On My Wishlist May 7, 2011

Dancia Lewis is far from popular. And that's not just because of her average grades or her less-than-glamorous wardrobe. In fact, Dancia's mediocrity is a welcome cover for her secret: whenever she sees a person threatening someone she cares about, things just...happen. Cars skid. Structures collapse. Usually someone gets hurt. So Dancia does everything possible to avoid getting close to anyone, belieiving this way she can supress her powers and keep them hidden.

 
But when recruiters from the prestigious Delcroix Academy show up in her living room to offer her a full scholarship, Dancia's days of living under the radar may be over. Only, Delcroix is a school for diplomats' kids and child geniuses--not B students with uncontrollable telekinetic tendencies. So why are they treating Dancia like she's special? Even the hottest guy on campus seems to be going out of his way to make Dancia feel welcome.


And then there's her mysterious new friend Jack, who can't stay out of trouble. He suspects something dangerous is going on at the Academy and wants Dancia to help him figure out what. But Dancia isn't convinced. She hopes that maybe the recruiters know more about her "gift" than they're letting on. Maybe they can help her understand how to use it...But not even Dancia could have imagined what awaits her behind the gates of Delcroix Academy.

The thrilling conclusion to #1 bestselling Shiver trilogy from Maggie Stievater
 
In Maggie Stiefvater's SHIVER, Grace and Sam found each other. In LINGER, they fought to be together. Now, in FOREVER, the stakes are even higher than before. Wolves are being hunted. Lives are being threatened. And love is harder and harder to hold on to as death comes closing in.
 

This thrilling sequel to the much-talked-about Nightshade begins just where it ended–Calla Tor wakes up in the lair of the Searchers, her sworn enemy, and she's certain her days are numbered. But then the Searchers make her an offer–one that gives her the chance to destroy her former masters and save the pack–and the man–she left behind. Is Ren worth the price of her freedom? And will Shay stand by her side no matter what? Now in control of her own destiny, Calla must decide which battles are worth fighting and how many trials true love can endure and still survive.
 

 


Her heart is going, going, gone…

As a tribute to her late father, a legendary sports journalist, Tuesday Jones is planning a cancer benefit, with racing memorabilia and a drivers’ meet and greet being auctioned off. Donating a vintage stock car is ex-racing star Diesel Lange. When Tuesday looks into his piercing blue eyes, she feels like it would be so easy to lose herself—but can she trust him with her fragile heart?

…and he’s about to make the greatest bid of his life.

Diesel Lange has had his own brush with death. After his accident, he knows he’s lucky to be alive, and he’s determined not to waste another minute of his life. Even though he’s retired, he still loves a thrill—and no one has set his heart racing like Tuesday Jones. He wants nothing more than to shift their romance into high gear, but he knows her heart is still aching with grief. Can Diesel do the one thing he could never do on the track—take it slow?

On My Wishlist is a fun weekly event hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It's where I list all the books I desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming. It's also an event that you can join in with too - Mr Linky is always at the ready for you to link your own 'On My Wishlist' post. If you want to know more click here.

Firelight by Sophie Jordan

Firelight
Sophie Jordan

RATING:4/5

Synopsis:

A hidden truth.
Mortal enemies.
Doomed love.

Marked as special at an early age, Jacinda knows her every move is watched. But she longs for freedom to make her own choices. When she breaks the most sacred tenet among her kind, she nearly pays with her life. Until a beautiful stranger saves her. A stranger who was sent to hunt those like her. For Jacinda is a draki—a descendant of dragons whose greatest defense is her secret ability to shift into human form.

Forced to flee into the mortal world with her family, Jacinda struggles to adapt to her new surroundings. The only bright light is Will. Gorgeous, elusive Will who stirs her inner draki to life. Although she is irresistibly drawn to him, Jacinda knows Will’s dark secret: He and his family are hunters. She should avoid him at all costs. But her inner draki is slowly slipping away—if it dies she will be left as a human forever. She’ll do anything to prevent that. Even if it means getting closer to her most dangerous enemy.

Mythical powers and breathtaking romance ignite in this story of a girl who defies all expectations and whose love crosses an ancient divide.

Review:
I received this ebook as part of Book Soulmates RAK program.  I had been wanting to read it for a very long time and I was beyond happy when a very nice individual offered to send it to me as an .epub file so I could read it on my Nook.  Yeah for the RAK program!

I started this book late yesterday morning and once I got started I just could NOT put it down.  I had to finish it, I had to know what was going to happen next!

Jacinda, one of our main characters, is a Draki.  Draki are descendents of dragons and can shift from draki form to human form.  As an unfortunate bonus for Jacinda she is a fire-breather, the first one in her pride in MANY generations.  Which makes her a valuable commodity to her pride…Much to Jacinda’s dismay, she’s not real thrilled about the fact that her mate has already been picked out for her. 

After a near brush with Draki death Jacinda’s mom decides that for her families safety they are going to move….to the desert….to try and kill Jacinda’s Draki.  Again, much to Jacinda’s dismay.

This is a really great opposites attract love story.  Jacinda is a Draki.  The boy, Will, that she is interested in is a Draki hunter.  Even though she knows she should avoid Will like the plague she can’t help her growing attraction to him.  What I really liked about this budding relationship was that through the whole thing Jacinda’s personality doesn’t change one bit.  She isn’t afraid to stand up to anyone, Will included.

Will was a great character too.  I really enjoyed him a lot.  Not only does he do something he really shouldn’t have done at the beginning of the story, he also has a secret.  One that you don’t find out about until almost the end of the book.  It’s a pretty good secret too.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book a lot.  I had never read a book about dragon/draki before and I found the mythology captivating.  Like I stated earlier, I had a very difficult time putting this book down.  I had to know what was going to happen next.  The only thing I didn’t really care for and it’s really a teeny tiny thing, was the cliff hanger ending.  I can hardly wait for the next book to come out!

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Anna and the French Kiss
Stephanie Perkins

RATING: 3.75/5

Synopsis:

Anna was looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. So she’s less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all . . . including a serious girlfriend.

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss? Stephanie Perkins keeps the romantic tension crackling and the attraction high in a debut guaranteed to make toes tingle and hearts melt.

Review:

I received Anna and the French Kiss a couple of weeks ago as part of Book Soulmates RAK program.  I had been wanting to read this book for a long time and I could never get my hands on a copy.  I am very happy that an unbelievable nice individual sent me this book as an .epub file so I could read it on my Nook.

I really wanted to love this book.  I really did.  I thought that all of the characters, even the not so good ones, were written in a way that made them seem like they are actual people and not fictional characters.  My personal favorite character was of course, St. Clair.  The good-looking American with an English accent and a French father that he doesn’t like.  At times I had a hard time liking Anna.  I thought she could get a little bit too whiney and wishy washy.

I really enjoyed the beginning and end of the book.  Though I did think that the middle was a little bit to repetitive.  Then there was Anna’s relationship with St. Clair….I thought that it was at times a little bit rough to the point of being rushed.

Overall, I did enjoy the book.  Once I got started reading it I had a hard time stopping, I just didn’t LOVE the book.  Though I can for sure say that I am looking forward to the next book by Stephanie Perkins.

Friday Follow and Book Blogger Hop

Q. Circle time! Time to share. What character in a book would you most like to be, what character in a book would you most like to date?

A.  a. I think the character in a book that I most would like to be is Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games trilogy.  In the beginning of the series she pretty much sticks to the straight and narrow even though she has moments where she gets off the beaten path and by the end of the series she's this strong powerful woman who is the leader of a whole movement.

     b. The character that I would most like to date? Ummmmm.....I think any of the brothers from the 

         Black Dagger Brotherhood fit the answer to this part of the question.  It doesn't hurt that they seem

         to be card carrying members of the "gifted and talented" club.  Who wouldn't want to take any of

         them into a dark corner and have there wicked way with them?

"Which book blogger would you most like to meet in real life?"
This one is easy for me.  I would LOVE to meet Kristi from The Story Siren, The Book Vixen from The Book Vixen, JuJu from Tales of Whimsy and Parajunkee from Parajunkee's View.  Each one of these bloggers have blogs that I get very excited to read and they always have new and interesting content.  Plus, they are bloggers that I have followed from the beginning!

I'm Back!

I'm back from my blogging vacation!  I was suffering from blogger burnout and it wasn't pretty.  On top of that my brother and his wife are in the process of buying their first home so we've been spending a lot of time looking at houses with them.  So I'm back and I'll be making some changes around here...I'll keep you up to date on those.

In My Mailbox April 17, 2011

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren.
This is what I got in my mailbox this week!  I hope you enjoy and I hope you got TONS of goodies in your mailbox!

*Purchased - Bound*



As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the great Depression, and for Jacob, now ninety, the circus world he remembers was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It was there that he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and, ultimately, it was their only hope for survival.

What if you knew exactly when you would die?

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home.

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limted time she has left.

Payne, twin sister of Vishous, is cut from the same dark, warrior cloth as her brother: A fighter by nature, and a maverick when it comes to the traditional role of Chosen females, there is no place for her on the Far Side… and no role for her on the front lines of the war, either.

When she suffers a paralyzing injury, human surgeon Dr. Manuel Manello is called in to treat her as only he can- and he soon gets sucked into her dangerous, secret world. Although he never before believed in things that go bump in the night- like vampires- he finds himself more than willing to be seduced by the powerful female who marks both his body and his soul.

As the two find so much more than an erotic connection, the human and vampire worlds collide … just as a centuries old score catches up with Payne and puts both her love and her life in deadly jeopardy.

*Purchased - EBooks*

Kendall Holbrook is determined to make it to the top, even with the challenge of being a woman on the male-dominated racing circuit. She doesn't have time for romance-especially not with racing rival Evan Monroe, the man who nearly crushed her dream years ago. Tricked into meeting him, Kendall is experiencing all those old feelings again-and she can't deny that they still have enough chemistry to set fire to the track.

 

*Free E-Books*

The first in a new erotic romance series, Backstage Pass is a sizzling mix of sex, love, and rock n' roll It's been months since Brian Sinclair, lead guitarist for the famous rock band, Sinners, composed anything. Unable to write the music that once flowed so naturally, Brian is lost without his musical mojo. But when sexy psychology professor Myrna Evans comes on tour to study groupie mentality, Brian may have found the spark he needs to reignite his musical genius. When lust turns to love, will Brian be able to convince Myrna that what they have is more than just a fling, and that now that he's found his heart's muse, he doesn't want to live without her?

*Library*

 

When you can see things others can't, where do you look for the truth?
 
This paranormal murder mystery will have teens reading on the edge of their seats.
 
Clarity "Clare" Fern sees things. Things no one else can see. Things like stolen kisses and long-buried secrets. All she has to do is touch a certain object, and the visions come to her. It's a gift.
 
And a curse.

When a teenage girl is found murdered, Clare's ex-boyfriend wants her to help solve the case--but Clare is still furious at the cheating jerk. Then Clare's brother--who has supernatural gifts of his own--becomes the prime suspect, and Clare can no longer look away. Teaming up with Gabriel, the smoldering son of the new detective, Clare must venture into the depths of fear, revenge, and lust in order to track the killer. But will her sight fail her just when she needs it most?

Erotic romance is one of the bestselling subgenres in the romance category. Olivia Cunning delivers the perfect blend of steamy sex, heartwarming romance, and a wicked sense of humor.

This second in the Sinners on Tour series features lead singer Sedric Lionheart who became a playboy after his fiancee, Jessica, broke his heart. Forced on a summer tour together for two entire months, but stubbornly desperate to stay apart, they find a million steamy reasons why they had that lovin' feeling in the first place.

Lover Revealed by J.R. Ward (BDB # 4) Mini Review

Title: Lover Revealed
Author: J.R. Ward
Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood #4


Synopsis:

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York there's a war raging between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defender of their race. But now an ally of the Brotherhood is about to encounter his own dark desire...

Butch O'Neal is a fighter by nature. A hard living, ex-homicide cop, he's the only human ever to be allowed in the inner circle of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. And he wants to go even deeper into the vampire world to engage in the turf war with the lessers. He's got nothing to lose. His heart belongs to a female vampire, Marissa, an aristocratic beauty who's way out of his league. If he can't have her, then at least he can fight side by side with the Brothers...

Fate curses him with the very thing he wants. When Butch sacrifices himself to save a civilian vampire from the slayers, he falls prey to the darkest force in the war. Left for dead, he's found by a miracle, and the Brotherhood calls Marissa to bring him back. But even her love may not be enough to save him...

Review:

I don't know what it was about this particular book in the series but I didn't think that it lived up to the three prior novels. I can honestly say that of the 4 books in the series that I've read so far this one is probably my least favorite.  In my opinion it started off slow and never really gained much steam the farther I got into the book.

I've always like Butch since he was first introduced into the series.  He was a "warrior" before he joined the BDB and all he really wants to do is help the BDB fight the lessers so he doesn't feel so much like a mooch.  Though I can honestly say that I'm only lukewarm on Marissa. SIDE NOTE: Her brother is my absolute LEAST favorite character in the whole series, he's such a pompous ass in my opinion.

Overall, I didn't hate this book.  I just prefer that when I read a romance I don't spend most of the book wishing the pace would pick up.  There were plenty of exciting parts and the ending, though a little predictable, was very good.  And as an added bonus we learn a little bit about Vishous' kinky side.

RATING:

3/5