Out for Blood Giveaway -Reposted

Everyone would should enter Alyxandra Harvey's contest for her new book Out for Blood because who doesn't want to read this??

TO enter go to Alyxandra Harvey's blog, this is a re-post of what she posted.

To celebrate the new pretty, I am extending the giveaway! Tweet, blog or web-share this lovely pic and leave me a link on this post and that counts for 2 entries! If you've already shared the giveaway, sharing the pic counts for 2 more entries for you, on top of the first.

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I have a shiny ARC (advanced reading copy) of Out for Blood (Drake Chronicles #3) and I'm giving it away!
So: post about The Drake Chronicles (your favourite character, brother, romance... whatever!) and/or this giveaway and you're automatically entered (x1).
Retweet for same. (x1)
Open internationally.
ONE winner will be chosen, giveaway closes August 17th 2010.
You don't need to do anything other than spread the word to win!
But if you comment on THIS entry only with a link to any kind of creative endeavour a la Drakes (trailers, poem, art...) your name will be entered 5 times for each piece. (x5)
This is my standard. I like to encourage creativity!

PRIZE:
ONE signed ARC of Out For Blood. Please remember this is an advanced uncorrected proof. And it will be sent out after the 17th as soon as I get the official go-ahead.

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Ps-Don't forget to check out the Facebook page...early teasers are sometimes posted...
http://www.facebook.com/thedrakechronicles

Yours Truly,

Halo By Alexandra Adornetto Review #66

Author: Alexandra Adornetto
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 496
Source: Publisher (Thanks Ksenia)
Available: August 31,2010
Rating:

Three angels are sent down to bring good to the world: Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, a teenage girl who is the least experienced of the trio. But she is the most human, and when she is romantically drawn to a mortal boy, the angels fear she will not be strong enough to save anyone—especially herself—from the Dark Forces.

Is love a great enough power against evil?

I'm excited for the sequel!!! To bad it's not out until fall 2011. I must admit, I'm rather jealous and envious of Alexandra Adornetto. She's seventeen (same age as me) and has already published four books before she eighteen. I'll also admit that Halo (fourth and first book in the US, Australian Author she is) is a nice change in the paranormal genre. Instead of reading from the normal mortals POV, you see true love through the supernatural being. In this case that supernatural being is a angel.

The author did a excellent job of bringing the readers into her imagery world. You'll be easily sucked into the novel by the writing, characters and the amazing plot line. The story is rather slow and is very long (almost 500 pages), but you can't help but fall in love with it.

Bethany , like Sharon puts it, "basically starts out as a baby" . At the beginning Beth doesn't really get teenage culture. Which could also symbolize the confusion most teens feel in real life. Though with Beth it's worse. Examples of this are: not knowing how to put lip gloss on and not knowing what trains are. But further into the story she becomes older and finds her place in the world. The story shows the transition teens feel from being the awkward kid to becoming more secure in their own body. The only thing I didn't like about Beth was sometimes her dialogue didn't match her personality.

Xavier & Jake were the love interest in this book. Well, maybe only Xavier. I loved both, I kept thinking Xavier was Liam Hemsworth. Xavier was sexy, protective and basically any girls dream boy. He was perfect, but at the same time troubled. He kept this calm attitude to him, but inside he was conflicted. Jake on the other hand was the ultimate bad boy. At times I wanted to read more about him then Xavier. I actually was sad by the fact that he doesn't come in til like almost 300. There wasn't enough of him, until the end. Which was a downer, but I'm hoping he'll make a bigger mark in the sequel.

The bad guy was totally obvious. Beth even tells you who it is, before she/he appears. Which was kind of a bad thing in my eyes. When you read first person, your suppose to only know what the protagonist knows. Yeah you know some stuff before he or she does but not much. With Halo, I felt that by telling me in advance was a sour point. It left no surprise elements to the story.

The ending defintely leaves me wanting more. And by this I mean I'm impatient and want to read the sequel ASAP. I can't wait for it to come out in 2011.

Overall a wonderful story that will sure to be a hit with book lovers everywhere.
Yours Truly,

The Emerald Talisman By Brenda Pandos Review #65

Author: Brenda Pandos
Publisher: Obsidian Mountain Publishing
Pages: 280
Source: Amazon Kindle Store
Available: Now, go to Amazon for paperback/kindle or Barnes & Noble for kindle version.
Rating:

To be normal, sixteen-year-old Julia Parker would shed her empathic gift in a second. Life has been difficult since her mother's mysterious disappearance ten years earlier - an event she witnessed, but can't remember. Julia's situation becomes more complicated after a near death experience from a blood thirsty stalker. As high school students go missing it is clear there is a connection to her own experience--past and present. Someone has to stop the madness and a chance encounter with a creepy psychic foretells that only Julia is the key to stopping the madness, but it may require the life of the one she loves.

Where do I begin??? I'm now adding this book to my all-time favorites. I simply loved it, read it in less then a day. Why do I adore it so much? I don't know. I think Twilight might have met it's match. I'm surprised there's not more publicity about this book. I can definitely see this book being quickly optioned for film rights. Not one part of the story did I find uninteresting. It was fast paced and the writing was beautifully done. It was clear, easy imagery with well brought out emotions. Also guess what, the author has never written much before this. Can you believe that?? I find her work very well written, not amerturish.

The characters were well developed and like-able. Especially Julia, I really connected with her. I found many similarities between her and me, and I enjoyed reading from her perspective. Her thoughts were really strong and well written, making her a realistic character. She wasn't annoying. A lot of the situations she got into and her actions were very understandable. If a guy hadn't visited, when he said he would, I'd be pissed off as well. I was actually wondering through the first half of the book where Nicholas was. I found the author did a great job of creating and writing about her. Brenda Pandos definitely connected with her inner teenager.

Nicholas and Phil were the sexiest characters of the novel. Sadly one of them get's down-casted, by the other. The plot was simple and very obvious. Both boys trying to fight over the girls affection. One good and the other bad. Which then leaves the readers in a conflicted situation cause you can't help but love both. Though you can probably guess who wins her heart in the end. Nicholas was protective in a sweet-sort-of-way, and his reasoning was very sincere. But like all other paranormal YA boys, he is a bit of a stalker. I was seriously waiting, throughout the novel, for Julia to ask if he watches her while she sleeps. I think I just finally realized that most paranormal YA boys do that, why not Nicholas as well. Phil was the nice kid turned bad boy in the book. At times I really felt my heart drawn to him.

What I thought... could of been more improved was Julia's power. I felt that it wasn't really brought to the readers attention enough. I wanted to know more, and maybe in the sequel we will learn more about her gift.

Overall this book will definitely be on the top 5 of 2010. I loved it and I'm so excited for it's sequel, The Sapphire Talisman to come out. I will be anxiously awaking it release date. If you haven't read this book yet then I highly recommend that you do.
Yours Truly,

What In My Mailbox #19 - All The Past 2 to 3 weeks

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi over at The Story Siren! In My Mailbox is a way to share the books you received each week.

So this weeks What's In My Mailbox is a catchup of all the books I've received in the last 2 to 3 weeks. I'm now officially 17 years old (as of July.18th) so for my b-day I did get a book gift card and a whole load of cash (some I still haven't spent). So enjoy everyone XD And what is in your mailbox???

For Review

Author: Alexandra Adornetto
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 496
Source: Publisher
Available: August 31st, 2010

Three angels are sent down to bring good to the world: Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, a teenage girl who is the least experienced of the trio. But she is the most human, and when she is romantically drawn to a mortal boy, the angels fear she will not be strong enough to save anyone—especially herself—from the Dark Forces.

Is love a great enough power against evil?

I've been quite lazy this summer so I've been taking my time on this one. I'm currently on page 380 our 496. So far I'm enjoying it, though I find it a bit slow. I'm really envious of the authors age and how many books she has published.

Author: Alyson Noel
Publisher: Square Fish
Pages: 192
Source: Publisher
Available: August 31st, 2010

Riley has crossed the bridge into the afterlife—a place called Here, where time is always Now. She has picked up life where she left off when she was alive, living with her parents and dog in a nice house in a nice neighborhood. When she’s summoned before The Council, she learns that the afterlife isn’t just an eternity of leisure. She’s been assigned a job, Soul Catcher, and a teacher, Bodhi, a possibly cute, seemingly nerdy boy who’s definitely hiding something. They return to earth together for Riley’s first assignment, a Radiant Boy who’s been haunting a castle in England for centuries. Many Soul Catchers have tried to get him to cross the bridge and failed. But all of that was before he met Riley...

I've only read the first chapter so far. I'll read this one after Halo. So far I think I enjoy the Immortal Series better then this spin off. I feel the Riley from Evermore has been a bit lost in the adaption, from what I can see so far. Also it's a bit confusing.

Bought

Author: Karen Kincy
Publisher: Flux
Pages: 336
Source: Chapters
Available: Now

Feathers unfurl from my skin. My plummet curves into a swoop, and I tuck my talons beneath my body. From girl to great horned owl in about a second. Pretty good, huh? Gwen Williams is like any other modern teenager with one exception: she's a shapeshifter. Never having known her Pooka-spirit father, Gwen must struggle with the wild, wonderful magic inside of her alone-and in secret. While society may tolerate vampires, centaurs, and Others like Gwen, there are plenty of folks in Klikamuks, Washington, who don't care for her kind. Now there's a new werewolf pack in town, and Others are getting killed, including Gwen's dryad friend. The police are doing zilch. In the midst of terrible loss and danger, Gwen meets a cute Japanese fox spirit who's refreshingly comfortable with his Otherness. Can Gwen find the courage to embrace her true self and find the killer-before she becomes the next victim?

Me and my host sister found the synopsis intriguing. Especially with the part about the Japanese Fox Spirit (seeing as my host sis is Japanese).

Author: Anastasia Hopcus
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Pages: 400
Source: Amazon Canada
Available: Now

After her sister Athena's tragic death, it's obvious that grief-stricken Persephone "Phe" Archer no longer belongs in Los Angeles. Hoping to make sense of her sister's sudden demise and the cryptic dreams following it, Phe abandons her bubbly LA life to attend an uptight East Coast preparatory school in Shadow Hills, MA -- a school which her sister mysteriously mentioned in her last diary entry before she died.

Once there, Phe quickly realizes that something is deeply amiss in her new town. Not only does Shadow Hills' history boast an unexplained epidemic that decimated hundreds of its citizens in the 1700s, but its modern townies also seem eerily psychic, with the bizarre ability to bend metal. Even Zach -- the gorgeous stranger Phe meets and immediately begins to lust after -- seems as if he is hiding something serious. Phe is determined to get to the bottom of it. The longer she stays there, the more she suspects that her sister's untimely death and her own destiny are intricately linked to those who reside in Shadow Hills.

I had read a ARC version of this awhile back. It was for a book tour and I had reviewed it. I absolutely adored and loved the story so much, I bought a finalized copy.

Author: Julie Kagawa
Publisher: Harlequin; Original edition
Pages: 304
Source: Chapters
Available: August 1st, 2010

Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron fey—ironbound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her.

Worse, Meghan's own fey powers have been cut off. She's stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can't help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.

I had gotten a review copy of this from NetGalley, but couldn't read it. Why? I didn't have a kindle back then and I hated reading it from my computer. I found this easier.

Kindle Buys

Author: Brenda Pandos
Publisher: Obsidian Mountain Publishing
Pages: 280
Source: Amazon Kindle Store
Available: Now

o be normal, sixteen-year-old Julia Parker would shed her empathic gift in a second. Life has been difficult since her mother's mysterious disappearance ten years earlier - an event she witnessed, but can't remember. Julia's situation becomes more complicated after a near death experience from a blood thirsty stalker. As high school students go missing it is clear there is a connection to her own experience--past and present. Someone has to stop the madness and a chance encounter with a creepy psychic foretells that only Julia is the key to stopping the madness, but it may require the life of the one she loves.

THIS BOOK is literally being added to one of my all time favorites. I read it in less then a day and loved it. I can't wait to write a review on this one. I'm so darn excited for December when the sequel comes out.

Author: Tricia Rayburn
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Pages: 352
Source: Amazon Kindle Store
Available: Now

Seventeen-year-old Vanessa Sands is afraid of everything--the dark, heights, the ocean--but her fearless older sister, Justine, has always been there to coach her through every challenge. That is until Justine goes cliff diving one night near the family's vacation house in Winter Harbor, Maine, and her lifeless body washes up on shore the next day.

Vanessa's parents want to work through the tragedy by returning to their everyday lives back in Boston, but Vanessa can't help feeling that her sister's death was more than an accident. After discovering that Justine never applied to colleges, and that she was secretly in a relationship with longtime family friend Caleb Carmichael, Vanessa returns to Winter Harbor to seek some answers.

But when Vanessa learns that Caleb has been missing since Justine's death, she and Caleb's older brother, Simon, join forces to try to find him, and in the process, their childhood friendship blossoms into something more.
Soon it's not just Vanessa who is afraid. All of Winter Harbor is abuzz with anxiety when another body washes ashore, and panic sets in when the small town becomes home to a string of fatal, water-related accidents . . . in which all the victims are found grinning from ear to ear.

As Vanessa and Simon probe further into the connections between Justine's death and the sudden rash of creepy drownings, Vanessa uncovers a secret that threatens her new romance, and that will change her life forever.

I've been wanting to read this one for a while, and since my store didn't have it in stock and I'm a impatient person I bought it off the kindle.

From Library

I'm not going to give a description of each one. But these books are historical fiction about the province I come from. They're very interesting and I love them. I read them as a child. Now I just ordered the fifth book which I've never read.

Goodies

Thanks to Anastasia Hopcus for sending me a signed poster and some magnets/pins. And as you can see in the upside down picture, I now own a Kindle . I got it as a birthday gift XD

Book Trailers

Yours Truly,