The Sunday Post #3

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer. 
~this meme was inspired in part by - In My Mailbox~

It's a chance to share News. 

A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog. 

Happily, the past week was a little calmer. I did far fewer reviews and posts, which allowed me to indulge in ... reading! As well as continue my ongoing re-organization of my condo, a belated, and much overdue, spring cleaning. Which, I'm sorry to say, includes pruning some books. I may, after I go through them all, see which ones are in good enough shape to offer up in a giveaway and do a belated spring cleaning giveaway. The rest, depending on their condition, will go to the local used bookstore, the library used book sale, or passed on to friends and family.

So, the recap. Last week's reviews included Blackout by Mira Grant (AWESOME series. MUST READ!!!) and Unbroken by Rachel Caine. I had a giveaway, now ended, of Hot Summer by Judy Powell and I featured Once Her man, Always Her Man by Heather Long. 

Now, the best part of the week - BOOKS! 

I bought Alana's Surrender by KT Grant. KT is doing a guest post for me on June 29th and then the next week I'll be featuring the book on July 2nd. I also plan, tentatively, to review the book sometime in the week ending July 7th. That's subject to change depending on when I have my surgery and how caught up I get on promised reviews.

I received a couple books for review (I know, I know. I have a hard time saying "No".), all of them are ARCs. Thank you Random, Mira, and Berkley!

Review,  Giveaway, & Guest Post 6/23/12

Review, Excerpt & Guest Post 7/20/12

I won a book from Dream, a book giveaway site. They have a really nice selection of fiction print books that they give away weekly, and the selection changes weekly. Check them out if you haven't already.

And finally, Kindle Freebies! 

How was your week? Leave me a link to your recap or mailbox post and I'll check it out.

Submissions Call for MM & FF Anthology by Evernight Press

Evernight is putting together an anthology, "Lover Unexpected" about friends who turn into lovers. The deadline for submissions is June 15th.

Requirements:

Word Count: 5-10K

MM and FF Only

Must have a HEA.

All sub-genres of erotic romance.

Heat Level 2+

For more information, go here.

Review of Unbroken by Rachel Caine

Publisher: Roc
Series: Outcast #4
Release Date: February 7, 2012
Buying Links: Amazon    The Book Depository

Book Blurb (from goodreads):

*May contain spoilers for earlier books and also books in the Weather Warden series* 


For millennia, Cassiel was a powerful Djinn—until she was exiled to live among mortals. Now the threat of an apocalypse looms, and Cassiel is in danger of losing everything she has come to hold dear...

As the world begins to fall apart around her, Cassiel finds herself fighting those she once called her own—the Djinn. With Weather Warden Luis Rocha and the rescued child Ibby by her side, Cassiel struggles to find a way to protect those that are in her charge and come to terms with the leadership role she never asked for.

Cassiel is opposed by a powerful Djinn bent on raising an army of kidnapped Warden children to bring about nothing less than the end of the world. It will take everything Cassiel has to stop the Djinn from starting a war that will wipe all of humanity from the face of the earth. She knows that this might not be a battle she can survive, but protecting those she loves is worth any cost.

Teaser:

The child toppled over in a sudden, helpless heap.

I clawed up from the mud and flopped next to her, gasping and letting the rain pound me as it sluiced the grit from my face and eyes. Then I checked the child for signs of life. She was breathing, but unmoving. Her heart was speeding too fast, trying to fight me as I held her in that state. I put my palm flat on her forehead, closed my eyes, and eased her into a deeper state of calm and then, finally, unconsciousness. 

"Cass?" Luis lunged out of the rain. He looked frantic as he dropped to his knees beside the two of us. "What happened?"

"One of Pearl's," I said wearily, and almost pitched forward as I lost balance.

Reviewed By: Bea

*May contain spoilers for earlier books and also books in the Weather Warden series* 



Bea's Thoughts:

First, if you're reading or have read Caine's Weather Warden series, which this series spun off of, the events in this book occur simultaneously with the events in book 9, "Total Eclipse".

"Unbroken" is a kick-ass, don't stop for breaks (actually, Cass and Luis argue in the break about the appropriateness of taking a break while the world is ending), action and humor filled, ending to the Outcast series. I didn't like Cassiel much in the first book; she was arrogant, know it all, condescending, unfeeling, you know, a Djinn. :P But during the course of the series, she has changed as she learns to adapt to her human form and a human way of life. Now, humans certainly can be arrogant, know it all, etc., but Cass's perspective changes, as do her priorities, from Djinn to human, and several Djinn in "Unbroken" comment on it. By the time the series ends, I like Cass a lot. She's imperfect, as humans are, but she's trying and she mostly recognizes her flaws and weaknesses. Caine's Djinns on the other hand don't see or admit that they have flaws or weaknesses.

My heart broke for Ibby, Luis's niece, in this book. You thought Caine, via Pearl, tortured her in the earlier books? Have a big box of kleenex handy for this one. If I could have, I would have killed Pearl myself. That said, the changes that occur help move the story along while at times being just a little bit too convenient.


One thing I noticed, and I don't recall noticing it in the earlier Outcast books, or the Weather Warden series, is Caine's incredible optimism for and about the human race. I'm a pessimist, I'm pretty sure we're not as awesome, or redeemable, as Caine thinks we are. To each their own. Also, it's been months and even years since I read the other books so my memory may be faulty.


Overall though, "Unbroken" was touching, humorous, fast-paced, and a good read.



I received a paperback from the publisher for review.

Review of Blackout by Mira Grant

Publisher: Orbit
Series: Newsflesh #3
Release Date: May 22, 2012
Buying Links: Amazon     The Book Depository

Book Blurb (from goodreads):


Rise up while you can. -Georgia Mason

The year was 2014. The year we cured cancer. The year we cured the common cold. And the year the dead started to walk. The year of the Rising.

The year was 2039. The world didn't end when the zombies came, it just got worse. Georgia and Shaun Mason set out on the biggest story of their generation. The uncovered the biggest conspiracy since the Rising and realized that to tell the truth, sacrifices have to be made.

Now, the year is 2041, and the investigation that began with the election of President Ryman is much bigger than anyone had assumed. With too much left to do and not much time left to do it in, the surviving staff of After the End Times must face mad scientists, zombie bears, rogue government agencies-and if there's one thing they know is true in post-zombie America, it's this:

Things can always get worse.

Blackout is the conclusion to the epic trilogy that began in the Hugo-nominated Feed and the sequel, Deadline.

Reviewed By: Bea


Bea's Thoughts:

"conspiracy" the blurb says. Yeah, more like Holy Cow!  You need a score card, I swear, to keep track of the conspiracies and the players. Like "Feed" and "Deadline" this is a dark, intense, dense book, not to be read quickly or without your full attention. While it didn't hold my attention the way the first book did, it was a good read, that also gave me a lot to think about. Part of what, to me, makes this series so scary and horrific, is how plausible so much of it is. I can easily see so many of the events actually occurring, or something awfully similar. Considering Grant's disdain for conventional media, politics, medicine, and the government, that may seem cynical, but look at the US's history and current events, and really, not so different. Some of what happens, including the science, gets pretty wild and far out, and some authors would not have been able to make it believable, but Grant does. I didn't question the science, she made it very plausible, helped by the fact, as mentioned, that much of it really is plausible and possible.


Shaun, Becks, Mahir, Maggie, and Alaric are back in this book, as are the Masons, and Dr. Abbey, whom we met in "Deadline". If you read that book (and if you haven't read that one yet, stop reading me and go read the books!), there's a surprise appearance at the end of that book. All I will say (cuz I'm really trying to keep this review spoiler free) is that everything gets explained. Actually, a lot of things get explained in this book, loose ends tied up, and even some loose ends that I didn't realize were loose. :D Peter Ryman and Rick also make appearances towards the latter part of the book.


"Blackout" is a roller coaster ride, with emotion, action, character growth, more action, quirky characters, and not a lot of zombies. I actually would have liked more of them (and I'm not a zombie fan), but when they do appear, watch out! Grant has no qualms about maiming or killing characters. It's one of the things I like about her writing - she takes chances, and her characters never are stagnant (for those of you who don't know, she writes modern day fairy tales disguised as urban fantasy under her "real" name of Seanan MacGuire.) It's a long book, they all are, but they are definitely worth re-reading and they're the kind of books where you pick up on things that you missed the first time. In fact, you almost have to re-read them in order to get everything and fully appreciate the world that Grant has built. I love her world building, it's so utterly believable.


