In My Mailbox: Week 8

Here’s what I got this week!

Won

I won this over at The Optimistic Pessimist. Thanks Linda!

Ecstasy Unveiled (Demonica, Book 4) by Larissa Ione A DEMON ENSLAVED Lore is a Seminus half-breed demon who has been forced to act as his dark master's assassin. Now to earn his freedom and save his sister's life, he must complete one last kill. Powerful and ruthless, he'll stop at nothing to carry out this deadly mission. AN ANGEL TEMPTED Idess is an earthbound angel with a wild side, sworn to protect the human Lore is targeting. She's determined to thwart her wickedly handsome adversary by any means necessary-even if that means risking her vow of eternal chastity. But what begins as a simple seduction soon turns into a passion that leaves both angel and demon craving complete surrender. Torn between duty and desire, Lore and Idess must join forces as they battle their attraction for each other. Because an enemy from the past is rising again-one hellbent on vengeance and unthinkable destruction.

I can’t wait to read that! Larissa has a great series going here.

IMM is the brain child of Kristi at The Story Siren.

Disclosure:
Amazon.com Associate. If you click on my links and purchase anything I will receive a very small percentage of the purchase price. All funds are used for shipping on contests.

Cover Art: My Soul to Keep (Soul Screamers, Book 3) by Rachel Vincent

Rachel released the cover for the third installment to her Soul Screamers YA series.

My Soul to Keep (Soul Screamers, Book 3) by Rachel Vincent

304 pages, YA, Harlequin Teen (June 1, 2010)

I like that her face is in full view and the color is nice. The arm looks kinda funny to me though. Maybe it’s just me. I forgot to mention that this cover is still NOT finalized and that the arm is the thing they are still modifying. Sorry Rachel!

Series

My Soul to Take (Harlequin Teen) by Rachel Vincent

My Soul to Save (Harlequin Teen) by Rachel Vincent

I’ll be looking forward to reading this one. :)

Disclosure:
Amazon.com Associate. If you click on my links and purchase anything I will receive a very small percentage of the purchase price. All funds are used for shipping on contests.

Review: Shift (Shifters, Book 5) by Rachel Vincent

Shift (Shifters, Book 5) by Rachel Vincent

441 pages, Adult Urban Fantasy

Mira (March 1, 2010)

$7.99 (Amazon, Paperback) $5.76 (Amazon, Kindle)

Procurement

I purchased this on Amazon.com. Thank you for shipping this one early!

My Grade

Plot: 4

Setting: 4

Writing: 4

Originality: 5

Characters: 4

Passion: 4

Overall: 25/30 = 83% = B

Cover/Title Bonus: 4

SPOILER ALERT!

I do  NOT put spoilers in my reviews; however, the SUMMARY and TRAILER are chock full of them! If you haven’t read PREY please do NOT read/watch those sections!

Review: Swoon by Nina Malkin

Swoon by Nina Malkin

432 pages, Young Adult

Simon Pulse (May 19, 2009)

$12.23 (Amazon, Hardcover), $9.99 (Amazon, Kindle and Paperback)

Procurement

I received this as a gift for Christmas from the hubby.

My Grade

Plot: 4

Setting: 3

Writing: 3

Originality: 4

Characters: 3

Passion: 5

Overall: 22/30 = 73%  C

Cover/Title Bonus: 3

Cover Art: Alpha (Werecats, Book 6) by Rachel Vincent

All I have to say is OMG!

I’m currently reading Shift right now and I’m taking my time because I’m just going to die when I’m done reading it. I will be waiting impatiently for this next and LAST installment from Rachel’s series. I’m super excited and yet super sad to see this awesome and amazing series come to an end.

I’m really hoping to see a new and just as awesome adult series from Rachel. She’s such an awesome writer and I can’t wait for her to get to work on her next series. Her young adult series is good but I want that bad ass writing that she’s awesome at.

Anyway, here’s the cover to Alpha!

And it’s freaking awesome!

Series

Stray (Shifters, Book 1) by Rachel Vincent

Rogue by Rachel Vincent

Pride (Werecats, Book 3) by Rachel Vincent

Prey (Werecats, Book 4) by Rachel Vincent

Shift (The Shifters, Book 5) by Rachel Vincent

If you haven’t read this series yet, you seriously need to!

Disclosure:
Amazon.com Associate. If you click on my links and purchase anything I will receive a very small percentage of the purchase price. All funds are used for shipping on contests.

Kindle for BlackBerry

Amazon has a beta version of Kindle for BlackBerry owners. If you took my advice before and downloaded the Kindle for PC then you already have a library of FREE Kindle books. Now, you can read them on your BlackBerry if you own one.

 

The application is easy to install, just input your email address and open the app on your BlackBerry.

Will you use this? Let me know!

Disclosure:
Amazon.com Associate. If you click on my links and purchase anything I will receive a very small percentage of the purchase price. All funds are used for shipping on contests.

In My Mailbox: Week 6

Here’s what I got last week!

Gift

A pre-ordered Christmas gift from my mother-in-law arrived!

Gone (Wake Series, Book 3) by Lisa McMann (Author)

Review

I’m sooooo excited about this one!

Perchance to Dream: Theatre Illuminata #2 by Lisa Mantchev

And the following were complete surprises.

Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood by Eileen Cook

Blood Ninja by Nick Lake

In for a Penny by Rose Lerner

Running Scared: The Sentinel Wars by Shannon K. Butcher

Fantasy in Death by J.D. Robb

Portrait in Death by J.D. Robb

Portrait in Death arrived very strangely. It was in an evidence bag. Very well packed for getting some attention. Not that a J.D. Robb book needs any more press. Right?

I haven’t read any books by Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb but I’m willing to give her a try. I think these are a part of a series so I’m not sure how I feel about jumping in. I’ll have to look into it a bit more though.

Well that’s what I got! Lots of books to read. Lovely since I have an ever increasing list of books that need reviewed! ARGH!

I hope everyone had a great Valentine’s Day and survived the snow in that most the North East received.

In My Mailbox is the brainchild of Kristi at The Story Siren.

Disclosure:
Amazon.com Associate. If you click on my links and purchase anything I will receive a very small percentage of the purchase price. All funds are used for shipping on contests.

In My Mailbox: Week 5

Here’s what I received this week!

For Review

and Falling, Fly by Skyler White In a dark and seedy underground of burned-out rock stars and angels-turned- vampires, a revolutionary neuroscientist and a fallen angel must put medicine against mythology in an attempt to erase their tortured pasts...but at what price? Olivia, vampire and fallen angel of desire, is hopeless...and damned. Since the fall from Eden, she has hungered for love, but fed only on desire. Dominic O'Shaughnessy is a neuroscientist plagued by impossible visions. When his research and her despair collide at L'Otel Mathillide-a subterranean hell of beauty, demons, and dreams-rationalist and angel unite in a clash of desire and damnation that threatens to destroy them both. In this fractures Hotel of the Damned, Olivia and Dominic discover the only force consistent in their opposing realities is the deep, erotic gravity between them. Bound to each other finally in a knot of interwoven freedoms, Dominic and Olivia-the vision-touched scientist and the earth-bound angel, reborn and undead-encounter the mystery of love and find it is both fall...and flight.

Marked by Elisabeth Naughton As unrest in the Underworld threatens, seven immortal warriors descended from the greatest heroes in all of Ancient Greece may just be mankind's last hope.

Gift

A wonderful surprise arrived this week! I received another author signed book from Gena Showalter. It is an ARC so, I should probably label this one as a review book but I like it better as a gift. :) This is book two of a series. Book one is Playing With Fire and it was awesome.

Twice as Hot (Hqn) by Gena Showalter Belle Jamison is finally starting to feel like a normal girl again. Her job as a paranormal investigator is going well, she's learned to control her supernatural abilities (mostly) and she's just gotten engaged to Rome Masters, the ultra-sexy operative who once tried to neutralize her! But planning a wedding is never easy, especially when the bride keeps accidentally torching her dress, the groom returns from a dangerous mission with selective memory loss and the man responsible now wants Belle for himself. With Rome's ex determined to win him back and a new band of supervillains on the horizon, it will take all Belle's powers—plus a little help from her trusty empath sidekick—to save the day, salvage the wedding and prove that true love really does conquer all.

I’m pretty sure I’ll be reading Twice As Hot next. The first book was awesome and I can’t wait to read more! You can check out the first book, Playing with Fire.

Playing with Fire (Hqn) by Gena Showalter Used to be my greatest achievement was holding a job more than three days. Now suddenly I can shoot fireballs, chill your drink or blow-dry your hair at fifty paces with a blink of my eye! It all started when this crazy scientist dropped something in my Grande Mocha Latte. Of course I got wicked sick. Next morning I'm waking up with this total hottie bending over me. He tells me: 1) his name's Rome Masters, 2) he's a government agent and 3) I can control the four elements with a thought. He seems even less pleased by my (apparently irreversible) transformation than I am…. Because now he'll have to kill me.

In My Mailbox is the brainchild of Kristi from The Story Siren.

Disclosure:
Amazon.com Associate. If you click on my links and purchase anything I will receive a very small percentage of the purchase price. All funds are used for shipping on contests.

BEA 2010 | Book Blogger Convention

I attended BEA last year as a Book Blogger representative. That was my first year attending as such. However, I’ve attended one previous BEA with a previous employer, in which I was responsible for managing and creating the booth layout of 28 booths. Yes, a massive job, but one that had to be done nonetheless. So, I have two angles of BEA that I can come from when giving advice.

What is Book Expo America (BEA)?

If you’re a book blogger then you’ve probably heard of it or even attended in years past. If you did, let me know!

Essentially BEA is a huge convention for the publishing industry and anyone remotely associated to it i.e. distributors, self publishing authors, small and large publishing houses, bookmark retailers, print on demand services, and even reading glasses jewelry. You name it, it’s probably there.

Why would a book blogger want to attend?

Easy. Books! And so much more too. It’s pretty common to only know your favorite author, blogger or publishing group by name or contact them via email but BEA is the time to step out from behind the computer and meet these awesome people in person. Present yourself, make new friends and contacts.

Helpful Tips

There are numerous things to take into consideration if you decide to attend BEA. I’ll touch on a few briefly, as a lot of these have been wonderfully covered by other Book Blogger Convention Tour bloggers and I highly suggest visiting each and getting more tips!

Present yourself nicely. Wear comfortable, yet presentable clothing. Jeans, sneakers and t-shirts are great but just pick the best of your wardrobe to wear. Nothing with holes and dirt are recommended. The people running the booths dress business like so don’t disrespect them with a crude t-shirt or   holey jeans. Last year I made a custom t-shirt and wore that.

The most valuable piece of information is COMFORTABLE SHOES! The Javits is nothing of a big slab of concrete. Author of Soulless, Gail Carriger, recently did a wonderful blog post about dressing for a convention.

Plan Ahead. Use the web to figure out what, when, and where you want to do things while at BEA. The BEA site is a very useful tool. I love looking at the layout to figure out where the publishers will be, the bathrooms, etc and plan a route. I used a spreadsheet last year and put in the date and time a specific event was happening and then sorted it by the date/time. It worked perfectly for me. Some author signings require tickets. Be sure to get all the information because those tickets do go fast.

Books. There will be a ton of ARCs there for the taking. Make sure to grab a tote bag as soon as possible. If you’re loaded up think about shipping your books to your home via FedEx or UPS available in the center.

Get Connected. Plan to meet up with bloggers, publisher contacts and even authors. Many industry professionals schedule meetings way in advance. I was lucky to participate in the NetGalley/Firebrand booth last year. That was an awesome experience.

Business Cards. Bring something with you that has all your contact information on. Some booths will have scanners to swipe your BEA badge but not all have this.

Be polite! The people running their booths are there working. Don’t be rude and always, always ask before taking something. Unless there’s a sign stating to “take one” never grab and run. Some booths get packed. Be patient.

Have fun! It’s such an eye stimulating experience. You’ll see a ton of people, a ton of books, and tons of things you’d thought you’d never see!

BEA 2009

Here are my blog posts from BEA 2009!

