The Ruin of the World by Nazarea Andrews

Yesterday was the release day blitz for THE RUIN OF THE WORLD by Nazarea Andrews. This is the fourth and final installment in The World Without End series. Don't miss this exciting conclusion, be sure to enter to win a zombie prize pack below, and play our quiz to find out which character from the series you would be during a zombie apocalypse!

 

When the zombies rose, we thought the world ended. It didn’t—it just broke, in a way we couldn’t fix. And we found ways to continue, reasons to fight. Faith. Family. Politics. Obsession. The most dangerous of all—hope. But when all of that is stripped away, and nothing remains but rage and betrayal—that is the true end of the world.

Return to the World Without End, for a final battle for hope and survival in the exciting conclusion to Nazarea Andrews’ phenomenal series.

 

CLICK HERE TO ADD THE BOOK TO GOODREADS.

PURCHASE THE RUIN OF THE WORLD from Amazon

I have little left in life. Little that matters. Kelsey has been lost to me for almost a decade, and I have turned away from every door my family name might open. Even places where I could be accepted because of my prestige and the dubious favor of 1, it’s not real. The favor is bought with blood and people are fickle. So fucking fickle. The man I called brother is dead, his ashes scattered across a nameless desert, a thousand miles in my past. Even that has been taken from me. And I accepted it. I accepted every fucking thing, adapting and moving forward. Because that’s what you do. You move forward, and you adapt and you fucking get on with it, because the alternative is no better than death. I don’t know how to move on from this. I don’t know how to let go of the only thing that matters. What is the only thing that matters? She always gave the answer I demanded, the one that hid the truth. The one that framed it in a way that made her comfortable and able to accept me. I can see her now, the annoyance and the desire she tried to fight, the resignation, the fierce hope. What is the only thing that matters? Her.

PURCHASE THE PREVIOUS BOOKS IN THE SERIES

 

THE WORLD WITHOUT A FUTURE (book #1)

Buy Links: Amazon: http://amzn.to/1cgCuW2

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1irmGos

 

 

THE HORDE WITHOUT END (book #2) Buy Links:

 

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1Itnc04

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1bHgEOn

 

THE FUTURE WITHOUT HOPE (book #3) Buy Links:

 

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1Ess7so

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1Rqoeye  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

AUTHOR INFORMATION: Nazarea Andrews is an avid reader and tends to write the stories she wants to read. She loves chocolate and coffee almost as much as she loves books, but not quite as much as she loves her kids. She lives in south Georgia with her husband, daughters, and overgrown dog. AUTHOR LINKS: You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Booktropolous. Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/MtHwj

Book Look: Compulsion by Martina Boone

Compulsion by Martina Boone {Book Look} by nobentspines featuring lips makeup

Find it on goodreads

Three plantations. Two wishes. One ancient curse.

All her life, Barrie Watson has been a virtual prisoner in the house where she lives with her shut-in mother. When her mother dies, Barrie promises to put some mileage on her stiletto heels. But she finds a new kind of prison at her aunt’s South Carolina plantation instead--a prison guarded by an ancient spirit who long ago cursed one of the three founding families of Watson Island and gave the others magical gifts that became compulsions.

Stuck with the ghosts of a generations-old feud and hunted by forces she cannot see, Barrie must find a way to break free of the family legacy. With the help of sun-kissed Eight Beaufort, who knows what Barrie wants before she knows herself, the last Watson heir starts to unravel her family's twisted secrets. What she finds is dangerous: a love she never expected, a river that turns to fire at midnight, a gorgeous cousin who isn’t what she seems, and very real enemies who want both Eight and Barrie dead.

Author Spotlight: Linda Grimes on Books-to-Movies

 Hello there, everyone! My name is Jackie, and I'm your host for the day. And every other day a post pops up on No Bent Spines. *chuckles* 

First off, how is everyone? Did y'all see The Avengers? What are your thoughts? Personally, I can't actually decide if I'm feeling the ending. I mean, The Avengers are The Avengers. 

Let's get to the spotlight. I'd like to thank the lovely Ms. Linda Grimes and Desirae for contacting me about the post. Mostly because I adore the answers. The topic today?

Books-to-Movies. 

Should be fun. So, without further ado, here are her top 4 adaptations!

1. Gone With The Wind, by Margaret Mitchell. Because it's freaking GWTW! I read this book at least ten times before I turned thirteen. When I first saw the movie, at about age twelve, I was completely swept up in the gloriously epic romance. The lush spectacle of it was enough to awe me for weeks. Heck, Vivien Leigh's right eyebrow should have received separate billing. And Clark Gable as Rhett? *swoon* I was one depressed little girl when I found out he'd died long before I even knew he existed.

