Book review: Beyond Ruin by Kit Rocha + GIVEAWAY

 Title: Beyond Ruin
Author: Kit Rocha (aka Moria Rodgers or Bree & Donna)
Series: Beyond #7
Genre: Dystopian/Romance
Source: eARC from author

Description: The sectors will never be the same...
Adrian Maddox fled his royal life—and tragic past—in Sector One, choosing instead to join up with the O’Kanes. For years, he’s lived by one rule: love fast, love hard, and always be willing to walk away. He’s managed to guard his heart, keep it whole and untouched—until now.
They couldn’t be more different—Dylan, the brilliant, burned-out doctor from Eden who drowns his pain with drugs and self-destruction. Scarlet, the sensuous, sexy rocker from Three, a woman unafraid to embrace the world. And Jade, the whore turned spy from Sector Two, who battled addiction and came out stronger than anyone he’s ever met.
Separately, they make Mad long to open his heart, to tumble head-first into a sea of possibilities and wild love. Together, they make him burn, inside and out, with lust and unbearable, unimaginable pleasure.
Then one fateful moment shakes their world to its foundations—and leaves the sectors on the verge of all-out war with Eden. It’s the biggest fight the O’Kanes have ever faced, and Mad and his lovers are at the dead center of it. They could end up with everything they never knew they wanted—or lose it all. Including their lives.

My thoughts: A dystopian future, political intrigue, lots of sex, and a happily ever after - what more could you ask for in a story? And Kit Rocha delivers that with every single book in the series.

The political posturing and scheming has been a growing issue in the past few books but in Beyond Ruin it really comes in to front and centre. As part of one of the strongest groups in the Sectors, Mad, Scarlet, Dylan and Jade will join the other O'Kanes in playing a critical role in what happens next, now that Eden is drawing lines in the sand.

Four people trying to figure out how to love each other was always going to be complicated and messy so it seems fitting that it takes place against a background of the first volleys of open war. While I found it interesting to see them figure out how they all fitted together (figuratively and literally!) I had two favourite overarching things in this book: how the four of them grew individually and getting to see more of the other Sectors. Jade was my favourite, stepping up and pushing forward to find a version of herself that she knows she can be, trying to embrace all of her past and make it into a good future, for herself and those around her. But Scarlet was also a favourite, being one of the quieter ones in the background, more of the glue holding other people together and with all the doubts which can come with holding that sort of position. And then there is Mad, one step away from the throne of Sector One, forced to spend a lot of time in Beyond Ruin looking at why he's running so hard away from any ties there and the status his family have there as religious leaders as well as sector leaders. There's a fascinating world in Sector One and this book gives the most detailed picture of it so far. (There's just two more books left in the Beyond series, then Kit Rocha will write a spin-off series, set in Sector One - there are several characters introduced in this book who I can't wait to get to know better in that new series.)

Decisions are made early on in Beyond Ruin which decisively bring the O'Kanes onto a path against the rulers of Eden. Then when you think you're starting to guess where things might lead, something else happens, forcing the hands of the sector leaders. Then something else. My favourite twist came near the end - yes, there's something of a cliff hanger at the end of this book, but the story is wrapped up enough that this is a good stopping point. I'm desperate to see what happens next! While I wait for the next one though, I'm going to get stuck in to a re-read - there are so many developments, reveals and hints in this books that I know I will have missed things on my first read through. So excuse me, I've got a sector war to get back to.

I'm giving Beyond Ruin 9/10 - definitely one of my favourite books in the series so far!

*** GIVEAWAY TIME***

If you'd like to win an ebook collection of the first three Beyond books, just:

1) Leave a comment

2) Say how you follow - via GFC, email, or Twitter. 

The giveaway closes on 24th March and is open internationally.

