[Teaser Tuesday] January 12, 2021

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, originally hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read.
2. Open to a random page.
3. 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!)
4. Share the title and author too so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

He'd seen some seriously weird shit from me in the last hour. In fact, he's been a damn good sport about all of it. Did I owe him, like, flowers? What did you get a coworker for not freaking when you went all metaphysical on him? A card? Did Hallmark make a card for that?

This teaser is from Skin Trade by Laurell K. Hamilton. This is book 17 in the Anita Blake series. I am a huge fan of all books by this author, but I am really into this one. The only issue I have is with one of the characters that gives me nightmares, and every time I read a section with this character in it my anxiety doesn't let me sleep well. I can't even read it if my hubby is on nights...lol. I am such a baby!

Once you tell someone certain things, like, say, you got mailed a human head in a box, they tend to think you're crazy.

Anita Blake's reputation has taken some hits. Not on the work front, where she has the highest kill count of all the legal vampire executioners in the country, but on the personal front. No one seems to trust a woman who sleeps with the monsters. Still, when a vampire serial killer sends her a head from Las Vegas, Anita has to warn Sin City's local authorities what they're dealing with. Only it's worse than she thought. Several officers and one executioner have been slain - paranormal style...

Anita heads to Las Vegas, where she's joined by three other federal marshals, including the ruthless Edward hiding behind his mild-mannered persona. It's a good thing Edward always has her back, because, when she gets close to the bodies, Anita senses "tiger" too strongly to ignore it. The were-tigers are very powerful in Las Vegas, which means the odds of her rubbing someone important the wrong way just got a lot higher...

Share your teaser with me!

[Free Book Friday] November 3, 2017

On Fridays I like to post a free Ebook that I have found somewhere out in the Internet wilds, that I myself have found interesting, and added to my reading list.

I missed the last two weeks due to illness and surgery, so this week I present you with 3 amazing choices!

Book number one is Sins of the Heart, it is the first novel in the Otherkin romance series by Eve Silver.

Dagan Krayl, the Underworld's most powerful soul reaper, is the demigod son of the evil god Sutekh. He's on a mission to find his murdered brother's remains and resurrect him, but resurrection means that the secrets carried into death would be released and, with them, a war that could end gods and mankind alike.

Roxy Tam is searching for the same thing, but for completely different reasons. She means to make certain that the remains don’t fall into Sutekh’s hands, and that the soul reapers do not reanimate their fallen comrade. As a Daughter of Aset, Roxy is tasked with the protection of the human race, and if that means thwarting an all powerful soul reaper and making certain his dead brother stays dead, so be it. But when Roxy sees Dagan face-to-face, she realizes that she has met him once before—a meeting that changed her life forever.
Neither Dagan nor Roxy expects to join forces for the sake of mankind. Or to have their loyalties tested as they struggle against treachery, betrayal and the potent desire that threatens to consume them both.

Book number two is The Ghost and the Graveyard, it is the first novel in the Knight Games romance series by Genevieve Jack.

Grateful Knight isn't looking for love when she moves into a rent-free house on the edge of a graveyard. At twenty-two, all she wants is to recover financially so she can move back to the city where she belongs.

But sparks fly when the gorgeous cemetery caretaker, Rick, introduces himself and mentions his suspicion that her new house might be haunted. Her attraction to him seems supernatural, and despite her resolve to not get involved, she literally can't keep her hands off him.

When things in Grateful's house start moving on their own, another man enters her life, Logan, a sexy ghost with a dark secret. He says Rick isn't what he seems, and indulging her passion for him could cost her soul.

One thing's for sure, magical forces are at work in the tiny town of Red Grove, and they're converging on Grateful. Life will never be the same once she's forced to choose between the ghost and the graveyard.

And finally, book number three is CADE, it is the first novel in Le Beau Brothers romance series by V.A. Dold.

Anna James is single again, finally. In her opinion, men are self-centered and will never love her for who she is, a beautiful, plus sized woman. All except the fantasy man that she’s been meeting in her dreams for five years.

She just never expected her fantasy to be a real live alpha shifter...

Cade Le Beau isn't what he seems. He’s a billionaire wolf. A Shifter. He laments his missed chance six months ago to meet his fantasy woman in the flesh. Just as his second chance presents itself, his fantasy woman, his mate, is threatened by the local mob boss and her ex-husband. Now, he has forty eight hours to deal with this threat once and for all or chance losing her again.

Is it Anna who’s in danger, or the humans who unwittingly threaten her?

The heat is on the moment they lay eyes on each other. Neither, age, children, horrid ex-husbands, nor mob bosses will stop this love affair.

These free ebooks are currently available on Kobo for free for a limited time. So hurry up and grab yours while you can!

Let me know if you pick any up, and if not why. What things do you look for in your books?

[Free Book Friday] October 6, 2017

Every Friday I will post a free Ebook that I have found somewhere out in the Internet wilds, that I myself have found interesting, and added to my reading list.

This week's free ebook is actually a complete romance series!

When a young woman finds herself thrust into another time, a life begins to unfold which she could never have imagined. As her destiny reveals itself, Gwynne begins to adapt to the idea of a life with two Alphas. But she quickly realizes that her world will be one filled with danger, passion and conflict. And she wouldn’t trade it for anything.

This is the complete Sought by the Alphas serial by Carina Wilder, five books compiled into one Boxed Set. The next in series is Seeking Her Mates.

Things that grabbed me about this series:

• werewolves/shifters
• time travel (Outlander anyone!)
• the name Gwynne, because it's so close to my own name and has the magical sound to it

This collection is currently available on Kobo for free for a limited time. So hurry up and grab your set while you can! I already got mine!

Let me know if you pick it up, and if not why. What things do you look for in your books?

[Review] The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

Title: The Gathering
Series:  Darkness Rising
Author:  Kelley Armstrong
Genre:  YA, shifters, demons, fantasy
Format:  Hardcover, 400 pages
Publication Date:  April 5, 2011
Published By:  RandomHouse Canada - Doubleday Canada
Source:  Purchased

Synopsis from Goodreads

On the heels of the wildly popular "The Darkest Powers" series comes the first in another supernatural YA trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong.

Maya lives in a small medical-research town on Vancouver Island. How small? You can't find it on the map. It has less than two-hundred people, and her school has only sixty-eight students — for every grade from kindergarten to twelve. Now, strange things are happening in this claustrophobic town, and Maya's determined to get to the bottom of them. First, the captain of the swim team drowns mysteriously in the middle of a calm lake. A year later, mountain lions start appearing around Maya's home, and they won't go away. Her best friend, Daniel, starts getting negative vibes from certain people and things. It doesn't help that the new bad boy in town, Rafe, has a dangerous secret — and he's interested in one special part of Maya's anatomy: Her paw-print birthmark.

My Thoughts

As mentioned in a previous review, I am a long-time fan of Kelley Armstrong, pre-YA novel days. And one of the things I feel Mrs. Armstrong does best is shifters. It was wonderful to see her returning to a shifter based character.

I think I am also a bit biased because this story takes place in pretty isolated portion of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. I have long since had a strong fascination with this area due to the "sea wolves" that live there. I love nature, and wildlife, and just general outdoorsiness, and this book has it all and more. It also has a strong basis in native culture, which also is a strong draw to me. (This is one of the few things I actually enjoyed in the Twilight series as well.)

Maya, the main character reminds me so much of myself. I was instantly able to connect with her and understood almost every decision she made (and I pretty much had made them in my head before even she did!). I was a very enjoyable read.

One of the best things about this book was the presence of strong parental figures! It's about time! I am so tired of wondering where the heck all the parents are in these YA books! No wonder they get into so much trouble without anyone to guide them. But Maya's parents (adopted) are fantastic role models that support her in her decisions while still allowing her the space to become her own strong and independent person. But you still get those strong parental undertones, like when Maya comes home with a guy and you can immediately tell the father is not super impressed by it at all. It makes sense! This is the way parents would (typically) act in reality. Thank you Mrs. Armstrong for proving parents can indeed still exist in a good YA novel.

Since most people are aware of my extreme hatred for cliffhangers of doom...I was warned in advance that I might not quite be happy with the ending. But I have to admit, it didn't really bother me as much as others have in the past. It seemed mostly wrapped up with a little bit of "what now" at the end. I can live with that.

I don't have much negative to say except for a slight feeling of "meh". I don't quite know how to describe that more in detail, but basically there was just a little of the certain something missing that I would need to rate a book a perfect 5. It was really close, but not quite there. Maybe next time! I'm also not a huge fan of the covers. I don't feel it suits Maya at all. The model on the cover seems much older and "calm" for the Maya I have pictured in my head as I am reading.

I have already devoured book two in the series, The Calling. The review will follow soon!

My rating?