Teaser Tuesdays - Hot Blooded

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: - Grab your current read - Open to a random page - Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) - Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!



"I realize I'm being slightly irrational." I took a step away from the vehicle. "But, honestly, a yellow monster truck was the plan you felt most confident going with?"
(page 51, Hot Blooded by Amanda Carlson)

RAK Round Up and Sign Up

Another RAK month has come to a close and a new one started.
I received one RAK in June: Across The Universe from Kathrin

Thanks Kathrin!

I myself send one really stealthy and secret RAK to an unsuspecting participant of RAK. I hope she enjoys it.

As always I'm signing up for another months of RAK.
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RAK:

The RAK movement (=Random Acts of Kindness): it is an initiative organized by the Ladies at the Book Soulmates where everyone posts their whislists and then other people realize one (or more) wishes of a person. Meaning that they send some books to the lucky person they picked! Doesn't it sound fabulous?

Rules:

• Sign up each month you'd like to participate in.

• Show off your participation! Grab one of the buttons available :)

• Create a wish list and post it in the Google Doc located in each R.A.K post for the month.
{Post on your blog, Amazon, where ever as long as there's a link to it.}

• If you choose to do a R.A.K for someone, check out their wish list and contact that blogger for their address.

• At the end of the month, SHOW US YOUR R.A.K!

• Make a post saying 'Thank You' to whoever granted one of your wishes and share it with us :)

OPEN TO EVERYONE!

Let's keep our International bloggers in mind and in our hearts.

Remember, there's always the Book Depository and they offer FREE shipping!

TBR Orphans Challenge Update 6

I failed miserably this month in trying to read a book that has been in my tbr-pile for more than 3 months. I blame all my cool new books for not picking up Made To Be Broken or another book that's been on my shelves for some time.

I hope I have more luck in July and manage to get some orphans read.

Forsaken by the Others - Early book Review

Forsaken by the Others (H&W Investigations #5)
by Jess Haines

What is it about:
The Others–vampires, werewolves, things that go chomp in the night–don’t just live in nightmares anymore. They’ve joined with the mortal world. And for private investigator Shiarra Waynest, that means mayhem…

Have a one night stand with a vampire, and you can end up paying for it for eternity. P.I. Shiarra Waynest, an expert on the Others, knows that better than most. Yet here she is, waking up beside charismatic vamp Alec Royce with an aching head…and neck. Luckily, Shia has the perfect excuse for getting out of town–namely, a couple of irate East Coast werewolf packs who’d like to turn her into a chew toy.

On Royce’s suggestion, Shia temporarily relocates to Los Angeles. But something is rotten–literally–in the state of California, where local vampires are being attacked by zombies. Who could be powerful enough to control them–and reckless enough to target the immortal? Following the trail will lead Shia to a terrifying truth, and to an ancient enemy with a personal grudge…

What did I think of it:
I will confess I have been looking forward to this book for a long time, because I knew there would be zombies in it! So I was very happy when I received an ARC from Jess Haines.

And the zombies are awesome!

Not just the zombies either btw, the whole book is a winner.

The story is cool and action-packed. After a slow, but enjoyable start that had Voodoo Bride drooling (Royce!) the story gathered speed and from there on out it was a cool thrillride. Shia manages to find trouble without even looking for it and soon she has to use all her wit to survive.

There are conspiracies, danger at every corner, cool new characters and zombies galore. I especially liked the vampire Jimmy Thrane and his coterie/gang of misfit vampires. I hope they'll be in future books as well.

The ending was even more shocking and frustrating than the ending of book 3 (Deceived by the Others) in my opinion and I'm already yearning for book six to find out what happens next.

If you haven't started this series yet: you should. This is a great and fun series with lots of intense action and cool characters.

Why should you read it:
It's an awesome Urban Fantasy read with zombies.



Official release date: 2 July, but already available now at bookdepository.

On McPig's Wishist - White Space

Those of you who followed me over last week to All Things Urban Fantasy or read my raving reviews of Ashes and Shadows might not be surprised that this book is high on my wishlist:


White Space
by Ilsa J. Bick

Ilsa Bick’s WHITE SPACE, pitched as The Matrix meets Inkheart, about a seventeen-year-old girl who jumps between the lines of books and into the white space where realities are created and destroyed – but who may herself be nothing more than a character written into being from an alternative universe, to Greg Ferguson at Egmont, in a two-book deal, by Jennifer Laughran at Andrea Brown Literary Agency (NA)

Expected publication: February 11th 2014 by Egmont USA

Insomnia - Book Review

Insomnia (The Night Walkers #1)
by J.R. Johansson

What is it about:
Her eyes saved his life.
Her dreams released his darkness.

After four years of sleeplessness, high school junior Parker Chipp can't take much more. Every night, instead of sleeping, he enters the dreams of the last person he's made eye contact with. If he doesn't sleep soon, Parker will die.

Then he meets Mia. Her dreams, calm and beautifully uncomplicated, allow him blissful rest that is utterly addictive. But what starts out as a chance meeting turns into an obsession; Parker's furious desire for what he needs pushes him to extremes he never thought he'd go. And when someone begins to terrorizing Mia with twisted death threats, Parker's memory blackouts leave him doubting his own innocence.

What did I think of it:
This is a cool read.

I will confess I expected this book to be scary (Parker sees other people's nightmares and such after all) but I can't say it was. Not that that was a bad thing. This is a really cool and intriguing story even without scary stuff.

I myself am a very bad sleeper, so I could relate to Parker who tries everything to get some real sleep. His attempts may be questionable at times, but his despair is so well written I thought his behaviour was believable.

There were some minor things that bugged me, but overall this is a really suspenseful and enticing read. I will confess I sniffed out what was happening long before Parker had even a clue, but that didn't diminish my enjoyment in the story.

The ending tied up some storylines, but also left a lot of things open, not in a frustrating way luckily enough. I will put this book on my keeper shelves and I'll keep an eye out for the next book.

Why should you read it:
It's a cool and enjoyable Paranormal YA read.

Ink - Release Day Review

Today is the release day of Ink, so I'm reposting my review of Ink today:


Ink (The Paper Gods #1)
by Amanda Sun

What is it about:
--I looked down at the paper, still touching the tip of my shoe. I reached for it, flipping the page over to look.

Scrawls of ink outlined a drawing of a girl lying on a bench.

A sick feeling started to twist in my stomach, like motion sickness.

And then the girl in the drawing turned her head, and her inky eyes glared straight into mine.--

On the heels of a family tragedy, the last thing Katie Greene wants to do is move halfway across the world. Stuck with her aunt in Shizuoka, Japan, Katie feels lost. Alone. She doesn’t know the language, she can barely hold a pair of chopsticks, and she can’t seem to get the hang of taking her shoes off whenever she enters a building.

Then there’s gorgeous but aloof Tomohiro, star of the school’s kendo team. How did he really get the scar on his arm? Katie isn’t prepared for the answer. But when she sees the things he draws start moving, there’s no denying the truth: Tomo has a connection to the ancient gods of Japan, and being near Katie is causing his abilities to spiral out of control. If the wrong people notice, they'll both be targets.

Katie never wanted to move to Japan—now she may not make it out of the country alive.

What did I think of it:
This is a very cool read.

I loved the Japanese setting. I'm a big fan of Anime series like Azumanga Daioh, so I was really excited to read a YA book set in Japan. It gave the book a fresh feel and I loved reading about the customs and the way of life in Shizuoka.

Katie is a fun heroine, I did shake my head over some of her actions, but mostly she's likeable and resourceful. Her friends were fun as well, and my only complaint about them would be that they didn't get much screen time.

And then there is Tomohiro of course. He's mysterious and dangerous. At first I thought Katie was crazy for trying to discover his secrets, but he started to grow on me and soon I could understand why Katie was trying to get to know him.

The story itself is intriguing and full of mystery, danger and betrayal. Katie gets a lot of trouble thrown her way and she will have to figure out what is going on and who she can trust to survive.

All in all this is a surprisingly fresh and unique YA read and I very much enjoyed reading it. I will most certainly keep an eye out for book two. The trouble however with getting my hands on an Advance Reader Copy is that I'll have to wait a long time for the next book.

Why should you read it:
It's a fun and intriguing YA read set in Japan