Review--A Cast-Off Coven by Juliet Blackwell

LILY IVORY IS NOT YOUR AVERAGE WITCH. SHE RUNS A VINTAGE CLOTHING STORE CALLED AUNT CORA'S CLOSET, AND WITH HER MAGICAL ABILITY TO SENSE VIBRATIONS OF THE PAST FROM CLOTHING AND JEWELRY. LILY HAS MADE THE SHOP A BIG HIT--AND HER MYSTERY-SOLVING SKILLS ARE ALSO IN HIGH DEMAND.

Students are spooked at the San Francisco School of Fine Arts, and Lily is called in to search for the possible paranormal activity. In exchange for her help, she's been promised a trunkful of Victorian-era clothes recently discovered in a school storage closet.

But Lily finds something else: the body of a wealthy patron of the school. In between running the store and seeing her new boyfriend, Max--a "myth buster" who is uncomfortable with her witchcraft--she uses her sleuthing skills to try to solve the murder. Soon Lily senses something from the school's vintage clothes, but it's not the smell of mothballs--it's the unmistakable aura of evil intent.

Juliet Blackwell's second book in the Witchcraft Mysteries, A Cast-Off Coven, was an incredible followup to Secondhand Spirits. It's amazing how readily addicted I became to this series. I remembered hearing about it at RT this year, but when I finally made my way to the beginning of the alphabet at the mass signing, her book was already sold out!

The series has a nice blend of the supernatural intertwined with the mystery and they're evenly balanced and well paced with a good dash of suspense. Once again I found it a little hard to figure out the who-done-it. I had my suspicions, but really didn't guess it right until the character was revealed. But I was totally engrossed with the book that I almost could've read it in one day had I made myself do so! 

There has been a little bit of time between books, can't remember how much, but book 1 events are mentioned and brought up here and there. And there were of course the familiar characters from the first book as well. This time Lily finds herself investigating strange noises at the college when suddenly a murder occurs and people are saying it was a ghost that did it. But Lily knows that's nonsense, ghosts can't kill people, there's a human murderer on the loose, but there is also something much more dangerous than that on the loose as well and it lives inside the school.

Lily has to do some serious investigating, looking into the school's history back when it was home to a small group of nuns who mysterious disappeared sometime ago after the earthquake. And there are quite a few suspects as well. Oh my goodness, I really couldn't pick just one, every time I started to suspect someone and thought I had the mystery solved something happened to prove me wrong! Yes, very enjoyable indeed! And there are still ghosts and other nasties involved as well!

There is also some more development in the romance area between Lily and Max, but just as things start to heat up, trouble occurs. We also get to learn a little more about Max's history and what happened with his wife. And there are other new characters that pop up as well, like Sailor, another person with the gift like Lily, but he is a very temperamental kind of fellow.

Aidan Rhodes returns as well and is still as secretive as ever. He and Lily definitely have something between them, but what exactly that is, is still hard to figure out other than both being of the magical wielding variety.

Overall a GREAT tremendous read! I don't read a lot of mysteries, but this series has become a fast fave! And I highly highly recommend it if you like paranormals and mysteries! It's the perfect balance! 

Overall I give it 5/5 stars!! Can't wait for the next one!!

Review--Marked by P.C. and Kristin Cast

ENTER THE DARK, MAGICAL WORLD OF THE HOUSE OF NIGHT, a world very much like our own, except here vampyres have always existed. Sixteen-year-old Zoey Redbird has just been Marked as a fledgling vampyre and joins the House of Night, a school where she will train to become an adult vampyre. That is, if she makes it through the Change--and not all of those who are Marked do. It sucks to begin a new life, especially away from her friends, and on top of that, Zoey is not an average fledgling. She has been chosen as special by the vampyre Goddess Nyx. Zoey discovers she has amazing powers, but along with her new powers comes bloodlust and an unfortunate ability to Imprint her human ex-boyfriend. To add to her stress, she is not the only fledgling at the House of Night with special powers: When she discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school's most elite group, is misusing her Goddess-given gifts, Zoey must look deeper within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny--with a little help from her new vampyre friends.

So I read Marked by P.C. and Kristin Cast as one of the banned books from banned book week and I have a few ideas as to why this one was banned. I just don't know what the official banning mark was. Overall it wasn't too bad. I've heard mix reviews of this series and don't know if I will go any further into it at the moment. Maybe via library if I don't have anything to read.

