Blog Design Offer

Blog Design Offer!

I will shortly be launching my NEW blog design! I have loved doing it A LOT and have decided to extend a fantastic offer. 

(If you are reading this paragraph I have not uploaded my design yet - the internet gremlins are still making me play around with it to make it perfect!)

EDIT - I now have my two guinea pigs - sorry volunteers!!

I will be launching design services soon! 

THE OFFER!

Would you like a new blog design free?

I'm looking for a volunteer or two please! I'm offering a blog design makeover custom done for free in exchange for you being a case study on my new blog design blog & posting a feature on me doing so on your blog.

Open to Blogger blogs only at this time (sorry - I do work with wordpress already so if you are interested......)

The only cost to you will be if you want stock images & vectors or scrapbooks kits etc used - this is up to you.

I've discovered I LOVE designing blogs!!!!!!  My own new blog desgn will be live VERY soon. 

Either email me via my contact page or via Goodreads

I look forward to hearing from you. This is a first come first served offer.


2 places filled!


Looking forward to working with Cassandra and Cami. 

Musing Mondays #1

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading, which each weeks ask us a book related question to mull over.  It's the first time I've joined in today!

Do you listen to audiobooks? If not, why not? And, if so, what has been one of your favorites, so far?

I do listen to audiobooks but only non-fiction. For fiction books I like to create my own narrative and find that the audio books do not match how I want them to be, so I avoid them.

Stacking The Shelves #1

Stacking The Shelves is a brand new meme for us all to showcase our book haul for the week. The lovely Tynga at Tyngas Reviews, which I've decided to take part in as it is fresh and has no issues surrounding it. (If you aren't aware of what's been happening in the book blog world read this).

I'll let Tynga introduce the meme:

"Welcome to the very first Stacking The Shelves post!

Stacking The Shelves is all about the books we are adding to our shelves each week, sharing with you our excitement for our newest titles and maybe have you discover a new book in the process!

In the light of the recent drama around the blogosphere I decided to leave In My Mailbox behind in favor of this new feature"

I have to admit I didn't get many books this week, I simply haven't had the time! The only one I did get was from the library:

Visions of Heat (Psy-Changeling #2) by Nalini Singh

Review: Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh

Title: Slave to Sensation
Author: Nalini Singh
Series: Psy-Changeling #1
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Published: 5 September 2006
Source of my copy: I purchased it.

 About the book (from Goodreads)


THE HOT NEW NAME IN PARANORMAL ROMANCE.

Nalini Singh dives into a world torn apart by a powerful race with phenomenal powers of the mind-and none of the heart.

In a world that denies emotions, where the ruling Psy punish any sign of desire, Sascha Duncan must conceal the feelings that brand her as flawed. To reveal them would be to sentence herself to the horror of "rehabilitation" - the complete psychic erasure of everything she ever was...

Both human and animal, Lucas Hunter is a changeling hungry for the very sensations the Psy disdain. After centuries of uneasy coexistence, these two races are now on the verge of war over the brutal murders of several changeling women. Lucas is determined to find the Psy killer who butchered his packmate, and Sascha is his ticket into their closely guarded society. But he soon discovers that this ice-cold Psy is very capable of passion - and that the animal in him is fascinated by her. Caught between their conflicting worlds, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities - or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation...

My Review

The Psy-Changeling series is one I have seen so much about but for some reason I have never read any of until now, why did I wait! I thoroughly enjoyed Slave to Sensation  and am definitely looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

In Sascha and Lucas' world there are three races who share the planet and live together in a manner. The Humans seem the dull relations of the other to races, in fact they are barely mentioned in the book at all. Our story focuses on the Psy and the Changelings, both of whom have powers the humans can only dream of. 

The Changelings are our hot, sexy, strong and emotional shapeshifters. Lucas is an Alpha of the usual order - very strong, very good looking and difficult to handle so who better to have as half of the unlikely seeming couple in the book (don't you think they are often the best sort!). His distaste for the Psy is very deep routed and seemingly unshakable but he did not bank on meeting a Psy like Sascha.

Sascha is a flawed Psy, she is certain something is horribly wrong with her and expends much of her time and energy hiding this from her fellow Psy. Due to a 100 year old decision all Psy are conditioned not to feel emotion, supposedly being to prevent their race from committing horrid crimes. Of course things have not worked out quite as neatly as the Psy would like the other races to believe!

Wonderful things happen between these two who at first can not stand to be in each others company but there is an undeniable something there..... The interaction between the Psy and the Changelings is interesting and refreshing. Sascha and Lucas are both intriguing and well filled out characters who develop very well with the story.

If you have not already read the Psy-Changeling series I would highly recommend it. If you are already a convert I'm sure you'll agree!

Feature & Follow Friday #5

What is Feature & follow?


Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.


The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

The featured blogs:

This weeks Question:

Q: Have you had a character that disappointed you? One that you fell in love with and then "broke up" with later on in either the series or a stand-alone book? Tell us about him or her.

I'm sure there must be some, but for some reason I can't bring one to mind. I have to admit I tend to go with the flow of whatever the characters do!

UK v US Cover: Lover Reborn

How important is the cover of a book to you?

I'm sure I notice them more because I often see a book I like and go off to buy it, only to find the version I get had a totally different cover. I'm in the UK just in case the blog post title didn't give it away! So I thought I'd start up a feature on comparing UK and US covers (might bring in ones from elsewhere too if it takes my fancy!) (Quick disclaimer, I know this is not original but I can't remember where I've seen it so can't credit!)

A classic example of covers being different is the Black Dagger Brotherhood series! The 10th book in the (excellent) series is recently out but which cover do you prefer?

US left UK right












Which do you prefer? Why?

Me?

In this instance I like the UK cover best, I prefer the colours :-) It definitely looks more like it would appeal in a UK bookshop, don't ask me why it just does! I've often preferred the US covers for previous books in the series!

I'd love to know what you think. Also do you think it's right that the same cover is not sused worldwide?

Teaser Tuesday ~ Undead and Unwed

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"And in return...? I didn't mean to sound like there was a bug in my mouth, but I couldn't help it. I didn't trust this guy as far as I could throw him. Hmm ... better come up with a new cliche."

p97.

Undead and Unwed (Undead #1) by MaryJanice Davidson  

Feature & Follow Friday #4

What is Feature & follow?


Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.


The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

The featured blogs:

This weeks Question:


Q: Fight! Fight! If you could have two fictional characters battle it out (preferably from books), who would they be and who do you think would win?

Excellent question!! Now I could spend hours thinking about this but I'm going with the first two characters who come to mind! Bones against Wrath (BDB). Who would win? No idea really, can I get back to you on that one!!!!

Teaser Tuesday ~ Night Life

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"I reached out with my foot, bumped a broken brick, picked it up I might have been about to meet the same end as Lilia, but I would fight just as hard."

p55.

Night Life (NoctureCity #1) by Caitlin Kittredge

Feature & Follow Friday #3

What is Feature & follow?


Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.


The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

The featured blogs:

Book Briefs

Gizmos Reviews

This weeks question:

Q: What is one book that you would be nervous to see a movie adaption of because you think the movie could never live up to the book?

A: Well actually that's a lot of books I read! I prefer to keep the images in my head and someone else's interpretation is never quite the same!

Lets get following!

What are the rules of Feature & Follow?

To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts {Parajunkee & Alison Can Read}
2. (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say "hi" in your comments and that they are now following you.
5. If you are using WordPress or another CMS that doesn't have GFC (Google Friends Connect) state in your posts how you would like to be followed
6. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI"
7. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
8. If you're new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Waiting on Wednesday ~ Tangle of Need

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine which spotlight eagerly anticipated upcoming releases.

Tangle of Need is book 11 in the Psy-Changeling series by Nalini Singh. I've only read the first few books in the series but I like what I've read so far!!

What do you think of the difference between the US (left) and UK (right) covers? 

Adria, wolf changeling soldier, has made a break with a past as 
unpredictable in love as it was in war. Now comes a devastating new complication: Riaz, a SnowDancer whose lone-wolf appeal is beyond sexual. It’s primal. And it consumes them as completely as the impending cataclysmic Psy war—a battle that may alter the very fate of the world.

Teaser Tuesday ~ The Darkest Kiss

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"With that, he allowed his body to become mist and sink into the spirit world. Death seemed to be pacing the corridors of his mind, but flashed him to a small room. Blood coated the walls. Blood and other things he did not want to contemplate."

p222.

