Best books

Fever by Dee Shulman review

2012-03-17T14:00:00.002-07:00

Fever by Dee Shulman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Oh my god! What a book when I think of this book one saying comings to mind ‘’the course of true love never did run smooth’’ that really does sum it up.

This book showed that love is not always easy and if you really are truly in love you do some silly thing to hold onto the people you love. I found myself one hundred percent falling in love with the book and Sethos and here are some reasons why.

The story flicks from present day with Eva as the main character. She is super smart and dropped dead beautiful but she sometimes finds that the beauty part can be a curse when guys are always chasing you makes making friends at school hard and being expelled seems to become a pass time for Eva. Eva seems happy to be invisible to everyone and I liked the fact she was not stuck up and did not think she was better than everyone else. Eva also had a hard family life and that was easy to relate to for me and made Eva an easy character to like.

The story then flicks to Sethos that I’m sure you are all going to call him Seth in no time. He's a young and very sexy gladiator in the year AD 152. He's a slave he has been pulled away from his home and owned by someone that uses him to fight to the death as a gladiator. All the women seem to want him but Seth is not interested in anything apart from keeping fit and being with his only friend Matthias but then he sees Livia and the meaning to his life changes. Seth was easy for me to fall in love with his determination and unwavering love for Livia just blow me away and I felt jealous that someone could love a person that much.

Now as a story can go this is one of the best love stories I have read its divided into three parts and you watch the two characters lives unfold which helps you relate to them and get to know them. There was also so much more than just love in this book there was action and conflicted and drama and a strange illness that raged through the story but you are going to have to read the book to find out more. While at the start it felt like two stories you found that the two entwined together for a spectacular ending that you are all going to love.

If you like your love stories with a twist I recommend you read this!
5 stars.

View all my reviews

soulstone by katie salidas, Earc review by alice

2012-03-16T17:22:00.000-07:00

It’s a desperate time for rookie vampire Alyssa, and her sanity is hanging by a slender thread. Her clan is still reeling from the monumental battle with Aniketos; a battle that claimed the body of Lysander, her sire and lover, and trapped his spirit in a mysterious crystal. A Soulstone.

Unfortunately, no amount of magic has been able to release Lysander’s spirit, and the stone is starting to fade. Weeks of effort have proved futile. Her clan, the Peregrinus, have all but given up hope. Only Alyssa still believes her lover can be released. In despair, Alyssa begs the help of the local witch coven, and unwittingly exposes the supernaturals of Boston to unwanted attention from the Acta Sanctorum.

The Saints converge on the city and begin their cleansing crusade to rid the world of all things “Unnatural.” In the middle of an all-out war, but no closer to a solution to the dying stone, Alyssa is left with an unenviable choice: save her mate, or save her clan

TO BE RELEASED!!!!
i was very lucky to get a Earc from katie to read and review. i LOVE this series :)
it keeps getting better and better with what alyssa has to go thru, her trials to keep her and the clan going, cant say much without giving anything away but i suggest that if you are looking for a different vampire story then this is the one for you, keeps you on the edge of your seat, the writing style, everything is amazing, i feel as if i am there with alyssa living in her world
cant wait for the next one :)

about katie

Katie Salidas is a Super Woman! Endowed with special powers and abilities, beyond those of mortal women, She can get the munchkin off to gymnastics, cheerleading, Girl Scouts, and swim lessons. She can put hot food on the table for dinner while assisting with homework, baths, and bedtime… And, She still finds the time to keep the hubby happy (nudge nudge wink wink). She can do all of this and still have time to write.

And if you can believe all of those lies, there is some beautiful swamp land in Florida for sale…

Katie Salidas resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mother, wife, and author, she does try to do it all, often causing sleep deprivation and many nights passed out at the computer. Writing books is her passion, and she hopes that her passion will bring you hours of entertainment.

http://www.katiesalidas.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Katie-Salidas-Author/214780936916

http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=58814031&trk=tab_pro

http://twitter.com/QuixoticKatie

DON'T read the sample chapters if you havent read the first 3 books

CHAPTER 1

Down the creaky steps I walked, alone, heading for the basement.

Visiting Lysander had become my nightly ritual. I’d wake up in my bed, reach out to the empty sheets, and feel nothing but crushing emptiness. It’s hard to believe that the absence of someone can bear such a heavy weight on one’s soul, but it does. That’s when realization would hit me, and I’d relive that terrible memory of seeing Lysander, my love, my mate, dive into the flames. Only after coming downstairs to the dark, dungeon-like basement, would I feel better.

I took a deep breath and stepped down onto the cold concrete floor. To my already tepid skin, the ground felt icy. Winter’s chill had frozen everything, and the basement was no real shelter from the cold. I probably should have worn something more than socks, but in my desperation to see him, I’d ignored basic necessities. I shook off the chill working its way up my spine and continued on.

“Good evening sweetie.” I said it as if he could hear me.

His spirit could, I guess, but Lysander had no voice with which to respond. Still, it made me feel better to talk to him as if he were alive and in front of me.

“It’s snowing outside. Boston is a winter wonderland. Zuri took us shopping for coats and boots.” Lysander had lived the last fifty years in Las Vegas. I had grown up there, before becoming a vampire. So for desert rats such as us, snow was as infrequent as rain, which made them special. Now that we were on the east coast, both were very common but neither had lost their beauty, at least to me they hadn’t. “I wish you could see it, honey. It’s just gorgeous out there. Everything’s covered in white.”

No response, as always. Not that I had really expected one. Hoped for, yes. But, at this rate, my hope was beginning to wear thin.

Too much time had passed since he’d been trapped inside the crystal that now served as his prison. The fragile hope I held of saving him was almost gone. I grew restless for a resolution. His spirit felt weaker. The warmth of his presence was almost … transparent.

Ariana, our resident witch, had not yet come up with a solution. She’d managed an impressive feat, trapping Aniketos back into the Pandora’s Box. But because she’d used her own spells instead of the original ones from the old scrolls, Lysander had been trapped too. His spirit now resided in a large blood-red crystal.

She’d said her coven might be able to help; however, weeks later, we still had no resolution. Others in the house had already given up. I could feel it in the way they avoided any talk of Lysander or the crystal. They’d always find a way to change the subject. A few times, I had the sneaking suspicion that they were purposefully avoiding me so as not to have to talk about it.

I reached up and pulled the chain, flicking on the overhead light. The basement was small and bare. Brownstones in the Back Bay area of Boston were built tall, not wide, so the basement didn’t take up much square footage. Lysander’s coffin sat in the middle. Just a plain pine box that reminded me of ones from the old westerns I’d watched as a kid. It had been quickly constructed, and wasn’t a showpiece; just a simple, almost flimsy box, only meant to hold Lysander until we could find some way to release his spirit.

Seeing it there, sitting all alone in the cold dark room, caused my heart to seize. Each time I set eyes on the coffin, for a brief moment, my world crumbled into dust—like everything important had been destroyed, except the reminder of the act that put him in this coffin.

For as long as he’d been lying there, I hoped he was comfortable. Part of me felt guilty, like the others and I should have gotten him something a little nicer to sleep in. That thought too made the permanence of death seem more real. A tear welled up in my eye, and I wiped it away.

The pine box is fine. He won’t be in it much longer.

I pushed aside the lid and leaned it against the side of the box. Inside, Lysander lay, looking as if he were sleeping off his terrible injuries.

Where his body wasn’t scabbed or bruised, the skin appeared ashen in color and almost plastic-looking, as if not really skin at all, but a sort of waxy coating. I shivered at the gruesome sight. He’d been so beautiful before the fire charred him. His once-gorgeous chocolate-colored hair had been singed away in the blaze, leaving only a few patches here and there to remind me of its original color. The tips of his fangs poked down from behind dry, parched lips. I’d tried to give him blood, hoping it might restore him, but it hadn’t had any effect. His body was frozen in the moment his spirit had left it.

The fire had almost destroyed him before his spirit had been caught. Ariana had suggested to me that Lysander had already died and his spirit was moving on when she trapped him. She told me that if we freed it from the crystal, he might not return to his body.

I wasn’t ready to accept that. I could still feel his presence, though weak, emanating from the large soda bottle-sized crystal. Whether in his body or not, his spirit was still with us. That had to count for something. He was still here with us and alive, for all intents and purposes. And until we knew otherwise, I did not want to hear talk of him “moving on.”

I hoped and prayed to every deity out there that when Ariana did find the answer, Lysander could be returned to his body. Even if he remained charred and burned, I’d still love him. I didn’t want to face eternity without him.

I’d placed the crystal on his chest and folded his arms across it. There it had rested for the last two weeks while I tried to find answers. I hoped keeping the two together like this would help in some small way.

“Alyssa the widow is back to mourn again,” said an overly chipper voice from the top of the stairs. “Shouldn’t you be wearing black?”

I craned my head to look up and found Ian standing at the top of the stairs. As usual he was dressed for a night out: raven-black hair slicked back with just a few strands framing his face, skin-tight t-shirt and tight-legged jeans to ensure nothing was left to the imagination, and topped off with a leather coat. I often wondered if he had been a greaser before being turned. He certainly looked the part.

“Widow implies death, Ian,” I said with as much snark as I could put into my mournful voice.

“Widow also implies… available.” Ian beamed down with his thousand-watt smile. “I’ve had enough of this moping. You’re coming out with me tonight.” He took the stairs at a trot.

“No, thanks. I don’t need to hunt tonight.” I looked down at Lysander again. “You have to come back, honey. Look what you’re leaving me with.”

“I’m not taking no for an answer.” Ian’s breath blew across my ear. I felt the closeness of his body almost pressing against my back. “And I prefer to be the one on the hunt.”

I jumped in response, and my head collided with his. “Ugh. Ian! Stop it. I’m not one of your waitresses or barmaids. Leave me alone.” A spike of pain radiated through my skull. I could only hope I’d done more damage to Ian. The nerve of him, hitting on me in front of Lysander.

“No, you’re not. Which makes the hunt all that much more fun for me. Tricky little prey, aren’t you, Alyssa?” If I had injured him, he didn’t show it. In fact, whatever pain I’d caused him, he might have even liked.

I groaned in frustration and rubbed the sore spot on the back of my head.

“Oh, c’mon. Try me. You just might like it.” He winked.

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “I don’t want to try anyone, especially not a sleazy vampire that’ll sleep with anything that breathes.”

“Not fair. I didn’t sleep with your human friend, Fallon.”

“That’s ’cause she’s with Aiden.”

Ian grimaced for a brief second before his smile returned. “She’s off limits.”

“And so am I.”

“Just come out and have fun.”

“Fun for you is getting in the sack.”

“Look, you might see me as sleazy. I prefer the term ‘promiscuous’; it has a nicer ring to it. But the bottom line is, at least I’m out there living life, not moping around in some dingy cellar, waiting for a man who’ll never return.” His typically cheerful tone had all but vanished. “I’m trying to help you.”

It was the first time I had ever seen Ian serious. Beyond that, he almost looked angry. His blue-gray eyes narrowed on me and his lip curled ever so slightly. “You have to know when to give up.” He inclined his head toward the coffin. “Let a lost cause go.”

I stared at him while anger and grief fought each other to be the dominant emotion inside me. My jaw quivered. I mashed my teeth together so it wouldn’t show.

“Lost cause? Lysander’s not a lost cause.” My eyes watered. I blinked and turned away. I didn’t want to melt down again. I didn’t want anyone seeing me like this.

“Look, I’m sorry I hurt your feelings,” Ian said, softening his tone. He smiled at me, but it didn’t have its usual brilliance.

“You don’t know what this feels like. To know that your mate is here, lying as if dead. But I feel him. I know he hasn’t gone yet. Yes, Ian. I can feel his spirit. Right here.”

I picked the crystal up, off Lysander’s chest, and held it for Ian to see. “He’s not dead and gone. I know you can’t feel it, but I can. That’s what makes this so difficult.”

“I get it. You’ve been so maudlin lately. I’m just trying to lighten things up. Put a smile on that pouty face.”

I huffed. There was no getting through to that man. How could I expect him to understand the loss of a mate? He was the pathological playboy of the immortal world. Sex was his answer for all life’s problems.

“I’m sorry. Let’s try this again.” Ian’s wide eyes suddenly narrowed on the crystal. “Hey, didn’t that used to be all red?”

“What?” I pulled it closer to inspect. When Lysander had been trapped, the crystal had gone from completely transparent to a deep red color, as if it were made from blood itself. To my surprise now, the tip had turned clear.

“What does this mean?” I mumbled more to myself than to Ian.

“Good news, probably. Maybe the longer you keep that thing on Lysander’s chest, the more his spirit can seep back into his body.”

Oh, how I wished he were right! Ever the optimist, Ian had given me a little more hope. Maybe the spell would reverse its self after a short while, and Lysander would heal and return to us.

“Ariana is coming by later. You can show her then.”

I gave Ian a genuine smile.

“There it is. That’s what I’ve been looking for. You look so pretty when you’re not moping. Now, let’s go out and celebrate this good news.”

Part of me wanted to. I’d been cooped up for the last two weeks, researching and staying by Lysander’s side. It would be nice to get out and enjoy the city.

Ian took a step, closing the gap between us. He was a tall man, six foot or better. He pulled me into a hug and cradled my head to his chest. “It’s not a crime to go out and have fun. You have to live too. Otherwise, what’s immortality good for?”

I pulled back and looked down at the crystal in my hands. It seemed to pulse, as if Lysander were trying to tell me something. The warm, tingling sensation of his presence briefly flashed through me. Maybe he was saying the same thing: You shouldn’t forget to live.

I held it up and gently kissed the smooth sides. “I’ll be back soon,” I said, and then placed it against his chest.

“Atta girl.” Ian’s full blinding smile returned. “Let’s turn that frown upside down, permanently. We’re gonna hit the town and have a little fun.”

“I’ll go out with you tonight, on two conditions,” I said as I closed the lid to the coffin.

“Name them.”

“Quit with the cheesy lines. You need some new material.”

“Ouch. I think I might be insulted,” Ian quipped.

I shook my head. “Oh, poor baby. It couldn’t hurt that bad. I doubt anything in the world could damage that ego.”

“You’re so feisty and full of anger. I know a way to relieve some of that tension.” He waggled his eyebrows.

I gave him my best I-don’t-think-so look and drummed my fingers on the top of the coffin.

“Can’t blame a guy for trying. Either way, you’re still smiling.” He smirked. “What’s the other condition?”

“That you talk Zuri into coming with us.”

“Spoil sport.” Ian shot up the stairs, leaving me alone with Lysander’s body.

I had to laugh. Ian just didn’t give up. That, in its own funny way, gave me more hope. Maybe he was right and Lysander might actually make a comeback. That was a reason to celebrate, even if it was with Ian. I took one last look at the coffin. “Are you sure I should go out with him?” I mumbled to the box. As expected, there was no response, but I still felt Lysander spirit.

I wished, just once, that he would answer. With a sigh, I headed to the stairs, pulling the chain for the light as I walked by. “I’ll see you later honey. Don’t you go waking up without me, okay?”

CHAPTER 2

As I went upstairs to get ready for my night with Ian, I stumbled upon my clan members seated around a large cherrywood table in the formal dining room. I stepped inside to see if any of them wanted to join me for a night out on the town. I opened my mouth to speak and caught the awkward glances that Nicholas, Crystal, and Drew were giving me. Silence enveloped the room, as if my presence were unwanted.

“Did I miss dinner?” I asked, hoping to break the awkwardness of the moment with a little humor, but none of them laughed at my bad joke.

Nicholas folded his hands in front of him on the table. He shook his head and clenched his jaw as if he wanted to say something but was holding back. Drew looked down at the dining table, pretending to be intensely studying the grain of the wood, while Crystal sat back in her chair, picking at her long, manicured fingernails. If I wasn’t mistaken, they seemed to be avoiding eye contact with me. This was one of those many times I wished I were an older vampire and had developed the ability to read thoughts. Being a newbie, as I was, I had almost none of the nifty abilities that the more experienced vampires had. I could sense emotions, but that wouldn’t do me much good here. I did, however, have the sneaking suspicion they’d all been talking about me.

“Okay then,” I said to break the silence. “Lysander’s crystal is in the coffin if anyone is looking for it. I noticed something different about it today. Possibly a good thing. Fingers crossed. When Ariana gets here we need to have her take a look at it. Maybe the spell is reversing itself. Wouldn’t that be great?”

Crystal glanced up for a brief second and smiled awkwardly at me.

Drew cleared his throat and it sounded like he said, “Okay,” but didn’t bother to turn and look in my direction.

