Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Waiting On Wednesday





"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases.

My pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection for this week is:



Wicked Nights
by Gena Showalter
June 26, 2012


Leader of the most powerful army in the heavens, Zacharel has been deemed too dangerous, too ruthless, and if he isn’t careful, he’ll lose his wings.  But this warrior with a heart of ice will not be deterred . . . until a vulnerable human tempts him with a carnal pleasure he’s never before known.

Accused of a crime she did not commit, Annabelle Miller has spent four years in an institution for the criminally insane.  Demons track her every move, and their king will stop at nothing to have her.  Zacharel is her only hope for survival, but is the brutal angel with a touch as hot as hell her salvation—or her ultimate d***ation?



Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Review: Dance to the Piper by Nora Roberts


Dance to the Piper by: Nora Roberts
Source: Library

Blurb:
Nora Roberts, “a consistently entertaining writer” (USA Today), delivers the story of Maddy O’Hurley—one of Broadway’s brightest stars—whose passion for dance and for life captures the attention of business mogul Reed Valentine.
Fans of Nora Roberts will be delighted with her latest tale of a woman who dared to dream and a man who had forgotten how. She moved in perfect harmony to the music that ruled her life both onstage and off. He dealt with ruthless expertise. Music was his business and he was all business--until she lit up the stage. . . .


Review:
Dance To the Piper, the second in The O'Hurley's trilogy, was a marked improvement over the first book. You can find my review for The Last Honest Woman here. While I was relieved that this was better than the first, it was by no means anything spectacular nor a favorite. The romance between the two characters is typical, as is the situation. Nora Roberts did again what she is best known for and delivered a cookie-cutter romance that passed the time as I listened to it as an audio book on my way to and from work. I probably wouldn't have had as much patience with finishing the book if I were to read a bound copy but I seem to be more forgiving with the audio versions. If you can't find this one at the library I wouldn't spend the money on a copy for yourself.


At A Glance:
1= Could not finish the book
2= A struggle to read to the finish
3=Meh. Average with all the elements I like in a book but nothing notable
4= I ended it with a smile on my face
5=Excellent. I want to read everything this author has ever written and when I
finish all the books on my wishlist I will reread it.


Challenges: 

Teaser Tuesday



Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! 
  • My teaser:
Brianna by Judy Mays, location 567

"She felt the blood drain from her face. My God, I must be on a spaceship."

Monday, March 12, 2012

Review: Wicked Weekend by Gillian Archer

Wicked Weekend by: Gillian Archer 
Source: NetGalley
(Carina Press March 12, 2012)


Blurb:
Why did Lauren Vaughn introduce her sister to the man she herself was crazy about? Now Lauren is watching the happy couple at their combined bachelor/bachelorette party—while Lauren sits all alone at the bar. Until she spots a hot stranger with the telltale black handkerchief in his pocket: the signal for "seeks no-strings affair with sexy submissive." Lauren can't take her eyes off him. So when he comes over, she kicks her inner good girl to the curb and follows Jamie Forman to his room, where he makes her scream with pleasure all night long.
But Jamie is a complicated man. He can't handle how desperately he wants her in his bed—and his life. It's up to Lauren to teach him how to make all night last forever.
Review:
I really enjoyed this book. Really, really enjoyed it. Jamie, as the alpha dom, and Lauren, as the insecure submissive, worked the story from beginning to end. Even though it's short at 25,000 words, I don't feel like any part of story was left out. The sex scenes were exciting and it was an interesting look at what an introduction into the BDSM lifestyle would be like. This is the first book I've read by this author and I plan to read her other published books and keep an eye out for anything new she has. I highly recommend for anyone looking for a short, sexy, satisfying read.

Sexual Content: m/f


At A Glance:
1= Could not finish the book
2= A struggle to read to the finish
3=Meh. Average with all the elements I like in a book but nothing notable
4= I ended it with a smile on my face
5=Excellent. I want to read everything this author has ever written and when I
finish all the books on my wishlist I will reread it.


Challenges: 

Saturday, March 10, 2012

On My Wishlist


On My Wishlist is a fun weekly event hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It's where we list all the books we desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming. It's also an event that you can join in with too - Mr Linky is always at the ready for you to link your own 'On My Wishlist' post. If you want to know more click here.


I just finished the first in the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy and I can't wait to get the second so I can continue the story. 
Fifty Shades Darker
by EL James

 Daunted by the singular sexual tastes and dark secrets of the beautiful, tormented young entrepreneur Christian Grey, Anastasia Steele has broken off their relationship to start a new career with a Seattle publishing house. But desire for Christian still dominates her every waking thought, and when he proposes a new arrangement, Anastasia cannot resist. They rekindle their searing sensual affair, and Anastasia learns more about the harrowing past of her damaged, driven, and demanding Fifty Shades. While Christian wrestles with his inner demons, Anastasia must confront her anger and envy of the women who came before her and make the most important decision of her life. Erotic, sparkling and suspenseful, Fifty Shades Darker is the irresistibly addictive second part of the Fifty Shades trilogy.



I loved Jacquelyn Frank's Nightwalker's series and have wanted to get the first in this series for a while.
Seduce Me in Dreams
by Jacquelyn Frank
Dark. Mysterious. Sensual. When Bronse Chapel, the commander of a specialized unit of the Interplanetary Militia, begins to dream about a beautiful and exotic brunette, he wants to dismiss it as being induced by lack of sleep . . . or perhaps lack of sex. But his instincts tell him it’s something different, something far more dangerous.

Ravenna is the leader of the Chosen Ones, a small group of people from her village born with extraordinary powers. She doesn’t know that draws her to Bronse’s dreams night after night, but she senses that he and his team are in jeopardy. Ravenna can help him, but first Bronse must save the Chosen Ones from those who plan to use their powers for evil. Together, Bronse and Ravenna will be unstoppable. But Ravenna is hiding something that could endanger them all.

Friday, March 9, 2012

The Friday 56

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme, hosted by Freda's Voice. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link here.




My current read:
Blood Bound by Rachel Vincent

"Well, Anne must have gotten ahold of it somehow, if she burned it."
My hand clenched around the bloody material.  I hadn't thought of that.


Friday's News and Notables


 iPad GelaSkins

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Booking Through Thursday

"Booking Through Thursday" is a weekly event, hosted at Booking Through Thursday, that asks a weekly book-related question. This week's question: 

Which non-series book would you most like to read the sequel to? Do you have any wishes for what might happen in it?


The majority of the books that I choose to read are books that are part of a series so it took me a while to think of a non-series book. I've read most of the books written by Kaitlyn O'Connor after I stumbled across one of them on B&N. She has some stand alone books, such as the one below, and I would be thrilled to see any of those continue as a series. As for what I wish might happen in the book...well, more of the super sexy, alpha-not-always-human-male, and futuristic worlds. Everything Kaitlyn O'Connor is great at.


The Lion's Woman
by Kaitlyn O'Connor

When Kelly Scott rescues a man under attack by a roaming gang, she has no idea that it will change the course of her life, but she begins to form an inkling when she discovers he is not of Earth. It isn't until she finds herself aboard the haden ship, bound for New Ducran, however, that she realizes how tenuous her position is. The mission she has stumbled upon is to secure wives for the New Ducranian colonists-but Kelly wasn't chosen, and she has no way of knowing if she can convince Tau that she's worth keeping-although it doesn't seem to be difficult to convince him to impregnate her.





Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Review: Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel


Dearly, Departed by: Lia Habel
Source: NetGalley
(Del Rey 2011, 480 pages)

Blurb:
Love conquers all, so they say. But can Cupid’s arrow pierce the hearts of the living and the dead—or rather, the undead? Can a proper young Victorian lady find true love in the arms of a dashing zombie?
The year is 2195. The place is New Victoria—a high-tech nation modeled on the manners, mores, and fashions of an antique era. A teenager in high society, Nora Dearly is far more interested in military history and her country’s political unrest than in tea parties and debutante balls. But after her beloved parents die, Nora is left at the mercy of her domineering aunt, a social-climbing spendthrift who has squandered the family fortune and now plans to marry her niece off for money. For Nora, no fate could be more horrible—until she’s nearly kidnapped by an army of walking corpses.

But fate is just getting started with Nora. Catapulted from her world of drawing-room civility, she’s suddenly gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos and confronting “The Laz,” a fatal virus that raises the dead—and hell along with them. Hardly ideal circumstances. Then Nora meets Bram Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble . . . and dead. But as is the case with the rest of his special undead unit, luck and modern science have enabled Bram to hold on to his mind, his manners, and his body parts. And when his bond of trust with Nora turns to tenderness, there’s no turning back. Eventually, they know, the disease will win, separating the star-crossed lovers forever. But until then, beating or not, their hearts will have what they desire.

In
Dearly, Departed, romance meets walking-dead thriller, spawning a madly imaginative novel of rip-roaring adventure, spine-tingling suspense, and macabre comedy that forever redefines the concept of undying love.

Review:
Dearly, Departed is the first zombie love story I have ever read and the best introduction into an interesting genre that I could have ever imagined. I requested this book to review because the stunning cover caught my eye and the blurb (above) snagged my interest. Though I am not a prolific reader of young adult books, I have read most of the popular publications (i.e. Harry Potter, Twilight, The Hunger Games), and I am glad I decided to read this one.
I love the world the author created. This is one of those books that while you read it you keep saying to yourself, "Wow, this would be great as a movie!" It would be interesting to see how this steampunk / zombie / dystopia society would look on 'the big screen.'
The main characters felt genuine and I feel like I was able to watch them grow and learn as the story progressed and the love story that blossomed during impossible circumstances made my heart ache while I followed their courageous decisions.
I highly recommend for anyone looking for a unique, imaginative, and tender story that will keep you up past your bed time.


At A Glance:
1= Could not finish the book
2= A struggle to read to the finish
3=Meh. Average with all the elements I like in a book but nothing notable
4= I ended it with a smile on my face
5=Excellent. I want to read everything this author has ever written and when I
finish all the books on my wishlist I will reread it.


Challenges: 

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Review: Rush of Darkness by Rhyannon Byrd


Rush of Darkness by: Rhyannon Byrd
Source: NetGalley
(HQN Books 2011, 384 pages)

Blurb:


Raine Spenser is on the brink. Held prisoner because of her abilities, Raine—a powerful psychic as well as vampire—desperately needed a savior. But the last one she expected was the green-eyed soldier who'd once hunted her kind. Since her rescue, she's tried to forget Seth McConnell, unable to cope with the strange, simmering attraction that draws her to the compelling human.
But their goals—find the Kraven who held Raine captive and destroy him—are the same. The ever-growing web of danger surrounding them draws these two unlikely allies closer together, and anger slowly turns into an explosive passion they're finding harder and harder to deny….

Review:
This book is the seventh in the Primal Instinct Series but the first I've read by this author. I have to say that I really enjoyed the book. Though, the back story could have been developed a little more and fell flat without the excitement of the romance between Raine and Seth, their romance was more than enough to push through the plot and caused me a couple of late nights to read their story. The book holds its own in the series and I had no problem catching up with the back story. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a series to dive into and if you've never read anything by Rhyannon Byrd definitely give her books a try. I plan to add the rest of the series to my wish list and can't wait to dive in. 

Sexual Content: m/f


At A Glance:
1= Could not finish the book
2= A struggle to read to the finish
3=Meh. Average with all the elements I like in a book but nothing notable
4= I ended it with a smile on my face
5=Excellent. I want to read everything this author has ever written and when I
finish all the books on my wishlist I will reread it.


Challenges: