Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Teaser Tuesday - June 30, 2009


TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!


My two teasers:


" 'Yes, your honor,' said the foreman, a tall, burly man who worked on the docks in the port of Baltimore. He handed the verdict paper to the baliff who walked it over to the judge."
~pg. 308, Love at First Flight by Marie Force

Monday, June 29, 2009

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Book Review- Bitten to Death

I just finished reading Bitten to Death by Jennifer Rardin.

From the back cover:

My latest mission has taken me to the ancient Greek city of Patras; but instead of soaking up its spelndor, 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. Unfortunaltely, the Trust's new leader has her own plans.
This job is going to be the death of me.

This was the fourth book in the Jaz Parks series. I felt that it was okay. I had a little bit of difficulty remembering what had happened in the past books and it wasn't explained that much in this one. I alway feel a little put off by Jaz, but I suppose its supposed to be that way since she keeps everyone closed off from her (since she lost her fiance in a battle a while ago). I do, however, enjoy her sarcasm and the way she thinks. I liked the secondary were-animal characters in this book. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, One More Bite.

I gave this book a rating of 3/5.

This book fullfilled items in the following challenges:
Paranormal 999 Challenge: Psychics/Sensitives

The Sunday Salon- June 28, 2009


I enjoyed the rest of my vacation in Hilton Head. Then it was back to work 2 days at Disney to keep my status and now I'm going to enjoy sleeping in, laying around reading and catching up on tv shows...I can't wait!

I finished and reviewed the following books this week:

I fullfilled items for the following challenges this week:

I am currently reading Bitten to Death by Jennifer Rardin and up next is Love at First Flight by Marie Force for a book review.

Book Review- The Geek Girl's Guide to Cheerleading

Last night I finished reading The Geek Girl's Guide to Cheerleading by Charity Tahmaseb and Darcy Vance.

From the back cover:

When Bethany--self-proclaimed geek girl--makes the varsity cheerleading squad, she realizes that there's one thing worse than blending in with the lockers: getting noticed. She always felt comfortable as part of the nerd herd, but being a member of the most scrutinized group in her school is weighing her down like a ton of textbooks. Even her varsity cheerleading guide can't answer the really tough questions, like: How do you maintain some semblance of dignity while wearing an insanely short skirt? What do you do when the head cheerleader spills her beer on you at your first in-crowd party? And how do you know if your crush likes you for your mind...or your pom-poms?

One thing's for sure: It's going to take more than brains for this girl genius to cheer her way to the top of the pyramid.

I really enjoyed reading this story. I really identified with Bethany--I cheered from the time I was 8 to the time I was 18 and I was always the bookworm on the squad (luckily my school was small enough that there weren't really cliques--everyone was friends with everyone else). I liked the way the authors wrote the characters. I loved Bethany, Moni, and especially Jack. I loved how he was the popular kid in the high school but when you got to know him, he was a total sweetheart. And I really felt for Chantal, the snobby head of the popular group. I liked how Bethany stayed mostly true to herself, even though she joined cheerleading, and didn't completely disregard the nerd herd. And I enjoyed the ending. Overall a really cute story!

I gave this book a rating of 4/5.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Contests- June 22- June 29

Mrs. Magoo Reads is giving away 3 copies of Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler. The contest ends when she has at least 30 people signed up.

