Monday, January 14, 2013

Monday's Beginnings (176)

Well, it's Monday....and I'm late with the post. *sigh*

I've been busy, relaxing.  After two months of crazy with holidays and starting the new year with a funeral I wanted a weekend were I did nothing.  Well, I cleaned, but did nothing most of the other time.  I did finish watching Firefly, three episodes that were unaired, and Serenity.  Now, I'm on the race to find the graphic novels in this world as well.  I know there's not many, but, well, I'm hooked.  Thank you all for turning me on to a series that was canceled way before it's time! *I'm being sarcastic* ;P  I did get a huge chunk of the current beta read done too.  Wow.

I will be picking up, hopefully this week, Outpost by Ann Aguirre.  I wanted to read this one at the same time as my son but he's held tight to this one.  So I'll read it when he's done and hope we will review it together here.  I asked him to, and he agreed to.  But then I HAVE TO get to review books.  I've been bad over the holidays and have several here stacked up that need read, and I want to read.

Then, there is that work on rewriting my latest Nano project...which I've neglected lately.  I need to make time to do this.  I think I came up with a better way of taking notes and such so I know what I want to think about, look for, and touch on in the future.  I bought another notebook for just this, and I've got lots of sticky notes at hand. ;)

Current Read:
Still Beta reading.  I'm slow, but I'm taking my time. :)

Finished Last Week:
Nothing, so I got to get my hind end in gear!

Reviews to Come:
Also!!  I have a friend blogger who will be posting reviews from time to time.  Jackie.  She has at least 2 reviews to come your way here as well.
Endgame by Ann Aguirre
Curran POV Vol 1 by Gordon Andrews
Curran POV Vol 2 by Gordon Andrews
Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews
Magic Gifts by Ilona Andrews
The Crown Tower by Michael J. Sullivan
The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr and E.B. White - maybe? Do you want to hear about it?
Grave Peril by Jim Butcher
Iron Maiden by Resa Nelson
Red by Kate SeRine

Book Reviews Posted:
Endgame by Ann Aguirre
Fool Moon by Jim Butcher

Podcast Reviews Posted:
Sorry, nothing last week.  But I have 1 to come.

Movie Review Posted:
No movie review, sorry, been running out of time.

Books and Covers Shared:
Time Heals by Dina James
Book Cover and Trailer!  Unlikely by Frances Pauli

Special Posts:
Freebie and Deals, on Nook too (37)
The Next Big Thing with Cecy Robson!... a post with information about Cecy Robson's current WIP.
2012 Challenge Wrap-up

I did not do a Flash Fiction Friday.  I'm hoping to get to do these.  We'll see what time brings this year with trying to do rewrites and such.

My WANT List...It looks like I've added 7.  Well, that's a step in the right direction...or maybe wrong, *sigh* I want so many, and have to get to the series I've already been reading too! Oh, books.

Received Last Week:
Purchased:
So, I won the 4th book in this series, and needed to get the first 3.  I only found book 1 & 3, still need to get 2.  I've been wanting these, and really look forward to reading them!
Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep
Goodreads Synopsis:
My name is Gwen Frost, and I go to Mythos Academy; a school of myths, magic and warrior whiz kids, where even the lowliest geek knows how to chop off somebody's head with a sword and Logan Quinn, the hottest Spartan guy in school, also happens to be the deadliest. But lately, things have been weird, even for Mythos. First, mean girl Jasmine Ashton was murdered in the Library of Antiquities. Then, someone stole the Bowl of Tears, a magical artifact that can be used to bring about the second Chaos War. You know, death, destruction and lots of other bad, bad things. Freaky stuff like this goes on all the time at Mythos, but I'm determined to find out who killed Jasmine and why; especially since I should have been the one who died...

Dark Frost by Jennifer Estep
Goodreads Synopsis:
I've seen so many freaky things since I started attending Mythos Academy last fall. I know I'm supposed to be a fearless warrior, but most of the time, I feel like I'm just waiting for the next Bad, Bad Thing to happen. Like someone trying to kill me again. Everyone at Mythos Academy knows me as Gwen Frost, the Gypsy girl who uses her psychometry magic to find lost objects and who just may be dating Logan Quinn, the hottest guy in school. But I'm also the girl the Reapers of Chaos want dead in the worst way. The Reapers are the baddest of the bad, the people who murdered my mom. So why do they have it in for me? It turns out my mom hid a powerful artifact called the Helheim Dagger before she died. Now, the Reapers will do anything to get it back. They think I know where the dagger is hidden, but this is one thing I can't use my magic to find. All I do know is that the Reapers are coming for me and I'm in for the fight of my life.

God Save the Queen by Kate Locke
Goodreads Synopsis:
Queen Victoria rules with an immortal fist. 

The undead matriarch of a Britain where the Aristocracy is made up of werewolves and vampires, where goblins live underground and mothers know better than to let their children out after dark. A world where being nobility means being infected with the Plague (side-effects include undeath), Hysteria is the popular affliction of the day, and leeches are considered a delicacy. And a world where technology lives side by side with magic. The year is 2012 and Pax Britannia still reigns.

Xandra Vardan is a member of the elite Royal Guard, and it is her duty to protect the Aristocracy. But when her sister goes missing, Xandra will set out on a path that undermines everything she believed in and uncover a conspiracy that threatens to topple the empire. And she is the key-the prize in a very dangerous struggle.

I bought this one for my brother for his birthday coming up, plus I know he wants it after Balticon last year.
Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan
Goodreads Synopsis:
Royce Melborn, a skilled thief, and his mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, make a profitable living carrying out dangerous assignments for conspiring nobles-until they are hired to pilfer a famed sword. What appears to be just a simple job finds them framed for the murder of the king and trapped in a conspiracy that uncovers a plot far greater than the mere overthrow of a tiny kingdom. 

Can a self-serving thief and an idealistic swordsman survive long enough to unravel the first part of an ancient mystery that has toppled kings and destroyed empires? 

And so begins the first tale of treachery and adventure, sword fighting and magic, myth and legend.

When author Michael J. Sullivan self-published the first books of his Riyria Revelations, they rapidly became ebook bestsellers. Now, Orbit is pleased to present the complete series for the first time in bookstores everywhere. 

Theft of Swords was originally published as: The Crown Conspiracy andAvempartha

Free Ebooks:
Angelfall by Susan Ee
Goodreads Synopsis:
It’s been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels’ stronghold in San Francisco where she’ll risk everything to rescue her sister and he’ll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

Blood and Snow by RaShelle Workman
Goodreads Synopsis:
"Lips red as rubies, hair dark as night. Drink your true love's blood, become the Vampire, Snow White."


EVERY THOUSAND YEARS THE VAMPIRE QUEEN SELECTS A NEW BODY, ALWAYS THE FAIREST IN THE LAND, AND THIS TIME SHE'S CHOSEN SNOW WHITE. 

Snow White lives in Salem, Massachusetts with her dad, stepmother, and her cat, Gatsby. Her entire life she's been teased for her fairy tale name, and the fact that her seven best friends happen to be guys whose names begin with the same letters as the seven dwarves. 

Everything changes two months before her sixteenth birthday. She's bitten by The Hunter, and transformed into a revenant—not quite human, not quite vampire.

The Iron Admiral by Greta van der Rol
Goodreads Synopsis:
Together in one huge volume - The Iron Admiral: Conspiracy and The Iron Admiral: Deception.

The Iron Admiral: Conspiracy

On a remote planet a deadly virus is resurrected. If it is released, the Galaxy will be plunged into inter-species war.

Ex-Admiral Chaka Saahren and Systems Engineer Allysha Marten, are thrust together. In a race against time, Allysha must set aside her conflicted emotions and trust a man she barely knows, a man she thinks murdered her father. Saahren must convince the woman he loves to help him solve the political crisis which has brought the Galaxy to the brink.

The Iron Admiral: Deception

An uneasy peace has been restored. Grand Admiral Saahren has regained his commission, but he doesn't have Allysha. Despite his best attempts to keep the woman he loves safe, she is a pawn in a growing power struggle, one where she will need all her skills and cunning to outwit a heinous plot that could result in the loss of billions of human lives.

When Allysha decides to tackle the conspirators on her own, Saahren is faced with an impossible choice.

Blood Skies by Steven Montano
Goodreads Synopsis:
In the time after The Black, human survivors of the Southern Claw Alliance clash with vampire legions of the Ebon Cities in a constant war for survival. Earth as we know it has been forever damaged by an arcane storm that fused our world with distant realms of madness and terror. Things that once existed only in our nightmares stalk the earth. 

Now, humanity is threatened by one of its own.

Eric Cross, an enlisted warlock in the Southern Claw military, is part of an elite team of soldiers and mages in pursuit of a woman known as Red -- a witch whose stolen knowledge threatens the future of the human race. The members of Viper Squad will traverse haunted forests and blighted tundra in their search for the traitor, a journey that ultimately leads them to the necropolis of Koth.

There, in that haven of renegade undead, Cross will discover the dark origins of magic, and the true meaning of sacrifice...

Experience a dark and deadly new world in the debut novel of the "Blood Skies" series from author Steven Montano.


Darn those freebies.  I'm not sure when I'll get to read them, but they sound soooo goooood. ;)

How was your week?  Does this week look to be exciting in your books?  I hope so.

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

12 comments:

  1. Both God Save The Queen and Angelfall are outstanding books, Melissa! Hope you enjoy all your reads and have a lovely week! ;)

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    1. Oh Kara-karina, that is great to hear! I do remember hearing wonderful things about those two books, so look forward to reading then. :) And thank you, hope you hav a great week as well.

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  2. Shoot! I missed Angelfall freebie. I'm curious about that one.

    You are busy! I hope you enjoy the Mythos Academy series. So good...

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    1. Melissa (B&T) you know it was rather strange on Angelfall. Blodeuedd tweeted it, I clicked and got it, then it was no longer free. Or you could have got it. It was within minutes it went back up for a price.

      And I reaaaally look forward to Mythos Academy. :) Thank you!!

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  3. Always good to have a relaxing weekend every now and again! And so excited that you're going to read the Mythos Academy books! Hope you love them as much as I did!

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    1. Oh you know it Alexia, relaxing weekends are what weekends should be. ;) And thank you. I look forward to reading Mythos Academy, so glad to hear you enjoyed it. :)

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  4. Sounds like you have a lot on your plate. I know exactly how you feel. Have a great week, Mel!

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    1. Hey Michelle @The True Book Addict. Thank you! And hope you have a great week as well. :)

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  5. Yaaaaay, the Mythos Acadmey books. I really like them. I so hope you love them.

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    1. Jennifer Bielman, I'm hearing many are really enjoying Mythos Academy, so looking forward to it. :) Thank you!

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  6. I only say Serenity. I need to buy the dvd boxset of Firefly :)

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    1. LOL! Cherry, my brother has the boxset and movie, so he lent them to me...some time ago. Finally got the time to watch them. :) Thank you!

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