From Goodreads: "Emory Fae has abandoned everything she thought she knew about her previous life on Earth. Stepping up to her role as Queen of Kiero she makes a startling sacrifice- feigning her allegiances to Adair Stratton, the man who murdered her parents and casted Kiero into ruin. Emory’s memories slowly piece together, and she soon realizes the Mad King may not be all he seems— and the man who was once best friend, may be fighting beneath the surface. With the King’s attention on her, can she buy Black Dawn Rebellion enough time to recuperate their forces? And when the times comes, will she be able to kill Adair, ending his tyranny and rising herself as the rightful Queen? Fighting to hide her secret, Emory navigates the brutal trials of the Mad King, trying not to lose herself in the process. Sequel to Black Dawn, now a bestselling series, the sparks are ignited, as Emory learns the cost of freedom, and her title. Will the rebels unite in time? A sinister force has spread across the land, stripping everyone bare- their betrayals, their secrets, their intentions. But above all, what will their decisions cost? By refusing to give in to the darkness, will Emory rise as Queen?"

From Goodreads: "Six years before the Black Dawn Rebellion, Adair Stratton and Emory Fae are following in their parent’s footsteps and living at The Academy, a home for those who are gifted. The pressure to uphold the future of their parent’s dream falls on them. An outcast and feared by most, Adair longs to break away from the expectations dictating his future. Even if Emory tries to make him see differently. An unexpected group of friends keep him there, but as whispers of unexplained disappearances start reaching from the capital, Adair starts to doubt The Academy is all it seems. An unexpected visit ignites new tensions as the roguish king from across the Black Sea, Tadeas Maher of the Shattered Isles, and his heir, Marquis Maher sail to Kiero. Notorious for their pirating and wrath- for the first time in years, they demand the Fae’s listen to their proposition for a new treaty, holding the news of Nei’s father’s abrupt death over them. Caught in the middle of politics- Adair and Emory, with the help of their best friends Brokk and Memphis search for the one thing that matters most- finding out the truth. In this gripping prequel to Black Dawn, their world is tipped upside down as unlikely alliances are made. War ravages through Kiero and is torn apart by acclaimed Kings. Through the throes of betrayal, lies, hidden magic and love, Adair is faced with a life changing decision- to fight or to bow to the darkness within him."

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From Goodreads: "Escaping with Reid Wentworth should have been fun, but how can I enjoy it when I just (accidentally) killed someone, my mom and brother are in danger, and the Consortium is trying to enslave humanity? (Yeah, they aren’t fooling around.) So feeling something for Reid Wentworth was not part of the plan. Trying to help unite the Resistance against the Consortium means I can’t be distracted by hot boys. The Resistance secret hideout isn’t exactly the rebel base of my dreams. A traitor there wants me dead, but we have no idea who it is. And with both the Resistance and the Consortium trying to control me, the only one I can trust is Reid. If we’re going to have any chance of protecting my family, controlling my unstable powers, and surviving the clash between the Oculi factions, I’m going to have to catch this traitor. By using myself as bait."

Thank you to Entangled Teen, Tonya Kuper, and Chapter by Chapter Tours for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for review! All opinions are my own.

Get Enigma Here!

Tonya Kuper is the author of ANOMALY, the first in the Schrodinger's Consortium Series, a young adult science fiction trilogy, released November 4, 2014 by Entangled Teen. She fell for Young Adult lit while earning her Masters degree in Reading Education. She's a mom to two awesome boys, an alt music junkie, a Star Wars nerd, and in love with Sherlock.

Title: The Dragons of Nova (Loom Saga #2)
Author: Elise Kova
Pub. Date: July 11, 2017
Publisher: Keymaster Press
Formats: Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook
Pages: 488
Find it: Amazon | B&N | TBD | Goodreads

Cvareh returns home to his sky world of Nova with the genius crafter Arianna as his temperamental guest. The mercurial inventor possesses all the Xin family needs to turn the tides of a centuries-old power struggle, but the secrets she harbors must be earned with trust — hard to come by for Ari, especially when it comes to Dragons. On Nova, Ari finds herself closer to exacting vengeance against the traitor who killed everything — and everyone – she once loved. But before Ari can complete her campaign of revenge, the Crimson Court exposes her shadowed past and reveals something even more dangerous sparking between her and Cvareh.
While Nova is embroiled in blood sport and political games, the rebels on Loom prepare for an all-out assault on their Dragon oppressors. Florence unexpectedly finds herself at the forefront of change, as her unique blend of skills — and quick-shooting accuracy — makes her a force to be reckoned with. For the future of her world, she vows vengeance against the Dragons.
Before the rebellion can rise, though, the Guilds must fall.

Excerpt from The Dragons of Nova:

“They’re coming from the front!” Nora screamed over the crescendo of the engine gaining speed. On cue, the train lurched as an endwig was splattered to a bloody mess on the point of the engine’s pilot.

“Bloody cogs,” Florence cursed. The Vicar Alchemist had sent her to protect the mission as the Revolver, but one of her wasn’t going to be enough. “I’m going to the engine.”

“What are we going to do?” The usually self-sure Nora had the face of a cornered hare.

“You’re going to fight.” Florence passed her a weapon.

“I’ve never shot a gun before.”

“Now is a great time to learn.”

“I’m an Alchemist!”

Seriously, Florence was a breath away from shooting the woman herself. “You’re dead if you don’t adapt! There’s three more bombs exactly like the ones you just used, right there. Just fend them off until the train gets up to speed. But don’t use any other disks.”

Florence had no more time to waste as the train lurched again. They just had to survive until the train reached full speed. For all the endwig were, they certainly couldn’t keep up with a locomotive.

She hoped.

The wind whipped her hair around her face as she stuck her head from the train car. Florence reached out for the ladder to the right of the door, scaling up before another endwig could emerge. She swung up just in time as an explosion nearly blew her foot clean off.

“By the five guilds, you two only had three bombs!” she screamed over the wind, not knowing if they could hear. “Ration them a bit!”

Standing, Florence looked in horror at the tracks ahead. Dozens of endwig lined the path, running eagerly to meet the train. She loaded six canisters at once.

Jumping to the tender, Florence lost her footing atop the moving train car. A nail snapped clean off as she sought a grip that would prevent her from being thrown to certain death. If she fell now, she would never get back on the vessel. She’d be torn limb from limb.

Gritting her teeth, Florence rose to her knees, shooting two endwig in the process. She wedged herself between two grooves on the top of the tender. Blood pooled around her shins as she dug them into the metal for a grip where there was none, but she was stable enough to take aim, and that meant she could open fire.

Five shots down, and Florence reloaded her gun. Endwig came relentlessly like a never-ending nightmare. But the train didn’t gain any more speed. She repeated the process, waiting for the vessel to be like her bullets, whizzing through the night at deadly speeds.

“Anders, now would be a great time to open her up!” she screamed.

There was no reply.

“Anders, Rotus, we need speed, get us out of here faster!”

Five long claws curled around the door of the engine in answer. Florence watched in horror as the white silhouette of an endwig, dotted in the black blood of a Chimera, pulled itself from the engine room. Florence swallowed hard.

They were without Rivet and Raven, stumbling through the darkness, enemies at all sides. She raised her gun slowly, looking fearlessly at the face of death itself. Her revolver was steady over the rocking of the train.

“You think I’m not used to this?” Her mouth curled into a mad grin. “I’ve been fighting my way out of the darkness my whole life. And you’re not going to stop me now.”

Gunshots echoed through the forest.

About Elise Kova:

Elise Kova has always had a profound love of fantastical worlds. Somehow, she managed to focus on the real world long enough to graduate with a Master’s in Business Administration before crawling back under her favorite writing blanket to conceptualize her next magic system. She currently lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, and when she is not writing can be found playing video games, watching anime, or talking with readers on social media. She is the USA Today bestselling author of the Air Awakens Series as well as the Loom Saga (Keymaster, 2017).

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As they say in Dominion, sometimes it’s not you…it’s your DNA."

Thank you to Entangled Teen for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for review! All opinions are my own. Also special thanks to YAReads Blog Tours for having me on this amazing blog tour!

True North was one of my most anticipated reads of 2017 and it definitely did not disappoint! While this book certainly has the "middle book" feeling, it was a great continuation to the series and sets up the story to have a fantastic finale.

Plot:
This book begins about four months after the end of True Born. Margot is still missing and Lucy has no idea where she's gone. Having been abandoned in Dominion City, Lucy has had no choice but to rely on the kindness of the True Borns, namely Nolan Storm who has promised Lucy he will help her find her sister. But Storm has his own agenda that doesn't involve finding Margot, and Lucy gets tired of waiting, so she takes off for Russia with her True Born bodyguard, Jared Price. But Lucy can't help but worry that Jared's loyalty to Storm will hinder her chances at finding her sister. All is not as it appears, and the secret to the Fox sisters' blood must be discovered before they wind up dead. As I said above, this book definitely feels like a middle of the series book. There was a lot of build up to get to the "good stuff" so to speak, and a lot of it felt kind of boring at times, which was unfortunate because I was so excited to read this. Lucy spends a good chunk of the book putting her faith in Nolan Storm and his "promise" to help her find Margot before she realizes he's really not going to help her and she decides to take matters into her own hands. It was a lot of her and her inner monologue that involved either Jared and her frustration with him, where Margot is, and her growing distrust of Storm. Fortunately, however, once they got to Russia and discovered just why the Russians were so interested in Lucy and Margot, I was all about it. This book definitely builds up more on the twins and their "specialness" and I was so excited to read more about them, but the book was over before I knew it! There's a lot more world-building in True North, and you also get to visit new places outside of Dominion City which was really great to experience. At 400 pages, this certainly isn't a short book, but I absolutely flew through it and was dying for more by the end. It perfectly sets up the finale and I am so excited to see just where the story line goes from here!

Characters:
I'm not going to lie, I felt like Lucy wasn't as strong of a character in this book. She didn't act very smart, making reckless decisions such as wandering off from her bodyguard detail only to get pulled into a trap, and a large portion of the time her thoughts were on Jared. I definitely still enjoyed her connection to Margot and how dedicated she was to finding the key to her lock, as they are described several times throughout the book. Now that's not to say I didn't like her, I still love Lucy, but I just felt she wasn't the same Lucy from True Born. Which I suppose I can understand seeing as how she's completely cut off from her sister for such a long period of time. When it came to Jared, he drove me absolutely nuts! I couldn't understand why he constantly pulled Lucy around and was so hot and cold with her, and there were times where I was completely convinced that I was done with him as a whole. Especially the parts where he would comment about smelling Lucy. I just couldn't handle how...odd that was. But again, understandable as he's basically a cat, you know? The tension between the two of them was a huge part of the book and it was enough to make me shout at my Kindle several times. I did enjoy Ali as he was funny and had that something special about him. Although I shuddered at the thought of there being a love triangle introduced because I wasn't sure I could handle that. But he was great and I really wish there was more of him instead of Jared being all possessive about Lucy and then pushing her away. I was also pretty annoyed with Nolan for obvious reasons, but he definitely still had that electric personality that's just so hard to dislike. I think all of the characters were written so very well throughout this entire book and I was so happy to be back in this world with them and exploring more about Margot and Lucy. I have such a soft spot for all of them in their own ways and while I may not have been happy with every single thing they did, I still think they were all fantastic and I can't wait to see where each of their stories goes in the next book.

