Teaser Tuesday

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

Teaser Tuesday 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.

So my rule breaking this week wasn't too bad. One teaser, but over two lines!

"Sweat drips down my spine. I feel it bead on my forehead and in the crooks of my arms. That gray hand leads to a wrist, which leads to an arm, which then leads to a shoulder, and before I know it, she's there. In my doorway. Staring at me through dead, milky eyes." p 153

TITLE: My Soul to Steal
AUTHOR: Rachel Vincent
GENRE: YA Paranormal
RELEASE DATE: January 1, 2011

White Flame Tour with Jordan Deen

Today I am pleased to welcome Jordan Deen to a GREAT read! Jordan is the author of The Crescent series (according to Goodreads). Jordan has been kind enough to answer a few questions that I thought up. Be sure to leave a comment to participate in The White Flame Tour. Jordan is having a contest, you can find the details here and here.

Now onto the interview!

JESSICA: What made you want to be a writer?

JORDAN: I've always loved writing, but I didn't start on my first full length novel until a few years ago. But, as most writer's will tell you, once you start, it's very difficult to "turn it off". :)

JESSICA: How did you decide to make your love triangle? Both guys have their positives and it's almost hard to choose a "team". Was this intentional? (This was of course directed more so after The Crescent, now after Half-Moon I have chosen a side!)

JORDAN: Yes. I'm sorry to say it was completely intentional. There is a very vital plot twist that is coming in Half Moon and Full Moon that I really needed the reader to be in love with both boys, equally. Each have their own draw backs and their own strong points. Who wouldn't love them both? I mean, I do.

JESSICA: There's quite a bit of mystery regarding Lacey, will that be explored more in Half-Moon?

JORDAN: Yes. Lacey's story will get more and more involved the further we get through her story. In Half Moon the reader will start to feel Lacey's struggle more as their own when they discover the sacrifices she is still being asked to make and the life changing information she discovers about her past and her soon-to-be future.

JESSICA: How many books do you have planned for the series?

JORDAN: Half Moon is the second in the series. The next installment, Full Moon will conclude Lacey's story. However, there is planned cross-over novel that you will learn more of in Full Moon. Fingers crossed the publisher loves it!

JESSICA: What kind of books do you like to read most? Any favorite authors or recommendations?

JORDAN: I'm a huge fan of YA Urban Fantasy and Edgy YA. My favorite book right now is Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles.

JESSICA: What was your road to publication like?

JORDAN: Oye. Long and bumpy. I think this is pretty standard and I can't say my experience has been any different than other authors out there. It's hard and can be heartbreaking at times, but it's worth it to share the stories of characters that I love dearly.

JESSICA: What do you plan to write next?

JORDAN: I've got more than five novels in process right now. I sort of have writing A-D-D. I like to go back and forth between novels based on my moods and the things going on in my personal life at the time. I personally identify with each character, so when they start invading my mind, I know it's time to work on that particular novel. Makes sense? 

JESSICA: Thanks for stopping by Jordan!

JORDAN: No problem!

Be sure to leave a comment to be eligible to win the ARC of Half Moon and other goodies! Be sure to continue on with the White Flame Tour as well. Click here for the list of blogs.

Top 5 Sundays

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

Here's a little info about the meme taken from Larissa's blog:

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 the theme was a tie! So the themes are: BOOKISH RESOLUTIONS FOR 2011 and BOOK COVERS I'M COVETING FOR 2011!

I'll start with Bookish Resolutions which might be a little tricky for some reason...

5.

Complete my 2011 Debut (YA) Author Challenge from the Story Siren, which I have no doubt that I can't. Since I already have 3 books done and a list of more that I HAVE to read!

4.

This is a two part one, I first have to get a Kindle to replace the Kobo I got, because that one wasn't cooperating with my laptop so I decided to have my sis get me this one instead. After I get that, I have to then figure it all out!

3.

Make sure I buy some Kindle books instead of buying all hardcopies like I'm used to. I already have a few titles in mind if the price is better than a hardcopy!

2.

Read a LOT of books!

1.

Get myself ready and into gear to start querying and get myself at least signed up with an agent!

I've seen quite a lot of covers for next year already, but I'm sure some more GREAT ones are on the way. So here are my Top 5 from the ones that have been released as of now.

5.

Hard Bitten by Chloe Neil, click here for the BOC

4.

Burn the Night by Jocelynn Drake!

3.

Cat Adams' Demon Song. Click here for a BOC description.

2.

Secrets and Shadows by Shannon Delany, (is anyone surprised?) Click here for a BOC description.

1.

Jeaniene Frost's This Side of the Grave with the inner cover flap included of course!! Click here for the BOC description.

This was slightly harder because there were a lot of covers that I liked! And here a few other notable honorary covers:

Andrea Cremer's Wolfsbane

Jenna Black's Shadowspell

And now I will stop because I could go on and on and then some about the covers that I like (so far) this year!

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a weekly blog post by Kirsti over at The Story Siren.

Well things started a little scarier when I only bought 2 books, but then luck came yesterday when I found 2 more so I got 4 glorious NEW titles this week and plan to hit the store again today!

I bought a hardcopy of Nicole Peeler's Tempest's Legacy, I read an E-ARC early, but I still want a copy to keep forever! Here's my review.

Then I also found Victoria Laurie's Ghouls Ghouls Ghouls! I looove her Ghost Hunter Mysteries, my record to date has been reading each of these books in one day! I hope to do the same with this one as well!

Then I found Secrets of the Demon by Diana Rowland! I started this series just last year and it was amazing!! So can't wait to read this one!

Then I found Arcane Circle by Linda Robertson, which just about finishes up my December releases, I did order my last one as it appeared not to be available in stores. Weird, but whatever, it's in the mail!

And that's what I got this week. Pretty good! And there are still a few releases I need to get next week when they release on Tuesday. Man, my TBR pile is wayyyy too tall! YAY!

So what did you get this week?

Review--E-ARC Half-Moon by Jordan Deen

"I’d been a fool for coming here with them, and now... no one would come to save me. The world that hid in the shadows of humanity was full of enemies."

Faced with death, Lacey Quinn ran away from the only family she’d ever known.

That... was just the beginning.

As the decision she’s made sinks in, Lacey struggles to fit in with the pack and find the key to bonding with her werewolf soul mate, Brandon. But, lies can only be concealed for so long.

Adjusting to a powerful new best friend, a twelve-year-old roommate with a nauseating Barbie fetish, and a lost love that won’t stop haunting her dreams, she knows she has no hope of having a normal future—ever again.

After a long talk with the dead mother she never knew, and an almost deal-breaking night out with Brandon, Lacey starts spiraling into the underworld—a place where all things are possible and everyone is out to kill her.

With mysterious legends of witches and sorcery marring her past and clouding her future, she quickly learns—werewolves aren’t the only ones lurking in the woods...waiting to claim her powers for their own.

The Mares? Well, they are the least of her worries.

I was delighted to be able to receive an e-ARC of Half-Moon by Jordan Deen after reading The Crescent not that long ago and WOW! It totally lives up to The Crescent!

Some time has passed and Lacey is trying to adjust to her new life. Werewolf-ness and all. She's a werewolf, but hasn't transformed yet. She has a soulmate but can't truly connect with him, she's still sort of in love with Alex, the wolf who was forced to betray her and gain her trust, and she's not quite getting along with her new werewolf family either. Life has become extremely miserable for Lacey, but she deals with it.

There are some new characters involved as well, not all nice guys either. My fave new character was Brea, who Lacey soon realizes was once her best friend as a baby, for their mothers were BFFs and Brea was supposed to be the one to protect Lacey.

Which leads to Lacey's other discovery, which I won't tell. All I will say is that Lacey learns some things about her real parents and her life before she was taken away, which again, she was just a baby, but we learn what should have been.

The pacing was well done, it was a little slow at first for Lacey and Brandon were trying to reconnect, and it was slow going, which was where Brea and her mate Catch came in and there was a very interesting double-date between the two, but won't detail it out. 

I found myself still stricken between both Alex and Brandon. By the end of The Crescent I didn't have a "team", I was totally at lost. And I was still lost throughout most of Half-Moon, even when it was mostly just Lacey and Brandon moments, but then of course Alex returns! And totally throws me (and Lacey for that matter) through a loop! Although, by the end of the novel I have firmly decided whose team I'm on, but I won't say because in my twisted ways and thinking it is sort of spoilery.

So yes there was more romance in this novel too, since last time we saw a lot between Lacey and Alex, this time we see it with Lacey and Brandon, for they are supposed to be together as Brandon mentioned in The Crescent. The romance was nicely written for it was a gradual process between two people who know each other and yet don't.

It was a very exciting read! I liked learning more of the backstory to Lacey and the werewolves. For the werewolves have their history and Lacey has her own family history and we get to learn all of that and it was quite interesting and fun to read! The ending was great too, it's not a major cliffhanger, but it does leave some things unsettled and there was quite the shocker at the end too. So I definitely can't wait to read Full Moon when it releases later this year as well!

My overall rating is 4.5/5 stars! Half-Moon takes you to the werewolf side of Lacey's life and what she has to learn in order to be one of them and truly gain their acceptance. Lacey is faced with difficult tasks, including trying to find the love she once had for Brandon while battling the still growing desire for Alex.

This title releases January 13, 2011

Be sure to stop by tomorrow for my interview with Jordan as a part of the White Flame Tour! Click the button on the sidebar for more info!

Review--E-ARC Death's Sweet Embrace by Tracey O'Hara

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.

Death's Sweet Embrace is the highly anticipated book in Tracey O'Hara's Dark Brethern series. I was excited to read this book early through NetGalley and it did not disappoint!

As you can tell from the BOC, this is a slightly different novel, Antoinette is not the main character while she is there throughout the novel. The point of view is multiple third person, so it's hard to say who the main character really is, I would say it's Kitt, the female Animalian from the Animalian couple described in the BOC. Raven is the other and her lover.

Some things that were a little complicated was the history about the Animalians. There were some past events that get explained along the way, yet at times I kept feeling like I was missing something, like the info was supposed to be already know, and yet I didn't know it. This didn't take away from the story though as there was a connection between Antoinette and another mentioned character who might have been in Night's Cold Kiss, yet I can't recall since it's been a few months since I last read it.

Overall Death's Sweet Embrace was a very exciting read! Kitt is drawn into a murder investigation a little unwilling, but complies and soon discovers that her lover, Raven is helping out as well when he should be in hiding since her father has put on bounty on his head for a past murder, one that he may or may not have committed. Kitt is also in exile from her pack for the decisions she has made and she longs to return to her Pride and her daughters. A small reprieve she has is that her daughters attend the school where she is teaching.

While trying to work the case with Oberon, Antoinette and the others, Kitt has to fight her attraction to Raven for getting back together would be too dangerous especially when her father's people start watching her.

Filled with action, suspense, intrigue, and a bit of romance, Death's Sweet Embrace is an incredibly GREAT read that I highly recommend. Vampires are seen a little differently here, much like they were in the first book, and there are other supernatural creatures involved so it makes for a fun flavorful read. I am really looking forward to the next book, as now knowing that there was a narrator shift, I am wondering who we will see next and what other connections will be made.

Overall I give the book 4.5/5 stars!

Happy New Year!

Hope 2011 rings in a good new year for you with happy moments, good times with friends and family, and all the other wonderful things in life. Including a year filled with lots of GREAT reads!

Interview with Jess Haines (Free E-book Download!)

I'm pleased to announce that I have a blog interview today with Jess Haines, author of the H&W Investigations series! Her latest release Taken by the Others releases January 4, 2011 and it is a GREAT read. See my review here.

Now onto the interview!

JESSICA: Is it hard to write a character who started with some prejudices about vampires?

JESS: In some ways, yes. Being a person who adores vampires, I knew that it wouldn’t be terribly interesting to write about someone interacting with a vampire who already has the hots for all things supernatural. Where’s the tension in that?

Instead, I figured it would make more sense to take someone who was downright phobic of them and have her draw their interest. Think about it—a hot, sexy vampire getting in your personal space when you’re terrified of being bitten or magically enthralled? And, being human, having no real defenses to speak of? Makes for some very interesting times…

JESSICA: Shiarra is an interesting name for your main character, where did you come up with that?

JESS: I’ve always been a gamer geek, so coming up with odd or unusual names is something of a specialty of mine. You might notice the occasional subtle (or not so subtle) hints to my geekier nature sprinkled here and there throughout the books. I’ve given a wink-and-nod to just about everything in my novels—from EverQuest to World of Warcraft to AD&D to Vampire: the Masquerade—nothing is sacred!

JESSICA: How many books do you have planned for the series?

JESS: I’m contracted for six right now. Will there be more? We’ll see…

JESSICA: What can we expect to see from Shiarra in Taken by the Others?

JESS: All kinds of nifty and terrible things!

Shiarra gets to deal with her phobia of vampires in a major way. She gets beaten, kidnapped, bitten, and otherwise knocked around, but—taking a cue from good ol’ Harry Dresden—she keeps on ticking. Let’s not forget the White Hats (crazy and/or extremist supernatural hunters) are still trying to recruit her to their cause, and someone is trying to kill her werewolf boyfriend, Chaz. Lucky for her, the one thing she doesn’t have to deal with (much) this time is her parental units giving her grief about her job, her love life, or spending time around Others.

For the Chaz and Royce fans in the audience, don’t worry—there’s plenty of face time for both of them this time around!

JESSICA: Are you a full-time or part-time writer? Benefits and negatives to your choice?

JESS: Full-time non-fiction (technical) writer, and part-time fiction writer. My day job consists of writing manuals and policy, which is just as boring as it sounds, but pays the bills.

Writing fiction is my reason for living. I have loved creative writing from the time I was a teenager. I have literally hundreds of thousands of words written simply for the fun of it. It's hard for me to see a down side, since I never expected something done mostly for kicks to take off like it has. The first novel in the H&W Investigations series, HUNTED BY THE OTHERS, was the first book I ever sought publication for, and it’s now selling internationally, going to be translated into two languages (German and French), with five more books in the series on the way. That’s a heck of a leap for something I was fiddling with in my spare time. The way things are going, and if I’m lucky, maybe some day this will be what I do full time for a living!

JESSICA: What do you like to do when you're not writing?

JESS: Aside from surfing the internet and lurking on random blogs, I’ve recently discovered the joys of Twitter. I enjoy reading, of course—mostly horror, fantasy and science fiction, though I will occasionally delve into romance, history, philosophy, etc. I’m not great at it, but I like to sketch. Watching (and MSTing) movies with my friends is one of my favorite pastimes. Don’t ask about the time we almost got thrown out of the theater while watching New Moon. When I have time for it, I like to go hiking or walking on the beach, too.

JESSICA: What book are you currently reading or read last?

JESS: I’m currently reading Mark Henry’s BATTLE OF THE NETWORK ZOMBIES (Amanda Feral #3). It’s delightfully inappropriate!

JESSICA: Thanks for taking the time to come over and answer these questions!

JESS: Thanks for having me over! 

You can now read the first H&W Investigations novel, Hunted by the Others, for FREE by Amazon kindle and you don't have to have a kindle for it, just download the app for your computer or cell phone device.

Hurry with this offer, it goes from December 31, 2010-January 2, 2011!!

Here is the link for Amazon US

Here is the link for Amazon UK

Cover Art--2 Titles!

I was over at Dark Faerie Tales this morning and saw some AWESOME covers that release next year so I thought I would share them here!

First off we have Merrie Destefano's Feast!

Halloween is a bad time to return to the woods…

Madeline MacFadden (“Mad Mac” to fans of her bestselling magical stories) spent blissful childhood summers in Ticonderoga Falls. And this is where she wants to be now that her adult life is falling apart. The dense surrounding forest holds many memories, some joyous, some tantalizingly only half-remembered. And she’s always believed there was something living in these wooded hills.

But Maddie doesn’t remember the dark parts—and knows nothing of the mountain legend that holds the area’s terrified residents captive. She has no recollection of Ash, the strange and magnificent creature who once saved her life as a child, even though it is the destiny of his kind to prey upon humanity. And soon it will be the Harvest…the time to feast.

Once again Maddie’s dreams—and her soul—are in grave danger. But magic runs deep during Harvest. Even a spinner of enchanted tales has wondrous powers of her own…

This title releases June 28, 2011

Then I saw Jocelynn Drake's next Dark Days novel, Burn the Night and I loooove it!! Mira looks so kickass and like she is going to burn the night!!! And this is supposed to be the last one from what I've been hearing.

No cover description yet that I could find, but will post once I find it! 

This title will release on June 28, 2011 as well.

Review--ARC Taken by the Others by Jess Haines

Jess Haines draws readers deep into the mesmerizing world of the Others–werewolves, vampires, and mages who make their home among humans, and are turning Shiarra Waynest’s life upside down…

Once, New York P.I. Shiarra Waynest’s most pressing problem was keeping her agency afloat. Now she’s dealing with two dangerous, seductive vampires who have been enemies for centuries. The only thing Max Carlyle and Alec Royce agree on is that they both want Shia–for very different reasons.

Max is determined to destroy Shia for killing his progeny, while Royce’s interest is a lot more personal. That’s not sitting well with Shia’s werewolf boyfriend, Chaz. As the feud between Max and Royce gets ever more deadly, a powerful vampire-hunting faction is urging Shia to join their side. Shia has always believed vamps were the bad guys, but she’s discovering unexpected shades of grey that are about to redefine her friends, her loyalties–and even her desires…

I received this ARC in a contest from Jess Haines herself. 

I read Jess Haines' debut Hunted by the Others a few months ago and immediately fell into her world that seems so much like ours but in the distant (maybe not so distant, lol!) future. Taken by the Others picks up a few months later and Shiarra's life is just starting to get to somewhat normal when more trouble strikes, for any book wouldn't be interesting if there wasn't a whole mess of trouble!

Shiarra finds herself neck deep in trouble when another vampire, Max Carlyle rolls into town and wants revenge against Royce for past injustices. And he plans to take out his revenge by using Shiarra. 

The action picks up rather quickly I think, it's a gradual pace but still written well so we are not immediately thrust into the thick of things. It is sort of like moving from point A to point B but at a steady yet fast pace. I have become really taken with Haines' world of vampires, Weres, and mages, for it seems more lifelike in some ways. How there is a sense of prejudice and injustice to the supernaturals. Humans either fear/hate them or some are totally enamored by them. You don't usually see this too much, there's either a hate or love for vamps and whatnot right away in a book--of course this is just something I noticed in the books I read, and I don't read absolutely everything so don't think I'm preaching that this is the "only" book that does this.

Basically I just like the confliction Shiarra has for the supernaturals. She has always kind of feared and disliked them, but her opinions tend to change as the novels proceed. Just a little, step by step and I like that she can overcome her prejudice at times with the right supernaturals. Of course since the bad guy is usually a supernatural as well it still makes things difficult.

The romance in the book wasn't really noticeable either, nothing intense. There are "moments" I guess you can say that are somewhat romantic but not the full thing, for as is noted by Shiarra, she and Chaz can't do "the nasty" unless she signs a contract. So things between them are somewhat platonic...for the meantime at least. Although, Royce is still another thing entirely. As we learned at the end of Hunted by the Others, but I won't touch on that matter here.

The ending was good too, it wrapped things up without much of a cliffhanger. More of just a wondering what's next. And there is a sneak peek at the next novel Deceived by the Others which releases July 5, 2011, but I had to pass on reading it for sneak peeks are just plain evil to me!

Overall I give the book 5/5 stars and looking forward to the next!

This title releases on January 4, 2011--so really not a long wait at all!

Top Reads of 2010

Over at Nice Girls Don't Read Naughty Books, Heidi has posted the top reads of 2010 from a few bloggers and I was one of them along with my friend Claire from Cem's Book Hideout, and Nikki from Evilqueen's Realm of Ensorcelled Reads.

There you will see our top 5 fave books from the year along with a cover. And Heidi is also having a contest as well for a chance to win a E-book copy of Rachel Vincent's My Soul to Keep!

So head on over for a chance to win! Click here.

Quickie Reviews

Since these two were rather short, the reviews will be brief. I loved Jenna Black's debut YA novel, Glimmerglass, so I jumped at the chance to receive this short story, Remedial Magic, for free via Amazon.

It was short like I said, but it dealt with Ethan and his sister, Kimber. Since it's been several months since I last read Glimmerglass, it took me awhile to remember the characters. But as it was short, I didn't stay too long in this world.

It basically deals with Kimber trying to learn magic. Or more magic. Whichever, and it results in quite a surprise. Like a horror version of Toy Story, but not quite Chucky.

Overall I'd give it 3.5/5, it was good and perhaps it was the distance from reading Glimmerglass that made it harder for me to remember the characters. Not a bad read really. Just a few pages long, but Dana wasn't in it, so that might have made it a little harder to connect with as well.

And as you know, I LOVED 13 to Life so I nabbed Shannon Delany's prequel story, Beasts and BFFs as well.

This one seemed shorter to me and was another okay like read. Since it's a prequel we don't get to see everyone, in fact we just see Jessie, Sarah, and Amy.

There wasn't much to the storyline here except seeing a moment with the friends, or rather Amy's dislike of Sarah, which we learned why back in 13 to Life!!

But basically the girls have a close encounter with something scary and hairy while on a jog and that was the gist of it.

Again, nothing major happening here either, but it was still pretty enjoyable for a short prequel story. Can't expect too much out of them but it was kind of interesting, because we see how the friends are with one another and Amy's strong dislike of Sarah.

Overall I give this on a 3.5/5 as well, mostly because I was hoping for the appearance of a certain someone, but alas, he was not there...in the way I wanted to see him at least. ;)

You can find these titles for free at Amazon for a short time I believe, unless they're free forever...not sure about that, so nab them while you can. Just click on the title links to be directed to their page on Amazon.

Cover Art--Adrian Phoenix

Saw this cover over at ATUF and thought I share it here since I can't wait to read this one. I enjoyed Black Dust Mambo so I want to give Black Heart Loa a try!

Looove this cover!

While searching for her missing bayou-pirate cousin, Kallie Riviere, a fiery Cajun hoodoo apprentice with a talent for trouble, finds out the hard way that someone’s undoing powerful gris gris down in the bayou and changing the very nature of magic. Suddenly working magic is like rolling a handful of dice—random and definitely not what you planned.

Now the wards woven by conjurers to protect New Orleans and the Gulf coast are in danger of unraveling, leaving the city and the coastline vulnerable just as the deadliest storm—an unnatural storm—in a century is born. And aims for the heart of New Orleans.

As Kallie races to uncover the random magic’s source and restore the wards, she learns a dark and unsettling truth: she might be the source. And she and everyone close to her—including a certain sexy nomad who can wear wet boxers like no other man—are being hunted.

Then Kallie steps right into the most dangerous trap of all, a trap set just for her in the form of a tall, dark, and grumpy loup garou designed to steal her heart. Literally.

This one releases June 28, 2011

Waiting on Wednesday

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

Well moving down my list already has me skipping 2 releases since I read them early and LOVED them, which I'll still be buying copies, so my next book I can't wait to read is Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright.

As you know I'm not a Twilight fan, but I still plan on reading this new version of Red Riding Hood next month that's from the Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke. Mostly because I love retellings of fairy tales. And I already plan on seeing the movie too.

I read quite a few of fairytale retellings in the YA line and I did read a Red Riding Hood one where the wolf was a werewolf and Red Riding Hood falls in love with him. Most likely a totally different story from this one, but when I heard there was a book coming out months before the movie, I thought I had to check it out!

The body of a young girl is discovered in a field of wheat. Her flesh mutilated by telltale claw marks. The Wolf has broken the peace.

When Valerie learns that her sister has been killed by the legendary creature, she finds herself at the center of a dark mystery, one that has plagued her village for generations. It is revealed that the werewolf lives among them, and everyone in the village immediately becomes a suspect. Could her secret love Peter be behind the attacks on her town? Is it her betrothed, Henry? Or someone even closer to her?

As the men in the village hunt for the beast, Valerie turns to her grandmother for help. She gives Valerie a handmade red riding cloak, and guides her through the web of lies and deception that has held her town together for so long. Will Valerie discover the werewolf's identity before the town is ripped apart?

This is a dangerous new vision of a classic fairy tale, the happy ending could be hard to find.

TITLE: Red Riding Hood
AUTHOR: Sarah Blakley-Cartwright
GENRE: YA Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: January 25, 2011

Review--E-ARC The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa

MY NAME IS MEGHAN CHASE.

I thought it was over.That my time with the fey, the impossible choices I had to make, the sacrifices of those I loved, was behind me. But a storm is approaching, an army of Iron fey that will drag me back, kicking and screaming. Drag me away from the banished prince who's sworn to stay by my side. Drag me into the core of a conflict so powerful, I'm not sure anyone can survive it.

THIS TIME, THERE WILL BE NO TURNING BACK.

I received this ARC of Julie Kagawa's The Iron Queen from NetGalley.

Finished The Iron Queen today and I am still in shock!! Oh wow. The excitement and adventure and the danger really pick up in this book! And there was a point I was afraid of the end's outcome, but I had to remind myself that there will be another book in 2011, November, from what I've heard, called The Iron Knight and that one will be really juicy!

Meghan has come a long way since we first met her in The Iron King. When we first see her, she's the awkward girl with the major crush on the most popular boy in school and has one incredible best friend. She's your average 16 year old, until the day she realizes that she's not so average and that is where her transitional journey began.

Meghan is pretty fierce now. After being exiled from Faery with her boyfriend Ash, she returns to the mortal world thinking things might finally go back to normal now that she is basically banned from anything fae. But trouble arrives at her doorstep quite literally when she goes to return home. The Summer King and Winter Queen might be done with her, but The Iron King is not. Along with another member of the Faery world.

But Meghan first decides to deal with the problems she has with the mortal world and the In Between. Where we learned last time a certain someone is with the Exiled Queen. That is where the first part of the novel takes us and it was quite thrilling even though we weren't in Faery. There was still plenty of action here and there and other exciting moments involving graveyards!

Part 2 is when Meghan is asked to return to Faery to defeat the Iron King once and for all so that Faery can continue to exist without the Iron Kingdom taking over. But it is not an easy battle for Meghan and her friends Ash and Puck. They're going to need all the help they can get. Also, the Iron King is finally revealed and I was so on par with his identity.

There was plenty of action in the later part of the book for that was when the war between kingdoms occurred. Summer and Winter versus Iron. And what a battle it was. There were so many surprises in this latter part of the novel that I found myself not wanting it to end! There was so much wondering for me with the characters and the ending was to die for! I can't get into the details, but as I said there were several shocks and surprises all throughout the novel and the ending was no different.

The romance between Ash and Meghan also continues to grow with a few bumps here and there. And I find myself totally loving their romance. It's so endearing and heartfelt. Much different from the love between mortals and supernaturals. Love between mortals and the fae always seem more intense and powerful. For the fae are incredibly mysterious and dangerous, and let's face it sexy, that the love and affection they hold for a particular mortal is breathtaking.

I am completely addicted to this series now and have been for awhile. The characters are so lifelike and complex, I love them! Grim is always mysterious and seems cold at times, but he is truly a good friend to Meghan. Puck, you gotta love him even if the romance between him and Meghan is not a possibility, he is still a great friend to Meghan and he is full of laughs! I mean really, how can you not laugh at one of his quips? And Ash, what's not to love about a mysterious faerie who's dangerous and deadly, but is madly in love with you and will do anything and everything to protect you and keep you safe?

So yes, I am completely smitten with this series and so cannot wait for The Iron Knight! Overall this book gets 5/5 stars from me!

The Iron Queen will release on January 25, 2011

My Soul to Steal

As you might know I am a HUGE Rachel Vincent fan and I just wanted to take this moment to remind you that Rachel's next YA release, My Soul to Steal is January 1, 2011. Technically that's the OFFICIAL release date, but you might be able to find the book out now. I have mine in my TBR pile that I hope to get to very soon, but I have some ARCs to read first for review.

Anywho here is the fabulous trailer that Rachel has for MSTSteal. It's fabulous! I already know I'm going to love this one for the BOC has had me craving it for a long time now and with the way MSTKeep ended, I'm really looking forward to this one!!

Here is the BOC incase you were wondering too:

YOU WANT MY SOUL AND MY BOYFRIEND?

Trying to work things out with Nash—her maybe boyfriend—is hard enough for Kaylee Cavanaugh. She can’t just pretend nothing happened. But “complicated” doesn’t even begin to describe their relationship when his ex-girlfriend transfers to their school, determined to take Nash back.

See, Sabine isn’t just an ordinary girl. She’s a mara, the living personification of a nightmare. She can read people’s fears—and craft them into nightmares while her victims sleep. Feeding from human fear is how she survives.

And Sabine isn’t above scaring Kaylee and the entire school to death to get whatever—and whoever—she wants.

I DON'T THINK SO.

Teaser Tuesday

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

Thanks to my BFF NetGalley, I'm reading The Iron Queen right now and totally loving it!! It's so exciting and picking up pretty much right where we left off in The Iron Daughter! As I write this, I'm not that far in, but it is still exciting, for Meghan's purpose/goal is just beginning!!

So of course, I had a hard time trying to pick just one teaser. So I find myself cheating again. ;) It's hard not to be bad, and hey Christmas is over, Santa is on a break!!

Teaser Tuesday 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.

"'Ash, I've been through Arcadia, Tir Na Nog, the Briars, the Between, the Iron Realm, Machina's tower, and the killing fields of Nevernever. I don't think there's a place capable of freaking me out anymore.'

A trace of humor touched his eyes, a silent challenge. 'All right, then,' he said, leading me out, 'Follow me.'" p 32-33 (*page number and quote comes from my E-ARC  edition and therefore are not final)

"As I ducked through the frame, something dripped onto my shoulder from above, something warm and wet and slimy. I put my hand to my neck, it came away covered in frothy drool.


Heart in my throat, I looked back and up." p 39 (* see above statement)

"And without waiting for a reply, the Unseelie Queen whirled and stalked away from us. Though I couldn't see her face as she left, I was almost sure she was crying." p 148 (* see above statement)

TITLE: The Iron Queen
AUTHOR: Julie Kagawa
GENRE: YA Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: January 25, 2011

*Review--E-ARC Unearthly by Cynthia Hand*

In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees...

Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what it is, though, isn't easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place--and out of place, at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make--between honesty and deciet, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

I received this e-ARC of Unearthly by Cynthia Hand courtesy of NetGalley.

I'm new to the angel of urban fantasy, particularly with YA as well. Slowly dipping into it. I read Angelfire, which my review for that will be up in February. And I received Hush Hush for Christmas (I assume since I write this early, it may have been my birthday) and now I've read Unearthly.

I'll admit it took me awhile to get into it. I don't know why. Maybe because it was YA and a little too high school-ish at times? I had to remind myself that it was YA and was for high school students, but I did enjoy some of it. There are two guys Clara deals with one, being Christian, the boy she dreams about saving, and the other is Tucker, the guy who annoys the heck out of her. His behavior reminded me something of the guys I went to school with, although there were definite differences between them, Tucker for one was not a complete a-hole!

Clara was an interesting character, I liked that she had a mind of her own and yet still wanted to be dutiful and respect her angel duties. She has but one purpose on this earth as we learn and she learns it rather early, the purpose comes at any time during an angel's life.

Hand does explain some of the angel thing in general so that's it's rather understandable. The only thing that confused me was how her mother didn't age, she's part angel too--not much of a spoiler because Clara tells us this moments after tell us she's an angel--her mom has been around longer than Clara thought, we learn how long a little ways into the book, but I just didn't quite understand her slow aging bit, it wasn't explained real well to stick with me if it was explained at all.

But overall the book was pretty decent. It was paced pretty good, there were some slow times when I felt like I wasn't really reading a book with something supernatural or "unearthly" in it. Where it became a book with normal people doing normal things, that was when it became hard to continue reading.

There are also "bad angels" in the book as well, Clara learns many things about her angel life that she didn't know before because her mother didn't tell her. Which makes Clara wonder what else her mother is keeping from her.

There is sort of a love triangle going on, or the start of one really. It's hard to explain without giving something away, but it was done really well I think. And there was a HUGE twist at the end, but I kind of, sort of, started to wonder at it and was thinking something was up, but I still never had a clear idea as to what the HUGE event was. But I knew something was up!

Overall it was a decent read, although I did struggle with it here and there. Clara was a good MC, I liked her independence and willingness to rebel and be daring. I won't say the causes of course, but she had a good balance to her. She did what was right and what she believed was right in her heart, and there were some conflictions sometimes, where she didn't know what to do. She was a very real character, except for the angel bit!

I give it 3.5/5 stars, really really close to 4 though, there was just the bits here and there that lost my interest. But the book was a decent read, really good in fact. When the second book comes out, which there has to be with the sort of cliffhanger that we had at the end, I will likely read it as well!

This title will release January 4, 2011

Top 5 Sundays

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

Here's a little info about the meme taken from Larissa's blog:

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 theme is: BEST BOOK COVERS OF 2010!

Wow! This is gonna be a toughie for there were tons of magnificent covers this year that were just beautiful!! Both YA and adult!

So naturally these will be in NO specific order!!

It was the cover that grabbed me at RT so it has to be the first one I share here yet again:

Shannon Delany's 13 to Life! Is anyone really surprised by this? ;)

Then another cover that I totally LOVED this year was...

Andrea Cremer's debut Nightshade! Again, another novel that dragged me in by the cover alone!! And I use to agree with the expression Don't judge a book by its cover, but now it's kind of different. I fall in love with books because the cover totally grabs me!

Vicki Pettersson's Cheat the Grave! Possibly my fave of the series covers so far! Although, there was an early version that had a guy behind her and that wasn't too bad either! But still the end result was pretty wicked!

Kalayna Price's Grave Witch was stunning! I like the dark gray color scheme and then her top is the only stark of color! It's just awesome!

Stacia Kane's Unholy Magic, the second book in her Downside series. I really like the color scheme here with the blues and purples, very cool!

And another notable nomination that I had a hard time deciding between was Devon Monk's Magic on the Storm, because I love the blue behind Allie and the storm along with the symbols!