Review: The Weird Girls by Cecy Robson

Title: The Weird Girls: A Novella, by Cecy Robson
Format Read: e-book purchased by reviewer
Length: novella
Genre: urban fantasy romance
Series: Weird Girls, #0.5
Release Date: December 4, 2012
Publisher: Penguin Group
Formats Available: e-book
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Amazon, Publisher’s Website, Author’s Website

Book Blurb:

Celia Wird and her three sisters are just like other 20-something girls—with one tiny exception: they’re products of a backfired curse that has given each of them unique powers that make them, well, a little weird…

The Wird sisters are different from every race on earth—human and supernatural. When human society is no longer an option for them, they move in among the resident vampires, werebeasts, and witches of the Lake Tahoe region. Could this be the true home they’ve longed for? Um, not quite. After the sisters accidentally strip a witch of her powers in a bar brawl, they soon realize the mistake will cost them. Because to take on a witch means …

New Releases: January 14-20, 2013

Title: Unforgivable
Author: Joanna Chambers
Genre: historical romance
Release date: January 15, 2013 by Samhain Publishing

Description:

A notorious rake is about to make the ultimate faux pas—fall in love with his own wife.

Gil Truman has eyes only for the beautiful Tilly—until he is forced to marry plain, sickly Rose Davenport to reclaim the lands his father foolishly gambled away. After a disastrous wedding night tainted with his bitterness, he deposits Rose at his remote Northumbrian estate, soothing his guilt with the thought that she need never lay eyes on him again.

Five years after the mortifying wedding night that destroyed all her romantic fantasies, Rose is fed up with hearing second- and third-hand reports of Gil’s philandering ways. She is no longer the shy, homely girl he left behind, but a strong, confident woman who knows how to run an estate. And knows what she wants—her husband, back in …

Dual Review: When You Give a Duke a Diamond by Shana Galen

Format Read: e-book from NetGalley
Number of Pages: 356 pages
Release Date: September 4, 2012
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Series: Jewels of the Ton, #1
Genre: historical romance
Formats Available: mass-market paperback, ebook
Purchasing Info: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Book Depository US | Book Depository (UK) | Author’s Website | Publisher’s Website

Book Blurb:

He had a perfectly orderly life…

William, the sixth Duke of Pelham, enjoys his punctual, securely structured life. Orderly and predictable—that’s the way he likes it. But he’s in the public eye, and the scandal sheets will make up anything to sell papers. When the gossip papers link him to Juliette, one of the most beautiful and celebrated courtesans in London, chaos doesn’t begin to describe what happens next…

Until she came along…

Juliette is nicknamed the Duchess of Dalliance and …

New Releases: January 7-13, 2013

Title: Just One Day (Just One Day, #1)
Author: Gayle Forman
Genre: contemporary, new adult
Release date: January 8, 2013 by Dutton Juvenile

Description:

A breathtaking journey toward self-discovery and true love, from the author of If I Stay, Just One Day is the first in a sweepingly romantic duet of novels!

When sheltered American good girl Allyson “LuLu” Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there’s an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of …

New Releases: Dec. 31, 2012 – Jan. 6, 2013

Sealed with a Curse (Weird Girls #1)
by Cecy Robson
Genre: urban fantasy
Release date: December 31, 2012 by Signet Eclipse

Description:

Celia Wird and her three sisters are just like other 20-something girls—with one tiny exception: they’re products of a backfired curse that has given each of them unique powers that make them, well, weird…

The Wird sisters are content to avoid the local vampires, werebeasts, and witches of the Lake Tahoe region—until one of them blows up a vampire in self-defense. Everyone knows vampires aren’t aggressive, and killing one is punishable by death. But soon more bloodlust-fueled attacks occur, and the community wonders: are the vampires of Tahoe cursed with a plague?

Celia reluctantly agrees to help Misha, the handsome leader of an infected vampire family. But Aric, the head of the werewolf pack determined to destroy Misha’s family to keep the region safe, warns Celia to stay out …

Review: A Low Down Dirty Shane by Sierra Dean

Format Read: e-book purchased by reviewer
Length: 92 pages
Genre: urban fantasy
Series: Misfits & Mayhem #1
Release Date: December 25, 2012
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Formats Available: mass-market paperback, e-book
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Amazon, Publisher’s Website, Author’s Website

Book Blurb:

Thick-skinned vampire assassin meets smart-mouthed druid archer. Run, Cupid, run.

Shane Hewitt has been many things—failed husband, supernatural punching bag, and now a bitch to the vampire council of New York City. He thought killing rogue vampires was the hardest thing he’d ever do. Until a hot redhead smashes into him, shouts orders and announces she’s saving his life.

The sole female warrior in a family of druids, Siobhan O’Malley knows how to take care of herself and protect the big city from beasties who breach gateways from the fae realm. The last thing she needs is a misguided, leather-clad hottie’s help to get the job done.

Except maybe he’s exactly what she needs. Siobhan is expected to be a willing, …

Guest Post: Top ten Christmas Songs by Robin Covington + Giveaway!

Is it “Silent Night”? “O Tanenbaum”?  “Jingle Bell Rock”? Today at BLI, romance author Robin Covington stops by to share with us some of her favorite holiday tunes, along with reasons why they’ve touched her heart. With over 600 such tunes on her iPod, it’s safe to say she’s an authority on the matter. ^_^ Her latest story, Secret Santa Baby, falls right into that spirit of Christmas, nerd style! (More on that later.)

Please show Robin a warm BLI welcome! (And for the record, I’m all about “Baby It’s Cold Outside” and “Rockin Around the Christmas Tree”; modern classics! What about you?) 

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My Top Ten Favorite Christmas Songs

I start listening to Christmas in October. Now, I have compromised with the Main Man and I don’t play it in the house or the car while he is around until after Thanksgiving because he is not a huge fan …

New Releases: December 24-30, 2012

Last Kiss Goodnight (Otherworld Assassin #1)
by Gena Showalter
Genre: paranormal romance
Release date: December 26, 2012 by Pocket Books

Description:

The breathtaking first novel in New York Times best selling author Gena Showalter’s new paranormal romance series, Otherworld Assassins, featuring a black ops agent who is captured and enslaved…and the beautiful deaf girl who holds the key to his salvation…

THE SWEETEST TEMPTATION…
Black ops agent Solomon Judah awakens caged and bound in a twisted zoo where otherworlders are the main attraction. Vika Lukas, the owner’s daughter, is tasked with Solo’s care and feeding. The monster inside him yearns to kill her on sight, even though she holds the key to his escape. But the human side of him realizes the beautiful deaf girl is more than she seems—she’s his.

THE ULTIMATE PRICE…
Vika endures the captives’ taunts and loathing, hoping to keep them alive even if she can’t free them. …

Guest Post + Excerpt by Hailey Edwards + Giveaway!

Merry mid-Week, book lovers! We’re really excited to be welcoming Hailey Edwards back to BLI today. Hailey is author of romance fiction including the popular fantasy romance series, Araneae Nation. Today, she stops by from her blog tour to share some fascinating lessons about one of the many herbs employed by the heroine of her latest novel, A Feast of Souls. How much do you know about herbs and spices? Whether it’s but a pinch or a whole satchel, you may learn something new. So check out what Hailey’s got to say about…

Anise!

While writing A Feast of Souls, I researched herb lore because the heroine, Mana, is a spirit walker. In the Araneae world, that makes her a spiritual leader for her clan, one who can walk in between worlds and aid in healing from the spiritual plane. Mana also studies herbology. She is no doubt responsible for feeding …