Bookish Rant or Raves: These books that pushed you out of your comfort zone

I admit, I rarely read books that would push me out of my comfort zone.  Well to be honest I even use guinea-pigs (Sweet Susi and Christine *g*) to read the books I’m too chicken to try first.  Then they tell me if I can safely read them. I think Susi even considered using a ‘Safe-For-Caro’ tag on Goodreads. Heh!

I’ve seen a LOT of reviews about books that left the readers broken and very disturbed.  The Siren by Tiffany Reisz for example  seems to leave most  readers in a state of shock and unease for weeks.  Megan Hart‘s books often have that effect on me, they haunt me for weeks and I still want more.

This week I discovered (thank to Mandy @ Smexy Books) a new series (serialized story) that pretty much rocked my world and really pushed my limits. Dark Soul  by Aleksandr Voinov is …

We Love Your Comments Giveaway Winner & New Start

The winner of our We Love Your Comments Giveaway for July  is Aurian who commented on our Around the Bookish World   post:

I don’t want to read anymore about bad behaviour from authors or readers or bloggers. Totally tired of it. Thanks for the Ilona Andrews cover, it is lovely.

Congratulations! An email will been sent to you. Please email us back in the in the next 72 hours to claim your price.

We will now start counting for August. Here again the rules:

We thought long and hard about how we should show you, the readers of Book Lovers Inc how much we appreciate your input and interaction. We are happy and grateful for every comment cuz we know how it is to be a “blog-hopper”. We enjoy reading your thoughts and we love to start a good discussion with you. This blog …

ARC review: Sway (Cherished Duology) by Lauren Dane

Format read: ebook of Sway (won on twitter)
Genre: Contemporary erotic Romance
Release Date: August 7th 2012
Number of pages: 368 pages (for the 2 stories)
Publisher: Berkley
Formats available: ebook, paperback
Purchasing Info: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Book Depository US | Book Depository (UK)

Book Blurb:
Sway by Lauren Dane. Book 1 of the Delicious series

Taken from Ms Dane’s website – SWAY will be in the CHERISHED Duology with me and Maya Banks – both our books will have a contemporary BDSM theme. It’s also the start to my DELICIOUS series, the spin off from The Brown Siblings books.

Levi Warner is an established, older man—wealthy, powerful, and above all, respectable. Then Levi meets Daisy, an uninhibited 24-year-old dance instructor and artist, not exactly the kind of woman Levi is accustomed to. But the young, free spirit, brings out something in him …

Guestpost:10 Reasons to Fall in Love with Ella Raines by Laura Kaye + Giveaway

Today we’re very happy to welcome Laura Kaye on Book Lovers Inc. Laura’s new Fantasy Romance, West Of Want came out earlier this month. This is the 2nd book in the Hearts of the Anemoi series.  Laura is here today to tell us all about her heroine Ella Raines.  Stay tuned and you could win a copy of the book. Let’s give a warm welcome to Laura!

I’m very excited to be celebrating the release of my new fantasy romance West of Want, the second book in my Greek-mythology-based Hearts of the Anemoi series! As much as I love the Greek gods in this series—their supernatural powers, the fraternal dynamics between them, their distinct hurts and wants and needs, their abs (look at that cover!)—I’ve really enjoyed writing the heroines, too. These women need to be equals to incredibly powerful, paranormal creatures. They need to be able to …

The Good, the Bad and the Are-You-Kidding-Me?

Welcome back to  The Good, the Bad and the Are-You-Kidding-Me? our bi-weekly cover discussion (<==criticizing-fest).

It’s been a while since we last take a look at what was coming out in Germany.  Susi found us quite a few gems to work with. So let’s remember it’s all just for fun and let the cover talk begin.*g*

 Caro: Honestly I hated the original cover for Shatter me but I really like the German cover. It’s simple but pretty. I like how her dress seems to melt into swirly things.  WAY better than the original.

Lara Adrian‘s cover is ‘nice’  but it’s the kind I would forget in 2 seconds. I like the sensual lips but otherwise it’s a it generic. All the covers in this series are made the same way, I know it’s to give the series the same look but in the end I just end up confusing them all.

The Frost cover just doesn’t …

The Good, the Bad and the Are-You-Kidding-Me?

Welcome back to our biweekly cover talk. This week we decided to talk about comic-like covers. Usually we both don’t tend to buy those because we have the prejudice to shelf them as chiclit and well that’s not our kind of genre. But author’s like Molly Harper proved us wrong so well here we are.
Don’t forget we don’t know all the books we talk about and our judgement is only concerning the cover not the books content.
Don’t forget to tell us what you think in the comments!

Caro: When I look at these 3 covers I’m expecting some chick-lit. Silly story. It’s hard not to think that when I see ‘comic-like’ covers. High Stakes is funny because it played with the Bat/vampire cliché but I’m not loving the rest.

And One Last Thing’s cover actually works for me. It’s not playing on the silly factor and it’s simple. I even like the …

The Good, the Bad and the Are-You-Kidding-Me?

Welcome back to The Good, the Bad and the Are-You-Kidding-Me, our little cover haven. Here we let our shallow selves to the surface and we’re not scared of criticizing books we love.

This week we’ll be looking at upcoming releases. Some we are desperately awaiting- others just caught our eyes. So get yourself a drink and join the cover talk.

Caro: *squeeeeee* I am loving the cover of Trapped! Seriously the previous cover was SO fugly I was despairing we would ever get pretty covers again for this series. I am a huge fan of the books and I cannot wait for Trapped. It’s fantastic that Atticus is sharing the spotlight with Granuaile. *squeee* I just wished he wasn’t wearing a deep V-neck shirt *rolleyes*

I love the new Gail Carriger cover! It’s just awesome. It’s stylish and badass all in 1 cover. I wonder who she’s planning to kill with her scissors …

ARC Review: Scandal Wears Satin by Loretta Chase

Format read: ebook provided by the  publisher
Series: Book #2 in the Dressmakers series
Release Date: June 26th 2012
Number of pages: 384 pages
Publisher: Avon
Formats available: ebook, paperback
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Author’s Website, Amazon, Book Depository

Blurb:
From the Journals of Sophia Noirot: A dress is a weapon. It must dazzle his eye, raise his temperature . . . and empty his purse.

A blue-eyed innocent on the outside and a shark on the inside, dressmaker Sophy Noirot could sell sand to Bedouins. Selling Maison Noirot’s beautiful designs to aristocratic ladies is a little harder, especially since a recent family scandal has made an enemy of one of society’s fashion leaders. Turning scandal to the shop’s advantage requires every iota of Sophy’s manipulative skills, leaving her little patience for a big, reckless rakes like the Earl of Longmore. The gorgeous lummox can’t keep more than one idea in his …

ARC Review: Thief of Shadows by Elizabeth Hoyt

Format read: ebook provided by publisher through NetGalley
Series: Book #4 in the Maiden Lane series
Release Date: June 26th 2012
Number of pages: 384 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Formats available: ebook, paperback
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Author’s Website, Amazon, Book Depository

Blurb:
A MASKED MAN . . .
Winter Makepeace lives a double life. By day he’s the stoic headmaster of a home for foundling children. But the night brings out a darker side of Winter. As the moon rises, so does the Ghost of St. Giles-protector, judge, fugitive. When the Ghost, beaten and wounded, is rescued by a beautiful aristocrat, Winter has no idea that his two worlds are about to collide.

A DANGEROUS WOMAN . . .
Lady Isabel Beckinhall enjoys nothing more than a challenge. Yet when she’s asked to tutor the Home’s dour manager in the ways of society-flirtation, double-entendres, and scandalous liaisons-Isabel can’t help wondering why his …

Love Letter Convention – Caro’ & Susi’s adventures in Berlin

It’s finally time for our (abridged) recap of the Lover Letter Convention in Berlin ( June 2-3, 2012). We had a blast and thought we would share some pictures and experiences with you today.  We although brought some goodies- not much but it’s signed so don’t forget to leave a comment.

Day 1 – The Arrival
The German View:
We (the bf, a friend et moi) started our trip in Magdeburg at 12 pm. After a 2 hour train ride we arrived in Berlin and made our trip to the hotel. With my great google maps navigation skills we only had a tiny bit of a longer trip packed with all the bags to the hotel but well I didn’t have to carry my bag. (Susi the egoistic one). We checked in and after a small break we made our way back into the city to take advantage of the movies in English. …