Showing posts with label IMM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IMM. Show all posts

Sunday, December 18, 2011

In My Mailbox (17)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted at The Story Siren.  Earlier this week I was lucky enough to win a contest over at Starcrossed Reviews. A few of the electronic  copies have already started coming in, so there was quite a few books this week.  Not all are from the contest, but they will be a large part of keeping me in books for awhile.


Blood and Other Cravings edited by Ellen Datlow

Vampire tales - tales of the undead who have the power to seduce the living and suck their blood - have fascinated people for as long as humans have told stories and, in the last several decades, have become a pop-culture obsession.
In this new collection of original stories, award-winning and masterful writers reach beyond bloodsucking creatures of the night to explore the darkness that drives people to act in vampiric ways.  In Steve Duffy's "X for Demetrious," a man consumed by his fear of vampires realizes that he is bcome what he dreads most.  In Kaaron Warren's "All You Can Do Is Breathe," a miner, trapped for a week underground, begins to lose his will to live after a mysterious visitation.  In Nicole J. LeBeouf's "First Breath," a young girl feels her life and soul are being sucked away by a charismatic young woman who looks strangely familiar.  These and other uniquely distrubing visions of twisted predation will evoke disquiet, dread, unease - and fascination.



The Circle of Sorcerers: A Mages of Bloodmyr Novel: Book #1 by Briann Kittrell

When Laedron Telpist's sorcery training is interrupted by a knock on the door what once seemed a proper profession must now be hidden.  In a world where priests and mages vie for the limitless power of the elements and a new Grand Vicar has sworndeath to all sorcerers, Laedron is tossed into a nightmare which would see his destruction at every turn.
From the home shores in western Sorbia, throught he Cael'Brilland heartlands, and even across the seas to the great city of Azura, Laedron finds himself embracing old friends, consorting with unlikely allies, and confronting potent enemies.  As he struggles to train himself in spellcraft, Laedron must face that he lives in a time when the utterance of a simple spell could be the signature on his death warrant.



The Keeper (Stoney Ridge Seasons Series #1) by Suzanne Woods Fisher (upcoming book tour)


Life on a Windmill Farm hasn't been the same since Julia Lapp's father has had trouble with his heart.  But that doesn't stop Julia from hoping for a bright future.  She has planned on marrying Paul Fisher since she was a girl.  Now twenty-one, she looks forward to their wedding with giddy anticipation.  But when Paul tells her he wants to postpone the wedding - again - she is determined to change his mind.  She knows who is to blame for Paul's dussen reluctance to wed: the Bee Man.
Roman Troyer, the Bee Man, travels through Amish communities of Ohio and Pennsylvanie with his hives full of bees, renting them out to farmers in need of pollinators.  A mysteriousman who relishes his nomadic life, Roman especially enjoys bringing his bees to Stoney Ridge each year.  But with Julia seriously at odds with him, Windmill Farm is looking decidedly less appealing.
Can Julia secure the future she's always dreamed of?  Or does God have something else in mind?


The Hunter (Legend Chronicles #1) by Theresa Meyers

They're the Chosen - Winchester, Remington and Colt - brothers trained to hunt down supernatural beings using the latest steam-powered gadgetry.  It's a hard legacy to shoulder, and it's about to get a lot more dangerous...
Colt Jackson has gotten his name on many a wanted poster with success in the family business: hunting supernaturals across the frontier.  Lately, though, there's a sulfur stink in the wind and the Darkin population is exploding  A rift in the worlds is appearing.  To close it, Colt will have to do the unthinkable and work with a demon to pass arcane boundaries no human alone can cross.
Except when he summons his demon, he doesn't get some horned montrosity: he gets a curvy redheaded succubus name Lilly, who's willing to make a bargain to become human again.  He also gets Lilly's secret expertise on the machinations on the dark side of the rift.  And her charm and cleverness helps to get them out of what his silver-loaded pistol and machanical horse can't.  Of course, when all hell breaks loose, he might have to sacrifice his soul.  But what's adventure without a little risk?

