Hi hello and welcome to day two of the Urban vs Epic Fantasy week hosted by Entangled Teen! Today, I'm featuring the #TeamUrban authors and why they love Urban Fantasy. Be sure to check out all of the amazing authors listed below as well as their books! Let's get started!

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Title: Guardian of Secrets

Author: Brenda Drake

Pages: 400

Genre: YA Fantasy

Release Date: 07 February 2017

From Goodreads: "Being a Sentinel isn’t all fairytales and secret gardens. Sure, jumping through books into the world’s most beautiful libraries to protect humans from mystical creatures is awesome. No one knows that better than Gia Kearns, but she could do without the part where people are always trying to kill her. Oh, and the fact that Pop and her had to move away from her friends and life as she knew it. And if that isn’t enough, her boyfriend, Arik, is acting strangely. Like, maybe she should be calling him “ex,” since he’s so into another girl. But she doesn’t have time to be mad or even jealous, because someone has to save the world from the upcoming apocalypse, and it looks like that’s going to be Gia. Maybe. If she survives."

Thank you to Entangled Teen for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for review!

I read Thief of Lies about a week and a half ago, and it left me feeling rather indifferent. I liked it, but I just couldn't get into it as much as I wanted to. However, I was excited to see where the story went and was excited at the chance to read the sequel, Guardian of Secrets! This book did not leave me with the same feeling as the first, but quite the opposite. I absolutely loved this book!

Gia Kearns is a Sentinel- a guardian that jumps into books to travel to different libraries around the world and protect humans from mystical creatures. It's not all its cracked up to be, though. People are always trying to kill her, and now she's had to go into hiding. With her Pop and twin "sister" in tow, they're now far away from Gia's old life. If that's not bad enough, her boyfriend Arik is acting strange and is clearly into some other girl. Unfortunately for Gia, she doesn't have time to be jealous or upset, because the end of the world is coming, and it falls on her shoulders to save everyone. 

Plot:
Guardian of Secrets picks up right where Thief of Lies left off. Gia, Nick, and the other Sentinels have gone into hiding in the human world and now attend public school. With public school comes some serious drama, and it definitely hit me right in the feels when it all unfolded so unexpectedly. On top of the drama, Gia and Nick are searching for the remaining Chiavi to prevent the raising of the Tetrad- an evil beast that can control all of the elements and will bring about the end of both worlds. I loved this story line and everything that happened within it. There was action, serious relationship drama, new characters, heartbreak, loss, secrets discovered, and so much more. I read about 78% of this book in one day because it was so fantastic that I just couldn't put it down! There was so much growth of the world that has already been established and I really enjoyed getting to dive deeper into this beautiful, magical story.

Characters:
I don't think I was able to connect to any of the characters when I read Thief of Lies. Not because they were written poorly or anything like that, but because I just didn't feel invested in them. Sure, I liked Gia, and I guess Arik was alright, but none of them really stood out or made a huge impact on me. Guardian of Secrets completely changed that. Gia has grown so much between books and I was blown away by how mature she was in this one! Having to balance her Chiavi hunt with being a Sentinel, going to school, and dealing with her wonky relationship with Arik, not to mention having to constantly help Nick with his newly unlocked Wizard powers seems like almost too much to handle at once. Gia somehow manages it all and is able to help save the world with time to spare. I just loved how much she grew as a character not only between books but also throughout Guardian of Secrets. She's so strong, and even in the midst of having her heart broken, she is able to pick up the pieces and move on thanks to the wonderful support system she has in the other Sentinels. Speaking of support, the girl power element was so wonderful to see in this book! Too often, we get girls that are catty and constantly fighting against each other or trying to bring other girls down. In this book, Gia is surrounded by strong, supportive females who work hard to build each other up instead of tear them down. Faith, Deidre, and Lei were always there for Gia no matter what she was going through. Even when Gia thinks that her and Deidre aren't getting along, Deidre surprises Gia by completely ending a friendship because she doesn't want to see Gia get hurt. I just really appreciated the supportive, strong females in this story and I hope to see more of it not only in future Library Jumpers books, but in other YA books as well. Another character that I really liked seeing grow up and evolve was Nick. It was hard seeing him struggle to get acclimated to his powers, and there were times that I just wanted to give him a hug, but I loved the relationship between him and Gia. They're such a great brother-sister (they're actually cousins but they're definitely more like brother and sister) pair and I just could not get enough of how dedicated to each other they were. No matter what Nick was going through, Gia refused to give up on him, despite people warning her to stay away from him because of who his father is. They were just so fantastic both as individual characters and a duo and I hope to see so much more of them in the next book! As far as the other characters, I thought they were well-written, but I wasn't all about them like I was when it came to Gia and Nick. Although I did love Faith so very much! All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the characters so much more in this book and I was so attached to them in their own little ways.

Writing:
Yes. Just all of my yes. I was sucked in to the writing of this book like a Sentinel jumping through a gateway book. Brenda Drake is a fantastic writer and I love the way that she creates and builds upon the worlds that she creates. With the world of Library Jumpers, she's created a really unique magic system that is still evolving and characters that you want to invest your time into following. I read one chapter and realized that I was going to love this book based off of only one chapter. It's so easy to fall into this world and get caught up with Gia and her relationship drama with Arik, or Nick and his growing Wizard powers, or even Faith and her cooking misadventures. Having a book that is so beautifully written that you're easily able to picture the numerous locations that the characters travel to makes reading that much more enjoyable, and Guardian of Secrets does just that. There's never a moment where you feel lost or out of place because there's just so much depth and dimension to the writing that you really feel like part of the story. Which is a fantastic feeling when you consider you're reading about a girl who can use a book to visit libraries all over the world!

Guardian of Secrets was a fantastic continuation to the Library Jumpers series. With new and unexpected characters, an action-packed story line, and vivid writing that is sure to draw you in until the very last page, this is one sequel you don't want to miss! Be sure to pick up Guardian of Secrets when it releases on 07 February 2017 and continue the addictive story of Gia and her library jumping friends!

Title: Thief of Lies
Author: Brenda Drake
Pages: 400
Genre: YA Fantasy
Release Date: 05 January 2016

From Goodreads: "Gia Kearns would rather fight with boys than kiss them. That is, until Arik, a leather clad hottie in the Boston Athenaeum, suddenly disappears. While examining the book of world libraries he abandoned, Gia unwittingly speaks the key that sucks her and her friends into a photograph and transports them into a Paris library, where Arik and his Sentinels—magical knights charged with protecting humans from the creatures traveling across the gateway books—rescue them from a demonic hound. Jumping into some of the world's most beautiful libraries would be a dream come true for Gia, if she weren’t busy resisting her heart or dodging an exiled wizard seeking revenge on both the Mystik and human worlds. Add a French flirt obsessed with Arik and a fling with a young wizard, and Gia must choose between her heart and her head, between Arik's world and her own, before both are destroyed."

Thank you to Entangled Teen for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for review!

The first thing that drew me to this book was the beautiful purple cover, and I was sold when the synopsis talked about jumping to different libraries. As a reader, the thought of being able to visit all of the different libraries around the world fascinated me, and I wanted to read more about Gia and her library jumping world immediately!

The last thing Gia Kearns wants to do is kiss a boy- she'd rather fight one. That is, until she bumps into the mysterious, leather-clad Arik in the Boston Atheneaeum. When she flips through a book of libraries of the world that he left behind, Gia accidentally speaks the key that transports her and her two friends, Nick and Afton, to a library in Paris. Turns out that Arik is a Sentinel, a protector of humans from the creatures that travel between gateway books. Now, Gia is caught up in a battle that will decide the fate of both the human world and the Mystik world, and a battle between following her heart or her destiny.

This was a book that I was on the fence about while I was reading but finally decided that it was alright by the end. I had trouble really getting into this world for a large portion of my reading experience. I found myself simply reading, but not understanding and enjoying it as much as I had hoped I would. There were parts that I enjoyed, such as the fight scenes and learning more about the Mystik world and their magic system, but I spent a while trying to really dive into Gia's world and understand what all was happening. On some level, I got the gist of the plot and what was going on, but I didn't really feel as if I was as immersed as I wanted to be. I definitely enjoyed the ending much more than everything before it and I'm actually quite eager to see what happens in the sequel! The book itself was written very well, so my inability to get into a large majority of the book is certainly through no fault of the author, I just don't think I was in the right mindset while I was reading. Just as a side note, I actually adore Brenda Drake and her writing and I did enjoy this book, I just preferred the ending to the beginning and middle!

