Last List Blog Hop & Giveaway

Sadly, as many of you know Egmont USA has closed it's US doors recently. The lovely ladies at Cuddlebuggery were amazing in putting together some support for these authors. There are so many great titles offered by Egmont but today we will be talking about TEAR YOU APART by SARAH CROSS. If you would like to know about The Last List check it out *HERE*

 TEAR YOU APART
 by Sarah Cross 

 If you want to live happily ever after, first you have to stay alive. Viv knows there’s no escaping her fairy-tale curse. One day her beautiful stepmother will feed her a poison apple or convince her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Henley, to hunt her down and cut out her heart before she breaks his. In the city of Beau Rivage, some princesses are destined to be prey. But then Viv receives an invitation to the exclusive club where the Twelve Dancing Princesses twirl away their nights. There she meets Jasper, an underworld prince who seems to have everything—but what he really wants is her. He vows to save her from her dark fate if she’ll join him and be his queen. All Viv has to do is tear herself away from the huntsman boy who still holds her heart. Then she might live to see if happily ever after is a promise the prince can keep. But is life as an underworld queen worth sacrificing the true love that might kill her? 

Check out my full review here!

Sarah stopped by to answer a few of our burning questions!!

1. I love what you did with Beau Rivage! What made you want to create a setting such as that? 

 When I was planning Kill Me Softly, I originally wanted to retell one fairy tale in particular (Blue's) . . . and then I thought of another tale that would mix perfectly with the first one (Mira's). And if I was going to use two fairy tales, I figured: why not use them all? I knew I wanted the Valentines to live in a big building with a lot of doors to open, some place that never slept and was glamorous and seedy at the same time (much like fairy tales are), so the city had to have hotel/casinos. And it had to have a beach because otherwise, how are the mermaids going to get there?

 2. What were some of your favorite fairy tales growing up?

I loved "Cinderella" (Retta Scott's illustrations made it extra magical), and also the thieving-kid fairy tales like "Jack and the Beanstalk" and "Goldilocks and the Three Bears."

 3. Who has been your favorite character to write & why? 

In each book I have a favorite character to write, and it's usually someone on the sidelines who doesn't get a lot of page time. And often that character is kind of surly. In Kill Me Softly it was Henley, in Tear You Apart it was Luxe. I think the reason minor characters end up being my favorites to write is because their scenes and dialogue don't require as much struggle and revision to get right, and also, they have a sort of underdog quality to them because they're not the star of the story.

 4. Can you give us any info about what you have in the works? Anything else from Beau Rivage?

 There will be some more Beau Rivage short stories at some point (the Little Mermaid, Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, etc.). Sadly, a 3rd Beau Rivage novel (never officially announced) was one of the casualties of the Egmont USA shutdown. I'd love to finish that book and release it one day . . . we'll see, I guess! Everything else that I'm working on is still a secret.

 5. Sum up your stories in 5 words please and GO!

  Happily ever after? Maybe not.

 BUY LINKS:

 B&N ~

Amazon ~

IndieBound ~ 

Book Depository ~
iTunes ~ 

About The Author

Sarah Cross is the author of the fairy tale novels Kill Me Softly and Tear You Apart, the superhero novel Dull Boy, and the Wolverine comic "The Adamantium Diaries." 

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GIVEAWAY

 Signed paperback of Kill Me Softly (US ONLY)

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Review: Tear You Apart by Sarah Cross

Tear You Apart by Sarah Cross
Expected Publication: January 27th 2015 by Egmont USA

An edgy fairy tale retelling of "Snow White" set in the world of Kill Me Softly for fans of Once Upon a Time and Grimm.
Faced with a possible loophole to her "Snow White" curse, Viv goes underground, literally, to find the prince who's fated to rescue her. But is life safe in the Underworld worth the price of sacrificing the love that might kill her?

My Thoughts:

Perfect for the fairy tale fanatic like myself.

