Giveaway Review HER DARK CURIOSITY by MEGAN SHEPHERD @megan_shepherd @BalzerandBray @RockstarBkTours

HER DARK CURIOSITY 

Author: Megan Shepherd

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Pages: 432

Pub. Date: January 28, 2014

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble

To defeat the darkness, she must first embrace it.

Months have passed since Juliet Moreau returned to civilization after escaping her father's island—and the secrets she left behind. Now, back in London once more, she is rebuilding the life she once knew and trying to forget Dr. Moreau’s horrific legacy—though someone, or something, hasn’t forgotten her.

As people close to Juliet fall victim one by one to a murderer who leaves a macabre calling card of three clawlike slashes, Juliet fears one of her father’s creations may have also escaped the island. She is determined to find the killer before Scotland Yard does, though it means awakening sides of herself she had thought long banished, and facing loves from her past she never expected to see again.

As Juliet strives to stop a killer while searching for a serum to cure her own worsening illness, she finds herself once more in the midst of a world of scandal and danger. Her heart torn in two, past bubbling to the surface, life threatened by an obsessive killer—Juliet will be lucky to escape alive.

With inspiration from Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, this is a tantalizing mystery about the hidden natures of those we love and how far we’ll go to save them from themselves.

About Megan:

Hello! 

I’ve been many things, like a professional exchange student, park ranger in Montana, and LOST enthusiast, but what I am now is a writer.

I think it’s fair to say I was born into it. I grew up in the mountains of North Carolina, raised behind the counter of my parents’ independent bookstore, Highland Books in Brevard. Ah, so many free books. But I never thought being a writer could be a real career. After college I thought I’d end up as a foreign service officer somewhere dashing and exotic, like Canada. I studied French, Spanish, German, and Russian and still speak a few of those. Then I joined the Peace Corps and spent two years in Senegal, where I learned a few more languages I’ll never speak again and lived in a mud hut with no electricity or running water. You can probably imagine how that experience went, but if you’re curious, here are the dirty details. 

It wasn't until a chance aquaintance read something I wrote and said, "have you ever considered being a writer?" that something clicked and I realized it was possible. My husband encouraged me, and I quickly fell head-over-heels in love with writing and children's literature in particular. I started out writing articles, which have appeared in Faces, Appleseeds, and Calliope magazines, and stories for younger children. I soon realized I wasn’t sweet enough to write fiction for that age and found myself writing young adult literature instead, which doesn’t require nearly as many tender moments and includes a lot more cursing.

When I'm not writing, I can usually be found horseback riding, day dreaming at coffee shops, or hiking in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina. I love to hear from readers, so please drop me a line!

I am represented by Josh Adams of Adams Literary.

Author Photo by Kristi Hedberg Photography

Website/Twitter/Facebook/Tumblr/Goodreads

SOURCE:  PUBLISHER

MY THOUGHTS
LOVED IT

Spoiler involved.  Highlight the blacked out portion to read it.



The story picks up right where The Madman's Daughter left off.  Juliet is back in London and living under the protection of Professor Von Stein, a college of her father and a somewhat mysterious man with his own reasons for supporting her.  As she makes her way back into society with her best friend, Lucy's help and reunites her with Edward Prince.  Edward has been courting Lucy as a means to get to Juliet and in his beastly form, killing those that have wronged Juliet in some sort of twisted gift to get her attention.  As Juliet figures out Edward's issues and hides him, she also runs right into Montgomery, who is trying to kill Edward.  Edward also has another person on his tail, in the form of Lucy's aggressive and possibly soon-to-be fiancee, Inspector John Newcastle.

As Juliet and Edward are both suffering from from their beast-human body part rejections, she is looking for a permanent cure to save Edward from his beastly counterpart and her from certain death.  I loved the transition from one classic, The Island of Dr. Moreau,  to another one The Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.   Over all the romantic triangle works for the plot, and I could see Juliet's point of wanting to save everyone but it seems she needs to save herself first.  Yes, Juliet made a bad choice with Edward (not gonna give that one away) and Montgomery is still trying to save her from herself.  I can only hope that Juliet wakes up in the next book.  

Giveaway Details:

1 grand prize pack a paper back of Madman's Daughter, hardcover of Her Dark Curiosity, a tea canister for both books, and bookmarks. US/Canada Only

5 Tea prize packs that will include individual custom book tea bags and bookmarks! US/Canada Only

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Tour Schedule:

Week One:

1/20/2014- A Backwards Story- Interview

1/21/2014- Crossroad Reviews- Review

1/22/2014- Step Into Fiction- Interview

1/23/2014- Chapter by Chapter- Review

1/24/2014- Tales of the Ravenous Reader- Interview

Week Two:

1/27/2014- Mundie Moms- Guest Post

1/28/2014- All Things Urban Fantasy- Guest Post

1/29/2014- Bookhounds ya- Review

1/30/2014- Confessions of a Readaholic- Review

1/31/2014- Two Chicks on Books- Guest Post