The Crescent Re-Launch Tour: Guest Post with Jordan Deen

The music you listened to while writing the books; what songs were significant and why?

Playlists are very important!

For The Crescent: I found myself listening to a lot of Blink 182, Framing Hanley, and Breaking Benjamin. I wanted to have the feelings of being fired up and at the same time, feeling betrayed and lost.

For Half Moon: I found myself listening to a lot of indie-rock bands and Linkin Park.

For Full Moon: I find that “Waiting for the End” (Linkin Park) has become my anthem. It has not only been a very important song for my personal life, but it signifies a lot of what Lacey is going through and how she sees her life. She is in a precarious situation in dealing with being a hybrid and not being able to transform- she just wants things to be resolved and to have whatever ‘normalcy’ she can in her everyday life, but it just doesn’t seem to be happening.

Here are my reviews for The Crescent and Half Moon.

Find Jordan:

Website | Twitter | Goodreads

Giveaway:

Jordan is giving away a signed copy of The Crescent at each blog stop!

Rules for entry:
- (My) Giveaway ends April 12, 2012 12AM EST.
- Open to Canadian and US addresses.
- Leave a comment and fill out the FORM below. Entries in the comments section will not be counted.

Grand Prize:

Jordan Deen, will be posting an excerpt each day of the tour and offering a Kindle at the end of the week. Each day, people can visit her blog, read a new excerpt from the books, and enter to win the Kindle.


The Tour Stops:

Monday, April 2:

FireStarBooks ~ Author Interview

Ivy Reads ~ Creating Chemistry Guest Post

JJ iReads ~ Lacey Dream Cast

Unabridged Bookshelf ~ Author fun facts

The Fairytale Nerd ~ Top 10 with Jordan Deen

BookSpark ~ Text message between Alex and Brandon

The Autumn Review ~ Excerpt #1


Tuesday, April 3:

Novels On The Run ~ Top 10 with Alex

twimom101 ~ Lacey’s Guest Post

Letters Inside Out ~ Excerpt #2

Short and Sweet Reviews ~ Text message between Lacey and Alex


Wednesday, April 4:

Book Brats ~ This or That with Alex

Chapter by Chapter ~ Text message between Lacey and Brandon

Books Over Boys ~ Top 10 with Brandon


Thursday, April 5:

Stuck In Books ~ Excerpt #3

The Life of Fiction ~ Top 10 with Lacey

SupaGurl Books ~ Excerpt #4

Moonlight Book Reviews ~ Alex Dream Cast


Friday, April 6:

DforDarla’s Definite Reads ~ Making of the Cover Guest Post

Journey with Books ~ Excerpt #5

A Simple Love of Reading ~ Music Playlist Guest Post

A Tale of Many Reviews ~ Brandon Dream Cast


Saturday, April 7:

To Read or Not To Read ~ This or That with Brandon

Jordan Deen ~ Excerpts each day and a chance to win a Kindle

Forgotten Fridays (6)

I invite and welcome anyone interested to post their own Forgotten Friday and join in the fun! I feature a book that I have read and have forgotten http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhow much I enjoyed it. Some books might recent reads and some might be older reads, but I hope thist helps these (sometimes forgotten) books earn a spot on your own TBR pile!

Ecstasy by Jacquelyn Frank
Series: The Shadowdwellers
First Published: January 2009

Among the Shadow dwellers, Trace holds power that some are willing to kill for. Without a stranger's aid, one rival would surely have succeeded, but Trace's brush with death is less surprising to him than his reaction to the beautiful, fragile human who heals him. By rights, Trace should hardly even register Ashla's existence within the realms of Shadow scape, but instead he is drawn to everything about her - her innocence, her courage, and her lush, sensual heat.After a terrifying car crash, Ashla Townsend wakes up to find that the bustling New York she knew is now eerie and desolate. Just when she's convinced she's alone, Ashla is confronted by a dark warrior who draws her deeper into a world she never knew existed. The bond between Ashla and Trace is a mystery to both, but searching for answers will mean confronting long-hidden secrets, and uncovering a threat that could destroy everything Trace holds precious.

Undying Love by Teresa Mummert

Undying Love:
Special Edition - Novellas one through three of the Undying Love Vampire Series combined to make a full length novel.

Undying Love Vampire Series: Book one is titled Kat's Tale. It tells the story of a young girl with a chip on her shoulder, braving it in a world in which she feels utterly alone. That is until she meets Caleb. The much anticipated book two of the series, is titled 9 Lives. It continues the tale of Kat and Caleb's turbulent romance with a supernatural twist. Kat Fight, book three, will break all the rules and force readers to choose sides. Nothing is what is seems in this mind-bending tale.