Hometown Girl (Chesapeake Diaries Series #4) by Mariah Stewart

Life was always just about perfect for Brooke Madison Bowers.  She was the prettiest, most popular girl in small-town St. Dennis, Maryland, a prom queen, local pageant star, and the pride and joy of her loving parents.  She even marries the man of her dreams.  But the promise of happily ever after fell to pieces when her husband was killed while serving in Iraq.  Brokenhearted and longing for the solace of better days, she returns to the idyllic world of St. Dennis, and the familiar comfort of the family farm.  Surrounded by her suppotive family and friends, she's determined to build a new life, complete with her own cupcake bakery.  She's equally determined never to fall in love again.
For Jesse Enright, life has been a challenge.  A fourth-generation attorney, he's spent years fighting to escape the shadow of his irresponsible father.  Now he's moved to St. Dennis to run the family law practice, and he's ready to find the right girl, get married, and settle down.  But his carefully laid plans go out the window when he meets Brooke and finds himself caught between the unbreakable law of attraction and Brooke's resolve to go her way alone - despite the undeniable feelings Jesse stirs in her.  But just like catching lightning in a bottle, is it possible to fall head-over-heels, heart-and-soul in love all over again?

Early to Death, Early to Rise (Madison Avery Series #2)

Madison Avery's dream of fitting in at school died when she did.  Especially since she'd maintained the illusion of a body, dealt with a pesky guardian angel, and oh yeah, brought the reaper who killed her to his untimely end.  Not exactly in-crowd material.
Now Madison has learned that she's inherited the job of dark timekeeper and is in charge of angels who protect fate, whatever that means.  Never one to abide by the system, Madison forms a group of rogue angels who definitely don't heed the rules of the heavens.  But as she grapples with terrifying new powers, Madison may not be prepared for what lies ahead - unless she gets some seriously divine intervention.



Raven by Nuayma Jeggels (electronic)

A girl, a coma, a Plague, and an empty grave.

When Shardaie wakes up, she doesn’t know who she is, why she can’t understand emotions, why she has been unconscious for nearly nine of her thirteen years, or why the dead just won’t stay dead. The only clue to her past is a locket, but the Plague, which finally stretches its unnatural hand to her village, forces her to leave and to learn to protect herself. But everything has a cost: the protection against the undead reveals a secret that Shardaie and her classmates just don’t want to accept, and at the end, Shardaie realises that some secrets shouldn’t be revealed. Secrets have the power to destroy, and the power to change her view on humanity for ever.
           


The Marked Son (Keepers Of Life, #1) by Shae Berkley (electronic)

Seventeen-year-old Dylan Kennedy always knew something was different about him, but until his mother abandoned him in the middle of Oregon with grandparents he's never met, he had no idea what.
When Dylan sees a girl in white in the woods behind his grandparents' farm, he knows he's seen her before...in his dreams. He's felt her fear. Heard her insistence that only he can save her world from an evil lord who uses magic and fear to feed his greed for power.
Unable to shake the unearthly pull to Kera, Dylan takes her hand. Either he's completely insane or he's about to have the adventure of his life, because where they're going is full of creatures he's only read about in horror stories. Worse, the human blood in his veins has Dylan marked for death...


Seven Point Eight by Marie Harbon (electronic)

Seven Point Eight: The most powerful number in the universe. The number that connects everything. A physicist begins a quest to measure the soul but soon finds himself drawn into the world of the enigmatic Max Richardson, where research is sold to the military at the highest bid. However, he soon discovers another purpose when an extremely talented young psychic enters his life. He devises a project and builds a team to stretch the frontiers of exploration, only to make a reality-shattering discovery… The First Chronicle is the beginning of a 5 part epic which follows the spiritual and emotional journey of five people; their quest to understand the universe and our place within it. Along the way, they address the fundamental questions we all seek answers to: why are we here? What is the purpose of the universe? Is there a God? Quantum physics meets spirituality in a tale which begins in the 1940s, unfolds during the 1960s; an era of social and spiritual transformation and reaches its conclusion in the modern age. It interweaves the human dramas of love, betrayal, bitterness and above all, courage in a world where everyone must face their own dark shadow.

Seers by Heather Frost (electronic)

For Kate Bennett, surviving the car wreck that killed her parents means big changes — and even bigger problems. As she begins to see auras and invisible people, Kate must learn to trust Patrick O'Donnell, a handsome Guardian, or risk her life being overrun with Demons. She soon realizes that both she and her heart are in big-time trouble.





Cinder and Ella by Melissa Lemon (electronic)

After her father's disappearance, Cinder leaves home for a servant job at the castle. But it isn't long before her sister Ella is brought to the castle herself. What Ella finds there starts a quest that will change her life and the entire kingdom. Cinder and Ella is a Cinderella story like no other, and one you'll never forget.





Paradox - The Angels Are Here (Book 1) by Patti Roberts (electronic)

Nine hundred years ago, I died...
A little girl's world is turned upside down by a visitor,the Angel of Death. She finds herself trapped in a nightmare, consumed by her paralyzing loss and overwhelming grief. The haunting visions and untimely deaths of others are a constant reminder that life and death are only a heartbeat away.
A journey crossing Two Worlds. One Ancient - One New.
How do the heartbreaking visions experienced by a little girl fit into this Ancient World of Angels, Myth & Legend?
Where lives are bound by blood - and nothing is as it seems. In a World where there are more questions than answers. This journey will leave you wanting and have you asking... Who, When, Where?
Is your Guardian Angel From Heaven or Hell...?


CLOCKWISE by Elle Strauss (electronic)

Boy watching with her best friend would be enough excitement for fifteen year old Casey Donovan. She doesn't even mind life at the bottom of the Cambridge High social ladder, if only she didn’t have this other much bigger problem. Unscheduled trips to the nineteenth century!
When Casey gets talked into going to the Fall Dance, the unthinkable happens--she accidentally takes Nate Mackenzie, the cutest boy in the school, back in time.
Protocol pressures her to tell their 1860 hosts that he is her brother and when Casey finds she has a handsome, wealthy (and unwanted) suitor, something changes in Nate. Are those romantic sparks or is it just ‘brotherly’ protectiveness?
When they return to the present things go back to the way they were before: Casey at the bottom of the social totem pole and Nate perched on the very the top. Except this time her heart is broken. Plus, her best friend is mad, her parents are split up, and her little brother gets escorted home by the police. The only thing that could make life worse is if, by some strange twist of fate, she took Nate back to the past again.
Which of course, she does.


Blood of Anteros (The Vampire Agape Series #1)Blood of Anteros by Georgia Cates (electronic)

I was tantalized by the mystery of her. The leech inside me came out to find prey, but found none in this enigmatic girl. The close proximity of her essence didn’t entice the monster within, so what did that make her? I had more questions than answers, but one thing was unmistakable; although she released me from her embrace, her hold on me remained.

Cruel circumstances turned Curry Brennan into the wretched monster he hates and refuses to accept, but when an expected turn of events releases him from the bond of his obsessive maker, he returns to the home he knew 161 years earlier and finds the return of happiness and joy in something he didn’t know existed. Puzzled by his growing attraction to Chansey Leclaire, a human, he is unable to resist the captivating relationship that threatens to reveal his existence as a vampire. He eventually discovers the reason he was destined to find what he didn’t know he searched for and is faced with the cruel realization that the living and the immortal undead will always be separated by one thing. Eternity.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

In My Mailbox (16)

IMM is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren.  I didn't get much to post about last week, so they're all going into this week's instead.

Enchantments: A Novel by Kathryn Harrison - ARC from Librarything.com

St. Petersburg, 1917. After Rasputin’s body is pulled from the icy waters of the Neva River, his eighteen-year-old daughter, Masha, is sent to live at the imperial palace with Tsar Nikolay and his family—including the headstrong Prince Alyosha. Desperately hoping that Masha has inherited Rasputin’s miraculous healing powers, Tsarina Alexandra asks her to tend to Aloysha, who suffers from hemophilia, a blood disease that keeps the boy confined to his sickbed, lest a simple scrape or bump prove fatal.
  Two months after Masha arrives at the palace, the tsar is forced to abdicate, and Bolsheviks place the royal family under house arrest. As Russia descends into civil war, Masha and Alyosha grieve the loss of their former lives, finding solace in each other’s company. To escape the confinement of the palace, they tell stories—some embellished and some entirely imagined—about Nikolay and Alexandra’s courtship, Rasputin’s many exploits, and the wild and wonderful country on the brink of an irrevocable transformation. In the worlds of their imagination, the weak become strong, legend becomes fact, and a future that will never come to pass feels close at hand.
Mesmerizing, haunting, and told in Kathryn Harrison’s signature crystalline prose, Enchantments is a love story about two people who come together as everything around them is falling apart.

Windless Summer by Heather Sharfeddin

A father’s love. A shattering secret. A summer that will change lives forever.
In the town of Rocket, Washington—a summer playground for windsurfers and tourists—a windless summer ignites fear as businesses and residents move away. Rocket’s motel, run by a lonely widower named Tom Jemmet, is hard hit. And Tom has demons of his own: memories of a beautiful wife that still haunt him, and a troubled young daughter whose retreat into a silent world confounds her father and sparks whispers in town.
Swirling around Tom are lives much like his own, townspeople yearning for wind but also for hope, even love. Charlene, a mail clerk, helps care for Tom’s daughter while a secret gnaws at her heart…Lauren, the town vet, has fallen for Tom, who barely notices…and newspaper editor Hap is hatching a foolish plan to save his town.
That’s when a miracle—or something like it—strikes Tom’s run-down motel. Guests who stay in Room 6 begin experiencing sudden acts of fate, both terrible and great. But while tourists descend on Rocket and the the town shows new signs of life, the truth about Tom’s motel and the death of his wife—as well as the secret hopes and fears of everyone around him—are exposed in ways that are both surprising and inevitable….

