Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Review: Evil Ambulance - Mark Rinker

Evil Ambulance by Mark Rinker

Evil Ambulance

By Mark Rinker

Genre: YA Paranormal

Blurb:

Eighteen-year-old Eric Donnelly moved to a small town in Pennsylvania, to live with his uncle, Dan, while his parents finalize their divorce.

Dan has recently purchased an old house which sits atop a three-mile hill overlooking the town of Riverwood; a house which is host to the decades-old presence of Victor Devlin, a homicidal ambulance driver responsible for a series of brutal murders years before.

Eric soon finds himself alone, as the spirit of the ambulance driver begins to inhabit his uncle’s body, and each night Devlin’s ambulance appears in the driveway, eerily glowing, calling to Eric.

Excerpts:

Two people had been unfortunate enough to be home when Victor had showed up at the front door of the house on Winding Way. The house at the top of the hill. No neighbors up here. It wasn’t his fault; the cops had forced him there, chased him there. He hoped they were happy with what they found there: a young couple each with a new, red smile drawn across their necks. The result of their chasing him, forcing him into a corner.

You can’t trap a wild animal and not expect him to lash out—at everyone and everything around it.

He scolded himself, continued saying the words, tried not to think of the police upstairs. If the incantation didn’t work before they got down to the basement— Yes, I am a wild animal.

His own voice shouted at him inside his head, demanding he focus, shut out distractions, focus on the words and—

He stared straight ahead at the wall, repeated the words, over and over, faster, then slower, trying to find the right pace—and blocked everything else from his mind.

* * * * *


He stepped past Eric and crossed the short distance between their rooms. He found Eric’s room bathed in a most unusual glow. Something about the light seemed to move, like fish swimming through it, or waves caressing one another. Waves of dull light. What could possibly be going on here? he thought again.

He crossed the room, to the window. Eric stood in the doorway, watching him. Dan placed his hands on the window ledge, propping himself up, because he most definitely felt like he might collapse again.

The ambulance, the source of the glow, waited in the driveway. It sat there, still, its engine purring, in terrific shape for a vehicle many decades old. The lights atop the ambulance didn’t light up or spin, but were enveloped by—and at the same time, exuding—the yellow, murky glow which consumed the rest of the vehicle.

Dan was only able to look at it for about ten seconds—ten seconds in which he was transfixed, absorbed entirely—before a sudden pain, worse than any he’d felt yet, attacked him, hit him square in the forehead, and knocked him to the floor.
“Dan!” Eric was crossing the room in a hurry.

Dan faintly registered the sound of the ambulance pulling out of the driveway. He held both hands to his forehead, tears spilling out of his eyes, the pain driving into his skull, into his brain. He was unable to scream, though he’d never known anything as terrifying as that sudden hellish jolt.

* * * * *


Halbert saw the ambulance lunge towards them. It was impossible—the driver was outside, ten feet in front of him, hands up—but that’s what was happening. The ambulance rushed forward at a remarkable pace, and then somehow became airborne. Halbert was impressed with his own reaction, when he thought on it later. He registered what was happening, was still standing still as the ambulance jumped towards them, but he somehow dodged it, spun around, and dove out of the way.

The ambulance crunched down on the back of the cruiser, and slammed down onto the road behind the demolished vehicle.

Halbert dropped his gun. It landed on the ground, and it wasn’t until the ambulance had made it down to the next intersection, turning right, that he realized it was no longer in his hand.

AUTHOR BIO:

Mark R. Rinker was born in California, but has spent most of his life in eastern Pennsylvania. His short story, “Dog Mask” was published earlier this year by Dark Gothic Resurrected magazine, and Evil Ambulance is his first novel.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/markrrinkerpa
Twitter: @markrrinker

Review:

We start in the past when the horrors began. Victor Devlin is trapped and on the verge of being caught. Using his last resort, he hides out in the basement. He takes out his vial and chants words in his head which invoke the incantation to begin...by the time the police bust in on him, the incantation is complete and victor is gone in a flash of green smoke. The we come into the present and meet young Eric Donnelly, who is a new HS graduate. His parents are on the verge of a divorce which leaves him feeling left out and empty. There is enough tension at home that it made home life miserable for Eric. He decides to go live with his Uncle Dan and start a new leaf on life. Little does he know that life isn't about to get better, it's about to get creepy and scary. After arriving to live with his uncle he tries to make the best of it, but can't help but feel he isn't really missed back home, even by his Girlfriend Dodger. When his uncle starts acting strange and his appearance and everyday patters chance Eric thinks that Dan is sick, but when the Evil ambulance shows up, Eric knows something at the house isn't right. His uncle is sleeping at odd hours, acting nonchalant and becomes forgetful and it only escalates into screaming and he is in obvious pain, not to mention not breathing right and his facial features have changed, Eric knows it has to do with the ambulance. He seeks out help in unlikely places and meets some creepy people who are hiding something about the house Eric is living in. When one shows up at the house uninvited Eric and Dan are both afraid of what will happen next.

Dan Donnelly is Eric's uncle, although not close, he understands all to well the pain a divorce can bring as a divorcee himself. He just recently purchased the house on the top of the hill, the only way up...a winding turning road which only leads to the house. He has no knowledge of the horror ans secrets the house has. Its only after he wakes up in the basement and can't remember why he was there that things start to take the turn. He starts getting sick, he sleeps on and off, and he can't remember certain things. He's reluctant to let Eric help him thinking its just a passing ailment. However, when he is pinned to his bed and can't move he knows things aren't right in his house. He thinks things will just pass, but with Eric revelation about the house he's starting to believe in the paranormal himself.

Eric has trouble dealing with being in a new place, with no friends and is unprepared to find the town is tiny, it doesn't even have a hospital. When he heads into town to explore he decides to investigate the local bookstore and finds out that some people know the horrors first hand and others are wanting to keep what they know secret. When Eric meets someone who knew first hand, he didn't expect him to come-a-callin'. Its only then that everything comes full circle and the ending is nothing short of a shocker.

Overall: I'd give it a 3 of 5, as I certainly got more into the story as the paranormal elements kicked in. I grew to like Eric, but with him being such a downer it was hard to feel sorry for him when all he could think about was did anyone miss him back home? And should he ditch his uncle and return home when things got scary or stay and help his uncle.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Feature & Follow #9

Welcome to the Feature & Follow

If you are new to the #FF fun, Feature & Follow Friday is a blog hop that expands your blog following by a joint effort between bloggers. Feature & Follow Friday is now hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them “hi” in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

Now to make this #FF interesting we do a FEATURE blogger. If you are interested in becoming a Feature click on the drop down link above FEATURES > Feature & Follow Friday and get on the waiting list! How do you follow someone? Well, if you have a preference, state it in your #FF post. A lot of blogs are transitioning to WordPress in which they do not have the luxury of GFC, so an RSS subscription is appreciated or if you choose an email subscription. If you don’t have GFC please state in your post how you would like to be followed.It is also required, that if you participate you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) and the two Feature blogs.

Parajunkee's Feature – Shelleyrae of Book’d Out

Alison Can Read's Feature - To be published>

And now the Random Question of this week:

Which book genre do you avoid at all costs and why?

Classics - I'm a little tired of them already, even though most can be read over and over and you'll always find some detail you missed in previous readings, I am tired of seeing them. I like something new and different in my books. I can hardly bring myself to look at my bookshelf where all those "Classics" sit and lie in wait to be read. This is particularly why I blog in the PNR, Sci-Fi, UF and Horror genres...always something new and exciting coming out.


Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Dirty Little Secret #17


Dirty Little Secret is a weekly meme hosted by Under the Covers. Every Thursday we get to know other bloggers and our readers more intimately by asking them a question hoping to reveal their dirty little secrets. We hope that you will all join us!
To participate in the meme all you need to do is:
  1. Be a follower of Under the Covers.
  2. Create a post in your blog taking the meme image (code above) and copy instructions.
  3. Answer the question proposed! This can be done in any way you like, post a video, write a post etc.
  4. Then add your link below.
Non-bloggers: We want to hear from you as well!!! Let us know your answer in the comments!
We hope you join us and let us know your Dirty Little Secrets!

"In honor of the recent release of LOTHAIRE by Kresley Cole and our love of G.A. Aiken's Dragon Kin series, we want to know... What moniker would you have if you lived in those worlds?"

Now that is,my kind of question!!!

My moniker: Poison the Lethal

Review: Vala: Agendas by J.F. Jenkins

Vala: Agendas by J.F. Jenkins

Vala Agendas

By J.F Jenkins

Blurb:

Cheyenne Loveless was just a boring sixteen-year-old girl. Then Denver Collins bit her and everything changed. Her plants start talking to her, she finds out she’s a Nymph, and a witch and the angel of death show up at her doorstep to take her away to the prestigious Vala School and Seminary. Oh, and she has no choice in the matter.

All she wants to do is blend in and return to being invisible, but the more time that passes, the harder that becomes. Plus she’s a daughter of the Divine, an exclusive secret society which rules the world of myth, and discovers she is a key ingredient to an ancient covenant created before she was born. A covenant that will reshape the order of the world.

Adjusting to a new school is difficult enough, but adding on everyone else’s hidden agendas is the icing on the cake. Cheyenne must learn to see through the lies in order to find her place — and possibly even love — in this new world.

Links:

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Astraea Press

Excerpt:

“Can I help you?” she asked, shielding herself protectively with her arms.

Sorry, you smell good,” he murmured, practically purring in her ear as he pulled away. He still maintained his close proximity.

“I smell...” She frowned and was about to sniff at her arm, but she stopped herself. “…good?”

“You smell good. Kind of like lilies of the valley, actually. Let me guess—you use that for your scented body wash?”

“I just use Dial.” Her entire body tensed more as he moved in again, his face dangerously close to her neck. “I don’t mean to be rude, and while I’m flattered you’re so fascinated with my body, you’re also making me uncomfortable. If you’re just trying to butter me up so I’ll go home with you, you should stop now, because that’s not going to happen. Back off before I make you.”

He moved away once more with a smug smirk. “I thought I smelled fire, too.” He extended his hand to her for a polite and friendly handshake. “My name is Denver. Yes, like the city in Colorado. Last name is Collins, and I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I don’t usually meet someone with that kind of scent. It’s strong. I knew there was a reason I noticed you.”

Is this guy high or something? “Apology accepted. Iʹm Cheyenne. Iʹve seen you around school these past few weeks, but I donʹt think weʹve ever been formally introduced until now. Youʹre new, right?” Cheyenne shook his hand nervously. He had a strong and confident shake. He seemed to be a genuinely nice person, outside of his odd behaviors. If anything, it made her look good in front of her classmates to be talking to the new cool kid, and a young, attractive male. She felt a little less like a freak.

“I'm temporary. I havenʹt been formally introduced to anyone. Youʹre the first, and itʹs only because you smell so nice I canʹt stay away.”

“Do you use that line on everyone? It’s unique. A little creepy, but unique.”

“No.” He sat back and proceeded to grab a napkin off the bar and fold it in front of him multiple times. He didn't have much of an attention span, apparently. “I actually don’t pick up women often. I just made an exception for the blue--‐ eyed beauty in front of me.”

Cheyenne’s face flushed again. “I wasn’t aware you knew the color of my eyes, seeing as how you’ve been staring at my breasts the entire time.” It came out a lot harsher than she intended. In fact, she wasn’t meaning to say it at all. “Sorry, I—”

“You’re right. I was, but I remember you from earlier. I noticed your eyes when you were looking across the school yard at me.”

“You do remember that.” She shrank in her chair a little, officially wanting to hide under a rock.

“It’s a little hard not to when you’re so cute.” He moved closer to her, not quite as close as before, but enough to cause butterflies in her stomach. “You don’t like it here. I don’t like it here. And since we both don’t like it here, maybe we should head out and find something else to do. Maybe we can go someplace we both like.”

AUTHOR BIO:

J.F. Jenkins lives in Minneapolis Minnesota with her husband, son, and two cats. She graduated from Bethel University in 2006 with a degree in Media Communication with minors in both writing and film. When she is not busy writing, she spends her free time playing games, reading, and spending time with her family.

Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/jfjenkinsauthor
Twitter:@jfjenkinstweets

Review:

We meet Cheyenne Loveless who is your typical high school teenager. She goes out to a party with a friend of hers, where she runs into Denver. He acts nice enough, but when he has her alone he can't help himself...he bites her, vampire style. All of the sudden after she gets home her plants are talking to her and things don't get much better when two Professors from Vala Academy show up. Cheyenne's world is turned upside down as she find out she is NOT human, but a Nymph, her mother is really more of a surrogate, who didn't want to give her back to her parents and she is given no choice in going to Vala and leaving behind the only home she's ever known.

Cheyenne is taken to Vala where she is given a dorm with another girl, whom she takes to right away. She Meet's Zes and Anj, both of whom are satyrs. Anj takes to her, but only to get back at his on-again-off-again girlfriend. Zes is more quiet and subdued then his twin, but once he gets to know Cheyenne they are a cute pair when together. However, Dallas keeps making re-appearances and he constantly gets on Cheyenne's nerves. He won't tell her anything about why she was bitten, why he's at Vala and his strange relationship with her. On top of that she's suddenly popular and has a tight group of friends. However, she gets a bit nervous with all the attention. She makes some frenemies along the way and they are doing their best using their own magic and powers to scare her. We find out that things aren't what they seem and sometimes your friends, really aren't, while others are loyal to the end. She deals a lot with your typical female high school drama throughout and coping with the influx of changes and making the best of things.

I was really intrigued by Zes and Anj and how they were twins, but so different from one another. With Anj being so outspoken and easy going I can see why he's got a group of friends around most of the time. I never did quite understand his power, which seems to relax Cheyenne when she's got cold feet. While I think Zes was a bit jealous that his brother keeps steeling the limelight, he seemed content to be in his shadow. Their powers are both quite vague and I never did understand exactly what they were, even in the end.

The plot was pretty good, I liked the scene of Vala with the buildings surrounded in woods and gates, protected my magical spells and other magical powers. It reminds me so much of many stories along this line, and how they all have old century castle style buildings with being grouped around a commons. I have to be honest the end left me hanging a bit TOO much. I know there is more to come, but this left so many unanswered questions it was overwhelming. It ended at an awkward point where we are left wondering exactly WHAT is truly going on with Cheyenne, who is really helping her, who is out to get her, so many unknown things about her family and past, what she is, etc. As much as it left the sense of mystery and drama, it really was so abruptly cut off I found myself frustrated by how it ended.

Overall: I'd give it a 3 of 5, as I loved the characters, setting, and how they melded together, but the plot was not as smooth as I desire and with so much left to be answered it left me hanging completely. I'd recommend this for high school age as it does cover much of the teenage drama and angst they experience.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Shameless Giveaway Hop

Hosted by Jen Red Hot Books, Brie Romance Around the Corner& Michelle Michelle's Book Blog

The Shameless Giveaway Hop is open from 12:00am on Friday, January 20, 2012 to 11:59pm Friday, January 27, 2012.

What's up for grabs?

I loved this book, It's a menage book as in M/M/M/F and it is steamy and sexy in one awesomely written novella. Its one I highly recommend to people who like Menage and Erotica.
I loved this book, It's a good steamy romance thats touching but had some good HEAT in it. I loved the characters and the story.Read my review here: Heart of darkness

Enter Below

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Dirty Little Secret #16


Dirty Little Secret is a weekly meme hosted by Under the Covers. Every Thursday we get to know other bloggers and our readers more intimately by asking them a question hoping to reveal their dirty little secrets. We hope that you will all join us!
To participate in the meme all you need to do is:
  1. Be a follower of Under the Covers.
  2. Create a post in your blog taking the meme image (code above) and copy instructions.
  3. Answer the question proposed! This can be done in any way you like, post a video, write a post etc.
  4. Then add your link below.
Non-bloggers: We want to hear from you as well!!! Let us know your answer in the comments!
We hope you join us and let us know your Dirty Little Secrets!

"Who is your favorite alpha and second-in-command team?

Now Here is where I lack in experience as well. Many books I have read thus far have been M/F H/H books, not many have had strong second-in-command characters. As I believe Annie said, Rapahel and Dmitri come in to my mind...however I also saw Venom in the position as he seems to be watching after Elena through and through.

If anyone has a good recommendation of stories with the strong alpha and second-in-command I'd love to hear it and add them to my expanding TBR Pile.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Feature & Follow #8

Welcome to the Feature & Follow

If you are new to the #FF fun, Feature & Follow Friday is a blog hop that expands your blog following by a joint effort between bloggers. Feature & Follow Friday is now hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them “hi” in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

Now to make this #FF interesting we do a FEATURE blogger. If you are interested in becoming a Feature click on the drop down link above FEATURES > Feature & Follow Friday and get on the waiting list! It is also required, that if you participate you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) and the two Feature blogs.

Parajunkee's Feature – Kate @ Book Lover Musings

Alison Can Read's Feature - Bad Ass Book Reviews

And now the Random Question of this week:

Many readers/bloggers are also big music fans. Tell us about a few of your favorite bands/singers that we should listen to in 2012.

As most who know me IRL can attest to, I am a huge Alternative/ Metal lover. However, what you don't know, but do now is the Moniker you know as Poison has several meanings to me.

  1. Poison is the short hand title of my favorite Song: Halestorm - Familiar Taste of Poison

  2. Its also the Screen Name I go by in FaceBook, on Twitter, the Blog of course and in every game I play on FB or elsewhere in the online gaming world
  3. Its my tougher half. I don't show it much, but my son's father is what we all call an ass-hat and dealing with him brings Poison out. She gets real mean and likes to be downright viscous toward him. I won't get into the details as that life is not for the blog. But I'm harsh, for a reason. *winks*

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Dirty Little Secret #15


Dirty Little Secret is a weekly meme hosted by Under the Covers. Every Thursday we get to know other bloggers and our readers more intimately by asking them a question hoping to reveal their dirty little secrets. We hope that you will all join us!
To participate in the meme all you need to do is:
  1. Be a follower of Under the Covers.
  2. Create a post in your blog taking the meme image (code above) and copy instructions.
  3. Answer the question proposed! This can be done in any way you like, post a video, write a post etc.
  4. Then add your link below.
Non-bloggers: We want to hear from you as well!!! Let us know your answer in the comments!
We hope you join us and let us know your Dirty Little Secrets!

"Do you prefer your heroes dark and broody

or blonde and boisterous?


Now if THAT isn't a pointed question I don't know what is. However, I am with Ann on this. I WANT BOTH!! It really does depend on the hero... Some are great dark and broody, with the blonde and boisterous has his perks too. I'll admit the scale is heavily skewed as I've read a majority of my PNR, UF, and Romance are mostly dark and broody. Take for example the infamous Raphael from the Guild Hunter series - OBVIOUSLY dark and broody. Same thing with my Latino favorite - Callisto from Lisa Kessler's Night Walker. I can't even recall many yet who were blonde, although - Acheron form Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter somewhat fits, he is NOT boisterous by any definition. Am I right? Come to think of it the only Hero I CAN think of who would be blonde and boisterous is Dylan from Shea Berkleys's The Marked Son. He's got such a life spark I can't believe what the poor kid went through in book one!!! LOL

And that's my POV on the Dark and Broody versus the Blonde and Boisterous.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Interview with Dawn Chartier

Interview and Review of Dawn Chartier's Not an Angel

Happy Wednesday Everyone! I'm thrilled to have the wonderfully talented Dawn Chartier "Dropping" in, so without further delay I give you Dawn Chartier!

Hello Dawn and thanks for being today’s “Pick”.

It’s great to be here. Thank you for having me.

Please share a little about yourself, your works and what got you into writing.

By day I work in construction and by night I write. I’ve been writing for about 6 years, and I grew up in a book shop. I didn’t enjoy reading, much less writing back then - I had boys on the brain. I’ve written about six books to date, and only attempted to publish three of those works. My novel, Not An Angel was my first published paranormal romance, and Diamonds is coming out January 18, 2012 is my first contemporary erotic romance.

What got me into writing? I have to give the credit to hurricane Katrina and my sister.

I see Katrina had an influence on you. Had becoming an author been even a drop of a thought before that fateful event?

Yes. Katrina had a huge impact on me as it did with a lot of people along the gulf coast. She opened our eyes in more ways than one.

I guess I toyed with the idea of writing, and I had tons of ideas bubbling beneath the surface, but Katrina truly woke me up.

What developed first the characters like Trace or Kira, the idea about the Poryria and Vrykolakas or the plot idea?

My characters always come first, but they always have a “what if?” attached to them.

I was really intrigued by your idea of the Poryria (light) versus the Vry (Dark) in the world you wove. Where did those names stem from and can toy tell more about each?

When I started googling vampires, somewhere along the way I found the term Vrykolakas. The term came from Wikipedia, and this is what it said, The Greeks traditionally believed that a person could become a vrykolakas after death due to a sacrilegious way of life, an excommunication, a burial in unconsecrated ground, or eating the meat of a sheep which had been wounded by a wolf or a werewolf. Some believed that a werewolf itself could become a powerful vampire after being killed, and would retain the wolf-like fangs, hairy palms, and glowing eyes it formerly possessed.

And it also said in Wikipedia, Vampires and werewolves: Porphyria (I shortened “Porphyria” to “Poryria” for my novel) has been suggested as an explanation for the origin of vampire and werewolf legends, based upon certain perceived similarities between the condition and the folklore. I could go on and on, but I’m trying not to bore you to death. If you are like me, you are probably already researching the words. History is a great place to research folklore like this. I love it.

I’ll be the first to admit the opening scenes with Jeff scared me to death. He really was a creep-tastic “villain.” What research went into developing his motives and actions?

Thank you! I’m not really sure where Jeff came from, but he’s tried getting into several books of mine. Scary, I know. I had to wait until I found the right match to put him against, and it appeared to work out well. Kira might have something to say about that though.

Trace is seemingly struggling to keep his inner demon from coming out, what is it in your opinion that keeps readers coming back to these heroes and finding their soul mates?

