Guest Blogger: Tori of Book Faery

Today I welcome Tori from Book Faery! Put down your bags, pull up a chair and tell me a story!

When Amy first reminded me that I agreed to do a guest post, I thought to myself "Oh CRAP! What on earth am I going to talk about?" For you see, dear readers, it's not every day that I get asked to write on someone's blog, and I don't usually go around volunteering to do posts. Why? For this exact reason: I never know what to say.

So, after munching on some watermelon (because boooy was it hot today in New York), and staring at a blank word document for quite some time, it came to me: why not talk about my favorite books and authors? I'm sure that we can all relate with one another in that regard, and maybe we even have similar tastes. So here is my top five list of all time favorite books, and then following that is my list of favorite authors.


Tori's Top 5 Favorite Books


1) Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night by Kresley Cole
I've re-read this book 10 or 11 times now, and neither the hero or heroine have worn on me. Bowen and Mariketa (who has the coolest name ever!), for whatever reason, have squirmed their witchy-wolfy selves and made a comfortable little home within my heart. For someone like me, who NEVER re-reads books, I have to admit that I'm amazed at how I still look back on their story and love so fondly. You'd think it was me falling in love with Bowen, or something.





2) Enclave by Ann Aguirre
One of my absolute favorite YAs and definitely my favorite dystopian. Ann doesn't focus on the romance as much as she does on the worldbuilding, and I think that this is what makes the book so refreshing and powerful for me. I felt the desolation that these characters felt. I got nervous, and I also felt my heart pumping as they confronted the Freaks (which is just a fancy name for zombies). If there's one dystopian that I'd suggest to readers, it would be ENCLAVE. This series is sure to get any and all readers hooked--even if they don't typically enjoy the genre.




3) The Darkest Whisper by Gena Showalter
Sabin is one sexy hero in this paranormal romance. Surprisingly enough, he's my absolute favorite--which is funny, because I HATED him with a passion for such a long time. I hated him so much that I refused to ever buy or read his book. Then, upon reading the following book, I felt guilty for not giving him a chance. Lo and behold, I was hooked.









4) Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Ahhh, now this is a contemporary, and totally deviates from the norm for me. The way that Stephanie captured Paris made me not only fall in love with the city and made me feel like I was actually there, but it also made me want to marry a British boy. This book rekindled my obsession with accents, and it definitely encouraged my desire to study abroad. If you're looking for a book that makes you feel like you've escaped to another country, this one is it, folks.







5) Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel
If I had to summarize this book in two words, I would say it is breathtakingly beautiful. Rebecca's got a way with words and captured the senses perfectly. She painted such strong images within my mind that I not only lost track of time, but I got so emotionally invested with the story that I literally screamed when it ended so abruptly. Thankfully, the second book in the series is available, so new readers won't have to wait for very long :)




Tori's Auto-Buy Authors

1) Kresley Cole
It doesn't matter if she's got a paperback (which is what most of her Immortals After Dark series is), or if she's suddenly switching over to hardcover (like her Lothaire title). I will buy every single book she's got. Her Immortals After Dark series is still refreshingly new 10 books in, which is somewhat of a rarity when it comes to longer series. Nothing is redundant, and every single book has at least five moments where I'm cracking up hysterically because of her crazy immortals. I believe Kresley is the queen of paranormal romance.

2) Gena Showalter
I guess I'm a paranormal romance junkie, even after all these years. I discovered Gena through one of Kresley's books, and I've got to say that her Immortal warriors are hotties. Like Kresley, Gena's got great story-lines and funny/witty characters. Plus, this woman can write books fast! I'm incredibly jealous at how fast she churns books out, and I'm also ecstatic, because that means more for me to read, woo hoo.

3) Tricia Rayburn
Not only is she a sweetheart, but she's an excellent writer! To say that I went rabid at BEA11 (in order to get UNDERCURRENT) would be an understatement. I was freaking out Wednesday morning and refused to wait on any lines because I feared I would miss her signing. Luckily, I didn't, and she was so kind and thoughtful I wanted to give her a huge hug. As for her series about a siren, SIREN is an excellent book I'd highly recommend to any reader who enjoys paranormal stories. I actually felt like I was on or near the beach while reading, and could swear at times that I was experiencing summer.

4) Anne Bishop
Anne wrote the Black Jewels Trilogy, which I read while I was still in high school. It completely floored me due to the brutal sex scenes and treatment of the heroes. Interestingly enough, all the protags are men. I don't like reading about men all the time in a book, but in this series, I LOVED it! The heroes always have hilarious moments guaranteed to make me crack a smile or say "aww!!" out loud. And while the series is not as intense as it was in the past (since everyone is essentially living their "happily ever after" with a dosage of drama here and there), I don't care. I would keep buying books from this series, even if all that happened was someone having to go buy a tampon and not having enough money for it...or something. That's how much I love these characters.

5) Sharon Ashwood
Sharon is a new-ish paranormal romance author, but she's an excellent writer. Her debut floored me, and is one of my all-time favorite PNRs. I can't believe, whenever I read her books, how much I love her heroes and heroines. She is definitely an up and coming author, and I highly suggest that anyone who's craving a new voice check her series out.


So, you've all seen who/what my favorites are. What are your top 5 books and who are your top 5 auto-buy authors?

Thank you for visiting today, Tori! I hope you all enjoyed learning about "Tori's Top Five" picks as much as I did!