Giveaway: Must Love Hellhounds

About the book:

From New York Times bestselling authors Charlaine Harris and Nalini Singh and national bestselling authors Ilona Andrews and Meljean Brook, tales of man’s worst friend...In these hound-eat-hound worlds, anything goes… and everything bites.

Follow paranormal bodyguards Clovache and Batanya into Lucifer’s realm, where they encounter his fearsome four-legged pets, in Charlaine Harris’s The Britlingens Go to Hell. Seek out a traitor in the midst of a guild of non- lethal vampire trackers, one that intends to eradicate the entire species of bloodsuckers, in Nalini Singh’s Angels’ Judgment. Find out why the giant three-headed dog that guards the gates of Hades has left the underworld for the real world—and whose scent he’s following—in Ilona Andrews’s Magic Mourns. Embark on a perilous search for the kidnapped niece of a powerful vampire alongside her blind— and damn sexy—companion and a hellhound in Meljean Brook’s Blind Spot. These four novellas by today’s hottest paranormal authors will have hellhound lovers everywhere howling.

Click here for my review.

I have the opportunity to share this book with TWO lucky winners!

Contest end date: October 20th, 2009

Contest rules:

• you MUST BE A FOLLOWER to join


• open to CANADIAN addresses only please


• leave a comment with your email address as I will contact the winner by email. Should you win, you have 48 hrs to respond, otherwise I will pick another winner.


• Additional entries:



+1 for promoting the contest on your blog

+1 for referring a friend (just get them to mention your name & blog)

Good luck everyone!!

Review: Must Love Hellhounds

Must Love Hellhounds

Recommended for: fans of fantasy, Ilona Andrews, Charlaine Harris, Nalini Singh, Meljean Brook

My rating: 4/5

My thoughts:

A compilation of four short stories from four best-selling fantasy authors. Each story is under 100 pages and, as the title suggests, involves a hellhound. But this is where the simularity ends.

The Britlingens Go To Hell by Charlaine Harris.

Batanya & Clovache are two female body guards hired by a thief. During his recent stint in Hell, he left behind an item which will cost him his life and needs their help recovering it. Along they meet up with beasts & Lucifer, as well as Narcissus and Ameila Earhart (yes, the one you are thinking about!). The thief, well, he has a very special physical trait. This was the most unique story of them all. Sookie Stackhouse (True Blood) fans may be in for a surprise when they read this story.

Angels' Judgement by Nalini Singh

The Guild director has announced his retirement & has suggested Sara to be his replacement. Someone is killing vampires and its the job of the Guild to find out who. Unbeknowst to Sara, Deacon ('The Slayer') is sent to be her back her up. The most romantic story of them all from the author of Psy-Changeling and the Guild hunter series. I had not read anything by Singh before but that is about to change. I'm not normally a romance reader, but adding blood & vamps changes things ;)

Magic Mourns by Iiona Andrews

When the police can't help, people call The Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid. Andrea gets the call of a shapeshifter in trouble, grabs her gear and heads out. She finds Cerberus chasing a werehyena, Raphael, the guy who relentlessly calls her everyday. They work together to figure out why this hellhound is guarding a house and if it has anything to do with a missing body. My second favorite story in the book that uses two characters from Magic Strikes. I loved the blending of mythology with the apple story and the ending of this one.

Blind Spot by Meljean Brook

Ex-CIA operative, Maggie has taken on the job as a butler for a billionaire owner of a pharmaceutical company. Her employers niece, Katherine, has just been kidnapped and Maggie is sent, along with a hellhound, to meet her brother. Maggie's past may hold some clues to finding the kidnappers and as they set out to find Katherine, she discovers a fascinating family secret. My favorite of all short stories, a novella from her Guardian series. This story had just the right mix of romance & fantasy for me.

Click here for your chance to win a copy!

Giveaway: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

About the book:
Once in a generation a novel comes along that taps a vein of universal human experience, resonating with readers of all ages. THE LOVELY BONES is such a book -- a #1 bestseller celebrated at once for its artistry, for its luminous clarity of emotion, and for its astonishing power to lay claim to the hearts of millions of readers around the world.

"My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973."

So begins the story of Susie Salmon, who is adjusting to her new home in heaven, a place that is not at all what she expected, even as she is watching life on earth continue without her -- her friends trading rumors about her disappearance, her killer trying to cover his tracks, her grief-stricken family unraveling. Out of unspeakable tragedy and loss, THE LOVELY BONES succeeds, miraculously, in building a tale filled with hope, humor, suspense, even joy.

The major motion picture version of THE LOVELY BONES, directed by Peter Jackson and starring Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, and Saoirse Ronan is scheduled for release on December 11, 2009.

Click here for the movie trailer!

Alice Sebold is the author of three #1 bestselling books, the novels The Lovely Bones and The Almost Moon and the memoir Lucky. She lives in California with her husband, the novelist Glen David Gold.

I'm super excited to have the opportunity to giveaway 5 copies of this amazing book.

Contest end date: October 20th, 2009


Contest rules:

you MUST BE A FOLLOWER to join (It's super easy, just click on the follow box on the right hand side)

open to Canadian & US addresses only (no P.O. Boxes)

leave a comment with your email address as I will contact the winner by email. Should you win, you have 48 hrs to respond, otherwise I will pick another winner.

Additional entries:
+1 for promoting the contest on your blog
+1 for referring a friend (just get them to mention your name & blog)

Good luck everyone!!

Review: Have A Little Faith by Mitch Albom

Recommended for: everyone

Teaser Quote:
"Having more does not keep you from wanting more. And if you always want more - to be richer, more beautiful, more well known - you are missing the bigger picture, and I can tell you from experience, happiness will never come." (pg 101, ISBN 978-0-7868-6872-8)

My rating: 4/5

My thoughts:

Mitch is perplexed after being asked by his hometown Rabbi, Albert Lewis, to deliver his eulogy when the time came. He accepts but recognizes the need to get to know him as a man rather then just a Rabbi. During his meetings with Al, they explore important topics including marriage, forgiveness and the secret to happiness.

Throughout the book, we are shown the lives of two very different people: different religious backgrounds (a Rabbi and a Pastor), with very different pasts, in two very different neighborhoods. Each chapter sheds light on the life of either Mitch, Rabbi Albert Lewis or Pastor Henry Covington. Quickly, Mitch notices they aren't as different as they seem. Both men were living their lives trying to send the same message, that there is comfort in believing something bigger than yourself.

Another inspirational story written by the author of best-sellers Tuesday's With Morrie and For One More Day. Whether you are religious, or not, is irrelevant. After reading this book, you are left feeling how different the world would be if only we all a little less selfish and that change is always possible.

Mitch Albom's Official Website

Thoughtful Thursday - October 1, 2009

The wonderful world of books enriches our lives by giving us the opportunity to experience, well pretty much anything one can imagine! We can be transported to a new time or place, experience pure joy or extreme sadness, become a president or a slave etc. etc.
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This week I got struck with a darn cold and only read one book Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom: I became friends with my Rabbi and a Pastor and learned how important it is to give and not be so selfish.

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Where has your book taken you this week? What have you learned? Join in my weekly meme :) Don't forget to mention what book you read.