Sunday, March 31, 2013

Top 5 Sundays - Favorite Character Names! {Part III}

This feature was thought up by the awesome Larissa's Bookish Life
Rules:


1 - Write a post listing your TOP 5 choices within the theme I chose (or was chosen on a poll) for the week.
2 - Mention this Blog on the post and link back to it.
3 - Feel free to use the Features image
4 - After you've finished your post, add your link (of the post, not your blog's main page) to the Mr.Linky at the end of that week's post.
5 – If you don’t have a blog to post, just leave your list in the comments =)    

Top 5 Sundays -  Favorite Character Names! {Part III}

 Mackenzie Bishop from The Archived.

 Seraphina Dombegh from Seraphina.

 Marley Claviger from Matchbox Girls.

Lyra Belacqua from the His Dark Materials series.


Beatrice/Tris Prior from the Divergent series.

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Weekend Read - Good Omens

Good Omens:The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

I loved this book when I read it and now am rereading it to get ready for World Book Night on April 23rd when I'll be giving away 20 copies at the library where I work.  This is a truly funny book and I can’t wait to share it with more people.

Friday, March 29, 2013

Review - A Shade of Vampire

A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest

* book received from the author for review

3.5 out of five tiara wearing bats


A good story and it starts well.  I like how it is the type of story that yeah you don’t know all of what is going on but it will tell you what you need to know as it goes. I like Sophia, she is developed really well and has a personality that shows through the pages.


Love the interactions with Derek because he takes the self loathing vampire to a different place then I have seen before. It is nice to show that charector type not going all emo.


It has an interesting set up and a great mix of humor and serious situations


Favorite Line:
What is it with these people and shoving me up against hard surfaces?


Biggest Dislike:
the best friend
Besides being a really good way to have Derek earn favor with Sophia I really did not like him.

A Tiny Reverse Vampire Post

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Sentence Sneak Peek - A Shade of Vampire

A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest

The first sentence from each chapter of A Shade of Vampire, it's a mini summary of what you can expect to read.

* Spoilers are highlighted like so :)
* Book received from the author for review

“I never once imagined that my life would play out the way it did.”


“I was taking an evening stroll along the beach, feeling the smooth sand under my bare feet with every step.”


“I blinked several times, hoping that I would see a bit more clearly if I did it enough.”


“Lucas!”


“The moment my eyes shot open, I could hear everything, smell everything and feel everything within at least a quarter-mile radius from me.”


“My eyes were glued to the young man Vivienne was embracing only moments ago.”


“I couldn’t pry my eyes away from her.”


What is it with these people and shoving me up against hard surfaces?


Four hundred years.”


“His hand was so cold.”


“The moment I laid myself down on the furry covers of the four poster bed in the middle of the lavish bedroom I’d chosen for myself, the first thought that came to mind was: What on earth are you doing?


Run, Sofia.


“Despite my efforts not to, I kept staring.”


“I will never forget that conversation at Derek’s dining table on my first “morning” at The Shade.”


“Not long after Sofia left us to discuss whatever it was that Vivienne saw as too confidential for her to hear, my siblings took me on a tour of the island, mainly the Crimson Fortress, showing me how they’d fortified it over the past centuries.”


“It was impossible to know that Derek had already arrived back at the Residences.”


“She looked so peaceful, so serene, so innocent as I carried her to her bedroom and laid her on the bed.”


“Everything happened in a blur. I was aware of it all, and yet, I wasn’t.”


She’s wounded,” was the first thing Corrine said when I barged through the doors of the Sanctuary, Sofia still sobbing in my arms.”


“Corrine took her time with me.”


“I rose to my feet the moment the door swung open.”


“The moment our eyes met, he looked away, almost as if he were embarrassed about something.”


“That moment in the Sun Room haunted me as I watched her sleep beside me.”


“Chills were running down my spine as I eased into Ben’s strong arms that wrapped tightly around me.”


“I hated the tension.”


“No words could explain how shaken I was.”


What have I done?