2. Holes, by Louis Sachar. This delightfully, quirkily warped (and I mean that in the very best way) movie perfectly captures the feel of the book. So often, even faithful adaptions fail to hit upon that special alchemy, so kudos to the director, Andrew Davis, for bringing Sachar's vision to life on the screen. Of course, it probably didn't hurt that Sachar also wrote the screenplay. Which is an amazing feat in itself, because writing a screenplay is a whole different kettle of fish than writing a novel. Plus, Sigourney Weaver is delightfully shudder-inducing as the warden.

3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by J.K. Rowling. I enjoyed all of the HP movies, but Azkaban is the best, in my opinion. The film translated the mood and tone of the book in a way that was truly magical for me. The three lead actors seemed more than ever to embody the characters of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. And, of course, Gary Oldman positively rocked it as Sirius Black, one of my all-time favorite HP characters.

4. Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon. Okay, this one is fudging a bit, because it's a book-to-television adaption. But, seriously, they are doing such a fantastic job with the first season. It's difficult at best to bring iconic characters like Claire and Jamie to the screen without disappointing legions of rabid book fans, but Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan are doing an impressive job of it. Tobias Menzies, in the dual roles of Frank Randall and Black Jack Randall, is nothing short of amazing—equally believable as the diffidently charming scholar and the sadistic Redcoat. No adaptation can completely encompass a whole novel, but this TV series seems to have captured the heart of my favorite book. And don't even get me started on the finer points of men in kilts!

The Big Fix, coming soon to you May 12, 2015. Find it on goodreads.
Published by Tor

Aura adaptor extraordinaire Ciel Halligan, who uses her chameleon-like abilities to fix her clients’ problems—as them—is filling in on set for action superstar Jackson Gunn, whose snake phobia is standing in the way of his completing his latest mega-millions Hollywood blockbuster. There’s only one thing Jack fears more than snakes, and that's the possibility of his fans finding out he screams at the sight of one. Going from hero to laughing stock isn’t part of his career plan.

Seems like a simple enough job to Ciel, who doesn’t particularly like snakes, but figures she can tolerate an afternoon with them, for the right price—which Jack is offering, and then some. What she doesn’t count on is finding out that while she was busy wrangling snakes for him, his wife was busy getting killed. When Ciel goes to break the sad news to the star, she finds out Jack was AWOL from her client hideaway at the time of the murder.

Ciel begins to suspect Jack’s phobia was phony, and that he only hired her to provide him with an alibi—but if she goes to the police, she’ll have to explain how she knows he wasn’t really on set. Up against a wall, Ciel calls on her best-friend-turned-love-interest Billy, and her not-so-ex-crush Mark, to help her set up the sting of a lifetime.



Leave Ms. Grimes some thoughts. I mean, what are some of YOUR favorite book-to-movies. I can't get over all of the different Mr. Darcys in the world. Uhm, swooooon. 

Change the World 1: It's A Girl

So, have you ever heard of gendercide? 

It's the systematic killing of a specific sex. Usually females. Why is it that usually females are killed? In the Eastern world's culture, the value of females are frequently put on a lower stand than that of the value of men. Cultural saying that daughters are a burden, daughters bring only less money to the table, women are worth less than men lower the confidence of females in a society.

Dowry Violence. Female feticide. Child abandonment. Abuse. Trafficking. Forced sterilization.

I mean, I get that there are a whole brunch of people in the world- but what about negative feedback cycles? And when in the world did humans get the right to decide whether or not that person has the right to live or to die. Wait-don't answer that one. It's present in all societies.

This topic was brought into my vision while watching a documentary on Netflix. It is called It's a Girl. And it was heartbreaking. Some of these women kill their children simply because they are female. Okay, so nothing is that simple. Some mothers believed they were saving their daughters from the world of poverty, while other's could not afford to pay for dowry, and even others had pressure from their spouse and from their family to murder their infants. It's economics and it's politics.

All of this where females are just as necessary and important to society as men. Female children stolen from their families to be wives for their sons.

This idea is just so foreign to me. But the women and men who opposed it, I just found them completely inspiring.

So how can you become a more informed human and petition against the epidemic?

Look at these links.

First, Women's Rights Without Frontiers.
Second, Take Action. / Gendercide Awareness Project
Third, just watch the movie.

Book Review: Outside the Ropes by Ashley Claudy

Outside the Ropes by Ashley Claudy
Netgalley / Amazon / Goodreads
Publsihed January 2015
Galley via Netgalley
Final Rating: 3.25

In the ring, Regan has control. Outside the ropes, she fights to survive.

Regan Sommers spent her life fighting. Fighting foster parents, kids in the group home, and classmates. But the night she has to fight for her life changes everything. 

Now, she's fighting for money in the ring, and from the first punch she's addicted. Every addiction has a price though, and this one is the gym's star boxer, Gage Lawson. He may come in an enticing tattooed package, but his demands are more than she can handle. 

The responding officer from that night, Anthony Fields, comes with no demands. He wants whatever she's willing to give, and Regan can handle that. She can definitely handle him. 

But no help comes string free, and Regan's not the only one with a hard past and scars to cover. The life she was trying to escape is nothing compared to the danger she's in the middle of now, and she can't fight her way out.

So maybe this book needed a cup of coffee with it if I was planning on finishing it when I started it. . .around 8:30 in the evening, but that doesn't exactly mean I didn't enjoy it.

I was expecting Outside the Ropes to be about a girl overcoming societal conformity, and if I am being completely honest, I didn't pay as much attention to the "she fights to survive" as I should have. Mostly because going into this novel I was forced to face the life of the other half of society and I just wasn't prepared for all that jazz. The ones looking for a fix, looking for money, affection- no matter the cost. May it be your sanity or your soul. Even a fight. I'll be honest some more. I mean why not? How does that sound?

I admire Regan's strength, but I was also frustrated with how she seemed to dash towards trouble and turmoil rather than away from it. I mean, I understand the story needs conflict, but Regan, darling. Breathe, love.

And the two males trying to get her and gain her love, or her body, or her affection. Or maybe just her thoughts and her time. They were something else. Does any of that make sense?

Okay, so one one hand you have Anthony- a copy and seemingly overall decent guy who I steadily grew to really dislike as I read more and more of the book. From Anthony, Regan gets someone to trust, a warm body and safety. A real rarity in her life. So her relationship with Anthony is something she really values.  Then, on the other hand, we have out too-hot-to-handle, seriously moody, but also rather sweet, prized boxer: Gage Lawson. Gage hides more than his heart (and yes, y'all, I know that sounds cheesy) from Regan. Hell, he hides a whole freaking lot more. Like a bunch of roses and a baseball field more. Yeah. 

Oh, look. I'm about to be honest some more. I didn't particularly like either Gage or Anthony. They both were possessive is a not-so-hot kind of way. *shudders* And it made me want to hit them both in the face with a brick. Or a shovel. Either one, they are both pretty decent options. The brick or the shovel I mean. Pepper spray would probably work as well, now that I think about it. But Regan, she was pretty cool. She is fiercely loyal and independent to a fault.

I think the story is fine. Like, it is perfectly fine. Not great. But also not terrible. I think my main complaint is that I didn't really connect to any of the characters. Not a bit. I was feeling more anger at the situation that anger at the characters.

In the end, this book won't make it to my favorites shelf, but it was a decent read.

Letters Home by Rebecca Brooke

Goodreads / Amazon
Review Copy via Netgalley
Published June 8, 2014

Life is all about the jigsaw, right? Finding the different puzzle pieces to complete your very own picture. A career you love, a house to make a home, a lover to complete you, and keep you warm at night. 

Danielle Renton has a life, and she loves it. A recent law school graduate, she’d been floored when her boyfriend, Nate Lewis, enlisted during their sophomore year of college. At the time, she’d been concerned with what that meant for them as a couple, but in the years that followed, they’d learned to adapt to the logistics of an army relationship.

But when life throws her a curve ball, how will she cope? Can she pick up the pieces and make her picture beautiful again? Or does she realize that, sometimes, the pieces can be too broken to fit back together…

I honestly can’t review this book without spoilers. Though, personally, I don’t especially consider it a real spoiler. I guessed the ‘curveball’ before I started the novel, expected it. If you haven’t guessed it, or have and don’t want your suspicions confirmed, please be warned that this review is completely packed with spoilers. Not about the ending, but about the first 30% of the novel. Thanks for reading! If you want to see the full review, just highlight where the text should be!

