[Waiting on Wednesday #10] Opal (Lux #3) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, originally started by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that highlights upcoming book releases everyone is waiting on.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:


Opal (Lux #3)
by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Expected publication: December 11th 2012 by Entangled Publishing

No one is like Daemon Black.

When he set out to prove his feelings for me, he wasn’t fooling around. Doubting him isn’t something I’ll do again, and now that we’ve made it through the rough patches, well... There’s a lot of spontaneous combustion going on.

But even he can’t protect his family from the danger of trying to free those they love.

After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different... And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable of. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.

Together we’re stronger... and they know it.

So what are you "Waiting on this Wednesday"? Leave me a comment and I'll come visit your WoW. :D

[Author Interview] Undercover by Maria Hammarblad

Welcome to Author Maria Hammarblad

Born in Sweden in the early 1970's, Maria showed a large interest for books at an early age. Even before she was able to read or write, she made her mom staple papers together into booklets she filled with drawings of suns and planets. She proudly declared them, "The Sun Book." They were all about the sun. She also claimed, to her mother's horror, that her being on Earth was a big mistake and that her alien family would come and bring her home at any moment. This never happened, but both the interest in space and the passion for bookmaking stayed with her.

As an adult Maria's creativity got an outlet through playing bass in a number of rock bands, and through writing technical manuals and making web pages for various companies and organizations. She did write drafts for a few novels, but the storytelling muse was mostly satisfied through role playing online on Myspace. It was here, while writing stories together with people from around the globe, she stumbled onto Mike. They started talking out of character, and she moved over to Florida to him late 2008. Today the two are married and live in the Tampa Bay area with three rescue dogs.

Besides writing and playing bass, Maria enjoys driving off-road, archery, and Tameshigiri.

If you could have any superpower what would you choose?

Oooh, that's an interesting question! Being able to fly would be cool, and super speed would be practical, but I think I'll go with super strength. Even if opportunities to lift cars or trains off people don't show themselves every day, imagine never having to find anything too heavy again. Grocery bags would weigh nothing. Need to change a tire? No problem, I'll just hold the car up. A lid won't budge? I'll deal with it. (And probably accidentally crash the jar, hahaha.)

Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.
I love when people contact me so say they liked one of my books. If I'm able to entertain someone, I've succeeded with life. On a more formal level, I just won the Royal Palm Awards for best screenplay - I based it on my novel Kidnapped - and the Dahris Clair award for best new writing. The news had me bouncing all over the room!

Please tell us in one sentence only, why we should read your book.
For romance, adventure, and international conflict, read Undercover!

Favorite food?
I love Thai food. Vegetarian spring rolls, or maybe chicken with cashew nuts. Mmm, you're making me hungry.

What book are reading now?
Right now, I'm reading "The Twelve" by Justin Cronin. I don't love the beginning and I'm not far enough into it yet to know if I like it. We'll see. 

What’s your favorite season/weather?
Summer. I hate being cold. I'm Swedish originally, and winter in my part of the country just never ends. I moved to Florida late 2008, and it was one of the best decisions of my life. I do miss snow during the Christmas holiday, but I can definitely live without it.

What was your favorite children's book?
Ronia, the Robber's Daughter by Astrid Lindgren. It's not for really small children, I think it's recommended 8 and up, but it's a wonderful adventure. I haven't read it for years and years so I don't remember all the details, but I was enthralled by it.

Beach or Pool?
Beach.

What is one book everyone should read?
Lord of the Rings. It's a classic, and watching the movies isn't the same as reading it.

Any other books in the works? Goals for future projects?
I have a lot going on right now. I'll have a short free read available around Christmas on my publisher's website (www.desertbreezepublishing.com). It's called Courage and Retribution, and it's a prequel to my novel Kidnapped. I want to write another short prequel to Kidnapped as well, I have it all clear in my head, but haven't gotten to actually typing it down yet… Maybe for 2013.

Next year will be busy. Kidnapped and Undercover will both become paperbacks, they're only available as e-books right now, and I have three releases planned. Flashback will be first, in June. It's about a soldier who was a prisoner of war in the Middle East. His physical wounds have healed, but mentally he's a wreck. He meets a woman and starts to get his life in order, and just as the future seems bright again, she's kidnapped and he'll have to go back to face his own worst fears in order to save her. The other two books will be science fiction stories, one in August and one in December.

Thank you so much for having me on your blog! I enjoyed all the questions, and I really appreciate being here!


Find out more about Maria on the website. Or follow her on her blog, Facebook, Twitter,  and Goodreads.
Check out her Publisher's website.

Undercover
by Maria Hammarblad

Genre: Romantic suspense
Publisher: Desert Breeze Publishing

ISBN: 978-1-61252-216-6
ASIN: B0098TGWTW

Word Count: 77000

Cover Artist: Gwen Phifer

Book Description:

When Jenny Moore meets Alexei Roshenko, it's love at first sight. The tall, dark and handsome stranger appears to be the answer to every romantic fantasy any woman ever had. There is however more to him than meets the eye, and a dark and violent past is catching up with him. When Jenny decides to follow him back to Russia, she gets entangled in a web of deceit and secrets beyond her wildest imagination.

Book Trailer:



So what do you think? Will you be adding this to your TBR list?

Dystopian Giveaway Hop

Dystopia is a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding.

Welcome to the Dystopian Giveaway Hop

November 1st to 7th

Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & My Shelf Confessions

Over 100 participating blogs are offering a book related giveaway and we are all linked up together so you can easily hop from one giveaway to another.  The hop runs from Nov 1st - 7th .

I have an AWESOME giveaway for you today. 

My Giveaway 

Choose any one of the following Dystopian novels on my list.

Happy Hopping!!

Pick one!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Teaser Tuesdays (Oct 30)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser:

"Yeah, the creatures couldn't get in, but we couldn't get out. There was one door, and corpses blocked it."
p.148 Life After The Undead by Pembroke Sinclair

What do you think? What are you reading? Leave me a comment and I'll check it out. New follower? I will follow back.

[Review] Alice In Zombieland (White Rabbit Chronicles #1) by Gena Showalter

Alice in Zombieland

 (White Rabbit Chronicles #1)

by Gena Showalter

Published September 25th 2012 

by Harlequin Teen

Summary Goodreads

Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real….

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies….

I wish I could go back and do a thousand things differently.

I'd tell my sister no.

I'd never beg my mother to talk to my dad.

I'd zip my lips and swallow those hateful words.

Or, barring all of that, I'd hug my sister, my mom and my dad one last time.

I'd tell them I love them.

I wish... Yeah, I wish.

Opening the first pages (figuratively though, I bought the ebook) I was expecting a modern day retelling of Alice In Wonderland. I was trying to put all the characters from the classic story into a modern zombie tale in my head. I have never really enjoyed that story but considering that the word zombie had been included I had to give it a try.  I didn't imagine I'd fall head over heels in love with every word that is plastered onto those pages. I don't think I've stopped reading it long enough to do the housework or feed my kids. (Glad they can feed themselves! LOL). I loved this book!

Zombie novels have become another genre that is being a little over done just like vampires have been. But this is a totally different look into zombies. When Alice Bell, the main character, realizes that her father’s fear of monsters was truer than ever expected. Her new life now consisted of battling those monsters and her drive to kill every one of them that took her family from her. Cole Holland, the bad-boy character who is very swoon worthy from his description in the book, helps Alice find out all there is to know about the monsters that lurk in the shadows.  Alice has to learn to trust Cole and his rough group of friends while they learn to trust her. Alice and Cole have quite the up and down romance in between the zombie killing.  I think it's safe to say this series is my new favorite.

Alice and Cole’s relationship really made the book. I just love the way the two characters play off each other. There conversations are an easy banter of sorts. And their relationship was not to serious and fun to read about. Cole was a baseball cap wearing, bad boy type. But always had Ali’s welfare at heart. Alice was a great heroine. She was fiery and strong and had a great sense of humor so much so that I found myself giggling at some things she said. The other characters were great too. Once they began to trust Ali they all became some what best friends. I loved the roll every one of them played. It was like a great big family. And Kat, what can I say about her. She was great right from the moment she walked into Ali’s hospital room. What a wonderful BFF she was. The grand parents kept me laughing with there desire to be “hip” grandparents. Their slang usage was a high light to the story. You just had to love them!

Gena transfers the reader-what ever age or gender-straight into Alice’s life as she meets her new friends at Archer High. The plot centers around zombies that exist in the spirit world. If you have read any of my reviews you know how much I love the classic, everyday zombie, and at first I wasn't sure about this. I don’t really like to read things about the spirit realm. It’s just one of those things I stay away from.  But this was a totally different view and I was fascinated about how this all worked as I read more and more.  

I really loved this novel. It’s a fresh new look at zombies. And I cannot wait until October 2013 for Through The Zombie Looking Glass. I’ll be waiting!! 

5 Stars!! Without a doubt!

[Review & Promo] Corpse Days by Jonathon Kane

Corpse Days

by Jonathon Kane

  Published May 8th 2012

 by Jonathon Kane

Is this the end of the world? Is the Rapture upon us? Has a Zombie Apocalypse arrived? That's a matter of opinion, but it doesn't hurt to be a licensed Shooter in these uncertain times.

Meet Stan Norton - a middle-aged Shooter with a haunting past. He wants little to do with the living dead and less to do with the living, until that is, a mysterious young woman with an affinity for guns and martial arts enters his life. An adventure begins and the hunt is on for a reclusive enemy, as the clock ticks down toward a full-blown resurgence of the Corpse Days.

Corpse Days was is unlike the other zombie books I have read. Most of the zombie books, even though its one of my favorite genres, usually falls in post apocalyptic

times, like in The Walking Dead  television show. Cities have been destroyed and life has been inalated except for a few survivors, who are having to run and  hide from the zombies to keep from being eaten.  Corpse Days isn't like that. It's more of a present day "war" going on between us and our enemy, the zombies. 

Right from the beginning Jonathon captured my attention. In a normal everyday diner, a family is eating and all of a sudden the dad zeros out, dies and then returns from the dead as a zombie. Stan, one of the main characters, puts him down. Now I can't even imagine in our world now, having this be an every day issue and with these people it is. 

 The main character is Heather Storm a secret agent working for the government to take out the "mark". The man they think is behind a new type of outbreak that has no cure. Up until now you could be vaccinated to keep from getting the virus that started the original "Corpse Days". But not this new strand. Heather has recruited Stan plus several more guys as a zombie hunting team. Well at least that's what they think they are. :) 

I enjoyed this new type of zombie book. When I think of a zombie outbreak it's always in the future and everything has been destroyed. Kind of going back to no electricity and running water. Lol!! But this book gave me a new view of a present day virus causing a zombie outbreak. And you know with all the new types of flu and viruses out there it doesn't seem so far fetched. 

Jonathan did a great job of hooking me and reeling me in. There was just enough zombies eating humans and humans killing zombies for me read late into the night and then not want to put it down. I am definitely waiting for the next one to see what  Jonathon has in store for Heather and her zombie hunting friends.

**I recieved this ebook from the author for a fair and honest review**

I gave Corpse Days 4 stars!!

Corpse Days is Jonathon Kane's debut novel.  A zombie story was a natural fit for him, as he loves all things Halloween.  He felt he could bring human emotions other than just fear into this corner of the horror genre.  In high school, he began writing short stories.  However, only when Heather Storm came along—the main character of Corpse Days —did he realize a novel was possible.  Jonathon has recently finished the sequel to Corpse Days, titled The Calm Before

To find out more about Jonathon visit his website.

Zompacolypse 2012 Halloween Hop

Paranormal Wasteland is hosting a Trick or Treat giveaway Hop as

 part of Zompacolypse 2012.

I am all about some zombies!!! So my giveaway is your choice of any zombie book from Book Depository.

Happy Hopping!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Stacking The Shelves #6

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews. It is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

I think it's been like 10 years since I've done Stacking the Shelves. No I'm just kidding!! :) My blog has been blown up lately with Promos, Interviews, Cover Releases, and a few of my Reviews but... anywho... I'm back today. Not sure for how long but I'm here.... :) There have been many books added to my "shelf" since the last time but I'll pick a few.

**All books are linked to Goodreads.**

My purchases... :)


Alice in Zombieland (White Rabbit Chronicles #1)
by Gena Showalter
Published September 25th 2012 by Harlequin Teen

She won't rest until she's sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.

Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that's all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real.

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn't careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies.
**Review to come**

 


The Vampire Hunter's Daughter, Part I (The Vampire Hunter's Daughter #1)
by Jennifer Malone Wright
     Published August 10th 2011

Fourteen-year-old Chloe witnesses her mother’s murder at the hands of a vampire. Before the vampire can kidnap her, there is an unexpected rescue by a group of vampire hunters. Overwhelmed by the feeling of safety, Chloe passes out and they whisk her away to their small community.

When Chloe wakes, she comes face to face with the only other living relative, besides her mother, whom she has ever met: her grandfather. Chloe’s mother kept her hidden from the family; now, Chloe tries to unveil the family secrets.

Through her grandfather, she learns her mother was a vampire hunter. In fact, her entire family is descended from the powerful bloodlines of vampire hunters. Chloe agrees to join the family she has never known for one reason only:
Chloe vows to kill the vampire responsible for her mother’s murder.

With vengeance in her soul, Chloe is even more determined to follow through on her vow when she discovers the true identity of her enemy and how he is connected to her.

The Vampire Hunter's Daughter is the first in a series of short stories by Jennifer Malone Wright.


Books received for Blog Tours...


Corpse Days
by Jonathon Kane
Published May 8th 2012 by Jonathon Kane


Is this the end of the world? Is the Rapture upon us? Has a Zombie Apocalypse arrived? That's a matter of opinion, but it doesn't hurt to be a licensed Shooter in these uncertain times.

Meet Stan Norton - a middle-aged Shooter with a haunting past. He wants little to do with the living dead and less to do with the living, until that is, a mysterious young woman with an affinity for guns and martial arts enters his life. An adventure begins and the hunt is on for a reclusive enemy, as the clock ticks down toward a full-blown resurgence of the Corpse Days.
**Review to come Oct.29**



Bitter Frost (Frost #1)
by Kailin Gow
Published June 1st 2010 by The Edge
Characters and the world of Feyland first introduced in Gow's children/Middle Grade Series The Fairy Rose Chronicles (originally published in 2003)

All her life, Breena had always dreamed about fairies as though she lived among them...beautiful fairies living among mortals and living in Feyland..

In her dreams, he was always there the breathtakingly handsome but dangerous Winter Prince, Kian, who is her intended. When Breena turns sixteen, she begins seeing fairies and other creatures mortals don't see. Her best friend Logan suddenly acts very protective.

Then she sees Kian, who seems intent on finding her and carrying her off to Feyland. That's fine and all, but for the fact that humans rarely survive a trip to Feyland, a kiss from a fairy generally means death to the human unless that human has fairy blood in them or is very strong, and although Kian seemed to be her intended, he seems to hate her and wants her dead.

As I Close My Eyes (Book #1)
by Sarah DiCello
Published June 29th 2012 by Taylor Street Publishing, LLC

When she looks into her own eyes, she sees a ghost.

And when she looks into his eyes, she knows she has seen them before ...

Danielle Grayson is a beautiful, intelligent young woman in present-day Georgia, but when she closes her eyes, she becomes someone else in a different time, one hundred years earlier in fact.

Danielle's other life is as entrancing and romantic as her current one, and the contrast between the lifestyles is intriguing and enlightening, but what starts out as being dreamlike soon becomes real and strangely familiar.

Worse, whatever happens to her as Danielle seems to change the past, if it is a true past.

And when she finds she is not alone in being able to flip between the two worlds, life, love and death become increasingly disturbing.
**Review to come Nov. 3rd**



So what did you Stack Your Shelves with this week? Leave me a note and I'll check it out. Always looking for new books to buy!!! :)