The Darkest Kiss (The Lords of the Underworld #2) by Gena Showalter

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox (IMM) is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren. Each week I will post up books I've laid my hands on this week - purchased, library, won, for review or free!  In My Mailbox is a great way for bloggers and readers to socialize and network their blogs, and to share upcoming releases!  Look forward to sharing with you all :-)  

This week I bought:

Angels' Blood (Guild Hunter #1) by Nalini Singh

(Do you like the red cover of my UK edition?)

I got free for my Kindle:

Demon Possession  (Shadow Quest #1) by Kiersten Fay

(Thank you to Kiersten for letting me know this was available free on Kindle via my Paranormal Addicts & Newbies group on Goodreads!)

Review: "Succubus in the City" By Nina Harper

Title: Succubus in the City
Author: Nina Harper
Series: Succubus #1
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Del Ray
Published: 25 March 2008
Source of my copy: I purchased it.

 About the book (from Goodreads)


 AFTER THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF ONE-NIGHT STANDS, A GIRL JUST WANTS A LITTLE MORE.

Working for Satan is a hot gig. The Devil really does wear Prada, and Lily can sport all the dazzling fashion she desires, eat all the fabulous food she craves, and hang for all eternity with her three demon girlfriends. But serving up bad boys to the fiery pits of Hell is just getting . . . lonely.
 
Lily gives the jerks, the creeps, and the liars the best (and last) night of their lives, but she’s tired of waking up to a pile of ashes. She wants a guy who will stick around. 

BUT A MYSTERIOUS MAN IS TURNING UP THE HEAT. . . . 

Nathan Coleman is a devilishly handsome, laid-back P.I. who wants to ask Lily a few questions about a missing man. But someone–or something–wants Lily and her friends dead, and Nathan seems to know more than he’ll admit to. Can a sweet-talking mortal and a girl from Hell find true love?
 

My review

Have you ever wondered what Sex and the City would have been like if all the ladies were demons serving Satan? Read Succubus in the City where the four friends are all demons in Martha's inner circle who lead modern New York lives while delivering their prey to hell.

Martha? That's Satan at the moment, previously known by other names. Very useful for getting into all the best places in the City.

The central character is Lily, a three thousand year old Babylonian Priestess who is getting sick of only ever having lust. She craves love, problem is she'll turn him to dust unless he pleases her first, makes finding Mr Right difficult. The clause in her contact with Martha/Saturn allows her to leave service if she can find a man who truly loves her and knows what she is. Not exactly an easy task!

Enter Nathan, could he be the one? The plot takes us through twists and turns is he or not. If he is how on earth will Lily be able to get him to truly love her when he knows she's a Succubus? Wait, how is she going to get him to believe she's a Succubus in the first place? Introduce a secret society who is trying to uncover the demons and the plot deepens. 

If you are looking for a light hearted paranormal romance which is easy to read it's worth a try. May rove rather tame for some though.

Feature & Follow Friday #2

What is Feature & follow?


Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.


The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

The featured blogs:

This weeks question

Q: Have you ever bought a book BECAUSE of a bad review?

A: No not really. Well unless it's by an author I've read before and I simply cannot believe the reviews are all bad! If I found a bad review of a book I was interested in I would always search out other reviews too so I could see what other people thought.

Lets get following!

What are the rules of Feature & Follow?

To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts {Parajunkee & Alison Can Read}
2. (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say "hi" in your comments and that they are now following you.
5. If you are using WordPress or another CMS that doesn't have GFC (Google Friends Connect) state in your posts how you would like to be followed
6. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI"
7. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
8. If you're new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Waiting on Wednesday ~ Discount Armageddon

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine which spotlight eagerly anticipated upcoming releases.

I spotted this book while browsing Goodreads, I kind of liked the name and it sounds good too! 

Title: Discount Armageddon

Author: Seanan McGuire

Ghoulies. Ghosties. Long-legged beasties. Things that go bump in the night... The Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity-and humanity from them. Enter Verity Price. Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she'd rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and is spending a year in Manhattan while she pursues her career in professional ballroom dance. Sounds pretty simple, right? It would be, if it weren't for the talking mice, the telepathic mathematicians, the asbestos supermodels, and the trained monster-hunter sent by the Price family's old enemies, the Covenant of St. George. When a Price girl meets a Covenant boy, high stakes, high heels, and a lot of collateral damage are almost guaranteed. To complicate matters further, local cryptids are disappearing, strange lizard-men are appearing in the sewers, and someone's spreading rumors about a dragon sleeping underneath the city...

