Hachette Children's Books Bloggers Brunch - 24th March 2012

Back in March I was lucky enough to be invited to the Hachette Children's Books bloggers brunch where we got to find out about some of the upcoming releases they have along with books being published by their imprints Hodder Children's Books and Orchard Books. We all gathered in the conference room on the 16th floor (you can see from the picture below what a wonderful view we had across London!) where we were spoilt with lots of delicious nibbles and got to mingle with the other bloggers and the Hachette publicists. It is always so nice to finally get to meet the people you have spent months emailing!

View from the 16th floor of Hachette Towers!

Kirsty, Ruth Warburton, Cait & me

We were also very excited to get to meet special guest author Ruth Warburton, her debut novel A Witch in Winter was published back in January (you can read my review here) and was a book I absolutely loved. The second book in the trilogy A Witch in Love is being published in July so you can imagine how excited we all were when we saw this pile of books:

It was fantastic to get a chance to chat with Ruth and talk to her about the series as well as her writing career and I was very impressed by the fact that she wrote the Winter series while also working full time. Ruth was so friendly and happily signed our copies of A Witch in Love (I wish I'd known to take my copy of A Witch in Winter with me!). I've been looking forward to reading A Witch in Love for ages so keep an eye out for my review in the next few weeks.

Laure & Victoria from Hachette

We got to chat about some of the new books that we can look forward to in the next few months and I can tell you now there are a lot to get excited about! I'll be posting a Publisher Spotlight post later today to tell you all about the different books but ones I'm particularly looking forward to include A Witch in Love by Ruth Warburton, Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley, Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake, The Forsaken by Lisa Stasse, The Blessed by Tonya Hurley and Obsidian Mirror by Catherine Fisher!

The Bloggers with Ruth Warburton

I'd like to say a massive thank you to everyone at Hachette Children's Books for a fab event, I had a brilliant time and it was lovely to meet you all and of course Ruth too! Check out the slide show below for a few more pictures I took at the event (watch out for the one of Kirsty in the glass lift of TERROR that gave us a scary bird's eye view as we travelled down from the 16th floor!).

Who was there:

Victoria, Laure & Corinne - Hachette Children's Books (Imprints include Hodder Children's Books & Orchard Books)

Ruth Warburton - Website

Alice - The Reader Room

Amy - Turn the Page

Arjun - Excellent Reads

Cait - The Cait Files

Casey - Dark Readers

Danielle - Pen to Paper

Jenny - Chocolate Chunky Munkie

Kirsty - The Overflowing Library

Liz - My Favourite Books

Lucy - Choose YA

Lynsey - Narratively Speaking

Raimy - Readaraptor

Viv - Serendipity Reviews

Review: Grave Mercy - Robin LaFevers

Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

His Fair Assassin Series:
Grave Mercy
Dark Triumph
Mortal Heart

Visit Robin LaFevers' website for more information

Review:
Grave Mercy is the first book in Robin LaFevers' new historical fantasy series and a book I'd highly recommend to fans of Maria V. Snyder's Touch of Power. Ismae has suffered from prejudice and abuse her whole life - starting with her mother's attempt to abort her before she was even born. The poison used by her mother left her scarred and marked her as Death's daughter, her father never forgave her for being born and after years of abuse he forced her into an arranged marriage when she was just 14. After suffering a brutal beating on her wedding night Ismae is rescued by the local herb witch and taken to the convent of St Mortain. Mortain is the god of Death and the nuns at the convent train as his handmaidens to become assassins.

Ismae is an easy character to love, she starts the story with a very low self image, lacking in confidence and believing that she is worthless and unwanted. She feels powerless in a world where men get to control women's destinies and it isn't until she arrives at the convent that she starts to realise that she can change her future. As the nuns train her with weapons and in the art of poison and she starts to uncover her previously hidden abilities Ismae grows as a person and becomes a confident, powerful and kick ass young woman. It is easy to see how she comes to blindly trust in the nuns who gave her her freedom and why she believes they have her best interests at heart. When she is assigned to go to court to protect the Duchess Anne she starts to realise that the orders from the convent aren't always the best way to serve her god. It is at that point that we really get to see her become a woman and begin to follow her destiny. Ismae has the courage to go against orders from the people she believes saved her because she has the intelligence to figure things out for herself.

