Wicked Scribes

Heart of Obsidian Excerpt…And Giveaway

kaleigha — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:17:13 +0000

I know that there was a bit of a let down for a lot of people when Nalini Singh‘s blurb for her upcoming Psy/Changeling novel, Heart of Obsidian, didn’t reveal who the story was to be focused on. Personally, I didn’t mind since I had stubbornly decided that it was Kaleb’s Krychek’s story, and no one else even crossed my mind. Over the course of the last week or so, Nalini has been giving tiny little teaser blurbs, but today is the real treat: the first two chapters have been uploaded HERE. There be spoilers, so if you want to wait to find out for sure who the hero is, don’t even take a peek.

Do you avoid all things excerpty and spoilerish, or are you like me and just have to read whatever you can get your hands on? I am grateful that the excerpt comes so close to the actual release date of June 4th, though, since it really does suck to get all excited for a book only to realize that you still have months yet to wait. Now, I am still convinced that the heroine is Faith Nightstar’s missing cousin Sahara, but what is your vote?

So, on to the giveaway part. If you would like to win a hardcover copy of Nalini Singh’s Heart of Obsidian, just drop a line here under the comments section and say who you think the heroine will be. Popular opinion ranges from Sahara to Alice Eldridge, to a missing swan changeling, to someone entirely new. What do you think?

Contest closes Thursday, May 23rd at Midnight Atlantic time, and is open to all. Winner to be chosen at random. Good luck!

New Release Dates…

kaleigha — Mon, 20 May 2013 05:37:52 +0000

Just a quick note to let you know that the monthly and yearly release dates for 2013 have all been updated, and the cover art and blurbs have been added where possible (2014 should be done tomorrow). As always, it seems the powers that be have taken great delight in shifting around their publishing schedules, so if there is anything you had your heard set on, you might want to take a double check.

This Week in E-books…

kaleigha — Sun, 19 May 2013 18:57:25 +0000

Time for the weekly look at what is coming in e-books and novellas. Entangled Covet‘s new e-book only line continues with the release of its next two titles. The first one is Take it Like a Vamp, from author Candace Havens.

Synopsis…

Vampire Nick Christos might’ve been born in the Middle Ages, but the good old days seem tame compared to the last eight years he’s spent ruling the Supernatural Council. His only respite is with his cute neighbor Casey Meyers, a woman he wants more than any undead man should. Sure, he’s forced to take a cold shower after every encounter, but there’s no way he’ll test his own strength by getting too close to a human, and he’s not willing to risk her life–not with bloodthirsty family on the prowl out to ruin Nick’s life.

When said Nick’s kin shows up, the innocent Casey is caught in the middle of a centuries old fight, and Nick’s biggest fear is realized. Now, instead of keeping his hands off his neighbor, he’ll risk everything to save the human he’s come to love.

And the second is Bad Mouth from author Angela McCallister. I swear I have seen that cover dude posed somewhere before.

Synopsis…

After her ex-husband’s obsession with vampires, Valerie Craig is on a mission to stop transformations. Of all vampires, Kade Rollins is the worst of the worst, but when multiple murders plague Seattle, Val is forced to enlist his aid. Kade’s crude wit and seductive nature attract her like no other, but she can’t ignore his violence toward his human servants, no matter her yearning to forget.

She’s torn when she learns Kade may be behind the murders. Val’s worked hard to protect humans from vampires, but the truth surrounding the murders could ignite a bloody battle between their races, one humans are sure to lose. Someone is pulling strings to build a vampire army and spark the war—setting Kade up to kick it off. But if she trusts the vampire prince, she risks her job, her integrity, and her heart if he betrays her as all the men in her life have.

And from the YA side, Cassandra Clare‘s second Bane Chronicles story, The Runaway Queen, comes out tomorrow. This one was co-written with Maureen Johnson.

Synopsis…

While in France, immortal warlock Magnus Bane finds himself attempting to rescue the royal family from the horrors of the French Revolution—after being roped into this mess by a most attractive count. Naturally, the daring escape calls for invisible air balloons…

This standalone e-only short story illuminates the life of the enigmatic Magnus Bane, whose alluring personality populates the pages of the #1 New York Times bestselling series, The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices series. This story in The Bane Chronicles, The Runaway Queen, is written by Maureen Johnson and Cassandra Clare.

Meh, not much for me this week. I am holding off on the Bane Chronicles until I can get the print version, and I am too annoyed with the crap publishing schedule of Entangled to break down and try their new line. I will be grabbing Jennifer Armentrout’s Arum novel when it comes out next week, though (that doesn’t count. Not sure why, but it doesn’t).

Cover Lover – The Runaway Queen

kaleigha — Sat, 18 May 2013 02:16:05 +0000

Now, count me surprised. I was pretty sure that all of the e-novellas in Cassandra Clare‘s Bane Chronicles were going to have the same cover with just a different title slapped on the front.

Nope.

Looks like each installment might be getting its very own cover treatment, which is great. Story number two is called The Runaway Queen, and it will be released on May 21st.

Oh, and over on Page to Premier, there is a very small snippet from the upcoming sixth and final (?) Mortal Instruments book, City of Heavenly Fire. It looks like the lead characters from the upcoming Dark Artifices series are introduced in this one, which makes total sense.

Cover Lover – The Spider

kaleigha — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:39:23 +0000

Just a quick little post on my way out the door (working sucks). Romantic Times magazine had the exclusive reveal of the cover for the next book of Jennifer Estep‘s Elemental Assassin series, The Spider, which is due out on December 31st. This series, right down to the novellas, has some of the consistently best covers going. I wish all books looked as good as these ones do.

Larissa Ione’s Reaver…

kaleigha — Fri, 17 May 2013 03:14:21 +0000

Looks like there is a bit of word starting to trickle out about the next Demonica/Lords of Deliverance book from Larissa Ione. I knew it was about Reaver…but I didn’t know it was actually going to be called Reaver. It is such a changed from the titles in both of the series Reaver was a part of that I thought seriously that it was going to be called something else entirely. Oh, and the blurb is out, too…

Reaver is an angel with a mysterious past and more attitude than anyone knows what to do with. Add to that mixture a propensity to break the rules, and he’s a walking recipe for angelic disaster.

Harvester is a fallen angel who sacrificed her wings to work as an undercover agent in hell. But her cover has been blown, and now she’s been sentenced to an eternity of unimaginable torture.

Reaver is determined to rescue Harvester from hell, but snatching Harvester away from Satan will cause a war between the two realms.

This is one rule Reaver can’t break.

This is one rule Reaver has to break.

Aaand that was a surprise, too. Call me crazy, but for some reason I just didn’t think Reaver ended up with Harvester. Did I miss the signs? Granted, I still haven’t read the last Lords book (just can’t seem to get there yet), so maybe I haven’t gotten to the good stuff yet in their relationship, but at this point finding out Reaver’s HEA is with Harvester caught me off guard. Reaver will be released on December 17th.

Site Updates…Help!

kaleigha — Thu, 16 May 2013 03:36:08 +0000

Sooo, I pretty much played with Photoshop all day, and I think I got most of the site looking like I wanted. I really wanted to change things to a more text-and-grunge look, but still keep the same colors. I still have a bit more to do, but not quite sure how to do it (things like changed the menu link colors). So far, there is the new background, new text-y header, and new little “cover coming soon” icons for the release pages. Of course, that made me think that the monthly banners no longer match, but I can’t figure out what else to do with them.

Anyways, the point of all of this is that I was wondering what you thought about the very bottom of the blog, where I added four sections to display the covers of “Coming Soon” books. Does it work? Does it look strange? Do you like the reminder of what is coming up, or do you just prefer it blank like it was? I am not quite sure about the metal frames, but just the covers themselves looked unfinished somehow. What do you think – keep or don’t bother?

Cover Lover – 8 New Titles

kaleigha — Tue, 14 May 2013 21:35:33 +0000

This is a bit of a different Cover Lover post. All three of the covers from the upcoming The Baskerville Affair from Emma Jane Holloway have been made public. Book one will be called A Study in Silks, and it will be released on September 24th.

It will be followed bybook two, called A Study in Darkness, on October 29th.

And will wrap up on November 26th with the release of A Study in Ashes.

And Lynn Viehl also has a double-header posting today. The first two covers from her upcoming Disenchanted & Co. e-book series have been released. Her Ladyship’s Curse will be released on August 12th.

And it will be followed by His Lordship Possessed on October 14th.

Rebecca Zanetti starts a new e-series this July with the release of Forgotten Sins. This one gives me a Ghostwalkers vibe, with soldiers enhanced with special abilities.

The fourth book from Kristen Callihan‘s Darkest London series, Shadowdance, will be released on December 17th.

And the final cover for today’s post comes from Tessa Adams and her Lone Star Witch series. Flamebound will be released on December 3rd.

Dracula Trailer…

kaleigha — Tue, 14 May 2013 05:19:56 +0000

I had absolutely no idea that yet another version of Dracula was being done, this time as a series for NBC slated to air this fall. Usually, the thought of something like this would make me shudder, since usually the cheese/camp factor can be pretty high, but I found myself not rolling my eyes through this recently released trailer. Some gore, some raunch, some action – doesn’t actually look all that bad. Jonathan Rhys Meyers can chew some scenery, but he does bring a certain something to this type of role. Here’s hoping that Dracula does’t, uh, (I want so badly to type suck, but that is just wrong. So is bite), disappoint. Yes. That.

Thoughts? I do love me the True Blood and Vampire Diaries, so it sounds like my thing, but Victorian Era stuff usually annoys me after a while. Anyone else giving this a look when it gets started this fall?

New Series Alerts…

kaleigha — Mon, 13 May 2013 23:25:10 +0000

Middle of the month is notoriously quiet lately from a new release stand-point, and this month is no exception. There is only one new YA series heading our way this week, coming from Rachel Hawkins. School Spirits is the first book of her Hex Hall Spin-Off series.

Synopsis…

Fifteen-year-old Izzy Brannick was trained to fight monsters. For centuries, her family has hunted magical creatures. But when Izzy’s older sister vanishes without a trace while on a job, Izzy’s mom decides they need to take a break.

Izzy and her mom move to a new town, but they soon discover it’s not as normal as it appears. A series of hauntings has been plaguing the local high school, and Izzy is determined to prove her worth and investigate. But assuming the guise of an average teenager is easier said than done. For a tough girl who’s always been on her own, it’s strange to suddenly make friends and maybe even have a crush.

Can Izzy trust her new friends to help find the secret behind the hauntings before more people get hurt?

Is this one on your radar? I haven’t heard much about the Hex Hall series, to be honest, so not sure about this one either.