Oct 26, 2009

Contest Alert--at BBB

Meant to do this earlier, but time escaped me yet again. Darn college classes and all the uber stress I'm receiving for taking part in it! Only 6 weeks and 1 semester to go!

Anyway, head on over to http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=12270, for an interview, chat, and contest with Jocelynn Drake. The contest ends tonight, but if you hurry you can still get some questions answered by Jocelynn and a chance to win some pretty cool prizes. While the grand prize flip camera is pretty snazzy, I'm always happy to win a signed copy of her latest book! ;)

So hurry on over! Go, quick, run! ;)
http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=12270

Oct 22, 2009

Review--Retribution


Anna Strong was a tough-as-nails bounty hunter until the night she was attacked by a vampire--and changed forever.

A newly turned vampire, Anna is forging an uneasy balance between her old human life and her new supernatural one. Still, with her partner out of town, her family abroad and her mentor estranged, she doesn't have anyone to turn to--which is why she's keeping a low profile.

But now young vampires are turning up dead, completely drained of their life force. Although Anna worries she might be next, things start getting personal when her shape-shifter friend is found clinging to his life. So when Williams, her former teacher and now the leader of a supernatural enforcement squad, asks for her help, Anna can't say no.

But soon she'll wish she had...

Yea! Finally finished Retribution, it only took forever! The storyline pretty much picks up where Legacy left off, Anna is in the thick of things when trying to figure out what exactly is going on.

Now I'm not sure how much is considered spoilers here so I'm going to be vague yet again. A character that we saw in The Watcher, I believe it was, returns, which is the start of all the turmoil in the story.

Anna is drawn back in to William's supernatural team while trying to save her friend, and in turn another friend who is helping the first injured one, as well. Lives are hanging in the balance. Not to mention that newly turned vampires are winding up dead, but there is something different about these vampires that Anna cannot quite figure out.

Anna is set on wild goose chase after goose chase in trying to capture the "villain" and her "nosing around" really makes the "villain" mad and it costs Anna deeply. Now not only does she want to capture the "villain" for what they did--improper sentence I know, but I don't want to give away anything--to the other vampires, but she has to exact revenge for what she lost.

Enough on that part. More characters return, such as Lance--who I almost forgot about really, but he wasn't in the story that much. Sandra returns as well, and the tension between her and Anna is written beautifully. You can really tell that what happened between them in Legacy still has an affect on them. We also get to see more of Ortiz and his life outside the police force, boy was there some surprises there!

The characters are all lovable or despicable. You love them or hate them. Jeanne Stein writes in a way so you know how to feel about the character in question, mostly with how Anna feels about them. But my feelings about some of the characters are pretty much the same way Anna feels about them.

Williams is still someone that Anna doesn't know if she can trust completely since she left the Watchers, but now she needs his help and the two of them will have to put the past aside for now. But Williams and Anna don't always get along, as was noted throughout the last few books, their heated debates are intriguing as well. In their last one, Williams reveals a secret that leaves Anna in shock.

It is so hard to believe that there are 5 books in the series and yet for Anna it's all been less than a year. Her one year anniversary of being a vampire comes up in a few more months. Scary. :)

I will attempt to start my next book, but school is bound to get in the way. In fact in two weeks I have 3 tests all in the same week and 2 of them are on the same day. So my reading material isn't going to be anything of interest for awhile. So looking forward to December. December 10 to be precise!

Oct 20, 2009

Quick Post

Okay, sorry for my absence. As I noted several times before I am very busy with school and all those lovely papers and tests that require time away from my reading. I am still reading Jeanne Stein's Retribution, but I almost finished. In theory I hope to have a review up by the end of week, which I will then put my reading on hold once again to start writing a lovely 12 page paper. Oh and going to work. Fun-fun-fun!

I will return, in case anyone is still out there waiting to see a new review from me.

Oct 7, 2009

Review--Frostbitten




Being the world's only female werewolf has its advantages, such as having her pick of the Otherworld's most desirable males. Elena Michaels couldn't have picked a more dangerously sexy and undying loyal mate than Clayton Danvers. Now their bond will be put to the ultimate test as they follow a bloody trail of gruesome slayings deep into Alaska's frozen wilderness.


There's nothing the werewolf community dislikes more than calling attention to itself. So when a pair of rogue man-eaters begin hunting humans, it's up to Elena and Clayton to track down the predators. But any illusions that their task would be simple are quickly dispelled. For even in werewolf terms, there's something very disturbing taking place in the dark Alaskan forests. A werewolf more wolf than human and more unnatural than supernatural is on the hunt--a creature whose origins seem to spring from ancient legends of the shape-shifting Wendigo.

And if that wasn't bad enough Clayton and Elena find themselves confronting painful ghosts from their pasts--and an issue neither of them is eager to discuss. For one of them has been chosen to become the new Pack leader, and as every wolf knows, there can be only one Alpha. They've always been equals in everything. Now, when their survival depends more than ever on perfect teamwork, will instinct allow of them to lead...and the other to follow?

FINALLY finished Frostbitten and I was not disappointed. I loved it! I so missed seeing Elena and Clay again, I really didn't think she'd return for a long while. This story was great! It's nice to see Elena and Clay on good terms, although they've been on good terms since the end of Bitten, so that shouldn't be much of a surprise!

