Mini Review--Shadow Play by Erin Kellison

Shadow 

The world is growing dark with it as mysteries from antiquity and legend creep into our time, bringing a new world of danger, beauty and... 

Magic 

Dr. Cam Kalamos has dedicated his life to studying its strange properties, but nothing is more intriguing than a woman whose soul is split in half, one part under her control, one part bent on... 

Seduction 

How can he resist the lure of a lover with no inhibitions and an insatiable desire to possess him? Both Ellie and her shadow want Cam, but there is an innocent child to be rescued from the forest and the strange fae creatures of... 

Twilight 

Love, loyalty, betrayal—which will rule? As Ellie sends her other self into the darkness, there is only one certainty: Trusting in shadows is a dangerous game.

Erin Kellison's Shadow Play was a followup to her other novella Shadow Touch! Took me a moment or two to figure that one out! Once you read so many books, novellas and other short stories, the mind takes a little longer to get back into the right groove!

Needless to say, it was still a great read! A quick little novella that I was able to read in an afternoon. Once again we are with Ellie and Cam, a few months after their relationship fully kicked into gear. And they are on a mission to save a child trapped in the Twilight realm. 

But Twilight is a dangerous place to be, all sorts of creatures--monsters--lurk there. And for a child to be trapped there for two days now, doesn't bode well. Ellie wants to rescue him and perhaps get rid of her constant problem of her own Shadow.

With such a short read it's hard to say much without giving too much away. But I liked seeing more of Ellie and Cam and their relationship. Theirs, like the others in these Shadow books, seem real. There isn't the whole insta love, maybe insta attraction, but you get that a lot anywhere! I like seeing these relationships develop and grow. It's just nice. I can't think of any other way to describe it.

Once again, there's that fairy tale like quality we get here. But I see it moving more onto faerie legends these days, but it's still wicked awesome! We get to see some interesting creatures in this little novella and it's a must read for all Erin Kellison fans! Especially if you read Shadow Touch!

Shadow Play was a brilliant followup and a marvelous addition to the Shadow series! 

Overall rating 4.5/5 stars--a near perfect rating, just would've liked to seen more! But alas, it is a novella and there are time constraints.

Friday Hops

This is a weekly blog meme hosted by Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read.

Here are the general rules to Follow Friday:

1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts and any one else you want to follow on the list

2. Follow our Featured Bloggers

3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.

4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments

5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can

6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers

7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!

8. If your new to the follow Friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

This week's question is: Activity! Dream cast your current read.

MY ANSWER: Oh crap. I just finished a book yesterday and haven't started my next read yet. Well I was reading Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson. And honestly I have no idea who I would cast. I really hate this kind of game, because I don't think of celebrities when I'm reading, I have my own vision of the character, but I'll try my best.

So I am kinda of cheating here, but I did sort of picture the girl who played Tiger Lily in the Neverland mini series. Although apparently her name was Aaya. Don't recall that, but it's been a while since I watched it.

Q'oriana Kilcher would definitely be a good Tiger Lily, since she obviously played that role!

And to be totally unoriginal, I was sort of thinking of a 16 year old Jeremy Sumpter as Peter Pan. He played Peter a few years back, 03 was it? And I thought he made a good Peter Pan, so let's cast a slightly older Jeremy as Peter!

So I will leave it at that. Like I said, I don't really like this game. Celebrities never really live up to how I wanted them to play the characters I grow to love in whatever book. So since these were two of the main characters I will leave it at that. Not sure who I would want to be Tinker Bell though since she was the narrator.


I sometimes prefer having totally new to the world actors/actresses playing book characters, that way their previous work won't influence my opinion of their portrayal of the book character.

TGIF is a weekly feature created and hosted by GReads! that re-caps the week’s posts and has different question each week.

This week's question is: Show Me Your Cover: What are some of the worst book covers, but hold some of the best stories inside? Don't be embarrassed, show us your cover!

MY ANSWER: Oh this is bad. I hate bashing cover art sometimes. At least you know, making it a public bashing. Especially when someone did take the time to make the cover art. I feel bad for not liking it. Of course it has nothing to do with the author's writing. And I cannot even totally blame the cover artist. Perhaps they didn't read the book, just got some idea of the main character and the plot and came up with what they came up with.