Presenting Lenore is giving one winner his/her choice of 2 of the following books: AFTER by Amy Efaw (August 09), ANOTHER FAUST by Daniel and Dina Nayeri (Aug 09), THE ETERNAL KISS by various authors (Aug 09), MY SOUL TO TAKE by Rachel Vincent (Aug 09), AN OFF YEAR by Claire Zulkey (Sept 09), ASH by Malinda Lo (Sept 09), THE DEVIL’S KISS by Sarwat Chadda (Sept 09), DREAMDARK SILKSINGER by Laini Taylor (Sept 09), HATE LIST by Jennifer Brown (Sept 09), THE MIDNIGHT CHARTER by David Whitley (Sept 09), THE MILES BETWEEN by Mary E. Pearson (Sept 09), SCHOOL OF FEAR by Gitty Daneshvari (Sept 09), VIOLA IN REEL LIFE by Adriana Trigiani (Sept 09), HOLD STILL by Nina LaCour (Oct 09), HUSH, HUSH by Becca Fitzpatrick (Oct 09), INTO THE WILD NERD YONDER by Julie Halpern (Oct 09), THE MAZE RUNNER by James Dashner (Oct 09), SECRET SOCIETY by Tom Dolby (Oct 09), WANDERLUST by Lucy Silag (Dec 09), BEAUTIFUL CREATURES by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (Jan 10), and THE SECRET YEAR by Jennifer Hubbard (Jan 10). The contest ends on June 30.

S. Krishna's Books is giving away a copy of Dune Road and The Beach House, both by Jane Green. The contest ends on June 28.

Booking Mama is having several contests:
Win a copy of A Summer Affair by Elin Hilderbrand. Enter here by July 8.
Win a copy of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. Enter here by July 9.

Carrie's YA Bookshelf is giving away 5 copies of Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson. The contest ends on July 13.

Brenda Janowitz is giving away a copy of Ms. Taken Identity by Dan Begley. The winners will be announced on July 6.

Harmony Book Reviews is giving away a copy of Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen. The contest ends on June 27. She is also giving a way 5 copies of Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson. Enter here before July 15.

Steph Su Reads is giving away all six of the books in Meg Cabot's Mediator series. The contest ends on July 5.

Fantastic Book Review is having several contests:
Win one of 8 books here: Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow, The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong, Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender, Faery Rebels by R.J. Anderson, The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan, If I Stay by Gayle Forman, Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon, and Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler. The contest ends on July 6.
Win Fairy Tale by Cyn Balog here. The contest ends on July 9.

Frentic Reader is giving away 5 copies of Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson. The contest ends on July 6.

Shooting Stars Mag is giving away a copy of My Big Nose and Other Natural Disasters by Sydney Salter. The contest ends on June 27.

Lori's Reading Corner is giving away a computer software program called Your Home Library: The Complete System for Organizing, Locating, Referencing, and Maintaining Your Book Collection by Kathie Coblentz. The contest ends on July 24.

A Journey of Books is giving away a copy of Prey by Rachel Vincent and if she gets 50 people to enter the contest, she will give away a whole set of the Shifters series. The contest ends on July 2.

Reading Keeps You Sane is giving away 3 copies of Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson. The contest ends on July 17.

Book Contest- How To Score

Thanks to Hachette Book Group, I have 5 copies of How to Score by Robin Wells to give away!

Museum curator Sammi Matthews isn't just in a dating slump, she's putting men on the injured list. After giving one date a black eye and cracking another's rib, Sammi decides she needs professional help. Enter life coach Luke Jones, who advises Sammi on how to overcome her klutziness. And their phone sessions work! Sammi soon meets a sexy FBI agent who seems to know just what she needs.

“Robin Wells writes a laugh-out-loud funny contemporary romance in which readers get inside these quirky characters’ heads…” –MyShelf.com

Check out the Fun Facts.
Visit Robin Wells’s site at
http://www.robinwells.com/.

HOW TO ENTER:
+1 Post a comment saying that you would like to be entered (make sure to leave your e-mail address or your comment won't count!)
+1 Post about the contest on your blog and leave the link in your comment
+1 Become a follower (or if you already follow me, let me know!)
~~For each thing that you do, please leave a separate comment or you will only be entered once!!
~~The contest will end on Saturday July 4th at 11:59pm
~~This contest is open to US and Canada only, no PO Boxes.

Friday, June 26, 2009

The Friday 56- June 26, 2009


1. Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
2. Turn to page 56.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like).
5. Post a link along with your post back to Storytime with Tonya and Friends.