Here's the blurbs for the first book in the series, Beyond Shame:

BEYOND SHAME (87,000 words, 354 pages)

All Noelle Cunningham has ever wanted is a life beyond the walls of Eden, where only the righteous are allowed to remain. But ruins lie outside the City, remnants of a society destroyed by solar storms.

Those ruins house the corrupt and the criminal--men like Jasper McCray, bootlegger and cage fighter. He'll defend the O'Kane gang with his life, but no fight prepared him for the exiled City girl who falls at his feet.

Her innocence is undeniable, and so is their attraction. But if she wants to belong to Jas, she'll have to open herself to a world where passion is power, and freedom is found in submission.

Giveaway: *Win a Kindle* & Beyond series by Kit Rocha

Hello! Slow couple of weeks post wise, but today I have a giveaway for you! The next book in the 'Beyond' series by Kit Rocha comes out this week, so to celebrate, the authors are giving away a Kindle & a massive set of ebooks! If that wasn't enough, you could also win an ebook set of the first three books in the sexy dystopian series. Keep reading to find out more :-)

The new book is Beyond Innocence, about Lili, a former sector leader's wife, and Jared, a high class whore who's been on the edge of the O'Kane crowd for a while now. I'll be reviewing this in the next couple of days, but for now here's the blurb:


For years, Jared has existed on the fringes of both Eden society and Dallas O'Kane's Sector Four gang. He travels between these worlds, protected by his money and power--money he earned selling his body, and power that comes from knowing secrets. He's untouchable—until he starts a new life gathering intelligence for the O'Kanes.

Lili Fleming walked out of Sector Five with a gun, the bloodstained clothes on her back, and an icy determination to survive. She finds herself in a world where people live hard and love harder, and nothing's more terrifying than how much the O'Kanes wake her up, make her feel—especially Jared.

Emotion is a risk he can't afford, and a complication she doesn't need. But neither can resist the lust simmering between them, and the sparks that could either melt the ice around both their hearts…or get them killed. Because the only thing more dangerous than loving an O'Kane is loving a spy.


You can read the first two chapters on Kit Rocha's website, here.
Purchase links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBookstore.

So, on to the giveaway! As I said, you can win the first three books in the series: Beyond Shame, Beyond Control & Beyond Pain. Just leave a comment letting me know how you follow the blog!

Enter by leaving a comment and letting me know how you follow the blog!

To win the Kindle & giant ebook package, use the Rafflecopter button below! (This larger competition runs across multiple blogs, so there will be a smaller chance of winning.) 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

200 followers winner

Thank you everyone who entered the 200 followers giveaway! I'm thrilled that we now have over 230! It's very exciting, and I hope people will get involved with commenting on posts.

Without further ado, the winner:

Anna Ch!

Congratulations Anna! You have until next Monday (25th) to get in touch to claim your prize, I have tried to email you as well. Please write to ailsa(dot)floyd(at)yahoo(dot)com

Look out for more giveaways soon, and some reviews coming up this week!

200 followers giveaway!

Something cool happened last week, bookworms - we passed 200 followers! To celebrate, I'm doing a little giveaway!

One winner (open internationally) can choose their preference of one of the following books:

    

(Links to goodreads summaries)
Nightshifted, by Cassie Alexander
Timeless, by Gail Carriger
Sins of the Angels, by Linda Poitevin
Unholy Magic, by Stacia Kane
Barefoot in the Rain, by Roxanne St Claire

To enter, just leave a comment saying which book you would choose and why. I'll pick a winner using random.org.

Rules:

• Open to followers only - you can follow by GFC or email.
• Closing date is March 17, winner will be announced on the blog on March 18.
• YOU DO NOT NEED TO LEAVE AN EMAIL ADDRESS - winner will be announced here on the blog.
• Winner will have 1 week to contact me, then I will pick someone else.

