What I've been reading

Just to get caught up since I was MIA for so long here are some recommendations for GREAT books that I read earlier this month but won't be going back to review:

Wicked Pleasure & Wicked Fantasy by Nina Bangs - paranormal

Unmasked by CJ Barry - futuristic

Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning - paranormal (it's written in first person though *gag*)

An Enchanted Season Anthology (I recommend Nalini Singh's contribution only - the rest were pretty blah) - Paranormal

The Sword, The Wolf, The Master by Joan Johnson - Paranormal (this is a FABULOUS series!)

Planet X by Evangeline Anderson - Futuristic

I discovered a couple of AWESOME new authors and read a bunch of their books I highly recommend:

Joanna Wylde (her books are available at EC) - futuristic

Lisa Renee Jones paranormal

Here an ARC, there an ARC, everywhere an ARC ARC

Alright.... y'all will have to rush on some of these but here are some of the interesting ARC contests happening this month:

Alexis Morgan (*sigh* Paladins make me HOT!) is having a contest for an ARC of her upcoming book Redeemed in Darkness. It's real easy to enter.
http://www.alexismorgan.com/contest.html

Enter Sarah McCarty's contest for an ARC of Caine's Reckoning at http://www.sarahmccarty.net/contest.html

Win and Advanced Reading Copy of Lucy Monroe's upcoming book Deal With This.
http://www.lucymonroe.com/contest.htm

Now, I've never read this author (she looks a little too tame for me) but just in case any of you are interested: Lauren Willig is offering an ARC of The Seduction of the Crimson Rose.
http://www.laurenwillig.com/diversions/contest.html

Cynthia Eden has a Halloween giveaway on the Bradford Bunch blog for an ARC of A Red Hot New Year. http://www.thebradfordbunch.com/cynthia/arc-giveaway-and-another-contest-too/

There were more great contests but my fever is back and I'm going to bed now. Damn cold! But I do want to make mention of a contest that Casee posted over at Book Binge for an autographed set of Robyn Carr's trilogy. Check it out! http://thebookbinge.blogspot.com/ This one ends Friday so BE QUICK!


On the upside, at the bookstore today I got:
Star Shadows by Colby Hodge
True Deception by Patricia Waddell
Embrace the Darkness by Alexandra Ivy
Highland Guardian by Melissa Mayhue
Howl at the Moon by Christine Warren (who has her website updated now and it looks GREAT!)

YAY!!

Alive

Yes, I'm alive (thanks for checking on me, Casee. You're a sweetie!). I hope everyone hasn't crossed me off of their blog-destinations since it's been so long. I had an express college course that was kicking my butt plus it seems like the kids have been in a perpetual state of illness. I swear I've spent more time in various doctor's offices with the kids in the last month than I did for the entire year of 2006. It's been a WILD time!

Anyway, I'm back. In fact, I'm going out to the bookstore today and, book-gods willing, they'll hopefully have some of the new releases that I'm looking for in stock and I'll be blogging about them soon and I have at least 3 great ARC contests to tell you all about.

Here's a little something as a reward for coming back to see me even though I've been MIA for OVER a month!








And for my friend Y:

The Contest Scoop - September

Hey everyone!

Here are some of the more interesting results to my recent contest-hunting expedition.

Vicki Lewis Thompson is counting down until the release of Over Hexed her upcomoing paranormal romance (a new direction for Thompson) and she's got a WHOPPER of a contest going on! It's a two-month contest with three tiers of prizes. All winners will be drawn on October 1st (the day before Over Hexed arrives in stores).
First prize is a $300 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble and your choice of six books from Vicki's backlist.
Second prize is a $200 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble and your choice of four books from Vicki's backlist.
Third prize is a $100 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble and your choice of two books from Vicki's backlist.
More Info: http://www.vickilewisthompson.com/contest.html

WooHoo!! The fun that I could have with one of those gift certificates!!!!!

I'm a JAK fan.... are you? Jayne Ann Krentz (aka Jayne Castle; aka Amanda Quick) is having a contest! The prize: a Sizzle and Burn ARC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
More Info: http://www.jayneannkrentz.com/drawing.html

Bloodfever - due out Oct. 16 - by Karen Marie Moning is giving away and ARC (advance copy) on her website.
More Info.: http://www.karenmoning.com/news/contest.html

Here's one that I'm pretty excited about! The second book by Alexandra Ivy (aka Deborah Raleigh) is due out in November. Her September contest winner will receive an Advance Review Copy (ARC) of Embrace the Darkness!!! YAY!
More Info: http://www.deborah-raleigh.com/contest.html

No Rest for the Witches is on my "Buy" list for October Lori Handeland is having a contest for an ARC of this anthology with stories from her and 3 other bestselling authors.
More Info: http://www.lorihandeland.com/contest.html

Marianne Stillings is offering up TWO ARC's of her upcoming release (book 2 in the Darling Detective trilogy) "Satisfaction".
More Info.: http://www.mariannestillings.com/index.htm

This one is ending the 25th so hurry! Shana Galen's contest is for an ARC of Blackthorne's Bride which is due out at the end of October.
More Info.: http://www.shanebolks.com/contests.html

Here's another one ending the 25th. Sydney Somers has ARCs (e-books) of her upcoming release Unbreakable for TWO lucky winners.
More Info: http://www.sydneysomers.com/

Brenda Joyce is giving away a ROMANTIC WEEKEND GETAWAY for two. The winner will also have the opportunity to be involved in the production of the book promo video. This contest ends October 31st.
More Info: http://mastersoftimebooks/contest..htm

Angela Knight is giving away a signed copy of her latest anthology "Warlord".
More Info: http://angelasknights.com/contest.htm

I've already posted about this one but it's not too late to enter!
Access Romance's quarterly ROMANCE GALORE contest for a box of 55 autographed romance novels ends September 30th.
More Info: http://www.accessromance.com/galore/index.php

From my latest reading 'obsession', Denise A. Agnew, you can win a download of her out of print historical MIDNIGHT ROSE.
More Info: http://www.deniseagnew.com/contest.html

Also of interest: http://www.joynash.com/contest.htm where Joy Nash is having a contest that offers the chance to win an autographed copy of the award-winning first installment in her Druids of Avalon series, THE GRAIL KING, plus a chance to win an Advanced Reading Copy of DEEP MAGIC later this year.

Happy Entering!

New Rating System

So I've finalized a 'rating' system - & created corresponding graphics - for the books that I read and talk about here. Here are the 4 categories:

My VERY top rating: "Absolutely Amazing!" - these are the books that I ADORE and will highly recommend to EVERYONE. This will be used VERY RARELY. It would be for books like Nalini Singh's Psy/Changeling books, for example



"Keeper" is my rating for books that are.... you guessed it... going on my keeper shelf. These are books that I love - ones that I will re-read again and again. I think these books are worth buying and recommend them.



Rating a book as "Library" means that it was an OK book but not worth the money. These are the books that I wish I had gotten it (or am glad that I DID get it) from the library. They're not a recommended read but not a total stinker either.



Finally, this rating is for books that I "wish I'd passed on..." These are books that I REALLY didn't enjoy - basically, the books that I thought sucked.


What do you guys think... good system?

Is this the HOTTEST Nathan Kamp cover?

I've blogged about Nathan Kamp being on SO MANY covers a couple of times. And I continue to find more and more (older) books with him as the model. Now that I've noticed it's like I became hyper-aware and I'm seeing him EVERYWHERE! I just can't escape.

Yesterday, I read Truly, Madly, Dangerously by Linda Winstead Jones (good book, by the way) and I kept thinking to myself... that cover is SMOKIN' HOT!




Then I looked closer.... guess who the male model is? Yep. Nathan Kamp. So I'm voting this the HOTTEST Nathan Kamp cover I've come across.

What do you guys think? Is this the hottest? Or do you have another NK favorite?

If you post the title of the book with your favorite Nathan Kamp cover on it I'll find it and add it to this post so we can see what everyone thinks.

Caressed by Ice out TUESDAY!

Nalini Singh continues her amazing PSY/CHANGELING series with yet another AWESOME story.

Judd is the ultimate weapon, a Psy so deadly that the existence of his kind has been reduced to myth & legends. He left his life and his position as an elite soldier for the Psy Council and brought his family to the SnowDancer den to protect them from the Council's order for their rehabilitation - a life worse than death as a living zombie. Although his other psy family members have found a place for themselves in the pack Judd, the most dangerous, is still looked upon with suspicion by most. However, only Brenna is a threat. Judd needs the emotionless existence of Silence in his mind to prevent himself from losing control of his talent and causing the death of the innocents around him and the sensual wolf-changeling woman is a danger to his control.
Brenna is recovering from the torment of being at the mercy of a twisted serial-killer Psy. The experience of having her mind raped by a sadistic monster has left her with shattered-looking eyes and powers no changeling should possess. The attraction and safety Brenna feels with the coldly-beautiful psy male seems inconceivable but the pull is strong and she turns to Judd when her life and sanity is threatened again.

The body of a packmember, whose death Brenna saw in a ‘dream’, is discovered with marks similar to the ones left by the serial-killer Psy who brutalized Brenna. That mad Psy is dead so who is this new killer… and how is it connected to Brenna?

I absolutely ADORED Caressed by Ice! This is the best book I’ve read since… well, since Visions of Heat was released earlier this year.

I was the tiniest bit afraid that Brenna would be a helpless-victim type of heroine but in reality she is beautifully strong and capable. And Judd is an amazing alpha hero. Ms. Singh did a wonderful job showing us the truth of the man beyond the Psy training, buried under the layers of Silence. I never felt that Judd was truly cold or emotionless and despite the fact that he was an assassin and had done bad things in the past, I saw him as a strong, and noble man doing what he believed was best to protect others.

The progression of the relationship between the characters was captivating, as was the change in Judd. Even as he struggled to maintain Silence for the safety of others, his emotions and connection with Brenna are a painful/pleasure that he can’t refuse. And the love scenes were steamy… who knew that a man from a race of emotionless, sexless people could be that HOT?!? Can you tell that I totally fell in love with him? LOL!

The storyline flowed really well with a great balance of romance & suspense. Ms. Singh included more secondary character scenes (which I ended up skimming the second and third time I read it) than in the previous books but they add necessary background information.

***SPOILER ALERT***
I loved that Brenna kicked ass in the climax of the suspense plot. After being victimized previously, it was awesome that she defended herself and didn’t totally have to be ‘rescued’ again. It was very well-done and reinforced the strength of character and determination of Brenna while still allowing Judd to do the ‘hero’ thing too.
***END SPOILER***

I didn’t want this story to ever end! Nalini Singh has created an extraordinary world & vivid characters for her PSY/CHANGELING series. This is the third book and it’s as fabulous as the first! I seem to fall in love with the first book of a series and then subsequent books are never quite as good as the first to me but so far I am loving every book – it would be too hard to pick a favorite.

Rating: DEFINITELY A KEEPER!!!

Visit Nalini Singh’s website: www.nalinisingh.com
Behind the scenes info about the PSY/CHANGELING series
Buy Caressed by Ice

If you haven’t read them be sure to check out
Slave to Sensation and Visions of Heat