To celebrate Halloween, I am holding a giveaway. A spooky giveaway. It will end November 1st and is international. The prize? All these Spirit Guide by E.J. Stevens goodies (see my reviews of the Spirit Guide series: here):
One She Smells The Dead Bookmark
One Legend of Witchtrot Road Bookmark
One She Smells the Dead/Spirit Storm Postcard - Signed
One Legend of Witchtrot Road Postcard
Five She Smells The Dead Romance Trading Cards
Five Spirit Storm Romance Trading Cards
One Legend of Witchtrot Road Sticker
To win, all you have to do is answer this question:
What is your favourite Halloween/paranormal being and why?
This can be anything - vampire, werewolf. The wackier the better! I will chose the most interesting, creative answer, and they shall win all these awesome goodies! :-D
Fill in the form below for your chance to win! Good luck everyone!
Surviving agitated ghosts, irritated witches, angry werewolves, and the horrors of high school has never been so hard.
The night of Samhain may be behind them, but Yuki and her friends have only begun to face the challenges of their paranormal gifts. Tensions are rising--in the pack, at school, and within their tightly knit group of friends.
The tragic death of Wakefield High student Dylan Jacobs has emotions boiling over. The J-Team, Yuki's arch nemesis, have turned the entire football team against her. They claim that Yuki is a witch and blame her for the death of their fellow teammate. Will Yuki be able to solve the mystery of Dylan's death, and the legend of Witchtrot Road, before tempers flare and things turn violent?
Review:
Yuki survived Samhain, and everything should be fine (until next year, anyway.Or until the witches she stole the amulet from find out she took it.Whichever comes first).But a jock has just died on Witchtrot Lane, centre of a witchy curse, and the J-Team – jocks and general jerks – think Yuki is the one who killed him. She didn’t, obviously, but try telling that to the J-Team.Plus a werewolf from Simon’s past has reappeared, and the rivalry between the two of them seems ready to explode.But back to the J-Team… they are determined, scarily determined.Yuki’s in real danger, until she can prove to the J-Team that’s she’s innocent.Business as usual then: working on short time with a curse hanging over her head.And don’t forget: “Never, ever travel on Witchtrot Road after dark…”
This is seriously one of my very favourite series ever.It’s fun, cute, quirky, scary, funny and choc-a-block with ghosts.The world is amazing – spirit guides, werewolves, dead-people-smelling-girls, witches.The characters are wonderful and relatable.The relationships feel 100% real and believable.I was glued to the page from start to finish.I just love everything about the Spirit Guide series – what am I going to do while I wait for Book Four?!
Yuki is honestly one of my favourite heroines.She’s quirky, fun and totally cute.I love her!Plus, she’s completely insane.Or, as my aunt would say, “special in the head”.Which is just a nice, cute way of saying mad.Yuki’s just so funny and witty and generally awesome!I mean, she made little rice balls people, out of rice pudding, trail mix, fruit pieces and toothpicks… and ATE THEM!God, that made me laugh.She’s just absolutely, insanely wonderful – I love her snarky…ness.And the really wonderful, wacky ideas came out of that special head.
Calvin Miller, alpha wolf and Yuki’s gorgeous boyfriend.He’s perfect: can I have one like him?Though he takes his alpha responsibilities seriously, he also had a bit of a wild side.(Swoon.)And he’s always looking after Yuki.He is, truly, as Yuki said, “made of awesome”.Cal’s just way too cute, and really rocking that alpha thing.
Cal and Yuki were, once again, the cutest EVER.I totally felt the chemistry, and the love and the general adorableness.They just complete each other.Cal could practically read Yuki’s mind: he knew exactly how to make her feel better.They were so cute, and the chemistry is totally believable.
And Emma, the best friend ever, who is sweet, funny and addicted to organisation.And, again, knew exactly how to make Yuki feel better, what Yuki needed.I love her!But something strange was goin’ on with Emma in this one…She wasn’t “On The Drugs”, but what the hey was up with her?
Simon was just brilliant!I LOVE his guy!He’s absolutely hilarious, totally vain and completely bonkers.Now Cal’s second in command: Simon would do anything for his alpha.And he respects Cal (‘though Cal’s probably the only one Simon does respect!).Always flirting, he’s constantly funny with an ironic edge.He’s ace and wonderful and the best.