As far as characters go, I really liked Gia, and surprisingly I liked Arik as well. Gia was very independent and strong and definitely not afraid to show it. Arik was the typical bad boy character that attracts the main character, but his sass was just so great and really made the book a lot of fun to read. With Gia's stubbornness and Arik's sass, the two of them made a great duo. I did find their romance a bit hard to believe, though, and even more so when a third party was introduced about 75% into the book. When it came to the other characters like Nick, Afton, Nana, and even Faith, I thought they were pretty well-written for side characters. There were a lot of other characters that showed up as the book went on, and there were numerous times when I would forget who was who, simply because there were just so many characters. The ones most important to the story stood out very well, so I think that's really what matters. By the end, I found myself liking Nick and being very interested in where his story was going to go in the next book, and I'm also very curious as to what is going to happen with Gia, Arik, and Bastien.

The writing of this book was enjoyable and it really picked up for me towards the end, however I found myself slightly lost through much of the beginning. There were several times where Gia would reference something from her past and I had absolutely no clue what she was talking about, which lead me to be frustrated because I didn't understand anything. At one point, she references her experience with magic seemingly out of the blue, and something about running away from the "bad people"despite her never having seen this thing before, but she just somehow knew he was part of the "bad people." While I understood that things were being set up and would hopefully be explained later on in the book, I just really felt like it was thrown at the reader with no context at all and I found myself feeling very lost. Things were definitely explained later on in the book, I just didn't enjoy having those things kind of just thrown at me. Once everything was explained and Gia learned about her past, the things that felt thrown at me made a lot more sense, and I even found myself more interested in learning about Gia and her world. I do feel like there were a lot of different ideas being introduced as I continued to read, and it felt somewhat cluttered for a large portion of the book. There are way too many things that get brought in the further you get in this book, so many that I'm having trouble really remembering everything, and I did find myself confused and lost for quite a while, unfortunately. I think that the idea of library jumping was a very cool concept, but it wasn't really executed in the way that I had hoped it would be. Despite that, Brenda Drake's writing is descriptive and beautiful, and really paints a picture of the Mystik world and its inhabitants, of which there are a ton. As I stated before, I really enjoyed the ending of this book and it has me interested for what happens in the sequel!

If you're looking for a new and exciting fantasy book that has magic,  a bit of complicated and rule-breaking romance, and an ending that will leave you eager for the sequel, then Thief of Lies is one book you don't want to miss out on!

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About the Author:

Thank you so much for stopping by and checking out the cover reveal for Guardian of Secrets by Brenda Drake. Be sure to pick it up when it releases on 07 February, 2017 from Entangled TEEN!

Title: Cursing Fate (The Fated #2)
Author: Brenda Drake
Pages: 220
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Release Date: 21 November 2016

From Goodreads: "There’s something strange about the Layne sisters, and Wade Diaz wants nothing to do with them. Especially the one who ripped his heart out and set it on fire before tossing it in the garbage several months ago. Iris. He can’t even think her name without unconsciously rubbing the spot in his chest where she left a gaping hole. But now her sisters are claiming some evil spirit is after his soul, and Iris is the only one who can save him. Well, at least his heart would stop hurting, right? Didn’t sound so bad.

Iris Layne has always been the sweet sister. She’s kind to everyone, including her best friend Wade… Until she makes a horrible mistake and breaks his heart. All she wants is to go back to before ‘the dumping’. Of course, Wade would rather see her in hell first. But then Iris touches her sister’s tarot cards and unleashes an evil curse intent on playing a deadly game where no one Iris loves is safe, especially Wade. How do you convince someone they need your help when you’re the one who hurt them most?"

Thank you to Entangled Teen for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for review!

Cursing Fate is the second installment in the Fated series by Brenda Drake and what a fantastic sequel it is! I really enjoyed the first one, despite having some reservations about it, but I absolutely loved this one.

This book follows Iris, the sister of Aster from Touching Fate. With Aster and Reese gone at college, Iris has been left to deal with the consequences of Aster changing her fate with Wade. When Violet returns home from her father's house, Iris moves into Aster's old room and discovers the hatbox hidden beneath the window seat. When she touches Aster's deck of cursed tarot cards, Iris becomes possessed by the spirit trapped within the cards. Now, she has to try to figure out a way to get rid of the spirit before she completes her "game" where no one that Iris loves is safe, including Wade.