Writing:
L.E. Sterling has this way of writing that is elegant yet creepy. This entire book gives off the most spooky and dystopian-like vibe I've ever read about, and it's such an incredible experience. You get so much more world building with True North and it's just as desolate and terrifying as it was in True Born, if not more so. There's a constant sense of danger that accompanies Lucy throughout and you really get the feeling that something bad could happen at any time, anywhere. I loved the distinction between Dominion City and the other places that Lucy visits. She makes a comment about how it's always raining in Dominion, and that really gives you an idea of just how torn down and on the brink of complete destruction that place is. It's definitely one of my favorite dystopian cities I've ever read about because it feels so real, almost like I could climb through the pages and visit the alleyways with "Evolve or Die" written on the walls and see the kid gangs that roam the streets lining dead bodies with rocks. Being able to create such a vivid and frightening world that is still somehow beautiful is an amazing thing, and L.E. Sterling does it effortlessly. Her writing is unlike any I've ever read and it's incredible to see the growth from True Born to True North. It's growing and evolving into some of my favorite writing ever and while the wait for the final book is going to be long and hard, I know the words between the pages are going to be more elegant and chilling than ever.

True North is a book that is filled with fantastic characters, a plot that will leave you breathless, and writing that is sure to send shivers up your spine while painting a beautiful picture in your mind at the same time. I highly recommend picking up True Born first if you haven't (not only because it's fantastic but because it will provide all of the backstory you need to appreciate this book) and then having True North next to you to continue your journey. It's an incredible continuation to a wonderful dystopian/fantasy series and definitely cannot be missed!

Buy True North here!

But then Ella learns a secret…and it changes everything.

Ella knows she needs to turn back and make a stand to reclaim her home. She’s determined to bring a new—and better—life to all who’ve suffered. Or die trying."

Thank you to Entangled Teen and A.L. Davroe for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for review! All opinions are my own.

Redux is the amazing concluding book in the Tricksters duology by A.L. Davroe and let me tell you now, it's absolutely fantastic. While I am sad to see this series end (for now) I am so satisfied with the ending! I was worried it wouldn't end nice and clean and would have a lot of lose threads (that's clever, I promise) that wouldn't be tied up, but it was quite the opposite. While there are several things that at completely wrapped up, they're left in a very satisfying way to where things end but can also easily be picked back up in the future to continue the story. I definitely enjoyed the first book, Nexis, but did have a few small reservations about it. Going into Redux, all I knew to expect was the continuation of the story, but never thought I'd get such a satisfying conclusion. This world that A.L. Davroe has so masterfully crafted from the ground up is one that I would gladly get lost in again and is a book that should not be missed!

Plot:
This book picks up just minutes after the end of Nexis- with Evanescence in ruins and the Aristocrats on the run. One thing that I really enjoyed about Redux is that while you're reading a new book, you get loads of backstory about what happened in the first book so that you don't feel lost. I felt as if I got enough information that I would have been able to pick up Redux with no problems and would not have felt like I missed out on anything. However I would sill recommend picking up Nexis just because it's a good beginning to the series! Despite this book being a rather big one (428 pages!) it does move quite fast. You finally get to see the world outside of the dome and its inhabitants, both the Disfavored and Cannibals, and even get to see the game that the Disfavored play- Redux. There is a lot of action, and the question of who is the "real" Gus is finally answered. Trust me, you won't see the answer coming. There are twists and turns and truths are revealed that are pretty unexpected regarding Ella and her life. Also, the ending is pretty fantastic! While things do get wrapped up pretty nicely, they are also left open for potential future installments with Ella and her world and I am so excited at the prospect of more books in this series. I was on the fence about Nexis (although I did enjoy it) but Redux stole the show and is definitely my favorite book of the two, and I would love to see what direction the story can go from here. Redux is everything I could have wanted in a sequel/duology, and I am incredibly satisfied at the state of things after finishing the book.

Characters:
In the first book, I wasn't a huge fan of Ella. I was constantly frustrated that she was being held hostage and refused to ask for help from Gus in Nexis because she was afraid of what he would think of her in the real world without her legs. She definitely annoyed me whenever that issue would come up and I just found myself so...annoyed! But Ella in Redux is a completely different person. She's strong and loud and not afraid to be bold/take chances. I loved the huge growth difference from Nexis to Redux and I felt like a proud mom watching Ella grow up, basically. That may sound silly but I just absolutely adored Ella in this book and I could not get enough of her. I was so happy to see her take charge and lead people the way she wanted to, not in the way that others tried to tell her. Ella Drexel for president, am I right? Speaking of presidents, let's talk about Quentin and Gus. But not too much because spoilers. I loved the relationship between Ella and the two boys and I literally screamed when the "reveal" happened because I was so happy. I think there was more growth for Quentin compared to Gus but it was great to see Quentin kind of grow up as well. He gets a few twists thrown at him and it's interesting to see how he handles things as more of an adult rather than a teenager. Other characters, such as Quentin's Dolls, Delia, Bastian, Carsai, Violet, etc. are well-written but don't really stand out to me when I think about this book. They're good characters, especially Violet, and I liked the mini story arcs that they went through, but I like them as background characters and as possible main character story progression plots more than anything. But every character in this book was definitely well-written and I feel like this book is a great blend of both strong main characters and strong story lines.

Writing:
As a gamer, I loved the idea of a video game that you basically insert your consciousness into and play. Nexis introduced that idea and while Redux didn't expand heavily upon it (it was more about Ella's growth and realization of her purpose) it did reintroduce that concept again and we get to see the Disfavored version of Nexis, which is Redux. I loved that the writing was very balanced and never fell into too much detail and got boring, but never left the reader wondering just what was going on. It was beautiful, brutal, and scary, and I found myself flying through the pages and getting lost in the world that A.L. Davroe has created. There was so much more going on than I initially realized and I actually found myself enjoying the subtle political aspect that was woven in. Not only was there noticeable growth with Ella, but you can really tell there was a huge growth with the author from Nexis to Redux. A.L. Davroe quickly grew to an insta-read author for me, and I would definitely put her on my "you need to read this author" list!

This is a fantastic concluding book in the Tricksters duology that wraps up nicely while still leaving a potential opening for future books. I was so pleased with the beginning, ending, and everything in between. Have I mentioned that enough? If you're looking for an action-packed science-fiction/dystopian series with twists, turns, and creepy spider references, then Redux is the book for you!

Let us know what you think of the cover for True North by L.E. Sterling which releases April 4, 2017!

About True North (True Born, #2):

Abandoned by her family in Plague-ridden Dominion City, eighteen-year-old Lucy Fox has no choice but to rely upon the kindness of the True Borns, a renegade group of genetically enhanced humans, to save her twin sister, Margot. But Nolan Storm, their mysterious leader, has his own agenda. When Storm backtracks on his promise to rescue Margot, Lucy takes her fate into her own hands and sets off for Russia with her True Born bodyguard and maybe-something-more, the lethal yet beautiful Jared Price. In Russia, there's been whispered rumors of Plague Cure. While Lucy fights her magnetic attraction to Jared, anxious that his loyalty to Storm will hurt her chances of finding her sister, they quickly discover that not all is as it appears…and discovering the secrets contained in the Fox sisters' blood before they wind up dead is just the beginning.?? As they say in Dominion, sometimes it’s not you…it’s your DNA.

Want to read more? Pre-order your copy of True North (True Born, #2) by L.E. Sterling today!

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About the Author:

L.E. Sterling had an early obsession with sci-fi, fantasy and romance to which she remained faithful even through an M.A. in Creative Writing and a PhD in English Literature – where she completed a thesis on magical representation. She is the author of two previous novels, the cult hit Y/A novel The Originals (under pen name L.E. Vollick), dubbed “the Catcher in the Rye of a new generation” by one reviewer, and the urban fantasy Pluto’s Gate. Originally hailing from Parry Sound, Ontario, L.E. spent most of her summers roaming across Canada in a van with her father, a hippie musician, her brothers and an occasional stray mutt – inspiring her writing career. She currently lives in Toronto, Ontario.

RENEGADE RED REVEALED!

RENEGADE RED, the sequel to the award-winning novel SHATTERED BLUE will be available in THREE special edition covers, in both Hardcover and Paperback, in March 2017! Distribution from online sites and into bookstores will be random, so you have a chance to collect them all— the POET EDITION, the WARRIOR EDITION, and the very exclusive TRAVELER EDITION. Happy hunting, and learn more at LaurenBirdHorowitz.com!