Cover Characteristic: Cemetery/Tomb

The Cover Characteristic meme is hosted at  Sugar and Snark.   Here are the guidelines:

Each week we will post a characteristic and choose 5 of our favorite covers with that characteristic. If you want to join in and share your 5 favorite covers with the weeks particular characteristic, then just make a post, grab the meme picture (or make your own) and leave your URL in Linky (so we can visit).
You don’t even need to participate, just stopping by and saying hi would be great! Don’t forget to stop by the other participants!

This was another week that I found I had a LOT of different choices.  So I have a top10 this week instead of only 5.  

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And my favorite is the one that first popped into my head when I saw this was the theme:

What do you think of my choices?  Can you think of any covers with this theme that you really like?

While you're here, you can go enter to win a finished copy of Titans by Victoria Scott HERE.

Review: The Rule of Mirrors (The Vault of Dreamers #2) by Caragh M. O'Brien

First, thanks to Roaring Brook Press and Edelweiss for allowing me to read an e-galley of this book.  I was lucky enough to get an ARC  of the first book, The Vault of Dreamers, and meet the author when I went to BEA in 2014.  So unfortunately I won't have matching ARCs since I only had an egalley of this, but hey, that's life!  I had skimmed a few reviews before I got around to reading this myself, and one or two of them made me a little concerned I wouldn't enjoy this one.  But actually, there were several things in this that I did like even a little better than the first book.  Now, obviously if you haven't read the first book, you need to stop reading my review now, because I can't keep from any spoilers for that book.  Go click the link above and read the review of the first book if you think you might be interested in this series.

We pick up with Rosie, but Rosie in two different places.  One of those places is back in a dream vault, like where we left off in the last book.  In the place where she still sleeps most of the time, there is a creepy guy who works there.  And this guy seems to be in love with her.  So she chooses to use this obsession of his to get him to help her get awake more often. To learn things about where she is and what is going on.  And eventually, hopefully, she can get him to help her escape. 

The "other" Rosie is waking up in another girl's body, a pregnant girl's body.  Thea has been in a coma, and her parents have used the dream seeds suggested by the doctor to bring their daughter back, really they've wanted to keep her alive even with no hope, just to save the baby.  But when Thea wakes up, she's not Thea, she's Rosie.  The doctor has told the family that this happens sometimes, and that she will need to keep her in the hospital until it stops.  But Thea/Rosie is able to convince her parents that she will do better at home.  Before she leaves though, she is able to get back into the lab, and find lots of her dream seeds in jars.  And she meets someone else, someone she recognizes from her past, that now lends a whole other aspect to the story.  When she goes home with her family, to Texas, she meets the father of Thea's baby, and there is just an instant connection, seemingly out of nowhere.  Many other relatives are there as well, including her grandparents.  But Rosie wants to know about Linus, the boy she was in love with before, who also betrayed her.  She calls to try to talk to him, but of course she doesn't have Rosie's voice, it is Thea's voice, making him not believe it is her, even with the things she tells him that only the two of them would know.  She tries calling her mom and stepdad and little sister, but same issue, they don't believe her.

The "real" Rosie is able to escape when some things do happen that lead her to be able to sneak out.  At first she is able to get away with it, and the creepy guy doesn't find her.  She jumps into the back of a truck with two young women, and they promise to keep her at their home in secret for awhile, with the promise that she will let them claim the reward when she is ready to come out.  She also tries to contact Linus and others, and they do believe her.  But then Berg, the head of the school, contacts her.  And now she feels like she is no longer safe.  This is about the time she realizes that the creepy guy is out in his truck outside the house where she is hiding.  So she leaves, and goes with the creepy guy to try to get back to her family.  She finds that he has been stealing the sleep vials from the vault, and she steals some herself, to save to use for when they might be able to help her out.  Of course she must escape from him, but she doesn't trust Linus, not after his betrayal.  So she goes to another of her friends from the Forge school, Burnham.  Burnham lives in a very nice house, his parents being the ones who own the company that makes the drugs the Forge school was using.  Burnham wants to find out what exactly is being done, for his parents' company's sake at least.  So Rosie uses Burnham's computer hacking skills to try to figure more out as well as get help to get back to take her revenge on Berg. 

I won't tell you anymore.  Just that Rosie will have to meet up with Linus, she will need him to do what she wants to do, plus, she still loves him, and can't resist going to him.  But will all of it be worked out?  Even if she can get in and get the proof, does Rosie now exist in two places?  Or will Thea ever be able to come back out and take her life back?  All I can tell you is that this isn't the end, there is going to be one more book.  And I need to know more!  I need to know how everything can be wrapped up.  It gets close in this book, but not all the details are wrapped up, and there is so much more to happen. 

Review and Giveaway: Titans by Victoria Scott

Hello everyone, and welcome to my review of the fabulous new book by Victoria Scott.  As a Titan Jockey, I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of the book in the mail.  This is the first thing I saw:

When I opened it up, not only was the ARC in there, but a really cool poster as shown below (couldn't find the image anywhere other than my Instagram, so that's what you get!):

Of course I wanted to start reading as soon as I got it. But alas, I had such a list of review books I had to get to.  And that worked okay, just because now I get to share all my love of the book with you closer to the actual publishing date. Which also means there will be a giveaway!  I loved the book so much that even though I wasn't supposed to order any books published after February 16th with my last bit of library budget money this year, I asked for a special exception just so that I could hopefully get this in my school library before the end of the year, to share with my students.

First I will thank the author for picking me to be one of the V-Mafia members that got to be Titan Jockeys.  Then I will thank the publisher, Scholastic, for sending me an ARC to read.  Now I will admit when I first heard a little bit about the story, I thought it sounded exactly like The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (which isn't a bad thing, as I love that book and author).  But then I read the full blurb about it, and saw that other than a "horse" race, it really was nothing like it.

The story takes place in a future time from now.  At a racetrack in Detroit where mechanical horses, more like robots, but very lifelike, will race.  It is kind of a once a year type of event.  Several races that narrow down the field to just a few, who will race for the big pot.  It's not cheap to enter though.  And you have to be able to afford one of the horses, or Titans as they're called, as well.  Astrid is our main character, and she has been obsessed with the horses since she first saw them.  Unfortunately, she comes from a poor family.  Her father has been out of work for a long time, since the factories aren't doing so well these days.  , and even worse, at one time her grandfather gambled away their money and house.  Because of his mindset, he will not allow Astrid's mother to even look for a job to help support the family.  Of course the first time they lost almost everything, when they had to move, Astrid moved close to her best friend, Magnolia.

The track is really not a place for kids, teenager or not, as well as it's not really a place that a lot of women hang out.  But every year, Astrid and Magnolia sneak to the track to see what they can catch of the training and riding of the Titans.  This year at the track they see one jockey riding.  And he's kind of a jerk, telling them to get lost basically.  Then they see an older man who seems to be not doing that well in the heat.  Even though he's kind of a cranky old guy, Astrid helps him out.  Soon there's a big surprise announcement that they will choose one person to enter without the fee.  It's about this time that Astrid is walking down the street and sees the cranky old man working in his garage on what looks to be an old, run-down Titan.  It's not quite the same color and it is just different.

Turns out the old man was one of the people who first worked on the Titans, and the one is his garage is one of the original models.  He asks Astrid to be the jockey.  She agrees, and that's where the training starts. The old man, Rags, takes her and the horse out to a friend's house.  Barney was also one who worked on this original Titan.  When they get it ready and turn it on, it takes off, and they have to catch it.  Seems the autopilot button hadn't been switched off.  Now Astrid has to learn to ride it and how to control it.  The Titans can be dangerous, Astrid has seen at least one death, and there have been many others.  They have to get her good enough, and the horse fast enough, because if they don't do well enough in the qualification race, they won't get a sponsor, and it could all be over.

I won't go into the story too much more.  You know they have to qualify and get a sponsor.  But the sponsor they end up with will add a whole other aspect to the story.  The other jockey they met earlier is young, and still very snotty, but he tries to use Astrid to help his own rankings with the press by kissing her in public and acting as if they are dating.  At home Astrid has so many  other problems with her older sister and her deadbeat boyfriend.  Her father who doesn't seem to care about Astrid at all anymore, and her younger sister who begins to feel left out.

The friendship between Magnolia and Astrid is wonderful.  I love all of the characters.  Hart, the other jockey that is kind of a jerk, I like him, although I don't know that I'm completely happy with where the story went with him.  I'll just say that the one issue I had with the story is that I wanted more romance.  For Astrid.  I get that stories don't always have to have romance, but I like the way this author can add it to stories, (Dante Walker, anyone?) and so I was a little sad to not have that really take place in the story.  However, the story was great, I love the idea behind the Titans, and I fell in love with Astrid's horse, and loved watching her do the same.

And I have to share the picture of when I got to meet the author back in 2013 at the Romantic Times Convention.

A great new standalone story from Victoria Scott.  Sign up below to win your own copy!  Or, just go buy your own copy when it comes out on February 23rd. 


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Promo Post and Giveaway: Marked by Laura Williams McCaffrey

Marked
by Laura Williams McCaffrey
Publisher: Clarion Books
Release Date: February 16th 2016

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia

Synopsis:

Sixteen-year-old Lyla lives in a bleak, controlling society where only the brightest and most favored students succeed. When she is caught buying cheats in an underground shadow market, she is tattooed—marked—as a criminal. Then she is offered redemption and she jumps at the chance . . . but it comes at a cost. Doing what is right means betraying the boy she has come to love, and, perhaps, losing even more than she thought possible. Graphic novel–style vignettes revealing the history of this world provide Lyla with guidance and clues to a possible way out of the double bind she finds herself in.

Follow the Marked by Laura Williams McCaffrey Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

I read, I write, I teach. I've published short stories in Cicada, YA Review Network, Solstice Literary Magazine, and Soundings Review. Clarion Books will release Marked, my YA dystopian fantasy, in February 2016. My other fantasy novels are WATER SHAPER and ALIA WAKING (both published by Clarion Books). For more information, it's best to visit my website: http://www.laurawilliamsmccaffrey.com

• PRIZE: Win (1) of (2) finished copies of MARKED by Laura Williams McCaffrey (US Only)

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Audiobook Review: Invaded (Alienated #2) by Melissa Landers

Another great audiobook borrowed from the library once again.  And I have to say I now understand what all the fuss I've seen people make about this book series is about.  I loved the first one, Alienated, so much.  Obviously if you haven't read the first one yet, you probably shouldn't read my review of the 2nd one, as it will have spoilers for the first book.  You should go click the link for the first book above, and read up on that one.  But here goes my review for the second book!

As we left off in the first one, Cara is on her way to participate in the exchange on the planet L'eihr.  Unfortunately she won't get to have Aelyx with her, as it should have been, because of how they still have to try to convince the people of earth to accept an alliance with the L'eihr.  If they don't, in about 10  years, everyone on Earth will die.  Horrible deaths of dehydration, as the water is now ruined from a government experiment that went wrong.  An Earth government, not the aliens.  But the L'eihr have the way to fix it. And the only way they will share the fix is if the alliance works out.  And part of that means they have to stop trying to kill the L'eihr. And in this book, it seems as if Aelyx is the lucky recipient of all the assassination attempts.  He and Syrine are traveling the world to try to gather the support needed.  They are set up with a personal bodyguard, David, who soon becomes like a best friend to Aelyx, and after averting a bomb explosion from killing Syrine, she develops feelings for him.

