Monday, July 29, 2013

On My Mondays (9) Coming Home Videos

 
 
On My Mind Monday with Paranormal Sisters!
Where every Monday we pick a topic and tell you our thoughts on it. It might be weekly or every other week. Haven't decided yet. And if you have a topic you want our thoughts on, post a comment and we might decide to do it.
 
 

Lately I’ve been watching a lot of Marine Surprises Girlfriend videos. Why? Because they make me feel closer to my Marine in some ways, who I’ll be seeing in a couple of weeks from now. They also make me sad but excited for my own surprise home comings! So today I’m going to show you a couple of my favorite ones. 
 

 
1. This is my absolute favorite one. It's a bit long in the beginning but once he gets to the movie theater, it gives me chills. I can't get enough, always brings tears.
 
 

 
2. I don't know why, but I love this one too. I think it's because it was my first video I saw under Marine surprises girlfriend, so I always go back to this one. Plus, it is very adorable too.
 
 

 
3. I just found this one a couple of days ago and it is absolutely beautiful. How it was put together was great and it excites me about my reunion with my man. I'm going to be just as anxious as she was in waiting for him.
 
 

 
4. This one is cute too, though I wished he kissed her. And come on, I felt it was a bit obvious to what was going on haha. But overall, it makes my hopeless romantic heart swell.
 
 

 
5. How adorable!
 
 

 
6. And lastly the one on Ellen. How can you not love this one!
 
 
 
I'm sure there's loads more out there that I'll find adorable but these I just had to share with you guys!
 
Thanks for stopping by!
 
And thanks to all the men and women whom are serving our country!
 
Sorry my readers for making you cry! <3
 

{Book Blitz + Excerpt + Giveaway} Summer Love (Senior Year #1) by Marysue G. Hobika

 
 
Summer Love (Senior Year #1)
 
Summer Love (Senior Year #1) by Marysue G. Hobika
Publication Date: June 2013
Genre: New Adult Contemporary
 
 
~Summary~
 
Carly and her best friend Becca are ready to drop a nuclear bomb on summer. It’s the last one before reality sets in and they’re off on their own. Carly is ready to break the mold and stop being known as a goody-two-shoes. In order to get the ball rolling, she agrees to a double date with Gavin – her good-looking, yet moody, lab partner.

Gavin doesn’t have summer plans except to work at his two jobs and hang out in his room drawing. He likes to keep to himself, but lets his brother Nate talk him into going on a double date. Carly isn’t like the rest of the girls at school that drive him crazy. She doesn’t ask a lot of questions and seems to know when to give him the space he craves. Gavin always thought that she was beautiful, but he believes that relationships and love are a lost cause.

Will their date prove that summer love is right around the corner or will it be a dead end?

This book is intended for audiences 17+
 
 
Purchase Link:
 
 
 
~Excerpt~
 
 
The band played and I held my breath, waiting to hear Carly’s voice. I thought maybe she’d lost her nerve. I was ready to rush in and rescue her, even if she didn’t want me to, when, like magic, she began to sing. The notes that came out of her mouth were full and sensuous, changing the band’s sound completely. It was harmonious, free flowing, and full.
I’d heard the band last summer, and even though they were good, something had always been missing. That something was Carly. Her voice fit and molded perfectly with Nate’s, and I felt another tinge of jealousy. Their sound filtered through the cracks and walls of the garage and into the night air. For a second, I forgot how to breathe. I found myself slinking back into the garage as the song came to an end. I felt empty and lost when she hit the last note, and every cell in my body craved more. I’d been wrong. So very wrong.
Everyone in the garage was silent, as if the music had cast a spell on them. All of a sudden, led by Ed, claps and cheers echoed. Carly looked elated until her gaze landed on me. I read in her eyes that she thought I was a jerk for not believing in her, and I couldn’t blame her. I was a jerk.
“Damn!” shouted Ed. “That gave me goose bumps.” He hugged himself, rubbing his hands over his arms.
“I told you Carly could sing,” Becca said, directing her words toward Nate.

 
 
~Giveaway~
 
 
Thanks for stopping by!
 

