Sunday Book Share #5

 

I'm participating in both The Sunday Post, hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer and Stacking the Shelves, hosted by Tynga's Reviews. Each meme allows book bloggers the chance to share books they've received, and different posts and events at their blog.

This has been a busy week on the blog and I finally feel like I'm back in my groove. School is settling down, I'm not perpetually exhausted any more and I'm even healthy, well what constitutes healthy for me. :D

Reviews: Ashen Winter by Mike Mullin (a must read!) 

Alpha and Omega: Cry Wolf Volume One Patricia Briggs, et al

Silent Samaritan by James Tucker

 Giveaways: Banned Books Week Blog Hop (now ended)
Until There Was You by Jessica Scott 10 copies, ends 10/13

The Recruit by Monica McCarty 1 copy, ends 10/13

News: Penguin Donates to Breast Cancer Research

I rant about ebooks and deceptive advertising

Review Books

Bought

This is such a good series; it's dystopian YA and wonderfully written. I have both books in eARC and in hardcover. Now I just need Mike to come back this way so I can get this book signed too.

Kindle Freebies

Leave a link in your comment and I'll pop around during the week.

Until There Was You by Jessica Scott: Giveaway & Excerpt

Thanks to the lovely people at Random House, I have a wonderful giveaway for you today. A few weeks ago, I shared an excerpt with you from a forthcoming romance novel, "Until There Was You" by Jessica Scott. Now, you can enter to win one of ten print copies of this wonderful book. I was up until 3 AM reading it, I just couldn't put it down. My review will be up Monday over at Romance at Random.

Giveaway of The Recruit by Monica McCarty

Random House and Bea's Book Nook have teamed up again for an excerpt and giveaway, this time for a historical romance. "The Recruit" by Monica McCarty is the sixth book in her Highland Guard series.

The Recruit
By: Jessica Scott
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 9780345528414
Genre: FICTION, ROMANCE, HISTORICAL
Format: MMP, ebook
Length: 432 pages
Release Date: October 30, 2012
Buying Links: Amazon   Barnes & Noble   The Book Depository

Book Blurb (from publisher):  

Scotland’s King Robert the Bruce is retaking his kingdom from the invading English. To win, he’ll need all the grit and courage of his elite band of warriors, the Highland Guard, men who fight without fear and love without limits.

Fiery, aggressive, and bold, Kenneth Sutherland is a true champion—skilled with any weapon and driven to win. Now Kenneth is ready for his greatest challenge: joining Robert the Bruce’s secret army to fight among the elite. Kenneth’s best chance to attain that honor is by winning the Highland Games. Focused and prepared for victory, he is caught off guard by a lovely wisp of a woman—and a stolen moment of wicked seduction. Her innocent arousal and her shameless hunger fire his blood. He will win his place in the guard—and in Mary of Mar’s bed. 

 The ruggedly handsome hero-in-the-making stirs a heart that should know better. Mary vows that her surrender will be sport only—no promises, no heartbreak, just one night of incredible passion. Nothing, she swears, will persuade her to give up her hard-wrought independence and put her fate in the hands of another powerful man. But with every gentle touch and heart-pounding kiss, Kenneth makes her want more. Now Mary wants his heart. But is this determined champion willing to surrender everything for love?

Review of Silent Samaritan by James Tucker

Publisher: Amazon Digital Services
Release Date: April 19, 2012
Buying Link:  Amazon US     Amazon UK

Book Blurb (from goodreads):

Deathbed requests must never be ignored. When Manny Romero utters his dying breaths in the Emergency Room,he begs Dr. Kensey Shaw to go to his priest to make his final confession. Then he asks her to seek out his next two targets and warn them that his partner intends to kill them. As Kensey sets off on her mission she learns a shocking truth about Manny and must deal with Mike Dombroski, Manny’s partner, who intends to kill her before she discovers the truth. But the closer Kensey gets to the next two victims the deeper she descends into a wicked maze of mistaken identity and danger.

Reviewed By:  Bea

Bea's Thoughts:

I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning reading this book; it grabbed my attention and kept me hooked. There are many twists and turns, a few predictable events, but it moves quickly. A review on Amazon called it "a made for tv story" and I have to agree. It would adapt well to a script, maybe on the Lifetime or USA cable networks. In fact, parts of the story felt very familiar, as if I'd read the book before but I think that was due to the fact that I read (and watch) so many mysteries that it's hard to find something that doesn't feel familiar. There were some implausibilities, especially the method Kensey chooses to keep herself safe from the killers and their boss. I can't say more without giving away something central to the story but it's an old plot device that badly needs updating.

Kensey starts out by trying to do the right thing but naturally, events go awry and her good intentions lead her deeper and and deeper into a complicated situation. She is sometimes impulsive and soon she finds herself making questionable decisions, decisions that make the reader think about what they would do in a similar situation. I disagreed with some and if she weren't likable (and, you know, the story fictitious) I might have had stronger averse reaction. Tucker definitely hit the target there, and it adds a layer of depth to what could be just another mystery.

It's not a perfect story but it is a good way to spend several hours.


I received a PDF for review.

Review of Alpha and Omega: Cry Wolf Vol.1

Publisher: InkLit
Writers: Patricia Briggs, David Lawrence
Illustrators: Todd Herman, Jenny Frison
Series: Alpha and Omega: Cry Wolf
Release Date: October 2, 2012
Buying Links:  Penguin US **As of when I wrote this post none of the major book vendors had updated their information to reflect this new edition.


Book Blurb (from goodreads):

The long-awaited collection-the first four issues of the graphic novel adaptation of the #1 "New York Times" bestselling author's novel "Cry Wolf".

"Cry Wolf" is Patricia Briggs' "New York Times" bestselling novel about the werewolves Charles Cornick and Anna Latham. Now, these characters come alive in full-color graphic novels. 

Anne never knew werewolves existed, until the night she survived a violent attack...and became one herself. After three years at the bottom of the pack she's learned to keep her head down and never, ever trust dominant males. 

Then Charles Cornick-the son of the leader of the North American werewolves-came into her life. He insists that not only is Anne his mate, but she is also a rare and valued Omega wolf. And Anna may be the key to stopping a rogue werewolf that threatens the entire pack.

This is a re-issue of Ace's compilation of the Dynamite Entertainment Cry Wolf graphic series. It contains new artwork and a never-before published version of issue #1. It is NOT identical to the Ace edition though it does have the same ISBN.

Reviewed By: Bea

Bea's Thoughts:

I love Anna and Charles' romance. From the novella that started it all to the newest book, Fair Game", I think they are a wonderful pair. When this series was first issued I waited too long and it sold out. Then I waited too long for the original compilation. But now, now I have it!

Briggs was involved with adapting the story and, while necessarily condensed due to the different format, it's well done, with nothing crucial missing, and some of my favorite lines and scenes remained intact. The story flows and makes sense, though if this is your introduction to the series, there might be some mild confusion.

The artwork, I'm not so in love with. Mostly, it has to do with how the characters look. Sam and Charles fit the descriptions given in the original books AND they pretty well match my mental images of them. Bran, in my opinion, does not match. He is repeatedly described as slender, pleasant looking, and nondescript in the books but here he's muscled, and gives off a bad ass vibe. Anna fits the book description but I think I've been strongly influenced by the book covers; she looks different from those and to my mind, looks wrong. Obviously, that and the others are a matter of personal taste and your opinion may vary wildly. Additionally, some of the facial expressions on Anna and Charles are just plain weird. As far as supporting the text and working with it to tell the story, the art does that very well.

In all, it's a well done adaptation and I'm looking forward to the second volume.

I received this hardcover from the publisher.

Ebook Rant

Those of you who follow me on twitter may have seen me tweet over the weekend about ebooks being too short. I was not happy.

I recently downloaded some freebies from Amazon for my Kindle. It's a damn good thing both were freebies or I'd have been demanding a refund from Amazon. Both books were new releases, and both were clearly indicated as being short stories. Neither book blurb mentioned that there were excerpts. One was from a Big Six publisher and one was self-pubbed.

So, I'm reading the first one, not loving it but enjoying. It was part of a series I stopped reading a few years ago and picked it up to see if I should give the series another try. As I said, I enjoyed it but didn't love it, I doubt I'll go back to the series. The story concluded (and it was REALLY short) and I looked at the percentage; it was only at 48%. Yes, the story was less than half the book! The remainder of the book was two excerpts, and some info about the author. W. T. F? The book blurb made no mention of excerpts so I was completely unprepared. And annoyed. And pissed. And upset. I ranted on both twitter and facebook.

Yesterday I decided to read the self-pubbed short story. This one was longer at 74% but again, it ended without warning and there were excerpts from two books by the author. Again, the book blurb failed to indicate that there would be excerpts.

I don't mind excerpts; often I enjoy them. I know some folks consider them advertising. Normally I don't but these two books, especially the 48% one? Yeah, I feel gypped. If the blurbs had said "contains excerpts from other books" I wouldn't be so upset. I'd have known, I'd have been prepared and neither story would have felt like it ended so abruptly. Okay, I'd probably still have been annoyed at the 48% because that's just wrong. That "book" was basically one extended advertisement. I really hope this isn't a new trend, super short stories and surprise excerpts, cuz it absolutely sucks. Basically, we the readers are being cheated. The only good thing is that they were free.

Contrast these ebooks with ones from Samhain and Loveswept. Their books contain excerpts but the blurbs say that so you're forewarned. My complaint with those books is that you don't know when or where they end so sometimes when the story ends it feels abrupt. I've learned to anticipate one of those books ending somewhere between 70 and 80%; sometimes they're a little longer.

So, authors and publishers, please, PLEASE, if you have any respect, or heck, love, for your readers, always note when an ebook contains excerpts. Also, if a short story is particularly short, note that too.

What do you think? Should blurbs mentions that the book contains excerpts? Has this happened with full length books? Have you ever bought an ebook where the story, the reason you bought the book, was less than half of the material in the book? Am I just freaking nuts?

ETA: Author Krista D Ball, whom I often chat with on twitter and whose books often appear on here, sent me a link on twitter and asked how I felt about that book blurb. It's freaking perfect, is what it is!

Also contains a sneak preview of Ball's new novel, Road to Hell.

*Spirits Rising is a novella approximately 80 pages long, or about 25,000 words. The chapter sample at the end is approximately an additional 8 pages.

Here's the link, if you want to see for yourself - http://www.amazon.com/Spirits-Rising-Spirit-Caller-ebook/dp/B006T88RNE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349216801&sr=8-1&keywords=spirits+rising Now, that wasn't difficult, why can't all authors and publishers do this? 

Dusty Reads Link Up

 

Dusty Reads is a meme started by Giselle at Xpresso Reads featuring a book that has been sitting unread on your shelf for some time. Books don't have to be 'x' years old. If you've had the book for a few months without reading it, it's dusty! :D You can post on any day but Giselle and I usually post or put up a linky on Tuesdays. If you don't use the button, try to link back to this post or Giselle's so others will know how/where to link up. You can use the above button, the one below or create your own if you prefer.  

Read Pink this October

Penguin Group USA is once again supporting research about breast cancer. For the third year in a row, they are running a program called Read Pink. Penguin will make a donation of $25,000 (US $) to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation® (BCRF).

Additionally, Penguin will offer an assortment of 8 bestselling mass market titles and 6 trade titles by some of their most beloved female authors in a special Read Pink edition. The participating authors are: Jayne Ann Krentz, Nora Roberts, Catherine Anderson, Jodi Thomas, Carly Phillips, Madeline Hunter, JoAnn Ross, Jillian Hunter, Karen White, Natasha Solomons, Eleanor Brown, Wendy Wax, and Kathryn Stockett. These special editions feature Read Pink seals on the cover and additional information in the back of the book underlining Penguin's support of The Breast Cancer Research Foundation's mission and urging readers to become actively involved in supporting the organization.

For more information about the program, go here. The money is donated regardless of book sales. The books are a tool to help bring attention to breast cancer and to spread some information. These are the books that are part of the campaign: