Head In The Clouds: Samantha Young

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Monday, November 11, 2013

Shades of Blood by Samantha Young

Shades of Blood

Warriors of Ankh Book Three

Author: Samantha Young

Published: 12/12/2011

Published by: CreateSpace

Audience: Young Adult 16+

Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Mythology

Eden’s life has taken a turn she would never have imagined. She’s gone from soul eater to warrior, left behind a family she was ashamed of and moved in with one she admires. She has a purpose, a future, and… she has Noah.

Life should be good.

But… the most fervent and powerful soul eaters are determined to take down the Ankh and Eden is the key to the destruction of the warrior race.
Moreover, a shadowed enemy is still after Eden, and the mortal Warriors of Neith have chosen the worst time imaginable to start an uprising.

With an enemy in every corner, the problems before her are overwhelming. Then again, Eden hasn’t come this far to let anyone snatch her new life from her…
However, just when Eden thought she’d battled the monster within and won, the warrior who took something precious from her comes back into her life, tempting Eden to take a course of revenge there is no turning back from.
A YA Paranormal Romance recommended for ages 16 and up.

(Picture and Summary from Goodreads)

REVIEW

It's official. This series is one of my new favorites!! I'm so glad I stumbled upon it, thanks Goodreads! Each book is as suspenseful and action packed as the previous but it never gets tiring or repetitive like some books can.

In the third and final installment, Eden is back home in Boston at Cyrus' compound along with Noah, Noah's parents, and Valeria. Noah and Eden are a hot item for sure, talk about sizzling, I loved it! Unfortunately Eden and October's friendship is left strained by the final events of Blood Past. This really saddened me but it kept it real, of course October would be mad at Eden. Cyrus is trying to find out who is causing unrest among the Neiths, causing them to rise against the Ankhs. Before he can do that Octobers family is taken by a group of soul eaters who are also out to take out Eden and her fellow Ankhs. This causes a reunion between October and Eden giving them a chance to hash it out. We also find out that Cyrus has kept something HUGE from Eden. So huge it causes a rift between Eden, Noah, and Cyrus. I can't say I blame her for being pissed at them. Though once again I understand where they are coming from but where is the loyalty?! Eden was left facing one final choice. A choice that would ultimately change how she looks at herself.

This book was so suspenseful I seriously could not stop reading. My hubby kept trying to talk to me and he would either not get a response or when he was being exceptionally annoying he would receive a death glare. One thing I loved about this series that some may not like is the fact that once becoming Ankh Eden didn't have to deal with mundane everyday things, like school. I wish my life was like that, I don't go to school but it would be awesome to not have to go to work. The relationships were so well built that I could really feel the love the characters had for each other. When it was all said and done I shut the book feeling completely satisfied with how it ended. It's not often you can say that and I'm glad I found a series that gives me a feeling of closure. Seriously if you haven't yet you need to read these books!

~ Goodreads ~ Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~

My Review of Blood Will Tell (Warriors of Ankh Book One)

My Review of Blood Past (Warriors of Ankh Book Two)

THE AUTHOR

(Picture and Bio from author's website)

Samantha Young is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author from Stirlingshire, Scotland. She's been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Author and Best Romance for her international bestselling novel ON DUBLIN STREET. ON DUBLIN STREET is Samantha's first adult contemporary romance and has been sold in twenty five countries. For more info on Samantha's adult fiction visit http://www.ondublinstreet.com/

Goodreads

Website

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Blood Past by Samantha Young

Blood Past

Warriors of Ankh Book Two

Author: Samantha Young (She pretty much rocks)

Published: 08/17/2011

Published by: CreateSpace

Audience: Young Adult 16+

Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Mythology

All Eden wants is redemption... but the road to redemption is never an easy one.

Travelling to Scotland to find her mother’s bloodline, Eden is soon embroiled in the politics and training of the Scottish Warriors of Neith. It is a world where some stand with open arms ready to welcome her as family, while others keep a wary distance, conspiring against her. Through it all Eden learns of love, friendship, and what it means to be a warrior. Her future has promise... that is until a man she thought forever gone from her life returns to threaten it all.

When the one person Eden loves above all else is endangered, she will have to make a choice. Him... or her?

YA Paranormal Romance recommended for ages 16 years and up

(Picture and Summary from Goodreads)

REVIEW

The second book in the Warriors of Ankh trilogy did NOT disappoint. There was tons of suspense, tense situations, and action scenes along with more sexual tension between Noah and Eden.

