Dark Roots and Cowboy Boots by LuAnn McLane

I have a contest to announce tomorrow, and I plan on doing it when I discuss A Little Less Talk and A Lot More Action, which is the follow up book to this one. I've been dying to talk about A Little for a LONG time, since I've had the ARC and have read, and then re-read, and then read it again, so many times. And now, the release date is coming up, so I get my chance! So be sure to check back in for the contest details, I promise you, this will be one contest you do NOT want to miss. Just a small hint as to why - AuthorIsland.com !!!!! But as ALLTAALMA is a connected book to this one, I felt the need to tell you all about Dark Roots today, so if you haven't read it yet, you can go out and get it and have it read before July 1.

Dark Roots and Cowboy Boots by LuAnn McLane
(BCC)

Not Just Another Small-Town Babe...
Teetering on the Tennessee border, Hootertown, Kentucky, suits beautician Jamie Lee Carter just fine. She's the kind of gal who prefers longneck beers to cosmos, bare feel to high heels, and Daisy Dukes to Prada, but a bit of flash might still win out over another pool-hall line dance. That's where Parker Carrington, a hunky Hollywood producer, comes in...

Not Just Another Saturday Night Fling...
He's pegged Hootertown as an ideal movie site - and Jamie as more than a sexy extra. He's adding sizzle to Jamie's romantic slump and firing up something called jealousy in Griff Sheldon. Jamie's brother's best friend and her longtime crush. Now two hot-blooded rivals are going head-to-head. One's got a Jaguar. One's got a pickup. And only one's got what it takes to give Jamie the ride of her life.

I first discovered McLane's work with the release of her book Dancing Shoes and Honky Tonk Blues, and I fell in love. I mean, I could not put this book down! It wasn't just the humor - I mean come on, a book about a Redneck spoof of the television show Dancing With The Stars, that's funny, I don't care who you are - and it wasn't just the smokin' hot Romance (though great googely moogely can this chick write smokin' hot with the best of 'em). It wasn't even all about the fact that she was writing about Redneck and small town girls (which I happen to be, thankyouverymuch) No, it was so much more. McLane's voice was so fresh. Snappy dialogue, lovable characters, laugh out loud moments, cry a little moments, moments that had me so hot I was reachin' for my man. This book had it all - and I wanted more!

But could this book be a fluke? I mean, it's rare that I like a Romance novel written in First Person, and I lurved this book. I had to know, was I reading a one hit deal? Would her other books be just as good, or I would I be disappointed? Well, let me tell ya, my love of this book was no fluke, and I swear every other book I've read by McLane has had me hooked in the same way.

Dark Roots and Cowboy Boots was the third book I had bought by McLane even though it was actually the first of her southern series of books. And until I read A Little Less Talk, this one was my favorite. Honestly, it still is, only it shares that space with ALLT, because it has the same characters featured in it (but I'll get to that tomorrow).

Jamie Lee Carter, small town Beauty Shop owner, loves her life, her best friend Macy, her family and her small town. But something is missing, the love of a good man. She's always known who she'd like to be the man in her life, Griff, her brother Luke's best friend, but he'll never see her any other way than as a kid sister. But, when Parker Carrington, producer, comes to town in a fancy little sports car, and sets his sights on Jamie Lee, as tour guide and more, well, maybe it's Jamie Lee's imagination, or has Griff started to finally show a bit of interest? But with two very fine lookin' men showing interest, Jamie Lee has some serious thinking to do. Does she try one last time to get the man she's dreamed about forever, or does she move on with an exciting new man whose nothing like she always thought she wanted?

With lots of laughter and heart, Jamie Lee's story will draw you in, and won't let you go, even after you've reached the end. Stuck zippers, wild bull rides, best friends, old loves, old insecurities. new adventures and picnic baskets gone wrong, this book has it all and so much more.

Grab your best friend and head to the beach or better yet hit the lake, and be prepared to laugh, cry and fall in love!

Take Care

Gregor and the Prophecy Of Bane by Suzanne Collins

SUMMER READING CHALLENGE! Please do not forget about the Reading Challenge! For more information, you can click the link in my sidebar or click here. I know that some of you are already participating, as I have had quite a few e-mails with questions, so I plan to do an FAQ post by the end of the week to clear a few things up and hopefully get more of you joining in. I've also had some contact with a few people that may really help make the prize a LOT more sweet, so I'm trying to hold off on that post until I've made the final arrangements on that! But keep tuned more, so much more to come!

Gregor And The Prophecy Of Bane by Suzanne Collins
Book Two in the Underland Chronicles
(BCC)

Months have passed since Gregor first fell into the strange Underland beneath New York City, and he swears he will never go back. But he is destined to be a key player in another prophecy, this one about an ominous white rat called the Bane. The Underlanders know there is only one way to lure Gregor back to their world: by kidnapping his little sister, Boots.

Now Gregor's quest reunites him with his bat, Ares, and the rebellious princess, Luxa. They descend into the dangerous Waterway in search of the Bane, and Gregor knows what is at stake. If he does not fulfill the prophecy, his life, and the Underland, will never be the same.

When Gregor and Boots fell down the vent in the laundry room, his family was changed forever. Gregor discovers an entire world beneath our own, a world inhabited not by magical creatures, but real humans and their human sized enemies and allies, such as rats, bats, cockroaches, spiders, mice, and so much more. He also discovered that the strange light haired, violet eyed people and the huge animals believe him to be the warrior that has been spoken of in their prophecies. So while after that first trip to the Underland Gregor may have taken away one good thing - his father. Gregor also took away a few bad things. His father may be with them now, but he is not the same man and Gregor has nightmares of the people he met and their world.

Gregor doesn't care what any prophecy says, he is NOT their warrior, and he will NOT go back to the Underland. He plans to keep as far away as he possibly can. But then Boots disappears, and Gregor knows just where she went and who has her. So, against his mother and father's better judgment, Gregor heads back to the Underland to get his sister and to get home.

But the Underlanders have a different plan for Gregor. They don't intend for him to go anywhere, let alone home, until he fulfills the second prophecy. Only this prophecy could mean the death of his beloved sister and also calls for him to kill. Seeing no choice in the matter if Gregor has any hope for himself and his sister to make it home, he and his "team" head out on this next quest to hunt the Bane and hopefully stay alive.

Gregor learned in the first book that the Underland was nothing like his own, the Overland, and the difference only become more clear as he is attacked by giant sea creatures, a swarm of mites, and so many more dangers than even he could imagine.

One thing is for sure, if Gregor and Boots survive, he will never be the same again, neither will the Underland.

In this second installment of the Underland Chronicles, Suzanne Collins grabs you from the get-go and it's nearly impossible to quit reading once you've started. In fact, I've mentioned before that this series is one we are reading aloud as a family, and I read this book out loud to them in only two sittings! Talk about a sore throat! But, oh was it worth it!

Suspense, friendship, courage, and compassion fill each and every page, that had my family glued to this world. And even though there is no magic involved in the creation of the Underland, it's end result is pure magic as I watch readers young and old come together in my household for more.

Grab the first book in this series and be prepared to want the rest immediately. Grab the first book in this series no matter your age, and even if you don't have a child to read with. You won't be sorry you fell head first through the pages just as Gregor and Boots did with the vent. But trust me on this, it's a thrill ride like never before!

Take Care

The Touch of Twighlight by Vicki Pettersson

I "dished" the first two books in this series when I was at the old site, so in case you haven't read them yet, or cannot remember if I enjoyed them, click here. Go ahead, I'll wait. I also want to remind everyone about my SUMMER READING CHALLENGE. I'm working on a few things to sweeten the pot, so to speak, so I REALLY want you guys to get involved. And with all of that out of the way, I'll get on with it...

The Touch Of Twilight by Vicki Pettersson
(BCC)

Joanna archer has reluctantly accepted the roles destiny assigned her: Avenger, Savior...Destroyer.

On the surface she's a sexy, sophisticated socialite, at home among the beautiful people of the Las Vegas upper crust. But Joanne Archer inhabits another world: a place ordinary humans cannot see...a dangerous dimension where an eternal battle rages between the agens of Light and Shadow. And Joanna is both.

Stalked by an enigmatic doppelganger from a preternatural realm, Joanna can feel the Light failing - which is propelling her toward a terrifying confrontation with the ultimate master of evil, the lord of Shadow: her father.

Vegas is all about winner big...or losing everything. To save her friends, her future, her worlds, Joanna Archer mst gamble it all by fully embracing the darkness inside her.

