Excerpt: To See the Sun + Giveaway!

Today I've got a SciFi M/M romance to share with you guys: Kelly Jensen's TO SEE THE SUN is out now. Find out more about the book, including a sneak peek, before you one-click it.

Oh! And there's a great giveaway at the end, too. 

Enjoy! :)

To See the Sun by Kelly Jensen
Publisher: Riptide Publishing (August 13th, 2018)
Genre: SciFi Romance -- Queer, M/M

Survival is hard enough in the outer colonies—what chance does love have?

Life can be harsh and lonely in the outer colonies, but miner-turned-farmer Abraham Bauer is living his dream, cultivating crops that will one day turn the unforgiving world of Alkirak into paradise. He wants more, though. A companion—someone quiet like him. Someone to share his days, his bed, and his heart.

Gael Sonnen has never seen the sky, let alone the sun. He’s spent his whole life locked in the undercity beneath Zhemosen, running from one desperate situation to another. For a chance to get out, he’ll do just about anything—even travel to the far end of the galaxy as a mail-order husband. But no plan of Gael’s has ever gone smoothly, and his new start on Alkirak is no exception. Things go wrong from the moment he steps off the shuttle.

Although Gael arrives with unexpected complications, Abraham is prepared to make their relationship work—until Gael’s past catches up with them, threatening Abraham’s livelihood, the freedom Gael gave everything for, and the love neither man ever hoped to find. 

Where to Buy*:

Kindle | NOOK | Kobo

More Info:

Add it on GoodReads!

Jen's Quickie Review Round Up: Ana Tejano, Claire Kent, and Kelly Maher

Today is all about quickie novella thoughts. First one from Pat, now you get a three-for-one deal from Jen!

Jen: I didn’t think I liked novellas all that much until I read and loved My Lady’s Lover a few months ago (at some point, I promise I will stop stanning for that book...but today is not that day), and now they make up a pretty regular part of my reading diet. They are especially great when I’m not sure what to read next---they’re short, sweet, and satisfying. 

You Could be the One: Stories of Friends, Lovers, and Friends Becoming Lovers by Ana Tejano 
Publisher: Ana Tejano  (April 23, 2017)
Genre: Contemporary Romance (NA)

Experience the spark of discovering something new with someone familiar in You Could Be the One, a collection of stories about friends, lovers, and friends becoming lovers. Complications abound when the line between platonic and romantic gets blurred, but they did say that friendship is the foundation of a great love story. Will you take the risk for a relationship upgrade? 

It’s a Match

Cams Ronquillo is single and ready to mingle—at least, online. After finally moving on from her last breakup, she decides to try online dating thanks to the encouragement of Gabriel Evangelista, her friend, business partner, and a serial online dater. As she learns to navigate uncharted dating territory with the potential dates at her fingertips, Cams decides to break one of the online dating rules she was taught...and gets an unexpected match.

Bottleneck

Love is patient—just ask Gelo Morales, who waits for Lara Nolasco after his class every day just so he can spend time with her on their commute home. She doesn’t know that, and she also doesn’t know that he’s been in love with her since they met. He’s planning to tell her one day—he’s just waiting for the perfect moment. Will he find a way to reach Lara’s heart in time, or will be run into bumper-to-bumper traffic on his way there?

Fake It Till We Make It

Ruth Garcia is in her thirties and still hasn’t been in any relationship. She’s totally fine with that, but her family thinks otherwise. When her aunt orders her to bring a significant other to the next family event, she enlists her friend Ian Balboa to be her fake boyfriend. But when things go a little too well, she wonders just how they’ll get out of it without ruining their friendship. But does she even want to end the charade? 

Where to Buy*:

Kindle

More Info:

Author's Site
Add it on Goodreads!

Jen's Review:

[NetGalley Review]: "Assassins in Love"

Assassins in Love by Kris DeLake
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca (March 6, 2012)
Series: The Assassins Guild, 1
Genre: SciFi/Fantasy Romance

Summary (Amazon.com):
When one killer falls for another

Agent: Misha
Profile: Highly trained in every method the assassins guild has to offer. Always goes by the book.