Teresa Mummert created a promising storyline, but unfortunately it fell flat. On the writing front, there was no proper formatting to speak of, and the constant misuse of the words "breathe" and "breath" near drove me batty! The world Teresa built was very promising, despite its similarities to another widely known series. Personally, for me, what would have helped was if Teresa had expanded on the atmosphere a little more, and delved deeper into the characters. Kat was an interesting character, but I couldn't connect with her on a personal level. And her relationship with her ex-boyfriend, Gavin, was utterly confusing. One moment they were getting along, and the next he would stomp off in a childish huff while Kat would call for him to return. I'll admit that while Caleb was definitely a sexy vampire specimen, their relationship was frustrating and underdeveloped. But just because this book is not for me, does not mean that others who enjoy vampire romance won't, Undying Love is fast paced and filled with sexual tension and danger, and an ending that will leave you questioning and reaching for more pages.

Guest Post: Damaris of Good Choice Reading

Put down your bags, pull up a chair and tell me a story!

What I love to read most.

So lately I've been getting lots of comments from close friends from high school and my old neighborhood about how they've never known me to be such a huge reader. If you asked me to read a book in my teens I probably would have laughed in your face. To me, sitting down and reading a book as a teenager was a waste of my precious "fun" time. Looking back now though, I really wish i read a lot more. It wasn't until about 19 or 20 where I really got the passion for reading. I started with Nicholas Sparks and for a while that genre, Literature Fiction, was the only genre I would read. Reading Paranormal, or Science Fiction was just weird to me. I always felt those kind of stories were better to watch on television than reading it in a book.

I began reading Paranormal romance, or just paranormal books period when Twilight hit big. Right before the movie came out. My best friend asked me, no, more like begged me, to read it. She went on and on how good it is and that I would really enjoy it. Well sure enough I did. Around the time I picked up Twilight, all books in the series were already released. So I manged to read them back to back. It also help me deal with my mothers death. She died the week I picked up Twilight. So reading them back to back and getting so involved in the story was my way to deal with the fact that I just lost my mother. From there I began reading Paranormal books like a mad woman. I even started branching out to Paranormal Romance. I started with Lara Adrian's Midnight Breed series. I was immediately hooked.

Now the books I love to read the most are ANY GENRE as long as it has some kind of romance/love element to it. It doesn't have to be the main focus, but I need some kind of love story. I also enjoy them more when they are action packed and not depressing. Don't get me wrong, I love Nicholas Sparks, but I need to be in the mood for a book that makes me cry now. Before, I searched high and low for a story to make me cry, and now, not so much.

Blogging has definitely helped me discover all types of genres and now I look back and wish I wasn't so stubborn and branched out then. I love all types of genres!


Find Damaris:

Good Choice Reading | Twitter

Thank you for stopping by today, Damaris! I enjoyed getting to know you a little better and I hope everyone else does too!

My Book Boyfriend (62)

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.)

Drake Vireo
Book: Fire Me Up by Katie MacAlister
Series: Aisling Grey, Guardian

He's a dragon in human form, a wyvern: leader of the green dragon sept. Brilliant green eyes and thick black lashes. His voice is a sexy blend of an English accent and something that sounds vaguely Germanic. His body is all long, hard lines and muscle, an irresistible air of danger and confidence surrounds him.

Quotes:

He turned so he could grip me with both hands, his eyes darkening to a deep forest green. "You think that this was all about the chase?" Lord, I'm a fool sometimes. Still, I felt obligated to point out the obvious. "You're a predatory kind of guy, Drake. I bet you liked the chase." "I did. But I like the yielding better."

"Water is the green dragon's element," he answered, setting the book down on the shelf next to him. "We find comfort in it."

"No," he said, rolling over on top of me, his body hard and aggressive, his mouth stripping the words from my lips. "We will not speak of this tonight. This night belongs to us only, no one else."

Inhale by Kendall Grey

Inhale:
Strangers in reality, inseparable in dreams…

After years of suffocating under her boss’s scrutiny, whale biologist Zoe Morgan finally lands a job as director of a tagging project in Hervey Bay, Australia. Success Down Under all but guarantees her the promotion of a lifetime, and Zoe won’t let anything—or anyone—stand in her way. Not the whale voices she suddenly hears in her head, not the ex who won’t take no for an answer, and especially not the gorgeous figment of her imagination who keeps saving her from the fiery hell of her dreams.

Gavin Cassidy hasn’t been called to help a human Wyldling in over a year, which is fine by him. Still blaming himself for the death of his partner, he keeps the guilt at bay by indulging in every excess his rock star persona affords. That is, until he’s summoned to protect Zoe from hungry Fyre Elementals and learns his new charge is the key to restoring order in the dying Dreaming. He never expects to fall for the feisty Dr. Morgan…nor does he realize he may have to sacrifice the woman he loves to save an entire country.

