Explore This! Key West, Florida

Today, we’re heading south, all the way down to the end of the US 1 highway. Key West has many claims to fame, including being the end of that particular highway(or is it the beginning?). It is the southernmost point in the (continental) US as well as being the closest point to Cuba. It’s also only one of two destinations that I’ve posted about, so far, that I have visited. To that end, Key West has this remarkable spot where you can look out over the water and see where the Gulf of Mexico meets with the Atlantic Ocean…just stunning!

I drew my inspiration for this post as I read Meg Cabot’s lastest book, Abandon. Meg herself lives in Key West and named her fictional island to resemble what has been described as the original name, Cayo …

Around the Bookish World: News Week-in-Review

Welcome to this week’s news post! This week we have Apple morphing into big bad corporation, Hunger Games updates and Waterstones may be heading into Barnes and Nobel’s territory.

For people who have the iFlow app for the Apple Platforms – it was sadly announced earlier this week that they will close their apps due to Apple’s new rules about buying outside their platform and will only allow in apps i.e their store. I don’t know what this means for other stores like Amazon or Kobo who have their own apps but this will definitely affect users who read outside the iBookstore format. I think this is will be a huge mistake as iBookstore is one of the worse ebook stores which doesn’t have a great collection of books compared to B&N, Kobo and Amazon.

Whilst writing this post …

Author Interview with Maureen McGowan + Giveaway

Today we welcome to Book Lovers Inc. Maureen McGowan the author behind the very original and fun Twisted Tales series: modern retelling of classic fairy tales with feisty, independent heroines who don’t wait around for their princes to rescue them but take matters into their own hands: like Cinderella training to be a ninja warrior and Sleeping Beauty patrolling as a vampire slayer! Please give a warm welcome to Maureen and enter for your chance to win one of her books.
Stella: Maureen can you please tell us a bit about yourself?
 
Maureen: I’m a recovering accountant who loves shoes and films and art—not to mention books—way more than I ever liked accounting. I secretly always wanted to be an artist or actor or writer, but I was handicapped by an aggressive practical side who thought it was important to earn …

"Really? Bavaria?" – Guest post by Kate Noble + Giveaway

We are very happy to welcome historical romance author Kate Noble here at Book Lovers Inc today. Her newest novel Follow My Lead was just released and I was thrilled to hear where it is set: Bavaria. As a German I often wondered why not more historicals are set in Germany. There actually is enough history to be found in our textbooks. So let’s see what Kate thinks about it. Please give her a warm welcome.
One of the questions I get when I tell people about Follow My Lead is… “seriously? You set this book in Bavaria?”
 
Granted, southern Germany is not the standard locale for a Historical Romance. But my response to the strange looks and curious expressions is: Bavaria is awesome! And pretty! They have glockenspiels and lederhosen and beer! How can you not like Bavaria?!

 
In truth, I was introduced to this region …

Genres 101: Long Ago and Far Away (Today’s Lesson: Historical Fiction)

It seems as readers we have a fascination with the past that encourages today’s writers to continue bringing us fresh ideas from the past (that sounds funny, doesn’t it?) For several millenia, the world has been taking notes, creating a tangible record for us to look back on and see where we all came from. And for nearly as long, works of fiction have been created and are still enjoyed to this day. When we hear the term “Historical Fiction“, it can mean different things to readers. Whether we’re talking about works by Sophocles or Sarah MacLean, they all fit into this huge genre, with many subcategories that cover all manner of romance, wars, and moral lessons, to name just a few elements.I’m sure as Aristotle, Sophocles, and others of that ilk were sitting down writing their works on moral treatise that they …

My Wishlist: The Winged Edition

Hello out there! For this wishlist post, I will be taking the reigns and letting you in on what I can’t wait to get my hands on in the coming weeks.

Now I haven’t bought any books in nearly three months so my wishlist is getting quite large, but for this post, I have chosen a select few…

SEQUELS

I am constantly reading the first in a series and loving it! But I rarely seem to get around to the sequel, so here are my current top three sequels to get my hands on ASAP!

Accidentally Dead by Dakota Cassidy

A vampire puts the bite on a dental assistant. It’s a lousy first day on the job for Nina Blackman when a patient, loopy from the anesthesia, bites her. At least he was cute. …

New Releases: May 9th-15th, 2011

What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

Another town. Another school. Another Mclean. Ever since her parents’ bitter divorce, Mclean and her father have been fleeing their unhappy past. And Mclean’s become a pro at reinventing herself with each move. But in Lakeview, Mclean finds herself putting down roots and making friends—in part, thanks to Dave, the most real person Mclean’s ever met. Dave just may be falling in love with her, but can he see the person she really is? Does Mclean herself know?

Hell’s Bells by John Connolly
Lies Chelsea Handler Told Me by Chelsea Handler
Die For Me by Amy Plum 

Author Interview with Priya Parmar + Giveaway

 

Today I am extremely happy to welcome to BLI and introduce to you a wonderful new author and one of the kindest persons I know: historical fiction author Priya Parmar! Priya’s debut novel Exit the Actress (released in February) takes the reader on an enchanted time travel back to the colourful and buzzing theatre scene of 17th century London. You can read my review of Exit the Actress here, but now please give the warmest welcome to Priya and read on to discover more about her, the novel and all the little secrets behind the writing of the story there is to know 😉 

Stella: Priya can you please tell us a bit about yourself?
 
Priya: I did not plan to write a novel. It just sort happened in a really fun, collective way. I did postgraduate work at the University of Edinburgh …

Around the Bookish World: News Week-in-Review

This week’s news post its a bit of a jammed packed one with interesting announcements and drama!

First up – this was so going to happen, especially since it was no real secret that Amazon has made its ambitions into the world publishing. Amazon has announced that it will launch an imprint that will focus on romance and its debut release will be Connie Brockway’s, The Other Guy’s Bride which will be slated for release in November. It will be interesting to note how this imprint fares but since Romance is a huge and best-selling genre it was no brainer that would have started an imprint for one. This isn’t the only Imprint for Amazon which also has launched, Amazon Crossing, AmazonEncore and Powered by Amazon which is the self published line. I’d also like to note that …

Guest Post: "Joss Whedon Took My Tropes" by Sierra Dean + Giveaway

Today we are delighted to welcome author Sierra Dean. Sierra writes urban fantasy and her first novel, “Something Secret This Way Comes” is being released next week, on the 10th. We were chatting on Twitter about tropes and I mentioned that she had used some of my least favorite tropes in her book. Despite that, I enjoyed the book. So when she was considering guest post ideas, the subject of tropes seemed appropriate. Please give her a warm welcome and after the article, see what she has for one lucky person.

      Whether we want to admit it or not, there’s only so much originality to be found in the idea pool for urban fantasy and paranormal romance authors. There are only so many ways to tell the genesis stories …