Agent: Rikki
Profile: Rogue assassin who kills only to rid the world of hardened criminals. Hates organizations. Always does it her way.

Love becomes a matter of life and death

Misha's mission is to get Rikki to join the guild or give up her guns. He completely underestimated the effect she would have on him...and what heat and chaos they could bring to each other...

Where to Buy*:

Amazon | Kindle | BN.com

More Info:

Author's Site | Excerpt

My Review:

From page one, I had problems with Assassins in Love. Though the premise behind the story had a lot of potential (one of the reasons I was drawn to it in the first place), it fell short of those expectations, at least for me.

The story was too rushed and not fully developed in some of the areas. It seemed to suddenly head off in another direction without any reason. I felt like I was speed reading through some of the chapters due to the way the words flowed (and I don't mean that in a good way). And yet, despite the rushed feel to the story's development and writing, it was very slow to build and seemed to drag on. I kept waiting for it to get better, but instead it became more and more of a struggle for me to enjoy, and then it became almost a chore to finish reading. Neither are things that one wishes to feel while reading a book, and yet I went through both stages with this one.

To best honest, if it wasn't for the fact that I received this book to review, and therefore was expected to do so, I probably would have set it aside after the first 50 or so pages and moved on to something else.

Due to the fact that we each have differences in opinions, there will no doubt be other readers out there that love this book. And that's fine with me! But I just couldn't get into it.

The story failed to pull me in, and the characters were so annoying that I couldn't have cared less whether or not they got their HEA. And isn't that bad, when after reading a romance novel, I'm not interested in the hero? When I'm not anxious to have the heroine as my new BFF? For me, a good book, romance or otherwise, should illicit such a response from me, and Assassins in Love just didn't do it.

Misha was often described as a pretty boy type, and with some of his actions, along with the way he acted during the sex scenes (he blushes more than an innocent schoolgirl!), I kept picturing him as this very girly person. Not really who I want for a hero. And Rikki was the extreme opposite, so very hard and emotionless. I just couldn't see the connection between the two, though, apparently, she was mad for him, when, in fact, the only thing I think they had was lust, as within a handful of pages they had already banged each other, and continued to do so throughout the book. Their love scenes read more like rushed sex scenes than anything else—no connection, no real passion, and didn't get any response out of me except for the need to skim ahead.

2 STARS! For a romance novel, Assassins in Love didn't feel like one to me, nor did it read like one. The writing and storyline had enough problems that it made it down right difficult for me to enjoy it, and the characters...well, I just didn't care about them. I tried, but even after 4 days of reading this one, I couldn't muster up any response about it (positive or negative). I was simply glad when I finally finished it, knowing that I could move on to the next book I have in line. For anyone who is interested in reading this book, I say go for it—to each his own, and all that. But I won't be reading it again, and I'm not yet sure if I'll pick up another book by this author...

~*~*~*~
I received this e-book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
~*~*~*~

Enjoy!



Until Next Time,

*TBQ's Book Palace is a member of both the Amazon and Barnes and Nobles affiliates program. By using the links provided to buy products from either website, I receive a very small percentage of the order. To read my full disclosure on the matter, please see this post!

REVIEW: "Max"

Title: MaxAuthor: James PattersonSeries: The Maximum Ride Series, Book 5
Pages: 309
My Rating: 4 ½ stars


Max and the rest of the flock are back in this latest installment of James Patterson's bestselling series.

The story picks up right where it left off in the previous book, Maximum Ride: The Final Warning. Global warming is affecting the planet, and it's up to Max and the gang to help spread the word and stop the illegal dumping of waste products. Every thing's going as planned, the Erasers are no longer coming after them, and, for now, it seems that Jeb is on their side. Suddenly, a new villain shows up.

They meet their newest threat while flying. A man with a gun attacked directly to his arm, in place of a normal hand, tries to shoot Max, but thanks to the warnings from the flock, the bullet barely misses her.

