Tag Archives: jocelyn adams

Crawling out of the pit of despair. A review of NIGHTINGALE by @JocelynAdams

Nightingale by Jocelyn Adams (Ebook) I am a pretty big Jocelyn Adams fan, and while this is not my favorite book by her, I think it will stand out as an ambitious, thought-provoking effort to those who enjoy deep themes and slow-36359941burn romance.

Micah is a rich former playboy who has been brutally disfigured after being held captive by a Columbian drug lord. Darcy is an ambitious reporter who nails the interview of a lifetime when Micah finally agrees to reveal what happened, and how he and a small group of captives escaped. She finds herself falling for Micah over the week-long interview, and ends up questioning which is more important to her… printing a story that rockets her to fame, or protecting the secrets of a man who used the horror of an unthinkable experience to refocus and devote his resources to saving people’s lives.

I really liked how Darcy didn’t take the easy way out and sleep with him right off the bat to get him to talk. I enjoyed watching them get to know each other, and how their very different lives had so many similarities that I could actually believe they would fall for each other despite the class lines.

There’s not really anything to complain about here. If you enjoy a more realistic romance, where people take the time to fall in love before falling into the sheets, this book should be a winner for you.

There’s one of these Raffle-Copter things associated with this book’s release. Here it is if you are the contest-type. $25 Gift Card up for grabs.

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Catch you later!

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Get you Kick-Butt Action on! A Review of Forever Dusk by Jocelyn Adams

Dive into the thrilling third novel in the Mortal Machine series by Jocelyn Adams…

Woohoo! I really loved the first two books in the Mortal Machine series, Darkside Sun and Midnight Dawn. This is a kick-butt action series with one of the most incredible paranormal worlds I’ve ever read.
When I heard that the long-awaited final installment, Forever Dusk was finally releasing I jumped at the chance to get an ARC, and I’m so glad I did.
Now, first things first, I’m not sure what’s up with the cover for Forever Dusk, but don’t let it turn you off if you haven’t read the series. This IS NOT an erotic romance novel. This is about nasty demons trying to break into our world and eat everyone … and a group of kick-butt soldiers fighting and dying under the radar to keep us all safe. This is first and foremost paranormal action/adventure and maybe yes, a little romance thrown in for good measure.

My feelings for the final installment in the series were a little mixed. To be honest, I wish I could review just the second half of the book, because here is where I saw all the elements of the Mortal Machine that kept me screaming for more in books one and two. For some reason Addy was in a very different place in the beginning of the book than I expected her to be. To an action junkie like me, I felt like she was hanging around and “thinking” too much. I suppose there were two books of backstory in there that needed to be covered, but I didn’t see the Addy that I loved on those pages, and I missed her.

HOWEVER at about 40% into the story (I read on an E-reader) Baku lights a fire under our girl’s butt and she is off and running again. The second 60% of Forever Dusk is jam-packed full of all the awesome Mortal Machine goodness that made me fall in love with the series a few years ago. We also see one of the greatest races against time that I’ve read in a very long time. You know the kind I mean: Do something completely insane up against incredible odds, and be back before sundown or the world will come to an end. (Literally)

Woo-hoo! Love it!

Being as non-spoilery as I can, Forever Dusk tied up all the loose ends, pulling at all my heart strings and leaving me a very happy camper.

As a series, I’d give this a clean and easy five stars. If you are looking for something you haven’t seen before, THIS IS IT. Get ready for a great ride!


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Forever Dusk (Book Three)
Since their last battle, life for the Mortal Machine—the secret-society that protects Earth and its inhabitants from dark outside forces—has become almost…normal. For everyone but Addison. The evil she’s imprisoned in her soul has begun eating away at her sanity, and despite her soul mate Asher’s efforts to hold her together, it’s causing painful and terrifying delusions.
 
Consequently, nobody believes Addison’s warnings that Marcus, their old enemy, has returned. When Marcus threatens Asher and the Machine, she agrees to find what he seeks—a treasure that, in his hands, could be deadly.
 
If she relies too much on Asher, she knows he’ll likely imprison her, if only to preserve what’s left of her deteriorating mind. But if she fails this final test, Earth will fall. So Addison is forced to distance herself from her love, to prevent the life she wants with Asher from being over before it truly begins.
 
Find your copy of FOREVER DUSK:
 
 
 
 
Previous Books in the Mortal Machine Series:

 

Darkside Sun (Book One)
 
Addison Beckett tries hard to pretend she’s normal, but she’s far from it. Since she was six years old, she’s seen the world around her unraveling, as if someone is pulling a thread from a sweater and it’s all slowly coming undone. When she ignores it, it goes away, so that’s what she does.
Enter her arrogant-but-hot professor Asher Green. He knows all about her special brand of crazy. In fact, he might be just as nuts as she is. Asher insists that the dead from a parallel dimension are trying to possess the living in this one. And since Addison seems to be the only one who can see these “wraiths,” she just might be the key to saving the world.
Addison wants nothing to do with Asher or his secret society, The Mortal Machine. But as their animosity grows, she finds it harder and harder to ignore the chemistry between them. And when she discovers that Machine laws forbid her from touching him, she realizes that’s all she wants to do.

 

Stop the wraiths. Break the rules. Save the world. All in a day’s work.
Normal was overrated, anyway.
 
Find your copy of DARKSIDE SUN:
Midnight Dawn (Book Two)
With only three days until the wraith king turns the earth into an all-you-can-eat buffet, Addison Beckett is forced to enlist brooding sentinel Asher Green’s help to unlock the Mortal Machine. According to the founder, all she has to do is find the sanctuary—the same sanctuary she can’t remember because Asher erased her memories.
Trying to save humanity while navigating Asher’s lies is a royal pain. But the more time she and Asher spend together, the harder her soul tries to remind her what else he’s made her forget—that he loves her, wants her, needs her.
When she’s trapped by the wraith king and forced to pick who will stand by her in the coming battle, Addison is faced with an impossible choice: the sentinel she loves who refuses to love her back, or a powerful stranger who insists they’re meant to be together. Her decision will determine the fate of humanity, and once decided, can’t be undone.
 
Find your copy of MIDNIGHT DAWN:

 

About the author: 
 
Jocelyn is an office grunt by day and creator of romance and adventure by night. Born a farmer’s daughter with a vivid imagination, she spent her childhood dreaming up stories that remained untold until 2010.

 

With no formal training, she relied on the honest feedback of her writing group to take her from that first short story all the way to THE END of her first novel. She now has eight published novels and has recently signed a 3-book deal with Entangled Publishing.

 

When she isn’t slinging words, you can find her shooting her bow or enjoying the serenity of family life in her little house in the woods.

 

Connect with Jocelyn Adams

Score! Here’s a scene from the next Mortal Machine novel by @jocelynadams

Oooo! I’m all a tingle. I’m a huge Jocelyn Adams fan, and I’ve been counting the days until book #2 of the Mortal Machine series comes out. Today’s the day!

And here I am, little old me, with a Sneak Peak Excerpt from Book # 2: MIDNIGHT DAWN (Below in the post)

And double score!  Book two is on release day blitz for only $.99 on ebook. How cool is that!  If you love a lot of action with a splash of romance, your will eat this series up.

Pick up a copy at only $0.99 for a limited time!:

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Back of the book:

Her soul remembers his touch, even if she doesn’t. 

With only three days until the wraith king turns the earth into an all-you-can-eat buffet, Addison Beckett is forced to enlist brooding sentinel Asher Green’s help to unlock the Mortal Machine. According to the founder, all she has to do is find the sanctuary—the same sanctuary she can’t remember because Asher erased her memories.

Trying to save humanity while navigating Asher’s lies is a royal pain. But the more time she and Asher spend together, the harder her soul tries to remind her what else he’s made her forget—that he loves her, wants her, needs her.

When she’s trapped by the wraith king and forced to pick who will stand by her in the coming battle, Addison is faced with an impossible choice: the sentinel she loves who refuses to love her back, or a powerful stranger who insists they’re meant to be together. Her decision will determine the fate of humanity, and once decided, can’t be undone.

Swivel green long

Are yea ready for that excerpt?  Strap yourself in. Here we gooooo!

Swivel green long

We flew along the freeway at a scary speed, the car floating as if not much of the rubber actually touched the road. If we hit anything, since my hands were still bound behind my back and I wasn’t a wearing seat belt, I’d end up smashing face-first into the security panel.

“We just have to keep ahead of the authorities until this phenomenon passes,” Caine said, “and then we’ll escape into the Shift.”

“Good luck with that,” Asher snapped out. “It’s still locked up tight.”

“Bloody hell.” Caine moved his hands up to ten and two on the wheel. “Hold on to your arses, girls and boys, we’re in for some turbulence.”

I leaned forward, straining to see through the clouded panel, and didn’t have to look too hard out the windshield to locate what he’d seen. In the distance, a line of headlights and police beacons cut a swath across the freeway, and they weren’t moving. How had they set up a roadblock so fast?

Had Baku tipped them off? I struggled in my cuffs, but they were tight, and I only succeeded in scraping my skin.

Asher cursed. “Goddammit, why can’t we catch a break tonight?”

“Um…why aren’t you slowing down, Caine?” I pressed myself against the back of the seat, crushing my own hands.

He grinned at me over his shoulder, and the car lurched forward, the engine growling harder into the early morning.

“Stop the damned car!” Asher raised his knees and thrust his heels against the divider screen with enough force to tip a bus on its ass, but it didn’t give at all.

Hands braced on the dash, Kyle shouted obscenities that soon turned into the Lord’s Prayer.

We bore down on the lights, closer and closer. Jesus, Caine was going to ram them, only the cruisers were parked head-on to us, so it wasn’t like we were going to get through.

“What is he doing?” I asked no one in particular.

“Spike strip!” Kyle yelled. The resulting swerve around the wicked-looking piece of metal with nails waiting to blow our tires threw me hard into Asher and shot my shoulder up with pain.

Cleared of the danger, Caine resumed course toward the barricade. He began counting down. “Five”—we were close enough to see the officers drawing weapons and settling behind car doors—“Four”—pops sounded outside from the cops who were positioned on the shoulder, firing at us, and the ones in our direct line scrambled out of the way—“Three”—the front right tire exploded, throwing me forward, and I might have smashed my face in if Asher hadn’t thrown his body across me—“Two”—I buried my face against his throat and told him I was sorry over and over again—“One.”

AAAAAAAAAAAARGHH!

Heading. Over. To buy. NOW!

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You need to buy this book, and it’s on sale for $.99

Now, I know it’s not like me to hang here and tell you to buy a book. Unless it’s mine, cause, hey, ya should, cause, well… it’s mine.

But anyway… Let me tell you about this book called Darkside Sun.

As you may have noticed from my several reviews, I am a big Jocelyn Adams fan. I think she’s awesome.

Almost two years ago, I gushed when I tripped over her in a chat room. (She was posting under a pseudonym, and I didn’t even know I’d been talking to her – funny story I’ll have to tell you some day) Anyway, we became cyber-buddies, and she’s been uber helpful with advice about do’s and don’ts in the publishing industry.

Last year, she entrusted me with a beta copy of “DARKSIDE SUN”. Let me tell you, I was floored. When I finished it, I cried… and wrote this blog post: “There is a book out there that is better than yours.”

And yes, this book was contracted soon after by my target publisher.  Yes, I celebrated.  This book totally deserves it.

A month or so ago, I was contacted and asked if Entangled could use a quote from my beta comments on the novel in their marketing.  “Sure,” I said… not even remembering what I’d said.

Imagine my surprise when the cover hit Amazon:

See that white writing in the upper left hand corner?  Let me zoom that in for you.

Darkside Sun Quote

Wowzers.

All that stuff they say about making connections and stuff… yeah, it’s true.  my name is on the front of a novel that I personally believe will be the next “big thing.”

And let me tell you, I couldn’t be happier.  There are not too many novels out there that I would recommend this much… or slap my name on the cover… but this is one.  You will be drawn in from the first pages, and biting your nails until the unbelievable end.

Even if you don’t like this genre, I’d recommend this for the simple reason of soaking in Jocelyn Adam’s writing style.   She is everything I want to be when I grow up, and I am trilled to death that she’s finally received big-name recognition.

Darkside Sun is on sale for the next few days in a promotional blitz.  For $.99 on Amazon. I am sure you will not be disappointed. It doesn’t get too “paranormal” right away, and everyone from contemporary to horror can learn a little soaking her style in.

Even though I read the beta, I am hopping over now to pick up my copy. I can’t wait to see the final product. I hear it’s even better. I’m prepared to be wowed all over again.
Darkside Sun (Entangled Embrace)

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A Review of Crossing Hathaway by Jocelyn Adams

I decided to give this book a whirl because I saw a few internet posts from the author saying it was a great seller for her, and she wasn’t sure why.

I think this is one of those classic cases of a beauty queen thinking she’s ugly or something… or maybe she just doesn’t have a mirror (or reading glasses in this case.)

Crossing Hathaway is a Contemporary Romance (not my favorite genre) But it had just enough of an “out of the ordinary” twist for me to make it interesting, and for me to really feel the peril that our Main Character is in.

Eva is an IT specialist who has to spend a week working for the obnoxious owner of her company when her immediate leader has to leave for a family emergency.  She ends up dealing with more than a jerk boss, though… In the end, her life is at stake.  Heart pounding!

Jocelyn Adam’s writing is extremely fluid, and far too easy to read.  For instance, you sit down to read for ten minutes, and two hours later you realize you are still reading.  It’s one of those “annoyingly good” things.

Tiramisu anybody?

And I imagine that the Tiramisu scene has probably had some chatter on the internet and other Romance circles.  I believe this is the longest love-making scene I have ever read… and it didn’t even seem like overkill.  I honestly don’t think I will be able to order tiramisu at a restaurant again without a snicker.

Chemistry

The chemistry between the two main characters and the MC’s best friend is flawless.  I easily could place myself in her situation.  I believed it all.