• My BEA T-Shirt
• Off to BEA!
• BEA 2009 Wrap Up

Book Blogger Convention

Want to get in on the Book Blogger Convention? Register to attend this event. It includes a badge to the BEA convention. Topics that will be covered:

• Professionalism/Ethics
• Marketing
• Author/Blogger Relationships
• Social Responsibility
• Writing/Building Content

Registration

Last year I registered as “Press” because that’s what we are. Press badge registration is FREE so if the cost of registering was stopping you from attending, now it’s not!

Questions? Feel free to ask them here or shoot me an email at bookreviewsbyjess (@) gmail.com

I hope to be attending BEA this year, but I’m not 100% sure yet if I will (most likely will, but for only one day).

If you’re going and know what day or days you’ll be there let me know!

Upcoming Reviews!

I’m trying to get these reviews written, I promise!

Here’s what’s coming down the tube.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia

Friday Night Bites: A Chicagoland Vampires Novel by Chloe Neill

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

Captivate by Carrie Jones

Fallen by Lauren Kate

Hex Hall Book One by Rachel Hawkins

I just wrote my review for Rampant, which is one that I recently finished reading. That means these books were read quite a bit ago in some cases. I’m finding that this technique is not the best way for a reviewer to write reviews. I had to go back recently and update a review because I missed a section and I couldn’t remember the setting that it was placed in. :( How sad is that?! And I loved the book too! I guess some books are truly memorable and some aren’t. I hope I do these books justice when I review them because a few of them were awesome reads.

Disclosure:
Amazon.com Associate. If you click on my links and purchase anything I will receive a very small percentage of the purchase price. All funds are used for shipping on contests.

Review: Rampant (Killer Unicorns, Book 1) by Diana Peterfreund

Rampant (Killer Unicorns, Book 1) by Diana Peterfreund

HarperTeen (August 25, 2009)

416 pages, Young Adult

$12.23 (Amazon.com, Hardcover) $9.99 (Kindle Edition)

Procurement

I won this via a contest on Dark Faerie Tales.

My Grade

Plot: 5

Setting:

Writing: 5

Originality: 5

Characters: 5

Passion: 5

Overall: 30/30! A++

Cover/Title Bonus: 5

Contest Results: Truly, Madly by Heather Webber

The winner of Truly, Madly by Heather Webber is…..

Steph The Bookworm!

Congrats! I’ve already emailed you for your shipping information. You have until February 8th, noon ET, to email me back or a new winner will be selected.

Truly, Madly by Heather Webber in now available.

Truly, Madly: A Novel by Heather Webber

In My Mailbox: Week 4

I received a few books for review last week.

wtf by Peter Lerangis Two parties, six alternating points of view, and three letters that says it all--WTF!

Sunrise in a Garden of Love & Evil by Barbara Monajem Bayou Gavotte, Louisiana, has a post office, a city hall, and an active PTA. It has magnolias and passion vine. It also has fetish clubs. And vampires. A flowering hunger…. And a taste of violence to come

The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell In the thrilling, underground world of bohemian post-war London, Lexie Sinclair is making an extraordinary life for herself. Taken up by magazine editor Innes Kent, she learns to be a reporter, to know art and artists, to embrace her life fully and with a deep love at the center of it. Later, in present-day London, a young painter named Elina dizzily navigates the first weeks of motherhood. Her boyfriend, Ted, traumatized by nearly losing her in labor, begins to recover lost memories. He cannot place them. But as they become more disconcerting and happen more frequently, we discover that something connects these two stories-- these two women-- something that becomes all the more heartbreaking and beautiful as they all hurtle toward its revelation. A stunning portrait of motherhood and the artist's life in all their terror and glory, Maggie O'Farrell's newest novel is a gorgeous inquiry into the ways we make and unmake our lives, who we know ourselves to be, and how even our most accidental legacies connect us.

WTF looks and sounds very weird but interesting. Sunrise in the Garden of Love & Evil I’m excited to read. And The Hand That First Held Mine sounds like a heart-warming read.

These all came from publishers and will be read soon. :)

What did you get?

In My Mailbox is the brainchild of Kristi from The Story Siren.

Disclosure:
Amazon.com Associate. If you click on my links and purchase anything I will receive a very small percentage of the purchase price. All funds are used for shipping on contests.