That being said I will choose a few covers I didn't really like:

Okay, I looove the H&W Investigations Novels!! The series is just incredible! But these last two covers were just kind of blah for me. The first cover was pretty neat, but then sudden;y the cover model goes cartoony. What's up with that? I so don't like the outfit on the second book. But as I said, I LOOOOOOVE the series and the cover did get a new look this time around and it's much nicer! Hope that look stays!

These covers weren't so bad, it's just they look like a trashy vampire romance novel instead of being the killer urban fantasy novel with a little heavier romance. So yeah, when I read these in public I used my hide-a-cover because I knew my friends would never let me hear the end of it! And also, I just don't like them that much. The vampires--both good vampires--look a little too possessive of the woman they're holding. It's a little off putting for me. But again, LOOOOVE the book itself!

I think that's all for now! I could keep going, but then I would have to keep writing my paragraph explaining why I didn't care for it because I don't want to offend anyone who does like it. And I soooo don't want to offend the authors or cover artists themselves. So yeah. I'm done here. :)

Random Thursday

So today's randomness is old Nickelodeon game shows!

Does anyone else remember these from the 90s?

My favorite was Legends of the Hidden Temple!! I always wanted to be a contestant, because I thought the obstacle course looked wicked awesome!

Or of course there was the other endurance show. EDIT: It was GUTS I now learned and of course I totally remember it now that it was brought up!

This was one that was more like Olympic Games for kids or something. It was entertaining, but not one of my fave game shows.

OOh there was also Figure it Out! I liked that one! I tried to play it as well, by not listening when the kid said what their talent was. I also liked watching the Nick stars that I liked back then get slimed! Poor Danny Tamberlli, he was always getting slimed it seemed!

Another one I remember while searching for these pics was Double Dare! Can't remember that one too much, but from the few picks I remember it being fun too! I was usually cheering the people on at home, you know while hopping up and down and shouting RUN RUN RUN! Or whatever! :)

Ahhh, the 90s! They really did have a lot of good shows on back then, even if they are hokey looking now!

What shows do you remember watching when you were a kid?

Waiting on Wednesday

I hate waiting...

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly blog post by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights releases we're eagerly awaiting.

An ancient darkness has risen from the ashes…and terror has been loosed upon an unsuspecting world.

Forensic witch Bianca Sin has never seen anything like it: homeless teenage girls torn to pieces by dark magic in the cold shadows of the city. More terrifying still is the symbol written in blood on an alley wall—the unmistakable seal of the Dark Brethren.

Teaming up with NYPD homicide detective Lancelot McManus and an elite task force headed by the shapeshifter Oberon DuPrie, Bianca knows her worse fears have finally come to pass. A new war of annihilation is looming that will plunge the worlds of vampire, shapeshifter, and human into chaos—and two adversarial tribes locked in uneasy truce will need to take up arms together to save the children. Trust will be essential for Sin and McManus, as the hunt forces them to confront their deepest terrors.

For the ultimate evil is no longer approaching.

It’s here.

I put a request for this on Edelweiss, so now I just have to wait to see if I can get it early! If not, oh well. I have plenty to read in the meantime! But Tracey's series is really interesting! I am liking how each book, so far, has different characters as the main ones! It's what I plan for my series too!

TITLE: Sin's Dark Caress
AUTHOR: Tracey O'Hara
PUBLISHER: HarperCollins
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: July 3, 2012

Queen Victoria rules with an immortal fist.

The undead matriarch of a Britain where the Aristocracy is made up of werewolves and vampires, where goblins live underground and mothers know better than to let their children out after dark. A world where being nobility means being infected with the Plague (side-effects include undeath), Hysteria is the popular affliction of the day, and leeches are considered a delicacy. And a world where technology lives side by side with magic. The year is 2012 and Pax Britannia still reigns.

Xandra Vardan is a member of the elite Royal Guard, and it is her duty to protect the Aristocracy. But when her sister goes missing, Xandra will set out on a path that undermines everything she believed in and uncover a conspiracy that threatens to topple the empire. And she is the key-the prize in a very dangerous struggle.

This is actually Kady Cross, writing under another name! I cannot wait to read this one!! It sounds incredible! I just cannot put into words why I am so intrigued! Only that it just sounds wicked awesome! I love these steampunk books with the paranormal elements!

