Weekly Wrap Up(04/16/11)

 

reviews

Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Quick review for the Jaz Parks series

posts

Teaser Tuesday

Waiting On Wednesday

giveaways

Eternal Rider

Never A Gentleman

The Sweetest Thing

Happy Blogoversary Giftcard Giveaway  

(ends Sunday!)

my week

Wow! This week I've read Once Bitten, Twice Shy, Another One Bites The Dust, Biting The Bullet, Bitten To Death, One More Bite & Bite Marks by Jennifer Rardin! I am almost finished with the books that have been published and almost ready to move onto the ARC, The Deadliest Bite, woohoo! I finished listening to Suzanne Brockmann's Ladies Man on audio (does that count toward number of books read? hmmm...) and started listening to Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts. I bought a bike last week, so I've been listening while I ride to the library. It's really nice! But it's been raining off & on since yesterday and I'm feeling claustrophobic! LOL!

Jennifer Rardin...

If you've been reading the blog at all this week, then you know that I've just found & fallen in love with Jennifer Rardin's Jaz Parks series. I went to her website today and learned that she passed away in September 2010. R.I.P. Ms. Rardin, you were a talented woman! Thanks for a great series.

quick review for the Jaz Parks seriesbooks 2-4

Jaz Parks has enough trouble in her personal life. What she doesn't need is more trouble with her vampire boss and another mission. This time she has to retrieve a vital piece of biotechnology by killing the maniac who stole it: an ancient Chinese vamp. Their cover in this mission: professional entertainers at the Corpus Christi's Winter Festival.

The crew's all here: a psychic, a techno-wizard, a singing vampire, a juggling PI, and Jaz. Holy crap in a bottomless well, Jaz is going to bellydance. It's definitely, probably, quite possibly going to be the end of the world as we know it.

 This is a mission unlike anything my vampire boss, Vayl, and I have ever been on. It's not our usual take them out and run; it's an undercover mission that needs the whole gang: a psychic, an interpreter, and a weapons specialist. We're joining a Special Ops team to nail the Wizard, a major terrorist thorn in the military's side. We've never gone in with such heavy artillery before, but the more the merrier, right? Um . . . nope. At least not since Vayl and I learned part of our job is to ferret out a mole concealed in our unit.
To add to our problems, we're being harried by a pack of reavers bent on revenge, and targeted by a Seer who wants to share Vayl's power - at any cost. Oh yeah, and let's not forget the army of demonic, soul-sucking parasites either. This is going to be a blast.

Jaz Parks here. My latest mission has taken me to the ancient Greek city of Patras; but instead of soaking up its splendor, I'm here to infiltrate a Vampere Trust. Only two vamps have ever escaped the tightly bound communities and lived to tell the tale: Edward "The Raptor" Samos, the most reviled criminal mastermind in recent memory, and Vayl, the CIA's number one assassin who also happens to be my boss. The Raptor is trying to take over Vayl's former Trust. Unfortunately the Trust's new leader has her own plans.

This job is going to be the death of me.

my thoughts~ I can't believe I'm hooked on another series! I need to stop! lol! I love the premise of these books. Jaz is the assistant to Vayl, the CIA's number one assassin, who just so happens to be a Vampire. In these books, Jaz & Vayl are getting closer (just not close enough, *wink wink*) and fulfilling their jobs the CIA is sending them on. I find these books hilariously entertaining and quick witted reads. Jaz is a kick ass heroine that keeps me laughing out loud.

Waiting On Wednesday(04/13/11)

If I Die by Rachel Vincent

 Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Harlequin; Original edition (September 20, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373210329

Nope, there isn't even a cover yet, but I'm anxiously awaiting If I Die!

Teaser Tuesday (04/12/11)

Teaser Tuesday is weekly meme hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading! It's a great way to check out what your fellow bloggers are reading. Anyone can play! Here are the rules:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from the page. PLEASE DON'T INCLUDE SPOILERS!
• Share the author and title of the book so that others can add it to their TBR list if they want.

my teaser~
"Sometimes the best way to win a brawl is never begin it in the first place."
"Yeah, sure," I said. "People are so good at that."
 
Biting The Bullet (Jaz Parks series) by Jennifer Rardin
eBook, page 105

Blog Tour & Giveaway!Eternal Rider by Larissa Ione

They are here. They ride. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
His name is Ares, and the fate of mankind rests on his powerful shoulders. If he falls to the forces of evil, the world falls too. As one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, he is far stronger than any mortal, but even he cannot fight his destiny forever. Not when his own brother plots against him.
Yet there is one last hope. Gifted in a way other humans can't-or won't-understand, Cara Thornhart is the key to both this Horseman's safety and his doom. But involving Cara will prove treacherous, even beyond the maddening, dangerous desire that seizes them the moment they meet. For staving off eternal darkness could have a staggering cost: Cara's life.

I began writing the way so many writers do—the moment I learned to wield a pencil. But even as a child, I didn't write "kid" stories. I preferred something more dramatic. Something that didn't include Dick, Jane, and a dog named Spot. I wanted my characters to be named Dracula and my dogs to have names like White Fang or Cujo. I'll always have my parents to thank for that. They never censored my reading material (though I suspect that if they had truly known what was between the covers of some of the books, they'd have been a little more careful,) so when other girls my age were reading Laura Ingalls Wilder and Judy Blume, I was immersing myself in Stephen King and Dean Koontz.
Later, after I'd joined the Air Force and was in dire need of something to read between shifts at the weather station, I continued to read horror, but I'd branched out into fantasy, and then, finally, romance (though I admit I went kicking and screaming to the latter.)
Turned out that I loved romance! So I started writing it, but again, my style and voice leaned toward the dark, paranormal side. Fortunately for me, paranormal romance, as a sub-genre, was booming. I let my imagination fly, and soon I'd sold a series of dark, sexy paranormal romances to Grand Central Publishing.
I still read a lot of horror, science fiction, and fantasy, and in fact, one of my all time favorite books about writing is On Writing, by my favorite childhood horror author, Stephen King. If you're an author or a reader, I highly recommend this book for an insight into an author's mind—which can sometimes be a very scary place.
Go ahead; Seduce your dark side.

Larissa's Sites:

• LarissaIone.com
• Larissa Ione's MySpace page
• Goodreads
• @larissaione
• Facebook

Once Bitten, Twice Shyby Jennifer Rardin

Jaz Parks is an assistant assassin who works for the CIA. She and her boss, Vayl, have just received an assignment to meet, assess, and neutralize a Miami plastic surgeon with some disturbing supernatural connection. A spunky tale with real bite.



my thoughts~ Once Bitten, Twice Shy is the first book in the Jaz Parks series by Jennifer Rardin. I thought it was great! I loved meeting Jaz, Vayl (of course!), Bergman...well the list could go on & on! Jaz is an assassin with the CIA that excels at her job. Vayl, the CIA's golden boy, err, 300 year old Vampire, requests that she become his assistant. This book is set six months after the request & they have been working really well together. Jaz has been experiencing black outs and keeping them from everyone else. She had a traumatic experience awhile back and she doesn't remember much from it. The current assignment is to take out a guy that is the front for a terrorist cell. He's a world famous surgeon who lies and gets people to donate money to 'help' pay the cost of surgeries for children with disfigurements. He is actually working with vamps to bring out The Red Plague, a plague that will wipe out the weakest humans.

In My Mailbox04/10/11)

Bought~
Mr. Darcy Vampyre by Amanda Grange (eBook)
Mr. Darcy, Vampyre starts where Pride and Prejudice ends and introduces a dark family curse so perfectly that the result is a delightfully thrilling, spine-chilling, breathtaking read. A dark, poignant and visionary continuation of Austen's beloved story, this tale is full of danger, darkness and immortal love.


Library~

Under The Boss's Mistletoe by Jessica Hart 
In high school, Jake Trevelyan was Cassie Grey's dream rebel. He surfed, rode a motorbike--now he's her new boss!
It's events planner Cassie's job to transform Jake's mansion into a snow-kissed wedding venue. Not to relive her old fantasy they're the ones getting married. Posing as the happy couple for a publicity photo shoot, Cassie pinches herself as Jake leans in for a show-stopping kiss...but it's just for the cameras, isn't it?
Selfish Is The Heart by Megan Hart
To escape an arranged marriage, Annalise Marony decides to become a Handmaiden of the Order of Solace. But she is thwarted at every turn by Cassian, a teacher of the faith, who must test her dedication. Older than most of the girls, Annalise knows that she will be expected to please a patron in pleasures of the flesh-and she is not shy about teasing Cassian. And as they both play out the game of master and student, the secrets in their souls will either tear them apart-or bind them together forever. 
The Baby Swap Miracle by Caroline Anderson
Sam Hunter had only intended to help his brother fulfill his dream of having children, but now, through an IVF mix-up, a complete stranger is pregnant with his child! To make matters worse, she's utterly gorgeous….
For warmhearted widow Emilia Eastwood, this child was meant to be the final legacy of her husband. The hospital's discovery turns her world upside down. Sam begins to feel fiercely protective of his accidental family, and soon he and Emilia discover that fate can lead to a love you never expected.
Angel's Blood by Nalini Singh (book #1 of the Guild Hunter series) eBook
Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux is hired by the dangerously beautiful Archangel Raphael. But this time, it's not a wayward vamp she has to track. It's an archangel gone bad.
The job will put Elena in the midst of a killing spree like no other—and pull her to the razor's edge of passion. Even if the hunt doesn't destroy her, succumbing to Raphael's seductive touch just may. For when archangels play, mortals break.
Archangel's Kiss by Nalini Singh (book #2 of the Guild Hunter series) eBook
Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux wakes from a year-long coma to find herself changed—an angel with wings the colors of midnight and dawn—but her fragile body needs time to heal before she can take flight. Her lover, the stunningly dangerous archangel Raphael, is used to being in control—even when it comes to the woman he considers his own. But Elena has never done well with authority… They’ve barely begun to understand each other when Raphael receives an invitation to a ball from the archangel Lijuan. To refuse would be a sign of fatal weakness, so Raphael must ready Elena for the flight to Beijing—and to the nightmare that awaits them there. Ancient and without conscience, Lijuan holds a power that lies with the dead. And she has organized the most perfect and most vicious of welcomes for Elena…

audiobooks from the library~

Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts
In the small village of Hawkins Hollow, three best friends who share the same birthday sneak off into the woods for a sleepover the evening before turning 10. But a night of pre-pubescent celebration turns into a night of horror as their blood brother oath unleashes a three-hundred year curse.
Twenty-one years later, Cal Hawkins and his friends have seen their town plagued by a week of unexplainable evil events two more times - every seven years. With the clock winding down on the third set of seven years, someone else has taken an interest in the town's folklore. Quinn is a well known scholar of local legends, and despite Cal's protests, insists on delving in the mystery. But when the first signs of evil appear months early, it's not only the town Cal tries to protect, but also his heart.

The Hollow by Nora Roberts 
Hawkins Hollow, Maryland, an idyllic town where three boys share not only a birthday- July 7, 1977 - but an innocent ritual of friendship that changes the course of their lives and everything else in Hawkins Hollow. . . . Now those boys are men who must find a way to defeat the evil threatening all they know and love.

eBooks to review~
Friendly Fire by Megan Hart
DEA Agent Kendall Frasier doesn't want to see the man who shot and killed her partner. Zane Vincent wants to forget about the bust gone bad and the man he killed. When both officers arrive at the same tropical island for a department-regulated vacation, more heats up than just the sand and sun. Will they let their past prejudices keep them from giving in to their mutual attraction, or will Zane and Kendall both succumb to a little Friendly Fire?

Twilight Prophecy by Maggie Shayne(Wings In The Night series)
Save the Vampire, Save the World.
According to ancient prophecy, there’s only one chance to avert the complete annihilation of the Undead. Twins James William and Brigit Poe, part human, part vampire, believe that they are that chance. In truth, the key lies with the reclusive—and mortal—scholar Lucy Lanfair.
As Armageddon approaches, antivampire sentiment fuels a war neither side can win, driving James to abandon his moral code and draw Lucy into a deadly battle she wants no part of. But Lucy soon realizes that she holds this powerful immortal’s soul in her hands and that it’s her destiny not only to stop a war but to save him from his inner darkness. If she fails, his race will die—and so will her heart. Is the power of love strong enough to save the world? 

Beyond the Bougainvillea by Dolores Durando
She found her place in a turbulent era of deep passions, heartbreaking sacrifices, and grand dreams.
When scholarly, smart Mary Margaret is sixteen, her father marries her off to a drunken neighbor in return for a tract of land. The year is 1924, and Mary Margaret's motherless childhood has already been hard as a farm girl on the desolate prairies of North Dakota. Abused and helpless, the new Mrs. "Marge" Garrity seems destined for a tragic fate.
But Marge is determined to make her life count, no matter what. Her escape from her brutal marriage takes her to California, where she struggles to survive the Great Depression and soon answers the lure of the state's untamed northern half. There, embraced by the rough-and-ready people who built the great Ruck-a-chucky Dam on the American River, she begins to find her true mission in life and the possibility for love and happiness with an Army Corp engineer of Cherokee Indian descent.
This vivid saga of one woman's life in the early decades of a turbulent century is told from the heart of a true storyteller in the grand tradition of women's sagas.