Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Urban Vs. Epic Fantasy Week Begins with a Twitter Chat and Giveaway!


I just got the announcement and so this post is a bit late but tonight there is going to be a Team Urban vs. Team Epic Fantasy Twitter Chat @ 9-10 pm EST.  You need to go check it out right now!


Anyway if you're too late for that, let me tell you a little about what this is from the source, Entangled Teen:

If you’re a fantasy lover like we are, you probably run (rather than walk) to your nearest bookstore or fave online bookshop whenever a new YA fantasy novel releases. However, we also know that some of you – including some of our fave Entangled TEEN authors – are a little more discriminating. Rather than read any type of fantasy novel, you might prefer either Urban Fantasy or Epic Fantasy…just like some of our authors.

The Urban vs. Epic Fantasy Week is a chance for readers – like you – and Entangled Teen authors to make their allegiances to either urban or epic fantasy known. You may have kept your preferences a secret until now, but we hope you’ll take the time to confirm your #TeamUrban or #TeamEpic tendencies loud and clear over the course of the week. 

Here are the authors and books that are on the teams:
  • Team Urban Fantasy:
    • Guardian of Secrets (Library Jumpers, #2) by Brenda Drake
    •  Fanning the Flames (Going Down in Flames, #4) by Chris Cannon
    • Spindle by Shonna Slayton
    • Inbetween by Tara Fuller 
    • Salt by Danielle Ellison
    • My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris
    • Atlantis Rising by Gloria Craw

  • Team Epic Fantasy:
    • Island of Exiles (The Ryogan Chronicles, #1) by Erica Cameron
    • Garden of Thorns by Amber Mitchell
    • True North (True Born, #2) by L.E. Sterling
    • In Truth & Ashes (Otherselves, #3) by Nicole Luiken
    • Relic by Renee Collins
    • The Summer Marked (The Winter People, #2)
    • Greta and the Goblin King (Mylena Chronicles, #1) by Chloe Jacobs

Urban vs. Epic Fantasy Week Schedule:

  • Tuesday, February 28th: Team Urban vs. Team Epic Fantasy Twitter Chat @ 9-10 pm EST
  • Wednesday Mar. 1st: Bloggers post a feature with authors who ascribe to #TeamUrban
  • Thursday, Mar. 2nd: Bloggers post a feature with authors on #TeamEpic
  • Friday, Mar. 3rd: Bloggers and authors can write / share related posts, including: why they’re Team Urban or Team Epic, their Top 5/10 Fave Urban or Epic Fantasy Reads, and/or the Top 5 Reasons They Loved _____ (an urban or epic fantasy read)
I personally am  not sure which of the two teams I'm on yet, because I like one of the books on each team a ton!!!  Now, along with all the fun above, there is a giveaway, so you can go enter that below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Four New Adult/Adult Romance Free/Cheap E-book Mini-Reviews

Once again, I'm a bit behind, so you're getting some mini-reviews.  But this time, well let's just say that all of these were four or five star reads for me.  Two are ones that I liked so much I had to buy physical copies of.  One of those two is for an author that I hope to get to meet this weekend at the Kinky in Kansas City Romance Book Convention. 

Royally Screwed (Royally #1) by Emma Chase:

My rating:  5 stars

This was my first book by this author, and I'm pretty sure I'm sold now.  I mean I loved this book so much, I had to order a physical copy of it.  I love the two person point of view, I really do enjoy those a lot.  The humor was good, the emotional parts were good, and all of it was just so good. The sex scenes, very sexy, very hot.  The ending, loved it, and it makes me very excited to get ahold of book 2 now!  Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Nicholas Arthur Frederick Edward Pembrook, Crowned Prince of Wessco, aka “His Royal Hotness,” is wickedly charming, devastatingly handsome, and unabashedly arrogant―hard not to be when people are constantly bowing down to you.

Then, one snowy night in Manhattan, the prince meets a dark haired beauty who doesn’t bow down. Instead, she throws a pie in his face.

Nicholas wants to find out if she tastes as good as her pie, and this heir apparent is used to getting what he wants.

