$15 Amazon GC Winner

And the winner of our Win $15Amazon GC is:

Martha

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To the winner: Please check your inbox, the amazon GC claim code has been forwarded to the email address you provided.

Review: A BONE TO PICK

A Bone To Pick by Charlaine Harris
Book 2 of the Aurora Teagarden mysteries
Read by Therese Plummer
Format: audiobook
Genre: murder mystery

About A Bone To Pick:

Second in the #1 New York Times bestselling author's Aurora Teagarden mystery series.

Aurora "Roe" Teagarden's fortunes change when a deceased acquaintance names her as heir to a rather substantial estate, including money, jewelry, and a house complete with a skull hidden in a window seat. Roe concludes that the elderly women has purposely left her a murder to solve. So she must identify the victim and figure out which one of her new, ordinary-seeming neighbors is a murderer- without putting herself in deadly danger.

Source: Info in the About A Bone To Pick was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/140093.A_Bone_to_Pick on 16/02/2012.

Review:

I was looking forward to this book after having listened to Real Murders. That usually raises the standard bar a notch higher which predisposes to disappointment. But not with this book! This book managed to rise to my expectations and did not disappoint at all!! Gotta give the book some kudos for that! Plus the narrator is pleasant to listen to. I would say, a true professional! Another kudos for this book. And the story telling quality is the same masterfully compelling that I've known with this author without the too stupid to live characters!! Triple kudos!! I heartily recommend this series to all murder mysteries readers!! Although the plot is a bit on the thin side. I mean, there isn't a layering of plots like I imagine murder mysteries usually have. Not much of a twist to the plot either. That for a murder mystery this book is rather bland. So perhaps to murder mysteries readers used to twisty plots, this book might not be as exciting as it is to me... And the audiobook cover art is so, sooo uninspiring... as a marketing tool, the art department has done such a deplorable job! But despite that, I enjoyed this book so much I recommend it to everybody!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 5
Story itself = 3.5
Ending = 3.5
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 1
Pace = N/A (6.25-hour listening time)
Plot = 3
Narrator = 5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries

Thank you to the RCT Library for letting me borrow this audiobook!!

FTC Disclosure:
This audiobook was borrowed from the library. No money received for this review.

Review: ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE

One Foot In The Grave by Jeaniene Frost
Narrated by Tavia Gilbert
Book 2 of the Night Huntress Novel series
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: audiobook

About One Foot In The Grave:

You can run from the grave, but you can't hide.

Half-vampire Cat Crawfield is now Special Agent Cat Crawfield, working for the government to rid the world of the rogue undead. She's still using everything Bones, her sexy and dangerous ex, taught her. But when Cat is targeted for assassination, the only man who can help her is the vampire she left behind. Being around him awakens all her emotions, from the adrenaline kick of slaying vamps side by side to the reckless passion that consumed them. But a price on her head - wanted: dead or half-alive - means her survival depends on teaming up with Bones. And no matter how hard she tries to keep things professional between them, she'll find that desire lasts forever and that Bones won't let her get away again.

Source: Info in the About One Foot In The Grave was taken from the back cover of the CD box set on 17/02/2012.

Review:

I wasn't looking forward to this book really... but I want to give this series another go after my disappointment with Halfway To The Grave. Another book blogger, Michelle, has me convinced to give this series another chance. It took perseverance to get through the halfway mark of this CD set audiobook. Then it got easier to listen to after that. It also got more interesting. The story telling quality seems to have improved thereafter, until the end. So much so that it now starts to make sense to me why people seems to be addicted to this series. However, Cat, the main protagonist got even more stupider in this book than in Book 1. Majorly annoying! Plus, the plot seems to be rather weak. Forced. Not much realism in it that I find it difficult to suspend disbelief. Safe to say that I would not be rushing to read the rest of the books in this series, good story telling quality or not.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 3.5
Character development = 4
Story itself = 2.5
Ending = 3
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = N/A (10 hours/8 CDs)
Plot = 2.5
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 cherries

Thank you to the RCT Library for letting me borrow this audiobook!!

FTC Disclosure:
This audiobook was borrowed from the library. No money received for this review.

Win $15Amazon GC

Giveaway: $15 Amazon.com GC
I won $15 GC (gift certificate) from Cym Lowell but I am from the UK. The GC therefore is not viably useful to me due to expensive mailing costs. The GC therefore would only pay for the shipping costs, nevermind the book. In view of this limitation, I am passing on this GC to a US amazon user to make the GC usable to the winner. Ends on April 15. Winner will be announced soon thereafter. Winner will also be sent an email notification in which winner has to reply within 72 hours to claim the prize or another winner will be picked. Fill in the rafflecopter below to enter. If rafflecopter does not load in your browser, leave your email address in the comment section and that will include you in the draw, however, you will not be able to take advantage of the optional entries offered in the rafflecopter. More entries means more chances of winning.

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Addition: Non-US are welcome so long as they understand the limitations of the GC, i.e., can only be used at amazon.com which would probably charge an arm and a leg for postage to outside the US.

In The Mail: FLAME OF DESTINY

This is what Mr. Mailman brought me this week:

Thank you to My World...in words and pages for hosting a contest which made it possible for me to win a copy of Flame Of Destiny by Colleen Helme!

Flame Of Destiny by Colleen Helme
Book 1 of The Flame Of Destiny series
Genre: fantasy

About Flame Of Destiny:

For Callista, joining the Elite Guard will give her the means to find the murderer who killed her family.With the sword of her ancestors, she enters the Academy and soon discovers latent powers only heard of in legends. Her uncanny skills do not go unnoticed, and when her first assignment goes terribly wrong, she is saved by a man whose destiny becomes entwined with her own.Soon, she is forced to re-consider who her enemies really are. As her power awakens, she is drawn into a web of deceit that will ultimately shake everything she believes in.With a new sense of her identity, she must confront a dark evil hidden behind an unspeakable secret. This evil threatens to destroy her and the man she has come to love. Will she be strong enough to withstand this power, or will she become the very thing she has sworn to destroy?

Source: Info in the About Flame Of Destiny was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10651931-flame-of-destiny on 06/04/2012.

Chiara's Review: GODDESS INTERRUPTED

Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter
Book 2 of the Goddess Test series

About Goddess Interrupted:

Kate Winters has won immortality.

But if she wants a life in the Underworld with Henry, she’ll have to fight for it.

Becoming immortal wasn’t supposed to be the easy part. Though Kate is about to be crowned Queen of the Underworld, she’s as isolated as ever. And despite her growing love for Henry, ruler of the Underworld, he’s becoming ever more distant and secretive. Then, in the midst of Kate’s coronation, Henry is abducted by the only being powerful enough to kill him: the King of the Titans.

As the other gods prepare for a war that could end them all, it is up to Kate to save Henry from the depths of Tartarus. But in order to navigate the endless caverns of the Underworld, Kate must enlist the help of the one person who is the greatest threat to her future.

Henry’s first wife, Persephone.

Source: Info in the About Goddess Interrupted was taken from http://oscuroyseductorromance.blogspot.com/2012/02/goddess-interrupted-de-aimee-carter.html.

Review:

The story starts with action showing us the sentence that the villainous Calliope is serving. Easily, she run away and make a plan to destroy our gods. Meanwhile, Kate comes back from her holiday in Greece during 6 months, missing Henry. She finds him out very changed. As if the old Henry she met had ever existed. Is she only important to him to reign the Underworld? Has he always been the cold and lonely person who she met?
But after they can solve their love problems, the gods have to face the rage of Calliope, who has invoked a dangerous and powerful ally, so much that he can kill the gods who had been inmortals until now.

The book is a real page-turner and gripping. Even we will see how the strongers gods go down and Kate is the only one who cares. To ubicate her family, Kate must contact with the person whom she hate for breaking her husband's heart. Persephone, her sister. She has been the centre of every thought in the mind of Henry during ages. There is one problem: Persephone left the inmortal life a long time ago and maybe she doesn't want to know anything about them.

Despite of Kate's suffering, she'll find out the feelings of the mysterious and silent Henry who had never cleared them before. With an elaborated and interesting plot, the author lead the way to an eagerly awaited third book, The Goddess Inheritance.

Among action's moments, there are also times for humor which reduces the nervous tension in the story, such as like this:

"You two--?" I said in a strangle voice.
James focused on the fire, and Ava shrugged. "I am the goddess of ---"
"Love and sex. Yeah, I got that". I frowned. "Is there anyone you haven't slept with?"
"Daddy and Henry", she said, and I supposed that was better than no one.

There are a possible love triangle among Kate, Henry and James, whom we'll discover some secrets which will help to Kate to decide between both. The variety of described feelings make us to see that even the gods are prone to them like the rest of mortals.

A wonderful trilogy from which we could enjoy the third and last part next October.

Author Spotlight: MELISSA DARNELL

Author Melissa Darnell!

Melissa Darnell is a book lover through and through. In addition to authoring a growing list of adult and YA fiction and nonfiction books on a wide assortment of topics and genres, she is also a freelance book editor, layout and cover designer, and ebook formatter with more than 75 books to her professional credit. She wrote her first story in the third grade, was first published in the sixth grade when her poem was selected for an anthology, and has since won several regional and national essay contests with prizes ranging from the complete Harry Potter collection in hardback to an actual horse with a year's worth of feed in the 1992 Ponies of America essay contest. Born in California, she grew up in East Texas and has also called the following states home at one time or another: Utah, West Virginia, Louisiana, Alabama, Kentucky, and Iowa. A former award-winning dancer with 12 years' formal training in jazz, tap, and ballet, she currently lives in South Dakota with her husband and two children, where she enjoys watching Whale Wars, UFC matches and True Blood, trying out new hair colors, designing fun stuff to sell in the virtual world of Second Life, and of course writing her latest book!

Author Link(s):
www.melissadarnell.com
Book Link(s):
www.theclannseries.com
Buy Link(s):
Barnes & Noble
Amazon US
Amazon UK

Crave by Melissa Darnell
Book 1 of The Clann series
Genre: urban fantasy romance

About Crave:

Savannah Colbert has never known why she's so hated by the kids of the Clann. Nor can she deny her instinct to get close to Clann golden boy Tristan Coleman. Especially when she recovers from a strange illness and the attraction becomes nearly irresistible. It's as if he's a magnet, pulling her gaze, her thoughts, even her dreams. Her family has warned her to have nothing to do with him, or any members of the Clann. But when Tristan is suddenly everywhere she goes, Savannah fears she's destined to fail. For years, Tristan has been forbidden to even speak to Savannah Colbert. Then Savannah disappears from school for a week and comes back…different, and suddenly he can't stay away. Boys seem intoxicated just from looking at her. His own family becomes stricter than ever. And Tristan has to fight his own urge to protect her, to be near her no matter the consequences….

Source: Info in the About Crave was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11164626-crave on 08/03/2012.