“I wanted to take the girls with me and insisted on it.”


“I was jolted from my sleep, knowing fully well what had just occurred the moment their lips touched.”

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

"Waiting On" Wednesday - Moonset

"Waiting On"  Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week I'm waiting on...  

Moonset by Scott Tracey

* Book will be released April 8, 2013

Check out the description from Barnes & Noble:

"A new series about teenage witches and their troubling family legacy
Justin Daggett, his trouble-making sister, and their three orphan-witch friends have gotten themselves kicked out of high school. Again. Now they’ve ended up in Carrow Mills, New York, the town where their parents—members of the terrorist witch organization known as Moonset—began their evil experiments with the dark arts one generation ago.
When the siblings are accused of unleashing black magic on the town, Justin fights to prove their innocence. But tracking down the true culprit leads him to a terrifying discovery about Moonset’s past . . . and its deadly future."

I love Scott Tracey's other series because the world and characters are so intriguing.  I can't wait to start this series and see how the witches in this series operate.  Having to live with their parents' reputation of being terrorists can't be easy so I foresee plenty of interesting situations in this book.  

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Rambunctious Real

Mr. Real by Carolyn Crane

Beginning to Middle of the Book Rating - 3 gnomes out of 5 gnomes
Ending Rating - 4 gnomes out of 5 gnomes

This book was rather vexing at first because the main character is abrasive (she definitely grows as the book goes along though.)  The magic circumstances in the book tie everything together well even if you’re still left wanting to question some of the main characters decisions.

I want to know more about Alix’s aunt that she inherited the house from. She sounds like quite an interesting lady.  From what happens in the book, I’d be curious to know whether she died of natural causes or something supernatural.

I’ll just go right to the point and say how dumb/reckless Alix seemed to me for a good chunk of the book.  I have a feeling that I’ll like her character better in later books but in this one I loathed her for about a third of the book.  She makes some choices that really had me questioning why exactly she would do something.  It was good to slowly see her becoming more responsible I just wish it had started sooner.

Having a fictional character as one of the points of the view for the book was fantastic because seeing how he operates in this world was intriguing. I was suspicious of him from the beginning but there’s a great twist to his character too.  He’s not real sympathetic at first but he does change eventually for the better.  Having this suave spy charm everybody was a lot of fun but he’s really more dangerous than Alix realizes.  

Paul, the MMA fighter, is a stoic guy who has a dark secret that he doesn’t want anybody to know.  His secrets catch up and pretty much smash him in the face when he takes a detour to a small town in Minnesota.  I loved getting to know more about Paul and seeing how he interacted with everyone else.  

This was probably the most inventive love triangle that I’ve read in quite awhile.  I’m glad it turned out the way it did and am curious to see what relationships happen in later books.  There are some steamy sections of the book and here's hoping there will be more of the same in later books.

The last part of the book was so good and really makes me look forward seeing what happens next.  I hope that the next book has more characters from the fantasy world. 

Monday, March 25, 2013

Sentence Sneak Peek - Mr. Real


Mr. Real by Carolyn Crane

The first sentence from each chapter of Mr. Real, it's a mini summary of what you can expect to read.

* Spoilers are highlighted like so :)


“When Alix Gordon returned from a tromp in the woods with her dog, Lindy, she spied a sparkling little something on her porcha piece of jewelry.”

“The porch stood empty the next morning.”

“The fact that the girl recognized him the instant she opened the doorand then attempted to conceal her reactionled Sir Kendall to a number of linked realizations.”

“Paul Reinhardt, better known to the mixed martial arts world as “Puma Reinhardt,” one of the most promising fighters in the UFL, stared out the passenger window at the blur of roadside reflectors, wishing he could kill Sir Kendall once and for all.”

“The girl returned from the kitchen and her secretive phone call, all sexy smiles.”

“Alix inhaled sharply as Sir Kendall moved his finger up the tender underside of her thigh.”

“Paul took over the driving just before they hit Colorado, and Tonio relaxed in the passenger seat, feet clomped up onto the dash.”

