Vicki Pettersson on BittenByBooks today!

Bitten By Books has guest blogger today in the form of Vicki Pettersson! It's a cool blog and an even cooler prize win possibility. She's released her fourth in the Signs of the Zodiac series, CITY OF SOULS, and has signed copies of the whole series to hand out plus latest releases of some of her author buddies since the blog is about sharing the love and loving the fact that we are book whores, buying books all the time and reveling in the book love. I can dig it!

Contest ends 1 Aug 09 @ 1159 PDT!! Get goin'!

TGIF!!

Ahhhhh....cool refreshing picture...now that it's getting back to normal summer weather here in Colorado, we might partake of our own cool refreshing pool..we'll see. No big plans. We swabbed the decks last weekend, DH is recovering from not feeling 100%, no one has to work a shift. I think it will be grocery shopping, out to breakfast or lunch, and chill time. Maybe we'll go see Harry Potter - Half Blood Prince this weekend. Also have Leverage Season 1 on DVD, Dollhouse Season 1 came out this week so that's on the 'to get' list for today. I have Lady K's school supplies to see to and hide or she'll want to get them all out and we'll have to start over again....

And your plans? Hope it's something fun!

ANGEL VINDICATED - Viola Estrella

Here's a blurb from the author's blog : Abigail Angel may not enjoy being a law enforcement Angel for Demon Control, a branch of Angels Inc, but she excels at it. Deporting unruly demons back to Hell is her specialty. Her personal life, on the other hand, could use a little work. The virtuous and pristine genes seem to be missing in this particular Angel, getting Abigail in trouble more than she likes to admit. To date, her biggest vice has been Simeon Keller, a half demon/half human, who effortlessly managed to seduce Abigail five years ago. She’s avoided him ever since but she still can’t seem to knock the bad reputation the blunder has branded on her.Now, the threat of a demon rebellion has Angels Inc overwhelmed and Abigail must trust Simeon to help her find and deport the fiends who are attempting to destroy earth’s only salvation. Staying out of Simeon’s bed is the least of her worries as she fights for her life and the lives of all Angels and humans everywhere.

I had fun reading this book. It takes place in Denver area and mentioned several places and towns I recognized. I like that angels are coming into their own in the paranormal mystery genres. This is a cool take where there are different agencies of Angels, Angels of Death, Demon Control, Guardian Angels (no fun to be roomies with, they are SO overprotective)....Abigail is a Demon Control Angel and is good at her job even if some of her coworkers think she has some priority issues. She sort of kissed a demon she was supposed to mark for an infraction, but she couldn't seem to help herself. Simeon is a half demon and is doing his part to help demons be better with his demon employment agency. Abigail and the rest of the Angels aren't sure they can trust him, though. There's a contigent of demons attacking Angels and Simeon's name keeps popping up....what's an Angel to do?
My favorite character in all of this is Isabelle, the Messenger of God, or MOG, for Demon Control Center. She wears tie-dye, smokes doobies, and is super mellow. Just cracks me up. The reader can't get wrapped around the axle about the ideal or stereotype Angel...these Angels are all female and some of them cuss and all kick ass, since they are Demon Control after all. The males are ex-Angels as their testosterone got them in some trouble in the past. They are now in the office area doing the paperwork.....
Simeon is a honey the way it reads in the book. Hard to resist, I'm sure....

Four ass kickin' Angel beans...

Meanderin' Moose

Something we don't see every day here in our part of Colorado.....in the mountains, sure, but moose are fairly atypical in the metro area of the Boulder 'burbs.

Top photo of the two moose in Boulder County is thanks to a viewer and sent to Ch 9 News This next photo wasn't taken by DH or me either, but it's the same moose we saw on our way into work yesterday morning. This was taken over by the Orchard Center near our neighborhood....(thanks again Channel 9 News)

I do love living in Colorado....

Wishlist Wednesday...a selection from the WWBL

EVERGREEN – Bruce Golden
HELLBOY: ODDER JOBS – Christopher Golden and many others
THE ANATOMY OF DECEPTION – Lawrence Goldstone
MURDER IN MINIATURE – Margaret Grace (cozy mystery)
NIGHT RISING: Vampire Babylon Book One – Chris Marie Green
MAN WITH THE GOLDEN TORC #1 in Secret Histories series – Simon R Green
UNZIPPED – Lois Greiman
HADES PROJECT – Justin Gustainis
LA VIDA VAMPIRE – Nancy Haddock, paranormal (might be shelved in romance)
UNCLEAN SPIRITS: Book One Black Sun’s Daughter – M L N Hanover
GHOST WRITER – John Harwood
20 DAYS WITH JULIAN AND LITTLE BUNNY BY PAPA – Nathaniel Hawthorne
IN OVER YOUR HEAD – Larry J Hillhouse
ON THE WRONG TRACK – Steven Hockensmith
FALL OF LIGHT – Nina Kiriki Hoffman (recommended PatriciaVampireNotes)
SEABORN – Chris Howard (Urban Fantasy)
SKINWALKER – Faith Hunter (Urban Fantasy as recommended at BBB)Jul to Aug order to Cynthia)
THE MYSTIC ARTS OF ERASING ALL SIGNS OF DEATH – Charlie Huston (when MPB)
POSTED TO DEATH – Dean James
GHOSTS IN THE SNOW/THREADS OF MALICE/VALLEY OF THE SOUL - Tamar Silas Jones
BUTCHER BIRD: A Novel of the Dominion – Richard Kadrey
DIE TWICE: THE BUSINESS OF DYING & THE MURDER EXCHANGE – Simon Kernick
BLACK & WHITE – Caitlin Kittredge and Jackie Kessler
FROM THE MIXED UP FILES OF MRS BASIL E FRANKWEILER – E L Konigsburg (children’s section) (classic)
SILENCED – Nicole Givens Kurtz
SIGNS IN THE BLOOD – Vicki Lane

MAGIC LOST, TROUBLE FOUND - Lisa Shearin

From the back of the book: Raine is a sorceress of moderat powers, from an extended family of smugglers and thieves. With a mix of street smarts and magic spells, she can usually take care of herself. But when her friend Quentin, a not-quite-reformed thief, steals an amulet from the home of a powerful necromancer, Raine finds herself wrapped up in a more trouble than she cares for. She likes attention as much as the next girl, but having an army of militant goblins huntin her down is not her idea of a good time. The amulet they're after holds limitless power, derived from an ancient, soul-stealing stone. And when Raine takes possession of the item, it take possession of her.

Now her moderate powers are increasing beyond anything she could imagine--but is the resume enhancement worth her soul?

It apparently has been a little while since I've read fantasy of such intricate world-building. It took me a little while to get into the story as I first had to get used to the world of Mermeia where Raine and her cohorts and family live. The names of the characters gave me the most difficulty...once I got used to how they sounded out in my cranium, I was fine and the story moved along like gang-busters.

Raine is my type of lead character. She has some flaws, but ultimately she has common sense, street smarts and cares deeply for her family and friends and woe be unto whoever tries to harm them.

There's a new goblin king in town and he has as his evil advisor, Sarad Nukpana, a goblin grand shaman of immense power. These goblins want the Saghred, an ancient stone of unfathomable power.

Now Raine has become the inadvertant contact for the stone and many will do whatever necessary to get her, thereby the power.

Raine has help and the good street smarts and magic she maintains keeps her in good stead.

This is a good set up for the next in the series, ARMED AND MAGICAL . I have the third in the series, THE TROUBLE WITH DEMONS, thanks to Lisa Shearin and BittenByBooks.

Four not all goblins are mean & ugly beans.....

I Love Tuesday Nights Again

Warehouse 13
Catch up with last Friday's Eureka episode

And still trying to get used to the new logo....

Finders Keepers Monday

So much for my book buying hiatus....Lady K and I went to the movies on Saturday to see G-Force, very cute and fun. Afterwards we did the usual trip to the ice cream shop for Lady K to get her raspberry sorbet on and I decided it behooved me to meander to Orchard Books to see what kind of gently used books might be on the shelves. They are in the middle of moving to new digs in the Orchard Center, so I didn't find much, but I did find TO HELL AND BACK - Lilith Saintcrow, #5 in her Dante Valentine series and CROUCHING VAMPIRE, HIDDEN FANG - Katie MacAlister, #7 in The Dark Ones series.
My dad left one more book for me. He finished it the morning he left last Monday. HELL'S BAY - James W Hall is part of the Thorn Mysteries and Dad said it's superb. Can't wait.
I was happy to see the rest of my July order from High Crimes Mystery Bookshop arrive on Friday. I can't wait to get to THE HARROWING - Alexandra Sokoloff. This one was recommended by Becky at No More Grumpy Bookseller. Ahhhhh...now to have some more reading time.....

Happy Bees, Happy Garden

The crazy veggie garden

Hollyhocks

Agastache

Sunflowers thrown from the huge sunflower last year

And the very happy bee this afternoon...the reason we grow what we grow...

