Girl in the Arena by Lise Haines

Girl in the Arena by Lise Haines
Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books (October 13, 2009)
336 pages, Young Adult
$11.55 (Amazon.com, 11/30/09)

Procurement

I won this book via a contest from another book blogger.

My Grade

Plot: 3

Setting: 4

Writing: 4

Originality: 4

Characters: 4

Passion: 3

Overall: 22/30 = 73% C

Cover/Title Bonus: 4

2nd Blogoversary!

Yesterday was the date of my 2nd Blogoversary!

I previously posted that I wanted to do a celebration giveaway on behalf of my blogoversary, however, I’m afraid I will not be able to hold myself to that idea.

With the holidays coming up and the fact that I am still unable to find employment, I have no extra funds. My poor hubby would not be happy if I held another contest.

I’m so sorry to announce that. :( I hope you’ll forgive my teasing and I hope to make it up to you with upcoming reviews.

Thank you for being awesome followers and for commenting on my reviews and entering my previous contests.

Maybe I can make it up to you in the future!

I hope you all had great holiday weekends!

 

Blue Bloods Winner!

A huge thank you to everyone who entered or spread the word for this contest! It was a huge success with a ton of entries!

Contest Roundup: Nov. 22 – 30!

As always please give me credit if you enter these lovely contests!
Sorry I posted this late! You missed out on the contests ending 11/22! :( No worries though because there are a lot of awesome contests this week! :)

Contests: Nov. 22 - 30

Strange Angels & Betrayals by Lili St. Crow

I read Strange Angels by Lil St. Crow a while ago but I never did a formal review. I don’t know why sometimes I skip reviewing books but I do it sometimes.
Anyway, I LOVED Strange Angels. 

Kindle for PC! Free eBooks!

You’ve probably already read about this but I wanted to make a very important point about the Kindle for PC application.

Spammers!

I’m so upset to do this but I’m putting all comments comments on posts older than 3 days on moderation. I’ve already implemented the word verification hoping that would prevent spammers from commenting, but this morning there was a very nasty link in a new comment.
I just will not tolerate it.
And what makes me so mad was that this wasn’t an anonymous comment. They actually made a blogger account!
I apologize to my faithful readers and commentators. Hopefully I can remove it soon.

The Van Alen Legacy Winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered this contest for a used copy of The Van Alen Legacy by Melissa De La Cruz. :) It’s a great addition to the series.

The Van Alen Legacy (Blue Bloods, Book 4) by Melissa De La Cruz

DNF Winners!

The winners have been selected via Random.org!
There were 63 entries!
Each entry was numbered as it was received and the winning numbers are: 24, 26, and 43. Since I had 3 different books to give away I determined, based on which book these winners requested that the books won are:

Contest Roundup: Nov. 15 - 21

Here’s a list of contests I’ve found that are ending between Nov. 15 through 21. If you enter please let them know I sent you. :)

Need by Carrie Jones

Need by Carrie Jones
Bloomsbury USA (December 23, 2008)
320 pages, Young Adult
$11.55 (Amazon, 11/17/09, Hardcover), $9.99 (Amazon, 11/17/09, Kindle), $9.99 (Amazon, 11/17/09, Paperback (released 12/08/09))

I bought this book on Amazon.com.

Contest Roundup: Nov. 8 – 14

As always, please give me credit if you enter any of these wonderful contests! :)
Enjoy and good luck!

IMM: Week 46

I received quite a few books this week! :)

Books I Did Not Finish: Mini Reviews & Giveaways

I do my best to finish every book I start. I do. I even finished Blue Moon by Alyson Noel and I hated it going in.

I hardly ever write negative reviews or don’t finish a book because I usually have great success at picking books I know I’ll enjoy.

I failed three times so far this year. But my loss is your gain. So, after reading these brief mini reviews of why I didn’t finish these books and you feel like it’s a book you may enjoy, fill out the embedded form letting me know which books you are or are not interested in receiving my used copies. :)

Adult

Ghostland by Jory Strong (author signed, not personalized) (book is in used condition, the corners are curled a bit)

Adult, Erotic/Fantasy/Romance 

Summary (Amazon.com)

Welcome to a postapocalyptic world, where the afterlife holds beings that only the bravest can summon-or dare to desire.
Taken from her home and family, shamaness Aisling McConaughey must enter the "ghostlands" to save a wealthy man's mistress. But there's a price to pay for her power: She must summon the Djinn prince Zurael en Caym-and yield to his savage, sensual rage.
Zurael intends to kill Aisling after she's served as bait to find an enemy in possession of an ancient tablet. But the more he tastes her innocent spirit, the more he'll use his fiery touch to keep her hungry for his mercy-even as they weave an erotic spell that he cannot escape...

I think I made it a little over half way through this book. I love the cover!

I didn’t finish it because the romantic relationship in this book was not realistic to me. They began having sexual relations (very erotic) without knowing each other. That just gets under my skin. I ended up hating the book so I stopped reading it. :( There’s a follow up book to this as well. Spider-Touched but I don’t know anything about it. It too has a great cover.

Young Adult

The Tear Collector by Patrick Jones (ARC edition, practically brand new)

Summary (tearcollector.com)

Fans of urban fantasy should prepare for a new kind of vampire - one that feeds off of tears instead of blood. Descended from an ancient line of creatures that gain their energy from human tears, Cassandra Gray depends on human sorrow to live. Her job as a grief counselor at the hospital provides the perfect cover to keep this secret safe, and any time a friend needs a shoulder to cry on, she is there. Only Cass has grown tired of living a lie and wants to live like a human, especially now that she has found someone worth fighting for.

I picked this up at BEA because the cover drew me in. A guy crying?! Cool! Then I read the back: “a new kind of vampire—one who feeds off tears instead of blood”! Awesome! Original!

I got to page 22. I could not like the main character Cassandra Grey. She was totally bitchy. Unlikeable and not relatable. I could not subject myself to her for one more page let alone 241 more pages. I also have read some not so great reviews from other bloggers, therefore, I don’t feel so bad not finishing it. I thought the premise was a truly unique idea. Too bad.

 

Another Faust by Dina & Daniel Nayeri (ARC edition, gently used)

Summary (Amazon.com)

One night, in cities all across Europe, five children vanish — only to appear, years later, at an exclusive New York party with a strange and elegant governess. Rumor and mystery follow the Faust teenagers to the city’s most prestigious high school, where they soar to suspicious heights with the help of their benefactor’s extraordinary "gifts." But as the students claw their way up — reading minds, erasing scenes, stopping time, stealing power, seducing with artificial beauty — they start to suffer the sideeffects of their own addictions. And as they make further deals with the devil, they uncover secrets more shocking than their most unforgivable sins. At once chilling and wickedly satirical, this contemporary reimagining of the Faustian bargain is a compelling tale of ambition, consequences, and ultimate redemption.

Another one that I wanted while at BEA but they ran out so the publisher shipped me a copy. I love this cover.

I read a great deal of this one, page 205. I just got disinterested in it. I didn’t like any of the characters. There were a little too many to really connect with them. There wasn’t any main character besides Madame Vileroy, who isn’t someone I wanted to connect with. I wasn’t really intrigued by the whole Faust element either. I basically found this book a bit confusing. There was a little too much going on. I guess that’s bound to happen when there are supposed to be five main characters.

I read that the Nayeri’s will have more books in the future. I will give them another try.

Again, I’m going to give these away. Just fill out the below form and an entrant will be selected for each book. You can select if you are interested or not for each book. You have a chance to win one, two or even all three if you so chose it.

RULES:

• Entries will be accepted until Midnight, November 22 ET
• Entries are open to US & Canada only, sorry. NO P.O. Boxes.
• The winner will be randomly selected via Random.org.
• The winner will be announced on November 23 (or soon thereafter)
• The winner will have 3 days to email me their shipping info or they will forfeit their winnings and a new winner will be selected.

Disclosure:
Amazon.com Associate. If you click on my links and purchase something I will receive a very small percentage of the purchase price.

Book Handbags: Twilight Style

I’ve been following a certain Etsy Shop for a while now. Spoonfulofchocolate makes these awesome book handbags straight from hardback books. Most are just heavenly and I want them but they are a bit pricey! :(

Today she just posted a Twilight handbag and while I’m not OMG! about it, I’m finding it hard to resist. It has sparkles!!!

More pictures are posted on the listing. She’s selling this baby for $59 plus shipping. See? It’s pricey!

I’ve had my eye on her awesome Jane Austin cover she found.

I love the colors and I love how thick the spine is. BUT I hate the price! $69! And if you want the pages from the book you have to tack on and additional $15 plus shipping! :( I know it’s business and I know that particular book is not the cheapest but I’m still upset that I can’t afford one. :(

Anyhow, I adore her book handbags. Maybe I’ll add this to my Universal Amazon Wish list and someone can special order it for me for Christmas?

What do you think? Love these? You can even buy the instructions to make them yourself but you can’t sell them yourself.

If you decide to purchase a book handbag please let her know you saw her shop via my blog! Maybe she’ll give me a discount for some extra business? One can only hope!

ETA: I also hate the idea of ripping out the pages of a book but I would buy those pages too, which is what Michelle offers, again, for an additional cost because she creates a new cover for the pages removed with the same fabric as what she uses to line the inside of the bag.

Upcoming 2nd Blogoversary!

Hello my lovely followers!

I’m excited about my upcoming 2nd Blogiversary on November 29th (17 days!). I’m also ( ) this close to having 300 followers too!

I want to celebrate and reward you because you make blogging even more fun.

I want to do some kind of give away. I thinking a week long cover snippet “treasure hunt” of some kind. I’m haven’t hammered out the details but I just wanted to give you a heads up!

Hugs to you all!

WoW: Other by Karen Kincy (Cover Art)

If there’s one thing I love it’s shifters.

I’m a huge fan of Rachel Vincent’s Shifters (Werecats) series. They are Adult though but freaking awesome.

I just saw this book’s cover art released and I love it! I added the title to my Goodreads list back in August and now I’m ready to read it TODAY!

Karen showcased the cover on the 2010: A Book Odyssey aka The 10’ers as well as on her web site.

Other by Karen Kincy

July 1, 2010 by Flux

This cover is just WOW. It’s not the best graphics but it has a huge impact. I like that her pelt looks like it’s painted on. A cool effect. Clearly the girl is a shifter and there are other “dark” shifters present by the looks of the shadow figure in the woods. Her yellow eyes are very cool. I also love that “Other” looks gold and the font is pretty nifty too.

Here’s the blurb about the book.

 

“I can’t last much longer. It’s been one week, three days, and I forget how many hours.

My belly cramps, and I curl on my bed, staring out at the stars. A delicious breeze glides through my window and cools my sweaty forehead. The air smells of summer–mowed grass, recent rain, lingering barbecue–and tempts me more than I want to admit. Shards of moonlight and shadow shift on the wall. I clench my teeth and toes and try to ride out the pain. My bedroom drifts counterclockwise, and I shut my eyes.

It can’t be good for me, not shapeshifting.”

Seventeen-year-old Gwen hides a dangerous secret: she’s Other. Half-pooka, to be exact, thanks to the father she never met. Most Americans don’t exactly roll out the welcome mat for Others, especially not the small-town folks of Klikamuks, Washington. As if this isn’t bad enough, Gwen’s on the brink of revealing her true identity to her long-time boyfriend, Zack, but she’s scared he’ll lump her with the likes of bloodthirsty vampires and feral werewolves.

When a pack of werewolves chooses the national forest behind Gwen’s home as their new territory, the tensions in Klikamuks escalate-into murder. It soon becomes clear a serial killer is methodically slaying Others. The police turn a blind eye, leaving Gwen to find the killer before the killer finds her. As she hunts for clues, she uncovers more Others living nearby than she ever expected. Like Tavian, a sexy Japanese fox-spirit who rivals Zack and challenges her to embrace her Otherness. Gwen must struggle with her own conflicted identity, learn who she can trust, and-most importantly-stay alive.

 

Now that sounds awesome!

Contest! Blue Bloods Book 1 – 4 by Melissa De La Cruz

I’m happy to share my books.
I want to give away my gently used copies of the first four books of the Blue Bloods series by Melissa De La Cruz!
To enter, just fill out the below embedded form.
Entries are explained in the form. :) You MUST perform one of the entries to enter. (follow or advertise)
One winner will receive the gently used copies of:

Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz

Masquerade (A Blue Bloods Novel) by Melissa de la Cruz

Revelations (A Blue Bloods Novel) by Melissa De La Cruz

The Van Alen Legacy (Blue Bloods, Book 4) by Melissa De La Cruz

Blue Bloods is a paperback edition but the last three are hardback.
RULES:

• Entries will be accepted until Midnight, November 29 ET
• Entries are open to US & Canada only, sorry. NO P.O. Boxes.
• The winner will be randomly selected via BuzzMyBlog Contest Winner Picker.
• The winner will be announced on November 30 (or soon thereafter)
• The winner will have 3 days to email me their shipping info or they will forfeit their winnings and a new winner will be selected.
• You MUST perform one of the entries to enter. (follow or advertise)
  

Good luck!

Disclosure:
Amazon.com Associate. If you click on my links and purchase something I will receive a very small percentage of the purchase price.

