Blog Tour: Vigilante Nights by Erin Richards

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Title: Vigilante Nights

Author: Erin Richards
Publisher:  Merit Press
Publishing Date:  July 18th 2013

Pages: 303
Genre:  YA Mystery/Thriller

Series: Stand Alone
Source: ARC provided by Itching for Books

  

A "good boy" will do anything for vengeance when a gang rite kills his twin sister. Will Lucas win, or follow his sister Silver into the darkness?

After a hideous car wreck, Lucas wakes from a coma to find that his world is gutted. Not only is his beloved twin sister, Silver, gone forever, but Lucas is broken in body and spirit. He will never be a college athlete, and is robbed of what he now realizes was the most important bond of his life. Although they weren't identical twins, Lucas and Silver shared a bond so fierce it defied reason, and was nearly supernatural.

After her death, that bond seems to endure when Lucas sees Silver everywhere he turns. Either he's crazy, or Silver is trying to tell him something about the California gang initiation they stumbled into that cost Silver her life. Lucas is bent on revenge, turning on Raymond, Silver's former boyfriend; the one Lucas never wanted her to date. He forms a posse of vigilantes to take out the gangsters responsible for Silver's death, but he risks not only his own life, but the love of the new girl on his block, who knows more about Lucas and Silver than can be accounted for by mere chance.

I was very excited to read this book. the synopsis caught my attention first thing. I wasn't sure what to expect but I don't think I was expecting the read I received. Vigilante Nights had some pros and cons for me and to be honest I stll feel a bit lost on how I feel for the book. It was an interesting read. I couldn't help but want to know what happened next, but something felt a bit off for me.

Twins Silver and Lucas are in a car accident that seriously injures Lucuas and kills Silver. After two months of being in a coma, Lucas wakes to find he has lost everything he cherished in his life, his sister, football, and his rebuilt camaro.  He feels lost with no guidiance on where to go from here until the ghost of his sister appears and whispers the word vengeance in his ear. Lucas gets a gang together and decides to become a vigilante gang. 

I liked the story of a vigilante gang. I first thought it would be more about revenge, and in some ways it is, but Lucas and his gang do things stir up trouble for the trouble makers too. They get them caught. That was always fun for me. I liked the bond between family and friendship in this story. I also liked the romance in the story. Not to sappy, a little bit sizzling at times... good for a story told from a guys point of view. I also loved the tone of the story. When I read the story I felt that it was written like an old mystery movie. The way that Lucas spoke and thought was very gumshoe to me. (except for the modern use of slang of course). The only trouble I had with the writing was the racial slurs and the stereotyping. It felt too forced or too honest. Not sure which but for me both feel wrong. I think I would have enjoyed the book more if this aspect had been toned down or taken out. 

I didn't connect with the characters as much as  I would have liked but they were likable for the most part. Lucas grew on me some but still didn't care for his character too much. He had some wonderful qualities like loyalty, bravery, and he was pretty smart... but he was also shallow, arrogant, and for beings so smart... dumb. I think he did grow some during the book but he still found ways to hit a nerve in me. I really liked Tara, she was the really smart one, she was able to see things that no one else really saw. She had a sense of humor I really liked too. She made the story so much more interesting. Silver cracked me up. Yes she was a ghost, but she was so sarcastic and fun. Loved her. 

The pacing was a bit slow for me in the beginning, it wasn't until half way through the book when things really started to happen. The book then became more of a mystery of whodunnit and some thrills here and there. I knew who was behind the accident shortly before it all started to come out but it was fun to see it unravel for the characters.

All in all, I enjoyed it. I think that there were some things that could have been better but it was still  a good read. 

Erin Richards writes SF&F romance and young adult fiction. Her YA debut novel, VIGILANTE NIGHTS, releases from Merit Press (F+W Media) on July 18, 2013. Erin has also published two adult romance novels: CHASING SHADOWS, a romantic suspense (EPPIE award finalist), now available in print for the first time (July 2012); and WICKED PARADISE, a fantasy romance, was released by Crimson Romance (F+W Media) in August 2012, available in eBook and print format.
Erin Richards lives in Northern California. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, photography, and American muscle cars.

www.erinrichards.com | twitter.com/ErinRichards

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Waiting on Wednesday #69 and W.W.W. Wednesday #59

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

These Broken Stars 

by Amie Kaufman

December 10th 2013

          
It's a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone.

Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they’re worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help.

Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other’s arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder—would they be better off staying here forever?

Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won’t be the same people who landed on it.

The first in a sweeping science fiction trilogy, These Broken Stars is a timeless love story about hope and survival in the face of unthinkable odds.

W...W...W.. Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading.... I wold love to hear What you are currently reading, what did you just finish and what are you reading next...

What Are Currently Reading: 

What Did You Recently Finish Reading?

What Do You Think You Will Read Next? 

Teaser Tuesday #67 and Top Ten Tuesday #57

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading. Bloggers choose two

sentences out of our current read to peak others' curiosity.

Teaser: 

The sharp snap of a twig shattered the silence. Chris flinched. Kev staggered, losing his he-man stance. 

Vigilante Nights by Erin Richards

  
  

        


A "good boy" will do anything for vengeance when a gang rite kills his twin sister. Will Lucas win, or follow his sister Silver into the darkness?

After a hideous car wreck, Lucas wakes from a coma to find that his world is gutted. Not only is his beloved twin sister, Silver, gone forever, but Lucas is broken in body and spirit. He will never be a college athlete, and is robbed of what he now realizes was the most important bond of his life. Although they weren't identical twins, Lucas and Silver shared a bond so fierce it defied reason, and was nearly supernatural.

After her death, that bond seems to endure when Lucas sees Silver everywhere he turns. Either he's crazy, or Silver is trying to tell him something about the California gang initiation they stumbled into that cost Silver her life. Lucas is bent on revenge, turning on Raymond, Silver's former boyfriend; the one Lucas never wanted her to date. He forms a posse of vigilantes to take out the gangsters responsible for Silver's death, but he risks not only his own life, but the love of the new girl on his block, who knows more about Lucas and Silver than can be accounted for by mere chance

Top Ten is an original feature/weekly meme created here at

The Broke and the Bookish that features a great bookish top ten every week.

Top 10 favorite Beginnings and Endings... 

Beginnings.....

1. Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas

2. Boys that Bite by Mari Mancusi 



3. Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr



4. My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland



5. The Last Thing I Remember by Andrew Klaven




Endings...


6. Boundless by Cynthia Hand 

7. The Host by Stephanie Meyer 

8. The Fire Horse Girl by Kaye Honeyman

   

9. The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen



10. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Septys

Whats is on your list?

Genre Definition and Recommendation #28

Genre Definition and Recommendation is a feature where I will define a genre and a sub-genre definition and the make some recommendations.  

Historical Novel- Definition found on Wikipedia

According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is "a novel that has as its setting a usually significant period of history and that attempts to convey the spirit, manners, and social conditions of a past age with realistic details and fidelity (which is in some cases only apparent fidelity) to historical fact. The work may deal with actual historical characters...or it may contain a mixture of fictional and historical characters.

Historical Whodunnit Definition found on Wikipedia 

The historical whodunnit is a sub-genre of historical fiction which bears elements of the classical mystery novel, in which the central plot involves a crime (almost always a murder) and the setting has some historical significance.

My Recommendations:

Venom by Fiona Paul

  

        

Cassandra Caravello is one of Renaissance Venice’s lucky elite: with elegant gowns, sparkling jewels, her own lady’s maid, and a wealthy fiancé, she has everything a girl could desire. Yet ever since her parents’ death, Cassandra has felt trapped, alone in a city of water, where the dark and labyrinthine canals whisper of escape.

When Cass stumbles upon a murdered woman—practically in her own backyard—she’s drawn into a dangerous world of courtesans, killers, and secret societies. Soon, she finds herself falling for Falco, a mysterious artist with a mischievous grin... and a spectacular skill for trouble. Can Cassandra find the murderer, before he finds her? And will she stay true to her fiancé, or succumb to her uncontrollable feelings for Falco?

Beauty, love, romance, and mystery weave together in a stunning novel that’s as seductive and surprising as the city of Venice itself.

The Girl Is Murder by Kathryn Miller Haines

 

        

Iris Anderson is only 15, but she's quickly mastering the art of deception in this YA novel for fans of Veronica Mars.

It's the Fall of 1942 and Iris's world is rapidly changing. Her Pop is back from the war with a missing leg, limiting his ability to do the physically grueling part of his detective work. Iris is dying to help, especially when she discovers that one of Pop's cases involves a boy at her school. Now, instead of sitting at home watching Deanna Durbin movies, Iris is sneaking out of the house, double crossing her friends, and dancing at the Savoy till all hours of the night. There's certainly never a dull moment in the private eye business.

The Musician's Daughter by Susanne Dulap

        

Amid the glamour of Prince Nicholas Esterhazy’s court in 18th-century Vienna, murder is afoot. Or so fifteen-year-old Theresa Maria is convinced when her musician father turns up dead on Christmas Eve, his valuable violin missing, and the only clue to his death a strange gold pendant around his neck. Then her father’s mentor, the acclaimed composer Franz Joseph Haydn, helps her through a difficult time by making her his copyist and giving her insight in to her father’s secret life. It’s there that Theresa begins to uncover a trail of blackmail and extortion, even as she discovers honor—and the possibility of a first, tentative love. Thrumming with the weeping strains of violins, as well as danger and deception, this is an engrossing tale of murder, romance, and music that readers will find hard to forget.

 A Few I look Forward to Reading!

Out of Easy by Ruta Sepetys

  

        

It’s 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer. 

She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street. Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test.

With characters as captivating as those in her internationally bestselling novel Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys skillfully creates a rich story of secrets, lies, and the haunting reminder that decisions can shape our destiny.

Maid if Secrets by Jenifer McGowan

  

        

Seventeen-year-old Meg Fellowes is a wry, resourceful thief forced to join an elite group of female spies in Queen Elizabeth’s Court. There she must solve a murder, save the Crown, and resist the one thing that will become her greatest freedom–and her deadliest peril. 

For Meg and her fellow spies are not alone in their pursuit of the murderer who stalks Windsor Castle.

A young, mysterious Spanish courtier, Count Rafe de Martine, appears at every turn in the dark and scandal-filled corridors of the Queen’s summer palace. And though secrets and danger are Meg’s stock-in-trade, she’s never bargained on falling in love…

What Do you Recommend?