Things aren't going so great on L'eihr for Cara either.  It seems this advanced race that doesn't have the emotions that humans do, is just as petty and mean as the people on Earth were to the L'eihr students when they were there.  Not only are the other students mean, the classes are extremely advanced for Cara for the most part.  Especially the physical education ones.  For awhile Cara's brother Troy is there, which gives her at least one friend, along with Aelyx's sister, Elle, Cara's roommate.   Of course there is Jackson, one of the members of The Way.  But there is something about Jackson that creeps Cara out.  There are other issues, soon Cara starts getting framed for things that would get her punished, in some cases the punishment is as severe as death.  When she gets to go see the colony, there is much still to be done.  And there are a lot of other things going on, Cara learns of a theory that says humans came before the L'eihr.  And then there are all these little probes that keep landing, starting with one that falls in the middle of Cara's Sh'ovah ceremony, which makes her a L'eihr citizen.

But things begin to come to a head, Cara can't imagine staying on L'eihr forever, especially when even after she's given a spot on the community that is planning the colony.  The others on the committee won't give an inch towards any suggestions that Cara brings up.  When Cara and Aelyx meet up again, these are things that will need to be discussed.  There will be some heartache as they try to decide what they will do next.  And all of it will be a part of a bigger plan, one that will lead to the death of characters we have grown to love, as well as making other characters out to be something that wasn't even imagined at the beginning of the story.

Such a great read.  Again, parts where I cried.  Parts that I laughed, and all in all, I just loved the story.  I still want my own Aelyx.  And this is another book that I think I would love to see as either a movie, or a tv series.  But if it was a series, I'd want them to do so much better about staying close to the story than they seem to do.  A great sequel, and now, now I can't wait to read the final book!

Also, right now I've got a giveaway going on where  you can pick one of the books in this series, just go HERE to enter by February 14th!

Promo Post - Thirst: Blood of my Blood by RP Channing

240+ Pages
WITH BEAUTIFUL PHOTOGRAPHS

~ Kira Sutherland ~

After a near fatal accident (and getting cheated on by her 'boyfriend'), and beating up the lead cheerleader (with whom the boyfriend cheated...), and being labeled as having 'issues' in her school because she, uhm, sees ghosts, Kira is left with two choices:

1. Continue her 'therapy' (where she's told the ghost is a hallucination and also gets her legs ogled too often...)

Or

2. Go to Starkfield Academy, a boarding school for "Crazies and Convicts" (as the social media sites call them.)

She chooses the latter...

~ Cory Rand ~

Cory Rand has not had an easy life. His mother died in a car accident when he was twelve, and so did his mother's best friend...sort of. You see, Janice made a promise to take care of Cory just before she died, and so she lingers. Undead. A ghost that watches out for him.

Brought up in an abusive home, Cory quickly falls into a life of disreputable behavior. After his third offense (which was prompted by a girl, as usual - he has a weakness) he's left with two choices:

1. Be tried as an adult and share a cell with a guy named Bubba (he thinks...)

Or

2. Go to Starkfield Academy, which Cory is pretty sure is run by vampires. But, hey, at least he'll get an education.

He chooses the latter...

It's at Starkfield that Kira meets Cory Rand, a boy with an insatiable Rage who sees ghosts, too. As well as other things, other things from his past, things that confuse him, things like fire and witches and demons.

Things he's always ignored.

Until now.

Genres:

Young Adult Romance

Paranormal Romance

High School

Vampires, Demons, Witches

Dark Fantasy

Horror

Buy Links:

Amazon US
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018M5GTLI
Amazon UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B018M5GTLI

Kindle Unlimited 

Author Bio

R P Channing started writing three years ago, but never published anything even after churning out over a million words of fiction. Thirst: Blood of my Blood is the first book he dared to publish. When asked why, he said, “Because it’s the first thing I wrote that my wife actually enjoyed reading.” When not hammering away (most literally) at his keyboard, he can be found buried in a book, reading anything from romance to horror to young adult to non-fiction to comedy.

Author Links

Website
http://blog.rpchanning.com

Twitter

@rpchanning

Amazon

http://amazon.com/author/rpchanning

Excerpt:

PROLOGUE

-1-
The Puppy Eyes

My life was perfect.

I had the perfect shoes and the perfect friends and I lived in the perfect house. My nails were perfect and my hair was perfect (except on Sundays, it was always windy on Sundays) and I had the perfect clothes. My lips were a perfect red and my hair perfectly straight. My eyeshadow was perfect, my hips were...okay, and my waist...well...also okay. Nothing was wrong in my life.

But then there was Jack.

Jack was a problem.

He needed to go. I mean, when you’re dead, you’re dead! I had told him this endlessly. Somehow, Jack didn’t get it. I mean, I felt sorry for the guy. Sure. Being stuck between this life and the next. But just because I found him, does that mean I needed to keep him?

I think not!

Sadly, when Jack got that look in his eyes, that weary, almost teary (if his tear-ducts worked) look, I melted. I just couldn’t send him away. Not even Jack knew where he would go after he died.

Would he, like, die? As in — dead, nada, kaput, finito, gone, no more? Bye bye, sayonara, ciao, hasta la vista baby and all that?

I couldn’t have that on my conscience. No way.

I lay on my bed, wondering what to do about him. “Jaaaaaaack,” I hollered.

“Jaaaaaaack!”

Still no answer.

“Jack!”

Jack...materialized.

His eyes rolled down to the ground. He was making those puppy eyes again. “Jack, I told you not to do that. I told you not to play on my sympathies.”

His puppy eyes became worse.

His skin was gray and, well, dead.

“Oh, brother,” I said. “I have to do something about you. If mom finds out I have another ‘imaginary friend’ — at my age — well, I’d die of embarrassment. But, like, really die. Not like you.” I wondered about this. Would I die? Was Jack a freak accident, or did all people live on like him? Think of the cemeteries...

The idea excited me somewhat.

“What would you have me do, Miss Kira?”

“Knock off the Miss Kira crap. I told you it’s just Kira.”

“Yes, Miss Kira.”

The dead. There’s just no reasoning.

“Fine, Miss Kira it is then.” Rover barked like a lunatic in the garden. No one else might be able to see Jack, but I was sure my dog could.

“I have to do something about this,” I mumbled.

-2-
The Rat

Mike knocked on the door before I had time to leave the house. Mike was the guy I thought (at the time) was perfect.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, baby.”

Baby, urgh — I wasn’t his baby. I dated Mike because he was the quarterback, because girls are supposed to like the quarterback, because it’s just so darn perfect to be seen with the quarterback, like we’re brainwashed into thinking these things from the first romantic doll set mom buys us.

This was my previous life.

“Mike.”

“Uh-huh. Gonna let me in?”

So you can try rub me up and then complain when I don’t let you? This, dear reader, was the big problem with Mike. The second we first kissed, his hand went way too far south for me to be comfortable — and I pulled back.

Mike suddenly wasn’t so perfect.

“Uhm, I was just on my way out,” I said.

“Kira? C’mon, open the door.” He sounded upset. “Is there someone in there with you?”

Boys. As if.

I didn’t know much about love (nothing, actually) but I knew this wasn’t it.

“Uhm, now’s not the time, Mike.”

“C’mon, Kira, what’s going on?” He banged harder.

When in doubt...lie. I opened the door a crack. “There’s a dead rat in the house, Mike. Been here for days. I gotta go get some detergent and stuff to handle the stench.”

Mike stepped back. He peered through the crack of the door.

“It’s really bad,” I said.

“I’ll drive you.”

“I’m afraid the smell” — I stuck my armpit to my nose — “has found its way all over me. I’ll drive myself.”

“O — okay. Fine.” And then he grinned like he wanted something. “Later? My place?”

Urgh. “Uhm, sure...er...later. Not sure when though.”

“Six.”

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. According to girls at school, he was apparently so damn good looking — theoretically. But for me personally, he did nothing. Moved nothing. Twisted nothing. “Look, I gotta go, Mike. I gotta — ”

“Kira.” His eyes grew stern. “You’ve been avoiding me...”

Bingo! Well done contestant number one! And what have you won? A brain!

I tilted my head. “Mike, look, this...rat — I need to deal with it. We’ll talk later, okay? Bye.” I closed the door, not waiting for an answer, and peered out the peep hole. Mike hung around for a second, shoulders wide and eyes glaring straight at me through the door. Could he see me? Did he know I was looking at him?

He kicked something off the ground, and I had the distinct impression he mouthed the word Bitch before leaving. But I wasn’t sure...

-3-
The Mack

“Roll down the window, Jack.” Jack was recently dead, so he still had a smell about him. (Which only I could smell...)

I had purposely skipped breakfast. Maybe Jack would help me lose weight. I was (still am) a little wide, although it had never stopped guys flirting with me. I know how to dress.

But I could be skinnier.

Lucy Rogers was skinny. All bones and no boobs.

Charlene Carverton was a babe. Cheerleader. Big chest (which she pushed out generously with a push-up — if only guys knew). Toned thighs. Charlene only dated college boys (back then), which I still think is pretty gross for a girl her age.

“He’s not for you,” Jack said out the blue.

“Hmm?”

“This...Mike — he’s wrong for you, Miss Kira.” For all Jack’s faults (mainly, being dead), he has a good heart. Factually, probably it’s why I kept him around at first.

“You think I don’t know that?”

“Then why don’t you dump him?”

I braked at a stop sign. Looked left and right. “Because I’d look like an idiot. I flirted with him and showed interest, and one kiss later I can’t stand the sight of him.”

“So dump him.”

“It’s not that simple. Kids at school — they can be vicious. I have to let it fade slowly. If I drop the bomb on him, I’ll never hear the end of it through senior year.”

“And you care?”

Yes, I did. Forget Guantanamo, schools are rough. “You don’t understand, Jack. Maybe school was different in your day. But in mine, well, we walk through metal detectors.”

“Schools weren’t too different in my day.” I noted the sadness in his voice.

“You okay?”

“I’m dead.”

Right. “You miss...your life?”

Jack shrugged. “I like being with you, Miss Kira. And I don’t remember much of my life. I think I’m in limbo.”

“Limbo?”

“Yes, like I have some unfinished business. If only I could remember...what...it is...” He scratched his head.

“Any ideas?”

“Well, it can’t be love. If it were love, I’d be a vampire. That’s who teenage girls fall in love with these days.”

“A vampire? That’s just what I need — two undead beings stalking me.”

“I feel I have something to do around you, Miss Kira. I don’t know what, but something. Something important.”

I looked over at him. “Me?”

I was still looking at him when I missed the stop sign.

The Mack truck drove straight into us.  

 

$20 Amazon Gift Voucher Giveaway

At the back of the book there is a giveaway link. Once the book hits fifty reviews on Amazon, one of those reviewers will win a $20 (US Dollars) Amazon Gift Voucher!

 

Waiting on Wednesday: Map of Fates (The Conspiracy of Us #2) by Maggie Hall

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases that we're eagerly awaiting.  This week I chose a book that is a sequel to another book that I really enjoyed.  This is the sequel to an audiobook I listened to just recently, The Conspiracy of Us.  I will definitely listen to the sequel, or read it.  Not sure, whichever comes first?  But I loved the first one, I went and bought a copy to keep on my shelf.  You can click on the title link in this paragraph to go read my review of it.  Now, here is the blurb for the sequel from Goodreads:

Two weeks. 



That’s how long it took for Avery West’s ordinary life to change forever: In two weeks, she discovered she was heiress to a powerful secret society known as the Circle, learned her mother was taken hostage by the Circle’s enemies, and fell for a boy she’s not allowed to love, just as she found out another was her unwelcome destiny. 



Now, Avery crosses oceans in private jets to hunt for clues that will uncover the truth about the Circle, setting her mom and herself free before it’s too late. By her side are both the boys: Jack—steady, loyal, and determined to help her even at the expense of his own duty—and Stellan, whose connection to Avery grows stronger by the day despite her best intentions, making her question what she believes at every turn.



But at the end of a desperate hunt from the islands of Greece to the red carpet at Cannes comes a discovery that not only changes everything, but could bring the whole world to its knees. And now Avery is forced to face the truth: in the world of the Circle, no one is what they seem.