Some things I didn't like was that for awhile the book was too...high school-ish? I know it's YA, but sometimes Zoey really annoyed me with her behavior and I guess ways? I don't know how to explain it, it was like a cliche of high school-ness and it was really annoying. There were times when I didn't quite like Zoey because she came off a little stuck up, but then I had to remind myself that this is her story, so it will be her thoughts and her dilemmas and her problems. Sometimes I do have to remind myself of that with first person novels, but normally the MC doesn't come off to me as being full of themselves. Zoey wasn't like this 100% of the time, just a little bit here and there, but enough to drive me crazy at times.

The storyline itself was pretty interesting. Vampires exist in the world and everyone knows it. Heck, there were celebs who were vamps! So parts of it was quite entertaining. There was even a vampire-hate group, sort of. And her stepfather was a very dedicated member to that, so imagine poor Zoey having to tell her mother, who had become sort of delusional and totally devoted to her new husband and ignored her children--according to Zoey. It wasn't pretty. I really felt bad for her then, luckily she at least had an amazing grandma who was there for her to give her the care and understanding she so craved.

Most of the plot basically centered around Zoey adjusting to her new life as a soon to be vampire. She was marked, so in a few years she would become an adult vampire. The whole process of Marking was a little confusing and wasn't really explained, it just goes that a vampire Marks a human so that they might become a vampire when they're older, some don't always make it and die. Zoey witnesses two deaths at school of cases like this.

There was more high school drama as there is the popular mean girl--mean being b*tch. And Zoey isn't afraid to stand up to her, which was sort of cool I guess. Again, some of the high school-ness made me sick because it was a little too cliched like I mentioned.

Zoey soon learns she is special, of course!, and has abilities that not all new fledglings have. Where this will take her, I don't know, but it will obviously be a problem of some kind later down the line. There were also a few loose threads at the end, that I can't discuss due to being spoilers, but they leave you hanging and wondering what the heck is going to happen next.

So I'm torn about how I feel about this book despite the cliches and too high school-liness that made it up. I know it's YA, but I just couldn't really get into the book. So overall I would have to give it a 2.5/5--an okay read, that I don't want to totally bash. But I wouldn't really recommend buying this one if you feel a little too skeptical like I was. Had I not won a copy, I likely wouldn't have bought the series. A good library read though if you're curious about it. Like I also said, if I find myself in need of something to read, I might try the library for the next book out of curiosity.

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.

Next up on my list that I'm waiting on is Caitlin Kittredge's Bone Gods, the third book in her Black London series.

Witch hunts are on the rise and supernatural turf wars are reaching a boiling point. Then, just when it seems life couldn’t get any worse for Pete, Jack reappears—but he’s no longer the man she’s always known. Hell has changed him forever. And he’s brought back with him a whole world of trouble…

A cabal of necromancers are using ancient, unspeakable magic to turn the tide of war in their favor. Then, as the city is about to sink into chaos, Pete receives a chilling directive: To end the war, you must kill the crow-mage. Beset from all sides, Pete finds herself turning to an unholy source for help…even if doing so could destroy Black London—and life as she knew it—once and for all.

TITLE: Bone Gods

AUTHOR: Caitlin Kittredge
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: November 30, 2010

Contest Alert--Larissa's Bookish Life

That's right, there's another spectacular Halloween Contest in the blogging world at it's over at Larissa's Bookish Life! One of my fave blogs to follow! 

Larissa has a great contest going on where you comment on the post answering the question and then fill out a form for a chance to win a prize pack with Halloween t-shirts and of course some wicked awesome books a and a bit of Halloween fun stuff. Then the second prize pack has again, awesome books and a little Halloween fun stuff as well.

Like I said an awesome, or really spectacular since that's what I originally said, Halloween contest!

Click here to enter.

It's open to International readers and ends November 1, 2010.

Contest Alert--at Bitten By Books

The sensational duo writing team of Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie are over at Bitten by Books today for some good ol Q and A! There is also an engaging conversation between Amanda, from the much loved by me and so glad it finally was concluded after too many years of waiting, Wicked series and Skye from the latest Crusade as they are both witches!

Nancy and Debbie are giving away five books, one to each of the five winners. Winners can choose from any book in the Crusade, Wicked, or Possessions series. They will also receive a signed bookplate from Nancy and Debbie and a Crusade wristband. 

