Win an ARC of Nightshade

How would you like to win an ARC of Nightshade by Andrea Cremer? I WOULD!!! Just click here to visit Books Obsession and enter. Unfortunately for us Brits, it's US only although if you have a US mailing address, I don't see why you can't enter. Deadline is 3rd May and there will be two lucky winners.

Nightshade is a book I am itching to get my hands on and will be featuring it soon on the blog!

Win a few books

Princess Bookie is having a great contest where she giving away a whole load of ARC's (Advanced Reader Copies) of books that have not even been released yet. Examples include "Everlasting" by Angie Frazier, "Jekel loves Hyde" by Beth Fantaskey and "Rules of Attraction" by Simone Elkeles. From the list of 15 books, you can up to 3 of them just by clicking here to visit the site. You'll have to be quick with this one as it ends tomorrow (11th April) and of course it's international! Good luck to everyone!

Mistwood ARC giveaway!

The very lovely Amy Brecount White (author of Forget-Her-Nots) is giving away an ARC of Mistwood by Leah Cypess. Both authors belong to a group known as "The Tenners" - authors publishing their debut novel in 2010. As if the cover wasn't enough to tempt you, here is the blurb from Goodreads:

"The Shifter is an immortal creature bound by an ancient spell to protect the kings of Samorna. When the realm is peaceful, she retreats to the Mistwood.

But when she is needed she always comes.

Isabel remembers nothing. Nothing before the prince rode into her forest to take her back to the castle. Nothing about who she is supposed to be, or the powers she is supposed to have.

Prince Rokan needs Isabel to be his Shifter. He needs her ability to shift to animal form, to wind, to mist. He needs her lethal speed and superhuman strength. And he needs her loyalty--because without it, she may be his greatest threat.

Isabel knows that her prince is lying to her, but she can't help wanting to protect him from the dangers and intrigues of the court . . . until a deadly truth shatters the bond between them.

Now Isabel faces a choice that threatens her loyalty, her heart . . . and everything she thought she knew."

How awesome does that sound?! I DEFINITELY want to read this and so I'm entering! If you want to enter too, just click here to visit Amy's site. The contest ends on 25th April and it's international.

Sea Blue People Win Mystery Books Contest: Week 2

OK, it's that time again only this is week 2 of the mystery books contest. You have to work a bit for this one though and choose 3 out of 6 options to complete in order to be entered for the task. Then leave in the comments what you have done. Click here to see the full set of rules and to enter the contest. Closes midnight (PST) TODAY so get your entries in!! It is of course international. And don't forget, no one knows what the prize is until it's won but it's likely to be an awesome book from one of the tenners or a book that has recently been published. Good luck everyone!

Massive Book Giveaway!

And they just keep on coming today! This contest is from the very wonderful Steph Bowe who is the author of the upcoming novel "Girl Saves Boy" which is being published in September 2010 (secretly I'm hoping she will send me an ARC*)

So anyway, you can win..

• Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
• Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
• An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
• Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
• Dreaming of Amelia by Jaclyn Moriarty
• Blue Plate Special by Michelle Kwansey
• The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
• The Pact by Jodi Picoult
• World Shaker by Richard Harland
• Exposure by Mal Peet
• Sprout by Dale Peck
• Panama by Shelby Hiatt

Plus...

• Every winner will get lots of book swag - bookmarks, postcards, badges, etc...
• And if you're an aspiring YA author, you'll also get a query critique & first five pages critique of your YA manuscript!

Click here to enter. Contest closes 30th April and it's international. Good luck to everyone!

* I'm not flattering her because I want her to send me an ARC, Steph really is a great person to follow and is always posting extremely helpful writing tips and advice.

Can I Be Your Book Fairy Contest!

That's right, another contest! And you can win some AMAZING ARC's (Advanced Reader Copies) of books like Shade by Jeri Smith Ready (I can't WAIT to read this) as well as many others. Visit the blog by clicking here and fill out the form to enter. Easy peasy. You have until 25th April to enter and it's international! Yipee!!!! Good luck everyone!

Pick Your Publisher Contest

My friends over at The Undercover Book Lover (not really) are having an amazing contest at the moment where you can win books from a particular publisher (you can choose from several). For example, there is Linger by Maggie Stiefvater (Scholastic), Mistwood by Leah Cypress (HarperTeen) and The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott (Simon & Schuster) to name but a few! All you have to do is visit the site by clicking here and fill out the entry form. Contest closes 22nd April and it's international so what are you waiting for? Good luck!

Want to read LINGER?

OK so as you may or may not know, I was EXTREMELY lucky to get my hands on a Linger Arc not that long ago. And let me tell you something. I’ve never felt so guilty in my entire life. I’m aware that EVERYONE wants to read this and so I feel very fortunate to have it in my possession. I decided when I won it that I would spread the Linger love and so I am going to put my precious ARC into a book tour, just for fellow book bloggers. I’m not entirely sure how I’m going to do this yet so I guess it depends on how many people want to read it. If it’s a low number then great, if it’s a lot more than I was anticipating I might have to draw names out of the hat for a limited amount of spots. I do have to tell you though that my friend Jennzah is first on the list. If you want to participate, here are the rules.

THE RULES
1. You must be a book blogger.

2. You don’t have to follow my blog (but it would be really cool if you wanted to).

3. If you are selected, you can keep the book for ONE WEEK only before you have to send it on to the next person. Obviously, there are exceptions to this rule if it’s a genuine reason.

4. YOU are responsible for the cost of sending it to the next person on the list. DO NOT sign up to this unless you are willing to bear those costs.

5. This is my precious Linger ARC (it has my name inside and everything!) and it means so much to me so I ask that people treat the book with respect.

6. At the end of the tour, the book must be returned to me. Don’t forget people, I know where you live *evil laugh*.

All you have to do to participate is leave me a comment with your name, the country where you live, your blog address and your e mail address. I'll let you know when the tour begins but it will be a lot sooner than the 20th July release date, I can tell you that! So what do you say, are you in?

SEA BLUE PEOPLE WIN MYSTERY BOOKS CONTEST: WEEK 1

The awesome Heidi R Kling is having a mystery book contest over on her blog, in fact she is giving away a book a week until Sea is officially released in 9 weeks time. It's exciting because no one (except her of course) knows what the book is until it's won! Find out how to enter by clicking here. You'll have to be quick though because the contest ends tomorrow at midnight PST. And yes, it's international (thank you Heidi!) Good luck everyone!

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, originally started by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that highlights upcoming book releases everyone is waiting on...hence the title. This week's pick is "Paranormalcy", by Kiersten White. Here is the description from Goodreads.

"Sixteen-year-old Evie's job is bagging and tagging paranormals. Possessing the strange ability to see through their glamours, she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency. But when someone--or something--starts taking out the vamps, werewolves, and other odd beasties she's worked hard to help become productive members of society, she's got to figure it out before they all disappear and the world becomes utterly normal.

Normal is so overrated".

Firstly, how gorgeous is the cover art?! Secondly, Kiersten is a lovely lady who makes me laugh when I read her blog, especially "ARC adventures" and if you don't know about the saga of the missing ARC's then YOU'RE missing out and you need to click here immediately and check it out. I'm really looking forward to reading this book as I think the premise is quite original. I can't imagine my world without some paranormal in it! I recently entered an impromptu contest ran by Kiersten on Twitter and whilst I didn't win (I may have come a close second) that's OK because there will be more contests to win ARC's in the future. Failing that, I am DEFINITELY buying the book and now I have promised to buy Heidi R Kling a copy since I got her excited to read it too (and to say thank you for her offer of assistance during the contest). I will honour my promise!

Paranormalcy is officially released into the world on 21st September, 2010 and there will be two sequels! Kiersten has an official website (as well as her blog) and you can visit by clicking here. Kiersten is also on Facebook and Twitter.

I heart monster birthday giveaway

My friends over at "I heart Monster" are having an amazing contest that you don't want to miss! They are giving away 31 books - some of which are ARC's, some are signed, some are pre-orders. It's international and the deadline is 15th April. If I were you, I'd scoot over there now to enter! Click here for more information!

I had this dream...

I had a weird dream this morning and it scared me. I wanted to use it as inspiration to write. So I did. Here is a small sample of my own writing. I feel very vulnerable doing this but I want to do it so here it is. Hope you like it.

They were coming. I could feel it in my bones. The atmosphere became oppressive and the room seemed a lot smaller than I remembered. I pretended to be asleep. With my eyes closed, the only indication I had that they were there was the sudden drop in temperature. An eerie feeling washed over me but I couldn’t let them know I was aware. I concentrated hard on my breathing. In. Out. In. Out. Slow and controlled. My skin prickled as I felt a weak breeze around the bed space and I realised they were darting about, searching for something. But Searching for what? Every fibre in my being was on edge but I couldn’t let it show. A steady stream of adrenaline flowed through my veins and although my senses were heightened, I struggled to hear anything past the thumping sound of my own heart beating in my ears. I fought to control the rise and fall of my chest. I don’t think I’d ever been more focused on my breathing at that moment than EVER before in my life. I imagined my breath, a visible white haze carrying all the tension out of me.

Then, I felt them MOVE me. I rolled over and tried to moan authentically as a sleeping soul would when they were being dragged back from the dream world. I leaned into my boyfriend. I was lying in an awkward position with my limbs twisted beneath me. I wouldn’t be able to hold on for much longer. When my arm started feeling like it belonged to anyone but me, I moaned and stretched in exaggerated like movements, signalling to Them that I was waking. I decided that I was going to count to three and then finally prise my eyes open. One. Two. Three. I opened my eyes. The room was still and deathly silent. Maybe this was a dream. A nightmare more like.

The Crescent Review

This is one of the hardest reviews I think I have ever written. I don’t understand why it becomes more difficult to write a review about a book that you truly, truly love. For example, there has to be a reason why my review of Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater is not up here yet! Perhaps I am worried I will not portray the book in the right light, that I won’t do it justice. Anyway, that being said I have actually re-read The Crescent and battled with this all day with a view to writing the best review possible. So here goes...

I have only recently been introduced to the writings of Jordan Deen. I saw a contest to win her book, looked it up on Amazon, thought it sounded really interesting and entered the contest. I decided there and then that even if I didn’t win, I would still be buying the book. To my surprise, I won the book and was thrilled to receive it yesterday! Yes, that’s right. I’ve had the book in my possession for about 24 hours and I’ve already read it. It’s not very long at 187 pages so I knew I could have it read quickly but for a debut novel, it’s fantastic and definitely what I call a “just another chapter” kind of book. Let’s just say that I went to bed at 4am.

The main protagonist is Lacey Quinn who is counting down the days until her 18th birthday. She is an only child and comes from a pretty rough home where her parents argue nonstop. NOTHING is going to stop her from going to college where she can escape the madness of her home life and finally have a decent social life. That is until Alex and Brandon enter the scene - two new guys at school who both make a lasting impression on Lacey. Alex may have gotten there first but Lacey cannot deny the overpowering instant connection she has with Brandon. She may be dating Alex but Brandon haunts her dreams and as time goes on, it becomes increasingly difficult for her to distinguish between dreams and reality. Lacey must choose between Alex, her first love and Brandon her supposed soul mate. Only her decisions will cost her much more than she realises. Unbeknownst to Lacey, she is caught in the middle of an ancient war and she is the key to it all. A family secret slowly unravels itself and threatens to destroy everything she has ever known. This is a story of first love vs. True love. How do you choose your soul mate when your heart belongs to someone else? How do you choose your destiny when it will destroy everything and everyone you love? Destiny cannot be stopped, can it?

From the very first pages, I was immediately drawn into the story and I think it’s clear by now that I LOVED this book with a passion - it basically blew me away. And to top it all off, the cover art is just gorgeous! I have to be honest at this point and say that the book contained a lot of spelling and grammatical errors (blame the editors) but for me, the story shone through. I struggled to regain some coherence when I finished reading and I love it when a book does that to you. This is a fantastic debut novel from Jordan Deen and it definitely left me wanting more. The sequel entitled “Half Moon” is currently in the pipeline with no set release date as of yet. Jordan has her own website which you can visit by clicking here. She is also on Facebook and Twitter.

Hex Hall Review

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins has already been released in the U.S. but has yet to be released in the UK. I have no idea why the release dates aren't the same but I can tell you that the cover art is different. I have to say that I prefer the U.S. cover art and it’s a hardback (I know, I know). The good thing about purchasing that particular copy though, besides that it is a hardback, is that it meant I could read it now as opposed to waiting for the UK release date. I started reading this last night and managed to finish it within 4 hours. It was definitely a fun read and I just love Rachel’s sense of humour.

The main protagonist is Sophia (Sophie) Mercer and she is a young witch. After a love spell goes horribly wrong, she is sent to Hecate Hall, or Hex Hall as it is affectionately known amongst the students, which is a reformatory school for the Prodigium. The Prodigium are made up of magical beings such as witches, warlocks, werewolves, shape shifters, fairies and vampires. Students are sent to Hex Hall when they need to be taught how to use magic more responsibly and this is why Sophie is there. Before long, strange goings on at Hex Hall put all the students in danger but will they figure out what’s going on before another student is murdered?

For some reason, I kept thinking of “The Worst Witch” (I loved that film when I was younger) when I first started reading but I can see why I would make that comparison. Sophie’s spells always seem to go wrong, that is if she can make them work at all! Sophie was a great character and a loyal friend to her roommate Jenna, the only vampire student at Hex hall. I loved Sophie's sense of humour and humanity.

There were some other great characters in Hex Hall to include both teachers and students. The headmistress Mrs. Casnoff reminded me of a motherly version of Dumbledore from Harry Potter. Archer Cross is the love interest and boy is he hot! Even though he might come across as a tad arrogant at first, you can see why Sophie cannot help herself falling for him. I could imagine doing the exact same thing in her position. I loved the fact that their relationship was not straightforward though and full of complications such as Archer’s girlfriend for example. At first, this made me feel a bit uncomfortable but it could just as easily happen in real life and did Archer really like Elodie anyway? I’m not sure, I have a feeling he had an ulterior motive.

There were quite a few revelations towards the end of the book that I didn’t see coming and I loved the feeling of being surprised. It did however leave a lot of things left wide open and I assume these will be addressed in the sequel. “God I hope so!” is the most appropriate response I could muster at the moment. I love the fact that Rachel added some “Britishness” into the book too and you’ll see what I mean when you read it. I don’t want to give away too much of the story but I’m really looking forward to the sequel and will be pestering Rachel to find out when exactly that will be! Rachel has a website and you can visit by clicking here. She can also be found on facebook and Twitter. The UK release date for Hex Hall is 1st April, 2010 so not long to wait now!

In My Mailbox (week 4)

"In My Mailbox" was started by Kristi over at The Story Siren. Every Sunday, I will let you know what books I've picked up in the week!

First up is "The Crescent" by Jordan Deen. I was lucky enough to win a copy and I've just finished reading it (less than 24 hours since it came through the door). That should give you some indication of how good I think it is. I'll be posting my review later today or tomorrow when I regain some coherence. I love it when a book blows me away like that and I'm very exited to have discovered a new author! Also, the cover art is just beautiful!


"Brightly Woven" by Alex Bracken has been on my radar list for a while. I had a hard time getting hold of a copy though and had to wait for it to come back in stock before I could order if from an online seller. I even signed up to have a notification e mail sent to me the minute it was back in stock! Anyway, I'm glad to say that it's now in my lovely, little hands. I think the cover art is pretty and I'm looking forward to reading it soon.


"Dark Secrets" by Elizabeth Chandler sounded interesting and the cover drew me to it. I have another book by Elizabeth sat on my shelves (part of the neverending TBR pile) and I just had to have it so I bought it. The sequel to this book, "Dark Secrets 2" is out 4th May and it's on the wishlist.




"The World of Myth" by David Adams Leeming was recommended to me by Shanon Delany (Author of "13 to Life"). She said it was a good reference for writers when world building. I thought it sounded interesting and would make great research.




Last but by no means least is "Some Girls Bite" by Chloe Neill. I've not read anything by Chloe before but I've heard a lot about her and her books. I've got "Firespell" on the list and whilst that is out now, I'm waiting for the hardback (c'mon, you know by now I have an obsession with hardbacks). "Some Girls Bite" has just been released in the UK and I thought I would like it so I bought it.

Rising Shadow Review

Recently, I was lucky enough to be part of a book tour for Rising Shadow, by Jacquelyn Wheeler (courtesy of International Book Tours). The blurb on the jacket of the book peaked my curiosity and I was interested in the philosophy behind “Soterians” described as people who develop powers when the balance of good and evil shifts too far in evil’s favour. I liked the idea that neither side could triumph, just like yin and yang there must always be a balance.

The main protagonist is Ashlyn Woods, a young college student who just transferred to a campus on the west coast. I have to say, it was nice to read about an older person (a lot of YA books are featuring 13-16 year olds) so it made a change to read about a 20 year old going to college. Ashlyn quickly realises that she is different and after a strange incident, she discovers that she has special powers. She then hooks up with three other students who develop different abilities and together they form a unit. Later on in the book, we are introduced to another unit and this definitely made it more interesting as the two units worked together to maintain the balance between good and evil. I liked the suggestion that these units exist everywhere and so it might have made it even more interesting if we could have seen units in other countries or included some kind of power shift that was international instead of just happening in California.

This book was definitely a plot driven novel rather than a character driven novel. It centred around politicians who wanted to see their evil plans put in motion once elected. I did like the twist at the end though when the main culprit was revealed. One thing that did frustrate me however, was the introduction of the mythical creature “Deimos” towards the end of the book. I’m guessing this was a reference to the devil and how he should be feared but although his name was mentioned and alluded to several times towards the end of the book, nothing ever came of it. At first I was thinking “what was the point of adding him in the first place?!” On reflection, perhaps it was a ploy by the author to introduce him now, as he would feature heavily in the sequel.

Although this book was somewhat refreshing (no vampires/zombies/ wolves/ ghosts/angels in sight) it did feel a little lengthy to me. I’m not sure if this was because I was having a rough time at work and had to meet a deadline to send it on to the next reader or not, but it was a thick book. And sadly not what I call a “Just another chapter” kind of book. You know the kind, when you race home from work to read it, when you can’t stop reading and suddenly it’s the early hours of the morning. Don’t get me wrong, it was entertaining but I’m not sure if I really want to read the sequel when there are so many great books on my TBR pile at the moment. Personally, I think this story would work better visually as its very action based and I’d love to see it as a TV series. Just like the Vampire Diaries books didn’t work for me, I love the TV series with a passion.

This is a very mixed review and so I would always encourage people to read the book for themselves and make up their own minds.If you visit the Soterians website, you can actually download a PDF version of the book for free. Click here to visit the site. The sequel “Merger” is out now and I believe there is a goodreads contest to win a copy.

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, originally started by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that highlights upcoming book releases everyone is waiting on...hence the title. This week's pick is "Sleepless", by Cyn Balog. Here is the description from Goodreads.

"Eron De Marchelle isn't supposed to feel a connection. He is a Sandman, a supernatural being whose purpose is to seduce human charges to sleep. While he can communicate with his charges in their dreams, he isn't encouraged to--after all, getting too involved in one human's life would prevent him helping his other charges get their needed rest.

But he can't deny that he feels something for Julia. Julia, with her fiery red hair and her sad dreams. Just weeks ago, her boyfriend died in a car accident, and Eron can tell that she feels more alone than ever. Eron was human once too, many years ago, and he remembers how it felt to lose the one he loved. Eron has always felt protective of Julia . . . but now, when she seems to need him more than ever, he can't seem to reach her . . .

Sandmen are forbidden from communicating with humans outside their dreams. But will Eron be willing to risk everything for a chance to be with the person he loves?"

I think this book sounds sooooo interesting and I love the idea of incorporating sleep and dreams (which is a subject that fascinates me). "Sleepless" is released on 13th July, 2010. Cyn Balog is the author of "Fairy Tale" and you can visit her website here. She is also on Facebook.

My First Ever Contest WINNER!

Thank you to everyone who entered my contest. When I counted up all the entries there were 50 people that were eligible to win! I used "Random.org" to select a winner and without further ado, I am pleased to announce that....

AMANDA LEIGH is the winner! Congratulations!

You win a SIGNED copy of Blood Promise, by Richelle Mead, a little paper booklet that I got from the book store and also a too cute bookbag from Paperchase. I have e mailed Amanda and she has 48 hours to reply. If I do not hear from her, I will pick an alternative winner.

First Blog Award

Thank you to thedoortowonderland for giving me this award, I really appreciate it!

The rules after you've received the award:

1. Thank and link to the person that gave you the award
2. Pass the award onto 15 bloggers you’ve recently discovered and think are fantastic
3. Contact said blogs and let them know they’ve won
4. State 7 things about yourself

This task was really difficult actually but I finally narrowed it down to the following 15 blogs:

1. http://www.pageturnersblog.com
2. http://wastepaperprose.blogspot.com
3. http://heyteenager.blogspot.com
4. http://thecrookedshelf.blogspot.com
5. http://www.latebloomeronline.com
6. http://butterflybookreviews.blogspot.com
7. http://readingorbreathing.blogspot.com
8. http://athenasbooks.blogspot.com
9. http://the-bookologist.blogspot.com
10. http://extremereaderbookreviews.blogspot.com
11. http://www.bibliophilicbookblog.com
12. http://b00kbound.blogspot.com
13. http://www.thebookette.co.uk
14. http://onceuponabookcase.blogspot.com
15. http://www.parajunkee.com

7 things about me
1. I am a nurse.
2. I have lots of ideas for books and want to be a published writer in the future.
3. My other love is music, I sing and play piano. I've also written a lot of songs.
4. I'm a movie watching addict.
5. I can't keep my flat clean and tidy because I'm always too busy.
6. I think teddy bears are adorable and they tempt me into buying them at regular intervals.
7. I really want to see the new Harry Potter Theme Park in Orlando, Florida.

Before I Fall Review

I have a confession to make. I read “Before I Fall” by Lauren Oliver a few weeks ago now but it’s taken me a while to write the review. Why? Because I was left dumbstruck when I finished reading the book and it took time for me to digest the story fully and become coherent again! This is one of those books that you’re still thinking about long after you’ve read it.

One of my first thoughts whilst reading was that I would describe this book as Final Destination meets Groundhog Day. If you read the book, you’ll understand what I mean. Imagine living the same day over and over, knowing that ultimately it will end in your death. What would you do? Could you save yourself? “Before I Fall” is Sam’s journey to discover the answer to these questions.

I had a little difficulty getting into the book at first and I think this is mainly because Sam (the main protagonist) is not a nice character – in the beginning. Throughout the book, her character grows and develops into someone that you do care about. She transforms from some shallow schoolgirl into the heroine of the story. The book is written over 7 days and I have to say that day 4 was my favourite. It was THIS day that Sam decided to do whatever she wanted, and I liked that ;) Think “a day without consequences” and let your imagination run wild!

I thought the supporting characters were all really well written and I loved the camaraderie between the four girls. There was great humour present throughout the book and you may recognise a few of the characters from your own high school friends.

Ultimately, this book makes you think twice about the person you were nasty to lately, said something horrible to or even just ignored. “Before I Fall” makes you want to hug the closest person next to you and just appreciate life. To sum up, I would describe “Before I Fall” as poignant, profoundly written and beautifully executed. A definite must read.