Inhale is the first in the Just Breathe trilogy, and Kendall Grey really pulled me into her world of the Dreaming: a place of dreams and so much more. The characters were honest and well rounded. There was a secondary character we meet halfway through the novel that raised the question of who's side he is truly on, and that really intrigued me. Kendall's use of imagery was easy to visualize, and there were times that I could swear I heard the ocean waves lapping lazily along a beach. The story flowed smoothly and at a relatively quick pace, the further into the novel, the more intense it became, keeping me turning pages long into the night. Most of the book takes place in a dream-like state that felt completely realistic and added to the fantastical, unique storyline. I loved that the romance surrounding Zoe and Gavin was entwined with danger, it was an added bonus of tension and intrigue. I honestly would have liked a little more information about the Sentinels, Elementals and Wyldlings: their history and how they are created. But despite that little exception to my enjoyment of Inhale, this book kept me completely interested from beginning to end.

Future Favorites (76)

Future Favorites is an awesome blog feature created by Alex over at Electrifying Reviews. I post about a book that is yet-to-be-released and that I can't wait to read!

Poison Princess by Kresley Cole
Release Date: October 2, 2012 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Poison Princess centers on 16-year-old Evangeline "Evie" Greene, a privileged teenager from Louisiana. When an apocalyptic event decimates her hometown, killing everyone she loves, Evie realizes the hallucinations she'd been having for the past year were actually visions of the future — and they're still happening. Fighting for her life and desperate for answers, she must turn to her wrong-side-of-the-bayou classmate: Jack Deveaux. As Jack and Evie race to find the source of her visions, they meet others who have gotten the same call. An ancient prophecy is being played out, and Evie is not the only one with special powers. A group of teens have been chosen to re-enact the ultimate battle between good and evil. But it's not always clear who is on which side…

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? (95)

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

Books I read last week:
Glass by Ellen Hopkins
A Temptation of Angels by Michelle Zink



The book I’m reading now:
Inhale:
Strangers in reality, inseparable in dreams…

After years of suffocating under her boss’s scrutiny, whale biologist Zoe Morgan finally lands a job as director of a tagging project in Hervey Bay, Australia. Success Down Under all but guarantees her the promotion of a lifetime, and Zoe won’t let anything—or anyone—stand in her way. Not the whale voices she suddenly hears in her head, not the ex who won’t take no for an answer, and especially not the gorgeous figment of her imagination who keeps saving her from the fiery hell of her dreams.

Gavin Cassidy hasn’t been called to help a human Wyldling in over a year, which is fine by him. Still blaming himself for the death of his partner, he keeps the guilt at bay by indulging in every excess his rock star persona affords. That is, until he’s summoned to protect Zoe from hungry Fyre Elementals and learns his new charge is the key to restoring order in the dying Dreaming. He never expects to fall for the feisty Dr. Morgan…nor does he realize he may have to sacrifice the woman he loves to save an entire country.



Books that spark my interest this week:
The Night She Disappeared by April Henry
Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead
Blood Bound by Rachel Vincent

Month In Review: March

March was another month that seemed to just fly by. My thirtieth birthday passed this month, I had a great time with my kids during March Break and I participated in Earth Hour!

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

1. The Candidates by Inara Scott 4
An interesting beginning to a series that I am looking forward to continuing.

2. Fairy Metal Thunder by J.L. Bryan 4
This caught me completely by surprise. I enjoyed both the story and the characters, I can't wait to see what happens to the musicians next.

3. Nightingale by David Farland 3
While I enjoyed the story, I didn't form much of a connection to the characters.

4. Graveminder by Melissa Marr 5
I love Melissa's writing style, and this book carried her voice beautifully. The story was captivating and emotional.

5. The One That I Want by Jennifer Echols 4
A cute spin-off of the whole "he said, she said" scenario.

6. The Smoke Thief by Shana Abé 5
Set in Victorian England, a great action and romance filled story about dragon swhifters.

7. Glass by Ellen Hopkins 5
Incredible. Days after finishing this book my emotions were still reeling.

8. A Temptation of Angels by Michelle Zink 5
A powerful beginning to a new series that shows real potential in the steampunk genre.

Guest Authors:

Inara Scott

J.L. Bryan

David Farland

In My Mailbox (100)

In My Mailbox was created, and is hosted by The Story Siren.

How To Marry A Millionaire Vampire by Kerrilyn Sparks
The Night She Disappeared by April Henry