GIVEAWAY: Archangel's Blade by Nalini Singh

As you probably know we are HUGE fans of Nalini Singh. Since we can’t wait to read her new book Archangel’s Blade, we decided to throw a little giveaway because we have been waiting for this book ever since we first read about Dmitri and we want to share our excitement with all of you. 

If you want a chance to win it just leave a comment telling us which one would you rather be: vampire, angel or human? Leave the comment and fill in the form after the break, there are extra entries available if you want to increase your chances.

Synopsis:

Trying to discover the identity of a murder victim brings together the vampire Dmitri and a hunter for the Guild, Honor. And as the gruesome murders continue, a lethal sensuality explodes between them.

Archangel's Blade by Nalini Singh

Berkley. September 6, 2011.

Review: Bear, Otter, and the Kid by T.J. Klune (or more like review of the movie Shelter)

ETA: I have changed the final grading to 1, I enjoyed the book immensely but it turns out the plot was “borrowed” from the movie Shelter. Plagiarism is a terrible thing, perhaps said borrowing of a plot and changing a couple of things here and there including names is not illegal, but to me is unethical and just plain wrong. Writing is all about originality, stealing someone else’s idea makes you a thief not a writer, it may not be this way for everyone, including this Dreamspinner Press editor, but it is to me. What a shame. 


ETA 2: Dreamspinner Press has issued a response, which you can read it here. In addition, they are offering a free download of the book for a limited time, so that readers can form their own opinions. After watching the movie I can say that the book borrows heavily from it and that all this mess could have been avoided if the author had at least acknowledged where he got his inspiration. If you don't want to read the book or watch the movie, you can always read this post that lists all the similarities. 

Source: we received an e-ARC of the book through NetGalley for review purposes.

Everything about this book appealed to me. The cover, the blurb, the genre, when I saw it I just had to read it, I felt like the cat that found the golden catnip. I love contemporary romances with clever children, guys struggling to raise them and friends-to-lovers stories, and this book had all of that and more. This is T.J. Klune’s first book and he did a fantastic job, enough to make it into my top 10 best books of the year and into my auto-buy list.

If you read the synopsis you will know that the book is about Bear who at 17 gets a letter from his mom telling him that she is leaving with her lowlife boyfriend and that she’s leaving his 6 year old brother Ty -aka the Kid- with him. Three years latter Bear is raising his precocious brother, working at a grocery store and living a very regular and stale life. He has a girlfriend and a best friend who have been with him since he was a kid and who have helped him with the Kid, and he also has Otter. Well, he doesn’t really have him because for the past three years he’s been living in San Diego and even though he was also one of his closest friends and probably the one he relayed the most on, things are really complicated between them. But everything is about to change because Otter is back in town.

Follow My Book Blog Friday! (08/26 to 09/02)

Today’s feature blog is Caught in the Pages, remember to head over there and follow!

This week’s question is:

Q. In books like the Sookie Stackhouse (True Blood) series the paranormal creature in question “comes out of the closet” and makes itself known to the world. Which mythical creature do you wish would come out of the closet, for real?

Maybe some type of wish-fulfilling being, like genies or fairies, that way we could enslave them and make all our dreams come true… I’m just kidding, that would be cruel and inhuman (well, let’s face it, not thaaat inhuman, it would probably happen). I also like hot vampires and hot werewolves, as long as they are hot I don’t care what type of creature they are.

Review: Barefoot in the Grass by Judith Arnold

I have loved everything I have read by this author but her books are really hard to find so I has very happy to see that she was publishing some of her older books. I got them all except this one because for some weird reason it wasn’t available on Kindle. So I waited, and waited a little more and since the book was still MIA I contacted the author. She told me that there were some formatting issues and that it would probably be available again in about a week. Since it’s evident that I have a serious book-addiction I couldn’t wait anymore and ended up buying the PDF version from Smashwords just to realize that it was finally available on Kindle. I know this seems like a long story and too much trouble for a little novel right? Well, let me tell you that the book was worth it more that I even imagined.

Review: Only Yours by Susan Mallery

Source: we received an e-ARC of the book through NetGalley for review purposes.

