Oct 26, 2011

Review: Released by Megan Duncan

Series: Agent of Evils #1
Genre:Young-Adult, Dystopia, Sci-Fi
Released: March 19, 2011
My Copy: e-book won from Tinas Book Reviews received from author.
Buy Links

Synopses from goodreads

After a demon apocalypse kills their parents and everyone they know, 17-year old Abby Phillips, her brother, Carter, and friend, Max flee their home to travel through what has become the wastelands of America. When radio transmissions of a resistance offering shelter and safety cease, Abby is tempted to give up. Struggling to overcome life-threatening obstacles in their dangerous journey, Abby and her companions quickly discover there are much worse things lurking in the dark then they could have ever imagined.

My Thoughts

First reaction, I liked it.

The story of demons roaming the earth is one of my favorite subject to read about. It's twisted, I know. lol. The entire story from the beginning was very good. I loved Abby, Carter and Max and their journey to New Mexico. Max and Abby's build up to their relationship was adorable.

Many questions raised with the progress of the story and I was a little disappointed at how little got answered. I guess, that's why this is a series. I will just have to read the series to relief my curiosity.

End verdict, readers who likes zombis, end of the world, apocalyptic stuff this is a book you want to check out.

I giiiiive this
Series: Agent of Evils #1

Series: Agent of Evils #2

Day 2 of Bout Of Read-a-thon


 It was a success. Half success anyway.
bout of books read-a-thon hosted by On A Book Bender
Day 2 was amazing. I finally finished A BOOK! Also read some more Biological Chemistry, where I learned the 16 parts of a root. WOOT!

Starting point
Day 1 

Oct 24, 2011

Day 1 Bout Of Book Read-a-thon

bout of books read-a-thon hosted by On A Book Bender
Well it's almost end of day 1 for me. So I have been reading Released by Megan Duncan 
And the good thing is, I am half way through it. Now here is the punch line, I did not read it today, I started this a few days back *le sigh*. 

However I did read 200 pages of my Economic book and another 73 of my Management text book, today. Does that count? 

Oct 22, 2011

Across The Universe by Beth Revis Cover Appreciation

Look what I found today!!

So I was looking for some new stuff in goodreads when I happen to stumble upon something very interesting. Across The Universe book covers. I know most of you have probably seen all of them and I know I find out stuff wayyyyy later than a book lover should but... but they are just so awesome! I just had share.

This one I have
This is the Hardcover one
The one with Godspeed!
This one I WANT!!!
I own a copy of Across The Universe that has the first cover. And now I want to buy another copy of this book that has the last cover! I am sure my credit card won't cry. Maybe I should charge this on hubbys card! 

Across The Universe is the first book of Across The Universe trilogy by Beth Revis. A Million Suns is the second installment of the series.


A Million Suns by Beth Revis
Released January 10, 2012.

Godspeed was fueled by lies. Now it is ruled by chaos.

It's been three months since Amy was unplugged. The life she always knew is over. And everywhere she looks, she sees the walls of the spaceship Godspeed. But there may just be hope: Elder has assumed leadership of the ship. He's finally free to enact his vision - no more Phydus, no more lies.

But when Elder discovers shocking news about the ship, he and Amy race to discover the truth behind life on Godspeed. They must work together to unlock a puzzle that was set in motion hundreds of years earlier, unable to fight the romance that's growing between them and the chaos that threatens to tear them apart.

In book two of the Across the Universe trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Beth Revis mesmerizes us again with a brilliantly crafted mystery filled with action, suspense, romance, and deep philosophical questions. And this time it all builds to one mind-bending conclusion: They have to get off this ship.

Across The Universe - find out more about Godspeed and the book here.
Stalk Beth Revis on her website as well ;)

Bout Of Books Read-a-thon 2.0

bout of books read-a-thon hosted by On A Book Bender
I have signed up again for another read-a-thon. My books never gets read if there is no dead line, I have come to realize that fact quite recently ;(

So thank you Amanda for hosting this read-a-thon again. This way if I can read at least 2-3 books that would be awesome!

Why I signed up: To read, duh! And also to stalk people and see what they are reading ;)

My goal: At least 3! I know I will fail *le sigh*

Day 1

Oct 20, 2011

Lover Reborn by J.R. Ward

Look what I found!
Lover Reborn by J.R. Ward
There is no synopsis for Lover Reborn yet, but it's Thor's book. That much we know. Most probably the last book in Black Dagger Brotherhood series minus all the short stories that's going to follow after this. 

I am not a big fan of ALL the BDB books. But yes I do like one or two of brothers from the lot and Thorment has always been one of my favorite. I am looking forward to this book for two reasons 

#1 LEMONS?
#2 QHUINN/LAYLA/BLAY

Lover Reborn comes out on March 27th 2012.

My Adventurous Week


Ahhh such an adventurous week this has been! I have been away from home visiting India for the past week, it was not my first time there even so it was very nice visiting this place again.
Enjoying finger foods 

Oct 19, 2011

Review: A Life That Fits by Heather Wardell

Genre: Contemporary, Chik-lit
Released Date: May 30, 2011
My Copy: provided by the author
for reviewing purposes
Buy Links
Book synopsis  from goodreads

Twenty-eight-year-old Andrea returns home from a business trip to find Alex, her boyfriend of fourteen years, nervously waiting for her. Assuming he's finally going to propose, Andrea's instead horrified to learn he's been cheating on her and is leaving to be with the other woman, who he calls Andrea's opposite.

At first Andrea's paralyzed by shock and sadness, but the business analyst soon forms a plan: change every last detail of her life and become her opposite so Alex will come back to her.

It's a challenge at first, but soon Andrea's loving the changes she's making, the new activities she's doing, and the new people in her life. But will she change enough to get Alex back? And if she does, will he fit into the wonderful new life she's creating for herself?

My Thoughts

When I read the synopsis, I knew there can only be one scenarios when I finish. I would love it or hate it. I am thrilled to say it's the former. I love it.

It's not easy letting go of someone, that you love  no matter what period of time you have spent with them. It's harder if it's almost half of your life. So when Andrea takes it upon herself to change herself in order to get back her ex, and I completely get it. 

I loved how Andrea grows into an adult due to actions to revers things. She was brave, sticking to what she wanted to do no matter what was her obstacle. She makes a lot of friends a social life outside her home that she never knew could co-exist. Andrea's willingness to try something new and sometimes adventurous was refreshing.

It took me a while before I could get started after I got the book. But when I started it again yesterday, I just couldn't put it down till I finished. The constant nagging in my head, what will happen in the end? Andrea get Alex back or does she fall for the cute guy in her office.

Heather Wardell brings the wonderful characters from her books to life through her writing and make them feel very realistic. And I am happy to say she is becoming one of my favorite author. 

I give thiiiis

Waiting On Wednesday: Heart of Steel by Meljean Brook

Waiting On Wednesday hosted by Breaking The Spine


Heart of Steel by Meljean Brook

Iron Seas #2
Released date: November 1st 2011

Growing up in the dangerous world of the Iron Seas, the mercenary captain of the airship Lady Corsair, Yasmeen, has learned to keep her heart hard as steel. Ruthless and cunning, her only loyalty is to her ship and her crew-until one man comes along and changes everything...Treasurehunter Archimedes Fox isn't interested in the Lady Corsair-just the captain and the valuable da Vinci sketch she stole from him. When it attracts a dangerous amount of attention, Yasmeen and Archimedes journey to Horde-occupied Morocco- and straight into enemy hands.

I wish i could describe how much I really REALLY want this book. And now that there is barely two weeks left till the release date I am even more excited to have this in my hands.

Oct 18, 2011

Guest Post from Elizabeth Hunter and GIVEAWAY of A Hidden Fire

Diego Rivera, The Kid
Thanks to the lovely Smittens Kitten for letting me steal her blog for the day! My name is Elizabeth Hunter, and I’m writing today about my debut novel, A Hidden Fire, on sale today at Amazon and Barnes & Noble and Smashwords. I also wanted to post a little about the Dia de los Muertos holiday celebrated in Mexico and the American Southwest at the beginning of November.

In my paranormal romance, A Hidden Fire, one of the first social interactions Gio and Beatrice have is a community center celebration of Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead. Originating in Mexico, Dia de los Muertos is a holiday that blends indigenous Native American traditions with the Roman Catholic celebration of All Saints Day and All Souls Day.

“Do you know much about Dia de los Muertos?” Beatrice asked as they walked.
He shook his head. “Not much. I haven’t spent a great deal of time in Latin America.” He knew plenty, of course, but he preferred to hear her explanation.
“It’s not usually celebrated until November second, but the art center hosts a family fair on Halloween so parents have an option other than trick-or-treating for the kids.” Beatrice smiled at a pair of small children in skeleton costumes with flowers in their hair as they rushed past on the way to the carnival games.
He observed their small, retreating forms. “It certainly seems popular.”
“It is. It used to be just Mexican families, but now a lot of people like the tradition.”

The meaning behind this unique celebration is that the dead should not be mourned, but celebrated, and that by honoring their souls through gifts and decorations, the souls will “meet” the living and hear their prayers. Humor and celebration is encouraged and the day has become the equivalent of a national holiday in Mexico. Often dancing, singing, poetry and art are part of family or community celebrations.

The women stepped back to examine the effect, whispering to each other in Spanish but smiling and laughing as well. Giovanni cocked his head and looked around the room.
Though it was filled with symbols and depictions of the dead, there was no fear and very little sorrow. It was unusual to find such celebration in the name of loss, and he found himself touched by the demeanor of the partygoers.

While traditions vary in different communities, most include an altar set up either in home or local cemeteries and decorated with pictures of loved ones, along with marigolds, toys for children, and favorite foods and drinks of the deceased, which are then eaten by friends and family after the celebration.

Though the initial setting is in Texas, the Elemental Mysteries is an international story, with characters originating in Europe, the Americas, Asia, and North Africa. Since I was dealing with such a huge cast of characters from so many periods of history, the series involved a lot of research. Luckily, many of the settings are places I have traveled or lived personally!

While I’ve been writing online and professionally for a while, A Hidden Fire is the first time I’ve published a novel of this length. The journey to independent publishing has been a crazy ride, but I’ve met so many amazing people along the way. If you want to learn more about the books, subscribe at the website, ElementalMysteries.com.

Thanks for reading!
Elizabeth 

 
Thank you Elizabeth, for the great post about Dia de los Muertos and introducing everyone to A Hideen Fire. It was a pleasure having you on my blog.  
Elizabeth is giving away one copy of her book A Hidden Fire to a  reader. This giveaway is open to EVERYONE so all you have to do to enter this giveaway is leave a comment for Elizabeth along with your profile link or email address. Winner will be chosen on 1st November.

A Hidden Fire by Elizabeth Hunter
Released date: October 18 2011

"No secret stays hidden forever ..."

A phone call from an old friend sets Dr. Giovanni Vecchio back on the path of a mystery he’d abandoned years before. He never expected a young librarian could hold the key to the search, nor could he have expected the danger she would attract. Now he and Beatrice de Novo will follow a twisted maze that leads them from the archives of a university library, through the fires of Renaissance Florence, and toward a confrontation they never could have predicted.

A Hidden Fire is a paranormal mystery/romance for adult readers. It is the first book in the Elemental Mysteries Series.


You can purchase the book from Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Smashwords

Author Bio:


 Elizabeth Hunter is the author and independent publisher of the Elemental Mysteries Series. She is a graduate of the University of Houston Honors College in the Department of English (Linguistics) and a former English teacher. A native of Central California, she now lives in Southern California with her husband, son, and an assortment of dogs. She enjoys reading, writing, travel, and bowling (despite the fact that she’s not very good at it.)

Learn more about Elizabeth Hunter's writing at her author website,
A Hidden Fire is her debut novel.

Oct 17, 2011

Are You Watching The Walking Dead?


Are You Watching The Walking Dead? 

So just another series that I recently got addicted to. lol. After listening to the audiobook Feed (Newsflesh #1) by Mira Grant I am now really into Zombies. Yes you read it right, I am now team Zombie too. Now I am really interested in anything with zombie, say that be books, movies, series you name it. 

AMC's The Walking Dead season 2 airs on Sunday. And I just happen to be watching the series premier of second season.


The makeup of the zombies in the show are freaking awesome. 

Posting a picture which looks less scary, wouldn't want to scare readers away
The first season can be found on DVD.

Oct 15, 2011

Head Rush by Carolyn Crane

Look what I found today?



JUSTINE JONES FACES HER ULTIMATE ENEMY: HERSELF!

Book Three in The Disillusionists Trilogy

In an attempt to put her unhappy past behind her, Justine Jones throws herself into nursing school and planning her wedding to Otto Sanchez, the man of her dreams. But something is off. Random details aren’t adding up…and is it her imagination, or are her friends and fiancé keeping secrets from her? And what’s with this strange sense of unease, and her odd new headaches?

Justine tries to stay upbeat as Mid city cowers under martial law, sleepwalking cannibals, and a mysterious rash of paranormal copycat violence, but her search for answers leads her into the most dangerous mind game yet.

With the help of unlikely allies, including her paranoid dad and best frenemy Simon, Justine fights her ultimate foe…and unravels the most startling mystery of all. 

AT LAST!! I have been waiting for the third book cover or synopsis after I finished both Double Cross and Mind Games of The Disillusionists Trilogy early this year. The audiobook comes out in November 2011 but as I am not so keen on the audiobook thing I would have to wait till December to get an ebook copy of Head Rush. I promise to avoid the early reviews... or I'll TRY to avoid. If I fail.... I shall get myself the audiobook *shifty eyes* 

Review: A Hidden Fire by Elizabeth Hunter

Series: Element Mysteries Book #1
Genre: Paranormal, Mystery
Page: 355
Released Date: 18 October 2011
My copy:
ARC provided by the author for reviewing purposes
Buy Links

 Book Synopsis from goodreads
"No secret stays hidden forever ..."

A phone call from an old friend sets Dr. Giovanni Vecchio back on the path of a mystery he’d abandoned years before. He never expected a young librarian could hold the key to the search, nor could he have expected the danger she would attract. Now he and Beatrice de Novo will follow a twisted maze that leads them from the archives of a university library, through the fires of Renaissance Florence, and toward a confrontation they never could have predicted.

A Hidden Fire is a paranormal mystery/romance for adult readers. It is the first book in the Elemental Mysteries Series.

My Thoughts 

In four words, I absolutely loved it. 

A Hidden Fire, is a paranormal mystery where you learn yet some new things about the para world with Dr Vecchio and Miss De Novo. Italian scholar Giovanni Vecchio meets the alluring librarian Beatrice de Novo in a trip to the local library. A friendship is formed between them and eventually a mystery of finding some age old documents that leads them in a journey where Beatrice learns some of the hidden truths about the world. Giovanni and Beatrice becomes something more than just acquaintance along the way and at some point of their journey Giovanni finds himself attracted to Beatrice. Her humorous and quick retort stirred feelings inside him that he had put away long ago. 

Giovanni's Italian accent and his dark brooding looks finished with the dash of the supernatural powers, he was definitely an eye catcher. Beatrice is a student working only part time as a librarian where she meets Gio, her Spanish heritage is not so strong in her appearance. 

Both Giovanni and Beatrice are very much in denial of their feelings for each other in front of their friends and to themselves. Giovanni's reluctance to admit about his feelings is understandable. Beatrice did seem to have strong feelings about the Italian but she too was guarded of her emotions. I loved how the relationship between Beatrice and Giovanni grew, their friendship gradually grew into something more    

Elizabeth Hunter very successfully included some of the most well known Italian renaissance figures in her story, blending them in with ease. I don't want to giveaway anything from the story too much, as there are many twists in the book that took me by surprise, I'll wait for the readers to find that out for themselves.   

A Hidden Fire is the first book of Element series, and at the end of the first book you can read the first chapter of the second installment to Element series, This Same Earth. After reading that, I am in a heap of emotions...
It's been awhile that I read a book with a vampire being its main character. And I am so glad that I did! A  Hidden Fire is a beautiful creation of Elizabeth Hunter, her detailed lively description about each character and situation is one of the things that captured my attention. Recommended to all paranormal fantasy readers. This is a must read!

The book cover might not give the paranormal vibe as it should but I love this cover anyway. An old library stuffed with books that has a rich liquorish furnish all over, in reality this can make any book loving girl like me go weak on the knees. 

I give thiiis

Check out the trailer of A Hidden Fire







Oct 12, 2011

My Book Boyfriend: Jericho Z. Barrons



This time around, I have a new book boyfriend I want to share! ;)
This week my book boyfriend is Jericho Z. Barrons from the Fever series by Karen Marie Morning. He is supernatural, but it's still unknown what he really is.

He is one tough dude, very guarded of what he feels. He doesn't like pink cakes, but he does like pink handcuffs and Mac's pink ipod? He sometimes sings along with Mac I came for you by Manfred Mann. He can be seen lying in his king sized bed, naked, and singing Girl, give me time to cover my tracks.



 
Name : Jericho Z. Barrons

Age : looks about 30 but only he knows how old

Birthday : October 31 *I know very original*  

Height : 6'3"

Appearance : In the Fever series.

Profession : Collects artifacts, owns almost everything *I think* and of course the owner of BB&B (Barrons Books and Bubbles)


He closed in on me and didn't stop until I could feel the heat coming off his big, hard body. Until I had to tilt my head back to look up at him, and when I did, I was taken aback by his glittering midnight eyes, the velvety gold of his skin, the sexy curve of his mouth, with that full lower lip that hinted at voluptuous carnal appetites, and the upper one that smacked of self-control and perhaps a bit of cruelty, making me wonder what it would be like—

~Darkfever  (Fever #1)



He vanished and reappeared right in front of me, so close I could see a shimmer of rainbows in his iridescent eyes.
The spear was between us.
I tightened my hand on the hilt. He closed his over mine, pointed the spear at his chest, and leaned into me. I could feel him, rock hard and ready, against me. He was breathing fast and shallow, eyes glittering.
"Accept me or kill me, MacKayla. But choose. Just fucking choose."

~Shadowfever (Fever #5)


We're "Tubthumping" again. He makes me dance around the room, shouting: I get knocked down but I get up again. You're never gonna keep me down. He dances with me. We shout the lyrics at each other. Something about seeing this man, this big, sexual, powerful--and, some part of me knows, highly dangerous and unpredictable--man, dancing nude, shouting that he's never going to be kept down, completely undoes me.

~Dreamfever (Fever #4)

In this week's MBB Barrons was played by David Gandy. I hear, Dreamworks Studios has picked up Fever series to be filmed. If they can get David to play Barrons, that would be AWESOME!!! I know few ladies who would faint on site *winks