New Release! Vampire's Tango

Vampire's Tango by Michele Hauf is available Monday March 1st! Click on the book title above for more information on the novella eBook and links to purchase!

In celebration of the release Michele is having a one day Twitter contest on March 1st! Please visit her blog here for more information!

Here is the contest information:
This contest takes place Monday, March 1st.  Follow Michele on Twitter @michelehauf .  All you have to do to be entered to win a copy of HER VAMPIRE HUSBAND  is RT (retweet) any of Michele's posts about Vampire's Tango  on Monday.  She has 4 posts planned, starting in the morning through afternoon.  Each post has a link to learn more about the story, watch a video, or even to download free music at Amazon.  Help Michele spread the word!  For every RT, you're entered once.  You can only RT 4 messages.  She'll draw names on Tuesday, March 2nd and announce winners on Twitter.  There may be as many as 5 WINNERS!

Review: Greywalker

Greywalker
Kat Richardson

Recovering from a near-fatal accident, Seattle Private Investigator Harper Blaine develops the ability to move through the Grey: the realm of ghosts, vampires, witches, and magic that exists between our world and the next. Harper wants her life to return to normal, but when her clients turn out to be paranormal, the reluctant Greywalker is drawn into the affairs of ambitious vampires and angry ghosts. As her cases converge, Harper uncovers a plot that threatens Seattle’s Grey world and must choose between honor and survival. Source: www.katrichardson.com

Greywalker is a spooky book. A true alternative reality is created by Kat Richardson in this novel. The book is literally filled with ghosts, smoke and mirrors. The main character Harper was a mystery  for me the entire book. You do not get much background on her and all of the supporting cast are as new to Harper as they are to the reader. Though interesting it did made the book a bit harder to follow. Many of the characters were developed enough by the end of the book to give me a good feel of them.

Both the beginning and the end of the book were exciting and explosive. The middle seemed a bit "grey". It almost seems to be a struggle to read as Harper tries to live with her new reality. She is also terrorized and stalked but I never got a real feel for who, what or why Harper was a target. She acts very disjointed about the disruption in her like. She just keeps picking up the pieces and going on as if nothing has changed. I am not sure if this makes her incredibly strong or dense.  In my eyes, Harper was very neutral throughout the book. She gets upset, but can shut it off instantaneously. She experiences moments of fear, pain, and desperation, but they all pass quickly. At times I wanted to take the book and thump her over the head with it.

As a whole, I will admit that I did not love the book. I did not hate it either. The writing was incredibly and the analogies where awesome. At one point a character is described as looking down at her thoughts or memories. The descriptions for scenes were well done and transported me into many places and times easily. I will admit there were even words used which I did not know the meaning of. It was refreshing to read an author who was not afraid to use "big" words. I will continue with the series and look forward to seeing how Harper grows.

Intense Whispers:

"Are you afraid of me?" I waved a hand over my body. "Look at me–an ex-dancer with a run in her stockings and rips in her blouse. Why should you be scared of me? You're the vampire, the transcender of death. Who the hell am I?"

~ page 158

Dejected, Mara set in the front seat. "I wish I could have Ben with me... though you look like you'll need more help than I. You look one step from dead."
"I think I felt better when I was."
~ page 322
  
Part of the NAC Mini-Challenge: League of Reluctant Adults

IMM: In My Mailbox 02/22/10

The Master by Jean Johnson

Mark of the Demon by Diana Rowland
Child of Darkness by Jennifer Armintrout
Three Days to Dead by Kelly Meding
Veil of Shadows by Jennifer Armintrout
Ravenous by Sharon Ashwood
Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs
The Phoenix Charm by Helen Scott Taylor"
Magic to the Bone by Devon Monk
Crashed (ARC) by Robin Wasserman
Anastasia's Secert (ARC) by Susanne Dunlap
Shadowglass (ARC) bu Erica Hayes
Magic Under Glass (ARC) by Jaclyn Dolamore
Goddess of the Sea by P.C. Cast
The Black Dagger Brotherhood an Insider's Guide by J.R. Ward
Possess Me at Midnight by Shayla Black
Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night
Seduce Me in Shadow by Shayla Black
Tempt Me with Darkness by Shayla Black


IMM: 2/23/10
Highland Obsession by Dawn Halliday
Highland Surrender (ARC) by  Dawn Halliday

IMM: 2/25/10 - 2/27/10
Night Keepers by Jessica Andersen
Dawn Keepers by Jessica Andersen
Taming the Highland Bride by Lynsay Sands

Wow! What a mail day the 22nd was. Is it Christmas? My Birthday? Nope! Just a very happy book day for me! These books were acquired from Paperback Swap.com trading and contests.