Original Sin by Lisa Desrochers

Luc Cain was born and raised in Hell, but he isn’t feeling as demonic as usual lately—thanks to Frannie Cavanaugh and the unique power she never realized she had. But you can’t desert Hell without consequences, and suddenly Frannie and Luc find themselves targeted by the same demons who used to be Luc’s allies.
Left with few options, Frannie and Luc accept the protection of Heaven and one of its most powerful angels, Gabe. Unfortunately, Luc isn’t the only one affected by Frannie, and it isn’t long before Gabe realizes that being around her is too…tempting. Rather than risk losing his wings, he leaves Frannie and Luc under the protection of her recently-acquired guardian angel.
Which would be fine, but Gabe is barely out the door before an assortment of demons appears—and they’re not leaving without dragging Luc back to Hell with them. Hell won’t give up and Heaven won’t give in. Frannie’s guardian exercises all the power he has to keep them away, but the demons are willing to hurt anyone close to Frannie in order to get what they want. It will take everything she has and then some to stay out of Hell’s grasp.
And not everyone will get out of it alive.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.
But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world -- and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

In My Mailbox (15)

In My Mailbox (IMM) is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren

Sorry there haven't been more reviews lately.  As you can tell, I have plenty to read.  My daughter has a part in The Nutcracker (she's a one of the Mouse kings little mice minions), the holidays, and a new project at work I haven't had the time to sit down and write the reviews for what I've read.  You should see a few of them roll out this week though.


Hunger Untamed (Feral Warriors Series #5) by Pamela Palmer (autographed) - contest win from Reading Between the Wines

They are called Feral Warriors - an elite band of immortals who can change shape at will.  Sworn to rid the world of evil, consumed by sorcery and seduction, their wild natures are primed for release...
For a thousand years she has haunted him - Ariana, Queen of the Ilinas, a beauty of mist and light.  His love, his life mate ... Kougar believed her lost to him forever, until the truth of her stunning betrayal left him bitter and hungry for revenge.  Now she alone holds the power to save two trapped and desperate Feral Warriors.
Ariana, caught in a deadly battle of her own, is neither the soulless creature Kougar believes her to be nor the savior he seeks.
And when darkness threatens to annihilate both races, the greates danger of all becomes the glorious love Kougar and Ariana once shared.  A love that must never rise again.  A love that has never died.


A Touch of Crimson (Renegade Angels Series #1) by Sylvia Day - contest win from All Things Urban Fantasy

An angel with immense power and insatiable desire.  Adrian Mitchell leads an elite Special Ops unit of the seraphim.  His task is to punish the Fallen - angels who have become vampires - and command a restless pack of indentured lycans.
But Adrian has suffered his own punishment for becoming involved with mortals - losing the woman he loves again and again.  Now, after nearly two hundred years, he has found her: Shadoe, her soul once more inhabiting a new body that doesn't remember him.  This time he won't let her go.
With no memory of her past as Shadoe, Lidsay Gibson knows only that she can't help being fiercely attracted to the smolding, seductive male who crosses her path.  Swept into a dangerous world of tumultuous passion and preternatural conflict, Lindsay is soon caught between her angel lover, her vampire father, and a full-blown lycan revolt.  There's more at stake than her love and her life - she could lose her very soul.


Concrete Savior (Dark Redemption Series #2) by Yvonne Navarro

They say no good deed goes unpunished.  Brynna Malak is living proof.
A fallen angel in human form, Brynna is trying to earn another chance at heaven.So far, her road to redemption is littered with casualties, especially since Lucifer's minions are intent on dragging her back to hell.  And being mortal only got more complicated since Brynna became involved with Detective Eran Redmond.
Still, Brynna's relationship issues - like the fact that one glimpse of her can drive men crazy with desire - may have to wait.  A mysterious "hero" is saving Chicago's citizens from certain death, with strange and sinister consequences. Brynna know too much about demonkind to believe in coincidences.  Some dark force is at work here, and Brynna may be the only one who can stop it...


