Self-proclaimed bookworm sharing her first love...books!
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Review: Prince Charming Must Die
Prince Charming Must Die by Isabella Fontaine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a really good book! It was easy to read, and hard to put down. The book is about a teenager who gets caught in the land of fairy tales. I don't want to give to much away, because it would ruin the element of surprise. If you enjoy fairy tales, this is a great book. Can't wait for the next book in the series!
View all my reviews
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Black Oil, Red Blood by Diane Castle
Diane Castle has a new book called Black Oil, Red Blood. Starting May 1, 2012 there will be a blog tour that will consist of interviews, reviews, and giveaways. Ms. Castle will be making a guest post here, at The BookWorm, on May 8. Checkout details on her new book below and keep reading for a chance to win a copy!
Title: Black
Oil, Red Blood
Excerpt #2
Where to buy the book:
Author: Diane
Castle
Genre(s):
Murder Mystery, Legal Thriller
Published:
2012 by Wishlist Publishing
Book Synopsis:
The
thing about cancer is it’s hard to prove somebody gave it to you on purpose—but
Chloe Taylor can prove it. In fact, she proves it for a living. She sues oil
refineries that would rather save a buck than comply with safety regulations
designed to do important things like, you know, keep people alive.
Chloe had a successful career until
circumstances forced her to move to the bass-ackwards town of Kettle, Texas
(human population: 4,000; gun population: 34,356). Big Oil industry giant
PetroPlex employs half of Kettle’s population, and there’s no question the
judge in the town’s got oil stains on his hands. It’s no wonder she’s been on a
losing streak lately. She suspects she’s been litigating on an uneven playing
field, but when her star expert witness turns up dead less than 48 hours before
a make-or break hearing, she knows.
What she doesn’t know is the key piece
of information that got her expert killed. It turns out PetroPlex is harboring
a shocking secret—one that has the potential to skyrocket gasoline prices,
spark an energy market meltdown, and trigger riots, chaos, death, and
destruction on a global scale. Chloe must discover the secret and expose the
villains before she is permanently silenced, all while juggling a troublesome
ex-fiancé and a tantalizing new flame along the way.
Excerpt #1
I didn’t even know how to use a gun
before yesterday, and I certainly hadn’t become a crack shot overnight. That didn’t bode
well for my chances of survival at the moment — especially since I was currently staring
down the wrong end of somebody else’s barrel. What was I supposed to do? Duck? Shoot first?
Run? Maybe the decision would have been
easier if I hadn’t loved the guy pointing the gun at me. I watched his trigger finger tense
as the smoky, toxic air around us seemed to grow even thicker. Walls shook and the floor
rolled beneath me as an explosion thundered through the building. The PetroPlex flagship oil
refinery was fast on its way to becoming nothing but a memory.
The doorframe buckled before my eyes—my
only means of escape. Sharp orange tongues of flame lapped at me from above,
sending down a rain of fiery particles as acoustic ceiling tiles disintegrated overhead. That’s when I knew that gun or no gun, I
was going to die.
Excerpt #2
“So what about you?” Nash asked. “How
are you holding up?”
“I’m okay,” I said, feeling anything
but. My career was falling down around me in flames, just like my house. I was alone
in life, having loved and lost through no fault of my own. I had no money in my bank account
and owned only the clothes on my back. Even my car would be repossessed if I didn’t
figure out some way to make the payments soon. I had lost just about everything. On the
upside, that meant there wasn’t a whole lot left to lose.
“I find that hard to believe, under the
circumstances,” Nash said.
“Well.” I sighed. “There’s not a lot we
can do to change the situation, so we might as
well accept it and move forward.”
Nash kicked a pebble off the road into
the ditch absentmindedly. “You remind me of my wife in that respect,” he said.
Something inside me softened toward him.
“How so?” I asked.
“She never let anything get her down.
Even when it looked like my career was over, she stayed optimistic. She was strong, like
you.”
I didn’t feel strong. I felt like a big
ball of wuss that wanted to curl up in my bed and never get out. The thing was, I didn’t
even have a bed anymore, so that wasn’t a viable option.
“Do you miss Chicago?” I asked.
“I miss the summers there. I miss
walking by the lake with my wife.”
I fought the urge to reach out and grab
Nash’s hand. I wanted to connect with him, to help him fill a part of his void and
comfort him somehow, but I wasn’t sure how he’d react if I did that. I had just met him, and
after all, yesterday our relationship was such that he was going to arrest me. What could possibly
make me think he would even want comfort from someone like me? And why did I feel the need to comfort
him in the first place? I was undeniably attracted to him physically, but I barely knew
him. Maybe it was the lure of the strong, silent type. He was mysterious. And he was clearly a
hero. He had carried me out of a burning building, for Pete’s sake. Maybe I was just feeling
the natural affection someone would feel for someone else who saved a life. Or maybe it was
the fact that Nash would be safe. He was honest and upstanding almost to a fault. I felt
like he was not the kind of guy who would betray a woman the way Dorian had
betrayed me. He was trustworthy. He was what I needed in a man.
Diane Castle
Author Bio: Diane
Castle is the pseudonym of a Texas attorney whose practice experience includes
assisting plaintiffs with wrongful death and personal injury cases against Big
Oil giants such as ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, BP, and ConocoPhillips. Ms.
Castle has published short fiction under a different name, and she has also
written a stage play that was translated into German, produced in a castle near
Munich, and sold out three seasons. Prior to her career as an attorney, Ms.
Castle was a staff writer for The Dallas Morning News. She also feels
privileged to have been honored with two awards for humor and satire and one
award for literary criticism. She lives in Dallas with her husband and three
dogs: Gracie, Lucy, and Mouse.
Where to buy the book:
Amazon (Print): http://www.amazon.com/Black-Oil-Blood-Diane-Castle/dp/0974474223/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1332956708&sr=8-2
Barnes & Noble (Print): http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/black-oil-red-blood-diane-castle/1038900640?ean=9780974474229&itm=2&usri=black+oil+red+blood
Amazon (Kindle): http://www.amazon.com/Black-Oil-Red-Blood-ebook/dp/B00759NLLO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1332956708&sr=8-2
Barnes & Noble (NOOK): http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/black-oil-red-blood-diane-castle/1108931187?ean=2940013906297&itm=1&usri=black+oil+red+blood
Where to visit the author:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Dianecastle10
Facebook book page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Black-Oil-Red-Blood/151731328271797
Facebook personal page: http://www.facebook.com/dianecastle10
Win a Copy of the Book!
Ms. Castle is giving you an opportunity to win a $10 Amazon Gift Card and a copy of Black Oil, Red Blood in eBook format. To enter fill out the form below.Monday, April 16, 2012
Taste by Kate Evangelista
Taste Blurb:
At Barinkoff Academy
WhenPhoenix is caught between her physical and
her emotional attraction, she becomes the keeper of a deadly secret that will
rock the foundations of an ancient civilization living beneath Barinkoff Academy Phoenix
When
Taste
Excerpt
I mentally stomped on the
intimidation their perfection brought into my mind and said, “Excuse me.”
The group froze, startled by
my words. The girls had their brows raised and the boys stopped mid-speech,
mouths agape. They stared at me with eyes the shade of onyx stones.
I smiled and gave them a
little wave.
The boy a step ahead of the
rest recovered first. His stunning features went from shocked surprise to
intense interest. He reminded me of a hawk eyeing its prey. I gulped.
“A Day Student,” he said, his
eyes insolent and excited.
Something about the way he
said “Day Student” made my stomach flip. “Excuse me?”
They snickered. The boys
looked at each other while the girls continued to stare, muffling their
laughter by delicate hands. I seemed to be the butt of some joke.
“You broke the rule.” The
boy’s grin turned predatory.
The students formed a loose
semi-circle in front of me. My gaze darted from face to face. Hunger filled
their eyes. The image of lions about to chase down a gazelle came to mind. I
mentally shook my head. I was in the mountains not the Serengeti for crying out
loud.
I took a small step back and
cleared my throat. “Can any of you give me a ride back to the dorms?”
The boy wagged his forefinger
like a metronome. “Ah, that’s unfortunate for you.”
One of the girls pinched the
bridge of her nose. “Eli, you can’t possibly—”
“It’s forbidden, Eli,”
another boy interrupted, pronouncing the word “forbidden” like a curse.
The nervous murmur at the pit
of my stomach grew louder. Six against one. Not good odds. Instinct told me to
cut my losses and run. Bad enough I faced expulsion, now it seemed like weird,
beautiful people who’d suddenly appeared on campus wanted to beat me up. No,
scratch that. Judging from the way they studied me, beating me up wouldn’t
satisfy them. Something more primal prowled behind their looks.
I definitely wasn’t going
down without a fight. Years of self-defense and hand-to-hand combat classes had
me prepared. While other children from rich and important families got
bodyguards, I got defense training. But I think my father meant for my skills
to go up against potential kidnappers, not against other students who may or
may not be crazy. Oh God! Maybe I stepped into a parallel universe or something
when I reentered Barinkoff.
“None of the students are
supposed to be on campus,” I said. Then, realizing my mistake, I added, “Okay,
I know I’m not supposed to be here either. If one of you gives me a ride back
to the dorms, I won’t say anything about all this. Let’s pretend this never
happened. I didn’t see you, you didn’t see me.”
“We’re not ordinary
students,” Eli answered. “We’re the Night Students.”
He’d said “Night Students”
like the words were capitalized. I didn’t know Barinkoff held classes at night.
What was going on here?
Eli smiled with just one side
of his mouth and said to the group, “She’s right, no one will have to know.
We’re the only ones here. And it’s been so long, don’t you agree?”
The rest of them nodded
reluctantly.
“What’s been so long?” I challenged.
I fisted my hands, ready to put them up if any of them so much as twitched my
way.
“Since the taste of real
flesh passed through my lips,” Eli said. He came forward and took a whiff of me
then laughed when I cringed.
“Flesh.” Yep, parallel universe.
“Yes,” he said. “And yours
smells so fresh.”
Someone grabbed my shoulders
from behind and yanked me back before I could wrap my mind around the meaning
behind Eli’s words. In a blink, I found myself behind someone tall. Someone really
tall. And quite broad. And very male.
I realized he wore the same
clothes Eli and the other boys did. Not good. He was one of them. Although… I
cocked my head, raking my gaze over him. He seemed born to wear the uniform,
like he was the pattern everyone else was cut from. My eyes wandered to long,
layered, blue-black hair tied at the nape by a silk ribbon. Even in dim light,
his hair possessed a sheen akin to mercury.
I looked down. The boy’s long
fingers were wrapped around my wrist like a cuff. His fevered touch felt hotter
than human standards, hot enough to make me sweat like I was standing beside a
radiator but not hot enough to burn.
“I must be mistaken, Eli,”
the boy who held my arm said in a monotone. “Correct me. Did I hear you say you
wanted to taste the flesh of this
girl?”
A hush descended on us. It
had the hairs at the back of my neck rising. How was it possible for the
atmosphere to switch from threatening to dangerous? Unable to help myself, I
peeked around the new guy’s bulk. Eli and his friends bowed. They all had their
right hands on their chests.
“Demitri, I’m sure you
misheard me,” Eli said.
So the guy standing between
me and the person who said he’d wanted to taste me was named Demitri. I like
the sound of his name. Demitri. So strong, yet rolls off the tongue. Definite
yum factor.
“So, you imply I made a
mistake?” Demitri demanded.
“No!” Eli lifted his gaze. “I
did no such thing. I simply wanted to show the girl the consequences of
breaking curfew.”
“Hey!” I yelled. “Don’t talk
about me like I’m not here!”
Demitri ignored my protest
and continued to address Eli. “So, you threatened to taste her flesh.” His
fingers tightened their grip around my wrist. “In the interest of investigating
this matter further, I invoke the Silence.”
All six students gasped,
passing surprised glances at one another.
Before I could ask about what
was going on, Demitri yanked me down the hall toward the library. But why
there? Oh, maybe we were getting my things. No, wait, he couldn’t have known
about that. Everything was too confusing now.
Eli and the others didn’t try
to stop us when we passed them. Demitri’s cold command must have carried power.
Handsome and powerful, never a bad
combination on a guy.
We reached the heavy double
doors in seconds. He jerked one open effortlessly. I’d needed all my strength
just to squeeze through that same door earlier. To him, the thick wood might as
well have been cardboard. I raised an eyebrow and mentally listed the benefits
of going to gym class.
“Why are we here?” I asked
after my curiosity overpowered my worry. I’d almost forgotten how frightened
I’d been right before Demitri showed up. I wasn’t above accepting help from
strangers. Especially from gorgeous dark-haired strangers with hot hands and
wide shoulders.
Demitri kept going, tugging
me along, snaking his way deeper into the library. I had to take two steps for
every stride his legs made. I tried to stay directly behind him, praying we
didn’t slam into anything.
He stopped suddenly and I
collided with him. It felt like slamming into a wall.
“Hey,” I said, momentarily
stunned. “A little warning would be nice!”
He faced me, and I gasped.
His eyes resembled a starless night, deep and endless. Their intensity drilled
through me without pity, seeming to expose all my secrets. I felt naked and
flustered beneath his gaze.
“You could have died back
there,” he warned.
A lump of panic
rebuilt itself in my throat.
When Kate
Evangelista was told she had a knack for writing stories, she did the next best
thing: entered medical school. After realizing she wasn't going to be the next
Doogie Howser, M.D., Kate wandered into the Literature department of her
university and never looked back. Today, she is in possession of a piece of
paper that says to the world she owns a Literature degree. To make matters
worse, she took Master's courses in creative writing. In the end, she realized
to be a writer, none of what she had mattered. What really mattered? Writing.
Plain and simple, honest to God, sitting in front of her computer, writing.
Today, she has four completed Young Adult novels.
Twitter:
@KateEvangelista
Find Taste on
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13484226-taste
Crescent Moon
Press page for Taste: http://crescentmoonpress.com/books/Taste.html
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Review: Stroganov
Stroganov by Ty Hutchinson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Ty has done it again! Stroganov is the second book in the Darby Stansfield series. Once again, Darby let's his "Darbytastic" ideas take over his life with no thought as to how they may affect him or others around him. His big ideas lead Darby into situations that no one else would find themselves in.
This was a great book filled with lots of mystery and adventure. Just like "Chop Suey", there are twists and turns that leave you on the edge of your seat. I really enjoyed this book and I cannot wait to read the next book in the series. Ty Hutchinson is well on his way to becoming my new favorite author!
View all my reviews
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