Do the Book Blog Hop!

Welcome hoppers! Thanks for dropping by Novel Addiction. My name is Amanda, I'm 23, and I work in a library. I also sell Avon, and review books - though you could probably guess that last bit. I read a mix of things, mostly paranormal romance/urban fantasy. But I also enjoy Young Adult, Science Fiction and Fantasy, and Romance of any genre.

You can find me on Goodreads and Twitter (the links are on the lefthand sidebar), and be sure to enter my currently running contests (which are on the righthand sidebar).

I'm sure you're sick of my babbling, so let's get to the hop and the questions!



Do you have anyone that you discuss books with IRL? Tell us about him/her. I have several people! I work in a library, so most of my coworkers love to read as well, and we talk about recent reads. I also have my best friend Stephanie - we read all the same things, and it's her fault I got obsessed with Anita Blake and the Dark-Hunter series. And then there's Jessica, we talk about Young Adult fiction, and publishing/writing in general.

Do you have a favorite hero, so far, this year? If so, who? Oh man, let's see.. Well, Bones is always my favorite hero, so he's still at the top. I also loved Jeremiah Fall from "Blood Prophecy."



Pick a character from a book you are currently reading or just finished and tell us about him/her. I'm currently reading "Seaborne" by Katharine Irons (for Romance Reviews Today) and I'm really intrigued by the heroine, Claire. While out with a few friends on a boat, a drunk boater ran into them, killing her best friend, and leaving her paralyzed from the waist down. She also suffered neck and brain injuries, so it's hard for her to concentrate. I like this different sort of heroine, such a strong person (though often self-defeating), but at the same time, she's so physically weak because of her accident.

Fridays are notoriously busy for me, so fingers crossed I will be able to return all follows Friday night.. but to be honest, it'll probably be Saturday before I can. I work all day Friday, then have to finish up some reviews for Romance Reviews Today (did I mention I review books for them, too?), and then I have rehearsal.

Whatcha Got Wednesday #24 And a general update!

Hello all! It's another edition of Whatcha Got Wednesday, my own little personal meme where I talk about what books I bought or received this week.

Both books I received were for REVIEW:
"Unsavory Delicasies" by Russell Brooks (author of "Pandora's Succession"). Russell stopped by Novel Addiction some months ago as part of his Virtual Blog Tour, and contacted me about a review of his upcoming release, a collection of a few short stories.

"The Advice Girl" by L.A. Shaw. I wasn't going to take this book on considering my crazy huge To Be Reviewed pile.. but she sent along a few sample chapters of her book, and after reading them, I was hooked.
General Update-y-ness!I may have mentioned that my local library has begun a Paranormal Book Club for patrons, and that I am one of the staff discussion leaders. The first meeting of the book club (lead by my friend and coworker Linsey) had a great chat about the book. And tonight is my first time as discussion leader! We are talking about "Truly, Madly" by Heather Webber, and I spent yesterday re-reading the book and refreshing my memory. Of course then I immediately wanted to re-read the rest, but I stopped myself. Barely.

I'll have to let you guys know how it goes - I'm both excited and nervous. Here's hoping the bookclub will be a hit! *Fingers Crossed*

Also, sort of on that note - because I've been working on bookclub stuff, I have no scheduled posts for later today or tomorrow. I'll try and work on that this evening, but no promises.

Remember!
I have a few giveaways ending tomorrow night at 11:59 PM. Be sure to enter!
Giveaway of an ebook by author Becca Dale!
Giveaway of two copies of "Mine" by Jill Noelle!

Also, be sure to check out Rachel Thompson's (author of "A Walk in the Snark") guest post!
And the guest post by author Justine Eylot!

Happy Reading!
~!~ Amanda ~!~

Book Blogger Hop - Non Weekend Edition

This week's question:
Outside of books, what is your guilty pleasure? Oh, gosh.. what isn't my guilty pleasure? I love Tshirts with weird of funny slogans (and I own a ton.. more than I could ever wear, but yet I keep wearing the same ones over and over), I absolutely love movies and TV shows feature con men (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Leverage, Ocean's Eleven, etc), and I collect DVDs almost as much as I collect books. I actually have a DVD database that I created myself - every DVD I (and my family) own is listed in the database, in alphabetical order, with TV series having their own section. At last count, there were over 400 DVDs, and I can't remember how many TV seasons on DVD..