So I obviously have a problem with letting things go. But, y’all, he was absolutely perfect. He knew her better than she knew herself. I would love to say that this book didn’t make me sob (because it did. Big, fat alligator tears) and I would also love to tell you that this is a book I love to pieces (but I can’t, because there are a few issues. I do love it, just not to pieces.) I love that she was finally able to love again and not wallow in sadness and desolation, but when I spent the first 30% of the book falling in love with her late-husband, 70% just isn’t enough to let me fall in love with the new one. Also the ending felt rushed. Now, onto the explanations and characters and such.

So, I suppose y’all are a bit curious why I only rated this book 3.5 stars when it made me cry, a rarity in pretty much all parts of my life. So here is the reason: though I found myself as conflicted with and saddened as Dani, I couldn’t really connect with just about any of the decisions she made. About opening her heart and closing it. About locking herself away and throwing away the key. About giving someone she hardly knew the combination number to get out of the safe she threw herself in. Yes, everyone morns in different ways. And Dani’s way of mourning is completely understandable. Please, don’t confuse what I’m trying to say. I’m trying to say that I found the reality of her opening up after nine months of solitude and work and people who know and care about her trying to help her to someone who just sort of appears to be a little odd. I suppose that’s a bit of the magic behind her late husband though- the fact that he knew just what she needed. I just don’t really like what she needed. After her husband is killed in combat, Dani is left heartbroken and unable to move on. Nate was perfect, is perfect and always will be perfect. He gives his letter to Dani to his friend, Tanner, to give to Dani upon his return home.

Through Tanner, Dani learns how to burst out of the shell she puts herself in. But, she is unable to forget Nate, her first love, and is riddled with guilt that keeps her tied to the past and unable to give Tanner her heart. Tanner isn’t going to wait forever, and feels he can’t keep trying to compete with a ghost for Dani’s love. The main question through the novel is can Dani learn to love again, and will she be able to let herself fall in love.

The execution of the novel was lovely, but since I freaking adored Nate to the moon and back, and didn’t really have much love for Dani, I feel that I wasn’t able to really enjoy the novel as much as I should have. Maybe if we only spent time with Nate for the first 5-10 perfect of the novel I would have fallen for Tanner a bit easier. Too much time was spent on Nate and showing the audience how freaking fantastic he was. I think that it Tanner got more time than 70% of the book, the whole me falling in love with him like Dani tries to let herself to would have been a whole lot smoother. 

I really loved the writing. I saw and felt everything that the characters were feeling (hope +fear +love +confusion +hopelessness) and that was super important to this book, and these types of books in general. In the end, I personally think this was worth reading, but I wouldn’t go running to fetch myself a hardcover copy real soon. 

Okay, y'all. Just highlight above if you're curious. Thanks for stopping by!

Will You Help Me Make The World Better?

"She had eyes wild, slightly insane. She also carried an overload of compassion that was real enough and which obviously cost her something." -Charles Bukowski

So this post is going to be a bit different from the other posts { interviews, giveaways, blog tours, reviews, general rambles } that I've done on my little blog here. Why is that?

Well, it's sort of about changing the world.

Why do I want to try to change the world? Why don't you? Have you not seen the news or heard the radio? Don't you have something that just ignites a need to get off your butt and do something? I have quite a few of those things. For me, they mostly involve world literary, protection of animals (exotic and domestic) and the acceptance of people for who they are. Man, y'all, this world is messed up. Don't you want to do something about it?

I do.

When I can, I try to connect or leave link to important issues or the sites that sort of help with the. . .solving? Educating? of whatever it is that I think is important. I leave links in my reviews, like When Reason Breaks, to whatever the authors really connects with in the book. That one talked about depression and suicide, so the link was left to TWLOHA, a website and 'foundation' that I think does a really awesome job at acknowledging the issue is a safe way and a way that brings the conversation to the table. I think I leave links to WWF in a later review.

Anyways, my point is that we have the power to change the world, even if it's something as small as just talking about the issue.

So now that I got all that out of the way, how are we (yes, of course I need all y'alls help) going to achieve this?

Firstly, I'm going to do a monthly/ weekly (I haven't decided how often yet) kind of heads up about a foundation that I think is really awesome and could totally help save the world. I'll probably do a feature on Two Wings and TWLOHA and ASPCA and some others.

I just have to find them.

Can y'all help with that? Fill out the google form with one of your favorite places to donate to and the reason why. I'll look into all of them. Leave comment love and consider looking at them. Tell me things wrong with the world and what you want to do to make it better- or at least a little less crappy.

And this isn't just for my part of the world- let's go global, y'all.

The. World.

So just leave your thoughts in the google form. Comment it you feel like it. Tweet me with ideas. { @NoBentSpines }

That is all I have to say.