Being Human on BBCA

A new show has joined my favorites...Being Human on BBCAmerica...Saturday nights are TV watching nights again...a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost share a house. This is perfect TV for me. It started tonight and the premiere episode is super.

TGIF

Mellow weekend for us. I am working a swing shift this evening, DH is working one tomorrow. Lady K and I will go see G-Force in the morning and goof around. Sunday will be grocery shopping and more chill time. DH and I are cleaning house today...whooopee! Just love mowing lawn and cleaning bathrooms! Partay! = D
Hope your weekend is more (bettah) than errands and cleaning house.

I think he's purdeeee Thursday

*Guh*......ageless purdeee

BBB and Mike Carey today!

BittenByBooks interviews Mike Carey, author of the Felix Castor-Freelance Exorcist series. DEAD MEN'S BOOTS is the third in the series and latest to be released in the States. I read the first in the series, THE DEVIL YOU KNOW, and was completely hooked. Mike's been described as the lesser known Jim Butcher...or maybe Felix is the lesser known Dresden....anyway, get on over there and ask Mike a question. It's an entry to win one of six copies of DEAD MEN'S BOOTS!

Offer good until 24 July 09 @ 1159pm...

Jeaniene Frost is over at BittenByBooks today!

BBB is having another fun interview and contest to win some pretty nifty prizes. Today it's with Jeaniene Frost, author of the Night Huntress series. She's celebrating the soon to be released fourth in the series, DESTINED FOR AN EARLY GRAVE. Click on the link and take it on over for a peek at the action on HarperCollins site.

Contest dates are on the pic above as are the prizes!

BLOODY GOOD - Georgia Evans

From the back of the book: In the first of a supernatural trilogy, one Dr. Alice Doyle finds that the power to fight evil comes from places she'd never believe...
While the sounds of battle echo through the sky, a lady doctor has more than enough trouble to keep her busy even in a sleepy hamlet outside London. But the threat is nearer home than Alice knows. German agents have infiltrated her beloved countryside—Nazis who can fly, read minds, and live forever. They're not just fascists. They're vampires.
Alice has no time for fantasy, but when the corpses start appearing sucked dry, she'll have to accept help where she can get it. If that includes a lowly Conscientious Objector who says he's no coward though he refuses to fight, and her very own grandmother, a sane, sensible woman who insists that she's a Devonshire Pixie, so be it. Indeed, whatever it takes to defend home and country from an evil both ancient and terrifyingly modern...

I enjoyed this fast moving, multi-character story. I am very glad it's a trilogy and the second one is in the stack to read fairly soon. It would be soonest, but I am not keen on reading any author back to back, so will give something else a go....see what happens when I read a British mystery?

I look forward to seeing what other 'Other' folks live in Brytewood. So far, there are Pixies, a Dragon, a were-fox, and the dread vampires who are working for the Nazis. I liked the implied comparison of the first vampire in this story, Eiche, to Hitler. Eiche lets his arrogance get in the way of his mission...and it doesn't win him any points...

Alice Doyle is intelligent and really has a difficult time admitting to her Pixie bloodline. She also has a time of it realizing how she is falling for Peter Watson, a Conscientious Objector. She considers him a coward, but he has his reasons for not signing up for the fight. And Alice needs him in more ways than one.

Four WWII Other beans....

The New Favorite Chip in the Browning Household

DH found Popchips at Sprouts a week or so ago and they've been waiting for the appropriate chip eating time at dinner. We don't typically eat chips as a snack, more as an accompaniment to a hamburger or sammie of some sort. Last night was grilled chicken clubs and the chips were out. These are now our favorite and I am not sure I'll eat another kind. They are not fried, not baked, rather they are popped! No trans fat, no saturated fat except in the cheddar or sour cream & onion flavors because that's just how dairy is. Safflower &/or sunflower oil is used for seasoning, but that's it! They are SO FREAKIN' GOOD!

You can get them at a variety of stores I found out via their website or you can order them from Amazon.
The Browning household highly recommends them.

BBB and Jackie Kessler Interview

BittenByBooks is interviewing author Jackie Kessler, half of the writing team who created BLACK & WHITE. We can also ask questions of the book's main character, Jet. There's a cool interview and a chance to win prizes.

TBR Tuesday

Basement shelves. All but a one or two of these are keeper books. Some I've had since high school, some since college, others picked up along the way :

A MIDSUMMER TEMPEST - Poul Anderson

BLUE HIGHWAYS: A Journey Into America - William Least Heat-Moon

RAISE HIGH THE ROOF BEAM CARPENTERS & SEYMOUR - J D Salinger

NINE STORIES - J D Salinger

FRANNY & ZOOEY - J D Salinger

CATCHER IN THE RYE - J D Salinger

ATLAS SHRUGGED - Ayn RandGIANT - Edna Ferber

WILLA CATHER: A Critical Biography - E K Brown

ACID ROW - Minette Walters

THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO - Alexandre Dumas

THE EGYPTIAN - Mika Waltari

THE LONESOME GODS - Louis L'Amour

ROGET'S THESAURUS

WUTHERING HEIGHTS - Emily Bronte

BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE - Kate DiCamillo

A TASTE FOR DEATH - P D James

SOME CAN WHISTLE - Larry McMurtry

THE DESERT ROSE - Larry McMurtry

Webster's Dictionary

GONE WITH THE WIND - Margaret Mitchell

A KISS GONE BAD - Jeff Abbott, narr L J Ganser

B&N Synopsis: When the black-sheep son of a senator is found dead aboard a yacht, there's plenty of pressure on rookie judge Whit Mosley to make his ruling without the usual inquest. Was it suicide, as the family claims? Or did an obsessed killer use the dead man as a pawn in a twisted game? One thing is certain. The closer the judge gets to the truth, the nearer he comes to exposing a viper's nest of drug lords, con artists and power-hungry sharks -- all of whom are out for blood. Only this time, the blood that's spilled could be Mosley's own….

I've read this one before, but it was a while back when I was working on my First in Series Challenge and I'd since forgotten who the bad guys were and the basic premise. My review from Sept 08 is here. So it was like a brand new book as far as I was concerned. I remembered really really liking it, though, so thought it would be a good one to listen to. I was right...I do like being right. Cool thing, too, DH really really liked it as our commute book last week. He requested I get as many of them as are available from RecordedBooks. It's the narrator, L J Ganser, pictured below. He is the perfect voice for Judge Whit Mosley.

Whit is considered the black sheep of the family now justice of the peace in the small town in Texas along the southern coast. I think he is just looking for his niche in life. He's found it as the interim justice of the peace. He sets out to investigate the case of a possible suicide of another black sheep son of a Texas senator. Everyone wants it to be a suicide, but Whit just isn't so sure.

My review from Sept is still valid, so won't do more here. I did bump up the bean count due to the fabuloso voice of L J Ganser. He totally made the book even better.

Oh, and I still have a crush on Gooch...read the book and get to know him.... = D

Five fabuloso beans....

Finders Keepers Monday

A pretty cool Finders Keepers today.....I received a signed copy of A CIRCLE OF SOULS - Preetham Grandhi from the author. I am really looking forward to reading and reviewing it.
And my dad brought out the treasures below...I've had THE CLEANER - Brett Battles on the WWBL for a while and it was on my next order to Cynthia at High Crimes. Now I'll just sub in another title from the five page list.

TGIF!!!

TGIF people!! My dad is coming for a visit from his home in Ottawa KS. He'll be here this afternoon. We will take him to a new-to-us, highly fab rated restaurant in Boulder, Lucile's Creole Kitchen for breakfast in the AM. Boulder Farmer's Market afterwards, then on to Garden Country Nursery for a reload of plants we love to dig in. Sunday is a trip to Golden for brunch and a meander down the streets for some shopping. Can't remember the name of the shop, but it is mostly gardening treasures and just too much fun.

Hope you have a good weekend, any plans?

BittenByBooks Interview with Author Jennifer Rardin

BittenByBooks is interviewing Jennifer Rardin, author of the Jaz Parks series. It's a greatly funny interview and there's a chance to win one of five autographed copies of the first Jaz Parks book pictured here. There's also a chance at a $50 B&N giftcard.....the contest ends 16 July 09 @ 1159pm PDT.

MONEY SHOT - Christa Faust

From the back cover:

They thought she'd be easy. They thought wrong.

It all began with the phone call asking former porn star Angel Dare to do one more movie. Before she knew it, she'd been shot and left for dead in the turnk of a car. But Angel is a survivor. And that means she'll get to the bottom of what's been done to her even if she has to leave a trail of bodies along the way....

I feel like I should put on some chili red lipstick and shake out a cigarette before I start this review. I left the chili red lipstick at home and I don't smoke, so I'll do the best I can.

