Book Blogger Hop: July 9-12

To check out other answers and join the hop go and check out Crazy-For_Books.com for the Mr. Linky for the Blog Hop. 

This week's question:  Tell us about some of your favorite authors and why they are your favorites!

My go to author is Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb - I always enjoy her books.  I also enjoy Nicholas Sparks since he is a local author and writes about the area I live in.  Other favorites are J.P. O'Donnell - I love his Gallagher series, Simone Elkeles is my new favorite YA author, I always read James Patterson and enjoy Susan Mallery's romance books.  I think I could go on and on, but that is a pretty good representation of some of my favorites.

I can't wait to hop around this weekend and see everyone else's answers.

Winners

It's time for more winners - I have three giveaways to announce this week and more starting up.  Thanks so much to all of you for commenting and to Danielle Jackson at Sourcebooks for providing the copies of I Love This Bar by Carolyn Brown and Strange Neighbors by Ashlyn Chase.

The Two Winners are:

misskallie2000

Andrea

The Two Winners are:

Cheryl F

Chey

The Winner is:

allisonrocks

I have emailed the winners and as soon as I get the addresses for Strange Neighbors and I Love This Bar I will forward them to the publisher.  If you have not received an email from me - please email your address to crystalfulcher(at)ec(dot)rr(dot)com. 

I will be mailing out Infinite Days early next week - I'm over halfway through this and plan on finishing it over the weekend.  It's wonderful and I hope Allison enjoys it.

Thanks again to everyone who entered.  I currently am giving away The Tension of Opposites so check the side bar and enter.  I also plan on adding another couple of giveaways in the next few days.

Giveaway: The Tension of Opposites by Kristina McBride

This week isn't an ARC giveaway but it is a recently released YA book that has generated a lot of buzz.  I luckily won a copy and want to read it now so the only way I can do that is to plan to give it away.

This week's giveaway is The Tension of Opposites by Kristina McBride.  It released at the end of May from EgmontUSA and I have a nice hardcover copy, gently read but still in wonderful condition. Haven't heard of the book yet?  Here is some more information:

When Tessa's best friend Noelle disappears right before the start of eighth grade, Tessa's life changes completely--she shies away from her other friends and stops eating in the cafeteria. Now, two years later, Noelle has escaped her captivity and is coming home, in one piece but not exactly intact, and definitely different. Tessa's life is about to change again as she tries to revive the best-friendship the two girls had shared before Noelle--now Elle--was kidnapped; puts up a futile resistance to the charming new guy at school; pursues her passion for photography while trying to build the bravado to show her photos to the public; and tries to balance her desire to protect and shelter Elle with the necessity to live her own life and put herself first.

Rules for the giveaway:  Simple, just comment and leave an email address where to contact you.  Nothing more.  No additional entries, just keeping this one completely simple.  Open to the US/Canada only.  Ends 7/16/2010.

Book Review: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa (Iron Fey #1)

Publisher:Harlequin Teen

Publish Date: February 1, 2010

Trade Paperback, 363 pages

My Review:

If you enjoy an author who is excellent at world building then this is the book for you.  Ms. Kagawa shines while developing the world of the Fey and the Nevernever.  The descriptions take you there without being too wordy and she does an excellent job balancing the world-building with the plot of this first installment in her Iron Fey series.

And if that isn't enough for you, the characters are amazing too.  Robbie, Meghan and Ash are well-developed and you really feel like you get to know them.  This is another one of those books that has you as the reader trying to decide which boy is better for the main character and if you scroll down you can find out which team I am on.  Meghan is very human as a character, she makes mistakes, but she also tries her best and it endears her to the reader.  She is strong and stubborn, but still a girl who loves and wants to save her little brother and not hurt those who are dear to her.

Finally, the icing on the cake is The Iron King has a plot that keeps you moving through the pages at lightning speed.  Moving from one world to the next, facing strange creatures and never losing her determination, it is a joy to watch Meghan develop and grow through this book.  The plot is well-paced and I am anxious to read Winter Passage (a novella that is free to read until August 1) and The Iron Daughter which will be out on August 1.

Excellent young adult paranormal fiction for the young adult and for the adult.

My Rating;  4.75/5.0


About the Book:
Meghan Chase has never fit in at her small-town high school, and now, on the eve of her 16th birthday, she discovers why. When her half brother is kidnapped, Meghan is drawn into a fantastical world she never imagined--the world of Faery, where anything you see may try to eat you, and Meghan is the daughter of the summer faery king. Now she will journey into the depths of Faery to face an unknown enemy . . . and beg the help of a winter prince who might as soon kill her as let her touch his icy heart. The Iron King is the first book in the Iron Fey series.

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Which team are you on?  My choice:



About the Author:

Julie Kagawa's website.
Julie on Blogger


FTC Information: I checked this book out from my wonderful local library for my reading pleasure.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.