Some New Covers I Recently Discovered

Briarwood IS the pretty poison! There IS no cure for Briarwood!

That line from Daughter of the Blood holds a WHOLE new meaning for me now!! LMAO! And even though I am not enjoying my new job, it is still a MUCH better place than the other Briarwood.

But on to other happier things, I discovered this new cover art for the next Crosspointe book by Diana Pharaoh Francis yesterday. I've been waiting for this one. I think she has beautiful covers, and is an amazing writer. And the wait isn't too much longer. It'll be out in June!


There is one other book that I am totally psyched to get also. Anna let me know about this one a few weeks ago. I'm usually up on these things, but this one got past me until she told me about it. The fourth GA Aiken Dragon Kin book is scheduled to release in September! She is so awesome! The best and funniest dragons I've ever read.

LAST DRAGON STANDING
Publisher: Kensington Zebra
Release Date: September 2010
Click here for excerpt

I know what they see when they look at me. The charming, soft-spoken dragoness bred from the most powerful of royal bloodlines. A disguise stronger than any battle shield that allows me to keep all suitors at tail's length. A technique that's worked until him. Until Ragnar the Cunning, handsome barbarian warlord and warrior mage from the desolate Northlands. Unlike those who've come before him, he does not simply submit to my astounding charm and devastating smile. Instead, he dismisses me as vapid, useless and, to my great annoyance, rather stupid!

Yet I'll allow no male to dismiss me. Soon he'll learn my worth, my many skills, and the strength of my will. For this one challenges me enough to make me want to ruthlessly taunt him, tease him and, finally, when the trap is set, bring him to his knees.

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Ohhh, doesn't that sound Gooood??? Keita the Viper and Ragnar the Cunning...this one's going to be quite entertaining. But I find them all engaging and humorous! Laugh-out-loud funny! Gwenvael and Dagmar are my favorite though. Gwenvael, poor misunderstood Gwenvael. How can you not like him??

I hope ya'll had a nice weekend. I really enjoyed mine, since I didn't have to work.

Until next time...

The Truths are Revealed...

I'm off today and I said I'd post the answers to my meme. Only one got them both right! Anna! The right statements were 1 and 7! I did live in Germany for 3 years, from 1985 to 1988. My step-dad was in the service and I went to 4th, 5th, and 6th grade there! Ahh there are so many memories that I treasure from that time in my life. There were lots of bad, but so many things that I hold dear to me. And the funny thing, right after I posted this meme, I discovered a group on Facebook that was started by a girl I went to school with. We were in the 5th grade together. I didn't remember her at first but as soon as she mentioned something we used to do together, I immediately remembered her. We were so bad! We used to sneak over to her house, well it was apartment buildigns we lived in, and we would smoke during school hours! She lived right across from the school. And then I found another friend, we were best friends through 5th and 6th grade! We were inseparable until we moved back state side. It was such an amazing feeling reuniting with these two women!

That castle up there, we used to live only a few minutes walk to it before we moved to Sportfield housing, which is where I met Brooke and Yamill. Me and my sister used to walk there a lot :). You had to wear these slippers over your shoes so that you didn't mar the floors when you went inside.

And below is a picture of Sportfield Housing that we lived in for over two years! I couldn't find any other pictures on the internet. I wanted to find one of the elementary school but I couldn't. It was just two rows of several very large apartment buildings. All inside a fenced in area. At one end was a wooden park and at the other was the elementary school. Across the street was one of the military posts, Pioneer Kaserne. My step-dad didn't work at that one though. He worked at Fliegerhurst Kaserne. I don't believe either one of them are in use today.
Hmm, I wonder if one of those is the building I lived in? I don't think so, but you never know. It was a long time ago!


Speaking of facebook, it brings me to the other right answer...I'm addicted to Cafe World! Yes, it's true. Totally addicted! I plan my cooking schedule based around the times I know I will be home so my food doesn't spoil! I have a routine down now. I don't even know why I like it. I don't like cooking! Which makes me wonder WHY I even took this job of mine cooking in an assisted living home!!! Sometimes I wonder where my brain is!!