Sunday, July 28, 2013

I am a Book Hoarder (30)

 
 
I honestly can't help myself sometimes, I really am a book addict haha. I requested four books from the library, finally got them yesterday cause I wanted to make sure they wouldn't be due while I'm on a mini vacation with my friend (dog sitting, really, but it's a vacation to us haha). Then once I got them off the shelf I went over to Tasha and just looked at the shelves with her. Got another book and almost got another but I stopped myself before I got too carried away haha. But even then, five books is still too much for me.
 
 
~Beauties From The Library~
 
Fever (The Chemical Garden, #2)Everbound (Everneath, #2)Ten This is Not a TestZom-B (Zom-B, #1)
 
Everbound (Everneath #2) by Brodi Ashton
Ten by Gretchen McNeil
This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers
Zom-B (Zom-B #1) by Darren Shan- Reviewed


~Beauties For Review~
 
Armored Hearts (Armored Hearts, #1)Disassemble (Divided Worlds, #2)Disrupt (Divided Worlds, #3)Northern Bites (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 2)NomadAll My Life (First Things Series, #1)

Nomad by J.L. Bryan


Crosses fingers I'll get a lot of review books done in the Netgalley Knockout Challenge!

That's all folks!

See you next time!

Sweet Hoarding Everybody!

 
Borrowed from Library
 
 
 
 
 
Bought
 
 
The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick
 
 
Happy reading!
 
 

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Review: Her Mad Hatter (Kingdom #1) by Marie Hall

Her Mad Hatter (Kingdom, #1)
 
Her Mad Hatter (Kingdom #1) by Marie Hall
Publication Date: July 7th 2012
Genre: Adult Fantasy Romance
Pages: 129
Format: Kindle
Source: Free on Amazon
 
 
~Summary~
 
Alice is all grown up. Running the Mad Hatter's Cupcakery and Tea Shoppe is a delicious job, until fate--and a fairy godmother with a weakness for bad boys--throws her a curveball. Now, Alice is the newest resident of Wonderland, where the Mad Hatter fuels her fantasies and thrills her body with his dark touch.

The Mad Hatter may have a voice and a body made for sex, but he takes no lovers. Ever. But a determined fairy godmother has forced Alice into Wonderland--and his arms. Now, as desire and madness converge, the Hatter must decide if he will fight the fairy godmother's mating--or fight for Alice.
 
Purchase Link:
 
 
 
~My Thoughts~

 
I stumbled upon this novella while surfing for free books on Amazon. The cover and title caught my eye, the summary then won me over with ease. I mean, how can none of those reel you in. Hot man on cover, the colors just make him stand out more, title hinting he's the mad hatter, and an awesome Alice in wonderland retelling summary. So I got it and for the few days I let it just sit on my kindle, I couldn't stop thinking about it.
Finally one day, I just decided to go for it, seeing if this would be a book I could actually finish. It did exactly that. I couldn't get enough of it and the new twists of Alice's world the author used was amazing, I couldn't help myself from smiling. I absolutely loved that Alice worked in a bakery and how it was dedicated towards her favorite fairy tale, Alice in Wonderland.
 



“Honey, you do know they don’t actually exist, right?”
Alice chuckled. Tabby always gave her grief about her love of—okay….obsession with—all things Wonderland. “What? You mean to tell me the face painted man who crawls in my window and makes wild monkey love to me every night isn’t actually real?” she tapped her finger to her chin. “That could be a problem.”

 
Alice's story is heartbreaking. Watching her reveal what she went through as a child to now a women who owns her dream business is amazing. When she was a child she had cancer and what got her through it was, Hatter, her knight in shining armor.
 
"And suddenly she wasn’t mad, just tired. She wanted to go home, pretend none of this had happened. Pretend she hadn’t met the man of her dreams, the man she obsessed about as a child only to discover he wasn’t at all what she’d thought he’d be."
 
Oh my, Hatter. His story begins by us following his matchmaking fairy and his story is just as heartbreaking. He's slowly going insane and soon he'll lose his mind. In losing his mind Wonderland will be in danger. What'll make his mind stop collapsing on itself would be if the fairy found his Alice. The fairy has tried for years and that has made it worse for him. But the fairy won't give up like Hatter has, so she believes she's finally found him his Alice.....again. Yeah, when you learn about that part of the story it'll make your heart break again haha. But within all this heart break, you'll smile as you watch these two grow closer together and you'll get excited for their happily ever after.
Overall this was an interesting retelling of Alice in Wonderland. No evil Red Queen but this is a nice telling of how Alice and Hatter got together. I mean, we all know they're perfect for each other so it's absolutely adorable to read how they fall in love. Though this is suited for older teens, 18+, for the steamy scenes that'll just make you blush and get you hot for your own lover ;). Can't wait to read the rest of the series, anyone else up for Gerard's Beauty?
 
Gerard's Beauty (Kingdom, #2)
 
 
Will disturb your being
 
 
Sweet Readings Everybody!
 


Book Spotlight: Untimed by Andy Gavin

Untimed
 
Untimed by Andy Gavin
Publication Date: December 17th 2012
Genre: YA Sci- Fi
Pages: 325
 
 
~Summary~
 
Charlie’s the kind of boy that no one notices. Hell, even his own mother can’t remember his name. And girls? The invisible man gets more dates.

As if that weren’t enough, when a mysterious clockwork man tries to kill him in modern day Philadelphia, and they tumble through a hole into 1725 London, Charlie realizes even the laws of time don’t take him seriously.

Still, this isn’t all bad. In fact, there’s this girl, another time traveler, who not only remembers his name, but might even like him! Unfortunately, Yvaine carries more than her share of baggage: like a baby boy and at least two ex-boyfriends! One’s famous, the other’s murderous, and Charlie doesn’t know who is the bigger problem.

When one kills the other — and the other is nineteen year-old Ben Franklin — things get really crazy. Can their relationship survive? Can the future? Charlie and Yvaine are time travelers, they can fix this — theoretically — but the rules are complicated and the stakes are history as we know it.

And there's one more wrinkle: he can only travel into the past, and she can only travel into the future!
 
 
Purchase Links:
 
 
 



~About The Author~
 
Andy Gavin
 
Andy Gavin is an unstoppable storyteller who studied for his Ph.D. at M.I.T. and founded video game developer Naughty Dog, Inc. at the age of fifteen, serving as co-president for two decades. There he created, produced, and directed over a dozen video games, including the award winning and best selling Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter franchises, selling over 40 million units worldwide. He sleeps little, reads novels and histories, watches media obsessively, travels, and of course, writes.
 
Author Links:
 

 

~The Heros~


Charlie: Not even his mother remembers his name

Yvaine: Comes with serious baggage


~One Bad Guy~



Yvaine: Comes with serious baggage

More fun stuff here, Untimed

 
~Excerpt~
 

Chapter One:
Ignored
Philadelphia, Autumn, 2010 and Winter, 2011
 
My mother loves me and all, it’s just that she can’t remember my name.
“Call him Charlie,” is written on yellow Post-its all over our house.
“Just a family joke,” Mom tells the rare friend who drops by and bothers to inquire.
But it isn’t funny. And those house guests are more likely to notice the neon paper squares than they are me.
“He’s getting so tall. What was his name again?”
I always remind them. Not that it helps.
Only Dad remembers, and Aunt Sophie, but they’re gone more often than not — months at a stretch.
This time, when my dad returns he brings a ginormous stack of history books.
“Read these.” The muted bulbs in the living room sharpen the shadows on his pale face, making him stand out like a cartoon in a live-action film. “You have to keep your facts straight.”
I peruse the titles: Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Asprey’s The Rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, Ben Franklin’s Autobiography. Just three among many.
“Listen to him, Charlie,” Aunt Sophie says. “You’ll be glad you did.” She brushes out her shining tresses. Dad’s sister always has a glow about her.
“Where’d you go this time?” I say.
Dad’s supposed to be this hotshot political historian. He reads and writes a lot, but I’ve never seen his name in print.
“The Middle East.” Aunt Sophie’s more specific than usual.
Dad frowns. “We dropped in on someone important.”
When he says dropped in, I imagine Sophie dressed like Lara Croft, parachuting into Baghdad.
“Is that where you got the new scar?” A pink welt snakes from the bridge of her nose to the corner of her mouth. She looks older than I remember — they both do.
“An argument with a rival… researcher.” My aunt winds the old mantel clock, the one that belonged to her mom, my grandmother. Then tosses the key to my dad, who fumbles and drops it.
“You need to tell him soon,” she says.
Tell me what? I hate this.
Dad looks away. “We’ll come back for his birthday.”
While Dad and Sophie unpack, Mom helps me carry the dusty books to my room.
“Time isn’t right for either of you yet,” she says. Whatever that means.
I snag the thinnest volume and hop onto my bed to read. Not much else to do since I don’t have friends and school makes me feel even more the ghost.
Mrs. Pinkle, my ninth-grade homeroom teacher, pauses on my name during roll call. Like she does every morning.
“Charlie Horologe,” she says, squinting at the laminated chart, then at me, as if seeing both for the first time.
“Here.”
On the bright side, I always get B’s no matter what I write on the paper.
In Earth Science, the teacher describes a primitive battery built from a glass of salt water covered in tin foil. She calls it a Leyden jar. I already know about them from Ben Franklin’s autobiography — he used one to kill and cook a turkey, which I doubt would fly with the school board.
The teacher beats the topic to death, so I practice note-taking in the cipher Dad taught me over the weekend. He shows me all sorts of cool things — when he’s around. The system’s simple, just twenty-six made-up letters to replace the regular ones. Nobody else knows them. I write in highlighter and outline in red, which makes the page look like some punk wizard’s spell book. My science notes devolve into a story about how the blonde in the front row invites me to help her with her homework. At her house. In her bedroom. With her parents out of town.
Good thing it’s in cipher.
After school is practice, and that’s better. With my slight build and long legs, I’m good at track and field — not that the rest of the team notices. A more observant coach might call me a well-rounded athlete.
The pole vault is my favorite, and only one other kid can even do it right. Last month at the Pennsylvania state regionals, I cleared 16’ 4”, which for my age is like world class. Davy — that’s the other guy — managed just 14’ 8”.
And won. As if I never ran that track, planted the pole in the box, and threw myself over the bar. The judges were looking somewhere else? Or maybe their score sheets blew away in the wind.
I’m used to it.
Dad is nothing if not scheduled. He and Sophie visit twice a year, two weeks in October, and two weeks in January for my birthday. But after my aunt’s little aside, I don’t know if I can wait three months for the big reveal, whatever it is. So I catch them in his study.
“Dad, why don’t you just tell me?”
He looks up from his cheesesteak and the book he’s reading — small, with only a few shiny metallic pages. I haven’t seen it before, which is strange, since I comb through all his worldly possessions whenever he’s away.
“I’m old enough to handle it.” I sound brave, but even Mom never looks him in the eye. And he’s never home — it’s not like I have practice at this. My stomach twists. I might not like what he has to say.
“Man is not God.”
One of his favorite expressions, but what the hell is it supposed to mean?
“Fink.” For some reason Aunt Sophie always calls him that. “Show him the pages.”
He sighs and gathers up the weird metallic book.
“This is between the three of us. No need to stress your mother.”
What about stressing me? He stares at some imaginary point on the ceiling, like he always does when he lectures.
“Our family has—”
The front doorbell rings. His gaze snaps down, his mouth snaps shut. Out in the hall, I hear my mom answer, then men’s voices.
“Charlie,” Dad says, “go see who it is.”
“But—”
“Close the door behind you.”
I stomp down the hall. Mom is talking to the police. Two cops and a guy in a suit.
“Ma’am,” Uniform with Mustache says, “is your husband home?”
“May I help you?” she asks.
“We have a warrant.” He fumbles in his jacket and hands her an official-looking paper.
“This is for John Doe,” she tells him.
The cop turns to the man in the suit, deep blue, with a matching bowler hat like some guy on PBS. The dude even carries a cane — not the old-lady-with-a-limp type, more stroll-in-the-park. Blue Suit — a detective? — tilts forward to whisper in the cop’s ear. I can’t hear anything but I notice his outfit is crisp. Every seam stands out bright and clear. Everything else about him too.
“We need to speak to your husband,” the uniformed cop says.
I mentally kick myself for not ambushing Dad an hour earlier.
Eventually, the police tire of the runaround and shove past me as if I don’t exist. I tag along to watch them search the house. When they reach the study, Dad and Sophie are gone. The window’s closed and bolted from the inside.
All the other rooms are empty too, but this doesn’t stop them from slitting every sofa cushion and uncovering my box of secret DVDs.
Mom and I don’t talk about Dad’s hasty departure, but I do hear her call the police and ask about the warrant.
They have no idea who she’s talking about.
Yesterday, I thought Dad was about to deliver the Your mother and I have grown apart speech. Now I’m thinking more along the lines of secret agent or international kingpin.
But the months crawl by, business as usual, until my birthday comes and goes without any answers — or the promised visit from Dad. I try not to let on that it bothers me. He’s never missed my birthday, but then, the cops never came before, either.
Mom and I celebrate with cupcakes. Mine is jammed with sixteen candles, one extra for good luck.
I pry up the wrapping paper from the corner of her present.
“It’s customary to blow out the candles first,” Mom says.
“More a guideline than a rule,” I say. “Call it advanced reconnaissance.” That’s a phrase I picked up from Sophie.
Mom does a dorky eye roll, but I get the present open and find she did well by me, the latest iPhone — even if she skimped on the gigabytes. I use it to take two photos of her and then, holding it out, one of us together.
She smiles and pats my hand.
“This way, when you’re out on a date you can check in.”
I’m thinking more about surfing the web during class.
“Mom, girls never notice me.”
“How about Michelle next door? She’s cute.”
Mom’s right about the cute. We live in a duplex, an old house her family bought like a hundred years ago. Our tenants, the Montags, rent the other half, and we’ve celebrated every Fourth of July together as long as I can remember.
“Girls don’t pay attention to me.” Sometimes paraphrasing helps Mom understand.
“All teenage boys say that — your father certainly did.”
My throat tightens. “There’s a father-son track event this week.” A month ago, I went into orbit when I discovered it fell during Dad’s visit, but now it’s just a major bummer — and a pending embarrassment.
She kisses me on the forehead.
“He’ll be here if he can, honey. And if not, I’ll race. You don’t get your speed from his side of the family.”
True enough. She was a college tennis champ and he’s a flat-foot who likes foie gras. But still.
Our history class takes a field trip to Independence Park, where the teacher prattles on in front of the Liberty Bell. I’ve probably read more about it than she has.
Michelle is standing nearby with a girlfriend. The other day I tapped out a script on my phone — using our family cipher — complete with her possible responses to my asking her out. Maybe Mom’s right.
I slide over.
“Hey, Michelle, I’m really looking forward to next Fourth of July.”
“It’s January.” She has a lot of eyeliner on, which would look pretty sexy if she wasn’t glaring at me. “Do I know you from somewhere?”
That wasn’t in my script. I drift away. Being forgettable has advantages.