Susan Mallery has created a wonderful town. Because this is an ongoing series I think is very important not only to create good storylines but also to have a perfect background, otherwise it would be very easy to get bored. Fool’s Gold is a wonderful place to set these stories and that is why I’m very happy to see that Susan isn’t ready to move out of town yet.

Only Yours is book two in this new trilogy featuring the Hendrix sisters. Montana has been trying to find herself for a while now. Unlike her very driven sisters she didn’t really know what she wanted to do in life until she met Max and his dogs. Now she has finally found her niche training therapy dogs, and she loves it. After a very disastrous first encounter involving an unruly puppy and the hospital’s pediatric burn unit, she meets Dr. Simon Bradley. This guy is not only the most beautiful man she has ever seen but the crankiest as well (although after what the dog does he has every reason to be mad). Simon also has a terrible scar in half his face. Despite the very bad first impression they do feel attracted to each other, but Simon has more scars than the ones you can see in his body and so the road to their happily ever after won’t be an easy one.

Tiny hiatus...

Hey guys! I’m going out of town this week on a mini-vacation. I’ll be back on Sunday so this week there won’t be any new posts. I have a couple of reviews ready but I’ll post them next week so I can actually be there to answer comments and all that.

Marie is finishing her Master’s dissertation so that’s why you haven’t heard from her in a while.

I know you will miss us terribly and the separation will be unbearable but it’s just one week so hang on!

Meanwhile here’s a picture of a romance-loving cat for your entertainment.

Review: Too Hot To Touch by Louisa Edwards

I discovered Louisa’s books about a year ago when I bought a book called On the Steamy Side that seemed like an interesting read even though I wasn’t familiar with the author, it was one of those impulsive buys that turned out to be exactly what you needed. After finishing that book I devoured the second one and then spent a couple of months anxiously waiting for the release of the third one. I was super excited to hear that she was writing a new trilogy.

Edwards' specialty is gastronomy, her books always revolve around something food-related and her heroes are always chefs. This new book shows us yet another aspect of that fascinating world by taking place during a cooking competition.

Review: IOU, Sex by Calista Fox

Source: we received an e-ARC of the book through NetGalley for review purposes.

I requested this book because the synopsis had two of my favorite elements, friends to lovers and scorned lover seeking revenge. I enjoyed it a lot, because it is a novella the story is quite short and straightforward, there’s no drama and you know how it will end, but it had great characters and it was well written. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I really didn’t know what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised.

Fiona Carlisle needs a date for her sister’s enjoyment party. Since the fiancé used to be Fiona’s fiancé until she caught him having sex with her sister, she really wants to make an impression, not because she still has feelings but because she wants everyone to know that she is better off. The person she has in mind to be that date is Michael Houston. Michael is one of Fiona’s best friends and was her rebound guy after you broke up with the cheating boyfriend. They had a couple of weeks full of hot monkey sex but when she realized that she could love him (and this guy is the definition of love ‘em and leave ‘em) she got scared because she didn’t want her heart broken again. Michael agrees to be her date on one condition: she has to spend the weekend with him, on his bed.

Review: Turn It Up by Inez Kelley

Source: we received an e-ARC of the book through NetGalley for review purposes.

Inez Kelley’s books are among some of the best books I have read this year. The first one I read was Sweet as Sin and finding that book was the reader’s equivalent of love at first sight. After that, I have read and enjoyed almost everything she has written so when I saw this book on NetGalley I was very happy; in fact, I was so excited that I bought the book about five minutes before NetGalley approved me because I couldn’t wait.

Turn It Up is a friends-to-lovers story. Bastian and Charlie have been best friends for years, they have been there for one another during good times and bad times and have the easy camaraderie and trust that only comes after years of being together. They also work together as cohost of a radio show about sex.

Review: Tigers and Devils by Sean Kennedy

Source: we received an e-ARC of the book through NetGalley for review purposes.

I don’t know how this book managed to fly under my radar. I was browsing through Netgalley looking for an interesting m/m and this one caught my eye. After requesting it I googled it and it turns out that it was a very popular book and it had great reviews. Needless to say the reviews were spot on, after reading it I can honestly tell you that this is one of the best romances I have read all year.

