UK v US Cover ~ Moon Called

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!)

This week I am taking a look at Moon Called the first book in the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. I recently read my copy which has been on my bookshelf forever, why on earth did I not read this book ages ago!! I have been missing out! Anyway back to the covers.....

US cover on the left and UK cover on the right!

Which do you prefer?

Me?

To me the two covers for Moon Called look very different, if it wasn't for the book title there is little to suggest this is the same book. The US cover is a good example of an Urban Fantasy style cover, the strong sexy lead female with a few tattoos, slightly wild looking so we believe she could really shift. I like the imposing iron gate merging into mist and her hair flying in the wind.

I like the simplicity of the UK cover, the setting black and pale blue suggesting the scene is by moonlight, very appropriate. The moon is large, there are animals and countryside. The crouching female looks like she could be ready to pounce, I like that.

Overall I think I'll go with the simplicity of the UK cover in this case :-)

One final point, the cover on my edition is no longer the current UK cover. The new cover is different again, new style and very simple. Actually its typical of the style publishers are adopting for urban fantasy books in the UK recently.

Maybe you prefer this cover?? I think this is my favourite.

Waiting on Wednesday ~ Iced

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

Title: Iced: A Dani O'Malley Novel
Author: Karen Marie Moning
Series: Fever World #1
Publication date: 30 October 2012
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Marie Moning comes the first book in her hotly anticipated new urban paranormal trilogy, set in the world of her blockbuster Fever series.

The year is 1 AWC—After the Wall Crash. The Fae are free and hunting us. It’s a war zone out there, and no two days are alike. I’m Dani O’Malley, the chaos-filled streets of Dublin are my home, and there’s no place I’d rather be. 

Dani “Mega” O’Malley plays by her own set of rules—and in a world overrun by Dark Fae, her biggest rule is: Do what it takes to survive. Possessing rare talents and the all-powerful Sword of Light, Dani is more than equipped for the task. In fact, she’s one of the rare humans who can defend themselves against the Unseelie. But now, amid the pandemonium, her greatest gifts have turned into serious liabilities.

Dani’s ex–best friend, MacKayla Lane, wants her dead, the terrifying Unseelie princes have put a price on her head, and Inspector Jayne, the head of the police force, is after her sword and will stop at nothing to get it. What’s more, people are being mysteriously frozen to death all over the city, encased on the spot in sub-zero, icy tableaux. 

When Dublin’s most seductive nightclub gets blanketed in hoarfrost, Dani finds herself at the mercy of Ryodan, the club’s ruthless, immortal owner. He needs her quick wit and exceptional skill to figure out what’s freezing Fae and humans dead in their tracks—and Ryodan will do anything to ensure her compliance.

Dodging bullets, fangs, and fists, Dani must strike treacherous bargains and make desperate alliances to save her beloved Dublin—before everything and everyone in it gets iced.

Teaser Tuesday ~ Unholy Ghosts

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!

"Dana was a Debunker, like herself and Doyle. It wasn't unusual for Liaisers to have issues with spirits - if they weren't careful they could be tailed or even possessed when a spirit refused to leave afetr a Liaising, another reason their pay was higher - but Debunkers......."

Unholy Ghosts (Downside Ghosts #1) by Stacia Kane, P.131. 

Musing Mondays (1stOct)

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading, which each weeks ask us a book related question to mull over.  

What distracts you when you really “should be reading”? 

For me it's usually my business or studying. I run my own business which takes up a lot of time. I am also studying, what? Well the main thing is my marketing diploma, then there is personal development and then genealogy...... I also write a blog for the business & a marketing blog too, yes I now have 3 blogs :-) Crazy? NO, I love blogging, I do wish I could keep up with them all better though (maybe I'll set a different target, 4 to 7 posts per blog might be a bit high!) 

As part of what I've been learning recently I'm replacing all of my "Should do's" with "want to" as I find this more useful :-) However, all sorts get in the way of what I want to do! 

Blog Tour: Guest Post & Special Excerpt ~ Forgotten Visions by Lia Davies

I'd like to welcome Lia Davies author of Forgotten Visions to Eternally Books today. She has a guest blog for us then there is an extract from the book for you to enjoy. 

Guest Post 

Kalissa Bradenton: Coffee Shop Owner and Warrior

Your life could change in moment.

Hi, everyone. I’m Kalissa, heroine from Forgotten Visions. Lia asked me to stop by to introduce myself and talk about how my life had changed. 

I grew up in a small town with my parents and twin sister. I’ve worked by my father’s side in his coffee shop, Coffee Café, since I was tall enough to see over the counter. Pretty normal, right? *she smiles mischievously* My family is anything but normal. We’re witches with special abilities. My mother was a witch with supernatural powers, otherwise known as a Divinity by other magickin. The divine gene that gave her, her god-like powers were passed down to Khloe and me. Although, we just recently found out that being a Divinity meant stepping up to protect the magical and human communities from demons and enter an ancient war between the species.  

After the murder of my parents, I didn’t give it a second thought. If I could prevent someone else from the loss of a loved one, I am so on board. The need for vengeance is one trait my twin and I share. And I will fine who killed them and make them pay.

Title: Forgotten Visions (The Divinities Series, Book 1)

Author: Lia Davis

Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing

Length: 65,000 words

Genre: Romance

Sub-Genre: Paranormal Romance

Sub-Categories: Action

Heat Level: Steamy (Hot sex scenes/language, but not explicit)

BLURB:

Kalissa Bradenton isn’t your average coffee shop owner. Born to an elite witch bloodline with a rare genetic mutation, she’s a Divinity on a mission. The death of her parents sends her away from her Maxville, Florida, home and into an ancient war between witches and demons. When childhood friend Ayden Daniels comes to her aid after an almost fatal accident, visions of a past she doesn’t remember sparks an old flame and new desires. With the past slowly becoming clearer, she eagerly sets her sights on mending Ayden’s heart and gaining his trust–until a ghost from her past returns to claim her as his demonic mate.

Ayden, the new Sheriff of Maxville and grandson of the oldest living Divinity, is investigating a series of Divinity killings. When he comes face-to-face with the one woman he hopes to have little to no contact with, old pain rises, quickly followed by anger and resentment. Through his rare power of adaptability, he learns actions from the past may not be what they seem. Hope fills his broken heart and determination pushes him to do whatever it takes to win Kalissa’s heart once more before he loses her forever.

Together they must find the strength to mend their tormented souls, while fighting an evil out to destroy the world.

Extract from Forgotten Visions

His dark brows dipped downward as he shifted to look at Fire Rescue working to get the flattened top of the Benz open. Turning his head back in her direction, his eyes narrowed. “You’ve been arguing with them?” 

She flicked her attention to him. Yeah, she’d argued. JSO had the most irritating and pig-headed officers. The Chief Detective hadn’t wanted any insight from her. Prejudiced bastard. 

Zach was like a brother to them and Kalissa trusted him fully. Sometimes it was hard to remember that he had a serious, responsible side. Around family, he was playful and sarcastic. Tonight, there were no sheepish smiles or factitious remarks. 

“They won’t talk to me! I tried to tell them this wasn’t an accident, but they dismissed me.” She hugged her waist, staring back at the crushed car. The emptiness growing by the moment. It had been pulled away from the tree and loaded onto a wrecker. “They shouldn’t have died,” she whispered. Divinities were believed to be the children of the gods, far more powerful than any mortal witch. They aged slower and healed faster. Words like immortality and demi-gods drifted in the whispers among many of the magickin. 

Immortals. Kalissa snorted. If that were the case, her parents would had walked out of that car. Sorrow squeezed, tightening its grip on her heart. The man in her vision was responsible. No, not a man. A dark magical essence hung so thick in the air it choked her. 

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Double Cover Reveal: Taken & Altered Souls by Karice Bolton (Blog Tour)

Welcome to this double cover reveal hosted by the Bookish Brunette :-) 

Taken (A Watchers Novella) by Karice Bolton

(expected publication December 2012)

Prequel (The Watchers Trilogy)

A Watchers Novella

Ana and Athen are enjoying the quiet life as a couple with only the minor dark demon infraction to rectify. Cyril and Arie are enjoying the newfound simplicity too. Things are perfect – too perfect.

They soon realize that something far more sinister is taking place in their world, and they must do their best to stop the evil from spreading. Determined to figure out who is tampering with the mortals’ fate they are unable to recognize that it’s a trap, and one of their own is the target.

This is where it all begins.

Altered Souls (Book 2 of The Witch Avenue Series) by Karice Bolton

Expected Pub: October 2012 

The realm of Altered Souls brings nothing but unrest, deceit, and pain forcing Triss to come face to face with heartbreak from her past. 

Facing a betrayal like never before, Triss questions everything she thought she knew about her family, coven, and abilities. 

With the help of Logan, she embarks on a journey enabling her to confront the dark side of magic and the person who controls it. Realizing Triss’s ancestors have been seduced for centuries by the dark side, Triss and Logan must ensure no more in their world fall victim to the realm of Altered Souls, even if that means ending the ones they love. 

Cover art by  PhatPuppy Art  

Karice Bolton

Karice Bolton is a paranormal romance/urban fantasy author living in the Pacific Northwest. All three books in The Watchers Trilogy are available now, Awakening, Legions, and Cataclysm. Lonely Souls, which is the first book in her new series Witch Avenue, was released in June 2012!

Karice married the love of her life who she met in high school, and she still can't get over how cute and funny he is. They have two English Bulldogs that are the cutest bullies in the world, and they use their cuteness to get what they want. Karice loves the snow and gravitates towards the stuff as often as possible! She enjoys skiing and tries really hard to snowboard, but often makes a nice little area to sit while everyone zips by on their board. She enjoys writing, and she also loves to read just about anything with print.

Find Karice around the web:

Goodreads | Website | Twitter | Facebook 

Thanks to Bookish Brunette Book Tours for hosting thsi cover reveal!

Jenny :-)

Feature & Follow Friday (16)

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!

This weeks blogs are The Bookshelf Review
and Compelled By Words

This weeks question

Q: What would you do over if you were to start your blog again from scratch?

A: Well I actually have, kind of! There were 10 months where I didn't post at all due to family issues and when I decided to restart my blog I wanted to change up quite a lot of things! I changed my blog title, I'd grown to dislike y old title (Magic Faeries paranormal Review) what a mouth full and I, well just fell out of love with it! I chose a new title which much better suited what I wanted and was snappier too! Eternally Books was born!!!! I haven't fully finished my restart yet - my blog design is lurching from one thing to another at the moment as I'm playing around with it!!

What am I doing differently this time around? I'm trying to me more organised and network more. Not take on too much and to make it good!