Month: February 2013

Type in stats #2:

On By mikaelalindIn Uncategorized

This was supposed to go up earlier this week. Oops.

Number of words typed in/added:

2300 words.  It is going much slower this week, but part of the reason is that I am writing basically new scenes.  The information in the scenes was there in the handwritten pages, but I am changing how it happens.  Which also has the upside of making the MC more active.

Number of Oops discovered:

Zero. Which I am sure will change later on.

Number of times I dithered about something:

1.

Favorite line:

” I stared at Annukki’s  gray face, forever caught in a surprised mask. Annukki, kindhearted, happy, Annukki was dead. I stumbled backwards, the only thing on my mind that I needed to get away.”

Embarrassment of Riches: February roundup

On By MikaelaIn Uncategorized

While I have been pretty good about reading the new books I have bought, I have been less good about reading books eligible for this challenge.  But then I am a fast reader. :).  I did read four books, or at least tried to read them.


The Werewolf Upstairs by Ashley Chase:

This is a paranormal romance that have been in my TBR pile for ages.  I have started to read it several times, but never finished it.  This time I did finish the book, but I will not get the rest of the series. For several reasons. Primarily because I didn’t care about the characters. 


No one lives twice by Julie Moffet:

This is a mystery that I bought last year.  It is supposed to be witty and funny, but to me it just feels bland. So I give up. It will remain DNF until I purge it from my calibre library. 


How to Not make a wish by Mindy Klasky:

Like the other two, this was a book that was supposed to be light and funny, but to me it just felt bland. DNF.  Again.

The Gift by Tiffany Reisz:

This was a short story that Harlequin offered in December last year. While I liked it, I didn’t like the choice the heroine made at the end, so I will not get the full length novels. 
But I am more or less on track, so Yay for that :). 

Giveaway: Bladesong by J. C. Daniels

On By MikaelaIn Book Recommendations1 Comment

I am giving away two copies of J.C. Danielsexcellent Urban Fantasy Blade Song.   The giveaway ends on Sunday March 3, and the winners will also be announced on Sunday.  To enter, just leave a comment with your e-mail and if you prefer Kindle or Smashwords.

Kit Colbana—half breed, assassin, thief, jack of all trades—has a new job: track down the missing ward of one of the local alpha shapeshifters. It should be a piece of cake.
So why is she so nervous? It probably has something to do with the insanity that happens when you deal with shifters—especially sexy ones who come bearing promises of easy jobs and easier money.
Or maybe it’s all the other missing kids that Kit discovers while working the case, or the way her gut keeps screaming she’s gotten in over her head. Or maybe it’s because if she fails—she’s dead.
If she can stay just one step ahead, she should be okay. Maybe she’ll even live long to collect her fee…

Review: Fated by Benedict Jacka

On By MikaelaIn Book Recommendations, reviews

The Particulars:  Urban Fantasy, Ace (US)/ Orbit (UK), available in Print and e-book

The Source: Purchased at Sf bokhandeln ( Swedish edition)

The Grade: B-

The Blurb:
Alex Verus is part of a world hidden in plain sight, running a magic shop in London. And while Alex’s own powers aren’t as showy as some mages, he does have the advantage of foreseeing the possible future–allowing him to pull off operations that have a million-to-one-chance of success.

But when Alex is approached by multiple factions to crack open a relic from a long-ago mage war, he knows that whatever’s inside must be beyond powerful. And thanks to his abilities, Alex can predict that by taking the job, his odds of survival are about to go from slim to none…

The Review:

I have wanted to read this ever since I saw it on the swedish publishers webpage. I know I could have bought the book in English, but I wanted to support the Swedish publisher for translating Urban Fantasy.

The World that Alex Verus lived in felt refreshing and belivable. The fact that nothing was black and white felt refreshing. The tension between light mages and dark mages felt realistic.  What I liked was that the conflict was based on so many things, from history to different ethics. As a result of this, everyone in the book had their own agendas. And I loved it.

I liked the fact that we got glimpses of Alex past in the book. But what I loved the most was the fact that he was a seer. It felt refreshing, yet totally logical in the way he used his gifts. I also loved the fact that he mostly of all wanted to live a quiet life.
Luna.. .I loved Luna. She was human, but with a twist.   I felt for her as she was pulled into the search for the fateweaver. Said search led them to some fascinating characters. I shuddered when they met Arachne. She might be friendly but I am glad I don’t live in Alex Verus version of London.

The plot was delightfully twisty.  Alex was in a“ damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation” from the start, and I loved it. It fascinating to follow how he was dragged into opening the fateweaver’s vault.  Alex slowly pieced the clues together, and the more he found out the deeper into trouble he got.   Despite all this, what I missed in the book was a sense of the stakes raising. No matter how much the bad guys threatened Alex, I never felt he was in danger. But it might have been something that was lost in the translation.

Out Now: Mountain Echoes by C.E Murphy

On By MikaelaIn Uncategorized

You can never go home again.

