Giveaway: Black Howl by Christina Henry

The wonderful people at Penguin are offering an e-book copy of BLACK HOWL by Christina Henry to one lucky blog follower.

Know what that means?? It's open INTERNATIONALLY!

Add BLACK HOWL to your Goodreads shelf

Something is wrong with the souls of Chicago's dead. Ghosts are walking the streets, and Agent of Death Madeline Black's exasperating boss wants her to figure out why. And while work is bad enough, Maddy has a plethora of personal problems too. Now that Gabriel has been assigned as her thrall, their relationship has hit an impasse. At least her sleazy ex-fiance Nathaniel is out of the picture--or so she thinks...

• Add BLACK WINGS (book 1) to your Goodreads shelf
• Add BLACK NIGHT (book 2) to your Goodreads shelf

Open internationally!
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2nd Blogoversary Giveaway Bonanza Flirtanza Zimbawanza PART 3

This is it, folks, the final giveaway! Please make sure you have entered the following before it's too late:

US ONLY - Adult Mystery Box
INTERNATIONAL - GC Giveaway

Today's Giveaway:

This one is going to be packed with  YA  novels, only.

All Bonanza Flirtanza Zimbawanza Blogoversary Giveaways end March 4th.
All winners will be contacted via email when the giveaway ends.

Open to US residents only

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Alice's Review: Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Released: 25th May 2010
Paperback: 306 pages
Price: AU$16.99
Publisher: Atom Books
Source: Book Depository
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Action
Series: Chronicles of Nick
Series Order:
1. Inifnity
2. Invincible
3. Infamous (13th March 2012)
Summary:

Nick Gautier thinks he knows everything. Streetwise, tough and savvy, his quick sarcasm is renowned. But his whole world is suddenly turned upside down on the night his best friends try to kill him.  Saved by a mysterious warrior, Nick is sucked into the realm of the Dark-Hunters - immortal vampire-slayers who risk everything to save humanity - and he quickly learns that the human world is only a veil for a much larger and more dangerous one that's filled with all kinds of evil. Nick knows he's in real danger and he soon has a lot more to deal with than starting high school - all without getting grounded, suspended...or killed.

My Rating:

There are spoilers but they will have warnings before them in red.

My Opinion: 
Okay so I'd seen this a few years before in Kmart but didn't buy it because I hadn't read the DH (Dark-Hunter) books and had no idea why I would want to read this book. Then, last year I started the DH books and they soon became one of my favourite series! And then I remembered that Infinity book I'd seen but hadn't bought but now needed to read. So I went online and bought it (for a great bargain too - $4.50!) and impatiently waited for it to arrive. Which it did two days ago. I may have finished it within hours.

Anyways, enough back story. Let's get to the review. You guys don't necessarily have to read Kenyon's DH books but they provide a lot of context - and you will also LOVE them. So get on in there and read a couple before you try out this book because I know I would've been really confused if I hadn't read the DHs before it. I think I prefer CoN to DH because I really love Nick. I feel so bad for him but I also want to kick him in the arse a lot of the time, so getting to read about him and knowing his thoughts and feeling was awesome.

This starts off with Nick as a fourteen year old going to an exclusive high school as a scholarship kid. He and his mum aren't well off and he gets a hard time because of it, which then leads to him getting suspended for punching a kid and then getting into a bad sitch in the evening. When he tries to get out of it, his so called 'friends' decide to beat him up and then shoot him - but luckily he is saved by Kyrian, who is a DH. I won't explain the entire plot because this is a must-read book and I don't want to spoil anything for you!

This is a really funny book. I laughed a lot in this and absolutely loved it. I thought Nick was a bit too mouthy sometimes and wanted to punch him for some of the things he said and I also thought he sounded a bit too mature for a fourteen year old.  But hey, he'd grown up really well with his mum (I love Cherise, she is one of the nicest characters in the DH books and is so lovely to read about) so maybe his childhood accounted for him being mature. What I found super annoying was him falling for every hot girl he saw! Sheesh, Nick, horny much?

*Spoilers in next paragraphs* 

There were times when the book kind of dragged for me, but only because I couldn't wait to get to the more exciting parts. What boggled my mind was the appearance of 'Ambrose', who is revealed to be the present Nick trying to reverse his fate! At first I was confused but when it was explained, Ambrose made me so proud because of his efforts to change his future. He really warmed my heart and that scene in the car with Cherise made me burst into tears.

As I was reading this, I realised something: there was a plot hole. In one of the DH books (in Tabitha and Val's book) Nick ends up sleeping with Simi and tells Tabby that he'd never met her before because Ash never allowed her near him since he knew what a womaniser Nick was and Ash didn't want Sim to have 'carnal knowledge'. But Nick has met her because Simi appears in this book! Maybe I'm missing something, please correct me if I'm wrong!

*End of spoilers*

My verdict: This is a book I will reread many times and each time I will enjoy it just as much as I did the first time. For those of you who are Nick lovers, CoN is a perfect book series because it features Nick and provides so much more insight to his history and personality!