IMM: In My Mailbox 02/16/10

The Accidental Demon Slayer by Angie Fox
Real Vampires Live Large by Gerry Bartlett
Swallowing Darkness by Laurell K. Hamilton

IMM: 02/18/10
At Twilight by Maggie Shayne
I Love This Bar (ARC) by Carolyn Brown
Cowboy Trouble by Joanne Kennedy

Excerpt from Shiloh Walker's: Broken

Shattered

Quinn Rafferty is working as a bounty hunter and bail bondsman in St. Louis when a new neighbor catches his eye. He’s tempted by her beauty—but he knows from experience that anyone desperate enough to live in his building is damaged goods. Besides, he has his own soul to mend before he can worry about anyone else.

Desperate

Sara Davis is on the run, but not for the usual reasons a woman goes on the lam. She’s not an abused wife, and she’s not a criminal. But she does have a plan for her future. And as much as she finds herself attracted to her gruff, tough neighbor, she can’t risk telling him the secrets she’s hiding. There’s just too much at stake.

Driven to desire…

But Quinn must get closer to Sara when she turns out to be the target of his new missing persons case, and he discovers that there is something more complex and dangerous to her than he thought. Now, both Quinn and Sara will have to expose their true feelings—as well as their fragile hearts—if they hope their love will survive…

EXCERPT

He opened the door—
And stopped dead in his tracks as somebody all but fell into his arms. Somebody…a woman. And not Theresa.
He caught her just above her elbows, automatically steadying her.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice soft and low.
Then she lifted her face and Quinn found himself gazing into the biggest, brownest eyes he’d ever seen in his life. Feeling a little dazed, he studied her face while she stammered out another apology.
Quinn barely heard it.
He was too busy staring at her mouth. A very pretty mouth, a cupid’s bow mouth slicked with deep, vibrant red. Under his hands, he could feel silken smooth skin and unable to resist, he stroked a thumb along her inner arm.
Her skin was soft, soft and warm. He was also pretty sure she had the creamiest, most flawless skin imaginable. Her shoulder-length hair was a shade caught between blonde and brown, nondescript, but for some reason, he found himself thinking about tangling his fingers in that hair and holding her head still while he kissed that red-slicked mouth.
Well, hello…

read more…

Tossed and Found

Valentines day, what does it mean to you? As I do not celebrate the holiday or occasion with my husband, it is just the day I put a little red heart on the calendar. I have been married for 14 years and was married at the age of 19. We have made a wonderful life together and I have discovered many types of love since marrying my husband and having our two children.

What is Love to me:
• Love is hearing my daughter laugh and seeing my son smile
• Love is witnessing human compassion and selflessness
• Love is an unexpected nuzzle and kiss
• Love is hearing someone sing when they are unaware
• Love is watching my children sleep
• Love is making my husband's eyes twinkle with delight
• Love is loyal, selfless and unbending

This morning I saw a pile of our clothing on the floor in the morning and thought that love is also tossed laundry. Can anything be more romantic than jeans haphazardly dropped, covered by the hint of pink lace and draped with the quintessential black bra? Love is seeing your husband crawl under the covers looking for your lost underthings.

Love is like our clothing, often tossed but always found. A shelter, a comfort, and completely essential. Love can be dirty, rich, used, frilly and deceiving. So choose your clothes carefully, you never know whose garments they may mingle with tomorrow morning.

Happy Valentines Day

Review: The Becoming

The Becoming
Jeanne C. Stein

Thirty year old Anna Strong is a bounty hunter-- tough, confident, at the top of her game. But when she is attacked one night in a parking lot, her life is inexorably changed. She awakens in the hospital to find she has become Vampire and her destiny is no longer with the living, but among the undead. With her mentor, the vampire doctor who treated her in the hospital, she strives to make sense of it all. But then her home is burned to the ground, and her business partner and best friend is kidnapped. Anna suddenly finds herself alone on a quest to save more than her missing friend, but herself as well. Source: Jeanne Stein.com

The Becoming is unlike any vampire fantasy books I have read to date. One of the first things that threw me was that it is written in first person and in present tense. It took some time to get accustomed to the flow of the writing but once I got going I could not set the book down. I enjoyed that I could really feel and experience the book in a very different manner. Almost like an out-of-body experience. I was observing Anna at the same time I know everything she was thinking and feeling. I can certainly understand why some may be uncomfortable with reading the first person perspective, but as the book went on I could not imagine it written any other way.

The Becoming reads like a great movie that you know there will be a sequel for. Questions are left unanswered and the story basis is left wide open for new Anna Strong books. Jeanne Stein does an awesome job leading the reader into Anna’s world and keeping it engrossing. I believe this is the first vampire mystery book I have read. A true who-done-it book. It is suspenseful, exciting and passionate. The book reminds me of a storm. You know it is coming, there is an intensity and foreboding in the air, but you are helpless to stop it. Anna cannot stop the storm that becomes her new life either.

The vampire myths and legends are fun to read in the book as well. There are many concepts that were approached in a different manner then I have previously read. The vampires have no reflections, which yes I have heard of, but all of the other authors I have read did not write it in. There are also hints of the effect of sun and garlic being an issue, but neither is mentioned in any finite fashion. The use of coffins is also addressed, but not in a way you would expect. Because Anne does not know what to except as a newbie vampire, the reader does not either.

I cannot wait to learn more about Anna, her abilities and the mysterious Casper. I encourage anyone with a passion for reading the paranormal to check this read out!

Intense Whispers:
How I became, and what is the nature of my existence, is the reason for this story. I tell it the way it happened so you will learn the truth as I did. It may not be what you expect.
~ page 1, forward

In a few days, though, it will be a month since I last fed. The hunger is coming. I feel it. I can only hope Casper is right.
~ page 293, afterword

Part of the NAC Mini-Challenge: League of Reluctant Adults

Teaser Tuesday (5) - The Becoming

The Becoming by Jeanne C. Stein:

Avery has grown very still. He listens intently, brows furrowed, allowing nothing of what he's feeling to come through.

It confirms that my read on the situation is correct. I move to meet him at the door and he finally opens his thoughts.

~ Page 93

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly event created by MizB of Should Be Reading

IMM: In My Mailbox 02/09/10

And Falling, Fly by Skyler White
Darkness Revealed by Alexandra Ivy
Slave Trade by Susan Wright

IMM: 02/11/10
Dangerous Highlander by Donna Grant

IMM: 02/12/10
Bound to Shadows by Keri Arthur
Shadowfae by Erica Hayes


IMM: 02/13/10
The Good Girls Guide to Getting Kidnapped by Yxta Maya Murray

Crossroads: Moira Rogers Release Feb 9th

Crossroads by Moria Rogers is released for sale on February 9th, 2010. Buy it here!

Please visit her blog for more information and a sneak peek at the first two chapters!

My Vampire Valentine

Contest art for My Bloody Valentine hosted by VampChix. Contest runs till Feb 12, 2010.

Concept Book Cover II

These are two concept book covers which were created for contests.

The books represented are:

Perchance to Dream by Lisa Mantchev

Because Your Vampire Said So by Michele Bardsley

The contest blog links are:

Backstage at the Théâtre Illuminata and The Qwillery

The contest for Michele Bardsley inspired art has ended, but Lisa's contest has just started.

BUTTERFLY TATTOO by Deidre Knight

Butterfly Tattoo by Deidre Knight

Just when the darkness seems permanent, fate flips a switch.

Michael Warner has been drifting in a numb haze since his lover was killed by a drunk driver. As the anniversary of the wreck approaches, Michael’s grief grows more suffocating. Yet he must find a way through the maze of pain and secrets to live for their troubled young daughter who struggles with guilt that she survived the crash.

Out of the darkness comes a voice, a lifeline he never expected to find—Rebecca O’Neill, a development executive in the studio where Michael works as an electrician.

Rebecca, a former sitcom celebrity left scarred from a crazed fan’s attack, has retreated from the limelight and from life in general, certain no man can ever get past her disfigurement. The instant sparks between her and Michael, who arrives to help her during a power outage, come as a complete surprise—and so does her uncanny bond with his daughter.

For the first time, all three feel compelled to examine their inner and outer scars in the light of love. But trust is hard to come by, especially when you’re not sure what to believe when you look in the mirror. The scars? Or the truth?

Now available in print at Borders, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million. 

Desperation

A deep, fathomless cavern
My heart, my life
Heart beats desperately
Dark and alone
Waiting, waiting for peace
Peace of heart, peace of soul

A wish just beyond my grasp
Damp tears streak my face
The splash of desperation
A gasp for salvation
Waiting, waiting for peace
Peace to flow, peace to take

A melody of grief
I close my life
My desperation fades
Hallow and without color
Waiting, waiting for peace
Peace from desperation

Teaser Tuesday (4) - Swimming without a Net

Swimming without a Net by MaryJanice Davidson:

"Is that what you're going to get up there and say? 'Hi, my name is Fred, my dad tried to kill the royal family and I'm not sure if you should speak up or stay hidden.' Hmm, that might actually make Artur fall out of love with you." Jonas began excitedly jumping around the URV. That could do the trick!"

~ Page 157

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly event created by MizB of Should Be Reading.

IMM: In My Mailbox 02/01/10

Slave by Cheryl Brooks

Let the Right One In by John Lindqvist

IMM: 02/02/10
A Lick of Frost by Laurell K. Hamilton

IMM: 02/04/10
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
Proof of Seduction by Courtney Milan
Gentlemen Prefer Succubi by Jill Myles

IMM: 02/06/10
Dayhunter by Jocelynn Drake
Born of Ice by Sherrilyn Kenyon