Versatile Blogger Award

I was totally surprised when on Friday I was awarded my very first Versatile Blogger Award. The author Nicky Wells at Romance That Rocks Your World gave me this award. Nicky has a book coming out in September. I hope you will stop back to this blog so that you will read my review of “Sophie’s Turn”.

There are rules that must be followed for this award:

You must thank the person who gave you this award and include a link to their blog. Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly. (You might want to pick blogs or bloggers that are excellent!) I thought I would have a problem making my list of 15, but I found it very hard to whittle my list down. If you find that it’s hard to come up with your 15, at least try to nominate 8 or 10 bloggers. But please don’t feel that being nominated should be a burden. Nominate those bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award (you might include a link to this site) and let them know that you’ve nominated them. Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.,
So here are my nominees, in no particular order:

Love Romance Passion, Urban Girl Reader, An Avid Reader’s Haven, Jodi Olson, Robin Badillo, Grave Tells, Lisa Fox Romance, Book Savvy Babe, Victoria Blisse, Queentutt’s World of Escapism, Cabin Goddess, The Indie Exchange, Alchemy of Scrawl, Girl Who Reads, Bunnys Review

Now here are 7 things you never knew about me:

The best way I know to de-stress is to go to Maine.
This photo of Old Orchard Beach
I grew up spending summer vacations in Old Orchard Beach Maine. I loved waking up to hear the ocean and smell that salty air. I would love to sit on the beach and read my romance novels. And if you love seafood what better place than to go where you know the seafood is fresh. The one negative is that the water is very cold – I’m talking ice cold.

I have worked in libraries since I was in the sixth grade. My elementary school librarian helped me to fall in love with libraries. I got to work with her putting books away. I would also spend a lot of time down at our town Athenaeum. As I went through Junior High, High School, and then College I would always work in the library. I earned my degree in Elementary Education but just couldn’t stay away from the library. After being out of school for a few years, I got rehired to work evenings in the library at my Alma Mater. They then hired me full time. I have now been there for 24 years.

Have loved reading all types of romance since high school. I used to spend my weekends and summers staying with my grandparents. When I was in high school, my grandmother introduced me to my first romance novels. Back in the day the romance novels of choice were Harlequin’s. I still read Harlequin’s but now I read all different sub-genres that fall under the romance umbrella.

My guilty pleasure is chocolate. One thing I will never give up, at least I hope, is my daily square of chocolate. And it can’t be milk chocolate either. The darker the better for me.

I hate turnip and turnip greens. I will eat most vegetables. Some that I hated while I was growing up, I’m actually eating now. But one thing I refuse to eat is turnip and turnip greens. I can’t stand the smell and I got sick on it as a child – so don’t offer me any turnip.

I have a gluten allergy. I used to love eating cookies, donuts, cakes and any type of carb you can think of. But then suddenly three years ago, I had a very strong reaction to something that had wheat and gluten in it. So now I have to be very careful and make sure to read my labels. I’m still trying to get used to the allergy and there are times I want to cheat but then I remember what will happen if I slip.

Would love to travel all over the world. I would love to be able to just pack my bags and travel where ever I wanted to go. I have been to Jamaica and would go again. I have a friend who has a travel blog and every time I get my latest update, I say to myself that I wish I could go there. I never win the lottery so it will be a while before I get to a lot of those places but one good thing about reading romance novels is that you get to go to a lot of places and never have to go any further than your chair.

Now that you’ve seen seven things about me, I would like to congratulate my nominees. You ladies really deserve this award. I hope you will visit their blogs and learn something about them. But before you leave please tell me one thing about yourself.

Thank you, again, Nicky for this award.

A Blood Seduction by Pamela Palmer

Book 1 in the “Vamp City” series
Avon/Harper Collins Publishers
ISBN: 9780062107497 (paperback)
876KB; 384 pages
Rating: 4 stars

Quinn Lennox is seen working at the lab in the National Institutes of Health located in Bethesda, Maryland. She’s got some strange things happening to her but she wants to keep it quiet. She has her younger brother, Zach, living with her. Something happens and they seem to find themselves in a parallel universe. Zack is a total geek. Instead of wondering about the situation, he wants to make a computer game.

Pamela always surprises me by what she comes up with and “A Blood Seduction” is no exception. At the beginning I couldn’t wait to turn the page. Pamela has made her vampires slightly different from others and that’s what makes them interesting. Then brother and sister get separated.

The Master, Arturo Mazza, desires Quinn but something just doesn’t seem right. It will be interesting to see as I read what that is. Pamela does a great job of making us think we are watching a Sci-Fi Channel movie. She also makes her heroine as tough as they come. I would want her around if I ever got into trouble.

There were times when I found that the story was a little slow. It may be because that we are given so many plot twists. Pamela also gives the reader a lot of information about the alternate vampire world. This could be because this is the first book in the series. I’m hoping that the second book will not seem as slow.

This alternate world is both dark and violent. Not a world you would want to visit. Usually vampires are romanticized in romance novels but this is more of a paranormal story and less on the romantic side. You will have to decide if Arturo is the romantic hero or not. I had 50 pages to go and I still hadn’t figured it out for myself.

I’m down to the last 30 pages and I finally see Arturo do something nice with Quinn’s feelings in mind. But I found it to be a case of “a little too late”. In a way you will be surprised by the ending but in other ways you shouldn’t be. I have attached the book trailer so you can get a little hint about the book.

If you like your stories dark, you will probably love this book. If you love alternate universes, you will probably love this book. If you love Pamela’s Feral Warriors series, you will find this new series to be totally different. I found that I liked the book and am not giving up on the series. I will add the next book to my TBR list. It is expected to hit the shelves on June 25, 2013.

The True Meaning of Sacrifice by Casey Wyatt

The True Meaning of Sacrifice.

You’ve got to stop over to Casey Wyatt’s blog if you want to read about our Memorial Day Holiday. You will also learn a little bit about a town, Springfield Massachusetts, that’s not too far from the town I live in. Everyone have a great weekend.

Master’s Hunt by Verity Ant

No Boundaries Press
205KB; 120 pages
Rating: 4 ½ stars

Renee and Kevin are seen in a pool having a good time. Amiko is also with them. I give her kudos for wearing nipple clamps. Kevin is a very lucky man. He’s got not one but two women to love. And then the phone rings and interrupts everything. Kevin is their Master.

You get to see why Kevin’s a Master when you see him dealing with his sister’s doctor. His sister Lori is very sick and we see to what lengths Kevin will go to in order to take care of her. He may live a certain lifestyle but that doesn’t stop him from caring about the women in his life.

Verity gives us glimpses of their lives outside their little circle. Some stories like this get lost in the sex and Verity shows us that her characters actually do something outside of the bedroom. We also see what Kevin’s sexual preference is.

Renee and Amiko love how Kevin treats them and how they all love each other. They are true submissives. Do you and your partner use sexual punishments? Do you think you would enjoy something like that? Are you curious about the BDSM lifestyle?

This is a very explicit and sexually charged story. It is not for the “faint of heart”. Some of what they do may put you off but remember that’s the way they choose to live. I hope you will give this story a chance. If you like to watch porn, this is a couple of steps above that. This has a better story line than those movies you may see “on demand”.

Verity has also included some mystery and intrigue in the story when Amiko seems to have disappeared. Again, we see that even though Kevin is the Master he has deep feelings for Amiko. But he doesn’t let Renee feel left out. They are a family.

This is also a story about obsession and what lengths some people will go to in order to get what they want. When reading this story, you must let all your inhibitions go. Sexual toys are used and there is some pain involved. But pain can also bring pleasure if done correctly. Has any of that ever sexually aroused you? Maybe this story has made you curious. Has Verity made you a fan? I am. If you still need something to help you decide, please watch this YouTube trailer.