When Simon Murray’s best friends dragged him to a party he had no idea that his life would change forever. As a huge Australian Rules football fan he finds himself defending (and kind of insulting at the same time) the game's biggest star from a group of people who were talking crap about him. The surprise comes when he realizes that said football star was also at the party and heard everything. Declan Tyler has been suffering from a serious case of bad luck in the game. Plagued by injuries he has to deal with the criticism and blame from the fans that once adored him, so when he hears Simon defending him but also treating him like a regular guy he feels fascinated by him. They develop a relationship but there are huge obstacles in their way, the main one being that Declan is closeted. The book is about two people falling in love and learning to deal with everything life throws at them, but it’s also a tale of friendship, growing up, and the sacrifices that come with that.

Follow My Book Blog Friday! (08/05 to 08/12)

Today’s featured blogger is Bonnie from Hands and Home. Remember to stop by and follow!

This week’s question is:

Q. Talk about the book that most changed or influenced your life (was it a book that turned you from average to avid reader, did it help you deal with a particularly difficult situation, does it bring you comfort every time you read it?).

I've been reading my whole life, but the first “adult” book I read was Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder (that book isn’t adult at all, I think kids and teenagers should read it an they would probably enjoyed it more than an adult). That book sealed the deal, first of all it was the longest book I had read in my life and I spend years considering majoring in philosophy (I ended up studying anthropology though).

Jude Deveraux’s Velvet Angel was the first romance novel I read, and since I’m obviously a huge fan of romance novels, then I think I have to mention that book as well.

That’s it. I have read tons of fantastic books, both fiction and non-fiction, I have read classics and best-sellers like The Da Vinci Code, I have enjoyed most of them, other I have regretted buying, but I wouldn’t have read any of those books had I not read Sophie’s World first.

Review: Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

I came across this book when it kept showing up on Amazon’s recommended reads, and I was curious because it had great reviews and the plot was very appealing. But the price was high for a Kindle book and I wasn't familiar with the author, so I was apprehensive about buying it. A couple of weeks ago Dear Author did a review of the book and I saw it like a signal from the Gods, so I bought it high price be damned. I’m so happy I got it because this book is worth its weight in gold.

Beth and Jennifer are best friends and co-workers. They e-mail each other constantly even though they know that their e-mails are being monitored for inappropriate work behavior (this goes from gossiping to watching porn, basically anything non work related gets flagged). The person in charge of reading the flagged e-mails is Lincoln. He did managed to warn Beth and Jennifer once, but every time he reads one of the e-mails he finds himself more and more involved because you see, he not only likes them, he is starting to feel attracted to Beth. Things get worse once Lincoln realizes that the cute guy Beth keeps talking about is actually him. Now he is in deep trouble because if and when Beth finds out about everything there is no way in hell for him to not look like a creepy jerk. 

Review: The Ideal Man by Julie Garwood

Source: we received an e-ARC of the book through NetGalley for review purposes.

I’m a huge fan of Julie Garwood; in fact, she is my all-time favorite historical romance author. I have also enjoyed her suspense novels, specially the whole Buchanan series. Her latest books have been a bit of a hit and miss for me, but because I have loved almost everything she’s written I was very happy to see this book available on NetGalley.

The heroine of The Ideal Man is Dr. Ellie Sullivan. While jogging in a park close to the hospital where she works, she witnesses a shooting. The victim turns out to be an FBI agent who was working on a case trying to catch a very famous couple of criminals. Because every single potential witness against these two criminals has ended up either dead or missing, Ellie gets placed under the custody of the FBI. The agent in charge is Max Daniels, there is an instant attraction between them but they have some things to resolve first, one of those things is that Ellie needs to attend her sister’s wedding while being targeted by the dangerous villains of the story.

Interview: Thea Harrison

Thea Harrison took the blogging world by storm when reviews of her new book, Dragon Bound, started showing up online earlier this year. Then, once the book was released, she took everybody else by storm with the fantastic world that she showed us. I honestly can’t stop talking about Dragon Bound and if you haven’t read it I think you should. Have you heard the phrase sexy beast? Well, that phrase takes on a whole new meaning once you read about the Wyrs.

As you can see I’m a huge fan, which is why I’m very happy to be doing this interview today. Please give a warm welcome to the wonderful Thea Harrison and remember that Storm’s Heart comes out tomorrow!