Kissing Kellie by Kathy Carmichael

Released: February 9, 2011
Publisher: MacGowan Press
*Given to me by the author for an honest review*

Rodeo champion and wealthy rancher, Bobby Gray Nelson, is used to women setting out to lasso him. But when he meets feisty Kelli Palmer, she refuses him on every count. He's always up for a challenge and is determined to woo this beautiful veterinarian who he thinks could be his soul mate.

Kelli Palmer doesn't believe love is in the chute for her. She's devoted herself to the animals she cares for and the family she adores. So when her sister claims dibs on the handsome cowboy, Kelli reins in her attraction and tells him to skedaddle.

Losing is not an option for this gorgeous cowboy. He comes up with a 5-step plan to place his brand on Kelli's heart.

The problem is, he can't even make it to the first step. Never fear, though. He's got a Plan B.

Can Kelli stand her ground -- even after his toe-curling kiss?

ARC Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Release Date:March 22, 2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Rated: YA

By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. She can thank modern science for this genetic time bomb. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males with a lifespan of 25 years, and females with a lifespan of 20 years. Geneticists are seeking a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children.
When Rhine is kidnapped and sold as a bride, she vows to do all she can to escape. Her husband, Linden, is hopelessly in love with her, and Rhine can’t bring herself to hate him as much as she’d like to. He opens her to a magical world of wealth and illusion she never thought existed, and it almost makes it possible to ignore the clock ticking away her short life. But Rhine quickly learns that not everything in her new husband’s strange world is what it seems. Her father-in-law, an eccentric doctor bent on finding the antidote, is hoarding corpses in the basement. Her fellow sister wives are to be trusted one day and feared the next, and Rhine is desperate to communicate to her twin brother that she is safe and alive. Will Rhine be able to escape--before her time runs out?  

TGIF (1)

Who's ready for the weekend?!  I know I am!  I'm introducing a new feature for Fridays to re-cap the week's posts & to propose a question for my followers.  Feel free to get involved by clicking the image and leaving a comment!

What was your favorite book read during the month of February?

What about your least favorite book read this month?

My favorite read this month was Green Eyed Demon by Jaye Wells and Dragon Blues by Edie Ramer!  Both were fantastic.  Green Eyed Demon was incredible! Fast pace, tons of action and even a few tender moments!  Dragon Blues is the first in a very promising series that is so different from any shifter novel I have read.  Plus I just love Edie's work!

Lease favorite would be the Chase series by Lauren Dane. The first two started strong and the last two I just wish could have been better. It became clear as the series went on that the guys could do no right and weren't allowed their feelings when things got tough or the girls did something wrong and I hated the one sidedness (if this isn't a word, I'm making it one now!) to it.

Friday Follow (5)

Today's questions: 

Q. Share your current fav television show! Tell us a bit about it...
 

Lately I've been watching Battlestar Galactica on Netflix (we don't have cable or satellite tv) I love it!  So, the show is mostly about Cylons.  Machines, created by man, who have been able to produce many copies that look human.  So they are trying to wipe out the human race, while the survivors of the first big attack try to stay alive.  The story takes place on Battlestar Galactica and about their fight to survive, weed out cylons in their mist, and find a new planet to call home. It has a wonderful cast who are all great actors. 

Leave me a comment if you follow me and I will follow you back!

Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann

Released: February 8, 2011
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Rated: YA

The community of Cryer’s Cross, Montana (population 212) is distraught when high school freshman Tiffany disappears without a trace. Already off-balance due to her OCD, 16-year-old Kendall is freaked out seeing Tiffany’s empty desk in the one-room school house, but somehow life goes on... until Kendall's boyfriend Nico also disappears, and also without a trace. Now the town is in a panic. Alone in her depression and with her OCD at an all-time high, Kendall notices something that connects Nico and Tiffany: they both sat at the same desk. She knows it's crazy, but Kendall finds herself drawn to the desk, dreaming of Nico and wondering if maybe she, too, will disappear...and whether that would be so bad. Then she begins receiving graffiti messages on the desk from someone who can only be Nico. Can he possibly be alive somewhere? Where is he? And how can Kendall help him? The only person who believes her is Jacian, the new guy she finds irritating...and attractive. As Kendall and Jacian grow closer, Kendall digs deeper into Nico's mysterious disappearance only to stumble upon some ugly—and deadly—local history. Kendall is about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried.

Colters' Daughter by Maya Banks

Released: February 1, 2011
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Rated: Adult

He let her go once. This time he’s playing for keeps.

Callie Colter once chased sunsets all over the world. Until Max. Together they were a perfect storm of desire, and she reveled in the beautiful power. Then he disappeared without a word, and the betrayal drove her home to lick her wounds.
Who knew he’d have the gall to show his face in her brother’s bar.

Max Wilder figures he deserves Callie’s right hook to the jaw, but it changes nothing. He had his reasons for pursuing her across Europe, for making her fall in love with him. But when she took everything he gave and offered more, she changed all the rules. He had no choice leaving her, but he’s back. This time for the right reasons.

Callie is angry and hurt, yet powerless against Max’s relentless onslaught. He’ll settle for nothing less than her complete surrender—and her love. Only when she’s back in his arms will he be truly happy. And the damning truth can stay safely tucked away.

Except the truth has a way of creeping to the surface, and Max may just be out of second chances.

Talk to Me Tuesday 2/22

Talk to Me Tuesday is a brand new weekly meme where we will discuss anything (and everything) literary-related in an open forum of honesty. Questions for the next week will be posted one week prior to the post on the Features page. If you'd like to participate in this weekly feature, head on over to I Swim for Oceans and check out her page and put your link up in the Mr. Linky box!

This weeks topic is: How do you feel about book censorship?

Tune in Tuesday 2/22

This meme is hosted by GReads & showcases music (my other passion in life besides books!). Each week I will post a new or old song in hopes to gain more interest. Help me in spreading the love of music!

My song choice this week is from Escala.  I love instrumental music.  I love all kinds of music, but this week my song choice comes from this group who are phenominal.  When I have trouble sleeping or my thoughts get a little crazy, this can sooth me and help me just to relax.

Dragon Blues by Edie Ramer

Released: February 2011

Rated: Adult
*Given to me by the author for an honest review*

Once a dragon...
Saxophone player Noah Long shifted from dragon to human 2500 years ago, but the dragon blood still coursing through his veins has kept him healthy and virile. Now his secret is out, and the man who discovered it will do anything to make Noah's blood his own. Noah's only ally is martial arts expert Lila Fox, who heats up the fire in his belly...and his heart.

Twice a killer...
Lila Fox's first kill was at age sixteen after her stepfather put her mother in a wheelchair. Fourteen years later, she kills another abuser to save a woman's life. When the man who wants Noah's blood kills her sister, she can't let the death go unanswered. She teams up with the strangely compelling Noah, and discovers he's not all man and has a few tricks of his own.

Stroke of Midnight by Bonnie Edwards

Released: January 24, 2011
Publisher: Carina Press
Rated: Adult


An unlikely Cinderella...
When hardworking single mom Jaye Sinns meets younger playboy Alexander Carmichael, the sexual chemistry between them is undeniable. So Jaye gives in to temptation and allows him to whisk her away for her first-ever vacation. Two glorious weeks of no inhibitions, no strings and no responsibilities.
A charming prince of a guy...
Life with Alex is every woman's fantasy—sizzling sex in the back of a limo, on a private plane, in exotic settings. But it's not enough to fulfill a woman like Jaye for long. No matter how hot the sex is.
A happy ending?
Alex is soon craving more than Jaye's body: he wants her love and admiration, too. For the first time in his life, he can't buy the thing he desires most; and now he must decide if he's willing to work at being the kind of man that Jaye needs, and give her the happily-ever-after she deserves.

ARC Green Eyed Demon by Jaye Wells

Release: February 22, 2011
Publisher: Orbit
Rated: Adult

The clock is ticking for Sabina Kane. She has to save her sister from her mysterious captors. And in order to do that, she has to broker a deal between the mages and the vampires before all hell breaks loose.

But as much as Sabina is focused on surviving the present, the past won’t be ignored. Before she can save those she cares about, she’s got to save herself from the ghosts of her past. Because the past is haunting her. Literally.

Book Tour: Anyone Can Die by James LePore

Publisher: The Story Plant

Book Description:

Till Death Do Us Part: A young Pat Nolan and his wife are on their honeymoon in New Mexico when they find a bond they did not know they had as they are forced to confront trouble in the form of a surly trio of locals.

God’s Warriors: Megan Nolan, a cynical American woman on her own in Europe makes a life-changing decision that both reveals and belies her true character.

Max: Max French, a quirky, deadly and, in his own eyes, oddly lovable FBI agent faces a personal drama that will set the course of his future.

I'd like to thank James for letting me review this.  Here is the guest post from James LePore:

Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting

Released: February 15, 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins
Rated: YA


The missing dead call to Violet. They want to be found.

Violet can sense the echoes of those who've been murdered—and the matching imprint that clings to their killers. Only those closest to her know what she is capable of, but when she discovers the body of a young boy she also draws the attention of the FBI, threatening her entire way of life.

As Violet works to keep her morbid ability a secret, she unwittingly becomes the object of a dangerous obsession. Normally she'd turn to her best friend, Jay, except now that they are officially a couple, the rules of their relationship seem to have changed. And with Jay spending more and more time with his new friend Mike, Violet is left with too much time on her hands as she wonders where things went wrong. But when she fills the void by digging into Mike's tragic family history, she stumbles upon a dark truth that could put everyone in danger.

Solid by Shelley Workinger

Released: July 9, 2010
Publisher: CreateSpace
Rated: YA
*Given to me by the author for an honest review*

Eighteen years ago, a rogue Army doctor secretly experimented with a chromosomal drug on unknowing pregnant women. When he was killed not long after the children were born, any knowledge and evidence seemed to die with him - except for the living, breathing, human products of his work.

Almost two decades later, the newly self-proclaimed "open-book" military unearths the truth about the experiment, bringing Clio Kaid and the other affected teens to a state-of-the-art, isolated campus where they soon discover that C9x did indeed alter their chromosomes, its mutations presenting as super-human abilities. The military kids, who come from across the nation and all walks of life, come into their own as lighter-than-air 'athletes'; 'indies' as solid as stone walls; teens who can make themselves invisible and others who can blind with their brilliance.

While exploring her own special ability, forging new friendships and embarking on first love, Clio also stumbles onto information indicating that the military may not have been entirely forthcoming with them and that all may not be as it seems...

Making Chase by Lauren Dance

Released: June 24, 2008
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Rated: Adult

Matt is an expert and the Chase is on. Tate doesn't stand a chance. Book Four In the Chase Brothers Series. Tate Murphy is a girl from the wrong side of the tracks. She grew up a million miles away from the easy life Matt Chase has had. She's spent her life pulling herself and her siblings up and out of that trailer by the railroad tracks and she hasn't looked back. Matt Chase is a dream of a guy and she's certainly not going to turn down a short fling with one of the most handsome men she's ever seen! Matt Chase has watched each one of his brothers find love and he knows he's ready for that too. It's all a matter of finding the woman who captures his heart. He's certainly sampled his fair share of them but none has moved him the way Tate Murphy does when he goes to her shop to thank her for some cookies and a thank you note. But as Matt gets to know Tate and appreciate her strength and unique beauty, he also realizes she's got some big self esteem issues about her past. To build a future, he's got to find a way past some big road blocks. Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, graphic language, some violence.

Chased by Lauren Dane

Released: September 1, 2007
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Rated: Adult

Marc must face the biggest challenge of his life-convincing Liv Davis that he means to love her forever. Book Three in the Chase Brothers Series Liv Davis had just about given up on her happily ever after. Burned by love more than once, she's beginning to think Mr. Right wasn't in the cards for her. Marc Chase is a confirmed bachelor and lover of women-lots of them. He's determined not to fall head over heels the way his brothers have. Until he kisses Olivia Davis and realizes head over heels may not be such a bad thing after all! Can Liv open her scarred heart for this younger ladies man? She loves Marc more than she can begin to admit but she's terrified of being rejected again. Marc faces a challenge greater than he's ever faced before. Making a woman believe he's more than just a great bedmate-making her believe he's in it for good. In the end it will all come down to two days in a hotel and a bet. Can they both win? Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, graphic language.

Taking Chase by Lauren Dane

Released: February 1, 2007
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Rated: Adult

A battle begins between Shane, who knows what he wants and Cassie, who tries to keep a distance between herself and the very handsome sheriff. But Cassies ex is back and he wants her dead. Book Two of the Chase Brothers Cassie Gambol is on the run. In what seems like another lifetime, her ex-husband nearly ended her life and effectively ended her successful career as a vascular surgeon. But even though the justice system found him guilty of attempted murder, he fled while awaiting sentencing and Carly Sunderland became Cassie Gambol. Fleeing Los Angeles, she heads to small and off the map Petal, Georgia to start her life again. Shane Chase, a man whos held himself away from commitment since his fiance dumped him several years before knows the beautiful newcomer is hiding something. Hes wildly attracted to her strength and her underlying vulnerability as well. But the last thing Cassie wants is another big, overwhelming man who wants to control her life. A battle begins between Shane, who knows what he wants and Cassie, who knows she needs to do everything she can to keep a distance between herself and the very handsome sheriff. But Cassies ex is back and he wants her dead. Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, graphic language, some violent situations.

The Winners!

Congrats to Belinda and Lori!  Belinda won a copy of the interactive CD and Lori won the signed book!  Thanks to everyone who entered! I have received info from both!  Thanks guys!

Hunters & Prey Blog Tour with author Katie Salidas with Giveaway!

I'm excited to be part of the blog tour featuring the second edition to the Immortalis series by Katie Salidas.  I would like to thank Katie for letting me review this book.  It was a wonderful read.  So, if you haven't heard of Katie before let me introduce you!

A bit about Katie:

The youngest of four children, Katie has always had a desire to entertain. Since, early childhood, she's dreamed fantastical characters and scribbled them into pages of various journals and notebooks. Taking an interest in vampires, she devoured every book, featuring those blood sucking creatures, in any genre she could find.
It was only natural that a love of reading vampire stories, turned into a love to write them.

Katie is also a Las Vegas native, having grown up in the famed City of Sin. She loves to feature it as a recurring setting for many of her stories. 


About the book:

Released: December 14, 2010
Publisher: Rising Sign Books
Rated: Adult

The exciting sequel to Immortalis Carpe Noctem.

Becoming a vampire saved Alyssa from death, but the price was high: the loss of everything and everyone attached to her mortal life. She's still learning to cope when a surprise confrontation with Santino Vitale, the Acta Sanctorum's most fearsome hunter, sends her fleeing back to the world she once knew, and Fallon, the friend she's missed more than anything.

Alyssa breaks vampire law by revealing her new, true self to her old friend, a fact which causes strong division in the group that should support her most: her clan. Worse yet, her revelation entangles Fallon in the struggle between vampires and hunters and The Acta Sanctorum is ready to attack again, with a new army of hybrid creations: the Frenzy Soldiers.

If Alyssa hopes to survive and keep her mortal friend safe, she'll have to be willing to make a deal with the enemy, and regain her clan's support. It will take everyone working together in a precarious truce to fight against the Acta Sanctorum's new threat.

My Review:

How the mighty has fallen! I liked the twist to the story in this follow up in the Immortalis series. This kept me entertained all the way through the book. I think this should be a very interesting story for future books in this series and I'm interested to see what becomes of the Acta Sanctorum.

I didn't think I would, but I liked the fact that Alyssa feeds only on bad guys. I'm not usually fond of vampires killing their meals, but I found this worked for me. I found Alyssa's will to not harm the innocent to be a great characteristic and shows her to be strong willed, not only to her mate, but to herself as well.

I would have liked to have seen Alyssa grow a bit more as a vampire (ie, training) but the author seems to have this in the bag for later and I'm excited to see the vampire that Alyssa could be.

My Rating:

 

Now time for the giveaway!

Katie has generously offered up an Interactive CD containing the first two books in the series, Immortalis: Carpe Noctem and Immortalis: Hunters & Prey!  

I will be giving away my signed copy of Hunter's & Prey as well!  Warning: It may be stained with teardrops as I try to part with it!

To enter, just comment and include your email address.  You have 24 hours to respond before I move on to someone else for the prize.  Contest will go through the Monday, Feb 7th and I will be drawing a winner on Tuesday the 8th!  You can get extra entries for each site you post this to.  Just leave a seperate comment for each site (along with your email).  You do not need to be a follower, but I would appreciate the follow if you like what you see on my blog!

*Edit: The contest is International!* 

Giving Chase by Lauren Dane

Released: September 19, 2006
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Rated: Adult

Together they find a special love-can it survive the threat stalking her? Some small towns grow really good looking men! This is the case with the four Chase brothers. The home grown hotties are on the wishlist of every single woman in town and Maggie Wright is no exception. Maggie has finally had it with the men she's been dating but a spilled plate of chili cheese fries drops Shane Chase right into her lap. The sheriff is hot stuff but was burned by a former fiancie and is quite happy to play the field. After Shane's skittishness sends him out the door, Maggie realizes that Kyle Chase has had his eye on her from the start. Now that Shane has messed up, Kyle has no intention of letting anything stop him from wooing her right into his bed. Despite Maggie's happiness and growing love with Kyle, a dark shadow threatens everything-she's got a stalker and he's not happy at all. In the end, Maggie will need her wits, strength and the love of her man to get her out alive. Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, graphic language, and some violent situations.

For a Few Demons More by Kim Harrison

Released: March 20, 2007
Publisher: Eos
Rated: Adult

Despite dating one vampire and living with another, Rachel Morgan has always managed to stay just ahead of trouble . . . until now. A fiendish serial killer stalks the Hollows, and no one living in or around Cincinnati—human, inhuman, or undead—is safe. An ancient artifact may be the key to stopping the murderer—a mysterious relic that is now in the hands of Rachel Morgan, fearless independent bounty hunter and reckless witch. But revealing it could ignite a battle to the death among the vast and varied local supernatural races. Rachel's been lucky so far. But even she can't hide from catastrophe forever.