In My Mailbox (17)

In My Mailbox is a weekly post created by The Story Siren and inspired by Alea of Pop Culture Junkie!! (This post was inspired by Alea of Pop Culture Junkie.)

FOR REVIEW:

Eve of Samhain by Lisa Sanchez (Review here) from Omnific Publishing (PDF)

Seers of Light by Jennifer Delucy from Omnific Publishing (PDF)

BOUGHT: 

Septimus Heap Book 1: Magyk by Angie Sage

The Starthorn Tree by Kate Forsyth

Troll Mill by Katherine Langrish

Master of the Books by James Moloney (Book 2 in Book of Lies series)

Caught by Harlan Coben

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud (Book 1 in The Bartimaeus Trilogy)

Foundling by D.M Cornish (Book one of Monster Blood Tattoo)

The Witch in the Lake by Anna Fienberg

The Burning Times by Jeanne Kalogridis

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (Book One of The Mortal Instruments)  Yes again, last on the bandwagon for this one lol.

Cruzito's Mailbox

Uno's Garden by Graham Base

The Waterhole by Graham Base (I have the baby version of this, thick pages)

The Eleventh Hour by Graham Base

Note: The illustrations are just beautiful. 

So that was my awesome IMM for this week.  Had lots of fun shopping at Lifeline Bookfest.  Kinda broke now but shh... don't tell my other half. :)

What did you get?

Archvillain by Barry Lyga ARC GIVEAWAY!!

Synopsis
Kyle Camden knows exactly where he was the night Mighty Mike arrived: sneaking around the fallow field behind Bouring Middle School, preparing one of his most ingenious pranks yet.

Which is why he couldn’t tell anyone where he was.
Or what he saw.

Those lights everyone saw in the sky weren’t tiny meteors burning up in the atmosphere. They were some kind of strange, supercooled plasma that bathed the entire field — including Kyle — in alien energies.
Unfortunately, the energies also brought Mighty Mike to earth.
Kyle is the only one who knows that Mighty Mike is an alien. Everyone else thinks that Mike is just some kid who stumbled into the field, got beefed up on meteor juice, lost his memory, and decided to start rescuing kittens from trees. But Kyle knows the truth.
And he’ll do anything in his power to stop Mighty Mike, even it means becoming an Archvillain!


Available in bookstores everywhere in October 2010.

 
Thanks to Barry Lyga I have one ARC copy of Archvillain to giveaway!!  For those of you who would love to win this all you have to do is fill out the form below.  Giveaway will be drawn next Saturday 19th June.

GIVEAWAY CLOSED

You can find out more about Barry Lyga by using the links.

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Eve of Samhain by Lisa Sanchez

Title: Eve of Samhaim

Author:  Lisa Sanchez

Genre: Paranormal Romance
ISBN: 1-936305-20-8
Format: Paperback or eBook

Stand alone or series:
Pages: 216 

 

Thank you to Micha from Omnific Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read Eve of Samhain, and a big THANK YOU to Lisa Sanchez for writing a fantastic book!

Synopsis

As a college senior and server at Hanaford Park's hottest nightclub, twenty-one year old Ryann Pierce's plan was simple: work hard, make lots of money, and avoid the ass-grabbers at all costs. What she never planned for was Quinn Donegan—the living, breathing advertisement for sinful behavior that waltzed into her life.

With an angelic face, a hard body and a butt-load of charm, Quinn had a way with the ladies—a lot of ladies. Cursed with a deadly, addictive touch, his trail of indiscretion blazed across five hundred years. Tired and jaded, Ryann is a shocking revelation Quinn didn't see coming.

Filled with desire, yet unable to touch one another, Ryann and Quinn embark on a daunting journey, battling frustrating physical limitations while exploring their new love. In a race against the clock, Ryann learns she must plead for Quinn's life before…the Eve of Samhain. Determined to end her lover's suffering, not even the danger dogging her every move can keep her from her mission.

 

My Thoughts 

I've not long finished this book and all I have to say is, WOW!  This is definitely a story I could read over and over again.

Lisa Sanchez has done a brilliant job of creating strong unforgettable characters.  Ryann's a college student who works at her local night club to help pay her way through her education.  She's quick-witted, stubborn and bootylicious.  While working at the nightclub she meets the ever desirable Quinn who is the very definition of  'sex god'.  Soon Ryann begins to feel that prickly sense of someone watching her and Quinn takes it upon himself to keep an eye on Ryann, and in turn getting to know her better.

 

Ryann is a pretty switched on girl.  While fighting the urge to turn and flee, she'll also not let anything stop her from living her life.  I like that in a character.  Quinn is interesting.  When he first appears on the page I found he came across as very arrogant but also charming.  The further the story progressed, the more of Quinn's personality we see and although he had a few bizarre sayings  I warmed up to him pretty quick. Martha is quite the mystery.  When she finally does show up, I was pleasantly surprised at how different she is compared to how Jessica portrays her as.  Jessica,  Ryann's faithful best friend and god forbid you ever wake her up before she's ready.

Eve of Samhain is Lisa Sanchez's first published novel but you wouldn't think so.  It's especially well written, and her style makes it a very easy and addictive read.

To find more about Lisa Sanchez see links below.
Goodreads
Twitter
Facebook

 

Lifeline Bookfest

Hi all. Thank you to Lara at Absolutely Booked for pointing this out to me.

This is for those of you in the Queensland are, to be more specific around Brisbane.  The Lifeline Bookfest is on the 12th (tomorrow) - 15th of June and is the biggest secondhand booksale out.

So if your shopping for some awesome books go check it out.  I'll definitely be there as soon as the doors open tomorrow.

Who else is going?  I might see you there!

You can check out more details at the Lifeline Bookfest website! 

Happy shopping!

P.S By the way, what does everything think of my new signature and post separatr?  Toxin Designs designed it for me.  You can find her button on my blogroll!  She's awesome!

Thanks!

Once Upon a Time Project Week 1 Check in (G2)

Hey everyone! It's Week 1 Check in of Once Upon a Time Project (Giveaway 2) and I'm interested in hearing how everyone is going?

This week I'd love to hear where you were when your best ideas have hit, what your typical habits are for writing, and any other quirks and tid bits there may be.

If your having trouble coming up with ideas or The Muse has gone on a temporary holiday, the web has got some fantastic writing prompts to get you started.  Dragon Writing Prompts is a good site to check out.  Another is Writing Forward which has some creative tips and exercises and grammar help.

AND if you haven't been over to Welcome to Larissa's Bookish Life.  There is a very cool Creative writing contest where you can take a book which had a disappointing ending and re-write it!!  Stella Price, Angie Frazier, Dakota Cassida and Larissa Lone are the Judges, so give it a try.

So that's all from me for now. (sorry this post is late, total malfunction with the scheduling)  I look forward to your comments

Waiting on Wednesday (15)

Waiting On Wednesday was created by Jill over at Breaking The Spine. It's a weekly post for you to share what upcoming books you can't wait for!

Ascendant by Diana Peterfreund is the second book in the Unicorn Series.  Rampant being the first.  Ascendant will be released 28th September 2010.  Looking forward to this.  

POSSILE SPOILERS IN SYNOPSIS IF YOU HAVEN'T READ RAMPANT

 SYNOPSIS

The hunt continues…

Astrid Llewelyn is now a fully-trained unicorn hunter, but she’s learning she can’t solve all her problems with just a bow and arrow. Her boyfriend Giovanni has decided to leave Rome, the Cloisters is in dire financial straits, her best friend’s powers seem to be mysteriously disintegrating, and Astrid fears that school, home, and her hopes of becoming a scientist are nothing but impossible dreams.

So when she’s given the opportunity to leave the Cloisters and put her skills to use as part of a scientific quest to discover The Remedy, Astrid leaps at the chance. Finally, she can have exactly what she wants…or can she? At the Gordian Pharmaceuticals headquarters deep in the French countryside, Astrid begins to question everything she thought she believed: her love for Giovanni, her loyalty to the Cloisters, and - most of all - her duty as a hunter. Should Astrid be saving the world from killer unicorns, or saving the unicorns from the world?

Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead

Title:  Succubus Blues

Author:  Richelle Mead
Genre:  Fantasy/Urban Fantasy
Publisher:  Bantam Books

Publication Date:  August 2010

Book Length:  477
Series: Series
First Lines:  Statistics show that most mortals sell their souls for five reasons: sex, money, power, revenge, and love.  In that order.

Synopsis

Succubus (n) - An alluring, shape-shifting demon who seduces and pleasures mortal men.

Pathetic (adj.) - A succubus with great shoes and no social life. See: Georgina Kincaid.

When it comes to jobs in hell, being a succubus seems pretty glamorous. A girl can be anything she wants. The wardrobe is killer, and mortal men will do anything just for a touch. Granted, they often pay with their souls, but why get technical?

But Seattle succubus Georgina Kincaid’s life is far less exotic. Her boss is a middle-management demon with a thing for John Cusack movies. Her immortal best friends haven’t stopped teasing her about the time she shape-shifted into the Demon Goddess get-up complete with whip and wings. And she can’t have a decent date without sucking away part of the guy’s life. At least there’s her day job at a local bookstore—free books, all the white chocolate mochas she can drink, and easy access to bestselling, sexy writer, Seth Mortensen, aka He Whom She Would Give Anything to Touch but Can’t.

But dreaming about Seth will have to wait. Something wicked is at work in Seattle’s demon underground. And for once, all of her hot charms and drop-dead one-liners won’t help because Georgina’s about to discover there are some creatures out there that both heaven and hell want to deny…

My Thoughts

Okay.  I admit it.  I'm a little slow to get on the bandwagon for great books.  I've read every book in the Vampire Academy so far and I know for a fact that Richelle Mead is a fantastic author.  Why oh why had I not read Succubus Blues sooner.  I guess I'm a bit of an anti-Succubus person.  Well, not anymore.  Thanks, once again to Rose.

Georgina, the main character is attractive, charming and has the best job in the world, working in a bookstore.  I think what drew me the most to Georgina was that she could shapeshift. She's friends with two vampires, Cody and Peter, and an imp called Hugh.  I don't know what made me think Peter and Cody were an item but I'm wondering if anyone else thought that at first?

The beginning of the novel caught my attention right away.  It involves a bit of soul sucking, a favour asked, and two confrontations.  If that doesn't suck you in(excuse the pun lol).  Well keep reading.  I'm quite thankful too, that, while this is about a Succubus, it does not bombard you with sex scenes etc like I initially thought it would.

Succubus Blues is an easy read, filled with witty characters, a great plot line and one hot succubus.  Richelle Mead has done a wonderful job and I can't wait to get my hands on her next book.