'

Monday 23 September 2013

Crown of Midnight Contest Winners!!

 
Well, it's time to announce the THREE winners of CROWN OF MIDNIGHT. And since only three people entered, it was easy to pick them. ;)
 
They are:
 
Effie
Suzie Elo
Kaysi Withers
 
Congratulations!
 
Send me an email to yolanda(at)yolandasfetsos(dot)com with your name and postal address. I will then pass the details onto Bloomsbury Australia so your copy can be sent out. Yay.
 
Thanks to everyone who entered!
 
Have a great day. :)
 

Wednesday 18 September 2013

CONTEST: Win a copy of Crown of Midnight


Thanks to Bloomsbury Australia, I'm giving away THREE paperback copies of CROWN OF MIDNIGHT!
 

 
Meet Celaena Sardothien.
Beautiful. Deadly. Destined for greatness.
 
Eighteen-year-old Celaena Sardothien is bold, daring and beautiful – the perfect seductress and the greatest assassin her world has ever known. But though she won the King’s contest and became his champion, Celaena has been granted neither her liberty nor the freedom to follow her heart. The slavery of the suffocating salt mines of Endovier that scarred her past is nothing compared to a life bound to her darkest enemy, a king whose rule is so dark and evil it is near impossible to defy.
 
Celaena faces a choice that is tearing her heart to pieces: kill in cold blood for a man she hates, or risk sentencing those she loves to death. Celaena must decide what she will fight for: survival, love or the future of a kingdom. Because an assassin cannot have it all . . . And trying to may just destroy her.
 

I've read this awesome book, and loved it! You can read my review here.
 
For your chance to win, just leave a comment on this post.
I'll pick the three winners next Monday, September 23.
 
Good luck!
 
::CONTEST IS ONLY OPEN TO AUSTRALIAN ADDRESSES::
 

Thursday 12 September 2013

DEAD ON THE DELTA by Stacey Jay


11339123

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After not being able to engage with a few books, this book changed everything. I was hooked from the beginning and got so caught up I couldn't wait to get back into it. Yay!

In this harsh urban fantasy world mosquito-sized fairies mutated and have a craving for human blood, which is a really bad thing for people living near the swamp. A fairy bite leads to insanity, or death. Either way, your life is over because you're sent away to a camp. But Annabelle Lee is immune, so she works for the FCC collecting samples, and also helps the police with the dirty work they can't get to.

That's how she gets caught up in the murder investigation of a local girl, Grace. As well as gets the attention of Breeze (fairy poop drug) dealers. She becomes determined to find Grace's killer and finds danger at every step.

OMG. I love Annabelle! She's a loudmouth and is constantly looking for her next drink. On the surface it seems like she doesn't have much self-respect and doesn't even care about her life or anyone around her, but what she hides beneath the surface proves otherwise. She's a very caring woman who can't let go of her past, and because of her immunity has seen SO MUCH CRAP that the only way to drown it out is via alcohol. She's a very sympathetic and likeable character.

Oh, and I love Gimpy! He cracks me up. I also like Cane and Hitch--her present boyfriend and the ex she can't let go. Not to mention the twisted mystery at the heart of the story, featuring the creepy Beauchamp family. I'm also really looking forward to finding out about the 'invisible guys' and just how strong the extent of her new power is.

I loved this book! Actually, I'm going to go and buy the second book right now! ;)

Tuesday 10 September 2013

A Reading Slump


So, I love to read. I'm always reading something.
 
A lot of the time it's my own stories because I'm always either writing, revising, or editing. But no matter what I'm doing with my own writing, I've always got a book to read at the end of the night. A reward. It might be a paperback I've bought myself, or a Kindle book on my Paperwhite, and it might even be a book I've received for review.
 
I love reading. I love books. And I'm always on the lookout for a new series/trilogy to get stuck into.
 
Last week, I hit a bit of a slump. It all started with one of Charlaine Harris' early books, one I was sure I'd enjoy. By the time I reached the end, it turned out to be okay. That was a little strange for me because I love all of her other books and characters SO much. This book was included in an omnibus, and the other book turned out to be excellent! Phew. ;)
 
Next, I decided to read a YA dystopian (I always enjoy this genre) I've had on my TBR pile for ages. And since the movie is coming out next year, I wanted to read the book first. I'm talking about DIVERGENT. I got stuck into it and at first I thought 'this is an interesting world'. Until the character makes a choice that baffled me. I started to lose interest in her and the story. Actually, after that nothing made sense. Everything she did or thought bugged me, and the world started to feel more confusing than sensical. So, as much as I hate giving up on books, I put it aside after 118 pages. I didn't even bother skimming the rest of it. And to be honest, I read what the rest of the book entailed on Wikipedia and I'm glad I didn't bother.
 
Funny thing is that it's put me off the movie too. I also (obviously) won't be reading the other books in the trilogy. It's so weird. This is one of those books most of the world seems to love...
 
This happened to me earlier this year with WORLD WAR Z, another book that everyone seems to love. Soon after starting it, I got bored. I skimmed parts of it, read a bit, but mostly lost interest. Actually, we watched the movie and it's just as bad. I never thought zombies could be boring, but there you have it. *yawn*
 
Okay. I'm getting off track...
 
After I finished DIVERGENT, I decided to start DARKFEVER. I'd heard great things about this series and it seemed like a book I would enjoy. Well, it was. At the beginning. I really liked Mac and was intrigued by her courage to go to a strange country and try to find out what happened to her murdered sister. The Fae world that soon opened up was interesting too. But then I met Jericho Barrons: an obnoxious know-it-all. I kept hoping he was only in the book for a bit. Turns out he was in it A LOT. Actually, I got the feeling he was going to eventually become her love interest. Ugh.
 
As soon as that alpha asshole took over the page, I couldn't keep my attention on the story. All of a sudden, the interest I had in Mac and her personal crusade evaporated because she was putting up with this obnoxious jerk. It was a shame, because I honestly thought I would love this book... but it just became another story that the rest of the world fell in love with but I just couldn't muster any enthusiasm for. LOL.
 
The thing is, all of the books I mentioned above were very well written and even had some characters that I liked, but for whatever reason it wasn't enough to keep my attention... or make me want to come back for another book.
 
Oh well. What can you do? Keep reading, of course! Just because I've come across a few books that disappointed me, it doesn't mean I'm going to take a reading break. Hell, no! I've decided to give one other new-to-me series a go before I turn back to my most fave series... :)

Feel free to leave a comment if you know what I mean...

Monday 9 September 2013

DARKFEVER by Karen Marie Moning


My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Okay. I was really excited about reading this book, and actually got hooked right from the beginning. I liked Mac's voice and was determined to follow her on her dark journey to Ireland to figure out who murdered her sister, when everyone else had given up.

Then something happened, Jericho Barrons entered the scene and actually stayed there. And that's when the story started going downhill for me. OMG. He's such an infuriating man. He enters the story with violence against Mac. He also treats her like a kid, and even insists she moves into one of his rooms. When she's there he tells her how to dress, to stay in her room, and makes it quite obvious that the only reason he wants her there is because she can see the Fae. My gosh. Come on, there's alpha and then there's asshole. Seriously.

So, I did get to the end of the book and that was only because I still liked Mac and the world she stumbles into is fascinating. Unfortunately, I won't be reading any of the other books. The thought of reading another page that mentions Barrons is enough to put me off.

I'm disappointed, because I once again thought I would love this book! :(

Spring is in the air


Yeah, the new season is here and I've been feeling a little... exhausted. I think it's mainly because August was FILLED with revision and editing. Seriously. I got the SF#5 2nd draft done, as well as two rounds of R#3 edits.
 
*collapses*
 
And last week hubby and I got back into our weights workouts, which had been very sporadic during August. :/
 
Last week, I took Tues-Fri off any writing/revision/edits in hopes of helping my mental exhaustion. While it did help, I'm still a little tired. Which kinda sucks because I was planning to start the SF#5 3rd draft today, and I don't think I can concentrate on it yet. Maybe later this week... Though I do want to grab the list of changes/additions that need to be made so I can take care of them.

At least that'll help when I do get stuck into it...
 
*yawn*
 
To be honest, all I feel like doing today is reading on the couch with Loki. It's just one of those sucky Mondays, y'know?
 
Anyway, I better go take a look at my writing calendar. There's not much left of this year, so I want to schedule my remaining goals: finishing up SF#5 and submitting it to my editor + writing 1st draft of R#4. :)
 
Have a great week!

Thursday 5 September 2013

SWEET AND DEADLY & A SECRET RAGE by Charlaine Harris

Two heroines. Two Southern towns. Two blistering crime novels.
From the bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries.
 
A Secret Rage When Nickie moves back to the sleepy Southern town of Knolls after years modelling in New York, she's looking forward to a quiet, simple life. But the women of Knolls are not safe. Recovering from a brutal attack, Nickie resolves to track down the culprit. And as the crimes escalate to murder, time is running out. . .
 
Sweet and Deadly
Catherine has returned to her hometown of Lowfield, Mississipi, convinced that the death of her parents was no accident. When she stumbles across the dead body of her father's long-time colleague, her suspicions are confirmed. As she investigates, she realises that there are secrets being kept in Lowfield. Secrets that are making people turn up dead. . .
 
 
I'm a HUGE Charlaine Harris fan, so when I found out two of her earliest books were being released as an omnibus I wanted to check them out...
 
SWEET AND DEADLY
 
Catherine Linton goes out one morning for a little target practice when she stumbles upon the dead body of a woman hidden inside a rundown shack. She reports the murder and an investigation begins. But Lowfield is a very small town and she knows the dead woman. She also soon realises that whoever is responsible for this murder is probably someone she's known most of her life. Someone with a secret dark enough to continue killing...
 
I have to admit that while I enjoyed this book overall, it took me a while to get into it. The writing style wasn't as smooth as her other books, and Catherine wasn't as likeable as her other heroines. Maybe it was because Charlaine Harris writes such awesome first-person POVs that this one felt a little, I don't know...dull. It's missing the excitement and intrigue of her other heroines--Sookie Stackhouse, Roe Teagarden, Lily Bard, Harper Connelly--plus the big reveal wasn't as shocking as I hoped.
 
Even though it's not as memorable as her other characters and doesn't have the charm of the other small towns she's written about, I'm still glad I read it. Besides, I think this was her first published novel. You gotta start somewhere, right? ;)
 
 
A SECRET RAGE 
 
Nickie Callahan is a former model living in New York, but when her career seems to be over she decides to move to the college town of Knolls, Tennessee with her best friend, Mimi Houghton. She enrols into college and is determined to eventually pursue her career as a writer. But the quiet town isn't as peaceful as it seems. A college student was raped before Nickie got there, and then the same thing happens to her faculty adviser, Barbara Tucker. Things go from bad to worse when Nickie becomes the next victim and is attacked in her own home. The shocking violation leaves her physically and mentally scarred, frightened, damaged, and full of rage.
 
This isn't a book for anyone who might be squeamish about confronting the aftermath of rape and what it can do to a person. How it slowly turns Nickie and Barbara from victims, into women bonded by this tragedy and determined to figure out who dared to scar their lives in the most awful way possible.
 
The story was suspenseful, shrouded in mystery as every man in Knolls becomes a suspect. Nickie and Barbara start crossing names off their lists, and start to realise their attacker is probably someone they see every day.
 
I really, really enjoyed this book! Nickie was a very likeable character from the very beginning, so when she's attacked and I'd gotten a chance to get to know her, it really hit hard. I felt for her and went through the motions of her recovery. She's a strong character who, in spite of the harsh encounter that will impact her life forever, is determined not to let it stop her life. She continues to study, to go on at her own pace... There's even a spark of romance, which is encouraging to see during a time when her belief in men is at its lowest.
 
This was an excellent book that'll keep you guessing until the end!
 
Sweet and Deadly & A Secret Rage turned out to be a great omnibus. The first story wasn't as intriguing as I'd hoped, but the second one certainly made up for it. Being a Charlaine Harris fan, I'm really glad I got the chance to read where her writing journey began. Thanks, Hachette! :)
 
 
Sweet and Deadly & A Secret Rage, July 2013, ISBN  9781409129196, Orion Fiction

Tuesday 3 September 2013

New SIERRA Cover!


In case you missed the Cover Reveal at Tynga's Reviews over the weekend, here's the cover for the next instalment in Sierra's urban fantasy series...

 
Isn't it gorgeous? I absolutely LOVE it!
Kanaxa has done it again. She managed to capture the mood of the story perfectly. 
She totally rocks cover art. Seriously.
 
TORN FROM THE SHADOWS will be released next year...
 
Well, what ya think?
 
 
SIERRA FOX STORIES
   


THRONE OF GLASS: The Music

 
 
 
You can actually listen to the Playlist HERE.
 
I checked it out, and I have to say it's an interesting mix of music.
 
Enjoy!
 
;Media of The Assassin and the Pirate Lord  Media of The Assassin and the Desert  Media of The Assassin and the Underworld  Media of The Assassin and the Empire
Favorites More