Was this the perfect book?  Well… no.  For one thing, there were no explosions, but I’ll forgive her that because the rest of it was so dern good.   There were two flaws though.  The more minor flaw was that I saw the climax coming from a mile away.  I was concerned about what was happening, but since I’d figured it out, I was just waiting for “it” to happen.  The good thing was that the book didn’t end there, like I thought it would.  It kept going in a way that I didn’t anticipate, and I felt completely satisfied with the ending.

The only real flaw that bothered me (and this won’t bother most at all) was the Main Character’s mouth in the beginning of the novel.  Her language did clear up by the end, and the author was probably using it as a plot device, but it didn’t resonate with me.  Okay, yeah, I may be a prude, but I can understand if someone stubs their toe and says “oh Sh*t”, but curses just hanging out there for really no reason at all bothers me.  In fact, I mentally deleted them completely, and the narrative read fine.  It almost seems like they were inserted after the fact, which I found odd.

So I’m going to dock this story one star just for that, but feel free to give it five stars in your mind if you don’t mind erroneous cursing.

Oh, and Jocelyn Adams – If you are still wondering why this novel sells so well – it’s because it is AWESOME. And well… Tiramisu probably has a lot to do with it, too. 😉

Purchase link:  Crossing Hathaway

JenniFer_EatonF

Review of “The Glass Man” by Jocelyn Adams

Strap yourself in.  It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

I actually finished this book last year, and it was in my top five reads for 2012.  I never got around to reviewing it, so here’s a quick overview.

My opinion? I want to be Jocelyn Adams when I grow up.  Well, not completely, but I would love to have the “flow” that her writing style has.  She is really “readable”.

Have you ever read a great book, but it was easy to put it down?  Well, Glass Man is a great book that your husband has to pry out of your hands to make sure you go to bed at night… I call that “flow” because there is no hard break in the writing… as a reader, you just keep reading without knowing what’s going on.

Glassman is a story about a girl with supernatural powers and has no idea why she has these powers.  She is being chased by “The Glass Man” – a man who killed her entire family when she was young, and has been hunting her ever since.  Yep, this is one of my favorite tropes – the CHASE NOVEL.  Wahoo!  Action abounds!

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel from beginning to end, with a few very minor nit-picks.

Nit Picks:

#1 is the language. Yeah, yeah, stamp me a prude, but I cannot relate to a heroine with a gutter mouth.  I’ve said before, using the word sh*t or even the F-bomb if you fall and hurt yourself is okay.  It’s natural.  But riddling the dialog with profanity bothers me.  I have to subtract a star for this.

#2 is that the main character is wearing a ridiculous outfit for a long time during the climax near the end of the story. Why Why Why? Is all I have to ask.  The narrative, which is otherwise outstanding, high energy and tense, is challenged, and at times ruined by the dumb outfit that the bad guy made her wear. I just don’t know where the author was going with that.  Maybe it was supposed to be comic relief, or maybe titillation… for me, it just made me roll my eyes.  So for this, I need to subtract another star.

Now let’s chat for a second about the character of the Glass Man.

Best Villain I have ever read

 Like EVER

Wanna lesson on how to write a villain?  Pick up Glass Man.  I mean DANG.  I actually found myself rooting for him most of the time.  He is just so darn bad you have to love him… and I just love a hot sexy villain.  He’s not bad… he’s doing the right thing!  Who cares if everyone else thinks he’s a psychopath?????

Pure brilliance on the villain, and I would LOVE to see a prequel that was based solely on his character.  There is a mention of an earlier event with the MC of this story where the villain actually “won”.  I would LOVE to see that made into a book.  Let’s cheer on that bad guy. Yahooooo!

Okay, so, if you didn’t catch my enthusiasm, I was trying to say that the villain was awesome, and for him alone, I will give this book an extra star.

So that’s a total of four stars for the Glass Man.  If you like paranormal stories, and can get in to a chase novel with a dash of romance and two supernatural being kicking the crud out of each other, you will just LOVE this.

JenniFer_EatonF

Six Sentence Exerpt from “The Glass Man”

This is a six sentence excerpt from the Glass Man by Jocelyn Adams.

I’m going to review this sucker when I get a chance, but let’s take a minute to describe the Glass Man.

Yeah, there’s nothing like an ultra-sexy-and-he-knows-it bad guy.  It’s the kind of villain that you can’t stand, but you just CAN’T WAIT for him to sashay back into the next scene.

Here’s the six:

“You are a hearty thing,” the Glass Man said in that amused tone he always used.  He sauntered out from behind a tree, wearing a dark gray suit.  A gray silk tie painted a shining line down a matching shirt.  His wavy hair had been pulled back and secured with a black ribbon.  I’d never seen him dressed up.  In another life—one where he wasn’t a murderous sociopath—I might have thought him beautiful, but at that moment he looked like cancer wearing an Armani.

Ha!  Don’t you just love/hate him already?

What book have you read lately with an awesome villain.  Did you find yourself rooting for him or her?