Happy Holidays!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!! I hope you have a great day and that you're surrounded by the most important people in your life and that Santa brings you lots of presents, joy and love.

I'm sorry I've been missing, but I managed to injure my hand in the most idiotic way imaginable: while cooking. Don't ask, 'cause I'm just too embarrassed to say anything about it. Just know that I couldn't type with just one healthy hand, which also happened to be my left, non-dominant one. But I'm better now and I promise to go back to the normal program starting tomorrow.

Now go have fun and open lots of prezzies :D

12 Days of 2012: Day 4 Best New For Me Authors

BEST NEW FOR ME AUTHORS

At the end of 2011 I decided to sign up for a lot of reading challenges. One of them was New Author Reading Challenge hosted by Jackie @ Literary Escapism. I had a very good time completing that challenge. I discovered a lot of great authors through it. These are my top 10 new for me authors:

1. Julie Kagawa
2. Amber Garr
3. Richelle Mead
4. Resa Nelson
5. Kelley Armstrong
6. Mary Parker
7. Helen Smith
8. Marissa Meyer
9. L. Filloon
10. Sherri Hayes

If you want to see the complete list of the new authors, go here. As always, keep in mind that there are many other authors from that list that won me over with their stories :D

15 Opening Lines - My Favorite Books

A few days ago I saw a list with 21 classic opening lines in books and out of all the books mentioned I've only read 2: Pride and Prejudice and Harry Potter. I wonder, why doesn't someone make a list like that with books I actually love? Not that the two I've read from that list aren't good and among my favorite, but there should be more. Anyway, I decided to make my own list, though a tad shorter (just 15 books). I've included both YA and adult books and I'll have a +18 for books with explicit language. Feel free to add more if you want:

1. "This story is about a man named Eddie and it begins at the end, with Eddie dying in the sun" -  The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom
2. "Amy Jo Foster had loved Cord McKay her entire life" - Cowgirl Up and Ride by Lorelei James (+18)
3. "Pippin looked out from the shelter of Gandalf's cloak" - The Return of the King by J.R.R Tolkien
4. "Zarek leaned back in his seat as the helicopter took off" - Dance With The Devil by Sherrilyn Kenyon (+18)
5. "I am the vampire Lestat" - The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice (+18)
6. "What fresh humiliation does this day bring?" - Lothaire by Kresley Cole (+18)
7. "He hated the forest" - Stolen by Kelley Armstrong (+18)
8. "Still in bed, Lucas eyed the screen on his furiously blinking pager" - Seven Days for an Eternity by Marc Levy
9. ''It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.'' - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
10. "The two men appeared out of nowhere, a few yards apart in the narrow, moonlit lane" - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K Rowling
11. "I found the note taped to my door when I got home from work." - Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris (+18)
12. "I never thought I would beg for death." - Arise by Amber Garr
13. "Goddamn it, Zsadist! Don't jump—"- Lover Awakened by J.R. Ward (+18)
14. "From the river, it looked as if two suns were setting over London " - Interred with Their Bones by Jennifer Lee Carrell
15. "Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer's wife." - The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

12 Days of 2012: Day 3 Best Book Couples

 BEST BOOK COUPLES

Hey everyone! Today is a new day of lists *yay*. As you know, I'm a big fan of anything romance. I'm not ashamed to say it even in real life and I never hide the book I'm reading (if I get weird looks, I always respond with "hey, at least I'm reading".) But that's not the point.

Over the course of this year I've fallen madly in love with some couples. They make me laugh, cry, cringe and sometimes very, very mad. But mostly happy. I read about them and my day just gets better. I'm going to share the top 10 couples that I've read about this year. Before I start, I'll let you know that I'm only going to talk about the main characters of the book/s or series. I'll leave secondary characters and couples alone (even though there is one couple of secondary characters that I adore, but I'm afraid that would be spoilerish). Oh, one other thing. I know I say "top 10" and they're all numbered, but believe me when I say that: 1. the order is completely unimportant, I love them all like crazy and 2. there are so many more couples that I loved to read about in 2012, but I can't list them all, sorry.

So here it goes:

1. Rose & Dimitri - Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy) by Richelle Mead - She's funny, smart, sarcastic, he looks great (at least in my imagination) and he has GREAT taste in music. What more can you wish for? (read my review here)
2. Elena & Clayton - Bitten (Women of the Otherworld) by Kelley Armstrong - I love werewolves. I have other reasons to love this couple, but I'll keep it simple :D (read my review here)
3. Keely & Jack - All Jacked Up (Rough Riders) by Lorelei James - The wild McKay girl finds her match! I've reread this book many times, but I can never get tired of it. 
4. Anna & Kai - Sweet Evil (The Sweet Evil Trilogy) by Wendy Higgins - They complete each other in a way that is so cute and sexy at the same time. (read my review here)
5. Gin & Owen - Venom (Elemental Assassins) by  Jennifer Estep - I love them together. And Owen is a really great guy, unlike "Look-at-me-I-have-no-spine" Donovan Caine.
6. Eviana & Kain - Arise (The Syrenka) by Amber Garr - I was surprised by this couple, because I didn't think they were a great match in the beginning. But now I have to say that I couldn't have imagined a different ending to their story. (read my review here)
7. Jaime & Jeremy - No Humans Involved (Women of the Otherworld) by Kelley Armstrong - Do I need to say why? I know it will surprise you, but I really love Jeremy *giggles* That is, in case you didn't know already :P (read my review here)
8. Mana & Vaughn - A Feast of Souls (Araneae Nation) by Hailey Edwards- Can't say the whys,  because this book just came out yesterday and not many managed to read it so fast, I think. It's just that their story has a favorite element of mine :D (read my review here)
9. Ellie & Lothaire - Lothaire (Immortals After Dark) by Kresley Cole - Lothaire *drool* And Ellie was very funny and smart. And she kept the big, bad-ass vampire on his toes :D (read my review here)
10. Sidney & Adrian - Bloodlines (Bloodlines) by Richelle Mead - I might not have liked Adrian so much in the Vampire Academy series (I had eyes only for Dimitri), but he's growing on me in Bloodlines. And I think he's perfect for Sidney.