A newcomer in the series, Gabriel, Meredith’s brother, Simon’s true love who died because of him.Gabriel hated Simon, blaming him for Meredith’s death (this is part of a whole backstory thing, one that no one will get unless they’ve read the books).Gabriel was bad tempered.Therefore Yuki nicknamed him “The Brat”, and let me just tell ya, the nickname suited him.He was sulky and childish.Although, he was kinda funny – but shh!Don’t tell him that!
The plot was really fast and super twisty, with an ending I definitely did not see coming – just how I like ‘em.I was scared, amused, confused and seriously wowed by the (another Yuki word) awesomeness.I love this series!I haven’t come across anything even close to it.No one does the hilarious to the scary like E.J.She rocks!As Yuki would say.
Now: BOOK FOUR PLEASE!I mean, the ending was even worse than the others.Way worse. Not suspense-worse, just worse-worse.And if I don’t find out what happens next, I’m gonna end up Loco Lycans.Seriously.Plus, how will I be able to live without Yuki and the gang?!I almost lost it when I went a day without the books.So how, how, how will I manage without them?
Finally, to sum the story up in one sentence: Sleuthing with a side of ghosts – love it!
"Let the spirits guide you, but never let them take you."
Spirits of the Dead are coming...
Yuki is about to face an army of lost souls on Samhain, the night of Halloween, when the spirits of the dead roam free. Yuki will need all the help she can get from her friends, but will Calvin be there for her when she needs him the most?
Review:
Yuki is special: she can smell the dead.She is also running out of time.Samhain is fast approaching – as is the storm of spirits it will bring with it.Yuki needs to find a way to get through the night.Preferably with her sanity.To make everything worse, a murderer is out there – a murderer who seems to be targeting werewolves.And then, just when Yuki is starting to think that her life cannot get any better, a disaster strikes.And still, time is running out.On the bright side, she’s found something to deal with her ghosty problems.The downside?It involves stealing.From witches.Wonderful, just wonderful…
Oh, how I missed Yuki!Which proves how addictive this series is, seeing as I read Spirit Storm straight after I finished She Smells the Dead, but there you go.And what a wonderful sequel!It was just as quirky, cute, fun and such a pageturner!I found myself sitting in bed, my kindle on my lap, reading way into the wee hours.I love this series!
Vanessa Stennings, more commonly known as Yuki, was just as wonderful as she was in the first book!She had the craziest ideas (wearing a shirt full of safety pins to keep the spirits away.Who else?), as well as being insanely excitable and energetic.Her dress sense: amazingly wacky, featuring gourd spiders and shoulder-bag pumpkin ghosts.And they were called Legs and Boo.Don’t you just love her already?She’s so cute, hilarious, and her wonderful madness was just contagious!
Calvin Miller was amazing.And also an alpha wolf.Basically, he says “jump”, the other wolves say “how high”.He, too, was wonderfully mad.And adorable.He was so brave and strong: just what Yuki needed. And, I can tell you now, that Cal and Yuki were the cutest.Ever.They’re soulmates, but it actually works.Cal’s soul is special: he has a spirit wolf.And Yuki’s just plain special: hence, she smells the dead.So, really, it’s more spirit mates.Either way, they’re adorable.So, so, so, so, so cute!It also felt wonderfully real, all the way through the book.It was the light in the spirity dark.
Emma was officially the best friend ever!She was totally sweet and the “normal” thing grounding Yuki.Plus she was completely addicted to research – how completely weird?And she Training to be a vet, Emma named her cats Van Gogh and Chairman Meow!Plus, I love her diabolical plans…!
Simon was kind of a jerk.He was also sarcastic and very funny.And a wolf.An old one!Seriously, he was born with the wolf spirit.Which meant he was kind of, in Yuki’s own words, “off”.He was, uh, “ancient”.Y’know.Thirty!
Man.In the first five pages: a murder!That is just how I like my thrillers!And a deranged, symbolic, werewolf-hating murder?Does it get any better?Yes.When you throw in ghosts, eminent danger and a brilliantly wacky heroine.I adore E.J.’s writing and plot, even if some parts felt a little skipped-over, a little anti-climatic.But the ending?Wow.Let’s just say, if I didn’t already have the third book, there’d be a pretty impressive chance that I’d lose my sanity! Plus, on a completely unrelated topic, isn’t this cover just the most beautiful thing ever?
It's the beginning of senior year and Yuki's psychic awareness of ghostly spirits is threatening to ruin her life. Her ability to sense spirits of the dead isn't glamorous like the ghost hunting on television.
SHE SMELLS THE DEAD.
The smell impressions are becoming stronger. Yuki is being visited in her dreams, and she suspects that her friend Calvin is involved in something strange. To make matters worse her crush on Garrett is going unrequited, Yuki's friend Emma is on a rampage against bee oppression, and Calvin Miller mysteriously disappears.
Will Yuki be able to focus her powers in time to save the lost soul who is haunting her? Meanwhile, who will save Yuki from following the spirits into the light?
Review:
Yuki’s more-or-less your average girl: she has great friend Emma, she has a crush – who doesn’t crush back on her – and awesome boots.Except Yuki can smell the dead.Yeah, that’s right.It’s not glamorous, and it makes it a lot harder to figure out what the spirit haunting you actually wants.Now it’s senior year, and Yuki is being haunted by someone who smells like vinegar.But that’s not the worst part.She’s suddenly got strange feelings for Calvin Miller, her other friend and is having prophetic dreams at night.And she knows – knows – that something odd is going on with Calvin…Can Yuki save Vinegar Man?Before she loses herself?
I loved this book!It had action, romance, humour, dead-smelling: everything a girl wants in a paranormal book.And – more importantly – it was wonderfully written with great characters and plot.Thanks E.J.!
Yuki (her real name’s Vanessa, but she changed it because of some unfortunate nicknames) was just a character I instantly liked. I liked her habit of exaggerating, her sarcasm, her brilliantly mad fashion sense: everything.Especially that her spirit animal is a dung beetle.I laughed so much at that one.All her strange, unique little sayings made me laugh, too.How can you not at things like: “son of a dung beetle”, “holy heck”, or “this sucks eggs”?She was just awesome, from the way she dealt with her gift – in a great, sometimes-funny and always relatable way – to the way she always called Cal by his full name to the habit she had of saying things like: “crow dude” or “doctor man”.I loved her!(Did she remind anyone else of Abby from NCIS?Abby is my favourite TV character ever!)
Calvin Miller was sort of New Agey, into mystical, um, stuff…He was just adorable: strong, cute, forgiving.I loved him!He really made me laugh.Although, his big secret was kinda obvious.To me, anyway.
Emma was the best!She was a vegan and always laid into Calvin for eating meat.As a vegetarian myself, I loved her: “Can you taste its fear?” comments.She was really into human rights for everyone – people in the dark ages, bees.Also into the whole herbal remedies, she was practical, cute, and funny.She was awesome!
And Calvin and Yuki were really cute.Their relationship was easy, natural, and oh-so sweet.They constantly teased one another, and had funny conversations with words like “Smellavision” and “Technosmellor” in them.However, their friendship changed lately.Suddenly Calvin was flirting and interrupting Yuki’s daydreams about the studded, Emo-ish guy she was crushing on.That’s what I liked most about this couple: the fact that they were friends first.It wasn’t a love-at-first-sight connection, instead being a sweet and one-hundred-per cent believable romance.Plus there’s the whole adorable: “Beetle Princess” and other nicknames as well.I can’t wait to see where this couple goes!
I have to mention E.J.’s writing once again: it was amazing.Easy and funny, I completely felt like it was Yuki talking, not an author writing as her, if that makes any sense.It sounded like a teenager speaking, without having to try too hard by using irritating words such as too many “like”s or “totally”s.It was believable and completely addictive.
Now, I have to admit something.Before I read this book, I just assumed it would be a ghost haunting a girl, who would give him peace and everyone would be peachy.I was wrong.Yes, there was murder mystery, but it was so much more than that.There was a whole other side, one that was so new and so amazing: a brilliant new take on many popular folklores.I adored She Smells the Dead, and have only one major fault: it was too short!And it had a terrible cliff-hanger.I’m over the moon that I have the rest of the series so I can get my ghostly fix and find out what will happen next!
