Interview: Author Michelle Rowen + Giveaway

We’re interviewing Michelle Rowen today to find out more about her new paranormal romance series, Living In Eden. The first book, The Demon In Me, was released on May 4, 2010. For an early look read the excerpt from The Demon In Me that Michelle has on her website.The Eclectic Lover: Michelle, before we talk about the book, tell us a bit about yourself, please.

Michelle: Sure… I’m the author of ten published novels in paranormal romance, young adult fantasy, and futuristic (writing as Michelle Maddox). I just won the 2009 RT Reviewers’ Choice award for Best Vampire Romance for Tall, Dark & Fangsome, the fifth and final book in my Immortality Bites series. I live in Southern Ontario and I’m the mother to two needy cats who are not book lovers.

The Eclectic Lover: What do you think …

Around the Bookish World: News Week-in-Review

In ebook news this weekSony’s Reader Store has had over ten million books downloaded, Sony announced in a press release yesterday. The top ten most downloaded books in their ebook store are:

1. “The Lost Symbol,” by Dan Brown2. “I, Alex Cross,” by James Patterson3. “Breaking Dawn,” by Stephenie Meyer4. “Eclipse,” by Stephenie Meyer5. “The Help,” by Kathryn Stockett6. “Twilight,” by Stephenie Meyer7. “New Moon,” by Stephenie Meyer8. “The Lovely Bones,” by Alice Sebold9. “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” by Stieg Larsson 10. “The Last Song,” by Nicholas Sparks

It looks like the Twilight crowd is into eReaders!Barnes & Noble tweeted about a new HP ebook store and ereader available for HP computers.Book News Related to the Flooding in Nashville, Tennessee (USA)Romance Writers of America (RWA) had to move their 2010 Annual Conference to Orlando after the conference …

Review: The Better Part of Darkness by Kelly Gay

Format Read: PaperbackNumber of Pages:  394 pagesRelease Date: November 24th, 2009Publisher: PocketFormats Available: Mass Market Paperback, eBookPurchasing Info: GoodReads, Author’s Website, Amazon

Book Blurb:Divorced mother of one, Charlie Madigan, lives in a world where the beings of heaven and hell exist among us, and they aren’t the things of Sunday school lessons and Hallmark figurines. In the years since the Revelation, they’ve become our co-workers, neighbors, and fellow citizens.

Charlie works for ITF (Integration Task Force). It’s her job to see that the continued integration of our new “friends” goes smoothly and everyone obeys the law, but when a new off-world drug is released in Underground Atlanta, her daughter is targeted, and her ex-husband makes a fateful bargain to win her back, there’s nothing in heaven or earth (or hell for that matter) that Charlie won’t do to set things right.

My Thoughts:Sometimes there is nothing like a …

Randomly Booked: Because of You by Ne-Yo

When I think about some of the interactions some of the characters have with each other in a book there is always something or someone to blame. Many characters meet each other by chance and they need saving so its always the stronger characters fault. However the characters in these books end up loving each other or become really close friends. This song is more for the characters that fall in love but there is always this inner conflict that the characters are hesitant because they aren’t sure of their partners. This song is sweet because you feel how the singer is really in love with a girl who he isn’t sure loves him but he is having an inner conflict because he loves her to no end.

If I think about it there are many characters like that. Cat and …

Bookish Rants or Raves: Reader / Author Relationships – The Good, The Bad and The Weird

It still amazes me the array of possibilities that the internet has opened up when it comes to the relationship between us, the readers, and the authors we love so much.

However, as with anything else in life, there is the good and there is the bad side of it and I decided to talk about both today.

Personally I love that, us, book bloggers that live in countries that don’t have English as their native tongue and therefore much less access to books, signings and conventions, are able to connect with our favorite authors through Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads and so on. I feel really lucky to be able to talk to them, share stories and really get to know them in a level that was not possible not so long ago.

But, as I said before, there is also the bad side …

All YA Love: Interview with Janet Fox

Today I am honored to share an interview with Janet Fox. Her debut, Faithful, is released next week (May 13th). Maggie looks like an interesting character and I am so curious to see how she deals with the hand she’s been dealt! I am excited to share with you an interview with Janet, so without further ado.. The Monster Lover: Can you tell us a bit about Faithful?

Janet Fox: Sure! Faithful is set mostly within Yellowstone National Park (hence the title, after Old Faithful geyser). It’s a love story, but it’s also a story about loss and renewal. Maggie, my main character, loses her mother under mysterious circumstances. This sets the story in motion and sends Maggie and her father from their Newport mansion to Yellowstone. Maggie is trapped by her position as a young society woman and may be forced to marry …

Review: Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready

Format Read: ARC Number of Pages: 320 pagesRelease Date: May 4, 2010 Publisher: Simon Pulse Formats Available: Hardcover, Audio Purchasing Info: Amazon.com, Chapters.ca, GoodReads

Book Blurb:

Love ties them together. Death can’t tear them apart.

Best. Birthday. Ever. At least, it was supposed to be. With Logan’s band playing a critical gig and Aura’s plans for an intimate after-party, Aura knows it will be the most memorable night of her boyfriend’s life. She never thought it would be his last.

Logan’s sudden death leaves Aura devastated. He’s gone.

Well, sort of.

Like everyone born after the Shift, Aura can see and hear ghosts. This mysterious ability has always been annoying, and Aura had wanted nothing more than to figure out why the Shift happened so she can undo it. But not with Logan’s violet-hued spirit still hanging …

Explore This: Tang Dynasty China

My virtual tour for this week was inspired by my recent review of Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay (I reviewed it on my on blog, which can be linked to here). While Under Heaven takes place in a fictional place, it is loosely based on Tang Dynasty China. The Tang Dynasty began in June of 618 and lasted until June of 907 AD.

Today, I have samples of architecture, art work, and even a dance all based on this era of Chinese history. And, no discussion of China is complete without mentioning the Great Wall, which, again, has a paralleled version in Guy Gavriel Kay’s novel. For further research, I’ve linked some interesting articles at the bottom of this post. Happy traveling!

Tang Dynasty

The Great Wall

Around the Bookish World: News Week-in-Review

The Wall Street Journal has the latest on the agency pricing dispute between Penguin and Amazon.  Looks like Amazon is selling some non-bestseller Penguin hardcovers for $9.99.

Amazon announced a new update for their Kindle that will allow users to organize their books and allow sharing “book passages” from the Kindle to Twitter and Facebook.The Romantic Times Booklovers Convention is currently taking place in Ohio.  I wish I was there, but I’ve had to settle for following along on Twitter.  The hashtags #RT10 and #RT2010 are giving me a glimpse of what I’m missing.  Laura Bush’s memoir, Spoken From the Heart, was obtained early by the NY Times breaking a Scribner embargo.  Crown Publishers made public that they will be publishing former President George W. Bush’s memoir, Decision Points, this November.MediaNet announced they will expand from digital music …

Review: Book: The Sequel by Clive Priddle (editor)

Format Read: eARC from NetGalleyNumber of Pages: 144Release Date: May 30, 2009 Publisher: PublicAffairsFormats Available: Paperback, ebookPurchasing Info: Barnes & Noble, Goodreads

Book Blurb:

After the last page is turned and the cover closed on a great book, is it really over? Ever wonder what happens to Harry Potter after, say, twenty years of marriage and a steady government gig? Or what Karl Marx would say about today’s financial crisis? What did Scarlett O’Hara really think about tomorrow?

What comes after “ever after?”

BOOK: The Sequel dares to answer these burning questions with imagined first sentences from would-be follow-ups to classics from The Bible to Lord of the Rings, and from Green Eggs to Hamlet.

A delicious and unexpected return engagement from favorite characters like Jane Eyre, Ebenezer Scrooge, Jay Gatsby, Holden Caulfield, Wilbur …