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Monday, February 27, 2012

The Bride of Casa Dracula (Casa Dracula, #3) by Marta Acosta

The Bride of Casa Dracula (Casa Dracula, #3)The Bride of Casa Dracula by Marta Acosta



My rating: 5 of 5 stars






Milagro De Los Santos is having serious problems planning her wedding to fabulous Oswald Grant, M.D. Her future in-laws loathe her, her dog just died, and Oswald's family has a genetic anomaly that makes them crave blood. Then her extravagant best friend hijacks the role of wedding coordinator, and the secretive Vampire Council assigns conniving Cornelia Ducharme to guide the couple through the ancient vampire marriage rituals.

To top it all off, Milagro's career is on the skids. She's reduced to ghost-writing the memoirs of a loony little man who claims to be a shape-shifter. And why does Cornelia's decadent, way too attractive brother, Ian, always show up whenever Milagro is away from Oswald? When a series of accidents interferes with wedding plans, Oswald worries that Milagro is cracking under the pressure. Is she just paranoid, or is a hidden enemy trying to make sure Milagro doesn't wed the undead.





Paperback, 286 pages

ISBN

1416559639 (ISBN13: 9781416559634)

The Bride of Casa Dracula

series


My Thoughts and Review


I just love this series it is fantastic! The characters are very engaging, some are humorous, some funny., while some have a  very sharp tongue and others just down right dangerous !If you ever have read Charlaine Harris and her Sookie Stakehouse series or Gerry Bartlett with her Vampire series featuring Glory this series is very similar to those series.



Milagro has decided to married Oswald Grant her current beau and maker.The problem is that the council wants her to jump hoops and give up certain rights like renounce her citizenship and also be part of a vampire traditional wedding ceremony to become a member of there elite group and will be then granted there protection.The things that they want her to do for this ceremony are medieval but, one she has a very hard time with is no sex until the wedding.


While ghost writing a book getting ready for a wedding and registering for wedding gifts Milagro is just drained.Shes lost her dog but, recently met a wolf how has taken an interest in her.Things start happening like missing engagement ring, someone trying to cause her to have a car crash and other upsetting incidences.Oswald thinks she is imagining that someone is out to harm her.Oswald thinks its nerves but, Milagro someone wants her dead. She starts spending time with her previous lover Ian know as the Dark Lord and the sparks sizzle whenever next to him.Ian wants Milagro for himself and pleads with him to be with him instead but, her course is set with Oswald.



Milagro with have to choose between the two men she loves the only thing is she needs to remain alive to do it !



Quite the page turner ! The book had everything we look for Romance, Laughs, Danger, Suspense and great characters with a interesting storyline!



A Must Read! Recommending this book and the other in this series for your reading pleasure!






Saturday, February 25, 2012

Happy Hour at Casa Dracula (Casa Dracula #1) by Marta Acosta


My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Latina Ivy League grad Milagro de Los Santos can't find her place in the world or a man to go with it. Then one night, at a book party for her pretentious ex-boyfriend, she meets an oddly attractive man. After she is bitten while kissing him, she falls ill and is squirreled away to his family's estate to recover. Vampires don't exist in this day and age -- or do they? As Milagro falls for a fabulously inappropriate man, she finds herself caught between a family who has accepted her as one of their own and a shady organization that refuses to let the undead live and love in peace.

My Thoughts and Reviews

Love this series !One of the funniest vampire books I've read this year!! Clever , with a touch of Latin flair!This was a fast paced and funny read.Milagro de los Santos is a feisty Latina who is going through some bad luck. She is trying to write a book, people don't take her seriously, she could barely afford her rent, a good looking man infects her, and her ex-boyfriend is trying to kill her. Now infected with whatever she has, Milagro is having strange cravings for blood and is losing tremendous amount of weight. She is also "rescued" by the infected man's family when her ex tries to shoot her.

Milaro meet Oswald at a book party . They kind of hooked up and met for drinks while chatting Milgro fell and tripped and bumped mouthes with Oswald which turned into a passionate kiss but, there was a cut lip involved and blood exchanged and now Milagaro is infected with vampire blood.Just a plain stupid accident but, the problem is for centuries know one has lived through an transformation of this kind.

Milgro is taken to her so called Beau's house and interrogated on what really happen. Once they find out that Oswald and her story match they need to take care of her as she is very sick and see if she can survive becoming a vampire.She learns the ropes and worms her way into this new family life which she now considers the family that she should have had all along.

The character's of this story were funny a witty and down right hilarious at times. Oswald's grand-mother was a hoot with her sharp whit and even sharper tongue made me laugh so hard with the conversations that she and Milagro h she had as nickname for her is young lady !There is a lot going on this story to keep you interested.The suspense of why her ex-boyfriend wants to kill her, learning to be a vampire,struggling to write hr book and get it published and then all the incidentals that make the story pop and sorting of her feelings that Oswald betrayed her as he never informed her that he was engaged made her blood boil and they fact that he never apologized for infecting her.

Milagro experiences even more danger has she meets the Dark Lord Ian Ducharne who better to lead her into the a vampire world of passion and pleasure...

This is a must read read ! A Recommended book at its series. 




Books to the series are Below !



The Wilderness Series by Sara Donati A Worthy Series worth Reading !

Into the Wilderness  

(Wilderness #1)

Weaving a tapestry of fact and fiction, Sara Donati's epic novel sweeps us into another time and place...and into the heart of a forbidden affair between an unconventional Englishwoman and an American frontiersman.

It is December of 1792. Elizabeth Middleton leaves her comfortable English estate to join her family in a remote New York mountain village. It is a place unlike any she has ever experienced.  And she meets a man unlike any she has ever encountered--a white man dressed like a Native American, Nathaniel Bonner, known to the Mohawk people as Between-Two-Lives. Determined to provide schooling for all the children of the village, she soon finds herself locked in conflict with the local slave owners as well as her own family.

Interweaving the fate of the Mohawk Nation with the destiny of two lovers, Sara Donati's compelling novel creates a complex, profound, passionate portrait of an emerging America.





Dawn on a Distant Shore 

  (Wilderness #2)

In an icy, untamed world of pristine beauty, a husband and wife are torn apart by fate but reunited forever by a love that can't be broken....

An unforgettable love comes alive in this masterful epic of passion, treachery, and adventure....

Award-winning author Sara Donati's debut novel, Into the Wilderness, was hailed as "one of those rare stories that let you breathe the air of another time" (Diana Gabaldon). Now, in an eloquent blend of fact and fiction, Donati re-creates her beloved characters from Into the Wilderness in an enthralling new tale of romance and adventure.

Elizabeth and Nathaniel Bonner have settled into their life together at the edge of the New-York wilderness in the winter of 1794. But soon after Elizabeth gives birth to healthy twins, Nathaniel learns that his father has been arrested in British Canada. Forced to leave Hidden Wolf Mountain to help his father in Montreal, Nathaniel himself is imprisoned and in danger of being hanged as a spy.

In a desperate bid to save her husband, Elizabeth bundles her infants and sets out through the snowy wilderness and across treacherous waterways on the dangerous trek to Canada. But she soon discovers that freeing her husband will take every ounce of her courage and inventiveness — and will threaten her with the loss of what she loves most: her children.

Torn apart, the Bonner's must embark on yet another perilous voyage, this time all the way across the ocean to the heart of Scotland, where a destiny they could never have imagined awaits them...





Lake in the Clouds 

  (Wilderness #3)

 
In her extraordinary novels Into the Wilderness and Dawn on a Distant Shore, award-winning writer Sara Donati deftly captured the vast, untamed wilderness of late-eighteenth-century New York and the trials and triumphs of the Bonner family. Now Donati takes on a new and often overlooked chapter in our nation’s past--and in the life of the spirited Bonner's--as their oldest daughter, the brave and beautiful Hannah, comes of age with a challenge that will change her forever. Masterfully told, this passionate story is a moving tribute to a resilient, adventurous family and a people poised at the brink of a new century.

It is the spring of 1802, and the village of Paradise is still reeling from the typhoid epidemic of the previous summer. Elizabeth and Nathaniel Bonner have lost their two-year-old son, Hannah’s half brother Robbie, but they struggle on as always: the men in the forests, the twins Lily and Daniel in Elizabeth’s school, and Hannah as a doctor in training, apprenticed to Richard Todd. Hannah is descended from healers on both sides--one Scots grandmother and one Mohawk--and her reputation as a skilled healer in her own right is growing.

After a long night spent attending to a birth, Elizabeth and Hannah encounter an escaped slave hiding on the mountain. She calls herself Selah Voyager, and she is looking for Curiosity Freeman--a former slave herself, one of the village’s wisest women and Elizabeth’s closest friend. The Bonner's take Selah, desperately ill, to Lake in the Clouds to care for her, and with that simple act they are drawn into the secret life that Curiosity and Galileo Freeman and their grown children have been leading for almost ten years. The Bonner's will do what they must to protect the Freeman's, just as Hannah will protect her patient, who presents more than one kind of challenge. For a bounty hunter is afoot--Hannah’s childhood friend and first love, Liam Kirby.

While Elizabeth and Nathaniel undertake a treacherous journey through the endless forests to bring Selah to safety in the north, Hannah embarks on a very different journey to New-York City, with two goals: to learn the secrets of vaccination against smallpox, a disease that threatens Paradise, and to find out what she can about Liam’s immediate past and what caused him to change so drastically from the boy she once loved. The obstacles she faces as a woman and a Mohawk make her confront questions long avoided about her place in the world.

Those questions follow her back to Paradise, where she finds that the medical miracle she brings with her will not cure prejudice or superstition, nor can it solve the problem of slavery. No sooner have the Bonner's begun to rebound from their losses--old and new--than they find themselves confronted by more than one old enemy in a battle that will test the strength of their love for one another. Hannah faces the decision she has always dreaded: will she make a life for herself in a white world, or among her mother’s people?


Queen of Swords

  (Wilderness #5)

It is the late summer of 1814, and Hannah Bonner and her half brother Luke have spent more than a year searching the islands of the Caribbean for Luke’s wife and the man who abducted her. But Jennet’s rescue, so long in coming, is not the resolution they’d hoped for. In the spring she had given birth to Luke’s son, and in the summer Jennet had found herself compelled to surrender the infant to a stranger in the hope of keeping him safe.

To claim the child, Hannah, Luke, and Jennet must journey first to Pensacola. There they learn a great deal about the family that has the baby. The Poiterins are a very rich, very powerful Creole family, totally without scruple. The matriarch of the family has left Pensacola for New Orleans and taken the child she now claims as her great-grandson with her.

New Orleans is a city on the brink of war, a city where prejudice thrives and where Hannah, half Mohawk, must tread softly. Careful plans are made as the Bonner's set out to find and reclaim young Nathaniel Bonner. Plans that go terribly awry, isolating them from each other in a dangerous city at the worst of times.

Sure that all is lost, and sick unto death, Hannah finds herself in the care of a family and a friend from her past, Dr. Paul de Guise Savard dit Saint-d’Uzet. It is Dr. Savard and his wife who save Hannah’s life, but Dr. Savard’s half brother who offers her real hope. Jean-Benoit Savard, the great-grandson of French settlers, slaves, and Choctaw and Seminole Indians, is the one man who knows the city well enough to engineer the miracle that will reunite the Bonner's and send them home to Lake in the Clouds. With Ben Savard’s guidance, allies are drawn from every segment of New Orleans’s population and from Andrew Jackson’s army, now pouring into the city in preparation for what will be the last major battle of the War of 1812.

The Endless Forest  

(Wilderness #6)

With a master storyteller’s skill and a historian’s precision, Sara Donati has delighted readers and critics alike with her bestselling novels of the nineteenth-century New York frontier. Now she brings us The Endless Forest, set in the remote village of Paradise, where the Bonner family that readers first met in Into the Wilderness make their home.

The spring of 1824 is a challenging one for the inhabitants of Paradise N.Y. when a flood devastates the village. But for Nathaniel and Elizabeth Bonner, it’s also a time of reunion as their children return from far-off places: Lily and her husband from Italy, and Martha Kirby, the Bonner's’ ward, from Manhattan. Although Lily is nursing her own grief, it is Martha, fleeing a crushing humiliation, who brings with her trouble that will reverberate in all their lives.

In the sudden peace that follows the storm, as families struggle to rebuild, childhood friends Martha and Daniel, Lily’s twin brother, suddenly begin to see each other in a new light. But their growing bond is threatened when Martha’s mother arrives back in Paradise a decade after abandoning her daughter. Jemima Southern is a dangerous schemer who has destroyed more than one family, and her anger touches everyone, as do her secrets. Has Jemima come to claim her daughter–or does she have something else in mind? Whatever happens, Martha and Daniel and all the Bonner's must stand united against the threats to both heart and home.

Painful secrets and hidden sorrows, joy, heartbreak, and passion follow the Bonner's through a season of change and renewal. A rich, passionate, multi-layered portrayal of family strength and endurance in a fascinating place and time, The Endless Forest will be remembered long after the last page is turned.
 

About this Author

Rosina Lippi-Green was born on January 14, 1956 in Chicago, Illinois, a daughter of an Italian emigrant. She has lived for long periods in the Austrian alps, on the East coast (where she earned a PhD in linguistics from Princeton) and Michigan. After twelve years as a tenured professor --getting up early and staying up late to write fiction-- she took heart in hand and left academia.

She married with Bill Green. These days she writes full time from her home on Puget Sound, where she lives with her husband (the Mathematician), their daughter Elizabeth (the Girlchild), Tuck & Bunny (the puppy boys) and the Girlchld's two cats. She divides her time between her next novel, family, friends, television and textile arts.



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


BlackWind: Sean and Bronwyn (BlackWind #1)




Book one in a two-book saga. Sean and Bronwyn have loved one another since grammar school. Believing Sean isn't good enough for their child, Bronwyn's parents will do everything in their power to keep them apart, including spiriting Bronwyn off to a secluded convent in Ireland. But Sean isn't entirely human. Born of an Earthly mother and implanted with an alien parasite that makes it possible for him to shape-shift into a wolf-like creature, the young man is far more than Bronwyn's parents counted on. Determined to be reunited with the woman he loves, Sean will do what is necessary to have her in his arms once again. From the mists of time and space, another creature lies in wait, eager to steal Bronwyn from Sean. Danyon Hart is a NightWind, an immortal created to aid women in their times of despair. He has heard Bronwyn's lonely cries and has come from the far reaches of the megaverse to claim her. Fighting to get back to one another, the lovers must strive against a brutal evil that is dogging their every footstep. Note: This book was originally published elsewhere under the same title.



My Thoughts and Review



It was my first time reading Compo's work, and I must say after reading this one, I am now looking into other books of hers. This dark fantasy (meaning a lot of abuse goes on in the beginning toward the son Sean and the mother ) both of them living in hell due to Sean's abusive father Tym. Sean and Bronwyn have loved one another since grammar school. Sean and Bronwyn's agony, passion and romance come steaming off the pages as you read. They pledge there love to one another and know that sometime in the future they will be truly together. Bronwyn parents have a different ideas. They did not want the couple together, saying Sean is no good for her and they will not have him in her life period. They take drastic measures drug her and whisk her off to a convent in Ireland. She is miserable there and so is Sean. He is not giving up !There going to be together. During the split Sean mother kills his father to protect a secret that she has held since Sean was born. Sean's real father enters the picture and explains to Sean about how is mother and him met and why Sean is so different from others. His father holds a secret that was passed onto Sean . The father will need to guide Sean threw about what is to happen. Sean also ends up in Ireland but his life turns in a totally different direction than Bronwyn's. While waiting for Sean to come find her dark forces are working all around her. She finds out she is carrying Sean's child and she is not giving up they are going to be a family. The dark forces continue to plague Bronwyn. Will she be lost to the dark forces will Sean find her. A lot of twist and turns from here on out and what a surprise cliffhanger the ending this turns out to be. I was not expecting that..






Friday, February 24, 2012

The Hunters by Shiloh Walker a must read series !

The Hunters by Shiloh Walker

In a dark, sensual world, vampires, witches and shape-shifters stalk the night, looking for those who would prey on the innocent.  Hunger and passion haunts them, love taunts them. And giving into it can be such a sweet, sweet temptation.  Step into the world of the Hunters.

 


  

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Book Review for That Old Black Magic (Living in Eden #3) by Michelle Rowen




That Old Black Magic (Living in Eden #3)
by Michelle Rowen

4 out of 5 stars



Reluctant witch Eden Riley knows that codependent relationships aren't good, especially when she's possessed by a sexy but troublemaking demon. Darrak's physical form makes good girl Eden want to go bad, but the constant itch to use the soul-destroying black magic she's recently acquired might force Eden to explore her dark side in an entirely different way.

My Thoughts and Review

That Old Black Magic is a great follow-on to The Demon in Me and Something Wicked this time its is more on Darrak and his insecurities as he faces the possibility that Eden might well find a way to undo his curse--meaning that he won't possess her any more.Eden has been looking for away to remove part of the curse from Darrak as she wants to be with him in a sexual way without her black magic becoming more intense and risking her immortal soul.The curse lifting last for a bit but , something goes haywire and now Darrak is horrible pain that something needs to be done and she has to contact Lucas known as Lucifer to help her undo what she did.This is not going to be good to make a packed with the Demon from Hell .How can you trust Him ? He's Darrak's Arch enemy.

The problem is while undoing the curse Eden passed off some of her angel heritage on to him and now his body is fighting good and evil.This also is leaving Darrak more emotional, insecure and deadly sick.He loves Eden so much but, feel she does love him the same way he does or with the intensity the he does.Darrak fears losing her.

There is so much going on in this tale.There was lots of suspense building. Not all was as it seems. Danger lurks all around even those you trust are involved in this sordid tale.We had several surprises arise in this story that it mended all the other books together to give one conclusion to this tale.

The characters were engaging enough to make you laugh and sometimes cry.We learned what true love is and what its like to make sacrifices for the ones we love. A the biggest surprise of all can a Demon from hell have a heart after all!A very engaging read that made it a page turner.Darrak and Eden were not the perfect couple in the eyes of friends and family they had so obstacles that it made it so they should not be together . Just proves opposites attract !Each book in the series has been a bit better than the last. Loved it !









Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Bitten in Two (Jaz Parks #7) by Jennifer Rardin

Bitten in Two (Jaz Parks, #7)Bitten in Two by Jennifer Rardin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars






Jaz. Is. Pissed. She and Vayl had been operating like a couple of finely carved gears…until now. Just as they’re arriving in Morocco to secure an ancient artifact that must carve the name of Jaz’s possessor into the gates of hell if he’s to be vanquished, Vayl wakes up calling Jaz by another woman’s name. And it’s not even a good one. But since any form of argument transforms Vayl into an unholy terror, Jaz is forced to play along until she and the gang can figure out what kind of power has so vastly altered his perceptions.



My Thoughts and Review



I have reading this series and loving it ! Vayl and Jaz's chemistry really make these books great !This story they are in Morocco to secure a artifact that is going to save Jaz's life. It will lift a curse upon her.She is running out of time .The story gets complicated as her would be lover Vayl is living in the year 1877 as he thinks her a lord. In his previous life or would could say centuries ago yes he was.Jaz and her team of friends still have to find the artifact but, it difficult as Vayl is off on his own tangent trying to save someone from his past.He needs protection so Jaz and her friends impersonate themselves and become part of his staff in order to follow him and make sure no harm comes to him while staying uncover .The cast hopes by doing so that Vayl's memory will return on its own.



This adventure is so much danger and betrayal.So much is going on beyond the scenes that danger lurks everywhere. Jaz is a sarcastic tough girl with her kick as attitude ,who you don't want to mess with and then there is Vayl being his charming self but , who's one deadly vampire even though he can't remember it.Vayl emulates power just being himself.The other characters blended well with the story and then there is her Spirit guide and her mechanical cat that are added some fun into the mix of the other serious ones.Its was a fun read full of suspense a little heart wrenching at times as Jaz thought she lost her mate for ever. There were funny scenes where Vayl talked of meeting other women that got the best of her but, she had to show restraint as Vayl isn't in his right mind but, the scenes that unfolded had me laughing out loud. And then there is my favorite part where Vayl is shown a picture of Jasmine and right away feels a connection to her picture believing she is his savior and soul mate. He has lost his mind but, not  his heart as it still realizes his one true love giving Jaz hope after all.



A Recommended series to read !






Monday, February 20, 2012

One Grave at a Time by Jeaniene Frost

One Grave at a Time (Night Huntress, #6)  One Grave at a Time by Jeaniene Frost

My rating: 5 of 5 stars





The latest installment in Frost's "New York Times"- and "USA Today"-bestselling Night Huntress series, in which Cat grapples with her temporary ability to communicate with the dead and takes on a phantom murderer. Original.



My Thoughts and review



What an awesome book action packed from beginning to the end. Another great romantic suspense. If you haven't read this series yet its a must !



Bones is a vampire joined with his wife Cat.This adventure is about a ghost Elizabeth who approaches them on taking out a murdering ghost who every Hollows Eve comes alive and wreaks havoc by murdering and raping women he thinks are witches.Centuries ago Heinrich Kramer burned her at the stake and she wants revenge but, also to stop him from killing the new innocents.She has been tracking him for centuries and has not been able to stop what he is doing he is very powerful and very deadly.



Bones and Cat contact a medium named Tyler to contact the bad-ass ghost and the first encounter Tyler almost ends up dead.With the help of Elizabeth, Fabian, Cat and Bones they must find a way to deal with this deadly ghost once and for all.Among the danger that surrounds them all Cat has to deal with her powers leftover from a previous encounter that she can now she ghosts and there hanging around her all day long. She is dealing with her Uncle who pasted away but can't cross over and then you have that sexy vampire husband she needs to take care of ! Can you say my hands are full ? LOL



These is just a fun cast to read about . They give you  some wild fun and laughs. Enjoyable character's that were fun witty others loyal to the bone. Other's very dangerous. You are greeted with a new cast member that you automatically despise from the very beginning hoping all along someone will off him ! LOL. Then you have Bones who drips of sensuality that you just die for wishing you had him for your very own.And Cat my favorite character out of the bunch she is one bad- ass women full off love for those around her.You feel the bond that Kat has with here husband wishing you had someone like that in a mate for yourself. Cat and Bones friends and family join there mission that is life threating even for a vampire to right and injustice done centuries ago and is still going on hoping that the revenge they now feel doesn't take over all there lives and that there able to all stay alive to see it accomplished!









Several Quick Tips For Beating Writer’s Block

Several Quick Tips For Beating Writer’s Block

by
One of the most difficult aspects of article writing and marketing, once you have been doing it for a longer period of time, is how to come up with fresh topics to write about. It is even more difficult to put your finger on ideas that are hot and related to your topic.

Here are some suggestions to help you get those creative juices flowing again.

* Visit forums related to your niche. Spend 30 minutes a day in forums related to your niche. Write down common questions or inquiries and use those to craft articles.

* Visit the Q&A sites like Yahoo Answers. If one person has asked the question, chances are there are many more who have it but are afraid to ask. Answer the most common questions you see with a new article.

* Check the news Being on top of the industry news will help you be able to write related articles as the news events take place. This can also be a great way to grab expanded exposure. By piggy backing off the hot topic you can grab way more readers then you would with a normal topic. And not just the big news stations either. Some of the smaller more local stations may have topics not covered by the larger ones and can be a potential goldmine for ideas.



* Set up a Google alert for your topic.
This way you’ll be emailed how ever frequently you choose, with up to date blogs and posts and new stories related to your topic that you can get and gain ideas from.

* Spend 30 minutes brainstorming. Do not allow yourself to focus on anything but your topic. This will get easier the more times you do it. It can be difficult the first few times to get your mind to actually produce something, but once you’ve done it a few times your mind will know you mean business and will help you populate ideas quite quickly.

* Use Google’s wonder wheel for ideas. Instead of using it to get keywords, use it to help you get some ideas as to what to write about.



* Create a mind map about your topic.
And then each and every sub-topic that you come up with, until you have multiple mini mind maps and plenty of ideas to source article topics from.

* If you’re really stuck, check out the competition. Seeing what they are writing about may give you ideas of what to write about.

* Re-purpose old articles. But, not by rewriting them. Instead approach the same topic from another angle. If your topic was say 5 tips to succeed in article writing, a new approach would be 5 things to avoid in article writing, or 5 tips to improve, or a better way to do it. Just using the same general idea, and giving it life in a new way can be the perfect method to get unstuck.

* Check out the bookstore or the library. The ones that have real books. Look at some of the ones related to your niche and see if you can’t gain some writing ideas from them.

* Go to e-book sites as well. Do the same thing as you did with Amazon and the library. Look for titles in your niche, and use those to help you get new creative ideas to write about.

* Use seasonal events to your advantage. Instead of just writing about autism, write about how to help autistic children cope with Christmas, or other such seasonal event related topics.



* Carry a notebook with you.
Ever feel like you’ve got the perfect idea but are not at home and able to write the article right away. Carry around a notebook so that when the idea strikes you can jot it down before you forget it again.

* Get away from the computer for a bit. Real life and real life situations may give you ideas you never would have come up with by simply sitting in front of your monitor. Use real life experiences and events to create ideas and creativity for your articles.

* Talk to industry leaders. Just a quick Q and A with someone in the industry may prompt ideas you would have never thought of otherwise.

* Read. By reading what others have wrote on the topic you may be able to come up with ideas of your own, or a new twist on an old idea. The best writers and the most avid of readers.

* Along the same lines as reading, read articles in some of your favorite authority blogs and websites. One of my favorite blogs is Mashable.com. They may bring to mind a thought or idea you may not have thought of otherwise.

* Join a mastermind group. Being able to float ideas around with others and discuss your topic can help breathe new life into a topic you found going stale. And, it is a great way to set up potential cross promotions with others in your niche for the future.

* Use your imagination. Put yourself into the mind of your target audience, and figure out questions and topics that may be important to them and write about them. Just a little bit of imagination and role playing can lead to many new ideas.



* Watch movies or television shows related to your niche.
They may cover topics or ideas you may not have previously covered or thought about.

* Think about your own personal experiences. There may be things within them that you can revisit and create topics about, with a good solid base of reality to make for a more interesting and informative article.

Hopefully these ideas will help you come up with and create your own ideas and topics to write about. Ideas are limitless, you just need to develop the skills to mine the topics and ideas out of the things around you. The more you write and the more you strive to generate ideas, the more ideas you’ll eventually come up with.


Friday, February 17, 2012

His Captive (MacGruders #1) by Diana Cosby

His Captive (MacGruders, #1)His Captive by Diana Cosby

My rating: 3 of 5 stars





With a wastrel brother and a treacherous former fiancé, Lady Nichola Westcott hardly expects the dangerously seductive Scot who kidnaps her to be a man of his word. Though Sir Alexander MacGruder promises not to hurt her, Nichola's only value is as a pawn to be ransomed.



Alexander's goal is to avenge his father's murder, not to become entangled with the enemy. But his desire to keep Nichola with him, in his home—in his bed—unwittingly make her a target for those who have no qualms about shedding English blood.



Now Nichola is trapped—by her powerful attraction to a man whose touch shakes her to the core. Unwilling and unable to resist each other, can Nichola and Alexander save a love that has enslaved them both?





My thoughts & Review





This was a cute fast read but not much substance would have like to see more of a plot. Its about a kidnapping of a Lords sister who they plan to ransom.The characters of this story are drawn to each other right from the beginning.Although both parties try to fight this attraction to each other as they are suppose to be enemies.I found myself laughing a lot throughout the book Nichola antics while being held prisoner we hilarious.I found the tender hear Ted Alexander to be endearing his love and attraction for Nicola was a surprise to see for a harden Highland warrior.Found Alexander to be a noble warrior in his decision on choosing between his family and Nicola turned out to be the right one even if it was a hard choice and tore his heart out in doing so.Look forward to catching up on the other books in the series.I new author added to a list of growing new comers for me.





 







The Werewolf Upstairs (Strange Neighbors) by Ashlyn Chase

The Werewolf Upstairs (Strange Neighbors, #2)The Werewolf Upstairs by Ashlyn Chase

My rating: 5 of 5 stars







Desperate for change, public defender Roz Wells decides moving into a new apartment is just what she needs. But she'll get more than she bargained for when she starts dating the gorgeous boy next door, who just happens to be a shape-shifter--and quite possibly a criminal. Original.



My thoughts & Review



I thought this was a great read found it to be funny and humorous.A lawyer has moved into her friends building not knowing that this that these apartment are full of all sorts of paranormal tenants.Roz hooks up with cute looking bad boy Konrad.The meet for the second time when Konrad is arrested and she is representing him as his public defender. After getting him off of the charges against him these two hook up and the sparks start flying immediately. But, Konrad is holding back a big secret and starts waring on his conscious as he had found his mate in Roz and he is totally falling head over heels in love. Roz being a realist is having a hard time learning about Konrad secrets and also those of the building learning that the all are of a different species.But, her love for Conrad helps her cope even if she is not a total believer.There are several people working together trying to solve a mystery of stolen artifacts from a museum and a reward on the line to solve it.But, Konrad's innocent involvement leads to his arrest for the crime and Roz needs to come to the his rescue to get him off the hook even after learning his secrets. I also found that Roz and Konrad's courtship to be hilarious. The two unhappy with there jobs make a list of what the would like to do as another career and set forth in motion on trying to figure that out but mishap after mishap proves that the are not cut out for that career choice so they cross it off the list.These antic keep me laughing throughout the book. This author was a first for me and looking forward to other books written by her they are on my to read list as we speak.





Haunted Honeymoon by Marta Acosta

Haunted Honeymoon (Casa Dracula, #4)Haunted Honeymoon by Marta Acosta

My rating: 5 of 5 stars






THERE'S MORE THAN HER HEART AT STAKE. . . .As the only human to survive vampire infection, Milagro de Los Santos has become quite a celebrity among the blood-drinking elite. Too bad the perks of her condition--increased strength, super-fast healing--don't pay her condo fees. There are other complications too. She's feeling guilty about her fling with enigmatic Vampire Council member Ian Ducharme, and pining for her ex-fiance, Dr. Oswald Grant . . . the fabulous man whose kiss changed her life. It's when Milagro--irked by Ian's attentions to his neighbor--travels to London and enjoys a sexy flirtation of her own, that the blood really hits the fan. Suddenly, those around her are dying gruesome deaths and Milagro's being interrogated. Who would kill to set her up as a murder suspect? Milagro just wants to turn back the clock and have another chance to make things right, but no sooner has she escaped to Oswald's ranch than an accident obliterates her memory. Will the murderer come after her now? And will amnesia spark a romantic do-over with Oswald--or will she make all the same mistakes before she ever gets to say "I do"?



My thoughts...



Milagro questions her relationship with the powerful Vampire Council member Ian Ducharme. Ian aggressively pursued her and although she had been engaged to another vampire named Oswald, she was unable to resist Ian's allure and broke their engagement. But Ian has a darker side and Milagro wonders what her life would have been like it if she had stayed and married her steady and handsome ex-fiance (Oswald)instead.Deciding to take a break from Ian and thoughts of what could have been with both loves  she's off to see a vampire surfer where she has a fling and some hot and heavy sex.Deciding to hook up at a later date once she is back home the sexy surfer shows but ends up dead.Milagro ends up being the likely suspect but she has a accident and now has amnesia and can't remember anything . Torn and lonely she returns home to be comforted by Oswald and surrounding family.Thinking she may have a do -over with Oswald they strike up there relation again but, Oswald is not being honest in his feelings for her.It was one hell of a  ride that Milagro took us on to solve a murder and trying to find out what her true feeling for the two men in her life one that she loves and the other super sexy vampire Ian she can't forget or remember at the same time. I thought this book was a fun and sexy read full of life and vibrant character's and some very wild and hot sexy vampires that brought some hot sex to the pages of this book that only a girl in love with a sexy vampire could appreciate made me laugh quite often.Quite and enjoyable read and look forward to the others in this series.First time read of this author for me and I have already ordered the rest to read in the series and I am looking forward to it. Can't wait!







Thursday, February 16, 2012

Glimmerglass (Faeriewalker #1) by Jenna Black

Glimmerglass (Faeriewalker, #1)
Glimmerglass (Faeriewalker #1)
by Jenna Black

5 of 5 stars




It's all she's ever wanted to be, but it couldn't be further from her grasp..



Dana Hathaway doesn't know it yet, but she's in big trouble.  When her alcoholic mom shows up at her voice recital drunk, again, Dana decides she's had enough and runs away to find her mysterious father in Avalon: the only place on Earth where the regular, everyday world and the captivating, magical world of Faerie intersect. But from the moment Dana sets foot in Avalon, everything goes wrong, for it turns out she isn't just an ordinary teenage girl--she's a Faeriewalker, a rare individual who can travel between both worlds, and the only person who can bring magic into the human world and technology into Faerie. 



Soon, Dana finds herself tangled up in a cutthroat game of Fae politics. Someone's trying to kill her, and everyone seems to want something from her, from her new found friends and family to Ethan, the hot Fae guy Dana figures she'll never have a chance with... until she does.  Caught between two worlds, Dana isn't sure where she'll ever fit in and who can be trusted, not to mention if her world will ever be normal again...



My thoughts....



Thought this book was a great read it kept me interested and turning the pages.This book mainly is an introduction to the series to come introduction its players in my opinion.Dana is running from a mother who does nothing but embarrass her and drinks way to much.Learning that here mother left her father in Avalon Dana runs away from home at to Avalon to a father she has never met.Once reaching Avalon Dana is involved in a battle of power who will be the next ruler learning her father is in prison at the time and know one to protect her she is kidnap by her Aunt and pretty much jailed herself then being kidnapped yet again by a brother and sister and brought to another underground compound.Dana there learns by now why she is so special and a so called weapon to the one who wants the power she is known as a Faerie-walker meaning she can walk between both world meaning she can enter realms that other cannot making her a very powerful weapon.Lost in a world where everyone is using her lying to her trying to protect her she doesn't know who to trust she just want to go home where people aren't trying to kill her but, that is impossible now that her father had learned of her and what she can do she needs to be protected and if that is not bad enough she is trying to forge a relationship with a father she never met and he to who never never he had a daughter.The book takes you on one heck of a ride to figure it somewhat out and what she needs to do just to stay alive and finally maybe learn who she can trust.The book also leaves you wondering who might be her love interest through all of this we are just going to have to have to see.Great start to a new series first time author read for me and looking forward to the second book already on order.