Contest ends 10/19/10 at 11:59 PM Central.

Click here to head on over to the Q and A

Also be sure to check out this other great contest to win a free book!

The title alone already has me wanting to read it! Check out the post here to find out how you can try to win a free copy!

Release Day!

HAPPY RELEASE DAY ANDREA!!

Today is the OFFICIAL release day for Andrea Cremer's debut Nightshade! A high anticipated read! And it was definitely a GREAT read! Took me forever to get a copy but it was well worth the wait! Now I am dying to read Wolfsbane!

Be sure to head out today or later this week to buy yourselves a copy!!

Teaser Tuesday

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

This week's teaser is from P.C. and Kristin Cast's Marked, one of the books I won in the banned book week at The Quillery. Can't recall why this one was banned, like what it was that someone overreacted to, to have it put on the "naughty list". But anyway, it's not too bad so far. I have a killer headache so I've been reading sparingly lately.

And I did finish Death's Sweet Embrace, only I can't post the review until the release month via the publisher's rules. Sorry.

Anyway, real quick here are the rules to Teaser Tuesday:

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 glanced down to see my body! I or it or...or...whatever was lying scarily close to the edge of the bluff. My body was very still. My forehead had been cut and it was bleeding badly. The blood dripped steadily into a gash in the rocky ground, making a trail of red tears that fell into the heart of the bluff." p36-37

TITLE: Marked
AUTHOR: P.C. and Kristin Cast
GENRE: Paranormal Young Adult
RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2007

Interview/Giveaway with Devon Monk

Hello all! Today I bring you a short interview with Devon Monk!! Author of the Allie Beckstrom series and soon to come Age of Steam series which will be a steampunk series premiering in July 2011!

Devon's here today to answer a few questions about this and that that I thought of and there will be a giveaway at the end of the post so be sure to look for it.

Now, onto the interview!

JESSICA: What inspired you to be a writer?

DEVON: I’ve always been an avid reader and have loved escaping into the worlds and people writers bring to life. I wanted to give that same kind of escape for others, so I started writing. I love my job!

JESSICA: In your series magic is treated differently, what gave you the idea to make it come at a cost, even if it was used for good, unselfish reasons?

DEVON:  This aspect of the books is certainly one that I get a lot of comments about. For me, fiction, even fantasy fiction, should mirror reality in some way. So when I started thinking about magic and how it might really be used if we had it in the real world, I knew that there would have to be a trade-off.  But if the trade-off was something as easy as money, then only the rich would have magic. And while that’s an interesting idea, I wanted something we could all “pay” whether we are rich or poor, old or young. And once I decided the price for using magic was pain, there were suddenly a lot of moral questions about how and why magic should be used. That’s when I knew it was the right way to handle magic in for these books.

JESSICA: What would you give in exchange for using magic? Headaches? What memories would you be willing to lose? 

DEVON: Oh, I think I could handle a headache or two for magic! I’ve thought about memories I’d be willing to give up, and used to think I’d want to get rid of all my bad memories. But I’ve learned a lot from the bad times in my life, so I don’t want to lose those. The only kind of memories I wouldn’t mind getting rid of are maybe some of my most embarrassing foot-in-mouth moments. 

JESSICA: How did you come up with the character Stone? Did something inspire you for his purpose?

DEVON:  Stone was a surprise to me. When I wrote the scene of Allie and Zayvion going to the restaurant on their first real date, Stone suddenly came on the page and his part to play in the big picture of the series unfolded. I think Allie really needed a big bruiser buddy to look after her. Plus he’s a great mix of fun and deadly. :)

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

DEVON: I’m contracted for six books, all of which are written. I’m hoping my publisher will pick up the last three in the series, bringing the total to nine books. I originally planned this as a nine book series.

JESSICA: What can you tell us about your next project?

DEVON: I’m starting a new series set in the steampunk alternate history of the American West. The first book, DEAD IRON is scheduled to be in stores July 2011 and has magic, curses, guns, love, and of course, gears and steam.

JESSICA: What do you like to do in your spare time?

DEVON: Read, knit weird stuff, bake, and right now I’m putting together a couple steampunk costumes.

JESSICA: What book are you currently reading?

DEVON: THE COLD KISS OF DEATH by Susanne McLeod and ON THE EDGE by Ilona Andrews.