Dating a prince isn’t what waitress Olivia Hammond ever imagined it would be.
There’s a disapproving queen, a wildly inappropriate spare heir, relentless paparazzi, and brutal public scrutiny. While they’ve traded in horse drawn carriages for Rolls Royces and haven’t chopped anyone’s head off lately―the royals are far from accepting of this commoner.

But to Olivia―Nicholas is worth it.

Nicholas grew up with the whole world watching, and now Marriage Watch is in full force. In the end, Nicholas has to decide who he is and, more importantly, who he wants to be: a King... or the man who gets to love Olivia forever.
 

Dirty Strategy by Eden Summers:

My rating:  4 stars

This was a very short novella.  It is a menage story about a girl named Miri who lives with two really hot professional football players.  They're letting her stay there, but she doesn't feel right living there and not paying rent. Sure she does the cooking and laundry, but that's not the problem. The problem is that living with these two gorgeous men is just too overstimulating and it seems all she can think about is being with both of them.  When she tells them she has to move out, they come up with an alternate living arrangement.  Needless to say, it gets pretty hot and heavy.  But it is over pretty quickly.  And there could definitely be more.  This was a free story that came from subscribing to the author's newsletter.  If you like steamy menage stories, this is definitely for you, you should subscribe to Eden Summer's newsletter.




UnderCovers (Under the Covers #1) by Kayti McGee:

My rating:  4.5 stars

Okay, I hurried up to read this book because the author is coming to Kinky in Kansas City later this week.  Once I read it, I had to order a physical copy to get signed.  Especially when I heard the author had to back out as an author because she didn't have any books from her publisher to sell.  So I ordered this print on demand just for this.  As I started reading, I made several notes just in the first chapter of things I wanted to remember for a review.  The book is set in Kansas City, which is a lot of what I loved, especially the quote about Eric Hosmer, one of the stars of our baseball team, the Royals.  One thing was about how there are a lot of nurses that smoke, I know that is an overgeneralization, but my college roommate is one of those, and I know of plenty others.  Then there is this quote:

"I've never been talented (read: patient) enough to pull off a sexy look, but Jane worked at Sephora during nursing school and always makes sure her bestie has a face to match her breasts."

I want that best friend.  I am not and never have been talented with makeup, so I need her!  And again, so many parts that mentioned my Kansas City Royals players that I just couldn't stop smiling. And all the different KC locales that are familiar.  Loved it!  Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Halfway through her first year on the job, Melissa Montclair decides the best part of teaching is winter break.

And the best part of break is the Perfect Ten she meets in a bar on New Year’s Eve. Why not celebrate a semester under her belt with a Perfect Ten in her pants? The one night affair is all she hoped for, until she walks into school a week later and sees Mr. Ten is Student Twenty-nine on her roll call.

She should be mortified—and she is—but that doesn’t stop her from banging him again. And again.

And again.

So much for job security.

Posing as an exchange student at Hamilton High is finally the assignment Officer Spence Vega has been hoping for. Now he has a shot at getting to the bottom of the town’s recent molly epidemic. There’s only a couple of problems: first, history is taught by the curvy bombshell he banged on New Year’s. Second, his growing suspicion is that she’s the dealer he’s looking for.

The job was supposed to be an easy in-and-out, not the teacher.

If only they could stop getting under the covers, staying undercover would be so much easier.
 

Fame and Obsession (Lords of Lyre #1) by Cora Kenborn:

My rating:  5 stars

I won a copy of this book from the author through a Facebook giveaway and I immediately started reading it. And, I was hooked.  I could barely stop reading it to do anything else, like go to bed!  There were a lot of good twists and turns, the characters had great backgrounds and issues.  Ones that really didn't seem stupid to be worried about, like what you normally find in a romance story. These were the types of secrets that you would probably keep private, not share.  I do really enjoy the rock star romances, and this one just fell right into that love.  The person who turned out to be the stalker was definitely a pretty good twist.  Can't wait to read on in this series, although it's not out yet, so I have to wait until March!  Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Struggling writer Phoebe Ryan abandons her southern roots and heads to New York, determined to leave her nightmarish past behind…

She was not expecting to meet a famous rock star, or to be coerced into ghostwriting his autobiography. But she tries to maintain focus on her dream of becoming an author, despite the attraction she feels for the sexy rocker, not to mention the baggage that comes with him.

