GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!
This is one of my favorite parts of blogging. The chance to give you a copy!
For your chance to win a ebook copy of Blood Bond sign up here. This contest will run through September 14th, 2012 midnight. The only thing you need to participate is leave a comment with name and email on this post. I will forward contact information to author once contest is concluded. Thank you always for following us here at The BookWhisperer.
Blood Bond
By: Heather Hildenbrand
Series: Dirty Blood Book 3
Hybrids.
If I had to choose one word to sum up all of my problems, this would be it.
Without hybrids, I wouldn’t have to watch my best friend slowly becoming a monster. Without hybrids, I could let go of the mentality “hunt or be hunted.” CHAS wouldn’t be scouring the Earth, intent on slaughtering and using Alex to do it. Without hybrids, I wouldn’t have to be on guard that losing my temper meant losing my shape. There would be no monster inside me, struggling to get out.
Then again, without hybrids, I wouldn’t have Wesley St. John.
For your wonderful pleasure Heather has offered a guest post from Wes’s point of view. The prequel previews Wes hunt for hybrids. Check it out below!
The smell of death coated my throat. I swallowed against the acrid taste of it and stared at the scene before me. We were too late. These people had been dead at least a day, probably two. I nudged a tent pole with my toe. The fabric lay in heaps on the ground in a messy circle around the remains of a campfire. Clothing lay strewn about, bloodied and shredded. Miscellaneous items such as water bottles, purses, and cell phones littered the dirt-packed ground.
“There’s nothing here.” Cord wandered between bodies, stepping haphazardly. She’d pulled her hair up off her neck, but her cheeks were still flushed.
The humidity in Louisiana was enough to make my eyes water. I’d taken to travelling in nothing but a pair of shorts and flip flops. The backseat held a pile of t-shirts to choose from and pull on whenever I needed to enter a public place, but the heat made it impossible to stand the fabric for long. Besides, I’d lost way too many shirts these past weeks. On a hunt like this, there was rarely warning before the need to shift nor any time to undress beforehand. At least this way, I only lost the shorts.
“We’re not even close behind them, Wes. This is pointless.” She sounded irritated—more so than usual.
I sighed and shoved my hair back from my forehead. “I can see that,” I said, the words curt and biting. I didn’t want to be here any more than she did, but if not us, then who? If CHAS found the hybrids first they’d end up exactly like these innocent humans I stood in the midst of. Bloody. Dead. Left to rot.
“Let’s go,” I said, turning on my heel and heading for the car. I opened my phone as I emerged from the trees, heading for my car still parked at the shoulder.
No traffic passed while I waited for the call to connect and I didn’t expect any to. Not all the way out here. The people we’d just found had been guests of a remote campground. They’d been such an easy target. Probably had no clue what had hit them.
Cord joined me as I hung up with emergency. “Did you report it?” she asked in a bored voice. She pulled the visor down and checked her reflection in the mirror then used her hand to wipe under her eyes where her eyeliner had smudged.
“Yeah, they’ll take care of the bodies. It’ll probably make the news. Animal attack. Nothing we can do about that now short of burying them ourselves.” Cord shot me a look, letting me know the chances of that happening. “Right. Let’s get going.”
I started the engine and shifted into gear, easing us onto the narrow two-lane highway. Trees rose up above us, coating the cliff’s edge and closing us in. Normally, this sort of scenery would tug at me, urging my wolf out of the tightness of the car and into the wide open. I ignored the pull of the outdoors and focused on the road. The pull I felt toward Frederick Falls, toward Tara, was greater, by far, than any urge I felt to linger here.
“Where to, now?” Cord asked.
“Jack should be done meeting with our contact by now. Let’s see if he’s heard anything new.”
“And if not?” I didn’t answer. Cord huffed out a breath. “We both know he’s not going to hear anything solid. If we were going to find them, it would’ve happened already. Face it. They don’t want to be found.”
“We can’t just stop.” I kept my eyes on the road and worked the muscle in my jaw. It was a nervous habit from way back. One Fee hated and always fussed about. Her voice rang in my head and I forced my teeth to relax.
“Why? Because she won’t allow it?”
Cord’s response came out twisted with disdain. I ignored it, as I always did with Cord. Changing her mind was a lost cause. Besides, I knew that deep down she didn’t despise Tara nearly as much as she wanted me to believe. If she did, she wouldn’t have protected her at Wood Point. Not even for me.
There were chinks in her stance on Tara, ones I planned to keep chipping away at until she came around. If not for my sake, then for Tara’s. I knew it bothered her that Cord disliked her.
“Because Tara’s right. They deserve a choice,” I said.
“Are you sure about that? You saw what they did back there, right? Mayhem. Violence. Half-eaten bodies. That sound like someone who needs a choice to you?”
