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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