I found it odd that none of them bothered to comment on what I had said about Lysander or the crystal. Come to think of it, they’d been acting funny for the last few evenings; avoiding me, ignoring me, and spending a lot of time in their own little group. Did they know something I didn’t? And if they did, why weren’t they telling me? I wanted to blurt these questions out but knew better. If they were trying to hide something from me, the direct approach wasn’t going to get me any answers. I’d have to keep a close watch on them to find out myself.

“Anyway… Ian is dragging me out of the house. We’re going to hit the bar. If anyone else wants to join us, I’d love to have you. Please come.”

Crystal shook her head and folded her arms across the table, but maintained her silence.

“Drew, Nicholas, either of you guys want to tag along? Don’t make me go out with Ian all by myself.” I figured that would at least get a rise out of one of them. They’d been like overprotective brothers, and Ian was just the kind of guy that brothers kept away from their little sisters.

“Actually, that might be best.” Drew said in his usually chipper tone. “You get along well with the Boston crowd. I feel you should go out with them more often. It would do you good.”

“I’m sorry… what?” To say I was startled would be an understatement. “Remember we’re talking about Ian here. Mr. Wannabe Casanova. You want me to go out with him tonight?”

“You can handle him,” Drew responded.

“What I think Drew is trying to say,” Crystal said softly, “is that we want to see you going out and having fun. We’re worried for you. The Boston crowd is younger, and you can relate to them better. Maybe that’s what you need to move on.”

“Move on!” I said a bit louder than I wanted to. “Nicholas, back me up here. Have you moved on from Rozaline?”

I realized about two seconds too late that I probably shouldn’t have reopened that wound. And I was right. Nicholas’s face tensed. His jaw clenched. His eyes zeroed in on mine, and without needing to hear the sound I knew he was still screaming in pain on the inside.

Rozaline, Nicholas’s mate, had died days before Lysander had been charred and trapped in the crystal. We’d all watched her decapitated and drained at the ghostly hands of Aniketos. Her death had been gruesome and very final, and I doubt even the coldest heart out there could have gotten over that pain so quickly.

“Sorry, that was wrong of me. I didn’t mean it to come out like that. All I’m trying to say is, she died and he is allowed to mourn. Lysander isn’t dead, and you all seem to want to act like he is. There is nothing for me to move on from.”

Crystal stood and walked purposefully toward me. “We just feel like you might be holding false hope. We don’t want you to hurt more if things don’t work out.”

“At least I have hope.” I couldn’t hold back the raw emotion in my voice. “At least I want things to be better. What are you all doing? Have you lost your humanity completely? This is no different than if he were in a coma in a hospital. If we were human, I’d be by his side every day, because I love him. That’s what you do when you love someone.”

She put her arm around me. “You’re not wrong to care. And we do want things to be better. Even if that means letting go.”

I jerked away from her.

“Not of your hope,” she added. “Let go of some of the pain. Don’t forget you have to live too. Transfer that energy into something productive, so you’re not constantly dwelling on the uncertainty of his situation.”

“And what if I’m not ready to let go of the pain? What if all I have is my pain?”

“You know that’s a lie.” She pulled me back into her arms. “You have us. We care… in our own way.”

Drew stood and joined us. His massive height dwarfed both Crystal and me. “So go out tonight. Have fun with Ian and Zuri and anyone else you can drag along with you. Get out of this house. That’s all we want.”

“Then I want you all to come too.” If I was to be forced into going out and having fun, they should have to go too. It was only fair.

“We’ve already hunted,” Drew said with an obviously fake smile. “And I don’t really care much for the dance clubs here.”

“There is nothing you can say that will get me to go to another bar,” Nicholas said with a note of finality.

I knew better than to push him. We shared a common pain, though not exactly the same, and I wouldn’t blame him at all for locking himself away to mourn. Losing a mate with whom you have shared eternity is not something you can just walk away from. He’d been ready to join her, offering himself as a sacrifice, but that too had been stolen from him when Lysander took his place.

“Well, I know Crystal will go with me.” I gave her my best you’re-not-getting-out-of-this look. Crystal liked to go to parties and clubs. She’d been the first to take me out dancing after I’d been turned. “No excuses. If you don’t go, I don’t go.”

She sighed and for a brief moment, I almost believed she was angry at me for giving her an ultimatum; but then a smile blossomed from her tight lips. “Oh, all right. I’ll go out tonight.”

Drew cleared his throat. “I thought we had our own plans for tonight.” He put his arm around his mate. “Remember, just the two of us?”

She stammered for a moment and looked up at her mate with confusion in her eyes. “Oh… yes… I completely forgot. Alyssa, let’s have a girls’ night some other time.”

I couldn’t put my finger on it, but they were all acting very suspicious. I sighed in disappointment. “Fine. I’ll see you all later. Will someone call me if Ariana gets here before I return?”

“If we’re home.” Drew said with a cocky tone that didn’t suit him.

Something was definitely up.

“Yeah, okay. If you’re around, give me a call,” I said, and then turned and headed toward my room to get ready.

The Intern by Dillon Khan Review

2012-03-15T11:01:00.002-07:00

The Intern by Dillon Khan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Jay Merchant is struggling he can’t pay his full rent and his current job at the foot locker is not his dream job and does not pay enough. Then he lands on his feet when he gets accepted as an intern at the Beats.

The Beat’s is known world wide and jay soon learns how lucky he is to get a chance to intern there when so many people are dying for the chance to be a part of this music phenomenon but like most things working at the Beat’s comes with a price.

This book was really easy to get into thanks to the witty and funny conversations the comical thoughts that jay has during the book. Jay was a cool character that did not think he was better than anyone but he did change during the course of the book and he grows as a character.

While this book is not my normal paranormal or fantasy type that I normally read I was not disappointed this book has something else a taste of Jay’s life and while the book is fictional to me it felt very real which made this book brilliant. Jay works so hard to keep the job of his dreams to get the good money to be someone important and while all that is amazing what got to me was while he was working so hard and putting in so many hours he slowing had less time for everything before the Beats. I have to say this book had a really good taste of real life and how working and juggling with your social life and everything else can be hard. I loved that the author did not sugar coat everything and I felt that was another reason the book was so good.

5 stars

View all my reviews

Beth Revis guest post

2012-03-15T07:22:00.000-07:00

Best Book would like to thank Beth Revis for this wonderful guest post.

Goals for the Future

One thing that seems to surprise people is just how long it takes to get published. I’ve been billed as an overnight success, but the thing is, people usually just see the books suddenly showing up in bookstores. They don’t see the ten years I wrote or the ten books I wrote (none of which were published, despite my best efforts) before that.

I say this not to complain or bring in a rainy-day cloud, but to say that having my books published is the culmination of more than a decade of hard work and a lifelong dream. When I think about any goals I have for the future, the answer is simple: I would like to still be writing books that people are reading.

The most important thing to an author is having her works read by others. The very best thing that’s happened to me since publication isn’t quitting my day job or going to signings or anything like that—the very best thing is meeting or hearing from people who have read my books.

So the simple answer of my goal for the future? Just keep having my words read. That’s all any author really wants.

Some more specific goals I have are to finish the Across the Universe trilogy (I’m working on Shades of Earth right now, and the end is in sight!), and then work on a new project (it’s a fantasy, and I’m itching to write it), and after that…I don’t know! One of the joys of writing is not knowing quite what story will come next!

2000 likes mega giveaway!!

2012-03-14T13:48:00.000-07:00

OMG can you believe it!! Best books on Facebook have reached 2000 likes and we just celebrated our 1 year birthday. So I’m now going to do a Mega giveaway for you amazing people that have showed your love and support for Best books.

The first prize winner gets to pick one of the three prize packs below...Let's call them the gold prize packs.

The Second winner gets to pick one pack from the silver prize packs.

And the third winner gets to pick one book out of a choice of three.

When you leave you comment please pick a prize pack from each section.

First prize winner gold prize packs

Prize pack one.

Above by Leah Bobet

Grave Mercy by Robin Lafevers

The selection by Kiera Cass

Prize pack two

Illuminate by Aimee Agresti

Spellcaster by Cara Lynn Shultz

Croak by Gina Damico

Prize pack three

Swift By R J Anderson

Dark Eyes by William Richter

Dark storm by Sarah Singleton.

Second winner prize packs.

prize pack one

The selection by Kiera Cass

Dark storm by Sarah Singleton.

prize pack two

Croak by Gina Damico

Swift By R J Anderson

Prize pack three

Spellcaster by Cara Lynn Shultz

The pledge by Kimberly Derting.

And finally prize winner three you only get to pick one book out the ones below.

1.Dark storm by Sarah Singleton.

2.Croak by Gina Damico

3.Spellcaster by Cara Lynn Shultz

---------------------------------------------------------

The give away is open to anyone that can get free shipping on book depository. All prizes come out of my own money so please show some love and share the give away as much as you can.

Please leave a comment saying which prize you would like from each section.

Finally feel out raffle copter form and good luck everyone.

--------------------------------------------------------

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Reading in the woods

2012-03-14T08:26:00.000-07:00

Reading in the woods

Like most readers I love to read before bed which really helps chill me out, Also the kids are asleep by then and there is no noise but I just wanted to share one of my all time favourite reading spots ever. In the summer in the UK (summer in the UK is hard to get at the best of times) my granddad and nan like to go out in the car so I sometimes tag along but one of my favourite places they go is Thorndon park. Thornton is a really nice place in summer a lot of families go there but the place is so huge you always get a lot of peace. There are trees upon trees as far as the eye can see and a beautiful pond that has ducks and fish. There are not words that I can say that can describe how beautiful and calming the place is so I’m hoping to do my best in this post.

Thornton is simply massive you can walk or bike for miles and miles and while there are lots of paths and seat’s some of my favourite places are off the beaten path and not always easy to get to. I also take a nice big book and a cold bottle of drink ready for the long walk. While the walk is fun I normally take lots of photos and look at the wildlife around me. The spot I'm after is a place that’s so breath taking it’s like I have walked into one of my books. Once I get there I find a comfy place to seat and before opening my book and getting lost in its pages I look around and gaze at natures beauty. The place that I’m seated in is in the shade but the sunlight filters through the trees giving my spot a feel of magic and while I'm seated here I feel like I have stepped over into an author's imagination and that maybe this place is where fantasy leaks into reality.

While I read here in my spot warm inside and out I feel happy and content like maybe I have a place in this word that really is heaven or maybe I have stumbled across some kind of barrier into another world.

What's you favorite place?

Please let me know what you think of my post thanks.

Tomorrow Land by Mari Mancusi review

2012-03-13T03:13:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow Land by Mari Mancusi

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A post apocalyptic joy ride of horror, survival and romance.

I loved the book from the very start the technology in the world has now become amazingly advanced and the world seems all but perfected but Payton’s dad is saying the world is going to come to an end and they all ended to be ready for the worst. Payton’s friends think her dad is out of his mind. No one’s laughing when some kind of illness out brakes and within a short time people are changing turning into zombie like monsters that are attacking anything that moves. The world went from save to deadly in a blink of an eye and I loved reading every second of it.

Over the course of the book each chapter flips from the past when the out brake happened to the future four year in front. Payton comes out of her safe bunker after four years and her mission is simply find her dad and start making their world again but the strangest thing happens she bumps into her long lost love the person she hurt the most before she was locked away in safety.
The book had lots of everything a post apocalyptic them with a great back story, Horror that makes you keep the light on. A touch of love that warmed your heart and some secrets that could change everything. In this new world it’s all about survival.

The author has a great writing style and I love the way she mixed the past and present together. There was a lot in the story and you have no time to get bored with such a fast paced book.
I would recommend this book to other and happily reread the book too.
5 Stars

View all my reviews

Starters by Lissa Price review

2012-03-10T06:19:00.001-08:00

Starters by Lissa Price

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The world changed after the spores war which killed everyone between 20-60. This left lots of young people parentless and alone. Like Callie and tyler that had no elders to look after them so they struggled living on the street with the friend Micheal.
Life as a squatter is hard they are always running from renegades that would love to catch them so Callie does the only thing she things will make their life better and heads to prime destination.

Prime Destination or the body bank as most kids think of it where Callie can rent her body out to elders. It like the Elders use Callie’s body for a holiday getting them out of there 100 or 200 year old body. After that Callie will get a massive pay out and be much better off. Thing go wrong when Callie wakes up and is back in her body but in the life of the renter, sports cars and lots of money but why has Callie taken her body back?
Callie soon learns she in a lot of trouble and the more she learns the worse things get and the boss of prime destination has a dark plain that could mean the death for lots of unwanted teens.

The first thing that got me interested in this book was the imagination and idea’s that the author put into this book. While the book is based in our world the war has changed so much that it took my breath away. The author writing style also helped towards the easy flow of the book and that fact that the book was not over described to the point that it becomes boring the author made shore you knew that facts but not to the point of you losing interested.

The story was a mix of everything teen drama, action, danger, high emotions and lots of secrets and lies and it was all put together in a beautiful and imaginative way that kept me hooked the whole way through.
The main character Callie was easy for me to like she spends her time trying to do what is best for her young brother Tyler. I did feel she lost track of herself sometimes but I felt that was all part of her journey in the book. After facing poverty then being faced with all that money it would be hard for anyone not to change.

Over all I felt the book was filled to the max of everything any reader could want I know that I was really happy with this book and did not want to put the book down. I would recommend the book to others and I can’t wait to see what happens next in this series. I can’t find any part of the book I did not like and I’m happy to say that book for me was faultless.

5 well earned stars

View all my reviews

Sarah Kernochan guest post.

2012-03-10T02:35:00.001-08:00

Best books would like to welcome Sarah Kernochan author of Jane Was Here which is available to buy now ill add purchase links at the bottom of this post.

SNORKELING IN THE OZONE

I’m a bad swimmer. I never learned how to suck breath with my head turned to the side. I would either inhale water or gulp only enough oxygen for a couple of strokes more, at which point I would be gasping for life. So I swim with a mask and snorkel tube.

It feels like I can go on forever this way. Usually there’s not much to see on the bottom of the pool or the bay where I paddle in summers. And you can’t see anything above the water, so there’s a certain trust involved that sharks or jet-skis are not going to remove some crucial limb. What’s mesmerizing is the sound of my own breath. Slow, deep, rhythmic, life-giving. Like meditation practice, it leads you inward. You enter the cosmic creative flow.

Here is the natural habitat of imagination, ideas, words, stories, solutions, endlessly regenerating, as if they already exist and are drifting about for the taking. You don’t always find what you’re seeking on the first try, but you trust in its presence; surely the next few tries will succeed.

But you can’t type underwater.

I know some writers who do employ meditation to get into the “zone.” Others choose the music that bests suits the tone of their material – for example, soundtracks of scary movies, or Bartok, for writing horror.

I use earplugs. Shutting off external sound puts you in the realm of your own breathing. Gradually, into the primordial deep you go, merging with the current. Your unconscious welcomes you, the writer, the fisher.

I’m wearing earplugs as I write this. Next stop, the deep.

About this author (goodreads)

I decided to be a writer at age 14. The books I loved made me want to draw love in the same way, to beguile and woo a reader away from the sensory world. I don't think of myself as an author but rather as a storyteller. I have only published two books because I got sidetracked into film. That career reached its peak with my directing a movie from my own script called "All I Wanna Do" [original title: "The Hairy Bird"] with Kirsten Dunst and Lynn Redgrave. The other peak was winning a second Academy Award for documentary.

I worried that, when I eventually returned to writing novels, screenwriting would have ruined my prose style. I found that, instead, it had sharpened my ability to plot and shape a story. I felt more confident about constructing the intricate mystery of JANE WAS HERE and to keep readers turning pages.

Because of several personal experiences with ghosts, as well as past-life flashbacks, I became interested in reincarnation and the paranormal. Over time I developed my own spirituality and rapport with the divine, and I drew upon all my beliefs when writing JANE WAS HERE. This makes the novel so much more than an entertainment to me. I am still trying to lift people out of this world!

Recently my husband James Lapine and I purchased a house on Martha's Vineyard, on a private beach where four generations of Kernochans have reveled since the 30's. This place is, and will be for the rest of my life, my portal to creativity. If I should become a ghost, this is where I would linger

JANE WAS HERE is a suspense story which brings reincarnation, karma, and the paranormal into the mix. What if someone was born with a fragmentary memory of a life before, and refuses to adjust to their new identity? What if she is driven instead to find the rest of those memories so that she can know what happened to her 150 years ago when she mysteriously disappeared?

A young woman arrives in the small rundown community of Graynier, Massachusetts. She calls herself Jane, though she was christened by another name. She can point out the house where she grew up, and yet she has never been to Graynier in her life. Thus begins Jane's mission, to retrieve the puzzle pieces of a former life, groping her way through the past and the present simultaneously.

