Welcome to Feature and Follow Friday! This is a weekly meme hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee that is aimed to help bloggers grow their audience and make new friends. They feature two bloggers every week. I decided to do something a bit different this week. I made a video in response to this weeks question: What book are you embarrassed to admit you loved? My son says it's bad form to do a video up and down like I did but it was hard to hold the phone the other way. Oppsie! Sorry 'bout that guys.
I am very excited about this challenge. Normally I do monthly challenges on Goodreads, and I hope to fit whatever books I read this month into those, but this is my first blog-type challenge! So, the goal is just as the title says "clean out your e-reader." I have some books given to me by authors that I need to read and review, some ePub books from Smashwords, some Netgalley books and the rest will be cleaning up my overloaded Kindle app. I signed up for 10+ books but chose almost all of the extra books I had in my iPad. (yes there are more) Here is the list of books that I plan to pick from to read this month... I added pics but it made it look funny... oh well.
The Count of Monte Cristo As Retold By Sherlock Holmes by Holy Ghost Writer (review freebie)
I was looking for something to read the other day and wanted something like the Argeneau series. When I couldn't find anything similar that I hadn't already read I decided to re-read some of my favorite books from the series.
This book is about Etienne Argeneau and Rachel Garrett. Etienne is the youngest son of Marguerite Argeneau. He makes video games. Rachel works at a morgue. Someone is trying to kill Etienne and he gets sent to the morgue... twice. As with most of the Argeneau books this one is humorous and fun to read. I always feel bad for the immortal when they are trying to figure out how to get their lifemate to accept them but it's usually pretty funny along the way. Especially when Thomas slips them some sweet ecstasy drinks.
My favorite part is when at Lissianna's wedding Etienne tries to impress Rachel by repeating all of the big words he knows because she says she likes intelligent men. I'd quote it as my favorite but it'd be more of an excerpt since it's like a page long. My other favorite is when Rachel thinks she must be dreaming and decides to make Etienne star in her "wet" dream. Hehe
Favorite Quotes:
"You are the most gorgeous corpse I've worked with."
"Really?" Etienne smiled. No one had ever told him he was a gorgeous corpse before.
"If I had taken the time to imagine what the man I loved looked like and the qualities he would have, you would have been who I dreamed of."
There is something about Dana Marie Bell's books that just entrances me. It's like I start reading and next thing I know the whole day is gone. I can't do anything until I'm done reading the book! I've come to love all of the characters from the Halle Pumas/Shifters and Pocono's Pack. This is the best book of either series so far. I lovvvved it! The cover is super hot too.
If you read the first book from the Halle Shifters series Bear Nessesities then you are familiar with Cyn and Julian. He's a spirit bear and she's the human friend of Tabby from that book. Both of them were so much fun to read! They're hilarious. As you'll see in my favorite quotes I couldn't stop laughing. But there were parts that made me cry as well. This book'll take you through the emotions that's for sure.
In this book someone is hunting Cyn and her friends from the tattoo shop. They can't figure out who it can be and more and more people keep getting hurt. Soon the Pocono pack is involved and to keep her friends safe Cyn decides to use herself as bait. Let's just say all hell breaks loose and the person who is hunting them is not who I thought it would be. So there's a good bit of mystery thrown in there as well. I really enjoyed this book and everything Julian. Hubba hubba! Hot bear shifters anyone?
Favorite Quotes:
"Dios. It's like watching two Yorkies fighting over a french fry."
"Oreos are manna of the gods, you evil heathen."
"Aw, you're so cute. Sort of like a rabid weevil. With anthrax."
"You want me to find you some honey? A cookie? Mabye a small, furry animal? You could hug it and love it and call it George."
Author: J.J. DiBenedetto
Version: Audio
Narrator: Heather Jane Hogan
I had a couple of preconceived ideas about this book that I am very happy that I was wrong about. First, I thought since it's Dream Doctor that it was like 8 years after Dream Student. It's actually only a year and a half after the first book. Second, when reading the synopsis for the book I thought that there were going to be major relationship problems between Sara and Brian in this
book. I get tired of falling in love with a couple and then having the author butcher the relationship in the next book. It just makes me feel sick while reading it. I'm happy to say I loved this book and have absolutely no complaints! It has even more of a mystery to it than the last book.
I think I learned more than I'd ever want to know about medical school in this book. I love it when books go into the characters careers or in this case schooling. I can't imagine that the author didn't do any research on this book because it's very thorough. So in addition to lots of medical school and average day life as a newlywed Sara starts having her dreams again. Everyone seems to be dreaming about one of her professors dying. But who is the one actually trying to kill him? Yay mystery!
Sara and Brian's love at first sight relationship caught my heart in the first book and it continues in this book. It's not like boring mushy stuff, just everyday life. Little jealousy and misunderstandings that always come with newer relationships. In addition to that they both have overloaded schedules. I found the mystery intriguing and everything else was icing. I'm looking forward to the next book in this series.
Favorite Quote:
"If she so much as puts a hand on him I'll cut her heart out. I know how to do it too, I've been reading ahead. The instructions are right there in Grant's Dissector page 75. I think I'll mark the page with a post-it note just in case."
"Warning: This book contains explicit sex, graphic language, and male/male love scenes between two top dogs. Who knew Rock Paper Scissors could be such fun?"
This is only the second m/m book that I've read. The first was Lover at Last from the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. There was nothing in this book that made me uncomfortable and it made me wonder why I never read any m/m because I know a lot of people who do. Dana Marie Bell made this book just as entertaining as any of her other books. The above quote from her website made me laugh because only guys would use rock paper scissors as a precursor to sex.
In previous books there's been a big deal made if it's even months before mates get together. That pales in comparison to the 9 years that went by before Ben and Dave finally face the facts. A few silly misunderstandings that could have been cleared up in one conversation kept them apart all that time. This one is a tear-jerker that's for sure! I loved it and how fun it was as well. Ben really annoyed me at the beginning of the book but in a way his behavior is understandable. Dave was my favorite. I liked him in Rick and Belle's book as well.
While I did feel that this book could have been a little longer I was happy with the way it ended. I look forward to the next Poconos Pack book that will be released next month. Dana Marie Bell is turning out to be one of my favorite authors. She has a way of making her characters so realistic and funny, it keeps me coming back for more. Especially after other books continue to disappoint. I know I can turn to her books and get a happy ending.
Author: Sharon Kay **Book provided by the Author through PNR NaUBA group Author/Reader Exchange** I loved this book. It had so many twists and turns and surprises! I always try to find something to compare books to for others to make it easier to decide if they'd be interested. The closest series would have to be the Immortals After Dark... there are immortals, mostly demons... mabye the Demonica series. It was one of those books that grabs you from the start and you just can't help but be pulled along for the ride. There's romance, a lot of fighting and quite a bit of surprises along to way. We start off with Nicole and her sister Brooke. They have some pretty awesome powers. The book is about Nicole. Happily there'll be a second book with Brooke. Nicole "can manipulate air currents, make them stronger, change their direction, and cause them to move objects." In addition to that she's a pretty bad-ass fighter. She meets up with Gunnar and boy is that a hot meeting! Gunnar is a Lash demon. (kinda like the demon police) He's also a bad-ass fighter and has demonfire to boot. Nicole thought she was just a human freak but Gunnar thinks that she is more. He takes her to meet with all of his Lash demon buddies. BTW I love the guys names especially Kai and Rhys. A house full of hot demon hunks? Hell yes! So I don't want to give away more but let's just say there's lots of ups and downs and stuff you'd never guess at happening. I thought Nicole was pretty awesome. She was totally not conceited even though she had reason to be. She was very cool and down to earth. Gunnar was just hotness personified. Their relationship itself was just hot. I guess this could be classified as erotica but most erotica doesn't have such a good story-line so I'd hate to do that to it. But yes, the sex scenes are pretty great. I love books like this where meeting each other turns both of their worlds upside down. I really enjoyed the book and am looking forward to seeing what happens with Brooke in the second book. I think this has the potential to be a great series. If you like hot demons, hotter sex, paranormal romance, parallel worlds and kick-ass heroines this book is for you! Favorite Quote: "I'm a Lash demon." "You? A demon?" she sputtered, sitting up fast. She knew he let her. "But you're not-" "Not what?" "Not...hideous. Deformed. Scaly." "My, you have a way with compliments,"he said dryly. "That'll keep me going all week, knowing I'm not hideous."
Welcome to Feature and Follow Friday! This is a weekly meme hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee that is aimed to help bloggers grow their audience and make new friends. They feature two bloggers every week. I decided to feature a blog as well for my first! Sorry if it looks a bit goofy, I'm used to posting reviews and not much else.
This week I'm featuring:
Since this is my first Feature and Follow I wanted it to be special. I decided to ask my friend Melissa from Reviews Unleased. I have known Melissa since 2007, I believe. We met on an online multi-player game and have been friends since. It was actually her that introduced me to my favorite book genre: paranormal romance! She started a Facebook book club Melissa's Book Club almost 3 years ago. She lists books she thinks sound good and we choose what we want to read. One of those books was Kiss of Midnight from the Midnight Breed Series by Lara Adrian. I was like a junkie hooked to a new drug. I read the whole series in a matter of days. Then I went on to another series and another and haven't looked back.
You introduced me to paranormal romance what is your favorite book genre? Wow, that is honestly a hard one for me. I love Historical Romances, Paranormal, Sci-Fi and fantasy. I really think it just depends on the book for me. Except Mysteries, I've never gotten into that type of book.
Your husband Jason and you have a review website I think it'd be great if you told us how you met Jason. My favorite thing to talk about! Jason and I met online. We ran into each other playing a couple of online games.
We really got to know each other when I was dj'ing with an online radio station and Jason was interested in Dj'ing also. I helped him get into the station. I guess you could say that we got to know each other over our love of Music and gaming. once wee started talking we became inseperable.
We decided one fateful day in september 2009 that i would venture out of Ohio and visit him in Pennsylvania. After that visit we knew we could no longer live in seperate states.I moved in with jason in May 2009. Moving in with him was a huge decision, i was leaving my family and everythign I've ever known to move to Pennsylvania. But guess what? Everything worked out perfect and we were married in October 2011. We have now been married 2 wonderful years and I could not be any happier. Jason is without a doubt my Soul Mate.
What are your and Jason's favorite books? Ohhhh My once again this is a hard one to answer.
Jason Loves Sci-fi Fantasy books. He loves the Lord of the rings series and at the moment is reading the Game of thrones series.
My favorite book of all time is the Into the wilderness series by Sara Donati, this is a Historical Romance. Right this moment I'm really into the Divergent series by Veronica Roth.
Right now I should be writing my review on Allegiant. I'm not because I got halfway through the book and just couldn't read anymore. I had a hard time getting that far actually. I joked yesterday that I had "reader's block." But then I was thinking, this isn't the first new book that this has happened to me with. I had the same thing happen with the new Lux book Origin. Except with that book I couldn't get through the first few pages. I still haven't read it. I recently reviewed Alice in Zombieland, that took me almost a year from the time I got the book until I read it! I can understand having kindle freebies collecting dust in my iPad but new books from a series or author that I love? It's very frustrating!
I googled reader's block and it brought up a whole long list of results... mostly people complaining that they have it. What makes no sense to me is that most people seem to just not be able to read any book period. For me it seems to be only new books. Is it the anticipation that creates the block? It seems like perhaps I am so afraid that I will hate the book after I have looked forward to it and spent money on it that I just can't get through it. I think after this debacle with Allegiant that I will stop pre-ordering new books! If I can't get myself to read them until the hype is over than it's not worth it. Now, if it was an Argeneau or Love at Stake or even a list of other books I'm sure I could have read it. I just don't understand my own mind.
The number of new books that I have been unable to read until months later seems to be growing. If there is a ray of sunshine to every cloudy day (even if I am Rainy Dayz hehe) I'd like to find my ray of sunshine here. Perhaps I'm better off exploring new authors and expanding the genres that I read. I keep beating myself up over not reading these books, and it's not helping anything. Luckily I'll have some motivation for that since I'm participating in the clean your e-reader challenge next month. I've already started working on my list of books. That should keep me busy for November. For December I'm thinking of doing nothing but Christmasy type books... we'll see how that goes.
Let me start by saying that Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series is one of my all time favorites. I'm also a big fan of the spinoff series Angels of the Dark. I keep meaning to read the Intertwined series but haven't. The funny part about that is I actually have 2 of the books from that series but not the first so I have never read them!
I have no idea why it took so long for me to read this book. I was totally jazzed for it the second I saw it in the bookstore. Not only was it by one of my favorite authors but it also involved zombies! I am a huge zombie fan. I was a little shocked when I read some of the reviews for this book before I started it. It seems that a lot of people expected it to be based on Alice in Wonderland. Also, there was quite a bit of critisim over the use of a different kind of zombie. I have always been a fan of authors who differentiate themselves by choosing to come up with something unique. Anyone can base something on the regular ole zombies and an apocolipse. But it takes a lot of forethought into coming up with something new and creative like Gena Showalter did in this book. I say good for you and go on with your bad self! It seems to have worked because I have been seeing tons of reviews for the sequel Through the Zombieglass.
So this book is about Alice. She loses her whole family in a tragic accident and goes to live with her grandparents. Can I just say that her grandparents use of slang was absolutely hilarious? For example when Pops says "get all up in her biznez." LMAO! Alice meets her best friend Kat shortly after her family dies. If you like Anya in Lords of the Underworld then you'll love Kat. Of course I have to mention Cole as well. I expected more of a relationship with Cole from some of the reviews. I'm wondering if it blossoms more in the next book. I liked Alice and her friends. Alice blames herself for her family's death. I blame her parents for not sharing everything with Alice and her sister Emma. If they wouldn't have waited, if they wouldn't have thought they were too young it might have convinced them and saved them all.
Zombies! I do luv me some zombies. As I mentioned before this book's version of zombies is very different. They're more like ghosts in a way but not really. Gosh, describing them is difficult. The zombies are only seen by some people. They live on a spiritual plane and they crave basically lifeforce. Their darkness is drawn to the light in people. If someone is infected and dies they become one of these zombies. Whew! I hope I did a good enough job describing them! I loved the chapter titles. My favorite was: Hungry... Need Brains... Will Have Yours.
My favorite Quotes:
"It's an endless cycle, like a mouse running inside a barbed wheel, bleeding and dying as those sharp tips dig deeper, with no way to stop the lethal momentum."
