What's Beside Your Bed? Blog Hop!

This weekly meme is hosted at Getting Naughty Between the Sheets.

This is basically an adult book blogger version of What Are You Reading? All you have to do is...

1. Post the banner
2. Jot down what is currently on your night stand, What you're reading before bed, or You can just post your current read,
3. Then link up. 

What's beside my bed?

Daughter of Deception by Kara Thorpe

Spring Blog Carnival!

Hi everyone! 

Lori from Pure Imagination, Candace from Candace's Book Blog, Mary from The Book Swarm, and Angela from Reading Angel have decided to join together and throw a blog party!
The party (Blog Carnival) is May 1 - 8, 2011
There are over 120 blogs participating!
Now for the Carnival Part.  During the giveaway hop different blogs will be hosting booths.  Each booth will have a fun challenge for you to do to enter their giveaway!  

I have the Haunted House and will be giving away Paranormal books.
Lori has the Kissing Booth and will be giving away Romance books.
Mary has Rollercoasters and will be giving away a contemporary book.
Candace has the Food Court and will be giving away Giftcards (or books of winners choice).
Reading Teen has the Fortune Tellers Booth and will be giving away Witch Books.
Mod Podge Bookshelf is hosting the House of Mirrors and will be giving away Book Prints.
Actin’ Up With Books with the Karaoke Booth
Lovely Lit with Once Upon a Time Booth
Awesomesauce Books with the Gaming Booth
Books R Us Medieval Booth
Extreme Reader Book Reviews with the Guessing Booth (or Riddle Booth?)
Colloquium with the Cotton Candy Booth
The Minding Spot with the Teacups Booth
Miss Remmers Review with It’s a Bad World Booth

For my giveaway: You must be a follower, you must be at least 13 years old, you must fill out the form.  Winner chosen by Random.org on May 9, 2011.  Winner will be emailed and the book will be sent directly from the author Sherry D. Ficklin!

Check out my reviews:
Foresight - - HERE
Second Sight - - HERE

Review: Second Sight by Sherry D. Ficklin

Second Sight: The Gods of Fate Book 2 by Sherry D. Ficklin

*** I was fortunate and received a digital ARC from Sherry in return for an honest review.  (She is also offering free e-books for my giveaway in May! Stop back for the giveaway - May 1-8, 2011 - it will be international!!!)

186 pages - available at Amazon.com both paperback and Kindle formats!
(You can buy autographed copies of Sherry's book on her website!)


Amazon product description:
When the man Grace Archer loves is pulled into the Underworld, she will stop at nothing to get him back. Her quest is complicated by the fallen god Samael, who is on the loose with a dangerous relic that puts all the immortals in jeopardy. With her powers on the fritz, Grace must help track down Samael and retrieve the deadly Eye of Hera before any more gods fall victim to his madness. Daughter of the Greek Goddess Pandora and the Greek God Prometheus, Grace must dig deep to find the power she needs to infiltrate Hades and convince the God of the Dead to release Chris. But when you make a bargain with the devil, you pay with your soul. [Book II of the Gods of Fate Series (Young Adult Fantasy) released 2011 by Dragonfly Publishing, Inc. www.dragonflypubs.com]

My thoughts:
I have to admit that for this one - I was not hooked from the start!  I thought I was, until Chapter 3!  When I thought, "NOOOOOOOOOOO, not that!" I put the book down for a good hour before I HAD to go pick it back up and finish it!  Of course, then I had to read through to the end! Great story - can't wait for the next one!!!!


Sherry Ficklin creates wonderful characters.  They are realistic enough to relate to and imaginative enough to inspire you.  She puts her fantastic characters into situations and settings that keep you turning the pages.


It was great to see all the characters I loved from the first book again.  It was interesting to see the relationships involved in this story - - - Hades...a loving husband!  


This installment of the Gods of Fate series is filled with questionable behavior, wonder, deceit, sacrifice, love, trials, sorrow, and mystery.  I can't wait for the next book - Hind Sight!


*****my favorite quote from Second Sight******

"It's like she's a part of me.  Like we're connected.  She breathes in, and I breathe out."

