International Contest Sunday (7)

Kimberly Franklin is giving away an ARC of The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney + some swag.
Ends May 30th.
Enter here.



Music Travel Write is giving away an ARC of Of All Stupid Things by Alexandra Diaz.
Ends on June 6th.
Enter here.




Handle Like Hendrix is giving away an ARC of The Visibles by Sara Shepard.
Ends on June 22nd.
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Paranormal Haven is giving away a copy of I'll Be Slaying You by Cynthia Eden
Ends on June 9th.
Enter here.




Musings is giving away a signed copy of Fairy Tale by Cyn Balog.
Ends on June 21st.
Enter here.




Bookmac is giving away 2 signed paperback copies of Swoon by Nina Malkin.
This ends on June 11th.
Enter here.




Reading Teen is giving away a tote bag, a new copy of Spells by Aprilynne Pike and a book from their shelves. You just have to guess from which books are the quotes they have posted.
Ends on May 31st.
Enter here.



Confessions of a Bookaholic is giving away 2 signed copies of My Soul To Keep by Rachel Vincent + the first winner will get a T-shirt.
Ends on June 1st.
Enter here.



The Lost Entwife is giving away a copy of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman.
Ends on July 13th.
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Frankie Writes is having a 500 followers extravaganza. You could win a signed copy of Will Grayson, Will Grayson, a signed copy of Looking for Alaska and a signed copy of Gimme A Call.
Ends on June 6th.
Enter here.



A Fanatic Book Blog is giving away 2 pre-order copies of Tyger, Tyger by Kersten Hamilton.
Ends on May 31st.
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* Shut Up I'm Reading is having a 500 followers contest and you could win a 15$ credit to the Book Depository.
Ends on June 30th.
Enter here.

Review: Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow

Title: Strange Angels
Author: Lili St. Crow
Series: Strange Angels #1
Genre: YA
Release Date: May 14th 2009
Blurb:
The Real World is a frightening place. Just ask sixteen-year-old orphan Dru Anderson, a tough girl who has taken down her fair share of bad guys. She's armed, dangerous, and ready to kill first and ask questions later. So it's gonna take her a while to figure out who she can trust . . .

Dru Anderson has been 'strange' for as long as she can remember, travelling from town to town with her father to hunt the things that go bump in the night. It's a weird life, but a good one – until it all explodes in an icy, broken-down Dakota town, when a hungry zombie busts through her kitchen door. Alone, terrified, and trapped, Dru's going to need every inch of her wit and training to stay alive. The monsters have decided to hunt back – and this time, Dru's on their menu. Chances of survival? Slim to none.

If she can't last until sunup, it's game over . . .


Dru and her father have been hunting things from town to town. In their last stop, Dru's father starts acting weird, but she never gets to find out what's wrong: the next day her father comes back as a zombie, and Dru has to kill it.
She feels lost and doesn't know what's going on or what to do, so when a guy from her school, Graves, gets her a hamburguer and aks her if she has a place to stay, she feels scared enough to accept the offer to stay with him. The first days are good, until a werwulf tracks her down and attacks Graves, possibly infecting him with the werwulf disease.

She brings them back to her house, where her father's corpse lies, and waits until she knows for sure if Graves is going to transform. Time is running out and someone is going to start looking for her sooner than later.

I found the beginning of the book a little slow. A big part of the book is about Dru trying to figure out what to do, and sometimes it felt repetitive. The action didn't start until the middle of the story. Some of Dru's behaviour is weird and not very logical.

The best part of the book was the friendship/relationship between Dru and Graves, especially how they start to trust each other and how close they end up being in the end. I liked Graves a lot because even though he gets mixed up into a lot of bad and weird stuff, he keeps being himself, and tries to help Dru the best he can, even if it means getting out of her way.
This was a good start of a series, although it mostly raised questions rather than answer them. At the end, this book felt like a big beginning of a huge storyline.


Memorable Lines:

It was snowing outside and there was a zombie dead in my living room, and here this girl was, dressed like a hooker and laughing.
My hand curled into a fist. I took a deep breath.
"I know a place." Graves said it quietly, leaning forward across the table. He braced his thin elbows and rested his chin on his fist. "If you want, you know."
Oh, Jesus. Not now. "Why is it there's always a guy who thinks he can get something out of the new girl?" My fingertips dug into my palm. "Every goddam town, is the same thing. Some guy thinks he's God's gift to the displaced."
"I just asked if you wanted a place to sleep." Graves hunched his shoulders defensively. "Jesus."


Next Book:
Betrayals - November 17th 2009.


