Line of Scrimmage by Marie Force

Line of Scrimmage by Marie Force is not only a fantastic read for the romance fan but also for the female sports fan. I found this story ripe with emotion, steadfast with passion and downright endearing. Ladies hold onto your hats cause this Line of Scrimmage is full of secret game plays.

Susannah Sanderson is a stunning blond who's had her fill of a one sided relationship. Marriage to a football superstar is marriage to the team and for Susannah it seems to be taking more than she can give.

Ryan Sanderson is superstar quarterback with three Superbowl wins under his belt but his ten years of marriage aren't quite getting him the awards that he needs. More money than he could possibly ever spend, good looks enough to snag any woman he wants, leaves this jock with happiness in his fantasy world and trouble in his real world.

Henry Merrill is an overly possessed, back stabbing creep who is so in love with Susannah that he sits on the sidelines waiting for his chance to pick up the pieces of her life as it shatters with her separation and upcoming divorce from her husband. Like a leach he sucks his way into her life and into a promise of marriage as soon as the divorce is final.

The story starts us out with Susannah and Henry having a dinner party with his parents to discuss their upcoming wedding. They have a short four weeks before they will be husband and wife and the only thing that can possibly go wrong is Susannah's court date in ten days. All is going well until her estranged husband decides to throw a money wrench into all of Susannah's carefully laid plans by showing up and saying, "Honey I'm home".

Ryan, Susannah and Henry immediately are in conflict over Ryan's presence and there is not a thing that can be done about it as the house still legally belongs to both Susannah and Ryan. Henry is put on the back burner so to speak for the immediate future and sparks of tension, anger and passion fly around our divorcing couple like flies around a rotten banana.

As the story plays out Ryan and Susannah go on a roller coaster ride of blackmail, love and anger, tears and laughter, trust and distrust, pain and sorrow, danger, unbelievable patience and devotion to bring them into a state of questioning possibilities.

Our author has given us an insightful look into true love, passion and undying devotion. She has given us a wonderful back story of team playing with football as it basis. I truly found it uncanny that the story back line is so close to my own beloved New England Patriots and the accomplishments that come with hard work and even harder struggles.

Our characters are totally believable in every situation thrown to them and the intensity of the story grabs us on page one and carries us to the very last page without a blink of the eye. A must read that will not disappoint even the most finicky romance reader.

Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca (September 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1402214243
ISBN-13: 978-1402214240

And The Winner Is..................

The Winner for the August Contest here on Terra's Book Blog for a Hardcover copy of "From Dead to Worse" is..............................LadyVampire2u! Congrats!! Please send me your snail mail info to terraontop57 at yahoo dot com and I will have your book out to you in a few weeks.

The Wild Sight by Loucinda McGary

The Wild Sight by Loucinda McGary is a tale consisting of everything you could possibly want from Ireland. A romance, cozy mystery, paranormal all wrapped up into one nice neat package that will entertain you from the first page to the very end. A dapper dashing hero ensnared in intrigue, murder, and hauntings from past and the present must prove himself to all and theirs.

Donovan O'Shea is about as handsome as they come, smart, pleasant and he has the Sight. Plagued from his early years with this gift, his imaginary friends were really true in his eyes. A gift inherited from his Mum, little did he know that it would be the bane of his existence as the years moved on. Donovan is about as Irish as you can get and has a lilting brogue that will caress you like a lover's kiss.

Rylie Powell is a sensually beautiful American in search of her roots of heritage. A woman on a mission, she is bound and determined to find the father she hasn't seen since she was five years old. Rylie has two weeks with little but a birth certificate and a photo to go on but luckily for her she has patience.

Poor Donovan having left Ireland for the States years prior is once again in his homeland and having to face the demons of his past. His da's property is part of an archaeological dig with items being found that date back to the Romans. As Donovan prepares to sell the property that once belonged to his family, an unlikely discovery of a body halts everything. As if that's not bad enough, he is suddenly plagued with a woman who claims to be his half sister. A persistent, luscious American woman that instantly stirs his blood to the boiling point. Talk about Luck of The Irish!!

Rylie, having just arrived in Ireland tracks down whom she believes is her long lost father only to find out that he has had a stroke and is in a hospital some miles away from where he was living. She does however find a tall, strikingly handsome man she believes to be her half brother, but how can that truly be as he stokes the fires in her blood as easily as a witch stirs a cauldron. She ogles his behind thinking of what a nice set of buns he has and it's just her luck that she should be of the same lineage. Darn that Luck of The Irish!!

A body buried some forty years prior and a current murder set our duo out on wild goose chase all around the country side while they try and find the truth of Rylie's parentage. But things are most certainly not what they seem which leads them to question what the body has to do with them that was found on Donovan's families estate. Being caught in unforeseeable predicaments creates sparks that will ignite passions that our characters find too hard to control.

Our author has given us a story rich in history, Irish lingo, scary settings and fantastically imaginative other worldly characters that all interact with our hero and heroine with such ease that it's like putting on a pair of soft comfy slippers. A romance with punch. A cozy mystery that will make you think twice about going out in the dark. A storyline that will most certainly entertain you from the first page to the last and have you sputtering Irish words long after the book ends.

Dark Hunger (The Brethren Series Book 2) by Sara Reinke

Dark Hunger by Sara Reinke was as delicious as the first book in the series but this one was more romance than its previous installment. All the emotions at play in this book will have you wondering if you you should laugh, cry, shove your proverbial foot in your mouth, die of embarrassment or just continue to grind your teeth in frustration at not being able to get to the next page fast enough.

Rene Morin is Cajun, part human, part vampire, all raw sexual male and kick him in the ass stubborn to a T. He has more money than he or his heirs could ever hope to spend, a mouth that doesn't know when to shut itself and a slight drinking problem.

Tessa Noble Davenant is full vampire, extremely beautiful, pregnant, and in a whole lot of trouble with her family. She is on the run now trying to protect her twin brother from a prominent family of vampires that are out for his skin. If sticks and stones can break your bones, I would truly hate to see what stares and sharp words could do coming from Tessa's sharp tongue.

Our story starts off right where we left off in the first book of the series, Dark Thirst. Brandon, Lina, Rene and Tessa all find themselves running for their lives from the Brethren, a prominent family of vampires. The Elders with the Grandfather leading them are hot on our escapee's tracks. Not only that but we also have Tessa's husband even closer and poor Tessa if he should be able to get his hands on her.

The first book was more about the family itself and then Brandon and Lina. This second book is more about Rene and Tessa with sections of the others put in here and there. The back story referring to the first book is prominent in places but only as needed to jog your memory of what or why this should or could be happening. I found the writing to be very smooth and the storyline very intense.

Our author has given us another jewel of a story that will have you drooling, crying, laughing, cursing, anticipation so great that sitting on the edge of your seat just might have you falling on the floor. A story of love, friendship, happiness, sadness, betrayal, secrets galore, intensely powerful actions scenes that will have you holding your breath in utter fear and sexual scenes that will leave you drooling and wanting for some of your own. Honey I don't have a headache tonight! (evil smile)

One final thought is this story left me completely stunned with its ending. It has such a twist that I did not in any way see what was going to happen coming and boy did it hit me hard. Kudo's Sara for surprising me so.

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Zebra (September 2, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1420100548
ISBN-13: 978-1420100549

Book Bloggers Appreciation Week

Book Blogger Appreciation Week September 15-19

Book Bloggers: You work hard. You read books, you write reviews, you maintain relationships with your readers, publicists, and authors. You are constantly running to the post office to mail your giveaways and participating in carnivals to help boost traffic. You sometimes want to faint when you see the size of your TBR pile, but faithfully you read. And you do it because you love it. Book blogging is for most a hobby. But it's a hobby that takes a lot of work and time. It's a labor of love.

I've been blogging for three years but only really got into book blogging in the last year. I have found, without a doubt, that book bloggers are the kindest, most open minded, and supportive group of bloggers on the internet. With book blogging, it's about community and a love for the written word.

The Readers: We love you! You don't have a blog, but you read our reviews and share your thoughts with us. You enter our giveaways and click on our Amazon associates link. We do this for you and appreciate your readership. We hope you'll join in the fun and festivities of BBAW! (we'll have a special contest just for you!)

Book Blogger Appreciation Week: Acknowledging the hard work of book bloggers and their growing impact on book marketing and their essential contribution to book buzz in general, I am excited to announce the first Book Blogger Appreciation Week. Think of it as a retreat for book bloggers and a chance for us to totally nerd out over books together. And of course, shower each other with love and appreciation.

Register: In order to experience the maximum impact of the week, I invite you to register your participation (just like a retreat)!
To register, just send an email to bookbloggerappreciationweekATgmailDOTcom with your blog url and what you consider your niche...i.e, general book blog, classics blog, personal blog with a healthy dose of books, YA books blog, etc. Then, add one of the two buttons at the bottom of this post to your sidebar. If you are a reader (no blog) just send an email announcing your plans to follow along.
Why bother? If you register, you will be added to a book blog directory which will exist long after this week is over. Additionally, you will receive one raffle entry into the daily giveaways during BBAW here at My Friend Amy.

Awards: Oh yes, there will be awards. The Oscars of Book Blogging. :) Nominations start next week.

Spread the Word: If you are excited about this idea like I am and the other book bloggers who are helping, please consider writing a post on your blog announcing this event and inviting other book bloggers and readers to join.

Special Contest at Amberkatze's Book Blog

This weeks guest here on Amberkatze's Book Blog is author Joy Nash who is giving away 50 of her books over 50 days! Amberkatze's Book Blog is one of the sites taking part and you all have a week to enter the contest!

Joy is giving away a signed copy of her upcomming release Immortals: The Crossing. That means this book is not yet for sale!!! So if you win this contest you will get it before the 30th of September release date!

http://amberkatze-amberkatze.blogspot.com/2008/08/author-interview-and-contest-with-joy.html

Dark Thirst (The Brethren Series, Book 1) by Sara Reinke

Dark Thirst by Sara Reinke is a hidden jewel in the Paranormal World. This novel should be on every Paranormal Lover's TBR or Wishlist. It is surprisingly different, action packed, cruel, loving and just plain all around fantastic that I for one cannot put this book down.

Angelina (Lina) Jones is beautiful, smart as a whip, stubborn, lithe and a police officer. She is your average unbelieving human until life's reality crashes in on her. Lina is also African American which adds so much character to the storyline.

Brandon Noble is outrageously handsome, smart, strong, deaf and mute. Coming from a prominent Kentucky family that also happen to be vampires carries a lot of danger and risk. Having been cruelly abused sets Brandon on a task of being completely different than the rest of his family.

Our story starts out on a Kentucky Thoroughbred Horse farm with different clans of a prominent family all working together in a compound type setting. Not only do they raise horses but they make the best Whisky anywhere to be found. They are all hardworking and compliant and that is what makes this family who they are.

The Grandfather as he is referred to is the leader of this mighty family and is the most brutal, abusive and lethal of the clans. He is the prominent alpha male vampire in every sense of the word and someone I personally wouldn't even want to be on his good side let alone his bad side. Whew!!!

What I found so intriguing in this storyline is the fact that these vampires live a life in the style of an Amish family. Clans living together on the same land working together for the good of the whole. Some men have only one wife, some have several but what is so critical at the moment is the high infant mortality rate and the low conception rate of the families. This twist on the normal vampire storyline is amazing to say the least.

A chain of events so desperate, heart wrenching, frightening and fanatical start when Brandon escapes from the compound and makes a run for freedom so that his life can be his own and so unlike what he has grown up with. He seeks love, kindness, caring and knowledge, knowing that whatever out there in the unknown world has to be better than what he has been taught to believe. His meeting Lina will set so many emotions in play and challenge everything that he is.

Our author has taken a paranormal species and set them into such a astoundingly different life style than what we have seen and made this an action packed love story with the most profoundly horrific and brutal reality. A story of love, friendship, trust, betrayal, unbridled fury, abuse so horrific that you want to scream out loud with the characters pain. Kudo's Sara for such a beautiful jewel of a story that can only make other's weep with envy. I so cannot wait for Dark Hunger.

Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Zebra (July 1, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 142010053X
ISBN-13: 978-1420100532

Tanglewreck by Jeanette Winterson

Tanglewreck by Jeanette Winterson is quite the unusual read. Able to be enjoyed by teens and adults it is worth looking into for it's creativeness and the author's fairy tale like imagination.

Eleven year old Silver has lost her parents and her sister to a deadly accident or is it? A very cleaver little girl with curiosity of a cat, she finds herself getting deeper and deeper into the most unusual predicaments.

The story has us set in London in the present century but the most curious things are happening with time. Time seems to jump forward and backwards, stop completely then restart without even a remote clue to that it is going to happen. What are called Time Tornadoes seem to be ravishing the city and countryside swallowing up houses, people and whole streets leaving nothing to be found after it's passage. It's quite remarkable really if you think about it.

The subject of time travel has always been a quite popular topic and the way this author uses it in her storyline is quite ingenious. Imagine yourself in the middle of reading a book about the Time Machine, Wizard of Oz, Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket all at once.

Not only do you have time travel and odd creatures but there is magic, terrible storms, castles, black holes and rips in reality to take you careening through a series of events that ensnare your imagination and attention to the point of binding you to the book from beginning to end not wanting to ever put it down. I would say this is a true delight for ages 11 to 99.

The author has really given children and teens a read that is very enticing without all the horrid violence that seems to be plaguing the movie and gaming world today. Parents can rest easy knowing that this is a tale of pure childhood delight, innocence, magic and fantasy that delight even the most uninterested reader.

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books (May 15, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1599900815
ISBN-13: 978-1599900810

Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith is a must read for any teen or adult of the Paranormal world. A heart wrenching story of a teenage girl who is so alone and lonely that she doesn't see the danger that is right in front of her face.

Quincie Morris is very intelligent, sweet, attractive and withdrawn since the death of her parents. Her best friend and the boy she loves is a hybrid werewolf who tries with all his might not to get himself attached to Quincie for fear of hurting her more than she already is. But is it too late for Quincie?

The story centers around Quincie's parents Italian restaurant that she inherits upon their deaths. Being underage, Quincie's uncle is the caretaker of her estate until she comes of age.

Both Quincie and her uncle decide to make the Italian restaurant Vampire-themed and don't realize the danger that comes with an idea that seems so innocent and simple. Especially since there really are no vampires. They are just myth, right?

Right from the start there is major trouble as the head chef is murdered and the restaurant is left without it's star cook. Not only that but the implications of who murdered him are all pointing to one person, Quincie's love! Can she prove that it wasn't her werewolf love that did this?

The author has given us a story of innocence turned deadly, love turned to hurt, unbridled trust thrown to the wind for mangling distrust, deceit so smooth that once found out how could you possibly ever believe in anything again. I for one would never trust anything or anyone again. Always trust your instincts cause that may be the only thing that will save your life in the end.

I cannot wait for the next installment of this book which is due out in Spring 2009. I'm sure it will be well worth the wait as our author seems to really know her stuff.

Reading level: Young Adult

Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Candlewick (July 22, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 076364059X
ISBN-13: 978-0763640590

August Contest

My August contest is for a hardcover copy of "From Dead to Worse" by Charlaine Harris. This is book #8 in the series. If you would like to enter please leave a comment here on what you like best about Paranormal Series!

Don't forget to leave me some way of getting in touch with you and don't forget to check back on August 26th when I will have the winner posted for this book.