Armentrout

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JenniferLArmentrout

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JLArmentrout

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifer_l_armentrout/

GoodReads: http://bit.ly/1DiIjRa

Stay up to date with Jennifer by joining her mailing list today: https://bit.ly/2qBce5m

https://jenniferlarmentrout.com

Are you on Instagram? :-)

@babelreader

Who is this Prince?

I'm happy to say that Jennifer L. Armentrout is once again visiting my blog ;-) This time, in a small portion, as THE PRINCE is a wicked novella.

 

From #1 New York Times Bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout, 

comes THE PRINCE, 

a new novella in her Wicked Series, 

brought to you by 1,001 Dark Nights! 

 

From #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout comes a new story in her Wicked series…

She’s everything he wants….

Cold. Heartless. Deadly. Whispers of his name alone bring fear to fae and mortals alike. The Prince. There is nothing in the mortal world more dangerous than him. Haunted by a past he couldn’t control, all Caden desires is revenge against those who’d wronged him, trapping him in never-ending nightmare. And there is one person he knows can help him.

She’s everything he can’t have…

Raised within the Order, Brighton Jussier knows just how dangerous the Prince is, reformed or not. She’d seen firsthand what atrocities he could be capable of. The last thing she wants to do is help him, but he leaves her little choice. Forced to work alongside him, she begins to see the man under the bitter ice. Yearning for him feels like the definition of insanity, but there’s no denying the heat in his touch and the wicked promise is his stare.

She’s everything he’ll take….

But there’s someone out there who wants to return the Prince to his former self. A walking, breathing nightmare that is hell bent on destroying the world and everyone close to him. The last thing either of them needs is a distraction, but with the attraction growing between them each now, the one thing he wants more than anything may be the one thing that will be his undoing.

She’s everything he’d die for….

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Amazon Canada

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MY OPINION 

The Wicked world is wicked entrancing. 

I found the suspense story around the fae people's current situation very engaging and conducted in a detectivesque-like manner. It piqued my interest in all the protocols, politics, past transgressions and facts surrounding the interaction between the summer court and the humans. 

The world - building traps the imagination with its realism. The preternatural war still affects coexistence in this mixed-species society in New Orleans. Survivors deal with feelings of loss and hatred both in the Order that protects humans from evil fae and among the fae from the summer court. They harbour heroes and villains alike which gives depth and danger to the atmosphere. 

The main character is a resilient woman, still reeling from tragic attacks from this fae race eerily similar to vampires. She's smart, driven, fights fiercely, and is relatably portrayed thanks to the sardonic writing style. While she seeks revenge on one thing, she finds herself seeking justice for another, crossing paths with a charismatic prince of the fae. So sensually charged! I melted with their intimate scenes. 

The kick-ass heroine on a personal mission, the very teasing and intriguing encounters with the handsome prince combine with sacrifice, devious secrets, maniacal action and forbidden caresses. I fell under the spell of a prince whose touch ignites passion in a woman who's been wrongly overlooked. 

Very enjoyable. Now, though, it's pain time because of that shocking cliffhanger. Where is my next dose of wicked?

     

   

TRAILER!!

 

THERE IS A TOUR!

Be sure to visit everyone ;-)

Tour Schedule:

August 15^th

A Beautiful Book Obsession – Review

Besties, Books & Sunshine – Review & Excerpt

TheReadingRealtor – Review & Excerpt

Crazy Love 4 Books – Review & Excerpt

Garden of REden – Review

JordansBookReviews – Excerpt

Literaria – Review

Read-Love-Blog – Excerpt

Stuck In Books – Review & Excerpt

What's Your Story Reviews – Review & Excerpt

The Cover Contessa – Excerpt

August 16^th

A Sky Filled with Sparkling Stars – Excerpt

Blushing babes are up all night – Review

Books & Other Pursuits – Excerpt

ClaryNathanWill – Review & Excerpt

East Coast Book Chicks – Review & Excerpt

I Smell Sheep – Excerpt

Krystal Loves Books – Review & Excerpt

Perpetual Fangirl – Review & Excerpt

Readers Live A Thousand Lives – Excerpt

Red Hot + Blue Reads – Review & Excerpt

Zili In The Sky – Review

August 17^th

Ali’s Reviews and More – Review & Excerpt

Books are My Life – Review & Excerpt

Desperately Seeking HEA’s Book Blog – Review & Excerpt

K-Books – Review

Little Red Reading Hood – Review

Reads All the Books – Review & Excerpt

Then There Were Books – Excerpt

Words are Life – Excerpt

Cocktails and Books – Review & Excerpt

August 18^th

a GREAT read – Review & Excerpt

Book Angel Booktopia – Review & Excerpt

Cinta Garcia de la Rosa – Excerpt

Greyland Reviews – Review & Excerpt

Lisa Loves Literature – Review & Excerpt

Nose Stuck in a Book – Review & Excerpt

Simply Crystal – Excerpt

The Cozy Reading Corner – Excerpt

The Fancy Nerds – Review & Excerpt

August 19^th

Alphas Do It Better Book Blog – Review & Excerpt

Becky on Books – Review & Excerpt

Declarations of a Fangirl – Review & Excerpt

Kiss and Tell Book Blog – Review & Excerpt

Literary Misfit – Excerpt

Reese's Reviews – Review & Excerpt

Saga Lux Spain – Review & Excerpt

The Phantom Paragrapher – Review

Vera is Reading – Excerpt

August 20^th

A Chick, Her A Dog and A Blog – Review & Excerpt

Books 2 Blog – Review & Excerpt

FOUR CHICKS FLIPPING PAGES – Review & Excerpt

Ginreads – Review

Incidental Inspiration – Review & Excerpt

JOJO THE BOOKAHOLIC – Review & Excerpt

Lo’s Lo-Down on Books – Review

The Blonde Book Lover – Review & Excerpt

Wicked Reads – Review & Excerpt

YA FANTASY WORLDS – Review & Excerpt

August 21^st

A Fortress of Books – Review & Excerpt

Book Bite Reviews – Review & Excerpt

Friends Till The End Book Blog – Excerpt

Julalicious Book Paradise – Excerpt

Kalli's Book Nook – Review & Excerpt

Milky Way of Books – Excerpt

Nerdy Soul – Review & Excerpt

Onceupon_a_bookdream – Review & Excerpt

Ruby's Books – Excerpt

Take Me Away To A Great Read – Excerpt

August 22^nd

3 degrees of fiction – Excerpt

All Things Dark & Dirty – Review & Excerpt

Book Butterfly in Dreamland – Review

Jax's Book Magic – Excerpt

Love Between The Sheets – Review

Reading Between the Wines Book Club – Review & Excerpt

The Bo0ki3 – Excerpt

The Heathers' Blog – Review & Excerpt

Travels N Reads – Excerpt

What's Beyond Forks? – Review & Excerpt

August 23^rd

A British Bookworm's Blog – Review

Book Crook Reviews – Excerpt

Book Enticer – Review & Excerpt

Dark Faerie Tales – Review & Excerpt

KsiążkowaPasja – Review

Literary Dust – Review & Excerpt

Mama Reads Blog – Review & Excerpt

Pages to Explore – Excerpt

The Book Dutchesses – Review & Excerpt

August 24^th

Alpha Omega & In Between – Review

Book Mania – Review & Excerpt

Buttercup’s Book Blog – Review & Excerpt

Cupcakesandbookshelves – Review & Excerpt

Fictionally Sam – Review & Excerpt

Never Sleep Book Blog – Excerpt

Ramblings From This Chick – Excerpt

Romance Schmomance – Review & Excerpt

SA Clayton – Excerpt

The Lux Fangirl – Review & Excerpt

    About Jennifer L. Armentrout: # 1 New York Times, USA Today and international bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki. Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her book Obsidian has been optioned for a major motion picture and her Covenant Series has been optioned for TV. She also writes adult and New Adult romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.   

Website | Facebook | Twitter

   

Thank you for spending your time with me, book buddies :-)

Paranormal dark romance that sizzles with power and sensuality

Hey, book buddies :-)  Are you crying over a summer gone or are you eager for all the new books coming our way? I think I'm both!

Today I'd like to share one of the latest books I've read. It's the second book in the Ryze series, a paranormal dark romance like you've never seen before.

Blood Stained Tranquility

Series: Ryze #2

Author: N. Isabelle Blanco

Genre: Paranormal Romance/Erotica

Release Date: August 28, 2017
ADD TO GOODREADS

Evesse 

Five weeks ago, my best friend was abducted. A sacrifice for the God of Lust.
It wasn’t the beginning of her end . . . it turned out to be the beginning of mine.
I’ve been brought back from the dead.
Only to be condemned to die once more.
I’ve awakened to find myself mated to Zeniel, the God of Tranquility. But, no. That isn’t who he is anymore.
I’m so vile that simply meeting me tore out the most primal, dark force inside him.
He’s a demon.
A mythical monster.
An indiscriminate killer.
He’s made to destroy the entire fucking world . . . and I’d give anything to have him. 

Zeniel 

Within the red and black shadows of doom, all I see are my victims. The sinners I need to destroy.
And her.
Always her.
I want to despise her for what her past did to me. A single look into her eyes and the creature trapped inside me broke free.
You see, I’m a fucking sham. A pretender. I wasn’t born as Zeniel, God of Tranquility.
I was born as Mavrak, the war demon God of Vengeance.
He killed millions across the dimensions once.
To avenge and protect her, he’ll destroy millions once again.
For her, I’ll let my powers of Tranquility die in a maelstrom of blood . . .
Even if it means killing everyone else that I love.  

MY OPINION

Terrible Gods, cosmic forces and relentless, consuming passion align in this second book in a series that devours the reader's mind.

The writing is as complex and rich as the relationships between the Gods and the universal energies at play. Sometimes is a bit convoluted, tending to be obscure or obsessive about the same predicament. On the other hand, it reflects really well the characters' inner struggle, the power of their suffering, and the stormy inevitability of their desires.

The main female character, Evesse, has to deal with the monstrous aftermath of the traumatizing final event in the previous book, where she was the friend of the main character there. Even though she and her mated, frenzied dual God of Tranquility aka the God of Vengeance lead the story, there are other characters whose torment and lovers in the making are equally strong and appealing.

Animalistic, violent lust rages through the pages. And it's awesome! :-D Though there is a lot going on among the gods. They banter, they reminisce past wrongs and future fears, they flaunt their dark beauty. Brutal in their natures, they battle their vicious side with ferocious displays of power. On the down side, the plot doesn't seem to have a specific purpose most of the time. It's just a bunch of things happening to a bunch of old and new friends who happen to be Gods. On the bright side, it's wildly imaginative as complex immortals fight, evolve, materialize, love, hate and suffer in a haze of fate and lust. I particularly liked how Eve and Zen have to deal with the most frightening side of themselves in order to be together. Their fierce lovemaking was epic in all ways :-D

Exotic Gods, painfully tested mating bonds, monstrous beasts, apocalyptic war and slyly orchestrated plans by a seeress mingle breathlessly in this paranormal dark romance. It's a pity the ending comes so abruptly, but there's always hope for the third book.

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

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Also Available

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BOOKS2READ


About the mastermind

N. Isabelle Blanco is the Amazon Bestselling Author of the Allure Series, the Need Series with K.I. Lynn, and many others. At the age of three, due to an odd fascination with studying her mother’s handwriting, she began to read and write. By the time she’d reached kindergarten, she had an extensive vocabulary and her obsession with words began to bleed into every aspect of her life.

That is, until coffee came a long and took over everything else.

Nowadays, N. spends most of her days surviving the crazy New York rush and arguing with her characters every ten minutes or so, all in the hopes of one day getting them under control.

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Giveaway Time

a Rafflecopter giveaway

As always, thank you to GIVE ME BOOKS for all the materials for the tour.

Good luck, book buddies :-)

A spell-binding romance of art, mystery and war

I highly, whole-heartedly recommend this gorgeous historical and paranormal romance that entices the mind and the senses, and the heart too! THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF STONES, by M. J. Rose, can be read as a stand-alone, though it ties in with the first book in the series.

THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF STONES is a stunning historical gothic romantic suspense published by Atria, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, releasing on July 19^th. Written to be a total and complete standalone novel, THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF STONES is the second title in M.J. Rose’s The Daughters of La Lune Series. Sexy, compelling, and seductive, be sure to grab your copy today!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | IndieBound

As World War I rages and the Romanov dynasty reaches its sudden, brutal end, a young jewelry maker discovers love, passion, and her own healing powers in this rich and romantic ghost story, the perfect follow-up to M.J. Rose’s “brilliantly crafted” (Providence Journal) novel The Witch of Painted Sorrows.
Nestled within Paris’s historic Palais Royal is a jewelry store unlike any other. La Fantasie Russie is owned by Pavel Orloff, protégé to the famous Faberge, and is known by the city’s fashion elite as the place to find the rarest of gemstones and the most unique designs. But war has transformed Paris from a city of style and romance to a place of fear and mourning. In the summer of 1918, places where lovers used to walk, widows now wander alone.
So it is from La Fantasie Russie’s workshop that young, ambitious Opaline Duplessi now spends her time making trench watches for soldiers at the front, as well as mourning jewelry for the mothers, wives, and lovers of those who have fallen. People say that Opaline’s creations are magical. But magic is a word Opaline would rather not use. The concept is too closely associated with her mother Sandrine, who practices the dark arts passed down from their ancestor La Lune, one of sixteenth century Paris’s most famous courtesans.
But Opaline does have a rare gift even she can’t deny, a form of lithomancy that allows her to translate the energy emanating from stones. Certain gemstones, combined with a personal item, such as a lock of hair, enable her to receive messages from beyond the grave. In her mind, she is no mystic, but merely a messenger, giving voice to soldiers who died before they were able to properly express themselves to loved ones. Until one day, one of these fallen soldiers communicates a message—directly to her.
So begins a dangerous journey that will take Opaline into the darkest corners of wartime Paris and across the English Channel, where the exiled Romanov dowager empress is waiting to discover the fate of her family. Full of romance, seduction, and a love so powerful it reaches beyond the grave, The Secret Language of Stones is yet another “spellbindingly haunting” (Suspense magazine), “entrancing read that will long be savored” (Library Journal, starred review).

 

MY OPINION

I'm so happy when I find such an intriguing story.

Beautifully written and evocative, it fills the reader with the strange desire to experience thet fateful magic that animates the heroine's life. I love to travel through space and time in books. This one has transported to a France ridden with the grief of war, the mystifying echo of esoteric powers and the seduction of the arts.

Last year, I read The Witch of Painted Sorrows, and I was fascinated. Art, esoteric mysteries, Paris, a romance as passionate and transcending as La Lune, the ancient spirit of a witch who possess Sandrine and teachers her about darkness and light. Naturally, I was trembling with excitement over reading about Sandrine's daughter, Opaline, and her own venture into the mystic unknown of her own powers.

There are so many wondrous things I love about this story. Paris is both atmospheric and forlorn, steeped in the throes of the Great War and its many ugly creatures. Art and beauty abound in the description of places, streets, jewels, rooms and churches. All that envelopes a plot of historical gravitas where Russian expatriates mourn the fall of the Tsar, German spies are feared in the city of Paris, women take up jobs vacant by their men at war or buried.

The author has a melancholic, rich voice that breathes life into this tale of haunted romance, loneliness, guilt a legacy of magic and a period of time in turmoil that feels ever present.

I've learned about many enlightening subjects like how soldiers coped with disfigurement when they came back from battle, or the intricacies of Opaline's work with gems and metals at the jewelry shop. I confess I quickly became fascinated by the inner workings of her magic, and I wanted as much ghostly interaction with Jean Luc as possible.

My heart actually fluttered at the incredible adventure Opaline lives at the end. Suspense, Russian politics, betrayal and magic, and a sorrowful yet deeply romantic and hopeful conclusion that left me a little breathless.

What a beauty!

Favourite Quote: 

Every soul requires secret places for contemplation as well as open spaces for celebration.

M.J. Rose’sTHE SECRET LANGUAGE OF STONES – Review & Excerpt Tour Schedule:

July 11th

What the Cat Read – Excerpt

Deluged with Books Cafe – Review & Excerpt

Fiction Adventures – Excerpt

July 12^th

Mes Livres – Review

Adventures in Writing – Excerpt

The Book Hammock – Review & Excerpt

July 13^th

Hart's Romance Pulse – Excerpt

Penny For My Thoughts – Review

Socially Awkward Book Nerd – Excerpt

Novel Addiction – Excerpt

July 14^th

Brooke Blogs – Excerpt

Vagabonda Reads – Review & Excerpt

I Read Indie – Excerpt

July 15^th

Zach's YA Reviews – Review

A Brit and a Yank – Excerpt

The Book Sirens – Excerpt

Sassy Moms Say Read Romance – Review

July 16^th

Roxy's Reviews – Excerpt

Gaga Over Books – Review & Excerpt

Kick Back & Review – Excerpt

July 17^th

Only One More Page – Excerpt

Fly Away on the Wings of a Book – Review & Excerpt

July 18^th

Okie Dreams Book Reviews – Review & Excerpt

KT Book Reviews – Excerpt

Vampire Book Club – Excerpt

July 19^th

Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews – Review

Romance Book Nerd – Excerpt

Rachel's Rambles – Review & Excerpt

July 20^th

My Fictional Escape – Excerpt

Literaria – Review

Mama Reads Hazel Sleeps – Excerpt

July 21^st

WTF Are You Reading? – Review & Excerpt

Julalicious Book Paradise – Excerpt

Love Affair With Fiction – Review & Excerpt

July 22^nd

G & T's Indie Café – Excerpt

Rebel Heart Bookshelf – Review & Excerpt

With Love for Books – Review

BCS reviews – Review & Excerpt

   

Read an excerpt :o)

Regret isn’t like grief; it never lessens, just stays the same. A little hard ball in the pit of your stomach.”