The inhabitants of Graynier are unwittingly drawn into the mystery, as it becomes clear: someone must pay in the present for what happened in the past. For somewhere in this town is her killer, who also has come back incarnated as a different person.

Will Jane meet the same fate as she did in the other time? Or will divine justice be served?

Buy your copy today

Amazon

book depository

Amazon kindle

Also check out Jane was here website

Uk giveaway only for A Million Suns by Beth Revis

2012-03-08T06:37:00.000-08:00

Uk residents only!

A Million Suns (Across the Universe #2)

by Beth Revis

Godspeed was once fueled by lies. Now it is ruled by chaos. It’s been three months. In that time, Amy has learned to hide who she is. Elder is trying to be the leader he’s always wanted to be. But as the ship gets more and more out of control, only one thing is certain: They have to get off the ship.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Spot Goes to the Farm Launches as App for ipad, iTouch and iPhone

2012-03-07T07:02:00.000-08:00

Spot Goes to the Farm Launches as App

for ipad, iTouch and iPhone

The original and authorized edition of Spot Goes to the Farm has launched as an interactive reading experience in an app for ipad, iTouch and iPhone

Penguin Children’s Books and Frederick Warne are delighted to announce the launch of Spot Goes to the Farm as an app for ipad, iTouch and iPhone. The classic children’s book, beloved by generations of children, parents and celebrities becomes a fully interactive read and play experience in an app with lively narration, amusing animation and fun jigsaw puzzles.

Following on from the successful and highly rated Spot Goes to School app, the new app is based on Eric Hill’s original text and illustrations from Spot Goes to the Farm. In the story, Spot's visit to his Dad on the farm turns into a lively game as he looks for baby animals.

The pages are entertainingly enhanced with animated touch-flaps that hide and reveal popular farm animals and their sounds, touch-pictures that come to life, fun sound effects and three different read options: read it myself/read to me/touch text to hear again.

The app is aimed at children aged 0-5. In addition to the story, the app also contains three fun puzzles. The puzzles have three levels of difficulty and are designed to assist with and develop hand-eye coordination and memory.

The list of features of the app include:

The original and authorized edition of Spot Goes to the Farm by Eric Hill

Lively story narration

Animated action

Great sound effects throughout

Three fun puzzles

Eric Hill created the first ever commercially successful lift-the-flap book as a bedtime read for his son. 30 years on, his invention translates perfectly into an app for ipad, iTouch and iPhone.

Fever by Dee Shulman

2012-03-06T10:18:00.001-08:00

out the 5th of April

…The First in a Brand New Teen Series

A fearless Roman gladiator. A reckless twenty-first-century girl. A

mysterious virus unites them

152 AD. Sethos Leontis, a skilled and mesmerising fighter, is unexpectedly wounded and lies dangerously close to death.

2012 AD. Eva is brilliant - but troubled. Starting her new life at a school for the gifted, a single moment in the lab has terrifying results.

An extraordinary link brings Sethos and Eva together, but it could force them apart - because the fever that grips them cannot be cured and falling in love could be lethal . . . Can love survive when worlds collide and threaten time itself?

Get ready for an addictive time-travelling, teen romance that will keep you on the edge of your seat with thrilling twists and turns! This Fever is catching!

About the author

Dee Shulman is an award-winning author and illustrator who has a degree in English from York University and studied Illustration at Harrow School of Art.

She has written and /or illustrated over 50 books, including the popular, highly original My Totally Secret Diary series. She has been translated into many languages, including Japanese, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Welsh, Dutch, and Finnish. Fever is her first book for teenagers. Dee is based in London and is available for school, bookshop, online and festival events in the UK.

The White Oak by Kim White review

2012-03-06T02:33:00.001-08:00

The White Oak by Kim White
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book started in a fast paced and drama filled way. Cora is sucked into a sinkhole at her father’s grave within seconds Cora her brother and grandmother are sucked into the blackness of the ground. Cora soon is on the rollercoaster ride of her life after being spite out into a river below the sinkhole that is really the entrance to the underworld. A place filled with danger and death Cora is faced with having to work out what’s going on and will she be able to get out alive before it’s too late.

This book was action packed from the very begging you get the basic story line for the character then zoom your right into an epic story that was not only fun and exciting but nonstop danger and fear. I loved Cora and her brother they made such great characters to read about and the people they meet along the way could only be described as brilliant.

The story was at times dark but the detail and love that went into the book shined through the whole time I could almost see the underworld like I was there myself. Where the book was based in the underworld you would think that much death would bring the book down but in truth I felt that the author wrote the book as death is not the end just a new begging to a story that’s ongoing simply wonderful.

I have no faults with this book and for me it was everything I needed in a book a great start to a new and imaginative series.

View all my reviews

The Intern by Dillon Khan

2012-03-05T04:17:00.000-08:00

The Intern by Dillon Khan

5 April

Jay Merchant has landed an internship for the best job in music television. He has access-all-areas to the biggest VIP parties and the hottest celebrities all over the world. The velvet rope has been lifted – now he’s got to capture it on camera.

But behind the scenes, Jay is thrown into a life of early starts, late nights, blood, sweat and tears. He has six months to turn his intern dream into a real job – but at what price?

It’s time for Jay to face the music . . .

About the author

Dillon Khan was born in London, a city that educated him with a rich mix of music. He has been a music journalist since graduating from university, after which he spent eight years making shows about music, lifestyle and youth culture at MTV. In his collection he has 4,786 CDs, 3,669 cassette tapes,6 vinyls, one 8-track and counting. The Intern is his first novel.

(I’m hoping to review this book for the publishers soon so keep a look out)

Poison Heart by S. B. Hayes give away.

2012-03-02T03:13:00.000-08:00

New give for a brand new copy of the book below please enter and share! Thank you.

An idle glance through the window of a bus changes everything for Katy Rivers.

A mysterious girl, with luminous green eyes, stares back and from that moment on she haunts Katy and appears to know her every move, even what she is thinking. What is the strange connection between them? And what is the power of the emerald pendant which the girl bestows on her?

‘I’m everything you’re not and I’m going to take over your life… I’m your worst nightmare.’

These chilling words mean that Katy is gradually backed into a corner, alienated from everyone she holds dear, even her own mother. Only her best friend Luke, keeps faith and together they must find a way to defeat the girl who is determined that she will be with Katy...even until death.

POISON HEART combines psychological suspense with teen romance and makes for a thoroughly chilling read.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Witch & Wizard by James Patterson review

2012-03-02T02:25:00.000-08:00

Witch & Wizard by James Patterson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The world as you know it has changed and the one who is the one has changed the law and made the world a dark and evil place. There is to be no art, book and music nothing fun but most of all if you are court braking the rules you could end up DEAD!

Whit an Wisty allgood go against everything the new law stand for and in the middle of the night brother and sister are arrested out of there bed for being a witch and wizard and from that point there lives chance for ever. Now locked up the two well have to work out how to use there power and most of all understand what is going on and why they are classed as such a danger.

The book through me right into the action and gave me everything i liked about about a book. A well written story line that had no fault for me personally. Then the wonderful characters that you could almost see before your own eyes.

The book had so much action, magic and sadness that i found it hard to put the book down.what i really loved most had to be Wisty sarcasm that had me in fits of laughter and tears. She always hard something funny to add even in the face of danger and i really loved that.

I can honestly say that there was nothing i disliked about the book and for be the book was perfected.

View all my reviews

THE INSPIRATION BEHIND DESERT ANGEL

2012-02-29T03:12:00.000-08:00

THE INSPIRATION BEHIND DESERT ANGEL Charlie Price

The inspiration for Desert Angel materialized out of thin dry air. At the time it arrived I wasn’t thinking about stories, wasn’t wanting to write anything new. I was taking a break from visiting a failed investment in far Southern California, taking a break from thinking altogether, relaxing and clearing my mind and enjoying the landscape around me.

My wife and I were driving a rented convertible on a summery evening at dusk along a back road south of Desert Hot Springs. I don’t think we were talking; just admiring the stark arid country bordering the craggy ridges of Joshua Tree National Park. We passed occasional ramshackle houses with dusty vehicles, perhaps a small fenced area behind holding a few livestock. I found myself wondering about making a life in such a desolate area.

Once in a while I’d notice double ruts leading east into the badlands. Pickups? Four-wheelers? Would anyone be living out there? Why? The particular beauty of these parched flats? Some kind of work, geological or archeological, that related to this geography? Would a resident be antisocial or at the very least reclusive? . . . And I began picturing this trailer practically hidden in a crease at the base of ridge, the man who might have hauled it there and the others who stayed with him. I began to see this young blonde girl, so isolated, probably dragged there because her mother got attached to this guy . . . the girl was standing outside the trailer to get away from the adults quarreling inside . . . and Desert Angel began to breathe.

When I told Joanie what I was picturing, we both began to imagine what the man and woman and girl might be like. My wife is a psychotherapist. Has been for over thirty years and has seen hundreds in private therapy. Both of us have also worked with abused, runaway girls in adolescent psych units and at-risk schools.

We discussed Angel’s fundamental innocence. In spite of having some gruesome experiences and having lived in several different homes, Angel did not know much about the outside world. She rarely attended public school and when she did, she was a “new girl” stranger. The informal education she received was through her mom’s home-schooling efforts. She didn’t go to movies or concerts. Her “culture” was small and her only consistent friend, her mother. The parenting she experienced was reversed because Angel wound up taking care of her mom, reassuring, comforting, giving makeup advice and so on.

We believed one of Angel’s greatest strengths would be a world-class radar alerting her to predatory men, coupled with a hyper awareness of her environment. She could sense when a man was sexually interested in her and she always created maps in her head, never knowing when she’d need to run to protect herself. Her mother’s failure to protect her, also forced Angel to develop to a fierce self-reliance.

Thus, when others befriend her, she is suspicious. When someone like Rita offers support and affection Angel hardly knows how to respond. It seems too good to be true. And since Angel herself is in mortal danger, what if she brings that threat into Rita’s family environment? Angel’s desire to run and escape these confusing complications becomes nearly unbearable.

Girls like Angel might respond to honesty and caring over time. She had trained herself to observe others minutely and she scrutinized Rita’s words and behavior. Gradually Angel began considering whether she could trust people like Rita, Abuela, Ramon, and Vincente. We’re they who they seemed to be, a loving family dedicated to its members?

The more I thought about her, the more alive she became, and the more I wanted to tell her tale. I jotted down some sentences that same evening and didn’t stop for most of the next year.

Reviewed by Best Books Annmarie.

Angel has been dragged about by her mum her whole life. One abusive boyfriend after another but Scotty the new boyfriend has crossed the line. After a massive fight Scotty kills Angel’s mum and buries the body. Now the only loose end is Angel, She knows what he did and she knows he will kill her next She needs to run but Scotty is a hunter and Angel is now the pray. Will Angel live to tell anyone what happened?

This book started with a bang. Readers are thrown into the action. I was shocked at what Angel had gone throw and you have a burning hatred for Scotty. He really loves causing pain which means his the target for the readers hate and anger. Within the first five chapters you get to grips with how far Scotty will go to kill Angel. While Angel is but a scared girl she is also smart and understands that crazy Scotty will never stop hunting her down.

I was amazed at how powerful the story was from the very beginning you see so much dark pain, anger and danger between Scotty and Angel. The book was about survival and it thrilled and scared me at the same time. I wanted to scream and shout along with the book I needed Angel to live and do well and while the book was only short it was packed to the max. Angel's fear and anger and the need to survive oozed through this book the whole way through. While Scotty sick need to hunt, kill and win gave me shivers.

I was on the edge of my seat the whole time I feared for Angel and wanted to kill Scotty myself. A master piece that had my heart racing to the very end!

Five stars.

Review: Kiera's Quest: Awakenings by Kristy Brown ~alice~

2012-02-26T17:22:00.000-08:00

Meet Kiera, a pretty, intelligent, and talented girl, brought up by her uncle, and abandoned
by her parents. Life is as normal as she believes it to be, apart from the deep ache inside her,
telling her she’s different. For years, Kiera had dreams where she ventures into a different
reality. She’s not alone; a presence is always there, keeping her safe, yet she feels vulnerable,
and hunted.
Zakk, Prince of Zantar, is under the Witch Queen’s spell as she tries to take over his world.
He crosses paths with Kiera, and their fates are entwined.
As their journey unravels, she learns that she is not the only one affected by this prince. Who
is on her side? Will she find out why she has been chosen? How can someone so young, defeat
such evil? Will she find the strength to save the ones closest to her? Will this be Kiera’s only
Quest?

My Review!!!
i was very lucky to be given this book for review
i just loved the way this is written, the storyline and characters were very believable. i felt like i was there with kiera and zakk. kiera was the type of girl you could admire, she was headstrong and i loved every minute of hers and zakks journey. the witch queen was just plain scary but it was wicked to see the baddy as a female.
i recomend this ebook for anyone who wants a quick read and fun read
cant wait to read more of their journey :)

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

2012-02-26T06:16:00.002-08:00

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have had this book since it first come out but for some reason never got around to reading it...any way i finally picked the book up and from the first page i found that i was in love with the book and most of all the main character that burned with the need or know what was outside of her small village. She was always reaching out for something more while people thought she was just a silly dreamer but in a world where the Unconsecrated(zombies)had taken everything i felt that Mary's showed hope in the darkness of the death and despair. The story was one based around a village that had blocked it self in with a fence to keep the zombies out but its the stuff that goes on inside that really grabs you. Secrets and life changing lies from the people that are meant to be protecting the people.

i was knocked down by this simply brilliant story that had me all over the place with all kinds of emotion

View all my reviews

Must reads

2012-02-19T10:23:00.000-08:00

Here is a list of some cool books out this month.

Pandemonium (Delirium, #2) by Lauren Oliver

Fever (The Chemical Garden, #2) by Lauren DeStefano

Under the Never Sky (Under the Never Sky, #1) by Veronica Rossi

Born Wicked (The Cahill Witch Chronicles, #1) by Jessica Spotswood

Partials (Partials, #1) by Dan Wells

The Other Life by Susanne Winnacker

When the Sea is Rising Red by Cat Hellisen

Undeadly (The Reaper Diaries, #1) by Michele Vail

The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg

If you know any other cool book just comment below with the books your looking forward to.

Legend by Marie Lu review

2012-01-24T02:36:00.001-08:00

Legend by Marie Lu
5 stars
June and day have two very different lives and there about to collide.

June is top of her game with the highest marks and pretty much good at everything that a solider should be. While her mum and dad are dead her brother looks after her so when his murdered by day a guy that is wanted for other crimes. June wants revenge and with the help from her brother superiors she has everything she needs.

On her vengeance mission June will learn some truths that will change her life.

For me this book had everything I wanted none stop action and suspense that sucked me in. There was such an excitement and mystery around the illness and deaths that I felt compelled to keep on reading needing to know more and more. The story has just a touch of romance that worked really well with the book so together there was a little something for every reader to like.

June and day are two characters that really surprised me they were alike in so many ways but they had two different lives that in-packed them and made them who they are. The book flicked between the two characters so you got a really good look at each of their lives and you got to understand how they felt which was brilliant. I could happily read this book again and again and I could not help but fall in love with the characters and the way the book was written.

Readers are going to fall in love with this book because it has everything a book needs and most of all it has an explosive storyline that will have you guessing to the end.

View all my reviews

Learning In The Dark by Margaret Sarah Bechtel review by alice

2012-01-22T03:32:00.000-08:00

what's it about?

One careless moment can alter a life forever. At the age of ten Lynn loses her eyesight in a terrible accident. Years later her life becomes entangled with the people who caused her blindness. While Lynn is learning in the dark, can she learn to forgive?

My Review

OMG this book was just mind blowing. the emotions, i needed like 2 boxes of tissues for it.
i read this book in one sitting it was just that wonderful.
what lynn had to overcome was amazing, and yes some points of the book i just wanted to slap her.
i loved the way this book was written, you can clearly feel every single emotion from the characters.
i cannot wait to read more books from margaret as the just keep getting better and better
if you have never read anything from this author, and if you love books where your emotions are always on display then this is the book for you :)

where can you find her and where to buy her books

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Learning-In-The-Dark-A-Novel-by-Margaret-Sarah-Bechtel/232544836785394

http://www.bookdepository.com/Learning-Dark-Margaret-Sarah-Bechtel/9781449982720

http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Dark-Margaret-Sarah-Bechtel/dp/1449982727/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327231868&sr=8-1

thank you for reading my review and i hope you enjoy the book as much as i did ~alice~

Creatura by Nely Cab Review by alice

2012-01-21T18:55:00.000-08:00

WHAT'S IT ABOUT???