Various Positions by Martha Schabas (ARC) - contest win from Black and Gold Girl's Book Spot

Georgia has always toes the line - until adolescence took hold and the lines got blurred.
Trapped between the sex-obsessed world of her friends andt he drama of her dysfunctional family, fourteen-year-old Georgia is most as ease when she's dancing.  When she is accepted into Canada's preeminent ballet school, she thinks it is the perfect escape.  Artistic director Roderick Allen singles her out as a star and gives her intense personal training, and Georgie obsesses about becoming the perfect disciplined student for him.  But as she spends more and more time with Roderick, it's  not so clear to her anymore exactly what their relationship means.  Is he her teacher and mentor, or is he something more?



Fateful by Claudia Gray (ARC)- contest win from Black and Gold Girl's Book Spot

It's 1912, and Tess Davies has been trapped in the employ of the overbearing Lisle family for years.  But now the Lisles are headed to America with Tess in tow.  Once the ship they're sailing on - the RMS Titanic - reaches its destination, Tess plans to strike out on her own.  When Tess meets Alec, a handsome first-class passenger, she quickly becomes entangled in his dark secrets.  The danger they face is no ordinary enemy: werewolves exist and are stalking him - and now her, too.  Her growing love for Alex will put Tess in mortal peril and fate will do the same before their journey is over.




Scary School by Derek the Ghost illustrated by Scott M. Fischer - book to review and read with my daughter.

Derek the Ghost is an eleven-year-old ghost who haunts the classroons and hallways of Scary School writing down all the spine-tingling, often hilarious things that go on there.  Despite his ghostly state, Derek still enjoys reading comic books and hopes to one day become a master ninja.  If that doesn't work out, he will continue to share the fun of this very special, very secret school, so all kids can experience the scariest school on earth.





Darkness Dawns by Dianne Duvall (autographed) - contest win from Reading Between the Wine

Once, Sarah Bingham's biggest challenge was making her students pay attention in class. Now, after rescuing a wounded stranger, she's landed in the middle of a battle between corrupt vampires and powerful immortals who also need blood to survive.  Roland Warbrook is the most compelling man Sarah has ever laid hands on.  But his desire for her is mingled with a hunger he can barely control...
In his nine centuries of immortal existence, no woman has tempted Roland as much as Sarah.  But asking her to love him is impossible - when it means forfeiting the world she's always known, and the life he would do anything to protect.


Black & Orange by Benjamin Kane Ethridge - upcoming book tour

Forget everything you know about Halloween.  The stories are distortions.  They were created to keep the Curch of Midnight hidden from the world.  Every October 31th a gateway opens to a hostile lane of sacrificail magic and chaos.  Since the beginning of civilization the Church of Midnight has attempted to open the gateway and unite with its other half, the Church of Morning.  Each year they've come closer, waiting for the ideal sacrifice to open the gateway permanently.
This year that sacrifice has come...




A Lady Awakened by Cecilia Grant - from First Reads
Newly widowed and desperate to protect her estate fromher malevolent brother-in-law, Martha Russellconceives a darking plan.  Or,, Rather, a daring plan to conceive.  If she has an heir on the way, her future will be secured  Forsaking all propriety, Martha approaches her neighbor Theophilus Mirkwood, a London exile with a wicked reputation, and offers a strictly business proposition: a month of illicit interludes...for free. Determined she'll get her money's worth.  Theo sets out to awaken this neglected beauty to the pleasures of the flesh - only to find her dead set against taking any enjoyment in the scandalous bargain.  Surely she can't resist him forever.  But could a lady's sweet surrender open their hearts to the most unexpected arrival of all...love?

Invisible by Jeanne Bannon - upcoming book tour
Lola's not pretty.  Lola's not popular.  Lola wishes she could disappear - and then one day she does just that...
For seventeen-year-old Lola Savullo, life is a struggle.  Born to funky parents who are more in that she could ever be, Lola's dream of becoming a writer makes her an outsider even in her own home.  Bullied and despised, Lola still has the support of her best pal Charlie and Grandma Rose.
Not only is she freakishly tall, Lola's a big girl and when forced to wear a bathing suit at her summer job as a camp counselor, Lola's only escape from deep embarrassment seems to be to literally vanish.  Soon after, she discovers the roots of her new "ability".
Slowly, with Charlie's help, Lola learns to control the new super power.  The possibilities are endless.  Yet power can be abused, too...
Then, when tragedy strikes, Lola must summer her inner strength, both at home and at school.  She has to stand up for herself, despite the temptations and possibilities of her newfound super power.