“They may not all be monsters,” I said quietly.
As usual, whenever this subject came up, something deep in my gut tightened. I wouldn’t allow someone else to be labeled by what they were any more than I wanted someone doing it to me. So I would continue to hunt. Even though I secretly wished she’d just call me and demand I give up and come home to her. Because I wouldn’t do it unless she asked. But God, I wanted to.
Thank you so much for the guest post, and chance to participate in the blog tour for your wonderful series!
Title: Gabriel’s Rapture
By: Sylvain Reynard
Series: Gabriel’s Inferno Book 2
Publisher: Penguin Berkley
(May 22nd, 2012)
My Copy: Netgalley Review Copy
BookWhisperer Rating:
About the Book:
Professor Gabriel Emerson has embarked on a passionate, yet clandestine affair with his former student, Julia Mitchell.
Sequestered on a romantic holiday in Italy, he tutors her in the sensual delights of the body and the raptures of sex. But when they return, their happiness is threatened by conspiring students, academic politics, and a jealous ex-lover.
When Gabriel is confronted by the university administration, will he succumb to Dante's fate? Or will he fight to keep Julia, his Beatrice, forever?
In Gabriel's Rapture, the brilliant sequel to the wildly successful debut novel, Gabriel's Inferno, Sylvain Reynard weaves an exquisite love story that will touch the reader's mind, body, and soul, forever.
If there is one thing that Professor Emerson is good at, it is wooing his one and only Julianne. By golly, this book shows just how deep his love is for her. It starts out with their vacation in Italy. Now that they are free from the policies of the university, they can express their love openly to each other, and they take full advantage of that. They experience the culture, partake in its culinary delights, and most importantly take each other as lovers. How Gabriel shows Julia the art of a relationship blew my mind. To take a soul like his, torn to bits from his past and see how he has grown with Julia’s love to where he can be so soft and gentle with her. Truly brilliant writing.
But with the good comes the bad and boy does Sylvain Reynard bring just that. The university is evaluating their relationship and this is where the book tears at your soul. Since Julia and Gabriel union in the first book, they have been this united force that sticks together through thick and thin (even though they have their fights.) Through friends and family who disapproved of their relationship, through crazy exes, and through each other’s tormented pasts. As a reader I thought nothing could rip them apart. But when the university meeting came and the emotions and actions were revealed, oh, my heart couldn’t take it.
However, during this time after the meeting, you find that you learn a lot more about the characters. For Gabriel, you find that there is true love that can live in his heart and goodness that can come from what harbors there. For Julia, you find that she can stand on her own two feet and stand up for herself. She doesn’t always need protection from someone else.
Just remember when you read this wonderfully written book that Gabriel does state that he would go to Hell and back for Julia and that nothing could keep him away from her.
Brilliant story paired with wonderful writing makes this a great sequel. Read it.
~BookWhisperer Reviewer MC~
Title: North of Need
By: Laura Kaye
Series: Heats of the Aneomi Book 1
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
(October 1st, 2011)
My Copy: Ebook from the Author
BookWhisperer Rating:
About the Book:
Her tears called a powerful snow god to life, but only her love can grant the humanity he craves…
Desperate to escape agonizing memories of Christmas past, twenty-nine-year-old widow Megan Snow builds a snow family outside the mountain cabin she once shared with her husband, realizing too late that she’s recreated the very thing she’ll never have.
Called to life by Megan’s tears, snow god Owen Winters appears unconscious on her doorstep in the midst of a raging blizzard. As she nurses him to health, Owen finds unexpected solace in her company and unimagined pleasure in the warmth of her body, and vows to win her heart for a chance at humanity.
Megan is drawn to Owen’s mismatched eyes, otherworldly masculinity, and enthusiasm for the littlest things. But this Christmas miracle comes with an expiration—before the snow melts and the temperature rises, Megan must let go of her widow’s grief and learn to trust love again, or she’ll lose Owen forever.
What a fantastic and romantic read. As I read this book, I felt so bad for Megan and how she just couldn’t let herself let go and be reborn in the beginning. She tortured herself with spending her late husband’s death anniversary at their cabin. In the midst of mourning, Megan builds a snowman family cries herself to sleep while clutching on the male snowman. This act generates Owen into a semi human form and he falls upon her doorstep. At this point, the story starts to steam up.
Owen could gladly fall upon my doorstep anytime! He was the perfect character and the perfect match for Megan. He was charismatic, chivalrous, and wanted nothing more in the world than Megan to be happy, oh and a side note, he was SEXY! The two characters together just had so much fun with each other. I would find myself just smiling because in the book they were so carefree and excited about their new bond.
A very sweet read with the perfect ending.
~BookWhisperer Reviewer MC~
Title: The Knight and Maggie’s Baby
By: Lisa Mondello
Self Published August 30th, 2011
My Copy: Ebook from Author
BookWhisperer Rating:
About the Book:
Sometimes fate needs a little help…
Jonah Wallace knows what it’s like to grow up without love. Despite having more money than the Queen of England, his childhood was cold and stale as he grew up in boarding schools. He’s dedicated his life to helping homeless and displaced children find the love and support they need by creating the Haven House Foundation, work that resulted in him being Knighted by the Queen.
Now that he’s living in America, his work is going along just fine…until his grandfather gives fate a little nudge by insisting he take a wife before he can inherit.
Coffee shop owner, Maggie Bonelli, is pregnant and the baby’s dad has gone AWOL. She knows too well the pain of growing up without a daddy. So when Jonah Wallace comes into her shop proposing marriage for a year, she takes him up on his offer, even if it’s only for a year. Live in a mansion and give her baby a name and a daddy to call his/her own. But can they keep their perfect arraignment strictly business…or will fate’s helping hand bring them love at last?
An incredibly heartwarming story, and the picture perfect happily ever after. Maggie is a young woman with a problem. From a family legacy of survival without men; she is no stranger to hard work and dedication. At twenty four, pregnant and alone she knows that the future will be a struggle. Fate lands Jonah Wallace in her coffee shop one late afternoon after his fiancé leaves him the day of the wedding. Let not get hung up on the fact that their wedding was a ruse for him to be able to ensure his ownership of the family heritage. After learning his Grandfather’s plans to sell the family land; he was furious to discover the stipulation that he must marry for the length of a year in order to be eligible for the ownership. Determined not to lose the property he suggests that he and Maggie marry for the year. Maggie being a very realistic and moralistic character was mortified to think about marrying for money, but after some thought she had found one thing that he might be able to provide that would make this sacrifice with it. Being well experienced in living without a father, Maggie is none too familiar with the cruelty of children. So, just maybe in exchange for this one favor Jonah could offer her child the chance to feel like she is a part of something bigger. While, she knows that they will never be a family, and this arrangement is only for the length of a year; she also knows that no matter the name would offer her child some much more than she could ever hope for. This was an incredible story about love and devotion. Even prior to the mountain of emotions that readers feel through Jonah and Maggie; a mother loves for her child could be no greater. This was a heartfelt and emotional read. It becomes apparent right away that the lines so clearly drawn are blurring, but it is as this couple was drawn to one another. It displayed this author amazingly talented writing for such a romance to grow emotional through the pages with the lack of physical aspect. The Knight and Maggie’s Baby will definitely entice some potent emotions, and proves well worth the effort with such an incredibly rewarding story.
~BookWhisperer Reviewer JO~
Title: Divinely Ruined
By: Diane Alberts
Publisher: Entangled Publishing (April 26th, 2012)
My Copy: Ebook from Author
BookWhisperer Rating: 
About the Book:
She finally meets a decent man–after she’s oath-bound never to touch men again!
Rebecca’s life sucked before she became an angel. Crappy apartment, awful jobs, abusive boyfriends–it was no wonder she jumped at the chance to escape it all and become a real live angel. The problem is Rebecca’s not very angelic, and she’ll have to do more to earn her wings than end her love affair with the word f–er, frick.
Especially when she’s assigned to save single father Tony Weis, whose less-than-pure thoughts wreak hell on a telepathic angel’s nerves. It’s all Rebecca can do to keep her hands off him…but when she loses her memory injuring herself to save Tony’s daughter, now it’s Tony’s turn to be her angel and care for her. But will Tony’s devotion tempt her from her angelic path, even if it means being human again?
Divinely Ruined was a very sweet love story about an Angel and Man lacking faith. When the two cross paths fireworks will erupt. With their scarred past, both will attempt to ignore the obvious evidence of attraction. Determined to earn her wings; Rebecca sets herself in Tony and Miranda’s lives as times passes she will finds herself absorbed into Tony’s family effortlessly. As the days pass she dreads a time when she will no longer be needed. An unexpected turn of events leave her with amnesia, and she must remember who she is and her purpose or is this life what she really wanted all along?
~BookWhisperer Reviewer JO~
| Stunner is a much anticipated thrill ride. This short prequel shed some light into this debuting series. Jeaniene Frost has always been my comparison to strong female heroine leads, but her novels are much more than that when you include the romance and protective nature of hunky men. Stunner has previewed that series strongly follows those same characteristics, and I couldn't be more excited. Stunner is a very short prequel, but it gives enough attention to grasp the reader’s attention and demand the reader to continue. I am eager to continue into book one, so be on the lookout for a review of Once Bitten shortly. |