For those of you that said 4, you were close. I made that one a little tricky! We did hit a deer two years ago on the way back from my Birthday outing, but last year, we only just missed hitting one. It was so close though! We had laughed and joked about how funny it would be if we hit another one, of course it wouldn't REALLY be funny, and then when we were just about home a deer ran out in front of us but we missed him! Talk about strange!!

Thanks for all your guesses! And since Blodeuedd was the first one to get one of the right answers, and Anna says she doesn't want anything, Blodeuedd is the winner! Of what I have no clue! LOL :P. Maybe a bookthong? I can get one mailed out to you soon :).

So there you have it, two things you didn't know about me :). I hope you all are enjoying your Wednesday. It's nice having the day off! I haven't done much of anything, but that's okay!

Until next time...

OH! And BTW, Donna, Dottie, Anna and my son Devin are the wait staff in my Cafe World Restaurant! So if you're a friend of mine on Facebook, you're gonna be working for me at some point ;). Linda, I've already hired and fired you, girl!

Truth or Lie Meme and other news...

Tracy tagged me a while ago for this Truth and Lies meme! Two of the below statements are true and eight of them are lies...can you guess the two that are true?? Took me awhile to think up some lies, but I did it, now it's your turn. And I thought to add a little prize to whomever may get the right answers. I don't know what the prize will be...a book, perhaps? I have plenty of those! I saw that Christine added a little contest to her meme post, so why not. It's always fun to win things. And if no one gets the right answers, well, we'll see :).

So, you pick two <---Kinda like at Panera Bread :P -- that you think are true!

1. I lived in Germany for 3 years.
2. I've been married twice.
3. When I was eight, I fell out of a tree and broke my arm.
4. We hit a deer two years in a row on our way home from my Birthday dinner outing.
5. I don't like books or reading...who has time for that?? I'd much rather sit and waste the day away watching the TV.
6. I was born and raised right here in Lockport, NY.
7. I am addicted to Cafe World on Facebook.
8. I have two kids...one with my current husband, and one with my previous husband.
9. I love to bake...cookies, cakes, pies, you name it, I bake it!
10. I am the youngest of my my other two siblings.

And now I have to tag 5 more people.

Anna
Ladybug
Leontine
Erotic Horizon
Donna

Of course, you don't have to play. Totally up to you :).

On to other news. I made it through my first week of work at Briarwood...still sounds funny to say that I work at a place called Briarwood! It was all right. A lot of stuff to remember and everyday is something different. But the months do repeat themselves, so eventually I'll get the hang of it all I suppose. It's tough when your the new person. Everyone already knows everyone and they know the residents. Sometimes it kinda makes me feel out of place when I have no idea who they're talking about.

It's been so long since I worked an eight hour shift, at least 15 years. Needless to say I was tired after work :). But I think I like it. I don't love it, but I like it. One thing really sucks, I'm left handed and most everything seems set up for a right handed person. I have to adjust to sometimes working backward. And then there are the right handed scoopers that I cannot use with one hand. Hopefully the supervisor will order me some left handed ones so that I don't have to use both my hands to press the lever! When your scooping up to 150 scoops, your hand gets tired when you can't do it the right way!

I'm still reading Haunting Warrior. Awesome book so far. It seems like I've been reading it forever! I just don't have that much time to read anymore :(. But I gotta say that Erin Quinn has a beautiful writing voice. She sure knows how to create an extremely vivid scene with her prose. This second one is tied in with the first one that came out last year, Haunting Beauty. Loved that one too!

And by the way...Happy Spring! It's not very warm today, but it's coming :). My spring flowers are a few inches out of the ground now. I forgot I planted them in my front yard garden last Spring! So I was pleasantly surprised last week when the snow all melted and I saw them peeking out of the ground.

Anything new with all of you? Any good reads?

Bookmark Winners!

Thank you all so much for stopping by and leaving a comment for some book thongs. I have two sets to giveaway! As shown in the picture below. (Book not included...:P)

And the winners are...

Becky and Dottie!

Congratulations to both of you! I hope you enjoy them!

Bookmarks...Bookmarks...and More Bookmarks!

