Feature & Follow Friday #9

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 and have a question for everyone to answer...




This weeks question: Put together a list of blogger resolutions.

I already did this for the Book Blogger New Years Challenge here and Top Ten Tuesday here.

Here's the list I came up with for those of you who missed those posts:

1. Learn some web design- I want to make my blog prettier!

2. Socialize with other blogs- I have a bad habit of reading blog posts and not commenting.

3. Participate in challenges- I love challenges and they keep me motivated.

4. Social media- I am terrible about updating Twitter and Facebook.

5. Goodreads- I haven't been very active on Goodreads lately and I miss my friends!

6. Schedule posts- I have a bad habit of not writing posts right away and skipping to the next book.

7. Update blogroll- I have added a bunch of new blogs that I follow but haven't updated them to the blogroll.

8. Participate in more blogtours- It's fun.

9. Make my blog a priority- As much as I love reading it's all for nothing if I don't keep blogging which I love!

10. Participate in more memes- I love Feature & Follow Friday... I'd love to find more to add to that.

The Sweetest Thing ★★★★☆

Author: Jill Shalvis
Genre: Contemporary Romance
348 pages

Tara has a thousand good reasons not to return to the little coastal town of Lucky Harbor, Washington. Yet with her life doing a major crash-and-burn, anywhere away from her unfulfilled dreams and sexy ex-husband will do. As Tara helps her two sisters get their newly renovated inn up and running, she finally has a chance to get things under control and come up with a new plan for her life.

But a certain tanned, green-eyed sailor has his own ideas, such as keeping Tara hot, bothered . . . and in his bed. And when her ex wants Tara back, three is a crowd she can't control-especially when her deepest secret reappears out of the blue. Now Tara must confront her past and discover what she really wants. If she's lucky, she might just find that everything her heart desires is right here in Lucky Harbor.

2014 Book Bloggers New Years Challenge Day 8

This is a hard one.  I haven't been blogging very long so I haven't had anything all that exciting happen.  I guess I would say when I look at the number of followers I have and it keeps increasing.

2014 Book Bloggers New Years Challenge Day 7

1. Spoilers in book reviews.
2. Bad reviews where the person never finished the book.
3. Reviewing a book I can't get interested in.
4. Netgalley pdf books that I have to read on my phone.
5. Seeing 50 visitors to my blog page with one comment.
6. CAPTCA- I give myself a set amount of time each day to read and comment on blogs... this takes time from other blogs.
7. When I can't think of anything to blog about and I'm in a reading slump so I can't post reviews.
8. Pressure to give a high star review because the book was an ARC.
9. Embarrassing book covers... thank goodness for e-books!
10. Authors who e-mail me books I'm not interested in reading without asking me first.

Top Ten Tuesday #1

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week they will post a new Top Ten list for everyone to answer.

January 7 2014: Top Ten Goals/Resolutions For 2014 (bookish, not bookish or a blend)

1. Learn some web design- I want to make my blog prettier!

2. Socialize with other blogs- I have a bad habit of reading blog posts and not commenting.

3. Participate in challenges- I love challenges and they keep me motivated.

4. Social media- I am terrible about updating Twitter and Facebook.

5. Goodreads- I haven't been very active on Goodreads lately and I miss my friends!

6. Schedule posts- I have a bad habit of not writing posts right away and skipping to the next book.

7. Update blogroll- I have added a bunch of new blogs that I follow but haven't updated them to the blogroll.

8. Participate in more blogtours- It's fun.

9. Make my blog a priority- As much as I love reading it's all for nothing if I don't keep blogging which I love!

10. Participate in more memes- I love Feature & Follow Friday... I'd love to find more to add to that.

2014 Book Bloggers New Years Challenge Day 6

The Courtlight Series: Sworn to Raise

Author: Terah Edun
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Source: Goddessfish Promotions
265 pages

Seventeen-year-old Ciardis has grown up in poverty, a cleaner in a small vale on the outskirts of the empire. But beneath her empire’s seemingly idyllic surface lies a hidden secret. Whispers of an inept crown Prince are growing ever louder—intensified by the five year anniversary of the soulbond initiations.

Amidst scandalous whispers, Ciardis finds herself chosen to train for the Companion’s Guild. She leaves her home and sets off on a personal journey to become a Court Companion. A position she’d never thought possible for a lowly servant to obtain, she must prove that she has the skills to attract a Patron.

But she must master those skills quickly. If the legends are true, only Ciardis can harness the power to raise a Prince in an Imperial Court sworn to bring him down.

This sensational series debut melds intricate storylines with remarkable characters and unforgettable magic. Sworn To Raise is ideal for fans of Kristin Cashore, Michelle Sagara, and Maria Snyder.

Excerpt:
Sworn To Raise Excerpt (Book One)

She stared at the longbow arrow jutting from the animal’s ribs. However, it wasn't enough to bring him down. Only a blade or magical blast to the heart could do that. In pain and fury, the white hart elk whirled around to face his tormentor. He saw the general a dozen feet away and charged. Ciardis watched as the elk raced toward the general, who now clutched a sword in his hands. The elk lowered his rack to spear the invader.

The general knew that he would have one chance to slay the beast. He just needed to get underneath its jaw and pierce straight through to the heart. Ciardis scrambled up and dashed toward the two combatants. She couldn't do anything from here; the elk's magical protection was already going down, thanks to the verbane-laced arrow, and there was no way she'd get a heart-shot in from behind.

Barnaren glanced at her. His concentration had been broken by Ciardis's movement, and he quickly looked away. The elk reached him in that moment and Barnaren had to dodge to the side and under its angry hooves. It wasn't quite enough. His sword stroke missed, but as the stag raced past, it managed to spear the general's thigh with a tine. The tine snapped off in a clean break, but another immediately grew in its place.

The blood poison of the tines did its work within seconds. General Barnaren collapsed, unable to move his leg. His sword lay a few feet to one side.

2014 Book Bloggers New Years Challenge Day 5

You can read my one star review here.

How to Run with a Naked Werewolf ★★★★☆

Author: Molly Harper
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Source: NetGalley- Pocket Books
352 pages

Down, Boy
Anna Moder has just witnessed a shooting, seen her car pulverized, and rescued a wounded stranger only to discover he's really a werewolf. And by her recent standards, things are actually looking up. Lycanthropes don't faze Anna. Doctoring a wolf pack outside Grundy, Alaska, is the closest thing to home life she's known in years. But hitching a ride to Anchorage with long-absent pack member Caleb Graham that&'s a risk. Part of her itches to whack his nose with a newspaper. The rest is trying unsuccessfully to keep her own paws off every delicious inch of him.
The problem is, Caleb employs his lupine tracking abilities as a notquite- legal bounty hunter, and Anna is suspicious of both him and his profession. On the run from her past, with old problems closing in, she'd like to stay far, far away from anybody with connections to the law. Caleb, however, seems determined to keep her close. Are his intentions noble, or is he working a more predatory angle?
Anna's been dreaming of returning to a semi-normal life, but now she's experiencing a strange new urge . . . to join Caleb in running with the wolves.

2014 Book Bloggers New Years Challenge Day 4

Up From the Grave

The Undead Pool

6th Grave on the Edge

Night Broken

Bear Naked

The Book of Life

Shield of Winter