Eden is still struggling with the recent events that led up to her family's deaths and what that means for her future and her relationship with Noah. I'm really happy with the fact that her anger was not easily written off, that it stayed with her. It makes it more real. Eden develops new friendships when the Ankh's head to Scotland to train with the Neiths there and meet Eden's blood family. The relationships between Eden, October, Cameron, Valeria, and Noah have so much depth to them. I actually had the warm fuzzies reading it. Eden mentions at one point how she is sad at the thought of leaving Scotland, I actually felt sad at the thought of it too.

Turns out Teagan is still around and he has a plan for getting Eden back. Cosmina, the Bucharest Neith Councilwoman, who believes Eden is an abomination who shouldn't be allowed to live, hasn't given up on finding Eden either. I was constantly on edge wonder if Teagan or Cosmina would find Eden, especially when she started going out on patrols. No need to worry though, she is kick ass, she can protect herself.

Noah and Eden's relationship is intense. She is angry with him because he lied to her in the beginning, she finds it difficult to believe his reasons for it. He basically broke her heart, especially when she found out he was dating Romany the entire time. After talking to Cyrus and getting a new perspective from the Ankh side of things Eden is able to see why Noah did what he did and is able to trust him. It helps that he has broken up with Romany and has the definite hots for Eden. In turn this causes their relationship to flare. Such chemistry!

The end of the book was full of suspense. Eden is faced with a choice, a MAJOR choice. I was biting my nails wondering how it was going to turn out.

Between the action, suspense, and romance this book is full of reasons to keep the pages turning. Again I finished it in just a few hours and am eagerly moving on to the final book in the series.

~ Goodreads ~ Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~

My Review of Blood Will Tell (Warriors of Ankh Book 1)

THE AUTHOR

(Picture and Bio from authors website)

Goodreads

Website

Twitter

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Blood Will Tell by Samantha Young

Blood Will Tell

Author: Samantha Young

Published: 07/01/2011

Published By: CreateSpace

Audience: Young Adult

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Mythology

Eden is a soul eater closing in on her awakening. Her family has convinced her that soon she will have to take a life in order to save her own. It’s a decision Eden doesn’t want to deal with even as her hunger for souls grows stronger every day.

To complicate her impossible position, new guy in school Noah Valois’ determination to befriend her puts Eden in touch with a humanity she’s never known. Addicted to his company, his friendship and affection, she becomes more and more terrified that giving into her hunger will mean losing him forever…

… But when she discovers that Noah is not what he seems, his betrayal forces her to face two choices. One will offer her revenge and the destruction of a boy she loved. The other may offer her a life of eternal redemption…
(Picture and Summary from Goodreads)

REVIEW

Where do I even begin?? This book was five shades of awesome! There was angst, there was hidden romantic tension, conflict, and action! It pretty much rocked my socks off. I was actually surprised it turned out so good because it cost under $2 for Kindle on Amazon (I originally tried looking for it on B&N but it wasn't there). I never have good luck finding good reads under $5, if you know of any let me know, so I was shocked when by the third chapter I was hooked. Also someone in a review I read said they got hung up on the overuse of "smirk"; as in "she smirked at him". The way they said it made it seem like the word appeared every other sentence. This worried me enough to almost keep me from reading it but either I'm not as picky as I thought or the book was so good that I could overlook it. Going off past experiences I would say it was the latter.

The characters are well developed and their interactions come off believable. It's written from the viewpoints of Eden and Noah, but more from Eden's POV. Noah is her dreamy sidekick/bff/possible love interest/TRAITOR. Since we get a chance to see things from his POV it was hard to be mad at him, for what he does to Eden, since I knew his reasonings but in walked Romany (his girlfriend) and bam instantly pissed at him. I really grew a hate for Eden's family too, the crap that they put her through and tried to force her to do is horrible and twisted. The relationship being forced on her by her father (He evidently promised Eden to her cousin Teagan who is just as sadistic as Eden's dad. Ew.) is disgusting, but then her father is psycho. Of course Eden won't take that laying down! This chick has a backbone for sure, I'm sure it helps that she has supernatural strength, but still. All around I love Eden, she's everything I love in a MC. Hard exterior but deep and feeling inside.

I really enjoyed the fact that at the end Eden could hold a grudge. So many female MCs give in and forgive their male counterparts without making them work for it. Now I do hope Eden and Noah get together so they will need to work it out but I'm ok with a little (a lot) groveling. The end of the book had my blood boiling and I was glad that the second book was easily accessible. It only took me 3 hours to read the book start to finish. I highly recommend it!!