Rating: 1/2

Waiting on Wednesday (8)

Author: C.E. Murphy
Title: Demon Hunts
Series: Walker Papers #5
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Release Date: June 1st 2010.
Blurb:
Seattle police detective Joanne Walker started the year out mostly dead, and she's ending it trying not to be consumed by evil. Literally.

She's proven she can handle the gods and the walking dead. But a cannibalistic serial killer? That's more than even she bargained for. What's worse, the brutal demon leaves no tracks. So, if Joanne is to stop its campaign of terror, she'll have to hunt it where it lives: the Lower World, a shamanistic plane of magic and spirits. Trouble is, Joanne's skills are no match for the dangers she's about to face-and her on-the-job training could prove fatal to the people she's sworn to protect....



Author: Jackson Pearce
Title: Sisters Red
Series: Sisters Red #1
Genre: YA
Release Date: June 7th 2010.
Blurb:
Scarlett March lives to hunt the Fenris-- the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She's determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead.

Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rosie hunts fiercely alongside her. Now Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves and finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax-- but loving him means betraying her sister and has the potential to destroy all they've worked for.

Review: Firespell by Chloe Neill

Title: Firespell
Author: Chloe Neill
Series: Dark Elite #1
Genre: YA
Release Date: January 5th 2010
Blurb:
As the new girl at the elite St. Sophia’s boarding school, Lily Parker thinks her classmates are the most monstrous things she’ll have to face…



When Lily’s guardians decided to send her away to a fancy boarding school in Chicago, she was shocked. So was St. Sophia’s. Lily’s ultra-rich brat pack classmates think Lily should be the punchline to every joke, and on top of that, she’s hearing strange noises and seeing bizarre things in the shadows of the creepy building.



The only thing keeping her sane is her roommate, Scout, but even Scout’s a little weird—she keeps disappearing late at night and won’t tell Lily where she’s been. But when a prank leaves Lily trapped in the catacombs beneath the school, Lily finds Scout running from a real monster.



Scout’s a member of a splinter group of rebel teens with unique magical talents, who’ve sworn to protect the city against demons, vampires, and Reapers, magic users who’ve been corrupted by their power. And when Lily finds herself in the line of a firespell, Scout tells her the truth about her secret life, even though Lily has no powers of her own—at least none that she’s discovered yet…




I really liked Lily since the beginning. She's smart, loyal and a little bit reckless. She tries the best she can at her new school, even though things aren't going so well.
At the beginning Scout is a bit of a loner, but she makes fast friends with Lily, even though she's keeping secrets from her. It was really interesting seeing the relationship both girls have with their parents and how they progress, especially the one with Lily and her folks.

We also get introduced to Michael and Jason. They are both the love interests of Scout and Lily respectively. Appart of that, they're part of the same secret group as Scout. The girls have another roomate, Lesley, and I have to say that I felt sorry for her. She tries so hard to make friends with them, but they're always too busy.

The beginning was a little slow, then at the middle of the book we get dumped with a whole lot of information and then all the action happens in the last chapters. I wished all of it could had been better distributed.

The mystery starts in this book and I really hope it keeps going forward in the next one. This was a good start of a promising series.

Memorable Lines:

"Do you have his number?" Scout asked, reaching around for her messenger bag. "I could give it to you."

Veronica practically growled, then turned on her heel and headed for the cafeteria door. Mary Katherine, lip wrinkled in disgust, followed her. Amie looked vaguely apologetic about the outburst, but that didn't stop her from turning tail and following, too.

"Nicely done," I complimented.

"Mmm-hmm," Scout said, straightening in her chair again. "See what I mean? TBD."

I lifted my eyebrows. "TBD?"

"Total brat drama," she said. "TBD is way too much drama for me, especially at seven thirty in the morning."


Next Book:
Hexbound - January 20th 2011


Rating:

Review: Beyond the Night by Joss Ware

Title: Beyond the Night
Author: Joss Ware
Series: Envy Chronicles #1
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Release Date: January 12th 2010
Blurb:
A man with no future...

When Dr. Elliott Drake wakes from a mysterious fifty-year sleep, the world as he knew it is gone. Cities are now desolate, and civilization is controlled by deadly immortals. Stranger still is Elliott's extraordinary new "gift" – he has the power to heal, but it comes with fatal consequences.

A woman with a past

Jade barely escaped the immortals and is now hell-bent on revenge. She trusts no one... until Elliott. His piercing gaze and tempting touch shatter her defenses, but the handsome doctor seems to have dangerous secrets of his own. Is it safe to trust him with her heart? If they are to survive in this dark new world, Jade and Elliott must work together to fight the forces that takes them beyond danger.
Beyond desire.
Beyond the night.


50 years into the future 5 men awaken in a cave with everything changed, most of the world has been destroyed and there are not a lot of humans left. 6 months later they encounter a group of teenagers running away from a group of gangas, a sort of zombie that eats flesh, kidnaps blondes and only goes out in the dark. Trying to help the kids is a woman, Jade, but she gets injured so the men help them all get to safety. Elliot is a doctor, and when he woke from the "deep sleep" he found out that he could heal people, but with very dangerous disadvantages.

When Jade finds out that the men can help the human settlement called Envy, she goes ahead of the rest to tell her friend Lou, one of the few people left that was alive before the Change 50 years ago. The men had been looking for the place for months, trying to find answers about what happened to the world, and when they do, all of them together will try to fight back against what caused the Change.

The main characters of this book are Jade and Elliot. Jade has been through a lot and has some collateral damage because of it and Elliot is still trying to adjust to the new world, even though deep down he thinks he doesn't belong there. Jade is very stubborn and sometimes I wished she would wake up and realize what she had in front of her, even though I know she didn't because she was scared of letting someone close, it still frustrated me. We get introduced to a lot of other characters that I think will be the heroes/heroines in the next few books of the series. I especially want to read the story of Theo.

The plot arc is very interesting and I guess that we'll get closer to the conclusion with each new book. I can't wait to read the next couple of books and see how the story evolves.


Memorable Lines:

"Don't be ridiculous. I just didn't want anyone to see me-us-talking, so I sneaked in here."
"So you came in here to talk. In the middle of the night. While I'm in bed."
Put that way, it did sound kind of suggestive, didn't that sort of thing happen in those old James Bond movies all the time? And then 007 and the woman ended up going at it?
And sometimes she even try to kill him.
Or vice versa.
Jade took another step back.


Next Book:
Embrace the Night Eternal - February 9th 2010.


Rating:

Waiting on Wednesday (7)

Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Title: Raised by Wolves
Series: Stand Alone
Genre: YA
Release Date: June 8th 2010.
Blurb:
Adopted by the Alpha of a werewolf pack after a rogue wolf brutally killed her parents right before her eyes, fifteen-year-old Bryn knows only pack life, and the rigid social hierarchy that controls it. That doesn't mean that she's averse to breaking a rule or two.

But when her curiosity gets the better of her and she discovers Chase, a new teen locked in a cage in her guardian's basement, and witnesses him turn into a wolf before her eyes, the horrific memories of her parents' murders return. Bryn becomes obsessed with getting her questions answered, and Chase is the only one who can provide the information she needs.

But in her drive to find the truth, will Bryn push too far beyond the constraints of the pack, forcing her to leave behind her friends, her family, and the identity that she's shaped?



Author: Keri Arthur
Title: Moon Sworn
Series: Riley Jenson Guardian #9
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Release Date: May 25th 2010.
Blurb: SPOILERS
Shape-shifting werewolf and vampire Riley Jenson is through with death—causing it, solving it, surviving it. Her soul mate, Kye Murphy, is dead—and at Riley’s own hands. Not even the seductive embrace of her vampire lover, Quinn, can fully ease her mind, for she has begun questioning everything that makes her Riley—including her job at the Directorate.

Now, the ritualistically slain bodies of ex-cons have started turning up. Reluctantly, Riley takes the case, but something even worse is waiting in the wings. A vicious enemy from her past is determined to strip Riley of everything that gives her life any meaning: her lover, her brother—and even her own identity. Can Riley survive this ultimate assault? All she knows is, she must fight one last time to find answers, before everything goes dark forever.

Review: Spider's Bite by Jennifer Estep

Title: Spider's Bite
Author: Jennifer Estep
Series: Elemental Assassin #1
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Release Date: January 26th 2010
Blurb:
My name is Gin Blanco. They call me the Spider — the most feared assassin in the South (and a part-time cook at the Pork Pit BBQ joint.) As a Stone elemental, I can hear the whispers of the gravel beneath my feet and feel the vibrations of the soaring mountains above me, though I don't use my powers on the job unless I absolutely have to. Call it professional pride.

After a ruthless Air elemental double-crossed me and killed my handler, I'm out for revenge. And I'll exterminate anyone who gets in my way. I may look hot in a miniskirt, but I'm still one of the bad guys. Which is why I'm in trouble when irresistibly rugged Detective Donovan Caine agrees to help. The last thing a coldhearted killer needs when she's battling a magic more powerful than her own is a sexy distraction ... especially when he wants her dead just as much as the enemy.


Ashland is a different kind of city. There's corruption, the police is crooked and one powerful elemental controls the city. There are 4 kinds of elemental: fire, ice, stone and air. Some people hide what they are, but others prefer to flaunt it.
Gin has a double life; she's an assassin called the Spider and also a cook in her handler's Fletcher BBQ restaurant.

When an irresistible offer to kill someone comes by, she accepts the job, but when she's about to eliminate her mark, someone tries to kill her and at that point she realizes that she has been set up. At the end, she ends up saving her mark and the police detective that was with him, but not without consequences.

When she gets back to the restaurant she finds her handler dead after a horrible torture. She races to save her friend and also handler's son, but when they both arrive at her apartment, they see that the mark has been killed and everyone is blaming her, and that they have offered a million dollars to whoever can give them information.
At this point, their only chance is to work with the detective to find out what happened that day and why was so important the mark was dead.

Gin is a strong character with a very traumatic past, but she handles it the best she can. I liked that she didn't rely on her power to get thing done. Finn is the funny character, he's not as strong as Gin, but he has his good points, especially when they need information from a woman. Then there's Donovan Caine, the detective. He's one of the only cops who isn't crooked and has a very solid view of what's right and what's wrong. The problem I had with him is that living in a place like that, how could he be so naive? Also, it seemed to me like he never asked enough questions about important things, and that in my opinion made him look like a bit of a coward. Sometimes I didn't understood the attraction between Gin and Donovan, and it felt a little forced at times.

The descriptions where a little too long and detailed in some places. I liked how Ashland worked, it almost seemed like there were no rules or laws, and if you crossed the wrong person, they would send an assassin after you or they would kill you themselves.
All in all, it was a great start of a series, with very interesting characters and a really good setting.


Memorable Lines:

"Somebody doesn't want Caine talking about what really happened."
Finn shook his head. "Honesty will get you killed in this city."


Next Book:
Web of Lies - May 25th 2010


Rating:

International Contest Sunday (6)

Oasis for YA is giving away a copy of Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey.
It ends on May 30th.
Enter here.



Daisy Chain Book Reviews is giving away The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell.
Ends on May 28th.
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The Bibliophilic Book Blog is giving away a ebook reader of your choice from her list. If you don't want it, you can choose a 100$ Amazon GC instead.
Ends on July 15th.
Enter here.



The Bibliophilic Book Blog is giving away a lot of books and sway if you complete her survey. If you're international, you'll get a giftcard.
Ends on May 30th.
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I Should Be Writing is having a massive birthday extravaganza. She's giving away 4 prizes: 2 for readers and 2 for writers. There a are books for the readers and a critique and writing books for the writers.
Ends on June 10th.
Enter here.




Magic Bean Review is giving away a copy of Blonde Bombshell by Tom Holt.
This ends on July 2nd.
Enter here.



SFF Chat is giving away Hell Fire by Ann Aguirre, Heart of Stone by CE Murphy, A Kiss of Shadowa by LK Hamilton and the Blood Lines Trilogy by Maria Lima. There will be 1 winner for each book.
Ends on May 31st.
Enter here.




About Happy Books is giving away 3 prizes. Each contain 2 books. There will be 3 winners.
Ends on June 1st.
Enter here.

Review: The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan

Title: The Demon's Lexicon
Author: Sarah Rees Brennan
Series: Demons #1
Genre: YA
Release Date: June 2nd 2009
Blurb:
Nick and his brother, Alan, have spent their lives on the run from magic. Their father was murdered, and their mother was driven mad by magicians and the demons who give them power. The magicians are hunting the Ryves family for a charm that Nick's mother stole -- a charm that keeps her alive -- and they want it badly enough to kill again.

Danger draws even closer when a brother and sister come to the Ryves family for help. The boy wears a demon's mark, a sign of death that almost nothing can erase...and when Alan also gets marked by a demon, Nick is desperate to save him. The only way to do that is to kill one of the magicians they have been hiding from for so long.

Ensnared in a deadly game of cat and mouse, Nick starts to suspect that his brother is telling him lie after lie about their past. As the magicians' Circle closes in on their family, Nick uncovers the secret that could destroy them all.


At the beginning of the book I had problems following who was feeling what, because this novel is written in 3rd person, but as the plot advanced, I got more comfortable.
I really liked the idea of 2 brothers running from the powerful bad guys (magicians) for years and then, while trying to help Jamie and Mae with Jamie's demon marks, Alan, Nick's older brother, gets marked by a demon himself.

Nick only cares about Alan and trusts him implicitly, thinking that he lies to everyone but him, but little by little, he notices that Alan is keeping secrets, and that he's been lying to him for a long time.
The dynamic between the 2 brothers was one of the best parts of the book. As the plot evolves we see new sides to the characters personalities.
I also liked Jamie, Mae's younger brother who also uses sarcasm when he's scared; and Mae, who is trying to help her brother however she can and at the same time ends up being the love interest of both Alan and Nick.
I especially liked the Goblin's Market. It's description was incredible and I could picture myself there while I was reading about it.

I really liked this book, and as you read, the novel gets better.
I can't wait to read the next book of this trilogy, whose narrator is Mae.


Memorable Lines:

Mae reached over and took Jamie's hand, lacing their fingers together. Jamie held on tight.
"There are magicians after Jamie?"
"Oh, sure," said Nick. "After him, or you. Magicians aren't fussy. You're all just meat to throw to the demons."
"You're not helping!" Mae exclaimed.
Nick leaned back against the sofa, crossing his legs and balancing the sword against one knee. He bared his teeth at her.
"I am helping. I'm telling you the truth. You don't like it, that's you're problem."


Next Book:
The Demon's Covenant - May 18th 2010.


Rating:

Waiting on Wednesday (6)

This week's books are:


Author: Jenna Black
Title: Glimmerglass
Series: Faeriewalker #1
Genre: YA
Release Date: May 25th 2010.
Blurb:
Dana Hathaway doesn’t know it yet, but she’s in big trouble. When her alcoholic mom shows up at her voice recital drunk, Dana decides she’s had it with being her mother’s keeper, so she packs her bags and heads to stay with her mysterious father in Avalon: the only place on Earth where the regular, everyday world and the magical world of Faerie intersect. But from the moment Dana sets foot in Avalon, everything goes wrong, for it turns out she isn't just an ordinary teenage girl—she's a Faeriewalker, a rare individual who can travel between both worlds, and who can bring magic into the human world and technology into Faerie.

Soon, she finds herself tangled up in a cutthroat game of Fae politics. Someone's trying to kill her, and everyone wants something from her, even her newfound friends and family. Suddenly, life with her alcoholic mom doesn't sound half bad, and Dana would do anything to escape Avalon and get back home. Too bad both her friends and her enemies alike are determined not to let her go . . .




Author: Jeaniene Frost
Title: Eternal Kiss Of Darkness
Series: Night Huntress World #2
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Release Date: July 27th 2010.
Blurb:
An immortal war has been brewing in the darkness…and now one woman has stumbled into the shadows.

Chicago private investigator Kira Graceling should have just kept on walking. But her sense of duty refused to let her ignore the moans of pain coming from inside a warehouse just before dawn. Suddenly she finds herself in a world she’s only imagined in her worst nightmares.

At the center is Mencheres, a breathtaking Master Vampire who thought he’d seen it all. Then Kira appears—this fearless, beautiful…human who braved death to rescue him. Though he burns for her, keeping Kira in his world means risking her life, yet sending her away is unthinkable.

But with danger closing in, Mencheres must choose between the woman he craves, or embracing the darkest magic to defeat an enemy bent on his eternal destruction.

International Contest Sunday (5)

I'm late ... AGAIN. For 2 days! I promised myself that I would post this on time, but I didn't. Sorry!

Hooked on YA Books is having a Huge Birthday Bash Contest. There will be at least 7 winners, some will win books, others giftcards. For each 50 new followers she gets, she'll add a new winner.
This ends on June 30th.
Enter here.

The Book Guru is having a 200 followers contest. She will be giving away a book from her list to the winner.
Ends when she gets 200 followers.
Enter here.





Love At The End of the World is having a 50 followers contest. You could win your choice between White Cat by Holly Black and Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott.
Ends May 14th.
Enter here.



Fangtastic Books is giving away a signed copy of Blonde With A Wand by Vicki Lewis Thompson.
This ends on May 11th.
Enter here.




Mysteries and My Musings is giving away 3 copies of A Toast To Murder by Michelle Scott.
Ends on May 14th.
Enter here.



The Last Word is giving away a signed copy of The Rise of Renegade X by Chelsea Campbell. The first winner wins the book, the other 3 win swag.
Ends on May 13th.
Enter here.



The Last Word is giving away signed copies of Sucks To Be Me & Still Sucks To Be Me by Kimberly Pauley to the first winner. The runner up will get some swag.
Ends on May 13th.
Enter here.

Wicked Jungle is giving away books and swag the whole month of May.
Check out the video: