Top ten Tuesday #1

I've seen this meme around and thought it looked like fun so I've decided to start doing it until I run out of things to list lol


Up first I've decided to list the Top ten book guys I love.


1. Niall from Melissa Marrs Wicked Lovely series - I first fell in love with Niall reading ink exchange, the second book of the series which he features in the most. Firstly because, yeah, he sounds smokin hot! Or at least I imagine him to be lol I think i found myself so attracted to him because of his brooding bad boy image and dark personality but at the same time his fierce protectiveness and how deeply he falls in love with Leslie (though I imagined that was me haha)




2. Edward Cullen from Stephenie Meyers Twilight saga - Yes that's right, I went for what's probably now a 'cliche' choice, but I don't care! lol Twilight was the first ya book I read and as Bella fell for Edward so did I. It's hard not to with that book with the way Bella describes him with Stephenies great writing!

3. Adrian Ivashkov from Richelle Meads Vampire academy series - Another bad boy, I have a type lol But whilst Adrian is seen as a bad boy because he smokes and drinks - a lot! - we get to know him and find out why he's how he is and then when he falls for Rose we see him sensitive and vulnerable, by that point how could I not fall for him!

4. Ethan Wate from Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohls Caster chronicles - Ethan is just a great caring guy, He's funny, loyal and would do anything for Lena, all great traits in a boyfriend!

5. Sam Roth from Maggie Stiefvaters Wolves of Mercy falls series - Just another great guy (They mostly go like that from here lol)

6. Shane collins from Rachel Caines Morganville Vampires series - Though he has a hot temper and can have trouble expressing his emotions I love shane, he's a lovely guy who cares for his friends and is willing to risk his life for them.

7. Jason Freeman from Alex Duvals Vampire beach series

8. Lucas Ross from Claudia Grays Evernight series

9. James Stark from P.C and Kristin Casts House of Night series

10. Peeta Mellark from Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games series - Obviously not in 'that' way, he's much to young for me. But I think he's lovely and brave and noble and perfect for Katniss.
What are some of your top ten guys? And not neccesarily 'hot' ones but the guys in books who are great guys for any reason

Also if you have suggestions for future top ten lists, well, that would be great!

3000 FB fans giveaway!

Today we hit 3000 fans on the Facebook page and to celebrate I've decided to give away a free book, cuz I'm just that nice! lol
But because of the new Facebook rules banning giveaways I have to run it here on the blog.

The winner will get to choose from my picks for book of the month so far this year, which were:

Jan: The replacement by Brenna Yovanoff
Feb: I am number four by Pittacus Lore
Mar: Inside out by Maria V. snyder
Apr: Entangled by Cat Clarke
May: Glass houses by Rachel Caine

I'll be sending the book direct from Bookdepository.com so it's open to anyone that they deliver to. Because this is actually a give away for the page you don't have to be a blog follower (though it'd be nice if you were!) to enter but you must at least be a fan of the page on Facebook.

The giveaway closes on Thursday 2nd June 3pm GMT which is the same time our Jamie Magee giveaway ends and I'll announce winners for both in the same post. So what are you waiting for, fill in the tiny form and hit SUBMIT

Nightshade review

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer.


What's it about?
She can control her pack, but not her heart ...'I wanted him to kiss me?wished he could smell the desire that I knew was pouring off me. You can't, Calla. This boy isn't the one for you.' Calla Tor has always known her destiny: graduation, marriage and then a life leading her pack. But when she defies her masters' laws to save a human boy, she must choose. Is one boy worth losing everything?


My review:
4/5
I have to say for the first 100 pages I was pretty frustrated with this book because that's how long it took until things started to get explained, whilst I could see the reason for why the author waited this long it made the start of the book somewhat confusing. After this, however, I found it difficult to put down and even stayed up late to finish.
The story is a great one and not one I felt like I'd 'read before', and it's beautifully written, with a few funny one liners that had me giggling.
As for the characters, there wasn't one I disliked reading, even the bad guys. Calla, our leading lady, is fierce and strong, if a little naive, it isn't until charming and funny Shay comes along and pushes her does she start question her world and taking risks to find answers.
I found it harder to get a grip on Ren, Callas other male suitor, when he's first introduced it's as quite a womaniser, so when five minutes later he's promising monogamy, well, it's hard to believe, there was a lot of points that he was very pushy and dominant and others when he was the opposite which made it hard to figure him out.
Though I enjoyed the book a lot, I do have very minor complaints, such as the two packs coming together and going from rivals to friends seemingly overnight without any kind of transitional period and there were some points where I had to kind of guess at what was happening because it wasn't actually said, but I can't really give examples without spoilers.
There were also a couple of scenes that felt 'choppy' because there were so many characters in them all with short bursts of dialogue and direction.
But like I said, minor complaints - overall I really enjoyed the book and immediately preordered Wolfsbane, book 2, which is out in July.

Same difference #6

As you can see these three books have the same cover model!

They are parasite positive (Peeps #1) by Scott Westerfield, The laughing corpse (Anita Blake #2) by Laurell K. Hamilton and Bible illuminated the book: New testament by Ab Forlaget illuminated Sweden.

Have to say, with it's bolder colours I much prefer the Westerfield cover, which is your favourite?



WIN WIN WIN!!!

How does winning a lovely swag bag of goodies sent personally from Jamie Magee sound? Pretty awesome

Ok, how about if the prize also included an ebook copy of both Insight and Embody? Awesomer

What if it also included the first three pages of book three Image which isn't out until the fall? I think that's what they call the awesomesauce on the prize!

Well, if you haven't guessed it already, you can indeed win all of these and entering is simple, just fill in the little form below and hit SUBMIT. You must, of course, be a blog or FB page follower (or both!) to enter.

It's open internationally and closes on Thursday 2nd June at 3pm GMT

You can also have plenty more chances at winning this great prize by visiting the other pages participating in the Embody release party, all the links are on the previous post which is a guest post from Jamie Magee



Guest post - Jamie Magee



It is the small, almost insignificant moments – the ones we do without a thought or reason that often bring forth a wave of change in our lives. I never imagined that a thoughtless New Year’s resolution or opening a blank word document would lead me here today. As I write these words a smile is across my face and gratitude for all that my life has brought me is beaming from my soul.

I will never forget 1/1/09 - the first the day of New Year, the last year in decade and turning point in my life. I never expected that day would bring so many amazing characters, readers, authors and new found friends into my life – and now I live in a constant state of expectancy – I’ve learned to expect the unexpected because I have no idea where this series or my career will lead me – I just know that I plan to enjoy every smile and tear it may bring my way.

I cannot tell you how mind blowing it is for me to be releasing the second book in the Insight Series, Embody. The first flash – the vague image I had of Willow Haywood was almost painful. I remember feeling so sorry for her – heartbroken that she was where she was at that point in her life. I could only see Landen through her eyes at that moment and his urgency to reach her was alarming. I mulled over this image of a green eye girl in countless day dreams. I had to understand who she was – what her name was and what brought her to the moment I was seeing. Not knowing any of this I just began to write. I’ve said before I began Insight with “It was a warm day in Franklin” at that moment I had no idea that Chara existed – that Esterious existed – that the string was a breathtaking passage connecting all of humanity. All of the answers seem to rush at me at me at once and one by one the characters of the Insight series began to emerge and whisper their perception into my thoughts.

When I finished Insight I realized that the moment I’d seen had not come. It was an awkward moment in my life. One thought would tell me that I’d wasted three months of my life writing a story that would never be read – the next would tell me that this was simply the beginning. As I let my friends read Insight I found the moments I’d carved out to write in my life were empty – after successfully organizing every closet and drawer in my house my restlessness became too much for me to handle. Before I had the verdict from my friends on my story I began to write again. This time I didn’t start at the beginning like I had with Insight. I finally wrote the scene that I’d first seen in my mind’s eye. At first it felt like I was writing a book outside of the series but then Willow showed me how she reached that point. I’d written what is chapter 12 in Embody all the way to end before I had any feedback on Insight, at that point it didn’t matter if anyone else was in love with Willow and Landen – I was!

Undoubtedly through the life of Willow Haywood I have felt every emotion that the human soul can perceive. I cannot wait to share not only this story, but each one I have seen past this point with each of you. Thank you so much for experiencing this adventure with me!




And here's the list of Facebook pages that are also participating in the Embody release party:
Best Books
Bookies
Love Fantasy Novels
Taking it One Book at a Time
My Home Away From Home
YA Books
Book Lover 1989
Peace, Love, Teen Fiction
All Things Books
Book Reader Addicts

And finally a link to Jamie Magees Facebook page

And shortly I'll be posting a giveaway where you can win Jamie Magee goodies :)
                                 

Dark swan: Storm born volume one review by Ninfa

"Dark Swan. Storm Born Volume 1" (Urban Fantasy Adult Comic).
by Mead,Alter and Hamann
published by Sea Lion Books.

Story: Eugenie Markham is a powerful shaman specialized in banishing spirits and fey who cross into the mortal world uninvited. As a mercenary she goes by the name Odile,The Dark Swan.
But banishing is not her only power,and soon Eugenie will discover that her life is about to change,and not for the better.
The supernatural world has discovered her true name,and they seem to want a lot more than that...so what's a girl to do?
When she is offered a contract to find a teenage girl that has been kidnapped by the Gentry,the ancient name for Faeries,Eugenie has to decide whether to take the dangerous road into the Otherworld,or ignore the signs that are telling her that something dark is on the move,and she might just be the eye of the storm.

Adapted from Richelle's Mead omonimus book,Storm Born Vol.1 is the perfect introduction to Eugenie's world.
The artwork is amazingly accurate and vividly trasnposes Richelle's words into wonderful imagery.
When I read the book,this is exactly how I pictured the characters and it's a pleasure to see them come to life so perfectly.
The dialogues are equally accurate and should you decide to read the Comic without reading the book,you'll find the same sassy,fun,fast paced dialogues and story development,so technically you could easily jump from book to comic or viceversa without missing a beat.
I really love Hamann's gorgeous artwork,he's captured Eugenie and her world down to the smallest details.
This is an excellent beginning to a series that will see another 7 volumes in the series and 2 Graphic novels that will collect Volumes 1 to 4 and Volumes 5 to 8.
I personally cannot wait for the next one.
If you love kick ass girls,supernatural worlds and creatures,and fun story lines,this is the comic for you. Also,it doesn't hurt that the main guy in this volume,Kiyo,is hot as hell ;p
Incidentally,if you've never bought a Comic or Graphic Novel in your life,perhaps this is the time to start? ;)

Even though the comic is currently only available in the US and Canada,the Graphic Novel format will be also available in the UK. In addition to that some stores might ship Internationally,though costs are usually fairly high.
If your'e interested in finding out more about Storm Born,Richelle Mead or Sea Lion Books,here's a few handy links:
www.sealionbooks.com
www.richellemead.com
You can find Ninfa's other reviews on our Facebook page here

May books of the month

Glass houses by Rachel Caine. Tha Morganville vampires book one.

College freshman Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation, where the popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks in the school's social scene: somewhere less than zero. When Claire heads off-campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her new roommates don't show many signs of life, but they come out fighting when the town's deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood...

White collar woman by Nicholas L. Maze                  On the surface Marla Evans seems to have it all: good looks, a thriving career, and a young, adorable son. Yet, she lacks what she most desires—romantic love. Her pursuit of love triggers a series of unexpected suitors, including a sexy co-worker, the office dork, and even her own boss. As she struggles to juggle her growing list of men, Marla’s life is hurled into chaos as an unexpected pregnancy, her mother’s visit, a missing co-worker, and a vicious attack all threaten to test her career, her family, and her future. To cope, Marla escapes into fantasy. Whether she's daydreaming or sleeping, her imagination is going full speed. However, her fantasies soon begin to reveal how her journey for romance may very well jeopardize the life she has worked so hard for. We waste no time experiencing Marla’s fast world of men, enemies, love, betrayal, and wild dreams. So fasten your seat belt! But, just like a roller coaster ride, we eventually slow down and stop as Marla throws away her doubts and realizes who her true love is.

Although I didn't actually read Glass houses in the month of April I did start the latest in the series, Bite club and wanted to recommend them all so I thought it best to start at the beginning lol
White collar woman was suggested from the author himself and you can see his website here to find out how to get your hands on the book.