HOT Book Review - 'Strength' by Carrie Butler

The best part about offering to do book reviews is that sometimes you find one that knocks your socks off.

Welcome to my stop for the Courage blog tour, organized by Grapevine Book Tours.

Well, Carrie Butler's first book in her New Adult Paranormal Romance series did way more than that to me. Strength steamed, smoked, and melted my socks off! This series is shaping up to be an exciting ride that I can best describe as Mortal Instruments (though Butler's writing is FAR better than Clare's) as Michael Crichton might have written it: It's smart, it's full of twists, and the bad guys aren't always the ones you expect.

Her supporting characters are thoroughly entertaining and full of individual quirks. Butler certainly didn't skimp on developing them - I feel like I could have a conversation with any one of them! But her main characters, Rena and Wallace, I enjoyed for more reasons than I can count. For one thing, Wallace is a gentleman of the variety that has been so sorely missed in recent bestselling romance novels. In a genre that has been overtaken by self-obsessed jackasses who can barely make room in the mirror for their love interests and boy-crazy insecure damsels who spend most of the book worrying whether they behaved well for their ego-maniacs, this book represents a wonderful return to characters with integrity and inner strength (not to make a pun!). Rena is relatable and even admirable as she keeps a cool head on her shoulders and always seems to think of others first, no matter what difficult task lies ahead. This is one girl who doesn't know the meaning of 'Woe is me' and I absolutely dig that about her.

And let me go ahead and put this out there... I'm definitely crushing on Wallace. When you read the book you will, too, whether you admit it or not.

I don't want to give any spoilers so I'll stop there, but check out the awesomeness for yourself and get ready for the second book in the Mark of Nexus series coming at you this month! Courage releases on 10/15 and I personally can't wait to my next Wallace fix :-)

THE DETAILS

When college student Rena Collins finds herself nose-to-chest with the campus outcast, her rumor-laced notions are shattered. Handsome, considerate, and seemingly sane, Wallace Blake doesn’t look like he spends his nights alone, screaming and banging on the walls of his dorm room. Hell, he doesn’t look like he spends his nights alone, period.

Too curious for her own good, Rena vows to uncover the truth behind Wallace’s madman reputation--and how two seconds of contact had left her with bruises. Of course, there are a few setbacks along the way: guilt, admiration, feelings of the warm and fuzzy variety…

Not to mention the unwanted attention of Wallace's powerful, supernaturally-gifted family.

They’re a bloodline divided by opposing ideals, two soon-to-be warring factions that live in secret among us. When Rena ends up caught in their crossfire, Wallace has no choice but to save her by using his powers. Now they’re really in trouble. With war on the horizon and Rena’s life in the balance, he needs to put some distance between them. But Rena won’t let go. If fighting is what it takes to prove her own strength and keep Wallace in her life, then that’s what she’ll do--even if it means risking a whole lot more than her heart.

AVAILABLE FROM:





ABOUT CARRIE

The Inimitable Carrie Butler!

Carrie Butler daydreamed her way through college—until they thrust a marketing degree into her hands, slapped a summa cum laude seal on the corner, and booted her out into a less-than-stellar job market. Instead of panicking at the prospect of unemployment, she used her Midwestern logic to steer into the skid and point her life in the direction she really wanted to go: writing out those daydreams.

Her passion for New Adult fiction led her to co-found NA Alley—a widely recognized informational hub for the category. She is the author of STRENGTH (Mark of Nexus #1) and COURAGE (Mark of Nexus #2).

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Got a question for Carrie? Ask away!

TILT News and Trailer Release!

If I could do back flips without earning a trip to the ER, I'd be doing them all the way down the street. Possibly even in heels. Why am I so excited?

For starters - MY SEQUEL COMES OUT IN 2 WEEKS!! Honestly, waiting for this second book has been in some ways far harder than the first. Partly because I finished it in February (which feels like YEARS ago right now), but partly because this time around I know more about what to expect from a book launch and I'm dying to take the bull by the horns. And even though it really, totally, and uber-completely feels like it sometimes, I have at least finally come to the conclusion that I won't actually die from the anticipation.

That Never-Ending Moment of Anticipation 

The other reason for my excitement also led to another realization: Inspiration is the bitter ex-wife of the Sandman. I'd decided long ago that I wasn't going to do a book trailer for TILT because it takes such a huge chunk out of my already limited writing time (and I'm making headway on the 3rd book!). It takes time to write the script, research images/video, find music, get the narration worked out...  You get the picture. And, to be honest, I wasn't 100% convinced of the merit of book trailers. 

But that's where the vengeful Inspiration and the dysfunctional relationship with her estranged ex come into play. Last Thursday night I was happily drifting off to sleep when suddenly the thought hit me: "If I were to make a trailer, how would I tell the story?" By the next morning I had - in addition to bags under my eyes - a working script in mind along with image concepts that I was bent on spending the next night refining. Then I got the thread of a song in my mind that I could make work perfectly with the narration. Long story short, after 24 hours of work in one frenzied weekend I managed to compose and record a piano score, write and record the narration, assemble and edit the video, and then drink happy amounts of beer to celebrate.

And now I have the pleasure of sharing with you the little book trailer that refused to not be made. 

FREEBIE ALERT BELOW!

I hope you enjoyed the trailer! As another part of the launch festivities, ALICE WILL for Kindle will be FREE from October 10th to October 14th! If you haven't downloaded your copy yet, mark it on your calendar to get your copy in two weeks! 

Book Trailer for Alice Will!

For all of you not close enough to bear witness (consider yourselves lucky), I just did the Happy Dance. Despite the fact that my dance moves border on the epileptic, I think it was a well-earned jig. And why am I doing the Happy Dance, you ask? *Please, please, please ask!!!* Well, I’ll tell you...

I got my Book Trailer today! Please enjoy and share with everyone :-)