Read the first part of The Lying Game online!!

Thanks to HarperTeen, you can read the first few chapters on their site for absolutely free! Trust me- you NEED to read this book. It's an absolute necessity if you loved Pretty Little Liars!

Gratitude Giveaway Winners!

Hi all!

I'm so happy that so many people entered into this contest that it was really hard picking a winner. I ended up picking one winner from the linky entries & the other from the followers for my blog.

Here's the winners:

Winner of The Host: Mary of BookHounds!
Winner of Deliver us From Evil: Kulsuma!

I'll be doing another contest in about a week, so check back soon to see what I'll be giving away!

Book Review: The Cypress House by Michael Kortya

Title: The Cypress House
Author: Michael Koryta
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Release Date: 01/24/2011
ISBN: 0316053724







After my first foray into Koryta's work via So Cold the River, I was somewhat curious to see what his next book would be like. My experience with SCTR was mostly a good one, although I felt the end was a little anti-climatic. Would this book be better? Would the ending have more zing? Yes it is and yes, it did.

Arlen Wagner has seen it in men before--a trace of smoke in their eyes that promises imminent death. He is never wrong.

When Arlen awakens on a train one hot Florida night and sees death's telltale sign in the eyes of his fellow passengers, he tries to warn them. Only 19-year-old Paul Brickhill believes him, and the two abandon the train, hoping to escape certain death. They continue south, but soon are stranded at the Cypress House--an isolated Gulf Coast boarding house run by the beautiful Rebecca Cady--directly in the path of an approaching hurricane.

The storm isn't the only approaching danger, though. A much deadlier force controls the county and everyone living in it, and Arlen wants out--fast. But Paul refuses to abandon Rebecca to face the threats alone, even though Arlen's eerie gift warns that if they stay too long they may never leave.

If you loved the first book, you're going to really enjoy Kortya's next offering. The spookiness and supernatural is dialed back a few notches in order to showcase humanity's ability for cruelty & evil, but it'll still keep you thumbing through the pages way past midnight. These characters aren't perfect, but you'll find yourself wondering what exactly will happen to them.

The only problem with this book is that for broad stretches, nothing happens. We see Arlen & Paul working on the house or talking to Rebecca about ominous things that might happen. At times this works wonderfully to heighten the tension, but at times I couldn't help but wish that the plot would have moved just a teensy bit faster.

This is still well worth reading, but if you aren't into the books that build suspense up slowly you'll probably be disappointed with this read. To the rest I heartily endorse this read- at times Koryta reminds me a little of Shirley Jackson's Haunting of Hill House.

(ARC provided by NetGalley)

Book Review: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Title: Paranormalcy
Author: Kiersten White
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: 08/31/2010
ISBN: 0061985848








If you love books along the lines of My Soul to Take then odds are that you'll love this new trilogy started by Kiersten White. It's got all of the stuff that UF YA is known for but also manages to give us something rare: an "awkward" pretty main character that is not only likable, but incredibly vulnerable as well.

Evie's always been different. Unlike other girls her age, she's got the power to see through any glamour & uses that skill to her best extent in her job at the International Paranormal Containment Agency (IPCA). Evie helps to trap & contain things that humanity is best not being aware of. The good part is that she gets her own pink sparkly taser. The bad part is that what makes her special also separates her from everyone else in the world. When she captures a strange boy rifling through her boss's office & discovers that something sinister is afoot, can Evie manage to find out what is going on?

I really did enjoy this book. It's a great start to a trilogy & you can tell that White has done some incredible plotting for this series. Evie is someone that just about every reader can relate to & root for. Also interesting is the two main guys in her life- one of which is a fairy intent on making her a possession & a boy that Evie finds herself quickly falling for. While I'm sure that the future books will help elaborate on both characters, it's refreshing to have the dynamics that are in this first book. (I won't spoil it for you, but needless to say there's no flip flopping between the guys in this book.)

The only downfall is that we're given far too little information on certain aspects of Evie's world (her friendships, IPCA, etc) & I can't help but really wish that White had given us a little more to start off with. I'm sure that these things will be elaborated on in the future, but it still doesn't help define IPCA & other aspects of this book.

Overall though this was an enjoyable first book & I'll be keeping my eyes open for the next one in the series.

Book Review: The Numbers Man by Pat Muir

Title: The Numbers Man
Author: Pat Muir
Publisher: PMBook
Release Date: 09/01/2010
ISBN: 0967606012









Normally I wouldn't start a blog off like this, but I do have to give a bit of sad news. Despite the cover art stating that it is available for the Kindle, this book isn't currently available on it. Nor am I aware as to where you can go to purchase a copy- & you will want to purchase a copy because this is one of the cuter books I've read this year. After all, it has the following exchange:

"Do you stay in touch with your ex?"

"I try to be friendly by sending her a box of chocolates on her birthday and she reciprocates by sending me a fruitcake on mine. I suspect symbolism in that gift."

I'm currently asking the publisher if there's going to be further printings or if it will be made available in any other format- this really is worth reading. Anyway, on with the review!

The Numbers Man follows Pat, a sixty-three year old ex-geophysicist turned apartment complex owner that just wants to settle down with the right woman & decides to try internet dating. He figures that statistically speaking, the more women he dates the more likely it'll be that he finds Miss Right. Unfortunately for him, he's only able to remember the women he's dated by numbers- something that's understandable when the amount of your internet dates have risen up into the 40s & 50s. While he tries to find that one great woman Pat is also trying to drum up sales for his latest book, The Single Man's Guide to a Quick Meal. When he clashes with a TV chef over one of the suggestions in his book (date a woman who knows how to cook), his agent & her TV staff smell the chance to not only boost his sales but also her ratings. But as Pat's dating life gets more complicated & he keeps getting hit on by the wife of one of his employees, Pat's going to figure out how to get himself out of this mess before someone gets hurt.

There really was a lot to like about this book. While Pat does come off a little old school, Muir manages to make the character likable & endearing. Readers will also enjoy the back & forths between Joyce & Pat, one of the more entertaining points of the book. Also incredibly interesting is when the reader begins to discover that the book is more than just fiction- it also seems to be partially based on the author's own experiences in life, something Muir delights in poking fun at several times during the book.

The only drawback to the book (other than not knowing where to find a copy) is that towards the end everything does seem to try to wrap up a little more quickly than I would have liked. While I'm not going to divulge details, I would have liked for a little more detail to the last 10 pages or so.

All in all, this was a cute book to read & I managed to finish reading it in the span of a day. Readers looking for a hugely meaty read won't find that in this particular book, but why should every book be some weighty 500 page tome? When I find out where future copies of this book will be sold, I highly recommend that you give this book a try. (As soon as I discover those details, I promise to update everyone!)

In the meantime, the author does appear to have a previous book entitled "Stories to Entertain You... If you get Bored on Your Wedding Night". I can't vouch for how good it is, but I will mention that the author mentions it several times within the book as something that his character has also written.

(Reader copy provided by PMBook)

Book Review: Coming Clean by Inez Kelley

Title: Coming Clean
Author: Inez Kelley
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: 08/30/2010
ASIN: B003U89S8O







WARNING: This book contains lots & lots of sex & adult situations, so it's not appropriate for all audiences!

I'm just giving you guys a head's up- this story is firmly in the erotica genre, so there's a lot of sex involved in the story. The pairings in this book are M/F, M/M, & M/M/F, so if you don't like same sex pairings then this might not be the story for you. With that warning in mind, on with the review!

Grant & Vivi have a seemingly perfect marriage. They keep no secrets, they play together well... and they both seem to have a not so hidden desire for Grant's childhood friend Cade. When Vivi asks Grant to help fulfill her secret fantasy to have both men in her bed at once, Grant is initially a little shy but warms to the idea quickly. After all, he & Cade have a bit of a history, an encounter in their youth that he's remembered all too vividly- something that Vivi is aware of & is driving her reasons for requesting the threesome. But can friendships & marriage survive the encounter?

This is a wonderfully sizzling read. The sex scenes are so wonderfully written that it'll bring more than a little blush to your cheeks & quicken your pulse! Readers will love that Kelley has not only managed to bring these wonderful sex scenes to the book, but that she also manages to convey a bit of story to it as well. Part of what made the short story work so well for me is that Kelley made sure to focus on the non-sexual parts of a threesome- the fear that this might drive a wedge into a relationship as well as focusing on the trust & love necessary to make such an arrangement work.

The only thing that sort of threw me was that once in a while the story jumped to other points in time quite suddenly, making me have to flip back a few pages to see if a day had passed or if this was just a flashback. This might be because the story is quite short (only about 90 pages long), but rest assured- this doesn't hurt the story any.

I can't help but hope that Kelley gives us a story about this group again in the future. There's plenty of story potential for these three. This was a wonderfully written story that fans of hot fiction will be sure to love!

(Reader's copy provided by NetGalley)

Win a copy of Laurie Halse Anderson's SPEAK!

Greetings, fellow book fans!

In honor of Banned Book Week & especially because there are idiots out there that would ban this book from schools, I'm giving away a free copy of the platinum edition of SPEAK. That's right, you can own a copy of the book that's causing all of this fuss.

Not only that, but I'm also giving out an advance reader's copy of Sarah Mlynowski's Gimme a Call. While this is already available on shelves, the copy I have is a reader copy that was only circulated to bookstores, reviewers, & such.

Already have one or both of these books? That's OK- enter anyway & pass this awesome book along to one of your friends!

To enter the contest, just post to this blog by October 4th (next monday) & give some love to both of these great authors or talk about your feelings about book banning! In about a week I'll choose one of the posters & mail them their free books! If you see your name in next week's blog, just drop me an e-mail at geniebrownhair (at) hotmail.com!