End of April - - - Wrap up!

April flew by!!! Of course it is amazing how fast time goes when you are drowning in books!
This is what I got read and reviewed:

1- Hunting Human by Amanda Alvarez

2 - Rage by Jackie Morse Kessler
3 - Sleeping Beauty Vampire Slayer by Maureen McGowan
4 - Bound by Blood by Cynthia Eden
5 - Vampire Relationship Guide: Volume One by Evelyn LaFont
6 - To Kill a Warlock by H.P. Mallory
7 - Guardians of the Hidden Scepter by Frank L. Cole
8 - A Tale of Two Goblins by H.P. Mallory
9 - In the Arms of Stone Angels by Jordan Dane
10 - Forever Vampire by Michele Hauf
11 - Invisible Inkling by Emily Jenkins
12 - Second Sight by Sherry D. Ficklin
13 - Vampire Dimitri by Colleen Gleason
14 - The Vampire's Warden by S.J. Wright
15 - Dead is Not an Option by Marlene Perez
16 - Diva Doctrine by Patricia V. Davis

This was I believe my biggest reading month so far this year!  I am so excited that I was able to actually review every book I read!!!

Review: The Vampire's Warden by S.J. Wright

The Vampire's Warden by S.J. Wright

200 pages (paperback version)
Blog Tour dates: May 2 (starts here at The Wormhole!) through May 16 - finishes at author site!

*received this book (digital copy) free of charge in exchange for an honest review and participating in the blog tour!

Amazon Product Description:
It was a flash in the moonlight, a blur of motion like I’d never witnessed before. No human had the capacity to move like that. When I found myself face-to-face with him there in the meadow, I knew without a doubt that the journal was authentic. I knew that my grandfather hadn’t been crazy at all. Because a foot away from me stood a vampire. Sarah Brightman reads her grandfather's journal in stunned disbelief. What was once her grandfather's responsibility has passed to her father and now to her. She has become the Warden. Her life will never be the same.


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 
My thoughts:
This was a fast read.  It is mysterious and intriguing.  I really enjoyed the characters!  


Michael is so interesting!  What is really going on?  Who is/was Michael and what is he to be to Sarah?  Alex is great!  What is his story for real?  How does he know Michael?  Where does this budding friendship between he and Sarah go?  Speaking of Sarah... she is a fantastic character.  Tough and determined.  I can't wait to find out what she does with her new job as The Vampire's Warden.  I get the impression that her and Michael will be changing the way things have been for the last hundred years.  


The ending is shocking!  Total cliffhanger!!! CAN'T wait for book 2!  
I will be checking out the final stop on the blog tour where we will be getting a sneak peek at book 2.


I enjoyed the story, but feel like it could have been fleshed out in places.  I finished with questions - loads of questions.  Some of those questions I am sure are left unanswered so that the reader is looking for the next book in the series, but I felt that there were some holes.   


All in all though a really entertaining read!  Be sure to check it out!

It's Friday!!!

It's Friday again - Let's hop!!!

This meme is hosted at Crazy For Books!

The question of the week?  What 2011 Summer release are you most looking forward to?

Me - - I am looking forward to Hounded: The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne

Amazon Product Description:

Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, lives peacefully in Arizona, running an occult bookshop and shape-shifting in his spare time to hunt with his Irish wolfhound. His neighbors and customers think that this handsome, tattooed Irish dude is about twenty-one years old—when in actuality, he’s twenty-one centuries old. Not to mention: He draws his power from the earth, possesses a sharp wit, and wields an even sharper magical sword known as Fragarach, the Answerer.

Unfortunately, a very angry Celtic god wants that sword, and he’s hounded Atticus for centuries. Now the determined deity has tracked him down, and Atticus will need all his power—plus the help of a seductive goddess of death, his vampire and werewolf team of attorneys, a sexy bartender possessed by a Hindu witch, and some good old-fashioned luck of the Irish—to kick some Celtic arse and deliver himself from evil.

I have been seeing this one around and looks like something I would really enjoy!

Happy Reading!