Five days ago I started this post, and the BCC is as far as I got. I had to stop to go to my sons ball game and when I got home I had a house full of kids. The next day I also had a house full of kids. This went on for three days and nights and then I started to feel not so great. I spent a lot of time sleeping, trying to fight the sickness, but alas, the sickness has won out. Today I awoke with no voice and a migraine to end all migraines. The headache thankfully is gone, but unfortunately, so is my voice. Thankfully, I can still type...

I obviously enjoyed the first two books in this series, but I found myself having a very hard time getting through the first few chapters of this one. It was slow. Almost painfully so at times. Plus, I was frustrated because there were so many references to events that had happened in the first two books that I couldn't remember! I found myself with the inner debate as to whether or not re-read them, but realized that I couldn't. It wasn't that they weren't excellent books, because I clearly remember the general gist of them and I knew that I loved them at the time. It's just that their, well, kinda long, and while I enjoy the world, I don't enjoy it well enough to relive it. I think that in part this can be blamed on the fact that the first two books were released a month a part and I read them both within the first week of their release. Then, they were a quick bestseller, and thus, as I had predicted, it was a long wait to this latest one.

Not only that, I can sometimes be petty, and well, when I reached page 65 and saw this-
- well, I was irritated. That's not fair of course, but it was a disappointment to see.

It wasn't long though before Pettersson was able to capture my love for this world - the fight between good and evil - where superheros are real and I forgot my earlier irritation with everything and fell head first into the reading.

Joanna, quite simply is kick ass, and though the storyline is wonderfully convoluted in places everything falls together nicely and left this reader ready for more! If you've read the first two books, this one is really a must read, as the continuing story is action packed. However, if you have not yet read the other two, you need to start at the beginning.

Take Care

And The New Winner Is...

wildchild! Please send an e-mail to novelreads at gmail dot com (ya know the drill) and I'll get the book in the mail ASAP. If, once again, I don't hear from wildchild in one weeks time, I'll draw another name, or maybe just run a new contest and make sure to have people e-mail me saying they entered with their snail mail addy in case they win! I feel horrible when some one doesn't find out they were a winner and missed out!

I have a stack of noveltalks to do, but I'm wiped out and on my way to bed. Bear had his first swim meet tonight and it was so much fun, but I'm ready for bed. I have what is probably a severe second degree burn, possibly even a third degree burn on my shoulder (long story, but did you know that the sun is hot?) and it's getting better but the pain wipes me out easily. I'll have a talk posted tomorrow on THE TOUCH OF TWILIGHT by Vicki Pettersson and then I'm hoping to type up these others for reserve!

Take Care

Stealing From Marg

blessedheart, I have yet to hear from you about your win of the signed copy of FROM DEAD TO WORSE by Charlaine Harris. If I do not hear from you by Tuesday at 3 p.m. I will announce the next winner (Miss Beautiful has already drawn a name). Please contact me at novelreads at gmail dot com (ya know, without the spaces and with the symbols) with your snail mail address so that I may get the book sent to you ASAP! Thanks.

Also, thank you to all of you that commented on the last post! It feels nice to know that I'm not the only one who reads ahead and chooses books that way!

Weekends are usually my time to catch up on the web surfing I miss out on during the week. However, we've bought a pool, and now my weekends are spent outside hanging with family and friends, so I surf at night and then am too tired to really blog. Today, though, I have a burn. In short, my body and face are darker than dark, well, except for my shoulders, that burned, peeled, then immediately burned again. So, I'm inside today, healing what is probably a third degree burn. No lie. It hurts. But I get a chance to catch up for the week without going without lots of sleep tonight.

One of my favorite blogs to catch up on is Reading Adventures written by Marg. The posts are always so well written that it's easy to spend time over there. Today, as I went and did my surfing, I noticed two things I could steal...erm....borrow? So, I'm gonna do just that....

123 Meme

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

OK, the nearest book is an ARC of LuAnn McLane's soon to be released A LITTLE LESS TALK AND A LOT MORE ACTION (look very soon for a post on this one - I've read it over 10 times!). So, you can't check me until July1, when it is officially released. And even then, it may differ, since technically, ARCs are uncorrected proofs. And as a side note, it just so happens that page 123 is a page I have marked for quoting!

A LITTLE LESS TALK AND A LOT MORE ACTION by LuAnn McLane

It also boggles my mind how really ugly clothing sells out so quickly but I suppose that at three o'clock in the morning even turquoise tunics look appealing to bleary eyes. Plus they have models who would make a potato sack look sexy. I wonder how many people get UPS packages with turquoise tunics, scratch their heads, and mutter, "What the hell was I thinkin'?"

Now to tag -

1. Wendy
2. Rachael
3. Ter
4 & 5 - YOU!

And the second thing I stole...Ummmm, I mean BORROWED!

The concept:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name



Enjoy! Novel Reads talk tomorrow!

Take Care

My Newly Discovered Bad Reading Habit

Once upon a time, I was a very easy reader. I bought books by the lure of the cover alone. I never even thought about reading the BCC. I never even thought about reading ahead. Would not have even dreamed about reading the last page - oh no, that was just too taboo! But, times, they do change. And as time has ticked by, signaling the end of yet another era, I as a reader have also changed.

It started innocently enough. I was low on cash for books and trying to decide between two cute covers I read the BCC. Well, that damn BCC LIED! That's right, it lied. The book contained within the pages was nothing - nothing, like the BCC suggested. I was appalled! I was outraged. I was a changed reader. Suddenly, I started reading every BCC and then ranting about it on the d&D site when it ticked me off.

It didn't stop there, though. Oh NO! I went crazy. I started reading the first page of the book most of the times! GASP! I would not only read the first page, I would read the "Other Books By..." list at the start. If even one of them sounded off, I didn't buy the book. I'm telling you, that way lie madness, and it over took me!

And now - now - I am so ashamed of myself and disgusted at the outcome of my latest bad book reading habit, that I almost can't stand myself. Is no book safe from my insanity? I have started taking a peak at the last page!

Really, it started out innocently enough when I started reading the Gregor books to my children. We were hooked. Gregor and the Underland so captured my attention that I just didn't want to stop reading. Alas, I had promised Bear that I would never read ahead of him. But now that we're on book 4, I felt it would be safe to at least read the BCC to book 5, and what I saw shocked me! I had to know that my favorite characters were OK, so I read the last page - of a book I hadn't even started! I was ashamed, but at the same time a little bit excited. I had broken some unspoken rule, and I was giddy with the power!

Unfortunately, it is becoming a habit I can't seem to break. And like with all habits it has come back to bite me in the arse. You see, I started read Playing With Fire by Katie MacAlister. I've never read this author before. The books have just never jumped out to grab my attention even though I've heard mondo good things about the books and watched them hit bestseller lists. Well, I finally broke down and bought this one and I'm having a really hard time getting into the book. It took me three days to read past 2 Chapters. Fortunately it started to pick up, but I had a really bad feeling. So, me, being the cheater I have reluctantly become, read the last page. And to my horror, discovered I was not in-store for an immediate HEA. In fact, it would seem I was in store for a series.

Now. don't get me wrong, I realized I was in store for a series, but stupidly I thought each book would feature a different couple. See, this is why I should sometimes take better care to research books I have a reluctance to buy. I don't like the protag in this book. The writing seems stilted and dull, but I've heard great things about his author and really wanted to give this all a try. But, I just can't read on. I want resolution for these two, I don't want it drawn out for books on end. And maybe it won't be, and I'll be missing out on something - but that darn new bad habit has stopped me from ever finding out.

So, I find myself half-way through a book I know I will never finish. Wasting 6 - yes, SIX, days of trying to read the first half of this thing (not to mention $6) - all because I read the last page. It's madness, and I want it to stop, because I really may have found myself liking the book (doubtful, but perhaps) if I would have kept plodding through instead of cheating and reading the last page.

Please tell me I am not alone in the bad habit category! Please tell me if I've made a HUGE mistake and this book is worth finishing! Please tell me there is hope for a last page reader such as myself. I need help people, or I may never be able to read another book again!

Take Care

Devil May Cry by Sherrilyn Kenyon

I am a bad, bad blogger. And I don't mean in the "To the Bone" vane. Nope, I'm a bad blogger because I tend to get lax in my postings (which is evident when you see my personal blog). You see, I've been so proud of myself for doing so well in finally keeping up with this, and then I kind of fell off the wagon the last few days. We've gotten a pool for the backyard (pics will be posted on my other blog shortly) and we've been spending a lot of time outside. However, I could be blogging at night, ya know, when I can't sleep and The Hubs is at work, but then I'm so tired because I can't sleep that you get a post like this one will be - loopy. I apologize in advance if it's hard to follow, and I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know if it's too bad for me to blog while under the influence of Benadryl. And now on with it...

Devil My Cry by Sherrilyn Kenyon
(BCC)

Sin, an ancient Sumerian god, was one of the most powerful among his pantheon - until the night Artemis robbed him of his godhood and left him one step from death...

For millennia, the ex-god turned Dark-Hunter Sin has sought to regain his powers and take revenge on Artemis. But now he has bigger fish - or in this case, demons - to fry. The lethal gallu that were buried by his pantheon are stirring, and they are hungry for human flesh. Their goal: to destroy mankind. Sin is the only one who can stop them...if a certain woman doesn't kill him first.

Enemies have always made strange bedfellows, but never more so than when the fate of the world hangs in the balance. Now a man who only knows betrayal must trust the one person most likely to hand him to the demons. Artemis may have stolen his godhood, but this one has stolen his heart. The only question is: Will she keep it...or feed it to those who want him dead?

I used to be a HUGE fan of The Dark-Hunter novels. I started with Night Pleasures and loved it so much I even read Fantasy Lover. But, then Dream-Hunter novels and novels of the Were-Hunters started popping up, and well, I lost all interest. Fair weather reader? Who me? In all honesty though, that is what I was with this series. I swore I was done reading the Dark-Hunter books until Acheron's story came up. I was going to read Kenyon's books under the name Kinley MacGregor, because I love those historicals and that was it. But then, a few months ago I was in the store and saw this book and saw that it said it was a Dark-Hunter book, and thought, what the hell, give it a try. But then, the book sat in my TBR pile forgotten. Until a couple of days ago when I was in a funk and decided to give it a go. And ohmyword am I glad that I did.

Sin, ex-god, has Artemis worried. He's just stolen something that could be her undoing. And Artemis has a good reason to be worried, because thousands of years ago, she was his undoing. But although Sin would love nothing more than to destroy Artemis, at present, he has bigger fish to fry. A nasty like no nasty humanity has ever seen before, is about to re-awaken and Sin is the only one who has the power to stop it. That is, if he can find his twin brother.

But Artemis cares only for herself and sends Kat to kill Sin. Kat watches as Sin does something that could only be described as heinous, and decides that he is the worst sort of immortal that could ever be and that he must die. But, before the chance arises, Kat is attacked by one of the milder (and that ain't none to mild) nasties, and Sin saves her life - only as soon as he sees her, he wants to kill her.

But as Kat and Sin discover, they need each other to save humanity, if they can just survive Artemis' hit man, and demons that will stop at nothing to see them dead. But it just could be the love they are forming that could be their end or just maybe, it will be their beginning. With trust being a word Sin doesn't understand, Kat has her work cut out for her - good thing she's more than just Artie's hit-woman...

Devil reminded me just why I loved the Dark-Hunter novels. Thrills, chills, and Romance intertwine in this fast-paced page turner that will have you on the edge of your seat not ready to say good-bye to the fantastical world that Kenyon has created. The Romance is top notch, and let's just say have your fan ready because you'll definitely need it for some very steamy scenes.

Usually, I'm a POV purist, so if you've read Kenyon or MacGregor, your may be confused as to why I'm not complaining about the head-hopping that riddles the pages. But Kenyon is a master at the POV change within a scene, and only occasionally do I scratch my head at the sudden change. It works for her, and actually lends so much more emotion to the pages.

I'm so glad I read this book, because had I not, I may never have realized that Ash (the book I was awaiting to bring me back to this series) will have his book NEXT. To find out all about these wonderful and sexy Dark-Hunters and most importantly Ash, you can click here.

And now, for some reminders. I have yet heard form my contest winner, so if you are they, please e-mail me at novelreads at gmail dot com (ya know, with the symbols and without the spaces) with your snail mail addy so that I may get your prize to you. If not, I will draw another name soon.

Also, I have my Reading Challenge (side bar to the left has the direct link - I'm lazy right now) going on for the entire summer. And as a bonus to the prize I've already stated, the first person to read 5 books in the challenge and enter them in correctly will receive a Novel Reads tee-shirt (I work at a silk screening place). So please, help me get kids reading and help a library while we're at it!

Take Care