After the close call, Max starts planning their escape to somewhere safer, if that even exists. But she can't leave her mother and half-sister, both of whom she has only recently met. Instead, she agrees (a bit reluctantly) to go to a special school, located in Utah (Oh, I feel special, they mentioned my home without dragging in 'Mormon' jokes as well!).

While they are there at the new school, Max gets some devastating news: her mother has been kidnapped by Mr. Chu, the man behind the attempt on their lives earlier. Now the flock has to figure out where she's being held and save her-- before it's too late.

From there, the story twists and turns, treating the reader to an exhilarating roller coaster ride. Just when you think you have everything figured out, guess again, because Patterson will soon be throwing something new at you. It's part of what makes the series so good, and keeps the story fresh, even after five books.

Patterson's novels have been well known for years, and his Maximum Ride Series, which were originally aimed for a teenage audience, have only added to his fame. His books are written so that younger readers can enjoy them without the risk of running into adult content, yet they are so well written and interesting that just as many adults, including grandparents, are starting to pick them up, too.

The books have everything you could possibly want, a little something for every reader out there. Combine the following all together and you have the perfect recipe for a very addicting series: high-flying adventures, witty conversations between the characters, a touch of mystery and suspense, a lite dash of romance, and an interesting and unique storyline.

And the good thing about the series is that if you do pick up one of the middle books, without reading the previous ones, you won't be lost. Although it's always better to read the books in order, it's not required. Patterson does a good job at keeping the new readers updated on what's already happened. However, once you try one of them, you probably won't stop at just that--after reading the book, you will be compelled to pick up the rest of the books, anxious to find out what will happen next.

But be warned: if you've been following this series from the beginning, and you were hoping that Max would be a sort of conclusion to it, you're going to be disappointed. In typical Patterson style, Max leaves you on a cliff hanger at the end, ready for whatever Patterson is going to throw at you next time. On the bright side, this means that, for now, there is no definite end to this much loved series.






~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh, and if you're wondering where my 'What Did I Receive' and 'What Have I Been Reading' post are, well, I have no excuse-- I've been busy, and when I've had a few spare minutes, I've been too tired/lazy. Sorry. What with my finals coming up real soon, a few starting within the next week or so, I haven't had a whole lot of time to get online for anything other than studying.

Just FYI, I didn't receive anything this last week anyway, though I am expecting a few books soon, from LT Early Reviewer's, plus a book from Larissa Ione's blog contest, and one other, though my mind has went blank right now.

I had a fairly good week last week, as far as reading goes, and I'm thinking of just doing a halfway through the month post for this month, since I'm behind on my weekly reading posts. We'll see how it goes, so no promises yet!

Hope everyone had a good Easter weekend, no matter your beliefs, and I hope you enjoy whatever books you are currently reading.





Until Next Time,
Image by Cool Text: Logo and Button Generator - Create Your Own

"Jumper: Griffin's Story"

Synopis from B&N.com:

Griffin has a secret. It’s a secret that he’s sworn to his parents to keep, and never tell. Griffin is a Jumper: a person who can teleport to any place he has ever been. The first time was when he was five, and his parents crossed an ocean to protect the secret. The most important time was when he was nine. That was the day that the men came to his house and murdered his parents. Griffin knows that the men were looking for him, and he must never let them find him.

Griffin grows up with only two goals: to survive, and to kill the people who want him dead. And a Jumper bent on revenge is not going to let anything stand in his way.

I read the book, I saw the movie, and then I found out that Gould wrote a second book, a prequel, about Griffin, whom we met briefly in the movie, but not in the first Jumper book. And I'm glad that I picked it up-- it was great!

Though it is different from the first book, and the movie too, for that matter, I still enjoyed Jumper: Griffin's Story. It had action, adventure, laughs, time travel ('jumping') and even a good dose of romance and coming-of-age subplot.

From page one, you'll be hooked, pulled deep into the story, wanting to know what will happen next, what Griffin's life is like. I like that it mixes real life fiction and science fiction together. Even the little bit of romance makes the book even better.

5/5 stars! A great book, with a little bit of everything in it, a definite must read for any book lover, a nice retreat away from everyday life.

~TBQ~