JESSICA: Thanks for stopping by today, Devon.

DEVON: No problem!

Now onto the GIVEAWAY!

Devon has kindly offered up a SIGNED copy of Magic at the Gate to 1 lucky reader. And it's open to INTERNATIONAL readers!

To enter all you have to do is leave a comment here on the post saying who your favorite character from the series is and why. Or if you're new to the series, what intrigues you about the series to start it?

Be sure to leave your email address in your comment as well.

Guidelines:

Open to INTERNATIONAL readers, so anyone can enter!

Contest will end October 24, 2010 at 11:59 PM Central

Winner will be announced on Monday, October 25, 2010 here on the blog and I will contact you as well, from there you will have 48 hours to respond to claim your prize.

A word of note as well, when speaking with Devon last week, she had said she had not received her author copies of Magic at the Gate yet. She expects to get them in 1-2 weeks, from last week. Hopefully by the time the winner is announced she will have them or will have them very soon after.

There you have it! Start commenting!

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 FAVORITE GUILTY PLEASURES

Larissa broke up her guilty pleasures in 5 different categories, but I think I might just randomly pick 5 guilty pleasures. They're in no particular order either.

5.

Yeah, I'm a bit of a cartoon addict still. Can't seem to get over watching them and this is one of the few newer cartoons that I like to watch.

4.

No surprise here, I love Disney movies, the classics and even the new ones that they put out. Including the Pixar ones too. I'll be seeing Rapunzel when it releases for sure!

3.

Don't know how guilty of a pleasure this is. I will freely admit to liking Nancy Sinatra's These Boots are Made for Walking, it's probably the oldest song that I like!

2.

A TV show that I absolutely loved and was totally teen drama--the kinds of show I make fun of now--was Roswell. I don't know why I became so addicted, but I did. Love this show and hate that it was canceled. I even read all the books that were written regarding the TV series.

1.

And for my number 1 guilty pleasure there is a tie! I can never resist either of these. Reese's peanut butter cups--the best ones are the shapes the have at the holidays because those are loaded with peanut butter!! Yum! And my other one, which the pic is a little blurry, but basically it's chocolate chip cookie dough! Loooove cookie dough! I sometimes want the dough more than the cookie. Totally not healthy with the raw eggs, but it is my guilty pleasure!

In My Mailbox

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

So this week I got a few books, not many, but it is quality not quantity that matters.


First off I bought A Cast off Coven by Juliet Blackwell. I read the first one and LOVED it so I went out and bought the second one in the series.

Next up I received Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl that I won in The Book Buzzer's 50 Followers Contest.

Then I have more NetGalley love as I got an e-ARC of Tracey O'Hara's Death's Sweet Embrace!! Can't wait to get to this one!

Then I received Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead and Marked by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast from the Banned Books Contest over at The Qwillery!

So that's what I got this week! What did you get?

Book Blogger Hop

This blogger hop was created by Jennifer at Crazy for Books.

Here are the rules:

1. Enter your book blog link in the Linky List below (be sure to include how long you've been blogging and what genres you review!). If you post about the Hop on your blog, please link directly to your Hop post (don't forget to answer this week's question - see below!).

2. Visit other blogs in the Linky List! Make new friends! Follow new book bloggers! Talk about books! Rave about authors! (Please do not leave your link and not visit other blogs - it's just not cool and not in the spirit of the Hop!)

3. Post about the Hop on your blog! Spread the word about the book party! The more the merrier!

4. In your blog post, answer the following question (new question each week!):

When you read a book that you just can't get into, do you stick it out and keep reading or move to your next title?

Wow, coincidences. I used to always stick with a book no matter how rough a beginning it may have. Because I always want to be able to finish a book and be able to review it properly. But lately there have been a few books that I just could not get into, so I stopped. It doesn't happen very often. Really yesterday was the last time I can recall doing this. Before that I don't even remember. But yesterday wasn't a good reading day for me after finishing my last book.

Review--Shadow Fall by Erin Kellison

SACRIFICE

Custo Santovari accepted pain, blood, even death, to save his best friend. But a man with all his sins just isn't cut out to be an angel.

MYSTERY

One moment he's fleeing Heaven; the next, he's waking up stark naked in Manhattan. In the middle of a war. Called there by a woman who

s desperately afraid of the dark.

SHADOW

It gathers around Annabella as she performs, filled with fantastic images of another world, bringing her both a golden hero and a nightmare lover.

WOLF

He pursues her relentlessly, twisting her desires even as she gives herself to the man she loves. Because each of us has a wild side, and Annabella is about to unleash the beast.

Erin Kellison's Shadow Fall was a GREAT followup to Shadow Bound! This time Custo takes the lead as one of the main narrators and we get to know a little more about him and what he went through before he was killed. He manages to escape from Heaven to return to Earth for he has another message to tell Adam and Segue. Something he was unable to pass along before he died. There was not one, but two traitors at Segue, one was the man who killed him...and the other has yet to be revealed. Even Custo doesn't know who it is, only that they are at Segue with Adam and Talia.

While making his way across the treacherous land of Shadow, Custo sees a vision of loveliness and is drawn to her for reasons he cannot begin to explain, more than just her beauty. But he is not alone, someone else sees the beautiful woman dancing among the trees of Shadowland, a wolf.

In comes Annabella, a young woman who loves dancing. She's happiest when dancing and is preparing for her big debut as the star of the ballet, Giselle. Which the story itself sort of plays into towards the end, when the ballet performance/story becomes real.

When Annabella dances strange things happen, things she cannot explain and she soon notices that she is being followed, by a wolf. Then Custo enters her life telling her she's in danger and that he is going to help her. Quite literally. It's a lot for Annabella to handle when he starts talking about the mysterious Shadowland, she already knows about Wraiths, who doesn't? Word of their attacks are on the news now. Things have changed and Custo doesn't realize that he has been gone longer than he thought.

Adam and Talia also make a returning appearance. Things have definitely changed. Time has passed, yet Adam and Talia are still on a mission to rid the world of Wraiths. Custo knows that he will need Adam and Segue's help in protecting Annabella, but that itself is another challenge entirely. When one comes back from the dead, others aren't always so trusting.

While there is no distinct fairy tale that I can recall that has a strong role in the novel, it still has that fairy tale element to it. There's a wolf and there is more than one tale involving a wolf. And the wolf is always the bad guy...in fairy tales of old that is! So that part remains true to the fairy tales that we know and remember.

There was a gradual buildup to the relationship of Annabella and Custo, although by changing p.o.v. between these two you know fairly quickly how they feel for one another. Although since I read it in 2 ish days, half day yesterday, half a day today, it seemed quick enough! 

It seems almost impossible for Custo and Annabella to rid themselves of the wolf, as it is growing more powerful the longer it remains in their world and it wants Annabella for itself.

There is definitely quite a bit of action in this book and it was well paced. The writing was once again, different, yet still enjoyable. There's the sense of a modern feel and a fairy tale magical feel at the same time again. I really do enjoy this series, what I hope will be a continuing series for it is quite enjoyable and a much different series than what I'm used to in other books!

Overall I give it 4.5/5 stars! Very interested to see who will be in the next book and when the next one will come out.

Contest Alerts

Found a two new contests I thought I would share so you can try to win some great prizes!

One contest is over at Welcome to All Consuming Book Reviews by Tiger! She reads mostly YA and Urban Fantasy, so it's one of my fave new blogs that I discovered not too long ago! She's having a 500 followers contest and the prize is a L.J. Smith book package! As you know L.J. wrote The Vampire Diaries, which has its own TV show now, but she also wrote a ton of other great books! Some of which are the prizes, like The Forbidden Game trilogy, Dark Visions and of course the first 2 volumes of The Vampire Diaries.

Ends October 25, US residents only

Head on over to become a follower and enter this amazing contest! Click here.

Another contest I found was over at The Qwillery! Another new blog I recently started following. She's have a blogoversary contest and has 4 prize packages to give away, including a Vampire one, a Were/shifter one, a Zombie one, and one that includes books from her trip to New York Comic Con!

Once again, head on over today and become a follower to enter yet another awesome contest! Click here.

Ends 11:59 PM Eastern Time on November 10, 2010. Open to "all humans on the planet earth with a mailing address!

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.

My next pick that I can't wait to read and it also saddens me thinking about it, is the late Jennifer Rardin's Bitten in Two! The second to last book in her Jaz Parks series. I'm anxious to see what adventures Jaz and her crew get caught up in next, but am sadden that the series will be ending by the book after and even more saddened that the author herself is no longer with us.

