A Bookish Day: Kate Evangelista's TIL DEATH Book Launch!

Yesterday, Kate Evangelista teamed up with National Bookstore for the launching of her newest book Til Death here in the Philippines! I've already read and reviewed the book here so you might want to check that out.

Kate answering questions from host and fellow author herself, Mina V. Esguerra. Kate shared lots of writing and publishing stories and advice, and hinted at the mayhem that will ensue in the Til Death sequel. She said that she prefers getting mixed feedback for her books because she wants to keep improving as an author, and all-positive reviews could hinder that. She also said that because Taste, Reaping Me Softly, and Til Death are the first books that she wrote, she's aware that those three have a few problems with regards to pacing and such, so she's addressed those in their respective sequels. 

{Blog Tour} Book Review + Giveaway: Til Death - Kate Evangelista

Title: Til Death (Fractured Souls #1)

Author: Kate Evangelista

Release Date: March 4th 2014

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Age Group: Young Adult

Source: eARC for blog tour

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

Sixteen-year old Selena Fallon is a dreamer. Not a day-dreamer, but an I-see-the-future kind of dreamer. Normally this is not a problem as she has gotten pretty good at keeping her weird card hidden from everyone in her small town. Except from her best friend Kyle and her grandparents, of course. But when Selena dreams of her own rather bloody death, things get a little too freaky even for her.

Enter Dillan Sloan. Selena has seen the new guy in a different dream, and he is even more droolworthy in person. Beyond the piercing blue eyes and tousled dark hair, there is something else that draws her to him. Something…electric. Unfortunately, Dillan makes it more than clear that he does not feel the same. They just met, so why would he act like he hates her?

When Dillan and Selena are forced together one weekend to work on a school project, Selena prepares to be ignored as usual. But when she stumbles across a few undead in the backyard, Dillan comes to her rescue and reveals a whole lot more. Not only is he part of a society that hunts otherworldly creatures…she is too. And she is being targeted by a force bigger and darker than anything she ever imagined. Despite her death dream, Selena is not going to give up easy, especially when she discovers that Dillan might not actually hate her after all.

I knew Kate Evangelista wouldn't disappoint. Although I personally enjoyed Taste and Savor more, Til Death still had me intrigued and prevented me from putting it down. It's a book that's easy to read in one sitting, especially since it had me laughing every few pages or so.

Selena Fallon has been having visions of the future for quite a while, so it's nothing new and doesn't spook her out anymore. If anything, she's learned to use it to her advantage and to help the few people who also know of her gift: her grandparents and her best friends. But just who wouldn't feel disturbed and unsettled when they see their own death?

Perhaps what I found most interesting about this book when I first heard of it were the lives of the main characters: Selena, with her dreams, and Dillan, with the secret society that he's part of - think Cassandra Clare's Shadowhunters minus the angels and runes. It's not hard to deduce that Selena, unbeknownst to them both, has something to do with Dillan's society, and this is where things get even more interesting.

Selena and Dillan got off on the wrong foot. They both felt something like a zap when they first touched - they shook hands, if I remember correctly - and Dillan immediately suspected that the quiet town he'd been sent to had its own secrets. Determined to know just what's going on, he's rude and hostile to Selena, and because the girl isn't one to be pushed around (except when it came to her ex, ugh) verbal battles were in abundance. Their constant fighting actually irritated me at one point because by then it just seemed senseless and unreasonable, but I did enjoy watching them go from enemies to frienemies to friends who like making out with each other. Relationship status: it's complicated, indeed. I liked how they knew it wasn't smart to jump straight into a relationship because their lives were already crazy enough as it is.

Til Death had its slow moments, no doubt, but the never-ending twists and suspense just kept me reading. I also loved the dual perspective because it fleshed the story out more. Kate has me worried for my sanity with her apparent love for cliffhangers lately, but the wait for the next book is one torture I certainly enjoy.

MY FAVORITE PART was Dillan reading Frost to Constantinople. Swoon.

RATING:

About the author:

When Kate Evangelista was told she had a knack for writing stories, she did the next best thing: entered medical school. After realizing she wasn't going to be the next Doogie Howser, M.D., Kate wandered into the Literature department of her university and never looked back. Today, she is in possession of a piece of paper that says to the world she owns a Literature degree. To make matters worse, she took Master's courses in creative writing. In the end, she realized to be a writer, none of what she had mattered. What really mattered? Writing. Plain and simple, honest to God, sitting in front of her computer, writing. Today she lives in the Philippines and writes full time.

