Blood Jewel Blog Tour - Midway Review

I'm excited to share my midway review with you as part of the Blood Jewel blog tour. The midway review is just as it sounds, a review written partway through the book.

Blurb:

With the mystery of Chansey Leclaire and Curry Brennan’s connection solved, they are free to explore their newfound love for one another. Or so they thought...

When Marsala uses a witch and black magic to discover Curry’s whereabouts, he and Chansey are left with no choice. The newly engaged couple is forced to relocate away from their families at the new compound in Savannah, which causes some major changes in the plans for their upcoming wedding.

Relocating to Savannah might have saved Curry and Chansey from being discovered by Marsala, but it doesn’t stop her attempts to reach Curry or her efforts to harm Chansey through the use of black magic. As Marsala closes in, Curry faces the decision he never wanted to make. Will he keep Chansey human or condemn her to eternity as the thing he hates most?

As Curry waits for his hand to be forced, a newly turned vampire arrives at the Savannah compound in need of help. Not only is she a fledgeling in transition, she brings reports of escaping from a vampire cult still in possession of her sister, a human. Any attempt to save the captive human from a cult of vampires puts everyone in jeopardy. Can they risk entering a large cult to save one human being? And is so, how could they possibly do it successfully?

Love will grow. New mysteries will arise. A battle will ensue. A Blood Jewel will be found.

My Thoughts:

Curry and Chansey are back in book 2 of the Vampire Agape series. As fated lovers, their relationship is intense and consuming. Right now I'm about a third of the way through the book and I have a feeling I'm on the verge of something very big happening! Already we've heard from Curry's old lover/foe Marsala and I doubt Curry and Chansey have heard from her for the last time.

I really enjoyed the very beginning of this book, where we got a prologue written from Marsala's point of view. While Marsala seems like quite the monster, I think the prologue served as a great reminder that at one point, Marsala was a human girl, with human hopes and fears. It helps to keep her from being just a boring villian (or jealous ex-girlfriend).

I haven't yet figured out the significance of the term "Blood Jewel," which I'm certain will be revealed later on, but the synopsis hints at some very exciting stuff to come. So far, so good for Blood Jewel!

On the Cover:

Gorgeous, just like the rest of the series.

Source: I received an ebook as part of the blog tour.

Find the Book: Goodreads | Kindle | Smashwords

Find the Author: Goodreads | Website | Twitter | Facebook

Also, remember you can get the first book in the Vampire Agape series, Blood of Anteros, for free right now! Also, stay tuned for the cover reveal of book three, Blood Doll, tomorrow on Megan Likes Books!

Giveaway:

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The Last Bastion of the Living Blog Tour: Midway Review and Giveaway

So I'm trying something new for the Last Bastion of the Living blog tour, a midway review! That means that I'll be sharing my thoughts from where I am, pretty close to the midpoint of the book. Stay tuned for my final review in about a week or so!

Synopsis:

The Bastion was humanity’s last hope against the fearsome undead creatures known as the Inferi Scourge. A fortified city with a high wall, surrounded by lush land rich with all the resources needed to survive, protected by high mountain summits, and a massive gate to secure the only pass into the valley, the Bastion became the last stronghold of the living on earth. But one fateful day, the gate failed and the Inferi Scourge destroyed the human settlements outside the walls and trapped the survivors inside the city. Now decades later, the last remaining humans are struggling to survive in a dying city as resources and hope dwindle.

Vanguard Maria Martinez has lived her whole life within the towering walls of steel. She yearns for a life away from the overcrowded streets, rolling blackouts, and food shortages, but there is no hope for anyone as long as the Inferi Scourge howl outside the high walls. Her only refuge from the daily grind is in the arms of her lover, Dwayne Reichardt, an officer in the Bastion Constabulary. Both are highly-decorated veterans of the last disastrous push against the Inferi Scourge. Their secret affair is her only happiness.

Then one day Maria is summoned to meet with a mysterious representative from the Science Warfare Division and is offered the opportunity to finally destroy the Inferi Scourge in the valley and close the gate. The rewards of success are great, but she will have to sacrifice everything, possibly even her life, to accomplish the ultimate goal of securing the future of humanity and saving it from extinction.

My Thoughts:

So far, I am in love with this book! I really enjoyed another of Rhiannon's books, The First Days, but I actually prefer The Last Bastion of the Living! Maria is a great character, likeable, fiery and imperfect, my favourite combination! I also really love the world Frater created. I can easily picture what life in the Bastion must be like for the survivors and I really like the concept that some survivors have never known a world without the Inferi Scourge. This great setting really clarifies Maria's desperation to destroy the Inferi threat through any means necessary!

At halfway through this book, I want to highly recommend this book to everyone! Unless things take a turn for the worst in the second half, this book is on track to be one of my favourites for the year!

About the Author:

Rhiannon Frater is the award-winning author of the AS THE WORLD DIES zombie trilogy and the author of several other books: the vampire novels PRETTY WHEN SHE DIES and THE TALE OF THE VAMPIRE BRIDE and the young-adult zombie novel The Living Dead Boy and the Zombie Hunters. The first two books in her zombie trilogy, THE FIRST DAYS and FIGHTING TO SURVIVE, are available now in bookstores. SIEGE will be in bookstores on April 24, 2012.
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Giveaway: 

Rhiannon has been kind enough to offer one lucky reader a chance to win a ebook of The Last Bastion of the Living. You NEED to enter this giveaway!

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