So, have you read the first book yet?  Does it sound like something you'd enjoy?  What book are you anxiously awaiting this week?

While you're here, I've got a couple giveaways you should go check out:

• Romance is in the Air Giveaway Hop - Choice of one of 9 of my favorite romances from the past year 
• These Vicious Masks by Kelly Zekas and Tarun Shanker - finished copy of the book

 

Review: Revenge and the Wild by Michelle Modesto

First, thanks to Edelweiss and Balzer and Bray for allowing me to read an egalley of this one.  In the end I'd kind of classify this as a bit of a steampunk type of story, as well as western and fantasy.  And while I'm not normally a fan of steampunk, the way it was done in this story, well it just fit perfectly for the whole tale.  This was really quite an original story, can't quite compare most of it to anything I can think of.  All in all it was a good book, and I really enjoyed it, can't wait to bring it to my students at school to read!

The main character is Westie.  Westie lost her family to cannibals when she was little.  Not only did they take her family, they also took her arm.  She was found by one of the native tribes, who took her to a man in town, Nigel Butler, who was able to save her arm. Well, he saved it by giving her a mechanical/robotic arm.  Nigel is an inventor.  I believe this is where I felt the steampunk bit came into the story.  But Westie isn't the only orphan that Nigel took in, there is also Alistair, who also had a run-in with cannibals.  Only it is his face that is scarred. And so he either wears a mask with a robotic voice that Nigel created, or else he wears a scarf to cover his lower face, and uses sign language.  Westie has been a bit of a wild child, she is not lady-like in any way, no matter how hard her adoptive father tries to get her to be.  She used to be best friends with Alistair, but something happened that made him start distancing himself from her.  And really, Westie is now on a one-track plan to find the cannibals who killed her family and bring them to justice. 

But when Nigel invents a great machine, and he tries to bring in sponsors to help him get it up and going, these strangers throw a bit of a wrench into Westie's plans.  First there is their young nephew, James, who she first meets when he is getting into a fight outside a saloon in town, with a troll I think.  He kind of flirts with Westie, and seems so much different from the rest of the family of investors.  The biggest issue here though, is that Westie is sure the investors are the same people who killed her family.  Now she is on a mission to prove they are who she thinks they are.  When weird things start happening in town, a prostitute gets bitten by a women, and not just love bites, but take a bite out of her! 

This story did have a little bit of everything.  I mentioned trolls already, but there were vampires, one named Costain who seemed to have a bit of a thing for Westie, something I do kind of wish maybe there had been more about that in the story.  So many different kinds of characters.  But not in a bad way.  Although I'd have liked maybe some more with some of them, it worked fine for me.

A very unique tale as I mentioned.  There is a lot of action and mystery and wondering how will Westie prove what she thinks.  And then, the twist at the end, whoa, I didn't see that coming!  I definitely think it is worth a read.  While I can see how it might seem slow at the beginning, Westie's foul-mouthed, sarcastic character  really grabbed me and drew me in.

Cover Characteristic: Statues

The Cover Characteristic meme is hosted at  Sugar and Snark.   Here are the guidelines:

Each week we will post a characteristic and choose 5 of our favorite covers with that characteristic. If you want to join in and share your 5 favorite covers with the weeks particular characteristic, then just make a post, grab the meme picture (or make your own) and leave your URL in Linky (so we can visit).
You don’t even need to participate, just stopping by and saying hi would be great! Don’t forget to stop by the other participants!

It was a little easier this week to stick to just 5 choices, not sure if I have a favorite really.  So I'll just post them all and let you guys tell me what you like best!

Which one do you like best?  For the most part the statues are all kind of the same on my covers.  Guess maybe I need to branch out on what I read.  :-) 

While you're here, make sure to go enter my giveaways!

• Romance is in the Air Giveaway Hop - You get to pick one of my favorite 9 romances from the past year 
• Marked by Amy Saunders - $25 Amazon Gift Card
•  These Vicious Masks by Kelly Zekas and Tarun Shanker - Finished physical copy of the book