~Ailsa

Blog tour: Interview & giveaway with Diane Alberts

Today I am happy to welcome Diane Alberts to the blog, as part of her blog tour for new book, Divinely Ruined.
Author bio: Diane Alberts has always been a dreamer with a vivid imagination, but it wasn’t until 2011 that she put her pen where her brain was, and became a published author.  Since receiving her first contract offer, she has yet to stop writing. Though she lives in the mountains, she really wishes she was surrounded by a hot, sunny beach with crystal clear water. She lives in Northeast Pennsylvania with her four kids, a husband, and a Senegal parrot. In the rare moments when she’s not writing, she can usually be found hunched over one knitting project or another.
She is a multi-published, bestselling author with Entangled Publishing and Decadent Publishing. She is repped by her fabulous agent, Lauren Hammond of ADA Management. She has, as of this date, two books with Entangled Publishing, and five books with Decadent Publishing. Her February release with Entangled Publishing, ON ONE CONDITION, hit #18 on the Barnes and Noble Bestseller List. She has a lot of projects currently being shopped around by her fabulous agent, and her goal is to write so many fantastic books that even a non-romance book fan will know her name.

Let's find out a little more about the book!

She finally meets a decent man–after she’s oath-bound never to touch men again!
Rebecca’s life sucked before she became an angel. Crappy apartment, awful jobs, abusive boyfriends–it was no wonder she jumped at the chance to escape it all and become a real live angel. The problem is Rebecca’s not very angelic, and she’ll have to do more to earn her wings than end her love affair with the word f–er, frick.
Especially when she’s assigned to save single father Tony Weis, whose less-than-pure thoughts wreak hell on a telepathic angel’s nerves. It’s all Rebecca can do to keep her hands off him…but when she loses her memory injuring herself to save Tony’s daughter, now it’s Tony’s turn to be her angel and care for her. But will Tony’s devotion tempt her from her angelic path, even if it means being human again?

I had the chance to ask Diane a few questions for the blog.
Ailsa: First of all, 'Divinely Ruined' deals with the idea of guardian angels, but your angels were originally human. Rebecca is still very influenced by who she was in her human life - is she different in this, or do others have problems with adapting to 'angel behavior', too?

Diane: I think she, in particular, has a hard time adjusting to the new life she is in. She had such a dark, unhappy life as a human, so she thinks she is ready to give it all up for the glory of the life of an angel. She doesn’t want love and a family anymore…or, she thinks she doesn’t. But Tony helps her see past her fears, and helps her move on from them.
If not for her past life as a human, I think she wouldn’t have been so tempted by Tony, since he represents everything she wanted when she was human, but could never find.

Ailsa: Aww! So what's your favourite thing about Rebecca? How about Tony?

Diane: I love that Rebecca, despite her attempts at being a hard-hearted, perfect, non-swearing  angel, finds everything she didn’t know she wanted in Tony and Miranda. She is stubborn and tries to ignore the signs, like any red-headed angel would, but not too hard-headed to admit it.
And my favorite thing about Tony is the way he acts around those he loves. He tries to hide behind a hard shell and act like he doesn’t care about anything or anyone, but around Miranda and Rebecca, the real Tony shines through.

Ailsa:  Tony's daughter is adorable! Did you always plan for her to be an equally important main character? I love how much she is tied in to the plot, not just someone there to lighten things up and look cute.

Diane: Yes! To me, she is a central character because she drives Tony to be a better person. She makes him want to be an amazing father and a good human…despite his skepticism toward life. She needed to shine through as the adorable, amazing little girl she is. And, I’ll tell you a little secret. She’s based off my own daughter.

Ailsa: That's so nice to be able to base a character on your daughter! A lot of our readers are also aspiring writers - how would you describe your writing process for the story? Did it come to you fully formed, or did it take a while to come together? Is that typical for you?

Diane: Well, the first thing that came to me was the fact that I wanted to write an angel story that is different from all the other ones. In other angel books, they are ethereal beings that have great, sunny dispositions and never lose their temper. I thought it would be a fun change of pace to switch it up and have them be more human. And Rebecca? Well, she came with a foul temper and bright red hair.
Tony quickly followed, and with him came Miranda. A single father, down on his luck and miserable—in desperate need of saving. Saving that Rebecca could give, and only her. The rest of the story just flowed along after the characters formed, and after lots of re-writing and revising, I subbed it to Entangled!

Ailsa: Hurray! Finally, what would you say to people who still aren't convinced to try the book - what do you think makes Divinely Ruined different?

Diane: It is such a refreshing take on angels, and I tried to blend in the realistic world with the fantasy world. I tried to make you believe that angels like Rebecca really do exist—and maybe you know one. But more importantly, this is not like any angel book you’ve ever read. Trust me…I know! Pick up a copy today!

---
Thanks Diane! If you want to know more, you can read the first chapter online, Entangled Publishing or follow these links to buy: Books on Board,  Amazon,  or Barnes and Noble.


Find Diane on the web:
Website: www.dianealberts.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/DianeAlberts
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Diane-Alberts/121705201245084
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5081315.Diane_Alberts


Finally, Entangled Publishing are offering a giveaway copy of 'Divinely Ruined'! Just leave a comment  to enter, open to midnight June 7th. Winner will be chosen at random and announced as close to June 8th as I can manage.

Flash giveaway: Rules of Attraction, by Simone Elkeles

I'm clearing through my bookshelves again, trying to make space for all the shiny new ones I just brought home from uni. So, it's giveaway time!

Rules of Attraction, by Simone Elkeles (review here). 

To win, just leave me a comment on this post. Giveaway is open from now until midnight Tuesday (8th May). UK only, must be a follower, either on GFC or by email. 

~Ailsa

Winners of the Big Birthday Giveaway!

I finished term a couple of weeks ago and just got back from my holiday with the family, so now it's time to announce the winners of the Big Birthday Giveaway. I've also read some good books in the last couple of weeks, so there will be a lot of reviews coming in the next few weeks.

I assigned a number to everyone who entered, including their extra entries, then put the numbers into random.org

The winner of the 'Dante Valentine' series by Lilith Saintcrow is:

Beks/Just Another Teenage Bookworm

The winner of 'Undead and Unemployed' by Mary Janice Davidson is:

Discincentive

The winner of 'Evernight' by Claudia Gray is:

Anaisa

Congratulations, winners! I've tried to contact you via email, please get in touch with me at ailsa.floyd@yahoo.com and let me know your addresses so I can send the books. You have 1 week to claim your prize.

If you missed out this time, I'll be running another giveaway before the end of the month, so keep an eye on the blog!

Giveaway closed!

The Big Birthday Giveaway is now closed. I'm going to tally up the entries in the next couple of days, and draw the winners for each prize. Winners will be announced here on the blog, and if an email address has been left I will also contact winners that way.

There will be another giveaway soon, so keep your eye on the blog for that!

~Ailsa

In My Mailbox & weekly roundup

Hello! Welcome to another sunny Sunday! (Well, sunny in Edinburgh, anyway *g*)

As I've said, last week was my birthday (have you entered the giveaway yet?) and one of my friends got me this book:

I've never heard of this book before, but it sounds pretty cool! You can see the description on Goodreads here. And I'm pretty sure the author is from the UK, so it's another book that can count towards Kirsty's British Book Challenge.

That's all for my mailbox this week, but I think that's a good thing, because I didn't really get much reading done this week, and I have several books that I'm excited to read, but just don't have time at the moment because of uni work.

Quick round up of the week:

Sera posted a link to a giveaway on her blog - click here for details & to enter.

I reviewed 'A Kiss In The Wind' by Jennifer Bray-Weber

That's it from us this week, but hopefully I'll get caught up some more on work today, so next week will have more posts & reviews!

What did you get in your post/mailboxes this week? Let me know in the comments!

~Ailsa

Big Birthday Giveaway!