The ending was a bit of a letdown for me. It's not a happy ending, but "happy for now" is a good description of it. But, it was also a bit pat and after everything else, a bit rushed. That said, it's open ended enough that Grant could return to that world, if she chose, though maybe with different main characters. I don't use ratings here on the blog, but at goodreads, I gave it 4 stars.

Some spoiler-free quotes:

...it wasn't like they could advertise for staff on the local message boards. "Mad Scientist seeks Minions. Must be detail-oriented, well educated, and unconcerned by the idea of being charged with terrorism if caught." Just no.

"Less talky more shooty!" I snapped, and started firing.

"You're a crazy bastard, Shaun Mason, and I think sometimes you're not going to be happy until you've managed to get every last one of us killed, but you're a good man, all the same."

"You know, addressing my crazy by name doesn't exactly help me stay sane."

My review of FEED.

My review of DEADLINE.

I received a paperback from the publisher for review.

Spotlight On: Once Her Man, Always Her Man by Heather Long

 

Today, please welcome romance author Heather Long. Heather lives in Texas with her family and their menagerie of animals. As a child, Heather skipped picture books and enjoyed the Harlequin romance novels by Penny Jordan and Nora Roberts that her grandmother read to her. Heather believes that laughter is as important to life as breathing and that the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus are very real. In the meanwhile, she is hard at work on her next novel.  

    

Book Blurb (from author):

Fulfilling a favor and executing a business plan, Luke Dexter arrived at Dallas’ Sybarite Club for a one-night stand. He never imagined that in the darkened club with bluesy strains of jazz playing he’d come face to face with the woman he left behind a decade earlier.

Rebecca Rainier fell in love with Luke Dexter in high school and was crushed when he dumped her to join the Marines after 9/11. Now, waiting for a date her best friend and business partner set up, she’s unprepared when Luke walks in.

Can Luke and Rebecca bridge the pain of a decade long abandonment in one cold Texas night?

ONCE HER MAN, ALWAYS HER MAN
By: Heather Long
Publisher: Decadent Publishing
ASIN: B007SFPGDG
Genre: FICTION, ROMANCE,
Format:  EBOOK
Length: 490 KB
Release Date: April 7, 2012
Website
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EXCERPT 

Luke Dexter handed his keys over to the red corseted valet driver, gaze skimming the generous globes peeking up from the open buttons of her white shirt. The Sybarite Club offered the Dallas area generous access to every pleasure. He slipped a card out of his leather wallet and displayed it to the doorman. The doorman, a tall, lanky figure dressed in topcoat and tails exuded a sense of elegance that the club's exclusive clientele enjoyed.

The doorman examined the card, scanned it with a small device in his palm. Luke admired the cageyness of the action. The pen scanner would be out of place with the old world atmosphere encouraged by the man's uniform. “Good evening, Mr. Dexter. Welcome to the Sybarite Club.”

Accepting his card back, he passed through the opening doublewide doors. The gothic style doors were dark cherry, aged like a fine wine and a decorated with wood cut carvings of a man and woman engaged in cunnilingus and fellatio. The joining was subtle, the each left crying out in pleasure when the door opened, only to be joined again when the doors closed.

Amused by the door carving, he smiled as he plunged into the velvet darkness of the club's jazz infused atmosphere. Every night featured a different style of music, but Fridays were reserved for jazz. Old world, cool smooth jazz with smoky voices, haunting guitars and lonely horns played to the soul. The doors barely closed behind him when his phone buzzed inside his breast pocket.
How did the woman know these things?

Pulling it out, he thumbed it on, a new message from Madame Evangeline of the 1Night Stand exclusive online dating service populating the screen. She's dressed in green silk and sitting at the bar. Life doesn't always offer a second chance…

Clicking the screen off, Luke walked down the four red-carpeted steps into the lounge proper. He'd only agreed to the dating service only to support the men in his unit putting themselves out there. The last thing he'd expected was the invitation to the Sybarite Club. His gaze roamed the room the room, coming to a halt as they fastened on a pair of to die for tan legs at the bar. The sweet length of them, one crossed over the other ended in black heels with crystals glittering around dainty feet.

A green skirt skimmed her knees. While he appreciated the legs, he studied the line of her back, curious about the rest of her. His gaze slid higher to the pile of unruly auburn hair fighting to escape a pair of matching crystal hair combs.

As though sensing his appraisal, the green cloaked mystery woman turned on the bar stool and his heart tripped.

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Want to read more? "Once Her Man, Always Her Man" is available now. Go pick up your copy today!