Review: Dreaming Anastasia

Dreaming Anastasia

Joy Preble

Copyright 2009, Sourcebooks

Anne is a normal teenage girl worried about completely normal things like school, the parentals, ballet and that ever so important drivers licence. Her brother died of cancer 2 years ago so the whole family's a bit stressed but lately Anne's been having these really awkward dreams. She's in a basement and whoever's mind she's in is watching her whole family die. Their being murdered one by one and as she's reaching for her mothers hands two giant hands come from the sky and swoop her up to safety - and entrapment. It's more than just a dream. Anne is reliving the last known moments of Anastasia Romanov and her royal family.

When uber-hot yet stalkerish Ethan enters the picture you'd expect her to say something like: "Hey, that hot Russian guy is staring at me! Score!" But instead Anne is calm and collected - and unswayed by his appearance. For the most part. When they literally run into each other sparks fly, but not in the way you'd expect.

This isn't just a story of girl meets/likes boy. This is the story of the famous Russian Romanov family who was gunned down, all except one. One that disappeared. One that the world believes dead. One that still lives. This is the story of finding her, of releasing her, of a life that has been on hold for over a hundred years.

Joy Preble did a masterful job of tying together Russian history, fairy tales, the current day and a potential love story. The swoon is slow building, Anne doesn't just fall in love and sleep with him because he's hot and she's single. She's just not that kind of girl. Anne is a compassionate heart and a careful soul. She thinks hard about everything and knows that blinding herself to any one thing could be the most dangerous thing she could do.

I'm wondering. Are all Russian guys smoldering hot, conscious of rights and wrongs and so dang good at being the rough and tough good guy?! I mean, Dimitri from Vampire Academy was my intro to steamy Russian guys but Ethan shares a lot of Dimitri's personality. He's careful but not overly, he knows his desires but struggles to keep them in check, he's compassionate but not weak.

And again, a book set in Chicago. Which I LOVE. Love, love, love. Dreaming Anastasia is like Chicago. An amazing city with the perfect mixture of history and modernization. Sky-scrapers and unique architecture. Love and compassion meet in the middle with a slow burning swoon that makes you smile while reading in public. : ) If you are a fan of history and/or fairy tales you will love this book! Pick it up and give it a try!!

Tune In Tuesday! DAVID DUCHOVNY, WHY DON'T YOU LOVE ME?!

Well folks, this is it! The LAST 90's edition! I guess it's only my second and that kinda sucks : ( But all good things must come to an end : )  Thanks again to Ginger for a great meme and this rockin edition!!

After talking to some dear friends of mine I've come to learn that I was not alone in my deep deep love for FBI Agent Fox Mulder. I used to envy Scully, I mean she was the love interest AND had red hair. I could totally be her. Only I would have kissed him in like, Season 1 Episode 1. lol! Which brings me to the single greatest song of the 90's. Sung by none other than Bree Sharp - David Duchovny Why Won't You Love Me?

Anywho, the CD was called "Cheap and Evil Girl" and honestly... I still know every song on it. I love it. It's unique and honest. Everyone, go download it or find it! Especially "Not Your Girl" it's kinda angry...I like it :)

But on to what you're here for! Sing along ladies, revel in your long lost love for Mr. Monotone himself!
None of the video's were very good, but at least you can hear the song :)

And here's Not Your Girl :)

Oh Oh Oh!!! And I LOVE Smallville!! And I LOVE Cheap and Evil Girl!! Check this out!!

ok ok I'm done :) Thanks for playing!! lol!

Review: The Iron Queen

The Iron Queen

Julie Kagawa

Copyright 2011, Harlequin Teen

So I'm not sure that my summary of The Iron Daughter was any good...at all...so I'm going to let Goodreads do this one :)

My name is Meghan Chase.
I thought it was over. That my time with the fey, the impossible choices I had to make, the sacrifices of those I loved, was behind me. But a storm is approaching, an army of Iron fey that will drag me back, kicking and screaming. Drag me away from the banished prince who's sworn to stand by my side. Drag me into the core of conflict so powerful, I'm not sure anyone can survive it.
This time, there will be no turning back


It's good, right? You know what it fails to mention? Oh I know! That you may need a freaking cardiac defibrillator and an unopened box of Kleenex while reading! Good thing we have Twitter friends to prepare us for this! Sheesh.

Kagawa is many things. An expert swoon-writer, an incredible world builder and a detailed enough plotter that while you *think* you can guess what's going on you will always be left surprised.

The return to Nevernever and the way in which it was handled felt so real. The reactions of the fey, the feelings of the parties involved, none of it felt fake or forced. Maybe it's that realness that keeps us all hooked, maybe it's the looks Ash shoots us or the new fire under Meghan's arse. Or maybe it's the fairytale of it all? Knights in shining armor meets the feminist movement and what do we have? Meghan Chase. FTW.