What about you? Do you have a favorite couple or two or three that you read about this year?

12 Days of 2012: Day 2 Best Books from my TBR pile

Best Books from my TBR pile

I'm only sharing the top 5, because I haven't really managed to read too many books from my TBR pile this year. Then again, my TBR "pile" has now become a small island *sighs* And my wallet is sobbing. I can actually hear the poor thing sobbing whenever I enter a bookshop.

Anyway, here's my list:

1. Blood Promise - Richelle Mead - As I've told you before, I finally gave in and read this series. I loved it all, but since I have to choose, I have to say that this was my favorite from the entire series.
2. Eternal Rider - Larissa Ione - Ah, Ares... I can't express how much I loved him. I loved the entire series and (as I've said in the review for Rogue Rider) I loved Thanatos more. But I'm choosing Ares' story, because it's the first one in the series. Just know that I loved the entire series :D
3. Bitten - Kelley Armstrong (read my review here) - I actually have to thank Carmel from Rabid Reads and Lucy from Moonlight Gleam's Bookshelf for reading this series. I loved it so much and I'm sad that it's finished. I'm also a little bit angry with myself that I wasn't there from the very beginning. I love this series so much it's not even funny. Yes, I'm obsessed with it :p
4. Spider's Revenge - Jennifer Estep - So far, I feel like this is the best book of the Elemental Assassin series. I loved it and I could finally see some of the things I was hoping for to happen becoming reality in this book.
5. No Humans Involved - Kelley Armstrong (read my review here) - Jeremy and Jaime. But mostly Jeremy. Nekkid Jeremy *le sigh* 

If you'd like to see what other books from my TBR monster-pile I read in 2012, head here. I haven't finished all the reviews for them, sorry for that. 

So, what books from your TBR list did you love more?

Book Review: Web Of Lies by Jennifer Estep

Author: Jennifer Estep
Series: Elemental Assassin #2
Publisher: Pocket Books
Release Date: May 25th 2010
My Rating: 3.5 cups
Blurb (from Goodreads):

Curiosity is definitely going to get me dead one of these days. Probably real soon.

I'm Gin Blanco.

You might know me as the Spider, the most feared assassin in the South. I’m retired now, but trouble still has a way of finding me. Like the other day when two punks tried to rob my popular barbecue joint, the Pork Pit. Then there was the barrage of gunfire on the restaurant. Only, for once, those kill shots weren’t aimed at me. They were meant for Violet Fox. Ever since I agreed to help Violet and her grandfather protect their property from an evil coalmining tycoon, I’m beginning to wonder if I’m really retired. So is Detective Donovan Caine. The only honest cop in Ashland is having a real hard time reconciling his attraction to me with his Boy Scout mentality. And I can barely keep my hands off his sexy body. What can I say? I’m a Stone elemental with a little Ice magic thrown in, but my heart isn’t made of solid rock. Luckily, Gin Blanco always gets her man . . . dead or alive.

This was an interesting continuation of Gin's story. I'd really like to start by showing the middle finger to a certain annoying character. But more on that later.

I like that we learn more about Fletcher's past. We start to understand more about him. I have a feeling it would have been nice to have him around, to have more time with him. I'm still pretty sad that he had to die *pout*

Finn is always such an entertaining character. He's very funny and I like how he's constantly flirting with each and every woman around him. I kind of want to see if he'd have what it takes to flirt with Mab Monroe. That would be an interesting scene, right? Anyway, he's always fun and easy going and I love him to death.

I want to know more about the Devereaux sisters. I think there's a big mystery behind them and I want to find out what that is. But I like how Jo-Jo always has advice for everyone. And she always gave me the impression of... the wise old lady. Not that she's old (at least in the series) but she's very wise. Her sister is still a big mystery to me. I'm waiting for that to be unveiled.

Here comes the not so fun part of my review. First, I said I wanted to show the middle finger to a character. That would be Donovan "Spineless" Caine. I hate him. It's really difficult to actually hate a character, but I do. I don't want to ever, ever, ever read about him again. Ever!

One thing that bugged me a little while reading this book was that there were so many repetitions. I understand the need to remind readers of what happened in the previous books, but there is such thing as too much reminding. It did pull me a little from the story. I know what you're going to say, "skip those parts". I've had some other people say that to me many times. But you see, it's the same thing, really, because I know why I'm skipping a paragraph. It still pulls me out of the story and it still kind of ruins the moment if it makes sense. I would be so much happier without the repetitions.

The last thing that I'm still waiting to happen is for Gin to "look" like the big, bad-ass assassin she claims to be. I didn't feel like this was shown as much as it was told. Like we should take it for granted that she is one of the best assassins out there. She might be a bad-ass assassin, but I want to see her being one. I hope that makes sense.

Anyway, I'm starting to like this series. I know it doesn't seem like it, but I do. And (since I'm ahead with my reading) I am actually looking forward to what happens next in the series (can't tell you, because those are major spoilers ;) )