FRIDAY FOLLOW #9

Friday Follow is hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read, this weeks Feature is The Bookaholic! Do visit the hosts to see who's participating this friday!

This Weeks Question :

"What book that hasn't been turned into a movie (yet) would you most like to see make it to the big screen, and who would you like cast as your favorite character?"

Answer : 

Here we go! I'd love to see Lord of the Vampires, by Gena Showalter, the first of the four books made into a movie! I loved it! I think Jason Momoa would make perfect hero - and heroine... Sienna Miller! I'd love to see this as a movie, especially as there is 3 more parts to come, which reminds me I want to read Lord of rage this weekend!

Happy Weekend Everyone! Oh, and what would you have chosen?

WWW #6 WITH QUOTES

To play along, just answer the following three questions…
WWW hosted by Should Be Reading!

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

My answers:

What are you currently reading?

 "Taking clothes off a woman, yeah, he had plenty of practice with that. 

Dressing the near-dead… not so much."

What did you recently finish reading?

“They desecrate Riora’s sacred temple! She will be enraged.”
“Oh, gods, look at the marble. We are all beyond doomed.”
“Somebody put a plant in front of it!” 

My Review

What do you think you’ll read next?

“We want you gone. Your presence is obviously upsetting for her."
"Oh, aye, the poor, wee lass -- who tossed me like a skipping stone.”

And that's it folks! What about what are you reading next?

REVIEW - NO REST FOR THE WICKED

Author: Kresley Cole
Pages: 356 pages
Publisher: Pocket Star
Published: October, 2006
Form: Paperback
Series: Immortals After Dark #2
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Amazon: Buy / $7.99
Book Depository: Buy / €5.18
Adlibris: Buy / €7.70

Sebastian Wroth didn't want to be made a vampire, but his brothers made one of him anyway as he lay dying. He has hated his existence for 300 years and when a small woman with a wicked sharp sword comes to slay him he doesn't but up a fight.

Kaderin the Cold Hearted, most ruthless vampire hunter of the Valkyries hasn't felt anything sense thousand years ago when she was granted her wish to be emotionless after her sisters were killed in the Valkyrie-Vampire War. But now as she's about to kill the vampire who doesn't lift a finger to stop her she halts, and hesitates.

The unimaginable happens, Sebastian's heart begins to beat, he's found his Bride the only woman who can make his become alive again - and Kaderin feels for the first time in thousand years.

Things get bit hot and heavy and Kaderin is freaked out beyond sense and flees Sebastian's Castle.

Kaderin dashes off to compete in the Lore's most infamous scavenger hunt game 'The Talisman's Hie' to loose Sebastian from her tail - but he finds her and is determent to help her and win her even though she swears she hates him and will get rid of him.
But it's very hard to fight fated attraction and soon both of them feel their control slipping.

❝She was a perfect killer. She had been for one thousand years, half of her interminable life.

"Did you hear that?" he asked. The eyes that had been pleading for an end now narrowed. "Are you alone?"

She quirked an eyebrow. "I do not require help from others. Especially not for a single vampire," she added, her tone growing absent. Oddly, her attention had dipped to his body once more--to low on his torso, past his navel to the dusky trail of hair leading down. She had a flash imagining of grazing the back of one of her sharp claws along it while his massive body clenched and shuddered in reaction.

Her thoughts were making her uneasy, making her want to wind her hair up into a knot and let the chill air cool her neck--

He cleared his throat. When she jerked her gaze to his face, he raised his eyebrows.

Caught ogling the prey! The indignity! What is wrong with me? She had no more sexual urges than the walking dead vampire before her. She shook herself, forcing herself to remember the last time she'd faltered.❞

No Rest For The Wicked is yet another Immortals After Dark novel that you can't but down!

Sebastian is wonderful, slightly awkward having been bullied in his human years for being too big and clumsy by the women in his village, which now sets interesting chemistry between him and Kaderin as he sets to win her into his life.

Kaderin is tough as friggin' nails, she wants to be emotionless and seeing her adjust to emotions again is so funny. I especially loved when Sebastian notices her further away as the games are about to start when she flips Bowen the werewolf off and then turns to gape at her own lifted finger in shock. She's likeable but not as fun to read as Sebastian.

Yes, I am officially addicted to this series! No Rest definitely solidified that with fast pace, sizzlingly sensual thrill ride with dragons, serpents and hidden treasures not to mention to scorching hot sexual attraction between Kaderin and Sebastian!

A PNR must read series!

Rating :

 

PUBLISHER INTERVIEW - RENEE ROCCO FROM LYRICAL PRESS, INC.

It's my pleasure to introduce to you Renee Rocco from Lyrical Press, Inc!

Lyrical Press, Inc. is a New York based small press publisher, offering an eclectic catalog of titles ranging from tender romances to supernatural horrors and erotica.

All Lyrical Press books are released digitally, with select titles also available in print.

Niina :  First, could you introduce us to Lyrical Press  - how and when did you get started? What made you join a notoriously difficult industry?

Renee Rocco : The idea for Lyrical Press had been a thought in my mind since about six months after I was published. I guess I always knew writing was the start of my journey, not the end. I just had to travel a bit to get where I am.

After getting published, I branched out into cover art, falling in love with that creative outlet ( I still do the majority of Lyrical's covers, although the amazing Valerie Tibbs is the other half of our art department ). I then moved on to editing, knowing I had to learn every nuance of this business in order to succeed. I talked to people in the industry, absorbing their knowledge. I watched what other houses were doing. I paid attention to what worked and what didn't. When I felt we were ready, and had a solid foundation for Lyrical, Frank and I launched the site, opening for submissions in December 2007. Lyrical's grand opening came months later, on May 5, 2008.

I love this industry right down to the very crumbs of it. I love interacting with readers. I love working with authors, editors, cover artists, formatters. I couldn't imagine not being a part of this industry. It's ever-changing. It's exciting. Regardless of the obstacles we've faced, and will continue to face as publishing evolves, I couldn't imagine not having a place in it.

Niina :  What has been the best part about working at Lyrical Press, what dreams do you get to bring to life?

R.R : Since I started as an author, for me, the best part of Lyrical is introducing new authors to the world of publishing. Their enthusiasm never fails to remind me what I love most about this industry... working with an amazing and creative group of people.

Niina : And what has been the proudest moment of your writing or publishing career so far?

R.R : Without a doubt, the day we launched Lyrical. That's a day I’ll never forget. For Frank and I, other than the birth of our daughters, Lyrical's launch is one of our proudest accomplishments. I know, that's cliché, but it's true! We nurtured the idea of Lyrical for so long, so to see our hard work come to fruition was a dream come true.

Niina :  Now, men are a rare case in writing romance / urban fantasy, what do you see men offering to the genre? Or what would you like to see?

R.R : Great question! Too often, the submissions we get from men in regards to romance are what men *think* is romance. It's not always something that would necessarily appeal to women. The submissions we're sent ( and I speak only for the submissions that Lyrical gets from men ) are romances that aren't very romantic at all. Lyrical is fine with a romance not having a HEA ( Happily Ever After ) so long as there is plenty of romance throughout the rest of the story and the non-HEA makes sense. Most times, however, what we get from men doesn't have much romance in it. It's like, they hear romance sells well, so they write something that vaguely resembles a romance, but is pretty far off base. They label it a romance and....that's about it. It falls short of what we feel our readers expect from a Lyrical Press romance. I'd love to see a submission come in from a man that truly speaks to women. Something gentler, heartfelt. Something that, when I read it, the gender of the author doesn't stand out, rather, the story itself shines through.

As for urban fantasy, we're lucky in that the submissions Lyrical gets from men are pretty in keeping with what we get from women. What prevents us from accepting a male-written UF is the same as what prevents us from accepting a female-written UF...writing that's not quite ready for publication.

Niina :  Haha, sometimes what women and men see as romance can be bit diffrent. Next question, how would you defend your genres against people who say they have nothing to offer? ( I ask this as I often find myself defending my reading material  ;) )

R.R : I'm a strange bird in that I don't defend our genres much. The way I see it is, if I still have to defend a certain genre in the year 2011, then nothing I can say will change someone's mind at this point. People will be people, and everyone has their opinions, even if their's is clouded with antiquated ideas.

I'm super proud that Lyrical is a publisher of romance and erotica. So, if someone does try to say anything negative about romance or erotica after hearing what we publish, I simply point out that romance has the greatest sales per year than any other genre, and that some of history's most revered authors wrote romance. Numbers don't lie. That's about all the time I'll allot for someone narrow-minded enough to put down romance or erotica.

It's not that I'm *not* a crusader for our genre(s). It's just that I have better things to do with my time... like publish great books and create awesome covers for said books... than fight with someone who is obviously backwards in their thinking.

Niina :  Well said! Now, what writer/s do you admire?

R.R : Lynn Kurland. She gets it right. Everything she writes, in my opinion, is perfect. Heck, she could write her grocery list on toilet paper and I'd read it!

Niina :  LOL! That's pretty good! And for the finale can you give us a sneak peek into a mind of publisher and tell what book you are currently really excited about?

R.R : Right now, I'm all about urban fantasy/romance. I'm only now reading Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series. Wow. As for Lyrical's books that I'm excited about... that's a difficult question for me to answer. I love all of our books. I'd never contract a book if I wasn't moved by it. But like I wrote, I'm exploring UF/Romance right now. I've just loaded L.K. Below's Stalking Shade into my phone ( that's where I do most of my reading ). I only read one book at a time, so as soon as I finish what I'm reading now, that's my next adventure.

I've recently finished Mary Ann Loesch's Nephilim and Death Sword by Pamela Turner. These books blew me away. They are everything I love about reading. I was drawn into the worlds these amazing authors crafted. I didn't want the books to end. For me, that's a big deal. My time is extremely limited, what with work and family taking up huge chunks of my days, so for me to want to keep going with these books is astounding.

Niina : Thank you for taking time from a busy schedule to answer few question! It's been fun to have you here, thank you. Renee Rocco from Lyrical Press, ladies and gentlemen!

Don't forget to checkout Lyrical Press Homepage and see if something catches your eye!

Lyrical Press is actively seeking erotica, romance, and urban fantasy. Only works over 60,000 words will be considered for print.

About Lyrical Press, Inc. - Submissions - Store - Lyrical Press Homepage

REVIEW - DARK PROTECTOR

Author: Alexis Morgan
Pages: 322 pages
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: June, 2006
Form: Paperback
Series: Paladins of Darkness #1
Genre: Paranormal Romance / Urban Fantasy
Amazon: Buy / $6.99
Book Depository: Buy / €4.67
Adlibris: Buy / €6.90

Paladins are warriors fighting to keep the Others from entering our world through the barriers at all major fault lines across earth when they move - the warrior can die but also be revived by their Handlers. Toughest Paladin to date is Devlin Bane, and he is coming towards the end of his life, even though they cannot die, every revivement brings them closer to turning into the Others.

Dr. Young is Bane's Handler, she revives him and tries to find out just what makes these men special why they can be revived and why they are losing their humanity - but besides that she's attached to Bane, the warrior attracts her and soon they ignite flames that should not exists, after all when he does loose what’s left of his humanity she will be the one putting him down.

With the attraction burning between the two Bane also has to come to grips that what killed him the last time wasn't an Other but a human, as weird details keep piling up it becomes evident that some is out to kill Bane and now that he's hanging around Laurel she's on under fire as well.

Wow! This was new! I haven't seen anything like it in PNR before, completely unique! Super-soldiers, meet the Wraith! Yes, I know, that was a Stargate reference. ;)

This book start the series of with a smack load of details which makes it perhaps a little slow, but not any less entertaining! The Paladins all get somewhat introduced and I can't wait to read their books as well. Especially Trahern's as he's pretty much the most "gone" of them all, least human.

I would have liked to have given this book a half a star more but it didn't quite earn it, I would have wanted more continuance in some parts and while there was  plenty of sex it should have lead into something or held something up ( no bun intended, or maybe it  was ;) ) so that it would have not been just "filler". Don't get me wrong, it was good, but I wanted something behind it as well. Oh, shoot! I just sounds like a total double entendre all the time! Enough.

This is for all Paranormal Romance lovers and people who want something new out of the shifter and vampire inhabited genre!

Rating :

REVIEW - ECSTASY UNTAMED

Author: Pamela Palmer
Pages: 384 pages
Publisher: Avon
Published: October 25th, 2011
Form: E-book (review copy through NetGalley)
Series: Feral Warriors #6
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Amazon: Buy / $7.99 (pre-order)
Book Depository: Buy / €5.97 (pre-order)
Adlibris: Buy / €7.60 (pre-order)

I am shocked how much I loved this book! Not having read any of the earlier books I was afraid I'd be bit clueless but I wasn't, perhaps I picked the perfect book to join the series, as it seems everything was explained for a first timer without breaking the story at all.

Hawke is captured in The Spirit Trap, which sole purpose is to tear the Animal Spirit from its holder. Tighe and Hawke are released just before their animal spirits are separated from them, but Hawke's return to the his Feral brothers and the Feral House isn't a happy reunion, something is badly wrong, his control of his Hawk Spirit slipping away from him, which makes him a dangerous man to be around as any frustration or anger triggers his change into Feral form (claws and fangs come out).

Fan Art by me

Faith meets Maxim in Warsaw and follows him to the Feral House as one of the Nine Feral's, the Fox, has died and his animal spirit now inhabits Maxim, she follows him because she feels an unexplainable pull to Maxim knowing she is his. Except Maxim is arrogant and snobbish not anything that Faith normally goes for. And Maxim is nothing like Hawke, when she first meets him the attraction is too tempting and way too strong to ignore... for either of them.

But the trouble is as attracted as Hawke and Faith are to each other, she's Maxim's, no matter what asshole he proves to be, which grates on the should-be-lovers. But that's not all, the Mages are brewing a demonic plan to take down the Feral Brothers to release the Daemons, and their secret weapon has already infiltrated to House.

This story doesn't let go, it keeps grapping you after every solution with another problem until you notice you've been reading for nine hours and you're done... what happened!? I usually can't read on the computer for longer than 3 to 4 hours, but I sat and read like a good girl for 9 hours straight, taking only one break to go to the library. ( you needen't worry I did feed myself along the way )

Palmer writes in a way that never lets you wander off the pages, when one problem gets fixed another rises and you just can't stop reading wither it's pining for a warrior, keeping secrets or all hell breaking loose! There isn't a dull moment in Ecstasy Untamed! You won't be bored at any point.

This book is seriously addictive! I find myself itching to get the 5 previous books, like right away.

Rating :

P.S: I listened to Robert Rudolph and The Family Band's album "Colorblind" all through out the book and it fit is so good! Sneak peek here with "Ain't Nothing wrong with it" & "Deliver me" it fits the slightly dark and gritty, passionate feel of the book with a funky soul rock beats.

CONGRATS TO 100 FOLLOWER GIVEAWAY WINNER!

It's now time to announce the winner of the 100 Follower Giveaway!

The winner is picked Playing With Fire as their book, here is little about it!

❝May is cat burglar my profession and doppelganger by none-birth, has hundred years of practice sneaking into houses and vaults to steal what her master, the demon lord Magoth, commands. After few unfortunate events she finds herself on the footsteps of Aisling Grey and her Dragon wyvern Drake. This isn't too bad but it turns out the Silver Dragon Sept Wyvern Gabriel is also there and by accident they discover May is in fact a Wyvern Mate, a rarity on its own, but even more rare as Silver Dragons a cursed to not have mates.

Gabriel has the normal dragon traits; highly possessive, volatile when provoked and fiercely protective, and once he has May in his hands he's not about to let her go for any treasure in the world. 

But as it seems May isn't that into the idea of being a Wyvern Mate which kind of boggles the Dragon mind, but no matter he'll turn her around - after all you aren't much a dragon if you can't get what you desire. 

May being a demon lord's minion hinders the two would-be-lovers until something gives. After all how long can a girl resist a gorgeous, steaming hot, totally committed dragon?

In the Katie MacAlister style this book is a hoot! Fun, witty, hot as hell and has you loving the male lead with vigor, I mean who doesn't love an alpha male bad boy. ;) ❞ ~ from my review
 

The winner was picked with help of random.org among the participants who gave their email addresses at the Giveaway entry HERE.
 

Now

The Winner is...

Yto!

with "For The Love of Giveaways ;P"

 

Personal e-mail has been sent!

( if the "winner" email isn't answered within 48 hours new winner will be picked ) 

LAST CHANCE ( 24H ) - 100 FOLLOWER GIVEAWAY

Last chance to participate in my 100 Follower Giveaway!

It's open another 24 hours ( and is INTERNATIONAL) before I raffle one lucky winner who has chocen which book they want from my favourites!

If you haven't seen this Giveaway yet, go have a look!

100 Follower Giveaway!

“It’s time! My blog has hit triple digits and it’s time to celebrate!

This of course means my 100 follower giveaway!

The giveaway is International, I’ll be using Book Depository to send you your copy of the book of your choice – but first you have to play along a little!

Name of my blog is “For The Love of Reading!” A witty little frustrated quip of a well-used saying – now, what I want from you is your own version of it ( be as creative as you want, or as to the point as you wish ) for example “For the love of Tom Jones!” or “For the love of low-fat pudding!”

Just leave a comment on this entry with an ABC - a) your answer, b) the book you’d like and c) your email address and Random.org will do the honors and pick a number and we’ll see who goes home with a book! ( well -- who the book goes home to -- oh! you know what I mean )”

FRIDAY FOLLOW #8

Friday Follow is hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read, this weeks Feature is The World of the Spork Master! Do visit the hosts to see who's participating this friday!

This Weeks Question :

"Do you have a favorite series that you read over and over again? Tell us a bit about it and why you keep on revisiting it?"

Answer : 

Starting every time with Beth and Wrath's book Dark Lover!

I can help but confess I re-read The Black Dagger Brotherhood in an almost continous loop. How can I not?! I mean the super sexy alpha-male 6'6' vampires dressed in leathers and sporting wicked knifes, saving their HEA, while managing to be so steamy hot you blush when you read how these brothers love their ladies. Not to mention the world, I love it, can't get enough of it. I love these vampire that are alive, breathing, sweating ( *blush* ) and kicking evil ass on regular rotation. Yum, Yum, YUM! Alright I think I made my point. ;D LOL!

What did you pick?