Friday, April 1, 2011

GIVEAWAY: "Heartsblood" by Carolyn McCray

************************CONTEST CLOSED*******************************

HeartsBlood (Praxis) Let's celebrate Friday with a great giveaway! And what a giveaway it is! Every person that comments on this post, will receive an ecopy of "Heartsblood." That's right! You just need to leave a comment with your email (in this format: youremail AT wherever DOT com, to avoid spam), and when the giveaway ends, I will send all those emails to Carolyn and she will get you the ebook!

Let's learn a little about "Heartsblood" first!
A woman of science. A man of magic. Hunted for their HeartsBlood.

Blood Magic.


Drawn into a world beyond her comprehension and control, Dr. Salista Calon must choose between science and magic. Between her mind and her heart.

HeartsBlood...
A love taken to its dangerous conclusion...Interested yet? Well FIRST, some links for your enjoyment.
Amazon: HeartsBlood (Praxis)
Carolyn's website: Carolyn McCray
How to contact Carolyn: Contact

Now for the RULES:
~ Comment and leave your email to enter (No email, No Entry)
~ Contest begins NOW (4/1) and ends SUNDAY (4/3) at 11:59 PM EST.
~ Emails will be gathered at the end of the giveaway and sent to the author, and she will contact you from there.
~ You must be 13+ to enter.
~ I am not being compensated for this giveaway.
~ Since these are ebooks, the contest is open to all, as long as the file type is supported!

A HUGE thanks to author Carolyn McCray for stopping by!

Have a wonderful weekend, folks. And, as always, Happy Reading!
~!~ Amanda ~!~



Winners of "Night and Chaos" by Naomi Clark!

We have our three winners for a copy of "Night and Chaos" by Naomi Clark! The three lucky ducks are...

**************CONGRATULATIONS TO....**********************
Tyra @ Tyra's Book Addiction

Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal

Miranda @ Sweet Vernal Zephyr

I want to thank everyone that entered, and a HUGE thanks to author Naomi Clark for the giveaway!

Winners, I will be forwarding your email addresses to Naomi, and she'll get in touch with you so you can get your copies of "Night and Chaos."

And for those that didn't win, be sure to pick up a copy! Amazon link below. Have a wonderful weekend!
Happy Reading!
~!~ Amanda ~!~

Thursday, March 31, 2011

The Friday hop-a-longs!

Another Friday equals another chance to find new blog-arrific friends! Join me as we hop along and meet new readers and bloggers!

My name is Amanda, I'm 23 and from Ohio. I work in a library at the reference desk, though I hop to different departments as needed. Hm, what else about me... I love to read accross plenty of genre lines, but Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, and Romance in general are my favorites. I review a mix of things here, as well as review books for Romance Reviews Today - whatever they happen to send me.
Find me on Twitter: @Novel_Addiction
and Goodreads: Amanda [Novel Addiction]
I have a couple contests running - Check the righthand sidebar for links!




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Where is your favorite place to read?: Well, that's either curled up in the corner of my couch, or laying down under the covers on my bed. It mostly depends on how much lighting I need, and how cold it is in my room.

Book Blogger Hop
Since today is April Fool's Day in the US, what is the best prank you have ever pulled on someone? I wish I had something to say. I'm not really a prankster. Or if I am, I've forgotten about anything good I've done, ha!

Well, that's it for me this week! This weekend is a busy one for me, I have work and rehearsal (I'm in a musical!) all weekend. So I promise I will get back to everyone that comments, I just might take a day or two.
Have a wonderful weekend, and Happy Reading!
~!~ Amanda ~!~

The Red, it Filters Through.. REVIEW of "Rage" by Jackie Morse Kessler

RageWhy this book?: "Hunger" was SO good, I couldn't wait until the sequel came out.. I requested it through Netgalley.
Disclaimer: I received a galley of this book via Netgalley in exchange for a review.

Type: Young Adult, Series, Cutting, Book Two, War, Apocalypse, Four Horseman, Death is one rad dead dude

About the book: Missy is a cutter. She doesn't want to die, she just needs to bleed out the anger, hurt, and pain until she can breathe again. Sure, she thought it was odd when a rocker dude showed up at her door and gave her a sword, but she was able to put it out of her mind. But after Missy ends up being the brunt of a cruel joke, she takes her cutting habit too far - and too deep. Now Death has come calling, and he says she only needs to accept the sword and become War, one of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. But Missy never imagined that being War meant she would constantly be at war with herself.

My Review: Another excellent novel in the Horsemen of the Apocalypse series. Ms. Kessler featured Famine in the first novel, "Hunger," (click the title to see my review) which was a teenaged girl dealing with anorexia. And now "Rage" features another equally tough subject - cutting. As much as some people would like to ignore the existance of these two afflictions, they ARE out there, and teens deal with these subjects and more all the time. Stories like these, where teens deal with these issues and overcome them, are exactly what young adults should be reading. And it doesn't hurt that there is an excellent story to go with it.

I love Missy as a character - and her reason for cutting seems real and genuine. You can really tell that the author did her research - also proven by the author's note at the end of the book. As with the previous novel, the characters of the other horsemen are compelling - as in I am incredibly compelled to learn more about them, and I eagerly anticipate more Horsemen stories.  Another riveting read by an author that has once again proved herself invaluable to the YA community!

Cover Loving: Excellent cover! And goes with the first book in the series - Hunger (Riders of the Apocalypse).

Recommendation: Fans of paranormal Young Adult Fiction will love this series. And anyone that enjoys a good read that deals with tough subjects should pick up "Rage" and "Hunger."

Final Rating: FIVE out of FIVE (5/5). Another excellent book in the series. Wonderful story, excellent portrayal of painful events and touchy subjects. Definitely something to pick up!

Have you read "Hunger" or "Rage" by Jackie Morse Kessler? Does this sound like something you would want to try? Share your thoughts in the comments! Want to pre-order "Rage"? Get it at Amazon.com! "Rage" by Jackie Morse Kessler releases April 4!

Happy Reading!
~!~ Amanda ~!~ 

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Whatcha Got Wednesday #22

Yay! It's Wednesday again, which.. well, doesn't mean too much for me because I have to work this weekend. But for those of you with a regular Monday through Friday job, that means it's halfway over! It also means it's time for my weekly Whatcha Got Wednesday meme, where I talk about my recent book arrivals.

I don't do this to brag or to show off, but as a chance for me to spotlight some books that I might not get to for a couple of weeks because of how huge my To Be Reviewed pile is. And, you know, that theatre thing I got myself into (yipes!).

So first up!
By now I'm sure most of you know I love author Jessica McHugh. She writes some seriously wonderful stories, and I've had the greatest pleasure to review two of her novels, The Sky, The World, and Song of Eidolons (Click the titles to see my review). She contacted me again to see if I was interested in reviewing her newest release Rabbits in the Garden and I said HECK YES. I also yelled at her for continuing to write good books and therefore making my To Be Read pile topple over, so umm.. Ahem, sorry about that. ;)

But anywhoodles, look for my review of "Rabbits in the Garden" coming soon, hopefully!




And lastly..
I'm a huge Sherrilyn Kenyon fan, and I love her Dark Hunter series. I'm also a fan of Young Adult fiction, so of course I enjoy her YA spin off featuring Nick. I can't wait to see how his actions affect the series.. if it comes to that. I couldn't wait to buy this one - good thing I was able to get it for a good price!

I did get a couple other books this week, but nothing noteworthy. I guess I better get back to reading! Up next is a review of "Rage" by Jackie Morse Kessler!

And don't forget, only two days left to enter to win one of three copies of "Night and Chaos" by Naomi Clark! Go HERE to enter!

And my contest to win one of three copies of "Cursed Mates" by Cara Marsi ends next Thursday. Click HERE to enter!

Happy Reading!
~!~ Amanda ~!~

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

I wanna name a kid Zen. REVIEW of "Bumped" by Megan McCafferty

BumpedWhy this book?: Megan McCafferty wrote one of my favorite YA-to-Adult series (Jessica Darling). When I heard she hopped on the Dystopian bandwagon, I was ready and willing to follow her anywhere.

Disclaimer: I received this book from netgalley in exchange for a review.

Type: Young Adult, Dystopian-esque, Teen Pregnancy, Surrogettes, Lingo-riffic, Twins, I sort of want there to be a sequel?, Megan McCafferty knows how to write cool guys.

About the book: The Virus has made everyone over the age of eighteen infertile. So instead of wedded couples having their own children, teenage girls with the prefered features are chosen to be paid Surrogettes. Being pregnant (or "bumping") is the new It Thing for girls, and it can lead to a very promising future, for the surrogette that gets the best deal. Melody has been groomed her entire life to be the perfect surrogette, and it's a real hink her her plans when she finds out she has an identical twin - Harmony. Separated at birth, they never knew about one another until their records were unsealed at sixteen.

While Melody was being set up to bump, Harmony has spent her entire life in Goodside, a Church community. Harmony leaves the only home she's ever known to convince Melody that she must keep her child and get right with God. Or that's what she's told herself anyways. But things start to get difficult when Melody is finally partnered with Jondoe, the worlds best Sperm donor. Now Melody must choose between the life of a Surrogette, and life with her best guy friend Zen, and a whopping case of mistaken identity leaves even the best plans to ruin.
My Review: This book was incredibly tough to summarize, almost as difficult as it was to get through the beginning. Filled to the brim with jargon and slang from this new era, it took me until I was over halfway done with the book to finally get the hang of things. I appreciate the reason for all the slang - teenagers of any generation will and do use plenty of it, but it made for a difficult read. Maybe a dictionary in the back of the book would have been helpful, or to slowly work the audience into the story, then overload them with slang.

It took a while for me to feel any interest in this book, in part because of the overuse of slang and abbreviations, but also because I felt no investment in the characters. By the end I was enjoying the story and the four main teenagers, but getting to that point was difficult. I was almost positive that Melody wouldn't really grow as a character. She surprised me, a little, in the end, but even then, it felt like a surprise that she matured into her own person, not a gradual change.

Despite what I've said, I didn't hate the book. I thought it was a solid "good," as opposed to "great" and "excellent." I really liked the idea of this book. People obsess over watching shows like 16 And Pregnant, and Teen Mom, so a dystopian novel where that is considered okay and even patriotic is something fascinating, interesting, and frankly, something I want to read. I know Megan McCafferty is an excellent author, and has some great stories in her, but this book just fell short for me. The ending was good and kept me reading until way past my bedtime, but I know the slow start and put-downable beginning half is going to be too much for some people.
Recommendation: Fans of dystopian YA will want to check out "Bumped." If you're looking for something different, this is definitely a book you should try.

Cover Loving: Frankly, I love it. I think it's simple and matches the book perfectly.

Final Rating: THREE out of FIVE (3/5). Beginning was a little tough to get through, but I think the ending was worth it. Good, but I think I'm going to wait for a paperback edition.

"Bumped" by Megan McCafferty will be released April 26 - preorder your copy now from Amazon.com! Is this something you would consider reading? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Happy Reading!
~!~ Amanda ~!~

Monday, March 28, 2011

GIVEAWAY: "Cursed Mates" by Cara Marsi!

**************CONTEST IS CLOSED, THANK YOU*********************


Welcome to stop number three on Cara Marsi's virtual tour! The author has generously offered THREE copies of her ebook "Cursed Mates" to giveaway, which means there will be three winners!

Cursed Mates First up! About the book: Nick Radford is a reluctant werewolf who’s been fighting the Beast within for nearly 500 years. He’s never killed a human, but the Beast is gaining strength and Nick may not be able to ward off his inner demon much longer.


Kyla Yaeger is an elite were-hunter with a scarred past. Her life’s mission is to slay the werewolves who slaughtered her parents. Her quest has brought her to Maine where she's been summoned to destroy the werewolf terrorizing the quaint little village of Heavensent. The last thing she needs is to get distracted by her mysterious--not to mention hunky--new neighbor Nick Radford.

By the time Kyla learns Nick is her target, she's already fallen for him, making her task of killing him that much harder. She is torn between her love for him and her duty to kill her sworn enemy. Nick fights his forbidden love for Kyla, knowing she is duty-bound to kill him. Kyla and Nick must join together to fight an even bigger threat--one that will destroy all humanity. Only by their combined powers can they destroy the evil and bring an end to a centuries old curse.Ahh! It sounds sooo good! Next up: Some helpful links.
Buy it at Amazon.com: Cursed Mates
Contact Cara: carolyn@carolynmatkowsky.com
Cara's Website: Cara Marsi - Author

RULES and GUIDELINES:
~Contest begins today (3/28) and ENDS 4/7 at 11:59 PM.~Enter using the form below, comments are nice but will not count as an entry.
~Three winners will be randomly chosen and announced on Friday, 4/8.
~One entry per person, all duplicates will be deleted.



Happy Reading!
~!~ Amanda~!~