I can't write this review without mentioning the wonderful slow-build romance between Ismae and Gavriel Duval. These characters start off with very good reasons to mistrust each other - they don't like each other much either! - but both of them are sworn to protect the Duchess and they finally realise that they are on the same side and start to work together. Trust slowly turns to friendship and eventually becomes something more and it was beautiful to watch. Duval and Ismae really are made for each other and I hope we get to see a lot more of them both as the series continues. I was a little disappointed when I first found out that the second book Dark Triumph will be told from Sybella's point of view - I'm going to miss Ismae - but the more I think about it the more I actually like the idea. I've been intrigued by Sybella since we first met her and I think that Ismae and Duval's part of the story has come to a natural conclusion so it will be interesting to see what part Sybella has to play.

This story is full of mystery and political intrigue that had me turning the pages as fast as I could. This feels more like a historical book with slight fantasy elements than a full on fantasy novel although I don't know enough about the time period to know how historically accurate it is. Either way it was a thoroughly enjoyable read and I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel. I am very curious to see how things play out for Anne and her subjects and I highly recommend this series to both historical and fantasy fans.

Source: Received from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, I also received a print copy from Andersen Press.

Other Reviews:
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Hardback / Paperback / Kindle

Review: Bloodfever - Karen Marie Moning

I used to be your average, everyday girl, but all that changed one night in Dublin when I saw my first Fae and got dragged into a world of deadly immortals and ancient secrets . . .

In her fight to stay alive, MacKayla must find the Sinsar Dubh - a million-year-old book of the blackest magic imaginable, which holds the key to power over the worlds of both the Fae and Man. Pursued by assassins, surrounded by mysterious figures she knows she can't trust, Mac finds herself torn between two deadly and powerful men: V'lane, the immortal Fae Prince, and Jericho Barrons, a man as irresistible as he is dangerous.

For centuries the shadowy realm of the Fae has coexisted with that of humans. Now the walls between the two are coming down, and Mac is the only one thing that stands between them.

Fever Series:
Darkfever
Bloodfever
Faefever
Dreamfever
Shadowfever
Fever Moon: The Fear Dorcha (Graphic Novel)
Iced
Burned
Feverborn

Visit Karen Marie Moning's website for more information

Review:
Bloodfever is the second book in Karen Marie Moning's Fever series starring Sidhe-Seer MacKayla Lane. The story picks up right after the ending of Darkfever - Mac is staying with Barrons as she recovers from her injuries and has agreed to help him search for the Sinsar Dubh (an ancient book that is supposed to contain Fae secrets). She now knows who was behind her sister's murder and is determined to track them down and make them pay. With the number of Unseelie Fae on the streets of Dublin increasing daily and the interest she has attracted from the Seelie prince V'lane it isn't going to be easy for Mac to keep her head down and stay out of trouble. Especially when an old enemy comes out of the woodwork looking to get revenge against her. Add in the Sidhe-Seer organisation that want her to join them and things are about to get complicated.

I'm making it my mission this year to finally finish reading all those series that I started, bought the whole series after enjoying the first book and then never got around to finishing and the Fever series is first on my list. I really enjoyed the first book when I read it last year and I have no idea why I never got around to finishing it, perhaps afterwards I'll finally get around to trying Karen Marie Moning's Highlander series too!

Mac isn't your typical urban fantasy heroine, she is much more girlie than most - she loves to dress up in fun flirty colours and was quite a pool bunny before she left her home in Georgia to track down her sister's killer in Dublin. Having said that she is also smart and stubborn and she is learning to kick ass when she needs to. She may not be the strongest character physically but she has determination and she is able to stand on her own two feet emotionally. I love the fact that Mac still has that flirty side to her but it was nice to see that she has started to grow up too.

My favourite thing about this series so far has to be Mac's developing relationship with Barrons. I love the banter between them, every single scene with the two of them in it has me on the edge of my seat waiting to see how things play out. They have such a love / hate relationship right now but I know exactly which way I want to see things go as the series continues. Barrons is a complete mystery man and I'm dying to start uncovering some of his secrets. He can be evasive and often comes across as uncaring and emotionless but every so often you get a glimpse of something more to him and those instances have me hooked. Barrons is definitely the kind of guy that leaves you wanting more. The chemistry between him and Mac is intense and I can't wait to see that spark finally ignite -- I have a feeling that when it does the outcome is going to be an inferno!