Teaser Tuesday ~ Magic Bites

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"Are you sure?" His eyes took  my measure. "You look like you could use some money. The Order will give you more than you'd get auctioning it off. My advice, take the money. Buy yourself a decent pair of shoes."

Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews. p. 17

2012 TBR Pile Reading Challenge!

I'm going to join in another challenge, it's been going since the start of the year but I can join in now:-)  This one appeals to me as my TBR is huge and has loads if books published in 2011 and before on it. I'll post up my books for the challenge as I read them on my challenges page. The challenge rules from Book Passion for Life:

Challenge Guidelines:

• This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012.
• As we would like to see quality reviews linked up to our monthly wrap-ups, only bloggers can enter. Sorry about that!
• Any genre, length or format of book counts, as long as it is a book that's been sitting on your shelf for some time now. Only books released in 2011 and earlier! NO ARCs and 2012 fresh-off-the-press releases allowed!
• You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap-up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.
• When you sign up in the linky, put the direct link to your post about joining the 2012 TBR PILE Reading Challenge (You need to include the info + host list + challenge button. You can also grab the button code and add it to your sidebar!)
• You can move up levels, but no moving down.
• Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2012, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year.
• At the end of each month one of the hosts will post a wrap-up. Every wrap-up will have it's unique theme, a mini-challenge, a giveaway and place for you to link up your reviews from this month. For each review you link up, you will get one entry in a drawing of one book of choice from Book Depository. It's open to INTERNATIONALS. For participating in the mini-challenge you'll get +1 entry in the giveaway.
• If you miss a wrap-up post + giveaway, you can link up your reviews next month. Do not, however, try to link up one review twice - we will be checking ;)
• December is a wrap-up for the whole year. All the book reviews you linked up January-November + the ones you'll link up in December will be entered into a HUGE giveaway - 12 books, 12 winners, INTERNATIONAL.
• You don't have to follow all the hosts to join the challenge, but you do have to follow all of us to be entered in giveaways!  

Levels - My chosen

1-10 - A Firm Handshake

11-20 - A Friendly Hug

21-30 - A Sweet Kiss

31-40 - Love At First Sight - This is my target - Wish me luck!

41-50 - Married With Children

The lovely Hosts:

Evie from Bookish - @SeoEvie

Nicole from All I Ever Read - @Nicoleabouttown

Bonnie from Hands and Home - @HandsHomeBlog

Donna from Book Passion for Life - @BookPforLife

Caitlin from Watch YA Reading - @Caitlingss

Rie from Mission To Read - @Missiontoread

Vicky from Books, Biscuits & Tea - @alouetteuette

Christa from Hooked on Books - @ChristasBooks

Jenna from Fans of Fiction - @fansoffiction

Angel from Mermaids Vision - @mermaidvisions

Schedule:

January - Donna (Theme: Let It Snow + Book Cover Challenge)

February - Nicole (Theme: Un-requited Love/Love Gone Wrong + Advice Column Challenge)

March - Rie (Theme: Green or Pinched + Green Cover Challenge)

April - Bonnie (Theme: Easter + Mini Challenge)

May - Christa (Theme: MayDay - Disaster Books! + Cover Disaster Challenge)

June - Jenna (Theme: Camping + Sentence Challenge)

July - Rie (Theme: International Day + Cover Comparison Challenge)

August - Angel (Theme: Summer Memories + Send Your Fav Character On Vacation Challenge)

September - Nicole (Theme: Life Changing Books + Mini Challenge)

October - Caitlin (Theme: Thanksgiving Theme + Share-A-Book Challenge)

November - Vicky (Theme: Spooky Halloween + Book Puzzle Challenge)

December - Evie (Theme: Xmas Bliss + Book Bachelor Challenge)

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox (IMM) is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren. Each week I will post up books I've laid my hands on this week - purchased, library, won, for review or free!  In My Mailbox is a great way for bloggers and readers to socialize and network their blogs, and to share upcoming releases!  Look forward to sharing with you all :-)  

This week I've got some free books for Kindle from Amazon UK (they might still be available & may be in other countries)

The Emerald Talisman (Talisman #1) - Brenda Pandos

The Ghost Hunter (The Hunter #1) - Lori Brighton

Marked (Soul Guardians #1) - Kim Richardson

Vampire Assassin (Jane #1) - Samantha Warren

Shimmerspell (The Shimmer Trilogy #1) - Kimberly Spencer