MONEY SHOT is a no holds barred, don't get attached to anyone kind of book. Under normal description, this could be a cozy mystery...the main character is not a detective and finds herself having to investigate the hell that her life has become through no fault of her own. Except cozy mystery writers tend to not utilize the porn industry as a backdrop and the main character is rarely (read NEVER) a porn star who now runs her own agency for porn starlets.

Angel Dare, porn star back in the day and still recognized for her work in X rated films, retired from in front of the camera and is now behind the scenes with her high class adult modeling agency Daring Angels.

Angel is having one of those days of feeling her years and finds herself saying yes to a request to get in front of the camera just one more time. She ends up hit in the face and stuffed in the trunk of a car, left for dead.

She wants to find out who did this to her and why and get her life back if she can.

It's grimy, sordid, definitely not a feel good book to read and I read it in practically one sitting. I couldn't sleep nights until at least some aspect of the awfulness that was happening to Angel was rectified. I read until someone got what was coming to them.

The voice over in my head for this book was Linda Fiorentino, all smoky.

Five gritty avenging beans......

TBR Tuesday

From the closet section of Mt Git'r'Read, one stack in the front of the topmost shelf:
IRISH CHAIN - Earlene Fowler, cozy quilter mystery
THE STONE FOREST - Karen Harper, suspense
CREEPERS - David Morrell, I'm thinkin' horror.....
DEAD GUILTY - Beverly Connor, forensic mystery
GHOSTS - Noel Hynde, some more horror
THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR - Anne Rivers Siddon, could it be.... some horror
PACIFIC BEAT - T Jefferson Parker, mystery
THE LAST GOODBYE - Reed Arvin, legal mystery
THE BLUE HOUR: Merci Rayborn series #1 - T Jefferson Parker, thriller
SKIN AND BONE - Kathryn Fox, thriller
BURIED DREAMS - Brendan Du Bois, mystery
ZOMBIES OF THE GENE POOL - Sharyn McCrumb (just love this title), cozy mystery sequel to BIMBOS OF THE DEATH SUN
KANSAS TROUBLE - Earlene Fowler, cozy quilter mystery
THE NEXT VICTIM - Jonnie Jabobs, legal thriller
A SHARE IN DEATH - Deborah Crombie, British detective mystery

BLACK MAGIC WOMAN - Justin Gustainis

From the back of the book:

Supernatural investigator Quincey Morris and his partner, white witch Libby Chastain, are called in to help free a desperate family from a deadly curse that appears to date back to the Salem Witch Trials. To release the family from danger they must find the root of the curse, a black witch with a terrible grudge that holds the family in her power.

The pursuit takes them to the mysterious underworld of Boston, San Francisco, New Orleans and New York, stalking a prey that is determined to stay hidden. After surviving a series of terrifying attempts on their lives, the two find themselves drawn inexorably towards Salem itself--and the very heart of darkness.

I can't get over how MUCH I enjoyed reading this book! I had to set it aside for a bit as I'd forgotten I was to have read and reviewed a book, the thankfully fast paced DON'T CALL ME A CROOK - Bob Moore for Online Publicist. I whomped on that one and quickly got back to Quincey and Libby's dark adventure.
Quincey starts the story with his quest to eradicate a nest of vamps from a small town in Texas. He's smart and quick, vamps cleaned out in a concisely excellent manner. Then he gets a visit from Walter LaRue, a man whose house is being attacked by a supernatural being that is progressively getting more violent. Quincey calls upon his friend Libby, a white witch, to help him out. They arrive at the house to find that there is more to the story than meets the eye and both realize they are going to have to move fast or someone, if not all, in the house will die.
There are four different points of view throughout the book, mainly the story is told through Quincey and Libby. The thriller is pushed forward with a pair of serial killers, a pair of detectives, and the black witch all are circling.
I admire Quincey's presence of mind that gets rattled from time to time and the way he knows his life is preordained destiny and he is good with that. Libby is straight forward, gentle and smart. They make a great team.
This is a book where evil is truly awful and good is fighting the good fight against it. I can't wait to read the next in the series, EVIL WAYS. I can only hope that Justin Gustainis has many more stories and adventures for this team to journey.

Five fiendishly haunted beans.....

Finders Keepers Monday, part 2

Told you it was a book bender week!

From High Crimes Bookshop:

ANGELS' BLOOD - Nalini Singh

BLOODY GOOD - Georgia Evans

BLOODY AWFUL - Georgia Evans

THE TOMB - F Paul Wilson

THROUGH VIOLET EYES - Stephen Woodworth

THE UNSCRATCHABLES - Cornelius Kane (this is my favorite cover!)