I'll admit, for awhile I liked her but I kept thinking: if the fate of the world lies on her back, she needs to be a bit more ballsy. And Heeeello, here she is! What's even better is that the other characters respond to it! It's contagious! The love between Ash and Meghan is always under pressure, but hey in their situation how could it not be? Puck is hilarious and has some of the funniest quotes and the fighting scenes play out on the pages like a CG'd Epic Movie. I could not be happier with The Iron Queen. The wit and timing were dead on and I felt like Meghan has finally grown her own pair and is happy to use them! Things I've been waiting for, like a certain tent scene or the sadly beautiful transfers of power, tied bits and pieces together leaving me wanting more.

If you are a crier, you WILL need kleenex for this book. So many emotional heart strings being pulled!! And where some may be in dispair trying to figure out what will be in The Iron Knight - my heart soars. I'm full of hope and wonder, counting the days until I can join in on the adventure. The new POV in The Iron Knight is going to be insane too, I think we're all so used to hearing Meghans thoughts that it's like thinking for ourselves - but the stuff Ash has been through, his determination and drive, his desires and shortcomings? That is going to equal one helluva good book!!


Oh and quote of the book because I loved it so much I think I even Tweeted it?

"...that's what you're best at, isn't it? Watching?" - I LOVE THIS QUOTE. I love it's placement, I love the way it's said...holy cow. Just read the book and when you see this quote let me know :) SO GOOD. <3

TGIF and Follow Friday!!

This week, Parajunkee's featured blogger is Caught In The Pages! I love that she has always had a passion for books :) Go check her out here!

The given question is:

In books like the Sookie Stackhouse (True Blood) series the paranormal creature in question "comes out of the closet" and makes itself known to the world. Which mythical creature do you wish would come out of the closet, for real?

Good one...honestly, I'd have to say the Moroi...because with them come Dhampirs...and Strigois...and well, I'm hoping Dimitri ;) Richelle Mead has forever ruined me. I will be searching for Dimitri for a loooong, loooong time!

But in a non-selfish related answer I think I'd go with Faeries. I love the different folklore around them, the different powers they can have, I love the courts! It would be really cool to have the fun and mischief that comes with the fey and awesome places Julie Kagawa takes us in the Iron Fey series like the Nevernever! What if you could go through your closet door on minute and the next be out in the woods with Ash and Puck?! That would ROCK. OR if you simply woke one day and were able to see them, existing in our world...like in Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely Series?!

Congrats to Ginger on her BBAW nomination for this feature!!!

Book Associations: Which genre, authors, or particular books do you think people associate with your reading style?

Well, especially based on my Dimitri crush I think people probably associate me with books that have lots of swoon. The kind of books that give you butterflies while reading! Those are my favorites, so they tend to be what I read and rave about!

As far as authors go... There are three authors that I hope you can associate with me. They are three amazing women that I have had the priviledge to speak with on numerous occasions via the internet and one actually in person! They are the driving force behind my inspiration and the books I know I can turn to when I need a good read. They are:

Libba Bray - tweeted a few times before meeting and fan-girling to the tenth degree. LOVE HER. She wrote the Gemma Doyle series; A Great & Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, and The Sweet Far Thing - not to mention Beauty Queens and Going Bovine

Elizabeth Scott - tweets! One of the nicest people ever! I have never once picked up one of her books and fallen less than in love with it. I often refer to her work as my palette cleanser - meaning if I read something amazing and I'm kind of in a book hangover state, I know I can go to one of her novels to perk me back up and get me excited to read again!!

Jeri Smith-Ready - Tweets. Holy holy cow. She's got other books out there but I first got to talking to her about Shade and Shift. Umm, hello, #TeamKilt?! The Team that actually gave Jace a run in the YA Crush Tourney?! Yes. She created our Mr.Wonderful, Zachary Moore. (Ok and Logan too, he doesn't seem so bad once you get to know him!) One of the most dedicated authors in existence, IMO. Between everything she gave (many many personal time hours included) during the tourney, she also created and maintains Character Twitter Accounts. And those #SHADEboys? Yes, they are always on and bantering with each other and all of us crazies!! Can NOT wait for #TeamKiltCon. And Yes, I realize I'm not tweeting now and yet I'm hashtagging everything. Represent. It doesn't feel right to not do it. lol!!

Anywho, these authors are MADE OF EPIC. I hope that you can associate me with them even in the slightest :)

Yes! This. & Also. (5)

 A lot of people do these really amazing interview portions and Q&A sessions on their blogs and well, I wanted to get in on it. I love talking to people and so I thought I'd ask some questions and see what happens! Most of them are book related, some are not. It's kind of random, like me. : ) Here's how this breaks down.

I asked a couple people to answer about 15 questions. They didn't have to answer all of them, just whichever one's they wanted. Each Thursday from now until I run out of questions...because I don't do math and haven't figured out the end date for it... : P I'll pick ONE question and post all of the answers!

I managed to nail down some amazing authors and bloggers and I'm SO thankful they agreed to do this with me!! I may ask a bunch of others and keep this going for awhile, but we'll see if you guys like it or not and go from there! Here's who you get to hear from this round!

Anna from Anna Reads
Wendy Delsol, Author of Stork and Frost (Coming out this October!)
 Holly Schindler, Author of A Blue So Deep and Playing Hurt

Tom Sniegoski, Author of Fallen and multiple comic books including co-writing my hubby's fave Punisher: Marvel Knight  AND The Fallen 3: End of Days comes out THIS SEPTEMBER 6!

Tara from Fiction Folio

Round 5!!  

What's the coolest tweet/email you've received?

Interested on being on the interrogation list? Looking for Authors, Bloggers, Readers and Devils Advocates, whatever you've got : )







See my review for Playing Hurt here!



Pre-Order through Amazon for under $10! Click for link!
Also, my review for Stork here!





See my Goodreads review here!



   

@TaraMQ

Any and every tweet by an author sends me into squeels of delight. I think the first author to tweet me was Andrea Cremer and I was beyond stoked.

 

@annareadsbooks



I got a DM from Megan McCafferty on Twitter once that I’ll keep to myself, but it included the phrase “sexy Jesus.” Don’t hear that one every day. She made my day.

@TomSniegoski

I'm still blown away by the folks that e-mail, or tweet about how much they love a particular work, or character from a particular work . . . and the fact that these communications come from all over the world makes it even wilder. 



@wendydelsol



I received an email from a girl in Australia that said, “ Your book was so inspiring that I have started to write my own as a result. I hope that one day my book will have the honor of gracing the shelves with your work.” That particular message really touched me.

 

@holly_schindler

I’ve gotten some great emails from readers who contacted me through my website to tell me that PLAYING HURT is one of, if not their favorite book. 

I also swear that we have just the most beautiful skies ever here in SW Missouri…I’m always talking about it, on the blog, in interviews…I got a tweet from a local blogger a few months ago—we’d had a gorgeous spring day, and she tweeted something like, “I stepped outside today, and thought, ‘These are the skies Holly Schindler’s always talking about!’  Gorgeous!”  I loved that…

Review: The Iron Daughter

The Iron Daughter

Julie Kagawa

Copyright 2010, Harlequin Teen

*** I ALWAYS try not to have spoilers - however - I can make no promises here! If you want to read the book with absolutely NO idea what happens then do not read this! I don't want to ruin it for you!!***

My, Oh, My. In the Iron King we learned that plain Jane, Meghan Chase is actually the daughter of Oberon - the King of the Summer fey. On a journey she takes to Nevernever to rescue her kidnapped little brother she meets Ash (the Winter Prince and coincidentally enough, Swoon Prince) and realizes that her best friend from the mortal world, Rob, is actually Robin Goodfellow aka Puck. We also learn, along with her, that there are new fey in town - Iron Fey who are slowly taking over Nevernever. After battling to defeat the Iron King, Meghan has to follow through with her promise to Ash to be taken back to Winter's court. This is where we pick up with the Iron Daughter.

In Queen Mab's presence things can't get much worse for Meghan. Asking Ash of his feelings for Meghan he blatantly tells the queen that he used her emotions as means to capture her. That what they "had" was nothing. The courts have their tradition and those traditions don't have room for love and heartbreak. It's time for the handing off of the sceptor, a sign of Summer handing over to Winter for the rest of the year. But before the revelry can fully commence, the scepter is stolen. Meghan finds that there's a traitor in the Winter court, one that will take life without thought all in the name of the King. The Iron King. A prince lay slain in his own court and the fingers point to Meghan. She has no choice but to come face to face with Mab's fury. As Meghan is waiting for death the Ice Prince breaks through her frozen cage and offers her rescue. But why should she trust him now?

Between a mess of betrayal, rings of Iron and old ghosts coming back to haunt them, these three friends have to make it through known and unknown, deciding who to trust and when you need to carry on your journey a person short.

On their way to find the sceptor and get it back to Winter, Meghan finds out about Ash's past love - Puck's current love - and about a land of inbetween. We also spend a bit of time with Meghan and just one of her boys at a time! Between them either leaving or being injured there's a lot of character development and room for growth between them individually. We also get internal struggles and the old adage of "love conquers all" is tested - to the extreme.

There's even a whole new cast of characters to be entertained by in The Iron Daughter including an Iron Fey named Ironhorse. He can shift into a more fey-like form or remain a large iron horse, his loyalty and pride runs as hot as the fire in his iron belly. There's also Leanansidhe who reminds me a lot of Queen Sophie-Anne from Trueblood :) She was actually one of my favorite characters to read about and I would looove to hear more about her life!

Somewhere between being accused of stealing the scepter, going off to find it, stopping a war between Summer and Winter, finding an inbetween realm, and Ash almost dying, Julie Kagawa takes us somewhere I certainly never expected her to - High School. A decorated gym. A slow dance.

The choices they've made before seem like nothing compared to what they must do now. Now it's time to choose to fight, risking losing lives to get the scepter back, try to get it to the war before everyone is destroyed and most importantly - deciding if love means enough to risk the exile that comes with it.

The fighting, faery legend, mythical creatures and so on are well placed and extremely interesting but what's the big sell? DUH the swoon factor. The Ice Prince is every bit as smoldering as you thought he might be. The Iron King gave us a preview of what this boy could do to our hearts but be prepared to sigh, gasp and swoon repeatedly in The Iron Daughter!

This is an absolutely terrible review. I know. But I'm SO scared I'm going to give something away and I just CAN'T do that! You need to be as submerged in the story as I was. You need to see the pale expression on Ash's face as he holds a sword to Meghan, you need to feel the spark of desire in the green-eyed gaze of Puck as he moves in for a chance to claim her for his own. I want your heart to break with them at the realization that their options are zilch. And I want you to go out and don't just buy one book at a time, I want you to buy the whole series at once because you will NOT want to wait to hit up a store or the library when you finish with one!

Tune In Tuesday! The Blog Is Mine!

I'm late to the 90's bash, and I wish I wasn't but G started it! G-Reads is rockin!!

This is taking it back to the old school, Me and Makeshift Jen style!! Oh yeah, the backyard was rockin back in Junior High and this one was a major hit. Actually, the whole CD was, but this one was always welcome :)

AND the Glee Edition!!

Debut Author, Jenna-Lynne Duncan talks Hurricane!

It's storm season, y'all! Today we're lucky enough to have debut author Jenna-Lynne Duncan stop by and talk to us about her debut novel, Hurricane.

"I anxiously looked around, my heart palpitating, just in time to see an alligator slink into the green algae covered water that was on either side of us. I swallowed hard, and my heart raced even faster. Alligators were a different type of predator—the one thing I was afraid of. Now I was on my own personal swamp tour. What if my kidnappers left me in the middle of a swamp with five of them creeping up on me? I’ve had that nightmare before and—oh no, if my dreams really are a sign of the future—I couldn’t breathe now."

Adriana couldn’t decide what was worse—that Hurricane Katrina was heading for New Orleans, or that she might not survive her kidnapping to see the potential effects. She had trusted Hayden, even fallen for him, and now he and his brother Luke were taking her deeper and deeper into the Bayou. Why had two of her classmates, the mysterious Boudreaux brothers, kidnapped her? Why had Adriana’s dreams started predicting the future? Most importantly, would she make it out of the Bayou alive…
 -- Goodreads.com




Be her friend on FB too!



Jenna-Lynne and I were lucky enough to meet on Twitter, but I have a feeling 140 characters aren't enough :) Tell us about yourself, Jenna-Lynne!

Hi! Yes it is so good to meet you. I just want to say thank you so much for having me on your blog!

I was born and raised in New Orleans, went to school in MN and have traveled everywhere (and then some!) in between. I live with my wonderful family and still to a bit of traveling.  I have been writing for as long as I can remember but mainly just short stories and poetry. Finally in college I wrote my first novel and here I am. I just graduated so everything is moving so fast! I just submitted my manuscript in April after all!

So awesome! Speaking of college, I saw that you received your degree in Political Science, International and Middle Eastern Sciences - how did you come to that degree?

Having travelled the world at such a young age, I have always been fascinated by it and intrigued by its different cultures and people. I am lucky to have the experiences I’ve had and wanted to put that into use make a difference in the world. Intelligence, Defense, and Diplomacy have interested me since high school where I was President of the Political Science club and held that title into college as well. As far as the Middle Eastern Studies degree, it is such a misunderstood and misconceived part of the world and the Arabic language is deemed as a critical language by the US government.

I love your passion! The Middle East is definitely someplace that I have to admit I know very little about! But back to the book :) How was your novel born? In a sort of vision? Inspiration from a song or TV Clip?

Dreams. The plot was originally from a short story I wrote when I was younger but once the characters got into my head they wouldn’t get out so a lot of the details came to me in dreams.



Clicking picture will take you to Hurricane's website!



Pesky characters :) Tell me, can we expect a fair amount of swoon? Kissing? (A must for most of my favorite books lol!)

Most definitely, and plenty of forbidden romance.

What kind of books do you like to read?

I read mostly young adult novels but have read some adult/crossover. I love any kind of romance novels and dystopian.

Is there an author who you feel has helped shape the author you've become?

I first started reading young adult novels in college and that really inspired me to write in that genre. I wouldn’t say there is any one author that has shaped me. The works that were inspiration to Hurricane are Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and Homer’s Odyssey.

That's big inspiration!! Getting published is a ton of work, what's it been like for you?

This is going to sound bad but I went on a website called Writer’s Market and had started to submit alphabetically. Divertir Publishing was one of the first on that list and that was in April so here I am a few months later! That is why I had said everything is moving so fast! I haven’t even had a chance to stop and really think about it. I believe I got really lucky but in my defense, I had done the research and was prepared to put in the work, time and waiting.

That's fast!! You must have awesome characters and a great story! What can you tell us about your main character, Adriana?

I think a lot of people will like her as heroine. She is intelligent, mature, has travelled the world, and is a scuba diver. She is a bit complex so you don’t see this right away. Her circumstances have forced her to keep her guard up. She is motherless and has transferred to her high school, Ecole Classique, her sophomore year when all the cliques have already been formed.

Upped Guard + Mysterious Boys = Recipe for Swoon. Good call :)

Between the dreams and the awesome heroine, what was the most fun part of writing this novel?

The kidnapping scene! I don’t always write in order and the kidnapping scene was the first thing I wrote!

I saw that you are planning a series - same characters or different?

Yes, I am! I am already on the second book with an outline for the third. It will be the same characters and when you read the end of the book you’ll know why!

I don't know about you guys, but I can't wait to read this one! Thanks SO much to Jenna-Lynne for playing along with me! And the very best of luck to her!! If you guys are interested, and I know you are, here are the links to Barnes and Noble and Amazon so you can have your copy shipped ASAP!

Also, follow Jenna-Lynne on Twitter like I do here.

FRIDAY!! Thank God. Now, follow me!

I've been a bit absent on Fridays, I hope you'll all forgive me :) Football season is about to pick up and so I am sure to be extra caffenated and extra hyper. I'm hoping that translates to TONS of fun postings. We shall see. Anywho.

First things first, Parajunkee's chosen blogger this month is Emma from Belle Books! I like the way she thinks :) She's got some great book choices and innovative thoughts for the answer of the question for this week!

The Question over at Parajunkee for this week's Follow My Blog Friday is as follows:

Q. If you could write yourself a part in a book, what book would it be and what role would you play in that book?

Oh. My. Gosh. I don't even know where to go with this. My immediate thought is GREAT AND TERRIBLE BEAUTY!! But then I can't decide what role I'd want to play in it...I think I might befriend Gemma Doyle and help her with her powers and friends, or maybe I'd kill her and take her place. I have a sincere love for Kartik, you know!




The AMAZING Libba Bray drew this for me :) I died a bit.


Second thought: I want to be Rose from Vampire Academy. I want to kick some serious butt, make out hardcore with Dimitri and save the world, one Strigoi at a time. But then...I couldn't deal with being on duty all the time. I think that's where Rose and I differ a tad. I'm sure I'd be protective of my friend but I sure would like some quiet time to myself...with Dimitri...hehe :)

I COULD say I'd jump into the Shade series and thieve Zachary away....Because I would. I love him. Dearly. But from the Twitter conversations I keep seeing, I think some of you might beat me to it... lol!

So, in a nutshell these are my sporadic thoughts, greatly inspired by hott guys with accents...maybe I have a problem. lol! But in all cases they are also strong female leads that I really identify with, as different as they may seem.

What book are you writing yourself into!?

AND the lovely Ginger has posed us this question today:

The Reviews We Don't Write: Have you ever read a book and not wanted to review it? Are some books too personal that we want to keep our thoughts our own?



As you've probably noticed, I am an open book. There isn't anything I won't talk to you about and I'm quite open. Opinionated as hell, yes. But open. There are some things in life I'm good at, holding things in isn't one of them.

A book that hit me on an extremely personal level is likely to get a very lengthy review, one that is full of insights to my life that you don't care to know about :) For instance, The Immortal Series by Alyson Noel. These books quite literally saved my life. I don't care if you love them or hate them, I love them - they were my comfort when I had none. Nightshade/Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer. Again - too close of a call with some of the lingering feelings and love triangle business. Been there. Sucks. Not goin back. lol! But I feel the characters and for whatever reason I feel the need to explain myself and my feelings to all of you :)

It's a trully gifted author who can make us feel the way so many of our favorites do. Sometimes I am at a loss for words though, in such times you'll see reviews with things like this posted:

alkdjfladjfjnfoaj!!!KJO!IU(!)

Generally, this is a positive review. lol!!

OK it's an hour past my bedtime :) and like stated football starts tomorrow!! yay! Hope y'all have a great Friday!!

Yes! This. And Also. (4)

 A lot of people do these really amazing interview portions and Q&A sessions on their blogs and well, I wanted to get in on it. I love talking to people and so I thought I'd ask some questions and see what happens! Most of them are book related, some are not. It's kind of random, like me. : ) Here's how this breaks down.

I asked a couple people to answer about 15 questions. They didn't have to answer all of them, just whichever one's they wanted. Each Thursday from now until I run out of questions...because I don't do math and haven't figured out the end date for it... : P I'll pick ONE question and post all of the answers!

I managed to nail down some amazing authors and bloggers and I'm SO thankful they agreed to do this with me!! I may ask a bunch of others and keep this going for awhile, but we'll see if you guys like it or not and go from there! Here's who you get to hear from this round!

Anna from Anna Reads
Wendy Delsol, Author of Stork and Frost (Coming out this October!)
 Holly Schindler, Author of A Blue So Deep and Playing Hurt

Tom Sniegoski, Author of Fallen and multiple comic books including co-writing my hubby's fave Punisher: Marvel Knight  AND The Fallen 3: End of Days comes out THIS SEPTEMBER 6!

Tara from Fiction Folio

Round 4's Question is:

Reading vs Writing (Blogging,Reviewing all count as writing!) - Where do you lose yourself the most?

@TomSniegoski

Most definitely the writing . . . reading is purely a relaxation technique these days . . . can't go to sleep without reading a few chapters of whatever I'm currently reading.  The writing is all encompassing . . . I spend mostly all day, seven days a week, on the current writing project . . . talk about being lost.

@annareadsbooks

EDITING! Is that an option? I’m a professional writer/editor/Web producer and could talk for a long, long time about proper hyphenation and things of that nature. (Don’t worry – I’ll spare you.) I love all things words, and there’s nothing more beautiful to me than finding the perfectly combo of words and punctuation  to communicate precisely what you want to say. I think it’s an art.

@wendydelsol

Definitely writing. I often use the word fueled to describe my first-draft process. When deep into a story, no walk, shower, or car ride is without the company of an entire cast of characters (which can make the showers a little interesting!).

@TaraMQ

I love it when I finish a book and it inspires me to write anything and everything I can think of about the story. The best books for me are the ones that force me to think and feel in a way that I wasn't expecting. The more emotional, heartfelt, and dramarama, the better! 

@holly_schindler

That’s such a tough call!  My gut reaction is to say writing…But then I remember those books I’ve loved—those storylines that I found so absorbing, I forgot the world around me…and I have to say it’s probably a tie.

AMEN! Such good answers! As someone who reads and writes I think it's a toss up too...that and talking to people about what I'm writing...that's pretty encompassing. lol

 

Interested on being on the interrogation list? Looking for Authors, Bloggers, Readers and Devils Advocates, whatever you've got : )







See my review for Playing Hurt here!



Pre-Order through Amazon for under $10! Click for link!
Also, my review for Stork here!





See my Goodreads review here!



   

Review: The Iron King

The Iron King

Julie Kagawa

Copyright 2010, Harlequin Teen

In the hit Disney TV show, Wizards of Waverly Place Alex Russo is forced to be in a schools rendition of Peter Pan. As she (Tinker Bell) lay dramatically dying she proclaims to the audience that she might live "If the boys and girls believe in me" - this is supposed to induce applause from the crowd that helps her to heal.
Unfortunately, that's all I could think about whenever Kagawa's characters would talk about Nevernever fading away if the mortal world ceased to believe in them. Once I was able to try and block Selena Gomez from my mind, however, I was able to see the world Kagawa created quite vividly.

(See time 1:42ish for the exact scene I'm talking about! And Yes. I realize I'm old and still love tween shows. Sue me. They're fun.)

Meghan Chase is just a 15 year old girl whose mother tore her away from her life and memories after her dad disappeared. Meghan's the last person to see him, but what she saw is almost impossible - he walked into a lake in a park - never to be seen again. If only that were the extent of her problems. Today is her 16th birthday, the day her crush will notice her and the day her mom will take her for her drivers permit. Today the lowely step daughter of a pig farmer will start to forge a new life for herself - or so she thinks. Life isn't a fairy tale guys, and your 16th birthday doesn't mean you get to change the world. Her crush is a jerk, her permit has to wait and only Meghan's good friend Robbie is able to make her smile.

Robbie's been around for as long as she can remember and though he's goofy and always pulling pranks, he is a great source of comfort and she can't imagine life without him. When he comes over to cheer her up for her birthday, Meghans life is in chaos. Her mom slipped and hit her head, laying knocked out on the kitchen floor. Her brother is very noticably different and her step-father who doesn't even seem to remember her now has her babysitting the crazy little boy while he takes her mom to the hospital. So much for birthday festivities.

Noticing her brother's change is one thing but when he turns ultra violent, Robbie lets in on a tiny secret. She's not all of who she thinks she is, this kid isn't her brother at all and he himself is definitely not who he's let on. Robbie is actually the famous Robin Goodfellow from A Mid Summer Nights Dream. His immortality seems to come from his fame, the songs and poems written about him keeping him strong. And he's her bodyguard. Her father is Oberon - King of the Summer Court. If Meghan wants to see her real brother again she'll have to enter Nevernever and travel throughout it to find him.

After risking life and limb to make it to Oberon she finally gets one on one with Ash. FINALLY. I'll admit, with a lack of worthy swoons I have a hard time reading, Ash's entrance was a welcome surprise and the rest of the book picks up considerably.

Besides trying not to die and promising favors to just about all she meets there is also an undeniable chemistry between she and Ash. His pale skin and dark features are merely highlight to his personality. He's a challenge, the kind of closed of reserved type that you just know has a history behind it, the kind that makes for the greatest long lasting loves - and did I mention that he's a prince? *swoon*
Anyway, I'll be reading on through the series that everyone loves so much but I'm not sure I'm seeing how there are different teams. I keep hearing Team Puck, Team Ash but as far as I'm concerned from book 1...Team Ash. Without a doubt :)

Check back soon for my thoughts on The Iron Daughter!

Tune In Tuesday!

Tune in Tuesday is a weekly meme from G-Reads where we can all add considerably to our playlists :)
She's been doing a 90's theme but I wanted to pop out one more Audrey song, at least!

Ohh what to tune in to this week...hmm...well, it hasn't failed me yet. Audrey, what say you?

Mew, 156

History lesson, shall we? You all know I wrestle. The first fed I valeted for was called Maniak Enterprise Wrestling. If you look it up...I'm not proud. lol! But it was a break and it was with my then boyfriend-now husband. So now, I turn back to Audrey and the band Mew...(the initials of my past wrestling fed).

156
From my boat I can see your house
And when the lights are on
I can watch you move
Hear the wind whispering your name
Twice the encouragement
Of the real you
Callie if you really want me to
I can always get you down
If you got the money for me
Callie in the summer rain
You will be kept dry you see
If you got the money for me
Making amends for distant wrong
Sincere
You can run away
Leave your books behind you
But you should look back twice
Just to be on the safe side
From my boat I can see your house
But now the lights are off
And there is no one home
You are just like an avalanche
Cold as I might have guessed
But at least I'm covered up for now
In a big, big way
I am really small
I get off my feet
But I'm still distant
Don't you just love goodbyes?
Callie let us get it over with
I can always get you down
If you got the money for me
Callie in the summer rain
You will be kept dry you see
If you got the money for me
Most of our lives we try so hard
To find the time
I won't care for you
Like I'm really supposed to
There are things I'll do
That could really hurt you
Don't you just love goodbyes?
156

Big thanks back to AZLyrics for always having what I'm looking for!

The name confused me so I looked up the forums to see what it was about...turns out that no one knew. Some say it's the number of the devils whore, some say it's a road or a house number. IDK. I'm just glad that Audrey is continuously bringing songs and bands that I don't recognize into my playlist :)

What did you guys come up with?

Review: Perfect Chemistry

Perfect Chemistry

Simone Elkeles

Copywrite 2009, Walker Publishing Company 

Like. Eww. I so do NOT want to be partners with that gang-banger.

But holy heck is he hott... 

Yep. Brittany is in for the ride of her life when tough teacher Mrs. P comes in the first day of senior year and announces that for the remainder of the year you will be working with the parter she assigns you. The alphabet's mysterious ways leave Alex and Brit as unwanted partners. What starts as a joke about their project quickly turns into more than either of them bargained for.

I love books set in/around Chicago. I've been there, I know the people, it's lovely really. I didn't even realize this book was set there or I may have picked it up sooner :) To be honest, the cover scared me a bit. I'm a big dirty joke teller but to read about the sexy times makes me blush. At the Britney Spears concert I (more than one time) had to look away from the "dancing" because well...it wasn't a moment I felt I should be privvy to. Some books make me feel the same way, I was afraid that's what this would be. But I was wrong. The swoon and sexy-time portions of this book are incredibly tasteful and meaningful.

As far as stereo-typical, well, it's no holds barred for the most part. Pretty blonde white girl, full of innocense, captain of the pom squad is dating (quite unhappily as of late) the star football player. Both are "perfect" with "perfect lives" and lots of money.

Alex (Alejandro) is from the wrong side of the tracks and is a member of the Latino Bloods - a gang. *cue dangerous bad boy*  I may be wrong but an over-cocky bad boy is kinda my thing. I could totally see me ditching the football player, pronto. However, Brit has a lot of expectations to live up to and well, she's not me.

I don't want to spoil any part of the book. There are some really deep issues going on and especially, for me at least, dealing with the gang's presence and knowing you're in for life...that's scary stuff. I can't wait until Simone Elkeles comes to Naperville next month, I have to hear her background. The way she navigates so smoothly between the two sub-cultures is flawless and the book was a dangerously easy read. Don't pick it up thinking you can read a chapter or two before bed. Trust me. Next thing you know it'll be 2 am and you'll be chanting "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" while cursing yourself for staying up so late.

It's more than just a swoon book guys, there's some real stuff going on and while the swoon/sexy times are SO worth it - there's more to this book than meets the cover :)

Simone will be at Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville on September 13, 2011 at 7 pm! I for one, am not planning on missing this one!

Yes! This. And Also. (3)


 A lot of people do these really amazing interview portions and Q&A sessions on their blogs and well, I wanted to get in on it. I love talking to people and so I thought I'd ask some questions and see what happens! Most of them are book related, some are not. It's kind of random, like me. : ) Here's how this breaks down.

I asked a couple people to answer about 15 questions. They didn't have to answer all of them, just whichever one's they wanted. Each Thursday from now until I run out of questions...because I don't do math and haven't figured out the end date for it... : P I'll pick ONE question and post all of the answers!

I managed to nail down some amazing authors and bloggers and I'm SO thankful they agreed to do this with me!! I may ask a bunch of others and keep this going for awhile, but we'll see if you guys like it or not and go from there! Here's who you get to hear from this round!

Anna from Anna Reads
Wendy Delsol, Author of Stork and Frost (Coming out this October!)
 Holly Schindler, Author of A Blue So Deep and Playing Hurt

Tom Sniegoski, Author of Fallen and multiple comic books including co-writing my hubby's fave Punisher: Marvel Knight

Tara from Fiction Folio

This weeks question is:

If you could take a picture with any character from literature, who would it be? What's the background look like?

@Holly_Schindler

She’s not a character, but I’d probably go with Emily Dickinson.  The background would be a scene from her world, her time frame.  Such an intriguing figure…

@annareads

Marcus Flutie from Megan McCafferty’s Jessica Darling series, and this is why: I have ZERO mental image of what the guy looks like. None. Five books, and I can’t imagine him. Red dreads? That are still cute? Until there’s a movie or this magical picture thing you speak of happens, I’ll continue to wonder.

@TaraMQ

HARRY POTTER. Without question. We would be hanging out like the BFFs we are with Hogsmeade in the background while we sip butterbeer and chill with Ron, Hermione, and Hagrid. Yes, I am a nerd.

@wendydelsol

OK, so I have to be consistent in that any back-in-time question delivers me to Jane Austen’s Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. The backdrop would be a country dance where behind me fumes a jilted Lizzie Bennett.

Seriously. That last one is TOTALLY what I would do. Darcy FTW. lol!!

Interested on being on the interrogation list? Looking for Authors, Bloggers, Readers and Devils Advocates, whatever you've got : )







See my review for Playing Hurt here!



Pre-Order through Amazon for under $10! Click for link!
Also, my review for Stork here!





See my Goodreads review here!



   

Tune in Tuesday! Audrey pushes on!

Tune in Tuesdays is hosted by Ginger over at G-Reads

Last week I picked a song from my favorite chapter of Audrey, wait! So I thought this week I thought I'd pick a random chapter because, let's be honest - that book has amazing music selections. So I flipped the book open and of course, it goes straight to chapter 22. Which made me laugh because, well, that was last weeks song. So I skipped ahead a few pages and saw "Fidelity" by Regina Spektor and I was all: OH I've never heard that song before! WRONG-O! I just didn't realize who sang it and what it was called. I dare you to click the link and listen to a minute of the song if you don't remember it off hand - and if you do remember it well - you're screwed too. This catchy little number will be in all of our heads for the rest of the day! You're welcome. Lol!!

Regina Spektor

"Fidelity"
Lyrics provided by AZLyrics!
(Shake it up)

I never loved nobody fully
Always one foot on the ground
And by protecting my heart truly
I got lost in the sounds
I hear in my mind
All these voices
I hear in my mind all these words
I hear in my mind all this music

And it breaks my heart
And it breaks my heart
And it breaks my heart
It breaks my heart

And suppose I never ever met you
Suppose we never fell in love
Suppose I never ever let you kiss me so sweet and so soft
Suppose I never ever saw you
Suppose we never ever called
Suppose I kept on singing love songs just to break my own fall
Just to break my fall
Just to break my fall
Break my fall
Break my fall

All my friends say that of course its gonna get better
Gonna get better
Better better better better
Better better better

I never love nobody fully
Always one foot on the ground
And by protecting by heart truly
I got lost
In the sounds
I hear in my mind
All these voices
I hear in my mind all these words
I hear in my mind
All this music
And it breaks my heart
It breaks my heart

I hear in my mind all of these voices
I hear in my mind all of these words
I hear in my mind all of this music

Breaks my
Heart
Breaks my heart

Seriously good song though, right?! And think of all the books it applies to! Yesterday I posted my review for Flecks of Gold and I could kinda picture Mary singing this song too! Good deal!

Review: Flecks of Gold

Flecks of Gold

Alicia Buck

Copyright 2010, Published by Bonneville Books

Mary is somewhat of a social outcast, which is ok with her. Her father left before she was born, as far as she knows he never knew his wife was even pregnant, and since then she's been keeping her mom afloat- helping schedule out bill payments and trying to be helpful. But Fiona (mom) doesn't make it very easy on her, she's a great and supportive mom but her work as an artist isn't always regular and her knack for attracting dirt bag boyfriends has put them on the move more than once.

Joe was the last straw. When the big jerk laid his hands on them Mary see's a familiar golden lacing in her minds eye as she pushes Joe - throwing him against a wall. Fiona and Mary take of for Arizona to escape. Used to being alone, Mary is surprised when attractive and popular Kelson is solely interested in her. Something's not right, there's a haze that comes over her and she finds herself compelled to do as he says when he's around. Something in her mind though, tells her it's not right and she fights with him to clear her head. When she does she finds that he's not exactly from earth and he spins a magic lacing that allows him to travel away from Mary - taking her mom with him.

When Mary tries to recreate the lacing she ends up in what she assumes is a third world country. There's not electricity, cars or even chocolate! She has to pursue a journey through magic and politics to try and rescue her mom from this madman. Along the way she meets a couple of interesting characters, one that is relentlessly trying to win her affections and the seemingly brooding and serious heir to a kingdom. These two boys travel with her, disguise her and teach her the customs of their home planet. While Mary is in a kingdom, their King is trying to find her mom and a snobby girl with a crush on Breeohan (enter brooding/serious guy) tries to make her life even more crazy.

Jen sent this book to me, suspecting I might like it. I'll confess that there are some hindering facts to reading it BUT push past them because this is a really good story to be told. The hinderance that I had came from a feeling of a bit too much detail. I think Buck was just trying to visualize the world she created and wanted us to see it as clearly as she did but it wore me down a bit. The characters make up for it though and getting to know them was entertaining! I really liked Breeohan, he was serious with the right touch of fun and wit. I confess, I'm small minded and so every time I hear of a "kingdom" I automatically imagine them to all have British accents. I'm sorry, all Princes should be British. Scratch that. All men should be British. Or Scottish. Or Russian. I like yummy accents. I digress.

I believe this is a self published book but I did some research and you can purchase it from Amazon in the least! If you're like me you'll be wanting a bit more kissing but the slowly developing love is swoon worthy and the overall story is pretty feel good! I would recommend a pick up of this book! Just remember to go all the way with Buck and really take the time to picture everything or skim past some of the detail - just don't skim over the characters! Their development and personalities are an intrigue you won't want to miss and I guarantee you won't appreciate the story like you should if you do!