Savor Winners!

All of you who entered, thank you so much for your support for Megan Duncan. Also, thanks again to Miss Duncan for providing these awesome prizes. Now, onto the winners.

First place winner (Signed copy of Savor):

Chandra Haun

Second place winner (eBook of Savor):

Vivian Mah

Third place winner (A Savor and Released bookmark): 

Brenda Child 

 Congrats to all three of you! I will be emailing you shortly. You will have 72 hours to reply, then I will inform the author. If you do not receive an email from me by 11/4/11 then CHECK YOUR JUNK MAIL. If it is not there, then email me at gabbicalabrese AT hotmail DOT com and let me know. If you do not respond within the allotted time, I will have to select a new winner.

Savor by Megan Duncan (Blog tour: Review + Giveaway)

Savor (Warm Delicacy #1) by Megan Duncan

Genre: YA paranormal - Publisher: Self-Published - Publication Date: October 1, 2011 - Format: Paperback - Pages: 364 - Source: Author

When Claire Miller turned eighteen all she wanted to do was celebrate her birthday, but after a night on the town with her best friend she awakes to a visitor she never expected. The rulers of her region, a vampire royal family, have chosen her to be turned as their new heir and vampire princess. Claire quickly discovers the royal family is not what they seem and that she has secrets in her past, she never knew existed. (Goodreads.com)

Megan Duncan created a brilliant piece of work here. A combination of a unique and interesting plot, fun characters, and an intriguing world create an enthralling read for every paranormal lover out there.

When I first began blogging, Megan sent me an eCopy of her debut, Released. It was the first self-published book I had ever read. I absolutely adored it. When she told me she was writing a vampire book and asked me to be a part of the tour, I jumped on the opportunity.I'm beyond thrilled that I did. Megan's skills in this book surpassed those that she displayed in her first book, and my expectations for this read were exceeded.

First, the world. That was the very first thing that drew me in. It was almost dystopian-like. Vampires ruled as King and Queen. Okay, okay, that's pretty neat, right? But it gets better. They don't feed off of humans, but they also don't feed off of animals. All the vampires ask is that humans donate some of their blood and in return they receive tons of protection. Throughout the novel, quite a few questions arose for me. Right when I didn't think they'd ever be fully answered, they are. And with a surprising twist. Then you realize you are left in the dark on purpose and when you finally come into the light, it carries one hell of a punch.

Then there are the characters. Claire tries to be positive and tough, but she gets angry fairly easily. She wants approval and to be important, but then she realizes that those things aren't really all that they are cracked up to be. She misses her best friend and her mom. but tries really hard to adjust to the vampire ways. Claire is an extremely relatable and likable character. She has to make a lot of tough decisions and those are what majorly helped me connect to her. And the boys! I thought I LOVED Dmitry and that I would for sure be on his Team. However, when Arrick makes his first REAL appearance I can't help but root for him and begin to wonder if Dmitry is really who he says he is and if he really cares about Claire. My favorite, though, would have to be Robin. She's fun and energetic and adorable and a nerd! Definitely someone I hope to see more of in the next book.

I'll admit, the beginning of the book was a little slow, but it really picks up towards the middle! I couldn't stop flipping the pages. Seriously. And then when I thought I had everything figured out....BAM. BOMB. DROPPED.

This book was highly enjoyable and I cannot wait to get my hands on the sequel!

• Fight scene. Seriously, Miss Duncan knows how to create an EPIC fight scene. I was all like, "Claire's gonna win. No, wait! Bag guy's gonna win! No! Claire. Wait....the bad guy is at it again." It definitely kept me on the edge of my seat.
• The cover. Is it not beautiful? And so fitting. I love the blood puring down the side. And the beautiful texture in the background. It's sort of elegant and mysterious.

If you liked...

Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead

House of Night series by P.C. and Kristin Cast

Released by Megan Duncan

then you will LOVE Savor.

Amazon              Amazon UK            Amazon DE              Amazon Paperback

B&N Nook Book           B&N Paperback

So, Megan is being so totally awesome by letting each person on the tour host a giveaway that features three prizes, which means THREE WINNERS!

The first prize winner will receive ONE SIGNED PAPERBACK COPY OF SAVOR

The second prize winner will receive ONE KINDLE EBOOK OF SAVOR

And the third winner will receive A SAVOR AND RELEASED BOOKMARK

Contest ends November 1, 2011. Winners will be picked by random number generator. Winners will be contacted will have 72 hours to reply.

So, thank you so much, Megan! To enter, fill out this form!

To see the previous and upcoming stops on the tour, click HERE.

Giveaway winner!

Okay, so, I apologize for not posting this sooner. I have been so busy lately that it has been hard for me to keep up.

But, the winner of the eBook copy of Released by Megan Duncan is...

...

...

...

(That's my drumroll!)

Darlener Goodman!

Congratulations, I will be sending you an email soon. Make sure you reply within 48 hours or the prize will go to somebody else!

WWW Wednesdays

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?

• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

WWW Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading.

What are you currently reading?

Divergent by Veronica Roth.

I've heard so many wonderful things about it that I had to get it. I'm not very far yet, but it is already really good. I love the factions and if I were to be assigned to one I think I'd either be Erudite or Candor (intelligent or honest).

 

What did you recently finish reading?

Released by Megan Duncan. (REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY!)

This book is about four teenagers trying to find safety during the midst of a demon apocalypse. It was a quick and fun read.

What do you think you'll read next?

You know, I'm not positive considering I have a pretty large TBR pile right now, but I'm guessing it will probably be Trial By Fire by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. It is the sequel to Raised by Wolves, which I loved, and I have been waiting to read it for a while!

What about you? Are you reading anything great right now? Or did you just finish something great? I love great books, therefore I would love to hear your recommendations.

RELEASED by Megan Duncan (REVIEW + GIVEAWAY)

After a demon apocalypse kills their parents and everyone they know, 17-year old Abby Phillips, her brother, Carter, and friend, Max flee their home to travel through what has become the wastelands of America. When radio transmissions of a resistance offering shelter and safety cease, Abby is tempted to give up. Struggling to overcome life-threatening obstacles in their dangerous journey, Abby and her companions quickly discover there are much worse things lurking in the dark than they could have ever imagined. (Goodreads.com)

I have to admit that I've always been extremely wary of self published books. I know that it's wrong, because a lot of self published books are REALLY good. This book, for instance. The only thing is that with a good editor, this book could have literally been perfect. Everything that a person could ask for in a book.

Instead there were some punctuation errors: Periods where there should have been commas, commas where there should have been nothing, nothing where there should have been commas. Also, in the very beginning there was an issue with verb tenses. I'm pretty sure there were only a few instances and it stopped after the first chapter, but there were times when Abby, the protagonist, is talking in present tense and then she reverts back to past tense.

Other than those problems, this book was fantastic. It's easy to look over the technical stuff when a really great story is being told.

In a way, this book sort of reminds me of the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson. Not the writing style, or narration or the plot or anything like that. But there's Abby, Carter, and Max. Abby and Carter are siblings and their parents are dead, as well as Max's, who is Carter's best friend and Abby's love interest. It's just a group of teenagers doing their best to survive and beating the crap out of anything that tries to get in their way. Another reason this reminds me of the Maximum Ride series is because of the action. Demons are roaming the streets and sinking their teeth into whatever people the can find, of course there is going to be action around every corner! These three kids (and Taya, who comes along later in the story) are just trying to get to a safe house in order to, well, be safe. But getting there is the dangerous part, seeing as they have to cross the country.

On the cover, you can see that Abby has a very large gun in her hands...Yeah, that is useful several times in the story.

• The premise. We hear of zombie apocalypses (is that the plural term?) all the time, but how often do we get to read books about demons destroying the world? That was why when Megan requested I review this book, I knew that I had to! It's fun, horrific, disgusting, and just really wonderful to read about. Megan uses some great descriptions so that the reader can really picture the different demons and the destruction that they have brought.
• The characters. In my opinion, these characters are very realistic. None of them claim to really know what they are doing. They try their best to be tough and kick some ass, and sometimes that's not always easy, but in the end they are always there for one another. They each have their own personality traits that you can't help but admire.
• The romance. Like I said, this books has a lot of action, but there is also a romance brewing between Max and Abby. The reason I like this romance is because it is sweet and slow and does not subtract from the plot or action in any way. When the two have time alone together, they have time alone together, but they're in the middle of a freaking demon apocalypse and they're not trying to sneak off into corners and get it on.
• The pacing. I think that Megan did an absolutely fabulous job pacing out this book. I've read books where the main character has, like, ten gazillionjillion things happen to him or her in the span of one freaking day, and then no more action for about a week. Megan really spaces out the attacks, giving her characters some breathing space, just enough time for them to feel safe, and then BAM! She throws them back in the fire - metaphorically speaking, of course. There are a few places where I was thinking, "Okay, get on with it now," but doesn't that happen in every book? The pacing made it a quick and enjoyable read.

NOW THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!

THE GIVEAWAY!

Okay, so Megan Duncan has been nice enough to give away an extra eBook copy of Released to one lucky winner.

The contest ends on 8/16/2011 at midnight.
Each person can only enter once, but if you tweet about it, you can earn an extra entrance.
The winner will be generated completely random!
You must be 13 years or older to enter.

DUE TO SOME UNFORSEEN CIRCUMSTANCES, THE GIVEAWAY HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO THE 23RD OF AUGUST!

THE FORM

And come back September 8, when I'll be posting a review, a giveaway, and a character interview of her upcoming release Savor for my stop on her blog tour.


Happy contesting :)