September 6, 2009

Contest: ARC of Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble

CONTEST CLOSED! WINNER ANNOUNCED HERE!

Dreaming Anastasia

Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble

Sourcebooks Jabberwocky (September 1, 2009)

320 pages, paperback

$9.99 (Amazon.com, 09/06/09)

I just reviewed Dreaming Anastasia and I want to giveaway my copy of the ARC! It was a great read and I’m sure anyone would enjoy it as much as I did. So I’m going to share!

How to Enter:

There’s a form embedded into this post. To enter please fill it out completely.

Entries are available for:

  • Following my blog
  • Commenting on my review
  • Linking the contest online
  • And lastly, please leave a comment on this post letting me know you filled out the form!

RULES:

  • Entries will be accepted until Midnight, Sept. 13th (one week)
  • Entries are open to US & Canada only, sorry. NO P.O. Boxes.
  • The winner will be randomly selected via random.org.
  • The winner will be announced on Sept. 14th (or soon thereafter)
  • The winner will have 3 days to email me their shipping info or they will forfeit their winnings and a new winner will be selected.

So if you’re interested in reading Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble fill out the entry form!

Good luck!

Jess Sig

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Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble

Dreaming Anastasia
Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble
Sourcebooks Jabberwocky (September 1, 2009)
320 pages, paperback
$9.99 (Amazon.com, 09/06/09)
Plot: 5
Setting: 5
Writing: 5
Originality: 5
Characters: 5
Passion: 3
Overall: 28/30 = 93% = A
Cover/Title Bonus: 5
I picked this up while at BEA in May. I read it a few months ago. I’ll be giving away my copy of the ARC in the next post.
Summary (Amazon.com):
What really happened to Anastasia Romanov?
Anastasia Romanov thought she would never feel more alone than when the gunfire started and her family began to fall around her. Surely the bullets would come for her next. But they didn't. Instead, two gnarled old hands reached for her. When she wakes up she discovers that she is in the ancient hut of the witch Baba Yaga, and that some things are worse than being dead.
In modern-day Chicago, Anne doesn't know much about Russian history. She is more concerned about getting into a good college—until the dreams start. She is somewhere else. She is someone else. And she is sharing a small room with a very old woman. The vivid dreams startle her, but not until a handsome stranger offers to explain them does she realize her life is going to change forever. She is the only one who can save Anastasia. But, Anastasia is having her own dreams…
Plot:
Anne dreams about Anastasia being locked inside a hut with an old, ugly woman with a cat. She meets Ethan, a “wicked hot”, blue eyed guy who is pretty much stalking her. Strange things begin to happen. They are pursued by crazy men who want to kill Anne.

I enjoyed the plot immensely. It was full of mystery. The pace was great. I read this pretty fast because I wanted to see how everything merged together.

Setting:
The majority of the story takes place in Chicago where Anne lives. There are the flashes back to Anastasia that’s being held in the strange land where Baba Yaga’s hut is located.

Writing:
This is another book written from multiple POVs. It switches between Anne, Ethan, Anastasia and Anastasia’s letters to her family. It’s pretty cool and I enjoyed being able to understand what was going on in the other characters thoughts. I thought that was a great choice for the writer to do considering the plot was pretty crazy with everything going on.

Originality:
This was a pretty awesome book. I learned a lot about the Russian Romanov family and it was handled with great creativity that just worked my brain like crazy! The story line of Anastasia being captured for all those years by Baga Yaba and the ones that helped capture her was a true piece of work. The detail that Joy put in to make it all work together was awesome.

Characters:
Anne was a pretty average teenager. She had a cool best friend, Tess. Learning about Anne’s family history was pretty cool. It all came together in the end.
Ethan is a cool guy. I enjoyed him in this book. He’s very strong and handsome. He helps Anne work through everything and in the end he realizes all the truths. It’s refreshing. I know I’m being vague, sorry! :) I don’t want to say too much and give it all away.

Passion:
There’s a real attraction between Anne and Ethan. Although it’s really not the point to the book in the least. The mystery behind the dreams is the main focal point. However, it’s another refreshing thing to see their relationship evolve around the huge issue at hand.

Overall:
This book was very interesting. I loved the history element to it. I loved the action. And I enjoyed the underlying romantic element to the story. I’m a huge fan of historical fantasy and this did a wonderful job of keeping me interested.

Cover/Title Bonus:
The cover is what stopped me while roaming the Sourcebook Jabberwocky booth at BEA. I love the slight insert of Ethan’s profile in on the left hand side. It’s very cool. I also like the title. It’s not my preferred title but it works.
This was Joy Preble’s debut novel. She did excellent! I will be following her and seeing what she has in store for future books.

Connect with Joy:
Website
Blog
Twitter
Class of 2K9

What do you think? Have you read it? Did you enjoy it as much as I did?
Giveaway coming up next! Enter to win my copy of the ARC of Dreaming Anastasia!

Jess Sig
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In My Mailbox

I bought:
catching fire Catching Fire (2nd Book of the Hunger Games) by Suzanne Collins
This was pre-ordered! I finished it last night. Suffice it to say that it was awesome. I’m dying for book 3. Again, if you haven’t read The Hunger Games, hop to it!

I Won:

Ballad
Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie by Maggie Stiefvater
Flux (October 1, 2009)
360 pages, paperback
$9.95 (Amazon.com, 09/06/09)
This is the follow up book to Lament, which I read and reviewed a couple of weeks ago.
Summary (Amazon.com):
James Morgan has an almost unearthly gift for music. And it has attracted Nuala, a soul-snatching faerie muse who fosters and then feeds on the creative energies of exceptional humans until they die. James has plenty of reasons to fear the faeries, but as he and Nuala collaborate on an achingly beautiful musical composition, James finds his feelings towards Nuala deepening. But the rest of the fairies are not as harmless. As Halloween—the day of the dead—draws near, James will have to battle the Faerie Queen and the horned king of the dead to save Nuala's life and his soul.
I started it last night.

For Review:

White as Bone Red as Blood White As Bone Red As Blood (The Fox Sorceress) by Cerridwen Fallingstar
Cauldron Publications (July 27, 2009)
378 Pages, paperback
$15.56 (Amazon.com, 09/06/09)
Summary (Amazon.com):
In twelfth century Japan, Seiko Fujiwara, a young woman believed to be a sorceress, is caught in a deadly conflict between the Heike and the Genji, two clans battling for control of the throne. The peaceful Heian period is giving way to the rise of the Samurai; Japan teeters on the edge of a time of darkness. Seiko's mother, priestess of Inari, the deity of abundance and sorcery, predicts that if Lord Kiomori's daughter Tokushi, Seiko's closest friend, becomes Empress and gives birth to the next Emperor, their world will be saved. If he lives... It is Seiko's responsibility to make sure the prophecy comes true. Journey with Seiko as she navigates through a world of assassins, palace intrigue, warfare and enchantments, struggling to honor her giri, her sacred destiny, while longing for the fulfillment of love.
Not my usual picking but I’ll give it a try!
What did you get?
Jess Sig
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September 5, 2009

Miss Percy Parker Tour WInner!

strangely beautiful Tale

Thanks again to Leanna Renee Heiber for the blog tour stop!

The luck winner of the signed copy of The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker is:

Juju from Tales of Whimsy!

List Randomizer

There were 13 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

  1. Juju from Tales of Whimsy
  2. Morning Glow
  3. Cherie J
  4. Tina
  5. throuthehaze
  6. Paradox
  7. Wanda
  8. bigcabgirl
  9. emjay79
  10. webbgirl
  11. HODGEPODGESPV
  12. donnas
  13. Kimberly B.

Timestamp: 2009-09-06 02:23:47 UTC

Congrats Juju! I have your email address and will be contacting you for your mailing address. Please have that to me by Tuesday, Sept. 8, noon EST. I’ll then forward it to Leanna! :)

Jess Sig

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Cover Art: Twice As Hot by Gena Showalter

Twice as Hot website jpeg

Oh, shiny!

Twice As Hot by Gena Showalter is follow up novel to Playing with Fire, which I read way back in March 2008. Gena is by far one of my most favorite authors. She does a phenomenal job writing action and romance and it usually incorporates a slight mystery. I will be reading this as soon as it comes out January 26, 2010.

Blurb (Gena’s blog):

Set the world on fire? With Belle Jamison, it’s always a possibility. Literally.

Planning a wedding is tough. Especially when the bride can shoot fireballs from her eyes and accidentally torches her dress, the groom returns from a dangerous mission with selective memory loss and the man responsible now desires Belle for his own.

Any other time, Belle would turn to her ultra sexy fiancĂ© Rome Masters for comfort. But the only thing he can’t remember is her – and now his ex is determined to win him back. With the help of her trusty empath sidekick, an optimistic Belle continues to plan her wedding, fight a new band of supervillans, and tries not to accidentally on purpose start too many fires. . . except when she gets Rome into bed. . .

Haven’t read Playing with Fire?! Well read it! :) It’s also available in Kindle Edition.

play with fire

Jess Sig

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September 3, 2009

Gadget: Bookmark II

I saw this on OhGizmo!

oh_gizmo_logo_large

It’s a pretty cool bookmark. There’s no information on how to obtain it but it’s allegedly produced by Propaganda. Check out Oh Gizmo! for the other pictures.

Notice the line that’s being “marked”. ;)

bookmark_2_propaganda

I think it’s pretty cool. What about you?

Jess Sig

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September 2, 2009

I Love Morning Glories!

Just needed to share this, so I am.

I love morning glories, specifically 'Star of Yelta' morning glories.

I started with them just around my light pole out front. But one year I decided to plant them around the porch railing at the front door. Well, this year and last, they have really taken off! It’s like a forest of morning glories! You can’t really tell how dense they are from the pictures but they are!

I have to keep an eye on them so that they don’t wander off and strangle nearby plants, which they do to the potted petunias you see in the pics. However, I did leave a large cooler out on the porch to dry out but left it there too long and now the vines have consumed it’s handle. I don’t want to break the vines to get it free. It’ll just have to stay there a bit longer. :)

The vines work so well to conceal our fire wood that we didn’t remove after winter but can’t do now because we’ll be needing it again very soon!

Here are some pictures of my 'Star of Yelta' morning glories!

I love, love, love when they take off like in the picture of them headed around the pond and then a branch of them headed across the sidewalk! :)

I glow each morning when I see them. They are smiles in a plant.

100_0458

100_0450 100_0453 100_0456 100_0457 Do you plant flowers? What are your favorites and why?

Jess Sig

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Wow & Cover Art: Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs

Patricia Briggs has displayed her next Mercy Thompson series cover, Silver Borne, on her web site.

Silver Borne

This author has gotten lucky with her covers. Each one keeps getting better and better. Although, they aren’t exactly the same in every aspect but they are true to Mercy’s character.

Silver Borne is slated to release March 30, 2010. Patricia also announced that Ace, the publisher, “has contracted for a total of seven Mercy novels, and it's possible the series could go even longer.”

There’s no summary for this installment yet but I can assume it’ll be just as great as all the previous books in this series.

I can’t wait to get my hands on this one!

My Reviews for this series:

mooncalled300

Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, Book 1) by Patricia Briggs

 bloodbound300

 Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson, Book 2) by Patricia Briggs

ironkissed300 Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson, Book 3) by Patricia Briggs

bonecrossed_big

 Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, Book 4) by Patricia Briggs

Jess Sig

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September 1, 2009

Madison’s First Day of Kindergarten

Today was the day!

I watched our baby girl hop onto a big, yellow school bus that took her away….

To her first day of kindergarten!

It was a bittersweet moment for me. I was so happy for her! She was glowing with anticipation. Ready to embark on the first day of 13 years of learning. Although, I doubt she understands that.

I asked her how her day was when I brought her home. She said they colored first. Then they had circle time, which was the reading of a book called “I DON’T WANT TO GO TO BED!.” I hope it was informative for her because getting her into bed at time can be a struggle sometimes!

She had Art Class today. She colored her name with crayons. She didn’t bring it home so I’m assuming they keep them at school or toss them? Not sure.

She said she used the potty in the classroom and it was old. It had a shelf with cleaning supplies and a duster.

She said there were two boys who were bad. They kept talking and got in trouble for it. I asked her if she raised her hand to talk, one of Mrs. High’s rules, and she said she did but Mrs. High didn’t call on her. I asked if she held her hand up high so Mrs. High could “see” it and she said, “No. I only held it up a little." So I showed her how to properly hold up her hand. ;)

So there you have it. First day of kindergarten from a five year old. Here are some pictures from this morning! She’s the little one with the short hair wearing a pink stripped sweater.

We’re taking Friday off to spend the day at Hershey Park with Jennifer and baby Wyatt.

Jess Sig

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Teaser Tuesday: Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow

Teaser Tuesday

  • 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!
  • Strange Angels

    I finished this book a few days ago but wanted to share it with you anyway! Again, not two sentences. Seriously, two sentences is not enough! I guess that’s why it’s called a “teaser” though, huh? Oh well! I’m actually going to give you TWO excerpts instead! These are two of my favorite scenes of the book. Something very cool or important happens immediately before or after each of these excerpts.

    Steam drifted in great eddies from the once-placid water. The fountain bubbled and buzzed. I scrabbled for the stone ledge and just made it, hopping up and perching like a frog with trembling legs.

    “Holy shit,” someone was saying, someone with a high trembling voice very much like mine. I felt my lips shape the words, numbly. My hair dripped in my face and something warm and sticky was in my eyes. “Holy shit. Jesus Christ.”

    page 85, Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow

     

    He looked down at me,  fangs sliding beneath his upper lip, his eyes burning. The highlights had bled out of his hair, slicking it back against his head, and his eyes were actually glowing in the bruised, ugly light slanting through the kitchen.

    “I’m being patient,” he hissed, the t’s lisping slightly because of the fangs. “I’ll get you and your pet through this alive, but you have to do what I say. Got me?”

    page 255, Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow

    This book was awesome! Action packed and very cool. There’s a lot of cursing though as seen from above. I’ll be reviewing it sometime soon. :)

    Did you do a Teaser Tuesday? Put a link in the comments so I can see!

    Jess Sig

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    The Strangely Beautiful Haunted London Blog Tour day 10!

    Contest is closed! Winner announced HERE!

    Today I’m hosting the Haunted London Blog Tour Day 10 for the amazing author Leanna Renee Hieber. I read and reviewed her amazing book, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, back in July. You can read it HERE.

    strangely beautiful Tale

    From the back cover:

    What fortune awaited sweet, timid Percy Parker at Athens Academy? Considering how few of Queen Victoria’s Londoners knew of it, the great Romanesque fortress was dreadfully imposing, and little could Percy guess what lay inside. She had never met the powerful and mysterious Professor Alexi Rychman, knew nothing of the growing shadow, the Ripper and other supernatural terrors against which his coterie stood guard. She knew simply that she was different, haunted, with her snow-white hair, pearlescent skin and uncanny gifts. But this arched stone doorway offered a portal to a new life, an education far from the convent—and an invitation to an intimate yet dangerous dance at the threshold of life and death….

    The Strangely Beautiful Haunted London Blog Tour Day 10!

    Thank you, Jess, for allowing the Haunted Tour to roll into your fine blog, you were one of my earliest reviews, and such a glowing one at that, it's something I'll never forget.

    The Ten Bells – 84 Commercial Street, E1 “Jack the Ripper’s Local”

    For those of you just joining us, the purpose of this Haunted tour is to celebrate the release of my Gothic Victorian fantasy debut, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker. This Tour will introduce you to some of the real, documented London haunts who “ghost-star” in my book. When Professor Alexi Rychman and his Guard of spectral police make their rounds, it is to any number of London phantasms. Since these characters are familiar to The Guard, I don’t get to tell their full story in the book, here I can give them their due. Leave a comment and you’ll be entered to win a signed copy of the novel, first in the Strangely Beautiful series!

    Today we discuss the haunted Ten Bells, said to be a favourite of Jack the Ripper.

    In the early hours of November 9th 1888 Mary Kelly left The Ten Bells pub. Later, across the street from the pub, in Miller’s Court, off Dorset Street, a body nearly unrecognizable as a human female was found, mutilated beyond all recognition. It was thought perhaps the killer followed her from The Ten Bells and into Miller’s Court.

    Numerous live-in staff in the upper stories of the Ten Bells told fearsome tales of being awoken by dread in the middle of the night only to find a spectre of an old man dressed in 19th Century clothing lying beside them! Many people saw him, no one was quite sure who he was until in the year 2000, an antique metal box was found hidden in a corner of the cellar. Inside were the effects of George Roberts, along with a press cutting that spoke of his being murdered (with an axe) at a Welsh cinema. A man named George Roberts had kept The Ten Bells in the transition between the 19th and 20th centuries and it was assumed the ghost was the former pub owner.

    While Mary Kelly doesn’t get the time and full homage she deserves in my book, as her death comes right near the climax of the novel, her death is mentioned in The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker as such:

    The air was sick. A virulent force was tearing through the streets toward a specific destination, ready for a reckoning. It growled and roiled and cut a path like a whirl of ancient blades. Its casualty would be an unspeakable shame. Neither Alexi nor his cohorts had any inkling that there would be another mutilated corpse in the morning, nor that this would be the worst.

    There would be nothing, when all was said and done, to ever suggest that this woman, torn utterly to pieces, had once been a human being. The Ripper had struck again, swiping ferocious, merciless, unthinkable paws down Dorset Street, en route to the evening’s festivities.

    I’m indebted to Richard Jones, founder of the fabulous Discovery Walks of London and author of the fantastic compendium “Haunted London” and “Walking Haunted London” published by Barnes & Noble Books, a main resource for my research.

    Visit him at www.haunted-london.com.

    Come visit me at www.leannareneehieber.com to find out more about The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker and follow along on the rest of the Haunted London Blog tour! While you're at my website, if you have a copy of my book why don't you enter my CONTEST? I hope you’ll love this book as much as I loved writing it!

    Be sure to comment to be entered to win a signed copy!

    Blessings!

    Leanna Renee Hieber

    www.leannareneehieber.com

    www.twitter.com/leannarenee

    Leanna is an awesome author. If you haven’t picked up a copy of this yet then you must! Start out here by commenting to be entered into the signed copy from Leanne Renee Hieber. One entry per person. You have until 9/2 to enter!

    Don’t forget to follow along on the tour! There’ll be more chances to win this amazing book!

    Here’s the very cool book trailer too!

    Jess Sig

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    September 2009 Smashing Mag Desktop Calendars

    I use a new desktop wallpaper calendar every month thanks to the amazingly cool monthly desktop calendars hosted at Smashing Magazine’s web site.

    Smashing Mag

    Each month people create desktop wallpaper calendars for anyone to use. It’s awesome. There’s usually at least 10 – 20 to chose from.

    This month I’ll be using “Colors of Autumn”. I don’t love the calendar starting with Monday but it’s too cute to not use! Also, I’ve switched them through out the month if there are others that I like too.

    september-09-colors-of-autumn-calendar-1440x900

    Check them out! Will you use one?

    Jess Sig

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