I'm still curious about the death-by-sex fae prince V'lane too, I wouldn't trust him as far as I can throw him but I don't think he is all bad. I have a feeling that he could end up being someone that Mac has to rely on in the future and it will be interesting to see if he ends up betraying her or if he'll actually be someone she can trust to support her. Bloodfever had a darker story line than Darkfever and I was actually shocked at the things that Mac has to go through so early in the series. It just goes to prove that she is a lot stronger than most people give her credit for though and it made me look at her with a new respect too. These are the kind of books that you want to make sure you have time to devour in one sitting, I found it impossible to put down once I'd started and I'm itching to pick up the next book. Luckily I have the rest of the series sitting on my shelves and I'm determined that it won't be another year before I pick up the next one!

Source: Purchased

Other Reviews:
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Paperback / Kindle:

Book Trailer: Cinder - Marissa Meyer

Back in January I posted my review of Marissa Meyer's debut novel Cinder (you can read it here). This was such a fantastic story and is an unusual mix of a dystopian and science fiction fairytale retelling of Cinderella that I can't recommend highly enough. I don't think I've seen anywhere near enough buzz for this book so since I stumbled across the book trailer I thought I'd give it another shout out!

If you've already read Cinder I'd love to know what you thought of it & if you haven't then seriously you need to go out and grab your copy now - I don't know what you've waited this long for! If you're still not sure you can read the free prequel short story Glitches online here (read my review here).

A forbidden romance.  A deadly plague.  Earth's fate hinges on one girl . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic in New Beijing, is also a cyborg.  She's reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's sudden illness.  But when her life becomes entwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she finds herself at the centre of a violent struggle between the desires of an evil queen - and a dangerous temptation.

Cinder is caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal.  Now she must uncover secrets about her mysterious past in order to protect Earth's future.

Lunar Chronicles Series:
Glitches (free prequel short story can be read online here)
Cinder
Scarlet (2013)
Cress (2014)
Winter (2015)

Visit Marissa Meyer's blog for more information

Review: Changeling - Philippa Gregory

The year is 1453, and all signs point to it being the end of the world.

Accused of heresy and expelled from his monastery, handsome seventeen-year-old, Luca Vero, is recruited by a mysterious stranger to record the end of times across Europe. Commanded by sealed orders, Luca is sent to map the fears of Christendom, and travel to the very frontier of good and evil.

Seventeen-year-old Isolde, a Lady Abbess, is trapped in a nunnery to prevent her claiming her rich inheritance. As the nuns in her care are driven mad by strange visions, walking in their sleep, and showing bleeding wounds, Luca is sent to investigate and all the evidence points to Isolde's criminal guilt. Outside in the yard they are building a pyre to burn her for witchcraft. Forced to face the greatest fears of the medieval world - dark magic, werewolves, madness - Luca and Isolde embark on a search for truth, their own destinies, and even love as they take the unknown ways to the real historical figure who defends the boundaries of Christendom and holds the secrets of the Order of Darkness.

Visit Philippa Greggory's website or the Order of Darkness website for more information.

Order of Darkness Series:
Changeling
Stormbringers
Future book titles and release dates to be confirmed

Review:
I'll admit it's been quite a while since I read one of Philippa Gregory's adult titles but as soon as I heard about Changeling I knew I wanted to read it. I've been really enjoying historical fiction recently and as I have a love of anything paranormal I couldn't wait to find out more about these nuns who are being accused of witchcraft! Set in 1453 Changeling gives readers a great feel for the era and makes for fascinating reading.

Luca is extremely intelligent and has an aptitude for science (as much as was known at that time) and mathematics, he loves to learn and soaks up any new information that he can. Growing up in a monastery his abilities quickly get him into trouble and he is accused of heresy. Luckily rather than earning him a death sentence this gets the attention of the leader of The Order of the Dragon who knows that Luca's intelligence will be useful investigating a range of paranormal occurrences across Europe. Along with the clerk Brother Peter and Luca's close friend Freize who will act as their servant Luca sets out to investigate the events that people think herald the end of the world. Can he explain the unexplainable?

Isolde's father was obviously very forward thinking for the time period and he raised her as a leader, training her to take over his holdings and run things after his death. However, he changed his mind at the last minute and instead left everything to her brother. Isolde is shocked by what she considers his betrayal and when she refuses to marry the man he chose for her she has no other option than to join the nunnery. Although that is the last thing she wants she feels it is preferable to a forced marriage to someone that she detests and decides to make the best of things. Her faithful friend Ishraq accompanies her but is mistrusted by the other nuns because of the colour of her skin and her faith. When strange things start happening at the nunnery they blame Isolde and Ishraq and accuse them of witchcraft. Luca is sent to investigate and must try to uncover exactly what is happening, is someone really practising witchcraft and if so can he stop them?

I loved both Luca and Isolde and it was great to see things from each of their points of view as this really allowed us to get to know them both. They have good friends in Freize and Ishraq who were some of the best secondary characters I've come across in a long time - the banter between them all was fantastic. I enjoyed the dynamic between the whole group, particularly after they leave the convent so I'm looking forward to seeing more of that in the sequel. It was interesting to discover more about life during this period of history and see just how people could be made to think something supernatural was happening. It was easy to see how people could be fooled into believing things when they didn't have our knowledge of science to explain them. My one minor complaint was that it was made a little too obvious who was behind the events at the convent, I hadn't quite figured out the whole reason why they were doing it though so there was some surprise at the final reveal.

Changeling is a fantastic start to Philippa Gregory's new Order of Darkness series and I can't wait to get my hands on the next book. I'm excited about the potential for romance between Luca and Isolde but glad that this has been left for future books rather than rushed into too quickly. I also can't wait to see more of Freize and Ishraq who I think are going to have major roles to play as the series continues. I'll be recommending this series to any fan of historical fiction.

Source: Received from Simon & Schuster in exchange for an honest review

Other reviews of this book:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Review: Chasing Fire - Nora Roberts

Rowan Tripp is addicted to danger. Ever since she turned eighteen, Rowan has been a 'smoke jumper', fighting back the ferocious forest fires that sweep through the Montana mountains each year. But now Rowan is mourning the death of her good friend and partner, Jim - haunted by the belief that she could have saved him.

Determined to carry on, Rowan throws herself into training the new recruits to the smoke-jumping team - not realising there is a different kind of danger waiting for her. She has always had a strict rule: never get romantically involved with a workmate. But the moment she meets Gull Curry that rule is severely tested. And when it becomes clear that someone blames Rowan for Jim's death,, and is determined to get revenge, Rowan realises this is one fight she can't win on her own . . .

Visit Nora Roberts' website for more information.

Review:
Rowan is a smoke jumper who spends her summers fighting wildfires in the Montana mountains. She is part of a close team but the death of her jump partner (Jim) last year has left her grief stricken and feeling guilty even though she knows there was nothing she could have done to save him. Gull is a seasoned fire fighter but a rookie jumper who is immediately drawn to Rowan. She has a rule never to mix work and pleasure but he is determined to break through her defences and get her to date him. As the fire season continues it becomes clear that someone blames the smoke jumpers, and Ro in particular, for Jim's death and they are determined to make them pay. Can Ro figure out who is behind the accidents on base before she or Gull pay the ultimate price?

I have a confession to make - as unlikely as this may sound Chasing Fire is actually the first book I've read by Nora Roberts! I've heard so many good things about her writing that I can't believe I've only just got around to giving her a try but I'm sure it won't be long before I pick up more of her work. As the daughter of a fireman I have always had a huge amount of respect for firefighters but living in the UK I never really knew that much about smoke jumpers. I have to say right now that they are something else, kudos to those men and women who put themselves into such dangerous situations to protect the wildlife and rural homes effected by wildfires!

I really enjoyed reading about the smoke jumpers and their way of life, the camaraderie amongst the team was realistic and I loved the banter between them all. The work they do is dangerous and hard and you feel like you're right there alongside them feeling the heat of the blaze and breathing in the smoke fumes as they battle the dragon. Just thinking about what these guys put themselves through physically was enough to leave me feeling exhausted! Like many people who work hard the jumpers also play hard, they use banter and snark as a way of coping with stressful situations and they look out for their own.

Ro has been part of the team for a long time and she is a strong and capable woman who really knows what she is doing when it comes to her job. She is just as tough as the men she works with and has earned their respect, I loved the fact that she isn't looked down on because she is a woman and although there are less females in the crew than men there was no hint of sexism towards them. As much as I respected Ro for her professional abilities I did find myself getting frustrated with her in other ways. She is very immature emotionally, very much a daddy's girl and at times I felt she acted like a spoilt 12 year old which left me wanting to shake her. Gull was a hero it was easy to fall for but I felt he deserved to find someone so much better than Ro. He was sweet and caring, a romantic at heart but also a strong guy who looks out for the people he cares for. I enjoyed the banter between them and I did like seeing him break down Ro's defences and get under her skin. The romance between them built up nicely but I felt it ended a little abruptly - I wanted to see more of how their future played out so would have really appreciated an epilogue to show how they were getting on after the summer season was over.

