Curling Up With A Good Book: Me, My Shelf and I Blog Tour, Review, and Giveaway: Exquisite Captive (Heather Demetrios)

Hardcover, 480 pages
Expected publication: October 7th 2014 by Balzer+Bray
ARC Provided by Publisher in exchange for Honest Review

Nalia is a jinni of tremendous ancient power, the only survivor of a coup that killed nearly everyone she loved. Stuffed into a bottle and sold by a slave trader, she’s now in hiding on the dark caravan, the lucrative jinni slave trade between Arjinna and Earth, where jinn are forced to grant wishes and obey their human masters’ every command. She’d give almost anything to be free of the golden shackles that bind her to Malek, her handsome, cruel master, and his lavish Hollywood lifestyle.
Enter Raif, the enigmatic leader of Arjinna’s revolution and Nalia’s sworn enemy. He promises to free Nalia from her master so that she can return to her ravaged homeland and free her imprisoned brother—all for an unbearably high price. Nalia’s not sure she can trust him, but Raif’s her only hope of escape. With her enemies on the hunt, Earth has become more perilous than ever for Nalia. There’s just one catch: for Raif’s unbinding magic to work, Nalia must gain possession of her bottle…and convince the dangerously persuasive Malek that she truly loves him. Battling a dark past and harboring a terrible secret, Nalia soon realizes her freedom may come at a price too terrible to pay: but how far is she willing to go for it?
Inspired by Arabian Nights, EXQUISITE CAPTIVE brings to life a deliciously seductive world where a wish can be a curse and shadows are sometimes safer than the light.

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When she's not traipsing around the world or spending time in imaginary places, Heather Demetrios lives with her husband in New York City. Originally from Los Angeles, she now calls the East Coast home. Heather is a recipient of the PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award for her debut novel, Something Real, which Publisher's Weekly calls “[An] addictive yet thoughtful debut” about reality TV stardom. She is the author of the upcoming EXQUISITE CAPTIVE, a smoldering fantasy about jinn in Los Angeles and what Kirkus called in its starred review "an intoxicating, richly realized realm of magic, politics, spirituality and history" (#1 in the DARK CARAVAN CYCLE). She is also the author of the upcoming I’ll Meet You There (Winter 2015). I’ll Meet You There is a love story about a young combat veteran and a girl trapped in their small town, both struggling to escape the war at home. Heather is the founder of Live Your What, an organization dedicated to fostering passion in people of all ages and creating writing opportunities for youth of limited economic means. She is proud to have an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. You can always find her on Twitter (@HDemetrios), ogling the military dogs she wants to adopt (but can’t because her NYC apartment is way too small). Find out more about Heather and her other books at www.heatherdemetrios.comand www.darkcaravancycle.com

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Forced to obey her master.

Compelled to help her enemy.

Determined to free herself.

"What is with these humans? They find out they've got a jinni to do their bidding and they suddenly think it's Aladdin, like I could snap my fingers and shazam!-- instant gratification."

I absolutely love the cover of this book. It is beautiful, majestic, and emotionally compelling. The image of Nalia is exactly how I imagined her. She looks so sad and yet so powerful at the same time. I love the purple and gold colors as well....it just fits the title perfectly.

This was my first time ever reading a book about a genie (or jinni as it is called in this book). I have always wanted to read one but just never found the right one....well I have found it now! I loved this book from the first page to the last. It had everything from action and suspense to a breath-taking romance.

The only thing that held me back from giving this a 5 star rating was the different language used in certain parts. It was a little hard to understand because I had to go back to the first of the book to read the definition about the word and then flip back and try to understand it. The language barrier tended to draw my attention away but then as soon as I got back into the story I was unable to put the book down.

Nalia is a beautiful jinni who was sold into slavery to her new Master, Malek. Malek is a cruel and mean Master who tortures Nalia by holding out on using his third wish and continually placing Nalia into her bottle. Nalia will stop at nothing to escape him and get back to her homeland. Nalia's homeland is called Arjinna and there Nalia is the empress (queen) of her people whom are called Ghan Aisouri. The Ghan Aisouri are the leaders of Arjinna and are of the highest caste and beloved of the gods.

"I am Ghan Aisouri. Malek might be her master, but he was only human. He could hurt her-yes--the bottle was hell--but she was far too valuable for him to break. He needed Nalia. It was the only currency she had with her master, his insatiable need for wishes and power."

Malek is a cruel master but I still found him fascinating. It was so hard to decide whether I liked him or I hated him. I love when an author writes such emotion into a character that you truly have to choice whether to like them or not. There were moments when Malek was so mean and I wanted Nalia to escape so bad but then he would change and be loving and protective and that did nothing but confuse me SO BAD!!!!!

I always have such a hard time with love triangles and Exquisite Captive has probably one of the most intense love triangles that I have ever read. Nalia is such an incredible character and I just wanted her to find the perfect man who would finally treat her like she deserved.

Raif was such an intense, strong character. His introduction immediately let you know that he was extremely important and determined to complete his mission. He and Nalia have undeniable chemistry from the beginning and after Malek's horrific treatment of Nalia I found myself hoping she and Raif would be together.

Nalia's journey to escape Malek, free herself from her bottle, and return back to her homeland is filled with sadness and yet so much hope. There are so many great characters introduced throughout this book and I loved all of them. There are intense, scary moments and then there are moments that will take your breath away. Exquisite Captive is filled with everything from suspenseful action scenes to raw, beautiful romance scenes. Exquisite Captive is one of my favorite books of 2014 and YA fans are going to run to the book store on its release date......

Heather Demetrios has written a fascinating story filled with jinnis, magic, and romance. Her writing style is beautiful and she knows just how to grab the reader and bring them into the story. Heather Demetrios has blasted her way into the YA spotlight and is definitely an author to follow!!!!

**The quotes from this book have been taken from an Advanced Reading Copy and are subject to change when the final book is printed. Please refer to the final, finished copy for exact quotes!**

**I want to say Thank You to Balzar & Bray/Harper Teen for the opportunity to review this book!!**