When seventeen year-old Isis Martin is having trouble sleeping due to perturbing dreams of a horrific growling beast, she decides to confront her fear. But what Isis discovers is something other than a menacing entity.
The human-like creature offers Isis assurance that he is not a figment of her imagination. Unwilling to accept his avowal, Isis sets his words to contest by asking the entity to prove himself - a dare, he readily welcomes.
It is in her dreams that Isis innocently stumbles upon the silent existence of the divine lineage of those that man has long forgotten.
In a quaint town, deep in south Texas, this story leads Isis onto the path of impermissible love and captivating life-changing truths. Isis Martin's journey is sure to leave any reader ravenous for more.

MY REVIEW

one word for this book AMAZING!!!!
the characters you really feel for. i really connected with ISIS, she was just a wonderful lead character and i really felt for her and her problems.
what can i say about the males in this book, OMG SWOON WORTHY the lot of them but expecially david :)
this book was a rollercoaster ride of emotions, i was laughing, crying, wanting to throw the book across the room.
the way nely wrote this book, i felt as if i was there, living this book.
and OMG that ending!!!! i need book two now!!!
this book i highly recomend to EVERYONE. go out and buy it!!!!
this storyline is completly different to anything i have ever read and was hooked by the prologue. please nely finish book two so i can devour it :)

where can you find nely i hear you asking well she has two facebook pages
NELY CAB

CREATURA

http://www.nelycab.com/

http://www.nelycab.blogspot.com/

Where you can buy the book

http://www.nelycab.com/#!where-to-buy

http://www.bookdepository.com/Creatura-Nely-Cab/9781463406233

http://www.amazon.com/Creatura-Nely-Cab/dp/1463406231/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1

thank you for looking at my review and i hope you love the book as much as i did :)

~alice~

The Obsidian Blade by Pete Hautman review

2012-01-16T07:04:00.000-08:00

The Obsidian Blade by Pete Hautman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The Obsidian Blade (Klaatu Diskos #1) by Pete Hautman
Tucker is a normal everyday day lad till his father disappeared off the roof of their family home. Hours later his dad turns up with a strange girl in toe but something weird has happened. Tuckers dad is now older and no longer has any faith in god. Over the next few weeks Tuckers dad grows distanced while his mother seems to be slowly losing her mind and can no longer tell the difference from fact and fiction. Life for tucker becomes lonely and he finds himself doing silly things but when he returns home and finds his family missing with only a short note leaving Tucker with an uncle he does not know. Then Tucker’s life changes when his sucked through a disko that takes him back in time and opens his eyes to what truly happened to his family.

Ok doing a review for this book was always going to be hard there was just so much going on and the book was so different and interesting. Well the first half of the book was really getting to know the characters and seeing how these strange disko turned the feye family upside down. I really loved getting to know everyone and I felt so sad for Tucker at times. While there was a lot of family drama and untold secrets from Tuckers dad and I was excited to see that the book built up to something imaginative and scary. Once his family vanish the book takes on a darker more dramatic side.

The last half of the book was full of strange places and different beings and poor Tucker trying to understand what was going on. I love seeing him grow as a character and there was such an amazing story line which is so hard to explain without giving away too much of the books. I was intrigued by all the stuff in this book but it was how well the author mixed Science fiction, history and religion together and made such a brilliant start to a series.
So many sides to this book something for everyone to love. Five stars

View all my reviews

The Vanishing Game by Kate Kae Myers review

2012-01-12T11:16:00.001-08:00

The Vanishing Game by Kate Kae Myers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Story line:
Weeks ago Jocelyn’s twin brother Jack died in an accident. Finding it hard to cope with the loss of her brother but it’s not only that he was her best friend the only one she truly trusted. Then she gets a letter from her brother using his old code name dropping everything she sets out to follow her brother’s clues but they lead her into a dark and upsetting past. She joins up with an old friend and together they plain to learn the truth. Over the course of the next few days Jocelyn and Noah will face untold dangers, ghosts for the past and some truths that could tear them apart.

Review:
The book blow me away from the very start I was wrapped up in the mystery and drama of this book. I really enjoyed getting to know the characters and there really hard past that seemed to haunt most of them. Jocelyn was a fantastic lead character that you could not help but like she was so determined and at times stubborn. She had this way about her that made you want to read on and find out what happened next.

The story was flawless. Brilliantly written there was such mystery and I was excited and felt like I was following the clues with the characters to uncover the truth. I was at the edge of my seat and biting my nails at every new piece of information or simply the fact the action was so riveting. There was also this ghostly creepiness to the book that come and went throughout the whole book it gave me chills and left me feeling like I was being watched.

There was something for everyone to like in this book with lots of mind blowing action. Mystery that will keep you guessing and some ghosts from the past waiting to get you. Simply brilliant!

Five stars

View all my reviews

Birthday give away

2012-01-10T05:25:00.000-08:00

I'm not shore how many of you know but its my birthday 26 of January so what better way for me to celebrate then to do another give-away on blog!!

There well be two winner one book each!!

new paper back copy!

The Future of Us

by Jay Asher, Carolyn Mackler

It's 1996 and less than half of all American high school students have ever used the Internet. Facebook will not be invented for several more years. Emma just got a computer and an America Online CD-ROM with 100 free hours. When she and her best friend Josh log on to AOL they discover themselves on Facebook... fifteen years in the future. Everybody wonders what life has in store for them.

Josh and Emma are about to find out.

New paper back copy!

Across the Universe (Across the Universe #1)

by Beth Revis

Amy is a cryogenically frozen passenger aboard the vast spaceshipGodspeed. She expects to awaken on a new planet, 300 years in the future. But fifty years before Godspeed's scheduled landing, Amy's cryo chamber is unplugged, and she is nearly killed.

Now, Amy is caught inside an enclosed world where nothing makes sense.Godspeed's passengers have forfeited all control to Eldest, a tyrannical and frightening leader, and Elder, his rebellious and brilliant teenage heir.

Amy desperately wants to trust Elder. But should she? All she knows is that she must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets before whoever woke her tries to kill again.

when you comment please let me know which you would like to win best or ether and why would like the book?

(This question is just for fun)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Legend By Marie Lu book info

2012-01-09T10:37:00.000-08:00

Legend By Marie Lu

Published by Razorbill

02.02.12

The United States is gone, along with its flooded coasts. North America's two warring nations, the western Republic and the eastern Colonies, have reached a breaking point. In the midst of this broken continent and dark new world are two teenagers who will go down in history....

Born into the slums of Los Angeles, fifteen-year old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. A mysterious boy with no recorded image or fingerprints. A boy who should no longer exist. A boy who watches over his family until one evening, when the plague patrols mark his family's door with an X--the sign of plague infection. A death sentence for any family too poor to afford the antidote. Desperate, Day has no choice; he must steal it.

Born to an elite family in Los Angeles' wealthy Ruby sector, fifteen-year old June is the Republic's most promising prodigy. A superintelligent girl destined for great things in the country's highest military circles. Obedient, passionate, and committed to her country--until the day her brother Metias is murdered while on patrol during a break-in at the plague hospital.

Only one person could be responsible.

Day.

And now it's June's mission to hunt him down.

The truth they'll uncover will become legend.

The first in an epic dystopian trilogy and a brilliant reimagining of

Les Misérables, with all the appeal of The Hunger Games.

In a joint global publication with Penguin USA, Legend is a cinematic romantic adventure set in a post-apocalyptic world, built around the popular Facebook game created by the author, Marie Lu.

Los Angeles, California

Republic of America

He is Day.

The boy who walks in the light.

She is June.

The girl who seeks her brother's killer.

On the run and undercover, they meet by chance. Irresistibly drawn together, neither knows the other's past.

But Day murdered June's brother.

And she has sworn to avenge his death.

Marie Lu works as an art director for a Los Angeles video game company. She was born near Shanghai, but currently lives in California with her boyfriend and their three dogs. http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/legendtheseries

The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg book info

2012-01-09T10:29:00.000-08:00

The Catastrophic History of You and Me

by Jess Rothenberg

Published by Razorbill 2 February

Dying of a broken heart is just the beginning.... Welcome to forever.

BRIE'S LIFE ENDS AT SIXTEEN: Her boyfriend tells her he doesn't love her, and the news breaks her heart—literally.

But now that she's D&G (dead and gone), Brie is about to discover that love is way more complicated than she ever imagined. Back in Half Moon Bay, her family has begun to unravel. Her best friend has been keeping a secret about Jacob, the boy she loved and lost—and the truth behind his shattering betrayal. And then there's Patrick, Brie's mysterious new guide and resident Lost Soul . . . who just might hold the key to her forever after.

With Patrick's help, Brie will have to pass through the five stages of grief before she's ready to move on. But how do you begin again, when your heart is still in pieces?

A bittersweet, funny and heartbreaking debut from a major new YA talent

‘Inventive, gorgeous, funny and yes . . . heartbreaking. You will absolutely love this book.’ Lauren Oliver, author of Before I Fall

If I'd known right then that this was the kid who would grow up to break my heart beyond repair, maybe I would've stayed upstairs on the phone with Tess.

Maybe I would've gone to bed early. Maybe I would've begged my parents to take me with them - even though those doctor dinners are pretty much the boringest things ever.

But I didn't know. Couldn't know. So instead I shrugged and said something really genius like "Um, whatever." And proceeded to fall totally, madly, crazy in love.

Jess Rothenberg grew up in Charleston, South Carolina, graduated from Vassar College, and spent most of her twenties editing books for young readers. She lives in Brooklyn where she writes full-time, dances interpretively, and dreams of one day owning a sheepdog named Leo. The Catastrophic History of You and Me is her first novel.

Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer review

2012-01-09T03:58:00.000-08:00

What's it about?

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

In this thrilling debut young adult novel, the first of a quartet, Marissa Meyer introduces readers to an unforgettable heroine and a masterfully crafted new world that’s enthralling.

My review

5/5

This book really is as different and awesome as it sounds! There are many, many... many retellings of Cinderella in both literature and television and this is one of the best ones I've seen, well read. Whilst it has the outline of the original tale it also has completely new and unique twists, to remake the classic for the technological generation.

I was hooked into the story straight away and struggled to put the book down until I was finished, Cinder is instantly likeable, she knows she's a second-class citizen with no rights because she's a cyborg and whilst this bothers her, she accepts it and gets on with her life. She's treated horribly by her stepmother and stepsister which really made me feel bad for her, but she does have a friend in her younger stepsister Peony and Iko, the familys android, so she's not completely alone. All the way through I was hoping, not just for her happy ever after, but for her to be treated like a human because she is one, she has a prosthetic foot and hand but she still has emotions and deserves rights and I was outraged by the way she was treated, like I would be were she a real friend.

Although in it much less Peony is another really likeable character that had my emotions all over the place and then there was prince charming himself Kai, who is humble enough to admit he's not sure he's ready to be King, he's not sure if he can solve the problems of the commonwealth but he'll do anything he has to for his people, all of which were traits that made him even more endearing.

The book is split into four parts and at the start of each part is a little snippet from the original tale which I thought was a lovely little extra touch to the book, honestly I have no bad things to say about this book, I just loved everything about it, the characters, the story, the writing, the twists and turns that had me gasping audibly. Seriously I'm not even sure I can even use the right words to explain how much I loved it lol but I did!

Misty Bookaholics Book Club
Blog
Facebook
Twitter

Shattered Dreams by Ellie James review

2012-01-08T11:09:00.000-08:00

Shattered Dreams by Ellie James
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Shattered dreams by Ellie James
Trinity has lived a sheltered life with her grandmother in the mountains but when she dies leaving Trinity to go to stay with her aunty. All seems well until a game of truth or dare in an abandoned house with Trinity so called friends turns nasty. After the humiliation in the house Trinity is left feeling stupid for trusting them. She is anger and ticked off so when the ring leader Jessica goes missing people blame Trinity.

Wonder what else could go wrong she starts having visions of Jessica. Trinity know she need to find Jessica before it’s too late but while doing so she is faced with more drama and finds that her whole life she has been lied to. Will she find the truth and find Jessica before it’s too late.

The begin of the book steps right into teen drama Trinity is new to the school and already seems to be ticking the popular girl off. I found that the start was not only a good intro in the book but a great way of viewing normal teen drama. I soon clocked on that something was very different about Trinity which made her stand out to the normal kids. I liked that she was not afraid to stand up to Jessica while others would have walked away. She was strong yet had this hidden softer side after all her losses I could understand why she felt so untrusting and guarded.

Now the storyline was really exciting I love the twist of supernatural power that Trinity had. I felt the author mixed the normal drama and supernatural parts together really well so you felt that it was almost real. Then there was this almost crime mystery side of the book with Jessica missing and the mystery over the main charter Trinity as well you had no time to get bored as there was just so much in the book. I would say there was something for everyone in this storyline.

I only really had the one dislike and that was I read the book in less them 12 hours it was just so good I wanted more! Excellent start to a new and exciting series.

Shattered dreams is packed with drama and mystery and fast paced storyline that left you wanting more.

Five stars.

View all my reviews

In my mailbox -bestbooks-

2012-01-07T12:59:00.000-08:00

This is my video In my mailbox please watch and comment.

Thank you.

Desert Angel by Charlie Price review

2012-01-07T06:07:00.000-08:00

Desert Angel by Charlie Price
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Angel has been dragged about by her mum her whole life. One abusive boyfriend after another but Scotty the new boyfriend has crossed the line. After a massive fight Scotty kills Angel’s mum and buries the body. Now the only loose end is Angel, She knows what he did and she knows he will kill her next She needs to run but Scotty is a hunter and Angel is now the pray. Will Angel live to tell anyone what happened?

This book started with a bang. Readers are thrown into the action. I was shocked at what Angel had gone throw and you have a burning hatred for Scotty. He really loves causing pain which means his the target for the readers hate and anger. Within the first five chapters you get to grips with how far Scotty will go to kill Angel. While Angel is but a scared girl she is also smart and understands that crazy Scotty will never stop hunting her down.

I was amazed at how powerful the story was from the very beginning you see so much dark pain, anger and danger between Scotty and Angel. The book was about survival and it thrilled and scared me at the same time. I wanted to scream and shout along with the book I needed Angel to live and do well and while the book was only short it was packed to the max. Angel's fear and anger and the need to survive oozed through this book the whole way through. While Scotty sick need to hunt, kill and win gave me shivers.

I was on the edge of my seat the whole time I feared for Angel and wanted to kill Scotty myself. A master piece that had my heart racing to the very end!

Five stars.

View all my reviews

Hide & Seek (Games of Zeus #1) by Aimee Laine Review

2012-01-05T13:40:00.000-08:00

Hide & Seek (Games of Zeus #1) by Aimee Laine

Reviewed by: Annmarie Best Books

Release date: March 5, 2012

Genre: Adult Paranormal romance

Publishers: J. Taylor Publishing

Description:

Lie, cheat or steal, no one can catch Tripp Fox. Except one woman.

Lexi Shepherd’s knack for finding whatever is asked of her isn’t sheer luck. It’s a gift from the Greek god Zeus.

That Lexi doesn’t use her ability to search for “Mr. Right” comes from one of many personal rules she has set for herself. Number one is not to let fate dictate her future.

Falling in love with Tripp breaks all the others.

Despite her principles, Lexi’s unable to stay away from the bad boy, and she finds herself toeing the grey line of the law for him.

Zeus, though, didn’t give Lexi and Tripp their talents to make their relationship a simple, easy alliance. He designed it to be exactly the opposite. Impossible. Always.

With their separation, Lexi expects Tripp to forfeit love in favor of destiny. He, on the other hand, intends to beat Zeus at his own game. With a plan in place, Tripp challenges Lexi to take the one action no one else can.

Find him.

The question isn’t can she ... but will she?

Review: Hide and seek is a brilliantly written and sexy book. Lexi and Tripp are both two very gifted characters both have their own problems, Tripp is to marry a women his does not love while Lexi can’t find her true love so when they walk into each other’s life’s you would think it would be simply but it’s not. Zeus gave them the gifts and as a god he made shore that Tripp and Lexi are opposites made to be apart but the two of them have other ideas

I was sucked into the book nearly at once. While Lexi is normally the clear headed one that goes by the rules and Tripp I found to be cheeky and intelligent but once you mix the two together it’s like the characters change before your eyes. I thought they work so well together and their relationship could make any women envious. While the heat factor of this book could burn any reader and leave a smile on your face there was so much more to the book. The story line held a mix of Danger and excitement that left me wanting to read more and the twist of paranormal and mythology as their powers come from the gods really blow me away.

It was easy to fall in love with Tripp and be carried away with the excitement and the pure power and fun of the writing. This one book I could read again and again.

To sum up this book is easy so much heat, passion and danger you’ll be left breathless for more!

