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.
Excerpt
Aurora’s muscles twitched involuntarily as she stood outside the throne room, as if her body might decide to run without her mind’s consent. Two of her guard, Taven and Merrin, waited a few steps behind her. They followed her inside, and an eerie silence took hold after the heavy doors closed.
Moments later Cassius Locke melted out of the shadows, looking more like a villain than a prince—dressed all in black with dark hair and eyes to match. At twenty, he was a mere two years older than she. But the prince before her seemed bigger, older…much more a man than she had expected. He reminded her of those thunderstorms that stalled on the horizon—growing bigger and darker as they churned in on themselves.
Their gazes met, and she held his stare, shoulders square and back. Sweat dripped down her spine beneath the elaborate costume, and a headache knocked at her temples from the weight of the headdress, but she did not let it show. His eyes dropped, perusing her form. Rora’s heart thumped a little faster. The longer he looked at her, the more uncomfortable she became. And she hated herself for it. For letting him get to her.
If her mother had taught her anything, it was that no one could make you feel small unless you allowed it. So she took a deep breath and let herself believe she was the fierce and powerful girl everyone thought she was. And she stared right back.
Maybe Rora didn’t have magic, but Cassius didn’t know that. She had spent her whole life preparing to be queen, and she’d be damned if she spared an instant of worry for what he thought of her. She evaluated him in return and spitefully hoped it made him uncomfortable. Starting with his neatly combed midnight hair, she assessed his looks—strong brows, straight nose, pointed chin. His face was almost too symmetrical, as if crafted by an architect. Rora frowned and swept her gaze down to his broad chest and large shoulders.
Instead of making him uncomfortable, she began to feel uneasy with her perusal. He was too attractive. Far more handsome than any of the local young men she might have chosen. But that beauty was tempered by an air of brutality—a hardness in his eyes and the precise, sharp movements of a man who was deadly and wanted everyone to know it.
Instead of making him uncomfortable, she began to feel uneasy with her perusal. He was too attractive. Far more handsome than any of the local young men she might have chosen. But that beauty was tempered by an air of brutality—a hardness in his eyes and the precise, sharp movements of a man who was deadly and wanted everyone to know it.
He stood a handspan taller than she, a rarity for Rora’s tall form. When she finally looked back at his face, he was quirking an eyebrow, one corner of his mouth lifted in a smirk.
“Don’t stop on my account. Please, look your fill. See what you’re getting, Princess.”
“Don’t stop on my account. Please, look your fill. See what you’re getting, Princess.”
What I thought about Roar
I'm a fan of Cora Carmack's Rusk University series and so when I heard she was writing a YA fantasy I was definitely interested to see what she would do in that genre.
I'm not going to spoil it by going into the plot details, but I will say that Roar is an excellent start to this fantasy series. The first thing I look at when I'm reading fantasy/paranormal is the world building and Cora does a good job of weaving the world building into the story without knocking you over the head with it. That's a big plus.
Roar has a refreshing concept that deals with magical storms and their power. Since the power has value, there's a black market for it. There's quite a bit of action and I loved that, too.
Aurora is a strong willed female character and I liked her ... most of the time. The romantic elements while probably appropriate for the young adult reader, were a bit too insta-love for me and the "man as protector" type doesn't always appeal to me, but this didn't take too much away from the overall feel of this book, although it was a little cheesy in spots.
This is a great start to the series and I'm interested in seeing where things are going to go with the story and world.
An ARC was provided for review.
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.
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