Google+ Secret Book Lover

Saturday 2 November 2013

Goodbye...

Yes, the title is correct. Guys, I'm shutting down the blog.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my posts over this past year. I had a great time writing for you and got to meet a bunch of great people. Sadly, that time has come to a close and this is going to be my last post.

Wishing you all the best,

Tuesday 8 October 2013

The Cutting Room Floor - Book Blast!

CuttingRoomFloorBlast

Today we're going to hear a bit about Dawn Klehr and her new book: The Cutting Room Floor! Make sure you enter the giveaway for the chance to win one of two $25 Amazon giftcards! :)

17393014 (1)

PREMISE
Behind-the-scenes secrets could turn deadly for Desmond and Riley...

Life in the Heights has never been easy for seventeen-year-old Riley Frost, but when she's publicly dumped and outed at the same time, she becomes an immediate social outcast at her high school. So Riley swears off romance and throws herself into solving the shocking murder of her favorite teacher, Ms. Dunn.

Riley turns to her best friend, budding filmmaker Desmond Brandt, for help. What she doesn't know is that Dez has been secretly directing her life, blackmailing her friends, and hoping his manipulations will make her love him. When his schemes go too far, Dez's web of lies threatens to destroy both of their lives.

About the Author
Dawn Klehr began her career in TV and though she’s been on both sides of the camera, she prefers to lurk behind the lens. Mostly, she loves to get lost in stories –in film, the theatre  or on the page – and is a sucker for both the sinister and the sappy. She’s currently channelling her dark side as she works on her next book.

Dawn lives in the Twin Cities with her funny husband, adorable son, and naughty dog. The Cutting Room Floor is her début YA novel!
Here's where you can get it:

Giveaway!!!!
Don't worry, it's international! Just make sure you're over 13.  ;)


Sunday 15 September 2013

Sisters In Love - Book Blast & Giveaway!

Inline image 1

Everyone, today we're going to take a look at Sisters In Love by Melissa Foster.


Inline image 2

PREMISE
Danica Snow has always been the smart, practical, and appropriate sister. As a therapist, she prides herself on making reasonable, conservative choices, even if a bit boring, and as part of the Big Sister Program, she has little time for anything more in her life.

Blake Carter is a player. He never gets bored of conquering women, and with his sexy good looks and successful lifestyle, he has no trouble finding willing participants. When his friend and business partner dies in a tragic accident, he suddenly, desperately, wants to change his ways. The problem is, he doesn’t know how to stop doing what he does best.

When Blake walks into Danica’s office, the attraction between them is white hot, but Danica isn't the type to give into the heat and risk her career. Danica’s desire sets her on a path of self-discovery, where she begins to question every decision she’s ever made. Just this once, Danica wants to indulge in the pleasures of life she’s been so willingly ignoring, but with her Little Sister in turmoil and her biological sister’s promiscuousness weighing heavily on her heart, she isn’t sure it’s the right time to set her desires free.

Sisters In Love is a light, uplifting work of women's fiction and will resonate with readers who enjoy emotional journeys of the heart with strong heroines and sexy, lovable heroes. Readers of books by Jane Porter and Beth Kendrick will enjoy Danica and Blake's story.

I have to say, this book looks like a really good romance novel. The kind you'd curl up with in the winter when you have a cold, you've made some hot chocolate and you're just looking for a good book to take your mind off everything.

About the author: Melissa Foster
Melissa Foster is the award-winning author of four International bestselling novels. Her books have been recommended by USA Today’s book blog, Hagerstown Magazine, The Patriot, and several other print venues. She is the founder of the Women’s Nest, a social and support community for women, the World Literary Café. When she’s not writing, Melissa helps authors navigate the publishing industry through her author training programs on  Fostering Success. Melissa is also a community builder for the Alliance for Independent Authors. She has been published in Calgary’s Child Magazine, the Huffington Post, and Women Business Owners magazine.
Melissa hosts an annual Aspiring Authors contest for children and has painted and donated several murals to The Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC. Melissa lives in Maryland with her family.
Visit Melissa on The Women’s NestFostering Success, or World Lit Cafe. Join Melissa and the YaYa Writer Girls at their annual in-person event. Melissa enjoys discussing her books with book clubs and reader groups, and welcomes an invitation to your event.
You can find Melissa at:

Get the book here:

GIVEAWAY!!!!
This giveaway is an amazing chance to name a character in one of Melissa Foster's future books! I wouldn't pass it up for the world.

MF SILgiveaway.jpg

Monday 2 September 2013

Indie Summer Tour - Snowed Under by Jen Greyson!



Hey guys! Welcome to my spot in the Indie Summer Tour! (Made possible by the folks 'round at Parajunkee.) I'm going to tell you a bit about Jen Greyson and her recently released novel called Snowed Under, before we get to the really great part: giveaways!!!


About the book:


 photo SnowedUnder1_zpsc024a86b.jpg

Cassidy has life all figured out. She’s one semester away from finishing her degree and then she’s off to save Mother Earth. But first, she has to stop the planet-murdering Whetman Logging.

Teague Whetman brought MIT home to the family logging business in Alaska. They’re high-tech artesian. But even his advanced technology can’t handle Cassidy’s handcuffs when she chains herself to the main saw.

When a late-Spring storm hammers the little town of Bear Ridge with eighty inches of snow, Teague and Cassidy must put aside their animosity to battle a power outage, grizzly bear, and their own attraction.
******************************
This book is just out and I'll be the first to say that it looks amazing! I love books that deal with the theme of the environment, because it's such a relevant topic nowadays. (Also, a little romance can't hurt.) I'm going to grab this book as soon as I can!

*******************************
About the Author:

From the moment she decided on a degree in Equestrian Studies, Jen Greyson’s life has been one unscripted adventure after another. Leaving the cowboy state of Wyoming to train show horses in France, Switzerland, and Germany, she’s lived life without much of a plan, but always a book in her suitcase. Now a wife and mom to two young boys, she relies on her adventurous, passionate characters to be the risk-takers.

You can find her at:
https://www.facebook.com/thesurvivalmama
@jengreyson

The fabulous Jen Greyson also took the time to answer the question that's been on my mind from the start: 

Me: What city inspired your writing? 
Jen:
The most random things inspire a new story. For SNOWED UNDER (formerly WOOD) I caught a news article about a tiny Alaskan town (Point Hope, I think) that got hit by a late Spring storm and hammered with ridiculous snow totals–like 108″ in a day–and their shipment of heating oil got delayed. I started thinking about what kind of characters would meet under those circumstances . . . and then the least likely combination of characters that would meet under the same circumstances. Talk about obstacles ;)
After a bit of drifty daydreaming I came up with the unlikely pair that you meet in the book, a logger and a hippie–two people at extreme opposite ends of the spectrum. Aaannnnd Teague’s already made the shift from college to the business world, where Cassidy’s still starry-eyed and taking on the world…so their views on a lot of things are shaded from their perspectives and knowledge pools.
My writing mentor once told me that if you start with setting your characters organically grow from that and the two weave together better than if you start with characters and try to stuff them into a certain place. Now that I’ve been able to try that a few times, I’ve found it’s much easier to see the conflicts from the very beginning.
Plus, it makes my bucket list a pretty interesting mix :)

*****************************
GIVEAWAY!!!!!
Jen Grayson has been very good to us - there's a copy of Snowed Under up for grabs! Also, there's a KindleFire for some lucky person, so be sure to check that out as well!




 

Friday 23 August 2013

It's A Sad, Sad Day


So, anyone who reads this blog understands that I am a Night Huntress fan - seriously, those books are great. Well, the author of the series, Jeaniene Frost, put up a post the other day that the series will be ending...with the next book.

The series was originally contracted for nine books, which was great for us readers, but we were told in 2011 that it would be cut down to eight. Now, in her latest post, Frost explains that there will be no more Cat and Bones books after Up From The Grave, which is due out next January. You can check that post out here, but the main reason seems to be that she had the series' storyline nicely finished up, and didn't want to write a filler book. 
Which, after my last review, I can understand.

So, while I am sad to see the series go, (I wasn't emotionally prepared for this!) I hope that this means that Up From The Grave will be more action-packed and, well, generally awesome than it would have been otherwise. Plus, there is always the chance that Ian will get a book! ;)

Monday 19 August 2013

Biting "Really" Bad by Chloe Neill


Merit has been a vampire for only a short while, but she’s already seen a lifetime’s worth of trouble. She and her Master, centuries-old Ethan Sullivan, have risked their lives time and again to save the city they love. But not all of Chicago is loving them back.
Anti-vampire riots are erupting all over town, striking vampires where it hurts the most. A splinter group armed with Molotov cocktails and deep-seated hate is intent on clearing the fanged from the Windy City come hell or high water.
Merit and her allies rush to figure out who’s behind the attacks, who will be targeted next, and whether there’s any way to stop the wanton destruction. The battle for Chicago is just beginning, and Merit is running out of time...
**************************************
Guys, I'm really sorry. This book didn't really make me angry, it just made me sad (okay, it made me a little angry). I love Merit, you know I do. This is one of my all-time favourite series and I guess up until now I had this misguided notion that Chloe Neill could do no wrong. 
Well, I was wrong.
It started off okay, with all the usual snark and humour.  However, it took me forever to get into. There was just no action! Even when something was supposedly happening, no one did anything! There were these riots going on, and they were meant to be the main drama source for the book, but here's the thing: nobody cared. Everyone just sat around making jokes that weren't that funny and having endless meetings that yielded no results.
The lack of action was something that lasted throughout the entire thing. I don't even think there was a climax to this book. And while, yeah, there was a sex scene thrown in there for the hell of things, there was no overall breaking point where I went "Whoa, what's going to happen?". It was like a whole book made out of filler chapters. It was a filler book in the series.
Surprisingly though, that wasn't even the worst thing. Merit seriously let me down in this book. Despite being the heroine of the story, she wasn't very heroic. Remember guys, that she was named Sentinel in the very first book, because even though she was only a two-day old baby vamp, she nearly managed to catch Ethan, Master of the House. Well, in this book she manages to get taken down by a human (one lone human!) at least three times!!! I swear, every time I flip a page, Ethan is saving her from something. And you know, I wouldn't be so put out if this was consistent with her character, but up until now she's been taking down vampires, werewolves and - wait for it - freaking angels! 
Wait, there's more. I think Neill was trying to show everyone how bad-ass Ethan has gotten, ever since he came back to life. However, she's showing it by making him do stupid things. Now, Ethan prides himself on not being stupid, but he is constantly rushing off into battle when they have not one, but two teams of guards there (Grey House joined the fun), and his House is on two separate hit lists! Both the GP and the city want to annihilate the House, and he's leaving it practically every second page to go put himself in danger and save Merit's ass. Not cool, Ethan.
I could go on for a while, listing all the things that made this book "Bad", (OH, the puns, the puns) but I think that what I have here is enough to make my point: filler book. To be fair, there were some good things: the banter was great; Ethan and Merit were all lovey-dovey; and we got a great scene with Scott (Master of Grey House) and his human girlfriend Ava. (She had kids and they were adorable!) 
Having said all I needed to say, I know this: I still love the overall series, I still think Chloe Neill is a talented author, and though I wouldn't recommend Biting Bad, I will read the next book in this series (and hope that it's better than this.) For me, Biting Bad was:
 Two hats. It just didn't cut it for me.

Tuesday 13 August 2013

Rave - Magic Rises by Ilona Andrews

Magic-Rises_md

Atlanta is a city plagued by magical problems. Kate Daniels will fight to solve them—no matter the cost.
Mercenary Kate Daniels and her mate, Curran, the Beast Lord, are struggling to solve a heartbreaking crisis. Unable to control their beasts, many of the Pack’s shapeshifting children fail to survive to adulthood. While there is a medicine that can help, the secret to its making is closely guarded by the European packs, and there’s little available in Atlanta.
Kate can’t bear to watch innocents suffer, but the solution she and Curran have found threatens to be even more painful. The European shapeshifters who once outmaneuvered the Beast Lord have asked him to arbitrate a dispute—and they’ll pay him in medicine. With the young people’s survival and the Pack’s future at stake, Kate and Curran know they must accept the offer—but they have little doubt that they’re heading straight into a trap…
*************************************************************
If I had to describe Magic Rises in just one word, this would be it: action. From start to finish this book was a rollercoaster ride of action and adventure!
 It starts off when Kate and Curran get an invite to Europe (yep, road trip time!) where they have to play bodyguard duty to a shapeshifter princess called Desandra, whose big, bad daddy controls a highly sought after mountain pass. Upside: they get paid in panacea  - the medicine they desperately need to stop the Pack children from going loup and dying. Downside: it's an obvious trap and they'll be very far from home when it hits. 
So, from the very start we're on edge with planning, politics and emotional angst (sorry guys, no spoilers!). But when they land on the island, whoa do things get interesting! There are three other packs on the island, all of whom want to incite Kate, Curran & Co. into fighting and distrust so they can pick them off, one by one.
 This makes for a very tense book. Kate, Curran and the rest of the gang are facing an onslaught of insults and challenges, but they can't get angry of retaliate. Throw in some shocking twists and turns, mysterious murderers, romance, bodyguard duties, politics and angst and you have one hell of a book
I get the feeling that we also moved along (in the overall story arc) quite a bit with this book. Serious stuff comes up about Roland, Hugh and the rest of Evil Inc. It feels like we're getting closer and closer to that inevitable showdown, and based on this book, I'm not entirely sure that Kate is ready for it yet.
I have to say, this is probably the best book I've read all summer. A definite five out of five.
 Five hats! This book made my day. XD