Jun 30, 2010

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Moving furhter into the July releases here's one I just started eagerly anticipating!

In Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past...and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabel, who already lost her brother to the wolves...and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love--the light and the dark, the warm and the cold--in a way you'll never forget.

**Taken from the author's website

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
RELEASE DATE: July 20, 2010
ISBN-13: 978-0545123280

Contest Alert--at Bitten By Books

Nicole Peeler is over at Bitten By Books today where there is an awesome little chat that she has posted. She'll also be answering questions as well. She's there promoting her new release Tracking the Tempest. I'm in the middle of it now and it's amazing!

Plus there's a chance to win a Kindle 2! And the contest is open worldwide!

How amazing is that?

Head on over today! Contest ends July 7 at 11:59pm Central

Plus there are a ton of other options to get you more points to try to win, so head on over!

Jun 29, 2010

Contest Alert--at An Avid Reader's Musings


Just found another contest I thought I would mention! Over at An Avid Reader's Musings, there's a giveaway to win a SIGNED copy of Raised by Wolves! I haven't read this one YET, but I will eventually. Once I finish up my TBR pile that is growing and I hit the lapse that is sure to eventually come along. Also included in the prize package is a signed bookmark from Melissa Marr and one of Melissa's rubber bracelets from the Shadow Court!

So head on over! Contest ends July 3

Is open to International Readers

You must be 13 or over to enter

Teaser Tuesday


Teaser Tuesday time again! I'm not too far into Tracking the Tempest yet as I have been on vacation. Which is also why I skipped the In My Mailbox post as well. Well that and I didn't have any new books to add. Now I do...so those will go on my next post on the 4th of July. That'll be a nice long list! Anyway here we go...

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly blog post by MizB over at Should be Reading.

Rules:
1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a page
3. Choose 2 lines that are SPOILER free
4. Name the title, author, etc.

"'One of those pictures looked suspiciously like an exploded Porsche.' He gave me a wry smile. 'I told you I had an accident.'" p71

*Yes I broke the rules again, I have 3 lines, but it works so much better this way. ;)

TITLE: Tracking the Tempest
AUTHOR: Nicole Peeler
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: June 29, 2010

Contest Alert--at Dark Faerie Tales

There's yet another AMAZING contest going on. This time it's over at Dark Faerie Tales. Jocelynn Drake has a great interview posted that is between Mira and Danaus! How cool is that? As it should be known by now Pray for Dawn, which releases TODAY is from Danaus' p.o.v.

I have to head to the store today! Again!

Contest is really simple too, just answer the question raised and there you go, one entry already for the chance to win the first 3 books in the Dark Days series!

Contest ends July 19 at 11:59 PM EST

Open to US and Canada residents only

Jun 28, 2010

Contest Alerts!!


Two contests to report! One is over at Bitten By Books where Carrie Vaughn is there to chat and answer questions while promoting her next release, Kitty Goes to War, which releases TOMORROW!! Yea! The contest is a good one at BBB, an ipod with a playlist containing Kitty inspired music! Talk about awesome!!



Also over at Jocelynn Drake's blog, she has a contest going for her next release, Pray for Dawn, which also releases TOMORROW! Really excited about this one because it's from Danaus' p.o.v. And I already bought myself 2 books today. Gotta hit the stores again tomorrow though!!

Contest Alert


Was surfing the blogging world again and came across yet another amazing contest. Another one for Andrea Cremer's Nightshade. Which I can't remember if I said how EXCITED I am about this book. Entering EVERY contest I can find about it and hoping for an ARC because I REALLY-REALLY want to read this one very badly!

Anyway, the contest is over at An Avid Reader's Musings. Pretty simple contest, leave a comment with the answer to the question asked and then fill out the form! See, told you it was easy!

Good Luck!

Jun 24, 2010

Contest Alert--at Fantastic Book Review


Over at Fantastic Book Review blog, there is an amazing contest to win a pretty little prize package of 13 to Life by Shannon Delany!! As you already know by my review, I LOVED it. A few other bloggers are saying it's okay. And that's fine too. I can't describe why I really loved it so much. I just did.

Anyway head on over to Tina's blog to have a chance at winning a copy of the book in case you want to give the book a try but don't want to buy it yet. What better way to be introduced to a new series than by winning book 1!

On a side note that happened with me and Kelly Meding's book. I actually won a contest and received her first book, Three Days to Dead and now I'm hooked! Eagerly awaiting her next release next month!

Anyway, the rules are like they always are for these contests:

US and Canada residents only, but if you're international and have someone here in the States or Canada who would ship the book to you that still works, the book just has to go to a US or Canada address.

Contest ends at 11:59 PM CST on July 8, 2010.

Good luck to those who are entering!

Jun 23, 2010

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

All righty, getting ready for July releases now that June is winding up and I already have my WoW posts for those remaining books. This week I picked:



ENEMIES DON'T NEED TO BE ALIVE TO BE DEADLY.

For Chess Putnam, finding herself near-fatally poisoned by a con psychic and then stopping a murderous ghost is just another day on the job. As an agent of the Church of Real Truth, Chess must expose those looking to profit from the world’s unpleasant little poltergeist problem—humans filing false claims of hauntings—all while staving off any undead who really are looking for a kill. But Chess has been extra busy these days, coping with a new “celebrity” assignment while trying on her own time to help some desperate prostitutes.

Someone’s taking out the hookers of Downside in the most gruesome way, and Chess is sure the rumors that it’s the work of a ghost are way off base. But proving herself right means walking in the path of a maniac, not to mention standing between the two men in her life just as they—along with their ruthless employers—are moving closer to a catastrophic showdown. Someone is dealing in murder, sex, and the supernatural, and once again Chess finds herself right in the crossfire.

Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane

RELEASE DATE: July 6, 2010

ISBN-13: 978-0345515582

Jun 22, 2010

Contest Alert


I was browsing the blogging world and found myself at a new blog, new to me at least. It's called Throuthehaze Reads. And there's a chance to win an ARC of Linger!

I found it a little late because the contest ends THIS FRIDAY June 25 @ 11:59PM EST. But there's still time to enter for a chance to win.

Good luck!

Review--Shiver

THE COLD.

Grace has spent years watching the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--watches back. He feels deeply familiar to her, but she doesn't know why.

THE HEAT.

Sam has lived two lives. As a wolf, he keeps the silent company of the girl he loves. And then, for a short time each year, he is human, never daring to talk to Grace...until now.

THE SHIVER.

For Grace and Sam, love has always been kept at a distance. But once it's spoken, it cannot be denied. Sam must fight to stay human--and Grace must fight to keep him--even if it means taking on the scars of the past, the fragility of the present, and the impossibility of the future.

Shiver is the absolute perfect title for this book, because at the end it left me shivering! Not from the cold or anything, almost a 100 friggin degrees in St. Louis today, but because of the writing style and the magnificent plot and extraordinary characters. All that combined left me with a shiver of my own. The book was bone chilling, but not in an eerie way, but in a way that really grabs at your heart!

I thought I would give Shiver a try because I heard good thing about it lately since Linger comes out next month. And since I was craving werewolves I thought I had to read this! And now that I have I can't believe I waited so long to do so!

Shiver was amazing! It was yet another werewolf love story with a human where things get dicey because of the guy being a werewolf. But this isn't an ordinary werewolf tale. The rules of werewolves are very different here than what we normally know. Werewolves shift due to the changing of the seasons, when it's cold they have to take on wolf form and in the heat they are human. But after so many changes eventually they do take on wolf form forever.

Some of the mythology along those lines gets a little confusing, but you just have to roll with it. Stiefvater even explains why a werewolf can't just live somewhere warm all year round to be human all year round, which I thought was amazing, because it did come to my mind as to why werewolves just didn't do that.

There was also quite a few sad parts in the book, more than you usually get, but it was necessary almost. Both Grace and Sam come from families that aren't the parents they should be. Grace's aren't always there, hence how she is able to have Sam in her house, in her room more than a teenage girl should--something I heard on another blog when reading reviews about Shiver. She didn't care for Grace's neglectful parents either. But it shaped who Grace was, how she was so capable. And Sam's parents, well that's his story to tell, which he does later on.

The p.o.v. was written well too, it switches back and forth between Grace and Sam and it's still told in the first person. I liked this because it allowed us to see both Grace and Sam's mind and how they felt for the other. It was deeply personal and allowed you to realize how much they truly cared for the other. I don't think it was creepy either, you can see it as that if you want, since Grace watches the wolves and a wolf watches her, but it's not nearly as creepy as Edward watching Bella sleep and liking it. *eyeroll*

Grace has a history with the wolves as well, again a past story that I won't divulge in, Grace will tell you herself and it was quite chilling as well. You can read into the wolves being both evil and not evil.

But when a boy--teenager--goes missing and assumed dead, attacked by wolves, the town panics and wants to kill the wolves which causes Grace to panic because it puts her wolf in danger. Hence the meeting of Sam and Grace begins. But there's still something fishy about the missing boy who is presumed dead.


The mystery element wasn't too big itself, but it was still very detailed and extraordinary. A select few get in the know about the wolves and who they really are. These characters were all so deep it was really refreshing. People change, you see them as someone on the outside and throughout the book you see who they really are, past their outer image, it was really amazing.

I was so blown away by the book. I cannot wait for Linger. Luckily it comes out in a month, but then the wait for the third Wolves of Mercy book will be an even longer wait and I don't even know the title for that one yet!

The ending was just incredible. I kind of guessed it happening, especially when I was in the person's p.o.v. chapter, I knew what was going on and yet it was still a delicious shock at the end even though I saw it coming. It was one of those nice surprises that you know is coming! So I won't say more on that!

Truly wonderful book and now I must go preorder Linger!

Stay reading!

Teaser Tuesday

Hey all! I started reading Shiver yesterday on my break and got a little farther into it today. Pretty good so far, but decided to take a quick break to do my Teaser Tuesday post. Had to find a good quote after all. For this is my confession, I don't just open to a random page I try to note where a good two lines are so that the book has more pull to it for newbies.

I know a few other bloggers admit to this too. Besides it works too. I've read some great 2 lines from T.T. posts where the blogger says that she picked them out herself. So either way works, the purpose of T.T. is to try to get other readers to want to read the same book. Or even introduce them to a new book that sounds interesting based on those two lines!

So here we go. Teaser Tuesday is a weekly blog post by MizB at Should be Reading.

The rules:
1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a page (Or have one already picked out ;) )
3. Pick out 2 lines that are SPOILER free
4. Name the book, author, etc.

