250 Facebook Followers Giveaway!

**CONTEST IS NOT CLOSED**

First I want to thank EVERYONE who has liked my page, or possible will in the future! You've made my blog something that I could only have dreamed about, and it's continuing to grow each and every day.

Ok so I'm going to make this simple and pain less, well at least I hope so. For my first ever giveaway I am going to allow the winner to pick whatever book they want as their prize, the only catch is that it will be a paperback, not an ebook or anything fancy like that :)

Here's the 5 easy steps to enter & win:

1. Just leave a comment about how you came across Taking it One Book at a Time, and you'll be entered to win.

2. +1 if you're a new Facebook follower

3. +3 if you're an old Facebook follower (before today)

4. +1 if you stalk follow me on Twitter

5. +1 if you follow my blog

So now tally and comment, that seems simple enough, right? I'm not making you re-post this anywhere or blog about it, but if you want to spread the word, that would be UH-MAZE-ING!

This contest will be closed one week from day: 3/7/11, GOOD LUCK!!

Monday Morning Man Candy

Good morning! Though it's Monday, and Monday's suck, I thought I'd wake you up with a little jump start. Some MAN CANDY!! Enjoy!

ANNNNNNNNNND.........this

Fresh Face Friday 2-25-11

Death isn't what Eden expected. Where the hell is her release? Her quiet ending? Not that Eden remembers the details of her final hours, but one thing is for sure--becoming a sider, trapped between life and death, was definitely not part of the plan...


 After trying her hand at multiple career choice, such as roadside corn stand sales person, Leah Clifford decided to give in to her passion and write. With her first book, A Touch Mortal, hitting bookshelves this past Tuesday (Feb. 22nd), there has been an outpouring of positive reviews surrounding it.

In Leah's book, when her main character Eden dies, though she doesn't move forward "into the light". She's now stuck in sort of an in-between, with the ability to kill others like her with a simple touch. Sound pretty bad ass huh? As cool as that may be, it seems to be more of a pain in her ass. Eden now has to figure out how to get others siders to leave her alone, because word of her gift is spreading fast...

To get to know Leah better stop by her Facebook, follow her on Twitter, and check her website!

Cover Whore

Yes, I said it! I'm a cover whore! I LOVE LOVE LOVE book covers, and I'm not gonna lie sometimes I tend to be drawn to the more distinct, original covers. Or the ones with bright colors, LOVE me some neon :)

So with that said, here are a few completely awesome covers that I've found lately. Some might not be new, but they're all pretty bad ass!

Amy Plums: Die for Me

This is her UK cover, because honestly I like it way more then the US cover, it is beautiful to me.

Gwen Hayes: Falling Under

It has the standard black, like most Paranormal/UF covers, but the pop of red & the cover model in a offset position TOTALLY caught my eye right away!

Aprilynne Pike: Illusions

Very simple cover, but completely different. With my mom being a florist, I think that I tend to be drawn to amazing flowers with bright colors. Hence my neon fetish!

Well, those are just a few examples of why I'm a cover whore, and proud of it. If you have any covers you want to share make sure you post them to my Facebook wall! I would love to see what covers make you whore out too, lol!

Talkative Tuesday 2/22/10

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacccccccckkkkkkk!! And boy does it feel good! After 7 days out of town, sleeping in someone elses bed, I am SO happy to be home & at work.

First order of business, Talkative Tuesday. I can't help but laugh every time I read Crazy Book Slut's blog, it's the name that just makes me smirk. She brings her great personality & opinions to her blog everyday. With reviews, previews, giveaways and more, she somehow manages to pull it all together with ease.

Now make sure you hunt her down on Facebook, visit the webiste and become a tweet follower on
Twitter.

Teaser Tuesday 22.2.2011

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

The rules are:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two teaser sentences from somewhere on that page
• Be careful not to include spoilers
• Share the title and author too so that other Teaser Tuesday participients can add the book on their TBR lists, if they like your teasers!

I'm reading the great Slovenian classic Alamut by Vladimir Bartol. It is a historical novel set in 11th-century Persia and was originally written in 1938 as an allegory to fascism. The novel has been translated into many languages. It has even been inspiration for two video games! It is an adventure story, a love story, and most importantly a story of political extremism, but my teaser is a funny, little snippet from page 24:

On one of the riverside rocks lizards were sunning themselves. Their backs shone like emeralds.
"Look how pretty they are," Miriam said.
"Ugh, I can't stand them. They are vicious."
"Why?"
"They attack girls."
Miriam  and Sara both smiled.
"Who ever gave you that idea, child?"
Halima was afraid that she'd blurted out some inanity again, so she answered carefully.
"My former master told me, 'Watch out for boys! If they jump over the wall and break into the garden, run away from them, because they keep a lizard of a snake under their shirts and they'd let it loose to bite you.'"

I fear the story will soon get much more serious. Too bad I cannot read it in the original language, but the English translation seems to be excellent, very enjoyable to read.

Not-Really-Southern-Vamp-Chick 666 Giveaway!

In honor of hitting 666 followers, Not-Really-Southern-Vamp-Chick is having one of thee most amazing giveaways!!

So make sure you head over & check it out!

Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down -Two Reviews

Finally I have an opportunity to post! I still have one books sales post to write, but as I'm totally lagging behind in reviewing the books I've read this year, I'll start with two reviews. (I'm also totally lagging behind in visiting all your wonderful blogs, but I hope to remedy that very soon, too. :))

Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie

I read numerous Agatha Christie mysteries while growing up. Back then they were sort of transitional books. When the books in the library's children's department started to feel too childish Christie's mysteries were for many the first adults' books they read. Christie's mysteries are also useful when as a non-native speaker one wants to start reading books in English. So, I first moved towards adults' books with Christie and then again moved onwards towards reading books in English by reading her mysteries. By the way, reading Christie in other languages works, too. :) The first and only novel I've ever read in Italian was a Christie mystery.

It has, however, been a long while since I read anything by Christie. When choosing themes for The One, Two, Theme Challenge,  I ended up choosing Mesopotamia as one of my themes. As we are supposed to read both non-fiction and fiction, Christie's Murder in Mesopotamia immediately came to my mind as a possible fiction choice. I'm not quite sure whether had I read it before, I think I had. I had seen it on TV, though, as part of the wonderful Hercule Poirot series starring the brilliant David Suchet. I had never before reread a traditional mystery (I don't really count The Woman in White as a typical mystery). Even though I was not hundred procent sure if I had read this one before, I did remember parts of the story and I had always thought that as a hindrance for really enjoying rereading a mystery. I was willing to give this book a chance, though.

I was not dissapointed. Murder in Mesopotamia is set in 1930s Iraq. Something is not quite right at an archeological dig in Hassanieh, and when the worst happens Hercule Poirot, who is travelling in the area, is asked to investigate. In this book the narrator was not Captain Hastings, but Amy Leatheran, a nurse appointed to take care of Mrs. Leidner, the wife of the archeologist heading the excavations in Hassanieh. I'm a great fan of Poirot. He's my absolutely favorite private detective, and I enjoyed Nurse Leatheran's comments on the little Belgian a lot. :)

Reading Murder in Mesopotamia put me in the mood for more Christie and especially more Poirot stories. It would be great fun to read all Poirot's cases in chronological order, but that might be a bit too great a challenge to incorporate into all my other reading. I might read some more Poirot stories this year, though. And I have another Agatha Christie mystery (sans Poirot) for The One, Two, Theme Challenge, namely They Came to Baghdad, waiting for it's turn.

This was my first read for my Mesopotamia theme in The One, Two, Theme Challenge.

Grand Slam by Samantha Brenner

Unfortunately this supposedly satirical lesbian romance set in the world of professional tennis has been my most dissapointing read this year. The story follows former corporate lawyer Stephanie Alexander during her year of being the girlfriend of first one and then another professional tennis player. I love tennis and I am an enthusiastic follower of especially women's professional tennis, and so, I was pretty excited to find a novel set in that world. However, this book did not live up to my expectations at all. The narrative was in parts incoherent and would have needed quite a bit more editing and the satire was mostly lost on me. For example Stephanie's thoughts on her first tennis player girlfriend Sydney Foster were often so mean that I started feeling sorry for Sydney and that surely was not the effect the writer was aiming for. All in all a huge dissapointment. :(

I read Grand Slam for The GLBT Challenge.

Fresh Face Friday 2-18-11

The gates of hell have opened, and one woman will stand in the crossfire as the Dark Breed -- vampyre, demons, shape shifters -- and mankind fight their last battle for survival.

Kyana is half Vampyre, half Lychen...and the last of her kind. Determined, dangerous, and damned, she has no love for the mortals who have imprisoned and misused her. But when the Order of Ancients entrusts her with a mission -- to find the key that will send the Dark Breed back into Hell for eternity -- Kyana has no choice but to accept.

She is furious to learn her assignment comes with an escort. . . Ryker, a demigod and fierce warriour who long ago found a way under her skin and stayed there. In a shaky alliance, they discover an ancient cult with dangerous motives and a god who seeks to destroy all others. And as Kyana begins to feel the heat that threatens to bind her to Ryker, she knows she has to resist.  For it could only mean the undoing of them both. . .

Emerging author, or should I say authors, Sable Grace, is made up of two long time friends and critique partners. Finding that their voices truly came together during a warm up writing session, it has now blossomed into a highly anticipated 1st novel of their Dark Breed Series.

I for one can NOT wait to read this book! It sounds wicked cool!! Seriously, why wouldn't you want to read about a half vamp, half lychen who's in charge of battle all kinds of evil?  Then as a hot demigod into the mix. That just screams steaminess & mayhem!

Next step, you all know the drill. Scout out her website: Sable Grace. Must, must, must like her on Facebook , and stalk her to death on Twitter!

Talkative Tuesday 2/15/11

So while I'm sitting here in lecture hell, listening to how we need to save money as a company this year, all of you get to meet some great people who run a fantastic blog!




Everyone my I introduce, the Book Wenches! A wonderful team of 3 book addicts, who give a humorous and insightful spin to everything that they write. Whether it's a review, an interview, or a contest, these ladies keep their thoughts real and to the point. The one thing that I absolutely LOVE about their blog it the definition of it....see:

BookWench - /bʊk//wɛntʃ/ - noun. An opinionated woman who reads a lot and has a compulsive need to share her thoughts.

Now go, become friends with the Wenches on Facebook, savor their every tweet on Twitter, and of course follow their blog!

Who doesn't want chocolate for Valentine's day?!

Okay, so maybe I'm a freak because I honestly don't care for chocolate all that much. But after looking at this....um, I think I might have the sudden urge to buy stock in Ghirardelli!

I just want to smear that yummy goodness all over....anyways...hope your Valentine's day is as memorable as our friend here :)

XOXO

Fresh Face Friday 2-11-11

Happy Friday! Let the happy dances begin! This week I'm throwing you all into a realm full of mysterious sexy vampires......wanna know more, well here you go:

Once, Sarah Bingham’s biggest challenge was making her
students pay attention in class. Now, after rescuing a
wounded stranger, she’s landed in the middle of a battle
between corrupt vampires and powerful immortals who also
need blood to survive. Roland Warbrook is the most
compelling man Sarah has ever laid hands on. But his
desire for her is mingled with a hunger he can
barely control . . .

In his nine centuries of immortal existence, no woman
has tempted Roland as much as Sarah. But asking her to
love him is impossible -- when it mean forfeiting the world
she’s always known, and the life he would do anything
to protect.

In the world of Immortal Guardians vampires come in 2 forms, the heroic Guardians warriors and the scum who give Vampires a bad name. In her debut novel, Darkness Dawns, Dianne Duvall has written a story full of action, suspense and of course romance! Receiving rave reviews from all over the blogging world, I for one can't wait to get my greedy little mitts ALL over this book!

So make sure you stop by her Facebook, follow her on Twitter, and be very sure you hop over to her website and enter her Kindle contest!

 

Angelfire - By Courtney Allison Moulton

Release Date: 2/15/2011

Publisher: Haper Teen

Website: Courtney Allison Moulton

Purchase Info: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders

When seventeen-year-old Ellie starts seeing reapers - monstrous creatures who devour humans and send their souls to Hell - she finds herself on the front lines of a supernatural war between archangels and the Fallen and faced with the possible destruction of her soul.

 

A mysterious boy named Will reveals she is the reincarnation of an ancient warrior, the only one capable of wielding swords of angelfire to fight the reapers, and he is an immortal sworn to protect her in battle. Now that Ellie's powers have been awakened, a powerful reaper called Bastian has come forward to challenge her. He has employed a fierce assassin to eliminate her - an assassin who has already killed her once.

While balancing her dwindling social life and reaper-hunting duties, she and Will discover Bastian is searching for a dormant creature believed to be a true soul reaper. Bastian plans to use this weapon to ignite the End of Days and to destroy Ellie's soul, ending her rebirth cycle forever. Now, she must face an army of Bastian's most frightening reapers, prevent the soul reaper from consuming her soul, and uncover the secrets of her past lives - including truths that may be too frightening to remember.

Think back to your 17th birthday....now imagine if you ran into a super hunky boy in the middle of the night on a dark street....yeah, you'd be a little freaked out. This is exactly what Ellie was thinking when she ran into Will for the first time. Oh and now add a digusting dog-like reaper beast attacking you into the mix! Hands down weirdest birthday EVER!

Ellie doesn't understand the connection she feels towards Will, or how she can summon swords from her hands. All she knows is that it's somehow linked to the crazy nightmares that have been taking over her life lately. Having Will in her life seems to just fit, though she doesn't want to admit to herself that any of the creepy things happening to her are real, she knows in her heart that this is what she's meant to do. Fight.

**POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT**

The way the story unfolds with Ellie & Will I feel is perfect. Ellie is trying to cope with the fact that Will has been apart of her life for hundreds of years. With each reincarnation he is always there, helping her memories surface and secretly keeping his feelings to himself. As her guardian Will sees it as inappropriate to feel anything but protective towards Ellie. So admitting that he's falling in love with her is the last thing he needs on his plate when they're trying to avoid an apocalypse and dispose of thee oldest reaper known to man.

As her debut novel, Courtney did an amazing job! I don't read much YA, but this series will be one that I absolutely have to follow. The world she's created, and the characters in them are truly dazzling, and you would have to be a fool to pass up this book!

5/5

Chaos, Inner Heroines & Man Candy!

This week I feel like a tornado has taken over, and I can feel my inner heroine trying so hard to keep my feet on the ground. With between the dentist, work, and the gym, I feel like my reading life has taken a down turn. Add being computer-less all next week to that and it brightens my situation OH-SO-MUCH.....not!

So I figured what better way to put my mind at ease then some Man Candy. Seriously, who doesn't like a good dose of it every once in a while? It's like giving chocolate to a grown woman, it makes everything better! (and try to tell me that this doesn't make you feel better?)

or THIS

Vulgar? No. Smutty? Hell yes!

As you could probably tell, I have a thing for men with tattoos. I believe that it's my inner heroine calling out for her bad-boy. Oh we all have an inner heroine. Maybe she's the woman we imagine when we're reading a book, perhaps an alter-ego, or the main character of a story you have in your mind. So here's a question to ponder, what's your inner heroine like?

Well I'm off like a prom dress! Have reviews to finish, articles to write, and should probably get some actual work done today. Later Gators!



Talkative Tuesday 2/8/11

Tuesday, already? These weeks are just speeding by, it's crazy!

I want to introduce you all to Dark Divas Reviews this week. They're a very extensive team of creative individuals, who manage to bring so many different and interesting P.O.V's to their blog without it being all over the place.

With hosting blog hops, amazing giveaways, and an endless supply of reviews, the Dark Diva's have their blogging skills down to a science. Where one reviewer might not like a certain genre, there's always one that will. It makes the Divas a one of a kind book stop!

Check out their blog, swing by their Facebook page, and OF COURSE follow them on Twitter!

Stealing Time - By Elisa Paige

Release Date: 1/31/2011

Publisher: Carina Press

Website: Elisa Paige

Purchase Info: Amazon

It wasn't that she wanted to live forever. She just didn't want to die.
 
When artist James Wesley realizes Evie Reed is dying, he is so moved by the beautiful reporter's determination to live that he makes her immortal—a vampire, like him. She's the woman he's been waiting over 150 years for. Though initially shocked by the change, Evie quickly embraces her second chance at life, and love.
 
Just as James and Evie begin to define eternity together, a zealot breaks an ancient treaty, threatening a peace between humans and vampires that has stood for a thousand years. And when he focuses his hatred on Evie, the immortal lovers find themselves swept up in a deadly supernatural war...

Okay....I really like this book for the first 3/4 of the way through it, then we kind of had a lovers quarrel. I honest to god wish that I would have loved the ending as much as James & Evie love each other. But I can't sit here and say that the book as whole sold me.

There were a few parts that slightly reminded me of other vampire books I've read. Like creating small newly change vampire armies....or having the ability to manipulate energy, which create force fields around people. It kills me to say negative things about books, especially when there are certain parts that were truly unique and I liked. For instance in the vampire world that James and Evie live in there are quiet a few really interesting etiquette corks that drew my attention, and how reclusive these vampires truly are. Plus the true bonding that James and Evie shared was great for their chemistry and the story line.

I guess that part of what lost me was that the ending seemed slightly all over the place. There was suppose to be Fae in the mix, but I felt as though they didn't get enough showing in this book to even be mentioned. Though the end of the book perfectly set up the next book, I felt that there were just a few loose ends that shouldn't have been left the way they were.

So in the end I was really excited with this book, but it saddens me to say that the ending wasn't exactly how I had pictured it. I'm hoping the next book in the series can get me back into Evie and James' story again.

3/5

Books, Books and Clones!

Seems that when I think I have my, "To Read in the Near Future", list done, another three pops onto the radar! Seriously there are times when I wish I could clone myself and give each clone a different task.

Clone #1 read, #2 review, #3 read some more, #4 review some more.....it would be WAY easier. Regardless I will find a way to make it work, I always do :)

Now I'm just trying to figure out how I'm going to get everything taken care of for next week since I'll be out of town for work....with no computer access. SO looking forward to that one. It's my companies annual "Start Up" meeting, and we get to sit in the warehouse part of our asphalt plant in Sacramento and listen to people talk about things we don't want to hear 8 hours a day, for 5 days....jealous, I know. I get that often when it comes to company crap like that. I'll be posting pictures and random thoughts from my phone throughout the day, so look forward to those too!

So now back to the chaos that is happening this week, got FFF's to to finish, Talkative Tuesdays to go over and reviews to bust out! Wish me luck!

Fresh Face Friday 2/4/11

Charley sees dead people. That’s right, she sees dead people. And it’s her job to convince them to “go into the light.” But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (i.e. murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she’s been having about an entity who has been following her all her life…and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely.

Darynda Jones debut novel, First Grave on the Right, has been praised by the gods of the writing world. Like, J.R. Ward, Mary Janice Davidson, Kresley Cole, Jayne Ann Krentz, and Gena Showalter, just to name a few. Darynda has created a spitfire main character named, Charlotte Davidson who was born with a "hot ass", sarcasm to spare, and oh yeah, the job of being the grim reaper. The world that Charley lives in seems to be not only action packed, but wickedly sexy as well.

When first introduced to Darynda's work I instantly became enticed. First because, sarcasm is my second language and her main character Charley speaks it fluently, and second, who doesn't want to see a hot female as the grim reaper?? Yeah, thought so.

Make sure you hop over to her website and read an excerpt  from chapter one. Then "Like" her on Facebook and make sure you stalk follow her tweets in Twitter!

American Vampire - By Jennifer Armintrout

Release Date: 2/22/2011

Publisher: Mira

Website: Jennifer Armintrout

Purchase Info: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders

Buried in the Heartland is a town that no one enters or leaves. Graf McDonald somehow becomes its first visitor in more than five years…and he was only looking for a good party. Unfortunately, Penance, Ohio, is not that place. And after having been isolated for so long, they do not like strangers at all.

Jessa's the only one to even remotely trust him, and she's desperate for the kind of protection that only a vampire like Graf can provide. Supplies are low, the locals are ornery for a sacrifice and there's a monster more powerful than Graf lurking in the woods. New men are hard to come by in this lonesome town, and this handsome stranger might be Jessa's only hope for salvation.
Even if she has to die first…

If Green Acres, The Twilight Zone and True Blood got together and had a baby it would be, American Vampire.

When vampire Graf somehow stumbles into Penance, he is wondering if it's the fact that he's a vampire that allowed him into this hell hole in the first place. In the last 5 years this small southern town has been trapped in time, not allowing anyone out, and sure as hell not allowing anyone in.


In first starting, American Vampire, I honestly thought that the scenario might not work, or that it would just seem kind of hokey. Needless to say I was wrong! The depth of the story, and side stories truly make the plot fall into place perfectly. When first meeting, Graf & Jessa don't exactly "hit it off". You know, he wants to eat her because she's annoying, she just wants him to shot him and be done with it, the makings of a great relationship. They are definitely two very strong willed characters, who love to torment each other. Though Jessa doesn't know Graf's a vampire, she does not want him staying at her house, and adding more unwanted town gossip to her name. They already think she's a home-wrecker, whore, and slightly crazy.....oh man, what are they going to do if they figure out what Graf is?! After being with Jessa for only a matter of days, Graf realizes that there's more going on here then being trapped by a random monster. As the mystery unfolds, their chemistry heats up! Now it seems the two least likely to come together will have to in order to survive.....

American Vampire been on my, "To Read", list since I knew it was coming out. Jennifer is such a great author, I love how she blends humor, horror and sex. With great one-liners, and main characters who seem to forget their brain to mouth filter at times, Graf & Jessa made an unlikely, but amazing pair! This story offered so many twists, that it was hard to settle back down before the next one hit you. By the end of the book I sat back and thought, "I NEVER would have imagined it ending this way", but now I couldn't see the book ending any other way!


5/5

An excerpt from Vampire Mine By Kerrelyn Sparks!

Oh, and I thought this day would never come! Connor Buchanan's story is coming to a store near you SOON, and Kerrelyn has granted us the privilege of viewing an excerpt from the first chapter!

Now run, go here to read it! Connor's book comes out on March 29th, 2011!!

Wrap It Up - January

So I thought to make it easier for those who aren't able to read each review, or miss one, I'd start doing a monthly wrap up letting you know what books I've read this month :) So here goes.....

Blood Vice - By Keith Melton

(click here for review)

Dreamfever (Fever Series Book #4) - By Karen Marie Moning

(didn't do a review for)

Fall into Winter - By Eden Baylee

(click here for review)

Death's Sweet Embrace (Dark Brethren Novel #2) - By Tracey O'Hara

(click here for review)

Bonded by Blood (Sweetblood Novel #1) - By Laurie London

(click here for review)

American Vampire - By Jennifer Armintrout

(review here)

Stealing Time - By Elisa Paige

(review here)

Shadowfever (Fever Series Book #5) - By Karen Marie Moning

(no review)



I'm happy with the number of books that I read last month, I hope to double it this month! Let me know what you read last month, and what's on your wish list for this month!