Review: Storm Front by Jim Butcher

Format Read: AudiobookNumber of Pages: 322 pagesRelease Date: April 1, 2000Publisher: RocFormats Available: Hardcover, ebook, audiobook, PaperbackPurchasing Info: Amazon, Book Depository, Goodreads, Author’s websiteSource: Borrowed from library

Book Blurb:

The novels of the Dresden Files have become synonymous with action-packed urban fantasy and non-stop fun. Storm Front is Jim Butcher’s first novel and introduces his most famous and popular character-Harry Dresden, wizard for hire. 

For his first case, Harry is called in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with the blackest of magic. At first, the less-than-solvent Harry’s eyes light up with dollar signs. But where there’s black magic, there’s a black mage. Now, that black mage knows Harry’s name. And things are about to get very…interesting.

My Thoughts:

Last year, I got my first exposure to Harry Dresden and loved him! This came in the form of a …

New Releases: July 18-24, 2011

 Love Story by Jennifer Echols

She’s writing about him. he’s writing about her. And everybody is reading between the lines.. For Erin Blackwell, majoring in creative writing at the New York City college of her dreams is more than a chance to fulfill her ambitions–it’s her ticket away from the tragic memories that shadow her family’s racehorse farm in Kentucky. But when she refuses to major in business and take over the farm herself someday, her grandmother gives Erin’s college tuition and promised inheritance to their maddeningly handsome stable boy, Hunter Allen. Now Erin has to win an internship and work late nights at a coffee shop to make her own dreams a reality. She should despise Hunter . . . so why does he sneak into her thoughts as the hero of her latest writing assignment? Then, on the day …

The International Giveaways Café (3)

Welcome back to our weekly meet up here at The International Giveaway Café! It’s been crazy hot around here this week, so I’m going to grab an Iced Coffee before sitting back and checking out all the international giveaway links we’ve been collecting here. After my weekly clean up, a lot of the links had expired, so now’s the time to get your link up! I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next and exciting.

If you’re looking for more information about our motivation for this post, check out the original post here. Otherwise, I’ll just go ahead and restate our guidelines, then we can get down to the business at hand: contest linking & entry. Oh! And coffee, there always has to be coffee or tea involved, right?…..Bottoms up!

Guidelines:

If you have a giveaway you would like to share with our other …

Explore This! Tempe, Arizona

This week’s tour takes us to the home of my newest literary crush, Atticus, and his Irish wolfhound, Oberon (I may have an even bigger crush on the dog; what a wit!). These, of course, are the main characters of Kevin Hearne’s The Iron Druid Chronicles, of which I’m currently reading the second book in the series, Hexed.

When I think of Arizona, I always think of Phoenix or Scottsdale and the accompanying images of whitewashed buildings, arid desert landscapes, and golf. With all the crazy happenings in Atticus’ life, I thought it was time to see what Tempe looked like…and here it is:

Of course this area will also have its fair share of palm trees.

This is a hotel in Tempe which brings together …

The International Giveaways Café (2)

Last week, we introduced our latest grand scheme to bring the book blogging world into a cozier community by sharing links to International giveaways in one central location: here, at The International Giveaways Café! (You can check back to the original post to see our sentiments behind this idea.)

The housekeeping has been done, so each contest listed below should still be in action. Now’s the time to sit back, grab your fave beverage (personally, I’m a big fan of the café latté), and maybe even a pastry too, and start perusing the currents links or add your own.  Bon appétit!

Here’s a reiteration of the guidelines:

If you have a giveaway you would like to share with our other readers, the rules are simple:
1. The giveaway MUST be available to international addresses (Book Depository does count)
2. Add your link below, in the format shown.
3. Remove your link when the giveaway …

Genres 101: Today’s Lesson Religious Fiction

I’m not a religious person, to say the least, but this has never stopped me from reading any type of book, regardless of its designation. In fact, it often surprises me as I’m reading a new author to find a religious element within the story. The thing within my own mind, though, is the stereotype I often associate with this type of literature: the preachiness of it all. Thankfully, this is very rarely the case when we’re talking about fiction. The ‘lessons’ seem to come in a more subtle form, with the ‘human condition’ as the whole point of a story, and the associated moralities displayed through the action and characters.

So, off I went to my first stop for research (and by now, I should really know better): Wiki. This time, I found  Wiki’s …

New Releases: July 4-10, 2011

Hammered by Kevin Hearne

Thor, the Norse god of thunder, is worse than a blowhard and a bully—he’s ruined countless lives and killed scores of innocents. After centuries, Viking vampire Leif Helgarson is ready to get his vengeance, and he’s asked his friend Atticus O’Sullivan, the last of the Druids, to help take down this Norse nightmare.

One survival strategy has worked for Atticus for more than two thousand years: stay away from the guy with the lightning bolts. But things are heating up in Atticus’s home base of Tempe, Arizona. There’s a vampire turf war brewing, and Russian demon hunters who call themselves the Hammers of God are running rampant. Despite multiple warnings and portents of dire consequences, Atticus and Leif journey to the Norse plain of Asgard, where they team up with a werewolf, a sorcerer, and an …

The International Giveaways Café (1)

Review: Pride and Prejudice: Hidden Lusts by Mitzi Szereto

Format Read: ARC provided by the publisherNumber of pages:  224 pagesRelease Date: 1 July 2011Formats available: PaperbackPublisher: Cleis PressPurchasing Info: Goodreads, Amazon, Book Depository, Author’s website, Cleis PressBook Blurb:

Imagine that Jane Austen had written the opening line of her satirical novel Pride and Prejudice this way: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a good romp and a good wife — although not necessarily from the same person or from the opposite sex.” In Pride and Prejudice: Hidden Lusts Mr. Darcy has never been more devilish and the seemingly chaste Elizabeth never more turned on.

The entire cast of characters from Austen’s classic is here in this rewrite that goes all the way. This time Mr. Bingley and his sister both have designs on Mr. …

Explore This! Budapest, Hungary

Today, I have to give a big thanks to Stella for recommending Budapest, Hungary as an awesome city to feature. Not only is it Stella’s home town but also the setting for novels by Gena Showalter, and has been featured by Kristan Higgins and Gabi Stevens. I am ashamed to admit that I really had no idea about Budapest, its history or its beauty.

Researching, I’ve discovered that the “first settlement on the territory of Budapest was built by Celts…before 1 AD”. This would mean there could be a very slim chance I’m related to Stella, though no doubt many people have moved around since then, lol.  Regardless, here are some lovely images of a city that is obviously rich …