Eternal Hope cover model reveal!

GUYS! DANIEL HAS BEEN FOUND! *throws confetti* His name is Collin Atkinson and he will be gracing the cover of Frankie Rose's next book in the Hope series, Eternal Hope as Daniel. I think he's a fantastic choice. Very swoonworthy, just look at those eyes. If you haven't read Sovereign Hope you are missing out on one of the best paranormal YA's I have read. Make sure you go and like his modelling page on Facebook and try not to drool.

Today is also his birthday so make sure you wish him a 

Here is a quick interview a few lucky bloggers put together so you can get to know him a little better.

Interview with Collin Atkinson- model, actor and the new hottie who will be gracing the cover of Eternal Hope, the second book in Frankie Rose’s Hope Series!!

Frankie Rose asked her readers to help her find the perfect guy to become swoon worthy Daniel Montisauri, and now Operation: Find Daniel is officially over! She would like to thank all of the awesome girls, who took part in the operation, please accept this ten minute chat with Collin is your reward!

From Ali of Ginger Reads reviews

What appealed to you about being the cover model for Daniel?

I thought it was a great opportunity and I have a love for fiction, well anything that can get you out of your mind and into someone else’s perspective.

What career would you be pursuing if not for modeling?

Other than modeling I really enjoy medicine and helping people, I’m still in school working toward my biology degree at the moment actually but if I was to still work in the arts I would love to be an actor.

Girls in the States want to know... Boxers or briefs?

Briefs definitely, better support ;)

If you could have dinner with anyone (dead, alive or fictional), who would it be and what would be the first thing you ask them?

I would have to say Zeus; I’m a sucker for Greek mythology and would love to ask him about all the stories that went untold.

From Mel of Girls Hearts Books.

What sort of modeling do you normally do? Is this your first book cover?            

Yes this will be my first book cover, I usually do commercial and editorial modeling along with some events which is why I was so excited for this opportunity!

What hobbies do you enjoy?  

I’m a little nerdy actually, I really enjoy videogames, horror movies, and building computers but I’m from Florida so I also like wakeboarding, boating, camping and all that stuff as well.

Do you see yourself modeling 5 years from now? If not, what are your plans?

I hope so if the market still calls for it, I would really like to be acting at that point, hopefully on a television series!

From Carmen of Book Me!

Hi Collin, Thanks for agreeing to this interview! We in the Book Blogging world love to get to know the guys gracing the covers of our favourite books! Is it weird that your purrrdy face is going to be out there as the physical embodiment of uber hot guy, Daniel Montisauri? And are you prepared for a whole heap of fangirls?

I think I’m ready. I hope so anyway, is there a way to prepare for that? Haha, I think it will be a little weird because many of the people that have seen my photos are local and this will be on an entirely different scale, I think it’s awesome this series already has a fan base.  I’m excited though, I think the book is great and I’m really happy to be working with Frankie!

Do you enjoy reading? Have you read the Hope series? If No, then do you intend to read the book your face will be plastered all over the front of?

 

I love reading, it’s something I think everyone should do more of, helps you escape from reality and yes, I really enjoyed it and I feel I can relate to Daniel very easily.

What was your reaction when Frankie Rose asked you to be her Daniel for the Eternal Hope cover?

My first thought was holy crap! Then it was…wait is this real! Once she responded I couldn’t wait to get involved further!

Have you always wanted to be a model? And are there any big modeling campaigns that we would recognize you from?

Actually up until about a year ago I never even considered it but a friend of the family told me I should try it and had a photographer reach me on facebook. I don’t have any major campaigns at the moment but I will be doing a shoot for the marketing of Abercrombie this September!

Daniel has been described as brooding and mysterious, while also being vulnerable and completely lovable at the same! Think you share any of his personality traits?  

I would say I’m very similar to him, especially when you first meet me I’m pretty quiet but as I open up I’m very easy to talk to and have a very strong love for all my friends and I think that goes both ways.

One of my favourite aspects of Daniel's character is his obsession with his engines. What about you, ever feel the need to get greasy-with-it under the hood of your car? Or are you strictly a lets-take-it-to-the-mechanic kind of man?  

I actually drive a pickup truck, a black ford f-150 my uncle gave me when I was 16, that truck is my baby haha. I don’t work on my engine per se but I do like to change my own oil, fuel filters, the basics, not on Daniel’s level but definitely not taking it to mechanic right away.

And finally, Collin, the question that thousands of girls, women, and maybe even a few men, will want to know now that you're gracing the cover of Eternal hope: ARE YOU SINGLE? 

Sadly no, I am taken at the moment hahaha!

Sovereign Hope is out now! Eternal Hope is set to be released late October, make sure you catch it. Not only will Collin be appearing on the cover of the next book, but he will also be featuring in the book trailer too! You can like his page and drop by to say hello.

Check out Frankie's website and the Facebook page for the series!

GIVEAWAY!

I have a signed copy of Forever by Maggie Stiefvater that's been collecting dust on my shelves for nearly a year. So I thought I'd have a giveaway. Just fill out the Rafflecopter form and you're done! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Top 5 books I've read this year.

I was thinking of all the awesome books I've read this year, and I was trying to decide which one's I have enjoyed the most. So here are the best five books I've read this year in no particular order. What have been your favourites so far?

Everyone has a soul

Some are just worth more than others

Farley Hope was seventeen when her mother disappeared. In the last six months not much has changed, except that her eighteenth birthday came and went and still no sign of Moira. Her life is just as complicated as it always was. Since her father died in a car crash before she was even born, she’s officially parentless, and to top it all off she’s still suffering from the hallucinations. Mind-splitting, vivid hallucinations- the kind prone to induce night terrors and leave you whimpering under your covers like a baby.

The last thing on her mind is boys. Farley is on break from St. Judes’ when she meets Daniel. It’s not some casual run in at a party, or even a blind date with friends, though. Daniel is the guy following her in his 1970′s Dodge Charger; the guy standing at her window in the LA lunch hour traffic, trying to persuade her to leave everything behind and follow him. And he's hot as all hell. 

The moment Farley lays eyes on Daniel, everything changes. He is cold and withdrawn, but there are cracks in his harsh veneer- cracks that betray the secrets he is trying so hard to hide. Farley is drawn into a world that will shake apart everything she thought she ever knew. There are truths out there that she must learn: that a person’s soul is their only real currency, and there are people who would do anything to take hers; that loving someone can hurt so much more than hating them; but, most importantly, when your future is predestined, there is little you can do to change it.

Farley Hope is prophesied.

Her coming has been awaited for hundreds of years.

She is destined to end the tyranny of the Soul Reavers.

To do so she must die.

Everything is in ruins.

A devastating plague has decimated the population. And those who are left live in fear of catching it as the city crumbles to pieces around them.

So what does Araby Worth have to live for?

Nights in the Debauchery Club, beautiful dresses, glittery make-up . . . and tantalizing ways to forget it all.

But in the depths of the club—in the depths of her own despair—Araby will find more than oblivion. She will find Will, the terribly handsome proprietor of the club. And Elliott, the wickedly smart aristocrat. Neither boy is what he seems. Both have secrets. Everyone does.

And Araby may find something not just to live for, but to fight for—no matter what it costs her.

Griffins are supposed to be extinct. So when Yukiko and her warrior father Masaru are sent to capture one for the Shogun, they fear that their lives are over. Everyone knows what happens to those who fail him, no matter how hopeless the task.

But the mission proves far less impossible, and far more deadly, than anyone expects – and soon Yukiko finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in her country's last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled griffin for company. But trapped together in the forest, Yukiko and Buruu soon discover a friendship that neither of them expected.

Meanwhile, the country around them verges on the brink of collapse. A toxic fuel is slowly choking the land; the omnipotent, machine-powered Lotus Guild is publicly burning those they deem Impure; and the Shogun cares about nothing but his own dominion. Yukiko has always been uneasy in the shadow of power, when she learns the awful truth of what the Shogun has done, both to her country and to her own family she's determined to do something about it.

