Review: King Cave by Scarlett Dawn

King Cave by Scarlett Dawn 
Release Date: January 1, 2014
Format: eARC, 432 pages 
Publisher: Escape Publishing
Series: Forever Evermore #2
Source: NetGalley

Description from Goodreads:
The long-awaited sequel to the bestselling, award-winning King Hall: the revolution is here, but the most dangerous attack may come from within...

The safe, comfortable world of Lily Ruckler and her fellow Mystical Kings and Queens is rocked to the core by the attacks at King Hall. Not only does Lily have to kill the Commoners attacking her people, she also has to assume the mantle of leadership, and bring the surviving Mysticals to King Cave.

It should have been too much, but she is not alone. Ezra becomes her rock, her best friend, the one person who understands. As Pearl and Jack struggle with inconsolable loss, Ezra and Lily work to keep the Mys community safe in their new home, and plan a deadly retaliation.

Their friendship saves them both...but it also draws attention. Whispers. Judgment. It's not normal for Shifters and Vampires to be friends, and when a horrifying truth is revealed, their relationship morphs from unusual to unspeakable. Lily is good at keeping secrets that could get her killed. Is she willing to risk Ezra's life as well?

King Hall was one of my favorite books of 2013. The moment I read the last word, I was clamoring for King Cave. But then I had to, you know, wait until the book was ready and available for me to read the crap out of, and it ended up being my first read of 2014. I cannot think of a better way I could have kicked off my year in reading than with this book. It was a fan-freaking-tastic sequel!

I'm not even sure what I was expecting to happen in this book. I don't know what I expected the plot to be like, or how far the story of these characters would go. But SO MUCH happened in this book. The book picks up right where the first one left off and keeps rolling on until we reach the end. Reading this book was so seamless that by the end of the book, it was hard to believe so much had gone on. That all of that stuff had just freaking happened, and now I had to wait for GOODNESS KNOWS HOW LONG to find out what happens next.

But now I'm waiting. I finished the awesome that is King Cave and I WAIT.

These characters are some of my favorite ever. There IS a plot to this book, but I think I'd probably be cool with there being no plot and the book was just us watching Lily, Ezra, Jack, and Pearl in their every day life. Especially Ezra. ;) But before we get to him--LILY. She has some really defining moments in this book. She has grown and continues to grow so much as a character, it's kind of surreal to look back and see how she was at the beginning of King Hall. As her character changes and goes through things, I like her more and more.

All right, all right. My absolute favorite part of all these books now--EZRA. He's done quite a bit of growing and changing himself. All of it just makes me love the flying flip out of him even more. My crush remains strong, my friends. You don't even want to know how many letters I've written to him in my mind. Because I heart him and he's wonderful and ahhhhhhhhh. He was attractive as all get out in the last book, but trust me. He gets even BETTER in this one. For real. Just you wait ;)

The friendship between the four main lovely characters is still strong, but it's also more divided and takes something of a back seat as a couple of pairs forms and they all work through all the crap they're being dealt. And then romance...I am going to say ONE thing. Just one. I will not expand on it or anything. Okay? I was VEEEERRRRRYYYY happy with the romance in this book. VERY. *flails*

Also, random little fact: there is a character named Jessica in this one. I just found that kind of amusing. And freaking awesome. Even though she's not particularly...loved. Heh.

Overall, Scarlett Dawn wrote a sequel that exceeded my already high expectations. King Cave is definitely a sequel worth your time, my friends. Sweet, smexy, and outright fantastic, this book made me more happy than I could ever put into words. I am seriously left at this point wondering what to do with my life until I can be reunited with Ezra again. And, you know...and all the other characters too.

Happy Halloween Giveaway!

 

Happy Halloween, y'all!

I promised a while ago I'd do a Halloween giveaway and a giveaway for 100,000 page views. THIS IS THAT GIVEAWAY. Just so you know. I was going to write the post last night so it could post earlier this morning, but it was storming here and a Halloween marathon was on AMC...

So I'm writing it now. Yaaaay!

First: what I'm giving away in honor of Halloween. It's two books, actually, and I've read the first and it was so good. I haven't gotten around to the second book yet, but I'm going to give it away because I can. Plus, I've heard great things. So one winner will get these:

 

One person. Two books. AWESOME, RIGHT?

 

(That fits, right? Even if it doesn't, I'm going to pretend like it does.)

Now, remember this?

