Shutterfly Free Photo Valentine Cards Giveaway

Shutterfly has sponsored a wonderful giveaway- 25 Free Valentine's Day cards for one lucky winner who tells us what Valentine's Day means to them.

I love Shutterfly they have a great selection of photo cards for any occasion- thank you cards, graduation announcements, Christmas cards, and other holiday cards.

And I think they have the best photo editing software inside their project designers. Shutterfly is very user friendly. I've used a lot of sites and love Shutterfly the most.

I've made a lot of cards and projects with them but this will be the first time I've made Valentine cards.

I usually make handmade cards or purchase just a nice one for the husband to give him along with his gift.

I adore Valentine's Day- romance, love, quiet alone time with the hubby...

What I really love is planning something great. See my husband...well he's not so romantic. Don't get me wrong he's very sweet and has had a few romantic moments but for the most part I orchestrate the romance (cause believe it or not it rarely happens on its own)- and that's fine by me because I'm a planner.

I remember our very first Valentine's Day together I blew him away- I decorated the entire bedroom with balloons and sparkly cupids and heart shaped confetti, lit candles, bought sexy lingerie, put on the soft music and bought him a card and a couple present she really wanted.

He was so surprised. No one had ever went all out for him like that before.

Now I try to do something special every year. It's not as easy as it used to be with little ones running around now but it just takes a little more creativity and a lot more planning- and a good babysitter. LOL.

I still love Valentine's Day and I still love trying to make it special.

What is your most memorable Valentine's Day or what does Valentine's Day mean to you?

Leave a comment answering the question to be entered to win.

This contest closes quick so you have time to design and order your cards.

1 winner will be chosen on Friday Feb 4 to receive 25 free photo cards from Shutterfly.

Be sure to leave your email with your comment.

Be My Vampire Valentine Poetry Contest

Vampire Valentine won't you be mine....

Today the

Be My Vampire Valentine Poetry Contest

officially kicks off

If you are a fan of the Fang-tastic Books Facebook page you might have seen a sneak peak about the contest-

now you can sharpen your pencils and start your verses

To enter you just have to write a vampire poem, it doesn't have to have a Valentine theme though it can if you wish

The poem can be any style from greeting card verse to haiku, to a sonnet or anything in between

So by now you're thinking, what can I win, right?

I have a stack of books up for grabs- right now the pile contains

Cold Dawn by Carla Neggers, Indefensible by Pamela Callow, Edge of Sight by Roxanne St Clair, and The Seduction of Miranda Prosper by Marissa Day

And Love at First Bite by Sherrilyn Kenyon, LA Banks, Susan Squires, and Ronda Thompson

So if you'd like to be entered to win, submit your best vampire verse in the comments below, be sure to include your email address- if you don't want to post your poem but wish to enter email your poem to me at RoxanneRhoads at aol. com

US Shipping Only folks-

though I will offer an ebook prize pack (consisting of 4 titles from my backlist) to any international poets who want to play, so be sure to let me know in your entry if you are a US or International entrant

Contest starts now

A winner will be announced on Valentine's Day

A Review of Tempest's Legacy by Nicole Peeler

Book Description:

After a peaceful hiatus at home in Rockabill, Jane True thinks that her worst problem is that she still throws like a girl - at least while throwing fireballs. Her peace of mind ends, however, when Anyan arrives one night with terrible news . . . news that will rock Jane's world to its very core.

After demanding to help investigate a series of gruesome attacks on females --
supernatural, halfling, and human -- Jane quickly finds herself forced to confront her darkest nightmares as well as her deepest desires.

And she's not sure which she finds more frightening.

My review:

Nicole Peeler rocks my world....in a purely literary way of course.

Her Jane True series is urban fantasy mixed with a splash of paranormal romance and tossed with a quirky spritzer of wit and unusual charm.

I love it.

Jane True is a halfling, part human, part selkie. Her world is filled with all kinds of magic, strange creatures, crazy mishaps and supernatural hi jinks- and it all started when she found out she wasn't exactly a normal human being not too long ago.

At least that finally explained the rest of her life for her, why she never fit in, her crazy swimming abilities.

In Tempest's Legacy, the third book in the Jane True series, Jane is enjoying being at home and enjoying time with her friends when everything she has come to believe gets turned upside down.

The bad news is real bad and Jane decides to metaphorically shoot the messenger and falls back into her old routine with Ryu- her on again off again vampire boyfriend.

But will it last or will she move on to the man she's supposed to be with?

Filled with action packed adventure and Jane's knack for finding herself in trouble this book is a quick page turner you won't want to put down.

I love how Peeler doesn't stick to the normal urban fantasy or paranormal romance script and mixes things up again adding her own unique style and personality to Jane's voice.

Jane isn't your average PNR/UF heroine, though some similarities will be there, she tends to break out of the mould and be unique.

You'll probably either lover her or hate her.

Personally I love her.

Her licentious libido in the background of her mind cracks me up- especially how she can notice naughtiness even when her life is in danger (you go girl) and I can so relate to her ongoing love affair with food. In one scene another halfling, Julian, comments that Jane is the only person he knows who would pack snacks for a revenge mission.

I pack snacks for everything (but I blame it on the kids- you never know when they'll get hungry, shhh it's my cover).

The other thing that cracks me up about Jane is her complete inability to see what's right in front of her. Anyan. Sexy, always there for her Anyan. He doesn't have a daddy complex about her, he's in love with her and she's too much of a dingbat to realize it.

But isn't that always the way?

The good news is- hopefully that will all change. There's progress in this book- but every time Jane and Anyan actually start to get physically close or confess their undying love for each other...they get interrupted. Either a phone rings, someone walks in...or someone tries to kill them.

It just never fails that the scene we want most never happens...at least not yet.

Perhaps the next book- Eye of the Tempest- due out in July, will move along the relationship between Jane and Anyan.

Honesty though, I couldn't put this book down. Action packed and filled with twists and turns you won't see coming especially close to the end. Wow.

If you've loved the previous Jane True books you'll love this one even more.

Guest Blog and Giveaway with John Hartness

Let the snark begin! Or why my vampires aren’t sexy

by John G. Hartness

Let’s talk about characters for a few minutes, shall we? When I decided to write a vampire novel, I knew I was going to need a couple of things. First, I’d need vampires. But I’m no good at writing sexy, brooding vampires with perfect hair. Probably because I’m not particularly sexy, I don’t brood, and my hair leaves a bit to be desired. So since I couldn’t write the typical vampire characters, I thought I’d go in the complete opposite direction. And in the meantime, I could adhere to that great advice all writers get all the time - “write what you know.”

Well, what I know is geek. I’ve been one almost all my life (there was probably a week or two in college when I was cool, but I missed it), so I’m pretty familiar with what it means to be a geek. I’ve collected comics for decades, and even spent a short stint working in a comic shop. I own all the major flavors of gaming console, and have played a LOT of video games in my day. And I own every season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and X-Files. So my geek street cred is pretty good.

So it only made sense that my vampires would be geeks. And since I’ve been an unabashed smart-aleck since I learned to talk, they would have to be snarky, too. And since the best comedy duos have historically been a pair of guys, one short and fat and on tall and thin, I figured I’d steal a page from the Laurel & Hardy handbook and put that stereotype back in play.
So Jimmy Black and Gregory Knightwood came about that way, from me mining comedic history coupled with my personal history, and that gives them dialogue that almost writes itself. I borrow from a lot of comedy traditions with these guys, especially the old tradition of having the fat guy look dumb and really be the smart one, while the “leader” of the pair stumbles along.
But if I’ve learned anything from reading years and years of Spider-Man comics, it’s not just that “with great power comes great responsibility.” It’s also that a superhero without a great cast of supporting characters is kinda boring.

So first I looked around for a love interest, someone that Jimmy as the narrator could fixate on, pine after and generally stumble towards. Kinda like Xander and Buffy. And since my guys needed a good source of cases to work on, putting her in the police department seemed the logical next step. And as a female police detective, she would be tougher than any guy, and self-confident enough to resist the vampire mojo. Which would make Detective Sabrina Law at once baffling and all the more attractive to my main character.

Then I needed a wise old gypsy woman, or in more modern parlance, a Giles. Obviously Father Mike isn’t a gypsy, or a woman, but he serves the same role in the narrative. He’s a little bit of a Jiminy Cricket, a conscience for the boys, but more to the point he’s a researcher, a font of knowledge, and also serves as a constant reminder of their lost humanity, since he was their friend in life. Now every time the boys see Mike age, they remember that they never will, so their friendship with him is a double-edged sword for both of them.

Now if this sounds like I put together a cold, calculating plan in creating my cast of characters - well I kinda did. I knew going into Hard Day’s Knight that it was Book #1 of a planned five-book series, and if I didn’t at least have a rough idea of what these people were like ahead of time, there was no way I’d remember it three books in. I can barely remember to tie my shoes some days, so I had to make a plan (I wear loafers a lot, it helps). I don’t know exactly what happens in Books 3-5 yet, but I know where someone dies, where someone has a crisis of conscience, and how they eventually get through it. And who knows? If I keep readers interested, I can keep telling stories about my snarky, geeky vampires for years and years!

Blurb for Hard Day's Knight-

Children are missing.

The police are stumped.

Halloween is coming, with an ancient evil on the horizon. The vampires are the good guys. This is not your ordinary fall weekend in Charlotte, NC. Vampire private detectives Jimmy Black and Greg Knightwood have been hired to keep a young client from being cursed for all eternity, but end up in a bigger mess than they ever imagined. Suddenly trapped in the middle of a serial kidnapping case, Jimmy and Greg uncover a plot to bring forth an ancient evil into the world, and enlist the help of a police detective, a priest, a witch, a fallen angel and strip club proprietor to save the world. This unlikely band of heroes battles zombies, witches, neuroses and sunburn while cracking jokes and looking for the perfect bag of O-negative.

Bio:

John G. Hartness is a recovering theatre geek who likes loud music, fried pickles and cold beer. He’s been published or accepted online in several journals including The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, cc&d, Deuce Coupe and Truckin’. He can be found online at www.johnhartness.com and spends too much time on Twitter, especially after a few drinks. His first novel, The Chosen, is an urban fantasy about saving the world, snotty archangels, gambling, tattooed street preachers, immortals with family issues, bar brawls and the consequences of our decisions. He followed up The Chosen with Hard Day’s Knight, a new twist on the vampire detective novel and the first in a planned series of five books. John has been called “the Kevin Smith of Charlotte,” and fans of Joss Whedon and Jim Butcher should enjoy his snarky slant on the fantasy genre. His next novel, Back in Black (and Blue) is due out in the spring of 2011.

Would you like a print copy of Hard Day's Knight

I Have 1 Copy for 1 Lucky Reader

US Shipping Only

To Enter Leave a Comment On This Post

Winner TBA Next Wednesday

Review of I Dream of Genies by Judi Fennell

.5
4.5 Fangs for I Dream of Genies by Judi Fennell

Sourcebooks, Inc.
January, 2011
ISBN#: 9781402241895

He needs to change his luck, and fast!

Matt Ewing would gladly hunt down a fortune in lucky pennies if he thought it would help save his business.

But for all his hoping, Matt’s clueless when his long awaited lucky charm falls in his lap in the form of a beguiling genie. He just can’t believe that this beautiful woman could be the answer to his prayers…

She’s been bottled up for far too long!

Spending 2,000 years in a bottle would make any woman go a little stir crazy. So when Matt releases Eden from her luxurious captivity, she’s thrilled to repay him by giving him the magical boost he needs…


But for all her good intentions, Eden’s magical prowess is a little rusty and her magical mistakes become more than embarrassing. And though Eden knows falling in love will end her magic and immortality, she can’t help but be drawn to the one man who wants her just for herself…

My review:

Judi Fennell's books are always a read on the fun side.

Fennell has a knack for combining zany characters with strange situations and sometimes odd settings, mixing them up with a dash of humor and tossing in a bit of sizzling romance- and the result is novel magic.

I can guarantee once you read one of Fennell's books you won't forget it.

Wordy puns, wisecracks, snarky comments, sensational secondary characters (sometimes really odd ones you've probably never seen in a romance novel before- drunk skunk anyone?) combined with sexy sizzle between two wonderful lead characters make her books page turners.

Fennell's under the sea adventures were wonderful but I think she's outdone herself with I Dream of Genies.

Eden is easily lovable and Matt is a hero you'll want....well you'll just plain want him but you'll also root for him and Eden to finally get it right and get together.

She's stuck in a bottle and he could use a little magic in his life. Both discover you should be careful what you wish for. But she has the chance for freedom and he's got a chance for his wishes to come true- too bad her magic causes mayhem and much magical hijinks.

You'll snicker, you'll giggle and if you're not careful you'll fall off your furniture laughing- either way you'll have fun reading this book.

A Review of Immortalis Hunters and Prey by Katie Salidas

.25
4.25 Fangs for Immortalis Hunters and Prey

The exciting sequel to Immortalis Carpe Noctem.

Becoming a vampire saved Alyssa from death, but the price was high: the loss of everything and everyone attached to her mortal life. She's still learning to cope when a surprise confrontation with Santino Vitale, the Acta Sanctorum's most fearsome hunter, sends her fleeing back to the world she once knew, and Fallon, the friend she's missed more than anything.

Alyssa breaks vampire law by revealing her new, true self to her old friend, a fact which causes strong division in the group that should support her most: her clan. Worse yet, her revelation entangles Fallon in the struggle between vampires and hunters and The Acta Sanctorum is ready to attack again, with a new army of hybrid creations: the Frenzy Soldiers.

If Alyssa hopes to survive and keep her mortal friend safe, she'll have to be willing to make a deal with the enemy, and regain her clan's support. It will take everyone working together in a precarious truce to fight against the Acta Sanctorum's new threat.

Other Novels in the Immortalis series:

Immortalis Carpe Noctem
Immortalis Hunters & Prey
Immortalis Pandora's Box (2011)

My review:

The second book in the Immortalis series does not disappoint. I was thrilled to have a chance to read the follow up to the first book Immortalis Carpe Noctem (a fab read, by the way, if you haven't read the first book I highly recommend reading it first then moving on to Hunters and Prey).

In Hunters and Prey newbie vamp Alyssa has a little blood under her fangs- meaning she knows a little more about being a vamp than she did in the first book. After battling a vampire mistress and a vampire hunting society in the first book Alyssa is ready to have little peace and quiet with lover Lysander.

Too bad while out hunting one night she sees her enemy- Santino. He should be too weak to be out hunting but Alyssa knows it was him. She'd never forget him- he haunts of daymares everyday as soon as she tries to sleep. Lysander tries to convince her that her fears have her imagining her enemy around every corner but her instinct tells her she was not imagining things.

Soon Alyssa discovers she was definitely not imagining things, Santino is out there but this time maybe he's on her side. Really?

The enemy of my enemy is my friend...right?

Turns out the leader of the vampire hunters has been up to no good and created a bunch of zombies hungry for blood. Santino wants to put a stop to them and works with Alyssa's clan to bring down the bad guys and save Alyssa's human BFF Fallon.

The book is fast paced, action packed and entertaining with a side dish of sexy. A truly worthwhile read.

I mostly like Lysander but I don't care for how he dismisses Alyssa's feeling so easily and Alyssa is great heroine even though she can be a bit naive. Yet both are traits that make the characters believable. They are not perfect, they are flawed and it's good to see that even vampires can suffer from human character flaws but the tiffs and issues they have, their little fights, are sometimes unnecessary for the plot development and seem trifle. Although everything makes Alyssa grow as a character, making her stronger and more engaging to read about.

Katie Salidas writing style is bold, descriptive and seriously sexy with dark and delicious undertones. Fans of urban fantasy and paranormal romance will surely enjoy the Immortalis series.

Visit Katie during her tour:
http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2010/12/27/immortalis-hunters-prey-virtual-book-tour-january-2011/

Winner Wednesday

Stacey Kennedy's winner of the backlisted ebook of their choice by Stacey is Tanya1224

The two winners of Stephanie Rowe's Kiss at Your Own Risk are
Kristen My Bookish Fairy Tale and Tore

And Donna's winners of Darklands: A Vampire's Tale are

5 print copies go to: stacey , debbie , Robin K , tetewa , and Estella

10 ebook copies go to: Katrina W, Holz , DarkBloodyVamp , Danielle Gorman , *yadkny*

Tanya1224 , Meredith , donnas , Maria (pronounced Mariah) I blame my mother... , and heatwave16

Discussing Vampires with Author Katie Salidas

What are the origins of vampires?

While the word “vampire” is a relatively new term (circa 1800’s), the idea of bloodsucking undead has been around since the dawn of time. Some legends state that simply being buried improperly can cause a human to reanimate as a vampire, Slavic legends for example. Other legends stat that one must have committed a heinous crime to become the undead. There are other legends about animals jumping over a corpse.

Some popular ideas that have been adapted to fiction, have vampires as the children of Cain or Lilith. Still more involve demonic spirits and possessions. If we seek far back into mythology you’ll find the Greeks and Romans believed in demonic spirits themselves and in many ways they were the prototype of the common vampire of today.

That hooked me! I love ancient mythology and happened across some very interesting similarities between creatures of the ancient Greek world and the vampires I wanted to create.

The Keres, in fact were dead ringers for what I had in mind. Daughters of the Greek Titan Nyx, goddess of the night, these creatures are described as winged female death spirits with an insatiable lust for human blood. Perfect!

According to my research they were also one of the evils released when Pandora opened the fabled box. While they sound fearsome and probably would be, they weren’t exactly evil. They existed in a murky gray area of morality. They were agents of the fates, also known as Death Fates. They did not attack people openly or without reason. They did however; hang around battles waiting for someone to fall. That’s when they swarmed, finishing the poor dying man off, savoring their blood as they sent his soul to Hades. They essentially sped a person’s fate on to its course. If you were going to die, they’d be there to do it and drink your blood at the same time.

I fell in love, not literally of course, with the creature and knew I just had to base my vampire legend off of them somehow.

In the first book, Immortalis Carpe Noctem, Lysander explains to Alyssa the origin of the vampire species. He tells her that the first “vampire” was created by a mating of one of the Keres with a dying man she encountered on the battlefield. The resulting child was immortal, like its mother, and carried the same insatiable bloodlust, but had the features of its father. Being a hybrid and the only one of its kind, Nyx (essentially Grandma) cursed it to the night so that she could keep watch and protect it.

The use of the legend doesn’t stop there however. As the Immortalis series progresses we delve deeper and deeper into the history. In Hunters & Prey, we are reminded of the fact that a human-turn-vampire is not a dead creature, they are “changed” but that change must happen properly. If not done correctly it will create a hideous abomination. In the third book in this series Pandora’s Box (Should be in Print Fall 2011), we’ll delve even deeper into the legends origins and learn more about the first vampire and what became of it.

Needless to say I really do love my vampires and the legends they spawned from and I hope you will too.




The exciting sequel to Immortalis Carpe Noctem.

Becoming a vampire saved Alyssa from death, but the price was high: the loss of everything and everyone attached to her mortal life. She's still learning to cope when a surprise confrontation with Santino Vitale, the Acta Sanctorum's most fearsome hunter, sends her fleeing back to the world she once knew, and Fallon, the friend she's missed more than anything.

Alyssa breaks vampire law by revealing her new, true self to her old friend, a fact which causes strong division in the group that should support her most: her clan. Worse yet, her revelation entangles Fallon in the struggle between vampires and hunters and The Acta Sanctorum is ready to attack again, with a new army of hybrid creations: the Frenzy Soldiers.

If Alyssa hopes to survive and keep her mortal friend safe, she'll have to be willing to make a deal with the enemy, and regain her clan's support. It will take everyone working together in a precarious truce to fight against the Acta Sanctorum's new threat.

