New Header!

Hey, Everyone!

As you can see I got a new and vastly improved header for the blog! My friend Sarah did it for me, and if you're interested in updating your own blog, her rates are very, VERY reasonable!

Let me know what you all think!

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? (87)

This is a fun weekly meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

Books I read last week:
Love Story by Jennifer Echols
Lucky Penny by Catherine Anderson


The book I’m reading now:
Whisper No Lies:
AN INDECENT PROPOSAL...

When a high roller at the Vegas casino where Crystal Debrowski manages security makes a scandalous proposition, she flat-out refuses, especially given rumors of his shady overseas connections. But then counterfeit bills mysteriously flood the gaming tables, and her reputation — and her life — are on the line.

REVEALS A SIMMERING DESIRE...

Despite his big, flirty grin, Texas heartbreaker Johnny Duane Reed can't get sassy Crystal off his mind. When she is abducted by an international crime lord with a threatening obsession, Reed enlists his Black Ops, Inc. team to pursue a dangerous mission to rescue her.

...WITH DEADLY CONSEQUENCES.

Between Crystal and Johnny burns a scorching flame, but as they battle her relentless abductor, they uncover a malicious arms trafficking and white slavery ring. Together, they must destroy the tyrant's wicked enterprises or face his reign of terror themselves....


Books that spark my interest this week:
Memories of Murder by Lara Nance
Stolen Away by Alexandra Harvey
Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

In My Mailbox (92)

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren.

Last Man Standing by Cindy Gerard

On My Wishlist (88)

On My Wishlist is a fun weekly event hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It's where we list all the books we 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 - a linky is always at the ready for you to link your own 'On My Wishlist' post. If you want to know more click here.

Torn by Amanda Hocking:
Torn - the second book in the Trylle Trilogy...

Wendy thought she finally understood who she was and what she wanted, but everything changes when the rival Vittra come after her.

She's caught between two worlds, torn between love and duty, and she must decide what life she is going to lead.











Ascend by Amanda Hocking:
Ascend... The final chapter in the Trylle Trilogy.

With a war looming on the horizon, Wendy’s fate seems sealed. But everything she sacrificed might be in vain if she can’t save the ones she loves. Her whole life has been leading up to this, and it’s all coming to an end.













Demons at Deadnight by A&E Kirk:
For seventeen-year-old Aurora Lahey, survival is a lifestyle.

DEMONIC DESTINY
Aurora has the crappiest superpower on the planet. And it’s just unleashed a hit squad from hell. Demons are on the hunt, salivating to carve her carcass into confetti.

CHARISMATIC KILLERS
The Hex Boys—mysterious, hunky, and notorious for their trails of destruction—have the answers Aurora needs to survive. But their overload of deadly secrets and suspicious motives makes trusting them a potentially fatal move.

LETHAL ALLIES
The battle to save her family, herself, and stop demonic domination may cost Aurora everything worth living for, and force her to reveal her own dark secrets. But no worries. She needs the Hex Boys to pull this off, and, chances are, teaming up with these guys will get her killed anyway.

Love Story by Jennifer Echols

Love Story:
She's writing about him. he's writing about her. And everybody is reading between the lines..

For Erin Blackwell, majoring in creative writing at the New York City college of her dreams is more than a chance to fulfill her ambitions--it's her ticket away from the tragic memories that shadow her family's racehorse farm in Kentucky. But when she refuses to major in business and take over the farm herself someday, her grandmother gives Erin's college tuition and promised inheritance to their maddeningly handsome stable boy, Hunter Allen. Now Erin has to win an internship and work late nights at a coffee shop to make her own dreams a reality. She should despise Hunter . . . so why does he sneak into her thoughts as the hero of her latest writing assignment?

Then, on the day she's sharing that assignment with her class, Hunter walks in. He's joining her class. And after he reads about himself in her story, her private fantasies about him must be painfully clear. She only hopes to persuade him not to reveal her secret to everyone else. But Hunter devises his own creative revenge, writing sexy stories that drive the whole class wild with curiosity and fill Erin's heart with longing. Now she's not just imagining what might have been. She's writing a whole new ending for her romance with Hunter . . . except this story could come true.

I love Jennifer Echols' writing, but unfortunately this one didn't manage to make my 'favorites' list. I enjoyed the story between Erin and Hunter, but wasn't a big fan of the back and forth within their short stories. That sounds terrible, doesn't it? I really don't mean for it to sound that way, I guess what I'm trying to say is that it didn't flow nicely for me. There is a lot of history between Hunter and Erin, what kept me interested was the way Jennifer revealed a little bit more, and just a little bit more throughout the entire book. Neither seems to be able to be truly honest with the other and as they warily circle their feelings for one another the tension builds wonderfully, keeping you hoping for that happy ending you know is coming. I was a little disappointed with the abrupt ending and I still have a few questions that were left unanswered. But all-in-all I did enjoy this book, and if you are a fan of Jennifer's work, you'll like it too.

Friday 56...Angel (70)

Go to page 56 of the book CLOSEST to you (not the coolest, the closest) and find the fifth sentence.

Angel by James Patterson

Ordinarily, I do a running landing.

Lucky Penny by Catherine Anderson

Lucky Penny:
To support her orphaned niece, impoverished Brianna O'Keefe accepts work with a Colorado rancher. To guard herself from unwanted attention, she resorts to a harmless little lie: that she's married to a Denver gold miner named David Paxton. When her boss forces her to write to her "husband," hoping he'll take Brianna off his hands, she can only pray that there is no real David Paxton who can expose her.

When Colorado marshal David Paxton gets a letter from a stranger claiming to be his wife and pleading with him to come for her and his daughter, he dutifully sets out to find this woman and the child he may have sired. What stuns Brianna is that Davis is convinced the young girl is, in fact, his. As David and Brianna's wary attraction blossoms into deeper desire, David warms to the idea of a ready-made family. But can his dream survive Brianna's lingering distrust--and his own secrets.

I'm quickly coming to love any of Catherine Anderson's stories; she writes honest characters and realistic romances. This book was set in Colorado in the late 1800's, I love western romance and David was the perfect gunslinger turned marshal, he's duty bound and almost honest to a fault. Brianna is a tough, stubborn hard working woman willing to do anything to support her niece. They were the perfect match and the sparks they ignited throughout the book kept me turning pages. The slow building of trust between Brianna and David was charming and filled with adventure. Catherine made it easy to visualize the world she created in Lucky Penny, and although this book could be considered part of a series, it completely stands alone.

Theme Thursday (47)

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event hosted by Reading Between Pages that will be open from one Thursday to the next. Anyone can participate in it. The rules are simple:

• A theme will be posted each week (on Thursdays)
• Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
• Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
• It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word)
  Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This will give us a wonderful opportunity to explore and understand different writing styles and descriptive approaches adopted by authors.

This week's theme is - SEE (WINK, VISION, ROLL etc)

Gabe passed the test. He didn't raise an eyebrow, just sat with his chair pushed back from the table, gazing at Hunter, giving him the floor.

Love Story by Jennifer Echols

My Book Boyfriend (53)

My Book Boyfriend is a weekly meme hosted by Missie of The Unread Reader, in which we swoon over boys in books!
(I--as in me, Amy--don't like to use commercial photos, I like to use the authors' descriptions and my imagination.)

Kieren Morales
Book: Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Series: Tantalize

A hybrid-werewolf; well-muscled arms, not such a big guy, but a huge Wolf. He favors T-shirts, faded jeans and cowboy boots. Hair so brown it's almost black: thick and curly, long black eyelashes and full lips. He doesn't always express himself with words, but when he cares for someone he shows his affection through gentle touches, or comforting embraces. He's stronger than an average human, but not as strong as a 100 percent Wolf, so he relies on his brains rather than his brawn.

Quotes:

We sank to the warm ground, and he held me, sobbing, folded against his bloodstained T-shirt, his thundering heart. He buried his nose in my hair, rubbing my back, whispering my name.

Okay. "I love you, you know," I said, by way of apology. A day like this, I could tell him, and it was less risky. More about us as friends. His answer was to wrap his arms around me, bring my head to his shoulder, my side to his chest. Touching. He was touching me again. I could feel his breath, hear in it something that might've been a whisper, a "Yes."

"He's evil. And you're, you're slipping away. Listen to me, please. I'm begging you. I'll get down on my hands and knees if that's what it takes."

Month In Review: January

January is over?...Where did January go? HAHA! I'm working full-time now and that has taken up quite a bit of my reading time which makes for a very sad Amy. But that's ok, I'll still read every spare moment that I have! Since I failed so epically with my Reading Challenges last year, I'm not going to participate in any this year. I felt it put too much pressure on me. Do you ever feel like that? Anyway, I like to just pick out a book by whatever my mood strikes me, and challenged made me feel forced, which is why I think I failed so badly. Lesson learned!

Books I read and their "Dragon Hearts of Love" rating:
(For reviews, please go to "Books Read in 2012")

1. Rage by Jackie Morse Kessler 4
This was the most emotionally powerful book of the series so far. I really enjoyed Missy's character and the journey to self discovery.

2. Broods of Fenrir by Coral Moore 4
This was a very violent, action-packed story. The shifter world was well developed and the sexual tension was hot!

3. Destiny and Deception (ARC) by Shannon Delany 4
The jumping point-of-views are becoming a little tiresome. The story arc is unfolding nicely, even if at times I feel it is a little slow. This book has some interesting character developments and I can't wait to see what happens.

4. Blood and Bullets by James R. Tuck 5
Incredible. I can't even be subjective about this book because I loved the story and the characters so much!

5. Heather's Song by Diana Palmer 3
A nice story to give my brain a break from more complicated plots.

6. Loss (ARC) by Jackie Morse Kessler 3
Unfortunately this book fell flat for me, I didn't connect with the characters and there was no emotional connection to the story for me.

7. Within the Flames by Marjorie M Liu 5
Emotionally engaging and suspenseful, Marjorie knows how to pull a reader directly into her stories, and this was no different.

8. Switched by Amanda Hocking 4
I loved the characters in this book, the storyline wasn't all that original, but I still enjoyed every moment of this book.

9. Somnium by Keri Lake 3
An intriguing story, but unfortunately the characters were shallow and a little predictable.

10. Time Mends by Tammy Blackwell 5
WOW! Tammy has created such wonderful characters and has pulled me deep into her shifter world, I'm gonna go crazy waiting for the final book!

Author Interview:
Lesley Livingston

Guest Blogger:
Natasha