I tighten the laces on my trainers then flop a leg up on the fence to stretch. Soon as I’m loose enough, I sprint up the park toward the red brick hulk of Independence Hall. The teachers will notice the headcount is one short but of course they’ll have trouble figuring out who’s missing. And while a bunch of cops are lounging about — national historic landmark and all — even if one stops me, he won’t remember my name long enough to write up a ticket.
The sky gleams with that cloudless blue that sometimes graces Philly. The air is crisp and smells of wood smoke. I consider lapping the building.
Then I notice the man exiting the hall.
He glides out the white-painted door behind someone else and seesaws down the steps to the slate courtyard. He wears a deep blue suit and a matching bowler hat. His stride is rapid and he taps his walking stick against the pavement like clockwork.
The police detective.
I shift into a jog and follow him down the block toward the river. I don’t think he sees me, but he has this peculiar way of looking around, pivoting his head side to side as he goes.
It’s hard to explain what makes him different. His motions are stiff but he cuts through space without apparent effort. Despite the dull navy outfit, he looks sharper than the rest of the world, more in focus.
Like Dad and Sophie.
The man turns left at Chestnut and Third, and I follow him into Franklin Court.
He stops inside the skeleton of Ben Franklin’s missing house. Some idiots tore it down two hundred years ago, but for the bicentennial the city erected a steel ‘ghost house’ to replace it.
I tuck myself behind one of the big white girders and watch.
The man unbuttons his suit and winds himself.
Yes, that’s right. He winds himself. Like a clock. There’s no shirt under his jacket — just clockwork guts, spinning gears, and whirling cogs. There’s even a rocking pendulum. He takes a T-shaped key from his pocket, sticks it in his torso, and cranks.
Hardly police standard procedure.
Clueless tourists pass him without so much as a sideways glance. And I always assumed the going unnoticed thing was just me.
He stops winding and scans the courtyard, calibrating his head on first one point then another while his finger spins brass dials on his chest.
I watch, almost afraid to breathe.
CHIME. The man rings, a deep brassy sound — not unlike Grandmom’s old mantel clock.
I must have gasped, because he looks at me, his head ratcheting around 270 degrees until our eyes lock.
Glass eyes. Glass eyes set in a face of carved ivory. His mouth opens and the ivory mask that is his face parts along his jaw line to reveal more cogs.
CHIME. The sound reverberates through the empty bones of Franklin Court.
He takes his cane from under his arm and draws a blade from it as a stage-magician might a handkerchief.
CHIME. He raises the thin line of steel and glides in my direction.
CHIME. Heart beating like a rabbit’s, I scuttle across the cobblestones and fling myself over a low brick wall.
CHIME. His walking-stick-cum-sword strikes against the brick and throws sparks. He’s so close I hear his clockwork innards ticking, a tiny metallic tinkle.
CHIME. I roll away from the wall and spring to my feet. He bounds over in pursuit.
CHIME. I backpedal. I could run faster if I turned around, but a stab in the back isn’t high on my wishlist.
CHIME. He strides toward me, one hand on his hip, the other slices the air with his rapier. An older couple shuffles by and glances his way, but apparently they don’t see what I see.
CHIME. I stumble over a rock, snatch it up, and hurl it at him. Thanks to shot put practice, it strikes him full in the face, stopping him cold.
CHIME. He tilts his head from side to side. I see a thin crack in his ivory mask, but otherwise he seems unharmed.
CHIME. I dance to the side, eying the pavement, find another rock and grab it.
CHIME. We stand our ground, he with his sword and me with my stone.
“Your move, Timex!” I hope I sound braver than I feel.
CHIME. Beneath the clockwork man, a hole opens.
The manhole-sized circle in the cobblestones seethes and boils, spilling pale light up into the world. He stands above it, legs spread, toes on the pavement, heels dipping into nothingness.
The sun dims in the sky. Like an eclipse — still visible, just not as bright. My heart threatens to break through my ribs, but I inch closer.
The mechanical man brings his legs together and drops into the hole. The seething boiling hole.
I step forward and look down….
Into a whirlpool that could eat the Titanic for breakfast. But there’s no water, only a swirling tube made of a million pulverized galaxies. Not that my eyes can really latch onto anything inside, except for the man. His crisp dark form shrinks into faraway brightness.
Is this where Dad goes when he drops in on someone? Is the clockwork dude his rival researcher?
The sun brightens, and as it does, the hole starts to contract. Sharp edges of pavement eat into it, closing fast. I can’t let him get away. Somehow we’re all connected. Me, the mechanical man, Sophie, and Dad.
I take a step forward and let myself fall.
 
Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Weekend Everybody!



*Book Spotlights are mainly dedicated to books I have received for review but have yet to get to them*

 



Thursday, July 25, 2013

{Cover Reveal + Giveaway} A Wicked Kind of Dark by Author Jonathan K. Benton

 

Author Jonathan K. Benton

Jonathan Benton always wanted to write books, having won first place in a short story competition when he was ten. Inspired by writes such as Ray Bradbury and Stephen King, Jonathan first discovered the crossover genre of literary/fantasy while reading Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes.
Jonathan grew up in New Zealand, dreaming of travelling to London and finally making the pilgrimage in his mid-twenties. Returning from England, he settled in Australia, the country he now calls home, and decided to take his writing seriously.




 


A Wicked Kind of Dark

Robert Duncan no longer believes in magic. A mysterious call about a blood moon, however, leads him back to the magical world of his childhood and to Luthien, the beautiful girl with flame-coloured hair, who he loved and lost.

As Robert unravels the secrets of his childhood, darkness enters his life and an ancient evil awakens. To have any chance of defeating the dark forces that would destroy two worlds, Robert must find Luthien before the rise of the blood moon. He must, once more, believe in magic …

A Wicked Kind of Dark mixes vast and spectacular fantasy landscapes with gritty urban reality. A must-read for people of all ages who believe in the power of imagination, and the importance of never losing touch with your inner child.



Giveaway Details
 
$10 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Open Internationally
Ends 8/15/13

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

*An additional $10 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash is available to anyone who shares this giveaway on their blog.  See link in the rafflecopter form.



 
Thanks for stopping by!
 



Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Review: Wicked Games (Games #1) by Jessica Clare

Wicked Games
 
Wicked Games (Games #1) by Jessica Clare
Publication Date: March 4th 2011
Genre: Adult Romance
Pages: 158
Format: Kindle
Source: Free from Amazon
 
 
~Summary~
 
Abby Lewis never pictured herself on the survival game show, Endurance Island. She’s just not the ‘survival’ type. But when her boss offers her a spot on the show and the opportunity of a lifetime, she packs her bags and heads to the tropics to be a contestant. Once in the game, though, it’s clear that Abby’s in over her head.

No one’s more competitive than sexy, delicious – and arrogant – Dean Woodall. Sure, he’s clever, strong, good at challenges, and has a body that makes her mouth water. He also hates Abby just as much as she hates him. That’s fine with her; she’ll just ignore the jerk.

But the rules of Endurance Island are working against them. Abby and Dean are teamed up – alone – on the beach. It’s either work together, or go home. Stuck with no one’s company but their own, they learn they might just make a good team after all.

And Abby learns that with just a little bit of kindling, the flames of hate can quickly turn to flames of passion…

This book features enemies, lovers, enemies who become lovers, and lots and lots of tropical heat…
 
 Free on Amazon

 
~My Thoughts~


I'm hooked to Lost so I was just dying to read this book. I used to watch like teen endurance, so I knew I would be enjoying this one.
Wicked Games is a whirlwind of action, scheming, and sexy love making. In the beginning it gets right to the point, them asking Abby to join the games. She wasn't into it till they told her that afterwards she would get a chance at a book deal (she’s a book reviewer) writing about her experience on the island. But once she gets on that island and deep into the games, she forgets all about the perks of joining and falls for a guy she thought was so out of her league.
I absolutely enjoyed the games, though some could have been more exciting but I know there has to be one sort of simple one. However, I enjoyed the most of them. Watching Abby and Dean work together was hilarious! In the early stages of the game, Abby threw little cans of paint at him after a challenge because he was being such a dick, ugh, but this act of hers led the others to believe that they were weak, not a problem for them, setting up an act that they used against the others in hopes of staying longer on the island.
Honestly as the story went on I didn't see the real connection the author made them seem like they had. I didn't feel them really getting to know each other. I only saw them get to know how they are in the game of survival. Though I was excited when they did finally get together "together" (hey, I'm almost 21 so this girl can get excited for that kind of scene ;) haha). But like I said, I was kind of sad that I didn't feel that true connection, I just felt like it was all lust. After their first, steamy time together, they finally started to ask questions about each other. But I don't know, I felt like it was kind of late, a small part of me though. They asked the questions I've been wanting to see however I feel like most have been hidden behind a curtain, the author only showed so much before moving quickly to the next scene.
Abby was one that wasn’t confident in the beginning of the games but Dean changed that for her. Dean was a dick but he starts to become someone you could love. The rest of the cast were exactly like what you would see as if you were actually watching a survival show right now. So if you're a fan of them then you'll no doubt be hooked into this free book in no time. Overall this was an enjoyable novella. I see there is a new one written by this author. I so want it! Oh also, later in the book I felt like when Abby confronted Dean she was a bit too harsh.
 