Books in the Immortalis series:

Immortalis Carpe Noctem
Immortalis Hunters & Prey
Immortalis Pandora's Box (2011)

Other Books by Katie Salidas

Halloween Fantasies
House of Immortal Pleasures

Author of the hot new Urban Fantasy series, Immortalis, Katie has always had a desire to entertain. Since, early childhood, she's dreamed up fantastical characters and scribbled them into pages of various journals and notebooks. Taking an interest in vampires at an early age, she devoured every book, featuring those mysterious, blood sucking creatures, in any genre she could find. She claims that, of all the monsters out there, vampires had always been the most interesting.

It was only natural that a love of reading about vampires, and a love of writing, turned into a desire to write her own stories.

A Las Vegas native, having grown up in the famed City of Sin, Katie loves to feature it as a recurring setting for many of her stories.

Blog http://myimmortalstories.blogspot.com/

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/ksalidas?ref=profile

Facebook Author Fansite http://www.facebook.com/pages/Katie-Salidas-Author/214780936916

Twitter http://twitter.com/QuixoticKatie

GoodReadshttp://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3395431.Katie_Salidas

Visit Katie during her tour: http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2010/12/27/immortalis-hunters-prey-virtual-book-tour-january-2011/

A Review of Kiss at Your Own Risk by Stephanie Rowe

.5
4.5 Fangs for Kiss at Your Own Risk





He needed a killer woman...

Blaine Underhill is one lucky man after having recently escaped a century and a half of imprisonment at the hands of an evil witch. Now he's determined to save his still-enslaved friend, but in order to do so, he'll need the help of one of the world's most lethal women.

She was drop dead gorgeous, literally...

Trinity Harpswell is sick and tired of being a Black Widow. Having managed to go three years without accidentally killing anyone she loves, she's one short week away from freeing herself from this killer curse forever.

When Blaine tracks her down and convinces her to help him, little does Trinity know that the next seven days are going to be murder!

My review:

If you like your paranormal romance served with a side of wit, a dash of danger and mixed up with killer humor then this is the book for you.

Stephanie Rowe has introduced us to a wicked cast of characters who are willing to do just about anything for love- including kill.

Trinity was kidnapped as a baby- by who or why no one knows. After missing for six months she was found in a pet shop snuggling with puppies none the worse for wear- at least they didn't think so until Trinity turned sixteen fell in love...and killed the poor guy.

After adding another three corpses to her pile Trinity has managed to go almost five years without killing. She has one week to go. If she lasts the week the curse is broken. If she kills again- she'll never be free of the curse. Five kills and you're a Black Widow forever.

She's sure she can make it through this one last week without falling in love and killing the poor guy.

Then all hell breaks loose and her dad gets turned into bubblegum. To save his life she's offered a deal.

Enter Blaine.

He's just escaped from the clutches of a crazy evil witch- that's had her nasty mitts on him for 150 years forcing him to do all sorts of emasculating things- like cross stitch and knit. In a escape attempt he and his fellow prisoner/friend Nigel escape but their bud Christian gets sucked back into he clutches of evil witch Angelica- death's grandma. They want Christian back but how?

Trinity. If he can get her to kill the witch he can have his friend back.

The two of them falling in love never occurred to either one.

Will Trinity kill for love?

The story is sometimes humorous, the situations the characters find themselves in can get downright bizarre and the whole book is a tad bit zany... in a fabulous way that'll keep you turning the pages just to see what mayhem and mishaps will happen next.

An excellent, fast paced, high energy read full of twisted and wild characters that end up in really weird situations. You'll love it.

A Review of Home for a Spell by Madelyn Alt

Five Fangs for Home for a Spell by Madelyn Alt

Book Description:

As the newest witch in Indiana, Maggie O'Neill already has plenty to deal with. So being hobbled by a broken leg doesn't help. Neither does the fact that her best friend and upstairs neighbor is getting ready to tie the knot with her own boyfriend and move away. This leads Maggie to wonder if it isn't time to find herself a new pad.

But when she finds a place, Maggie's dream of new digs turns into a nightmare: the apartment manager is found dead before she can even sign the lease. And Maggie finds herself not only searching for a new home- but for a frightfully clever killer.

I love Alt's clever combo of sweet charm, paranormal mishaps, and magical mystery.

While there are always a few magical elements in the Bewitching Mysteries the murder and mayhem are almsot always human in origin. There's no mystery caused by crazy monsters or magic spells-even if the people solving the crimes have something extra magical guiding their way.

In this Bewitching installment Maggie is still hobbling around in her cast and staying with her sexy boyfriend Marcus but she's afraid she's cramping his style, especially once she finds out he was planning to go back to school but is putting it off so he can care for her.

So she goes in search of a new place to live after learning her BFF is getting married and moving away. Maggie's BFF Steph has lived above Maggie in the same old house turned in apartments for years. Now with her BFF gone Maggie thinks it is time to look for someplace new.

Her search leads her to a local apartment complex and the deal she's offered is something she can't refuse. Too bad when she shows up to sign the lease she finds the creepy pervy apartment manager dead.

Which puts her right in the middle of a murder investigation once again and dealing with ex boyfriend Tom Fielding.

But this time Maggie and Marcus actually get to officially be involved in the investigation since the police need Marcus's tech expertise.

Another mystery gets solved and this time I didn't see the who or comlete why coming. I had an inkling as to why the manager got killed but the twist Alt adds to it...you'll never see it coming. It seriously surprised me.

The one thing I missed in this book was the usual cast of characters - Liss was on the sidelines as were Evie and Tara- they all had very minor bit parts. Maggie's mom made one phone call appearance into a scene and nada for Maggie's sister.

I did however love the focus on Maggie and Marcus and their relationship development.

I also like the idea that Maggie might finally have some closure with the whole Tom situtation and that he may also have closure and that everyone can get past the discomfort and learn to work together. Hmmm...maybe I'm reaching too far on that one. :-)

I do wonder how all the intricate weavings of subplots will work their way into future books- like what exactly is up with Stony Mill?

When and why did it happen before (there is a small reference to a book being found that Maggie wants to look into further, I can see this being the focus of a later book)? Why is it happening now? Exactly what is "it"?

Then there are other subplots- the conpsiracy and connections going on with the guys in "the lodge" and Liss's ex brother in law- I'm pretty sure he was more aware of what was going on in his apartment complex that we learn in Home for a Spell.

All in all Home for a Spell was a delightful face paced read that kept me turning pages all night until I finally, very sleepily, finished the book. I just couldn't put it down. I had to find out what was going on. It was well worth a little loss of sleep. Alt's books are always a joy to read.

A Review of Halfway Hexed by Kimberly Frost

Five Fangs for Halfway Hexed by Kimberly Frost

I've said it before and I'll say it again- Kimberly Frost's writing rocks.

The third book in The Southern Witch series is filled with as much drama, intrigue, and adventure as the first two- all twisted together with a little southern sizzle.

Book Description:

New witch Tammy Jo Trask has a whole town full of trouble, in the latest from the national bestselling author of Barely Bewitched.

First, there are the local residents who form a scripture-spouting posse and kidnap Tammy to "defend" Duvall, Texas, against witchcraft. Next, someone saddles her with a secret package chock full of dangerous visions, just as the president of WAM-the World Association of Magic- arrives with his entourage to investigate her.

And who worse to examine Tammy's entanglement with off-limits and drop-dead gorgeous wizard Bryn Lyons than his ex-girlfriend?

Not to mention that the clash between the locals and the magical visitors leads to a series of unnatural disasters that may doom them all. While the fate of the town hangs in the balance, one thing's certain: this would-be witch is ready to rumble, Texas style.

I haven't read any other character that can get into as much trouble as Tammy Jo Trask. Within the first couple of chapters she can go through more turmoil than most characters do in an entire book.

Who else could get kidnapped by two totally unrelated groups- in the same day? Yes 2 kidnappings in 1 day and she manages to get away from both of them and report it to the police who of course think she's insane.

Poor Tammy, not only is the World Association of Magic got her in their sights but now some of the locals have got it in their small minded heads that Tammy is a witch (which she is) and that she's evil ( of course she's not) and it's up to them to rid the town of her evilness. And they go to some pretty extreme (and very un-Christian like) measures to get rid of her.

Good thing WAM is more on her side than what she thought because they help her out of a jam more than once. But they probably have their own crazy agenda and selfish reasons for doing so.

Crazy much? Oh I forgot to mention that the leader of the fanatic Bible thumpers is none other than Tammy's arch nemesis Jenna Reitgarten. Of course it is. Who wants to get rid of Tammy more than Jenna?

With the whole town and WAM against her Tammy Jo is lucky to have Bryn Lyons. Sexy Bryn who she has worked so hard to stay away from because of some premonition her great aunt had about them and why her family should avoid any Lyons at all costs.

I personally think Bryn and Tammy are made for each other- crazy premonitions of visions be damned. They fit. Their magic fits. Above all else he believes in her and gets her.

Which is more than I can say about her good ol boy, southern ex husband Zack who nice as he is- he's not magic and he didn't believe anything about Tammy until the magic stuff smacked him right in the face so hard he couldn't deny it any more. I give him points for trying after that- he even went off to get trained in working with supernatural elements.

Which is why he was delightfully absent in this book.

I say good because the story got to focus on Tammy and Bryn and the their relationship. Byrn is everything Tammy Jo needs in a man- sure of himself, no need to belittle her or feel threatened by her, he loves her unconditionally, and he can teach her everything she needs to know- everything her family cut her off from. Plus it helps that he's gorgeous and rich. (Hey, if Tammy Jo doesn't want him I'll take him.)

I really hope this is not the last Southern Witch novel. If it is I will be pleased with the ending but there are still so many questions to be answered and a lot of what if's that I would really love to see more. I think Tammy Jo, Bryn and the rest of the crazy cast of characters could definitely see more adventures in future books. I'll keep my fingers crossed. I really want more Southern Witch novels.

The fast paced action combined with southern humor all mixed up with magical elements quickly made this one of my favorite series. Tammy Jo is a fantastic heroine who is quirky, kooky and down to earth. You can't help but love her.

I was hooked from the first page of the first book and have not been disappointed yet. Each book is a quick read I refuse to put down before I finish the entire book.

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Guest Blog & Giveaway with Stephanie Rowe

Every once in a while, there's a moment in time, an experience, a revelation that shifts the direction of your life forever.

Mine happened about seven years ago. We were visiting my ninety-five year old grandmother for Christmas Eve dinner. It was a beautiful night of family and celebration, of warmth and love. But my grandmother, as she was wont to do, did a fantastic, flawless rendition of the Cranky Old Lady stereotype. As I sat across the table from her in my Christmas best, my heart began to sag for the wall around her heart that kept her from feeling any of the love surrounding her, or from joining in the laughter, or from even seeing what could possibly be good about that experience. And in that moment, I resolved that I would never let myself become that person, no matter how tough life became.

And tough life did indeed become for me. But I never forgot that night. I never forgot that moment when I realized that the most important gift we can give ourselves is the gift of humor. When life is crashing down around us, when things are spinning out of control, it's so tempting to scream with frustration, to think the entire world sucks. But the funny thing is, when we take that approach, the day keeps getting worse, we keep feeling bad, and before we know it, another day has passed us by, never to return, and we weren't there to enjoy it.

But when we can take a moment to pause, to release the weight in our hearts, and allow ourselves to giggle, to laugh, to see the lightness in the moment, then the things that seemed so bad suddenly feel a little more manageable.

Our souls want to dance. Or spirits want to laugh. Our hearts want to sparkle. And when they do, we feel so much better, even if nothing in our lives has actually changed. The miracle of laughter is powerful beyond words.

That is the gift I offer through my paranormal romances, both to myself and to my readers. The gift of laughter. Of a lighter heart. Sure, my stories are about people going through tough things. There is heartache, there is the cracking of souls, and there is passion driven by love so deep it awakes even the most damaged of hearts. But along with that is the unexpected twist, that moment when you burst out laughing, the kind of laugh that makes your whole body relax, that makes your mind and heart find peace, even if just for a moment.

When I write my stories, I put myself in the mindset of seeing the world from a place of joy and humor, and that mindset will often carry through my day, making everything seem a little brighter. If I can do that for someone else, make their day a little better, make things a little more bearable by giving them the gift of laughter…well, I can't think of a better reason to be a writer.

What happened recently in your life that made you laugh? A moment that brought an unexpected smile to your face? An encounter that called forth a deep-throated chuckle that still makes you grin when you think about it? Tell us about it. Share the gift of laughter.

KISS AT YOUR OWN RISK BY STEPHANIE ROWE – IN STORES JANUARY 2011

He needed a killer woman…

Blaine Underhill is one lucky man after having recently escaped a century and a half of imprisonment at the hands of an evil witch. Now he’s determined to save his still-enslaved friend, but in order to do so, he’ll need the help of one of the world’s most lethal women.

She was drop dead gorgeous, literally…

Trinity Harpswell is sick and tired of being a Black Widow. Having managed to go three years without accidentally killing anyone she loves, she’s one short week away from freeing herself from this killer curse forever.

When Blaine tracks her down and convinces her to help him, little does Trinity know that the next seven days are going to be murder!


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Four-time RITA Award nominee and Golden Heart Award winner Stephanie Rowe is a nationally bestselling author, and has more than twenty-five contracted titles with major publishers such as HarperCollins, Dorchester and Harlequin. Stephanie has charmed reviewers with her unique blend of humor and otherworldly magic. She lives outside Boston, MA, where she is working on the next two books in the Soulfire Series: Touch if You Dare (July 2011) and Hold Me If You Can (September 2011). For more information, please visit http://www.stephanierowe.com/.

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Winner TBA Next Wednesday January 26

Guest Blog and Giveaway with Mindy Mackay

A Humanist Approach to the Superhuman
by Mindy Mackay

As Soulgame, the second installment of the Puppetmasters series, releases and prepares to launch into print, I think it's as good a time as ever to clear up a little misconception about the moral of my series.

I'm not trying to say that it's okay to rip throats out if you're a werewolf or wreak havoc on humanity if you're a mutant.

When I first wrote Peacebreakers, I intended it to be simply a love story that transcended tragic circumstance. The fact that all my characters are especially good at wreaking havoc was merely circumstantial. I never meant to inspire any readers to "try this at home", and though my male lead does preach "morality does not exist", the message implied is, "yes it does". As I decided to turn the stand-alone into the series, it started to become as much an exploration of ethics as a paranormal love story.

That's where Soulgame comes in.

At the start of this novel, Kiera finds herself struck by tragedy and left without a safety net. What's more, la resistance she's sworn herself to has become the source of la tyrannie, and as her empire pursues an ever-more-brutal crackdown on humans and takes every measure necessary to keep its enemies in check, she must decide whether she should pursue her own interest and win a second chance at love or spare an innocent life from a certain and painful death. This is the first time in the series we see Kiera question the skewed morals she's been conditioned to accept, and as the series progresses, she will only come further out of her alienation from humanity and rediscover the meaning of justice without strife or vengeance.

Soulgame Blurb:

Kiera has managed to eradicate the zombie threat and restore order to the new empire, but the death of her lover still weighs heavy on her conscience. It doesn’t help that the Queen is using her misery to win over sympathy from the press. When an uprising threatens the stability of the regime, the ruthless Queen offers Kiera a chance to go back and change where she messed up on the condition that she eliminate the resistance…through whatever despicable means necessary.

Buy link: http://shop.roguephoenixpress.ieasysite.com/productinfo.aspx?productid=SOULGAME

Author website: http://www.mindymackay.com

Blog: http://theylikemehere.blogspot.com

Giveaway Details:

For my giveaway, I'd like to do a sort of Q and A session.

Readers to be entered to win please ask a question in a comment below

I'll answer all of the questions in a blog post or Youtube video, and the best question (to be judged by me on Feb. 5th) will win a free .pdf copy of Peacebreakers, because it'd be kind of useless to start a series in medias res.

Guest Blog and Giveaway with Donna Burgess

My love affair with the undead

By Donna Burgess

People are always asking me why I think vampires are so hot. I could tell them the answer begins and ends with two words—Eric Northman.

But then this post would end up way too short. The thing is, I didn’t always think vampires were hot.

As a kid in the 70s, vampires were anything but sex symbols—at least as far as I was concerned. They were monsters, hell-bent on sucking the blood out of any one who came along. I grew up with Anthony Zerbe and his albino-white evil in Omega Man, Christopher Lee’s dashing wickedness on Saturday’s Double Creature Feature at the Belmont Drive-In and Barnabas Collins, who was so melancholy he could put any viewer searching for the nearest ledge. Either way, I was afraid of vampires. Even Grandpa Munster gave me the creeps.

However, as time pushed on and I grew older, my interest (obsession? not exactly a word that points to mental stability) evolved into something else. Vampires could be funny (Love at First Bite) and they could be ultra-redneck-cool (Near Dark), but it was not until Anne Rice’s first three Vampire Chronicle novels and Bram Stoker’s Dracula with Gary Oldman I realized that blood drinkers could be sexy (sorry, Lost Boys fans). Vampires were indeed hot. Yes, they were still monsters, but hot monsters.

With my book, Darklands: A Vampire’s Tale, I wanted sexy vamps who retained some very humanistic qualities without diminishing the beast in them. My vamps have poor attitudes toward lowly mortals. They were already adults when they transformed, so they aren’t burdened with a lot of high school drama. They are not at all comfortable in daylight (or twilight)—darkness is where they belong. I hope with this series, I can offer something to fans of sexy dark urban fantasy, as well as gritty, gory horror. It’s my little homage to the vamps of my past. I had a blast writing it and I hope that is evident to anyone who decides to grab a copy and read it.

Today we are offering a little giveaway—

five copies of the print version of Darklands: A Vampire’s Tale

and 10 downloadable copies (via Smashwords) to lucky winners.

For more chances to win a copy of Darklands and learn more about Donna be sure to visit her along all of her tour stops throughout February, see them all here

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Print Copies Availble to US Winners Only, Ebook Copies International

Winners TBA Next Wednesday January 26

Winner Wednesday

The winner of Tina Folsom's Venice Vampyr ebooks is

kittykelly28

Guest Blog and Giveaway with Stacey Kennedy

Guardians of the Otherworld...who are they?

First, I’d like to thank Fang-tastic for having me stop by to share my new release with all. And a big hello to everyone if this is our first time meeting. Be sure to leave a little comment here on the blog to be entered to win a book of your choice from my backlist.

If we haven’t met before you probably haven’t heard of The Magical Sword series. To introduce you, I’ll tell you about Guardians. Basically, they’re warriors that fight against evil that threatens human lives. They live in the Otherworld, home to vampires, witches and weres. Their duty is to hunt and destroy those naughty supernaturals who live in the Earthworld and kill without a second thought.

Male Guardians are powerful with thick muscular bodies and of course, a typically arrogant attitude. Some of you might find that in itself sexy, but it’s really the armour kilts that make me swoon. Which leads me to Kyden—the hero in The Magical Sword series. He’s an alpha-of-all-alpha males. Sometimes you want to smoother him with kisses, while at other times, you want to smack him upside the head.

But he has met his match with Nexi—The Magical Sword’s heroine. She’s sassy, big-hearted, but head-strong too, and puts Kyden in his place...often. And don’t be fooled, she doesn’t need him to look out for her. Nexi is a powerhouse all on her own.

Needless to say, the stories in this series are filled with action, danger, romance and smokin’ hot love scenes. If this sounds like just your cup of tea...come take a peak at The Magical Sword series and be ready to give your heart over to a Guardian.

Buy Links:

Liquid Silver Books

Amazon

Fictionwise


~ Stacey

Website - www.staceykennedy.com

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/profile.php?id=100000956942180

Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3473046.Stacey_Kennedy

Twitter - http://twitter.com/Stacey_Kennedy

Remember if you'd like to win the ebook of your choice from Stacey's backlist please leave a comment on this post

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Winner TBA Next Wednesday (not tomorrow)