Where to even begin? Let's start with the plot. Not only was the plot really fun and exciting to follow, but it was one where I found myself constantly wondering what would happen next and if it would be good or bad. The idea of the cursed tarot cards containing a spirit was something I didn't expect, but was excited to read about. At the end of the first book, there was a point where Aster heard something whispering to her as she bound and cleansed the tarot card deck, but it was very brief and it wasn't expanded upon very much. I'm really glad the author decided to take that idea and run with it, because it made this book so exciting and creepy! In Cursing Fate, readers get a bit more backstory into the history of the curse on Reese's family, and the Layne sisters ancestor, Crina, who also happens to be the spirit that is possessing Iris. It was nice to have that insight into the origin of the curse and why/how it came about in the first place. Honestly, the reason behind the curse is a bit sad, and I did find myself feeling bad for Crina for just a brief moment. But I loved the plot and how things played out, and now I'm wondering what sister the next book will follow. My fingers are crossed for Daisy, and I'm sure after reading this book, yours will be too!

Iris was such a wonderful character to read about and while Wade probably wasn't my favorite, it was still nice to get his perspective on the situation at certain important times in the book. I really enjoyed Iris because she was a very strong character, and aspired to be more like her twin sister Violet who was brave, positive, and very forgiving despite the awful situation she was experiencing involving her and her girlfriend. Also, just as a side note, I loved how instantly accepting all of the characters were (including Aster at the end of the first book) that Violet was bisexual. It was just like, no big deal to them and it didn't change anything about how they saw Violet or how much all of her friends and family loved her. Seriously, such an A+ way to tackle that and I would love to give Brenda Drake a hug for how well she wrote that whole thing! Iris was going through being possessed and having to deal with the world of fate changing, curses, and tarot cards that she thought was over with once Aster left, as well as the issues between her and Wade and having to deal with her ex-boyfriend, Josh, her fall from popularity, and being bullied along with Violet and others in school. It's great to see Iris grow from start to finish and kind of accept that she was unhappy with who she used to be and do her best to change and become more protective and more like her sister, Violet.

Wade was incredibly stubborn for a large portion of the book and it drove me absolutely bonkers. I understood that he was hurt by what happened between him and Iris, but his constant back and forth was getting to be a bit much for me. He talked so much about how hot he thought Iris was and how much he wanted her and would get so close to just going for it, but would then be like, "She hurt me and now I can't trust her but she has been my best friend forever and I do love her but she hurt me and I can't forgive that ever." I knew from the start that they would have to end up together, simply because they were too perfect for it not to happen. I loved that they were best friends that ended up together, and it drove me crazy that he took the entire book to realize that they were meant to be. This relationship was much more believable for me than Aster and Reese from the first one, because Iris and Wade had been a huge part of each others lives for a long time versus Aster and Reese happening upon each other and coincidentally being destined to be together. Although, I will admit, having them make a brief appearance in this book did make me smile and I was certainly happy to see them again! Basically, I loved Iris and even though Wade drove me insane, I loved him as well, and I loved the two of them together from the very first page. Both characters showed a huge amount of development throughout the story and I really liked how they both ended up by the end.

Once again, I loved Brenda Drake's writing. She has a way of being the perfect amount of descriptive to give you the feeling of being in the world and really lets you get to know your surroundings. It's fun and easy to follow, and I found myself absolutely devouring this book once I got started. Her characters are ones that you'll quickly fall in love with and her world building is very easy to get lost in. I loved that she continued to build upon the world of fate changers, and really took this book in a different direction, but still stayed true to the original world that she created in Touching Fate. I'm so excited to see where she takes the next installment both plot-wise and character-wise!

If you're looking for a fun, fast-paced, exciting, thrill-ride of a sequel, then Cursing Fate is for you! It has incredibly lovable characters, an expansion upon the world of fate changers, and a romance that you'll be rooting for from page one. Be sure to pick up a copy of Cursing Fate by Brenda Drake and continue your journey into the world of the Layne sisters and fate changing!

Title: Touching Fate (The Fated #1)
Author: Brenda Drake
Genre: YA Fantasy
Pages: 172
Release Date: 12 October 2015

From Goodreads: "Aster Layne believes in physics, not psychics. A tarot card reading on the Ocean City Boardwalk should have been a ridiculous, just-for-fun thing. It wasn’t. Aster discovers she has a very unscientific gift—with a simple touch of the cards, she can change a person’s fate.

Reese Van Buren is cursed. Like the kind of old-school, centuries-old curse that runs in royal families. Every firstborn son is doomed to die on his eighteenth birthday—and Reese’s is coming up fast. Bummer. He tries to distract himself from his inevitable death…only to find the one person who can save him.

Aster doesn’t know that the hot Dutch guy she’s just met needs her help–or that he’s about to die. But worst of all…she doesn’t know that her new gift comes with dark, dark consequences that can harm everyone she loves."