Well, now for what I'm giving away in honor of THAT happening:

The other giveaway was something creepy, so now I'm going to give away something more fun. It's still paranormal, because it IS Halloween, but it's not creepy. It is also one of my favorite books of 2013 so far. Just so ya know ;) One winner will get this:

 

King Hall is only in digital formats, so that would be an e-copy, but ohmygoodness, you WANT THIS BOOK. It's freaking fabulous. I love it so hard. I re-read my favorite parts often. And it's one of my favorite books this year, as I said. So YAY!

Were you counting? Because I was.There will be TWO WINNERS this time around. Which is kind of a big deal to me, because I usually don't so that.

Oh, and this giveaway? INTERNATIONAL!

 

(Now that one totally fit! I think. I hope. PRETEND FOR ME, Y'ALL.)

THE DETAILS, just so we're clear:

- There will be TWO winners. One to get the ANNA books, and the other to get KING HALL.

- The giveaway is international!

- As always, my giveaway policy applies. If you haven't read it, you should take a look in my "Policies" tab.

- HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

- Enter through the Raffletcopter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

♥Jessica(:

Review: King Hall by Scarlett Dawn♥

King Hall by Scarlett Dawn
Release Date: August 1, 2013
Format: eARC, 280 pages
Publisher: Escape Publishing
Series: Forever Evermore #1
Source: NetGalley

Description from Goodreads:
A fresh, meaty, sink-your-teeth-in-and-hold-on-tight new adult fantasy series kicks off with King Hall…

King Hall — where the Mysticals go to learn their craft, get their degrees, and transition into adulthood. And where four new Rulers will rise and meet their destinies.

Lily Ruckler is adept at one thing:  survival.  Born a Mystical hybrid, her mere existence is forbidden, but her nightmare is only about to start. Fluke, happenstance, and a deep personal loss finds Lily deeply entrenched with those who would destroy her simply for existing — The Mystical Kings.  Being named future Queen of the Shifters shoves Lily into the spotlight, making her one of the most visible Mysticals in the world. But with risk comes a certain solace — her burgeoning friendships with the other three Prodigies: a wicked Vampire, a wild-child Mage, and a playboy Elemental. Backed by their faith and trust, Lily begins to relax into her new life.

Then chaos erupts as the fragile peace between Commoners and Mysticals is broken, and suddenly Lily realises the greatest threat was never from within, and her fear takes on a new name: the revolution.

You know how so many people are getting into New Adult but are sitting around wondering where the freak the good paranormal NA's are? Well, I JUST FOUND ONE!

Seriously, someone should slap me for waiting so long to read this book. It was so great, I cannot stop smiling about it. This is without a doubt one of my favorite NA books, and one of my favorite books so far this year.

Yeah, I loved it that much.

These characters give me all kinds of happy feelings inside. Lily and Dominic were such an adorable couple. And, wonder of wonders, I actually liked Lily! She was strong and could be independent when the need arose. And she was OPEN. She actually talked about things (for the most part) instead of letting it stew away inside her for us to read and punch walls about. Pearl rocked, and Jack was a sweetheart.

EZRA. Let me tell you about my boy Ezra. I have the biggest mother effing crush on this guy. There are so many book boys that I love, but Ezra I have a 100% serious crush on. I heart his face. I pretty much swooned every time he breathed. I highlighted every time he did anything remotely funny, protective, cute, or sweet. If I didn't like Lily so much, I'd still have read this book anyway just to see what's up with Ezra. He's my favorite character by far. I'm also considering adding him to my top 10 book boys of all time... I'm not SURE yet, but it's a thought, and that means something.

This book starts off on a funny note, which caught my attention and made me want to read more. From there, we're introduced to the world, which I thought was built fairly well. There are still questions, but those are things that I'm sure will be cleared up in the next book (or books? I don't know how long this series is going to be. Then again, if Ezra sticks around the whole time, I think I'd be cool with it never ending). Other than the world building, this book was paced super well--so much stuff happened, I swear I didn't get bored at all. Not one time while reading this book. I'd have to go eat dinner or reply to an email or something and I'd be whining to whoever was sitting next to me about that really great book I was reading that I wanted to read more of RIGHT NOW.

Goodness gracious, I LOVE THIS BOOK. I am making some serious grabby hands for book 2 right now. For real, I can't even.

Overall, King Hall is the most addictive book I've read in a while. Fun, sweet, and badass, I would certainly recommend this paranormal New Adult story to anyone who likes books that pull you in and hold you hostage.

Now, I'm off to write a love letter to Ezra. Oh, sweet baby goodness I heart that boy.

♥Jessica(: