New Releases ~ week of 03/30/2015

A Good Rake Is Hard to Find by Manda Collins (#1 Lords of Anarchy)

Being Emerald by Sylvia Ryan (#3 New Atlanta)
Born of War by Anderson Harp (#2 Will Parker)
Broken by Cynthia Eden (#1 Last Option Search Team)
Cursed by Ice by Jacquelyn Frank (#2 The Immortal Brothers)
Deception by D B Reynolds (#9 Vampires in America)
Deep by Kylie Scott (#4 Stage Dive)
Devil's Moon by Amanda Scott (#2 Border Nights)
Etherworld by Claudia Gabel (#2 Elusion)
Fall with Me by J Lynn (#4 Wait for You)
Firestorm by Nancy Holzner (#6 Deadtown)
Force of Attraction by D D Ayres (#2 K-9 Rescue Series)
Four Nights with the Duke by Eloisa James (#8 Desperate Duchesses)

Hard as a Rock by Christine Warren (#3 Gargoyles)
Hellbender by Dana Cameron (#3 Fangborn)
House of Ravens by Karpov Kinrade (#2 Nightfall)
Inside Danger by Ashley Claudy (#2 Outside The Ropes)
Instinct by Sherrilyn Kenyon (#6 Chronicles of Nick)
It Started With a Scandal by Julie Anne Long (#10 Pennyroyal Green)
Just a Little Flirt by Renita Pizzitola (#2 A Crush)
Killer Gourmet by G A McKevett (#20 Savannah Reid)
Love After All by Jaci Burton (#4 Hope)
Marked Fur Murder by Dixie Lyle (#3 Whiskey, Tango and Foxtrot Mystery)
Murder in Hindsight by Anne Cleeland (#3 New Scotland Yard Mystery)

Night's Blaze by Donna Grant (#5 Dark Kings)
No Perfect Princess by Angel Payne (#3 Secrets of Stone)
Part Time Cowboy by Maisey Yates (#2 Copper Ridge)
Pleasured by Candace Camp (#2 Secrets of the Loch)
Promise of Forever by Jessica Wood (#3 Promise)
Sea of Stars by Amy A. Bartol (#2 Kricket)
Sisters of Blood and Spirit by Kady Cross (#1 Sisters of Blood and Spirit)
Spark Xby Jessica Sorensen (#3 Death Collectors)
Tails, You Lose by Carol J. Perry (#2 Witch City Mystery)
The Angel Court Affair by Anne Perry (#30 Thomas Pitt)
The Closer You Come by Gena Showalter (#1 Original Heartbreakers)
The Dead Play On by Heather Graham (#3 Cafferty and Quinn)

The Diamond Conspiracy by Tee Morris (#5 Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences)
The Evertree by Marie Lu (#7 Spirit Animals)
The Icing on the Corpse by Liz Mugavero (#3 Pawsitively Organic Mysteries)
The Loss by Julie Plec (#2 Originals)
The Mourning Bells by Christine Trent (#4 Lady of Ashes )
The Patriot Threat by Steve Berry (#10 Cotton Malone)
The Return by Ridley Pearson (#8 Kingdom Keepers)
The Scandalous Secret of Abigail MacGregor by Paula Quinn (#3 The McGregors: Highland Heirs)
The Skull Throne by Peter V Brett (#4 Demon Cycle)

The Unleashing by Shelly Laurenston (#1 Call of Crows)
The Virgin by Tiffany Reisz (#7 The Original Sinners)
This Heart of Mine by Brenda Novak (#8 Whiskey Creek)
Total Surrender by Rebecca Zanetti (#4 Sins Brothers)
Twist by Karen Akins (#2 Loop)
Voyage of the Basilisk by Marie Brennan (#3 Memoir by Lady Trent)
What a Lady Requires by Ashlyn MacNamara (#3 The Eton Boys)
When It's Right by Jennifer Ryan (#2 Montana Men)
Whiskers of the Lion by P L Gaus (#9 Ohio Amish Mystery)
The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Paige (#2 Dorothy Must Die)

Book Review ~ The Orphan Queen

The Orphan Queen (The Orphan Queen #1)

by Jodi Meadows
published by Katherine Tegen Books
Genre: YA, Fantasy,

Summary (Goodreads): Wilhelmina has a hundred identities.

She is a princess. When the Indigo Kingdom conquered her homeland, Wilhelmina and other orphaned children of nobility were taken to Skyvale, the Indigo Kingdom’s capital. Ten years later, they are the Ospreys, experts at stealth and theft. With them, Wilhelmina means to take back her throne.

She is a spy. Wil and her best friend, Melanie, infiltrate Skyvale Palace to study their foes. They assume the identities of nobles from a wraith-fallen kingdom, but enemies fill the palace, and Melanie’s behavior grows suspicious. With Osprey missions becoming increasingly dangerous and their leader more unstable, Wil can’t trust anyone.

She is a threat. Wraith is the toxic by-product of magic, and for a century using magic has been forbidden. Still the wraith pours across the continent, reshaping the land and animals into fresh horrors. Soon it will reach the Indigo Kingdom. Wilhelmina’s magic might be the key to stopping the wraith, but if the vigilante Black Knife discovers Wil’s magic, she will vanish like all the others

My Thoughts: I've said it before but, I'm always happy when a book lives up to the hype. Too often I find that I don't love some books as much as everyone else seems to. I really enjoyed this one. It grabbed and held on to my attention right from the start and didn't let go until the end. That doesn't mean it didn't have it problems but they were not enough to pull me out of the book (it did make it hard to put into words without spoiling the story).
The world that Jodi Meadows created was an interesting one. The landscape is slowly being taken over by the wraith. Taking out whole kingdoms on its westward path. I also liked that the magical by product had its own characteristics, like being harmed by sunlight/mirrors. This made it another character in the story.
The characters were, at times, basic fantasy types but still worked. The Ospreys are a dwindling group of orphans that were removed from their kingdom when it was taken over during the One Night War. I did have problems with some of Wil's personality. For someone who is the "queen" she didn't seem to have much control. We find out very early that Patrick is in control and Wil goes along with the group even when she knows it is the wrong choice. This does create many problems during the story. Wil's faith in Melanie, even at the end, didn't make a lot of sense either. With everything that takes place there should have been some concern on Wil's part not faith that Melanie would let her know what was happening.
On the other side is Tobiah, his cousin James, and the royal court, along with the vigilante Black Knife. James was my favorite of this group. You could tell that he loved his life but was also took his responsibilities seriously. Tobiah, on the other hand, seemed very sullen and always wanted to be somewhere other than where he was. It was obvious from the start that one of these two were going to be Black Knife and it took away from the reveal when it happened. The relationship between Wil and Black Knife could have been interesting but fell short, especially when you find out who it is.
Overall, I enjoyed this story, I just wish it had been a little tighter in some areas. Wil was a strong lead character until you put her in front of the group she was supposed to be leading. Tobiah became stronger and more likable as you found out about him but his choices to end the story didn't feel like they would all stick. Even with that I have to know what happens to these characters and the land being overrun by the wraith.

Rating: 4-4.5

Some Thursday Randomness

Seattle-based artist Peregrine Church does sidewalk art that only shows up when it rains (or gets wet).


Saw this everywhere on Facebook. Its a mash up of every famous dance scene in movies.


Came across artist Sabine Rich (deviantArt) really has some amazing artwork in her galleries.

Steampunk Lady Death
by Sabine Rich

Lady Pirate
by Sabine Rich

New Releases ~ week of 03/23/2015

A Touch of Passion by Bronwen Evans (#3 Disgraced Lords)

After Dark by M. Pierce (#3 The Night Owl Trilogy)
Awakening You by Jessica Sorensen (#3 Unraveling You)
Cavendon Women by Barbara Taylor Bradford (#2 Cavendon)
Claimed by Sarah Fine (#2 Servants of Fate)
Cuba Straits by Randy Wayne White (#22 Doc Ford)
The Door in the Moon by Catherine Fisher (#3 Chronoptika)
Edge of Forever by Taryn Elliott (#3 When You're Gone)
Flirting with Fire by Kate Meader (#1 Hot in Chicago)
Forever Ink by Carrie Ann Ryan (#1.5 Montgomery Ink)
Garden of Death by Chrystle Fiedler (#3 Natural Remedies Mystery)
Half Wild by Sally Green (#2 Half Life Trilogy)

In the Time of Dragon Moon by Janet Lee Carey (#3 Wilde Island Chronicles)
Inspector of the Dead by David Morrell (#2 Thomas De Quincey Mystery)
Jinx's Fire by Sage Blackwood (#3 Wizard's Apprentice)
Return to Earth! by Ray O'Ryan (#10 Galaxy Zack)
Signature Kill by David Levien (#4 Frank Behr)
Target's Entangled by Kennedy Layne (#2 Red Starr)
The Dangers of Dating a Rebound Vampire by Molly Harper (#4 Half Moon Hollow)
The Elusive Lord Everhart Vivienne Lorret (#1 Rakes of Fallow Hall)
The Fifth Heart by Dan Simmons (#1 Fifth Heart)
The Penderwicks in Spring by Jeanne Birdsall (#4 Penderwicks)
The Tapestry by Nancy Bilyeau (#3 Crown)

What I'm Reading

Another weird/ bad reading week with nothing to really write a review on. I'm having trouble settling on a book and sticking with it for any length of time.
*credit to whomever does the Monday Reading meme. **It's Monday! What are you Reading? hosted by Sheila @ Book Journey

Prince of Fools (Goodreads)
by Mark Lawrence

**I haven't read anything by this author before. I'm liking the world even if I'm not sure about the main character so far. Hard to get behind a guy who starts the book off describing himself as a coward.

The Night Circus (Goodreads)
by Erin Morgenstern

**Trying another audio book. My problem so far is that if I'm not doing something on my laptop I find myself wanting to pick up a book even though I'm listening to one.

Marvel 1602 (Goodreads)
by Neil Gaiman

**Was looking for something different to read while on the road. Saw this while looking through the graphic novels at the library. I like both Neil Gaiman and Marvel so had to give it a try.






**eta name of Monday meme and host