Winner- "Just Because"-Giveaway

Last week we had a Random Giveaway. Who doesn't love those?
Without further ado...

The winner is...

Erin!

Erin please email me your choice of either Killing Sarai or As the World Dies: The Untold Tales Vol 1 at bookloverwen@gmail.com

CONGRATS!

Cover Reveal: Secret (Elemental #4) by Brigid Kemmerer

Secret by Brigid Kemmerer

Book #4 in the Elemental  Series

Kensington Books 
Release Date: January 28, 2014
Goodreads link
ISBN: 0758294379

 

Summary

  
Nowhere is safe. Not even home…

Nick Merrick is stretched to the breaking point.

Keep his grades sky-high or he’ll never escape his hometown.

Keep his brother’s business going or the Merricks will be out on the street.

Keep the secret of where he’s going in the evenings from his own twin—or he’ll lose his family.
 

Keep his mind off the hot, self-assured dancer who’s supposed to be his “girlfriend’s” partner.

Of course there’s also the homicidal freak Quinn has taken to hanging around, and the Elemental Guide counting the hours until he can try again to kill the Merrick brothers. There’s a storm coming. From all sides. And then some.

Nick Merrick, can you keep it together?

 

 

 

 

Brigid Kemmerer is the author of The Elemental Series, about a family of four brothers who control the elements, and their battle with those who want them dead. Storm, Spark, and Spirit are available now wherever books are sold. To read the novella introducing Nick’s story, be sure to check out Breathless available as an e-book only from major e-book retailers. You can learn more about Brigid and the Elemental boys at www.brigidkemmerer.com.

 

Buy Links

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Indiebound

Book Depository

I love this series, they're all 5 star books and I highly recommend them! The series is young adult paranormal romance with some mystery, suspense, action, and humor....and a hot group of brothers that can control the elements. What could be better than that?!

 

 

"Just Because" Giveaway!!

So most of you know that Jen and I  both love zombie books. So just because life is crazy it's Tuesday, it's July and it's HOT! Leave us a comment answering this question...

What is your all-time favorite zombie book? If your not a zombie fan, then what is your all-time favorite book?

One commenter will win a kindle copy (gifted from Amazon) of their choice of...

As The World Dies: The Untold Tales Vol. 1 by Rhiannon Frater

THE FIRST DAYS: AS THE WORLD DIES introduced Jenni and Katie and their harrowing journey to the makeshift fort in the Texas Hill Country. But theirs is not the only tale to be told. In the first volume of the AS THE WORLD DIES UNTOLD TALES experience three terrifying tales of those who are forced to face the unrelenting and hungry walking dead.

OR

Killing Sarai (In the Company of Killers #1) by J.A Redmerski

Sarai was only fourteen when her mother uprooted her to live in Mexico with a notorious drug lord. Over time she forgot what it was like to live a normal life, but she never let go of her hope to escape the compound where she has been held for the past nine years.

Victor is a cold-blooded assassin who, like Sarai, has known only death and violence since he was a young boy. When Victor arrives at the compound to collect details and payment for a hit, Sarai sees him as her only opportunity for escape. But things don’t go as planned and instead of finding transport back to Tucson, she finds herself free from one dangerous man and caught in the clutches of another.

While on the run, Victor strays from his primal nature as he succumbs to his conscience and resolves to help Sarai. As they grow closer, he finds himself willing to risk everything to keep her alive; even his relationship with his devoted brother and liaison, Niklas, who now like everyone else wants Sarai dead.

As Victor and Sarai slowly build a trust, the differences between them seem to lessen, and an unlikely attraction intensifies. But Victor’s brutal skills and experience may not be enough in the end to save her, as the power she unknowingly holds over him may ultimately be what gets her killed.

This is their story…

Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST Sunday July 28, 2013. Winner will be announced on Tuesday July 30, 2013.

GOOD LUCK!

Twisted Perfection (Perfection #1) by Abbi Glines

Twisted Perfection
By: Abbi Glines

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary
Series: Perfection #1
Publisher: Abbi Glines

Life outside of her house was a new experience for Della Sloane. The dark secrets of her past weren’t something she ever intended to share with anyone. They would never understand. No one would ever get close enough to find out. There was always a chance she’d go crazy sooner than they expected…

Woods Kerrington had never been one to be attracted to fragile females. They seemed like too much work. He wasn’t in it for the work just the pleasure. A night full of naughty fun had been exactly what was on his mind when he’d laid eyes on the hot little number that didn’t know how to pump gas and needed some help.

What he didn’t know was she was as fragile as they came. The carefree girl who spoke her mind and didn’t care what the world thought of her was more breakable than he could ever imagine…

Twisted Perfection on Goodreads,Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Abbi Glines website.

My Thoughts:

Gosh, where do I begin..? Woods was a favorite character of mine in the first two books of the 'Too Far' series. I was so excited to read his story. He has such a big heart but has been manipulated by his father into doing things he doesn't want to do.
Della has a lot of issues. She has a very troubled past and starts off the book on a road trip to experience life. She meets Woods along the way and they have an extremely memorable one night stand.
When Della and Woods meet again life gets a whole lot more complicated.
I absolutely loved this book! I think it was even better than the Too Far books. The ending... oh my, lets just say I can not wait for the second book!! Abbi Glines is definitely an author that does not disappoint her readers! I very highly recommend this book as well as the author.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

To my understanding it is best to read both of these series together to avoid spoiling the books for yourself. The timeline of the books coincide, so it is best to read them in this order...
Fallen Too Far (Too Far #1)
Never Too Far (Too Far #2)
Twisted Perfection (Perfection #1)
Forever Too Far (Too Far #3)

Movie Reviews: Beautiful Creatures vs Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters

 vs  

 

images from imdb.com

 

I most of the day to myself on Sunday so I ran some errands and then hit up our local Red Box. For those who don’t know what Red Box is, it’s this magical box and with the wave of a hand it dispenses the movie(s) of your true heart’s desire. Ok, it’s really just a vending machine where you can rent movies for $1 or $1.50. Anyway, I ended up choosing Beautiful Creatures and Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. It was a pure coincidence (or lack of anything better in the magic box) that I chose two witchy movies.

As with my review of Warm Bodies & World War Z I may include some minor spoilers. Also, I should point out that I have not read Beautiful Creatures so this post is based solely on the movie.

I’ll refer to Beautiful Creatures as BC and Hansel & Gretel as H&G.

Types of Witches

The witches in BC prefer to be called Castors…blah, blah, blah, you say potato I say…potato (hhmm, that saying doesn’t really work in text does it?). Anyway, the Castors look like normal people and not like the stereotypical wrinkly, green skinned witches of lore. In this movie, there are good and bad Castors, also known as dark and light. The movie is about which will claim Lena on her 16^th birthday.

H&G also has good and bad witches. The bad witches (this is where some of the cheesiness comes in) look closer to what you think when you think of witch but really in this movie they look partially evil and partially corny.

slight spoiler in 3…2…1…The good witches look like normal people. That’s only a slight spoiler because in the beginning you, as well as Hansel & Gretel, only know about bad witches.

 

Goals of the Witches

In BC, the dark Castors want Lena to be evil and the light Castors want her to be claimed for the light. Dark vs Light and Good vs Evil. Which side will win the battle?

The goal of the witches in H&G is to take over the world, of course. What evil being doesn’t want world domination?!

 

Movie Genre

BC is more of a romantic drama…if there is such a genre. There is also the slight fantasy element added in the mix.

H&G also has the fantasy aspect, perhaps a bit more than BC but for the most part I would consider it to be an action movie. The hard core action movie fans of the world may debate that classification but really Hansel & Gretel pretty much have made their life about hunting, fighting, and killing witches which sounds like action to me.

 

My Thoughts

BC didn’t impress me and, from the beginning, Ethan’s voice really annoyed me! The tone of his voice and the over-the-top accent just grated on my nerves. I know that’s a strange thing to harp on but I couldn’t help it. His annoying factor did ease up here and there which was a relief.

 

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the only thing that I didn’t enjoy. Overall the acting, the special effects, the insta-love, and even the plot all fell flat for me. I don’t think I’ll be watching BC again and I don’t plan to watch any movies that follow.

H&G may have had some cheesy aspects (i.e. the makeup/costumes used for the witches, the noises that the witches make, etc.) but I liked it a lot more than BC. H&G is a fun and entertaining adaptation of a classic tale. It’s one of those movies that you can watch multiple times and one that would make great background noise as you go about your household ‘chores’. As I alluded to above, the action scenes may not have been the best ever but really who cares, not every movie has to be top notch to be enjoyable.

 

Have you seen Beautiful Creatures or Hansel & Gretel? What did you think? Did you enjoy them?

 

Other Recommendations

 

I don’t have too many witch movies coming to mind right now but if you’re looking for a romancy witch movie then maybe check out Practical Magic. It’s a little older (1998) and the darker parts of it are a bit corny but I'm a Sandra Bullock fan so I like it. :)

Bewitched is another lighter romantic comedy. Despite my having a very hard time seeing Will Ferrell as a dreamboat and the apple of someone’s eye (no offense Will) the 2005 version of Bewitched is my favorite.

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 

My question to you...

Do you think we become desensitized to the genre’s we read most often?

Here’s why I ask:

 

Although I don’t read them as often anymore, I have a not so secret love for horror and thriller books and lately I’ve been craving a read that will make me lock the doors and jump at every little noise. I’ve come across a few books where other bloggers have essentially said that they will have you scared and sucking your thumb for comfort. Naturally, I jump at the chance to read them…only to be left disappointed and definitely not frightened.

An example of this is with Ten by Gretchen McNeil. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good book and worth the read BUT, as I said in my review, it didn’t have me shaking in my boots. Maybe Ten isn’t the best example considering it’s in the young adult genre but there have also been books in the adult genre with the same outcome, a not so scared Jen.

Am I looking for advice in the wrong places? Trusting the reviews of bloggers that may not have similar reading interests after all? OR am I just desensitized after years of reading countless books with serial killers, paranormal creatures, and other big bads? I can’t help but wonder if I would have been more frightened while reading Ten, and other books, if I hadn’t read those other countless books.

 

What do you think, do we become desensitized after reading a lot of books in the same genre?

Never Too Far (Too Far #2) by Abbi Glines

Never Too Far
By: Abbi Glines

Series: Too Far #2
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Smashwords

He had held a secret that destroyed her world.

Everything she had known was no longer true.

Blaire couldn’t stop loving him but she knew she could never forgive him. Now, she was back home and learning to live again. Moving on with life… until something happened to send her world spinning once again. What do you do when the one person you can never trust again is the one that you need to trust so desperately?

You lie, hide, avoid, and pray that your sins never find you out.

Never Too Far on Goodreads, Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Abbi Glines website.

My Thoughts:
This was an excellent sequel! I still love Rush! It was an amazing story and it is so worth reading! This was the first series by Abbi Glines that I have read and I can't wait for more! I will be reading Twisted Perfection next. I can't wait for Woods!

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Sunday Swag Bag Giveaway...on Monday

Thank you to Faye at A Daydreamer's Thoughts  for creating this button. 

If you like Faye's handiwork check her out at the above link as she's just starting out 

with designing graphics for bloggers.

 

It's time again for my Sunday Swag Bag giveaway!!

I have a lot of swag that I've been wanting to pass along. Some of it is duplicates from what's in my personal collection and some of it's from books or genre's that I don't think I'll read. So I've been trying to think of a way to give it to other swag lovers. That's where Sunday Swag Bag comes in.

I will post a contest on the first Sunday of every month until the swag bag is empty. Each contest will be open for a week. Then I will do a post on the second Sunday of every month where I announce the winner and I will grab anywhere from 4-5 pieces out of my swag bag. It's luck of the draw for the winner but there's a lot of really awesome swag so don't miss out!

-Comment to enter

-Giveaway is open internationally

-Entries must be received by 11:59 pm (EST) on July 14th

Married With Zombies (Living with the Dead #1) by Jesse Petersen

Married With Zombies
by Jesse Petersen

Series: Living with the Dead #1

Genre: Adult, Paranormal, Zombies
Publisher: Orbit

A heartwarming tale of terror in the middle of the zombie apocalypse.

Meet Sarah and David.

Once upon a time they met and fell in love. But now they’re on the verge of divorce and going to couples’ counseling. On a routine trip to their counselor, they notice a few odd things – the lack of cars on the highway, the missing security guard, and the fact that their counselor, Dr. Kelly, is ripping out her previous client’s throat.

Meet the Zombies.

Now, Sarah and David are fighting for survival in the middle of the zombie apocalypse. But, just because there are zombies, doesn’t mean your other problems go away. If the zombies don’t eat their brains, they might just kill each other.

 

Married with Zombies on Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble

Jesse Petersen's Website

My Thoughts:

If this book were a zombie it would be in the middle of the pack. Sure it will enjoy some tasty flesh and brains but it wouldn’t be on the front lines and seeing all of the action. In other words, it falls into my ‘good but not great’ category. I did like that the zombie apocalypse was a major theme, but not the only theme throughout the book. You also see how Sarah and David try to work through their broken marriage and work together (or not) to survive.

And mad props to Sarah being aware of her surroundings and using some more unusual methods of killing zombies. The bathroom scene was one of my favorites and gets a thumbs up from this guts and gore lover.

I do plan to continue the series but for now it will take a back burner to other books on my to read list.

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5

 

 

Fallen Too Far by Abbi Glines (Too Far #1)

Fallen Too Far
By: Abbi Glines

Series: Too Far #1
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Abbi Glines

To want what you’re not supposed to have…

She is only nineteen.

She is his new stepfather’s daughter.

She is still naïve and innocent due to spending the last three years taking care of her sick mother.

But for twenty-four year old Rush Finlay, she is the only thing that has ever been off limits. His famous father’s guilt money, his mother’s desperation to win his love, and his charm are the three reasons he has never been told no.

Blaire Wynn left her small farmhouse in Alabama, after her mother passed away, to move in with her father and his new wife in their sprawling beach house along the Florida gulf coast. She isn’t prepared for the lifestyle change and she knows she’ll never fit into this world. Then there is her sexy stepbrother who her father leaves her with for the summer while he runs off to Paris with his wife. Rush is as spoiled as he is gorgeous. He is also getting under her skin. She knows he is anything but good for her and that he’ll never be faithful to anyone. He is jaded and has secrets Blaire knows she may never uncover but even knowing all of that…

Blaire just may have fallen too far.

Fallen Too Far on Goodreads, Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Abbi Glines Website

My Thoughts:

I loved Rush! At first he was a complete ass, but it didn't take long before he was completely swoon-worthy! I hated the ending of this book! I highly suggest you have book 2 ready and waiting when you finish this one as you will want to start it right away!

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

The New Look of Indulgence

Books from Indulgence, an Entangled Publishing imprint, have a fresh new look!

 

Sexy new look!

Classic romance with a fresh new twist.

Indulgence brings together classic romance, new and fresh voices, those alpha heroes we all love, and are simply great category romance reads.

Indulgence books are short contemporary romances.  They are new, fresh, edgy, light, and whimsical and always have a happily ever after.

Emotionally and physically satisfying.

 

Sure, Brazen may be the naughty little sister of Indulgence, but where do you think Brazen learned everything? J

 

 

 

Here are two Indulgence books I'm looking forward reading to because

I do love a good foodie romance <3

 

 

Famously Engaged, by Robyn Thomas

A chef and a rock star. They couldn’t be from more different worlds…

Rock star royalty’s favorite son, Jake Olsen, couldn’t help but interfere after listening to his future brother-in-law talk non-stop about his ex-wife, Beth Carlisle. Jake decides that the only way to get the groom’s mind off his ex-wife is to give her a fake fiancé.

Before Jake can convince Beth of his plan, he's forced to move in with her to avoid the paparazzi. Their instant attraction makes for a sizzling "first date", but soon Jake’s fame gets in the way and Beth wants out. Too bad Jake's figured out just why her ex is so obsessed with her, and he's afraid he's not going to be able to give her up either.

Now it's up to Jake to convince this chef together they make the perfect recipe.

Famously Engaged on Goodreads and Amazon

 

 

 

Dishing Up Desire, by Barbara DeLeo

Image consultant Blake Matthews is facing his toughest PR challenge yet: salvage the image of celebrity chef Kirin Hart. Once he does, he'll be able to acquire LA's most successful PR firm. But Kirin's no easy fix. She's stubborn about changing her comfortable homemaker image, and is being sued for sexual harassment by a junior staffer. She needs a PR lifeline fast. Only problem is Blake wants more than to make her over...

Kirin doesn't need a makeover--her fans love her as she is. But she could lose everything if the sex scandal and reputation that has followed doesn't get quashed right away. Kirin agrees to let model-perfect Blake work his magic for two weeks, but things get complicated when she can't deny the way her body flares to life whenever he's near.

Dishing Up Desire on Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble

 

What do you think of the new covers? Like them? Love them? Prefer the original covers?