I saw this post over at Ladybug's blog and since I love bookmarks, I thought I'd join in and share my collection of bookmarks, and maybe do a little shopping for some more and even enter for a chance to win some unique handmade bookmarks. You can learn more here! The Bibliophilic Book Blog is showcasing several different Etsy Stores that specialize in beautiful handmade bookmarks! You are bound to find one that you just gotta have!


This is one of my favorites that I made in honor of Daemon Sadi...otherwise known as the Sadist!

And this one is in honor of my blog! I found it browsing the internet one day and had to have it :).

And to celebrate this awesome day with The Bibliophilic Book blog, I thought to have a small giveaway myself for one of my handmade bookthongs as well as these really pretty ones that I picked up at Borders before my store closed. If you're interested just leave me a comment and a way to get in touch with you if your name should be picked. Might even have more than one winner :).

Shalador's Lady by Anne Bishop

Shalador's Lady
by Anne Bishop
March 2010

www.annebishop.com

Finally! I read and FINISHED a book! I wasn't sure if it was ever going to happen. I hadn't finished a book in almost two months :(. But leave it to Anne Bishop to pull me right out of my melancholic mood. I think my reading groove is back (and maybe even blogging).

Shalador's Lady is an outstanding conclusion to the fate of Dena Nehele and its people. And these two books, The Shadow Queen and Shalador's Lady are awesome follow-ups to The Invisible Ring, as it concludes the fate of the Shaladoran's after their fight and struggle that the influence of Dorothea, from the original trilogy, caused.

I have to admit that the first book in this duology, The Shadow Queen, had its weak moments for me, in that there was a lot of focus on older characters, taking away from the new ones, and I wondered if that weakness would continue. It did not! So many things I loved about this book. The characters, the Scelties, the way the old characters blended so perfectly into the plot with Cassidy and her court as she restores the Old Ways in Dena Nehele. And of course the relationship between Cassidy and Grey!

Cassidy and her first circle are front and center and they shine. Cassidy's fears of rejection still torment her as her rival, Kermilla, the self-centered vile Queen who stole her first court right out from under her, travels to Dena Nehele to ask Cassidy a favor. But what transpires due to Kermilla's presence drove this story and gave it depth. It allowed Cassidy to look within herself and at the men who have sworn to defend and protect her as her first circle is suppose to do, and realize that she is worth the loyalty they give her. And as they stand and fight for her, she must stand and fight for them.

One thing I do miss in the books since the original trilogy is that dark grittiness, those sometimes disturbingly gruesome scenes. I have not encountered that intensity in the last three novels, but that's not to say that I did not enjoy them. I did. Very much so. I love being given the opportunity to explore the Blood and the Magic that makes up the Black Jewels world, learning about different aspects of the people who live within the Realms.

This was definitely a remarkably amazing addition to my Black Jewels collection! If you're hesitant to read this one...DON'T BE!!

Shalador's Lady and it's predecessor, The Shadow Queen, is not the Black Jewels trilogy, but it is still a fascinating journey into the Realms of the Blood. I realized when I finished reading this one that my hang-up with the books since the original trilogy really are not warranted. I always find myself wanting to compare, but there is no comparison, and it's not fair to compare. And I think for me while I compared Tangled Webs and The Shadow Queen to the trilogy, I was missing out, not fully enjoying these new installments in the Realms. The trilogy will always stand apart and above. And I'm glad for that, because it continues to keep those three books on a level of wonderment for me. I don't compare other books by other authors to the trilogy so why should I with other books in this series?

Hell's Fire, Mother Night, and May the Darkness Be Merciful!

I do have some news that I gleaned from Anne Bishop at her signing. News about her next book. It's going to be another collection of short stories as with Dreams Made Flesh. The last story in the book is how Daemon copes without Jaenelle. Yes, that's right, without Jaenelle. It's something I had wondered about from time to time. You see, Jaenelle is not one of the long lived races, yet Daemon is. And even though Jaenelle is Witch, she is still mortal. So the last story in that collection is sure to rip my heart out :(. I asked Anne how it affected her to write that, if it made her cry, and all she said was that she was still in mourning. Sigh...Daemon without his Jaenelle! I just can't even imagine it :(. But like she did add, some things have to come to an end. It brings closure for her, as well as the reader. You can only go so far for so long with the same characters before you have to move on. It'll be interesting to read, without a doubt.

Until next time...