5 stars

blog give away.

2012-01-03T05:11:00.000-08:00

cover 1

book cover 2

Switched (Trylle Trilogy #1) by Amanda Hocking

When Wendy Everly was six-years-old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. It isn't until eleven years later that Wendy discovers her mother might have been right. With the help of Finn Holmes, Wendy finds herself in a world she never knew existed - a world both beautiful and frightening, and Wendy's not sure she wants to be a part of it.

I'm give away 1 paper back copy of this beautiful book Switched.

Winner well be called 16 January. Winners are picked by random using Rafflecopter.
winner get to pick which copy of the book i send.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

winner is

2012-01-02T03:50:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a great Christmas & new year.

The winner of the two book give away (shattered dreams and still waters) is entry #330 Terri Matlock please email me with your address bestbook@cheerful.com you have 48 hours to email before new winner is picked.

thank you everyone for getting involved new give away will be posted soon.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi review

2011-12-31T03:50:00.001-08:00

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What can I say about this book so everyone can grasp just how much I simply loved this book. Before the book even got into full swing I found myself saving quotes from the book. Juliette is a brilliant character and I loved following her story she has been unloved and thrown away by her own family and now is locked up but soon faces something worse being used to kill people. The start of this book really does show this characters strength and the despair that clouds her mind the feelings of loneliness and the growing grip around her heart that says your unloved. You watch this girl grow into herself and at times you wish that she would just be free in herself.

The story was so different and the world it’s based in is our own but a future that is in shambles and is run by well CRAZY PEOPLE! That want power. I really did love everything about the book. I felt lots of emotions while reading the book hate at the people that have hurt and used Juliette and happiness that maybe something better is to come.

I don’t think there are words that cover how amazing this book really is and no review could explain just how much excitement, despair, action and passion is packed into this book that will blow your mind. You’re going to have to read it!

View all my reviews

Still Waters by Emma Carlson Berne review

2011-12-28T09:41:00.000-08:00

Still Waters by Emma Carlson Berne
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I have wanted to read this book for a while so I was super pleased to get a copy from my friend at Christmas. This book was only small so I knew it would not take me to long to read so I started the book as soon as I got it.

The story starts with you really getting to know Hannah. Hannah is normally a good and honest girl that spends her time helping her mum look after her little brother and being with her boyfriend Colin. Colin is a smart guy that you could see picking any girl he wants but he sees something in Hannah that makes them a brilliant match. I did find I had points that I struggled for starters there was times I felt that parts of the story are dead there is no real interested. I spent a lot of time wondering when the good stuff would happen....It was over half way through when thing really picked up and a series of strange events lead to the books climax and while I really enjoyed this really well thought out last bit of the book there was just too many points over the book that I felt like giving up. I am glad that I read the book and Hannah was a great character that surprises you at the end but for me I felt more was needed in the book.

This book was really not my kind of read but my review is based on me just because I did not like does not mean you well be the same.

2 stars

View all my reviews

The 20 Best Books of 2011 You Should Read Over Winter Break

2011-12-22T11:23:00.000-08:00

The 20 best books of 2011 you should read over winter break

Click the title above and you will be taken to The 20 Best Books of 2011 You Should Read Over Winter Break.

The lovely Florine Church thought my you book mad people would love the article.

I have to agree there are some great book idea's go check it out.

http://www.bachelorsdegreeonline.com/blog/2011/the-20-best-books-of-2011-you-should-read-over-winter-break/

Saving Daisy by Phil Earle

2011-12-22T08:35:00.001-08:00

Saving Daisy by Phil Earle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Daisy is 14 years old and is not coping with her mother's death daisy blames herself for it. Over the coming weeks, she finds herself having panic attacks and using self-harming to clear her head and stop the attacks. Daisy’s dad will not open up and talk to her so daisy is left feeling alone. A mix of heart braking events leave daisy fatherless and broken inside. Unable to open up and talk about what’s going on Daisy is moved onto a place that will help her cope but will daisy open up and trust the people that are they to help.

My review I really don’t know how to start with this- this is not my normal sort of read, and I guess I’ll start by saying... This book was a look into a life that many young children and teens have to live with each day. I found it hard to think of this book as a work of fiction because it was more like a true look into so many lives. The sad fact is lots of kids have terrible lives.

Daisy's story opens the reader into a life that is cracking open with guilt and self-harming. Daisy is drowning in her despair, and the world around her does not seem to notice. I found that I soon cared for Daisy like I would my own children.

At times, there is so much pain and despair that you feel like daisy well never get out of this darkness that seems to have taken over her life for so long. I guess the point of this book is simple to me know don’t give up while sometime life seems so bad, but you need to fight for that light at the end of the tunnel that is there if you look hard enough. I also felt that the author was trying to make people aware of the true darkness and pain in real life. It’s easy to over look the homeless kids and kids in care when your life is simple but stop and read saving daisy it will open your eyes to the stuff that sometimes goes on behind closed doors.

Saving Daisy is a must read. A brilliantly written book that is more fact then fiction about the true horrors of life and the uplifting realisation that there is always hope. This book had more emotion then any I have read before.

5 stars

View all my reviews

2 book give away!!

2011-12-15T10:53:00.000-08:00

Winners are picked at random using Rafflecopter. The winner well be called the 2 of January The winner gets both book still water and shattered dreams.

Still Waters by Emma Carlson Berne

Hannah can't wait to sneak off for a romantic weekend with her boyfriend, Colin. He’s leaving for college soon, and Hannah wants their trip to the lake house to be one they’ll never forget.

But once Hannah and Colin get there, things start to seem a bit...off. They can't find the town on any map. The house they are staying in looks as if someone's been living there, even though it's been deserted for years. And Colin doesn’t seem quite himself. As he grows more unstable, Hannah worries about Colin’s dark side, and her own safety.

Nothing is as perfect as it seems, and what lies beneath may haunt her forever.

Shattered Dreams (Midnight Dragonfly #1) by Ellie James

Sixteen-year-old Trinity Monsour wants nothing more than to live a normal life. But that isn’t as easy as it seems. Trinity is different. She isspecial. She sees visions, and for those she’s seen, it’s already too late.

Trinity arrives on her aunt’s doorstep in New Orleans with virtually no knowledge of her mysterious heritage. She begins settling into life at a new school and even starts making friends. But all too quickly her dreams accelerate; twisted, terrifying visions of a girl locked in a dark room. And when the head cheerleader, Jessica, goes missing, Trinity knows she has no choice but to step forward with what she’s seen.

But people believe that Trinity has information about Jessica’s disappearance not because of a dream, but because she is involved. She iskind-of dating Jessica’s ex-boyfriend, Chase, and Jessica did pull a nasty prank on Trinity. Revenge seems like the likeliest scenario.

Nothing prepares Trinity for the dark odyssey that ensues while searching for Jessica, including the surprising romance she finds with Chase, or the shocking truths she learns, not just about the girl who has gone missing, but the past that has been hidden from her.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fracture by Megan Miranda review

2011-12-10T06:32:00.001-08:00

Fracture by Megan Miranda

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Delaney was dead for eleven minutes here brain starved of oxygen. Her heart stopped beating. Decker pulls his best friend Delaney out of the icy lake, but the damage is already done.

To everyone’s shock Delaney beats the odds and lives waking up when she should be dead or in a vegetated state. The doctors explain that she hasuntold damaged in her brain that should make talking and remembering impossible yet Delaney seems fine.

Delaney knows she has come back wrong the shaking in her hands and the tugging from inside leads her to the dying. She does not understand what’s going on then she meets someone just like her does he hold the answers Delaney needs.

I was lucky enough to get an ARC of this book to review, and I’m so happy to be given the chance to read it. This book was beyond words amazing I read the whole book in less than a day.

From the first few paged your thrown right into the story there were no boring introductions that can sometimes put people off, this book went straight into the action which I enjoyed.

To me, there were three main characters that brought different things to the book while there was lots of other character these main three made the book for me.

Fracture was one of the first books that made me cry at times the book had so much emotion that pulled at your heart strings. There were lots of different relationships going on in the book that had problems and worries. I felt that while this book was fiction, there were lots of real problems like how does a family cope after nearly losing a member of the family the book show that death can sometime pull families and friends apart or other times you can work to stay together. There was also this twist in the book in which Delaney felt pulled to the people that were near death, which put a whole interesting spin on the story. This book was one that really got me thinking about life and death I was really shocked at howmuch the book stayed with me, even after I had finished reading it.

It was a book about life after facing death. An emotion journey to see if life is worth living and how people cope.

I’m giving the book five stars. I would recommend the book to others.
One last thing if you had one day to live what would you do?
All I have to say live each day as if it was your last no mistakes just memories.

View all my reviews

Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey give away!

2011-12-02T06:40:00.000-08:00

A thrilling debut story of death, love, destiny and danger

Lenzi hears voices and has visions - gravestones, floods, a boy with steel gray eyes. Her boyfriend, Zak, can't help, and everything keeps getting louder and more intense. Then Lenzi meets Alden, the boy from her dreams, who reveals that she's a reincarnated Speaker - someone who can talk to and help lost souls - and that he has been her Protector for centuries.

Now Lenzi must choose between her life with Zak and the life she is destined to lead with Alden. But time is running out: a malevolent spirit is out to destroy Lenzi, and he will kill her if she doesn't make a decision soon.

Halfling by Heather Burth review

2011-11-26T13:33:00.000-08:00

Halflings by Heather Burch

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Chased by hell hounds, nearly run off the road by a suv Nikki’s life used to be simply now she seems like every bad thing in the world is trying to kill her. With evil ready to strike at every turn Nikki ends up having three beautiful guys watching over her. They call themselves Halflings the offspring of fallen angels. They plan to keep Nikki out of dangers but sometimes that’s not easy to do. New problems arise when Nikki finds herself falling in love with two of her protectors. This comes a big shock as she has never been interested in guys, but now she can’t help but want two but more trouble is ahead than just love because Nikki needs to work out what’s going on before she is killed.

I would just like to say when people I know read books and tell me there is a MASSIVE! Love triangle in the book I normally choose to stay clear but this book was very different. The love triangle in this book was deep and emotional. Raven and Mace are two very different characters at first look I thought of mace as light and caring one and Raven as dark and sexy but there is a whole lot more to these two characters and the book was so much more than just love drama. It’s about family and making the right chooses and the evil that's inside us all it’s our choice to be good or bad and this book really did show that.

Nikki was a really good character. She is a fighter, deep down, and she faces what’s coming head on. As one of the main characters she was feisty and kind and enjoyable to read about. I also felt that there is a lot more we are going to learn about her as the series goes on. I just had a sense that there is a lot of hidden power or potential inside Nikki that’s begging to come out. The story was packed with danger, and Nikki went from a normal life to being on the supernatural hit list. There were a lot of intense moments in the book between characters and sometimes humour the book seemed to find a great mix of everything.

Now I would like to confess that as an avid reader you sometimes fall for the characters you're reading about and raven was one of those characters for me. While at first look you feel his just an arrogant pretty boy, but I felt there more to him, and I feel that over readers will spot that underneath his front, you will see someone different.

A wonderful written story Jam packed with forbidden love, danger and a burning evil that will suck you in.

5 stars

View all my reviews

This is not forgiveness by Celia Rees

2011-11-25T11:10:00.000-08:00

This is not forgiveness by Celia Rees

I can’t decide what to do with your ashes. It’s been nearly a year now. Almost summer again. The urn is sitting in front of me on the desk, brown plastic with a ref. number, the date and your name scribbled on a sticky label: Robert Julian Maguire The label has black borders and is beginning to peel at the corners. I smooth the wrinkled paper, trying to stick it back. It has been slapped on crooked by someone who didn’t care a whole lot about the contents. There are all kinds of urns you can have: brass, copper, pewter, ceramic; you can have a wooden casket with engraving on it, but those cost and someone would have to care enough to order one and buy it. I guess yours is the modern equivalent of the pauper’s grave.

I went to the funerals. They held them one after another. I don’t think they meant them to be that way, but the crematorium was busy that day. Yours was second. Not much like the ﬁrst. No orations, no weeping school mates clutching single blossoms to put on the cofﬁn, sobbing out rubbish verses that they’d written themselves. No inky hand-printed notes on the ﬂowers: R.I.P., C U in Heaven, Gone but not forgotten. No ﬂ owers at all. Hardly anyone there, either. Only the bare minimum for decency. Police and immediate family. Some of your mates, but not many. Just Bryn and a few others, wearing uniform. The priest was sweating. He kept dabbing at his forehead with a big white handkerchief and stumbling over his words, scratching about to ﬁnd something to say, stringing it out until the time came for the rollers to engage. You would have pissed yourself. Nobody sang the hymn, there was just this tinny recording. Nobody cried or even looked sad. The congregation seemed relieved to see your cofﬁn going, as if it wasn’t a body on its way to the furnace but some dangerous biohazard. They couldn’t wait to get out of there. I was the one who went back to collect your ashes. That’s how I’ve got them here. Mum doesn’t like it. She keeps nagging about ‘disposal’ and ‘closure’. Keeping you here is morbid and probably unhealthy. I don’t see it. The Morgans had their granddad on the mantelpiece for years and years. She wants rid, but what’s it to do with her? You were my brother. She doesn’t have to come in here. ‘It’s upsetting for your sister,’ she says. I know for a fact that Martha couldn’t give a monkey’s fat one. Anyway, she’s not even here, so what does she care? I can see Mum’s point of view. What you did was pretty disruptive. I had to move schools. I couldn’t go back there, could I? Mum wanted to move house. Move towns. After what happened, she wanted to make a fresh start. You’ve made the place toxic. But in the end, we didn’t do that. We’d have had to move Grandpa. Not that he’d notice. He’s still alive, just about, but Alzheimer’s doesn’t get better, does it? It wasn’t really that, either. What happened has changed her. At times, she blames herself. Somehow it must be her fault, that’s what she thinks. If she’d just done this thing, or that thing, then it wouldn’t have happened. She spends a lot of time sitting around thinking about that. She’s there but not there when she’s like that. She moves from that to being very, very angry. Mostly with you.Maybe getting rid of you would give us closure, as she puts it, but I don’t think so. The brown plastic kind of contains you. Without it, you’d be everywhere – like a genie. You don’t deserve to be liberated yet. I’ll decide the time and place. It could be tomorrow, it could be years from now, but until the day comes, you are staying right here, with me.But this is not forgiveness. Don’t think that

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi review

2011-11-25T10:30:00.001-08:00

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Aria lives in a place called the reverie like most teens she spends her time hanging out with her friends but rather than going out all she does is look through her smarteye which takes her to different realms. Life is sweet and easy until Aria is kicked out for something she did not do. The world outside the pod is feared Aria’s people the dwellers call it the death shop. Once outside things take a funny turn she learns about the outside world that is nothing like what she was led to believe, and it's the people inside the pod that are liars. She soon runs into Perry the person that was there the day of her so called crime it was him that saved her life. While Perry and Aria are very different from one and other Aria had the easy life and Perry the hard-working hunter but due to a run of strange events Perry and Aria have to work together and help one and other to find out what happened to Aria's mum? And why was Perry nephew snatched by Aria's people?

The journey will change Perry and Aria life forever.

From the very start, this book blew me away. I found it so brilliant and exciting imagine planet earth has been divided into two parts one side you have the reverie where people live in a kind of electronic fantasy world. It was like a weird computer run future. At first glance everyone seems happy and calm, but it’s a big front. Now the other part of the world is like the past with tribes and hunting for food, living of the land. These people are born survivors and fighters. Two completely different worlds stuck on one planet the whole idea excited me and glued me to ever word in the book. The world the book is based in alone will have you in a reading frenzy but there is so much more to the book.

Aria the dweller that’s lived her whole life in the pod playing in fantasy worlds and singing ends up being dumped into the outside the death shop. Perry a born hunter with night-vision eyes and heighted smell his a bit barbaric at times, but he does care. He just hides it well. No way would you think mixing these two very different characters together but when the author throws Perry and Aria together the book really takes on a life of its own in a way you would not believe.

The author’s writing is simply magical she wrote something so fresh and mind blowing that you can’t help but wonder how someone could think up something so dark yet beautiful. The book will reach out to anyone who loves action, love and the book is nonstop survival pushing the characters to their limits.

Prepare yourself for the ride of your life under the never sky will electrify you and have you begging for more.

Five stars

View all my reviews

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows review

2011-11-23T07:19:00.000-08:00

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In a world where each soul has lived a thousand lives, each soul knows each other. Everyone has many talents and life is like a never-ending circle once one body dies the soul is reborn into the next. The people fight dragons and protected them self from the shadow sylph.

