Mundie Moms

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Happy Birthday Cassie!



HAPPY BIRTHDAY CASSIE!!!
We hope you a Magnus glittered filled, shoe shopping day in Paris!

In honor of your birthday we wanted to thank you for giving us:

* Spaghetti baths
* Holding hands in bed
* Making holy water HOT
* All the glitter of Magnus
* The awkwardness of Alec
* Keeping us up late at night
* Soggy grilled cheese sandwiches
* Making us want to get rune tattoos
* Making MANGOS our favorite fruit
* The moment we fell in love with Jace (see page 214 of COB, when he takes Clary's hair down)
* Girls who know how to handle a whip
* "Closing Our Eyes & Thinking of England"
* A silver haired boy who can play the violin
* Making nerdy boys hot... Simon (not that he's a nerd)
* Making us wish we could use a lethal parasol in carpool lane
* The fabulous one liners, the angst, hot character chemistry and snark
* The Seelie Court Queen who makes our PMS moods seem extremely mild
* The Stamina rune, which we'd love to use in real life for chasing after kids, cleaning the house and of course for staying up late reading TMI and ID.
* Characters we've fallen in love with, worlds we love to visit and moments where we sigh, cry, love and hope things turn out for the best

Love,
Mundie Moms

Book Review: Wildefire



Published by: Simon & Schuster
Released on: July 26th, 2011
Source: ARC from publisher to review
4 stars- I Liked It

Every flame begins with a spark.

Ashline Wilde is having a rough sophomore year. She’s struggling to find her place as the only Polynesian girl in school, her boyfriend just cheated on her, and now her runaway sister, Eve, has decided to barge back into her life. When Eve’s violent behavior escalates and she does the unthinkable, Ash transfers to a remote private school nestled in California’s redwoods, hoping to put the tragedy behind her. But her fresh start at Blackwood Academy doesn’t go as planned. Just as Ash is beginning to enjoy the perks of her new school—being captain of the tennis team, a steamy romance with a hot, local park ranger—Ash discovers that a group of gods and goddesses have mysteriously enrolled at Blackwood…and she’s one of them. To make matters worse, Eve has resurfaced to haunt Ash, and she’s got some strange abilities of her own. With a war between the gods looming over campus, Ash must master the new fire smoldering within before she clashes with her sister one more time… And when warm and cold fronts collide, there’s guaranteed to be a storm.

This debut has a little a bit of everything, a stunning cover, a butt kicking protagonist, great characters, romance and a mythology that leaves me wanting more.

I really enjoyed Karsten's writing style. It's one that flows well, it has a poetic feel to it, it's engaging, and appealing. I think both guys and girls will enjoy what Karsten's writing offers. I was impressed with his ability to create such relatable characters despite the fact that some of them are Gods and Goddess. I really enjoyed getting to know each of the characters, all of whom add something different to the story. I liked the way Karsten introduced each of their back stories, and how that flowed into the story. The characters, especially the guys have such a great sense of humor and some fabulous one liners. I'm torn between which guy I like more Colt, the main love interest or Rolfe, one of the guys you'd want to have in your inner circle of friends. To match their wit are some equally snarky, tough female characters that I also enjoyed getting to know, especially the story's main character Ash.

Ash is an enduring character and someone I came to sympathize with. At first she seems rough around the edges, but after learning more about who she really is and what she has to endure with her sister, it wasn't hard for me to like her. She's definitely someone I wouldn't want on my bad side. The strained relationship between Ash and her sister Eve causes a lot of tensions within the story and I'm looking forward to seeing what's going to happen with these two next. Eve is definitely a fiery character and someone who's not to be messed with. She's a violet character and though I had a hard time with some of her scenes, her outbursts end up making a little bit of sense once Karsten introduces what her power is.

I loved the setting! Really I'm a sucker for a book that takes place in a woodsy setting, and not only that, one that takes place on the West Coast. The setting also ties into the characters and their mythology. I loved the diversity and the rich cultural back ground to the power each of the Gods and Goddess's posses. I have a feeling Wildefire has giving me a small glimpse of what's to come as the series progresses. After that killer of a cliff hanger, I'm looking forward to reading the sequel Embers & Echoes....like now. I'd recommend this to older teen readers. There are some violent scenes, a lot of language, some underage drinking, and a mild sensual scene.

Blog Tour: The Near Witch

Today is our second stop in The Teen Scene's The Near Witch blog tour.

Yesterday I shared my spoiler free review of The Near Witch and today we have author Victoria Schwab with us for The Teen Scene's This or That.

Paranormal or historical fiction?
Fairy tales :p Actually, I'm going to stick with that as a legit answer, because I consider a fairy tale to be a merger of the two.

Turn of the century British gentleman or a turn of the century southern gentleman?
BRITISH. GENTLEMAN. GIVE. ME. DARCY.

Secluded beach or exclusive mountain get away?
Mountain. I'm not terribly fond of heat and sun, so beach is never my default. Also beaches have dead things and sharp things and make me nervous. A rainy forest would be ideal.

Punk rock or country music?
Punk rock. Or alternative. It all depends on what I'm doing--running, writing, daydreaming--but the answer is almost never country.

Romantic comedy or action packed movie?
ACTION. I like explosions and fight scenes and bam pow magic weapon win!!!

Cupcakes or chocolate candy?
BOTH. That's like asking me to decide between children. Not that I like children.

Edward or Damon? (sorry had to throw out the hot vampire boys)
Damon. Hands down. *refrains from commenting on Edward's stalker behavior*...in all honesty, though, I'm in love with Damon's character because he adds levity to the angst.

Reading or writing?
Writing. Reading is an escape, but writing is my sanity.

Cold weather or warm weather?
Cold.

Pets or no pets?
PETS. ALL THE PETS. I have been put on a pet ban because I keep showing up with new animals.
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Thank you Victoria for visiting with us today. You can follow all of Victoria's latest happenings by visiting her blog, following her on Twitter.

Waiting on Wednesday- The First Time

Edited by: Jessica Verday & Rhoda Stapleton
Published by: Unknown
To Be Released on: October 2011

*This anthology eBook only release will include 25 short stories written by the 2009 Debs about 1st loves, 1st kisses, 1st zombie slayings & more. The short stories are written by YA authors like Cyn Balog, Teri Hall, Heidi R. Kling, Saundra Mitchell, Jenny Moss, Jackson Pearce, Carrie Ryan, Jon Skovron, Rhonda Stapleton, Jessica Verday and many more.

I love this cover and I'm really looking forward to reading the various short stories from so many different authors. You can find out more about the book by visiting Jessica Verday's site here.

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