Wednesday Reads and a Voting Contest

Today is my son’s birthday. Happy Birthday!!! I can’t believe he’s 32! I feel old.

The cover to My Sunny Vampire is up for a Readers Choice vote on the Judge a Book By Its Cover contest. If you're interested in voting, here’s the link: https://jabbic.hbarwa.com/readers/. My cover is in the paranormal genre. You vote a grade for each cover (if you so desire). Lots of covers! I think I’m in cover overload!

Here’s what I read during the week:

Jan 30: “Beautiful Chaos” by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. This is the third book of the Caster Chronicals, a YA paranormal. Blurb from cover: Ethan Wate thought he was getting used to the strange, impossible events happening in Gatlin, his small Southern town. But now that Ethan and Lena have returned home, strange and impossible have taken on new meanings. Swarms of locusts, record-breaking heat, and devastating storms ravage Gatlin as Ethan and Lena struggle to understand the impact of Lena’s Claiming. Even Lena’s family of powerful Supernaturals is affected--and their abilities begin to dangerously misfire. As time passes, one question becomes clear: What--or who--will need to be sacrificed to save Gatlin? For Ethan, the chaos is a frightening but welcome distraction. He’s being haunted in his dreams again, but this time it isn’t by Lena--and whatever is haunting him is following him out of his dreams and into his everyday life. Even worse, Ethan is gradually losing pieces of himself--forgetting names, phone numbers, even memories. He doesn’t know why, and most days he’s too afraid to ask. Sometime there isn’t just one answer or one choice. Sometimes there’s no going back. And this time there won’t be a happy ending. I have to say, this book is much better than the third. I prefer Ethan and Lena working together than apart, so sue me! J But the ending? Hmmm… Don’t like it when it leaves you hanging, and this one definitely did. Good thing I have the fourth (and final) book waiting for me. However, it’ll have to wait until after the next (shorter) book I read. I have a goal to get caught up on! Haha!

Feb 3: “High Frequency” by Jocie McKade. This is apparently the first book in a series, an action comedy with semi-romantic tones. The blurbs I found were way too long, so I truncated it: Lauren Jacobs is a journalist with amazing powers. Able to leap cranky receptionists in a single bound, she can simultaneously suck down a doughnut hole, drink a cup of coffee, add info to her iPad, and shift gears in her car on the Chicago freeway during rush hour. Her byline has made Edition One a digital news sensation, and her fiery exposés draw a huge readership. A routine stop for morning coffee and doughnut holes gives her the story of her career and will send Chicago's
"dirty" city officials to jail, and a fair number of mobsters into hiding. With Chicago suddenly too hot for his headstrong reporter, her editor assigns her to a mundane story on crop circles in England during the rainy season. Enter Derek Rourke, a reporter from the worst of the "yellow" tabloids - The Lens. The crop circles turn out to be evidence of a vibration frequency weapon being tested by a terrorist group, and Derek seems to be trying to "scoop" Lauren on this story of Pulitzer Prize-winning proportions. As bullets rain down, crop circles multiply, earthquakes shake London, and lightning strikes more then twice, they are forced into an uneasy and untrusting partnership. With help from Lauren's con artist father and a few good Druids, they might just be able to save the world - if they don't kill each other first! I met this author at a book club meeting and the book sounded really funny, so I purchased it. I do try to help the indie authors. Unfortunately, this book wasn’t my “cup of tea.” If you enjoyed the movie “I Love Trouble” starring Julia Roberts and Nick Nolte (which I did not), then you’ll probably love this book. They both have that screwball scenario going for them. But don’t expect an ending. Like I mentioned earlier, it’s book one of a series. I gave this book 3 stars on Goodreads.

One last thing. I love sharing the books I read, because they are books I want to read. And while I’m flattered some of you think I’m a review site, I am not. I don’t do requests. I just don’t have the inclination.

So…it looks like I might just finish the first draft of Blind Temptation this week (yay!). What should I do to celebrate?

Happy reading!

Stacy