Ana is the only new soul her body was meant for another soul but Ana's soul new and fresh was born. People hate her from being new going against what they believe in. Ana has sent the last 18 years with a mother who does not love her and in truth she makes Ana's life hell, and her dad went and left them when she was a baby. Now an adult Ana plains to leave and head for heart, she hopes to find answers to why she is different. Why was she born what happened to the other soul she has so many questions that need answers but things go horrible wrong? Sylph's come for her the day she leaves and ends up nearly drowning when Sam saves her, and together they make it safely to heart but the place is not welcoming people fear and hate Ana before she can find the truth someone tries to kill her and Ana and Sam are left in danger.

Ana is the main character the book follows in a world where everyone knows each other Ana really is the outcast the new un-useful soul. Now I really loved getting to know Ana she started off as a very guarded and untrusting character fearing that everyone hated her like her mother did. I felt that watching and learning how abusive her birth mother is to Ana helps you understand why Ana was the way she was. In a world where no one helped or saved Ana from this woman who got pleasure out of Ana’s loneliness and upset. Over the course of the book, you watch Ana grow into a more powerful character, and you saw a whole new side of her that made her more loveable to the reader. Now Sam is another character you follow in the book and from the very first time I meet him. I could not help but love him. He showed Ana that people do care, and he was so kind and something I felt even though he lived some many times he was just as lost as any new soul.

The world the book was based in was like nothing I had read before the concept was brilliant with all the old souls and then introducing a fresh new soul really did suck the reading in. Then, there was the bonus of these wonderful creatures like dragons and sylphs that added this dark dangerous feel to the outside of heart. There was conflicted between some characters and the council of heart seemed to care more about keeping secrets than the well-being of their people the whole story was fantastic. . It was a beautiful world that the author thought up, but she added lots of danger and darkness that readers will love!

A magnificent start to a new series.

View all my reviews

The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan review

2011-11-20T10:22:00.000-08:00

The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another brilliant book from Rick Riordan. Percy Jackson has to be one of my favorite male characters his so funny and brave with the fact his been dumped in the Rome camp with no memory you would have thought he would be a bit down and lost but his personality really shine no matter how bad thing get.The story is brilliant like all Rick books its action pack, danger and lots of gods and monsters mixed in and it makes for another amazing book. I'm really hoping that he'll have another book written for the series soon because i dying to know what will happen next. Rick's books always leave you wanting more each book always seem better then the last and every page is packed fall of fun and survival.

View all my reviews

Unleashed (Wolf Springs Chronicles #1) by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguié Review

2011-11-18T05:16:00.001-08:00

Unleashed by Nancy Holder

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Katelyn McBride’s life changed the day her mother died. Forced to move away from her home Kat goes to live with her only other relative her granddad. Once she gets there, she finds that Wolf springs is not only cut off from the outside world but the people that live; there are guarded, they don’t trust outsiders. Kat learns that strange things are going in Wolf springs what creature is hunting young girls in the woods and why is everyone acting so weird.

Katelyn or rather Kat I found to be a really interesting character. I loved seeing the change in her as she spent more time with her granddad and the fact that the town seemed to bring out a different side in her. When you first read about her, I thought she was going to be a bit snotty but that was not the case the shock and upset of losing her mum and then having to move to the middle of nowhere meant she had to change and adjust to her new life. While she still at times tried to hold onto to that past life, she soon understood that LA was behind her. I loved getting to know Kat and understanding what went on in her head.

The storyline in this book was simply brilliant it starts off with lots of emotional. This poor girl has lost both her parents and has now been dragged to the back end of nowhere with her granddad that did not even turn up to her mother’s funeral. Not only is Kat really mad at her granddad for not being there for her, she is also anger that his making her stay in a place stuck in the middle of the woods. Kat has to start at a new school and find new friends which is not always easy but thankfully Kat finds two people she can talk to, but she feels that her friend is hiding things and then there are the weird sounds in the woods and sometimes at times Kat feels like something is watching her. It really is a lot for one already emotion character but Kat steps up you see a lot of change in her.

I felt that the book built up well with enough action and drama to keep your attention. There was brilliant family drama between Kat and her granddad but there is also weirdness with Kat’s friend family. There is also this great mystery hanging over the town that Kat is slowly picking up on. I was really glad the book was so long and unrushed because it gave you time to get to know the character and the town and learn to love them and feel a closeness to the people you are reading about. I felt the authors wrote a brilliant book with lots of romance, pain and danger all mixed up into one fabulous book. It gripped you and by the end, I was breathless for more.

View all my reviews

Fiction express

2011-11-18T02:54:00.000-08:00

fictionexpress is launching a new interactive e-book today

Author: Jenny Ryan

Title: Falling backwards

Synopsis:

When a stranger takes the seat next to Leah on the plane to Mexico and unburdens her unhappy story, Leah finds herself involved in someone else's life in a way she'd never thought possible. Can Leah help April correct the mistakes of her past and find peace at last? Will she risk losing herself in the process?

"This is one of those books where you know from the start it is going to be your new favourite."

Zoe, Bookhi blog

"I've had a sneaky peak at chapter 1, and I can tell you it's brilliant." Jenni, Juniper's Jungle blog

please check out Fiction Express website http://fictionexpress.co.uk/en/home

e 4 new dystopian fiction novels for 2012 and 2013

2011-11-15T04:07:00.000-08:00

Starters by Lissa Price

Starters by Lissa Price an American screenwriter, publishing in April 2012, is an action-packed

thriller set in a world where eternal youthfulness can be had – at a price. One girl has the ability to

bring it all tumbling down . . . RHCB acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Heather Shapiro at

Baror International and will be launching globally alongside Random Inc for a truly international

campaign.

NO BOOK COVER

Struck by Jenifer Bosworth

A post- apocalyptic Los Angeles is the setting for Struck by Jenifer Bosworth, publishing in July 2012.

After the city is devastated by an earthquake, Mia Price finds herself in the middle of a power

struggle between two fanatical cults; one that wants to save the world and another that wants to

destroy it. RHCB acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Alex Webb of the Rights People, acting

on behalf of FSG.

NO BOOK COVER

The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna’s

Sangu Mandanna’s debut The Lost Girl publishes in early 2013 and centres around Eva, a feisty teen

girl who technically has no true identity of her own. Eva is forced to abandon everything she's ever

known and loved, finding herself torn between two worlds. RHCB acquired UK and Commonwealth

rights from Sarah Malloy of A.M. Heath acting on behalf of the Elizabeth Kaplan agency.

NO BOOK COVER

ACID by Emma Pass

And finally, children’s librarian Emma Pass, releases ACID in early 2013. This action-packed novel

introduces us to Jenna Strong, a truly kick-ass heroine who is serving time in an all-male prison for

the murder of her parents. Set one hundred years in the future in a Big Brother style society; Britain

is now under the control of ACID – a terrifying all-seeing police force. RHCB acquired world rights

from Carolyn Whitaker of London Independent Books

witch eyes by Scott Tracey review

2011-11-11T10:59:00.000-08:00

Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Witch eyes is a book that was easy to get into from the very first page i was hooked. Braden has always know he was different the faceted his a witch and that his eyes can see the world in a whole new light. Braden lives with his uncle and is home school but when he see's that something bad is about to happen he head to belle dam but what he finds there is a war between two family's. Both sides want to use Braden gift but there is so much worse going on in this town.People are being manipulated by something more then two fighting family's and this person will stop at nothing to get what they want!

Braden is a brilliant character his different and more then that he want's his own life and his want's to make friends and get a boyfriend. Poor braden only want's a simply life but because of who he is that can't happy and its because of this you love to follow his story and find out what happens next. When the story line gets into fall swing it's action pack with magical outbursts and more danger then you could shake a stick at and that not the half of it. There was just so much you can love in this book it was so....amazing i loved the love twist and the secret and lies that seem to make this town and most of all i loved how much of this book was about family. The book really pointed out that sometimes family are not always normal and happy and its hard to love people when they just want to use you.

If you like magic, danger and romance this book is going to be for you.

View all my reviews

Struck by Rhonda Stapleton give away

2011-11-07T08:24:00.000-08:00

Struck by Rhonda Stapleton

Felicity Walker believes in true love. That's why she applies for a gig at the matchmaking company Cupid's Hollow. But when Felicity gets the job, she learns that she isn't just a matchmaker...she's a cupid! (There's more than one of them, you know.)

Armed with a hot pink, tricked-out PDA infused with the latest in cupid magic (love arrows shot through email), Felicity works to meet her quota of successful matches. But the path to love is not always a straight shot...

darker still winner!!

2011-11-07T06:23:00.000-08:00

Darker Still (Magic Most Foul #1) by Leanna Renee Hieber

contest is over!

AND THE WINNERS IS..

Entry #120Yvonne Leacy

Last breath by Rachel Caine review

2011-11-04T07:34:00.000-07:00

Last breath by Rachel Caine

The humans of Morganville are lead to believe that the vampires are the only big bad things to be scared of. So when a simple note scares those vampires so much they make plains to pack up and leave. It leaves the residents of the glass house wondering what’s scary enough to make the vampires run.

I’m a massive Morganville vampire fan. What I love best is that each book has the same main characters but the stories are always different and exciting.

As I have read all the books in the series I can say that the main characters feel more like family to me. To me it’s like I’m reading about people I have known all my life. Yet again in this book it starts off funny and like any so called normal day in a town run by vampires and before you know it the book is straight into the action.

This time Claire and her friends are trying to work out who is kidnapping the local vampires in town but the closer they get to the truth the more danger they are in. While the book is really gripping and the action packed there is also a lot more to love about the book. At times the book is so emotional you feel like braking down with the characters. There is also lots of funny chats and nicknames that are used in the book that make you laugh truth be told this book really does have a mix of everything. Yet again the gang work well together and help each other get by so you really get to love everything about this book and the series.

Rachel Caine writing style is always easy to read and everything thing she writes is top class.

I have to give this book 5 stars it’s another breath taking book to a one of a kind series what more could readers want!

The other life by Susanne Winnacker review

2011-11-01T10:58:00.001-07:00

The other life by Susanne Winnacker

Sherry has spent the last 3 years 1 month lock in a bunker with her family. They all believe that a bad strain of rabies had started making people crazy under orders from the military they stayed safe in the bunker everything changes when they run out of food. Sherry and her dad leave in search of food but what they find is the world has changed.

The story in this book is brilliant sherry family have been locked away for so long they have no idea what’s going on in the world outside of their own four walls. You get to understand the life within the bunker is not easy it’s like being trapped in prison. You have nothing to do except the same thing every day. The author makes shore you get to know sherry and the life before they leave the bunker.

Once Sherry has to leave the bunker the story takes on a dark and dangerous twist. While reading you were always on guard waiting for the next attack the weepers were such an amazing aspect of the book .while to start with the weepers reminded me of zombies I soon saw the truth the weepers are still very much alive and super intelligent completely different from the walking dead. There were also a lot of truths and lies packed into the book and everything really did fit well together and made for an enjoyable read.

One of my favourite things about this book was how the authors maintained the fear factor and also mixed in romance. Susanne really knows how to write and I can’t wait to see what happens next in this dark and completely absorbing series.

5 stars

Annmarie best books review

Winner announced..

2011-10-31T03:26:00.000-07:00

Winner of Between the sea and sky is.....Micia
i have emailed the winner you 24 hours to reply if not a new winner well be picked.

beth revis giveaway!!!!

2011-10-31T01:10:00.000-07:00

check out this wicked as international giveaway on beth revis's blog, where she talks about what shes most thankful for. now for me to get an entry into this giveaway i have to tell you my fellow readers what book i love most, so here goes

my absolute fave book/series has to be Alanna: the first adventure by Tamora Pierce

this series got me into reading when i was a kid, it has such good characters, beautifully written, and a series to be read over and over and enjoyed by everyone :) if you havent read this series then i highly suggest you do :)

thanks for listening to me ramble on lol
Alice :)

review: in the land of winter by margaret sarah bechtel, review by alice

2011-10-30T22:37:00.000-07:00

WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT

Kate wants to forget her past.
Lex wants to begin his future.
The strangers meet on an ill-fated flight to Scotland, their lives and secrets collide when the plane crashes into the North Sea.
Only known survivors Kate and Lex are stranded on an island with an old lighthouse they are forced to use for shelter.
Lex is desperate to get them both rescued.
Kate is desperate to stop him.

MY REVIEW
WOW can anyone say Rollercoaster of emotions!!!
this book makes you laugh, cry, want to throw the book away in anger. every emotion you can think of margaret made you feel with this book. it was so different to my normal reads, and im glad i picked it up and read it, read it in less than a day. i loved the characters and the things they had to overcome was just amazing. some times i wanted to hit kate with the way she acted but when it came clear why she acts the way she did you just wanted to reach into the book and hug her.
this is my first book by margaret and i will definitly be reading more. thanks margaret for the emotional ride :)
if you havent picked up this book then i highly suggest you do

Best books halloween book list

2011-10-29T08:06:00.000-07:00

Watch Best book trailer for this Halloween.

The Annmarie's young adult horrors list

2011-10-29T06:08:00.000-07:00

The Annmarie's young adult horrors list

Halloween is one of my favourite holidays so here are a few scary teen reads that are a most read.

The Enemy by Charlie Higson

They'll chase you. They'll rip you open. They'll feed on you ...When the sickness came, every parent, police officer, politician - every adult - fell ill. The lucky ones died. The others are crazed, confused and hungry. Only children under fourteen remain, and they're fighting to survive. Now there are rumours of a safe place to hide.

Annmarie’s comment: This series by Charlie Higson is brilliant it’s scary and the story is Amazing. A must read series.

Ashes by Ilsa j. Bick

Alex has run away and is hiking through the wilderness with her dead parents' ashes, about to say goodbye to the life she no longer wants to live. But then the world suddenly changes. An electromagnetic pulse sweeps through the sky zapping every electronic device and killing the vast majority of adults. For those spared, it's a question of who can be trusted and who has changed... Everyone still alive has turned - some for the better (those who acquired a superhuman sense) while others for the worse (those who acquired a taste for human flesh). Desperate to find out what happened and to avoid the zombies that are on the hunt, Alex meets up with Tom - an Army veteran who escaped one war only to find something worse at home - and Ellie, a young girl whose grandfather was killed by the electromagnetic pulse. This improvised family will have to use every ounce of courage they have just to find food, shelter, while fighting off the 'Changed' and those desperate to stay alive. A tense and involving adventure with shocks and sudden plot twists that will keep teen and adult readers gripped.

Annmarie’s comment: Another great book that needs to be read.

Slice of cherry by Dia Reeves

Kit and Fancy Cordelle are sisters of the best kind: best friends, best confidantes, and best accomplices. The daughters of the infamous Bonesaw Killer, Kit and Fancy are used to feeling like outsiders, and that’s just the way they like it. But in Portero, where the weird and wild run rampant, the Cordelle sisters are hardly the oddest or most dangerous creatures around.

It’s no surprise when Kit and Fancy start to give in to their deepest desire—the desire to kill. What starts as a fascination with slicing open and stitching up quickly spirals into a gratifying murder spree. Of course, the sisters aren’t killing just anyone, only the people who truly deserve it. But the girls have learned from the mistakes of their father, and know that a shred of evidence could get them caught. So when Fancy stumbles upon a mysterious and invisible doorway to another world, she opens a door to endless possibilities….

Annmarie’s Comment: My close friend Alice who runs the page with me sent me this book. When she said this book was bloody i had no idea how bad it would be. Kit and Fancy are killers to the core.

The hunting ground by Cliff Mcnish

When Elliott and his brother move into the old and crumbling Glebe House they don't expect to find themselves sharing it with ghosts. But soon sinister events are unfolding. An old diary reveals glimpses of the mansion's past - and of a terrible tragedy. An old woman talks to ghosts - but is she in fact being controlled by them? And what of the sinister East Wing - a hideous labyrinth devised by a truly twisted mind? Can Elliott and his family escape the clutches of Glebe House? Or will they end up trapped in the endless maze of corridors, forever hunted by the dead?

Annmarie’s Comment: if you love ghost stories you are going to love this book. This is one house i would not want to leave in.

Gone by Micheal grant

In the blink of an eye. Everyone disappears. GONE.

Except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not one single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened.

Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day.

It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: On your birthday, you disappear just like everyone else...

Annmarie’s comment: this is one of the best series. It full of everything action and why it’s filled with zombies or ghost there is other horrors in this book cruelty being one thing.