The Van Alen Legacy (Blue Bloods, Book 4) by Melissa De La Cruz (Contest Too!)

The Van Alen Legacy (Blue Bloods, Book 4) by Melissa De La Cruz

384 pages Young Adult

Disney-Hyperion (October 6, 2009)

$9.93 (Amazon.com, 11/11/09)

I received this from Disney-Hyperion for review.

This is book 4 of the Blue Bloods series by Melissa De La Cruz

Pros

• I like Mimi in this one. She does a cool thing by helping Kingsley track down the Silver Bloods. She kinda rocked in that position. Until the end of the book.
• Schuyler’s love triangle gets messy but resolved.
• Oliver. Oh, how I <3 Oliver. He could be my familiar any day.
• Silver Bloods. Yup, they are tricky things. They made this book interesting.
• Passion. There are some episodes of overbearing hormones. Had my toes curling. Hmmm, Jack. ;)
• Intense scenes. There were a few OMG! moments. Great action scenes.

 

Cons

• The book ended with a new found hatred for Mimi. I could strangle her. I only hope she decides otherwise.
• Death. More death! Melissa is cruel to her readers!

 

Overall

This addition was a bit slower for me. I enjoyed it but it seemed kinda drawn out or something. The ending was terrible, meaning I must read the next book because it has to resolve its self as a happy ending. Won’t it? :(

Trailer

SPOILER ALERT! Don't watch this trailer if you haven't read this series....holy spoilers!

 

 

Series

Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz

Masquerade (A Blue Bloods Novel) by Melissa de la Cruz

Revelations (A Blue Bloods Novel) by Melissa De La Cruz

The Van Alen Legacy (Blue Bloods, Book 4) by Melissa De La Cruz

Misguided Angel (Blue Bloods, Book 5) set to release in Fall 2010 per Melissa’s FAQ page. Also a spin off will be released, Wolf Pact, Spring 2011. Wonder what that’s about?

Connect with Melissa De La Cruz

Contest!

I have a used copy of The Van Alen Legacy. Interested? Fill out the below EMBEDDED form!

I’m also giving away the entire first 4 books of this series! They are used. Please see the next blog post for that contest form. :)

RULES:

• Entries will be accepted until Midnight, November 22 ET
• Entries are open to US & Canada only, sorry. NO P.O. Boxes.
• The winner will be randomly selected via BuzzMyBlog Contest Winner Picker.
• The winner will be announced on November 23 (or soon thereafter)
• The winner will have 3 days to email me their shipping info or they will forfeit their winnings and a new winner will be selected.
• You MUST perform one of the entries to enter. (follow or advertise)
  

 

Disclosure:
Amazon.com Associate. If you click on my links and purchase something I will receive a very small percentage of the purchase price.

Cover Art: The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber

Leanna Renee Hieber released the cover art for the second Miss Percy Parker book, The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker. A scheduled release date of April 27, 2010.

I like this cover too. It’s very similar to the first cover. The title is also very similar, as in, it’s super duper long! But I find that charming. I love the eyes!

The first book, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker was a delightful read. You can read my review.

If you haven’t read the first book then you probably don’t want to read this back copy blurb!!!!

 

With radiant, snow white skin and hair, Percy Parker was a beacon for Fate. True love had found her, in the tempestuous form of Professor Alexi Rychman. But her mythic destiny was not complete. Accompanying the ghosts with which she alone could converse, new and terrifying omens loomed. A war was coming, a desperate ploy of a spectral host. Victorian London would be overrun. Yet, Percy kept faith. Within the mighty bastion of Athens Academy, alongside The Guard whose magic shielded mortals from the agents of the Underworld, she counted herself among friends. Wreathed in hallowed fire, they would stand together, no matter what dreams or nightmares—might come.

I can’t wait to read this! The first book was just awesome. A mix of historical romance and paranormal activity and some truly original secondary characters that I can’t wait to learn more about. Leanna has promised me an ARC of this already and that thrills me!

Disclosure:
Amazon.com Associate. If you click on my links and purchase something I will receive a very small percentage of the purchase price.

Happy (belated) Halloween!

I know, I know, I’m SUCH a slacker! But in my defense my wireless camera card stopped working so I’ve had to resort back to the old fashioned manual uploading of pictures. :(

Here’s a slideshow of Madison dressed up for Halloween!

She went as a pretty witch!

She even ran into a random black cat while out trick or treating!

Picture 4 is the BEST! :)

We hope everyone had a great time on Halloween!