"I am ready to meet my maker. Whether my maker is prepared to meet me is another matter."
-Winston Churchill

Monday, January 31, 2011

Mailbox Mondays

I'm so excited this week.  I got one of the books I have just recently added to my TBR after reading an interview with the author.  It made my day :).

From the Author:

Times are tough for the demon, Temptation. Once he enjoyed his work enticing humans to sin so their souls could be marked for collection. Now no one needs inducement from him. Lying, stealing, and cheating, has become the mortal's way.
This tiny gold-mining town in northern California and the bar he has just entered appear as corrupt as all the other places he has visited. However, he senses purity amongst the squalor, and he knows he has found the one soul he must tempt. Sunset. She is as decent as he is corrupt. As good as he is evil. And more hopeful about life than any human he has encountered. He must have her.
But he soon learns he has overstepped his bounds and must now find a way to free the souls of the wrongfully damned.
His long-time enemy, the Collector, has other plans. Here to chastise him, he takes great pleasure in announcing Temptation's punishment. He must pursue his quest, in human form, with human emotions. Emotions that lead him straight to Sunset.

From Authors Promotion Group:

Web of Lies takes you on an emotional roller-coaster, experienced through the eyes of Sarah Tate, an intelligent, young newcomer to Switzerland who is swept off her feet by an older, more experienced company manager. Within weeks of their meeting, Bill impresses her with a courtship vastly unusual in modern times. He lures Sarah with his intellect along with numerous gifts, expensive restaurants, and trips to luxury hotels. Sarah, who is searching for not only love but security, quickly finds herself falling for the worldly but sensitive and caring man Bill represents himself to be. In Web of Lies, she describes the highs and the lows of what it is like to be involved with a person with Narcissistic Personality Disorder, how to come to terms with the abuse, and most importantly, how to escape.





No nonsense consumer psychologist, Sienna Lambert moderates focus groups to assist her clients with marketing their products to target audiences.  Her newest client, Dexter Clothiers has developed state of the art men's undergarments, Best Kept Secrets that become more comfortable the longer they're worn.  Sienna interviews men from all professions and all walks of life to get their opinion on the new line.
     When adrenaline junkie, Vaughn Deveraux meets Sienna he takes her breath away--literally.  After a run-in at a client softball outing Sienna assumes Vaughn is one of the new models for Dexter Clothiers.  Vaughn tells her he's the Creative Director at the company advertising the line and jokes that he leaves the modeling in the very capable hands of his younger brother, Pierce, a retired professional football player who's had a great deal of experience with women asking questions about his briefs.
     Though intrigued, Sienna keeps her distance when she finds out he works with her client, but Vaughn's fun nature and zest for living prove too irresistible to ignore.  Sienna's once calm, predictable life gets turned upside down when Vaughn shows her that sometime's life is better when you experience it instead of researching it.



Grab a seat and hold on to your Ballots as Ron Martin takes you deep inside the political nightmare known as the Obama Democratic Presidency.


Understand the basic principles that underlie the gradual erosion of our constitutional liberties.

Learn how to derail the fateful outcome that the current political leadership is guiding our nation toward.

By taking lessons from history concerning fallen empires, Ron Martin compares our present day political climate and arrives at the only logical conclusion.

Act now or else.....

 

 

That was in my mailbox this week.  What was in yours?

Friday, January 28, 2011

Winner of Immortalis Interactive CD by Katie Salidas

Debbi - twoofakind!  Congratulations Debbi.  Please check your mail :).

Immortalis Interactive CD will contain the following books:
Congratulations again!  To learn more about Katie Salidas and the Immortalis Series please stop into http://www.risingsignbooks.com

Until next time....

Fantasy Fridays #1

Random eye candy of the week :).  What a way to start the weekend huh?



I'll take one of them....whew!  I do love me some muscles :).

My Erotic Book Pick of the Week :):

Warning: explicit and graphic sex, incl. voyeurism and other sexual taboos. This is an erotic novella.

Venice Vampyr by Tina Folsom

Venice, early 1800s

Isabella Tenderini, a wealthy merchant's widow rescues a stranger from drowning in one of Venice's canals. And how does the man repay her selfless act? By kissing her - her, a respectable woman.

Not only is Raphael di Santori grateful for his life being saved, he would also like to thank his rescuer very intimately - more intimately than decorum allows. But then, Raphael has never been one to play by the rules - as a vampire he doesn't have to.

This is a novella of approx. 139 pages / 31,000 words.
Each chapter is illustrated with a photo of Venice from the author's own collection.

Watch for my upcoming review of this title February 6 when Tina stops in on her BLB Ebook Tour.



Have a great weekend everybody!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Thrilling Thursdays #1

Thrilling Thursdays is a new feature I'm starting.  Here you will see what book cover caught my eye this week and what I loved about it.


Passion. Fate. Loyalty.
Would you risk it all to change your destiny?
The last thing Kelsey Hayes thought she'd be doing this summer was trying to break a 300-year old Indian curse. With a mysterious white tiger named Ren. Halfway around the world.
But that's exactly what happened.
Face-to-face with dark forces, spell-binding magic, and mystical worlds where nothing is what it seems, Kelsey risks everything to piece together an ancient prophecy that could break the curse forever.
Tiger's Curse is the exciting first volume in an epic fantasy-romance that will leave you breathless and yearning for more.





This cover is gorgeous.  I love the tiger and the colors,  they are so drawing.  I've added this book to my TBR.

Want to join me in Thrilling Thursdays?  Add your blog to the linky below so I can hop over to see what cover grabbed your attention this week.





Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Wishing Wednesday



Wishing Wednesday is going to be another meme hosted weekly letting you know about the books that I really can't wait to read.  I hope you will join with me and share your books too,  I may just find another book to add to my TBR :).


Linger (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #2)

by Maggie Stiefvater (Goodreads Author)

In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabel, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.


I loved Shiver and am still thinking about it after being done reading it over a week ago.  I've read a lot of good reviews for Linger and I cannot wait to delve back into the story of Grace and Sam.  It has my skin crawling with anticipation!



Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Stylish Blogger Award WOOHOO!

An Award




Well this was an unexpected surprise!  Thank you Margaret West for picking me to receive this award :).  I'm so smiling.


A few rules go with this,  I must thank the person who gave it to me and their blog link (above) and I must share 7 things about myself.  So here goes....

Share 7 things about yourself.

Award 10 recently discovered great bloggers and contact these bloggers and tell them about the award.
So here are seven things about me.

1. I'm a Pediatric Home Care Nurse
2. My dreams often become a reality (believe it or not,  I've actually dreamed movies before they're out)
3. I'm normally shy,   I force myself to be an extrovert :)
4. I have 3 children - Brittney 20,  Hunter 13, and Daniel 11
5. I run 90 million websites,  not really but I have a Book Review Site as well as several blogs
6. I love helping other authors get their work into the public eye and founded The Virtual Book Tour Cafe'
7. I talk at the speed of lightening when I get excited lol

My 10 awards go to these fab blog sites, where you'll find me lurking most days!!

Theresa @ Fade Into Fantasy
Kristen @ My Bookish Fairy Tale
Katie @ My Immortal Stories
Tina @ Tina Folsom Blog
EJ @ From The Shadows
Alex @ Electrifying Reviews
Carmel @ Rabid Reads
Nora @ Paranormal Lover's POV
Ami @ Hot Gossip Hot Reviews
Kathy @ I Am A Reader Not A Writer

I hope you all enjoy your award and thank you Margaret again for mine :).  Happy dancing!

Taunting Tuesday

Each Tuesday I will give you a sentence or two out of the book I'm currently reading.  It will contain the Book Title, Author, Website, page number and cover.  If you like the book,  please add it to your reading list.  Share your Tuesday Taunter as well.  Leave me a comment with the link to your taunt so I can check it out. 

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Should Be Reading,  though I like Taunt better than Tease lol.  So my Tuesdays will be Taunting :).





Sunday, January 23, 2011

Mailbox Monday

This week in my mailbox I received the following books from the Author:

The House
Anjuelle Floyd
Publisher: NOJ Publications
ISBN: 978-0-9787967-2-3
0-9787967-2-1
312 pages
Publication Date: October 15, 2010
On receiving the very thing she wants—a divorce and the power to sell their house—over which they have fought the past year—Anna Manning learns that Edward, her soon-to-be ex-husband is dying from cancer.
A faithful wife for three decades, and stay-at-home mother of four children, Anna endured Edward’s constant absence due to travel for his international real estate firm and numerous extra-marital affairs. With their children now adults, Edward has less than six months, possibly three, to live.
Anna takes him home to die in the house she has fought so vigorously to sell. But letting go of someone who has caused so much pain in your life doesn’t come easily. Edward has changed. There are Anna and Edward’s four children, three of whom who are married and struggling to endow their families with meaning and purpose.
There is also Inman who loves Anna, and gives the one thing Edward denied her—passion and intimacy. And lastly there is Anna. An art history major turned wife and mother out of college, she had planned on divorcing Edward and with her proceeds from the sale of the house move to France. Anna would visit and study the works in Europe’s famous museums—perhaps work as a docent in one.
News of Edward’s terminal illness provokes her to understand the present, rooted in a wellspring of the past and pouring into a future without him.
The House shows what happens when one adopts the belief that: All hold regret and are seeking forgiveness. Our salvation rests in the hands of others—most particularly the ones we love, and who have treated us wrongly.

Keeper of Secrets: Translations of an Incident
Anjuelle Floyd
Three Muses Press, June 15, 2007
$14.95 US; ISBN: 0976926180 About the Book
Memories of the Hindu icon of dancing Siva compel wife and mother, Raven Clarke, to intervene in the attack of one restaurant patron on another.
Watching from a distant table, Lahni Irete# !nds herself driven back to the violence of her childhood and adolescence. The next day she shares her account of the happening with psychiatrist, Reynard Williams. Williams embraces the tale as a man seeking help to confront the core of pain that has distanced him from his wife and left him sexually and spiritually impotent.
Along the way Williams consults with Sahel Denning, an injured psychologist no longer practicing psychotherapy. Engineer, Michael Banks, !nds the restaurant incident a map guiding him on his path to reclaiming the events of the morning before he fell from the Richmond Bridge. Rumor and innuendo cloud Ariane Gadsen’s acquaintance with the story, propelling her down the path of reconciliation with what she is hiding.
The restaurant scene stirred regret and despair within Trey Williamson, a widower, on his !rst date since the death of his wife three years earlier. The intimate backdrop of the restaurant o%ers containment wherein newly discharged Captain Darryl Sharpton reveals his most dark and intimate truth.

Won:

Danann Frost is thousands of years old, yet young for her kind. She is a creature of the Light, an Angel, one of the Seraphim; a race of beings that live beyond our world. She has been cast out of paradise and Fallen from Grace, all for the love of a Dark One - a vampire. The only problem is, Seth did not want her and told her to go and not come back. Danann has made a life for herself amongst the vampires of this world and they protect her fragile nature. She and the vampire Asher live on the fringes of the human world; love and loyalty cannot separate them but trouble and vengeance are on their way.








I know there are a lot of In My Mailbox posts going on but I didn't really follow anyone in particular,  but thought it was a great idea to let you know what you can expect for upcoming reviews.  If you would like to join me in Mailbox Monday,  grab the button in the right side bar,  and let me know you are participating so I can hop over and check out what you have.  I love learning about new books and new authors and this is a great way to introduce them and allow us to find some great reads too.  I will start posting all my reviews that I receive for Mailbox Mondays whether they are paranormal or not,  so I hope you will enjoy this new feature.

What did you receive in your mailbox???  Let me know in a comment and if you have a blog leave the link so I can hop over and check you out :).

Thanks for stopping in...

***** I Thought We Were Friends by Tina deCoux

Picture
I Thought We Were Friends by Tina deCoux was fantastic!  From the first word I couldn't put this book down until I was to the end.

Chris Borstad was a young shipping department manager for a home improvement warehouse.  She loved her job,  was respected by her crew, and loved to prove that a woman can do the job just as good if not better than a man.

Chris also had a secret - her live-in boyfriend of two and a half years is also her boss.  Nobody can know about this relationship as Bob,  her boss could very well lose his job.

When Chris is demoted unexpectedly to save money within the company,  she is angry with Bob for not sharing this with her beforehand,  and angry at Len,  the big boss for doing this to her.  Not only is she being demoted,  but she must train the new guy coming to take her place.

She goes home that night to find herself alone and wallowing in self pity.  When Bob finally decides to come home,  Chris knows something's not right.  Eventually he admits that he is leaving her for another woman.  Devestated,  Chris tries to pull her life together to make the best of it.

When she is forced to train a new receiving clerk too,  her life starts to spin out of control as the new clerk,  Shannon becomes obsessed with Chris.  In Shannon's mind her and Chris are the best of friends,  even though Shannon gives Chris the creeps.  There is more to Shannon that meets the eye and Chris is about to find out more than she would ever want to know.

This starts the scene for a fast paced thriller,  full of unexpected events and suspense, and you don't know who is telling the truth and who is out to get Chris. 

deCoux did a magnificent job from the get go.  I love her writing style and the characters are so easy to love and hate.  I Thought We Were Friends is the first book in a Thriller Trilogy and will pull you in leaving you wanting more.



I give I Thought We Were Friends ***** (5) Stars,  BK Walker

BK Walker Books - All Rights Reserved

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Monday Katie Joins Me on Blog Talk Radio - Another Giveaway and Live Chat


Join us Monday January 24,  2pm EST /  11am PST at BK Media Entertainment
Live Chat will be open for Fan Q&A
Giveaway for Immortalis Interactive CD
Can't be there?  No Problem - mail your questions to me at bkwalkerbooks@comcast.net and I will  make sure to get your questions answered.  Then check back here later in the day Jan. 24 for your answers.
It's gong to be fun so hope to see you there!

Friday, January 21, 2011

At The Round Table with Katie Salidas and Giveaway

Author Katie Salidas

Hey Katie it is wonderful to have you back and I'm so excited for your new release of Hunters & Prey.  Can I offer you a beverage while we chat at the round table?  Mystic Brew, tantalizing tea or a frothy Irish Beer?

Oooh, a Mystic Brew! That sounds tasty. Thanks BK. And thanks again for hosting me. I am so excited to be back and touring with this series. It’s my “baby.”



Your Mystic Brew :)


First I'd like to start off by telling everyone that this is the second installment to your Immortalis Series.  The first,  Carpe Noctem, was released March 2, 2010.  Readers can learn about Katie's books at www.risingsignbooks.com .

Today Katie is also giving away an Interactive CD containing the first two books in the series,  Immortalis: Carpe Noctem and Immortalis: Hunters & Prey.  Simply leave her a comment at the end of this post answering this question:  What do you love most about reading Vampire novels? Be sure to leave your email address too so we have a way to contact you if you are the lucky winner.  Winner will be drawn using Random.org on January 28.

Want an extra entry?  Share this post and in a separate comment leave the link you shared it to.

Now lets talk Immortalis,  shall we?..



1.    What inspired Immortalis to be a series?

Immortalis was always meant to be a series. I originally envisioned it as a 3-part story, but as it progressed it sort of took on a life all its own. I currently have the third book finished and I’m working through rewrites but the story is far from over. We’ll just have to see how long it lasts. I’d love to see it have longevity, like the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris but I’m not going to get too far ahead of myself. I’m taking it one book at a time.

2.    How difficult is it to write a series?

In some aspects a series gets a little easier as you write it. You know all of the characters intimately. You’ve watched them grow and mature as each book passes and it becomes almost second nature to dive into their head in a particular scene. On the flipside. There are times when the minute details of a character’s history slip past you. I’ve had Beta readers catch me on a few things that I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten.

3.    What is your favorite part about writing?

Just like with reading, writing is an escape. When I write I dive into the world I’m creating and for a while, just leave the real world behind. It’s very therapeutic at times. Have a bad day, take your frustrations out and give the “bad guy” a gruesome death scene. LoL.

4.    Do you have a favorite book in the series?

I always say the current book I’m writing is my favorite. The reason for that is, the excitement of seeing the new chapter come to life and wondering what should happen next. I’m a pantser which means I don’t have a hard outlined plot in front of me when I write. I have a general idea and I wing it. I know where point A and point B are, but I have no clue how they get there until they do.

5.    Who is your favorite character?

I should say Alyssa, she is my main character, but in Hunters & Prey, I really took a liking to Fallon. She’s put in a really bad situation and though she should run screaming for the hills, she doesn’t. I’d originally envisioned her as a bit player but now that I’ve seen potential in her character, I might have to bring her back for more fun.
 
6.  Which one would you most likely invite to dinner?

Lysander! He’s such a fun character to write. Sometimes he has a stick up his… (can I say ass on your blog?) and then he shows an amazing level of caring and compassion. If I could meet him for real, I’d probably pick his brain to death about history and mythology. He is after all the Historian of the Peregrinus.

7.    Are you finding yourself running into any challenges while writing this series?

Without giving away too much, yes, there have been some challenges, particularly with what characters should remain in the series. I’ll tell you this, killing off characters is not as easy as it looks. =p

8.    Where do you draw your inspiration from?

I am an inquisitive person. I like to know the: who, what, when, where, why and how of everything. It’s that need to know feeling that leads me to inspiration.

In Hunters & Prey there is a chapter that explains the transformation from human to vampire. In the first book Immortalis Carpe Noctem, Lysander said, “It doesn’t always work.” Meaning the transformation. Sometimes it could fail.

 Becoming a vampire saved Alyssa from death, but the price was high: the loss of everything and everyone attached to her mortal life. She s still learning to cope when a surprise confrontation with Santino Vitale, the Acta Sanctorum s most fearsome hunter, sends her fleeing back to the world she once knew, and Fallon, the friend she s missed more than anything.

Alyssa breaks vampire law by revealing her new, true self to her old friend, a fact which causes strong division in the group that should support her most: her clan.
Worse yet, her revelation entangles Fallon in the struggle between vampires and hunters and The Acta Sanctorum is ready to attack again, with a new army of hybrid creations: the Frenzy Soldiers.
If Alyssa hopes to survive and keep her mortal friend safe, she ll have to be willing to make a deal with the enemy, and regain her clan s support. It will take everyone working together in a precarious truce to fight against the Acta Sanctorum s new threat. (From Goodreads)






I’d never answered the “Why” to that statement and that answer became a whole chapter to itself and helped me understand other chapters surrounding.

So, in short, asking and answering questions helps me find inspiration. You’ll find I ask a lot of questions to the “fans” on my FB page, sometimes that’s part of the process. I want to know what you think too.

9.    I know we have discussed this before,  but how did you come up with the Series Title,  Immortalis?

Latin has always been an interesting language to me. As my husband likes to tease… it’s the language you learn to understand other languages, or perform magic spells. (seriously though, almost all magic in books and movies has a Latin or Latin-sounding incantation.) One day I think I’ll have to make a hobby of learning it. Anyway, Immortalis Carpe Noctem, the first book in the series, translates roughly into Immortals Seize the Night.
 
Explore the emotional upheaval that is the transformation from human to vampire.

Bleeding to death after brutal mugging on the campus of UNLV, Twenty-five year old Alyssa, is rescued by the cold and aloof, vampire, Lysander. Taking pity on her, he shares the gift-and curse-of immortality. She awakens as a vampire and is soon devastated by harsh realities of her new way of life: An unyielding thirst for blood as well as the loss of her friends, her independence, and her humanity.


As if having her humanity stripped away was not enough to make life interesting, Alyssa finds out her "turning", did not go unnoticed by the rest of undead society. Old enemies; an ancient sect of vampire hunters, known as the Acta Sanctorum, as well as a powerful Vampire mistress, each set plans in motion to destroy both Alyssa and Lysander.

Only by accepting her new-found immortality, seizing the night, will Alyssa hope to survive. She and Lysander must fight together against two sets of enemies bent on destroying them both.  (From Goodreads)









Which is quite fitting when you consider the plot of the first book. Alyssa must learn to seize the night if she ever expects to “make it” as a vampire. For the second book, I wanted a similar feel but just couldn’t find a word combination in Latin that “fit.” At that point I had been calling the entire project Immortalis for so many years that it was just second nature. So it remains as the series title and the book title is just an extension of that. Immortalis: Hunters & Prey.


10.    What do you like to read when you're not writing?

I’m a vamp-aholic LoL. I love to read any books involving vampires. I do tend to get hooked into series books. I love being able to follow characters through multiple books. I’m almost done with the Sookie Stackhouse series and feeling a little bittersweet about it. I never like coming to the end of a long series. I hope there are more books on the horizon.

11.    Do you have a favorite author/book?

Anne Rice will always have a place in my heart. She’s one of the originals who got me reading about vampires. But there are so many good authors out there, both traditional and indie that have amazing stories. It’s really hard to just pick one and call them a favorite. Each one brings something new to the table. Know what I mean?

12.    What is one thing your readers would be most surprised to know about you?

I’m 100% introvert. I’d be a hermit if you’d let me. I love to sit and write but sometimes being out in public makes me really nervous. My first book signing (which went so well!) had me so nervous I didn’t eat all day before it. I was imagining every worst case scenario and of course none of them came true, but I was just a mess. LoL.

13.    What do you like to do for fun?

I love the usual type of stuff: hiking, bowling, movies, playing poker (though I haven’t gotten to do that in a while). My daughter and I love to walk the trails out here. Vegas has quiet a few really nice outdoor recreation areas and beautiful hiking trails!

14.    What is your favorite food and restaurant?

Oh, give me some Famous Daves BBQ!!! That place is so good. They have 5 different sauces to try and they’re all tasty. Just thinking about it is making me hungry!!

15.  Do you have any special announcements or events you would like to share with readers today?

For the entire month of January, I’m having a huge online celebration! Visit My FB page for more details. There are daily and weekly prize giveaways and it last all month long so there is still plenty of time to win.

16.  Can you tell us about any projects you are currently working on?

Other than my Immortalis series, I have some shorter Romance pieces I’ve been working with. My next Paranormal Romance Novella is due out in February. It’s called Karma & Melodies.

Kendra and Marcus, could have had the one thing we all strive for, True Love, but fate stepped in and split them apart before that love had a chance to blossom. Now, ten years have passed and a chance encounter reunites them. But they’re not the same people they once were. He’s a Rock star with a bright future and she’s a vampire with a dark past. Can their love work, or have their fates been split forever?

17.  Where can readers find you?

I’m all over the web, but I have a terrible Facebook addiction. LoL. You can find me there just about every day:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Katie-Salidas-Author/214780936916

For more information on my books, please stop by my website www.risingsignbooks.com

You can also check out my blog. www.myimmortalstories.blogspot.com


Thank you so much for joining me at the round table today Katie,  it has been such a pleasure.  I can't wait for Pandora's Box to come out and I am wishing you much success in the future.  Katie will also be with me Monday,  January 24, 2pm EST/11AM PST at BK Media Entertainment.  Live chat will be open for Q&A with the fans and we will be hosting another giveaway for an Interactive CD.  So stop in,  listen to Katie and I,  and join the chat room for your chance to win the first two books in the Immortalis Series.  Hope to see you there.


  

Thursday, January 20, 2011

***** The Butcher's Boy by Michael Robb Mathias

Picture
Reviewed by Nora Chipley Barteau

Picture
The Butcher's Boy
by Michael Robb Mathias

Janet, who was recently divorced, had found a new home for her and her son Michael. A new home that was huge and sat on two and a half acres with open fields across the street. It was a like being in the country with plenty of yard for Michael and Lucy, their rottweiler. Janet was in awe at the great price she was able to purchase the house for. Little did Janet know that the reason she got such a great deal on it was because a whole family was slaughtered in it and some of them refused to move on until things were set right.

Several people enter into Janet's life, each playing a part in this chilling and at times terrifying story. It had a few slow parts here and there, but not enough to really impact the story being told.  Some areas were predictable yes, but also didn't impact the story in a negative way. I would say this book is not for the squimish or for children because it does involve rape, murder, torture, graphic language and content. I found the ending a bit disturbing because it went into great detail for a fairly long length of time and by the time it was over, I felt exhausted mentally. (S)

Michael Robb showed a lot of talent and knew how to push the characters and reader to their limits. The Butcher's Boy had a little bit of everything in it, love, hate, rape, ghosts, demons, torture, murder, all the ingredients for a great tale. I would recommend this book and give it five ***** stars.

5/5 Stars



Reviewed by
Nora Barteau
http://norachipleybarteau.blogspot.com/

BK Walker Books - All Rights Reserved

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Dreaming of Books Winners

Hello!  I just want to take a moment to thank everyone for stopping in to my blog during the hop.  It was so much fun I can't wait for the next one :).

We've got 5 winners for the Ebook Copy of Immortyl Kisses:
  • Lisa R/alterlisa
  • JoAnna - beckerjo
  • Meredith - meridethfl
  • Alyssa - archambo
  • Judy - magnolias_1
2 Winners for Dares And Dreams and Immortyl Kisses Interactive CD:
  • Michelle - jmluker
  • Tara - mizztuts
Congratulations to our winners!  All winners were drawn using Random Number Generator and please watch your emails.

Until next time....

Monday, January 17, 2011

New Release Monday

Hello fellow bloggers :).   A new feature I am implementing,  I will be letting you know about new releases on Mondays.  If you have a new release,  or if your favorite author has one,  please let me know so I can add them to the post.  It can be any genre,  just include author, title, synopsis, publisher, and release date in an email with "New Release" in the subject line to bkwalkerbooks@comcast.net.

So this Mondays New Release Picks are:


Abigail Cottage by Margaret West  
Paperback 
Publisher: Hedge Witchery Books (1 Dec 2010) 
ISBN-10: 1907963049 
ISBN-13: 978-1907963049

After receiving an inheritance of a cottage in Ireland and discovering she is adopted, Abbey Newlands goes in search of her real family. But before she arrives at the cottage, a chain of events and a whirlwind romance leaves her deeply in love with Shaun O'Donnell. When Shaun's mother, Aveline, reveals a dark twist of fate that mean they can never be together, Abbey flees to the cottage alone, pregnant and unaware that it is cursed by two demons who reside there. One who will love her, and one who wants her dead. Only Shaun has the power to save them both and lock the demons away behind Hell's door.



The Lost Saint by Bree Despain
Hardcover, 416 pages
Published December 28th 2010 by EgmontUSA

ISBN 1606840584 (ISBN13: 9781606840580)
The Lost Saint Series
A family destroyed. A love threatened. An enemy returns.

Grace Divine made the ultimate sacrifice to cure Daniel Kalbi. She was infected with he werewolf curse while trying to save him, and lost her beloved brother in the process.

Desperate to find Jude, Grace befriends Talbot, a newcomer to town. But as the two grow closer, Grace's relationship with Daniel is put in danger -- in more ways than one.

Unaware of the dark path she is walking, Grace begins to give into the wolf inside of her -- not realizing that an enemy has returned and a deadly trap is about to be sprung.

Bree Despain delivers sizzling romance and thrilling action in the heart-pounding sequel to the The Dark Divine.


Entice by Carrie Jones
Paperback, 264 pages
Published January 3rd 2011 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (first published December 14th 2010)

ISBN 1408810441 (ISBN13: 9781408810446)
series
Zara and Nick are soul mates, meant to be together forever.
But that's not quite how things have worked out.

For starters, well, Nick is dead.
Supposedly, he's been taken to a mythic place for warriors known as Valhalla, so Zara and her friends might be able to get him back. But it's taking time, and meanwhile a group of evil pixies is devastating Bedford, with more teens going missing every day. An all-out war seems imminent, and the good guys need all the warriors they can find. But how to get to Valhalla?

And even if Zara and her friends discover the way, there's that other small problem: Zara's been pixie kissed. When she finds Nick, will he even want to go with her? Especially since she hasn't just turned...she's Astley's queen.


My Soul To Steal by Rachael Vincent
Paperback, 352 pages
Published January 4th 2011 by Harlequin (first published January 1st 2011)

ISBN 0373210272 (ISBN13: 9780373210275)
My Soul to Steal Series
Trying to work things out with Nash—her maybe boyfriend—is hard enough for Kaylee Cavanaugh. She can't just pretend nothing happened. But "complicated" doesn't even begin to describe their relationship when his ex-girlfriend transfers to their school, determined to take Nash back.
See, Sabine isn't just an ordinary girl. She's a mara, the living personification of a nightmare. She can read people's fears—and craft them into nightmares while her victims sleep. Feeding from human fear is how she survives.
And Sabine isn't above scaring Kaylee and the entire school to death to get whatever—and whoever—she wants.




Awakened by PC Cast & Kristin Cast
Hardcover, 290 pages
Published January 4th 2011 by Atom

ISBN 1905654847 (ISBN13: 9781905654840)
Awakened Series
At the start of Awakened, the pulse-pounding eighth installment of the bestselling House of Night series, Zoey has returned, mostly whole, from the Otherworld to her rightful place as High Priestess at the House of Night. Her friends are just glad to have her back, but after losing her human consort, Heath, will Zoey—or her relationship with her super- hot Warrior, Stark—ever be the same? Stevie Rae is drawn even closer to Rephaim, the Raven Mocker with whom she shares a mysterious and powerful Imprint, but he is a dangerous secret that isolates her from her school, her red fledglings, and even her best friends. When the dark threat of Neferet—who is coming closer and closer to achieving her twisted goal of immortality—and Kalona returns, what will it take to keep the House of Night from being lost forever, and what will one desperate girl do to keep her heart from being irreparably broken?

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand
Hardcover, 435 pages
Published January 4th 2011 by HarperTeen

ISBN 0061996165 (ISBN13: 9780061996160)
Unearthly Series
In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . .

Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.
Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.
As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?
Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.


Entangled by Cat Clarke
Paperback, 374 pages
Published January 6th 2011 by Quercus Publishing Plc

ISBN 1849163944 (ISBN13: 9781849163941)

The same questions whirl round and round in my head:
What does he want from me?
How could I have let this happen?
AM I GOING TO DIE?

17-year-old Grace wakes up in a white room, with a table, pens and paper - and no clue how she got here.

As Grace pours her tangled life onto the page, she is forced to remember everything she's tried to forget. There's falling hopelessly in love with the gorgeous Nat, and the unravelling of her relationship with her best friend Sal. But there's something missing. As hard as she's trying to remember, is there something she just can't see?

Grace must face the most important question of all. Why is she here?

A story of dark secrets, intense friendship and electrifying attraction.



Spirit Intervention by Margaret West
Kindle Format
File Size 224 KB
Publisher Eternal Press January 6, 2011
ASIN B004I8WQ9S

When the spirit world collides with the living, anything that can happen, does. Patricia is a mother who refuses to stay out of her daughter’s life, even when she dies. Sally can hear her mother, but she can't see her spirit. At first she welcomes her return, but as the month’s progress she starts to feel increasingly peeved by her mother’s constant interference in her life. When she tells a few white lies on a dating application form, Patricia sets out to prove lies are not a foundation for a healthy relationship. She sabotages Sally’s relationship with Emilio to prove her point, not realizing her interference has caused a catastrophic chain reaction in the spirit world. It is now down to the spirit of Emilio’s grandmother to put things right. But has Patricia caused too much damage for her to mend?



Across The Universe by Beth Revis
Hardcover, 398 pages
Published January 11th 2011 by Razorbill

ISBN 1595143971 (ISBN13: 9781595143976)
A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder. Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.
Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.
Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck

Hardcover, 448 pages
Published January 11th 2011 by Splinter (first published September 22nd 2009)

ISBN13 978140278403
Tiger's Curse Series
Passion. Fate. Loyalty.
Would you risk it all to change your destiny?
The last thing Kelsey Hayes thought she'd be doing this summer was trying to break a 300-year old Indian curse. With a mysterious white tiger named Ren. Halfway around the world.
But that's exactly what happened.
Face-to-face with dark forces, spell-binding magic, and mystical worlds where nothing is what it seems, Kelsey risks everything to piece together an ancient prophecy that could break the curse forever. 

Tiger's Curse is the exciting first volume in an epic fantasy-romance that will leave you breathless and yearning for more




Shadow Fever by Karen Marie Moning
Hardcover, 624 pages
Expected publication: January 18th 2011 by Delacorte Press (first published January 2011)

ISBN 0385341679 (ISBN13: 9780385341677)
series
MacKayla Lane was just a child when she and her sister, Alina, were given up for adoption and banished from Ireland forever. Twenty years later, Alina is dead and Mac has returned to the country that expelled them to hunt her sister’s murderer. But after discovering that she descends from a bloodline both gifted and cursed, Mac is plunged into a secret history: an ancient conflict between humans and immortals who have lived concealed among us for thousands of years. What follows is a shocking chain of events with devastating consequences, and now Mac struggles to cope with grief while continuing her mission to acquire and control the Sinsar Dubh — a book of dark, forbidden magic scribed by the mythical Unseelie King, containing the power to create and destroy worlds. In an epic battle between humans and Fae, the hunter becomes the hunted when the Sinsar Dubh turns on Mac and begins mowing a deadly path through those she loves. Who can she turn to? Who can she trust? Who is the woman haunting her dreams? More important, who is Mac and what is the destiny she glimpses in the black and crimson designs of an ancient tarot card? From the luxury of the Lord Master’s penthouse to the sordid depths of an Unseelie nightclub, from the erotic bed of her lover to the terrifying bed of the Unseelie King, Mac’s journey will force her to face the truth of her exile, and to make a choice that will either save the world... or destroy it.


There is this week's new releases.  They can be found on Goodreads,  Amazon or from the publisher's website.  I hope you will add them to your TBR.
Have a blessed Monday :).

Signing off,


ShareThis