Darkness Before Dawn by J.A. London will be released in the U.S. on May 29, 2012 in paperback and eBook formats. It is currently available to pre-order online in both formats at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Published by HarperTeen, the print edition is 368 pages.

Darkness Before Dawn is the first book in a new trilogy of the same name by the authors.

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When vampires and humans went to war there would only be one victor. The vampires. A treaty was enacted to keep the peace. And as long as the voluntary blood donations continued, the humans within the walled cities would remain safe. Protected.

But with the passage of time, many people forgot their promises and refused to give their blood freely. And as the human population began to dwindle, food supplies became limited and many vampires were left starving.

Attacks on the cities increased. Safety could no longer be guaranteed. And the ruling vampires were more concerned with keeping themselves fed than the safety of their captives or the hunger of the lesser vampires.

As delegate, it was Dawn Montgomery’s responsibility to find a middle ground. To keep Lord Valentine happy and to keep the citizens of Denver safe. But as the youngest person to ever accept the role, her lack of experience made others question her ability. And her hatred of vampires hardly made her a neutral party.

With tensions escalating, outcry against her growing, an increased demand for blood donations, and vicious attacks on the rise, Dawn wasn’t sure she could keep the peace, let alone survive. And with everyone she loved already taken from her and with nothing left to lose, she wasn’t so sure she cared.

Until the day she met Victor. A boy who changed everything. A savior. A hero. A mystery…. A vampire.

***

Darkness Before Dawn is a dark, gritty and entertaining dystopian vampire story set in a future where vampires rule, keeping humans isolated and locked down in cities for their protection and to keep control. Where the only thing keeping them safe from the hungry vampires outside the city walls is their willingness to donate blood to the ruling vampire lord.

And in this world, still ravaged by the war that was waged and lost, the human population is decreasing. And with a limited supply of blood, the starving vampires outside those walls are getting more desperate and keeping them out is becoming more challenging than ever.

As more and more vampires breach the city’s defenses, humans have even more reason to fear the night.

With a ruthless vampire lord demanding too much from the humans in his territory, a struggle for control within the vampire hierarchy, an even deadlier threat to both vampires and humans emerging, a heroine who is trying to keep the peace treaty intact and an unlikely hero rising amidst the chaos, Darkness Before Dawn offers readers a suspenseful, exciting and at times nail-biting story with a cliffhanger ending that will leave them anxiously awaiting the next installment in the series.

In Darkness Before Dawn the authors combined a dystopian world with the paranormal to create a story with an edge that sets itself apart from many of the stories in this genre. The vampires are reminiscent of the cold-hearted, blood-thirsty vampires depicted in horror stories versus love stories, with the exception of a few whose natures appear slightly more humane and one, in particular, who appears almost human.

The story has a nice, even pace that picks up at its end along with the action and suspense. But at times there were some issues with the flow. Much of the story moved along easily and flowed naturally, with writing that was engaging, wonderfully descriptive and often beautiful, but there were moments when there was an awkwardness to the writing and where the characters didn’t behave as expected. Even with these bumps, however, the interesting characters and intriguing world are more than enough to keep readers connected to the story.

A first book in this new series, Darkness Before Dawn gives readers a little bit of everything. A dark, dystopian future, humanity on the verge of extinction, numerous deadly enemies, unrest among the humans and among the vampires, secrets, lies and betrayals, a love triangle, an ill-fated love story and a cliffhanger ending. Add in action, mystery and tension and this is one story that will captivate fans of the genre.

Reviewer gives this book…

Loved it!

On a personal note:

What drew me to this story was the premise. I loved the idea of a world where vampires ruled. Where they weren’t about living in harmony with humans. Where humans were simply their blood supply.

I loved the world the authors created. It was dark. It was violent. It was most definitely grim, practically hopeless and extremely isolated. I was easily and immediately transported into the world and I could imagine its crumbling buildings, its fearful citizens, it’s daring and rebellious residents who were just itching for a taste of freedom.

And I absolutely adored Victor. He was my favorite character in this book. He was charming. He was brave. He was incredibly fast and strong and smart. And he was a hero. A virtual knight in shining armor at times.

While I wasn’t initially a Dawn fan, she did grow on me. And her character did grow over the course of the story, which I always love to see. She was incredibly sympathetic for all she had lost. But for someone who was brave much of the time, she seemed to be a bit of a pushover at others.

There were a few twists and turns, one pretty big one, though I wasn’t caught by surprise when it came to light. But it was still an awesome change in direction nonetheless and one that totally made the ending incredibly exciting.

I definitely want to know more about the world outside of Denver. I want to know more about the night train. I want to know more about what it means to be a delegate. I want to know more about the lesser vampires and just how things got as bad as they did. I want to know more about the vampires in charge.

And I want to know what happens next for Dawn and Victor. As that was one giant cliffhanger the authors left me with.

What pulled me out of the story at various times during the read was some of the writing and character development. I thought much of the writing was absolutely beautiful. There were gorgeously written and incredibly meaningful passages. But they often sat side-by-side with some that were more awkwardly written with unusual ways of describing things.

At times I felt very connected to the writing and the story and at other times I didn’t. Perhaps it’s because there were two writers involved and their styles didn’t quite blend as smoothly as I might have liked in order to keep me connected. Or perhaps it was simply that I was able to connect to one writer’s style versus another.

I was also somewhat surprised by the change in direction with Michael’s character. The picture painted of him was that for years he was the best friend and practically perfect. And all of a sudden he becomes pushy, argumentative, demanding and selfish. With no real explanation given and no lead up to the change.

There were a couple instances where Dawn’s actions and reactions felt out of character, too. Even though she’d been through a lot, she was still brave, she still fought for what she thought was right and she took on the responsibility of being a delegate after the deaths of her parents. And yet she allowed herself to be persuaded against her better judgment to attend a party in a dangerous area and go for a wall walk and risk leaving the city because her friends wanted to.

But neither were enough to make me want to set this book aside. I did devour it in one sitting. I found myself always wanting to know more. And I couldn’t help but be most curious about Victor and his past.

While this wasn’t a brand new idea, the authors did make it their own. I found the world to be intriguing and by the end of the story incredibly exciting. I found characters to love, hate or be exceedingly frustrated with, all of whom I think played an important role and contributed to making this story pretty great.

***

I actually had quite a few favorite passages. Some were sort of beautiful, some were thoughtful, and some left me a little breathless. But I thought I’d include the one that just made me smile.

“I like you, Dawn. I’ve seen a lot of humans, from far away and up close. I’ve never met one like you. I think you’re the closest thing to a sunrise I’ll ever see.”

***

This review is from an ARC I received through a trade with another blogger.

Balthazar by Claudia Gray will be released in the U.S. on March 6, 2012 in hardcover and eBook formats.

It is currently available to pre-order online in both formats at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Published by HarperTeen, an imprint of HarperCollins, the print edition is 384 pages.

Balthazar is a spinoff book in the Evernight series.

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There was no question that I’d be spotlighting Balthazar this week. Although I have an ARC I received through a trade and could potentially read it before release, Balthazar is still the book releasing the week of March 6th that I’m most anxious for.

I was devastated when I learned the Evernight series was coming to an end. So devastated, in fact, that Afterlife met the same fate as nearly all series ending books do for me – it remains unread. I actually read the first fifty or so pages, had to set it aside for review books but never found the strength to pick it back up.

But now that there’s this other book in the series, even though it is a spinoff, I am absolutely over the moon. Not only does its existence mean that will I be able to read Afterlife, but I love Balthazar and can’t wait to learn more about him.

According to the description Balthazar may find love, which makes me so unbelievably happy. He was one of my favorite characters and while I never wanted anything to happen between him and Bianca, I couldn’t be happier that he won’t be alone.

This spinoff sounds absolutely thrilling – a love story, a girl with psychic powers and a battle with an evil vampire – and if it truly is a story of “forbidden love and dark suspense” then there is no way I won’t fall in love with this book.

And while there are all sorts of amazing books releasing the week of the 6th, I definitely think Balthazar is the perfect book to watch this week.

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Places to Stalk

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About the Book

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Other Amazing Books to Watch

There are four other amazing and much anticipated books releasing on March 6th:

Soul Bound: A Blood Coven Novel by Mari Mancusi

Illuminate: A Gilded Wings Novel by Aimee Agresti

Embrace by Jessica Shirvington

Where It Began by Ann Redisch Stampler

Drink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst was released in the U.S. on September 13, 2011 in hardcover and eBook formats. It is currently available to order online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble in both formats.

Published by Margaret K. McElderry Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, the print edition is 400 pages.

Every vampire knows that unicorns don’t exist. Zombies, sure. Unicorns, no way. So when Pearl Sange claims that she was staked by a unicorn, no one will believe her. And if she hadn’t been so sure about what had happened to her in the parking lot of the Dairy Hut, she might have thought she was crazy, too.

As luck would have it, on her very next trip to the Dairy Hut, her favorite place to enjoy a late night snack named Brad, she’s grabbed by two wannabe vampire hunters who force her into a cage so that she can “watch” the sunrise.

Much to her surprise – and that of her bumbling captors – she doesn’t burst into flames. Proving to her that her encounter with the unicorn was real and that it changed her somehow.

But while being able to walk in the daylight seems like a gift at first, it’s really much more of a curse. Instead of spending time with her boyfriend and possible future mate, Jadrien, and getting ready to meet the Vampire King of New England, Pearl is forced to enroll in high school. And spend time with humans.

How she’s supposed to make friends with her food supply is beyond her. But her parents need to prepare a feast fit for a king, literally, and so she has to figure out a way. Because, like all vampires, the King is not the forgiving type. And if he isn’t satisfied with his feast, Pearl and her Family will be ended. Probably not quickly. Definitely not painlessly.

If only this new ability of hers didn’t come with a few unwanted side-effects like sympathy, caring and concern. As a soulless predator, she, for one, does not like where this is headed.

***

Drink, Slay, Love is a wickedly entertaining story that will keep readers grinning, shaking their heads in disbelief and cheering for Pearl as she transforms from a bite-’em-and-leave-’em vampire to a day-walker with a conscience.

From the very first introduction to this book – its title – the author reveals her sense of humor and it carries right on through to the end. The dialogue is witty and sarcastic, the premise is outrageous and fun, and the story is action-packed, incredibly captivating – seductive even – and surprisingly clever.

By having the main character, Pearl, react in much the same way as anyone would to such a far-fetched situation like getting staked by a unicorn, allows readers to temporarily suspend disbelief and connect with the character and story, no matter how unusual the premise.

Drink, Slay, Love combines the silly with the serious and the light with the dark. It mixes in humor and clever banter with action, excitement and danger.

Toss in a vampire who’s losing her edge, a mean girl who gets more than what should be coming to her, a sexy, bite-worthy boy with stalker tendencies, a perky good-hearted girl with a secret, a flirtatious bad-boy with a big mouth, a couple of well-meaning blundering idiots who are a cross between Rosencrantz and Guildenstern from Hamlet and the Frog brothers from The Lost Boys, over a hundred hungry vampires just waiting to make you their next meal and a handful of were-unicorns – yes were-unicorns – and you’ve got a fast-paced and riveting paranormal story that is unputdownable.

In Drink, Slay, Love the vampires are cold, cruel and calculating hunters. And the author uses sarcasm as if it were an art form. This book is a must read for fans of a vampire story that doesn’t take itself too seriously, who prefer their vamps without any humanity, and who want something other than the love story to be the focus.

Reviewer gives this book

On a personal note:

I have to say that I thought this story was pretty amazing, which was a bit of a surprise. A good surprise… a great surprise, actually. I was slightly worried that the cover, title and description love I had would be all this book had going for it. And I’m so glad that wasn’t the case.

I didn’t find that instant love connection with Pearl. She was just way too much the inhuman vampire at first. And the Family was just so odd and different in their actions and their responses that I started to wonder whether this would be one of those stories I loved or one of those ones I just wanted to.

But as the story progressed and Pearl began to show some signs of humanity, I really grew to love her as a main character. For a vampire turned day-walker, she was still seriously bad-a**, she didn’t immediately jump on the “humans for the win” bandwagon and she still retained much of who she was personality-wise.

And once Pearl recovered from the staking, I connected with the story and found that I couldn’t put it down if I tried. I lost an entire Sunday curled up with this book because I didn’t want to set it aside until I reached the end.

There are quite a few things the author did that made this book even more my kind of story, but many I can’t reveal without spoiling the plot. I loved how she gave readers little hints at things that weren’t quite right with some of the characters, but didn’t reveal too much so that it made it too easy to figure out. I certainly didn’t get all of my guesses right.

And the one-liners kept me smiling, and even laughing, throughout the entire book. First was the line about the sparkly vamps. Yes, she went there! Then the line about the lackeys had me practically rolling on the floor laughing.

I also loved all the vampire politics she added into this story, which did give it dimension. And I thought that the way she slowly introduced the King throughout the story was brilliant. But, as good looking as that King was, that is one vamp I would never want to cross paths with in this lifetime or any other.

Since we’re talking about handsome boys, the two main boys in this story were equally gorgeous and about as different as night and day. But it didn’t feel as if they were written that way just so that Pearl’s love interests would be polar opposites. Evan was definitely yummy, but so was Jadrien. And no, it wasn’t a love triangle. Not really.

The vampire cousins were seriously creepy, but so was Bethany to me. Someone just can’t be that perky without hiding something majorly wrong.

I’m not sure if this is a standalone novel or part of a series, but I would love it to be. I think there is a lot more story to be told about Pearl, the King, Evan, Jadrien and Pearl’s mother and father. I may be keeping my fingers crossed for a long time hoping to have answers about a possible second book in the series.

This was definitely worth the wait get a copy to read and review. I only wish I had time to read it again!