I also love chocolate and tea. Not necessarily together - they're just as good separate. Mm mm..

Happy Reading!
~!~ Amanda ~!~

It's Official - I'm going to the Lori Foster Get Together!

YAY! It's official, I will be going to the Annual Reader & Author Get Together this year! Last year was my first time going, and I had so much fun! But I felt like such a silly newbie that I didn't do too much. But this year I plan to live it up and take part as much as possible!

So many authors I love are going, and plenty more that I've heard of and want to start reading. Plus, all the cool swag - it was like Christmas when I went last year, lol. I can't wait! It feels like ages between now and then, *Sigh.*

So I was wondering - is anyone else going? If so, I'd love to meet some of the bloggers that I read everyday! Comment or email me if you're going, and maybe we'll try and meet up doing the get together.

Happy Reading!
~!~ Amanda ~!~

GUEST POST: Author Justine Elyot talks detectives.

Please help me welcome author Justine Elyot as she stops by Novel Addiction as part of her Book Lovin' Bitches virtual blog tour! She's here to share a blurb from her novel "Honeytrapped," as well as to talk about detectives - a subject that is close to my heart as well. Who doesn't want to be a classic Private Eye for a day? Or maybe just to be with one... Ahem. What was I say? Oh right!
Welcome, Justine!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Private Eyes


*Brrrrring*


This is Jim Rockford - at the tone leave your name and message and I'll get back to you.

Words to take me straight back to my late 1970s childhood - my dad was a keen fan of Mr Rockford, but then he was a keen fan of anything involving detectives, which brings me to the theme of my post.

From Brother Cadfael to Stephanie Plum, from Lord Peter Wimsey to Mike Hammer, it seems that the whole world loves a private eye.

Tilly Turner, the heroine of my short story Honeytrapped has read enough Conan Doyle and Dashiell Hammett to have this vague idea of detective work as elegant and glamorous which is why, on receiving her redundancy payment from her local government job, she decides to set up in business. She goes to the spy shop and buys wires, tape-recording pens and hidden cameras, but little does she realise that her expectations of the job are going to be revealed as mere delusions.

Private detecting isn't glamorous or elegant. The everyday heartbreak behind the stories of missing people, the snooping and hanging around, these are the bread and butter of her job. But the most popular request by far for a reasonably attractive young woman is to act as a honeytrap, luring in men suspected of infidelity.

Tilly isn't comfortable with this role, but she accepts the challenge of finding out if tango teacher Norman has been getting horizontal with his dance partners. I have to admit, it isn't something I could do as a job, but it will always be something I love to read about.

And my favourite fictional gumshoe? Well, it's elementary, I suppose, but it has to be Sherlock for me - whether the full-on Victorian deerstalker version, or the recent BBC version with its cleverly updated incarnation. How about you?

It's her job to snare him, but this trap might be more complicated than she thought.

When Tilly went into business as a private detective, she thought it would be all brilliant deductive reasoning and car chases. She was not prepared for the deluge of calls from suspicious lovers hiring her to entrap their love rat partners, but when times are hard, you take what's on offer - which is how, despite two left feet, she came to find herself learning the Argentine tango.

But is the tango teaching lothario all he seems to be? And when he makes his hot Latin moves on her, will she really be able to stay professional and resist them?


Tilly finds herself tangled up in the tango, hot on the tail of a mystery. She even manages to fit in a car chase, though the brilliant deductive reasoning doesn't work out so well. But where her brain might miss out, her body certainly doesn't. They don't call sex the horizontal tango for nothing, it seems.
( Reader Advisory: This book contains a spanking scene and light voyeurism and exhibitionism in relation to sex in a car. )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Thanks for dropping by, Justine! And frankly, if I hadn't already been sold on the book, that reader advisory would have made me more than interested *wink.*
Make sure to stop by Total-E-Bound to purchase the book ( click HERE for the direct link).
And stop by Justine's website to see all the steamy books she's written.

Happy Reading!
~!~ Amanda ~!~

Quickie Review of "Blood Prophecy" by Stefan Petrucha

Why this book?: It caught my eye at the library while browsing the newly purchased titles.
Disclaimer: Library book.
Type: Science Fiction/Fantasy, Stand-alone, Vampires, Historical Paranormal Fiction, Mythology
From the back of the book: His name is Jeremiah Fall. A soldier of fortune, he has been fighting his own war for 150 years - ever since the beast in him was born. Desperate to restore his lost humanity, Fall crosses the sands of Egypt, discovers a lost city off the coast of France, and finally arrives at the birthplace of all mankind. Shunning daylight and feeding only when he must, he battles the monster who transformed him forever. He can share his deepest secret with no one... not even the beautiful woman he starts to love, the only human who grasps the mysteries of an ebony stone as old as creation itself.
Across the world, across time, Fall seeks the stone's secret. But has he found a cure for himself or unleashed a final curse on all mankind.

Quickie Review: Jeremiah Fall - about halfway through this book I realized I was falling in love with you. You're such a classic hero, and yet not all at the same time. All Jeremiah's vampiric life he has searched for a way to cure what he has become, how to end his eternal fight with his own personal beast. But yet, when an end presents itself, Fall will fight this vast nothing for with all he's worth. He seeks an end to existance - but his existance, not the rest of the world as well. Fall possessed quite a few Angel-like qualities, feeding on animals as opposed to humans, fighting his beast's urges. But yet, Fall is so much grittier, so much more apart than Angel was. To keep himself from hurting anyone, Fall remains separate from the world, spending his time fighting as a mercenary if it means gaining the favor of an ally he needs in his quest for a cure, and when not fighting - researching.

Fall's story is heartbreaking, passionate, and so real. When Fall managed to feel emotional pain and loss throught the beast's veil, I too felt that pain. The author, Stefan Petrucha, did an amazing job with this book, and I hope to read more by him in the future. I absolutely loved Fall, and I loved the setting and mythology Petrucha created.

Recommendation: Fans of gritty Historical Paranormal Fiction will love "Blood Prophecy."

Final Rating: FOUR POINT FIVE out of FIVE (4.5/5). Excellent. Couldn't put it down.

Pick up a copy of "Blood Prophecy" from Amazon.com today. Have you read this book? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Happy Reading,
~!~ Amanda ~!~

GIVEAWAY: "Stolen Dreams" by Stacey Kennedy

Please help me welcome author Stacey Kennedy as she drops by Novel Addiction as part of her Book Lovin' Bitches Virtual Blog Tour! And to celebrate, Stacey has offered up one ecopy of her book "Stolen Dreams" for one lucky winner's enjoyment.

 About the book: Tess Jennings has the ability to see and talk to spirits. On a daily basis, they harass and annoy her to save their souls. Sometimes she helps, other times she ignores them, but one ghost will give her no choice. Kipp McGowan, a cop with the Memphis Police Department, uses his ghostly charms to gain her attention and forces her to expose herself to his partner.



As she’s pulled into the five year old cold case of Hannah Reid she wants no part of, she finds herself in more than one precarious situation. But that’s the least of her worries―Tess begins to have a serious problem on her hands. Kipp might be dead, but he’s drop-dead gorgeous and she’s beginning to forget that he’s a ghost.


Murder and corruption has brought Tess and Kipp together. But as her feelings for Kipp deepen, she suspects she just signed herself up for a one-way ticket to the nut house, and can only hope, straitjackets come in a size four.
Find Stacey Kennedy on the web: Her website
Learn more about Stacey: Bio
Her blog: Blog

RULES and GUIDELINES:
~ Contest begins today and ENDS Thursday 4/21 at 11:59PM.
~ Enter using the form below, comments are nice but do not count as an entry.
~ One winner will be chosen randomly and announced on the blog on 4/22.
~ One entry per person, all others will be deleted.



Happy Reading!
~!~ Amanda ~!~