" 'Something like that,' I said. 'Things get off to a rough start.' "
From The Geek Girl's Guide to Cheerleading by Charity Tahmaseb and Darcy Vance

Food 4 Thought Friday- June 26, 2009


Breakfast
What is your favorite part of the summertime? Not having to work and getting to sleep in!
Lunch
How was this week different than others? I went up to Hilton Head for a little vacation with Kory and my family
Dinner
What did you think of Michael Jackson? I thought that while he was a very strange man, he was extremely talented and the icon of pop music (I took a class in college called Writing About Cool and we had to create a website about something "cool" and I did it on Michael Jackson..I wish I had saved the address to the site, but there are too many sites up now to find it)
Midnight Snack
What do you have planned for this weekend? I am going to my hometown with my boyfriend and we are going to my best friend from high school's son's first birthday party
Recipe for the Week (instead of your recipe for life, what is it just for this week?) Sometimes trying to be nice comes back to bite you in the butt

Friday Fill-In- June 26, 2009


1. She had a great idea for a story.
2. My mom is by my side, always.
3. I know this: I love to read and eat popcorn!
4. I am 28 years old and not married still.
5. These words apply to me: I am a bookworm.
6. It was for only a couple of minutes today that the sun was shining.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to driving up to Orange Park with Kory, tomorrow my plans include going to my best friend from high school's son's first birthday party and Sunday, I want to make that have to, work at Disney to keep my status!

Friday Finds- June 26, 2009


Thursday, June 25, 2009

Blog Tour- The Geek Girl's Guide to Cheerleading


I am so excited be having guest bloggers today--Charity Tahmaseb and Darcy Vance, authors of The Geek Girl's Guide to Cheerleading!







I will either steal your story idea or kick your scrawny cheerleader butt if you don’t write this.

~ Darcy Vance, February 2004

Ah, encouragement. This is the reply I received after emailing Darcy the premise of what would become The Geek Girl’s Guide to Cheerleading. Initially, Geek Girl was my solo project and the inspiration for the story came from my senior year in high school. I was a geek girl, and I did make the varsity cheerleading squad under circumstances not unlike those in the book.

As for the rest of my season on the squad? Let’s just say the book is a whole lot more interesting.


Fast forward a few years. I’d shelved the story, brought it back out as an exercise in revision, then--pleased with the results--sent it out to agents. The good news: I was getting responses. The bad news: they were of the almost-but-not-quite variety.

One agent even offered to look at a rewrite if I managed to accomplish certain things. This prompted an existential crisis that resulted in the following emails:

From: Charity Tahmaseb
To: Darcy Vance
Subject: RE: The first reject

To me, it’s like thinking: Oh, maybe Hottie McHottie will take me to the prom if I do X, Y and Z, but I’m not sure what X, Y and Z really are.
C.

From: Darcy Vance
To: Charity Tahmaseb
Subject: RE: The first reject

But what if I said Hottie McHottie thinks you are really cool, but he likes girls who wear sparkly blue eyeliner, and who invite him to dances face to face instead of over the phone? Would you wear blue eyeliner to go to the dance?
~d

From: Charity Tahmaseb
To: Darcy Vance
Subject: RE: Sparkly Eyeliner

Well, see, if Hottie McHottie would only go if I wore that blue eyeliner, I might wonder if maybe there was another guy out there, one not all caught up in the whole blue eyeliner thing, one who would think my lack of eyeliner charming, natural, refreshing.
I might be happier with him.
C.

As you can see, I was not convinced. Darcy went as far as to rewrite several of the chapters in first person, adding what she calls the “sparkly eyeliner” (it’s so much more than that), but I wouldn’t budge.

Then she sent me an email about her son who’d been suffering from an ulcer on his tongue.

They think it’s cancer …

Four words that change everything.

The limitations of online friendship hit me. Even though I told Darcy my inbox was open 24/7, it didn’t seem like enough. With more than five hundred miles between us, I couldn’t stop by and do the laundry or drop off a hotdish.

But then I realized I did have a virtual hotdish, in the form of a certain manuscript. I proposed that we work on it together, and if we sold, she could use her part of the advance to help with the medical bills.

In the time we worked on the manuscript together, queried agents, and revised again, I don’t think we talked on the phone to each other. Odd, I know, but we did everything through email and IM.

On the day our agent sent the email with the subject line: GREAT NEWS, I knew Darcy was offline. So I did it. I picked up my cell phone and I called her. All I said was: You need to check your email.

Looking back at that very first email in 2004, it’s clear Darcy’s been with The Geek Girl’s Guide to Cheerleading since the very beginning. And I think now: this was the way it was meant to be.
--

The Geek Girl's Guide to Cheerleading
Simon Pulse, May 2009
http://thegeekgirlsguide.com/



About The Book


When Bethany -- self-proclaimed geek girl -- makes the varsity cheerleading squad, she realizes that there's one thing worse than blending in with the lockers: getting noticed. She always felt comfortable as part of the nerd herd, but being a member of the most scrutinized group in her school is weighing her down like a ton of textbooks. Even her Varsity Cheerleading Guide can't answer the really tough questions, like: How do you maintain some semblance of dignity while wearing an insanely short skirt? What do you do when the head cheerleader spills her beer on you at your first in-crowd party? And how do you know if your crush likes you for your mind...or your pom-poms?

One thing's for sure: It's going to take more than brains for this girl genius to cheer her way to the top of the pyramid.



Excerpt



1
LET YOUR SCHOOL SPIRIT SHINE!
Winter Varsity Cheerleading
Call-Out Meeting
Wednesday
3:15
Cafeteria
Go Panthers!!!!!


It is a truth universally acknowledged that a high school boy in possession of great athletic ability must be in want of...

A bowl of oatmeal.

At least on a cold November morning in Minnesota. And maybe a carton of orange juice on the side, but definitely not a girlfriend. Jack Paulson, mega basketball star and crush extraordinaire, did not date. Just ask any girl in the Prairie Stone High School junior class. The cheerleaders, the preps, the drama queens, the band crew, the art nerds, the skater chicks, the stoners, the loners, the freaks, the cool and the not-so-cool, all of them had tried.

Including me.

I was hoping to try again that day, if only my best friend, Moni, would show up already. Ever since her parents divorced and her dad moved to Minneapolis, it was like he took Moni's punctuality with him. She'd been totally unreliable. So I wondered, could I pull it off? Could a lone geek girl linger by the cafeteria door in a casual manner? Not likely. You see, every school has a danger zone. At Prairie Stone, ours occupied the space in the lobby that was an equal distance between the cafeteria, the gym, and the girls' bathroom. It was the spot where all the popular kids hung out. A place the rest of us tried to avoid. Moni and I called it the gauntlet.

We discovered that term last year, in word origins class. In case you're wondering, gauntlet (noun) = a form of punishment where the victim must endure suffering from many sources at the same time. It comes from the Swedish word gatlopp. In Sweden, apparently, they used to punish reprobates (n. those who are predestined to damnation) by making them strip to the waist and then run between rows of soldiers who were armed with sticks and knotted ropes.

That sounded about right.

And so I stood at the edge of Prairie Stone's gauntlet, close enough to the gym to sniff the delicate aroma of sweaty socks, near enough to the cafeteria to catch a whiff of oatmeal -- and the promise of Jack Paulson. One more step and I would officially enter gauntlet girl territory.

Chantal Simmons, the queen of cool and gatekeeper of popularity at PSHS, stood at the apex of it all. She turned her head in my direction, her blond hair flowing in a way rarely seen outside of shampoo commercials. Her glance made me consider climbing the stairs to the balcony and crossing over the top instead of pressing my way through -- but only a coward would do that.

Which is to say, I've done it plenty.

Chantal had a radar for weakness. One wrong move and she'd find yours and use it against you. Forget those sticks and knotted ropes. Chantal could annihilate the hopes and dreams of your average high school junior with just a whisper. And once upon a time, back in the dark ages of childhood and middle school, Chantal Simmons was someone I had told all my secrets to. In retrospect, that was kind of like arming a rogue nation with a nuclear bomb.

No risk, no reward, I told myself. If I wanted an early-morning glimpse of Jack Paulson (and I did, I really, really did), then I needed to cross into enemy territory. Alone. But before I could step over that invisible boundary, someone called my name. Someone short, with a mass of yellow corkscrew curls poking out beneath a QT cap.

"Bethany!" My best friend, Moni Fredrickson, bounded up to me, still in her winter jacket, her cheeks pink from cold and her glasses fogged. "Brian just called me on my cell," she said. "They're in the Little Theater. They have Krispy Kremes. Brian said he'd save us one each, but you know how that works."

Of course I did. It is another truth universally acknowledged, that high school nerds in possession of a great number of Krispy Kremes must be in want of...

Nothing.

At least not until they shook out the last bit of sugary glaze from the box. Then it was total Lord of the Flies time while they searched for more. We had to get there before they tore Brian limb from limb. Moni pulled me along toward the Little Theater and away from the gauntlet. I glanced over my shoulder, sure Chantal was still glaring at me.

But she wasn't. No one was. Not a single gauntlet girl or wannabe peered in my direction. Instead they'd all turned toward the cafeteria, eyes fixed on a tall, retreating figure -- one with dark spiky hair and a Prairie Stone High letter jacket. Jack Paulson. He didn't look back at me -- not that I expected him to. But then, he didn't acknowledge Chantal, either.

Jack Paulson = Totally Girlproof.

I stumbled along behind Moni and wondered, What would a girl have to do to get a boy like that to notice her?

If there was such a thing as gauntlet girl territory at Prairie Stone, then the Little Theater was dork domain. Chantal Simmons might rule the lobby, but a few steps down the hall Todd Emerson (president of the chess club, co-captain of the debate team, editor of the school paper, and all-around boy genius) maintained a benevolent dictatorship over the academic superstars and the techies.

In other words, a bossier boy never lived.

Todd was Harvard bound. Or Yale bound. Well, certainly somewhere bound. Somewhere that was far snootier than (what I was sure he already thought of as) his humble beginnings. He was one of those kids who wouldn't return for a school reunion until he managed to make a billion dollars or overthrow a minor country.

A bright purple and gold notice hung on the door to the theater, instructing all who entered to let your school spirit shine! and inviting us to attend a call-out meeting for the winter varsity cheerleading squad. As if. I passed through the doorway, gripped the handrail, and followed Moni down the small flight of steps, my eyes adjusting to the semidarkness.

The Little Theater had killer acoustics, something Todd took advantage of up on the stage.

"Can you believe they denied Carlson's request for new desktop publishing software?" he thundered. "You know what they -- " Todd broke off mid-rant. "Hey, Reynolds, how long does it take you to lay out the newspaper every month?"

I tried not to roll my eyes about the newspaper -- or about Todd calling me by my last name. It was this thing he did, like I was a rookie reporter to his big-city editor in chief.

How long did it take for me to lay out the newspaper? "A while," I said. Forever was a better answer, but Todd was wound up enough. The computers we used were ancient, the software even older. I sometimes thought that cutting and pasting -- with real scissors and glue -- might be faster. Mr. Carlson, the journalism teacher, had been lobbying for upgrades for years.

"Guess what they bought instead?" said Todd. He gestured wildly from the podium. "Come on. Just guess."

I heard the sound of someone's stomach rumbling and the barest click of a Nintendo DS. I looked around at the collection of smarty-pants misfits that made up our "clique." These were the kids who lived to raise their hands in class. That no one offered a guess was a testament to the power Todd wielded over the group.

He pounded the lectern. The crack of his fist against wood echoed through the theater.

"They bought new" -- Todd stepped out from behind the podium for effect -- "pom-poms." A look of disgust rolled across his face as he approached the front of the stage. "For the varsity cheerleading squad."

I glanced at Moni. She crossed her eyes at me and pointed toward the seat that held the Krispy Kreme box. Todd glared, daring someone, anyone, to speak.

A throat cleared behind us. "Well, I highly approved of the new outfits last year." This was Brian McIntyre, Todd's sidekick, mellow where Todd was high-strung, soft-spoken where Todd was loud. Brian was one of those boys whose looks froze in fourth grade. He had a roundish face and full cheeks, with sweet blue eyes and hair that flopped over his forehead. People constantly underestimated him, which was why he cleaned up in debate, at chess, and in the Math League.

"The cheerleaders had new outfits last year?" Todd asked.

"You didn't notice?" Brian sounded genuinely puzzled.

Moni paused before biting the doughnut she was holding and raised an eyebrow at me. I'd known her long enough to catch the meaning of that look: When did Brian start noticing cheerleaders? Not the best development, especially when you considered that somewhere around homecoming, Brian and Moni had gone from "just friends" to something a touch friendlier.

"I guess it doesn't matter how big a boy's brain is," I whispered, "it can still be derailed by an insanely short skirt." But Moni wasn't paying attention.

"Whatever," she said to the group. "There's nothing so special about cheerleading. I mean, even Bethany and I could do that."

"Do...what?" Todd and I said at the same time.

"You know. Ready...okay!" Moni bounced on the balls of her feet, like she might break into a display of spirit fingers at any moment.

"You mean," I said, going along with it (because annoying Todd was my favorite sport), "you and me trying out for the varsity cheerleading squad?"

"Who says we can't?"

Ummm, technically, no one.

Todd knelt at the edge of the stage and frowned down at us, his oversize dork glasses slipping down his nose. "You have got to be kidding."

Yeah. What he said.

But out loud, I agreed with Moni. "Think about it, Todd. We could petition to expand cheerleading to support the debate team. The chess club, even. You know, Gambit to the left, castle to the right, endgame, endgame, now in sight!"

Moni giggled. Brian, still lazing near the back of the room, snorted in appreciation. A few of the other guys took up the cheer.

You know how in Greek mythology, Medusa could turn anyone who looked at her into stone? At that moment she had nothing on Todd Emerson. Lucky for me, the bell rang. Or maybe not so lucky -- Todd and I shared first-period honors history.

We all filed from the Little Theater and straight into the heart of the gauntlet, together...

I will have my review of the book up soon!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Book Review- Up In Smoke

I finished reading Up in Smoke by Katie MacAlister today.
From the back cover:

Though May Northcotta' heart belongs to Gabriel, the leader of the silver dragons, being stuck in Abaddon has significantly cooled down her love life--especially since a demon lord is trying to woo her. So far, May has resisted his efforts, but it's getting increasingly harder to thwart disaster.

So May is shocked when Gabriel encourages her to give in to the demon prince. But her fire-breathing boyfriend has an ulterior motive. Since May was created in the mortal world, her surrender would give her master access to that world, where he would lose most of his powers.

It looks as though May will have to barter to gain her freedom and fulfill her destiny by Gabriel's side. But will a deal with the devil make her life heaven or hell?

I liked this book much better than the first book. I'm not sure if it is because the author explain new terms more or because I now already know most of the terms, but I didn't have to go look anything up this time. I loved the character of May. I loved her personality and I find it really neat that she can shadow walk. And I want a Gabriel! He just seems to hot and protective! This book really left off on a cliffhanger and I can't wait to get my hands on the next book, Me and My Shadow ( I don't want to wait until November for it come out!)

I gave this book a rating of 4/5.

This book fullfilled items in the following challenges:

Contest Winner- Secrets to Happiness




According to random.org

Esme

has won a copy of Secrets to Happiness by Sarah Dunn! Email me at belle2211@yahoo.com by Friday at 9pm and I will have your copy sent out to you!

Wednesday Wordle- June 24, 2009


Here is a screen shot of my Wordle for the week (Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from words that is seen on my blog)


Waiting on Wednesday- June 24, 2009



This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

The Hollow
by Jessica Verday
Publication Release Date: September 1, 2009

From Amazon.com:

When Abbey's best friend, Kristen, vanishes at the bridge near Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, everyone else is all too quick to accept that Kristen is dead?and rumors fly that her death was no accident. Abbey goes through the motions of mourning her best friend, but privately, she refuses to believe that Kristen is really gone. Then she meets Caspian, the gorgeous and mysterious boy who shows up out of nowhere at Kristen's funeral, and keeps reappearing in Abbey's life. Caspian clearly has secrets of his own, but he's the only person who makes Abbey feel normal again...but also special.

Just when Abbey starts to feel that she might survive all this, she learns a secret that makes her question everything she thought she knew about her best friend. How could Kristen have kept silent about so much? And could this secret have led to her death? As Abbey struggles to understand Kristen's betrayal, she uncovers a frightening truth that nearly unravels her—one that will challenge her emerging love for Caspian, as well as her own sanity.

Teaser Tuesday - June 23, 2009



TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!




My two teasers:




"Five minutes after the pep rally ended, Moni tackled me from behind. 'Did he kiss you?' she demanded."
~pg 87, The Geek Girl's Guide to Cheerleading by Charity Tahaseb and Darcy Vance

Monday, June 22, 2009

Mailbox Monday- June 22, 2009


Mailbox Monday: Here's what came in my mailbox this week:


MONDAY

His Other Lover- Lucy Dawson--FrugalReader Book Ring





TUESDAY


WEDNESDAY

Undone-Rachel Caine --FrugalReader Book Ring







THURSDAY

Summer House- Nancy Thayer-Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tour





FRIDAY

True Colors- Kristin Hannah--FrugalReader Book Ring







Millie’s Fling- Jill Mansell--book review from Sourcebooks

Book Review- Playing With Fire

I just finished reading Playing With Fire by Katie MacAlister.


From the back cover:


Gabriel Tauhou, the leader of the silver dragos, can't take his eyes off May Northcott--not even when May, who has the unique talent of being able to hide in the shadows, has slipped from everyone else's sight.


May, however has little time for Gabriel--not when she's hiding from the Otherworld law, hunting down a blackmailer, and trying to avoid a demon lord's demands. But her ability to withstand Gabriel's fire marks her as his mate, and he has no intention of letting her disappear into the darkness she seems to prefer.


Then May is ordered to steal one of Gabriel's treasures--an immensely important relic of all dragonkin--and he must decide which to protect: his love or his dragons.


This is the first book by Katie MacAlister that I have read (although I own most of them). This is the first of the Silver Dragons series. I had a really hard time getting into it at first. Although I have read several other paranormal series, this book had a lot of terminology in it that I didn't understand. At first I tried to just guess what the words meant, but it got too confusing so I had to look them up. It was really slow-going at first. But then the more I read, the more I got into it. I enjoyed the humor and the romance. I want that kind of passion! I look forward to reading the next book in the series, Up in Smoke.


I gave this book a rating of 3/5.


This book fullfills items in the following challenges:
Paranormal 999 Challenge: Dragons
A to Z Reading Challenge: P

Sunday, June 21, 2009

The Sunday Salon- June 21, 2009


I finished my ESOL class this week and finally got to start my summer vacation. I had my consultation yesterday to see if I was a candidate for Lasik eye surgery, and I am, so I should be having that done in August. I am now up in Hilton Head for a couple of days at the beach with Kory and my family. Hopefully I'll get a lot of reading done!

I finished and reviewed the following books this week:

I didn't fullfill any items for any challenges this week.

I am currently reading Playing with Fire by Katie MacAlister and up next is The Geek Girl's Guide to Cheerleading by Charity Tahmaseb and Darcy Vance for a blog tour.