September 30, 2009

Review and Giveaway: Tall, Dark & Fangsome by Michelle Rowen

WINNERS: Crystal in Kentucky, Mary in Illinois, Tawanda in Pennsylvania, Terri and Renee in Canada





Still dealing with the nightwalker curse that a witch put on her, Sarah Dearly is desperate to reverse it since she just found out that the necklace keeping the monster inside her under control is losing its power. Turning to The Darkness, a wizard that can reverse the curse, seems like it good idea until she finds out there are side effects. Not to mention that former vampire hunter Gideon Chase is expecting Sarah to sire him to rid his body of the pain he feels from the hellfire that invaded his body when he vanquished a demon.

Plus Sarah is now being shadowed by The Red Devil. The vigilante vampire asked to look after Sarah by her currently off again boyfriend, Thierry. The Red Devil just might keep her from completing either task which will have dire consequences.

OMG! I had no idea the Immortality Bites series was ending with this book. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED Tall Dark & Fangsome but I’m devastated that the series won’t continue. Sarah, George, Amy, Thierry and even Barry and Veronique are such fun characters that I fell in love with them and the series from the first book.

I really enjoyed the way Rowen wrapped up all the cliff hangers and made the storylines come to a natural ending. I can’t wait to read more of Rowen’s books and sincerely hope that Sarah and the others make it back into print soon. This book and entire series are a must read if you love paranormal books.

To enter to win one of five copies of this book tell me that name of any series that you have loved reading.

For extra entries Tweet about this giveaway using the "ShareThis" button at the end of the post or tweet your own message. Just be sure to leave me the link to your Tweet in a separate comment. Twitter entry can be done once a day for maximum entries!

Giveaway open to US and Canada only. Please, no PO Boxes. Winners will be selected October 9th and will have 48 hours to respond to the winning email. Please be sure to leave me an email address in your comment if it's not in your profile or your post using anonymous.


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September 24, 2009

Review: The Witch's Guide to Cooking with Children by Keith McGowan




In this modern retelling of Hansel and Gretel Sol and Connie Blink move to the town of Schoneberg with their Dad and step-mom. Sol is an 11-year-old whiz kid who looks after his trouble making eight-year-old sister and together they set out to explore the neighborhood.

Little do they know that their Dad and step-mom have an ulterior motive behind moving to Schoneberg and when Sol meets neighbor Fay Holaderry, he has his suspicions about the kind of bone her dog is gnawing on.

Determined to get to the bottom of the situation they discover Fay’s journal and it soon becomes clear what their Dad has planned but will they make it out alive before it’s too late?

The Witch’s Guide to Cooking with Children reminds me of the Goosebumps books that my son and I used to read. It was a very light scary story toned way down for kids. Spaced throughout the book we get to read little bits of the witch’s journal and I really enjoyed those sections since they were whimsical enough to get a chuckle.

I did think the story was a little bit choppy and it didn’t flow well in some parts but I don’t think younger readers would notice or mind that at all. The illustrations by Yoko Tanaka were very well done. The kids faces were a little bit creepy looking but it matched the tone of the story well. Overall this is a recommended read for kids aged 10 and up.

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September 23, 2009

Complete: My 2009 eBook Reading Challenge


I've completed one more challenge by reading at least 12 e-books this year. I'll continue the list here and have the sidebar link to this post since I know I'll be reading a couple more e-books before the year is up. By completing this challenge I have just one more to finish this year.

  1. Invisible - Kimber Chin

  2. Dirty Little Angels - Chris Tusa

  3. Pleasure Unbound - Larissa Ione

  4. The Blue Pen - Lisa Rusczyk

  5. Host - Stephenie Meyer

  6. The Elf and The Princess - Anna del C. Dye

  7. Trouble in Elf City - Anna del C. Dye

  8. Elfs in a Conquered Realm - Anna del C. Dye

  9. Str8te Boys - Evangeline Anderson

  10. Man of Her Dreams - Robie Madison

  11. Selling Forever - Kimber Chin

  12. My Soul to Lose - Rachel Vincent

  13. Romeos Dead but Juliet Faked It - Christine McKay

  14. Raising Atlantis - Thomas Greanias


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September 20, 2009

Review: Raising Atlantis by Thomas Greanias



When an earthquake in Antarctica reveals a mysterious monument, the US Military sends a team to investigate. Having a military presence in Antarctica is strictly forbidden by NATO so the operation is highly secret.

The man in charge of this operation, General Yeats sends for his adopted son, archaeologist Dr. Conrad Yeats to assist in the discovery. Meanwhile the Vatican gets wind of the activity in Antarctica and sends in the former nun and current environmental activist, Dr. Serena Serghetti who just so happens to have a past with Conrad.

Together they discover that the monument is the top of pyramid larger than any found in Egypt. After gaining access inside it becomes clear that they just may have found the lost city of Atlantis. But unearthing the city will cause catastrophic changes to the environment and leave those in the lost city in a position of power and they’re not the only ones aware of this fact.

I loved the premise and the storyline but some parts of the book just didn’t work for me. A lot of what Conrad did to discover the lost city and while inside it was very technical and dealt with astrology and the information wasn’t explained properly. One minute we’re getting just bare bones about what’s going on and the next moment Conrad is spinning obelisks and opening walls. The explanations just didn’t fit with the action. Those parts of the story just didn’t mesh for me. Other than that it was a great action story and I’ll definitely be reading the next two books in the series, The Atlantis Prophecy and The Atlantis Revelation.

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September 16, 2009

Review: The Rasner Effect by Mark Rosendorf



Author's Website



After a failed attempt to capture and disband a group of hired killers called The Duke Organization, Jake Scarberry is forced into the Witness Protection Program. Now all Jake has to look forward to is cleaning up after frat boys who party 24/7.

In the showdown between Jake and The Duke Organization a New York City bridge was blown up and many innocent people were killed. Luckily Rick Rasner survived the explosion but he has no memory of his former life.

After seven years have passed Rick has worked hard to remember his past but only has occasional blurry flashbacks that don't tell him anything about who he was. Now working as a therapist at Brookhill Children's Psychiatric Residence he has a chance to help others and he's drawn to fifteen-year-old Clara Blue.

The facilities director, Katherine Miller, seemingly has it in for Clara but Rick sees potential in her and sets about trying to make her life bearable while in the home but the remaining few members of The Duke Organization have finally tracked Rick down and they're coming for him sooner rather than later.

WOW! This book was a total shock. Nothing I imagined the story to be was what I expected. There are curve balls galore inside the pages but I can't reveal any of them without giving away any spoilers. There was a fast action-packed second half with a first half that gets you totally immersed in the characters. This is a must read for all suspense & thriller lovers.

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