Review: Dark Oracle by Alayna Williams

Format read: paperbackNumber of pages: 336 pagesRelease Date: 25 May 2010Publisher: Pocket BooksSeries: Book #1 in the Oracle seriesFormats available: paperback, ebookPurchasing Info: Goodreads, Author’s Website, Amazon, Kindle store

Blurb:

TARA SHERIDAN HAS A GIFT . . . AND IT ALMOST KILLED HER.

As a criminal profiler, Tara used science and her intuitive skill at Tarot card divination to track down the dangerous and depraved, including the serial killer who left her scarred from head to toe. Since that savage attack, Tara has been a recluse. But now an ancient secret society known as Delphi-s Daughters has asked for her help in locating missing scientist Lowell Magnusson. And Tara, armed with her Tarot deck, her .38, and a stack of misgivings, agrees to try.

Tara immediately senses there is far more at stake than one man-s life. …

Author Interview with Laura Bickle / Alayna Williams + Giveaway

Today I am beyond happy to welcome to Book Lovers Inc. one of my most recent favourite UF authors, who besides writing amazing novels is incredibly friendly and sweet. Please give a warm welcome to Laura Bickle author of the Anya Kalinczyk series (Embers and Sparks) and the Oracle series (Dark Oracle and Rogue Oracle) penned as Alayna Williams! 

If you would like to get an idea about Laura’s writing or the universe in her novels, you can read my review of Embers and Dark Oracle here on BLI.

Stella: Hi Laura, welcome to Book Lovers Inc! Can you please tell us a bit about yourself?
 
Laura: Thanks so much for having me!
 
I’ve worked in libraries, criminology, and technology for several years. I live in the Midwestern U.S. with my chief muse, owned by five mostly-reformed feral …

Review: Embers by Laura Bickle

Format read: paperbackNumber of pages: 368 pagesRelease Date: 30 March 2010Publisher: Simon and SchusterSeries: Book #1 in the Anya Kalinczyk seriesFormats available: paperback, ebookPurchasing Info: Goodreads, Author’s Website, Amazon, Kindle store

Blurb:

Unemployment, despair, anger–visible and invisible unrest feed the undercurrent of Detroit’s unease. A city increasingly invaded by phantoms now faces a malevolent force that further stokes fear and chaos throughout the city.

Anya Kalinczyk spends her days as an arson investigator with the Detroit Fire Department, and her nights pursuing malicious spirits with a team of eccentric ghost hunters. Anya–who is the rarest type of psychic medium, a Lantern–suspects a supernatural arsonist is setting blazes to summon a fiery ancient entity that will leave the city in cinders. By Devil’s Night, the spell will be complete, unless Anya–with the help of her …

Dear Winners, Summer is Here!

Hey Everyone!

Don’t know what the weather is like in your corner of the world, but here in Hungary, Europe summer has arrived! For the past week it has been around 28-30 degrees, and I enjoy so much finally wearing summer dresses all week long, aren’t they just cute and make you feel pretty? As Barney Stinson in the very classic How I Met Your Mother said:

“You look good, you sun dressed up!”

“‘I can’t go 8 whole months without summer dresses!”

and believe me Barney, the feeling is mutual! ;-p

So this weekend besides cherry picking, playing with my little niece on the playground I spent most of the time reading outside in the garden either soaking up the sun or just enjoying the cool breeze in the shade. Don’t you just looove summer? I sure do! …

My Wishlist: the Absolutely-Must-Read-UF-series Edition

Hi Everyone!

Today I’m here to share with you all a slight part of my wishlist. Specifically a slice of my evergrowing UF series wishlist.

Urban fantasy is one of my favourite genres and I couldn’t be happier that I constantly discover new highly praised UF series and authors thanks to my fellow blogger friends.

So let me tell you about a few of my absolutely-must-read-UF-series!

Red Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells (Sabina Kane series)

In a world where being of mixed-blood is a major liability, Sabina Kane has the only profession fit for an outcast: assassin. But, her latest mission threatens the fragile peace between the vampire and mage races and Sabina must scramble to figure out which side she’s on. She’s never brought her work home with …

First June Winners!

Hey Everyone!

After an eventful and busy week I hope you all had some nice peaceful relaxing time and enjoyed the sun and early summer weather 🙂 Here it feels like August with 30 degrees and desert-like heat, I feel like napping and lounging all day long in the shade with my ice-cold drink.

Today I also have quite a lot of winners to announce and notify, so please let’s hear that dumroll, and …

big congratulations to…

The lucky winner of a copy of Uniform Behaviour (yum yum ;-p) is: @Watijo3

The lucky winner of a signed copy of Warcry by Elizabeth Vaughan and scented vanilla soap is: Jen B.

The lucky winner of an ebook copy of No Cure for the Broken Hearted by Kenneth Rosenberg is: Deea

The lucky winner of either Touch the …

Review: Something Secret This Way Comes by Sierra Dean

Format read: eARC provided by authorRelease Date: 10 May 2011Publisher: SamhainSeries: Book #1 in the Secret McQueen seriesFormats available: ebookPurchasing Info: Goodreads, Author’s Website, Amazon

Blurb:

Some secrets are dangerous. This Secret is deadly.

Secret McQueen, Book 1

For Secret McQueen, her life feels like the punch line for a terrible joke. Abandoned at birth by her werewolf mother, hired as a teen by the vampire council of New York City to kill rogues, Secret is a part of both worlds, but belongs to neither. At twenty-two, she has carved out as close to a normal life as a bounty hunter can.

When an enemy from her past returns with her death on his mind, she is forced to call on every ounce of her mixed heritage to save herself-and everyone else in the city she …

Review: Spider’s Bite by Jennifer Estep

Format read: eARC provided by authorNumber of pages: 395 pages Publisher: Pocket BooksFormats available: paperback, ebookRelease Date: 26 January 2010 Purchasing Info: Goodreads, href=”http://www.jenniferestep.com/”>Author’s Website, Amazon, Kindle store, Book Depository

Blurb:

My name is Gin, and I kill people.

They call me the Spider. I’m the most feared assassin in the South — when I’m not busy at the Pork Pit cooking up the best barbecue in Ashland. As a Stone elemental, I can hear everything from the whispers of the gravel beneath my feet to the vibrations of the soaring Appalachian Mountains above me. My Ice magic also comes in handy for making the occasional knife. But I don’t use my powers on the job unless I absolutely have to. Call it professional pride.

Now that a ruthless Air elemental has double-crossed me and killed my handler, …

Romance and Me: How Sweet Do You Take Your Romance?

Hey Everyone!

Today I would like to talk with you about how sweet is too sweet?We all love to read romances because we want to read about HEA stories, stories that make us sigh with contentment at the end when putting down the book.

We want the story to be romantic and touching, but how much romance is too romantic and becomes syrupy sweet and cheesy?

I am a very romantic person yet I like my romance novels to (usually) be beliavable. And nothing ruins that better than a too gushy alpha male who suddenly cannot stop declaring nonstop his undying love for the heroine. Sure, I want him to have a gentle and sensitive side, but I feel like this too much gushing isn’t really in his original character.

Realistic storyline and more importantly credible characterisations are important to me, even if I’m reading a romance novel. I mean, come on, …

Post-BEA winners!

Hey Everyone!

So BEA is over and those who were there I’m sure are quite exhausted but full of great memories and of course tons of fantastic books they got there. 😀 I would imagine one of the best things about BEA is that you get to meet so many good blogger friends and of course meeting all your favourite authors in person must be awaesome too!

So we’ll try to give some prizes to those of you who weren’t able to attend BEA this time (or well, we’ll see how just random.org will be..).

So big congratulations to…

The lucky winner of a copy of Follow My Lead by Kate Noble is: IreneRJ

The lucky winner of a copy of Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer by Mauren McGowan is: Lady Vampireu2

The lucky winner of an ebook copy of Giving Up the Ghost by …