***

I had a few favorite quotes and passages, but this one line gave me an attack of the giggles that made me put down the book for awhile until they stopped.

The walls stank of centuries-old dust–or maybe that was the stench of the guests.

To read an excerpt of the first chapter from the author’s website, CLICK HERE.

This review is based on a finished copy I received courtesy of the author and publisher, Simon & Schuster, in exchange for my honest review.

Last Breath by Rachel Caine will be released in the U.S. on November 1, 2011 in hardcover, audio and eBook formats.

It is currently available to pre-order in all formats online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Published by NAL, a division of Penguin Group, the print edition is 352 pages.

Last Breath is the 11th book in The Morganville Vampires series by Rachel Caine.

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There were just three books releasing the week of November 1st that I had to choose from for the spotlight post this week. While it wasn’t easy, I decided that I just had to pick Last Breath, the next book in The Morganville Vampires series by Rachel Caine, as the book to watch this week.

I saw the cover when it was first revealed in the author’s newsletter and I loved the white. But it was the book’s title that got me really, really nervous about what was going to happen in this eleventh installment in the series. The words “last breath” don’t instill confidence in me that everyone is going to make it out of this book alive, undead or otherwise intact.

While I have fallen a bit behind on this series, I’ve still to finish Ghost Town and Bite Club, I am no less excited for this book than I would have been if I’d read them all. This series has been such a fun, nail biting and incredibly entertaining one to read and is always full of surprises. And with every upcoming release date I look forward to each new book with its beautiful covers.

I am determined to catch up soon, because this next book has a new character who Claire is pretty sure isn’t human and he may not even be a vampire. I’m so curious as to what new type of paranormal being just might be introduced into the series this far along. And the fact that his name is Magnus already makes him interesting.

A Claire with too much time on her hands, missing vampires and a mysterious new character in town, makes this yet another intriguing must read in this always enjoyable series.

A long look inside Last Breath is available on the book’s website, HERE.

Two other books releasing on November 1st to note are Crossed, the sequel to Matched, by Ally Condie and Dark Eden by Patrick Carman.

As I haven’t read Matched, although it’s on my TBR and my eReader and I have Crossed on pre-order at Amazon, Last Breath has a slight edge.

And as I’m reading Dark Eden and plan to have my review up later this week, I thought a Book Watch post would be overkill.

So, are you a Morganville Vampires fan? And are you as excited as I am for this next book in the series to be released next month?

Enemy Within by Angeline Kace

The second book in the Vampire Born Trilogy

Coming in 2012

My Thoughts

I am super excited to be one of the blogs participating in the cover reveal for Enemy Within today. Keeping this under wraps for over a month has been killing me.

I love how both covers work so perfectly together – see them side-by-side below – with elements in each cover that tie them together even though the color and feel is very, very different.

I love the blues in this cover just as much as the reds in the first one. They really bring out the color of Brooke’s eyes. And I like how the author used the mirror to reflect the enemy within, although I wonder just how much of an enemy is hiding within as there isn’t that air of malevolence that she had on the cover of Descended by Blood.

I guess I’ll just have to wait, and suffer, until Enemy Within is released to find out.

I think both books will look great together on the bookshelf as they aren’t warring with each other with contrasting styles and fonts. The cover for Descended by Blood is dark and intense and Enemy Within, with its rich blues, is actually rather pretty, but they work together beautifully.

About the Book * SPOILER-Y FOR BOOK 1*

Half-vampire, Brooke Keller, rid the world of her worst enemy, only to find out the world’s most powerful vampire wants her dead. And this time, she’s not only fighting vampires, but a deadly disease that threatens to take her best friend’s life.

Torn between Jaren and Mirko, Brooke struggles to convince her best friend to change over, keep her monster at bay, and learns her enemies are deeper within than she could have ever imagined.

Will love be enough to quell the darkness?

Does good really conquer evil?

About the Author

Angeline is a Scorpio living in the Rocky Mountains with her husband and two dogs. She loathed dogs and their “stick to me everywhere” hair until she fell for a pit bull.

She works full time at CPA firm and is going to school to get her Accounting degree. While she’s slaving away, trying to figure out why accounts aren’t balancing, she’s dreaming about books.

She started reading seriously- staying up all night to finish a book and buying every new release she could afford- after finishing Twilight. Say what you want about the series, but it got a lot of people reading, so it’s brought more to this world than just sparkly vampires.  She loves all things paranormal, but her favorites are vampires, werewolves, and zombies. In that order.

Learn more about the author on her BLOG

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Learn more about the BOOK

Add Enemy Within to your TBR on Goodreads

Descended by Blood and Enemy Within

Checking them out Side-by-Side