What do you have to regret?

 “A boy went off to war, and all he wanted was my promise to wait for him.”

You didn’t give it?

“No.”

Why?

“I should have, even if I didn’t love him. Realized he needed me and it wouldn’t hurt me to just tell him. But I didn’t love him. Not the way you wrote about love in your column. A grand love, you wrote. Did you have a love that grand?” I asked him.

No. I never did. Did you?

“No, and I wouldn’t want to. It would be too painful if it failed.”

But to experience it once—even if it is painful—don’t you think it would be worth it? Wouldn’t you want to know what that kind of intensity is like? Wouldn’t you want to feel that deeply?

“I don’t think most people can. Not the way I imagine it.”

Tell me what you imagine.

Leaning over, I shut off the light. If we were going to have a complete conversation, it wouldn’t be as peculiar in the darkness. I’d be less conscious of the empty room.

“I wouldn’t think it happens easily or often. Never for some people. I imagine a love like that is like a fire . . . starting with a spark and growing into a blaze . . . becoming an engulfing passion too hot for most people to withstand.”

But don’t you think a passion that strong would last? Even as glowing embers. Always illuminating the blackness. Always giving some warmth in the cold.

“It seems so tragic to me, but you make it sound wonderful.”

And it would be . . . to always possess the memory of what was possible. Of what could be. Tell me, what do you think it takes to make that first spark?

“What does it take to make a grain of sand become a pearl? They say the sand is an irritant. Maybe love starts that way too. You’re alone in yourself and then meet someone who upsets your balance, who you can’t quite explain away or put in a comfortable place. Someone who shakes your very soul. Who has ideas that jar you and make you think. Who does more than understand you, who understands what you need.”

Who shakes your soul. That’s lovely.

The warmth around my shoulders slipped down my back. Encircled my waist. I’d been kissed before, often enough by Timur, by Grigori, but Jean Luc’s kiss wasn’t like theirs. It began dancing on my lips, pressing on my mouth, and at the same time on my breasts and then at the same time between my legs. Creating sensations all over my body in the same instant. I became the spark about to combust. I smelled his scent of pungent limes, verbena, and myrrh. So intoxicating, at once forbidden and teasing. Like the ghost who now lay on top of me, beckoning me to slide into his dark embrace and get lost within sensation.

Don’t Miss the First Book in The Daughters of La Lune Series, THE WITCH OF PAINTED SORROWS!

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ABOUT THE MASTERMIND

New York Times Bestseller, M.J. Rose grew up in New York City mostly in the labyrinthine galleries of the Metropolitan Museum, the dark tunnels and lush gardens of Central Park and reading her mother’s favorite books before she was allowed. She believes mystery and magic are all around us but we are too often too busy to notice… books that exaggerate mystery and magic draw attention to it and remind us to look for it and revel in it.

Rose’s work has appeared in many magazines including Oprah Magazine and she has been featured in the New York Times, Newsweek, WSJ, Time, USA Today and on the Today Show, and NPR radio. Rose graduated from Syracuse University, spent the ’80s in advertising, has a commercial in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC and since 2005 has run the first marketing company for authors – Authorbuzz.com

The television series PAST LIFE, was based on Rose’s novels in the Reincarnationist series. She is one of the founding board members of International Thriller Writers and currently serves, with Lee Child, as the organization’s co-president.

Rose lives in CT with her husband the musician and composer, Doug Scofield, and their very spoiled and often photographed dog, Winka.

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Daughter of La Lune Pendant
 Giveaway!

We're celebrating the release of THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF STONES by giving away a beautiful Daughter of La Lune pendant. Designed by Cadsawan Jewelry, the silver pendant contains a labradorite, a magical stone excellent for awakening one's own awareness of inner spirit, intuition, and psychic abilities.

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Good luck, book buddies :o)