Blog Tour - A Boat Made of Bone by Nicole Grotepas Review & Giveaway

Title: A Boat Made of Bone

Author: Nicole Grotepas

Published: January 13, 2014

Format Read/Pages: eBook/387

How I Acquired It: AToMR Tours

Date Finished: January 31, 2014

Find at: Amazon | B&N | Goodreads 

Kate Miller has been having recurring dreams about the same man . . . a dead man. Will Hawke, to be exact, a celebrity who died long before Kate had any reason to pay attention to celebrities.

While the night-world she enjoys with Will beckons, her waking world has suddenly gotten intriguing. Ty Watts--a guy with looks that could set a thousand housewives free--just walked into her life. He's got a smile and a secret that begs to be found out.

But is Ty a distraction or a savior?

Kate's dreams threaten to take over. She must negotiate the edge of reality, solve the mystery of her nightly rendezvous with Will and either set him free or lose herself forever in the seductively dangerous world he inhabits.

A Boat Made of Bone is a love story that spans worlds, generations, and reaches beyond death into the realm of fantasy. 

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The cover was what captures my attention, but the description was what held it. This was a great start to a series that has a lot of potential to gain momentum as it continues. Grotepas introduces us to a very interesting concept and follows through with an enjoyable story.

I really liked the dynamic between all the characters. They fit well and complimented each other. Audra was a great companion for Kate to have and was one of my favorites. I must say that I would have liked to see more Ty, there is just something about him that I can’t get over. The beginning was a bit slow, but the second half of the story really picked up and held my attention.

Overall, the reading experience was enjoyable and I look forward to the continuation of this saga. 

3 Stars

About the Author

Nicole wrote her first fantasy novel in 7th grade on her mother's old Brother typewriter. It was never finished but it strongly resembled a Dragonlance plot and she's forever wondered what happened to the manuscript and Tonathan--the handsome elven protagonist. After living in Nashville where she worked as an editor, she returned to the Utah desert where she was raised. Nicole now lives near the Wasatch mountains with her husband. She writes and raises her son and three cats full time.

Find her on: Facebook / Goodreads / Pinterest / Google+ / Website 

Make Sure to check out all the stops on the A Boat Made of Bone tour!

Find the tour schedule at AMoTR tours.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you to AToMR tours and Nicole Grotepas for the chance to read and review A Boat made of Bone!

Becoming Alpha by Aileen Erin

Title: Becoming Alpha

Author: Aileen Erin

Published: December 17, 2013

Series?: Alpha Girl #1

Format Read/Pages: eBook/267

How I Acquired It: NetGalley
Date Finished: December 23, 2013

Find at: Amazon | B&N | Goodreads

*This book was provided for free in exchange for an honest review.

Tessa McCaide has a unique talent for getting into trouble. Then again, it isn’t easy for a girl with visions to ignore what she sees. Luckily Tessa and her family are leaving California and moving halfway across the country, giving her the perfect opportunity to leave her reputation as “Freaky Tessa” behind.

But Tessa doesn’t realize that kissing the wrong guy in her new Texas town could land her in far more trouble than she ever imagined. Like being forced to attend St. Ailbe’s Academy, a secret boarding school for werewolves.

Even if the wrong guy did accidentally turn her into one of “them” and doom her to attending the weirdest high school ever, Tessa can’t help her growing attraction to the mysterious Dastien Laurent.

When vampires attack St. Alibe’s and her visions pinpoint an enemy in their midst, Tessa realizes that boy drama and her newfound canine tendencies might just be the least of her problems.

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This review was hard to start. It wasn’t because I did not like the book, I did enjoy it, but there was no wow factor to it. For me, this story was something that I have read in many different forms, but all have the main aspects in common. Becoming Alpha introduces us to a young girl that has problems before meeting a boy that changes her life in a drastic way.

Erin created interesting characters, I actually enjoyed Tessa and the relationship she had with her family. The close bond she has with her brother makes sense in the way that he is always trying to look out for her and shield her from things that will set off her ability. I am pretty sure this is one of the first characters that I have read about that has the ability to see memories through touch, or at least the first in a long while.

Tessa’s interactions with Dastien annoyed me at times. They just felt really generic and clichéd. His actions after infecting her also really made me mad. He knew what he had done, so why didn’t he take her to Dawson right away instead of letting her deal with all the people that will shun her for associating with him.

As the rest of the story unfolds it adds some elements that could have been interesting if they were expanded upon more. I am curious to see how her heritage plays a part in the next book in the series, so I might tune in for that. Overall, it wasn’t a bad read; it had a lot of potential that I think needed to be a bit more developed to make it a great story. 

3 Stars

Books in this series:

1. Becoming Alpha
2. Avoiding Alpha (expected pub. May 2014)

Full Blooded by Amanda Carlson

Title: Full Blooded

Author: Amanda Carlson

Published: September 1, 2012

Series?: Jessica McClain #1

Format Read/Pages: eBook/259

How I Acquired It: NetGalley
Date Finished: December 17, 2013

Born the only female in an all male race, Jessica McClain isn’t just different—she’s feared.

After living under the radar for the last twenty-six years, Jessica is thrust unexpectedly into her first change, a full ten years late. She wakes up and finds she’s in the middle of a storm. Now that she’s become the only female full-blooded werewolf in town, the supernatural world is already clamoring to take a bite out of her and her new Pack must rise up and protect her.

But not everyone is on board. The werewolf Rights of Laws is missing text and the superstitious werewolves think that Jessica means an end to their race. It doesn’t help when Jessica begins to realize she’s more. She can change partway and hold her form, and speak directly to her wolf. But the biggest complication by far is that her alpha father can't control her like he can the rest of his wolves.

When a mercenary who’s been hired by the vampires shows up to extract information about the newly turned werewolf only days after her change, they find themselves smack in the middle of a war and there's no choice but to run together. When it’s up to Jessica to negotiate her release against her father’s direct orders, she chooses to take an offer for help instead. In exchange, Jessica must now swear an oath she may end up repaying with her life.

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I am a sucker for urban fantasy. I try and limit myself on how many I read at any given time so I do not tire myself of them. Full Blooded was one of the best UF stories I have read in a long while. I really, really enjoyed it.

Carlson created characters that were well developed and fit together. Jess was a really likable character, while it would have been easy to create a female werewolf that came off as too tough or too dependent; there was a good balance between vulnerability and strength. Normal clichés were avoided by having Jess be the daughter of the pack alpha, where as many authors would have had her as the mate. To me, this gives a whole new range of conflicts and problems, that move away from the usual, you are my mate, no other man may look at you, type stuff.

The world that was fleshed out was a very interesting one in the fact that it introduced us to many different types of supernatural without being overwhelming in any sense. There was mention of a number of different groups, while some were not explored in any depth, it left possibilities open for the future. We got to meet quite a few different supernaturals, but I never felt that I was being bombarded with names and descriptions and had an easy time keeping them all separated. I also really enjoyed the dichotomy between Jess and her wolf. It was handled in a very believable way; most boys go through puberty with their wolves giving them time to make the necessary adjustments, it would definitely be harder to develop a working relationship with another being, which happens to be in your head, later on in your adult life. There was a balance between the two that worked in the story and I would be interested in seeing how that develops.

The story that Amanda Carlson gave us was a great way to start a series. Interesting characters, fast paced action, and budding romance will definitely have me reading farther into this adventure. 

4 Stars

Current Releases in the Jessica McClain Series:

1. Full Blooded
2. Hot Blooded
3. Cold Blooded
4. Red Blooded *to be released 2014