In just a couple of weeks time, I will be turning 21, and to celebrate on the blog, I'm running another giveaway! This one is going to be a bit bigger, and I'm going to run it for a whole month, so there is plenty of time for people to enter and collect bonus entries. There's some urban fantasy, some PNR, and some YA, so hopefully something for everyone!

I'd love for people to stick around the blog not just stop by to enter the giveaway, so I do ask that you are or become a follower.

If we reach 200 followers before the end of the giveaway, I'll add in some more prizes! These will probably more YA books.

So, what can you win?

Prize 1: A hardback copy of 'Evernight' by Claudia Gray (open internationally)

Prize 2: A copy of 'Undead and Unemployed' by MaryJanice Davidson (open internationally)

Prize 3: The full set of 'Dante Valentine' books by Lilith Saintcrow (UK only)

How to enter:

Leave a comment saying what you'd like to win. You can choose to enter all of them, or just one or two.

Bonus entries:

• Tweet about the giveaway (+1 for each tweet) - just let me know in the comments that you've done it.
• Leave a meaningful comment on anything posted on the blog between now & the closing date (+3 for each) - I'll tally these up.

Important things:

• Contest closes midnight GMT on March 20th 31st.
• Winners will be announced on the site, and will then have a week to reply before winners are redrawn. One winner for each prize, so a total of 3 winners will be chosen using random.org
• Prizes are provided & shipped by me (Ailsa)

I don't think I'm going to do anything big for my birthday (there's really not much difference between being 20 & 21 in the UK), probably just going out for lunch with some friends, but I'm curious - what did you do for your 21st birthday? If you aren't 21 yet, what have you done for any other exciting birthday?

~Ailsa

Winner Announcement!

I put the entries for the Evermore/Hush Hush giveaway in to Random.org, and the winner is:

Buddyt, aka Carol!

Carol picked Evermore, so Hush Hush will be back in a future giveaway. Thank you everyone for entering, and keep your eye on the blog for future giveaways, including when we hit 200 followers (less than 30 to go!), and I'll be doing some things for my birthday in early March, too!

~Ailsa

Last Giveaway Reminder: Evermore & Hush Hush

Last minute reminder! If you haven't got your own copy of Becca Fitzpatrick's 'Hush Hush' or Alyson Noel's 'Evermore', our international giveaway for the books is still running:

Click here to enter!

The contest closes at midnight GMT tonight, so leave a comment to enter quickly!

Giveaway Reminder: Evermore & Hush Hush

Remember to enter our giveaway for a copy of Evermore by Alyson Noel & Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick! All you have to do is leave a comment on the original post.

Click here to enter!

So far there's only one entry - I think that's pretty good odds!

~Ailsa

Giveaway: Hush Hush & Evermore

Happy New Year! Whether you celebrate it or not, I hope you have a lovely new year. I know I'm a few hours early, but to get things off to a good start, I'm giving away a book. It will be winner's choice, of either:

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick (Book 1 in the series)

( Julie's review; Emily's review)

Evermore by Alyson Noel (Book 1 in Immortals series)

How to enter:

1) Follow the blog

2) Leave a comment on this post telling me something you are looking forward to this year.

3) 1 extra entry for each link to the giveaway that you share. Sharing links is not a requirement, but please let me know in the comments where you've linked, ie, twitter, blog post, etc.

The rules:

• Contest will run from December 31st - January 14th contest extended! January 18th, closing at Midnight GMT.
• Open internationally.
• Must be a follower.
• Winner chooses one book, the remaining one will return for later contests.
• Winner will be announced on the blog, and I will either contact you through your profile email, or wait 1 week for you to reply to the winner's post. You DO NOT have to leave your email in a comment.
• Winner will be chosen at random.
• Winner announced January 19th.

Let me know if you have any questions that I've missed.

And to get started, the first thing I'm looking forward to this year is my university snow sports club trip next week! I can't wait to go skiing again, it's been too long.