Returning to the city, Yukiko and Buruu plan to make the Shogun pay for his crimes – but what can one girl and a flightless griffin do against the might of an empire?

Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring.... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something...unexpected happens. 

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades. 

If I don't kill him first, that is.

New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned.

The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.

There are no more police—instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behavior—instead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get arrested usually don't come back.

Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren't always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it's hard for her to forget that people weren't always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. It's hard to forget that life in the United States used to be different.

Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow.

That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings—the only boy Ember has ever loved.

Honorable mentions go to Storm by Brigid Kemmerer, Touching Smoke by Airicka Phoenix,  The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa, Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel,  Eve by Anna Carey, Everneath by Brodi Ashton, Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood, Fated & Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson. I think I better leave it there. Just so many amazing books.

Review: Touching Smoke by Airicka Phoenix

Title: Touching Smoke (Touch book 1)
Author: Airicka Phoenix
Age Group: Young Adult
Release Date: July 31st 2012
Publishers: Self-published
Available from: Amazon
Source: Author


“What am I?”

“Mine… always!”

This summer… their love will annihilate the world! 

For sixteen-year-old FALLON BRAEDEN, being haunted was just another day in the life of a gypsy, like being on the run had always been a closely guarded secret her mother would have happily taken to the grave… if her past hadn’t caught up with them. 

But when Fallon is stalked by fire-throwing demons, nearly killed by rebel mutants and finds a soul mate she can never have, even her normally unusual life is thrown into a tangled web of love, lies and betrayal.

As worlds collide, secrets unfold and blood is spilt, Fallon comes to several unsettling revelations: she’s not entirely human, her creator has a bounty on her head and the only one who can save her is the one person she has to keep at arm’s length or risk destroying the world for.

******

Fallon isn't your average 16 year old. Her and her mother are constantly moving, never staying in one place too long. She has lived like this for as long as she can remember. Her world changes forever when she's attacked by fire-wielding demons and saved by a gorgeous blue-eyed stranger. Isaiah has spent his life protecting her from afar, now their lives have collided. What follows is a life altering realisation that she is not what she believes. 

I was pleasantly surprised by Touching Smoke. I really enjoyed the reading the blurb, so I was more than happy to read it. I am so glad I did. It stands out from the crowd of your usual YA paranormal, having it's own addictive qualities. Strong female heroine? Check. Uber-gorgeous love interest? Check. Mysterious origins? Check. Page turner that will keep you reading into the wee hours? Check. So what exactly makes it stand out? Well I'm glad you asked. Airicka Phoenix has created a world all her own, with our leads on the run from the man who helped create them. They're not like us, and the quest to find out who and what they are is an exciting ride.There's something wild in Fallon that makes her stronger, faster and lusting for blood. Her journey of discovery is heartbreaking and intense. Her life is one lie after another and full of betrayals she never saw coming. 

Isaiah's life has been just as tragic, his one goal being her protector. He is fierce in his protectiveness, always making sure she's safe no matter the harm to himself. There's a connection between them that  is undeniable and incredibly strong. But is any of what they feel real? Or does it lead back to their creator and what he has planned. Once you find out you'll be just as shocked as they are, but you never do learn what exactly it is. Fallon and Isaiah go out of their way to protect each other, with Fallon finding out just how far she is willing to go to defend him. She's kind of awesome in her fury. I loved reading about each revelation as they were learning it. I hate when books are so easily predictable and Touching Smoke is not one of them. There are so many twists and turns to keep you stuck to the pages. 

Touching Smoke is unique and engaging, with an action-packed story line. You're sucked in straight away and spit out at the end, having gone on a roller coaster ride of sheer awesomeness, leaving you breathless and slightly bewildered that's it over . I hate having to wait for the next book is a series, this is going to be a long one. Get yourself a copy now!

4/5