Julian Bale’s world was shattered one drunken night, and it almost ruined him…

Weighed down by guilt, he blames himself for an accident he could’ve prevented. He will play the game, but swears his hot little ghostwriter will never get that story out of him. As much as he wants her, if he has to choose between his dream and hers, it’s no contest.

Phoebe and Julian give in to a forbidden attraction, and their public romance risks both their lives…

An obsessive fan is on the loose and now that the secret’s out, it’s made them both targets. The psychotic stalker is determined to have Julian for herself, even if she has to reveal their sordid pasts and eliminate Phoebe to do it.

He lives for fame. She lives to hide. Obsession lives to ruin them both.
 

I highly recommend all of these, although the one, Dirty Strategy, is definitely only for those who like menage stories. 

Cover Reveal: Stars Over Castle Hill (A Joss and Braden Novella) by Samantha Young


STARS OVER CASTLE HILL
A JOSS & BRADEN NOVELLA

Cover Design: Samantha Young
Stock photos provided by Deposit Photos: © Konradbak & © StockCube
Release Date: March 30th, 2017 in ebook on most e-retailer platforms (incl. Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, BN and Google Play)
Book will go live on all platforms day of release.


Joss and Braden Carmichael are blissfully married living in their townhouse on Dublin Street with their two beautiful children. It’s a life Joss never expected to have, and one she’s grateful for every day.

But… what if she never met Braden and Ellie Carmichael on that fateful day when she
was only twenty-two years old?

When Joss is asked to write a story about how her life might have turned out if a pivotal
moment in it never happened, she thinks of the day she met both Braden and Ellie
Carmichael. If she had never met them where might she have ended up? Joss believes no
matter where life may have taken her it would have inevitably led her to Braden. But what if she was thirty instead of twenty-two when they met? How would she have felt about risking her heart then?
And even if she was older and wiser and ready to fall madly in love, what if too much had happened to Braden to make him the man that would risk his heart to save hers?

Will time be their enemy… or is it possible that two souls are meant for one another in
any reality?

Stars Over Castle Hill is an alternate reality novella of a romance that captured the
hearts of readers all over the world. Joss and Braden are back with a story that is
just as emotional, passionate and sexy as their first!

Haven’t read Joss & Braden’s story from the beginning? On Dublin Street, the #1 international bestseller, from Berkley Romance http://amzn.to/2krSKvI

Follow Samantha Young:

Winter 2017 Comment Challenge March Sign-Up Post

I ended up taking February off from this challenge due to a full calendar and what just seemed like I forgot to sign up!  So when I got signed up this time, I decided to bump my number of goal posts down to just 5+ instead of the 10+ I had been doing.  I may still get up to 10 or more, I just want to make sure I'm not putting myself under too much stress to get everything done.  This fun challenge is hosted by Lonna @FLYLēF and Alicia @ A Kernel of Nonsense.   It's a way to increase comment activity on your own blog, as well as meet some new bloggers and help them out!  Here are the details:

  • This challenge will run January through March.
  • You are welcome to sign up for one, two, or all three months (a sign-up post will go up a month in advance for each month and will be open for three weeks).
  • Bloggers will be paired up for one month and will be required to comment on each other’s blog posts.
  • If you sign up for more than one month, you will have a different comment partner each month.
  • To allow a bit of freedom, you will be able to choose how often you would like to comment on your partner’s blog (options include 5-10 or 11-20 posts).
  • Social Media Option: If you’d like to give your partner further encouragement through social media, we will do our best to connect you with bloggers who are active on the same platforms.
  • Giveaway: at the end of March, we will be giving away two bookish prizes. Please note: this giveaway will only be open to participants.
Obviously it is a little late to sign up for the Winter Challenge, but I'm assuming/hoping there will be another one this summer!  For March I've been paired up with Vedika at Poems and Poets.  As I figured out last summer, I really need to mark it down in my calendar to make sure how many times I comment.  5 times means once a week for sure!  Although I'm going to try to do at least twice a week as much as possible.  

Monday, February 27, 2017

Blog Tour: Review and Giveaway - Ignited (Reawakened #0.5) by Colleen Houck


Book Info:
TitleReignited  
Author:  Colleen Houck
SeriesReawakened #0.5  
Genre:  Retold Egyptian Mythology
Published:  February 21st, 2017
Source:  Copy from publisher
My rating:  4 stars

Synopsis

A sibling rivalry.
A forbidden romance.
A spell that changes everything.

In Heliopolis secrets abound and passions ignite as chaos rises.

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Tiger’s Curse series and Reawakened comes a novella full of celestial marvel, passion, betrayal, and evil that will grow to reign over humanity forever.

Before Lily and Amon met, before the cosmos was in chaos and needed three brave brothers to fight off evil, there were four siblings who helped rule the earth.

Each sibling had a special gift. Osiris, the god of agriculture, helped mortals to grow and thrive in their natural environment. Isis, the goddess of creation, fostered health and wellness. Nephthys, the seer, was able to keep the balance between all living beings and the universe. But Seth, the youngest sibling, was left without any special powers. The Waters of Chaos, which granted each god’s talent, were running dry, and Seth was paying the price.

As time passed, however, Seth’s determination and willfulness resulted in a very special gift, one that should have granted him the ability to enact wondrous change. But Seth’s competitive childhood gave him a heart so cold and vacant that instead, his gift brought about great evil.

Seth was now the god of unmaking, the creator of disorder and destruction. And he was ready to seek his revenge, dominating all who got in his way.

AMAZON | BARNES and NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY 


"[A] must-read for thrill-seekers and fans of alternate worlds."—RT Book Reviews

"Rick Riordan fans who are looking for another series will delight in this fantasy."—SLJ

"Littered with Egyptian mythology and snappy dialogue, this romantic adventure is a good choice for graduates of Rick Riordan or fans of Houck’s Tiger’s Curse series."—Booklist

"Fans of paranormal romance will love the Egyptian spin on this story of devotion and sacrifice, and Lily’s humor, combined with plentiful dangerous escapades, will keep readers engaged."—VOYA

"The author weaves her story out of Egyptian lore, cinematic magic, selfless love, and . . . is clever enough to remain surprising even to the last sentence."—Kirkus Reviews

“Houck’s moving depiction of the love between Lily and Amon is memorable."—Publishers Weekly

"Wonderfully written and…the heart-pounding adventures are topped only by the heart-melting romance."—The Deseret News

"A sparkling new novel with a fully imagined world and mythos, and crackling romance! Egyptian mythology has never been this riveting!"—Aprilynne Pike, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Wings series, on Reawakened, book one in the series 


My Review:

I have always been fascinated with Egyptian mythology and culture.  Probably one of the reasons I loved the first book in this series, Reawakened.  This book is a prequel novella, and really it is a kind of retelling or redefining of an Egyptian myth.  The way the author told this, the way she made the characters/gods her own, is one of the reasons that I love her writing and am so glad that I've found her books.   I look forward to finishing this series as the third book comes out this year.  

Colleen Houck's Ten Things She Would Change About Her High School Years if She Could Go Back:   

  1. I'd ask one of my crushes on a date.
  2. I'd read more.
  3. I'd spend more time doing homework.
  4. I'd go to prom.
  5. I'd make more friends.
  6. I would have stayed in drama.
  7. I would have joined choir.
  8. I'd have taken advantage of eating lunch off campus.
  9. I'd have invested in a better backpack.
  10. I would have gone to support the football team.
About the Author:
New York Times Bestselling author Colleen Houck is a lifelong reader whose literary interests include action, adventure, paranormal, science fiction, and romance. When she’s not busy writing, she likes to spend time chatting on the phone with one of her six siblings, watching plays, and shopping online. Colleen has lived in Arizona, Idaho, Utah, California, and North Carolina and is now permanently settled in Salem, Oregon with her husband and a huge assortment of plush tigers.