Thank you to Entangled Teen for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for review!

This was such a quick and fun read that I absolutely devoured in no time at all! I loved the synopsis and thought that the idea of a girl that loves science having a "very unscientific gift" tied together with a guy who is cursed to die on his eighteenth birthday would make for an interesting read, and it definitely did.

Aster never imagined that a fun tarot card reading would turn into her having the gift of a fate changer- one who can alter someone's fate for better or for worse. Nor did she ever think that she would bump into the person that she was fated to be with on the same day. Reese is fated to die on his eighteenth birthday thanks to a family curse that takes the lives of firstborn sons and never expected to run into a fate changer who could possibly reverse his curse and save his life. His plan? Trick Aster into falling in love with him so she'll have to change his fate. The problem? Reese has fallen in love with Aster and can't bring himself to trick her into saving him. The other problem? Aster's fate changer powers are wrecking havoc in her life, and she doesn't feel safe changing fates anymore. Will fate rip apart the two lovers or is there a way to remove the deadly curse?

What really drew me to this book was that it was described as one that you could read in one sitting. I've been on the lookout for a quick read or two, and Touching Fate fit that description perfectly. It was very fast paced, and a lot happened in what felt like a really short period of time, but I think that this book benefited from the quick storytelling. That being said, I did find it difficult to really connect with any of the characters that I encountered and I couldn't really allow myself to dive as deeply into the story as I would have liked. I certainly didn't dislike this book, I rather enjoyed it, but I just couldn't fall in love with any of the characters or the world like I wanted to.

Speaking of characters, let's talk about the ones in this book. Aster was quite sassy, and very independent, which were probably my two favorite things about her as a character. She cares for her family, takes care of her sisters, and has pretty much sworn off guys after her last relationship crashed and burned. That is of course, until she meets Reese, and ends up wanting her entire life to revolve around him. In a book with tarot cards, magical powers, and a family curse that kills firstborn sons, I found the romance to be the hardest thing to believe. Initially, Reese's intention is to trick Aster into falling in love with him, which definitely rubbed me the wrong way and made me dislike him as a character. Another thing that bothered me was how quickly the two fell in love. The very first time that Aster and Reese meet, she walks off thinking about his six pack abs, amazing blue eyes, and "dark blonde hair that brushed his brows just right." I thought it was incredibly cheesy and even rolled my eyes over the interaction. However, the reason behind the insta-love was explained later on in the book, which allowed me to believe it a bit more than I initially had and eventually root for the two lovers to end up together. Discovering how the two were connected really made me able to believe their feelings for each other more, and I liked that it added a bit of depth and backstory to the characters. I think on their own, Aster and Reese were good characters, and I would really like to see some more development from them with the next book. I'd also like to learn more about Aster's sisters, Iris, Violet, and Daisy, as well as Aster's best friend Leah!

The plot was different and fun, and really made this book easy to read through. Girl meets boy, boy thinks girl is cute, girl thinks boy is stupid but secretly thinks he's cute, girl discovers she has magical fate changing powers, boy is dying soon, boy plots to trick girl into loving him in order to save him, boy and girl fall in love, and the rest is filled with spoilers so I won't be talking about it! But really, does that not sound like it would be an interesting read? Because this is a book that can be read in one sitting, a lot happens very quickly, making it somewhat difficult to really believe some of the things that happen. Aster discovers she has the power of a fate changer, something she knows absolutely nothing about and doesn't believe in, and is pretty much a master of it after only doing it a few times. She's also sworn off boys that are the typical type that she goes for, but falls hard and fast for Reese who is basically the epitome of the type she usually goes after. But what I understood and accepted was that this was intended to be a quick read! Books like this are supposed to have the hard and fast romance and crazy things happening really quickly. As I said before, I think the fast pacing really worked for this book, and while it may have not been my favorite book of 2016, I still really enjoyed it for what it was. Sure, the romance was a typical love-at-first-sight, but the author gives a good explanation as to why it happened so fast, which kind of gave me an "oh, so that's why" moment towards the last 3/4 of the book. I may not have been able to fall head over heels in love with the characters, but I'm still really looking forward to reading the second book and seeing more of this world and the characters in it.

Brenda Drake's writing was fun, fast paced, easy to read, and very likable. Her writing style is one that I enjoyed very much, with it being the right amount of descriptive but still keeping it fun and easy to follow. If you're looking for an interesting story involving tarot cards and the ability to change your fate, definitely check out Touching Fate by Brenda Drake!