"Now, in the soft darkness of Grace's room, I rolled over and pressed my face into her shoulder. Strange that my most violent moments had been as a human, not as a wolf." p218

TITLE: Shiver
AUTHOR: Maggie Stiefvater
GENRE: Young Adult-Urban Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: August 1, 2009 (Hardcover)
June 1, 2010 (Trade paperback)

Jun 21, 2010

Review--13 to Life


Everything about Jessie Gillmansen's life has changed when her mother died. Now even her hometown of Junction is changing. Mysterious dark things are happening. All Jessie wants is to avoid more change. But while showing a hot new guy around Junction High, she's about to discover a whole new type of change. Pietr Rusakova is more than good looks and a fascinating accent--he's a guy with a dangerous secret. And his very existence is sure to bring big trouble to Jessie's small town. It seems change is the one thing Jessie can't avoid.

Just finished Shannon Delany's debut novel, 13 to Life and OMG it was fabulous! Lately I've been devouring werewolf books, or picking them up at least or awaiting their release and I can't get enough of them!

13 to Life is no disappoint whatsoever. It was really-really gripping! It started out simple enough, you don't really get into the werewolf business right away. But there are hints dropped every now and then. Because if the cover wasn't obvious enough, you know it deals with werewolves. You find that out by looking at Shannon's website!

Jessie is still dealing with her mother's death that happened suddenly and still haunts her. She has her friends at her side, a crush that is finally starting to notice her, but then she gets called into guidance and worries she's about to have another talking to. But she is surprised to find out that she has to deal with a different matter altogether and that is showing the new guy around Junction High.

Jessie isn't too pleased with the assignment because she doesn't know what to make of Pietr. Sure he's hot and seems nice, but there are little bits of his behavior that throw her off and she can't seem to get rid of him despite all the other girls in school wanting to be his tour guide or whatever.

What she doesn't count on is the friendship that starts between them. And she soon even starts to like him despite her warring feelings between him and her crush, who still pays more attention to her off and on. But then one of her friends, Sarah admits to having a crush on him and she doesn't want anything to hurt Sarah because she has already been through so much and has had to deal with her own pain. Which is later revealed further in the book, and is a spoiler so I won't talk anymore about it!

But fighting her desires to be Pietr is harder than she thought and Pietr has his own wants as well.

This book was literally so gripping I couldn't put it down. If I hadn't had to work and have that mess up my schedule this would've been a 1 day read, it was that good! The characters are so detailed and deep. Delany really put her heart into writing this because you can really see and hear these characters. Each one is distinct in their own way and they stand out.

The big action scene towards the end is where things really start bringing up questions. Before it was one here and there and it was answered with time, but at the end there are a lot more questions that are brought up and while things come together, you are still left wondering!

And the only upside is knowing that we have less than a year to read more, but we still have to wait until the next calendar year, so really is it that much of an upside, I find myself asking?

And I just have to mention how much I LOVE this cover. It's what I saw when I was scanning tables of author promo at RT and it grabbed me. I stared at it and had to find out more and luckily found a little postcard of info. And then I talked to Shannon at the signing on Saturday explaining how excited I was about the book and all I knew was the cover was amazing and the BOC that was on it really had me wanting to know what was going on.

While the BOC makes it seem like the story will be a simple girl meets boy and learns he has a secret, it really has much more depth than that. True that is the simplest way to explain, but the secret really goes deeper and has much more details than you would think. There are many-many secrets in this book, with hidden betrayals and oh-so much more. Hence my agony at having to wait until February to read the next one. And I thought waiting from the end of April to now was bad. Damn it.

The next book in this new AMAZING series is Secrets and Shadows, releasing in February 2011. Will post a date and cover once I come across it!

Stay reading readers!

Books turned Movies

Something that I have come across lately is that so many books are being turned into movies. Sure it's been happening for how many years now, but lately it's been books that I've actually read! Or am about to.

For instance, I am sure most people have already heard that Wicked Lovely is being made into a movie and according to the Internet Movie Database, it will come out some time in 2012. Of course since it's so early there's not much to hear. As you will note on almost all these books turned movies I've heard of.

Another is Maggie Stiefvater's Wolves of Mercy trilogy. According to her website and from my understanding, the rights to all 3 books were bought, so there might be 3 movies. I do not know for sure that they will make all 3 just because all the rights were bought, but Shiver is definitely being made into a movie and has a 2012 release date as well according to IMDB.


There is also another book being made into a movie, John Marks' Fangland. I read this a few years ago when it first came out. It's a modern day Dracula story. Like there aren't enough? But still it was rather interesting to read and I heard somewhere on another blog, that Hilary Swank is supposed to star in it as the female lead. That one I think is a 2011 release date, according to IMDB.

Another series that I recently heard was being made into a movie is Lisa McMann's Wake. I can't remember if it was for her whole series or just Wake. I haven't read hers yet, haven't really decided one way or another. That one was just recently announced and I can't remember which blog I heard it on. I was doing a lot of blog hopping the other day. But rumor has it that Miley Cyrus is going to star in it. Not a fan of her, so if that's true I will be passing on this one.


Another one that I remember hearing about awhile ago and apparently is still in a production mode according to IMDB is a book I read a few years ago called Benighted by Kit Whitfield. It deals with werewolves in a world where only 1% of the population is human. It was interesting from what I can recall since it's been so long since I read it. I remember though something about the ending I didn't like...can't recall what it is though. But still I would see this one if it does come out next year.
So it looks like for the most part there may be some good movies coming out eventually. As long as the movie people don't totally botch the book up with the movie. One such example was Blood and Chocolate. It was an amazing book by Annette Curtis-Klause and the movie was in no way, shape or form like the book, but I thought separately the two were both good. The movie was good on its own as long as you didn't compare it to its book.

