Review: Steam Blog Tour + Giveaway

Steam by Stacey Rourke
The Legends Saga #3
Publisher: Anchor Group
Release Date: September 10th, 2014
Source: Xpresso Blog Tour
Date Read: 9/14/15 to 9/16/15
209 Pages
Rating: ✰✰✰✰

Time passes, sins forgotten.
The bodies of the victims long since rotten.

Trapped within the essence of the Headless Horseman by the guilt of slaughtering her best friend, Ireland Crane follows the father of science fiction, HG Wells, in search of freedom from the curse that binds her. Instead, she discovers even he has a hidden agenda. A dark, relentless passion to be reunited with the woman he loves has driven him to manipulate time and a murderous Horseman.

Yet heed my warning, as the Raven flies,
The Hessian will come … and you will die.

All that prevents Ireland from abandoning Wells’ twisted pursuit, or introducing him to her sword, are the undead witches haunting her. Begging for freedom from a vile succubus, the ghoulish coven leads Ireland and her crew on a journey through Salem’s sordid past. There, they learn there is more to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s history than a scarlet letter, and the secret they’ve uncovered seeks to destroy them all.

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RONE Award Winner for Best YA Paranormal Work of 2012 for Embrace, a Gryphon Series Novel
Young Adult and Teen Reader voted Author of the Year 2012
Turning Pages Magazine Winner for Best YA book of 2013 & Best Teen Book of 2013

Stacey Rourke is the author of the award winning YA Gryphon Series, the chillingly suspenseful Legends Saga, and the romantic comedy Adapted for Film. She lives in Michigan with her husband, two beautiful daughters, and two giant dogs. She loves to travel, has an unhealthy shoe addiction, and considers herself blessed to make a career out of talking to the imaginary people that live in her head.

Author Website | Blog | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

It's not a huge surprised that I signed up for the Legends Saga blog tour, seeing as I have read her first book, and fell in love with it, so obviously I'm going to finish up the series.

In the first two books, we were introduced to a number of characters. The first focused on Ireland Crane, who has the Hessian, or the Headless Horseman, inside of her. She views it as a curse, since she can't exactly control the crazy, bloodthirsty Hessian that's inside her just waiting to take over her body. In the second book, we're also introduced to Ridley, who is connected to Edgar Allen Poe. When he isn't around Ireland, he ends up seeing these weird visions.

There's also Rip and Noah and then H. G. Wells appears, promising Ireland answers to all her questions. But really? There's definitely more to what he appears to be. And plus, a couple new characters, Peyton and Malachi, join the group.

I'm going to be honest and say I kind of got lost at the beginning, and I do wish that there was some summary or flashback to what happened in the previous book (seeing as I read it a year ago). But the more I read, the more I was drawn into the story. Especially since it went into the Salem Witch Trials, and with this character, Preen, who actually did end up being a part of a Wiccan group. And then I really wasn't expecting what happened to her in the end.

One of the only gripes I had with the novel, and maybe the entire series itself, was that I was often times confused at what was going on with the Sleepy Hollow group POV. Like in Steam, the story jumps from being in a club, to a train, and this quick transitions weren't clearly written out. Also, I didn't understand the use of Peyton.

Overall, I still really liked the series, and I'm glad I stuck out with it as it was published. Though I'm assuming that this is the last installment in this trilogy, and I actually don't know if this is true? (What does the term "Saga" actually mean?) Either way, that ending pretty much killed me, and I was left wondering what could happened after the epilogue. And what that epilogue means in general. But yes, I'm so glad I was given this opportunity to read this series! 

Oh look! A giveaway

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Cover Reveal: Steam

Steam by Stacey Rourke
The Legends Saga #3
Publisher: Anchor Group
Release Date: September 14th 2015
Xpresso Book Tours

A journey through time.

A scarlet letter.

A soul crushing betrayal.

The thrilling Legends Saga concludes in a mash-up of literary all-stars. The works of Washington Irving, Edgar Allen Poe, HG Wells, and Nathaniel Hawthorne come to life in an intricately weaved backstory of love, lies, and deception. The driving force of all involved? Passion. But when that passion is cloaked in darkness, madness reigns.

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

RONE Award Winner for Best YA Paranormal Work of 2012 for Embrace, a Gryphon Series Novel
Young Adult and Teen Reader voted Author of the Year 2012
Turning Pages Magazine Winner for Best YA book of 2013 & Best Teen Book of 2013

Stacey Rourke lives in Michigan with her husband, two beautiful daughters, and two giant, dogs. She loves to travel, has an unhealthy shoe addiction and considers herself blessed to make a career out of talking to the imaginary people that live in her head. Mark your calendars! Her latest literary adventure, Crane, will release May 26, 2014. She is currently hard at work on the continuations of this thrilling Legends Saga, as well as other literary projects.

 Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

(Let's be honest, I never do cover reveals, ever. But I absolutely love this NA series, and it was the first one that really focused more on the plot rather than the romance. And for that I am glad. I'm really looking forward to this final book.)

ARC Review: Raven Blog Tour + Giveaway

Raven by Stacey Rourke
The Legends Saga #2
Publisher: Anchor Group
Release Date: September 21st, 2014
Source: E-book
Date Read: 9/19/14 to 9/22/14
211 Pages
Rating: ✰✰✰1/2

An infamous love, destined nevermore,
For death could not claim, the enchanting Lenore.

Cursed by the malevolent spirit of the Headless Horseman, Ireland Crane ventures to Manhattan in search of a way to break her soul crushing bond. Instead, she discovers the lines between fact and fiction are blurring once more. Croaking ravens. Telltale hearts. Could the works of Poe be coming to pass with handsome Wall Street Midas Ridley Peolte as their unwilling target?

She walks the Earth, a plague on mankind,
searching for he, her rotted heart doth pine.

Together, the two unknowingly release a dark force death itself could not tame. Surrounded by the unrelenting violence and mayhem they’ve unleashed, Ireland feels her control over the Horseman slipping. Before the beast within consumes her, she and her crew must follow the clues of the dead to right a centuries’ old wrong. Will it be enough to sate the Horseman’s appetite?

Hell hath no fury like a ghoul scorned.

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

Young Adult and Teen Reader voted Author of the Year 2012

Turning Pages Magazine Winner for Best YA book of 2013 & Best Teen Book of 2013

Stacey Rourke lives in Michigan with her husband, two beautiful daughters, and two giant, dogs. She loves to travel, has an unhealthy shoe addiction  and considers herself blessed to make a career out of talking to the imaginary people that live in her head. Mark your calendars! Her latest literary adventure, Crane, will release May 26, 2014. She is currently hard at work on the continuations of this thrilling Legends Saga, as well as other literary projects.

Author Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

So here's to another well done book by Stacey Rourke! I received an e-arc Raven from a Xpresso Reads blog tour, and it was in pdf form, and most likely not the published form. However, Raven, the sequel to Crane (which you can read about here) was actually published yesterday! The e-book is on Amazon, and also Smashwords, I believe?

Since this is a sequel, I'll just sum up the awesomeness of the first book in bullet-point form:

• If you're looking for your first NA, LOOK HERE. This is a great read that focuses more on the plot rather than the romance
• It has incredibly witty lines and dialogue that made me laugh out loud!
• Hidden Easter eggs from other movies or books, which I actually haven't seen in many books (probably because I'm reading fantasy, oops)
• It's about the headless horseman, aka The Hessian, taking over Ireland's body because of a curse. And it's something she HAS to control. You know, before she kills tons of people by accident.

Feel free to skim this if you haven't read the first book! Or read it, either way there are no spoilers!

Raven is the second book in this series, and although I did like the first book better, this one also had the same witty lines that I loved.

'Perhaps she got her anger under control?' Rip's lips worked like a cow chewing cud. His beard bobbing with each rotation of his jaw. "I watched a fascinating documentary about a scientist that was inadvertently struck with a substance known as 'gamma radiation.' The result of which turned him into a reptilian colored ogre with horrible coping mechanisms. Only be calming himself could he revert back to his true form. It is possible the same type of technique worked for her.'

'Not a documentary, bud,' Noah corrected.

(Taken from an unedited/unpublished, ARC e-copy)

The story moves forward from Ireland's curse, to another character, Ridley, who has to battle the curse of Edgar Allen Poe. Yeah that's right, the actual Edgar Allen Poe, except he can bring anything back to life through his touch. Though they aren't exactly human when brought back.

Instead of moving completely on to a new character, Rourke decides to bring all of them together, Ireland (still trying to figure out HER curse), her boyfriend Noah, Rip (the guy out of his time), and then Ridley. This is a good and bad thing. Well, the good is that I loved how there's the whole "Team Horseman" and "Team Poe" thing going on. But then, this makes everything a little bit confusing.

Well, a lot.

Characters were just popping in and out, and I had a hard time focusing on who was doing what, or saying what. Ridley was even worse to imagine, since he constantly was seeing dead people. My main problem, and what brings this down a star and a half, is that the POVs keep on shifting throughout the story inconsistently. 

As with the last book, the chapters rotate between the past, in this case, historic Edgar Allen Poe, and the present with Ireland and the gang. I found Edgar's past to be much more appealing, simply because I didn't have to deal with a bunch of characters. 

In conclusion, I still really like this series. I think it has great potential! And I'm still looking forward to the next book, which will come out.....hopefully sometime soon!

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Review: Crane

Crane by Stacey Rourke
The Legends Saga #1
Publisher: Anchor Group Publishing
Release Date: May 26th, 2014
Source: e-book
Date Read: 8/27/14 to 9/2/14
298 Pages
Rating: ✰✰✰✰

The Horseman is unending,
his presence shan’t lessen.
If you break the curse,
you become the legend.

Washington Irving and Rip Van Winkle had no choice but to cover up the deadly truth behind Ichabod Crane’s disappearance. Centuries later, a Crane returns to Sleepy Hollow awakening macabre secrets once believed to be buried deep.

What if the monster that spawned the legend lived within you?

Now, Ireland Crane, reeling from a break-up and seeking a fresh start, must rely on the newly awakened Rip Van Winkle to discover the key to channeling the darkness swirling within her. Bodies are piling high and Ireland is the only one that can save Sleepy Hollow by embracing her own damning curse.

But is anyone truly safe when the Horseman rides?

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

WHY is this not more popular????

But seriously, I never thought it would live up to its cover. I have been deceived before, BUT NOT THIS TIME. No, Crane is a surprisingly, well-written, new adult paranormal story without a huge emphasis on the romance. It's actually more about the suspenseful plot.

Yes finally.

Just hear me out. To anyone who doesn't know where to start with New Adult, this is for you.

Crane starts out with our two main characters from two different time periods, Ichabod and Ireland. At the beginning, I did get slightly confused because I thought Ireland referred to the place, but this is not the case (lol). But in both of these time periods, we encounter the problem OF THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN! (Just kidding that's not the name, but there are murders)

So on both sides of the timeline, Ireland and Ichabod are dealing with murders in Sleepy Hollow. And as time passes, everything becomes really eerie, and curses and magic becomes involve. It comes to the point that one of Ichabod's friends, Rip, is put under a spell to help him travel through time into the future to warn Ireland of the curse.

Have I mentioned that I really liked how good and well-written this was? Lemme do it again.

First off, Ireland as a main (main main) character is gold. She constantly speaks her mind, and is a smart-mouth. As a 25ish year old, she fits her age perfectly. Basically she has her own awesome personality, and I've read a lot of books where the MC was just "meh".

And then Rip is this 50 or 60 year old OUT OF HIS TIME, and is helping Ireland with the whole curse situation. He kind of knows what's up, but not really. It's really funny to see him stumble around and get used to the current time period.

And no, before you ask, he is not the romantic interest. It's A HOTTER GUY DON'T WORRY. And he's adorable.

And along with this, I really liked the whole plot and how it was executed. Normally something like this wouldn't interest me, but the way it was written and how awesome the characters were really pulled me into the story. AND THERE WAS MURDER. MYSTERY. And all that jazz!

To be honest, I do have to say that at some times, I was very confused at what was going on, especially at the end. And also, I do want more! Luckily I am signed up for the second book, which I currently have, so that's a plus!

Overall, I enjoyed Crane immensely, and I'm excited to go onto the next book!