Will disturb your being
 
Sweet Readings Everybody!

{Book Blitz + Guest Post} Nomad by JL Bryan

 
 
Nomad
 
Nomad by JL Bryan
Publication Date: July 26th 2013
Genre: NA time travel dystopian novel
 
 
~Summary~
 
A new dystopian novel from the author of Jenny Pox - coming July 26.

They took everything: her family, her home, her childhood.

By the age of nineteen, Raven has spent most of her life in the sprawling slums of America, fighting as a rebel against the dictatorship. When the rebellion steals an experimental time-travel device, she travels back five decades to the year 2013. Her plan: assassinate the future dictator when he is still young and vulnerable, long before he comes to power. She must move fast to reshape history, because agents from her own time are on her trail, ready to execute her on sight.
 
 
~About The Author~
 
J.L. Bryan
 
J.L. Bryan studied English literature at the University of Georgia and at Oxford, with a focus on English Renaissance and Romantic literature. He also studied screenwriting at UCLA. He lives in the metro Atlanta sprawl with his wife Christina, where he spends most of his day servings the toddler and animal community inside his house. He is the author of the Paranormals series and the Songs of Magic series.

His novel Jenny Pox is currently
free on Kindle, Smashwords, Apple, Sony, Kobo, and Nook!

Author Links:
 
 
 
~Guest Post~
 
Diagnose Your Dystopia!
 
Guest post by J.L. Bryan
 
Something’s not right with the world.  You know it, you can feel it, and you’re probably going to die because of it.  Congratulations, you’ve just discovered that you live in a nightmarish dystopian future!
 
The next question: what kind of dystopia?  If you’re going to live, you’ll need to know this stuff.  Fortunately, we’ve assembled a handy checklist to help you diagnose your dystopia.
 
Total Surveillance State: If they’re watching your every move, including your facial expressions and body language so they can read your thoughts, and eavesdropping on all your conversations...hey, you’re not paranoid, you just live in an Orwellian total surveillance state! Odds are, they’re trying to control all media and information, including changing past records to suit their ever-changing lies. There may be no escape, so your best bet is try and hook up with that hottie from work before the oppressors destroy your mind and soul.  Good luck!
 
Game Show-ocracy: If you find yourself cast into a game-show-to-the-death with a name like “The Running Man” or “The Hunger Games,” then you’ve entered a world where game shows keep the public complacent.  If you play the game right, you might just topple the evil rulers of your society, but you’ll have to break a few rules to succeed.  If you’re trapped in a game show-ocracy, my best advice is to contact Alex Trebek from Jeopardy!  That guy has all the answers.
 
Happy Dystopia: Hey, maybe things aren’t so bad.  Maybe in this Brave New World society, the rulers encourage sex, drugs, and other completely harmless entertainments to keep the population busy and content.  You can try to whip up a rebellion if you want, right after you take your happy pills, eat your chocolate, get a pedicure and a massage...maybe have a nap...is this really a dystopia?
 
The State of Weird Ideas:  Is everyone forced to wear pink bunny hats at all times?  Or perhaps the letter “Q” is forbidden by law?  Sounds like you live in a world where a completely loopy-fruits dictator has come to power!  Your best bet is to play along while it lasts, but if you really want to shake things up, try being even weirder than the law requires.
 
We hope that this short pamphlet has somewhat enhanced your chances of surviving through this unfortunate dystopian period, and living onto into the even more miserable dark age to come! 
 
In the comments below, you could tell us what kind of dystopia you would prefer, or which kind you would most want to avoid.
 
 
Thanks for stopping by!