When it comes to the mystery of who was causing trouble for the jumpers I felt it was a bit too obvious who was the one behind everything. To me it didn't feel like there were many potential suspects which made it far too easy to guess who was the murderer. I also didn't find myself particularly interested in the secondary romance involving Ro's father. All it really did was bring out Ro's childish side which irritated me so much I wanted to throw the book across the room. Overall I loved the book for the smoke jumpers and would love to re-visit the crew again in the future, I'm sure there must be at least a few stories that could be told about the rest of the team! I felt suspense was a little disappointing but I'm still looking forward to reading more by Nora Roberts in the future.

Source: Received from Piatkus in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
Read in a Single Sitting
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Bloomsbury Event with Celia Rees - 2nd March 2012

Celia Rees

I'm very late posting about this event but I thanks to Bloomsbury I had the pleasure of meeting Celia Rees back in March to celebrate the launch of her latest novel This Is Not Forgiveness (this is an awesome book & you can read my review here if you haven't already read it). I was completely useless that day and forgot to take my camera with me so thanks to Viv for letting me use the above photo of Celia (Viv has included lots more pictures in her write up which you can read in full here).

It was a pleasure to meet with Celia and talk to her about This Is Not Forgiveness and her writing career. I may not have taken pictures but I did take lots of notes so here are some of the things that we talked about:

• When asked why she decided to change from writing historical fiction to writing a contemporary thriller Celia said that she hadn't written a contemporary story for a long time but it was the genre that she first started in. Her first book was a YA contemporary thriller called Every Step You Take. As a teacher she knew her pupils wanted to read gritty thrillers that were like adult books so she decided to write one for them. She heard a true story about students who were caught up in a murder investigation that gave her the idea for Every Step You Take.
• Her second book was called The Baby Game and was a story about bullying that her younger daughter suggested she write. After that she wrote a few more thrillers and even a vampire book. She actually spent 10 years writing contemporary books followed by 10 years writing historical ones so felt it was time for a change again.
• Celia was inspired to write This Is Not Forgiveness after watching an old French film called Jules et Jim. The film was set in the war and was a story about two boys and a very charismatic and free spirited girl that they both fell in love with. She was fascinated by the young girl and wanted to write about someone similar.
• She wanted to update the story for modern times rather than set it during the war, she started by making Caro a goth type but changed her mind and instead made her interested in politics. Celia knew that she wanted to make Jamie a normal, average boy but she wanted Rob to be very different to him. It was when she decided to make Rob a soldier that everything really fell into place.
• Celia pointed out that teens can be very intolerant readers - you have to grab their attention early and keep it throughout the whole story.
• One of her biggest tips for writers is to always have a notebook with you to jot down ideas. Celia (like a lot of women) has a lot of handbags so she is always having to buy new notebooks so she can keep one in each bag!
• She uses spider diagrams to keep track of her ideas and when she starts writing a book she types it straight onto her computer rather than handwriting it first. As she's writing she prefers to write the book chronologically from beginning to end. Even if she gets stuck she refuses to skip forward - she writes each stage in order.
• Celia also confirmed that she only works on one book at a time. She said it would be too easy for her to mix the different voices and styles if she was working on multiple books at the same time and that both books would end up reading like one single story.

Celia was absolutely lovely to talk to and happily answered all of our questions. It was great to meet her and I'd definitely recommend you check out This Is Not Forgiveness if you haven't already. I'm actually looking forward to working my way through some of her back list - I'm particularly interested in trying Witch Child which a lot of other bloggers were raving about during the event.

I'd like to say a massive thank you to Emma at Bloomsbury for inviting me to the event and for spoiling us all with cakes, nibbles and books!

Who was there:

Emma - Bloomsbury

Celia Rees - Website

Alice - The Reader Room

Hannah - My Book Journey

Hayley - Dark Readers

Laura - SisterSpooky: Book Fangirl

Megan - The Book Addicted Girl

Michelle - Much Loved Books

Raimy - Readaraptor

Sammee - I Want To Read That

Viv - Serendipity Reviews - Event Report