In My Mailbox (8)

In My Mailbox (IMM) is a weekly meme that was started over at the The Story Siren by Kristie and has evolved to over 300 participating blogs.  It is a way for bloggers to network and socialize and to show everyone the various books that they received, either in the mail, from the library or from their local bookseller.  

I took last week off because I didn't get any new books, surprisingly. But I went to Half-Price Books today, and I really wish I had a million dollars to spend. They had a TON of books. Normally, they don't have much, especially in the Young Adult section, but this week they had so many books I wanted that I had to force myself to only get a few. Fortunately, I took in a couple of cookbooks I never use and I got a pretty decent credit. 

So, this week I got:

Night Pleasures/Night Embrace by Sherrilyn Kenyon

This is the first and second book in the Dark-Hunter series. I know so many people that have read these books and they are always telling me to read them, so I finally got a couple.

Dance with the Devil by Sherrilyn Kenyon (Dark-Hunter #3)

Dead until Dark by Charlaine Harris. I love True Blood, so I decided maybe I should finally read the books.

The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross (I love this cover!)

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

And from the library, Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

That is my mailbox this week. What did you get this week?  Leave a post in the comments with a link and I will drop by and check it out. And don't forget to enter my 150 Follower Giveaway!

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Title:  Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children 

Author:  Ransom Riggs

Genre:  Young Adult

Publisher:  Quirk Books

Format/Pages:  ARC—borrowed from friend/352 pages

Release Date:  Available Now

Jacob grew up hearing strange tales of his grandfather’s youth, accompanied by bizarre photos that Grandpa says are of real people. After a bizarre turn of events changes Jacob’s life forever, he travels to a remote, mysterious island across the ocean.  It is there that he discovers the ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, where Jacob’s grandfather spent time during his youth. Jacob soon realizes that his grandfather’s photos may have been of actual children, and that his tales might have been true. And those children may have been more than peculiar.  They may have been put on that island because they were a danger. As Jacob struggles to learn the truth, he encounters things he never imagined possible, even in Grandpa’s scariest tales.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is a very interesting and original story. It is hard to describe without giving away too much. I was jotting down some notes, when it dawned on me that putting any of that information in my review would give away key plot points. So, I am only doing a quick summary because do not want to give anything away. The photos in the book are very creepy, and quite frankly, some of them could give you nightmares. I thought they were a fantastic addition to the book and again, very original. I know just about everyone has uncovered a dusty old photo and been curious about the people in it. Well, Riggs did a great job of giving these photos life and a history. That being said, I did have somewhat of a hard time getting into the book, despite the curiosity I had about the photos and Grandpa’s background. It finally started to pick up around page 140 and it really took off about page 228. The book was not very long, so there was a lot of information shoved into a short book, especially in the second half of the book. While the book looks really scary, it’s not. There are a few gross-out moments, but nothing too severe. Finally, Riggs left the story open for a sequel, but this is not one of those books that demands a sequel or leaves you with a lot of glaring questions.

Despite its slow start, I did enjoy Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. I always love an original story and this book definitely has that. I am hopeful that there might be a sequel, just because I want to know more about what happens in Jacob’s life. I do recommend this book, it is a good read.      

200 Follower Giveaway! UPDATED!

I am so very excited! I have reached 200 followers on my blog! Since this is a milestone for me and I am absolutely thrilled, I am holding a giveaway to celebrate. You know what that means, right? I said if I reached 200 followers prior to the end of the giveaway, I would increase the gift card to $20. So, that's what I am doing! 


So, between now and October 22, you can enter to win an $20 Amazon gift card.


This is my little way of saying thank you to all of my wonderful followers, and those who have promoted my blog, either via Twitter, Facebook or on their own blog. Thank you so much!

Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday (7)

Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme that is hosted by Jennifer over at Crazy for Books. It is a place for book bloggers and readers to find and follow new book blogs; to share their love of the written word, support other book bloggers and find new friends. So, HOP on over to Crazy for Books to grab the button, post about the hop and answer the question on your blog, then visit the other links to make new friends.
This week's question/challenge:


"It's time to spread some love beyond the borders of the Book Blogger Hop! This week, we aren't answering a question. We are spotlighting our fellow bloggers. Find your favorite author interview, guest post, book review OR bookish article that ANOTHER BOOK BLOGGER recently featured on their site and tell us why you love it/them. As an additional challenge, find your favorite from EACH category above and spotlight all four of them (interview, guest post, review, article)." 


I found a really great review and author interview of Remembrance by Michelle Madow on Word Spelunking. I liked the honesty in the review and the author interview was very well done! Very ell done!

Follow Friday is hosted by Rachel at Parajunkee's View and Alison at Alison Can Read. It is another way for bloggers to make new friends and followers. So jump in and say hi! Then jump over to either blog and post a link to your blog (be sure to follow the required steps!).
This Friday's question:


"If you could pick one character in a book, movie or television show to swap places with, who would it be?"


Well, anyone who follows my blog knows that I am a Twilight freak, so my obvious answer is Bella. I am Team Edward, and I would give my right arm to switch places with her. But, I wanted to give some "not-so-obvious" answers as well.


Anna Scott from Notting Hill (movie):  I love, love, love this movie! Anna is beautiful, rich, famous and falls for down-to-earth, every man Hugh Grant. I would take her place in a heartbeat!


Callie Cargill from The Glades (tv): Cute, spunky, smart and the girlfriend of Jim (aka Matt Passmore--gorgeous Australian actor). 


Those are my answers for this week. Leave a link in the comment section to your answers and I will hop by and check them out. 

Teaser Tuesday (October 4th)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

·         Grab your current read

·         Open to a random page

·         Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

·         BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


My teaser this week comes from Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

"I could see this was only going to get uglier unless I did something drastic. Obviously, I couldn't tell them about the children--not that they'd believe me anyway--so instead I took a calculated risk."  pg. 197


All right, there you go! Now, leave me a link to your Tuesday Teaser and I will take a look! Thanks for stopping by!

Lord of the Abyss Royal House of Shadows Book 4 by Nalini Singh

This book is an adult novel intended for adult readers only. It is not meant for those under 18.

Title:  Lord of the Abyss Royal House of Shadows Book 4 

Author:  Nalini Singh

Genre:  Adult Paranormal Romance

Publisher:  Harlequin

Format/Pages:  Kindle/Netgalley

Release Date:  November 29, 2011 (subject to change)

Lord of the Abyss is the fourth and final installment of the Royal House of Shadows series. It focuses on the youngest of the Elden heirs, Micah. When the Blood Sorcerer took over Elden and killed its king and queen, Micah was only five years old. It has been twenty years since that fateful day and not much is known about what has occurred in his life since then. All that is known is that Micah is the Lord of the Abyss and Guardian of the Black Castle. He remembers absolutely nothing of his life in Elden. But Liliana knows who Micah really is and she wants to help him remember so he can get back to Elden in time to save the kingdom. But Micah may well be impenetrable—literally. Liliana must do everything in her power to bring the real Micah out; even it that means doing things she never imagined any man would want to do with her.  

Lord of the Abyss has been, by far, my favorite of the series. I really enjoyed this one, and I was really sad to see it end. I loved Micah, I think because he was sure of what he wanted and he just took it. No one denies the Lord of the Abyss anything. Yes, he was spoiled and demanding, and sometimes you felt like you wanted to punch him for being so stupidly masculine, but I admired his inclination to take what he wanted, yet give equally in return. That made him the most desirable of the male Elden heirs. I really liked Liliana too; she was just the type of woman who could tame the horrifying monster Micah supposedly was. Of the four relationships chronicled in the Royal House of Shadows series, Micah’s and Liliana’s was my favorite.

I have only a couple of complaints about the series as a whole. First of all, I would have liked to know more about the magical timepieces. I thought the timepieces would be more integral to the series, but they were really just mentioned once or twice in each story. I felt like more significance should have been given to them. And my second complaint was in regards to the ending of the series. I wanted more detail as to how the siblings were reunited, and their plan to destroy the Blood Sorcerer. Of course, that may just be my greed coming through, especially since I was very sad to see the story end. I am going to miss the world created by these very talented authors. There seems to be so much left to explore and so much to learn about the various realms and the creatures that inhabit them. I would love to see the series continue, perhaps in later books.

I highly recommend these books to anyone who loves adult romances and the paranormal. I found them to be a fun read and as I’ve said before, my guilty pleasure. I do not recommend them for anyone younger than eighteen; they are a bit too steamy for the young reader.

Lord of the Vampires Royal House of Shadows Book 1 review.

Lord of Rage Royal House of Shadows Book 2 review.

Lord of the Wolfyn Royal House of Shadows Book 3 review.               

Lord of the Wolfyn Royal House of Shadows Book 3 by Jessica Anderson

This book is an adult novel intended for adult reading only. It is not meant for those under 18.

Title:  Lord of the Wolfyn Royal House of Shadows Book 3 

Author:  Jessica Anderson

Genre:  Adult Paranormal Romance

Publisher:  Harlequin

Format/Pages: Kindle

Release Date: October 18, 2011 (subject to change)

Lord of the Wolfyn is the continuing story of the children of Elden and their attempts to get home to save their kingdom from the reign of the Blood Sorcerer.

Dayn, second-born to Nicolai, has spent too long trapped in the wolfyn realm, waiting for the prophesized woman who will help him return to Elden. Reda, has been lost and alone, unsure of herself since her life as a cop was forever changed. Now, she is suddenly catapulted into another world, thanks to a rediscovered book from her childhood. She must face a creature she believed only existed in her book; a creature who seduces women, transforming himself into a passionate, handsome man. A man who claims to be a prince trying to get home and supposedly only Reda can help him. Now, Dayn and Reda must forge an alliance to help Dayn return home. But there are too many forces working against them, not the least of which is their desire for each other.

Jessica Anderson has written a great addition to the Royal House of Shadows series. She continues the fairy tale theme of the previous books in her story as well. Her particular tale is reminiscent of Red Riding Hood, but with a very interesting twist (one I won’t give away in my review). Dayn and Reda are an interesting couple; the chemistry between them is palpable, electric and fascinating. The love story between them develops slowly at first, but really takes off as you near the end of the book. As usual, the romance is steamy and unforgettable.

Not only do I enjoy the romance of these books, I also enjoy the story behind those romances—the quest to return to Elden. The world these four authors have created is complex and interesting, as are the characters.

Lord of the Vampires Royal House of Shadows Book 1 review.

Lord of Rage Royal House of Shadows Book 2 review.