Book Blogger Hop

Jennifer at Crazy-for-books host this book blogger hop every week. This is your chance to connect with other readers, make friends, and share our book addiction.

Below is this weeks question:

 "Summer is coming quickly - what 2011 summer release are you are most looking forward to?"

Georgina Kincaid has had an eternity to figure out the opposite sex, but sometimes they still surprise her. Take Seth Mortensen. The man has risked his soul to become Georgina's boyfriend. Still, with Lucifer for a boss, Georgina can't just hang up her killer heels and settle down to domestic bliss. In fact, she's being forced to transfer operations… to Las Vegas.

The City of Sin is a dream gig for a succubus, but Georgina's allies are suspicious. Why are the powers-that-be so eager to get her away from Seattle—and from Seth? Georgina is one of Hell's most valuable assets, but if there's any way out of the succubus business she plans to take it—no matter how much roadkill she leaves behind. She just hopes the casualties won't include the one man she's risking everything for…

The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi pure-bloods have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures.

Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:

Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden.

Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.

For thousands of years, witch song has controlled everything from the winds to the shifting of the seasons. But not anymore. All the Witches are gone, taken captive by the dark Witch, Espen.

As the last echoes of witch song fade, Espen grows stronger as winter and summer come within the space of a day. Now she’s coming for the one she missed—a shy, untrained girl of fifteen named Brusenna.

Somehow, Brusenna has to succeed where every other Witch has failed. Find Espen. Fight her. Defeat her.

Or there won’t be anything left to save.

Pete Caldecott did everything she could to save Jack from Hell, even reigning in the dark machinations of the Morrigan to help bring him home. Still, Black London has not welcomed Jack back with open arms. . . So when a friend in Los Angeles asks for help tracking a sorcerous serial killer, Pete and Jack decide a change of scenery couldn’t hurt. . . 

But the shadow side of the City of Angels turns out to be more treacherous than they ever imagined. Together, Pete and Jack must navigate a landscape teeming with hostile magic-users— and fight an unknown enemy. When their investigation leads to a confrontation with the demon Belial, Jack learns that he wasn't the only thing to escape from Hell. Now it’s up to him and Pete to track and eliminate an evil older than the Black itself—before it turns L.A. into Hell on Earth. And destroys life as they know it back at home…

This thrilling sequel to the much-talked-about Nightshade begins just where it ended–Calla Tor wakes up in the lair of the Searchers, her sworn enemy, and she's certain her days are numbered. But then the Searchers make her an offer–one that gives her the chance to destroy her former masters and save the pack–and the man–she left behind. Is Ren worth the price of her freedom? And will Shay stand by her side no matter what? Now in control of her own destiny, Calla must decide which battles are worth fighting and how many trials true love can endure and still survive.

These are all the books I can think of off the top of my head, I probably missed a few. Sigh! Blogger was driving me crazy today and it took me 3 hours to post this.

Anyways, Happy Friday! :)

So what books are you anxiously awaiting their release in the summer? Leave a link and I'll check it out.

Theme Thursday(2)

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that  is hosted by  Reading Between the Pages this meme will be open from one thursday to the next. Anyone can participate in it. The rules are simple:

• A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
• Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
• Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
• It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word)
  Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This will give us a wonderful opportunity to explore and understand different writing styles and descriptive approaches adopted by authors.

And this week’s theme is ……..

ATMOSPHERE

(something that suggests "spooky" or "tense" or "romantic" etc.)

So at first this seemed like it would be a very hard theme but I think I was able to find something that reflected the atmosphere in a particular scene.




Quote taken from pg. 51



"She wades into the freezing water, reaching for him. Her heart beats so rapidly she thinks it'll tear itself apart. She doesn't care. She thinks only of what it would be like to feel him again, to touch him and to kiss those lips, to push back that last breath she stole and fill the hole that opened in her heart when he left her."

Teaser Tuesday(9)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

Teaser:

“It’s our duty, Billi.” “He Jumped over the hedge and ran. Duty. Always duty. It was their duty to fight, no matter what the odds, no matter who the foe. To fight and, if necessary, to die.” Page 7

Currently reading Dark Goddess (Billi SanGreal #2) by Sarwat Chadda.
In order not to give away anything that happens in book 1 (Devil’s Kiss), here is the synopsis from the first book:

Goodreads Description:

There's Nothing To Fear But Fear Itself....And Billi SanGreal.
As the youngest and only female member of the Knights Templar, Bilquis SanGreal grew up knowing she wasn't normal. Instead of hanging out at the mall or going on dates, she spends her time training as a soldier in her order's ancient battle against the Unholy. Billi's cloistered life is blasted apart when her childhood friend, Kay, returns from Jerusalem, gorgeous and with a dangerous chip on his shoulder. He's ready to reclaim his place in Billi's life, but she's met someone new: amber-eyed Michael, who seems to understand her like no one else, effortlessly claiming a stake in her heart. But the Templars are called to duty before Billi can enjoy the pleasant new twist to her life. One of the order's ancient enemies has resurfaced, searching for a treasure that the Templars have protected for hundreds of years — a cursed mirror powerful enough to kill all of London's firstborn. To save her city from catastrophe, Billi will have to put her heart aside and make sacrifices greater than any of the Templars could have imagined.

Here’s my review of the first book: Devil's Kiss (Billi SanGreal # 1).

Review: Devil's Kiss by Sarwat Chadda

 

Devil's Kiss (Billi SanGreal#1) By Sarwat Chadda
Release Date: 5/7/09
Publisher: Hyperion

Goodreads Description:

There's Nothing To Fear But Fear Itself....And Billi SanGreal.

As the youngest and only female member of the Knights Templar, Bilquis SanGreal grew up knowing she wasn't normal. Instead of hanging out at the mall or going on dates, she spends her time training as a soldier in her order's ancient battle against the Unholy.
Billi's cloistered life is blasted apart when her childhood friend, Kay, returns from Jerusalem, gorgeous and with a dangerous chip on his shoulder. He's ready to reclaim his place in Billi's life, but she's met someone new: amber-eyed Michael, who seems to understand her like no one else, effortlessly claiming a stake in her heart.
But the Templars are called to duty before Billi can enjoy the pleasant new twist to her life. One of the order's ancient enemies has resurfaced, searching for a treasure that the Templars have protected for hundreds of years — a cursed mirror powerful enough to kill all of London's firstborn. To save her city from catastrophe, Billi will have to put her heart aside and make sacrifices greater than any of the Templars could have imagined.

My Thoughts:

This book held me and didn’t let me go the ride was full of twist, turns, and emotional upheaval. As a teenager your emotions are everywhere, this is the time in your life when you are trying to figure out who you are, it’s complicated enough without adding the fact that you’re training to become a Knight of the Templar.

Billi is only 15 and lives a life unlike anything you can imagine, she spends hours fight training, learning Latin, folk lore as well attending school and trying to pretend to be a normal teenager. To top all of this off her only friend, is thousands of miles away in Jerusalem and she hasn’t seen Kay in a year, she feels abandoned and alone.

In the beginning you might see Billi as a little annoying but what can you expect, she’s only 15 and she has this huge responsibility sitting on her shoulders.  She deals with things the best way she knows how, and throughout the book you watch her grow.  Sometimes you forget that this is a YA story because of the style in which it was written. The description of the Temple where Billi spends all of her time was so descriptive that I felt like I was standing outside a window peeking through. The story of the Knights of Templar and their history was intricately woven throughout the book as your watched Billi on her journey to Knighthood as she deals with the card she’s been dealt. From the first line “Killing him should be easy; he’s only six” till the last I was captivated and eagerly turning the pages to find out more. I stayed up late at night depriving myself of sleep just so I can finish the story; I was hooked and couldn’t put it down until I devoured the last word.

I have no clue why I haven’t heard about this series before, it is brilliantly written and I would recommend that everyone run out and purchase it.  Mr. Chadda you have definitely made me a fan for life. Dark Goddess was released in January, and I'm going to start it next.

I give this book five stars.

Favorite Quotes:

“There’s so few of us, but we keep the darkness at bay. Why? Because we’re ruthless. We bring nightmares to the monsters.” He leaned closer so he could whisper it. “Fear is a powerful weapon.”

“Billi, without a soul we lose that one part of us that’s divine, the breath of God.”

About the Author: 

Sarwat Chadda was brought up on teh adventures of teh great medieval heroes like Saladin and Richard the Lionheart. His passion for storytelling grew from his love for the history, culture, and myths of Europe and the Middle East.

Sarwat used to be an engineer, working on projects like the Channel Tunnel and Hong Kong Airport, but now he writes full time. He has traveled widely, from China to India, from Nicaragua to yemen-- but there's no place like home, and home is London. Devil's Kiss is Sarwat's first novel.

You can find the author at the sites listed below:

Author Website
Twitter

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? (9)

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by  Book Journey where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week. It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wondeful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

 

I noticed that I read depending on my mood, So whenever I list books that I am planning on reading it's always dependent on my mood. The books that I had posted as to read or currently reading, I didn't read because I had too many things going on and barely had a chance to read all week. Sigh! The story of my life.

 

Anyways, this week I promise to stick to my listed books, so I picked very carefully this time :)

 

 

Read:

 

The Devil's Kiss (Billi SanGreal #1) By Sarwat Chadda

 

 

(Don't you just love the cover? I love it!)

 

 

Currently Reading:

 

Dark Goddess (Billi SanGreal #2) By Sarwat Chadda

 

 

 

Reading Next:

Not sure what I want to read but I got a ton of great books from the library this week. So I'll have to try to narrow it down. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll be able to read 2 books.

These are my options:

So what are you reading? Do you try to read what you have posted on Monday's or do you find that you end up switching books?

Happy Monday!

Follow Friday

     

Every Friday Parajunkee host Follow Friday, this is your chance to meet new friends and visit old ones.

This is your chance to learn a little bit more about your favorite/new bloggers.

Here's the rules:

1. (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com } and any one else you want to follow on the list
2. (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers - http://thecaitfiles.blogspot.com/
3. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI"
4. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers

Question for this week:

What is on your current playlist?

               That's a tough question to answer because I love music. I currently have a customized playlist that I listen to while I'm at work consisting of The Fray, Muse, Kings of Leon, Adele, Paramore, 30 Seconds to Mars, Paolo Nutini, One Republic, Snow Patrol, Plain White T's, Mumford & Sons,  and Maroon 5.



SO WHAT'S ON YOUR PLAYLIST? LEAVE A LINK AND I'LL CHECK IT OUT :)

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Theme Thursday (1)

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that  is hosted by  Reading Between the Pages this meme will be open from one thursday to the next. Anyone can participate in it. The rules are simple:

• A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
• Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
• Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
• It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word)
  Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This will give us a wonderful opportunity to explore and understand different writing styles and descriptive approaches adopted by authors.

This is my first week participating in this and I think it's a really neat idea.

The theme for this week is : WEATHER

This is from The Soulkeepers by G.P. Ching:

"The day he died was sunny, as it was most days on the island of Oahu where he lived. Only a few miles away, bikini clad tourist stretched out on the sand of Waikiki beach."

Favorite place to read

 

Every Sunday after breakfast my family and I head out to the park to play games, fly a kite, and read. There’s something about being outdoors on a beautiful day, spending time with the family and reading a great book that can’t be described in words.

Our favorite park is on the river and it’s always full of families who have the same idea as us. Everyone is super friendly and we have all become friends usually meeting at the same time every Sunday. 

So last Sunday, as I sat there under the tree watching my girls fly the kite, I thought about sharing one of my favorite places to read with you.

So here are a few photos of my little slice of heaven, and my dog Lilo.  

So where do you like to read the most? Is it outdoors, on your patio deck, a special room in your house?

I would love to hear about the places you like to read. Leave a comment.

Happy Thursday!

Waiting on Wednesday (8)

Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that showcase upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating.

I can't wait for Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton to be released on May 24th. Okay, so i'm a sucker for covers, and this one is by far one of my favorites, it's absolutely gorgeous. The story sounds compelling and interesting and I can't wait to read this.



Goodreads Description:

This page-turning debut novel will entice fans who like their paranormal romances dark and disturbing. It's a natural next-read for fans of Stephenie Meyer, Carrie Jones, and Becca Fitzpatrick. But instead of mythical creatures, blood magic has everything to do with primal human desires like power, wealth, and immortality. Everywhere Silla Kennicott turns she sees blood. She can't stop thinking about her parents alleged murder-suicide. She is consumed by a book filled with spells that arrives mysteriously in the mail. The spells share one common ingredient: blood, and Silla is more than willing to cast a few. What's a little spilled blood if she can uncover the truth? And then there's Nick—the new guy at school who makes her pulse race. He has a few secrets of his own and is all too familiar with the lure of blood magic. Drawn together by a combination of fate and chemistry, Silla and Nick must find out who else in their small Missouri town knows their secret and will do anything to take the book and magic from Silla.


What books are you waiting on? Leave a link and I'll check it out.

Teaser Tuesday(8)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

"He'd heard that when a person died they saw a tunnel that ended in a bright light. If the person  moved toward the light, God or some already deceased loved one like a great-grandmother would meet them on the other side.  Jacob didn't believe it. He'd accepted that everything would end in black nothingness and for him it did."



This teaser is from The Soulkeepers by G.P. Ching



Goodreads Description:

When fifteen-year-old Jacob Lau is pulled from the crumpled remains of his mother's car, no one can explain why he was driving or why the police can't find his mother's body. Made a ward of his uncle and thousands of miles from home, a beautiful and mysterious neighbor, Dr. Abigail Silva, offers to use her unique abilities to help him find his mom. In exchange, she requires Jacob to train as a Soulkeeper, a biologically gifted warrior charged with protecting human souls. He agrees to her demands, desperate for any clue to the mystery of his mother's disappearance. But soon Jacob finds himself trapped in a web of half-truths, and questions Dr. Silva's motives for helping him.

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by  Book Journey where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week. It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wondeful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

So last week was a crazy week for me, I packed at least 40 boxes of junk for work, moved to my new lcoation on Thursday and then unpacked 40 boxes of Junk. It was a very tiresome week to say the least. The worse part of all the moving is that I've missed my online friends whether on the blog or on twitter. I am feeling awfully disconnected now :(.

Read:

Angel (Angel Trilogy #1) by LA Weatherly

Backstage Pass (Sinners #1) by Olivia Cunning

Currently Reading:

Bite Me by Parker Blue

Reading Next:

Mercy by Rebecca Lim

So what are you reading this week? Any suggestions on books that I should read I feel like i'm in a reading slump.

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Moving!

This week has been chaotic for me, our company is relocating to another location. I have been packing boxes for days, the big move is tomorrow April 14th. Talk about spring cleaning, we had to rummage through years and years worth of documents and then determine what the retention time is according to our company audit list.


Anyways, I wanted to let you know that I would be out of the loop most of this week since I blog from work (maybe I shouldn't have actually said that). :)

Happy Wednesday!

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by  Book Journey where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week. It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wondeful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

 

Read:

 

Die for Me by Amy Plum - Review here.

 

 

 

Currently Reading:

 

Angel (Angel Trilogy #1) by LA Weatherly

 

 

Reading Next:

So last week I got a little side tracked but I will be reading one of the following books this week, hopefully.

  

 

 

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

 

 

 

Mercy by Rebecca Lim

 

 

 

Now that I compliled my list, maybe I am on some kind of Angel binge. All of my reads this week will be about Angels.

 

 

So, what are you reading this week? Did you read anything good last week? Leave a link in your comments and I'll check it out today.

 

Happy Monday! :)

Disney World

Last week I was absent from the Online world because I was on vacation. My family and I made the trip to beautiful Disney World. This isn't my first time going but it is my first time going to Animal Kingdom and Epcot.

Most of you know or if you don't that I am learning photography, it's actually more like attempting to act like I know what i'm doing. I haven't taken any classes, just watching videos and practicing. Anyways I thought I would share with you some of the shots that I got while I was at Disney last week.