Saturday, December 31, 2011

Books Read in 2011 :)

I have had the same reading goal of 200 books a year since I started blogging - and this year, not only did I finally reach it - I exceeded it by 11 books.  For a total of 211 books read in 2011.  How appropriate.  :)


5 Stars

Blood Song - Cat Adams
StormWalker - Allyson James
FireWalker - Allyson James
Monster Island - David Wellington
Crimson Wind - Diana Pharaoh Francis
Red Hot Fury - Kasey Mackenzie
Nekropolis - Tim Waggoner
Dreams of a Dark Warrior - Kresley Cole
Treachery in Death - J D Robb
Love You More - Lisa Gardner
The Guardian - Margaret Mallory
The Forest of Hands and Teeth - Carrie Ryan
Pale Demon - Kim Harrison
Abandon the Night - Joss Ware
Shotgun Sorceress - Lucy A Snyder
Zombie Britannica - Thomas Emson
This Side of the Grave - Jeaniene Frost
Enclave - Ann Aguirre
Eternal Rider - Larissa Ione
Lydia - Tim Sandlin
Hush - Cherry Adair
Dead by Midnight - Carolyn Hart
Ghost Town - Rachel Caine
The Time-Traveling Fashionista - Bianca Turetsky
Green-Eyed Envy - Kasey Mackenzie
Apocalypse of the Dead - Joe McKinney
Immortal Danger - Cynthia Eden
The Darkest Secret - Gena Showalter
Hunt the Moon - Karen Chance
Nightshade - Andrea Cremer
Mystical Warrior - Janet Chapman
Smokin' Seventeen - Janet Evanovich
Killer Move - Michael Marshall
Hit List - Laurell K Hamilton
WolfsBane - Andrea Cremer
Shadowflame - Dianne Sylvan
My Life As a White Trash Zombie - Diana Rowland
All You Desire - Kirsten Miller
Gone - Michael Grant
Daughter of Smoke & Bone - Laini Taylor
Isle of Night - Veronica Wolff
Tempted - Elisabeth Naughton
Kindling the Moon - Jenn Bennett
Dark Descendant - Jenna Black
The Night Eternal - Toro & Hogan
Ghost Files - Hawes & Grant
Bite Club - Rachel Caine
Last Breath - Rachel Caine
The First Days - Rhiannon Frater
Fighting to Survive - Rhiannon Frater
Fate's Edge - Ilona Andrews
Shaedes of Gray - Amanda Bonilla
How to Worship A Goddess - Stephanie Julian
Explosive Eighteen - Janet Evanovich
New York to Dallas - J D Robb
Blood Rights - Kristen Painter
The Darkest Surrender - Gena Showalter
Immortal Rider - Larissa Ione
Green-Eyed Demon - Jaye Wells
Eternal Kiss - Laura Wright

4 Stars

Harvest Hunting - Yasmine Galenorn
The Fallen: Raziel - Kristina Douglas
Beyond the Night - Joss Ware
The Thieves of Darkness - Richard Doetsch
Virgin - Cheryl Brooks
Absolution - P L Parker
Sandman Slim - Richard Kadrey
Enslave Me Sweetly - Gena Showalter
The Pack - Jason Starr
Blood Wyne - Yasmine Galenorn
Graveminder - Melissa Marr
The Undertakers: Rise of the Corpses - Ty Drago
Infinity - Sherrilyn Kenyon
The Tender Mercy of Roses - Anna Michaels
Numbers - Rachel Ward
Embrace the Night Eternal - Joss Ware
So Close the Hand of Death - J T Ellison
Shadowfever - Karen Marie Moning
Demons Are A Girls Best Friend - Linda Wisdom
Rock Hard - Olivia Cunning
Gambit - Kim Knox
Collision Course - Zoe Archer
Blood of the Maple - Dana Marie Bell
Just For The Night - Tawny Weber
Dead City - Joe McKinney
Cross Your Heart - Michele Bardsley
Inseparable - Brenda Jackson
What A Goddess Wants - Stephanie Julian
Cover Me - Catherine Mann
Dead Reckoning - Charlaine Harris
Trace of Fever - Lori Foster
As Lie the Dead - Kelly Meding
Firespell - Chloe Neill
Forgotten - Cat Patrick
Dead Iron - Devon Monk
A Shot in the Dark - K A Stewart
Grave Dance - Kalayna Price
Undead & Undermined - MaryJanice Davidson
Afterlight - Elle Jasper
Chosen By Blood - Virna DePaul
Raven - Suzy Turner
Paradise 21 - Aubrie Dionne
The Immortality Virus - Christine Amsden
Blood of the Wicked - Karina Cooper
CrossRoads - Jeanne C Stein
Fallen - Traci L Slatton
Dark Parties - Sara Grant
Memento Nora - Angie Smibert
Ashes, Ashes - Jo Treggari
Hellforged - Nancy Holzner
Bed Bugs - Ben H Winters
After the Virus - Meghan Ciana Doidge
Nightfall - Ellen Connor
Bloodshot - Cherie Priest
Wither - Lauren Destefano
Born at Midnight - C C Hunter
Matched - Ally Condie
Bloodstone - Nancy Holzner
Unleashed - Sara Humphreys
The Shadow Reader - Sandy Williams
Thief - Anitra Lynn McLeod
Blood Eternal - Marie Treanor
Blood Sin - Marie Treanor
Blood on Silk - Marie Treanor
Ashes, Ashes - Jo Treggiari
Embrace the Highland Warrior - Anita Clenney
The Storm that is Sterling - Lisa Renee Jones
Blood Drunk, Faded Blue - Angela Lovell
Magic on the Line - Devon Monk
Sex, Lies and Mistletoe - Tawny Weber
Acquainted with the Night - Piper Maitland
Succubus Revealed - Richelle Mead
Left Hand Magic - Nancy A Collins
Deep Kiss of Winter - Cole and Showalter
Never Again - Michele Bardsley
Divergent - Veronica Roth
Winging It - Deborah Cooke

3 Stars

Once Bitten - Kalayna Price
Sugar and Sin - Stella and Audra Price
All That's True - Jackie Lee Miles
To Have and To Kill - Mary Jane Clark
Black Wings - Christina Henry
Enemy Within - Marcella Burnard
Right Hand Magic - Nancy A Collins
Blood and Steel - Angela Knight
Taste Me - Tamara Hogan
Alice in Zombieland - Lewis Carroll & Nickolas Cook
Rogue Oracle - Alayna Williams
Afterlife - Merrie Destefano
Surrender the Dark - L A Banks
River Marked - Patricia Briggs
Touch If You Dare - Stephanie Rowe
Aftertime - Sophie Littlefield
Lover Unleashed - J R Ward
Delirium - Lauren Oliver
The Betrayal - Diane Noble
Working Stiff - Rachel Caine
Bloodlands - Christine Cody
Catriona - Jeanette Baker
Red's Hot Cowboy - Carolyn Brown
Tout Sweet - Karen Wheeler
Where Demons Fear to Tread - Stephanie Chong
Ghost of a Smile - Simon R Green
Guardian of the Dead - Karen Healey
The Paladin - Ken Newman
Crossed - Ally Condie
Crazy in Paradise - Deborah Brown
The Lost - Caridad Pineiro
The Goblin King - Shona Husk
Dead Mann Walking - Stefan Petrucha
Sins of the Angels - Linda Poitevin
The Doomsday Vault - Steven Harper
Who Do, Voodoo? - Rochelle Staab
One Grave at a Time - Jeaniene Frost
Before I Fall - Lauren Oliver
Beautiful Creatures - Garcia & Stohl
The Sounding - Carrie Salo
Dead Bolt - Juliet Blackwell
Hot Zone - Catherine Mann
The Cross - Sean McCabe
Retribution - Sherrilyn Kenyon

2 Stars


Demons Prefer Blondes - Sidney Ayers
Wickedly Charming - Kristine Grayson
The Legend of Michael - Lisa Renee Jones
The Vampire Next Door - Ashlyn Chase
The Magicians - Lev Grossman
Nocturne - Syrie James
Enemy Lover - Karin Harlow
Deadworld - J N Duncan



DNF

Stripped - Marcia Colette
Song of Scarabaeus - Sara Creasy
State of Mind - Sven Michael Davison
Frail - Joan Frances Turner

In My Mailbox: 12-31-11

In My Mailbox is a feature that was started over at The Story Siren. Each week we share what we bought, borrowed from the library or received in the mail.


Here is what I received this past week:


For Review:

Memories of Murder - Lara Nance
Immortal Beloved - Cate Tiernan
Darkness Falls - Cate Tiernan
Thanks to Lara Nance and Little, Brown

Christmas Presents:

The Walking Dead - Robert Kirkman & Jay Bonansinga
Patient Zero - Jonathan Maberry
Dead of Night - Jonathan Maberry

Deadline - Mira Grant
A Brush of Darkness - Allison Pang
Must Love Lycans - Michele Bardsley

Living On The Edge - Shannon K Butcher
Primal Law - J D Tyler
Darkness Descending - Devyn Quinn

That's my mailbox for the week.  How was yours?

Friday, December 30, 2011

Bookish Faves of 2011



This year I thought I would do a favorites post - broken down into a few categories.  Here we go:


Favorite New To Me Authors/Series:


Allyson James - Stormwalker Series  
Kasey Mackenzie - Shades of Fury Series
Dianne Sylvan - Shadow World Series


Favorite Zombie Reads:


Rhiannon Frater - As the World Dies Series
Joe McKinney - Dead World Series
Thomas Emson - Zombie Britannica
Tim Waggoner - Nekropolis Series


Favorite YA Reads:


Veronica Wolff - Isle of Night
Andrea Cremer - NightShade
Laini Taylor - Daughter of Smoke & Bone
Rachel Caine - Last Breath
Ann Aguirre - Enclave


Favorite Installment to an Established Series:


Kresley Cole - Dreams of a Dark Warior
Gena Showalter - The Darkest Surrender
Laura Wright - Eternal Kiss
Janet Evanovich - Smokin' Seventeen


Favorite New Series:


Larissa Ione - Lords of Deliverance
Jenn Bennett - Arcadia Bell
Amanda Bonilla - Shaede Assassin 


Unexpected Favorite:


Margaret Mallory - The Guardian


Most Anticipated:


Rhiannon Frater - The First Days


Biggest Disappointment:


Joan Frances Turner - Frail


Favorite Cover(s):


Kristen Painter - House of Comarre Series








So that is a rundown of my faves and a couple of my not so faves.  :)  What do you think?



December Review Rewind


I can't believe that another month has come and gone. Despite the holidays, I was able to read a fair amount of books.


5 Stars
Shaedes of Gray - Amanda Bonilla
How To Worship A Goddess - Stephanie Julian
Explosive Eighteen - Janet Evanovich
New York to Dallas - J D Robb
Blood Rights - Kristen Painter
The Darkest Surrender - Gena Showalter
Immortal Rider - Larissa Ione
Green-Eyed Demon - Jaye Wells
Eternal Kiss - Laura Wright


4 Stars
Succubus Revealed - Richelle Mead
Left Hand Magic - Nancy A Collins
Deep Kiss of Winter - Cole & Showalter
Never Again - Michele Bardsley
Divergent - Veronica Roth
Winging It - Deborah Cooke


3 Stars
The Sounding - Carrie Salo
Dead Bolt - Juliet Blackwell
Hot Zone - Catherine Mann
The Cross - Sean McCabe
Retribution - Sherrilyn Kenyon


How was your reading month?    

December RAK Wrap-Up


Another month of RAK has come and gone.  :)  With the hustle and bustle of the holidays, I only mailed out two books.


To Sullivan McPig   - Ascension by Caris Roane


To Danielle  - Everdark by Elle Jasper


How was your RAK?

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Review: Eternal Kiss by Laura Wright


Eternal Kiss is the second book in the Roman Brothers Trilogy/Mark of the Vampire series by Laura Wright and a Paranormal Romance from Signet Eclipse.


Book Blurb:


Family is Blood.


His father unknown, his mother dead, Nicholas Roman was raised by the vampire Breed with one wish: to live as a normal vampire.  But once he’s transformed against his will into a gifted immortal. Nicholas now has one goal: to stop the Eternal Order of vampires from controlling his life and from transforming more males from his bloodline for their vicious reign. 


Then comes a beautiful stranger with a startling secret...


Vampire Kate Everborne claims she’s sheltering Nicholas’s long-lost son.  If this is true, then who is the mother?  And how endangered are they if, indeed, Nicholas does possess the bloodline so coveted by the Order?  


These are questions that with every seductive whisper, every silken touch, draw Nicholas and Kate intimately closer and nearer still to the truth.  But aroused too are Nicholas’s fears that this tantalizing woman has even more secrets - both dangerous and provocative - she has yet to share.


My thoughts:


Nicholas Roman is a son of the Breeding Male, a pureblood vampire who’s genetic code and structure have been altered by the Eternal Order to enable him to impregnate at will and decide the sex of the baby.  


The Roman brothers despise the Eternal Order.


As the governing body of all vampires, the Eternal Order has dictated that the Roman brothers must locate and kill a rogue vampire - Ethan Dare.  If they do not, one of the brothers will be forced through early Morpho.  Nicholas does not want this to happen to his brothers - so he is determined to find Ethan and kill him.


Kate Everborne hates the Eternal Order as well - she has spent the last ten years of her life with nothing to do but think of the ways she hates the Order.


Just when Kate sees the light at the end of the tunnel, things take a turn for the worse and she feels obligated to fulfill a dying wish - even if it means drawing the attention of the Order.


When Kate and Nicholas are unexpectedly thrown together, neither trusts the other.  But their attraction can’t be denied.  Banding together to fight a common enemy, Kate and Nicholas come to realize that together they are unstoppable.


Eternal Kiss is an amazing read.  Nicholas is pure Alpha and Kate can kick a$$ with the best of them.


I give Eternal Kiss 5 out of 5 stars.


I am looking forward to the next installment - Eternal Captive coming February of 2012.




Product Details
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Signet (April 5, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0451233840
ISBN-13: 978-0451233844

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

WoW: Lothaire by Kresley Cole


Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly post started by Breaking the Spine to showcase books we are patiently awaiting.

My WoW for the week:


Book Blurb:

ALL FEAR THE ENEMY OF OLD 

Driven by his insatiable need for revenge, Lothaire, the Lore’s most ruthless vampire, plots to seize the Horde’s crown. But bloodlust and torture have left him on the brink of madness—until he finds Elizabeth Peirce, the key to his victory. He captures the unique young mortal, intending to offer up her very soul in exchange for power, yet Elizabeth soothes his tormented mind and awakens within him emotions Lothaire believed he could no longer experience. 

A DEADLY FORCE DWELLS WITHIN HER 

Growing up in desperate poverty, Ellie Peirce yearned for a better life, never imagining she’d be convicted of murder—or that an evil immortal would abduct her from death row. But Lothaire is no savior, as he himself plans to sacrifice Ellie in one month’s time. And yet the vampire seems to ache for her touch, showering her with wealth and sexual pleasure. In a bid to save her soul, Ellie surrenders her body to the wicked vampire, while vowing to protect her heart. 

CENTURIES OF COLD INDIFFERENCE SHATTERED 

Elizabeth tempts Lothaire beyond reason, as only his fated mate could. As the month draws to a close, he must choose between a millennia-old blood vendetta and his irresistible prisoner. Will Lothaire succumb to the miseries of his past . . . or risk everything for a future with her?

Product Details
Hardcover: 506 pages
Publisher: Gallery Books (January 10, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1439136823
ISBN-13: 978-1439136829