“Alix woke up to find Sir Kendall sleeping next to her and was immediately filled with excitement and awe and a little bit of terror.”

“An hour later, Sir Kendall parked in front of Bean Central, the town coffee shop.”

“Paul stood in front of his motel room enjoying the warmth of the morning sun on his face, and the way the soft drone of crickets rose and fell in lazy waves of sound.”

Sir Kendall grasped the handcuffs tightly in his fists to keep them from clinking as he leaned in the entryway, regarding the back of Alix’s head.”

“Paul jerked away from the nut job and backed off as the old, fierce feelings washed over himsmashed over himtossing him like a rag doll.”

“Alix sat on cushions on the floor next to Sir Kendall, eyeing Paul, who sat across the room on the couch, watching football and texting with some friend of his.”

“Here’s the bottom linenobody will be carrying weapons of any kind into this party.”

“Paul gritted his teeth as Sir Kendall pulled him into the living room and introduced him as poor long-lost Paul, his twin brother.”

“At precisely 11:47 a.m., Paul sat down on Alix’s front porch.”

“She stomped inside wishing she could slam the door, but it was too messed up for that.”

“Sir Kendall stared at Paul “Puma” Reinhardt’s bio on MMAWorld.com.”

“This is fun.”

“Alix grabbed the seat back, balancing precariously on Paul’s lap as Sir Kendall swung his car into the long gravel driveway.”

“Paul whomped the heavy bag with his right leg, a powerful round kick.”

“At three-thirty a.m. Sir Kendall was still working feverishly to assemble the primitive radio from the parts he’d bought at various stores.”

“The house was quiet when Alix awoke, and her first thought was of Paul.”

“He felt like she’d slapped him in the face.”

Hyko strolled up to Alix, pointing one of his guns at her chest.”

Hyko released the cuff that held Sir Kendall to the cage, yanked him up by the collar, and re-cuffed his hands together.”

“Alix smoothed Paul’s hair back from his head.”

“Sir Kendall shifted on the nubby fabric of the musty couch in the basement computer lab.”

“Paul had never been prouder of Alix.”

“Alix raced across the gravel in her bare feet, heading toward the house with Lindy right behind her.”

“The Christmas lights around Alix’s living room blurred as the tears came.”

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Story Time

* Please add a line to the story and determine where it goes.

Rules

1.) Only write 1 to 2 sentences
2.) Keep it clean
3.) Have fun and spread the word so the story grows


Here's the story that has formed so far:

Awesome people who have authored the story by adding lines so far: Sullivan McPig, Julie@My5monkeys, Susan Jane Bigelow, barmybex, Tiny Reverse Vampire, Man of la Book



Once upon a time in a time not that long ago there was a disturbance.


The  cause of the disturbance was something that was well...truly disturbing.  In fact it was so disturbing that at first it was quite unclear what this disturbance was, because anyone who saw it was too disturbed to talk about it.


There came a noisy unruly girl who demanded that all must obey her. She was the girl of the mayor and weird things did happen around her. Pigeons tap danced when she blinked her eyes and cockroaches would mimic her words when she spoke.  Lights would go off and babies would cry when she passed.


This girl stood in the center of town, pigeons dancing, roaches waiting, lights flickering and babies crying all around.  She struck her umbrella on the cobblestones.  A hush fell over the town as purple sparks shot out of the tip of the umbrella and even the pigeons stopped their dancing and seemed to hold their breath.


As the astounded masses watched a massive hole slowly appeared in the middle of the street. As the dust settled it was revealed...a giant staircase leading down to complete darkness and then a faint music started to radiate from its depths.


There was such a ruckus in the town and trying to make sure that all the citizens were fine. The music coming out of the hole had a mesmerizing sound that attracted all the citizens.  It was almost like children's music.


The girl grinned mischievously and whistled along with the music while she slowly descended down the hole.


The further down she went the louder the music echoed. A strange shift filled the air and a cold wind howled past causing her hair to flutter round her face, but it didn't distract her. As she confidently walked on some of the pigeons and cockroaches followed her, cautiously and trembling with fear and a sense of foreboding.


"Wait," a high, piping voice said, "there are dangers below!" One of the pigeons had spoken. This was not a terrific surprise to the girl, who did not pause in her descent." Stay above ground if you don't have the courage to follow me," she stated calmly." But I must go on. The faith of the town depends on this."


As she kept traveling downward the tone of the music seemed to change and become more insistent.  Then in the distance a faint shimmering light appeared.


It glowed a dull purple at first, but then changed to a harsh, angry blue that pulsated like a frantic heartbeat that got more aggressive the closer the girl got to it.


The light was actually calling to her, and only her. She was different from everyone else in the town. It was her duty.


She edged closer with her arm out in front of her. The blue light grew in intensity until she had to close her eyes against the glare, a warmth surrounded her arm from the light and she pulled in a satisfied breath and grinned.


As more of the light enveloped her, she felt the heat spread and her body began to hum with a sense of power.


Then in her mind she began to hear a whispering chant almost as if the power knew who she was and what she had to do.


The words and the music started to sync together and then she began to speak the chant, as she spoke the discordant words the light solidified into a wooden door which slowly began to open.


The light around the door frame was still so bright it cast shadows into the room, making it impossible to see what was in there.


She slowly peeked into the room and felt so cold that there must be something not of this world in there. She slowly found the bed and sat down on it.


Then out of nowhere a dapper looking man appeared.  He looked like a perfect gentleman, he even had a strange purple top hat on.  Though when you looked in his eyes there was no warmth to be found and his presence seemed to suck the warmth from the room.


The  man seemed to be staring straight at her but there was no recognition in his eyes, just blackness. Then he opened his mouth to speak and she felt shivers shoot up and down her spine.


His voice seemed to freeze the very air and stop all sound when he said, "I know what you're here for."


Thinking this was her job and her job alone, she wondered if he was friend or foe.


She steadied herself because she knew that if she showed any fear that he might pounce and his true form would be revealed.  Her bag of tricks was pretty full though and she had the spark of an idea.


She remembered his particular fondness for word puzzles and taking a deep breath began reciting an odd sounding riddle.


In the middle of the chant he began chanting along with her, their voices rose and the atmosphere in the room grew even more tense.


The girl could have sworn she felt the very walls vibrating and the floor shaking, but she knew she couldn't stop now. If this was some sort of test she was determined to succeed.


When she finished the chant he stopped at the same time, then with a deep rumbling the floor fell away beneath them.


The pair tumbled down into the darkness, but for some reason neither one of them was scared.


They seem to fall forever, almost floating in the air. The girl held the man's hand, or was he holding hers?


The man was still chanting, while the pigeons were flying in circles around them. That is when the girl notices something that sent cold chills to her spine: the cockroaches mimicked him!


She thought everything was under control but those darn cockroaches really fouled things up.


The farther they fell the more weightless she felt and the air seemed to thicken and become colder.


The chanting continued, she glanced down and saw that they were falling quickly toward a rather large clearing that was surrounded by snow and something shadowy she couldn't quite make out.


Bracing herself for a rough landing the girl blew out a deep breath and got ready for impact. At least the snow would offer some sort of comfort, or so she thought.


The closer they got the more the view changed.  The snowflakes now seemed to be separating, darkening, and slowly but surely rising to meet them.


The girl closed her eyes in the hope she was imagining it, but when she opened them again the shadowy snow was still coming towards them and now it looked like a dark outstretched hand just waiting to snatch them both out of the air.


As  the hand wrapped around them, they could feel the very breath being squeezed from their lungs. It wasn't really a hand, they had fallen into a canyon with ridges that looked like fingers. It got narrower the further down they were drawn, then they could feel something on their toes.

"what is that?" the girl asked, trying to wriggle herself away from whatever it was, scrunching her nose in disgust. Her breath caught as she slipped again and fell further into the thing below.
"Why me?" she cried.