In My Mailbox #41



IN My Mailbox is hosted by the wonderful Kristi from The Story Siren. This is a great way to feature all the wonderful books you either received for review, purchased or borrowed.


This week I received some great books for review:


The Summer of No Regrets
The Summer of no Regrets by Katherine Grace Bond (ARC)
Goodreads


Ferocity Summer
Ferocity Summer by Alissa Grosso (Finished Copy)
Goodreads


Spark (Sky Chasers, #2)
Spark by Amy Kathleen Ryan (ARC)
Goodreads


The Temptation
The Temptation by Alisa Valdes (ARC)
Goodreads


Revived
Revived by Cat Patrick (Finished Copy)
Goodreads


Infamous (Chronicles of Nick, #3)
Infamous by Sherrilyn Kenyon (Finished Copy)
Goodreads


Torn
Torn by Amanda Hocking ( Finished Copy)
Goodreads


Ascend
Ascend by Amanda Hocking (Finished copy)
Goodreads


Wake (Watersong, #1)
Wake by Amanda Hocking (ARC)
Goodreads




These are all the wonderful books that I received this week for review. I want to send a big thank you to Raincoast Books. St Martins Press and HarperCollins CA as well as Hatchett Book Group CA. 

In My Mailbox #40



IN My Mailbox is hosted by the wonderful Kristi from The Story Siren. This is a great way to feature all the wonderful books you either received for review, purchased or borrowed.


This week I received for Review:
Purity
Purity by Jackson Pearce
Goodreads
Amazon
My Life in Black and White
My Life in Black & White by Natasha Friend
Goodreads
Amazon


We All Fall Down: Living with Addiction
We All Fall Down Living With Addiction by Nic Sheff
Goodreads
Amazon


I purchased:
My Soul to Take (Soul Screamers, #1)
My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent
Goodreads
Amazon
My Soul to Save (Soul Screamers, #2)
My Soul To Save by Rachel Vincent
Goodreads
Amazon
My Soul to Keep (Soul Screamers, #3)
My Soul To Keep by Rachel Vincent
Goodreads
Amazon
My Soul to Steal (Soul Screamers, #4)
My Soul To Steal by Rachel Vincent
Goodreads
Amazon
If I Die (Soul Screamers, #5)
If I Die by Rachel Vincent
Goodreads
Amazon


These are the great books that I received and purchased this week. I am so looking forward to reading all the books I received!. Thank you so much to Little Brown, Hatchette books and Razorbill.


What did you get in your mailbox?

Review: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna, #1)
Release Date: August 30 211
Publisher: Tor Teen
Format: Hardcover
Pages:316
Genre: YA/Supernatural
Series: Anna (#1)
Source: Purchased.

Goodreads Synopsis:
Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story... 

 Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead. 

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay. 

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home. 
And she, for whatever reason, spares his life

My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this book. I love books that are written in the male POV. I enjoyed that a lot with this book. I loved the ghost element of the story. With all of the paranormal and supernatural stories that have been written, and as much as I love vampires, it was nice to read something different. I feel like there aren't enough good just plain ghost stories, pardon the pun, out there.

 Anna and Cas have one of the most unique relationships that I have come across in a while. It's gothic and romantic and sucked me in completely. I was very very surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. It was written so well, and the relationships that Cas form, come across very well. I really enjoyed the dynamic between him and his mother. It made the novel that much more unique.

 I am a big fan of the supernatural and Anna Dressed in Blood was a great ghost story with an amazing element of romance with a gothic twist that was really enjoyable.

 If you have not yet read Anna Dressed in Blood, then you are in for one hell of a ride.

Embrace Blog Tour: Guest Post Jessica Shirvington


Angels Have A Pecking Order by Jessica Shirvington


Researching for EMBRACE, I discovered the entire subject of Angelology to be truly fascinating. In the end, I chose to go with the most popular theory, that there are 3 choirs of angels and within each choir, 3 ranks. At the top of the angel hierarchy sit the Seraphim. They are the angels that are supposed to burn with an all-consuming white flame and who perform the all-important role of maintaining the source of Existence within the physical world. Following the Seraphim come the Cherubim, and Thrones. I always like the descriptions of the Thrones – bringers of justice. In the second choir are Powers, Dominations and Virtues. And in the third choir – Principalities, Archangels and Angels (guardians).




In writing EMBRACE, discovering each of these ranks and their purpose on earth was what led to the development of my characters powers. Each character is specifically placed within a rank of angels and then given powers accordingly. For example: Griffin is parented by a Seraph angel, meaning he is a leader and his unique power is a mind power (that of reading and delivering truth) to correlate with the description of the Seraphim’s function in the universe. It is a great way of keeping order to the power pool!


Each angelic rank also has a different appearance and different color that represent them and I found this really interesting. Any time I describe an angelic image, it relates back to this research in some way. Additionally, combining this research with things like the Chakra has led me to the use of color as a representation of power and also gemstones as a link to old mythology. For example: Phoenix’s hair is like opal – so black that it shimmers with purple and it catches the light exposing streaks of dazzling silver. First, I loved the idea of his hair being different, but also, it linked to the significance to his power, and his heritage in the story.


Basing the story around the bones of angel mythology and hierarchy gives me a solid structure to use as my foundation. It anchors the story and gives me direction any time I think the story might be straying. Also, it allowed me to develop one of the big mysteries within the series: what rank is Violet from?


You can find my review of Embrace here

Bewitching Blog Tours: Kenya Wright Why Vampire Boy Bands Suck!! and Giveaway


Why Vampire Boy Bands Suck!!

Hey Everybody! This is MeShack from the novel Fire Baptized. Many know me as the hot Were-cheetah that sings lead for the band Mahogany Groove. I’m a big music enthusiast and listen to all musical genres, from country to classic, hip hop to electronic.
There is one type of music that I hate! Anything performed by Vampire boy bands. When I hear that crap, claws rip through my fingertips, begging to tear through a Vampire’s chest! Here are my top three reasons why Vampire boy bands suck.


1- Their love songs sound like takeout orders.
Check out the Vampire boy band Stake’s lyrics for “Love Feast”
I’m famished. I need your love, baby
I’ve been starving for you, lady.
When I come to your window full of hunger and need.
Going to take you in my arms and feed.

Personally, that song freaks ME out.

2- Sweet-talking your food is weird and creepy.
First of all, is it just me, or is having sex with your food is insane? I mean these Vampire bands sing about love and sex, but here’s what they really are saying:

“Hey baby, can I drink your bodily fluids to survive? I also want to sex you down, baby . . . as I eat you.”

The last supernatural music awards on MTV gave out at least twenty awards to Vampires. Ridiculous! Maybe I should write a ballad about my desire to hump and eat a sandwich.

3- They’re not BOYS!
Just about every Vampire in those boy bands is over a hundred years old. Am I the only one that sees a problem with these old Vampires singing to high school girls?

Clearly this is pedophilia.


There’s so much more great music out there. In fact, here are two albums that are currently on my play list:
The Siren alternative rock group Sea Flower released their latest album, Odyssey Vol. 2: Homer Go F**k Yourself. It’s awesome.
My favorite rapper, a Were-wolf and fraternity brother, Primal had a new song called Shift It. It’s really sexy so definitely not for anyone under eighteen.
In conclusion, save your ears and brain cells! Throw all of those albums of Vampire boy bands away. 


Kenya is graciously giving away either an ecopy (international) or 1 print copy ( U.S. Shipping) to one reader. Please leave your email and location( either international or U.S.) in the comments below. Winner will be chosen Next Saturday April 7 2012




Fire Baptized
By Kenya Wright

Since the 1970’s humans have forced supernaturals to live in caged cities. Silver brands embedded in their foreheads identify them by species: a full moon for Vampires, a crescent moon for Shifters, a pair of wings for Fairies, and the list goes on, for each supernatural species has been tagged and categorized by humans.

Lanore Vesta is marked with a silver X, the brand of Mixbreeds, second-class citizens shunned by society. She stays to herself, revealing her ability to create fire only during emergencies. All she wants to do is graduate college and stop having to steal to survive. But when she stumbles upon a murder in progress, she catches the attention of a supernatural killer. Now all she wants is to stop finding dead bodies in her apartment.

Enlisting help from her Were-cheetah ex-boyfriend Meshach and a new mysterious friend named Zulu, she is steered through the habitat’s raunchy nightlife. But their presence sometimes proves to be more burden than help, as they fight for her attention.

While the corpses pile up, and the scent of blood fills the air, Lanore is left wondering: will she find the psycho or die trying?
Kindle Paperback
Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/a28T5HzpGJ4  




About the Author:

Kenya Wright always knew she would be famous since the ripe old age of six when she sung the Michael Jackson thriller song in her bathroom mirror. She has tried her hand at many things from enlisting in the Navy for six years as a Persian-Farsi linguist to being a nude model at an art university.

However, writing has been the only constant love in her life.

So here we are Kenya is publishing her first book, Fire Baptized, the urban fantasy novel she always wanted to read. This novel is the first book in a series.

Will she succeed? Of course.

For she has been coined The Urban Fantasy Queen, the Super Iconic Writer of this Age, The Lyrical Genius of Our Generation. Granted, these are all terms coined by her, within the private walls of her bathroom as she still sings the Michael Jackson thriller song.

Kenya Wright currently resides in Miami with her three amazing, overactive children, a supportive, gorgeous husband, and three cool black cats that refuse to stop sleeping on Kenya’s head at night.

http://kenyawright.com
https://twitter.com/#!/Firebaptizedd