Friday, November 23, 2012

Feature & Follow # 14

 
Feature & Follow is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. The purpose is to meet new people and gain more followers in the book blogging community. If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers. But you have to know, the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.
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Here’s this week’s question:

What Blog are you thankful for?

 
 
Right at this moment, this is the easiest question for me to answer,
 

Nomi's Paranormal Palace

 

Actually, it is Naomi and her sister - Simone, who I am thankful for. When I first started blogging five months ago, I knew very little about this world. Naomi was one of the first bloggers I met, and with her help, I quickly became familiar with things like Meme's, Giveaways and of course, the weekly Feature & Follow. But her support has not stopped there. She is a strong advocate of my debut novel Mystery Falls.
And most recently, Naomi and Simone offered to give my blog an upgrade. I believe they have done a wonderful job. For those of you who have visited before, I'm sure you will notice the difference.
 
 
THANK YOU NAOMI AND SIMONE!!!
You're awesome.


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So what's your FF?

To play along visit Parajunkee & Alison Can Read.

Follow them, follow their Featured Blogs and then visit as many blogs as you can, posting your answer.

And don't forget to leave your link in the comments section below!



Thursday, November 22, 2012

Swoon Thursday # 14 - Indebted


The fabulous girls over at YA Bound created this super HOT meme. Here's how it works.

From the book you’re currently reading, or one you just finished, tell us what made you SWOON. What got your heart pounding, your skin tingling, and your stomach fluttering.

Shout it out on Twitter with the hashtag #YABound, post it here in the comments, or grab the adorable button above and share it on your blog!


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Okay, last week I posted a swoon from

INTUITION

the second book in Amy A. Bartol's Premonition series.

Having moved on to the third book, this weeks swoon comes from

INDEBTED 

 
"Reed, what are you doing?" I ask.
 
"I'm checking on you," he replies in a gentle tone, his sexy voice touching me like a caress.
 
"Ah. And how do you find me?" I ask. He was angry with me when he left earlier, but he doesn't appear to be angry now. A slow smile is creeping to the corners of his mouth.
 
"This part of you, right here..." he says, leaning forward as his mouth nears my shoulder, "I find to be very lonely." He brushes his lips over the curve of my shoulder. "That's better," he breathes, while I exhale deeply, inching closer to him as my knees become weak. Lifting his lips from my shoulder, he brings them to the sensitive curve of my neck, saying, "And here, this spot, looks neglected too."
 
"It does?" I ask, feeling unsteady. I slip my arms around his neck.
 
"Yes," he replies as his cheek grazes my sensitive skin, causing a shiver to escape me.
 
"What about this part, right here?" I ask him, touching my lips with my fingertips.
 
He responds by pressing his mouth to mine gently, savoring the feeling of the initial contact. When he pulls back to look into my eyes, I see the smoldering heat within him.
 
 
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So what do you think?
If you liked my SWOON, please leave a comment

below.



Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Teaser Tuesday #14 & Review - First Frost


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 to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


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A few weeks ago I received a request to review
 
 First Frost
 by
 Liz DeJesus.
 
Similar to last week, I'm posting both my review and my chosen Teaser together.
 
Title: First Frost
Author: Liz DeJesus
Published by Musa Publishing
Published June 22nd 2012

Blurb
Fairytales aren’t real…yeah…that’s exactly what Bianca thought. She was wrong.

For generations, the Frost family has run the Museum of Magical and Rare Artifacts, handing down guardianship from mother to daughter, always keeping their secrets to “family only.”

Gathered within museum’s walls is a collection dedicated to the Grimm fairy tales and to the rare items the family has acquired: Cinderella’s glass slipper, Snow White’s poisoned apple, the evil queen’s magic mirror, Sleeping Beauty’s enchanted spinning wheel…

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Frost wants none of it, dreaming instead of a career in art or photography or…well, anything except working in the family’s museum. She knows the items in the glass display cases are fakes because, of course, magic doesn’t really exist.

She’s about to find out how wrong she is.



My Review

I have to admit, this book was not one of my normal reads. Although a young adult fantasy based on fairy tales, there was not a whole lot of romance. However, having said that, it was still very entertaining and I found it to be quite an enjoyable read. Liz has a nice writing style and is very good at describing both characters and places.
So, to the story - as mentioned in the blurb, it is the tale of a young girl, Bianca, who lives with her mother Rose and helps in maintaining the family fairy tale museum. Living in the modern world, Bianca does not believe that any of the artefacts are real. She simply sees them as clever props. It is only when her mother’s life is threatened by an ‘evil witch’ when her views begin to change.
Rose, realizing that she must tell her daughter the truth, reveals that everything in the museum is in fact real and that they are direct descendants of Snow White. While Bianca is in the process of trying to come to terms with this new found knowledge, her mother is captured by Lenore, the evil witch, and taken to Everafter.
With no family to turn to for help, Bianca confides in her best friend Ming.  Together, the two of them embark on a journey which takes them into the land of fairy tales where they must overcome various obstacles in order to rescue Rose. Along the way, they meet Prince  Ferdinand (Prince Charming) and his man-servant Terrance, who assist them in their quest.
I liked the way Liz developed Bianca’s talents as a witch and the way she introduced other fairy tale characters and concepts such as The Big Bad Wolf / The Brick House of the Three Little Pigs and Rapunzel’s Hair, to name but a few.
If you don’t mind the lack of too many swoon worthy moments, and you love magic and fairy-tales, then I think you will enjoy this book and find it quite entertaining.
 
My Rating: 4/5 Stars
 
And now for the Teaser:
 
"Here goes nothing," Bianca whispered.
Please let this work.
She  gently combed his dark brown hair with her fingers. She marvelled over how soft it was. He looked so peaceful in his sleep. It was strange to see him that way, so vulnerable. Helpless. She realized that she would've done just about anything to have him open his eyes and look at her.
She took a deep breath and leaned over to kiss him on the lips.
His dark brown eyes opened while Bianca was still pressing her lips against his. He reached his hand  out and ran his fingers through her hair. They forgot where they were for a moment and deepened their kiss. The world vanished. There was nothing except the two of them and their kiss.

 
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Did you enjoy??


PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or if you don't have a blog, then please leave your ‘teasers’ in the comment section below!

 
Happy Teasing!!!
 

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Stacking the Shelves #10

Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews. It is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks.


One of my new favorite authors is Amy A. Bartol, so not surprisingly, the lastest two editions to my bookshelf come from her Premonition series:

INTUITION
(Book 2)




&
INDEBTED
(Book 3)
 
 
 


 So what's on your shelf? I'd really like to know.