Spring Fling Giveaway Hop (INT)

hosted by I Am a Reader, Not a Writer and Eve's Fan Garden

Quick and simple cause I had completely forgotten I signed up for this! One winner can choose one of the following:

1) up to $12 in ebooks at Amazon US, UK, FR, ES, IT or DE
OR
2) up to $12 on a book at the Book Depository

Have you tried an Indie lately? Lots of great books are out there at great prices. Try some of these:

Just fill in the rafflecopter. No jumps. No hoops.

And check out my other giveaways in the header text!

 

Crave by Melissa Darnell (ARC)

Crave (The Clann #1)
Melissa Darnell
Pub Date: October 25, 2011

Synopsis: Savannah Colbert has never known why she's so hated by the kids of the Clann. Nor can she deny her instinct to get close to Clann golden boy Tristan Coleman. Especially when she recovers from a strange illness and the attraction becomes nearly irresistible. It's as if he's a magnet, pulling her gaze, her thoughts, even her dreams. Her family has warned her to have nothing to do with him, or any members of the Clann. But when Tristan is suddenly everywhere she goes, Savannah fears she's destined to fail.

For years, Tristan has been forbidden to even speak to Savannah Colbert. Then Savannah disappears from school for a week and comes back…different, and suddenly he can't stay away. Boys seem intoxicated just from looking at her. His own family becomes stricter than ever. And Tristan has to fight his own urge to protect her, to be near her no matter the consequences….

Romeo and Juliet had it easy compared to these two...

Savannah and Tristan are descendents from a line of witches called The Clann. When the two were just twelve years old, they had a pretend wedding; the end result: Savannah's family got kicked out of The Clann and Savannah shunned by all their children. Once high school began, Savannah was all but used to their taunts and misbehavior, but the attraction for Tristan still ran deep. When Savannah gets really sick her freshman year, her single mother finally tells her the truth. Her father was not only a vampire, but an incubus, meaning Savannah can draw energy from both blood or a kiss, which is why The Clann freaked out when she kissed Tristan, their leader's son.

Now Savannah's drowning in rules. Stay away from the members of The Clann, whose blood she'll crave most. Never use magic - don't even think about trying to learn on your own. Oh, and yeah, you can never dance again, or play sports, or trully participate in anything  because vampires excel beyond humans abilities with everything they do and you'll only draw attention to their species. Do any of these things and you'll instigate a war between the species. No pressure there...Oh, and members of The Clann and a few vampire watchers are everywhere spying on you just waiting for you to screw this up...but no pressure!

Miserable, Savannah moves forward with her life the best she can, fighting hard to find some enjoyment. The vampires ruined her chances to join the Charmers, the school's drill team, but they wouldn't stop her from becoming one of their managers so long as she promised not to be a backup dancer. But Savannah's slowly becoming her father and his incubus abilities are seeping through. She accidentally gaze-dazes a few boys and sends them into psycho-stalker mode, drawing the attention of Tristan, who still secretly longs for Savannah too. He secretly uses his magic to set them right and decides enough is enough - he'll do whatever it takes to be with her, even if her kiss will slowly drain his life away.

With the way Crave ended, I have a feeling I'm gonna be a little mad at Covet, cause I see the huge freakin' bump in the road for Tristan and Savannah's relationship. And I was really enjoying their secret rendevous. But now that it's out, everyone will be at the brink of war and the two will be ripped apart. But at least I'll still have their dream connection to swoon over. Sigh...

ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley.

Interview with KC Blake, Author of Witch Hunt

Author KC Blake is celebrating her newest release this month, WITCH HUNT, the second novel in the Witch-Game series. Here's a quick synopsis:

A magical game of Hide n Seek begins.
Find the missing player and win.
The game resets; everyone forgets and starts to play it again.

Starr Hughes hasn’t believed in magic since her mother died. As a reporter for the school paper, she believes in hard facts. Hiding under the headmaster’s desk, planting bugs, and breaking into a fellow student’s home are all on her to-do list. So when she hears the mysterious group known as the It-Squad are about to start playing a secretive game, she wants to know more. She’s especially interested in the group’s gorgeous leader, Dylan Winchester.

With her boy-crazy best friend at her side, Starr is going to discover that not only are witches real, they need her help. Someone is using the game to steal their memories, their powers, and perhaps their lives.

You can check out KC Blake at these sites!

Blog

GoodReads

What was your favorite book as a kid? That depends on how far back you want to go. When I was in elementary school, my favorite book was The Phantom Tollbooth. When I was twelve, it was The Outsiders. In fact, that was my introduction to YA.

Tell us your favorite author. Which book is your total fave from that author? Cassandra Clare. City of Bones is my favorite out of all her books.

Take us through a typical writing day for you. Do you have anything quirky - like you have to have a certain pen to write with, or the desk laid out in a particular manner, does it need to be raining, do you require a certain food/drink/candy to work by? Will you have an absolute meltdown if the atmosphere isn't what you like? I can write anywhere. My first short story was written in a bowling alley when my parents were on a league. On a typical day I usually sit at my desk and blast some music in the background. When I am outlining, I sit in a chair somewhere (sometimes even outside) and write in a notebook. I don’t have a particular pen. I have several that I love, a variety of colors and designs.

What do you do when you experience that lovely problem called writer's block? My favorite way to deal with writer’s block is to take a long walk with my dog. I live out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees. A long walk clears my head. Sometimes I work on something else. Other times I will listen to music or read a good book. Sometimes I have to try all of the above before I can get back to my story.

Do you like to listen to music when you read or write? Tell us a few of your favorites. I love to listen to music when I write. Most of the time I listen to a mix on my MP3. Songs include music from Chris Daughtery, Aerosmith, Motley Crue, and numerous others. I even listen to Glee once in a while. When I get stuck and can’t see a scene clearly, sometimes I will find a certain song that sets the mood and listen to it repeatedly. For instance, when I wrote the ‘red dress scene’ in CRUSHED, I was listening to Lady in Red by Simply Red. When I wrote the dance scene in WITCH HUNT, I listened to Billy Idol’s White Wedding because that’s what the characters were listening to.

Did you do anything special to celebrate your first book release? My first book was published by Harlequin in 2002. I threw a huge party at my house, had games that were related to my book, and I even had the cover of my book put on a cake. It was sugar paper. Yummy.

Which book are you most looking forward to reading this year? City of Angels by Cassandra Clare. I bought it but haven’t gotten to it yet.

What books do you have out now?

I have two series going at once. The Rule Series is about a vampire boy who just wants to go home to his family, return to school, and be normal again. He gets his wish, sort of, and becomes mortal. But being human isn’t as easy as he thought it would be. His girlfriend is a hunter, and the English teacher at the local high school is the head werewolf, the werewolf Jack is destined to kill. As of now, I have two out of three available at Amazon, Smashwords, B&N, etc. VAMPIRES RULE and WEREWOLVES RULE.

The Witch-Game books are about teen witches playing games at school with their powers. In CRUSHED, three sisters blow magical dust into the boys’ faces and command them to do things. Kristen picks the wrong boy and almost dies the same day. Zach has secrets, too. Now she has to figure out if he’s trying to save her or trying to kill her.

There are different characters in each book and a different game to be played. The second book in the series, WITCH HUNT, will be released April 15, 2012.

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa (ARC)

The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1)
Julie Kagawa
Exp. Pub: April 24, 2012 TOMORROW!!!

Synopsis: In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.

Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die… or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn't easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for.

The Book of Eli meets Alice in Resident Evil-land. Yep...you read it right.

Wow. Um...WOW! I've read the first two Iron Fey books by Julie Kagawa and plan to read the rest, but The Immortal Rules jumps leaps and bounds over that series. Seriously, this book was even better than the Hunger Games.

Allie is an endearing character to watch as she develops through this nightmarish world. She was born in the fringe of a vampire city called New Covington. As an unregistered inhabitant, she doesn't have to give routine blood donations to the vampires, but it also means she has to steal and fend for herself just to keep fed. When she ventures through the tunnels and into the ruins outside the city, she comes across a treasure trove of food in an old bunker basement. Sadly, removing the food doesn't go well, and long story short,  she ends up a vampire. Now on the wrong side of prejudice, even her fellow fringer rifrafs sell her out and she's forced to leave the city. Determined to keep her humanity intact, she travels with a group of humans looking for the safety of a vampire-free city called Eden. Kagawa really takes the time to show Allie's transformation and the hardship of fighting the urge to feed. It was descriptive, raw and lacked a sugar coat; Allie was ready to rip out the throats of children and a guy she was fighting hard not to fall for.

The Immortal Rules is an addictive read. Once Allie becomes a vampire and leaves New Covington, danger lies around every corner, even for a vampire. There's tons of action, a brewing romantic interest between a vamp and a religious boy with a prejudice against vampires, and several story lines come together perfectly in the end and leave you salivating for book two. Buy the hardcopy people, this one gets a permanent spot on the bookshelf for generations to come.

ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley.

Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown (ARC)

Lies Beneath
Anne Greenwood Brown
Exp. Pub. Date: June 12, 2012

Synopsis: Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans, killing them to absorb their energy. But this summer the underwater clan targets Jason Hancock out of pure revenge. They blame Hancock for their mother's death and have been waiting a long time for him to return to his family's homestead on the lake. Hancock has a fear of water, so to lure him in, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter, Lily. Easy enough—especially as Calder has lots of practice using his irresistable good looks and charm on ususpecting girls. Only this time Calder screws everything up: he falls for Lily—just as Lily starts to suspect that there's more to the monsters-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined. And just as his sisters are losing patience with him.

Unpaid supernatural debt. Bitter, murderous children itching for a mother's revenge. Merman point of view. Gorgeous cover. Sounds like a winner right? Sadly, Lies Beneath doesn't win the desirable 'Homecoming Queen' and will probably only be remembered as 'Also Ran.' First off, I'm not quite sure why there's a mermaid on the cover since our main character is male. Want to stand out? Give us a drool-worthy merman underwater that's totally unique in today's market and will really grab the attention of gals as they walk past the shelves at B&N.

I really wanted to like this one. The premise sounded so intriguing. I will say that I did like to see the way the sister mermaids had zero scruples over taking victims to the bottom of Lake Superior to drown them and we even get to see that through Calder's eyes. Calder himself was not born a merman, but made one by their mother. How? I'll let you read to learn that. So Calder's desire to kill and absorb happy emotions mermaids naturally lacked wasn't as strong as his true sisters. He begins to develop a conscience and often challenges himself to go long periods of time without taking a life. So when the time comes to woo Lily to develop a close relationship with her dad, it's not surprising that he begins to feel guilty about setting him up for murder. Unfortunately, most of this novel was Calder trying to get to know Lily and I found myself pretty bored with the conversations. I couldn't figure out why Lily liked him back. She had doubts from the beginning and sensed something wasn't right with him, her new friends didn't recognize him and questioned him constantly, she thinks he intentionally pushed her off a cliff and took his sweet time trying to save her, he stalks her by taking a job at the same cafe, and she catches him numerous times swimming in the water beside her lakeside home in the middle of the night. Would you fall for a guy like that? Not freakin' likely, so it makes this paranormal romance hard to swallow and I ended up choking on water.

Read it if you want but it's doubtful you'll read it twice.

ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley.