Hi Guys! Hope you’re having a great weekend. Here’s the low down on what happened at BCC this week…

GUESTS

• Amanda Carlson, author of the soon to be released debut urban fantasy Full Blooded lists her top 10 urban fantasy characters that didn’t make the cut in Full Blooded. Fun post!
• Launch of new Entangled Publishing imprint, Covet, & interviews with three of its paranormal romance authors: Melissa Bourbon Ramirez, Jenna Bennett & Candace Haven.
• This week’s Debut Author Spotlight is on Tom Pollock, author of The City’s Son.

REVIEWS

• 5 Star Review – The Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin
• 5 Star Review – Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness
• 4.5 Star Review – The Lingering Dead by J. N. Duncan
• 4 Star Review – Ted (Friday Film Review)
• 4 Star Review – All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris
• 3.5 Star Review – Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
• 3 Star Review - The Assassin and the Pirate Lord by Sarah J. Maas
• 3 Star Review – Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep
• 2 Star Review – Dark Shadows: Angelique’s Consent by Lara Parker

OTHER POSTS

• Laura’s Monday Mashup - Penguin Buys Author Solutions, Olympic Bookmark, Jonathan Rhys Meyers To Play Dracula & Sexy Man Cake Tin
• UK Cover Art: Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
• UK Cover Art: Hidden by P. C & Kristin Cast
• Our Monthly Recs for July

CAROLYN’S ROUNDUP

I’m still reading DOG BLOOD by David Moody and KITTY STEALS THE SHOW by Carrie Vaughn, but this week has really been about one author and that’s Aleksandr Voinov. I bought DARK SOUL Vol. 1 after seeing a tweet by Tori (aka @smexys_sidekick) and decided I would give it a go. It’s an M/M Erotic Romance/Thriller and all I can say is, OMG! I have now devoured Vol. 2 and saw that the rest of the series was on NetGalley, so requested that and have been reading late into the night. This series is dark, intense and amazing. I am so hooked. It’s pure CRACK (as the Smexy girls would say).

Also, on Mandi’s (aka @smexybooks) instruction I have now downloaded a free read from the authors website called SOLDIERS, which she says is awesome but very dark – well I’m fine with that, bring it on.

I did buy quite a few books this week. As mentioned above I bought DARK SOUL Vol. 1 & 2by Aleksandr Voinov (M/M Erotic Romance), as well as BECAUSE YOU TEMPT ME (Because You Are Mine Part One) by Beth Kery (Erotic Romance), ROOK by Daniel O’Malley (Urban Fantasy), RESCUE MEby Rachel Gibson (Contemporary Romance) and lastly, FISH OUT OF WATER by Ciar Cullen (Paranormal Romance).

In other news, I went to the Olympics!!! The first day was last Tuesday. I went with my hubby and mother-in-law to see the Women’s Diving Final. The Olympic Park is just fab and the diving was great to watch. But the highlight was managing to get tickets to the first night of Athletics at the Olympic Stadium on Friday. It was just the hubby and me this time and it was FANTASTIC!!! Honestly, one of the best nights I’ve ever had. The atmosphere was amazing and to see Jessica Ennis getting into position to take Gold on Saturday was just awesome. The hubster and I were glued to the TV last night watching our Team GB doing phenomenally well. I’m so proud of them all and I’m so proud to be British! I feel so patriotic right now. Hosting the Olympics has been just amazing!!! Have I said amazing enough?? Amazing, Amazing, Amazing!

LAURA’S ROUNDUP

I haven’t been able to read as much as I would have liked this week as I started work again after being on maternity leave, so it’s been slightly crazy! But I have been reading Christina Courtenay’s new novel THE SILENT TOUCH OF SHADOWS. I’ve read all of Courtenay’s books and I think this has to be my favourite one so far. It’s a romance with a ghostly twist, mixing contemporary and historical romance together and I’m really intrigued to see how it’s all going to end.

Aside from a little reading and working I’ve really been enjoying watching the Olympics. Didn’t think I would say that either! But I’ve actually found the coverage and seeing how much the medals mean to the individual sports men and women really moving. So far I feel very patriotic and proud of how well Great Britain have done. Roll on week two…

VICKIE’S ROUNDUP

Well, so much for getting loads of reading done through the holidays! I am hardly managing to get any time to myself so not getting much time to read! Blooming kids want taking out all the time!! Ah well…it does mean shopping trips where I can purchase the odd book or two! This week I got myself 13 by Kelley Armstrong, which I am really looking forward to getting to! I have a few others to read first though!

I am really struggling getting into Jacquelyn Franks, ELIJAH, and as much as I have been looking forward to reading it, I am finding that I can’t lose myself in it so I picked up another book, DAMNABLE by Hank Schmaeble. It’s a Horror, which is a change for me, as I have been stuck pretty much solely in PNR for the past year, and I am finding it to be a refreshing change. I am half way through and have to say I’m really enjoying it. Perhaps if I read a bit of something else for a few books, I will be able to pick ELIJAH back up and enjoy it as much as I want to.

BECS’S ROUNDUP

I missed last weeks Weekly Roundup, so here is my two weeks worth. With the weather sunny and hot, I decided to make the most of it, going on many outings including a day trip to Bournemouth’s beautiful Sandbank, and I keep getting distracted watching the Olympics (come on Chris Mears in the diving). I also celebrated mine and my son’s birthday, so with such a busy two weeks, I haven’t got a huge amount of reading done.

I finished THRONE OF GLASS by Sarah J. Maas (review) and went on to buy her four novella’s of which I have already read THE ASSASSIN AND THE PIRATE LORD (review), THE ASSASSIN AND THE DESERT, THE ASSASSIN AND THE UNDERWORLD and THE ASSASSIN AND THE EMPIRE (reviews to come). I finally picked up THE TAKER by Alma Katsu, I was pleasantly surprised by this book as it’s not my usual genre (review to come). My final book, which I’m currently reading at long last, is 172 HOURS ON THE MOON by Johan Harstad.

These last two weeks have seen me get my hands on several books, the first four books of the MERCY THOMPSON series by Patricia Briggs (thanks Melanie), JAWS by Peter Benchley, UNHOLY GHOSTS by Stacia Kane and finally ENDLESSLY by Kiersten White, which was a pre-order and automatically uploaded to my Kindle 02/08. With a Kindle sale on I’m not sure my TBR pile will be shortening any time soon.

Next week I hope to read SHATTERED DREAMS by Ellie James, THE VAMPIRE STALKER by Allison van Diepen and THE HUNTING GROUND by Cliff McNish. I’m loving the variety of books I’m currently lucky enough to get my hands on.

GEMMA’S ROUNDUP

I haven’t been reading very much this week as it’s been a really busy one. However I have been continuing with the anthology TREMBLE by Tabisha Learner. It’s definitely not what I expected and though it is tagged as an erotic book, it isn’t turning out that way. I’m on the sixth story and so far it’s a pretty mixed bag. You’ll see my thoughts in the first part of my review soon. I’ve also started RIVERS OF LONDON by Ben Aaronvich. I’ve only read the first chapter, but it has a really interesting start. It is coming across a bit like the TV show Life on Mars. Next, I think I will read THE STRAIN by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, in order to get an early start on our All Hallows Eve event coming in October.

My book buying embargo hit a bit of a snag this week after I read Melanie’s review of PHOENIX RISINGby Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris (review). I ended up buying both that and the sequel THE JANUS AFFAIR.

I also went to the cinema to see Ted (review) It was a nice antidote to the action packed fare that is on offer at the cinema at the moment.

REBECCA’S ROUNDUP

This week has been quite busy reading wise, as I started the week by finishing WHERE DEMONS FEAR TO TREAD by Stephanie Chong (review to come), which I loved and I look forward to reading more by this author in the future!

My next book was WIDE OPEN by Deborah Coates, a great murder mystery with paranormal twists that I really enjoyed. I then read FALLEN by Traci L. Slatton which I didn’t enjoy as much, but was still an interesting take on an apocalyptic Earth (review coming soon).

Finally this week I read SOUL BEACH by Kate Harrison, which I adored. The concept is fresh and I’ve never read anything like this before. I loved the writing and the book has really sucked me in. As a result I’ve picked up book two, SOUL FIRE, which I am about half way through now, and loving just as much! (Both review coming soon).

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