Just when I thought I knew everything there was there was to know about fairy tales, Tear You Apart comes along and proves to me that I couldn't be more wrong. Sarah Cross has taken carnal fairy tale knowledge to new heights by crafting the town of Beau Rivage, a place where these classic curses continue to play themselves out in a present day setting. This books was fantastic since it touched upon so many of them in one fell swoop. Some I knew by heart, while others I had grossly forgotten. I want to throw out there the fact that I had not read Kill Me Softly first and felt that there was no need too although, I did purchase it immediately upon completing this book.

Imagine fairy tales been passed down from generation to generation except they were fantastically twisted. The twelve dancing princesses still rose from their bed every night and were compelled to dance till dawn (one of my favs) except now they tatter their Jimmy Choo's. Balls have been replaced by nightclubs in the famed "underworld" & country clubs have replaced the palaces. Beau Rivage is a place where dreams come true or nightmares become reality depending on which side on the fairy's wand your on. 

There is so many curses threaded through this story it is a fantasy lovers paradise. They range from East of the sun/west of the moon curse, diamonds and toads curse where the bearer spits up either, Goose girl curse, and of course the more classic well know Cinderella and Snow-white curses. Let us remember that Disney was not entirely accurate in their portrayal. As the book states, "Cinderella's step sisters had their eyes pecked out by birds. The stepmother in 'The Juniper Tree" was crushed and killed by a millstone. The false prince in "The Goose Girl" was stuffed naked into a barrel studded with nails, then dragged through the streets by horses." Last but not the least gruesome is the ending of Snow White, where the evil stepmother was forced to dance to death in red hot iron shoes at the wedding reception. These are the curses the residents are afflicted with. The fairies felt the mixed blood between humans and magical creatures centuries ago was reason to punish. Around the age of 16 is the time the fairy appears and brands you with the tale tail marchen mark, the mark that signifies which curse you are fated to. 

Vivian is part of snow white curse complete with an evil stepmother and a huntsman who will one day spare her or cut her heart from her chest. The twist is the fact that Henley, the huntsman, has been Viv's best friend and boyfriend forever. They both the know the day will come when he will be propositioned by Viv's evil stepmother to kill her. As I'm sure it would in any relationship this causes a bit of turmoil. I couldn't stand Viv. I thought she was a selfish self indulgent lil' brat but, I also empathize with the fact that she simply doesn't know what is going to happen between her and Henley. It must be quite anxious making to constantly worry about your beau coming after your heart...literally not figuratively. Enter Prince Charming offering Viv safe harbor and all hell breaks loose. The characters were really fun to read about but mostly due to their curses, not their substance. I found them all to be a bit shallow.

I had trouble with the 3rd person narration as it kept pulling me out of the story. I know it sounds like I have many gripes but the good ultimately overshadowed the bad. There were more than a few of these minor annoyances but, they were heavily combated with snarky dialogue. Here are a few of the funnier quotes. (quotes are pulled from arc and subject to change)

"My chipmunks would bite the shit out of you. You might not want to risk it."

"You've got no figure to speak of  - your ass is as flat as a squashed cockroach."

I love books set in other time periods but, they can tend to feel a bit stuffy so this humor was definitely welcome since it's paired with some pretty macabre scenes. There was a brilliant twist on the Rumpelstiltskin curse which you must look out for. All in all, I think that if you love fairy tales this will be a satisfying light read for you. It is like Once Upon A Time meets Beverly Hills 90210. In the end I really enjoyed it and will definitely be looking forward to revisiting Beau Rivage very soon!

4 snowflakes

Review & Giveaway: Infinityglass by Myra McEntire

Today Winterhaven Books, has the wonderful opportunity to review, INFINITYGLASS, the third and final book in Myra McEntire's hit Hourglass series! Egmont USA  is offering one lucky winner a chance to win a hardcover copy of  INFINITYGLASS, as well as an INFINITYGLASS, poster. To enter just fill out the Rafflecopter form below. This giveaway is US only. Good luck!