I might need my box of tissues while reading it because that though will hit me throughout when reading. :(

Really like the deep purple with the dark blood red spots and Jaz's red dress. Although it is slightly reminiscent of my high school colors, the combination looks so much better here!

Jaz Parks here. I. Am. Pissed. Just as Vayl and I arrive in Morocco to secure an ancient artifact, he wakes up calling me by another woman's name. And it's not even a good one. But since any form of argument transforms him into an unholy terror, I'm forced to play along until the gang and I can figure out what kind of power has so vastly altered his perceptions.

So it's time for me to do what any well-trained assassin in my position might do. I attack. What follows is a hair-raising, breath-taking bullet train ride to the finish as the crew battles on multiple fronts. I now know what I have to do - I must return to hell one last time.

TITLE: Bitten in Two

AUTHOR: Jennifer Rardin

GENRE: Urban Fantasy

RELEASE DATE: November 8, 2010

Review--Grave Witch by Kalayna Price

GRAVE WITCH ALEX CRAFT CAN SPEAK TO THE DEAD, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN SHE LIKES WHAT THEY HAVE TO SAY.

As a private investigator and consultant for the police, Alex Craft has seen a lot of dark magic. But even though she's on good terms with Death himself--who happens to look fantastic in jeans--nothing has prepared her for her latest case. Alex is investigating a high-profile murder when she's attacked by the "shade" she's raising, which should be impossible. To top off her day, someone makes a serious attempt on her life, but Death saves her. Guess he likes having her around.

To solve this case Alex will have to team up with tough homicide detective Falin Andrews. Falin seems to be hiding something--though it's certainly not his dislike of Alex. But Alex knows she needs his help to navigate the tangled webs of mortal and paranormal politics and to track down a killer who wields a magic so malevolent, it may cost Alex her life...and her soul.

Finished Grave Witch by Kalayna Price today! It was GREAT! I've read Kalayna's Once Bitten which was also good, but Grave Witch had a different style to it, a different feel. One thing is definitely the open versus closed worlds. In Once Bitten we had a closed world and in Gave Witch we had an open world, meaning that people knew about the fae and witches and ghosts. 

I enjoy both types of worlds really, it's just based on the quality of the writing the author puts behind it and Kalayna puts a lot of quality into both of her series.Her newest series stars Alex Craft and she's a grave witch and is able to communicate with ghosts and she has a few other tricks up her sleeve.

She takes on a case that soon leads her into more trouble than she thought possible, what should've been a simple raising a shade, the remainder of a spirit--usually ones that have been murdered--and finding out the cause behind their death. But things go very wrong very quickly. She gets her cop friend in trouble with the new "higher up" and then while leaving the corner's office an attempt is made on her life and she is saved none other than by Death.

As the BOC says she and Death have a strange relationship, almost more of a working one in that he is her boss in some ways. He pops in every now and then to offer his advice and wisdom and sometimes not so much the latter.

Then Alex finds herself teamed up with Falin, the "higher up" who gave her and her friend an earful. Alex and Falin are both sort of stubborn and they both rise a little quick to bait which leads to few little arguments. Nothing says good reading when the characters are hot tempered and quick witted. Although there isn't a lot of fighting as it seems from my wording that there is, there's not a whole lot but there are a few little spats as they work together.

There is some romance involved and while it was shocking it also wasn't. It's one of those romances you think might be coming, but then you think not and go around and around until it comes to one of your answers. I won't say who, but it is a little obvious, just as I was reading I didn't think it was possible or that it would ever really happen.

There was also a bit of mystery going on as Alex and Falin are trying to find a killer. Which becomes even more twisted. And there are some shocking revelations that arise near the end as well. It also left me speculating a few things, one thing I guessed about midway and was right, another thing or two I guessed at the end, one was addressed and I was sort of right, the other wasn't fully addressed but I can't be sure if I'm right or not. Thinking not...but will have to wait til the next book to see!

That paragraph was just full of vagueness! ;) But like I said the mystery elements are good. I like it when the author has me guessing things as I read and I don't even really realize it. And then other surprises occur as well attached to other mystery elements that I had on the back burner and was really taken by surprise when they suddenly pop up mostly solved!

Basically what it comes down to is that Grave Witch was an excellent read. Very intriguing and full of some mystery and suspense as well. And there was quite a bit more fae involvement throughout the novel than I expected which was great because I don't come across too many of those kinds of books and enjoy them!

Overall I give Grave Witch 5/5 stars! I sincerely recommend this novel. There's no vampires and werewolves involved but it is still a GREAT addition to the Urban Fantasy genre!

Teaser Tuesday

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

This teaser comes from Kalayna Price's Grave Witch. One of my highly anticipated reads! I had other commitments to attend to this weekend, so I'm only a little over 100 pages into it. But still, so far so good!

Here are the rules to Teaser Tuesday:

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.

"The first time I encountered Death, I hurled my mother's medical chart at him. As far as impressions went, I blew it, but I was five at the time, so he eventually forgave me. Some days I wished he hadn't--particularly when we crossed paths on the job." p1

So I went with another quote from page 1. I laughed when I read it and thought it was a great start to the novel. And so far, the novel has been pretty good! Hope to finish it within the next day or so!

TITLE: Grave Witch
AUTHOR: Kalayna Price
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: October 5, 2010

100 Followers Contest

I hit 100 Followers! Thank you to everyone who decided to follow my blog and to those who helped spread the word about my blog. Now time for the contest I have been promising! 

First up are the prizes!

1st prize gets to choose from 3 SIGNED books: Abandon the Night by Joss Ware, Dawnbreaker by Jocelynn Drake or Deadly Desire by Keri Arthur

2nd prize gets to choose from 3 unsigned, but still awesome books: The Better Part of Darkness by Kelly Gay, Brimstone Kiss by Carole Nelson Douglas, or Night Myst by Yasmine Galenorn

3rd prize gets the ton of author swag and there are a very few pieces that are signed as well. Not many, but at least 2 pieces.

I also might toss in some Halloween goodies into the mix for fun since this is October, an Urban Fantasy reader's favorite month!

Now what do you have to do to win one of these awesome prizes? Simply leave a comment here in this post saying what you're favorite thing about October is. It can be anything! Just be sure to leave your email address in the comments.

Extra Points. Want to add extra points to your entry? Well you can! Earlier I had a spread the word notice to get more points, those of you who entered will automatically have their points added into their entry and can still earn a few extra points now by spreading the word about the official contest.

Extra Points:

+3 points for being an old follower as of October 10, 2010

+2 points for being a new follower

+1 point (each) for spreading the word via blog post/sidebar/tweeting/Facebook/whatever other outlet you choose. Just be sure to leave a link for me

+1 point for adding it all up

That's it! This contest will run til the end of the month, October 31, 2010 11:59 PM Central.

Open to US and Canada residents only (sorry! but if you're international and have someone here in the states to use their address you can still enter that way.)

All right, start commenting!

Review--ARC Once in a Full Moon by Ellen Schreiber

Celeste Parker is used to hearing scary stories about werewolves -Legend's Run is famous for them. She's used to everything in the small town until Brandon Maddox moves to Legend's Run and Celeste finds herself immediately drawn to the handsome new student.

But when, after an unnerving visit with a psychic, she encounters a pack of wolves and gorgeous, enigmatic Brandon, she must discover whether his transformation is more than legend or just a trick of the shadows in the moonlight.

Her best friends may never forgive her if she gives up her perfect boyfriend, Nash, for Brandon, who's from the wrong side of town. But she can't deny her attraction or the strong pull he has on her. Brandon may be Celeste's hero, or he may be the most dangerous creature she could encounter in the woods of Legend's Run.

Psychic predictions, generations-old secrets, a town divided, and the possibility of falling in love with a hot and heroic werewolf are the perfect formula for what happens . . . once in a full moon.

I love NetGalley. I signed up some time ago and had yet to find a title that I wanted desperately to read and I finally found one this week! I was able to review an e-ARC of Once in a Full Moon by Ellen Schreiber, author of the Vampire Kisses series. I read the first 3 in that one, but haven't read further, at the time I was trying to read less YA, but now I think I will be returning to that eventually!

Having read Schreiber before I am familiar with her style, despite it having been a few years, but I enjoyed the book all the same. It was a rather quick read too. Another 1 dayer! But Celeste is a different girl than Raven. Not to compare the two novels or anything.

There are legends of werewolves Legend's Run, but no one ever really took them seriously let alone Celeste, that is until strange things start happening with the mysterious new boy. Celeste felt drawn to Brandon from the moment she saw him and then one night he even saves her life from a pack of wolves when she was walking home. That's when things really get complicated.

There was a sort of West Side Story theme going on here with the West side and the East side of town in Legend's Run. Westsiders were more of the rural area people and Eastsiders were slightly upper class. So when Celeste starts spending more time with Brandon she hides their relationship. Celeste wasn't overly conceded or worried about other people's opinions, she was a little, but not super much. She was a good character/person. She even stuck up for Brandon at times. There was some segregation at the high school where bother Westsiders and Eastsiders attended.

Another thing that I loved about Celeste was that she was an aspiring writer! She too kept a notebook with her just about everywhere at school and jotting down notes and ideas and sometimes the stories themselves. I sooo do this! I have maybe 4 or 5 notebooks from the past 4-5 years of filling pages with ideas for my writing or scenes and other little notes!

The werewolf part of the story becomes obvious based on the BOC info. I won't give it away, but as I said, when reading you figure it out pretty easily. It's the why's that are still puzzling. Soon wolves or possibly werewolves are being spotted all over Legend's Run and dogs are going missing. Celeste is sure that the werewolf sightings are not from her werewolf, but he isn't so sure.

I'm alluding info here, but you can easily guess even without my telling you, but still at least I can honestly say I didn't reveal the werewolf's identity directly, indirectly...yeah I probably did tell you.

There was a bit of young romance in here as well. Celeste has a popular boyfriend and great friends and they form a sixsome or whatever, 3 BFFs and their boyfriends--sixsome. Nash is an okay guy, a jock, sometimes he isn't the best boyfriend there is. Brandon is another story. You basically know who you're rooting for, there isn't a love triangle perse.

The ending was great too. Just as you think things are wrapping up for a HEA, there is a surprise. And that's all I will say on that matter!

Overall a very GREAT read! I really enjoyed it. It was a little too reminiscent of Vampire Kisses, but not overly so as I said. I give the book 4/5 stars! I would most likely read the next one too, should there be a sequel and I sincerely hope there is!

*I received this e-ARC from NetGalley for review by request

*The cover image and description were borrowed from Ellen Schreiber's website

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 WORST URBAN FANTASY COVERS

Okay this one's a little hard for me because I really don't have covers that I hate. In fact I pretty much like the covers that I see. So these 5 are just ones that aren't in my immediate faves, because like Larissa said on her post, I don't want to be mean either. And of course just because I don't like the cover doesn't mean the book itself isn't great!

5.

Siren Song by Cat Adams--This is a hard one because I do like the cover, but the actual book has the colors way too dark. You can hardly see Celia at all. But the cover itself isn't bad!

4.

City of Souls by Vicki Petterson--the cover look just seemed to change drastically, especially the model. I liked the sparkles but the look and feel itself just didn't look like the previous ones.

3.

The Devil's Playground by Jenna Black--again the cover scheme just seemed to change again. I know there was another cover option planned and that one was totally off base as well. This one just felt like a different book almost. But still a GREAT read!

2.

Witch Craft by Caitlin Kittredge--I don't know what bothers me here. I guess it looks too much like Luna is in her underwear and lounging about instead of kicking butt like a urban fantasy heroine should be doing or something.

1.

Taken by the Others by Jess Haines--I finished her first book just last month or so and enjoyed it. I loved the cover for her first book, but now this one? Totally different. It is way too early to be going with a new cover scheme. I mean first there was a real photo of a woman now there's an animation. I just don't like that the scheme changed.

Once again, I just want to say that just because I didn't like these covers doesn't make them bad books. In fact all, with the exception of Taken by the Others, are on my shelves having been read and thoroughly enjoyed. Taken by the Others isn't out yet so that's why I haven't loved it yet! But again, this is just my opinion. I didn't care for the covers but the stories themselves were amazing!

In My Mailbox

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

So this week I got an e-ARC of Once in a Full Moon by Ellen Schreiber, you can see my review of that later today. I received the e-ARC via NetGalley, my first one since I signed up there. Was a GREAT read!

Then I finally bought my copy of Grave Witch as it's been my "next" read all week. I hadn't gotten out to buy it yet. But now I did and it will officially be my current read very very soon!

So not too much in the mailbox this week, but still some GREAT reads! Can't wait to get to them all!! What did you get this week?

**I have gone passed 100 followers! Tomorrow I will announce the contest and the prizes involved so check back then! Thanks to everyone for following my blog!!