Joanne Walker has survived an encounter with the Master at great personal cost, but now her father is missing – stolen from the timeline. She must finally return to North Carolina to find him – and to meet Aidan, the son she left behind long ago.

That would be enough for any shaman to face, but Joanne’s beloved Appalachians are being torn apart by an evil reaching forward from the distant past. Anything that gets in its way becomes tainted – or worse.

And Aidan has gotten in the way.

Only by calling on every aspect of her shamanic powers can Joanne pull the past apart and weave a better future. It will take everything she has – and more. Unless she can turn back time..

 Go forth and buy it at Amazon and BN ( or your local bookstore)

C.E Murphy has also lowered the price of No Dominion  for 4.99 for the e-book for 3 days on Amazon and BN . ( The paper version is also on sale, but I am not sure if the correct price shows for me.  *scowls at Amazon*)  I *highly* recommend that you get both of them at the same time, since if you haven’t No Dominion read  you will want to when you reach the end of Mountain Echoes.  

Three recent trends in Romance that annoys me

On By MikaelaIn Uncategorized

The 50 Shade esque covers:

 I am really, really tired of the 50 shades inspired covers. Or actually, what I am most tired of is the fact the publishers seems to not think about the fact that the cover is supposed to tell something about the book. But, I guess it is cheaper to photograph a fruit or a shoe, than arranging a photoshoot with a couple. ( Oh, and fruits makes me think about food, not romance.)
Or maybe I am just old fashioned.

The Smalltown trend:

I like contemporary romance, but I am a bit tired of the fact that lately all of them seems to be set in small towns.  Yes, I get that they are quaint, and that authors like to use them as setting since they have a lot of hidden conflicts and secrets. But guess what? That’s the case for every residencial area, no matter if it is just a block or if it is a town. So, how about expanding the views and using a city or a suburb as the setting.

The Alpha Billionaire jackass trend:

 I love strong, caring Alpha males, both Doms and non-Doms.   The keyword is caring for me, since without the caring, they are just jerks.   That said, if an author shows WHY the hero is a jerk, I am much more forgiving.  If not, I’ll pass. And I am unlikely to read another book by that author, unless it is an autobuy author. 

Friday Bargains: Only print books

On By MikaelaIn Book Recommendations

Normally, most of my bargains are e-books. Not today. I just discovered Book depository’s bargain bin and thought I would high light some deals.  NOTE: Some of these are for the UK editions, which are more expensive than the US edition.

They have Cursed by Benedict Jacka. If you like Urban Fantasy, without any romance, I HIGHLY recommend this, I have a review of it scheduled for next week. 

The Uk edition of Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison is discounted to 4.50 Euro, which means a 66% discount.  Great book.

They also have great deals on Larissa Ione.  I liked the only book by her I have read, and I think I’ll re-read it before buying any more.

They also offers a handful of midseries novels by Keri Arthur, which made me a bit bummed since I have wanted to read her, but if you need to catch up this is a great chance.

Amazon have discounted the pre-order of High Passion by Vivian Arend to 4.69. 
They have also discounted the pre-order for the Print version of Silver Mine to 9 dollar.

Cover reveal: The Portals duology by Laura Anne Gilman

On By MikaelaIn Uncategorized

Look what Laura Anne Gilman just posted at her blog. Aren’t they GORGEOUS? I am itching to request them at Netgalley ( and host a giveaway in October.)  Heart of Briar is available for pre-order at Book Depository.

The blurb for Heart of Briar: “He has been taken. And you are his only chance.” That wasn’t something Jan expected to hear-especially from strangers who’d just rescued her from some mysterious and ferocious creatures. And she really hadn’t expected her rescuers to be shape-shifters…. Now it turns out her boyfriend, Tyler, hasn’t gone missing, he’s been stolen-and Jan’s the only one who might be able to get him back. From Elfland. Yeah, Jan’s pretty sure the entire world’s gone crazy. Even if the shifters claim that the naturals (like her) and the supernaturals (like them) belong in this world…but the preternaturals, what humans call elves, don’t. And they’ve found a portal into our world. A doorway they can use to infiltrate, to take, to conquer. And now Jan’s not just Ty’s only hope-she’s got to rescue humanity, as well….

Utter randomness

On By mikaelalindIn Uncategorized

Yesterday, I realised that my winter boots were hiking boots, and not the kind to be used during winter. Oops.   I think I’ll buy new ones since they are 5 years old, and I think the soles are getting too worn for winter use. Especially this time of the year.

Oh. And I got a B-12 shot. Which means I actually have energy to do things, like searching for a job. And read the ARCs that I received through Netgalley. ( Intrestingly enough, I feel more creative with low B-12 levels.  O_O. But being a little bit less creative is a small price to pay.)

And I am going to see another play tonight, which will be fun :).  And the big national book sale starts next week! I plan to use up my giftcard at Dito then.  Although so far I have mostly bought fantasy books that have been on my wishlist.