What are you reading (7)?

It's Monday! What are you reading this week? is a weekly event now hosted by One Persons Journey Through a World Of Books. It's helpful way to take a look at what you have read and what you want to read!

It's been a really busy week for me and I'm slowly working my way out of my reading slump. I'm looking forward to a successful week of reading ahead. Work is slowing down because everyone is back from vacation tomorrow and with the time change, it'll stay lighter in the evenings so I won't feel like going to bed at eight! Also, I'm hoping to go back to the gym and start working out again. I was really lazy this winter and need to get back moving. That's another hour a day where I can go ahead and read and relax (well not really relax...larger people like myself tend to turn bright red and pant but heck that can be relaxing...right???)!

I finished three books this past week, all of which I quite enjoyed:

1. Cooking Up Murder - Miranda Bliss
2. The Darkest Night - Gena Showalter
3. Aunt Dimity's Death - Nancy Atherton (review coming soon)

All three of these were the start to series, and one was really out of my comfort zone but I really enjoyed it. For next week, I'm going to keep four books from last week and add a few more. I know I won't get to all of these, but I like to have some variety to choose from. It keeps me from getting bored with my selections!

Here's what's up this week:

1. Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor - Stephanie Barron: pick from last week
2. Night Pleasures - Sherrilyn Kenyon: pick from last week
3. The Rest Falls Away - Colleen Gleason: pick from last week
4. Bitten - Kelley Armstrong: pick from last week
5. Murder on the Menu - Miranda Bliss: The second in the Cooking Class Mystery series. I'm anxious to see where Bliss takes Annie and Jim's relationship and what kind of trouble the girls get themselves into this time!
6. The Darkest Kiss - Gena Showalter: Really excited about reading this! I can't wait to read Lucien's story. I should have read these books a long time ago!
7. A Hunger Like No Other - Kresley Cole: I've heard good things about this series. Has anyone read this or the others in this series? I thought I'd give it a try since I enjoyed The Darkest Night.
8. Aunt Dimity and the Duke - Nancy Atherton: This is such a cute series and I really enjoyed the first one. Aunt Dimity is so cute. However, I've heard this one is a bit different then the others in the series so I'll have to see.

So that's it for me this coming week. I'm buckling down and reading my entire lunch hour this week and making sure I get in a least an hour on the tread mill every day. That should put a dent in this TBR pile, shouldn't it?

Hope everyone has a happy reading week! Can't wait to see what you'll be reading this week!

Review: The Darkest Night

Title: The Darkest Night
Author: Gena Showalter
Pages: 374
Rating: 3.5/5

All her life, Ashlyn Darrow has been tormented by voices from the past. To end the nightmare, she has come to Budapest seeking help from men rumored to have supernatural abilities, not knowing she'll be swept into the arms of Maddox, their most dangerous member--a man trapped in a hell of his own.

Neither can resist the instant hunger that calms their torments...and ignites an irresistible passion. But every heated touch and burning kiss will edge them closer to destruction--and a soul-shattering test of love....(www.bn.com)

This book was so different then anything I've read in a long time, and I really liked it. I'm looking forward to reading the next books in the series, and really look forward to seeing how Showalter tells the stories of the other Lords. They are such tortured souls!

The Lords of the Underworld have been cursed by the gods for opening Pandora's box and releasing the horrendous demons trapped inside. For centuries, they have existed, each living with a different demon trapped inside him including Violence, Wrath, Pain, and Disease. However, Maddox, the keeper of Violence has cursed for all eternity for killing Pandora. Every night at midnight he is stabbed six times in the stomach and spends the rest of the night in the depths of hell being burned alive. Man, does that make for one tortured "hero."

Ashlyn, our heroine, was born with the rare talent of being able to hear every conversation that took place in a specific location, no matter how long ago it occured. I thought Ashlyn was a weak character and one of the reason's I didn't give the book higher than a 3.5. For some reason I found her to be a bit whiny and wishy washy (nice description huh?). She just didn't grab ahold of me, and a part of me didn't really care what happened to her.

Despite my slight dislike for Ashlyn, I really enjoyed the story that this book had to tell. It definitely kept me on the edge of my seat, and I flew through the pages. I wanted to see what would happen to Maddox and how is story would be concluded. I really liked the ending and how in regard to the other Lords it was left open. I'll definitely be picking up book two soon.

THE FULL ECLIPSE TRAILER!!

It truly speaks for itself:

Blog Awards!

I have to say I am super excited about this post. In the past week I've received TWO blog awards!!! I just want to thank everyone for thinking of me and handing out these awards!

And here they are:

From Cathy at Minding the Middle, I received the One Lovely Blog Award.

Ta Da!



I'm passing the award on so here's the rules:

If you are in the list, please follow the rules:

1. Put this on your blog, whether as an entirely new post like I'm doing, or on your sidebar.

2. Choose 15 other newly discovered bloggers that you love, and award them with this.

3. Send them a message/comment to let them know.

• Sheila @ One Persons Journey Through Books
• Mari @ Bookworm With a View
• Lori @ The Ladybug Lounge
• Alaine @ Queen of Happy Endings
• Jessica @ Cover to Cover
• Becky @ Page Turners
• Natalie @ This Purple Crayon
• Kay @ Dead Book Darling
• Aths @ Reading on a Rainy Day
• Jennifer @ Reading With Tequila
• Sarah @ Along for the Ride
• Kate @ The Never Ending Shelf
• Dahlia @ The Book Shopaholic
• Katie @ Katie's Book Blog
• Chelsea @ The Page Flipper

Congrats to everyone :)

I also received The Prolific Blogger Award from T at Reading Schtuff.

I really like this graphic:

Here's the lowdown:

A Prolific Blogger is one who is intellectually productive… keeping up an active blog that is filled with enjoyable content.

1. Every winner of the Prolific Blogger Award has to pass on this award to at least seven other deserving prolific bloggers. Spread some love!

2. Each Prolific Blogger must link to the blog from which he/she has received the award.

3. Every Prolific Blogger must link back to This Post, which explains the origins and motivation for the award. Passing it on to:

And the Award goes to:

• Nely @ All About {n}
• Lauren @ Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf
• Jennifer @ YA Book Nerd
• Katrina @ Bloody Bad
• Tina @ Tina's Book Reviews
• Eleni @ La Femme Readers
• Carrie @ Carrie's YA Bookshelf

So congrats to all the winners and thanks again!!

Review: Cooking Up Murder

Title: Cooking Up Murder

Author: Miranda Bliss

Pages: 233

Rating: 4/5

Annie and Eve are life-long best friends who have absolutely nothing in common-except a lack of skill in the kitchen. So when they sign up for a cooking class at the local gourmet shop, they figure the only things at risk are a few innocent fruits and vegetables. But on the first night, Annie and Eve see their fellow student Beyla arguing with a man-a man who later turns up dead in the parking lot. Now the friends feel bound to uncover whatever secrets she's hiding, before someone else's goose-perhaps one of their own-gets cooked (amazon.com).

What a cute read!

I've never really jumped aboard the "cozy" mystery train before. I've bought a few here or there, but haven't really picked any up and given them a chance yet. However, I'm really glad I read Cooking Up Murder and I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

Annie Capshaw and Eve Decauter have been friends almost their entire lives. Annie is recovering from a horrible divorce and Eve feels like the best way to help is by signing them both up for cooking classes. The bad thing is, Eve is the worst chef in the history of chefs (literally...lol). However, their instructor Jim has lots of patience and he's absolutely delicious to look at so it makes the class that much better.

After their first night of class, Annie and Eve discover a body in the parking lot of the cooking school and from there the ride begins. And what a fun ride it was! I absolutely adored the character of Annie Capshaw and could relate to her in so many ways. And Eve was the perfect best friend. Her personality is so different from Annie's but together they made one heck of a detective team.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the girls' detective skills improve and where Bliss takes Annie's relationship with Jim. Currently there are five books in the series, the most recent published in December of 2009. All the books have a cooking them and come with lots of yummy recipes. I can't wait to try the recipe for "Eve's Baked Apples" that is in the back of Cooking Up Murder. I'll have to let everyone know how that turns out!!

Eclipse Teaser Trailer!!

Summit Entertainment released the first "teaser" trailer for Eclipse which opens on June 30th 2010. I cannot wait!! Here's the trailer:



Hmmm, I know I'm all about Team Edward, but I have to say Jacob looks awfully nice there...

Waiting on Wednesday (3)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

I am super excited about my pick this week and cannot wait for this book to come out. I'm counting down the days on the calender!!

Rules of Attraction

Author: Simone Elkeles

Release Date: April 13, 2010

When Carlos Fuentes returns to America after living in Mexico for a year, he doesn’t want any part of the life his older brother, Alex, has laid out for him at a high school in Colorado . Carlos likes living his life on the edge and wants to carve his own path—just like Alex did. Then he meets Kiara Westford. She doesn’t talk much and is completely intimidated by Carlos’ wild ways. As they get to know one another, Carlos assumes Kiara thinks she’s too good for him, and refuses to admit that she might be getting to him. But he soon realizes that being himself is exactly what Kiara needs right now.

This is the sequel to Perfect Chemistry which I read last year and reviewed here. It was probably one of my absolute favorite reads in 2009, and I'm hoping the sequel is just as good. Plus to make things even better, the book trailer was released today.

Here's a peak:



Doesn't that look good? What are you waiting for today?