~Ailsa

Exciting Announcements, and a winner!

There are some very interesting things coming up on The Book Bundle in the next few weeks!

Before we get to them, though, I need to announce the winner of the 'Witch & Wizard' giveaway. I put the number of entries into a random number generator and the winner is: Diana!
Congratulations Diana, I'll get it in the post to you at the end of the week. Keep an eye on the blog for more giveaways and contests soon!

First bit of exciting news: on April 19th, Chloe Neill, author of the Chicagoland Vampire series & the Dark Elite series, will be here for the first day of her blog tour, for the release of Hard Bitten, book 4 in the Chicagoland series! You can find out more about Chloe on her blog, here. Chloe will be doing an interview. I'm very very excited to be participating in the tour - I read the first three books in the series in January, and absolutely loved them.

Secondly, towards the end of the month we will have another author interview, this time with Karen Mahoney, author of The Iron Witch which came out earlier this year. Again, I'm very excited about this, and I hope you will drop by to read and leave comments :)

Finally, if you want a sneak peek at some of the things coming up on the blog, check out the widget on the right hand side of the page where we've got a list of just some of the things coming up in the next few weeks. If you have any questions, suggestions of things you'd like to see on the blog, or just want to chat about books, I'm always happy to hear from you - my e-mail is on the right hand side of the page.

~Ailsa

Giveaway Reminder

Just a reminder guys that the giveaway for 'Witch and Wizard' closes tonight. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment saying what you're reading at the moment! I will draw the winner tomorrow.

Entry is in the post below :-)

~Ailsa

Giveaway: Witch & Wizard by James Patterson

*** Edit: CONTEST NOW CLOSED ***

Hi guys! I've been very busy with my coursework for uni, and now I'm packing to go home! This means that I'm going through all the books I've aquired, and I have some that I want to get rid of, which means giveaways!

First up is Witch & Wizard, by James Patterson.

From the back cover:

This is the amazing adventure of Whit and Wisty Allgood, a brother and sister who were torn from their family in the middle of the night, slammed in prison, and accused of being a witch and wizard by the evil regime The New Order. Can they master their newly discovered powers in time to save themselves, their parents - and maybe the world?

It was a promotional copy, so the front cover is slightly different:

How to enter:

Just leave a comment to this post, saying what you're reading at the moment! Giveaway open until March 30th. You don't have to be a follower, although we do appreciate it :-)

Giveaway open internationally!

Competition!!!

With Leigh Russell's Cut Short being shortlisted for the internationally prestigious Crime Writers' Association 2010 John Creasey New Blood Dagger Award , we've decided to hold a wonderful competition where you can win a copy of Cut Short AND an autographed Road Closed (sequel to Cut Short).

To enter all you have to do is leave a comment with how many points you have (and links please). The more points you have the more times you'll be entered :)

Already Follower: 5 points
New Follower: 3 points
Tweeted/Facebooked about this contest with link: 5 points each
Blogged about this contest with link: 10 points

Best of luck to everyone :)

We will announce the winner 8th August!

A Contest!

Hey all you book bundlers!  Christine Johnson, author of Claire de Lune is holding a fabulous sequel contest for everyone on her blog.  If you want to enter hurry over and enter by the 31st.  Good luck!

Contest on Christine Johnson Blog

A Contest For Book Bloggers

There's a contest going on right exclusively for Book Bloggers!  That means we can enter!  How exciting is this?

Way exciting.  Christine Johnson is the author of Claire de Lune.  It is a newly released book this year, May 2010, and is now on my "to be read" list.  I'll be reviewing it in a few weeks as it should be coming to me in the next week or so.

She is doing a special contest on her blog right now and any book blogger can enter and the more entries, the bigger and cooler the prize package is.

Go to Christine Johnson Book Blog to enter.  To those of you who do enter...Good Luck!