That’s a really good question. I love tortured heroes on the verge of being the ultimate bad ass. It might come from readers wanting a woman strong enough to save the hero even if he’s fighting his inner demons. Just a guess.

Kira is dealing with her own demons. I truly loved how she developed in the book and how she figured out what caused much of her troubles. I loved her strength behind the wariness and her emotions. Did she work things out as you had wanted or did she do some of her own footwork to become strong?

I actually had to hold Kira back a little. I was scared readers wouldn’t think she’d developed that fast, but she turned into this woman on a mission once she figured out who she was on the inside, and also what had happened to her family. I think she did great with the circumstances given to her.

Did the plot and characters work out as you wanted or did they shape the book as you were writing?

The book shaped as I wrote each page. The plot twisted in places I hadn’t expected, and Trace and Kira developed an attraction from the start. I wish all my books were like Not An Angel.

This is the first in a potential series, what can readers expect from the next book? Without spoilers please if possible.

I plan to write a series for the Poryria and Vry, but another character is demanding my attention right now. She’s part witch and warlock, and she’s very hot tempered. I also have another book coming out Jan 18th 2012 that is a contemporary erotic romance called DIAMONDS. This is another series called, the Stiletto Millionaire Club. If you like a spicy read, then DIAMONDS is for you.

It was so devious to see the revelation Trace finds out and how it changes his view on things, is there a possibility of a book or novella about Trace’s history?

You are the third person who asked about Trace’s history. I wrote a good bit of his history in the book, and the editor cut it out. When I write Mike’s book I hope to answer some of those questions for Trace.

Lastly the fun questions:

Plotter or pantser? I start the book as a pantser, and then I try to plot.

Early Bird or Night Creature? Night Creature

Are you more like Queen Mary or like Kira? I’d like to think I’m more like Queen Mary, but Kira has some great qualities that I would love to have as well.

White, Milk or Dark chocolate? Dark.

Coffee Tea or other? Both. Drinking more tea right now though.

Music or quiet while working? At home I like quiet.

Favorite place to sit and write? Starbucks – doing writing sprints with my sprint buddy, Sarabeth.

Computer or good old pen and paper? Computer. If I get stuck I pull out the old pen and paper.

Pick your poison (alcoholic drink of choice when going out): My favorite drink is Bailey’s, but if they don’t have that I’ll drink Riesling.

Thanks for stopping in Dawn, it was great to be able to pick your mind and talk about the stunning Trace.

I’m so happy you enjoyed Trace and Kira’s story, and I hope to write the second in the series as fast as I can.

You can read my review of Not an Angel HERE

By Dawn Chartier

Kira McCoy wants to die. Losing her husband and daughter tragically left her without hope. Now her disturbed brother-in-law will stop at nothing to have her for himself. All she wants is to find peace, but instead finds herself on top of a bridge ready to end her suffering.

Protector of the Poryria, Trace Stuart is called to defend his race or embrace death. Defending humans is not part of the plan, but he cannot stop himself from saving Kira.

Realizing that he shares a special bond with Kira, Trace defies his Queen and rushes into the heart of darkness in order to rescue the woman he loves. Will Kira be able to reach past her own pain to pull them both into the light?


Not an Angel on Amazon

Excerpt from Not An Angel

As he measured her, his gaze warmed the consuming chill that had invaded her body. She glanced down, holding the material out. Nothing she could ever afford. Standing next to him in his stunning black suit, gave her more confidence than if she wore plain clothing.

“I wouldn’t have picked it out for myself, but you have good taste.”

“I know.” Trace’s gaze traveled down her torso, to her exposed toes and slowly up to her face. “And you take my breath away.” He kissed the inside of her wrist.

Heat shot up her inner arm overpowering any nervousness she may have felt earlier. She leaned into him and whispered, “You breathe?”

Trace half smiled. “Sometimes.”

She blinked. “Oh.” That meant sometimes he didn’t breathe either.

Trace stiffened, then glanced toward the entrance flanked with four massive columns. It took a moment before she heard footsteps in the foyer. Five men entered the parlor. All dressed similar to Trace, except their cold penetrating eyes made her worry. Scared was more like it. One man strode toward her, eyes narrowed, mouth pulled down in a frown. She swallowed, then took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. They will not get to me. I will be strong.

“He won’t hurt you. Will you, Dev?” Trace stepped forward and crossed his arms.

Dev smirked and stared through his long dark lashes. “Depends.”

An eerie rumble vibrated the room. Kira advanced toward Trace. The sound of a wild cat drifted in the air. She tilted her head, glanced at Trace and realized the noise came from him.

“Boys. Boys. Boys. Dev won’t touch her, but I might.” A slender brunette appeared out of thin air and stood directly in front of the other men. Oh hell.

About the Author:


Dawn Chartier never knew she wanted to be a writer while growing up. Sure her parents owned a book shop, and she was surrounded by bookworms, but she wasn’t one of “those” writers who started early. No, Dawn was inspired by strange events in her life, one was a bitch named, Katrina. Yes, that hur-ricane. But a few months before the storm, Dawn read an article on Marie Laveau in the New Orleans local newspaper and it sparked an idea. She began researching the voodoo priestess, and then Katrina hit. Out of destruction, ideas formed, characters spoke and plots twisted. One thing lead to another and an author was born. (Must have been something in the air, because a few authors were born out of Katrina’s wrath.)

Dawn Chartier sold her first paranormal romance book, (Not An Angel) to The Wild Rose Press, and her second book, a contemporary erotic romance (Diamonds) to Siren BookStrand. Dawn is a member of RWA, Sola-Writers, FF&P and Savvy Authors. You can find her chatting on Twitter and Facebook when she’s not buried inside of a book or writing her next one.

Dawn lives near New Orleans with her husband, two daughters, two golden retrievers, and plenty of wildlife.

Dawn Chartier's Website
Find Dawn on Facebook
Dawn's Blog
Tweet with Dawn on Twitter

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Revew of Not An Angel

Review of Not An Angel by Dawn Chartier

Kira is a woman on a mission...a suicidal mission. With her husband and only child dead she fells there is no resson to go on living. She finds herself on a bridge on the outskirts of town on the railing and ready to jump. Plunging to her death she lays in murky waters as the water engulfs her lungs. Little does she know an "Angel" was watching from the shore waiting for the moment he would have to spring into action.

Trace is on the side of the river where Kira has just plunged to her death. Without thinking he dives in and pulls a nearly lifeless and cold Kira from the water. Even against his brother Mikah's wishes he calls an ambulance to take her to safety.

Kira awakens in the hospital, only to be confronted by her Brother-in-law, Jeff who has an agenda of his own with Kira. She finds out that Jeff has placed himself as her guardian, claiming she is mentally ill and has given himself Power of Attorney over her. As Kira's head starts to clear, she is alarmed at finding out things are not in her control as long as Jeff is around. She luckily runs into Trace, who came to check on her, and he KNOWS something is wrong. He is more than glad to help and keep Kira safe, even if he knows he's going to face trouble back home when word gets out.

As trouble continues we find out Jeff isn't the only trouble causing Kirqa to be in danger. Another creature, A Vry from Trace's home come slinking out and it has eyes only for Killing him. But this creature is highly elusive, fast, and actually has a brain! Not what Trace expected at all. And this new development is not boding well for him back home, as word got out back home that this foe has gotten away from him more then his Queen cares. Can Trace kill the Vry, or will Kira and her love of him end up being his undoing? You'll have to read to find out.

Kira starts off somewhat meek and is completely out of her norm to begin with in the book, but as things start to make sense to her she realizes that sometimes she'll have to fend for herself or take matters into her own hands. She can be a bit defiant as more than once, while under the watchful eye's of Trace, she has disobeyed his rules which keep her safe. This of course she thinks keeps her safe, as well as Trace, whom she has a strange connection with, but is afraid to say so or let things develop as she fears it can only lead to more deaths. She ends very strong, which made her a wonderful lead character in this book.

Trace, is both beautiful and intimidating all at the same time. Don't ask me how but he definitely was a strong Hero. Trace is shocked at the bond he feels for Kira, as a Poryria it was highly unlikely and unheard of for them to find a mate in a human. He tries to deny his growing feelings in order to protect her, but ultimately it put her right in harms path. As he finally acknowledges his feelings and can't deny her any longer, he still has the Vry creature to face, but Jeff keeps rearing his ugly head and Trace finally understands that Jeff won't stop until Kira is either his or DEAD!

I loved this book from start to finish. I found myself worrying about Kira in the beginning as I was scared stiff of uber-creep, Jeff. He was just plain crazy! He used and abused his powers in the town to manipulate things in ways which definitely made me think about watching my own back! As Kira became more awasre of what was going on, she grew up quite well in the face of the Vry and even upon finding out about Jeff's ultimate scheme. Trace being the defender was like truly seeing an angel or a knight in shining armor, but he's got his own battles to face in the story. He is facing his dark side and keeping his weakness at bay and not giving in to his primal urges fearing of what he becomes if he does get to that point. Kira helps him battle his demon's as well as her own, endearing me to her even more. Even some of the secondary characters were well played out, Mikah for one, Trace's brother and his back-up in hunting the Vry on the loose. There is a rather scary trio of characters who appears near the end and just the images of what they looked like had goosebumps on me. Hardcore doesn't even BEGIN to describe this set of shady characters. I loved the plot as it only got more twist and turns then the most dizzying roller coaster, but things somehow always work themselves out. A solid 4 of 5 stars for Dawn's novel.

Bout of Books Day #2 Challenge

Welcome to the Bout of Books Challenge

I'm your co-host - Poison.

You're challenge today is to take a Paranormal book and make it a movie. How do you do that??
Easy enough...all you have to do is list the main characters of the book and find an actor/actress who would ideally play that part if it were to become a Full length feature film. Please list the book, the main characters and then as a miniumu NAME each actor/actress who would play that role. Simple right??! LOL

I'll give you my example:

Forever Freed by Laura Kaye:
Lucien DeMarco - I can't find my man of choice so my back-up is Hugh Jackman

Samantha Sutton - Olivia Wilde


Olivia Sutton - Unknown girl, but perfect!

Now go out there and have fun finding your perfect book and I almost forgot I am giving away a eBook of one of The Hunger Games Series to one lucky entrant. Entries will be accepted until Midnight on the 15th. After that a random winner will be selected by RaffleCopter. Have fun and good luck!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Feature & Follow #7

Welcome to the Feature & Follow

If you are new to the #FF fun, Feature & Follow Friday is a blog hop that expands your blog following by a joint effort between bloggers. Feature & Follow Friday is now hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them “hi” in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

Now to make this #FF interesting we do a FEATURE blogger. If you are interested in becoming a Feature click on the drop down link above FEATURES > Feature & Follow Friday and get on the waiting list! It is also required, that if you participate you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) and the two Feature blogs.

Parajunkee's Feature – Jennifer @ The Book Den

Alison Can Read's Feature - Peggy @ Pawing Through Books

And now the Random Question of this week:

Go count the number of unread books sitting on your shelf. How many?

Seriously?!?! 152

Dirty Little Secret #14


Dirty Little Secret is a weekly meme hosted by Under the Covers. Every Thursday we get to know other bloggers and our readers more intimately by asking them a question hoping to reveal their dirty little secrets. We hope that you will all join us!
To participate in the meme all you need to do is:
  1. Be a follower of Under the Covers.
  2. Create a post in your blog taking the meme image (code above) and copy instructions.
  3. Answer the question proposed! This can be done in any way you like, post a video, write a post etc.
  4. Then add your link below.
Non-bloggers: We want to hear from you as well!!! Let us know your answer in the comments!>
We hope you join us and let us know your Dirty Little Secrets!

"Christmas is over. Santa has left the building. We now have 2012 to look forward to! What new release are you looking forward to in the new year? "

This is an easy one! LOL

Night Demon by Lisa Kessler

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

In the Service of the King by Laura Kaye

Plus any of Laura Kayes Books coming out in general. She is an excellent writer.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Guest Post with J.J. Bonds

As if high school isn’t miserable enough, try being uprooted and dropped fangs first into an uptight prep school where everyone knows your name and they’ll stop at nothing to uncover the secrets of your past.

When Katia enrolled at Crossroads Academy she knew things weren’t exactly going to be easy. The sole heir to the worlds’ most powerful vampire, her presence was bound to cause a stir. But nothing could have prepared her for this. Whispers follow everywhere she goes. So does trouble.

But Katia will do her time at Crossroads. After all, she’s only enrolled at the prestigious school for pure blood vampires to fulfill a promise to her Great Uncle Aldo. Tucked away in the Green Mountains of Vermont, Katia hopes to shed the demons of her past and focus on her education. Raised blissfully unaware of the entire vamp world, she’s got a lot of catching up to do.

As Katia learns more about this dark society and her own legacy, protecting her past becomes increasingly difficult. Bodies start turning up in nearby Rutland and Katia is sucked into a twisted web of danger and deceit. Haunted by nightmares she can’t explain and a thirst for blood that is never sated, Katia will do whatever it takes to keep her past buried. What choice does she have? Exposure will shake the Elder’s Council to its core and likely result in a death sentence at the hands of the Linkuri.M

Nothing at Crossroads is what it seems and Katia’s secrets may be the darkest of them all.

About J.J.

Hmm… About me? I was born and raised in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, which the locals like to think of as the new center of the universe, but this is probably only true if you have a day job in the grocery business like I do. (A girl's gotta pay the bills, right?) By day I’m a grocery buyer for a large NE grocery retailer. Seriously-- I get paid to buy bread and snack cakes. It’s a fun job, but I eat way too many cupcakes! By night, I’m an aspiring author. As it turns out, my passion for young adult literature far exceeds my passion for the grocery business. (Imagine that?)

I love to read. Everything. I wish I could say that I’ve always loved reading, but that just wouldn’t be true. As a small child, my mom had to bribe me to read (and learn my multiplication tables), but by the time I reached middle school I was unquestionably moving into the realm of shameless bookaholic. I was always reading and was tearing through the works of RL Stine, Christopher Pike and LJ Smith faster than they were being published. I was winning the quarterly 7th grade reading contests regularly (which amazingly did not help my popularity level), but did inspire me to write my first book. It was about sea turtles and while it was a lovely book, it didn’t exactly capture the attention of publishers worldwide. I continued writing throughout high school and pursued Journalism in college, but after interning at a local newspaper I realized I was in the wrong field and promptly switched my major to business. (I’m nothing if not practical).

Although I had a ten year bout of temporary insanity in my professional life, my love of literature never faded and I continued to outline stories I wanted to write while sitting in my MBA classes at night. When my father was diagnosed with cancer, it was the push I needed to reevaluate my life choices and take a risk in actually writing one of the books I’d spent so many hours fantasizing about. Writing Crossroads was both therapeutic and fulfilling. I hope you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

In addition to reading and writing, I have a few other guilty pleasures: wine, chocolate, alternative music, scary movies (especially the really bad ones!), Chinese food, (yeah, right), all things zombie, baking, Tosh.0 and sleeping late.

I have a pretty awesome husband who lets me be the boss (he cooks too!), two crazy dogs (a Cock-a-Poo named Sabot and a mutt named Norm) and a closet that is positively overflowing with shoes. Oh, and my favorite possession? It’s a toss-up between my laptop and my Kindle. Please don’t make me choose!

Here the details for the giveaway:

1. Comment to win!
2. One random comment will be selected to win a digital copy of JJ Bonds book Crossroads
3. All comments will be counted to win a KINDLE FIRE with a Crossroads Gel Cover
4. Collect Clues along the tour for a chance to win
5. Comment at each tour stop for extra chances to win
6. Tweet and use #crossroadsbooktour for extra chances to win along with random drawings to win digital copies of the book
6. Collect clues to find the final entry to win the Kindle Fire
7. Winners will be selected January 31st

Don't forget to visit the other tour stops for more chances to win the Kindle Fire! Here is the list of tour stops:

Jan. 2: The Guardian of the Crossroads
Jan. 3: Otherwhere.co
Jan. 4: Picked by Poison
Jan. 5: Moonlight Gleam's Bookshelf
Jan. 6: Under the Covers
Jan. 9: Rants~N~Scribbles
Jan. 10: Mother/Gamer/Writer
Jan. 11: The Book Nympho
Jan. 12: Books with Bite
Jan. 13: My Life With Books
Jan. 14: Reads With Wreckless Abandon
Jan. 15: Books And Beyond
Jan. 16: Book Crook Liza
Jan. 17: We Fancy Books
Jan. 18: Rondo of Possible World
Jan. 19: Literary Exploration
Jan. 20: Bending The Spine

Monday, January 2, 2012

Review of Reclaimed by Diane Alberts

Reclaimed by Diane Alberts

After moving to England, Sabrina tumbles into an unknown world when she meets the man who has appeared to her in her dreams. After recovering from shock, she wonders how it is possible that Isaac could be in her dreams-before she met him. The shocking answers catapult her into a world where ruthless creatures roam freely along unsuspecting humans, and battle lines are clearly drawn.

While embarking on a dangerous and passionate affair, a bitter enemy appears from Isaac’s past that will stop at nothing to remove her from Isaac’s arms. Permanently. In order to establish a foreseeable and solid future, Sabrina must first deal with a tumultuous past. Navigating a shadowy world she never knew existed; Sabrina fights for her new-found love…and her life.

Excerpt

“Would you like to come in for a nightcap? I have wine…or coffee…or tea, or....” She stuttered to a stop, unsure of what to say.

God, she was such an idiot.

Nightcap?

Who the heck said nightcap anymore?

“While I’d love to take you up on that offer, I have something I have to take care of tonight. Could I get a rain-check? For, say, tomorrow night? We could do a movie and wine? Or is tomorrow too soon in the dating world?”

“No, not too soon at all. I’d love to see you tomorrow.” She tried to hide her disappointment behind a bright smile. “You can call me, and we’ll firm up a time then. Good night.”

She turned to go inside and was caught off-guard when he grabbed her elbow and spun her to face him. It happened so quickly she was leaning back against the door in confusion; one hand was on the doorknob and the other braced against the cool steel of the door. He moved his body closer to hers, and placed his hand at her head. His other hand cupped her cheek while his thumb stroked her jaw line. All thought fled as his body pressed against hers, and a small swoosh of air escaped her lips at his touch.

“I didn’t think it was possible for you to grow more beautiful, but yet you have proven me wrong.” When his lips met hers, she lost all thought, all ability to move. It was as if she was tied to this spot—this man. She needed to be like this. To have his arms around her, his lips on hers. It was so powerful that if he hadn’t supported her with his weight, she’d have fallen to a heap on the ground.

When he ended the kiss, it took all of her control to stand upright. She fought the urge to fling herself at him and knock him to the ground in her haste to seduce him.

Review

Where to start without spoiling this wonderfully engaging story! Ack!

Sabrina, on a hunch, moves to England in into her new, secluded home to continue her writing career. She has no family or friends here, but makes the best of the situation. She is getting around and making her home, more to her taste. It is here the dreams began. To her they felt real, it didn't feel like a dream and the gentleman she meets couldn't be more then anything like the ones she writes about in her books. He remains a mystery, but tells her to meet him. She starts to think she's heading straight for the "padded cells" believe she's crazy to believe he'd be real. However, her curiosity gets the best of her, more times then one. Even after meeting the handsome man from her dreams, Isaac Sterling. She finds she can hardly stop thinking about Isaac and how much a true gentleman he is. But the dreams keep coming and she believes its him in her dreams, but even after the man of her dreams keeps thinking her to be Amelia. Waking from her dreams she can't help but feel like she's being watched from the shadows.

Things are getting better between her and Isaac as he watches over her very protectively, and her dreams and the man she believes is Isaac in her dreams. However,it always seems he has to leave her at the most inopportune times and she's left wondering where he goes off to.

Things aren't what they seem when her dreams start to become reality as she awakens from dreams where she is being chased and hunted and her hands are scraped and her lungs burn as though she was running for her life. She finds out many things about Isaac and his brother, Elijah, whom he is not close to anymore. She has no clue that things are going to take on a paranormal twist of their own.

Isaac is the only one who knows what is going on, but doesn't know its because of Sabrina. She IS being hunted, but not only by the man of her dreams, but by a nasty creature bent on her dying. Sabrina doesn't know, but everything seems to have a sense of deja vu. And she soon find out why, turning her world upside down as she has to fight for her life and her heart.

This was an excellent read. It had me wondering what was going on until close to the end when things really took on a twist. I really loved how Sabrina stuck with her guns, but also had a very playful quality to her. Being a writer was a perfect career for her and seeing her get sucked into her writing was a nice way of bringing her into reality. I loved how she stood her ground in the face the dangers presented her. Seeing her dreams be so vivid and melding with reality was a twist I didn't expect along with Isaac's protective nature towards her. Isaac was a gentleman from the start and keeping an eye on Sabrina who didn't like being told what to do, was not an easy challenge when time after time, she'd disobey. When things got complicated as the twists unfolded everything comes full circle and she learns there is much more to reality then she ever imagined. Including Isaac and Elijah. Diane does a superb job of keeping me on my toes and wondering what will happen with Sabrina, Isaac and the man of her dreams. The plot flowed well and was never dull. We get a great idea of how Isaac is the protector and the seducer to Sabrina and to what extremes he goes to keep her safe. The end was GUT WRENCHING!!! I won't say much more, but I definitely think this is one that any paranormal romance fan should read. I solid 4 starts to Diane Alberts for her well-written novel.

About the Author:
Diane Alberts lives in Northeast Pennsylvania with her husband, four kids, and a bird. She lives in the mountains-but wishes it were the beach. She has been writing since she was in elementary school, but only recently fulfilled her dreams of being published in 2011. Enjoys dyeing yarn and knitting in her "spare" time.

Website / Facebook / Twitter

NOTE: This week ONLY Reclaimed is on sale for only $.99!!! That's right 99 cents! Hop over to Amazon to claim your copy!