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 …

Review: The Siren by Tiffany Reisz

The Siren by Tiffany Reisz

Format Read: E-book purchased by reviewer
Length: 432 Pages
Genre: Erotic Fiction, BDSM
Release Date: July 24, 2012
Publisher: Mira
Formats Available: Paperback, Kindle, Nook
Purchasing Info: Authorʼs Website | Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Book Depository US | IndieBound | Kindle | Nook.

Book Blurb:

The Siren is a modern-day retelling of My Fair Lady with uptight English literary fiction editor Zachary Easton as an unwilling Professor Higgins and well-known wild child Nora Sutherlin as his erotica-writing Eliza Doolittle. Zach only has six weeks left at Royal House New York before he heads to Los Angeles to take over as Chief Managing Editor at Royal West. When his boss orders him to help Nora Sutherlin rewrite her latest novel, Zach agrees to work with her only if he is given complete control over the …

Interview: Tiffany Reisz + Giveaway

Please join us in welcoming Tiffany Reisz to BLI today! Tiffany is here as part of her blog tour celebrating the release of her book The Siren, which is receiving high praise from reviewers far and wide.

About Tiffany:

Tiffany Reisz lives in Lexington, Kentucky with her boyfriend (a reformed book reviewer) and two cats – one bad and one sad. She graduated with a B.A. in English from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky and is making both her parents and her professors proud by writing erotic women’s fiction under her real name. She has five piercings, one tattoo, and has been arrested twice. When not under arrest, Tiffany enjoys Latin Dance, Latin Men, and Latin Verbs. She dropped out of a conservative southern seminary in order to pursue her dream of becoming a smut peddler. Johnny Depp’s aunt was her fourth grade teacher.

If she couldn’t write, she would …

Review: Big Sky Mountain by Linda Lael Miller

Format Read: eARC from NetGalley
Number of Pages: 384 p.
Release Date: July 31, 2012
Publisher: HQN Books
Genre: Contemporary
Series: Parable, Montana #2
Formats Available: Mass Market Paperback, ebook, audiobook
Purchasing Info: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Book Depository US | Book Depository (UK)  | Author’s Website 

Book Blurb:

With his rugged good looks, vast wealth and family name, hell-raiser Hutch Carmody is still the golden boy of Parable, Montana. But he’s done some growing up-making peace with his illegitimate half brother and inheriting half of Whisper Creek Ranch, which should have been all his. These days, Hutch knows there are some things money can’t buy: like the heart of loving, ladylike divorcée Kendra Shepherd.

Kendra’s quiet mansion reminds her of what she wants most-a devoted husband and the pitter-patter of little feet. She can’t …

Bookish Rants or Raves: Here Be Dragons + giveaway

Warning: I devour any and all books, movies, or shows that feature dragons. I’ve exhaustively researched dragon mythology. I refused to play Magic: the Gathering in 9th grade because they wouldn’t give me any dragon cards. Also, I’m an attorney. Taken together this means that I have opinions about dragons in popular culture.

So, without further ado, I present…

The Five Dragon Books You Should Have Read Already!*

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Poor Smaug, napping on his hoard of unparalleled treasure, minding his own business, literally embedding his flesh with diamonds to render him impervious to weapons – you know living out the dream of the 1% – when some pint-sized moron gets conned into stealing from him.

My very first dragon book. It was awesomely illustrated.

Thieves! Fire! Murder! Such a thing had not happened since he first came to the Mountain! His rage passes description – the sort …

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 …

Review: An Introduction to Pleasure by Jess Michaels

Format read: ebook
Series: Book #1 in the Mistress Matchmaker series
Release Date: 19 June 2012
Number of pages: 313 pages
Publisher: Samhain
Formats available: ebook
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Author’s Website, Amazon, Samhain, Read an excerpt

Blurb:

An innocent lady’s education could be a gentleman’s wicked seduction.

Mistress Matchmaker, Book 1

Lysandra Keates is running out of options. Her father is dead, her mother is ill, and her efforts to find respectable employment have ended in failure. With her small savings bleeding away, she swallows her pride—and her terror—and turns to Vivien Manning, an infamous courtesan, to match her with a wealthy protector.

For years, Viscount Andrew Callis has lived a monastic existence at his country estate, hardening his body against the snobbish, lazy young man he once was, hardening his heart against grief over the deaths of his wife and infant son. When Vivien asks …

New Releases: July 30 – August 5, 2012

Gunmetal Magic (Kate Daniels, #5.5) by Ilona Andrews

Some people have everything figured out — Andrea Nash is not one of those people. After being kicked out of the Order of Knights of Merciful Aid, Andrea’s whole existence is in shambles. All she can do is try to put herself back together, something made easier by working for Cutting Edge, a small investigative firm owned by her best friend, Kate Daniels.

When several shapeshifters working for Raphael Medrano — the male alpha of Clan Bouda and Andrea’s former lover — die unexpectedly at a dig site, Andrea is assigned to investigate … and must work with Raphael. As her search for the killer leads her into the secret underbelly of supernatural Atlanta, Andrea knows that dealing with her feelings for Raphael might have to take a backseat to saving the world …

Read an excerpt of Gunmetal Magic

Guest Post by Mallory Kane + Giveaway

Today we are happy to welcome to Book Lovers Inc Mallory Kane who just released a sexy romantic suspense novel, No Hero in Entangled Publishing’s new category romance imprint: Deadly Sexy. Please give her a warm welcome and read on to win a copy of No Hero! (pst. with such a handsome cover model, who in my opinion looks totally like Josh Hartnett, who wouldn’t want to discover if he really is no hero? 😉 )

With a mother who was a librarian and a father who was a master storyteller, I naturally was reading from the time I was three years old and sat in my mother’s lap, making her sound out words for me. I wasn’t much older when I wrote my first story. However, it did take me a little longer to get published. My first e-book (WAY before e-readers) was published in …