Review: A Perfect Blood

A Perfect Blood by Kim Harrison

Series: The Hollows #10

Published by Harper Voyager

Genre: Adult Urban Fantasy

$27.99 (US hardback)

438 pages

What it's about:

Ritually murdered corpses are appearing across Cincinnati, terrifying amalgams of human and other. Pulled in to help investigate by the FIB, former witch turned day-walking demon Rachel Morgan soon realizes a horrifying truth--a would-be creator is determined to make his (or her) own demons. But it can't be done without Rachel's blood, in this latest blockbuster by a "New York Times"-bestselling author.

My thoughts:

If you've followed my blog for any length of time, you might have figured out that I am a massive Kim Harrison fan. In my opinion, Kim can do nothing wrong when it comes to her books. I adore every page of her books.

APB has a very different feel than all the other books in the Hollows. Rachel has blocked out her ability to do ley line magic so she can hide from the demons. She has been "outed" and the world now knows that she is a demon. This leaves the mood of the book pretty somber. Rachel is finally growing up and facing reality! Out of all the books, this one definitely has the most character growth to it. It is also the darkest of all the books. We see a whole new side of life in Rachel's world. We learn a lot more about the humans and how they feel towards the inderlanders.

This is one of my all time favorite series, if not my favorite series (besides Harry Potter of course). I love how vivid the characters are. I feel like I personally know them because Kim describes them so well. And the world in which the characters live is just as well described. If I ever go to Cinci, I think I will be shocked to find out that there isn't a Hollows or the IS or FIB. I feel like this is a real place, that's how incredible Kim's writing is.

My rating: 10/10

My Book Boyfriend--St. Clair!

My Book Boyfriend is a weekly meme hosted by Missie over at The Unread Reader. Each week you post about a boy from a book you love. Why is this boy so awesome? Who should play him in a movie? What are his best quotes? Tell us all about him.

Ever since I read Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins last January, I've been trying to find an actor that could fit the image of the incredibly beautiful boy in my head. It's been a really long, hard search, and thanks to someone on the AATFK facebook page, I have found an actor! Yay! Now I can do the post about Etienne St. Clair!

About Etienne
*It's pronounced Eh-t-yen (though I like to say it the American way Et-eh-nee)
*He has a French name and an English accent, but he's American
*Goes to an American school in Paris
*Plays soccer
*Is pretty short but doesn't admit to it
*"The first thing I notice is his hair--it's the first thing I notice about everyone. It's dark brown and messy and somehow both long and short at the same time. I think of the Beatles, since I've just seen them in Meredith's room. It's artist hair. Musician hair. I-pretend-I-don't-care-but-I-really-do hair.
Beautiful hair."

Who should play him in a movie
Thanks to a fan girl on facebook, I can say that Pierre Boulanger should play Etienne!

“Most people in Atlanta don't have an accent. It's pretty urban. A lot of people speak gangsta, though," I add jokingly.

"Fo' shiz," he replies in his polite English accent.

I spurt orangey-red soup across the table. St. Clair gives a surprised ha-HA kind of laugh, and I'm laughing too, the painful kind like abdominal crunches. He hands me a napkin to wipe my chin. "Fo'. Shiz." He repeats it solemnly.

Cough cough. "Please don't ever stop saying that. It's too-" I gasp. "Much."

"You oughtn't to have said that. Now I shall have to save it for special occasions."

"My birthday is in February." Cough choke wheeze. "Please don't forget.”

 

“His eyes lock on mine."Anna,I promise that I will never leave you."

My heart pounds in response.And Étienne knows it,because he takes my hand and holds it against his chest,to show me how hard his heart is pounding,too.”

Oh my. He's English.

"Er. Does Mer live here?"

Seriously, I don't know any American girl who can resist an English accent.

The boy clears his throat. "Meredith Chevalier? Tall girl? Big, curly hair?" Then he looks at me like I'm crazy or half deaf, like my Nana Oliphant. Nanna just smiles and shakes her head whenever I ask, "What kind of salad dressing would you like?" or "Where did you put Granddad's false teeth?"

"I'm sorry." He takes the smallest step away from me. "You were going to bed."

"Yes! Meredith lives here. I've just spent two hours with her." I announce this proudly like my little brother, Seany, whenever he finds something disgusting in the yard. "I'm Anna! I'm new here!" Oh, [Gosh]. What. Is with. The scary enthusiasm? My cheeks catch fire, and it's all so humiliating.

The beautiful boy gives an amused grin. His teeth are lovely - straight on top and crooked on the bottom, with a touch of overbite. I'm a sucker for smiles like this, due to my own lack of orthodontia. I have a gap between my front teeth the size of a raisin.

"Étienne," he says. "I live one floor up."

"I live here." I point dumbly at my room while my mind whirs: French name, English accent, American school. Anna confused.

He raps twice on Meredith's door. "Well. I'll see you around then, Anna."

Eh-t-yen says my name like this: Ah-na.

Sorry that last quote is so long. It's the first time Anna (and the reader) meet Etienne and sets the whole tone of the book. I have got to read this book again. Or listen to the audiobook because I own it but have never listened to it *gasp!* that is just wrong when I think about it. Hmm....

Top Ten Tuesday- Books that need theme songs

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish

This weeks top ten is books I'd give theme songs to. And oh man, was this hard.

1. The Fault In Our Stars- "Bruised" by Jack's Mannequin:
This song would be perfect for Augustus while he was on the plane. Love it! Plus this song has the right feel for the book.

2. Rules of Attraction: "Cover Girl" by Big Time Rush:
This song is sooooooo perfect for this book. Actually, it would have really worked for TFIOS as well. All about how the girl is so beautiful and why doesn't she see it.

3. Twilight- "17 Forever" by Metro Station:
The name says it all.

4. The Night Huntress series: "Crazy Bitch" by BuckCherry:
hahahaha when I thought of this I just started laughing and laughing.

5. Anna and the French Kiss-"Crushcrushcrush" by Paramore:
Oh, who doesn't have a crush on St. Claire?

6. The Hollows series: "One Way, Or Another" by Blondie:
*sings* One way, or another, I'm gonna find ya, I'm gonna getcha getcha getcha..

So yeah, that fits Rachel so well.

7. Shade: "Devils Dance Floor" by Flogging Molly:
This song was mentioned in this book and it really does fit. It has the right vibe.

8. Wither: "The Phrase that Pays" by the Academy Is:
This song is all about dying young. "Hold your head high heavy heart. So take a chance and make it big, Cause it’s the last you’ll ever get. If we don’t take it, when will we make it? I make plans to break plans, And I’ve been planning something big, planning something big, planning."

9. Incarnate: "New Soul" by Yael Naim:
I swear this book was written about this song.
"I'm a new soul

I came to this strange world
Hoping I could learn a bit about how to give and take.
But since I came here
Felt the joy and the fear
Finding myself making every possible mistake"
10. The Hunger Games series: "Uprising" by Muse:
"Rise up and take the power back
It's time the, fat cats had a heart attack
You know that, their time's coming to an end
We have to, unify and watch our flag ascend
(So come on)"

Review: Born Wicked

Born Wicked by Jessica Spotwood

Published by Putnam Juvenile

Genre: YA

$17.99 (US hardback)

330 pages

What it's about:

Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they're witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship--or an early grave.

Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But with six months to choose between marriage and the Sisterhood, she might not be able to keep her word... especially after she finds her mother's diary, uncovering a secret that could spell her family's destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate stars scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra.

If what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren't safe. Not from the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood -- not even from each other


My thoughts:
This book had me so angry by the time I got to the end, I just about threw it across the room. Ughhhhhh.

I had heard nothing but fantastic things about this book. All the reviews and ratings I've seen were saying it's top notch, 4 or 5 stars. Always. Then I took a quiz on Breathless Reads on facebook and it said that Finn from this book is my dream guy. So obviously, I was like "woo hoo! Got to read this book!" So I started it, and didn't get very far before I was bored. But everyone said it was good, so I tried to read it again, and yet again I didn't get far. I put it down for a week and then decided that I'm gonna force myself through it. I was curious enough to plow my way to the end.

And it ended up being pretty good. Not fantastic, but good. But this book pissed me off from the beginning till the end. I was so mad at all the characters and all the crap the Brothers said about women. This is why I have a hard time reading historical fiction. I have an extremely hard time reading about how mistreated women used to be. I wanted to reach into the pages of this book and just punch everyone in the face. I wanted to punch Cate for being so stubborn and for constantly making the wrong choices, Maura for being a snobby, selfish brat, the Brotherhood for being sexist pigs, the Sisterhood for being power hunger, everyone. The only characters I didn't want to punch were Tess and Finn. That quiz got it right, Finn is fantastic. He's the adorable nerd who always has his nose in a book. How can you not love a bookish nerd?

By the time I finished the book, I swear my blood pressure was spiked. I was so angry. I'm having a hard time deciding how I really feel about this book. Sure it made me angry and a little violent honestly, but I did get into the book. I can't say that I will read the next book in this series when it comes out. That will be decided when the next book comes out and how I look back on this book and feel.

My rating: 7/10
I'm giving it this rating because it did take me three tries to get into it, but I did end up finishing it and being sucked into the story.

JK Rowling is writing a new book

JK Rowling, the woman we all know and love to death for writing Harry Potter, announced that she is writing a new book for adults.

There have been loads of pranks on the internet in which people say JK is writing a new book, so I checked around on this first before posting this. It's actually true, she is writing a new book.

"'Although I’ve enjoyed writing it every bit as much, my next book will be very different to the Harry Potter series,' Rowling said in a statement.

“'The freedom to explore new territory is a gift that Harry’s success has brought me, and with that new territory it seemed a logical progression to have a new publisher.'
Publisher Little, Brown and Company, part of the Hachette Book Group, acquired the rights to publish the book, whose title and publication date will be announced later this year."

To read the full article, go here.

What does everyone think it's going to be about? I'm really hoping she sticks with the paranormal genre personally. Maybe write an urban fantasy?

F&F blog hop!

F&F is a weekly post hosted by Parajunkee and Alison. What you do is sign up on one of their pages, make your own post, and then start going to blog to blog. Follow lots of cool new bloggers, catch up with old bloggers, just have fun.

It's been so long since I've done a hop! I used to do it every Friday but I sorta just..stopped. Not sure why I stopped but it feels good to be back at it.

This weeks activity!

Take a picture or describe where you love to read the most…

I like to read in my big comfy bed with my billions of pillows and most of my furry cuddle buddies with me. They know when I'm in bed reading I'll most likely be there for hours so they all pile on. They enjoy hogging the bed and snoring.

With GFC coming to an end soon, I plan on putting up more ways to follow this blog. I've seen the Linky follow tool popping up a lot and also networked blogs. What is everyones favorite way to follow a blog?

My Book Boyfriend-- Jace!

My book boyfriend is a weekly meme hosted by Missie over at The Unread Reader. Each week you post about a boy from a book that you love. What he looks like, who should play him, his best quotes, all that.

*sigh* I'm having the hardest time finding new book boyfriends lately. All the boys I've been reading about just aren't up to par with all my other boyfriends. So I'm going to bring one of my favorites out and show him off. This week it's Jace from the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare!

About Jace:
*Jace is a shadowhunter, he kills demons for a living
*is super cocky and gorgeous, and he knows it.
*Is described as "golden." Has blonde hair, tan skin, beautiful eyes
*Has daddy issues

Who I picture him looking like:
I'm still super pissed off that Jamie Campbell Bower got the part of Jace, because ALEX PETTYFER IS JACE. Hands down. He is the perfect Jace and will always be the perfect Jace.

"I haven't read your tea leaves, Shadowhunter? Have you fallen in love with the wrong person yet?

Jace said, "Unfortunately, Lady of the Haven, my one true love remains myself."

Dorothea roared at that." At least," she said, "you don't have to worry about rejection, Jace Wayland."

"Not necessarily. I turn myself down occasionally, just to keep it interesting." 

“I was thinking about the first time I ever saw you," he said, "and how after that I couldn't forget you. I wanted to, but I couldn't stop myself. I forced Hodge to let me be the one who came to find you and bring you back to the Institue. And even back then, in that stupid coffee shop, when I saw you sitting on that couch with Simon, even then that felt wrong to me-- I should have been the one sitting with you. The one who made you laugh like that. I couldn't get rid of that feeling. That it should have been me. And the more I knew you, the more I felt it--it had never been like that for me before. I'd always wanted a girl and then gotten to know her and not wanted her anymore, but with you the feeling just got stronger and stronger until that night when you showed up at Renwick's and I knew.”

“One of the Silent Brothers is here to see you. Hodge sent me to wake you up. Actually he offered to wake you himself, but since it's 5 a.m., I figured you'd be less cranky if you had something nice to look at." "Meaning you?"

"What else?” 

“And now I’m looking at you,” he said, “and you’re asking me if I still want you, as if I could stop loving you. As if I would want to give up the thing that makes me stronger than anything else ever has. I never dared give much of myself to anyone before – bits of myself to the Lightwoods, to Isabelle and Alec, but it took years to do it – but, Clary, since the first time I saw you, I have belonged to you completely. I still do. If you want me.”

Did you know there is 61 pages of quotes if you search "Mortal Instruments" in the quotes section of Goodreads? And almost all of them are Jace quotes. I had a hard time picking out quotes, but decided to (mostly) go with his more mushy quotes. Cause Jace getting all mushy is oh so cute.

Top Ten Tuesday--Books I'd save from aliens

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This weeks top ten is top ten books I'd save if aliens attacked my house.

Oh geesh, this is hard to decide. I'd want to save them all!

1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling:
This is my favorite of the Harry Potter books. And if I can only save ten books, I guess I'd have to take my favorite of them...or all of them...

2. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer:
This book never fails to make me happy while reading it and if aliens are coming for me, I'm gonna need something to make me happy.

3. Pale Demon by Kim Harrison:
Looooooovvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeeee this book!

4. Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Laberinth by Rick Riordan:
Also my favorite in that series.

5. The Fault In Our Stars by John Green:
Have to have a John Green book with me.

6. Nevermore by Kelly Creagh
This book is just so fantastic. I'd need something dark and edgy to go along with everything else I have.

7. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins:
Also got to have my super adorable books to go with the edgy one.

8. City of Glass by Cassandra Clare:
I'd need my Jace fix.

9. One Grave at a Time by Jeaniene Frost:
I feel like my list was lacking vampires. Well, non sparkling ones that is.

10. Wither by Lauren Destefano:
While looking at my shelves, this one kept popping out at me. So I'd probably grab that one too.

But I'd cheat and I'd grab all my Harry Potters, and all my Kim Harrisons, and all my Cassandra Clare books, or at least I'd also grab Clockwork Prince because that book is so dang good.

Let's talk about unprofessional authors

Tonight I was going through my Goodreads page, randomly surfing the site, wasting time, all that good stuff, when I noticed that a book I'm excited for is dramatically dropping in ratings even though the book isn't coming out for another few months. That's not really normal for an unreleased book so I went and looked at the comments on the page.
Turns out someone with an arc of the book posted a bad review, along with a few other people, and the author and her publicist decided to have a mean, bashing conversation about the reviewers. They called one reviewer a bitch and everything. It was not pretty. Then they continued to hound the original reviewer. The reviewer retaliated by making sure everyone saw what was being said. There is now over a thousand comments on that review from people freaking out.

This is obviously very unprofessional (duh) and a little scary. This had been a book that I was pretty excited to read, had it marked down on my "eagerly waiting" list and all. Now I'm questioning if I even want to read this book. Do I want to take the chance of not liking it, posting a bad review and having the author/publicist/friends of said people bash me on my own blog?

I know that unprofessional authors is more common than one would hope. I've seen a lot of posts done by fellow bloggers saying that they are having or had problems with authors yelling at them on their blog because of a bad review. I, thankfully, am not one of these people. I've never been contacted in any way by an author who I gave a bad review to. I've only had comments and emails from authors saying thank you for good reviews (and I really really really love getting these).

Does hearing about these (and seeing proof of the bad behavior) affect your thoughts on a book? Will you reconsider buying/reading a book because of it? Or does it do the exact opposite? Do you end up reading it because of all the controversy that surrounds it? I personally think I will still read the book, but I definitely will not be buying it. I find myself intreagued and want to form my own opinions, though they have been tainted because of all of this.


On a side note:
I have decided to leave out the name of the book and the author from this post. I do believe that ignorance can be bliss and wish I would not have come across this review because I know myself well enough to know I will be incredibly bias towards this book. If you are dying to know what book it is, it is listed under my Upcoming Releases page. Trust me, you'll know when you find it on Goodreads if you decide to search it out.

Review: Incarnate

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

Published by Katherine Teagan books

Genre: YA (fantasty?)

$16.99 (US hardback)

384 pages

What it's about:

New soul

Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.

No soul
Even Ana's own mother thinks she's a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she'll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?
Heart
Sam believes Ana's new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana's enemies--human and creature alike--let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else's life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?



My thoughts:
I love books about reincarnation because I find them interesting, but Incarnate blew away all the other books about reincarnation I've ever read. This book was fantastic.

The reason this book is so fantastic isn't necessarily the characters (though they were pretty awesome) but how Meadows set up how reincarnation works in this world. There are about 1 million people in this world and they have all been reincarnated over and over for 5 thousand years. So everyone knows each other, has given birth to each other, been the children, the parents, and so on of each other. How would all that work? How would you feel toward each other? The dynamics of this world blew my mind away thinking about them. Each person has been born hundreds of times, you don't always come back as the same sex, yet it is always you in your mind. You remember all your old lifes, all your deaths, everything. I can't imagine being thousands years old in my mind but being in a childs body. There would also be complications of how do you feel in your own body.

And then to be Ana, a newsoul in a world full of people who have lived thousands of years together. How do you deal with that? How do you deal with knowing your crush has lived for so long, has been both a man and a woman, died hundreds of times, and loved many people? How do you face those realities without going mad? And Meadows does acknoledge and ask all the awkward questions. Ana has to face the fact that her crush has been a woman (and Ana wears his old clothes from that time) and has been many people before now.

And I really liked Ana's character. She grew up in a very abusive home, knowing that no one wants her there, that she "stole" someone elses life and yeah, it made her bitter. She was no Cinderella, just taking the punishment and still being the sweetest thing in the world. She is bitter, she is cynical, she is real. She deals with being in this world the best she can. I liked that about her. How she had to learn how to be around the oldsouls, how to feel, how to act, all of that.
Then there was Sam, the love interest. I loved how he wasn't this manly man, wasn't the hero, and needed saving himself. I liked how he wasn't the typical flawless love interest. Living so long does not mean that you are flawless. I loved it!

This book is definitely worth reading even to just have your mind blown by all the questions you have to ask yourself about being reincarnated for so long. I love to over analyze the books I read and this one had me asking so many questions. It was fantastic. Plus the plot is well done, the characters are interesting, and the writing well done. Overall, this book was great.

My rating: 10/10

I read it in a few hours. I could not put it down.

Blog Tour: A&E Kirk Interview and GIVEAWAY!

Here is my second part for the Demons At Deadnight tour! I was able to interview both Alyssa and Eileen and here is what they had to say.
If you could have one of the Hex Boys or Aurora's powers, which would you pick and why?
Alyssa: Whoo! That’s a tough one. I guess I’d have to go with Jayden’s. I love being underwater and with Jayden’s power I could make that happen all the time. Forget being an author, I could be a mermaid! *happy dance*
Eileen: While it’s tempting to have Tristan’s (so it would be easier to get the kids to do what I want) I’d go with Blake’s. I love flowers and plants but can never get anything to grow. Seriously, I’ve killed cactus.

I know that both Missie and Melissa have done posts about their cast picks for the boys (and I have some ideas of who I'd like as well), but if D@D were ever to be made into a movie/tv show, do you have a dream cast for it? Or even a director or tv station/movie studio you'd prefer to make it?
Oh, Ariel, thank you. Thank you so much. You just forced us to look at a hundreds of pictures of gorgeous men all day!! We differed on a few of the boys, but here are our picks.

Aurora - Shelley Hennig. Lovely legs and Alyssa loves her on The Secret Circle.

Ayden - Dennis Oh. Yeah, his last name is Oh. Which is exactly the sound we made when he popped up on our screen.

Jayden - Harry Shum. Those abs definitely meet Hex Boy standard.

And here’s where the differences in opinion start to appear.

 Logan – (Alyssa’s pick) Callan McAuffile. He’s just so adorable. And snazzy.

Logan – (Eileen’s pick) Hunter Parrish. Too cute. But he can also look ominous.

 Blake – (Alyssa’s pick) Liam Hemsworth. Just look at the smile!

Blake - (Eileen’s pick) Kellan Lutz. We don’t need to tell you where to look on this one.

Tristan – (Alyssa’s pick) Sterling Knight. Loved him in 17 Again. And we both also like Alexander Ludwig. So delectable.

(Eileen’s pick.) Grant Gustin. That’s right, the preppy bad boy from Glee.

 Matthias – (Alyssa’s pick) Tyler Blackburn. I’d let him yell at me all day.

Matthias - (Eileen’s picks.) Ben Barnes. Loved him as Prince Caspian. But I also choose (because I’m greedy) Tyler Hoechlin. He just smolders off the screen! I’d pick hunks more but Alyssa says I have to stop.


Family is a major part of our story and the only actors awesome enough to portray the Lahey parents are…

Mrs. Lahey – Angie Harmon

Mr. Lahey – Timothy Olyphant

Did we deliver on eye- candy or what?! And just curious, Ariel, who were your picks?

I plan on doing a Movie Cast Picks post sometime soon with my picks in it. :)

Just like Aurora, I also have frizzy red hair and know what a big pain in the butt it is. Is Jayden's fancy French shampoo real and where can I find some??? :)

Eileen: Unfortunately we made that up. Sort of. When I was in Paris with Mr. Kirk I used some shampoo that made my hair look absolutely amazing, but I don’t remember the name of it and haven’t been able to track it down. Oh, how my golden locks have suffered! If I ever find it I’ll share it with you.

All of the characters in D@D are awesome, but did you have a character that was more fun to write than any of the others?

Alyssa: They were all such fun to write but it’s a tie between Aurora and Matthias. I crack up when I write Aurora. She says stuff I wish I had the guts to say and she is a TERRIBLE detective. It’s a blast laying out all the clues and then having her paranoid mind come to a completely wrong conclusion. And Matthias, he’s just so mean! I can have him say the nastiest stuff and its okay. My brothers claim I’m much nicer after I’ve written a Matthias scene.

Eileen: Aurora and Blake immediately spring to mind just because they make me laugh with their outrageous behavior. But I enjoy writing them all. For instance, with Matthias I love finding subtle ways to show he has more to him than simply being a jerk. I think that’s my mothering instinct. I like seeing Logan come out of his shell. Jayden is just so odd, and finding obscure words is a blast. And Ayden is a challenge because while he definitely has the confident, smooth hottie thing going on, he also struggles with certain insecurities. Especially as he deals with romantic emotions that are new to him. Aurora throws big wrenches in the Hex Boys’ well-oiled machine, but in turn, they are taking her out of her comfort zone, making her confront her demons, literally and figuratively. I guess this was just a long-winded way of saying the most fun is writing how that group dynamic and the people within it are changing.


Here's a random question: A demon is chasing you, but the only thing you have on you is a bottle of shampoo, a dozen triple chocolate cookies, and a stuffed animal. How do you defeat the demon?

Tough one. Okay, as the demon attacks we squirt shampoo into his path so he slips and falls on his back. We cover ten cookies with shampoo so that as he slides by, open mouthed and screaming, we toss the cookies inside his open jaws. The shampoo assures that they slip down his throat. There is just enough salt in the cookies to eat a hole in the demon from the inside out. We rig the talking mechanism in the stuffed animal to explode and shove it into the hole in the demon then run like crazy before the big kaboom, chowing down on the last two cookies for an added burst of strength. We arrive home and use the remaining shampoo to wash the demon guts out of our hair. And get away clean!

On your site it says you are writing a second book, is there anything you can tell us about it that won't give away too many spoilers?

Well…it’s supposed to be a secret but…*looks over shoulders*…Aurora gets chased by demons! Booya! Bet you didn’t see that coming!
Hehe. But aside from new demons to contend with, more is revealed about the Hex Boys - especially Matthias. A couple of new characters show up, like Aurora’s crazy aunt who arrives in Gossamer Falls to wreak some havoc—Err, we meant, uh, to show her love and support. The romance heats up as well as the danger, and Aurora’s secrets and emotions become harder to contain, culminating in another wild, fun-filled Divinicus Nex ride!


Speaking of which, we’d better get back to work. Thanks so much for having us Ariel!


And thank you for allowing me to be on this tour! It's been a ton of fun :)

 Here is a little more information about A&E:
Anyone who says this mother-daughter team doesn’t mesh has only seen them trying to put out the fire from the stupid wires behind the television that should’ve been more clearly labeled.


Alyssa, the A in A&E, has gone from mucking out horse stalls and taping her eyes open during college lectures, to writing novels. When she’s not writing, reading, or running down the halls flapping her coat while singing the Batman theme song, she’s either dancing or immersed in anime.

Eileen has much more class. Even a degree. Fancy. Mother of three lovably peculiar children—all of which like to point out how short she is. Even though she really isn’t—they’re just freaking giants. Happily married, she enjoys escaping like a bat out of hell horseback riding at a leisurely speed around the mountains surrounding their home.

Demons at Deadnight is their debut novel, and currently they’re eating bon bons and watching TV diligently working on the next epic Divinicus Nex adventure

Giveaway!

One winner will win a Demons at Deadnight swag set. In it is a Hex Boys poster, Bubbles the Platypus (this stuffed animal is so cool! I love it personally) and a clip in feather hair accesory.

Rules:

*Giveaway starts today (Feb. 15th) and ends in one week (Wed. Feb 22nd)

*To enter, comment on this post. Say anything you like in the comment, just comment.

*Leave your name and email address in the comment

*This giveaway is open internationally.

Giveaway #2!

To enter to win the Kindle Fire you need to know the secret phrase given out one word at a time by each blog tour host. Put the words together in sequential order and you'll eventually have the secret phrase! Right now you can Tweet and Follow on the AEKIRK Blog Tour Page to get points but starting March 9 (at the end of the tour) you can enter the complete phrase on the AEKIRK Blog Tour Page and earn BIG entry points! Your Kindle Fire will also include your choice of a DEMONS AT DEADNIGHT Skin. Either from the cover, or a Hex Boy group shot or individual "Team" skin of your favorite Hex Hunk!

My secret word for this post is

 "The"

Exciting word huh?

A Very Iron Fey Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines day everyone! Hope you are enjoying the day.

Julie Kagawa is super awesome. Just thought I'd get that out there. She wrote a very cute short story about Meghan and Ash's first date just for the fun of it.

And because she is so awesome, she posted it on her site for everyone to read and enjoy. Just as a warning, this takes place AFTER The Iron Knight and it does have spoilers in it if you have not read that book.

*sigh* this story is so dang cute. I loved it.

To read it, go to this site.

Enjoy :)

Top Ten Tuesday--Books that broke my heart a little

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish
This weeks TTT is a little anti-Valentines. The topic is top ten books that broke your heart a little.

As usual, these are in no order. Just whatever popped into my head first.

1. The Fault In Our Stars by John Green:
To say this book broke my heart a little is a massive understatement. This book broke my heart so much that I still cry a little every time I talk about this book. Thoughthisisthebestbookever!

2. Allegiance by Cayla Kluver:
When I finished reading this book, I messaged Cayla on facebook and told her her book broke my heart, but I loved it anyways. She said she is sorry for breaking my heart. She is forgiven.

3. Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma:
Lockie, what are you doing with that sheet...Lockie???? Wha....nooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*sorry for that weird spoilery comment, but that was exactly that went through my head reading that part of the book. For those who have read this book, you get this. For those that haven't read the book, get on it.*

4. Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare:
This book breaks my heart because no matter if you are Team Will (go team will!) or Team Jem, it's a lose lose situation. Being team will or team jem was very hard for me to pick because they are both fantastic guys and no matter who Tessa ends up with, it's gonna suck.

5. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein:
This book broke my heart but in such a good way. This book is brilliant. I mean, how many books are out there that are told from the point of the family dog??? And how the dog loved his owner so much that all he wants is when he dies, he wants to be reincarnated into a man so he can one day meet his owner and shake his hand. Oh my, that gets me all teary eyed just typing that.

6. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling:
So.Many.Deaths.

7. Unwind by Neal Shusterman:
This book breaks my heart just to think about how anyone could ever think it is okay to "unwind" a child. How could you possibly give up your child like that? How could you be the doctors who take a kid apart piece by piece like that while the child is still alive and healthy? Gah!!!!!!!

8. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls:
If this book did not make you cry or break your heart a little, I suggest you meet up with the Tin Man and go see the Oz because you my friend, are heartless.

9. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins:
I'm assuming by now that everyone has read this book. If not, don't read this section.

It breaks my heart just because Katniss never fully recovers from everything. Even in the epilogue she is just a shell of a person. Even being married and having kids doesn't seem to help her much.

10. Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison:
It's been a while since one of Kim's books was on a TTT of mine. She used to be on it every week. Thought she needed to come back.

BMS was particularly sad (even more sad than FAFDM) because of Maddie and Jenks. Poor poor Jenks. How do you get over the love of your life dying? It breaks my heart.

Review: The Pledge

The Pledge by Kimberly Derting

Published by Margaret K. McElderry

Genre: YA dystopian

$16.99 (US hardback)

323 pages

What it's about (from Goodreads):

In the violent country of Ludania, the classes are strictly divided by the language they speak. The smallest transgression, like looking a member of a higher class in the eye while they are speaking their native tongue, results in immediate execution. Seventeen-year-old Charlaina has always been able to understand the languages of all classes, and she's spent her life trying to hide her secret. The only place she can really be free is the drug-fueled underground clubs where people go to shake off the oppressive rules of the world they live in. It's there that she meets a beautiful and mysterious boy named Max who speaks a language she's never heard before . . . and her secret is almost exposed.

Charlie is intensely attracted to Max, even though she can't be sure where his real loyalties lie. As the emergency drills give way to real crisis and the violence escalates, it becomes clear that Charlie is the key to something much bigger: her country's only chance for freedom from the terrible power of a deadly regime.


My thoughts:
While I love Kimberly Derting's writing, this book was just a little...eh for me.

The reason I say it was a little "eh" is that not a whole lot happens for most of the book. Most of it is Charlie describing what her world is like and all the languages and classes involved. There isn't really any action in this book, it's mostly a "we're gonna hide instead of fight" kinda book. I would really have liked to see more action throughout the whole book and not just in the last 40 pages. I would have liked to see some of the horrible things the Queen has done instead of just being told about them.

Another complain I have is the characters. I loved them and I thought they were interesting, but I wish I could have seen more of them. I would have liked to have been in their heads a little more than just seeing their actions.

So what I'm really trying to say about this book is that it was a really cool idea. The writing was really well done, but I would have liked to see more of everything in it, more action, more of the characters, just more. I didn't want to be told about everything that happens in this world, I wanted to see it, to feel how horrible it is.

My rating: 8/10

Google Friend Connect is closing???

I just got an email from a fellow blogger talking about how Google is canceling GFC. Apparently the news went out back in November of 2011 and I just now heard about it.

So I went and did some research on it and found this article here talking about it.

I am very very very confused about all of this. From what I understand, because I am on blogger, I will keep my followers (which I love all 657 of you. For realz) but everyone else using GFC will lose their followers? And how is it going to show all my followers? And the blogs I follow? How is all of this going to be set up? I really don't understand any of this.

Anyone else confused and are seriously pissed off about this? Why does Google not think GFC was working well enough? I thought it was fantastic.

My real question is, can anyone answer any of my questions?

My Book Boyfriend-- Percy!

My Book Boyfriend is a weekly meme hosted by Missie over at The Unread Reader. What boy from a book made you all weak in the knees this week? Write all about him. What does he look like? What are his best quotes? Who should play him in a movie? Ect.

When I haven't fallen in love with a new book boyfriend between MBB posts, I go to one of my old favorites. And because I did not find any of the boys in my books this last week particuarly swoony, I'm gonna post about one of my favorite boyfriends and go with Percy Jackson!

About Percy:
*He's a demi god. His dad is Poseidon.
*Saved Olympus multiple times
*Took a dunk in the river Styx
*In the newest books, he's like 17ish.
*Is dyslexic
*Tall and skinny with messy dark hair
*can control water
*once made out in a bubble underwater.

Who played him in the movie:
Logan Lerman played him in the movie, but the movie was so different than the books. But oh! I get to put pictures of Logan on my blog again! Yay!

“The world was collapsing, and the only thing that really mattered to me was that she was alive.”

“Percy: Don't I get a kiss for luck? It's kind of a tradition, right?

Annabeth: Come back alive, Seaweed Brain. Then we'll see.” 

“Okay," I said. "Just a normal afternoon and two normal people."

She nodded. "And so...hypothetically, if these to people likes each other, what would it take to get the stupid guy to kiss the girl, huh?"

"Oh..." I felt like one of Apollo's sacred cows-slow, dumb, and bright red. "Um...”

 

“Afterward, I had the last laugh. I made an air bubble at the bottom of the lake. Our friends kept waiting for us to come up, but hey-when you are the son of Poseidon, you don't have to hurry. And it was pretty much the best underwater kiss of all time.”

I was having so much fun going and reading all the Percy Jackson quotes on Goodreads. I was having a hard time narrowing down my favorites, so I went with the kissy quotes and not the funny-haha quotes.

Follower Love Giveaway Hop (Int.)

I've decided to do another giveaway!

This is the follower love giveaway hop, and I want to give away one copy of one of these books. These are all books I've read that I enjoyed, if not fell madly in love with so far this year, and all are about love! I want to pass around the love.

Because I'm going to be using Book Depository, this will be an international giveaway to anywhere BD ships to. Yay!

Here are the books to pick from:

How to enter/Rules

*This is open to anywhere Book Depository ships to
*Must be a follower of this blog
*To enter, comment on this post with your name, email address, and which book you'd like to get if you win (you can always change your mind if you win)
I'm not doing any extra entries if you post about this, tweet about it, or all those other things. I tend to dislike doing those. Just one entry per person.

Giveaway goes from Feb. 7th-14th.
On Feb. 15th I will email the winner. If the winner doesn't reply within 48 hours, I will pick a new winner.


There are over 300 blogs doing this giveaway hop, so do not forget to go around signing up for giveaways! Because there are so many people in this hop, I'm not posting the whole list. If you want to see the other blogs, you can go to I am a Reader, Not a Writer and see the full list. Enjoy!

Review: Love and Leftovers

Love and Leftovers by Sarah Tregay

Published by Katherine Tegan Books

Genre: YA Cont. Verse

$16.99  (US hardback)

451 pages

What it's about:

My wish is to fall cranium over Converse in dizzy daydream-worthy love.

(If only it were that easy.)

Marcie has been dragged away from home for the summer--from Idaho to a family summerhouse in New Hampshire. She's left behind her friends, a group of freaks and geeks called the Leftovers, including her emo-rocker boyfriend, and her father.

By the time Labor Day rolls around, Marcie suspects this "summer vacation" has become permanent. She has to start at a new school, and there she leaves behind her Leftover status when a cute boy brings her breakfast and a new romance heats up. But understanding love, especially when you've watched your parents' affections end, is elusive. What does it feel like, really? Can you even know it until you've lost it?

"Love & Leftovers" is a beautifully written story of one girl's journey navigating family, friends, and love, and a compelling and sexy read that teens will gobble up whole



My thoughts:
I extremely disliked this book. I was a little nervous going into this book when I found out it was in verse. The only books I've read in verse are Lisa Schroeders and I adore those, but not because they are in verse.

I didn't have a real problem with the book being in verse (though sometimes the layout was confusing in which order you needed to read it), actually I'm glad it was because the book was so damn whiny that if I would have had to read it with more detail, I would have given up after about the first 50 pages. It being in verse allowed me to read all 400+ pages in about 3 hours, so I don't feel too put off by how much time I spent reading this.
What I disliked about the book is Marcie. She is absolutely everything I hate about girls. I couldn't stand her. I really dislike girls who think they need a guy in their life to be happy and who rationalize cheating on their boyfriends with someone else. Then continues to bitch about it. Yeah, you can't have your cake and eat it too.
You know in the movie Bedazzled with Brandan Fraser (haha you probably don't, because I thinkk I'm the only one in the world that actually loves that movie) when he is the most emotionally sensitive man, and his girlfriend leaves him and says something along the lines of "you're sweet and I love you, but I just want a guy who doesn't pay attention to me and tries to get into my pants"? Well, that kept popping into my head while reading this book. That was pretty much the whole point of this book. Blegh.

So over all, I'm a little miffed about this book. I was hoping for a sweet, fun chick lit book and instead I got this whiny woe-is-me story. Just...no. No.

My rating: 6/10