April 27, 2012

Author Gossip and Cover Coveting()

It’s been a while since I’ve done any dishing on some good gossip! Hopefully some of this is good enough. 


  • Karen Chance has the first two chapters up for Fury’s Kiss!
  • Kresley Cole posted some info about her releases this year. (Thanks to Wicked Scribes for getting the scoop!)
    • June 19th Lothaire will get it’s paperback release! Yeah!! It’s been a pain waiting, and to reward us it will have a sneak peak of her spinoff series of IAD.
    • Poison Princess is the title of her YA debut of the Arcana Chronicles. It will be released October 2nd, and then the second will follow fall 2013.
    • Her spinoff series of IAD is Dacian books, the first one is Shadow Claim and it will be released November 27th. Summer 2013 will see the release of the second book! Also keep you’re eyes peeled next week for the release of the cover for the first book!!
    • IAD will not be silent in 2013 she will release the next book in the spring.  Cole is going to be one busy gal! And her fans thank her.

    Here’s some teasers for Golden Lily by Richelle Mead!!

    Also I noticed a number of Patricia Brigg and Kim Harrison fans missed this one:


    All cover art is not final.



    Fury’s Kiss by Karen Chance 
    furyskiss

    Get it: Goodreads | Amazon
    Source: Karen Chance’s Newsletter 
    Genre: Urban Fantasy 
    Series: Dorina Basarab, Book 3

    Shera’s Thoughts: 

    Best one yet!! Just when you think they can’t make another amazing gun toting cover they do!! I just love how her head is resting on it!

    Dorina Basarab is a dhampir—half-human, half-vampire. Subject to uncontrollable rages, most dhampirs live very short, very violent lives. But so far, Dory has managed to maintain her sanity by unleashing her anger on those demons and vampires who deserve killing...

    Dory is used to fighting hard and nasty. So when she wakes up in a strange scientific lab with a strange man standing over her, her first instinct is to take his head off. Luckily, the man is actually the master vampire Louis-Cesare, so he’s not an easy kill.

    It turns out that Dory had been working with a Vampire Senate task force on the smuggling of magical items and weaponry out of Faerie when she was captured and brought to the lab. But when Louis-Cesare rescues her, she has no memory of what happened to her.

    To find out what was done to her—and who is behind it—Dory will have to face off with fallen angels, the maddest of mad scientists, and a new breed of vampires that are far worse than undead…

    Previous Book(s) in Series:

    Midnight's Daughter (Dorina Basarab, #1)Death's Mistress (Dorina Basarab, #2)


    Moonshifted by Cassie Alexander 
    moonshifted

    Get it: Goodreads | Amazon
    Source: Wicked Scribes
    Genre: Urban Fantasy 
    Series: Edie Spence, book 2

    Shera’s Thoughts: 

    These covers really have grown on me. Even though she looks a little “hussy” on this cover.

    The cover gets the point across, wolves be here! Hospital setting, which really excites me.

    Check in to County Hospital’s secret ward—where paranormal activities lead to medical emergencies for one tireless nurse…

    After surviving a brutal vampire attack, Nurse Edie Spence is ready to get back to work—attending to supernatural creatuers in need of medical help. But her nursing skills are put to the test when she witnesses a hit-and-run on her lunch break. The injured pedestrian is not only a werewolf, he’s the pack leader. And now Edie’s stuck in the middle of an all-out were-war…

    MOONSHIFTED

    With two rival packs fighting tooth and nail, Edie has no intention of crossing enemy lines. But when she meets her patient’s nephew—a tattooed werewolf named Lucas with a predatory gleam in his eye that’s hard to resist—Edie can’t help but choose sides. The question is: can she trust this dangerous new ally? And can she trust her own instincts when she’s near him? Either way, Edie can’t seem to pull away—even if getting involved makes her easy prey…

    Previous Book(s) in Series:
    Nightshifted (Nightshifted, #1)

    Death’s Rival by Faith Hunter  
    deaths-rival

    Get it: Goodreads | Amazon
    Source: Wicked Scribes
    Genre: Urban Fantasy  
    Series: Jane Yellowrock, book 5

    Shera’s Thoughts: 

    Another great cover, love the tiltled title.

    Though her pants are really freaking me out.

    Jane Yellowrock is a shapeshifting skinwalker you don’t want to cross—especially if you’re one of the undead…

    For a vampire killer like Jane, having Leo Pellisier as a boss took some getting used to. But now, someone is out to take his place as Master Vampire of the city of New Orleans, and is not afraid to go through Jane to do it. After an attack that’s tantamount to …a war declaration, Leo knows his rival is both powerful and vicious, but Leo’s not about to run scared. After all, he has Jane.

    But then, a plague strikes, one that takes down vampires and makes their masters easy prey. Now, to uncover the identity of the vamp who wants Leo’s territory, and to find the cause of the vamp-plague, Jane will have to go to extremes…and maybe even to war.

    Previous Book(s) in Series:

    Skinwalker (Jane Yellowrock, #1)Blood Cross (Jane Yellowrock, #2)Mercy Blade (Jane Yellowrock, #3)


    Endgame by Ann Aguirre 
    endgame

    Get it: Goodreads | Amazon
    Source: Wicked Scribes
    Genre: Sci/Fi 
    Series: Sirantha Jax, book 6

    Shera’s Thoughts: 

    Another great edition to the series. Every time I see a new cover for these books I think, “No, this ones my favorite!”

    Wonder what that thing she is sitting on is?

    REGRET NOTHING.

    Sirantha Jax has the J-gene, which permits her to “jump” faster-than-light ships through grimspace. She loves nothing more than that rush, but the star roads have to wait…

    Her final mission takes her to La’heng, a planet subjugated during first contact. Since then, the La’hengrin homeworld has been occupied by foreign conquerors.
    All that’s about to change.

    Now, as part of a grass-roots resistance, Jax means to liberate the La’hengrin. Political intrigue and guerrilla warfare are new to her; this will be the most dangerous game she’s ever played—spies and conspiracies, a war of weapons and hearts, and everyone might not make it out alive…

    Previous Book(s) in Series:

    Grimspace (Sirantha Jax, #1)Wanderlust (Sirantha Jax, #2)Doubleblind (Sirantha Jax, #3)Killbox (Sirantha Jax, #4)Aftermath (Sirantha Jax, #5)


    Midnight’s Warrior by Donna Grant 
    midnights-warrior

    Get it: Goodreads | Amazon
    Source: Wicked Scribes 
    Genre: Paranormal Romance
    Series: Dark Warriors, book 4

    Shera’s Thoughts: 

    I like how the couple is posing. Too many times it looks like the guy is in a macho pose and the girl is just clinging on.

    OK, so this is what they’re doing here too. However, they actually look like a couple. I’m not afraid that the lead is going to bite him somewhere and give him rabies.

    N/A

    Previous Book(s) in Series:
    Midnight's Master (Dark Warriors, #1)Midnight's LoverMidnight's Seduction

    Drive Me Wild by Christine Warren 
    drive-me-wild

    Get it: Goodreads | Amazon
    Source: Wicked Scribes
    Genre: Paranormal Romance
    Series: Other Series ?

    Shera’s Thoughts: 

    This is not doing a thing for me. I will say that I like how the guy’s eye matches the leopards.

    N/A

    Previous Book(s) in Series:
    N/A

    Undead To The World by DD Barant 
    undead-to-the-world

    Get it: Goodreads | Amazon
    Source: Wicked Scribes
    Genre: Urban Fantasy
    Series: The Bloodhound Files, book 6

    Shera’s Thoughts: 

    Ahhhhh, another fantastic cover. If the first three books would have had cool covers like books 4-6 I would have jumped on this series. Shallow? Yes. But that is the power of cover magic!

    *sparkly hands!*

    N/A

    Previous Book(s) in Series:
    Dying Bites (The Bloodhound Files, #1)Death Blows (The Bloodhound Files #2)Killing Rocks (The Bloodhound Files #3)Better Off Undead (The Bloodhound Files #4)Back from the Undead (The Bloodhound Files #5)

    Review: Awakened by P.C. Cast

    Awakened (House of Night, book 8) by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast

    awakened

    Genre: Paranormal YA
    Edition Reviewed: Hardcover
    Amazon: Hardcover | Paperback | Kindle
    Goodreads: Awakened

    “My love, speak to me.  Tell me everything.”  Neferet went to Kalona, kneeling before him, stroking the soft, dark wings that unfurled loosely around the immortal.

    “What would you have me say?”  He didn’t meet her eyes. 

    “Zoey lives.” Neferet’s voice was flat, cold, lifeless.

    “She does.”

    “Then you owe me the subservience of your immortal soul.”  She started to walk away from him.

    “Where are you going?  What will happen next?”

    “It is quite simple.  I will ensure Zoey is drawn back to Oklahoma.  There, on my own terms, I will complete the task you failed.”

    Exonerated by the Vampyre High Council and returned to her position of High Priestess at Tulsa’s House of Night, Neferet has sworn vengeance on Zoey.  Dominion over Kalona is only one of the weapons she plans to use against Z.  But Zoey has found sanctuary on the Isle of Skye and is being groomed by Queen Sgiach to take over for her there.  Being Queen would be cool, wouldn’t it?  Why should she return to Tulsa? After losing her human consort, Heath, she will never be the same – and her relationship with her super-hot-warrior, Stark, may never be the same either…

    And what about Stevie Rae and Rephaim?  The Raven Mocker refuses to be used against Stevie Rae, but what choice does he have when no one in the entire world, including Zoey, would be okay with their relationship?  Does he betray his father or his heart?

    In the pulse-pounding 8th book in the bestselling House of Night series, how far will the bonds of friendship stretch and how strong are the ties that bind one girl’s heart?


    Review:

    The last book the only thing that kept me holding on to this series was the Beauty and the Beast romance between Stevie Rae and Rephaim.   The plot of Zoey’s shattered soul bored me to tears, though it was interesting to see the idea behind the White Bull (evil) and the Black Bull (good), and the many takes of old magic.  So when I cracked open Awakened I knew it had to be better then Burned.  In some ways I was right.

    Zoey reminds on the Isle of Skye to continue her healing as everyone else heads back to the Tulsa House of Night.  A tragic death that will no doubt bother many readers—I know I got misty eyed—finally wakes Zoey up enough to admit she needs to stand up to evil. While on the island though the authors share some fun little facts about old magic and the Faye.

    For the most part I still find Zoey very annoying.   In my mind there’s a difference between being humble and wanting to do a good job at a task you feel unqualified to take, and just being whiny all the time.  Instead of looking forward to Zoey’s story I look forward to the many other riveting side plots.  Dragon, the Sword Master of the house of night, is still dealing with the loss of his mate and may very well turn to darkness.  Neferet becomes a very interesting character to follow along. Sure her voice is written much more soothing—make that mature—then what the Cast team things adolescent minds should sound like. The insanity that Neferet has fallen to is alluring to read.  Best of all is the EPIC romance of Stevie Rae and Rephaim.  Fans are going to be really happy with this one!

    The House of Night series has always been a pretty sexually charged YA, however this one is taking the series a step up. Zoey and Stark are getting regular bedroom time, and we get to see more of Neferet too.  In my opinion this is a great stepping stone book in that it’s taking readers into other directions then Zoey’s story.  Kolana clearly isn’t just going to be this big dastardly villain anymore, there’s the hope of redemption.  By the next book I’m hoping more characters will get the chance to shine—before more great characters die.

    Sexual Content: As mentioned above there is some bedroom time to be had, though nothing as graphic as adult books.

     
    3/5- Adored it, just a few minor details held it back.


    Book(s) in series:
    Reviewed on BW: Amazon: Goodreads:

    Marked (1) 
    Betrayed (2)
    Chosen (3)
    Untamed (4)
    Hunted (5)
    Tempted (6)
    Burned (7)
    Destined (9)
    Hidden (10)

    Hardback | Paperback | Kindle 
    Hardback | Paperback | Kindle
    Hardback | Paperback | Kindle
    Hardback | Paperback | Kindle
    Hardback | Paperback | Kindle
    Hardback | Paperback | Kindle
    Hardback | Paperback | Kindle
    Hardback | Paperback | Kindle
    Hardback | Paperback | Kindle

    Marked (1) 
    Betrayed (2)
    Chosen (3)
    Untamed (4)
    Hunted (5)
    Tempted (6)
    Burned (7)
    Destined (9)
    Hidden (10)

    April 25, 2012

    Blogger . . . why . . . why

    Right now blogger is giving me some issues. For some reason it won’t let me publish a post with images . . . or block quotes. Which really kind of kills my Wednesday Wishes post. So look for it tomorrow if it is fixed . . .

    I love blogger honestly, I just wish they would have better updates.

    April 24, 2012

    Cover Coveting(10)

    I’m still fishing out new covers, but here’s a great line up!!



    An Apple for the Creature 
    an-apple-for-the-creatures

    Get it: Goodreads | Amazon
    Source: Wicked Scribes 
    Genre: Urban Fantasy 
    Series: Anthology

    Shera’s Thoughts: 

    Don’t like it.

    N/A

    Previous Book(s) in Series:
    N/A


    A Demon to Die For by Sidney Ayers 
    demon-to-die-for

    Get it: Goodreads | Amazon
    Source: Wicked Scribes  
    Genre: Paranormal Romance 
    Series: Demons Unleashed, book 3

    Shera’s Thoughts: 

    It’s nothing special, but it does capture the eye. It makes me want to read it.

    N/A

    Previous Book(s) in Series:

    Demons Prefer Blondes (Demons Unleashed, #1)Demons Like It Hot (Demons Unleashed, #2)


    Duplicity by Nikki Jefford 
    Duplicity_Cov

    Get it: Goodreads | Amazon
    Source: Nikki emailed it to me.
    Genre: Paranormal YA
    Series: Spellbound, book 1

    Shera’s Thoughts: 

    Love the green hues, but it’s a great touch to have the pink tulip.

    The font is gorgeous.

    If Graylee Perez thought sharing a body with her twin sister was bad, dealing with a duplicate of herself is two times worse. Gray the second doesn’t seem to get that her boyfriend, Raj McKenna, is off limits. Then there’s the problem of Adrian Montez (aka: The Avenger). He expects one of the Grays to be his.

    Nearly a year later the council is onto Gray for past misdeeds. Everyone in their coven has lost control of their powers and duplicate Gray is being stalked by what looks like the Grim Reaper.

    If both girls work together, they may stand a chance of setting things right and making it out alive.

    Previous Book(s) in Series:
    Entangled (Spellbound #1)

    Out for Blood by Kristen Painter 
    out-for-blood

    Get it: Goodreads | Amazon
    Source: Wicked Scribes
    Genre: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance 
    Series: House of Comarre, book 4

    Shera’s Thoughts: 

    First off, I’m so happy that this series gets to go on!!

    Love this cover, but the red glint on the blades is a bit too much. It’s still stunning!

    After nearly dying at the hands of the Aurelian, Chrysabelle finds new determination to move beyond life as a comarré. That is until the Kubai Mata bring a new task to her doorstep: rescue the child Tatiana has kidnapped, or Mal becomes enemy number one.

    Previous Book(s) in Series:

    Blood Rights (House of Comarré, #1)Flesh and Blood (House of Comarré, #2)Bad Blood (House of Comarré, #3)


    The Curse by Sherrilyn Kenyon & Dianna Love 
    the-curse

    Get it: Goodreads | Amazon
    Source: Wicked Scribes
    Genre: Paranormal Romance 
    Series: Belador, book 3

    Shera’s Thoughts: 

    Oooooo, I really like this one. The small glimpse of the blades on the other covers were sexy.

    However, this cover is even better. Who new swords could look seriously amazing.

    On a mission to find a traitor, Evalle becomes the catalyst that unleashes a 2000-year-old Medb curse on the Beladors…and the world.

    The Medb coven sends a team of deadly Svart Trolls to capture Alterants, starting with Evalle. To stop the troll-led gang wars erupting in Atlanta, Evalle borrows a weapon from her Black Ops friend Isak and, in the process, exposes a secret that complicates her tumultuous love life just as sexy skinwalker Storm surfaces with news of where he’s been – the last place she expects. But Evalle has bigger problems when she discovers the real target in jeopardy and the game changes with no time left on the clock.

    Previous Book(s) in Series:

    Blood Trinity (Belador, #1)Alterant (Belador, #2)


    Beneath Darkening Moon by Keri Arthur 
    beneath-a-darkening-moon

    Get it: Goodreads | Amazon
    Source: Wicked Scribes
    Genre: Paranormal Romance
    Series: Ripple Creek Werewolf, book 2

    Shera’s Thoughts: 

    This cover should annoy me. The whole naked woman, and sex appeal thing.

    But it looks awesome! And I appreciate that they didn’t put a wolf somewhere on the cover.

    Keri Arthur, the New York Times bestselling author of the Riley Jenson Guardian series, returns to the Ripple Creek werewolf reservation of Beneath a Rising Moon—where the past has come back with a vengeance to haunt a beautiful ranger.

    Savannah Grant still harbors deep secrets and carries emotional scars from a love affair gone bad many years ago. She has tried to bury her heartbreak in her job as chief ranger of the Ripple Creek werewolf reservation. But now someone is murdering humans on her turf, and the pattern matches a series of deaths she witnessed a decade ago: the same year that she met—and lost—the love of her life.

    The murderer seems to have risen from the grave. Then Savannah’s old love appears. Cade Jones is an Interspecies Investigation Squad officer, determined to catch the killer he let slip through his grasp once before—in part because of a bewitching young werewolf. Now, as moon heat reignites their desire for each other, Savannah and Cade are forced to come to terms with long-buried secrets—not only to stop a monster from killing again . . . but to give their promise to the moon one more chance.

    Previous Book(s) in Series:
    Beneath a Rising Moon (Ripple Creek Werewolf, #1)

    The Moonstone and Miss Jones by Jillian Stone  
    moonstone-and-miss-jones

    Get it: Goodreads | Amazon
    Source: Wicked Scribes 
    Genre: Steampunk/Paranormal Romance
    Series: Paranormal Investigator, book 2

    Shera’s Thoughts: 

    Love the way the two are look at each other. The Gears fading into the background is awesome, and I love the characters chunky hats.

    It conveys that it’s steampunk and romance effortlessly.

    In this dark and sexy sequel to The Seduction of Phaeton Black, Phaeton returns to England in time to help Doctor Exeter and the mysterious deadly Nightshades rescue London once again—this time from Professor Foucault's destructive tinkering.

    As the threads of existence begin to unravel, the eccentric scientist attempts to save his son's deteriorating condition by replacing body parts with mechanical apparatus. Ah, but how to power them? The near mad professor believes he has found a way to unleash the arcane energy inside the Moonstone, and he needs Phaeton Black to help him do it.

    When Phaeton is shanghaied in Shanghai, America Jones assumes the worst—that he has abandoned her in the Orient. An angry Miss Jones returns to London, where their spirited partnership takes an unexpected turn—a new business venture Moonstone Investigations. No uncommon psychical disturbance refused.
    Well, why not mix business with pleasure?

    Previous Book(s) in Series:
    The Seduction of Phaeton Black (Paranormal Investigator, #1)

    Outpost by Ann Aguirre 
    outpost

    Get it: Goodreads | Amazon
    Source: Wicked Scribes
    Genre: Steampunk YA 
    Series: Razorland, book 2

    Shera’s Thoughts: 

    OK, I like what they were trying. But I think I would seriously like ti more without the hand . . . and maybe even without the knife.

    The way it is now it just looks like a tacky kids show.

    Deuce’s whole world has changed. Now living topside in a community called Salvation, she has a whole new set of problems. Down below, she was considered an adult, and she contributed to the whole. Now, topside, the people of Salvation think she’s a brat in need of training. She hates school, and she doesn’t fit in with the other girls. They’ve spent their lives learning to cook and sew–suitable woman’s work. Deuce only knows how to fight. To make matters worse, Fade keeps her at a distance, and the band of four has broken into fragments.

    Stalker presses for a closer relationship, but Deuce sees him as a training partner, and she’s busy trying to find her place in Salvation. She refuses to accept that she’s wrong for being who she is, but tensions rise as she struggles against the status quo. Her feelings for Fade haven’t changed, but he seems not to want her around anymore. Confused and lonely, she starts looking for a way out.

    Once she’s free from school for the year, Deuce pursues a chance to serve in the summer patrols–those responsible for making sure the growers and planters can work the fields without danger of Freak attack. It should have been routine, little fighting, but things have been changing on surface, just as they did below ground. The Freaks are smarter. They’re watching. Waiting. Planning. The monsters don’t intend to let Salvation survive, and it will take a girl like Deuce to turn the tide.

    Previous Book(s) in Series:
    Enclave (Razorland, #1)

    Sacrifice the Wicked by Karina Cooper 
    sacrifice-the-wicked

    Get it: Goodreads | Amazon
    Source: Wicked Scribes
    Genre: Paranormal Romance
    Series: Dark Missions, book 4

    Shera’s Thoughts: 

    Sexy. Sexy.

    But is anyone else feel like the title is squatty??

    N/A

    Previous Book(s) in Series:

    Blood of the Wicked (Dark Mission, #1)Lure of the Wicked (Dark Mission, #2)All Things Wicked (Dark Mission #3)


    The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin 
    theevolutionofmaradyer

    Get it: Goodreads | Amazon
    Source: Goodreads
    Genre: Paranormal YA 
    Series: Mara Dyer, book 2

    Shera’s Thoughts: 

    The first book’s cover is hard to surpass, but they done good.

    It looks great, and I love how the characters faces are still “unseen.”

    Two days after Mara walks into a police station in Miami at the close of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, she is committed for psychiatric treatment for what her parents believe is a mental breakdown. But what seems like a hallucination to everyone else is a chilling reality for Mara. Someone from her past has discovered her strange, disturbing secret and that someone wants her to pay. But she's about to discover that the price is more than she can bear.

    Dark and thrilling, suspenseful and passionate, The Evolution of Mara Dyer will have readers breathlessly turning pages to find out what will become of Mara Dyer next.

    Previous Book(s) in Series:
    The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer, #1)