Review of Waking Dreams by Ashley Stoyanoff ~ Also news of special promotions of her books!

Goodreads

Waking Dreams

(The Soul's Mark, Novella)

by Ashley Stoyanoff

YA Paranormal Romance

Published by: Ashley Stoyanoff Books

Pub. Date: April 14th 2013

eBook

My Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

Summary ~ from goodreads ~

In The Soul's Mark, Eric Carter felt a burning spark when he first laid eyes on Amelia Caldwell. There was just something about her - something familiar - that pulled him to her.  The problem was acting on the spark was suicide. Amelia was marked for his father.

Eric had been around for a long time, and before Amelia, life happened. One day he was a simple rancher and then the next, he was thrust into a world that he had never known existed, and dreaming of a girl that he knew he couldn't live without.

In this novella, Eric Carter's history is revealed.

My Review:

I love all The Soul's Mark Characters. It was great to read more about Eric. He's wonderful, and fun to read. This novella brings you into Eric's past and present memories and thoughts. Seeing what type of man he was before and after he was turned into a vampire made me like him more.  Ashley did an excellent job showing the relationship between Mitchell and Eric. The respect and fondness of 'Father' and 'Son'  really came through more in this story. With vivid detail I felt absorbed into Eric's world.

This novella also gave me more insight on Mitchell's view and feelings for his family and responsibility for everyone. I liked reading how Mitchell begun to run the town of Willowberg.

If you love paranormal romance and a fresh look at vampires, check these books out.

Here are links to goodreads for The Soul's Mark books.........:

And right now through July 31st, go to Smashwords and use a special code to get The Soul's Mark: Found for free 

and a special code to get The Soul's Mark: Hunted & The Soul's Mark: Broken 50% off!!! 

goodreads
Use the code SW100 to get The Soul's Mark: FOUND for FREE 

goodreads
for 50% off, just use the code SSW50 

goodreads
for 50% off, just use the code SSW50

Ashley Stoyanoff also has a new book out Deadly Crush (Dead Trilogy #1) this will soon be released on August 23, 2013. I can't wait to read this!!!

goodreads

Here are links to learn more about Ashley Stoyanoff:

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5890982.Ashley_Stoyanoff

http://www.ashleystoyanoff.com/

https://www.facebook.com/AshleyStoyanoffTheSoulsMark

Haunted Week - Written in the Tombstone ~ Day 7

Day 7 of Haunted Week and one more day to go.
The epitaph is the inscription on a tombstone - you could say it's a person's last words.
Today, I quote the last lines of five books.

#1 - "Not filling in all the cracks, not replacing ones that lingered back in the Catskills, but filling enough that I felt a little better, a little saner".  Pure (Covenant #2) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

#2 - "We lie there together, watching the lightning and listening, to the thunder, and waiting for the beginning of a rainy dawn."  LEGEND by Marie Lu

#3 - "I lingered round them, under that benign sky, watched the moths fluttering among the heath and harebells, listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass, and wondered how any one could ever imagine uniquie slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth." Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

#4 - "For the first time in years, she felt as if she was finally exactly where she was meant to be."
The Souls mark: FOUND (The Soul's Mark #1) by Ashley Stoyanoff

#5 -  "He felt the steady beat of Abby's heart under his palm and the softness of her skin and he was sure that for once, he was in exactly the right place." WARD 3 by Carole Wood


This was a little difficult to do. I had to make sure there were no spoilers. I hope I did okay. :)

Review and Giveaway info for, The Soul's Mark: FOUND, extended edition, by Ashley Stoyanoff

Before I give my review I want to share Ashley's Giveaways she is having to celebrate the release of her book, The Soul's Mark: Found, Extended Edition.

The Goodreads giveaway ends on August 25th and her website giveaway will end very soon, on July 31st.
You can find info on both giveaways on her website http://www.ashleystoyanoff.com/book_giveaway.html

Here is a link to a Sneak Peek Chapter Of The Soul's Mark: FOUND http://www.ashleystoyanoff.com/sneak_peek.html

Amazon ~ Amazon UK ~ Smashwords

The Soul's Mark: FOUND (The Soul's Mark, #1)
by Ashley Stoyanoff
YA Paranormal Romance
Published by: Ashley Stoyanoff Books
Pub. Date: July 20th 2012 (first published May 24th 2012)
Kindle Edition, Revised and Extended Second Edition
My Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥


Summary ~ from goodreads~


Anxious to leave her destructive past behind, Amelia Caldwell moves to Willowbwerg, excited for  a  fresh start. Once there, she discovers that her birthmark is more than it seems. She has been marked by a vampire's soul. Not only does she hold his soul, but Amelia is also his soulmate.


After almost a century of searching for his soulmate, Mitchell Lang fears the worst-he is going to lose Amelia to another man. His heart takes over, and his impulsive decision to take away her free will and to intensify their bond quickly turns her growing love into hate.


When they become trapped in the emotional rollercoaster of their souls' bond, open conflict erupts. Amelia has no intentions of belonging to anyone, not even her soulmate, and Mitchell refuses to let her go.


While she frantically searches for a way to escape his grasp, Amelia unlocks the painful memories of her past and uncovers a powerful secret. But before she has a chance to explore her newfound edge, she finds herself caught in the middle of a deadly game of revenge and is forced to realize that, 
YOU CANNOT RUN FROM DESTINY.


My Review:


First I would like to give a big thanks to Ashley Stoyanoff for giving me a copy of her extended edition of The Soul's Mark: FOUND. I loved the additional scenes that she added. I enjoyed reading it the first time and even more the second time. When I read this book the first time I gave it a 4 and a half  rating. Reading the extended edition I found that the pace of the book flowed better, and I found myself  liking Mitchell, Amelia and Erin better then I did before. This book has a well balance of drama, suspense, mystery and humor. I can't wait to start counting the days to read the next one.

Having a soulmate? Is it good, or bad to have one? There is no right and wrong answer for this. Your answer would depend on whether you are someone who can easily accept your destiny/fate. If you rather have more control, and prefer to choose the type of person you love, then a soulmate may not be for you.

Even though Mitchell and Amelia are destined to be together there is no immediate happy ending. Like all great and strong relationships, both of them have to want to work on accepting and trusting each other. I love how Amelia and Mitchell struggled and argued about their thoughts, feelings and differences. They both had moments of wanting to give up and I am glad they didn't.

I really love the characters in this story and felt a connection to several of them. I wish I had some of them as friends/family. I developed mixed emotions with several characters, this kept me on edge,(which is a good thing). The main characters had back stories, which gave them more depth and gave me an understanding for them. Amelia grows into a very strong female character. I loved reading Amelia's journey as she learns to deal with her personal tragedy, learns to embrace her destiny and makes some very difficult choices in her life. I like the splashes of humor written in with the drama as it unfolded. The ending left me wanting to continue the journey with Amelia and Mitchell.

The sequel, The Soul's Mark: HUNTED, will be released by the end of 2012!!!!

Check out these links to find out more about Ashley Stoyanoff :

website      http://www.ashleystoyanoff.com/about.html

goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5890982.Ashley_Stoyanoff

facebook https://www.facebook.com/AshleyStoyanoffTheSoulsMark

The Souls Mark: Found by Ashley Stoyanoff

Goodreads

The Soul's Mark: FOUND

by Ashley Stoyanoff

YA Paranormal Romance

Published by: Ashley Stoyanoff Books

eBook

My Rating: ♥♥♥♥½

Summary ~ from goodreads~

Anxious to leave her destructive past behind, Amelia Caldwell moves to Willowberg, excited for a fresh start. Once there, she discovers that her birthmark is more than it seems. She has been marked by a vampire's soul. Not only does she hold his soul, but Amelia is also his soul-mate.

After almost a century of searching for his soul-mate, Mitchell Lang fears the worst--he is going to lose Amelia to another man. His heart takes over, and his impulsive decision to take away her free will and to intensify their bond quickly turns her growing love to hate.

When they become trapped in the emotional rollercoaster of their souls' bond, open conflict erupts. Amelia has no intentions of belonging to anyone, not even her soul-mate, and Mitchell refuses to let her go.

While she frantically searches for a way to escape his grasp, Amelia unlocks the painful memories of her past and uncovers a powerful secret. But before she has a chance to explore her new found edge, she finds herself caught in the middle of a deadly game of revenge and is forces to realize that YOU CANNOT RUN FROM DESTINY.

My Review:

Four and a half stars! Ashley Stoyanoff does a wonderful job creating this paranormal romance.  It has me question, "Is it a good, or bad thing to have a soul mate?"

Amelia finds her soul mate, embraces destiny, makes life changing decisions and sees things are not all black and white. With her personal tragedies she has endured and tough choices to be made, Amelia grows into a strong female character. Mitchell Lang has spent years trying to find Amelia. He's had many years of struggle trying to connect with his soul-mate. Even though they are destined to be together there is no immediate happy ending. Like all great and strong relationships, both of them have to want to work on accepting and trusting each other. I love how Amelia and Mitchell struggled and argued about their thoughts, feelings and differences and they never gave up.
I really love the characters in this story and I felt a connection to several of them. I wish I had some of them as friends/family. I developed  mixed emotions with several characters, this kept me on edge, (which is a good thing). The main characters had back stories, which gave them more depth and gave me an understanding for them. I like the splashes of humor written in with the drama as it unfolded. I really enjoyed the ending. I hope there is another book so I can read more of Amelia's journey with her destiny. 
Finding her soul-mate and finding out more about her past is just the beginning.
I look forward to reading more from Ashley.

Here is a link to enter a contest to win a signed autograph book: Contest ends June 1st!
http://www.ashleystoyanoff.com/contest_details.html

To find out more about Ashley Storyanoff

http://www.ashleystoyanoff.com/

https://www.facebook.com/AshleyStoyanoffTheSoulsMark

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5890982.Ashley_Stoyanoff