Mundie Moms

Saturday, August 13, 2011

In My Mailbox #85

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by the Story Siren & is a post that gives bloggers the chance to share what they've received the previous week to review, purchased, gifted or traded. Here's our goodies that I've received for the last two weeks:

Penguin sent me a huge surprise which was waiting for me when I got home from vacation


I was not excepting this awesome package which included the book, a Bloodlines bag, a rose, a red pen, and a cool envelope with a bunch of temporary tattoos, which I'll be giving away. Along with the package was this delicious Bloodlines decorated cookie, which my kids were so excited about. I'm really enjoying Bloodlines and I'm looking forward to sharing my review later this week. The cover is beautiful!


For Review:

* Bloodlines by Richelle Mead, published by Penguin Teen, to be released on August 23rd, 2011

* The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa, published by Harlequin Teen, to be released on October 25th, 2011

* The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson, published by Harper Teen, to be released on September 20th, 2011

* Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles, published by Bloomsbury Teen, to be released on August 16th, 2011, my review will be up this week & I'm giving away the second copy I received HERE

* Tempest by Julie Cross, published by St Martin's Griffin, to be released on January 3rd, 2012

* The Slayer Chronicles, First Kill by Heather Brewer, published by Dial Books, to be released on September 20th, 2011

* Michael Vey, The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans, published by Mercury Ink/Simon & Schuster, released on August 9th, 2011

* The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore, published by Harper Teen, to be released on August 23rd, 2011, my review along with a giveaway will be posted later in the week

* The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff, published Razorbill, to be released on November 15th, 2011

* The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch, published by Scholastic, to be released on September 1st, 2011

* Grave Expectations by Sherri Browning Erwin & Charles Dickens, published by Simon & Schuster, to be released on August 30th, 2011

* The Auslander by Paul Dowswell, published by Bloomsbury Teen, released on August 16th, 2011

* The Maya Brown Missions, Circle of Fire by S.M. Hall, published by Francis Lincoln Children's Books, to be released on August 23rd, 2011

* My Soul To Take, My Soul to Save, My Soul to Keep, My Soul to Steal by Rachel Vincent, published by Harlequin Teen, which will all be reviewed for an upcoming blog tour via Kismet Blog Tours

* Anna Dressed In Blood by Kendare Blake, published by Tor Teens, to be released on August 30th, 2011

* Out of Breath by Blair Richmond, published by Ashland Creek Press, to be released on October 31st, 2011

* The Mumbo Jumbo Circus by Jane George, self published, released on April 15th, 2011

* The Magnificent 12: The Trap by Michael Grant, published by Harper Collins, to be released on August 23rd, 2011, review & giveaway will be later on this week

* The Mostly True Story of Jack by Kelly Barnhill, published by Little Brown Kids, released on August 2nd, 2011


Purchased: (All of these books have already been reviewed on MM's)

* Delirium: The Special Edition by Lauren Oliver- I LOVE the new cover!
* The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab- I love this book
* The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney, I lent my other copy out which was lost in the mail
* I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You by Ally Carter, I keep hearing how great this series is

Thank you to Penguin, Simon & Schuster, Harper Teen, Scholastic, Harlequin Teen, Bloomsbury Teen, Tor, Little Brown, Francis Lincoln Children's Books, Ashland Creek Press and Jane George for this week's awesome reads.

What goodies did you receive this week?

Bonus Content from CoLS: Magnus and Alec Scene

Magnus Bane by Rikakio
This bonus content from the YA Crush Tourney is so unbelievable. Every time Magnus says, "Alexander..." my heart skips a beat. This is the full post from Cassie's blog:
Cassie: As I said yesterday — thanks to all of you who voted for Jace in the YA Tourney so MUCH. He won, and it's all down to you.

So here's the bonus part of the reward teasers: A scene from CoLS about Magnus and Alec. I get asked constantly if they will be in it and I hope this is somewhat reassuring that yes, indeed, they will be, with their very own plotline and all that. It's a short scene because it's smack in the middle of a giant spoiler. In fact I had to take out everything that even indicated where they were. Somewhere dark . . .but light can come from the strangest of sources.


Alec dropped his witchlight. The light winked out, and he fell to his knees, scrabbling on the ground among the trash and the dirt, grit under his fingernails. At last something lit up before his eyes, and he rose to see Magnus standing before him, the witchlight in his hand. It shone and flickered with a strangely-colored light.

“It shouldn’t illuminate like that,” Alec said, automatically. “For anyone but a Shadowhunter.”

Magnus held it out. The heart of the witchlight was glowing a dark red, like the coal of a fire.

“Is it because of your father?” Alec asked.

Magnus didn’t reply, only tipped the runestone into Alec’s palm. As their hands touched, his face changed. “You’re freezing cold.”

“I am?”

“Alexander . . .” Magnus pulled him to his feet, and the witchlight flickered between them, its color changing rapidly. Alec had never seen a witchlight runestone do that before. He put his head against Magnus’ shoulder and let Magnus hold him. Magnus’ heart didn’t beat like human hearts did: it was slower, but steady. Sometimes Alec thought it was the steadiest thing in his life.

“Kiss me,” Alec said, tipping his head up; Magnus eyes were sad and shadowed, and unreadable.

Magnus put his hand to the side of Alec’s face and gently, almost absently, ran his thumb along Alec’s cheekbone. When he bent to kiss him he smelled like sandalwood. Alec clutched the sleeve of Magnus’ jacket, and the witchlight, held between their bodies, flared up in colors of rose and blue and green as their lips touched.

* * *

Book Review: Destiny Binds

 
Written by: Tammy Blackwell
Published by: CreateSpace
Release Date: March 3, 2011
Source: From author for review
Purchase: amazon | Barnes and Noble
3.5 out of 5 stars - It's a very good read.

Synopsis:  Scout Donovan is a girl who believes in rules, logic, and her lifelong love of Charlie Hagan. Alex Cole believes in destiny, magic, and Scout. When Alex introduces Scout to the world of Shifters, men who change into wolves or coyotes during the full moon and Seers, women who can see your most private thoughts and emotions with a mere touch, the knowledge changes everything and everyone Scout thought she knew.

Tammy Blackwell's story is one that even non-Wolf Girls like me can enjoy. Her writing has a sense of fun and she throws in plenty of pop culture references – Buffy, Kim Possible and (hey there) Orlando Bloom. Those made me smile and I have to admit that I looked forward to them. The main character, Scout, has a chatty voice and tells her thoughts and provides back-stories as you meet the characters in her lives. Here’s my favorite example from page 59 and you know me, Mundie Moms, it has to be a romantic scene, right?
   Alex Cole was not the first boy I ever held hands with that honor went to my third grade boyfriend, Jeremy Rande, who bought me a chocolate rose for Valentine’s Day and then moved to Illinois the next week. Over the years there had been others – including Dalton Riley, the asshat Ashley had done the nasty with – but none of those times had felt like this. With the other boys it had merely been skin on skin. I remembered how they always squeezed my hand too tightly or too loosely, how their palms had always been too dry or too sweaty.

  Alex’s hand was perfect. His skin was soft and warm. He held onto me gently, but with confidence. My own hand felt small and delicate wrapped around his.

   I was, at that moment, in possession of the world’s happiest hand.

I love how Tammy wrote the romance in Destiny Binds. It felt real and genuine. Scout’s discovery of the mysterious boy, Alex, and Scout’s relationship with her step-brother, Jase, provide the main plot line which twisted into a unique take on wolf mythology. There are a lot of side references to Scout’s and Jase’s childhood so you feel like you know the siblings rather well. Sometimes, I found these distracted me from the main plot because as a reader I mentally bookmark details I think will become significant in the story. But at the same time, they made me feel like I knew the characters personally and this is a planned series so I’m sure the details will become important as the stories progress.

A favorite moment of mine is how Scout handles finding out about werewolf existence. Her logic is refreshing and yes, humor-filled. Let’s face it, Scout has the same questions I would have in her situation including questioning if vampires, too, exist.

Destiny Binds is a story filled with a sweetness and yet a fierceness in its sense of family and doing what is right. If you enjoy a werewolf story with a different twist, pick up Destiny Binds. Tammy’s mythology and her ending are, wow, unexpected and good.

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