Blog Tour Stop & Giveaway: Nobody's Lady (Never veil #2) by Amy McNulty

Welcome today's stop on the Nobody's Lady (The Never Veil #2) by Amy McNulty Blog Tour presented by Month9Books and hosted by Chapter by Chapter.  Today's stop is a review as well as a chance to enter the great giveaway that is being run throughout this tour.

I loved book 1 of this series and I have to say that book 2 kept me just as spell bound. One of the things I really love about this series is originality and that this is quite different to a lot of other things I have read.

Book 2 is set shortly after the events of book one. the curse has been broken and men are now free to choose whomever they would want to love or not love and are no longer required to hide their faces from all but their goddesses.

However with the removal of the curse, there is a lot of unrest as people struggle to accept and adapt the changes that have resulted

Noll annoyed me a little in this first part of this book. In the first book, she is accused of being selfish and only caring about her desires as she unwittingly cursed the entire village. Now, knowing that she is the one guilty for all this resulting unrest, she chooses to hide away from the rest of the village. I felt like she spent a lot of the first part of this book in denial. Not willing to really think about or accept the consequences of her actions from book 1.

However in the second half of the book, I do think she started to grow and really try to help her village in the curse's aftermath, and though she still made some questionable decisions, I hope to we get to see more of this personal growth in book 3.

I liked that we got to see some more character development and learn more about other peripheral characters like Darwyne and Sindri and I loved we got to learn more about Ailill and how he had spent the long years between being cursed and the curse breaking. I loved the tension between Noll and Ailill, especially in light of what they both now know.

I also loved the direction the second half of this book took, as we discover more about the world around this one village, more about the curse and discover that there may be something darker going on then ever imagined. I really felt like this book built on the events of book 1 and provided an original story both engaging and compelling.

A truly worth sequel to book 1 and I cannot wait to see how it will all conclude in book 3, Nobody's Pawn!

I give this book 4 stars!

SapphiredDragon xx

 

About Nobody's Lady (The Never Veil #2)

Nobody’s Lady (Never Veil #2) by Amy McNulty

Publication Date: April 12, 2016
Publisher: Month9Books

For the first time in a thousand years, the men in Noll’s village possess the freedom to love whom they will. In order to give each man the chance to fully explore his feelings, the lord of the village decrees all marriages null and void until both spouses declare their love for one another and their desire to wed again. What many women think will be a simple matter becomes a source of village-wide tension as most men decide to leave their families and responsibilities behind.

Rejected by the lord and ashamed of her part in the village’s history, Noll withdraws from her family and lives life as an independent woodcarver. This changes when her sister accuses her of hiding her former husband Jurij from her—and when Jurij eventually does ask to move in. Determined not to make the same mistakes, Noll decides to support her male friends through their new emotional experiences, but she’s soon caught up in a darker plot than she ever dared imagine possible from the men she thought she knew so well. And the lord for whom she still has feelings may be hiding the most frightening truth of them all.
 

Google Play | BAM | Chapters | Amazon | B&N | TBD | iBooks

Go back to where it all started:

About Nobody's Goddess (The Never Veil #1)

Title: Nobody's Goddess (The Never Veil #1)

Publication date: April 21, 2015

Publisher: Month9Books, LLC.

Author: Amy McNulty

In a village of masked men, magic compels each man to love only one woman and to follow the commands of his “goddess” without question. A woman may reject the only man who will love her if she pleases, but she will be alone forever. And a man must stay masked until his goddess returns his love—and if she can’t or won’t, he remains masked forever.



Seventeen-year-old Noll isn't in the mood to celebrate. Her childhood friends have paired off and her closest companion, Jurij, found his goddess in Noll’s own sister. Desperate to find a way to break this ancient spell, Noll instead discovers why no man has ever chosen her.



Thus begins a dangerous game between the choice of woman versus the magic of man. And the stakes are no less than freedom and happiness, life and death—and neither is willing to lose. 

Chapters Indigo | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | TBD

 

 

ABOUT Amy McNulty:

Amy McNulty is a freelance writer and editor from Wisconsin with an honors degree in English. She was first published in a national scholarly journal (The Concord Review) while in high school and currently spends her days alternatively writing on business and marketing topics and primarily crafting stories with dastardly villains and antiheroes set in fantastical medieval settings.

Author Links:   Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Goodreads

 

 

The Giveaway

·       Five (5) winners will receive a digital copy of Nobody's Lady (The Never Veil #2) by Amy McNulty (INT)

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Teaser Tuesday #119: Nobody's Lady (Never Veil #2) by Amy McNulty

Welcome to Teaser Tuesdays.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read

2. Open to a random page

3. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

4. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My current read is Nobody's Lady (Never Veil #2) by Amy McNulty  and my two lines are from location 110 of 267

"I chewed my lip. "But how can you be sure you won't fall in love with her again? What if all you needed was to spend more time with her, to learn to love her?" I sounded like the villagers back when they used to say the same things to me. Only now I felt like I knew what they meant.