Well that's some of my favorite young adult horror's there is some others but ill save them for another time. So this Halloween put down your love story's and pick up something scary :D

Darker Still (Magic Most Foul #1) by Leanna Renee Hieber review

2011-10-26T08:04:00.000-07:00

Darker Still (Magic Most Foul #1)

by Leanna Renee Hieber

Natalie Stewart's has always been over looked she has not spoken a word since her mother’s death. People normal look at her as if she is brain dead but when a strange but sexy painting walks into her life she finally finds that there is more to her then what meets the eye. As this strange painting brings Natalie happiness it also brings danger and heart ache.

The story is told by Natalie Stewart's the book is basically her dairy. She writes down what happens each day. You see Natalie is unable to speck since her mother death no words have come out of her month so now she write everything down. People seem to think she is stupid and dumb but she is far from it. I found Natalie bright and most of all interesting she writes in way that makes all her thoughts and feelings clear and she tells her story in a way that lets you see the whole thing unfold in front of your eyes.

Natalie was easy to like while the time the book was based in was far from what I would normal read, I found that time really did not change much Natalie was still a normal teen she hated the way she was treated and the way people could look at her like she was nothing. What really made Natalie likeable were the thoughts she sometimes had.

Now the storyline in the book was brilliant I loved the way the book progressed in a way that you were glued to your seat wanting more. The book was not to fast but not slow ether, There was lots going on that made you need to learn more. The book at times was really dark and alluring with evil magic and death but there were times that it was light funny and you hoped for that happy ending. I loved the characters and most of all a brilliantly written book that left you with a feeling like the pictures in your house was watching you.

4 Stars

In my mailbox

2011-10-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

As i only got a one real book this week i thought i would just post my in my mail box.

Free from publishers

ARC paper back

I got a ARC of Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

I was really shocked to get this book as it came from New york. I'm not shore why maybe the uk ran out of copies but i was really pleased to get this.

ARC Ebook

ARC of Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber

The Picture of Dorian Gray meets Pride and Prejudice, with a dash of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

New York City, 1882. Seventeen-year-old Natalie Stewart's latest obsession is a painting of the handsome British Lord Denbury. Something in his striking blue eyes calls to her. As his incredibly life-like gaze seems to follow her, Natalie gets the uneasy feeling that details of the painting keep changing...

Jonathan Denbury's soul is trapped in the gilded painting by dark magic while his possessed body commits unspeakable crimes in the city slums. He must lure Natalie into the painting, for only together can they reverse the curse and free his damaged soul.

A lot of people really want to read this book so i'm please i got a chance to read and review.

Darker still is out November 8th this year

ACR Ebook

ARC of The Wednesdays by Julie Bourbeau

Something wicked is lurking on Mt. Tibidabo, something that only comes out on Wednesdays . . .

Every Wednesday, strange things happen in Max's village. The townsfolk shutter their windows, lock their doors and hunker down to outwait this plague of peculiarities referred to simply as "the Wednesdays." But Max is too curious for that, and when he accidentally lets the Wednesdays inside, his furious parents cast him out for the rest of the day.

Soon he meets the Wednesdays themselves; strange silver-eyed boy-creatures bent on spreading mischief and mayhem. Initially he thinks they're quite fun, but they can also be cruel and dangerous. With the assistance of an unlikely cast of characters including a popular girl with questionable motives, a slightly crazed parapsychologist, and the world's ugliest dog, Max must put an end to the curse of the Wednesdays . . . or become one himself

book out 08/14/2012

ARC Ebook

ARC of Tempest by Julie Cross

The year is 2009. Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.

That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.

Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities.

But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler. Recruit… or kill him.

Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world.

book out 01/17/2012

ARC Ebook

ARC of Fractured light by Rachel McClellan

I'm dying, I thought. This was unexpected and not at all how I envisioned my death. I was supposed to die gardening in a flowerbed as a hundred-year-old woman, not as a seventeen-year-old trapped in a lake beneath inches of ice.

Llona Reese is used to living on the run. After the Vykens killed her parents, she knew they would eventually come for her too. She can't take any chances. But when she starts to make friends for the first time in her life, she gets careless and lets her guard down. Big mistake.

As an Aura, Llona has the ability to manipulate light and harness its energy. This is the power the Vykens are after. This is what the Guardians are trained to protect. Christian has been waiting his whole life for the opportunity to fulfill his destiny as a Guardian, but Llona has other plans for him. Going against everything that she's been taught and defying the Auran Council, Llona convinces Christian to teach her how to use her power as a weapon. It may be her only hope of survival.

book out 02/07/2012

All the books above i have to read and review.

Here are a few books i brought for my kindle.

Grey Eyes (The Forever Trilogy #1)

by Brandon Alston

15 year old Anastasia Adams has spent her entire life on run. She and her mother have never spent more than 18 months in any one location, often times leaving with just the clothes on their backs. Despite the havoc that this is wreaking on Ana's social and academic life, her mother offers no explanation as to why it is they're constantly moving, or even what it is they're running from. But that all changes one night in the woods of Pelion, SC--the night the terror catches up with them.

Fearing her mother dead, and having barely escaped with her own life, Ana is whisked away to world of privilege and tradition. It’s a fairytale come to life. The poor girl used to living out of a suitcase is now a resident of one of the most exclusive addresses in the world. The people there adore her and she catches the eye of a young guardian who sees her as a refreshing change to the girls he’s grown up with.

If only they could find her mother. If only she knew the consequences of being born a “conjurer.” If only she knew who that green eyed stranger was, who’ll recite to her a past so incredible, and too tragic to be real. In the end, she’ll have to choose between the boy who has captured her heart and the stranger she can feel down in her soul, assuring at least one of them an almost certain death.

Everblue (Mer Tales #1)

by Brenda Pandos

She wanted her life to change... he wanted his to stay the same.

Best friends share everything with each other. Or do they? Seventeen-year-old Ashlyn Frances Lanski is tired of her boring, single life. Spending time with her best friend Tatiana, dreaming about kissing Tatiana's twin brother Fin, and swimming competitively are her only sanctuary. The girls plan to leave their drab lakeside town far behind for college. But when Tatchi fails to return home after a family emergency, and no one knows where the family has gone, Ash chooses to do something drastic to find them.

Ashlyn is about to discover what she'd thought to be true her whole life, wasn't, and the truth, too fantastical to imagine. Secrets lurk beneath the deep blue waters of Lake Tahoe, secrets that will change Ashlyn's life forever.

Swirls (Outsiders #1)

by F.A. Hershey

Sixteen-year-old Julia finds herself leaving her London life behind to move with her parents to the Amazon jungle.
A native descendant, she becomes familiarized with her own roots for the first time in her life. However, she never imagined she is about to discover much more than her own past but also just how crowded our little planet is...

And that's all the books i got this week happy reading

Touch of power by Maria V. Snyder review -Annmarie

2011-10-22T07:03:00.000-07:00

Avry of Kazan is a healer at one stage there was many people like her but now she is the last of her kind. She has been running since the healers were blamed for starting the plague that killed so many people. Avry did the only thing she could run and hide.

The only problem is as a healer it’s not always easy to watch people die when you know you can save them. When Avry slips up and heals a dying child you would think people would be grateful but no the town turns her in for the promise of gold and Avry is left waiting for her death.

The most shocking thing happens next she is rescued from the town but what do her rescuers what and what will it cost her.

Avry is a strong minded lead character from the start you really did feel for the character. She is one of those women you want to be. She is smart and she has hidden all this time without being court. She is strong minded even when faced with the worse. The author really does know how to make her characters stand out. There were a lot of unforgettable people in this book and at times you wished you could meet them face to face. You become attached to the people you’re reading about and you don’t want the adventure to stop.

The story line of the book was just brilliant it was a fantasy to remember there was the world it was based in. There was a raging war going on the common people are struggling to survive while the royals are all about winning no one seems to care about the people they are ruling. The book was packed with interesting things like the healers and magic and what people will do with their abilities.

The story worked really well and it had my interested from the very start. I loved learning about the people and the world the book was set in. There was none stop action and some of the funniest comments from characters. There was lies and back stabbing. I really did fall in love with the book.

By the end you are going to be holding your heart in your hand you might even cry but most of all your going to have the need to know what will happen next.

Maria V. Snyder is the queen of fantasy and Touch of power proves it.

5 stars.

Dark Eden By Patrick Carman review

2011-10-19T06:38:00.000-07:00

7 kids with life changing fears, fears that haunt your dreams and fills your throat with a scream. Will has been seeking treatment for his fear. His doctor has tried to help but there has been no change. His doctor finally refers Will to a place that can really cure him of his fears and make him normal again.

When the 7 kids make their way to dark Eden Will starts to feel jumpy and uneasy. Will ends up hiding away from everyone else right under everyone's noises. Will end's up watching everyone else from the safety of a bomb bumper.

The book is told from will's point of view so you see and hear everything he does. You don't get to hear what Will true fear is till half way through the book so it leaves you guessing about what's wrong with him. I'll be honest for a big part of book I did think that Will was crazy little bit mental but as you go along in the book you start to see what Will is getting at and maybe he has a right to be scared.

While you watch the other get cured and Will time get closer you wonder what's really going on and what does this strange so called doctor really after from these kids.

I really did get into the book and I fell in love with the story it was fresh and different. The start of the book was really just getting to know the kids and to get to grips with the story but from the half way mark thing started to get creepy. Things start to become clearer and you start to see secrets unfold and you understand that not everyone is telling the truth. It's a well put together book and by the end your shocked at the outcome of the book.

A great book that will make you look at your own fears.

4 stars

SPOOK-A-LICIOUS: WHERE BOO-KS DEVOUR YOU: BLOG HOP TOUR (Oct 17-24)

2011-10-17T19:44:00.000-07:00

http://shadowmundane.blogspot.com/2011/10/spook-licious-where-boo-ks-devour-you.html

HEY EVERYONE!!!!

There is a Halloween themed blog hop going on serveral blogs. My friend, Ella is participate in it and hosts a HUGE Giveaway.

She puts an extra entry into it and this is the part where I come in to the scene.

GIVEAWAY (SCAVENGER HUNT) RULES:

A list of blogs will be participate in this, and basically you travel to each blog and the blogs will be given a puzzle piece of the cover that is related to that letter in HALLOWEEN.

Each blog will have a hint to help you narrow down your choices of the books you're possibly thinking of that fits with that letter.

Here's the catch, you MUST save that puzzle piece to your laptop or computer or wherever because you'll need those pieces to email to Ella along with your answer, so She can see that you want those extra entries for doing the hunt! At the end of the blog post, there will be a link to the next blog and so forth. The blogs will be in order, so you don't have to hunt around.

Each right answer that you figure out, you will get one extra entry. If you get one of them wrong, then you still have 8 other answers to get right! You will get a free extra entry, so that makes a total of 10 extra entries for doing the hunt!

stop one on the hunt is
H-Yousra from I'm a book nerd, so what? http://imabooknerdsowhat.blogspot.com/2011/10/world-of-words-scavenger-hunt-letter-h.html

BEST BOOKS is number 2 on the stop, the 3rd stop is
sassy book lovers

now for the puzzle piece

hint for the puzzle piece is:

the girl has a gift, or is it a curse? She sees the future and others most hidden feelings, but how? she doesn't know, but an assassin does. mortal enemies. forbidden love. Good Vs Evil. nothing is as it seems

remember you must save the image to your computer/laptop

as well as doing all the blog posts you need to fill out the form on ella's orignal post
http://shadowmundane.blogspot.com/2011/10/spook-licious-where-boo-ks-devour-you.html

ends 24th october

Darker Still (Magic Most Foul #1) by Leanna Renee Hieber GIVE AWAY!

2011-10-16T07:29:00.000-07:00

Darker Still (Magic Most Foul #1)

by Leanna Renee Hieber

The Picture of Dorian Gray meets Pride and Prejudice, with a dash of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

In my mailbox

2011-10-11T08:09:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

This is my new In my mailbox instead of me talking about the books i did something new and different.

I really hope you all like it and please let me know what you think.

Thanks to Natalie and misty from facebook :D

Ashfall by Mike Mullin Winner

2011-10-10T05:29:00.001-07:00

Hush, Hush contest

2011-10-09T11:02:00.000-07:00

Did you miss out on the signed graphic novel and 2011 books that bite purse? Well don’t be sad for we are doing it AGAIN and this time it’s BIGGGGGGEEERRRRRR and BEEETTTTTTTEEERRRR. In celebration of the upcoming release! We thought a graphic novel this epic deserved something extra special!!!

On our store tab ( http://store.sealionbookstore.com ) you can purchase the limited edition Hush Hush graphic novel prologue for $10.00. WE WILL ONLY BE RELEASING 1,000 COPIES AND IT WILL ONLY BE AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB STORE. So not only is this an important piece to the contest puzzle but you will be one of a thousand people to own this piece of Becca Fitzpatrick’s history!!! Keep in mind since there are only 1,000 copies of the prologue being made we need to limit the number of copies you can purchase. It is limited to 2 copies per person.

Now here is the fun part! Once you receive the book, take a picture of yourself with it and email the picture to us along with a paragraph as to why you should be the next to make a cameo in the next volume of Hush Hush! In this cameo you will even interact with Patch and Nora. NOW REMEMBER I SAID THAT I WAS GOING TO BE ENVIOUS OF THE NEXT WINNER!!! WELL HERE IS WHY! The winner will not only get to interact with Patch and Nora in the next Hush Hush Graphic Novel, BUT the illustrator for the graphic novel will also IMMORTALIZE you from head to toe in Patch’s arms! Your image will be held lovingly safe in his arms! How awesome is that!!!

SO LET'S RECAP!!!

1. 1,000 limited edition prologues will be available for sale on www.SeaLionBooks.com. Limit 2 please!

2. Once you receive the Hush Hush prologues you must take a picture of yourself with it and post the picture on our FB page with a paragraph in the comments under the picture as to why they should be the next to make a cameo in the next volume of Hush Hush!

3. The winner gets an interacting cameo with Patch and Nora in Hush Hush volume 2, and they get a unique one-of-a-kind poster with Patch holding the winner in his arms.

4. The limited edition prologues will ship the first week of October.

Carnal press release

2011-10-09T10:51:00.000-07:00

Carnal

GRAPHIC NOVEL SERIES FROM

SEA LION BOOKS

ATLANTA, GA - October 5, 2011 – Sea Lion Books announces the release of John Connell's graphic novel CARNAL.

Created by award winning artist, John Connell, CARNAL is a world where humans are a simple, nomadic species, at the bottom of the food chain. The animal kingdom has evolved and they can speak, walk upright and they fight for dominance. "Breathing life into the Carnal story has been a passion for most of my life. The idea originated from a nightmare that I had years ago – with Carnal, we really aim to create a graphical story that is as unique as it is intense," said Connell. "CARNAL is a completely unique concept. The book, the artwork and the story pulls the reader into this world of intense mood filled art that will draw them back to the series over and over again."

Lion prides have forged massive cities, hyena clans burrow deep into the earth, and the water buffalo race has walled themselves off from the rest of the kingdoms. Remnants of humanity fight for survival amid the warring animal societies.

The first of five graphic novels in the series, PRIDE OF THE LIONS, follows a female tracker named Omi as her inexperienced hunting party is sent to rescue a missing warrior. What they find is something that will unravel the very foundation of life for all species.

"In this war-torn world of carnage and survival, the balance of nature has been ripped apart.

Humans are left at the bottom of the food chain and it is the beasts that freely roam the land."

Writer Jason Bergenstock's says "working on the Carnal project is an honor. John's ideas and designs are incredible. I have been involved in story creation for about five years and when I look at how far we've come since the beginning sketches I'm truly amazed."

"Being given the opportunity to work with John and Jason to bring Carnal to life has been very exciting. You can feel the love these guys have for the project in every single page. It adds an extraordinary series to an already amazing lineup of books we are producing here at Sea Lion Books."

About The Creators:

John Connell is a graduate of the Art Institute of Boston. He is a freelance artist working in many mediums, from oil paintings to digital art. His clients include numerous Fortune 500 companies. He lives with his family in Massachusetts. You can visit John Connell on the Internet at www.uglydogart.com or www.nightmarerhino.com

Jason Bergenstock has a BS degree in Business Administration & Management and currently attends graduate school at the University of Rhode Island for Digital Forensics. You can visit Jason Bergenstock at www.nightmarerhino.com

About Sea Lion Books:

Located in Atlanta, Georgia, Sea Lion Books LLC is a newly established publishing house which specializes in all formats—hardcover, trade paperback, and mass market and in urban fantasy and young adult genres. Sea Lion Books LLC recent roster of authors include: International Bestselling author, Anne Rice, Paulo Coelho, New York TimesBestselling authors, Richelle Mead, Richard A. Knaak, F. Paul Wilson and Becca Fitzpatrick. You can visit Sea Lion Books at www.sealionbooks.com

FITZPATRICK SPEAKS UP ON "HUSH, HUSH

2011-10-09T10:42:00.000-07:00

This October, Sea Lion Books brings one of the most popular Young Adult novels to comics with "Hush, Hush," the first of three graphic novels adapting the New York Times bestselling YA novel by Becca Fitzpatrick.

