From New York Times bestselling author Cora Carmack comes her debut young adult fantasy, ROAR! Releasing June 13, 2017, ROAR takes readers on an adventure filled with charismatic characters in an enthralling world sure to keep them turning the pages. Order your copy today!
New York Times bestselling author Cora Carmack’s young adult debut: Roar.
In a land ruled and shaped by violent magical storms, power lies with those who control them.
Aurora Pavan comes from one of the oldest Stormling families in existence. Long ago, the ungifted pledged fealty and service to her family in exchange for safe haven, and a kingdom was carved out from the wildlands and sustained by magic capable of repelling the world’s deadliest foes. As the sole heir of Pavan, Aurora’s been groomed to be the perfect queen. She’s intelligent and brave and honorable. But she’s yet to show any trace of the magic she’ll need to protect her people.
To keep her secret and save her crown, Aurora’s mother arranges for her to marry a dark and brooding Stormling prince from another kingdom. At first, the prince seems like the perfect solution to all her problems. He’ll guarantee her spot as the next queen and be the champion her people need to remain safe. But the more secrets Aurora uncovers about him, the more a future with him frightens her. When she dons a disguise and sneaks out of the palace one night to spy on him, she stumbles upon a black market dealing in the very thing she lacks—storm magic. And the people selling it? They’re not Stormlings. They’re storm hunters.
Legend says that her ancestors first gained their magic by facing a storm and stealing part of its essence. And when a handsome young storm hunter reveals he was born without magic, but possesses it now, Aurora realizes there’s a third option for her future besides ruin or marriage.
She might not have magic now, but she can steal it if she’s brave enough.
Challenge a tempest. Survive it. And you become its master.
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Read an Excerpt:
You are lightning made flesh. Colder than falling snow. Unstoppable as the desert sands riding the wind. You are Stormling, Aurora Pavan. Believe it.
Believe it, and others will too.
It was a vow that her mother, Queen Aphra, made her swear on the day she reached twelve years. She had gripped her daughter’s shoulders tight, and Rora could still remember the pinch of pain, the furious beat of her heart as she saw how afraid her mother was and learned to be afraid too.
Today that fear had led Aurora Pavan to sign her life away before she ever had the chance to really live it.
As she was primped and prettied like some kind of sacrificial offering, her mind remained stuck on her morning spent in the throne room. She recalled the rasping sounds as the treaty was unrolled and the way her fingers suddenly felt too weak to hold a quill. Many days of her sheltered life had been spent writing out ideas and facts and figures for her tutors, yet in that moment, she had struggled to remember the letters of her name. Then she had met her mother’s eyes, and those familiar words came to her again.
Colder than falling snow.
That was what Rora had to become as her shaking hand sealed her fate with a scratchy, bleeding line of ink. And now hours later a stranger peered back at her from the looking glass, powdered white so that none of her flaws would show.
Rora’s white-blonde hair had been curled and bound up in an elaborate ceremonial headdress that was crowded with jewels, flowers, and four jagged crystals cut like bolts of lightning to mimic her mother’s skyfire crown. Headdresses honoring a family’s ancestors were an important part of Pavanian tradition for the upper echelons of nobility to the poor and working class. They were donned for birth and death and every major life event in between, including betrothals. But this headdress was larger than Rora had ever seen. It had to be anchored to the thick metal necklace she wore about her collar with embellished fastenings, and it weighed on her nearly as much as the events of the night still to come.
Her already pale skin had been covered in a shimmering white powder, which made her look like she’d just emerged from a blizzard. Her ribs were tightly bound in a corset that squeezed and squeezed until it felt like all her organs were in the wrong place. Over that was a heavy, beaded gown whose neckline dipped low, revealing far more cleavage than she had ever shown. The fabric clung to her frame until it fanned out at her knees into a long train, and the color of the dress changed from white to ash gray to glittering black.
Rora looked exactly as her mother had always told her to be—lightning made flesh: blinding white and bright against a dark sky, and the train that pooled around her was the ground, charred black by her impact.
It was stunning. Exquisite, really. Even, Rora, who hated dresses of all kinds, could tell that. It was also a lie. Every jewel, every bead painted a picture of someone that wasn’t her. But that was the goal for tonight’s betrothal celebration…to be someone else, to be the perfect Stormling princess. Because if she failed, everything could fall apart.
Read my review:
Can we just start with stating how AMAZING this cover is? It would definitely earn high marks on Chat About Covers. I could totally see putting this up on my wall!
From the start, I loved the characters and their interactions. Princess Aurora had my attention right away. She has spent the majority of her life hiding away from everyone, keeping a dangerous secret, no friends, only her books for company. Aurora longs for a life of adventure, but instead, she’s thrust into an arranged marriage with a neighboring prince. Cassius is charming, flirtatious, and a little bit dangerous. But as Aurora learns more about Cassius, she is more and more determined to not marry him. She instead joins a group of storm hunters, seeking her own path. It’s this motley group of hunters that I really fell in love with. Duke is the father-figure Aurora has always needed. He’s there to guide and listen. Jinx is the best friend and sister Aurora needs, teaching Aurora about magic in a way that could never be imagined. Ransom is the quiet, older brother, always there to protect. And then there is Locke. Fiercely independent, he takes Aurora on as a student, offering to teach her about storms and hunting them. He helps Aurora find her true self, all while flirting and falling for her. Locke is enough to make any woman swoon, especially a princess. Or this reader.
The various mysteries of Roar held me rapt throughout. Who is the Stormlord? And, more importantly, what is he up to? What happened in the Kingdom of Locke that Prince Cassius is hiding? Will we ever learn what Aurora’s stormling powers are? The pace and plot points kept me focus and interested throughout the book.
I struggled with the world-building in Roar. More than anything, it was an effort for me to understand how storms have feelings and hearts. Over and over, the characters are controlling the storms with magic and stormhearts. I can easily accept the magic of witches like Jinx, but the physical heart of storms baffles me.
Roar is a great first book, with characters I can’t wait to follow as the series progresses.
5 Stars for the characters. 3 Stars for the magic of storms. 4 Stars overall for Roar.
I received Roar free in exchange for my honest review. Thanks to author Cora Carmack, Tor Teen, and Ink Slinger PR for providing this opportunity.
Cora Carmack’s ROAR – Review & Excerpt Tour Schedule:
June 5th
As The Book Ends – Review & Excerpt
BookWorm221 – Review & Excerpt
Milky Way of Books – Review & Excerpt
Omg Books and More Books – Review & Excerpt
Reads All the Books – Review & Excerpt
Taylor Fenner’s Bookish World – Review & Excerpt
June 6th
AC Suqared Book Blog – Excerpt
Happily Ever After Book Reviews – Review
Letshaveakya – Review
Movies, Shows, & Books – Excerpt
Read more sleep less – Review
Smart & Savvy with Stephanie – Review & Excerpt
June 7th
Ali’s Reviews and More – Review & Excerpt
Becky on Books – Review & Excerpt
Books, Dreams, Life – Excerpt
Dazzled by Books – Review & Excerpt
Miss Nicole The Librarian – Review
Quite the Novel Idea – Review & Excerpt
June 8th
Adventures in Writing – Excerpt
BookCrushin – Review
Crazii Bitches Book Blog – Review & Excerpt
NovelKnight – Review
The Rest Is Still Unwritten – Review
What Is That Book About – Excerpt
June 9th
Books Books Books – Review & Excerpt
Bookshelf Adventures – Review
Crystal’s Chaotic Confessions – Excerpt
Feeling Fictional – Review & Excerpt
Grownup Fangirl – Review
The Rest Is Still Unwritten – Excerpt
June 10th
Ceres Books World – Review & Excerpt
My Fangirl Chronicles – Review & Excerpt
Red Hot + Blue Reads – Review & Excerpt
Tales of the Ravenous Reader – Review & Excerpt
Zili in the Sky – Review & Excerpt
June 11th
Book Briefs – Review
PBC – Excerpt
Ramblings From This Chick – Review
Vi3tbabe – Review & Excerpt
With Love for Books – Review
June 12th
Feed Your Fiction Addiction – Review & Excerpt
MrsLeif’s Two Fangs About It Book Reviews – Review & Excerpt
Reads & Reviews – Review & Excerpt
Swoony Boys Podcast – Review & Excerpt
Take Me Away To A Great Read – Review & Excerpt
Whatever You Can Still Betray – Excerpt
June 13th
Beneath The Covers Blog – Review & Excerpt
Chapter Break – Review & Excerpt
I’m A Book Shark – Excerpt
Moonlight Rendezvous – Review & Excerpt
Resch Reads and Reviews – Review
Two Chicks on Books – Review & Excerpt
June 14th
Boundless Book Reviews – Review
Kindle and Me – Review & Excerpt
Lovely Reads Publishing – Excerpt
My Book Filled Life – Review & Excerpt
Stuck In Books – Excerpt
The Cover Contessa – Review & Excerpt
Bibliobibuli YA – Review & Excerpt
June 15th
A Hopeless Romantic’s Booklandia – Review & Excerpt
Books Need TLC – Review & Excerpt
Lit This & That – Review & Excerpt
Seeing Double In Neverland – Review
The Book Hookup – Review & Excerpt
This Jabberwocky Eats Books – Review & Excerpt
Shelf Life-Review
June 16th
Bookish Things & More – Review
Closet Geeks and Slow Mo – Review & Excerpt
Fishing for Books – Review
Library of a Book Witch – Review & Excerpt
The Book Maven – Review & Excerpt
Under the Covers Book Blog – Review & Excerpt
June 17th
Book Lovers Hangout – Review & Excerpt
G & T’s Indie Café – Excerpt
Little Red’s Reviews – Excerpt
Smokin’ Hot Reads Book Blog – Review & Excerpt
The Ordinary Housewife Book Blog – Review & Excerpt
YA Insider – Review
About Cora Carmack:
Cora Carmack is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Since she was a teenager, her favorite genre to read has been fantasy, and now she’s thrilled to bring her usual compelling characters and swoon-worthy romance into worlds of magic and intrigue with her debut YA fantasy, Roar. Her previous adult romance titles include the Losing It, Rusk University, and Muse series. Her books have been translated into more than a dozen languages around the world. Cora splits her time between Austin, TX and New York City, and on any given day you might find her typing away at her computer, flying to various cities around the world, or just watching Netflix with her kitty Katniss. But she can always be found on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and her website www.coracarmack.com.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Goodreads
I had the same trepidation going in, Brandee! Hope you enjoy it!
I think I’ve been convinced to try this one. 🙂 Based on the promo stuff I’ve seen this looks like a really good YA fantasy. The storm elements and how that all works are intriguing to me- thanks for sharing!
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Thanks, Greg! I hope you enjoy it!
Thank you so much! ~Jessica, InkSlinger PR
Thanks, Jessica!
I’m so, so happy to see you enjoyed Roar, Lynn. When an author I like switches gears and writes something different, I’m always biting my nails. Will I like it? But it seems with Carmack I can rest easy knowing the story and characters are gonna be great. *sigh* I’m excited to jump into Roar now! And when I finish, we’ll chat about these storms… 😀
Bookworm Brandee recently posted…Can You Read a Series in a Month? Review #1 ~ Clipped Wings ~ Helena Hunting