Well as cover jacket says Elena and Clay are off to the wilds of Alaska dealing with new enemies that are a real pain in the you-know-what. Women are being murdered and raped, so it's no surprise what's going on. Only there are still several surprises to be had. There is more than one supernatural creature in Alaska as the jacket describes and it was fascinating!

I don't want to divulge too much into it, but the Wendigo legend wasn't new to me, so I loved seeing something that isn't normally seen in my collection of reading. It was cool. And having read Men of the Otherworld earlier this year, really helped me understand the back story behind some characters that came into the scene. It's mentioned in the book, so if you haven't read Men of the Otherworld yet, don't panic. I think that comes out in paperback next April too, in case people were waiting for that version.

It's hard to think of Elena as a mother since Broken, even reading her Twitter story seemed unreal. I was like wow, she really is a mom now. But that doesn't effect her character much in the story. She's not soccer mom fighting crime. In fact the twins stay at home for the adventure she and Clay have in Alaska. Even those Twitter events pop up which I found to be exciting.

There was one problem that I was left wondering about, but I won't mention it. It wasn't really brought up afterward anyway, so I wonder if I missed something. Possible, since it took me so long to read it! Darn school.

A lot of the characters from the Otherworld pop up towards the end too, so it was nice to see the whole gang together again! Well, most of the gang anyway!

Back on target, Elena is a very strong character and I love that about her. She has been through a lot, according to her history, and more just keeps happening, yet she overcomes it. She's not one to play damsel in distress. She fights her own battles, but is smart enough to know when she needs help or when it's safer to run.

Well, I feel like if I keep talking about the book, I might let something slip that I shouldn't and I don't want to do that. Overall if you've read the Otherworld books before and loved them than this is one you can't miss. Elena--the first Otherworld woman returns, and from a few people that I've talked to who like the series agree that Elena is by far our favorite Otherworld woman. So hurry out and grab your copy of Frostbitten, you won't be disappointed!

Oct 6, 2009

URGENT!

I was just over at Brooke Reviews and saw this urgent message regarding book bloggers/reviewers. She saw this at Donna over at Bites Blog so I'm helping to spread the word.

This is straight from Brooke's blog which is straight from Donna's blog, because as Brooke says, Donna obviously knows more about it than any of us.


I talked about this back in
August. Thanks to At Home With Books for posting the most recent information.

Starting December 1, the FTC will require disclosure from all bloggers whom they deem as being compensated for their reviews on any products. Meaning, if you review something for free and retain the product, you must disclose it or risk a mighty fine. Upward of $11,000. But you could always return it . . . O_o

That means book bloggers, people. Keeping a review copy is considered compensation and must be disclosed. Fun stuff, right?

This article goes into more detail thanks to an interview with a member of the Bureau of Consumer Protection.

Don't say I didn't warn you! While they say the FTC will target the companies as opposed to the bloggers for fines (considering the sheer number of us), it still means we have to amend how we run things with our blogs. And our taxes. Remember, if review copies are considered compensation, they have a monetary value and need to be reported on taxes. OMG, fun!

Aside from the ultimate level of suck this is at, I wouldn't get too worked up for it but at the same time I wouldn't brush it off, either. It's best to keep up to speed on things like this because the last thing you want is the FTC and the IRS on your ass.

There it is. Be sure to spread the word to other bloggers and reviewers.

Oct 5, 2009

Cover Art--Spirit Bound


Richelle Mead has posted the cover for the next Vampire Academy novel, Spirit Bound! OMG this is so incredible!! I love this one! It's amazing! I really hope the guy is who I think it is!!

Spirit Bound comes out May 18 2010. Such a long wait!

Oct 3, 2009

Still Reading...



Hello faithful readers.

Sadly there will be no review this week. Not sure when I will get around to it. I am still reading Kelley Armstrong's Frostbitten and loving it so far. Not real far into it. School is getting intense with midterms coming up and I am still trying to work on papers and other upcoming tests. Not pretty. On top of all that I still have too many hours at my part time job that I am getting stressed out to the max.

Still reading when I can though. It is just slow going. As you can see I'm still trying to get Jeanne's book in and that was released in August. And all this month I will be reading my September books. My ultimate goal is that by December when I am on break I will be able to finish all the books I currently have sitting on my shelf waiting desperately to be read and that before the break is up I will be ranting about having nothing new to read. Of course that may be unlikely as I do have at least 1 book that comes out in December, possibly 2 with the chance of finding a 3rd and then comes January, a new year and a few new releases to be read! Of course school starts up again sooner than I would like, but I am really hoping that my last semester of college goes over smoothly. With the possibility of only having 4 classes and working extra time on the literary magazine at my school for credit.

So, really the point of this rant...er...post, ;) , is to say that yes I am still reading Frostbitten and my goal is to finish it this week and have a review up by next weekend. But I do have at least 1 test and 1 quiz that I know of so far that I need to study for and preparation for a midterm that following week. It's not going to be a pretty end of the year is all I can say. Wishing desperately it was December. December 12th to be on the safe and exact side!

Please bear with me in these hard times of college craziness. Not being able to read my books hurts me deeply and I really miss being able to post reviews for the people who need them. I find myself needing a review for a book every now and then too.

Again, I hope that next semester will be better and allow me more time for reading and reviewing!