New Releases: Dec. 5-11, 2011

Shaedes of Gray by Amanda Bonilla

In the shadows of the night, Darian has lived alone for almost a century. Made and abandoned by her former love, Darian is the last of her kind—an immortal Shaede who can slip into darkness as easily as breathing. With no one else to rely on, she has taught herself how to survive, using her unique skills to become a deadly assassin.

When Darian’s next mark turns out to be Xander Peck, King of the Shaede Nation, her whole worldview is thrown into question. Darian begins to wonder if she’s taken on more than her conscience will allow. But a good assassin never leaves a job unfinished…

Demon’s Like it Hot by Sidney Ayers
I Heart Vegas by Lindsey Kelk
Alien Proliferation by Gini Koch

That Old Black Magic by Michelle Rowen
Ruthless by …

Advent Calendar Day 6: Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn + Giveaway!

Welcome to the sixth day of Book Lovers Inc Advent Calendar. Each day we will offer you one great read in a giveaway on all 24 days till Christmas.

Today you will have the chance to win a copy of Open Minds. Open Minds is the first book in the Mind Jack Trilogy where sixteen year old Kira who has believed she was a zero, learns of her frightening new ability to mind jack. Thrown into a world of secrets and manipulation she has to learn to deal with this ability and lay low under the radar before someone finds out what she can do.

A captivating read that will leave you wanting to find out what happens next.

Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Amazon, Author’s Website

Book Blurb:

When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep.
Sixteen-year-old Kira Moore is a zero, someone who can’t …

Guest post: Endangered Places in the New Digital World by Elizabeth Means + Giveaway

We welcome to BLI today Elizabeth Means, author of Dangerous Charade a unique combination of historical romance and Victorian detective novel. Please give a warm welcome to Elizabeth and read on, you could win a copy of her book!

Another bookstore in my area closed up shop earlier this month. It would appear the closing of Borders was only the beginning of a very disturbing trend. In the same week my local library announced they will soon be offering e-books for checkout and unveiled a nifty self-checkout scanner at the front desk.

Speaking as a writer who finds great inspiration in places where I’m surrounded by gobs and gobs of books and by the people who love them as much as I do…I am troubled by this news.

I understand the digital winds of change are blowing strong, and with them new opportunities for everyone. But …

Advent Calendar Day 5: After Midnight by Sarah Grimm + Giveaway!

Welcome to the 5th day of Book Lovers Inc Advent Calendar. Each day we will offer you one great read in a giveaway on all 24 days till Christmas.

Today you will have the chance to win a copy of After Midnight, by Sarah Grimm, one of my favorite reads of 2011. After Midnight is an emotional, beautifully constructed contemporary romance about Isabeau Montgomery, a piano virtuoso who has had a tragic life and Noah Clark, a famous rock musician. I quickly became captivated by Ms. Grimm’s vivid descriptive prose and exemplary characterization. Noah is 41, has learned from his fame and has matured. His persistence while wooing Isabeau along with his compassion and tenderness toward her is extremely touching. I found reading about their journey toward eventual happiness to be unique and memorable. This book quickly found it’s way to my keeper shelf. 🙂

After Midnight …

Advent Calendar Day 4: Settling by Shelley Workinger

Welcome to the fourth day of Book Lovers Inc Advent Calendar. Each day we will offer you one great read in a giveaway on all 24 days till Christmas.

Today you will have the chance to win a copy of Settling. It’s a YA novel that totally rocked my world. This book will make you scream for more.

Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Amazon, Goodreads

Book Blurb:

At the beginning of the summer, Clio Kaid was one of a hundred teens brought to a secret Army installation.
But it was no ordinary camp and they weren’t ordinary kids…

Soon after learning they were the products of a secret genetic experiment, the teens began developing super-abilities ranging from bounding lightness to blocking heaviness; blinding brilliance and the ability to vanish. These same gifts made them targets of a psychopath in officer’s clothing, and they found themselves fighting for their lives.

Picking …

The International Giveaways Café (23)

Welcome back to our Saturday morning get-together, where we have the chance to discuss book giveaways, link up our own giveaways, and enter all the others.

We’ve made it into the first week of December, which means the holiday parties, Santa sightings, and other fun holiday events are in full swing. The one thing I dread at this time of year is hearing the carols starting in November. Once the snow hits the ground, it’s a whole different ball game though, helping to get me into the spirit of the season and all that. Have any of you had snow yet? Are you in the holiday spirit? Anyway, good luck with any entries and thanks for stopping by.

Let us know what your weekend has in store. Have you won anything recently that you’ll get the chance to read now? The Book Lovers would love to hear!

At Book Lovers Inc., it’s our …

Advent Calendar Day 3: Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep + Giveaway

Welcome to the third day of Book Lovers Inc Advent Calendar. Each day we will offer you one great read in a giveaway on all 24 days till Christmas.

Today you will have the chance to win a copy of Touch of Frost, this first novel in Jennifer’s Estep new Mythos Academy series.  Moe than one Book Lover nominated this book so you really should miss out on it. It gave me my interest in YA novels back- not an easy goal to achieve.

Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Amazon, Book Depository (US), Book Depository (UK), Author’s website

Book Blurb:

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 …

Around the Bookish World : News Week-in-Review

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving last week and as you can see we have moved to WordPress and with a new look!

The major news this week, has to be the death of Anne McCaffery who died earlier last week. I LOVED her Pern and Hive series books, and I am totally gutted by this news but she has left a great legacy of books, which I highly recommend you check out because they are truly wonderful!

WH Smiths has announced that they will be offering the Kobo Colour tablet, which will be offered at £169.99. I think this will capture an audience who may be wavering on getting an ereading device but will check this out because it is a cheaper alternative to the ipad and similar tablets. I think this will give an edge on the Kindle Fire which isn’t available in the UK at the moment.

This …

Interview: Alexandra Ivy + Giveaway

Alexandra Ivy

It’s our great pleasure to welcome New York Times Bestselling Author to BLI today! Alexandra is here to celebrate the release of her latest novel Bound by Darkness, which which is a Zebra Paranormal romance released on November 29, 2011. Bound by Darkness is the Eighth novel in Alexandra’s enormously popular Guardians of Eternity series of novels and we are going to chat about her series and her latest book!

Lea: Alexandra! It is such a thrill to be able to chat with you today, thank you so much for joining us!

Alexandra: I’m delighted to be here, and thanks so much for inviting me!!

Lea: Alexandra, to start off can you please tell us a bit about yourself?

Alexandra: I actually came to writing from my love for theatre. I’ve always been a huge reader, but when I was younger I hoped to work on stage. After taking a playwriting class …

Advent Calendar Day 2: The Bitter Seed of Magic by Suzanne McLeod + Giveaway!

Welcome to the 2nd day of Book Lovers Inc Advent Calendar. Each day we will offer you one great read in a giveaway on all 24 days till Christmas.

Today you will have the chance to win a book from Suzanne MacLeod‘s Spellcrackers.com series. This year I read and loved The Bitter Seed of Magic (Book #3)  and I decided to share the love with you! This series is a real ‘Coup de Coeur’ for me and I hope you’ll have the chance to enjoy it too. I always say this series has a little something more that other UF series don’t have. It’s hard to explain but when I read them I felt it was different. I’m now completely addicted and I think I can safely say next book is gonna ROCK (*evil laugh*)

Purchasing Info: GoodReads, Suzanne’s Website, Amazon, Book Depository

Book Blurb:

On the surface, Genny’s …