Release Day Launch: Verum (Nocte #2) by Courtney Cole

Verum

Series:
Nocte #1

By: 
Courtney Cole

Release Date: February 2, 2015

Source: Publisher for an honest review

Add to Goodreads Here

Summary:

The truth shall set you free. 

My name is Calla Price and I’m drowning. My new world is a dark, dark ocean and I’m being pulled under by secrets. Can I trust anyone? I don’t know anymore. The lies are spirals. They twist and turn, binding me with their thorns and serpentine tongues. And just when I think I have it figured out, everything is pulled out from under me. I’m entangled in the darkness. But the truth will set me free. It’s just ahead of me, so close I can touch it. But even though it shines and glimmers, it has glistening fangs and I know it will shred me. Are you scared? I am.

Nocte Trilogy:

My Review on Nocte Here

My Thoughts:

Ms. Cole, are you trying to kill me?!!!  I am desperate, very desperate to get my hands on the last book of this trilogy!  I need Lux in my hands right this instant!!!  Talk about a crazy cliffhanger ending!  I feel like I'm being tortured right now!  I need to know what is going on!!!

In Verum, Calla's and Dare's story continues!  The mystery behind this book is so elusive, that every time I think I'm finally figuring everything out, I am hit over the head with new pieces to the puzzle!  If you are like me, and enjoy complex, mind bending stories, with an intricate puzzle, a ton of mystery, a bucketload of creepiness, and a dash of danger, you have to read this trilogy!  It's addictive, fast-paced, and makes you think.  This mystery will have you turning pages late in to the night, and forgetting all other obligations!

At the beginning of this sequel, Dare takes Calla on a journey to Whitley, England.  He promises that this is the place that will lead her to the answers she has been searching for.  There she meets her rigid and aloof grandmother, Eleanor, the gypsy fortune telling nanny, Sabine, the driver, Jones, and a priest that her mother was close to, Thomas.  She stays in the gothic mansion, and cannot tell what is real, and what is imagined.  The mansion is creepy, and she always feels like someone is watching her.  Dare is by her side every step of the way, as she begs him for answers, that he refuses to give her.  He tells her that she must discover the truth for herself.  She loves Dare, but does not trust him.  As she begins having visions, she does not know what she is seeing.  Is she going crazy?  Are they memories?  One thing is for certain, nothing is what it seems.

I loved the tension-filled anticipation that Verum provided.  I was constantly hyperaware of the plot, and analyzing what was going on, as well as the characters intentions.  The romance between Calla and Dare was subtle, but added to the story nonetheless.  I love Dare's character.  It is obvious to me that no matter what he is hiding, he loves Calla very much.  I love the mystery in the story.  It makes me wonder if there will be a paranormal element to the storyline, or if it is just a psychological thriller. 

My Rating:

I give, Verum, by Courtney Cole, 4.5 Mysterious, Creepy, Intoxicating, Riddle Filled Stars!  This is an amazing trilogy!  I recommend this to readers that love psychological thrillers, mystery's, and unique stories.  For those of you that have enjoyed the Mara Dyer Series, and/or the movie Inception, I would check out this trilogy!  This is a very complex, puzzling, page turning, addiction filled read!!! 

My Favorite Quote:

"I feel like I'm a lamb, and he's a wolf.  But at the same time, I feel like he doesn't want to be.  He's caged, when he should be wild, and I don't think he knows what to do about it."  (eARC, Loc. 1438)

~Calla

Book Teasers:

Book Excerpt:

     Together, we float to the surface, still intertwined. We break through the top and I suck in a breath and Dare is staring into my eyes. 
     There’s tension here, but not the bad kind. It’s the kind that ignites you, the kind that intoxicates you, the kind that once you taste it, you’ll crave for the rest of your life. 
     I’ve forgotten that I was going to be careful, that I was going to reject him on every level. 
    All I can remember, all I can focus on, is how veryalive Dare DuBray is making me feel in this moment, how alive he always makes me feel. 
     For a girl who has been surrounded by death her entire life, this is a very big deal.
     “I’m a little afraid of you,” I blurt honestly, and Dare still has his arms around me. Our treading water motions keep our legs rubbing together, the friction still there. 
      Hot, 
      Hot, 
      Hotter. 
      Dare smiles, but there is no humor in it. 
      “Good.”
      “Why?” 
       My honesty makes me seem innocent, but I don’t know how to play games. I have no experience with the opposite sex at all. 
       “Because that makes you feel something.” 
        But he’s hesitant now and he looks away. There’s something he wants to say, it’s balanced on the tip of his tongue, but he swallows it. 
       “What is it?” I ask softly. “Just tell me.” 
        He wants to, I can tell. His secrets are killing him. He just wants to be normal, he’s just acting out a role. 
        I don’t know why I feel like I know this. It’s just there, suddenly resting on my heart.
      “You don’t have to be someone you’re not,” I murmur quietly. His dark eyes snap up to mine and he pulls his hands away. There’s something in his eyes now, something guarded, and our easy afternoon has come to an end. 
      “What makes you think I am?” he snaps. “Pretending to be something I’m not, I mean.”
      I’ve somehow annoyed him, and I don’t answer because I don’t know what to say. 
     “I’m not being someone I’m not, Calla,” he says coolly as he strides from the water. “I’m being who you need me to be.”
      I’m utterly confused, and I’m dripping wet.
     “We don’t have towels,” is all he says when I follow him. My clothing soaks up the water and it is a very cold ride back home. 
      Dare doesn’t say another word and I leave him in the garage.
      I don’t see him at dinner, and I don’t see him the rest of the night.
      But as I lay in bed around midnight, I see his car leave the garage. 
      I don’t see him come home, and I’m awake for half the night waiting. 
      I have no idea where he goes when he slips away.
      Somehow, I think he wants it that way. 
      There’s a fork in the road and even though I see it, I can’t avoid it. 
      One road goes left, one goes right, and neither of them end well.
      I feel it in my bones, 
      In my bones, 
      In my bones. 
      I sing a song of nonsense, and it sings back. The notes echo and twist in the air, and I swallow them whole. 
    “Come out,” I call behind me, because I know they’re there. I can’t see them, but they’re always watching. 
      Eyes appear, blood red, and they blink once, twice, three times. 
     “I can see you,” I announce and there’s a growl and then I’m crushed beneath the dark, beneath the weight, beneath the oppression. 
     “You don’t scare me,” I lie. 
      There’s savagery here, there’s grace. 
      But above all, there’s oblivion and no matter what I do, I will be sucked into it. 
       I know it. 
      I feel it. 
      I’m crazy. 
     And it doesn’t matter. 
     I’m the rabbitrabbitrabbit and I’ll never be free.

Purchase Information:

Verum:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iTunes | Kobo


Nocte:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iTunes | Kobo

About Courtney Cole:

Courtney Cole is a novelist who would eat mythology for breakfast if she could. She has a degree in Business, but has since discovered that corporate America is not nearly as fun to live in as fictional worlds. She loves chocolate and roller coasters and hates waiting and rude people. 

Courtney lives in quiet suburbia, close to Lake Michigan, with her real-life Prince Charming, her ornery kids (there is a small chance that they get their orneriness from their mother) and a small domestic zoo.

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Giveaway:
*Nocte Trilogy Prize Pack (U.S./Canada Only) Includes-
~A T-Shirt
~A Signed Paperback
~A St. Michael's Medallion

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