Friday, July 1, 2011

[RAK] Random Acts of Kindness - JULY

Book Soulmates



It's JUNE! Which means another month for Random Acts of Kindness - started by the awesome bloggers at Book Soulmates. RAK is an awesome concept - bloggers and readers post a wishlist, and they just might get something special in their mailbox a few weeks later. And don't forget, it's not just about receiving, but giving as well! And don't forget our international friends - Book Depository has free shipping!

**** And just FYI - It's my birthday this month! July 16th ;) ****

MY WISHLIST:
"Fourth Comings" by Megan McCafferty
"A Hundred Words for Hate" by Thomas Sniegoski
"The Demon Trapper's Daughter" by Jana Oliver
"How to flirt with a naked werewolf" by Molly Harper Thanks Theresa!!!
"Ascension" by Sable Grace
"Awakened" by Ednah Walters
"The Throne of Fire" by Rick Riordan
"A Rush of Wings" by Adrian Phoenix

I know, it's a lot.. but I can't help it! There's just so many great books in the world! And I'll admit it.. I'm a total book hoarder. ;)

Happy Reading!
~!~ Amanda ~!~

Following, and all that that implies...

Yay! Another Friday, which means another chance to meet new bloggers and reconnect with old friends.

For anyone new to my page, welcome! My name is Amanda, I'm 23 (soon to be 24!), and I work in a library. I got into book reviewing because of the idea of free books.. but I stay because I love being able to connect with authors and other readers. My favorite genres are romance (contemporary, historical, paranormal), science fiction/fantasy, urban fantasy, and.. well, that's mostly it, but I'll read anything that captures my interest.

Anyways, on to the hops! Including a new one this week!

Book Blogger Hop
What keeps you reading beyond the first few pages of a book, and what makes you stop reading a book and put it back on the shelf? Great question! Characters and the world they live in are really important to me. There are a few things that will guarantee that I will try my hardest to finish the book - Angels, Mythology, Time Travel, etc. If an author crafts an interesting world I'd like to live in - I'll keep reading. If he or she creates characters I fall in love with - I'll follow that author anywhere. As for what makes me put the book down - if I'm not in the mood for that particular type of book right now, busy elsewhere, that sort of thing. What makes me put it down permanently? Tougher to judge.



ACK! Your favorite book/movie character just walked into the room! Who is it, and what would be your first reaction? Okay... so Bones just walked into the room? Really?? I think if I haven't fainted at the sight of him, I'd be cleaning my drool off the table with a towel. Eventually I might get over the initial shock.. but if I finally get up the nerve to talk to him, the second he uses that sexy accent, I'm a goner. Hahaha.

Photobucket                                         
TGIF at GReads
Mr. and Mrs, who are your favorite book couples?Cat & Bones from the Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost
Leigh and Lucian from the Argeneau series by Lynsay Sands
Noah/Jackie/Zane in the Succubus series by Jill Myles
Trevor/Chassie/Edgard in the Rough Riders series by Lorelei James
Clara and Tucker in "Unearthly" by Cynthia Hand
And so many more...

Well, that's it this week. Begin the hoptastic fun!
Happy Reading!
~!~ Amanda ~!~

WINNERS of "Wild" by Naomi Clark!

And now to announce the winners of Naomi Clark's "Wild"!! There will be THREE winners, and those lucky ducks are...


Congratulations to...

SIDNE

ANDREA K

and ELIZABETH

Thank you to everyone that entered! Didn't win? Purchase it at Amazon.com!

I'll be emailing the winners later today. I hope you enjoy your books!
Happy Reading!
~!~ Amanda ~!~

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Whatcha Got Thursday.. the It Didn't Post Yesterday edition

I thought that little scheduling button was there so I could schedule my post to go up at a certain time. Not schedule it to have it sit there, hiding in the shadows. But anyways, grr.. here's what I got in the past week!

FOR REVIEW:
"Savor the Danger" by Lori Foster
"Up a Dry Creek" by Avery Flynn

FOR REVIEW for ROMANCE REVIEWS TODAY:
"Conan the Barbarian" by Michael Stackpole (movie edition)
"Bloodlust" by Michelle Rowen
"Darkness Unboard" by Keri Arthur (ARC) - ANGELS?!

Well, that's it for me this week - did you get anything noteworthy?
Happy Reading!
~!~ Amanda ~!~

Monday, June 27, 2011

GUEST POST: Avery Flynn, author of Up A Dry Creek

Spitfires Are UsAvery Flynn

There are some book heroines who I love and admire. They’re strong and smart and more than a little intimidating. I’m talking about you Anita Blake, who is completely kick ass and I love but who would scare the crap out of me if we met in real life.

Then, there are those heroines who I want to sit down with at the bar because I know I’m going to laugh, commiserate and snark the night away. This is where Bridget Jones and Sookie Stackhouse come into play.

So when I was crafting Claire Layton, my heroine in Up a Dry Creek, I knew I wanted the second kind of heroine. Claire reminds me a lot of a friend I had in college who was a complete spitfire, the first up for karaoke and who always had your back. Man, that girl made many a Friday night into an event. But, back to the fictional Claire.

If Claire Layton was an animal, she’d be a red-headed Chihuahua. Small, feisty, not afraid to take on the big dogs and liable to get in way over her head. After finding her boyfriend in bed with her best friend, she swears she’ll never let another man have the power to break her heart again. Determined to find a new life for herself, she puts her business degree to good use and fulfills a childhood dream by starting The Harvest Bistro, in her rural hometown of Dry Creek, Nebraska. After she discovers a customer dead in a dumpster, the killer demands she find the victim’s phone and flash drive or face fatal consequences.

Enter the ying to her yang: Jake Warrick, a cocky and mind-numbingly hot private investigator, becomes Claire’s unlikely ally in the search. Here’s Jake’s first appraisal of Claire.

“She'd walked in with flames shooting out the ends of her auburn hair, her chocolate-brown eyes blazing. Dressed in a dark purple dress that wrapped around her tight body, highlighting her large breasts, his body responded to the fierce pixie. Strongly. He couldn’t stop from stoking her inferno. Her heat had spread to him and turned any thought of his mission to ash. A more cautious man, his father would say a smarter man, would have handled her gently. But he hadn’t been able to do that. He’d had to push to see how hot she could burn. Pretty damn hot.”

Cue the fireworks. Jake just wants to solve the case and get out of this hick town, but the diminutive and curvaceous Claire turns his plan upside down as they uncover a more complex crime than they ever imagined. The two bicker and banter like Tracy and Hepburn caught in a whirlwind of intense sexual attraction as they try to find the killer before it’s too late.

Yep, Claire is totally my kind of girl: fierce, loyal, smart and funny. I hope after reading Up a Dry Creek, you’ll want to sit down and have a beer with her, too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I want to thank Avery for taking the time to write that great guest post for us! And be sure to look for my review of "Up a Dry Creek" in the future!
Want to purchase this book? Get it from Amazon.com or All Romance Ebooks!

Happy Reading!
~!~ Amanda ~!~

Sunday, June 26, 2011

WINNERS: "Reality Stinks" by Ashlynn Monroe (late, sorry!)

Reality Stinks My contest for two copies of "Reality Stinks" by Ashlynn Monroe ended Thursday night, and I was supposed to post the winners Friday morning, but I have been extremely sick this weekend, and I'm just now beginning to feel much better. My sincerest apologies to the winners and to Ashlynn for putting this off so long!

So without further ado.. the two lucky winners are....

********************** DIANA *************************

and

******************* CHRISTINE D. **********************

Thanks to all that entered, and a big thank you to Ashlynn for donating the two copies of "Reality Stinks" to giveaway!  I'll email Ashlynn asap with the winner's contact information, so hopefully you will get your books soon, and again - sorry for the delay!

Didn't win? Purchase the book here:
All Romance Ebooks

Happy Reading! And Congrats to the winners!
~!~ Amanda ~!~