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter

Giveaway!

{Blog Tour} Book Review + Giveaway: Savor - Kate Evangelista

Title: Savor (Vicious Feast #1)

Author: Kate Evangelista

Release Date: December 1st 2013

Publisher: Crescent Moon Press

Age Group: New Adult

Source: ecopy for blog tour

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

Mature and explicit content. Not recommended for readers below 18-years-old. Yup, you've got to be that old to read my story. Consider yourself warned.

I’m Dakota Collins, a tough talking, eye patch wearing, workaholic photography student. Why am I important? Well, maybe because I get to spend an entire month with Vicious, only the sickest indie rock band out there.

You see, I needed a subject for my Spring Showcase introspective in order to graduate. During a chance encounter at a club I’d been sent to cover for the Daily Gossip, our ironically named college paper, the features writer I usually teamed up with introduced me to the band—by accident, I might add. It involved a run in with a scary, bald bodyguard. Anyway, long story short, I signed a contract to take pictures of Vicious.

I should have known their handsome yet way too serious for his own good bassist, Luka Visraya, wouldn't be able to keep his hands to himself. He’s gorgeous and all, but the way he smiles spelled trouble with a capital L. I’m in for a long month with him around.

Crazy shit happens and then some. So, if you want the skinny on Vicious and the events revolving around my stay at Lunar Manor, read my story.

Again, refer to the warning above.

I had very little idea what was going to happen here in Savor because its prequel companion novel (apologies if that label is so incorrect) provided a satisfying closure. I fell in love with Luka in Taste, so you can imagine how happy I was when I learned that he was getting his own book. And now I realized that Savor is actually the first in a freaking series! Oh, yes.

Dakota's voice captured me right from page one and kept me up even though I started reading this at one in the morning. She had this underlying angst that she hid with her carefree, stay-out-of-my-way-and-I'll-stay-out-of-yours attitude, not to mention she kept secrets that I desperately wanted to unravel. What was up with the eye patch? The nightmares? Early on, I knew something twisted her way had come, but I admired how she let all her worries and fears roll off her back and immersed herself in photography. Seeing the world through her camera was her safe haven, an escape from the things chasing after her, and she sure did it well. Even without visual evidence, I knew Dakota's photos were more than good.

Now, Luka. Oh, Luka. Either my memory is deteriorating at an alarming speed or he really did a one-eighty from his Taste!self. I remember all the darkness and whatnot, but not to this degree. I certainly don't remember him acting like a demented, possessive, spoiled brat in that prequel (yes, I'll always think of it as a prequel to this series, like The Hobbit is to The Lord of the Rings), but even then, there's no denying that Luka Visraya is one sexy, sexy man. And he sings! Major swoon, dude.

Dakota and Luka's relationship was nothing if not steamy. All the not-so-pent-up tension between these two damaged people made their interactions even hotter. I'm kind of disappointed, though, that they somehow didn't bring out the best in each other. Dakota used Luka to escape from her demons - granted I enjoyed that because it was hella hot - and she was often the reason why the raging bull in him took over. I hope we'll see more character development but this being the first in a series, I'm positive that there's time enough for that.

I don't know how I got the idea that Luka would be the only character from Taste present in this book, but I sure was pleasantly surprised to encounter the entire gang in here again, albeit how different they are from my memory of them. We don't get much answers and backstory here in Savor so people who've read the prequel may get confused, because I know I am - just a tad bit. I love/hate how the story took a sudden, unexpected twist in the end and I have no idea what direction the story will take, but I am already itching for Relish!

MY FAVORITE PART was Luka performing Poison for the first time. Pretty sure I sighed and giggled :3

RATING:

About the author:
When Kate Evangelista was told she had a knack for writing stories, she did the next best thing: entered medical school. After realizing she wasn't going to be the next Doogie Howser, M.D., Kate wandered into the Literature department of her university and never looked back. Today, she is in possession of a piece of paper that says to the world she owns a Literature degree. To make matters worse, she took Master's courses in creative writing. In the end, she realized to be a writer, none of what she had mattered. What really mattered? Writing. Plain and simple, honest to God, sitting in front of her computer, writing. Today, she lives in the Philippines and writes full time.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Youtube

Giveaway!

Cover Reveal: Romancing the Bookworm - Kate Evangelista

Title: Romancing the Bookworm

Author: Kate Evangelista
Release Date: July 9th 2013

Publisher: Omnific Publishing

Genre: Romance

Age Group: New Adult

Cover reveal organized by: AToMR Tours

  

Sometimes, even the best-laid plans can unravel.

It's spring break, and Tamara Winters would rather stay on campus and read romance novels than flaunt her size-fourteen body on a beach. But her best friend, Ronni, has other ideas. Against her wishes, Tamara is whisked away to picturesque Maverick Bay, where she's wrangled into waiting tables with Ronni at the Shore Shack for its busy week leading to Maverick's Surf Invitational. There she meets fellow schoolmate Xavier Solomon, the Invitational's organizer and campus womanizer by reputation. From the moment Tamara sees him emerging from the waves like a hero in of one of her romance novels, all she wants to do is run away from the feelings he inspires in her.

Little does she know Xavier has been watching her for weeks now. In fact, after failed attempts at asking her out on campus, he's concocted a crazy plan: fabricating romantic situations straight out of her favorite books. Xavier quickly realizes that if Tamara gets a whiff of his designs, he might as well spell CREEPER across his forehead. Yet as they grow closer, he's convinced it's a risk worth taking. What he hasn't planned on, of course, is his drug-addicted, alcoholic stepbrother, who decides to join the fun and put a wrench in Xavier’s scheme.

Spring break is proving hotter than Tamara expected. Will her romance novels be able to compete?

About the author: 

When Kate Evangelista was told she had a knack for writing stories, she did the next best thing: entered medical school. After realizing she wasn't going to be the next Doogie Howser, M.D., Kate wandered into the Literature department of her university and never looked back. Today, she is in possession of a piece of paper that says to the world she owns a Literature degree. To make matters worse, she took Master's courses in creative writing. In the end, she realized to be a writer, none of what she had mattered. What really mattered? Writing. Plain and simple, honest to God, sitting in front of her computer, writing. Today, she has four completed Young Adult novels.

Kate Evangelista | Twitter

{Blog Tour} Book Review + Giveaway: Taste - Kate Evangelista

Title: Taste

Author: Kate Evangelista

Release Date: April 29th 2012

Publisher: Crescent Moon Press

Goodreads

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | The Book Depository

At Barinkoff Academy, there’s only one rule: no students on campus after curfew. Phoenix McKay soon finds out why when she is left behind at sunset. A group calling themselves night students threaten to taste her flesh until she is saved by a mysterious, alluring boy. With his pale skin, dark eyes, and mesmerizing voice, Demitri is both irresistible and impenetrable. He warns her to stay away from his dangerous world of flesh eaters. Unfortunately, the gorgeous and playful Luka has other plans.

When Phoenix is caught between her physical and her emotional attraction, she becomes the keeper of a deadly secret that will rock the foundations of an ancient civilization living beneath Barinkoff Academy. Phoenix doesn’t realize until it is too late that the closer she gets to both Demitri and Luka, the more she is plunging them all into a centuries old feud.

When I get curious about something, the saying "curiosity killed the cat" always pops into my head for some reason. But curiosity is a hunger that will demand to be sated until it is, and like what happens to me almost always, it leads to a fascinating discovery for the heroine in Taste, Phoenix.

At first, Phoenix seemed like a girl who didn't care about anything. She didn't know it, but I felt like she lived her days like she was without purpose—until she broke curfew, of course. That event kicked off the story and truly plunged Phoenix into the world of breathtakingly beautiful flesh eaters. She made a brave and selfless decision right at the start and gave her best to go through with everything that came with that decision, and I really admired her for that.

But Phoenix couldn't have guessed that getting her heart ripped in half by two very different but equally, um, pleasing-to-the-eye males would come with that decision. First was Demitri, Phoenix's constant savior who preferred to keep the truths about him hidden. Because of something—I'd never guessed this part, so I'll keep it that way for you all—his effort to avoid her became useless, and with Phoenix more than attracted to him, a hot romance ensued right off the bat. Insta-love came to mind, but I soon understood that it was far from that.

Which was much to the dismay of Luka, the third side of the triangle. So unlike Demitri, he answered as much of Phoenix's questions as he could. He was naughty and nice, but like our first guy, he had his own secrets and the most share of emotional baggage. And as was the case with love triangles in other books, I loved Luka more than our protagonist's chosen guy. Phoenix can keep her hands on Demitri, though, because Luka's mine *evil laugh*.

Although Phoenix's dive into these guys' world changed her for the better, it showed her true self in the process. Her attitude was often inconsistent: headstrong and bad-ass one minute, nothing but lovesick the next. That irritated me more than her bouts of acting like a spoiled kid that always put her—and worse, those around her—in undesirable situations.

But aside from my few problems with Phoenix, I had no other complaints throughout this book. Kate wrote a wonderful and creative world of flesh eaters, spun it with so much action and high stakes, and balanced everything with the right amount of butterfly-inducing romance that the ending brought me to tears, but you'd have to read Taste to find out if they were happy tears or not.

MY FAVORITE PART was the catfight. It was childish of Phoenix to start it, but it was really entertaining, lol.

RATING:

About the author:
When Kate Evangelista was told she had a knack for writing stories, she did the next best thing: entered medical school. After realizing she wasn’t going to be the next Doogie Howser, M.D., Kate wandered into the Literature department of her university and never looked back. Today, she is in possession of a piece of paper that says to the world she owns a Literature degree. To make matters worse, she took Master’s courses in creative writing. In the end, she realized to be a writer, none of what she had mattered. What really mattered? Writing. Plain and simple, honest to God, sitting in front of her computer, writing. Today, she has four completed Young Adult novels.

Website | Twitter | Facebook

Waiting on Wednesday {2}: Finale; Roar and Liv; Reaping Me Softly

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine

Title: Finale (Hush, Hush #4) - Becca Fitzpatrick

Release Date: October 23rd 2012

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Goodreads 

Nora is more certain than ever that she is in love with Patch. Fallen angel or no, he is the one for her. Her heritage and destiny may mean they are fated to be enemies, but there is no turning her back on him. Now Nora and Patch must gather their strength to face one last, perilous trial. Old enemies return, new enemies are made, and a friend's ultimate betrayal threatens the peace Patch and Nora so desperately want. The battle lines are drawn—but which sides are they on? And in the end, are there some obstacles even love can't conquer?

I forgot to include this in last week's post *facepalm*

I can't believe one of my favorite series ever will end really soon, but I can only hope this farewell will be a happy one. In lieu of this, I'll be re-reading the first three books once I get a copy of Hush, Hush in hardback (I had that in paperback and the next two in hardback, and God knows how much I hate mismatched editions, so I gave it to a friend).

And I'm more than excited for another round of Patch's witty lines!

Title: Roar and Liv (Under the Never Sky #1.5) - Veronica Rossi

Release Date: October 30th 2012

Publisher: HarperCollins

Goodreads 

Before Perry and Aria, there was Roar and Liv.

After a childhood spent wandering the borderlands, Roar finally feels like he has a home with the Tides. His best friend Perry is like a brother to him, and Perry's sister, Liv, is the love of his life. But Perry and Liv's unpredictable older brother, Vale, is the Blood Lord of the Tides, and he has never looked kindly on Roar and Liv's union. Normally, Roar couldn't care less about Vale's opinion. But with food running low and conditions worsening every day, Vale's leadership is more vital — and more brutal — than ever. Desperate to protect his tribe, Vale makes a decision that will shatter the life Roar knew and change the fate of the Tides forever. 

Under the Never Sky is another book that I plan to re-read before getting to its sequel, Through the Ever Night, but I should be fine with this novella.

I loved Roar in UTNS; he was funny, the friend Aria needed during those trying times. I hope he'll get his happy ending.

What confuses me though is why this one's numbered 1.5. Isn't this a prequel, making it a 0.5?  

Title: Reaping Me Softly - Kate Evangelista

Release Date: October 30th 2012

Publisher: Omnific Publishing

Goodreads 

Ever since a near-death-experience on the operating table, seventeen-year-old Arianne Wilson can see dead people. Just as she’s learned to accept her new-found talents, she discovers that the boy she’s had a crush on since freshman year, Niko Clark, is a Reaper.

At last they have something in common, but that doesn’t mean life is getting any easier. All while facing merciless bullying from the most powerful girl in school, Arianne’s world is turned upside down after Niko accidentally reaps the soul of someone she loves. This sends them both into a spiral that threatens to end Arianne’s life. But will Niko break his own Reaper’s code to save her? And what would the consequences be if he did? 

Whoa look at that stunning cover... And as if that's not enough reason for me to read this book, it's by a Filipina author! I haven't read her first book, Taste, yet, but that and this one are definitely near the top of my list. Just let me say farewell to my dearest Patch first.