WEBSITE: http://colleenhouck.com/
TWITTER: @ColleenHouck
GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3097905.Colleen_Houck
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/ColleenRayHouck
PINTEREST: https://www.pinterest.com/colleenrayhouck/
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/colleen.houck/ 


Book Trailer:
  

Giveaway:

--Giveaway is open to International. | Must be 13+ to Enter

- 12 Winners will Receive a Copy of Reignited, Scarab Necklace + Exclusive Bonus by Colleen Houck
- 15 Winners will Receive an E-Copy of Reignited by Colleen Houck 


 a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can check out the rest of the tour schedule HERE.

Sunday, February 26, 2017

Sunday Post #81 and Stacking the Shelves February 26th, 2017

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted  @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news ~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme.   

Last week on Lisa Loves Literature:
I did get in at least two reviews this week.  So that's good.  It was a crazy busy week, but I still posted every day.  I'm starting to think about how I need to start exercising again.  Gah.  It feels like I'll never be able to lose this weight I've put on.  Oh well.  But, something really exciting, exactly one month from this weekend I'll be getting to meet Anna Todd!  So excited.  Not to mention I'll be getting to meet Alice Clayton and Kylie Scott, just to name a few of the awesome authors that are going to be at Apollycon in Orlando.  We had a record high temp on Wednesday of 80 degrees, then by Friday it was down to the 30s and we also had some snow! 

Coming up on Lisa Loves Literature:
  • Cover Reveals:  Stars Over Castle Hill by Samantha Young, and Two Times Slain by Felisha Antonette
  • Promos:  Proper Irish by Zeia Jameson, Worth Any Cost by Brenna Aubrey, and Elegant Retribution by Tee Smith
  • Reviews:  Reignited by Colleen Houck, and All the Frogs in Manhattan by Carrie Aarons
  • February End of the Month post
  • Possible reviews:  Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller, and Three free/cheap New Adult/Romance e-books
I've got a little bit calmer week coming up.  I was supposed to work at the bookstore Monday night, but since I have a health screening for my full time job's health insurance, I got someone to cover my hours, and they didn't have any for me to take. Which sucks because I need the money for Apollycon, but will be nice for a relaxing week. So I think I have to make myself get back to the gym this week.  So I'll only work today, Sunday, and then Friday  night.  Now, next Saturday is a really exciting time because I'm going to a romantic book convention in my hometown called Kinky in Kansas City.  I'm so excited for this mainly to meet Jonny James, a cover model, but then I also recently read some really good books by some authors that will be there.  So I'll have pictures to share from that.  Especially with Jonny.  :-)  Also, just this week and next week until spring break at school!  I have got to take some time for writing as well.







Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.  It is a way for us to share the new books we have collected. As usual I have way too many free new e-books to share.  But I keep buying physical books, and getting ARCs, and doing books for trade.  I'm excusing my book buying at the moment because I need them to get autographed at Apollycon in exactly one month!  Okay, let's check out my new books below.

Physical ARCs:
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I got Royal Bastards from Disney-Hyperion, I requested it.  I was able to do a books for trade for an ARC of Denton Little's Still Not Dead so that I can finish reading it since my e-galley expired before I was finished.

Physical Books:
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 So remember above when I mentioned that cover model I was going to meet at Kinky in Kansas City? Well the books in the first picture I ordered because he's on them.  Feral was very short, and very simple, and really he doesn't fit the character in the book, but that's okay, I just  like looking at his picture.  I'm reading Hard and Reckless right now, and that character fits a little better.  The second picture contains books that are for meeting authors down at Apollycon at the end of the month.  

E-galley for Review:



I also got Dangerous Rock by Krystal Caswell, but there's no cover for it yet for me to share.  

So that's what I got this past week.  How was your week?  What did you add to your shelves?




Saturday, February 25, 2017

Review: For Sale by Owner by Marlene Bateman

Book info:
TitleFor Sale by Owner
Author:  Marlene Bateman
Genre: Romance with a touch of religion, specifically LDS
Published:  October 3rd, 2016
Source:  Won on Facebook from author
My rating:  3 stars

I received this book from the author through a giveaway on Facebook.  Overall it was a sweet story.  While it is a story with a religious aspect, Latter Day Saints to be specific, it wasn't too over the top with that if you don't enjoy that type of story.  Here's the blurb from Goodreads:  

McKenzie Forsberg is headed home. She's quit her big-city job to return to her roots in the small town of Lake Forest. Kenzi hopes to buy her childhood home from her brother, Tom, as a way of revisiting the peace and security she's been missing in her life. But soon she is shocked to discover that the house has a pending sale, and Tom won't budge from the sale—not even for his sister.

Handsome widower Jared Rawlins catches Kenzie's eye until she realizes that he's the one who is buying her house—but he can only close the deal if he sells his own house by Christmas Eve. Jared is more than a little interested in Kenzie but has second thoughts when it seems that she may be sabotaging the sale of his home.

Slippery feelings of animosity and distrust ensue, with both Jared and Kenzie denying the chemistry between them. But then an unexpected discovery about their connected past puts a new twist in the dynamic. Now, can they put their differences aside and come to terms on a relationship that could last forever?
  


McKenzie, or Kenzie and Jared are both single parents.  Kenzie because of a divorce, Jared because his wife passed away.  The two have instant chemistry when they first meet. But then when Kenzie finds out that Jared is planning to buy her childhood home, the very reason that Kenzie kind of planned to move back, the tension rockets.  And Kenzie does something that jeopardizes Jared's purchase of the house, even though she really doesn't do it in a malevolent way, it just kind of happens.  

The writing is pretty simple.  But there is a little back story that while you think has to be what is going on, the author has made enough changes in the adults to keep you kind of wondering if it's really going on.  It was definitely a very sweet read, and if you're interested in that type of a read, you will enjoy it.  It doesn't have any of the physical or sex scenes in most of the romances I have been reading lately, it would be more like what I used to read about 10 or more years ago.  


 

Release Blitz and Giveaway: Heathered Country - Part One by GM Scherbert


Title: Heathered Country: Part One
Series: Devil's Iron MC
Author: GM Scherbert
Genre: MC Romance
Release Date: February 25, 2017

Heather
When I got pregnant with Sophie, I worried our lives would never get better. We spent years on the run from the man that swore he’d take her from me.
When I met Country, for the first time in years I felt true fear. I knew my heart and soul were in trouble and I wasn’t sure if I could trust myself, especially with this man. 
Country was kind and laid back but that was part of the problem. What if the kind of love I needed was something he could never give me?

Country
My life was easy now after moving to Chicago from Texas. Predictable. 
When I met my spitfire, that all changed. I couldn’t wrap my head around my feelings for her, but my cock wasn’t confused one bit. I wanted her. Her every want and every desire were mine for the taking.
I was willing to do whatever it took to have her, even if what she needed was something I never thought I could do to someone, especially a woman. 
But, for her, I’ll find a way.

 

“This MC series has lovable characters, feisty females, alpha sweet men, and super dirty BDSM that hooks you from get. . . Can't wait for more Devil's Iron!! ~Erica, Book Haven Book Blog

“Holy smokes my heart is in my throat right now!! What!! No!! I need Part Two like pronto.” ~Smashly Bookalicious Reviewing Chicks

“All I have to say is WOW!!! GM has out done herself with this story.” ~Whynter Raven

GM Scherbert was born on a brisk late April morning and grew up in a small town in the Midwest but, quickly decided that was not the life for her. She quickly moved away for college and thought better of returning to that small town on a long term basis. City living is defiantly the life for her...
GM's day job working with people on the Autism spectrum keeps her on the go most of the time. That is when her three small daughters and husband are not pulling her in different directions.
GM is the kind of gal who is quirky, unique, smutty, crazy, hard to hate, harder to love. She has taken her love for telling stories to the next level by putting her hat in the romance writing game. 
If you are interested in romance with twists and some darker themes Author GM Scherbert will be right up your alley.

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