TITLE: God Save the Queen
AUTHOR: Kate Locke
PUBLISHER: Orbit
GENRE: Steampunk (Paranormal)RELEASE DATE: July 3, 2012

Cover Copy Reveal--House Rules

In a city full of vampires, trouble never sleeps. 

At the tender age of 27, Merit became a sword-wielding vampire. Since then, she’s become the protector of her House, watched Chicago nearly burn to the ground, and seen her Master fall and rise. Now she’ll see her mettle—and her metal —tested like never before. 

It started with two . . . Two rogues vanishing without a trace. Someone is targeting Chicago’s vampires, and anyone could be next. With their house in peril, Merit and her Master, the centuries old Ethan Sullivan, must race to stop the disappearances. But as they untangle a web of secret alliances and ancient evils, they realize their foe is more familiar, and more powerful, than they could have ever imagined.

OOohhhh I sooo love this cover!! This has to be my favorite out of the series so far! Without a doubt!! I think it has to do with the red of Merit's top being the only color. Besides the title obviously. But I loooove the dark colors and splash of red. Blood red! Haha!! Also like the Cadogan on the pillar of the house! So cool!!

House Rules releases February 2013

Teaser Tuesday

Here are the rules:

1. Grab your current read

2. Open to a page

3. Pick out 2 lines that are SPOILER FREE

4. Name the title, author, etc.

 

 

I actually haven't read A Need So Beautiful before, and yet I am not really all that lost in this book! Granted there are things I feel like the reader will know if they read the first book and I likely will one of these days, but since the main character doesn't really know what's going on with herself and feeling like there are things she should know, but doesn't, having really weird and "familiar" dreams, I feel like I'm learning right along side of her! 

 

So of course if there are characters that were in the first book and are popping up now, I don't know them, but neither does Elise. But I do get the feeling that these people may be going by other names too. Definitely going to have to add the first book to my growing by the day TBR list!

 

And is just me or does this cover model sort of look like a youngish and less awkward Michelle Trachtenberg aka Dawn from Buffy?

 

 

"When I hand him a soda, our fingers touching once again, the smile that makes me melt returns to his lips. 'So,' Harlin asks, leaning against the tiled counter. 'Where do you want to do it?'" p 157*

*Page number comes from my ARC copy, therefore, it and the quote are not final

TITLE: A Want So Wicked
AUTHOR: Suzanne Young
PUBLISHER: Balzer & Bray (A division of HarperCollinns Publishers)
GENRE: Paranormal YA
RELEASE DATE: June 26, 2012

Cover Copy Reveal--Dearly, Departed

Can the living coexist with the living dead? 

That’s the question that has New Victorian society fiercely divided ever since the mysterious plague known as “The Laz” hit the city of New London and turned thousands into walking corpses. But while some of these zombies are mindless monsters, hungry for human flesh, others can still think, speak, reason, and control their ravenous new appetites. 

Just ask Nora Dearly, the young lady of means who was nearly kidnapped by a band of sinister zombies but valiantly rescued by a dashing young man . . . of the dead variety. 

Nora and her savior, the young zombie soldier Bram Griswold, fell hopelessly in love. But others feel only fear and loathing for the reanimated dead. Now, as tensions grow between pro- and anti-zombie factions, battle lines are being drawn in the streets. And though Bram is no longer in the New Victorian army, he and his ex-commando zombie comrades are determined to help keep the peace. That means taking a dangerous stand between The Changed, a radical group of sentient zombies fighting for survival, and The Murder, a masked squad of urban guerrillas hellbent on destroying the living dead. But zombies aren’t the only ones in danger: Their living allies are also in The Murder’s crosshairs, and for one vengeful zealot, Nora Dearly is the number one target. 

As paranoia, prejudice, and terrorist attacks threaten to plunge the city into full-scale war, Nora’s scientist father and his team continue their desperate race to unlock the secrets of “The Laz” and find a cure. But their efforts may be doomed when a mysterious zombie appears bearing an entirely new strain of the virus—and the nation of New Victoria braces for a new wave of the apocalypse. 

Lia Habel’s spellbinding, suspenseful sequel to Dearly, Departed takes her imaginative mash-up of period romance, futuristic thriller, and zombie drama to a whole new level of innovative and irresistible storytelling.

OOooh I soooo cannot wait for this one!! I even read on Lia's blog that there will be another character to see on the back of the cover!! Eep!

Dearly, Beloved releases September 25, 2012

ARC Review--Dreamless by Josephine Angelini

As the only Scion that can enter Hades at will, Helen descends to the Underworld in search of a way to overcome the Furies and end the cycle of revenge that has cursed the Scions. But she’s running out of time. Each descent weakens her both in mind and spirit. A mysterious stranger might be her only salvation, but the price may be her love for Lucas Delos.

As an unforgettable love triangle emerges, Josephine Angelini’s compelling saga becomes ever more intricate and spellbinding. The eagerly awaited sequel to the internationally bestselling Starcrossed, Dreamless delivers with a huge emotional impact that will leave readers satisfied—and longing for more.

I received this ARC at the Romantic Times Booklover's Convention via the Goody Room

Josephine Angelini's Dreamless pretty much picks up where we left off in Starcrossed, which is a little bit of chaos. I haven't read Starcrossed in a very loooong time, so it took me awhile to get reoriented with this world. I remembered some of the big details, but not all the steps that it took to get there.

So after my disorientation, I finally got sucked back into the book! Helen is quickly adjusting to being the Descender, every night she descends into the Underworld looking for a way to stop the Furies and their power over the Scions. If the Furies were at peace or overcome, then that might put an end to the feuds they have with one another. But it's a long shot. Helen wanders aimlessly through the Underworld trying to just find the three sisters. When one night she happens across someone else wandering through the Underworld. Someone who isn't dead either.

The plot in these books always stretches so far! At nearly 500 pages, it's hard to sum everything up, but we do see a lot of people. New enemies, old friends, they're all there and most of them tell their portion of the story too, in third person of course. So we can kind of get the idea of what's happening everywhere. But the big plan, the main scheme of things that all these events in Dreamless lead to, is not revealed until the very end! And it was kind of shocking, yet not. You kind of know that this might be on the horizon, but still its outcome is rather surprising!

I'm still antsy with the whole Lucas and Helen thing. They still have deep feelings for one another, even though they shouldn't (if you've read Starcrossed, you might remember why they shouldn't have these feelings, but I won't spoil it for you if you haven't). It just weirds me out a little still, even though none of us knew this at the time in Starcrossed.

Hence the intro of Orion, the new guy on the block! Not really, but you'll find out why later! Orion was definitely a breath of fresh air. He's definitely hero potential! I liked him, but I didn't really feel too many sparks between him and Helen. A few do spritz in the air between them, but I just wasn't "feeling" it with them.

This book definitely has a bit more action, as there's danger looming on the horizon and we don't know when it's coming. Helen and her friends are always doing something that ignites little things to happen, but again, there's a bigger threat in their futures.

The ending was, as I said, shocking! There's definitely a few more unanswered questions that came along the way, that will hopefully be answered in the next book. While these books are long, I find the length fitting for the genre--which has a twist in Greek mythology and even The Illaid was uber long. All epic Greek myths usually are! 

Cannot wait to read the next one, which might be the last. I cannot remember if this one is to be a trilogy, might be since a good percentage of YA books are! Dreamless is the perfect sequel to Starcrossed and continues Helen's journey of being a Scion and a teenage girl! A lovely read!

Overall rating 4.5/5 stars

Dreamless releases May 29, 2012

It's Monday! What are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. It's a fun meme where we gather to share what we've read last week and our reading plans for this week.

Last Week I Read:

Arise (ARC) by Tara Hudson--Review to come May 29

Chasing Magic (ARC) by Stacia Kane--Review to come at a later date

Reviews That Were Posted:

The Girl in the Clockwork Collar (ARC) by Kady Cross (5 stars)

Dark Kiss (ARC) by Michelle Rowen (4 stars)

Currently Reading:

A Want So Wicked (ARC) by Suzanne Young

What I Plan to Read this Week:

Tiger Lily (ARC) by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Other Posts of Interest:

Teaser Tuesday

Eternal Kiss of Darkness!!

Waiting on Wednesday

Cover Copy Reveal--The Shattered Dark

Random Thursday--Author Spotlight: Marianne Curley

Shadow Bound!

New Jocelynn Drake Cover!

Friday Hops

Top 5 Sundays

Stacking the Shelves

Stacking the Shelves

This weekly meme is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

Stacking The Shelves is all about the books we are adding to our shelves each week, sharing with you our excitement for our newest titles and maybe have you discover a new book in the process!

This week was pretty good, I didn't get much so I didn't add a whole lot to the TBR mountains taking residence in my room.

For review from the publisher via Netgalley, I got:

 The Goddess Legacy by Aimee Carter

Then I got from the author for review:

 a SIGNED ARC of:

Fire Kissed by Erin Kellison

Thanks again, Erin!!

 And that was my mailbox this week! What did you get?

 

Top 5 Sundays

Top 5 Sundays is a weekly blog meme created by Larissa at Larissa's Bookish Life.

Every Sunday I will post a TOP 5 list on the blog. It can be about anything and every week I'll have a new theme {You can vote on next week’s theme on my left sidebar!} and I will ad the Mr.Linky bellow the post so you can do a list with the theme and add you link to it.

Rules:

1 - Write a post listing your TOP 5 choices within the theme I chose (or was chosen on a poll) for the week.

2 - Mention this Blog on the post and link back to it.

3 - Fell free to use the Feature's image (there is a smaller size version of it bellow)

4 - After you've finished your post, add you link (of the post, not your blog's main page) to the Mr.Linky at the end of that week's post.

5 – If you don’t have a blog to post, just leave your list in the comments =)

This week's topic is: Characters With Which You'd Love to Have Dinner!

*in no particular order

OOh this will be fun! I'd say we all go out for pizza!

JANCO

So immediately I thought Janco HAS to be there!! He'll have us all laughing so hard at jokes and other stories from his adventures with Yelena and Ari, and the others too of course!

ELENA

Elena was one of the first paranormal women I remember reading about! And she quickly became one of my fave characters! Plus I think she could use a night off from the twins and Clay! 

RACHEL

 Rachel was another of the first paranormal characters I read about! And I quickly took a liking to her! She's spunky and fun! Would love to have her at the party!

ATTICUS

So there needs to be another guy at the party so Janco isn't surrounded by women! And I've only read the first book in this series with the other three waiting in my TBR stacks, but I did really enjoy Atticus! He was very entertaining and funny!

CAT (and BONES)

So I'm cheating here! And using this foreign cover to have both characters shown. I love Cat as well! She is one of my fave heroines, all kick butt like and all! And Bones likely will follow her and that's okay. Although it will be dreadful to sit near Bones while Cat is there. Sigh...at least I get to see him dressed like such! ;)

Friday Hops

This is a weekly blog meme hosted by Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read.

Here are the general rules to Follow Friday:

1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts and any one else you want to follow on the list

2. Follow our Featured Bloggers

3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.

4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments

5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can

6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers

7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!

8. If your new to the follow Friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

This week's question is: Summer Break is upon us! What would be the perfect vacation spot for you to catch up on your reading & relax?

MY ANSWER: Oh. Uh...I'm not sure really! Any place will do! As long as the weather is not unbearably hot and humid like it is in St. Louis during the summer. And as long as I have a nice comfy spot, I can pretty much read anywhere!

For the sake of choosing a location, I would say where I'm going next month, Grafton, Wisconsin! It's just outside Cedarburg and I love going there every year!

TGIF is a weekly feature created and hosted by GReads! that re-caps the week’s posts and has different question each week.

This week's question is: A Book Blogger is Born: What made you decide to start your very own book blog?

MY ANSWER: Ha. Ah, that's not a very interesting story! Really it was all because Rachel Vincent had a contest. I think it was for Prey, can't remember which book, but basically if you posted reviews in so many places you would get extra points.

And I wanted that signed book! I believe it was either an ARC or an author copy! Early is always good, no matter how early it is!

So, I looked into blogger and thought, hey, why not have my own blog! That was in 2009. I decided to keep it going, but the blogging community wasn't as big then I guess, because I didn't keep up with my blog as I should have.

But in 2010, I became a better blogger! And really as each year went by, I think I learned more and got a little better each year. My reviews were pretty wild in the beginning and sometimes still are! I can't seem to control my excitement for a book after I read it, but I want to get the review out before I forget all that I wanted to talk about.

So the short answer is because Rachel Vincent had had a contest for her book and I wanted to win it. Even though I didn't, I decided to still keep my blog running! The title even came to me, because I had thought Pride was a GREAT read!!

The review is still there too, but I don't recommend looking at it! Like I said, I learned a lot as time went by, including formatting my reviews and such! It's almost as funny as reading some of my earlier novels I wrote when I was 13!