Infinityglass by Myra McEntire

Publisher- Egmont USA 

Release-Aug 6th 2013

Pre-Order- Amazon / B & N/ Chapters

The stakes have risen even higher in this third book in the Hourglass series.The Hourglass is a secret organization focused on the study of manipulating time, and its members — many of them teenagers -­have uncanny abilities to make time work for them in mysterious ways. Inherent in these powers is a responsibility to take great care, because altering one small moment can have devastating consequences for the past, present, and future. But some time trav­elers are not exactly honorable, and sometimes unsavory deals must be struck to maintain order.With the Infinityglass (central to understanding and harnessing the time gene) at large, the hunt is on to find it before someone else does.But the Hourglass has an advantage. Lily, who has the ability to locate anything lost, has determined that the Infinityglass isn't an object. It's a person. And the Hourglass must find him or her first. But where do you start searching for the very key to time when every second could be the last?

My Thoughts:

There was a subtle, slight hitch in her breathing.
"Your breath just caught." I said it without thinking.
"Maybe it did. So what?" She angled her chin up at me.
"Nothing. It's just...it's only fair. You make mine catch all the time."

After a pawnshop job gone wrong, Poe Sharpe transported himself and Hallie Girard just a few blocks away from the bad guys, but he actually set off a genetic stressor to trigger the effect of the Infinityglass gene.Thus changing the space time continuum and unintentionally alternating Hallie's abilities.

Dune Ta'ala knew it was time to grow up sometime and this job opportunity is the chance he's been waiting for. He never thought being a bodyguard to ultimate power could even be possible and still shocked that the all powerful mythical object known as the Infinityglass is actually a person. 

But the ripples in time are quickly multiplying and taking over this world. Dune and Hallie could repair it, but  the question is, could they survive it?

The Infinityglass is the final installment in the Hourglass series and what an explosive ending we got!

Myra McEntire has such a fierce gift for storytelling. I love the voices she gives to each of her characters. It's always filled with good humor, witty dialog and amazing chemistry. Time travel and supernatural abilities are the perfect combination for a fascinating and intriguing concept. It was so much fun seeing how this latest mind-blowing situation would all play out. I've really grown to love the outstanding cast and this freshly unique world and I'm so sad to see it end.

Told in two alternative pov's, Dune and Hallie are a sharp and sassy pair that fans will fall in love with.

Hallie is such an awesome character and I'm glad that McEntire introduces her into this world. Hallie is quite the handful. She's a challenging character who's smart and demanding and knows what she wants and goes after it with a zest and zing. She likes to play with her toys when she's bored and all the teasing and flirting just comes natural, but when real emotions are behind it, Hallie is out of her element. I loved seeing the impact of how sincere emotions affected her. I also love her ability to transmutate. That little talent started to get a bit crazy throughout the story, it was impressively entertaining and completely unnerving at the same time,

Dune has the ability to control water, the tides and even the moon phases. It's not always easy to control and has been a haunting memory for Dune since he was young boy. I really just loved Dune in this book! He's the kind of guy who's clean cut, walks the straight line and always plays it safe, he's Mr.Dependable and morally correct. It was really great to see Hallie get under his skin, taking down each resolved layer and finding something they never thought could happen. I really loved the way these two brings out the best in each other. The banter was comical and the romance was a seductive little dance between sexual attraction and emotional need. They made my heart happy.

It was also really great to see Poe, Emerson, Michael and Kaleb again as well as some of the other characters from Hourglass. I loved what they brought into this installment. It wouldn't have felt complete without them.

All in all, I really had a great time with this book. It was action packed, pulse pounding with a steady stream of intrigue and excitement from the very first page till it's gripping conclusion. I'm looking forward to tackling McEntrie's next escape, what ever that may be. Till then, fans of the Hourglass series are going to love this final adventurous addition. What a brilliant way to end an amazing series. This is one world I'm truly going to miss!

                                                                 4.5 snowflakes

About Myra McEntire:

Myra McEntire has had her nose in a book since she could hold one. She was once caught reading in the shower (true story) and only stopped when her father disconnected the hot water heater. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband and two boys. You can visit her online at www.myramcentire.com or follow her on twitter at @MyraMcEntire

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