If that happens with any of these I guess that's okay, but the movie would have to be done really well. Crossing my fingers on that one! Have to wait til 2012 for the most part, but oh well!

Jun 20, 2010

In My Mailbox

I thought I would give the IMM post a try. Since I'm just a run-of-the-mill type book reviewer and only review books that I buy myself I don't really get any in the mail. Unless I'm ordering one through the mail by a website, which by now most of you may know that I hate, because I have absolutely zero patience for things like that. Especially when I'm ordering a really great sounding book!

But I did buy some books this weekend so I thought, why not do an In My Mailbox post and see where this takes me from now on. I can't guarantee there will be an IMM post every Sunday, but it's just something I thought I would give a try.

So here it goes, my first IMM post!

In My Mailbox is a blogging post brought to you by The Story Siren.

This week I bought quite a few books:

Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready















Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
13 to Life by Shannon Delany












Tracking the Tempest by Nicole Peeler

















So what did you get?

Contest Alert--at The Undercover Book Lover

I was at one of my normal blogs that I follow and I just notice this amazing contest on her sidebar at another blog. The Undercover Book Lover has a HUGE giveaway that includes 5 ARCs and one of them is Nightshade! A book I am desperately trying to get my hands on. But with my incredible luck, I won't be getting it until release day. Yet still I try!

Anyway here's the link, and it's open to international readers too! Contest ends July 15 at 4pm (GMT +8).

Good Luck!

Contest Alert--at Dark Faerie Tales

There's another amazing contest over at Dark Faerie Tales to win Alayna William's debut novel, Dark Oracle.

There's a rather interesting interview as well where you learn some things about the author and her other series written under another name. All very interesting little pieces of info.

And of course at the end there's a chance to win a copy of the first and newest book! It sounded pretty interesting to me so I had to enter!

If you can't wait to read the book after reading the interview, you can buy a copy for it's already released as well! Which may be something I do once the winner is revealed.

Contest ends July 9 at 11:59 EST

Open to US and Canada residents only

Good luck!

Jun 18, 2010

Review--Blood Song


Bodyguard Celia Graves piles her trade in a world where vampires roam the alleys of Tinseltown and movie stars openly practice witchcraft, where street corner psychics have real powers and cops use memory enhancement spells on witnesses. An ordinary human, Celia relies on street smarts and charmed weapons to protect the rich and famous from mortal and supernatural threats.

She's landed a plum job protecting the prince of a small but politically vital nation while he tours Los Angeles's least savory hot spots. But what should be a routine assignment goes badly wrong; Celia is attacked by a master vampire and knows she is about to die.

To her shock, Celia wakes on a cold metal table in a university lab. Celia Graves has become an Abomination, neither fully mortal nor fully vampire. Her "master" is hunting her, to destroy her or finish what his bite began. She's accused of murder, and the cops aren't sure whether she should be locked up or staked. And then there's the demon she glimpsed during the vampire attack....

Struggling to cope with her new powers and trying not to terrify everyone she meets with a flash of fang, Celia reaches out for help from her once (and future?) lover, a powerful mage; his warrior-priest brother; a handsome werewolf who keeps his lupine nature concealed from the world; an elderly clairvoyant; and one trustworthy cop.

Celia Graves has three days to save the world, her sanity, and her soul.

Just finished the latest release by Cat Adams, Blood Song. It was fabulous! Authors C. T. Adams and Cathy Clamp join together again in this newest series to create a fabulous start to what will be an amazing series!

Celia is your vanilla human, totally plain, no supernatural powers or abilities or anything. But she is damn good at her job of protecting people as a bodyguard. She is one of the best. But when her latest case leaves her in a point of being dead and not dead, she is left changed forever.

She has become an Abomination, she is in between stages. She has some of the vampire abilities and still maintains some human like traits. But since she has the fangs, the pale pallor and strange eyes, everyone writes her off as a vampire and practically attacks her every time she steps outside. Not literally of course.

The characters were fantastic. Celia appears to be the tough girl but being changed changes her. She has suffered quite a bit emotionally and a little bit physically as well. Celia has a past that was not kind to her and we learn bits and pieces as the story moves on.

There is a bit of romance in the book, but not a lot. Really only one moment. Plus there are two potential love interests, her former lover and a werewolf who is pretty secretive. The werewolf, Kevin, seems to be keeping things from Celia regarding what's going on. I can't quite describe it because I'm still left wondering what his story is. Her former lover, Bruno is a bit of a mystery too, we get a little glimpse of what they were like as a couple but not a lot. There just seems to be a lot of things left unsaid about these two men and I'm wondering when we'll get around to learning a bit more about them

Celia is in for a lot of work and trouble to deal with. There is a murder and a demon on the lose, plus her sire is out and about looking for. Plus she's dealing with her new vampire-ness and handling how others treat her. No one seems to understand that she is still Celia just with a newness to her.

through all her troubles she's overcome.Celia was a wonderful character that you truly get to connect with. She had depth to her, a painful past, she has grown since then of course. She has become quite an astounding person She makes more than one discovery along the way in this book that is going to lead to many marvelous tasks and adventures in Siren Song.

This truly was an amazing book! I am so looking forward to the next one, Siren Song, which releases September 28. The first three books are supposed to be rather close together, time wise for Celia and then the next few after that spread the time out a little more.

And now since I finished this earlier than expected and 13 to Life is not out yet, I may have to turn to my newly started TBR pile, really there are only 2 books, with a third on the way in the mail somewhere.

Stay reading readers!

Jun 17, 2010

Contest Alert--at Dark Faerie Tales

Another great contest over at Dark Faerie Tales! This time you get a chance to win Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver! I haven't read this one yet, but last night I decided I was going to buy it. I'm headed out later today to get it and add it to my TBR pile, which isn't anything right now, but will be soon once the 29th rolls around!

Anyway there's a some details about the book and it's upcoming sequel Linger. And there's also a review up for Shiver.

Contest ends June 30, 2010 at 11:59 PM EST.

Open to US and Canada residents only.

Jun 16, 2010

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event hosted by Jill, that spotlights releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

I am so losing track of what I'm doing for my WoW posts! So many books I'm waiting for and I might have posted some twice. Trying to get it under control now, but it's still taking awhile because one book I may REALLY be waiting for!

Anyway, this week my pick is:








Merit, Chicago’s newest vampire, is learning how to play well with others. Other supernaturals, that is. Shapeshifters from across the country are convening in the Windy City, and as a gesture of peace, Master Vampire Ethan Sullivan has offered their leader a very special bodyguard: Merit. Merit is supposed to protect the Alpha, Gabriel Keene—and to spy for the vamps while she’s at it. Oh, and luckily Ethan’s offering some steamy, one-on-one combat training sessions to help her prepare for the mission.

Merit must accept the assignment, even though she knows that she’ll probably regret it. And she’s not wrong. Someone is gunning for Gabriel Keene, and Merit soon finds herself in the line of fire. She’ll need all the help she can get to track down the would-be assassin, but everywhere she turns, there are rising tensions between supernaturals—not least between her and a certain green-eyed, centuries old master vampire.

Chicagoland Vampires: Twice Bitten by Chloe Neill
RELEASE DATE: July 6 2010
ISBN-13: 978-0451230645

Jun 15, 2010

Review--Night's Cold Kiss (NEW)


FOR CENTURIES WAR RAGED BETWEEN THE HUMANS AND THE AETERNUS VAMPIRES--UNTIL COURAGEOUS EFFORTS ON BOTH SIDES FORGED A FRAGILE PEACE.

BUT THE ROGUE NECRODRENIACS WILL NEVER BE CONTROLLED--ADDICTED AS THEY ARE TO THE DEATH-HIGH...AND BLOODY CHAOS.

Since witnessing the murder of her mother, Antoinette Petrescu has burned with fiery hatred for the vampire race--even for Christian Laroque, the noble, dangerously handsome Aeternus who rescued her. Now an elite Venator, Antoinette must reluctantly accept Christian's help to achieve her vengeance--even as he plots to use the beautiful, unsuspecting warrior as bait to draw out the bloodthirsty dreniacs.

Okay, I decided to write a new review on Night's Cold Kiss. Or at least post different comments on it or whatever since I have the time. My book is in the area and I am awaiting the call from the store. It looks like it will be here Wednesday and not earlier like I had hoped. Oh well.

This was Tracey O'Hara's debut novel and the second time around was just as fascinating as the first! I forgot some of the finer details to the story. There was a lot of shock and intrigue involved that was really dramatic. But in a good way.

From my first review here, I talked a little about this and that. So basically I'll just expand on some of those thoughts. The plot was well driven and paced. Told in third person, it allows us basically to be with Antoinette and Christian and sometimes one of the other characters. I love these characters. Antoinette is a fierce warrior type in the beginning but as the story moves forward we see more to her character and we learn that even the toughest of warriors have their weak spots. Antoinette has some hidden emotions that we're not aware of from page 1.

Lately Antoinette has been having a few bad dreams about her mother's murder and while working she has sworn she seen the murderer, even though he was supposed to be dead. Her father had killed him. But Antoinette's world is about to be rudely shattered as everything she has ever known about everything, just about, is about to change. Her views on vampires--Aeternus, in this matter--are challenged when she is forced to work with Christian and his friend Viktor.

Antoinette still has a strong prejudice against vampires in general because she sees them as the things that tore her family apart. Her mother murdered, and her father killed later on. So her hate is understandable, yet she still takes her anger out on the ones who have done nothing untoward to her. Her undying prejudice is a bit annoying because we see this today in the real world for the same reasons. Being wronged by someone and hating everyone of that race, Aeternus or Necrodreniac. They are all the same to Antoinette, but she is about to learn that there is a difference and her reasons for her judgments were wrong.

Antoinette grows and learns, making her much more likable. If her prejudices held throughout the book, it wouldn't have been the same story. One thing that did bug me was just how fast the romance started, but again that's just me and my opinions. Most people I know who read similar things like romance.

The story takes many surprising turns, again as I tend to say, I won't divulge in them. There are quite a few of them and not all are wonderful. Won't go further.

The characters are quite likable too and some not so much. Christian's mother, Lilijana is just full of surprises. That woman is an unstoppable force that is not to be reckoned with. Christian's friend Viktor is lovable as well, he's the comic relief of the hostility between Christian and Antoinette. He was by far my favorite secondary character! Another interesting one was Valerica, Viktor's sister and Christian's former lover. She was the clingy jealous ex, but she played her part well. Oberon was another surprising character who stepped in and helped out, even though you wanted to slug him upon first meeting him, but that does tend to happen with some characters!

The ending was enjoyable as well. While the mystery was tied up to some extent, there is definitely room for more development. Because as I said earlier, there are a lot of surprises. And those will take us to new places in further novels. Which I have some info taken from Tracey's website regarding the next book, finally!

The second book in the Dark Brethren series is Death's Sweet Embrace. It unfortunately doesn't release until January 25, 2011. Here's the BOC found on the website as well:

After thousands of years of secret conflict, humans and parahumans have reached an uneasy truce. But unspeakable evil now threatens to shatter the tenuous peace.

Teenaged shapeshifters are being slaughtered by a twisted, sadistic serial killer who rips their still-beating hearts from their paralyzed bodies. A task force must be formed to halt the madness—a union of avengers including the vampiric Aeternus, Christian Laroque and Antoinette Petrescu, as well as Kitt Jordan and Raven Matokwe, members of enemy Animalian tribes…and forbidden lovers.

A centuries-old blood feud has divided their peoples—pitting wolf against snow leopard in a battle to the death—and if their passion is discovered it will doom them both. But past hostilities must be put aside in light of the scourge that is now upon them. For the killer they seek is but the first sign of a blossoming terror rising up from their long-buried pasts: the all-consuming nightmare of The Dark Brethren.

**Will post the cover once it's been released and I find it! :)

Contest Alert--at The Cozy Reader

Over at The Cozy Reader, one of the blogs I follow, Jess has decided to start giving away some of her BEA books she received. And the first one off the list is one I am dying to read! It's Nightshade by Andrea Cremer. I enter every contest I see with a chance to win this book early. It doesn't release until October!

Once again, it's about werewolves! Werewolves are hot this year it seems. Guess vampires are starting to slowly being pushed aside? Maybe? Maybe not? But this sounds like a fabulous read, one that I will get come to October if my unfortunate luck continues...

Anyway, head over to her blog, which has been redone completely, you might remember her as Book Review by Jess. That blog is just about gone, I think. Her new one will take residence now. And it's really an awesome website!

So yeah, the contest is really simple, just fill out the form and do what it tells you! Contest ends June 29, noon EST. You must be at least 13 to enter. Open to US mailing addresses only and the winner will only have 3 days to claim their prize.

Good Luck!

Contest Alert--at Dark Faerie Tales

Over at Dark Faerie Tales is an amazing interview with Shannon Delany, the author of the soon to be released YA 13 to Life! As you can probably tell by the cover, it deals with werewolves. I love werewolves and love a good werewolf story. 13 to Life is bound to be good! I actually met Shannon at RT too! Got myself a signed poster! Totally awesome. And her main character has a totally awesome name...Jess!

The contest is open to everyone and very simple, just answer a question. There are extra points for doing extra things as well. Like blogging about the contest! Contest ends July 4 at 11:59 PM EST.

But the book releases June 22.

4 commentators have the chance to win autographed swag and 1 lucky winner gets a copy of the book!

Good Luck!

Teaser Tuesday


Teaser Tuesday is a weekly blog post at Should be Reading by Mizb!

Currently re-reading Tracey O'Hara's debut novel, Night's Cold Kiss! Still loving it! From where I'm up to now, an event took me by surprise, because I totally forgot it happened!

Will have to see my old review that I wrote and depending on that I may or may not have to write up a newer one!

Onto the teaser. The rules:
1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a page
3. Pick out 2 lines that are SPOILER free
4. Name the book, author, etc.

"Somehow--impossibly--her mother's murderer stood before her. She froze, the same cold dread chilling her veins, just as it had over sixteen years ago." p118

TITLE: Night's Cold Kiss
AUTHOR: Tracey O'Hara
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: August 25, 2009

Jun 14, 2010

Contest Alert--at Amberkatze's Book Blog


I saw on Jocelynn's blog, that she did this amazing interview over at Amberkatze's Book Blog with a chance to win a copy of Pray for Dawn, her next release in her Dark Days series! I'm really looking forward to this one. It's from Danaus' point of view, so it should be very interesting!

The contest is simple enough, you answer a question and that's it! Of course you have to check back on the announcement day to see if you won.

Contest ends Sunday, June 20 at 4pm CET.

Good Luck!

Jun 13, 2010

Review--Blue Diablo


RIGHT NOW I'M A REDHEAD. I'VE BEEN BLOND AND BRUNETTE AS THE SITUATION REQUIRES, THOUGH AN UNSCHEDULED COLOR CHANGE USUALLY MEANS I NEED TO RELOCATE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. SO FAR, I'M DOING WELL HERE. NOBODY KNOWS WHAT I'M RUNNING FROM. AND I'D LIKE TO KEEP IT THAT WAY.

Eighteen months ago, Corine Solomon crossed the border and wound up in Mexico City, fleeing her past, her lover, and her "gift". Corine, a handler, can touch something and know its history--and that's why people never stop trying to find her. People like her ex, Chance.

Chance, whose uncanny luck has led him to her doorstep, needs her help. Someone dear to them both has gone missing in Laredo, Texas, and the only hope of finding her is through Corine's gift. But their search may prove dangerous as the trail leads them into a strange, dark world or demons and sorcerers, ghosts and witchcraft, zombies--and black magic....

Despite my better judgment I read today and finished up Blue Diablo, while I am still waiting on the mail to bring me my copy of Blood Song, now I have nothing new to read and will have to find something to re-read.

But I wasn't disappointed with this new, to me, book by Ann Aguirre. I received this from a friend at RT and decided to give it a try when I was in need of a read and I was rather pleased with this one.

Right away we learn that Corine is talented and ran away from her lover, her past, and her "gift", but even as the BOC describes, you already know that you can't outrun your past forever. And it took over a year for her old lover to find her.

The tension starts off quickly as he asks her to help him find his mother who has gone missing. He needs Corine to use her gift to find her. Corine has the power of touch, she can tell things about an item and it's owner by touching the item. Corine never really names it and I can't think of the word for it...I thought it was something like psychotermy...but my spelling is horrendous at times when I can't use spell check or spell check refuses to help me spell the desired word.

Anyway, since Corine cares for Chance's mother just as much as he does, she agrees to help him, but what really sweetens the deal is the information Chance promises to give Corine if she helps him find his mother. Which I don't want to get to into...but it has to do with Corine's past, which while not the central focus of the novel, it does pop up now and again. Because it is important to Corine and her gift.

A few other surprises occur along the way, such as a potential new love interest. There is a LOT of tension between Corine and Chance, but the new guy proves a problem for them to rekindle their relationship. I honestly can't decide who I want Corine to be with. At one point I was rooting for Chance, but then I turned to the other guy. You learn a little bit about what Corine and Chance's relationship was like when they were together through Corine's conflicting feelings over the two men and it makes a rather difficult decision for me, to say who I would like to see her with. And Corine's even more confused!

Another surprise comes when an enemy from her past comes around and winds up in the same town as Corine and Chance. That was an interesting development as well, but I won't go further. It's rather difficult to think where that may go...

The relationships between Corine and everyone were written wonderfully. There was tension so thick between her and Chance you would have trouble cutting through it with the knife. Or however that saying goes, I know they say so thick you can cut a knife through it, but this was really thick tension because Corine didn't know what she wanted to do in regards to her heart and feelings, she was being tugged back and forth.

Other secondary characters who played a large role, were Chuch and Eva. Friends of Chance, who has a lot of connections. I still don't quite understand who Chance really is, besides having unfathomable luck, hence his name, so we don't even know what his real name is, Corine doesn't either. But Chuch and Eva were definitely interesting people who were full of surprises. When we first meet Eva, you almost thought she was going to kill Chuch when she found Corine standing in her skimpy clothing in the kitchen one morning. Obviously all was forgiven since the two play pivotal roles in helping Chance and Corine in their quest.

They were both rather resourceful too in surprising ways, but I don't want to spoil those little surprises. Again, it's not like OMG! I didn't see that coming kind of surprise, it's just surprising.

While the ending was satisfying in some ways, I thought it just wrapped up the mystery bit a little too quickly. I was expecting something BIG, really big, but it was just...eh. There was an explanation story or whatever that took maybe 2-3 pages at the most and then it ended. There is definitely a question of what will Corine do now and many more questions concerning Corine and her decision-making that leaves you to wonder what will happen.

Overall it was a rather interesting read and I am considering getting the next one, Hell Fire, somewhere down the line.

Now I will probably re-read something until my copy of Blood Song gets here. According to the tracking device it's set for June 16, but it apparently arrived in the mailing area just before noon. Soooo, hopefully it will get to the store by tomorrow when it ever gets sent out and I can possibly pick it up on Tuesday since I have to work all day Monday. Crossing my fingers!

Jun 11, 2010

Contest Alert--at Supernatural Underground

Hey guys! There's this new blog called Supernatural Underground I've been following that is a whole slew of paranormal authors, quite interesting too. Everyday an author talks about a certain subject. Sometimes it relates to their own book and other times it's a general aspect with examples from their book.

All good and fun reads! And there's usually always a contest involved too!


Today it's Tera Lynn Childs talking about mermaids! And she's giving away a set of signed copies of all her books! Including her latest release Forgive my Fins. I haven't read anything by her yet, but I've been considering it since I have been hearing quite a bit about her newest release.

Check it out!

Jun 10, 2010

Cover Art--Victoria Laurie

Was just browsing a variety of author websites and I went to Victoria Laurie's, because I am a big fan of her Psychic Eye and Ghost Hunter Mystery series. Both are fabulous.

Her next Psychic Eye starring Abby Cooper comes out July 6, and is called A Glimpse of Evil.

But mostly I came here to post about her Ghost Hunter series, the next book has been titled and a cover is up. Although, lately when I try to post pics from her website, they have a tendency to disappear on me.

So here's a link to her website to see the cover. It's really cool in my opinion. Ghouls, Ghouls, Ghouls comes out possibly only December 28, 2010! According to Amazon.

From the little pic that you can see on the website, it looks pretty cool. It sticks with the same themes as the last books did. And after the way Ghouls Gone Wild ended, I am so happy that I can get a second dose of Ghost Hunter Mysteries this year. Now if I will still be able to read it in one day is another story. *Crossing my fingers that I will have a job by then*

Jun 9, 2010

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event hosted by Jill, that spotlights releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week, I decided to go with a book that actually releases this month, in another 3 weeks, so the wait isn't nearly as long, but still agonizing!




Kitty Norville, Alpha werewolf and host of The Midnight Hour, a radio call-in show, is contacted by a friend at the NIH's Center for the Study of Paranatural Biology. Three Army soldiers recently returned from the war in Afghanistan are being held at Ft. Carson in Colorado Springs. They're killer werewolves—and post traumatic stress has left them unable to control their shape-shifting and unable to interact with people. Kitty agrees to see them, hoping to help by bringing them into her pack.

Meanwhile, Kitty gets sued for libel by CEO Harold Franklin after featuring Speedy Mart--his nationwide chain of 24-hour convenience stores with a reputation for attracting supernatural unpleasantness--on her show.

Very bad weather is on the horizon.

Kitty goes to War by Carrie Vaughn
RELEASE DATE: June 29, 2010
ISBN-13: 978-0765365613

Jun 8, 2010

Posting Problem

Okay I typed up my review for The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers early and then started posting other things, thinking that I could easily post my review later and it would be at the top. Wrong.

I forgot how Blogger likes to post things in order by its time stamp and since I am not computer savvy I don't know if there's a way to fix it. I'm sure there is, possibly, other than to wait and write the review later.

But whatever! My review is down below right "before" (after) my Teaser Tuesday post, meaning I posted my review after the Teaser Tuesday but will be before it on the list of posts.

Or to make things even more simple, click here for my review.

Cover Art--Devon Monk

Meant to post this awhile back, but totally forgot! My mind is everywhere these days! Anyway here is the cover for Devon Monk's next release, Magic at the Gate! It releases November 2, 2010. Oh the agony!


Stay tuned for I will eventually be posting my review of The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers. I'm dilly-dallying online right now! :)

My Soul to Keep Trailer

Here is the trailer for Rachel Vincent's latest YA book, in her Soul Screamers series; My Soul to Keep! It was a fabulous read, see my review here.

Enjoy!



Review--The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers

DEMON-SLAYING POWERS SHOULD COME WITH AN INSTRUCTION BOOK...

Seriously. Why does a new hair dryer have a twelve-page how-to manual, but when it comes to ancient demon-fighting hocus-pocus, my biker witch granny gives me just half a dozen switch stars and a rah-rah speech? Oh, and a talking terrier, but that's another story.
It's not like my job as a preschool teacher prepared me for this kind of thing.

So I've decided to write my own manual, The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers, because no one tells me anything. Dimitri, my "protector", may be one stud of a shape-shifting griffin, but he always thinks he can handle everything by himself. Only he's no match for the soul-stealing succubi taking over Las Vegas. If I can't figure out how to save him--and Sin City--there'll be hell to pay.

Finished Angie Fox's The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers, it is the second book in her series. While I contemplated buying the first one so I wasn't insanely lost, I decided to risk it. And truthfully it wasn't a big deal to have skipped it. Sure I missed all the intro stuff and the events that took place, but all the important bits were brought up in this book, with those short summaries I figured out what I needed to figure out.

Overall the book wasn't too bad either. Didn't LOVE it, didn't HATE it. It was just good. Angie writes remarkably well too. It's so...smooth and flowing. Some sentences are nice and short to make the point stand out for whatever reason. It was refreshing. It wasn't a book where you really had to strain yourself to follow along with the plot details either. It just flowed easily. Of course I can't think of any book at the top of my head that was hard to read, other than books for school--which I'm done with! Yea!


Anyway, I really liked Lizzie, she was what I look for in my heroine/protagonist. She was witty and had a bit of snark in her. She wasn't afraid to say it like it is. She has a lot to deal with in this book, as she has to race to Vegas to rescue her relative from the soul-stealing succubus and there isn't just one succubus in the city either. All hell is about to break loose in Sin City, literally and Lizzie has to do everything in her powers to stop it and save the ones she loves. But before she can do any of that, she has to get her demon-slaying license! Something her grandmother forgot to mention. And a biker granny is just too funny. I'm new to the series and found it quite comical, of course her talking dog, Pirate is a hoot as well! Talking dogs usually are, imagine a hyperactive dog and what it would be like for him to talk...you get the picture!

The romance was little in the book, which makes me wonder if this is urban fantasy rather than paranormal romance. Again, since I'm new to the series, I can't quite tell where this one would fall, because despite the romance being small, there was more than 1 romantic scene and the ending was somewhat HEA. I mean, it's not over, obviously since the 3rd book came out in January. So I just don't know what to classify this one as. But since I'm not big on the romance, the littleness of the romance in the book didn't bother me at all. I mean there was love between Lizzie and Dimitri, it just wasn't shown every single chapter.

The plot moved along pretty quickly too. It was rather fast paced and I liked it. I didn't get to read a lot of it this weekend because of work, but I finished the majority of it today and it went rather quickly. Once Lizzie gets herself, legally, into Las Vegas the story moves rather quickly with several interesting twists and surprises along the way. The ending was rather good too, very surprising as well.

A few things that happened, I don't know if they are to mean something. It's possible. But since I missed the first book, I don't know the extent of Lizzie's abilities and what's normal and not normal for her.
But overall it was a very entertaining book.

If I come to another lapse in releases I will likely buy the first one just because I'm curious to see how the story got started. I would recommend this to read easily if you are in need of a book to read. I always have to have something I'm reading despite having other tasks that need accomplishing, it's just who I am. Next up since I'm waiting for Blood Song by mail, is another RT book I received from a friend at the conference who didn't want it, is Ann Aguirre's
Blue Diablo. Until next time readers!