Nobody's Lady (Never Veil #2) by Amy McNulty

Goodreads | Book Depository | Booktopia

 

For the first time in a thousand years, the men in Noll’s village possess the freedom to love whom they will. In order to give each man the chance to fully explore his feelings, the lord of the village decrees all marriages null and void until both spouses declare their love for one another and their desire to wed again. What many women think will be a simple matter becomes a source of village-wide tension as most men decide to leave their families and responsibilities behind.

Rejected by the lord and ashamed of her part in the village’s history, Noll withdraws from her family and lives life as an independent woodcarver. This changes when her sister accuses her of hiding her former husband Jurij from her—and when Jurij eventually does ask to move in. Determined not to make the same mistakes, Noll decides to support her male friends through their new emotional experiences, but she’s soon caught up in a darker plot than she ever dared imagine possible from the men she thought she knew so well. And the lord for whom she still has feelings may be hiding the most frightening truth of them all.

 

 

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your ‘teasers’ in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

Blog Tour Stop and Giveaway: Nobody's Goddess (The Never Veil #1) by Amy McNulty @chapterxchapter @McNultyAmy @month9books

Welcome today's stop on the Nobody's Goddess (The Never Veil #1) by Amy McNulty Blog Tour presented by Month9Books and hosted by Chapter by Chapter.  Today's stop is a review as well as a chance to enter the great giveaway that is being run throughout this tour.

I really enjoyed Nobody’s Goddess. More so, even, than I was expecting. At the first it was not quite the story I expected it to be but this, in the end proved to be one of the things I loved most about it.

For a start I really liked the premise of this novel. As I began the novel I thought the rules surrounding every man finding their goddess, such as men wearing masks so women could not look upon them, and women not being able to look at the Lord’s castle were more to do with custom. I soon realised that this world built by Amy McNulty was full of magic, and that magic truly did govern every aspect of these characters lives and this made me want to read further and learn more.  There was an air of mystery from the first and my mind was full of questions.  Who is the Lord of the Castle, why all these rules?  What happens if they don't follow them? Why are they there in the first place?

In some ways as I read further, I thought this might be a variation on a Beauty and the Beast kind of idea, but this was a mistake on my part as this was oh so much more and to my delight went of in such an interesting and intriguing direction.  In her acknowledgements, Ms McNulty describes her novel as 'sometimes off the beaten path' and it was this characteristic of her tale that really made it the spellbinding and engrossing tale that it is as I truly did not know where the tale would lead me and this just pulled me in further.  The way Ms McNulty weaves this tale with its mystery and slowly revealed truths is just perfect both in its pace and the threads that she weaves,

I found the main character Noll, a little irritating and frustrating at times in the decisions she made though ultimately I understood them in the end.. She is a strong character who chafes at the rules that govern her life and that of her family and community. Having slowly lost all her childhood friends as each found their goddess, she feels isolated and rebellious but she also questions things are as they are this and it is this stubborness that sometimes causes her to make decisions she does.

 

Overall this is a spellbinding and engrossing tale that leaves you wanting more. As this is marked as the instalment number 1 of the Never Veil series, I hope to learn more in future instalments about the world as I slowly fell in love with the characters over the course of the novel  and am extremely eager to find out what happens next.

A thoroughly satisfying tale. I give this story 4 stars!

SapphiredDragon xx

 

About Nobody's Goddess (The Never Veil #1)

Title: Nobody's Goddess (The Never Veil #1)

Publication date: April 21, 2015

Publisher: Month9Books, LLC.

Author: Amy McNulty

In a village of masked men, magic compels each man to love only one woman and to follow the commands of his “goddess” without question. A woman may reject the only man who will love her if she pleases, but she will be alone forever. And a man must stay masked until his goddess returns his love—and if she can’t or won’t, he remains masked forever.



Seventeen-year-old Noll isn't in the mood to celebrate. Her childhood friends have paired off and her closest companion, Jurij, found his goddess in Noll’s own sister. Desperate to find a way to break this ancient spell, Noll instead discovers why no man has ever chosen her.



Thus begins a dangerous game between the choice of woman versus the magic of man. And the stakes are no less than freedom and happiness, life and death—and neither is willing to lose.
 

Chapters Indigo | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | TBD

ABOUT Amy McNulty:

Amy McNulty is a freelance writer and editor from Wisconsin with an honors degree in English. She was first published in a national scholarly journal (The Concord Review) while in high school and currently spends her days alternatively writing on business and marketing topics and primarily crafting stories with dastardly villains and antiheroes set in fantastical medieval settings.

Author Links:   Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

The Giveaway

·       Five (5) winners will receive a digital copy of Nobody's Goddess (The Never Veil #1) by Amy McNulty (INT)

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Stacking The Shelves #27

Welcome to Stacking The Shelves! Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga Reviews and is a meme to share those books, both print and e-book, that have been added to your shelves in the last week/s.

It's been over a month since I last posted a stacking the shelves. In that time, I have moved house and waited not so patiently for internet to be installed in the new house. This has made updating the blog in that time rather challenging as there is only so much I can get away with doing at work and updating on the ipad is a whoel different kind of challenge.

Finally, on the Monday just passed, we finally had our NBN ( super fast - at least according to my 3 year old) internet installed so I am back and have a whoel host of reviews waiting to be written and posted as the one thing I have managed to over the course of the month is read!.

I have also had a weird thing against e-books lately so I have been making very good use of the my library which is conveniently located at the end of the street my new house is on and is very well stocked, reserving and borrowing print book after print book and devouring them whole heartedly. See below for the most recent batch

Review - Print ARCs: with Thanks to Bloomsbury Sydney

This arrived a day or two after I moved and I devoured it in just a couple of days. Stay tuned for the review popping up on the blog later this week.

Weightless  by Sarah Bannan

Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon | Booktopia

When 15-year-old Carolyn moves from New Jersey to Alabama with her mother, she rattles the status quo of the junior class at Adams High School. A good student and natural athlete, she’s immediately welcomed by the school’s cliques. She’s even nominated to the homecoming court and begins dating a senior, Shane, whose on again/off again girlfriend Brooke becomes Carolyn’s bitter romantic rival. When a video of Carolyn and Shane making out is sent to everyone, Carolyn goes from golden girl to slut, as Brooke and her best friend Gemma try to restore their popularity. Gossip and bullying hound Carolyn, who becomes increasingly private and isolated. When Shane and Brooke—now back together—confront Carolyn in the student parking lot, injuring her, it’s the last attack she can take.

Sarah Bannan's deft use of the first person plural gives Weightless an emotional intensity and remarkable power that will send you flying through the pages and leave you reeling.

Review - E-ARCs (Harlequin Teen Australia and Month ( Books)

The first of these two ARCs is from Harlequin Teen Australia and I can't wait to read it.  The second is an E-Arc I rceeived s I am taking part in a blog tour for the book later this month.  Chaeck back on April 23rd so i can let you know what I thought

Rogue (Talon #2) by Julie Kagawa

Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon | Booktopia

Ember Hill left the dragon organization Talon to take her chances with rebel dragon Cobalt and his crew of rogues. But Ember can't forget the sacrifice made for her by the human boy who could have killed her—Garret Xavier Sebastian, a soldier of the dragonslaying Order of St. George, the boy who saved her from a Talon assassin, knowing that by doing so, he'd signed his own death warrant.

Determined to save Garret from execution, Ember must convince Cobalt to help her break into the Order's headquarters. With assassins after them and Ember's own brother helping Talon with the hunt, the rogues find an unexpected ally in Garret and a new perspective on the underground battle between Talon and St. George.

A reckoning is brewing and the secrets hidden by both sides are shocking and deadly. Soon Ember must decide: Should she retreat to fight another day…or start an all-out war?

Nobody's Goddess (The Never Veil #1) by Amy McNulty

Goodreads | Book Depository |  Booktopia

En a village of masked men, magic compels each man to love only one woman and to follow the commands of his “goddess” without question. A woman may reject the only man who will love her if she pleases, but she will be alone forever. And a man must stay masked until his goddess returns his love—and if she can’t or won’t, he remains masked forever.

Seventeen-year-old Noll isn't in the mood to celebrate. Her childhood friends have paired off and her closest companion, Jurij, found his goddess in Noll’s own sister. Desperate to find a way to break this ancient spell, Noll instead discovers why no man has ever chosen her.

Thus begins a dangerous game between the choice of woman versus the magic of man. And the stakes are no less than freedom and happiness, life and death—and neither is willing to lose.

Purchased - Print Books

This past month has seen a few book purchases arrive at my door

The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle #2) by Maggie Stiefvater

Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same.

Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life.

Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after...

Purchase: Amazon | Booktopia  | Book Depository

Fall With Me (Wait For You #4) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository | Booktopia 

Jennifer L. Armentrout, New York Times bestselling author of the Wait for You series, delivers a new novel of first love, second chances, and scorching chemistry between an artistic bartender and the tough, sexy cop who's determined to win her Roxy's loved Reece Anders since she was fifteen, so when the straitlaced cop finally surrendered to a steamy encounter years later, Roxy hoped he'd fall for her, too. He didn't. Or that's what she's always believed. But then Reece storms back into her life when the man who injured her childhood friend is out of prison and wanting to make amends—something Roxy cannot do.

The last thing she wants is to go there with Reece again, but he's determined to prove to her that he's exactly what she needs. Especially when a sick creep starts messing with her. But what's more dangerous to Roxy—a psycho after her or the past that refuses to let go and allow her to open up her heart again?

Girl Online (Girl Online #1) by Zoe Sugg

Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository | Booktopia 

I had no idea GirlOnline would take off the way it has - I can't believe I now have 5432 followers, thanks so much! - and the thought of opening up to you all about this is terrifying, but here goes...

Penny has a secret.

Under the alias GirlOnline, she blogs about school dramas, boys, her mad, whirlwind family - and the panic attacks she's suffered from lately. When things go from bad to worse, her family whisks her away to New York, where she meets the gorgeous, guitar-strumming Noah. Suddenly Penny is falling in love - and capturing every moment of it on her blog.

But Noah has a secret too. One that threatens to ruin Penny's cover - and her closest friendship - forever.

Purchase: Book Depository | Booktopia 

Purchased - E-Book/Audio Book

I bought the audible accompaniment to my Kindle book Angels' Blood by Nalini Singh as my next choice for an audiobook to listen to at work.  Unfortunately I am not a huge fan of the person narrating the story so I have struggled to listen to the first couple of chapters before finally giving up on it.  I may go back at a later stage though as the book itself seems quite good.

Angels' Blood (Guild Hunter #1) by Nalini Singh

Goodreads  | Amazon | Book Depository | Booktopia 

Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux knows she is the best- but she does not know if even she is good enough for this job. Hired by the dangerously beautiful archangel Raphael, a being so lethal that no mortal wants his attention, Elena knows failure is not an option—even if the task is impossible.

Because this time, it's not a wayward vamp she has to track. It's an archangel gone bad.

The job will put Elena in the midst of a killing spree like no other—and pull her to the razor's edge of passion. Even if the hunt does not destroy her, succumbing to Raphael’s seductive touch just might. For when archangels play, mortals break.

Library Books :

As mentioned above, the library has been my best friend this past month whilst all my books have been packed away for the move.  I have been doing a heap of both reading and listening and really taking advantage of the convenience of its location and here are just some of the books i have borrowed in the last month ( courtesy of some photos from instagram account SapphiredDragonReads )

Labyrinth (Languedoc #1) by Kate Mosse
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon | Booktopia
Citadel (Languedoc #3) by Kate Mosse
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon | Booktopia
Landline by Rainbow Rowell
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon | Booktopia
Death Marked (Death Sworn #2) by Leah Cypress
Goodreads | Book Depository  | Booktopia
Girl Online (Girl Online #1) by Zoe SuggGoodreads | Amazon | Book Depository | Booktopia 

This book was awesome and make me cry big ugly tears at the end of it which timed nicely with the workmen installing our internet coming to ask me a question.  Must have looked a sight LOL!

Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon | Booktopia

Another awesome super quick read that came in and out of my house within a day or two.  Now I need to wait till November for number 2.

A Thousand Pieces of You (Firebird #1) by Claudia GrayGoodreads | Amazon | Book Depository | Booktopia 

Can't get enough of this series.  So much fun to read.

Stay With Me (Wait For You #3)
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon | Booktopia

I have been hearing good things about both of these. The After series in particular, so i thought i would give them a go :-)

Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days #1) by Susan Ee
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon | Booktopia
After (After #1) by Anna Todd
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon | Booktopia

Some books that i have been looking at for a while and finally got around to borrowing.  hope I enjoy them!

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon | Booktopia
Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon | Booktopia
The Princess Diaries #1 by Meg Cabot
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon | Booktopia
The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare, Maureen Johnson, Sarah Rees Brennan, Cassandra Jean
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon | Booktopia

Death Sworn (Death Sworn #1) by Leah Cypress
Goodreads | Book Depository | Booktopia
Death Marked (Death Sworn #1) by Leah Cypress
Goodreads | Book Depository  | Booktopia

I am currently reading both these Percy Jackson series in tandem which is kinda weird since the Legends of Olympus series starts after the Heroes of Olympus series but I am still enjoying both series so I guess it kinda works?

The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #3) by Rick Riordan
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon | Booktopia
Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #4) by Rick Riordan
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon | Booktopia
Son of Neptune (The Heroes of Olympus #2) by Rick Riordan
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon | Booktopia
The Mark of Athena (The Heroes of Olympus #2) by Rick Riordan
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon | Booktopia

Born Wicked (The Cahill Witch Chronicles #1) by Jessica Spotswood
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon | Booktopia

So what did you add to your shelves this week?