"Hush, Hush" follows the story of average teenager Nora Grey, a good student and writer for the school paper whose routine life suddenly goes off track when a new student named Patch becomes her lab partner and turns her entire world upside-down. While Nora finds herself inexplicably attracted to Patch's bad-boy image, danger begins following her at every turn. As the story progresses, Nora learns more than she bargained for about her past and her dark connection to fallen angels, becoming embroiled in an ages-old conflict. Along with her best friend Vee, Nora has to sort out who she can really trust between Patch and new arrivals Jules and Eliot.

Becca Fitzpatrick took time out of her busy schedule to break the silence to CBR News about the "Hush, Hush" graphic novel adaptation, the process of designing her characters from prose to illustration, the style of the book, the challenges of adapting her work for comics and the special 18-page story that bridges the gap between "Hush, Hush" and its sequel, "Crescendo."

CBR News: Becca, tell us about "Hush, Hush" as a graphic novel. What's in, what's out and what's new?

Becca Fitzpatrick: The first "Hush, Hush" graphic novel will cover one third of the "Hush, Hush" novel. [Publisher] Sea Lion Books are determined to make it as close to the novel as possible. The big surprise with the graphic novel will be the original bonus story. It reveals what happens to Patch and Nora between "Hush, Hush" and the sequel, "Crescendo."

The first "Hush, Hush" graphic novel adaptation covers one third of the original novel

So much of a novel involves readers imagining setting and how characters look and move. How closely are you working with the creative team of the graphic novel in order to help smooth the transition from text to image?

In the early stages, there was quite a bit of back and forth as I provided character and setting descriptions to artist Jennyson Rosero and he, in turn, translated my input into sketches. It was such a fun process, and rewarding too -- with each round, I felt that we were getting closer to nailing the artwork. I also posted several of the sketches on my blog, and we got an incredible amount of feedback from readers. They've definitely had a hand in shaping the graphic novel.

By the same token, how involved have you been in character design work? How do you feel the character designs reflect your descriptions of Nora, Patch, Vee, Eliot and Jules?

While I understood going into the project that the images in my head couldn't be perfectly replicated on the page, I've been very pleased with the designs. I also think it's important to note that I didn't want to dictate every last detail. Part of what I think will make the graphic novel successful is the blending of my suggestions with Jennyson's creative energy.

How long is the graphic novel and how does it compare to the level of detail provided in "Hush, Hush?"

The first graphic novel will be 120 pages. Sea Lion Books are working hard to capture the essence of the "Hush, Hush" novel. All important events, characters, settings, etc., are included in the graphic novel. The first novel, "Hush, Hush," will be adapted into 3 graphic novels.

While many other young adult novels have been adapted into graphic novels, most of them (notably "Twilight") have taken the route of the manga-inspired art. What is the art style like for "Hush, Hush" and how do you feel it reflects the story you're trying to tell?

"Hush, Hush" will be done in an Amerimanga style. Manga definitely appeals to young adult female readers, but I believe by going with the Amerimanga style, the graphic novel will capture both male and female readers.

Why do you think the graphic novel format is a good medium to adapt your story?

Fitzpatrick hopes the graphic novel's Amerimanga style will capture the attention of male and female readers

"Hush, Hush" is a very pacey and plot-driven story, and I think because of this, it translates well into a more visual medium. Readers often tell me they can see scenes playing out in their minds -- almost like watching a movie. Many of them are anticipating "viewing" the story through the graphic novel.

Sequential narrative is very different than prose. Did you find the art in line with the vision in your head when you're working on the novels?

I've been really impressed by the transition. I feel the pages are following the novel closely. At one point during the process, Sea Lion Books sent me a picture of the farmhouse where Nora lives and it was drawn to be a single story. Since quite a bit of action down the road in "Crescendo" takes place on the second story of the farmhouse, I did ask the artist to redraw the house.

What are you most excited about for the release of the graphic novel?

Fans' reactions! Since announcing the graphic novel, there has been an amazing amount of enthusiasm for the project. I hope my readers feel as though they're experiencing Patch and Nora's story again for the first time.

Sea Lion Books Bring Anne Rice’s ‘Christ The Lord’ to Comics

2011-10-09T10:37:00.001-07:00

When I first heard that novelist Anne Rice had agreed for her work to be adapted into a graphic novel, I must confess I groaned. More vampires? Really? Isn’t this trend done yet?

But I had not reckoned on publisher Sea Lion Books going against my expectations, for as it happens the book in question is Christ The Lord: The Road to Cana. I can remember the initial controversy following the book’s publication. What was this horror writer doing writing about Jesus Christ?

Writer Anne Elizabeth, who is adapting the novel for Sea Lion books.

However, like Nikos Kazantzakis before her and Philip Pullmanafter, Rice confounded critics by producing a deeply personal work articulating her feelings about Christianity and its legacy. It is also worth pointing out that her most famous book, Interview With The Vampire, contains numerous musings on damnation and the existence of God bound up in amongst all the melodrama. Perhaps it simply took the writer some years to come to the point where she was comfortable directly addressing these ideas?

Sea Lion Books are notable for their focus on adapting literarature to comic form, introducing new audiences to both classic and upcoming genre fiction. It is certainly an interesting choice to take on Christ The Lord, especially since religion is a subject rarely tackled in sequential form. Off-hand I can only think of Marvel’sbiography of John Paul II and Mike Allred’s The Golden Plates.

Writer Anne Elizabeth has been given the task of converting Christ The Lord into sequential form and she recently gave an interview on her experience so far to The Examiner. The original press release from Sea Lion can be seen below -

International Bestselling Author Anne Rice’s novel,

Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana, to become Graphic Novel.

International bestselling author Anne Rice’s critically acclaimed novel,
Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana, receives a graphic spin as newly
established publishing house, Sea Lion Books, acquires the worldwide rights
to this graphic novel publication. The novel will be adapted by the author
Anne Rice and comic creator Anne Elizabeth and will feature artwork by Siya
Oum. This graphic novel is scheduled for release in time for Easter 2012.

“Christ the Lord: the Road to Cana, I consider one of my personal
favorites,” said Rice. ”The writing of it took less time than the research
because I feel driven to recreate authenticity in the narrative. The
characters must see what people saw in first century Palestine because I
want my readers to see the same. Any artistic effort short of that fails
not only for me but also for the actual figures I endeavored to recreate in
my novel. Today this work is being reinterpreted through the marvelous
medium of graphic novels. The visual imagery will give my characters a new
dimension that cannot be captured in words alone. Sea Lion Books will
translate The Road to Cana into a format that will do as I have done:
Recreate first century Palestine with the women and men who changed the
course of human history. The characters you know will be there — Jesus,
Mary, Joseph — in the rich colors and beautiful forms that only artists can
draw. This is going to be a thrilling adventure for my characters, for me,
and I think for you readers and viewers as well.”

The book is the second within a series dramatizing the life of Jesus Christ.
Based on the four Gospels, current New Testament research, and studies of
Jewish culture, Rice created and described the early stage in Jesus’ life
before his baptism in the Jordan and the miracle at Cana. Faced with a
winter of no rain, endless dust, and talk of trouble in Judea, Jesus must
confront his destiny. The book’s power derives from the profound feeling
Rice brings to the writing and the way in which she summons up the presence
of Jesus Christ.

“Working on such a spiritually beautiful book is a remarkable experience!
Not only is it an opportunity to work with brilliant storyteller Anne Rice
and talented artist Siya Oum, but it is a chance to explore my own faith,”
said adapter Anne Elizabeth, whose graphic novel The Pendulum is also being
released by Sea Lion Books.

Derek Ruiz, Vice President and Publisher of Sea Lion Books, said, “It’s
an honor to be working with Anne Rice, one of my all time favorite authors. We
at Sea Lion Books are excited to introduce the Christ the Lord series to the
Graphic Novel Market. Anne Rice and the Christ the Lord series are great
additions to the lineup we have been building at Sea Lion Books. With each
new announcement we continue to show that we want to bring quality stories
to the visual medium we love.”

The full-color Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana graphic novel edition,
ISBN: 978-0-9836131-4-5, will be available April 2012 and will sell for
$24.99. For more information, please visit http://sealionbooks.com/

Seers by Heather Frost review

2011-10-09T03:12:00.000-07:00

Seers by Heather Frost

Kate changed after the car accident that killed her parents and it nearly killed her to. After that Kate life has been full of other people’s colours because she can see their auras. It’s like she can see everything that people are feeling but her life gets weirder when she starts seeing invisible people is she losing her mind or is this all real. Then Patrick O'Donnell walks into her life his different he has no aura just silver what’s going on and does Patrick hold the answers that Kate needs.

Kate’s life really is an interesting one from the start of the book you really got to see how Kate was feeling even though she was hiding it away from others. She is dealing with so much and it leaves you really caring for Kate. There is so much going on in her life since the death of her mum and dad her life seems to have been turned on its head. She seems auras but she has not told anyone but her best friend and the faceted she living with her grandparents and it’s taking a while to get used to all the changes. I loved that you got to see all this rather then rushing through into the action it built up and you felt just as on edge as the characters. Then Patrick walks into her life and while she does not trust him she feels that he holds the answers to her problem. Kate soon see’s the true changes that are really happening around her. Her life is in great danger along with the ones she loves.

The book was a mix of highs and lows for the characters. The author really let’s you get to know the characters not only that the story is not rushed and over explained it’s simply and honest. I’m not normal into loved up stories but in this book there was a balance of hard action and romance that was not over done. You could relate to the pain that Kate was going through and the new confusion in her life. The faceted she no longer felt the same way she did before.

I really did fall in love with the story it’s so easy to be sucked into the book and most of all it just a breath taking story the author put together.

I gave the book 4 stars and recommend others read the book.

Best Books review by Annmarie

Amelia Maylock: book one. The 12th year awakening. By Jay Ellis

2011-10-06T01:29:00.001-07:00

Wanda Hart

Amelia Maylock: book one. The 12th year awakening. By Jay Ellis.

Genre: Young Adults, paranormal.

Basic story line:

This book is the first of a series of books by Jay Ellis. Amelia, a twelfth year old girl learns that she is special. Real special. Amelia is a witch. Not any old witch either. She is a very powerful witch. A witch who will need all her powers to face the future destined for her.

Amelia learns that she, as a witch is the counter to her evil twin, Erryas. As witches, the two of them together with others can move between dimensions. This is cool right? Not always! Amelia gets drawn into dimensions she is unfamiliar with and in which great mortal danger resides. She survives these exploits at first due to her friends and later due to the fact that this girl is built out of guts and determination. She is only twelfth though and unlike her sister she is new to her powers. It becomes a race against time to get Amelia first to accept her true calling then to get her to accept her powers and train for a battle against the ultimate evil. Erryas.

Amelia learns that she and her evil twin, Erryas were born during a massive evil thunder storm. She was taken to the earth dimension where she grew up loved, wanted and protected. What happened to Erryas is a mystery. It becomes clear that only person knows what happened during that storm. Only one person can answer Amelia?s questions. But that person is dead.

Amelia needs to learn how not only to protect and defend herself, but also to protect those dimensions opposed to evil. But will she live to be able to do that, and is she powerful enough to go up against the greatest evil in all dimensions - her twin?

Amelia's friends include an old Hag; Ellis' description of this old woman had me laughing out loud. You cannot help but love her. Anin is Amelia's primary trainer. And not a women to be messed with. I loved the fact that she is a strong character who cares so deeply for Amelia and that she is not scared to make her feelings known. Apart from the evil and unknown forces Amelia also has a voice that keeps popping up, instructing her. Guiding her. The question is; can she trust the voice?

Review:

I give this book a 4 / 5 star review. At first I was skeptical as to the pace the story takes on from basically the beginning of the book. Soon however I discovered that the pace is indicative of the danger lurking and the fact that in the fight between good and evil, time is not on the side of good. This is brilliantly displayed by the pacing of the story, fast to start with and almost speeding along at the end. The reader cannot help but be swept along with it. The sense of urgency of the coming dangers had the reader riveted and the role of time is unmistakably written into each and every page as the story builds from one momentum to the next. I personally find this technique of Jay Ellis a brilliant one, the tempo?s increase has the reader thinking that this is a fast sweet read in the beginning but soon the frantic feelings of the Old Hag and Anin becomes the readers own. As the intervals between incidents grow smaller all the time the reader is left with the same urgency of that of the Old Hag and of Anin. Amelia must be ready. Or all hope is lost.

The story line is fresh and not boggled down with any overly long dialogues. The fast pace of the story lets little time for character development of characters although Ellis' seems to fit in enough information to make the reader not only like the characters but also to have us rooting for the good guys and leaving us in anticipation of the next book in the series.

Although this book is primarily aimed at the younger spectrum of the YA market it is soon apparent that the book is a great read for any age kid. At 38 I myself enjoyed it immensely and did not find that patronizing tone from the author that I have come across previously when reading YA books. I am about to start the second book in the series and cannot wait to read the next adventures of the young heroin. So for now, I say goodbye and hope you will read the book. It is really worth it.

winner of Shifting by Bethany Wiggins is

2011-10-03T05:21:00.000-07:00

Winner of Shifting by Bethany Wiggins is kayla merritt please email me at annmarieager@googlemail.com

bookaholics monthly giveaway

2011-10-01T00:30:00.000-07:00

hey best books followers,
check out this amazing blog and enter their monthly giveaway, both on the blog october giveaway!!!!
and on their facebook page bookaholics facebook

they are a great bunch of ladies so please pop on over and have fun :)
alice

The Fear (The Enemy #3) by Charlie Higson review

2011-09-30T12:50:00.001-07:00

The Fear (The Enemy #3)

by Charlie Higson

The fear is book three in the enemy series it follow five days before the last book ends. If you have not read the series DO! This series is like no other. Any way The fear followers the story of a few groups of kids in deep trouble they are all trying to survive in a world where all the grownups seem to have been turned into zombies . While zombies and dead kids is bad enough there is also lots of other things going on that give you chills the way some kids have turned into power hungry cold beings while other seem to really be working for a better future. The series is set in London and as I live close to there you can’t help but feel cold shivers when going by a building that’s been used in the book.

The Author has brilliantly written the book in a way were everything feels so real and downright creepy and scary at times. There was long moments in the book were I held my breath fearing for the characters and willing them to KEEP GOING! It was easy to get hooked into this world that the author has written. The book showed you lots of things you never got to see in the first or second book and if you have read all the books like I have you will see that each book is like a piece of puzzle and they all fit together in a wonderful and perfected way.

I felt that while the book is action packed with more blood and guts then a slaughter house there was so much more going on. David is one character while power hunger and evil to me he also kind of makes the book cool because you’re willing other character to over thrown him. There are lots of other characters that you start to love but you’re always scared that they will not last with all the zombies about. I loved every moment of the book and by the end all I could think was...please Charlie Higson write the next book fast I’m dying to know what happens next.

I give the book a massive 5 stars

This series just keeps getting better and better.

Ashfall by Mike Mullin GIVE AWAY

2011-09-30T05:13:00.000-07:00

Ashfall (Ashfall #1)

by Mike Mullin

Under the bubbling hot springs and geysers of Yellowstone National Park is a supervolcano. Most people don't know it's there. The caldera is so large that it can only be seen from a plane or satellite. It just could be overdue for an eruption, which would change the landscape and climate of our planet.

Ashfall is the story of Alex, a teenage boy left alone for the weekend while his parents visit relatives. When the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts unexpectedly, Alex is determined to reach his parents. He must travel over a hundred miles in a landscape transformed by a foot of ash and the destruction of every modern convenience that he has ever known, and through a new world in which disaster has brought out both the best and worst in people desperate for food, water, and warmth. With a combination of nonstop action, a little romance, and very real science, this is a story that is difficult to stop reading and even more difficult to forget.

-----------------------------------------------------

Well as today is the last day of my Ashfall madness on the blog. i wanted to do something nice so i'm going to give one winner a hard back copy of Ashfall all you have to do is complete rafflecopter form below.

Winner is picked at random by Rafflecopter so good luck all.

Extra entries available.

bookaholics book club give away

2011-09-29T12:28:00.000-07:00

there is a massive give away going on at bookaholics book club. Head over say hello and congrats on reaching 300 followers.

http://bookaholicsbkcl.blogspot.com

Give away on Carolina Valdez Miller blog!!

2011-09-29T12:11:00.000-07:00

Another great review for Ashfall by Mike Mullin and massive give away head over to the blog now

www.carolinavaldezmiller.com