Monday's Beginnings (135) Vlog Style (20)

It's Monday... and I feel relaxed after a nice laid back weekend.

Well, this past weekend was my novella read-a-thon, trying to get through these I've acquired.  I got through a few, but not as many and I wanted too.  Oh well.  I guess a few is better than none.

Finished Last Week:

Spider's Bite by Jennifer Estep

Magic by Gaslight by Philippa Ballantine

Defender of Magic by S.A. Archer & S. Ravynheart

Questing Beast by Ilona Andrews

A Mere Formality by Ilona Andrews

Curran POV 3 by Ilona Andrews

Gimme Shelter edited by J.R. Blackwell

Dead Drop: A Lawson Vampire Bonus Story by Jon F. Merz

Love, Death, and Loneliness by Douglas Brown

Current Read:

Alexander Outland: Space Pirate by G.J. Koch

Reviews to Come:

Spider's Bite by Jennifer Estep ~ Definitely this week.

Magic by Gaslight by Philippa Ballantine

Defender of Magic by S.A. Archer & S. Ravynheart

Questing Beast by Ilona Andrews

A Mere Formality by Ilona Andrews

Curran POV 3 by Ilona Andrews

Gimme Shelter edited by J.R. Blackwell

Dead Drop: A Lawson Vampire Bonus Story by Jon F. Merz

Love, Death, and Loneliness by Douglas Brown

Reviews Posted:

Spiders from Memory by Frances Pauli

Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews

Movie Review:

Red Riding Hood

Podcast Review:

The Gearheart: Artifice Ep 9 & 10

The Gearheart: Artifice Ep 11 & 12

Books & Covers Shared:

Tempest's Fury by Nicole Peeler

Special Posts:

Next Book Chat for April, book picked is Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews!  Check out the schedule.

Freebies & Deals, & for Nook too

I did a Flash Fiction Friday last week, and closed out the line I had going with Cheyenne and Liam. :) Hope you enjoy.

My WANT List...I've added 6 books.  But once again I've added to the TBR pile things that never made this list.  They might have been short stories, but they are added. :)

Received Last Week:

Purchased:

Goodreads Synopsis:

Hexed by Ilona Andrews, Yasmine Galenorn, Allyson James & Jeanne C. Stein

Four of the bestselling names in romance and fantasy come together in this collection of thrilling novellas featuring powerful women who know how to handle a hex or two...

New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews spins "Magic Dreams." Shapeshifting tigress Dali Harimau finds herself in deep waters when she must challenge a dark being to a battle of wits or risk losing the man for whom she secretly longs.

In "Ice Shards," New York Times bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn returns to the Otherworld as Iris Kuusi, a Finnish house sprite, journeys to the frozen Northlands to confront the crazed shadow of her former lover and break the curse that is keeping her from marrying the man she loves.

National bestselling author Allyson James takes you to Magellan, Arizona, where Stormwalker Janet Begay and her friends are trapped by a powerful curse. It will take every bit of magic simmering beneath her skin for the Stormwalker to survive being "Double Hexed."

From national bestselling author Jeanne C. Stein comes "Blood Debt," in which bounty-hunter-turned-vampire Anna Strong is visited by three witches who ask her to right an old magical wrong. Anna will have to live up to her last name to make it through alive.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews:

Atlanta would be a nice place to live, if it weren’t for the magic. When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start. But then technology returns, and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it rose. 

Kate Daniels works for the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid, officially as a liaison with the mercenary guild. Unofficially, she cleans up the paranormal problems no one else wants to handle—especially if they involve Atlanta’s shapeshifting community. 

When she’s called in to investigate a fight at the Steel Horse, a bar midway between the territories of the shapeshifters and the necromancers, Kate quickly discovers there’s a new player in town. One who’s been around for thousands of years—and rode to war at the side of Kate’s father. 

This foe may be too much even for Kate and Curran, the Lord of the Beasts, to handle. Because this time, Kate will be taking on family… 

For Review:

Publisher Synopsis:

Dormitory of the Dead by Kelly Lougheed:

Blood coming out of the bathroom faucets of Charity Hooper's Hawthorn School dormitory doesn't just mean Charity can't wash her face to maintain her porcelain (well, kind of) complexion--it means there's a dead body from 1923 buried in the plumbing, astonishingly well-preserved by the wet sewage conditions.

Well-preserved enough, in fact, for the dead girl's vampire boyfriend to reanimate her as a zombie so they can live happily ever after, massacring innocent Hawthorn students side-by-side.

Faced with such homicidal creatures, Charity would ordinarily consult her English teacher, Ms. van Tessel, whose knowledge of zombie extermination rivals only her knowledge of British literature.  But Ms. Van Tessel has gone mysteriously missing.  Can Charity track down her teacher before the annual midnight Capture the Flag tournament, which will be nothing more than an all-you-can-eat buffet for the vampire-zombie tag team?

Free Ebook:

Goodreads Synopsis:

Glamour by Penelope Fletcher:

Rae Wilder has problems.... Supernatural creatures swarm the earth, and humanity is on the brink of extinction. Stalked by a handsome fairy who claims she is like him, demonkind, Rae thinks maybe it was a mistake breaking the rules by going over the Wall into demon territory. Plunged into a world of dark magics, fierce creatures, and ritual sacrifice, she is charged with a guarding a magical amulet. The changes to her mind and body are startling, but rather than accept her purpose she struggles against who she is destined to be. Throw in a big lust for a vampire who can't keep his hands off her, and life starts to get complicated. Rae is forced to make the ultimate choice: to live and die human, or embrace her birth-right and wield magics that could turn her into something wicked, a force of nature nothing can control. 

Free Short Stories:

Find all these short stories over at Jennifer Estep's site!

Spider’s Bargain: This short story takes place before the events of Spider’s Bite, the first book in the Elemental Assassin series. In Spider’s Bargain, Gin Blanco takes on a corrupt cop, but only one of them will be left standing in the end.

Web of Death: This short story takes place after the events of Spider’s Bite but before the beginning of Web of Lies. In Web of Death, Gin Blanco’s retirement is interrupted by some unwanted guests.

Web of Deceit: This short story takes place when Gin is a teenager. It’s told from the point of view of Fletcher Lane, Gin’s assassin mentor, and focuses on Gin’s first solo job as the assassin the Spider.

Poison: This short story takes place when Gin is a teenager and is told from the point of view of Finnegan Lane, Gin’s foster brother.

Wasted: This short story takes place in between the events of Web of Lies and Venom. One day, a beautiful woman walks into the bank where Finn works, and trouble soon follows.

Tangled Dreams: This short story takes place in between the events of Venom and Tangled Threads. It’s told from the points of view of Jo-Jo Deveraux and her sister, Sophia Deveraux. When a carjacker follows an injured Gin back to Jo-Jo’s beauty salon, Jo-Jo and Sophia join forced to eliminate the threat.

Tangled Schemes: This short story spans a period of time starting from the last chapter of Spider’s Bite and ending right before the beginning of Tangled Threads. It’s told from Detective Bria Coolidge’s point of view and shows her search for her long-lost sister Genevieve Snow. What Bria doesn’t know is what she’s going to do about the fact that Genevieve also happens to be the assassin the Spider.

Spider’s Nemesis: This short story spans a period of many years, beginning before Gin was born and ending during the events of Tangled Threads. It is told from the point of view of Mab Monroe and shows how the Fire elemental grew up, including her first meeting with Eira Snow, Gin’s mother.

Free Podcast Downloads:

I downloaded more The Gearheart: Artifice episodes, Episodes 21 through 27.

So, another week upon us... Will it be as good of a week as last week for me?  I'm not sure.  I have many things to do around the house now, a price for lounging and reading most of the weekend.

How does your week look?

Here's wishing you all the best in words and pages.