Sunday Post #13

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. The purpose of this meme is to showcase new book acquisitions and interesting posts from the previous week. 

Its been a busy week. My dad finally had is gallbladder out on Tuesday That was a nerve wracking hour and a half in the waiting room, let me tell you! They released him on Friday and he's recovering nicely at home. 

The semester has finally come to an end but now its all marking all the time. My students have a tendency to write such drivel but there is occasionally that rare glimpse of brilliance from one of them *sigh*. 

I missed last week's Sunday Post, so here is what I read and reviewed in the last fortnight:

Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews
Embrace the Darkness by Alexandra Ivy
If You Deceive by Kresley Cole
Storm Born by Richelle Mead
Stolen Fury by Elisabeth Naughton

*Click on titles to see reviews
   
Also got some of books:

Embrace the Darkness by Alexandra Ivy (Kobo)
Jane Yellowrock World Companion by Faith Hunter (Kobo)
Angel of Darkness by Caleb Carr (Audible)
Full Moon Rising by Keri Arthur (Audible)

Pitch Black by Leslie A. Kelley (Amazon)

Black at Heart by Leslie A. Kelley (Amazon)

So what have you been up to this week?

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Sunday Post #12

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. The purpose of this meme is to showcase new book acquisitions and interesting posts from the previous week. 

Its been a quiet week but I managed to read and review a few books, including:

When Darkness Comes by Alexandra Ivy
Last Dragon Standing by G.A. Aiken
Like No Other Lover by Julie Anne Long
To Desire a Devil by Elizabeth Hoyt
Turn Coat by Jim Butcher

*Click on titles to see reviews
   
Also got a couple of books:

On Thin Ice by Cherry Adair (Kobo)
Kissed by Darkness by Shea MacLeod (Audible)

Secrets for Seducing a Royal Bodyguard by Vanessa Kelly (Borrowed)

After the Storm by Maya Banks (Borrowed)   

So what have you been up to this week?

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Sunday Post #11: December Wrap Up (& 2013)

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. The purpose of this meme is to showcase new book acquisitions and interesting posts from the previous week. 

I am back from the Abyss!!! 

My father had an acute gallbladder attack and was in hospital for 5 weeks so what with working and running backwards and forwards from the hospital, and now oodles of pre-surgery doctors appointments, I haven't had much time left over for blogging. Hopefully things will improve once he has his surgery this month.

So here is my wrap up for December and a general note on 2013:

In December, I read 17 and completed my Goodreads challenge of 150 books with 186 read in 2013.

My favorite book for the month was Now You See Me by S.J. Bolton and the worst was Brighter Than The Sun by Julia Quinn. After finishing and loving the Bridgerton's series, I've been working my way through Quinn's backlist in 2013 and all I can say is she has definitely grown as a writer. Its like her earlier books were written by a completely different person - none of the wit and charm of the Bridgertons. 

New entrants into the Hottie Harem were Patrick MacCallister in Two Weeks' Notice by Rachel Caine  and Marc Joesbury in Now You See Me by S.J. Bolton.

No anti-hotties this month - happy to say :0)

The best Kick-Ass Heroine was Bryn Davis in Two Weeks' Notice

The special power that caught my eye was Mercy's ability to see ghosts in Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs. 
   
I got a few books this week as well:

The Anatomist's Apprentice by Tessa Harris (Kobo)
When Darkness Comes by Alexandra Ivy (Kobo)

Paradise Awakening by Jaci Burton (Amazon)
Wolf Bundle by Terry Spear (Amazon)

 

So what have you been up to this week?

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Sunday Post #10: September Wrap Up

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. The purpose of this meme is to showcase new book acquisitions and interesting posts from the previous week. 

Haven't had much time to blog in the last couple of weeks but now that the academic year has started (and the endless meetings are over), I'm hoping to have more time :0)

I did, however, manage a Hunk of the Week post, yay! 

Anyway, here is the wrap up for September - better late than never...

I read 11 books - mainly  UF with some PNR and romantic suspense reads as well.

My favorite book for the month was Magic Rises by Ilona Andrews and the worst was Heat Stroke by Rachel Caine although it did have its moments and David is a scrumptious hero.

Best hunky hotties for September were Curran in Magic Rises (despite one or two bad kitty moments) and Owen Grayson in Venom by Jennifer Estep.

The Anti-Hottie Hero award goes to Jonathan in Heat Stroke. He really needs to learn to keep his mouth shut to stop all the garbage from coming out - jerk! 

The best Kick-Ass Heroine was Kate Daniels in Magic Rises (of course) and I also loved Gin Blanco in Venom.  

The special power that caught my eye was Rose Drayton's flash in On The Edge by Ilona Andrews
   
I also got a couple of books this week:

My Lady Quicksilver by Bec McMaster (Discover a New Love)
Rogue Rider by Larissa Ione (Borrowed)

So what have you been up to this week?

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Sunday Post #9

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. The purpose of this meme is to showcase new book acquisitions and interesting posts from the previous week. 

The academic year is about to begin and I've been busy working on lesson plans and such, so its been quiet at the Harem.

Nevertheless, I have managed a few posts and reviews...
   

Monday Musings - Censorship at Goodreads
Top Ten Tuesday - back again next week (I hope)
Hunk of the Week
Heart to Heart - Banned Books Week
Covers to Covet

Reviews:

Dead Beat by Jim Butcher
Lethal Rider by Larissa Ione
Heat Stroke by Rachel Caine

And these are the books acquired this week:

Omens by Kelley Armstrong (Audible)
Deadly Descent by Kaylea Cross (Kobo)
Sword of Darkness by Kinley MacGregor (Library)
Unchained by J. Lynn (Library) 

So what have you been up to this week?

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The Sunday Post #8

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. The purpose of this meme is to showcase new book acquisitions and interesting posts from the previous week. 

It's been a quiet week at The Harem as I've spent quite a bit of my time playing with Apple's new iOS. There are some great new features and some not so great ones but you have to take the good with the bad :0)

So what's going on at The Hottie Harem:

New Feature - created a new feature called Heart to Heart. Inspired by Let's Discuss hosted at Oh Chrys! and The Fiction Conniption, the purpose of these posts is to either share a book or blogging issue, controversy or even a little tidbit discovered somewhere in the blogosphere.

Design - finally figured out how to add an image to the popular posts section (needed to upload to Photobucket and add image HTML). Also added a Twitter feed although the widget is wonky and doesn't want to load half the time *sigh*.  

Joined Booklikes - Goodreads new TOS have encouraged me to back up my reviews by joining Booklikes. While I don't write reviews that bash authors or have nasty sounding shelves, Ive decided it is better to be safe than sorry. 

Unfortunately, no new reviews posted this week, although I've finally finished listening to Dead Beat by Jim Butcher and the review should be up today.

Now for some other fun stuff...

Monday Musings - None this week :0(
Top Ten Tuesday - Fall's Most Awaited Books
Hunk of the Week
Heart to Heart - The Blogging Bucket List
Covers to Covet


And these are the books acquired this week:

Lost in Shadow by Cynthia Luhrs (Kobo)
Secrets of A Wedding Night by Valerie Bowman (Kobo)
Stolen Chances by Elisabeth Naughton (NetGalley)

So what have you been up to this week?

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The Sunday Post #6

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. The purpose of this meme is to showcase new book acquisitions and interesting posts from the previous week. 

So what's going on at The Hottie Harem:

The Hottie Harem Facebook Page - Decided to create a Facebook Page for the blog and I'm pretty pleased with it although there may still be some changes as I'm working on creating a new logo and button for the site. Stop by for a visit if you get a chance.

Clean Out Your e-Reader Challenge - This challenge is hosted by Fantasy is More Fun and Because Reading is better than real life. It is right up my alley as it focuses on reading all of those Freebies one invariably collects along the way. I have dozens on my Kindle that I've never managed to get around to so now it my chance. Here's the sign up post if anyone is interested.

Here are the reviews posted at the Harem this week:

Venom by Jennifer Estep
Whisper of Evil by Kay Hooper

Not to mention some other fun stuff...

The Blogging Bucket List

Monday Musings - Bloggers Commenting Back
Top Ten Tuesday - Missed this week as I had several pre-semester work meetings :0(
Hunk of the Week
Covers to Covet


And these are the books acquired this week:

Would Be Witch by Kimberly Frost (Audible)
Shadow Fall by Erin Kellison (NetGalley)
The Arrangement by Mary Balogh (Amazon)
Bad Nights by Rebecca York (Discover A New Love)
Captain Lacey Mysteries Volume #1 by Ashley Gardner (Amazon)

So what have you been up to this week?

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The Sunday Post #5: August Wrap Up

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. The purpose of this meme is to showcase new book acquisitions and interesting posts from the previous week. 

So what's going on at The Hottie Harem:

August Wrap-Up - The summer months have been slower in terms of reading despite being off until the beginning of the academic year. I read 13 books - mainly thrillers and romantic suspense with a couple of UF and PNR thrown in for good measure.

My favorite book for the month was The Dead Room by Chris Mooney and the worst was Against the Wind by Kat Martin although it was a 3 star read so not too bad.

Difficult choices for the best hunky hotties for August but I managed to narrow it down to Steele in Forged in Steele by Maya Banks with honorable mentions to Adam Hauptmann in Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs and David in Ill Wind by Rachel Caine.

The Anti-Hottie Hero award goes to Dell Connelly in Animal Attraction by Jill Shalvis. His cavalier attitude toward women and his womanzing tendencies were too much for my tastes.

The best Kick-Ass Heroine was Karrin Murphy in Blood Rites by Jim Butcher and the special power that caught my eye was Jo Baldwin's ability to control the weather in Ill Wind.

Here are the reviews posted at the Harem this week:

Against the Law by Kat Martin
Immortal Rider by Larissa Ione
Midnight Secrets by Ella Grace

Not to mention some other fun stuff...

Monday Musings - Murder for Young Readers
Top Ten Tuesday - Memorable Secondary Characters
Hunk of the Week
Covers to Covet


And these are the books acquired this week:

Venom by Jennifer Estep (Audible)

The Black Echo by Michael Connelly (Audible)
Seductive Secrets by Colleen Connally (Amazon Freebie)
Endgame by Dee Davis (Amazon)
The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever by Julia Quinn (Amazon)

Also won a $50 Amazon Gift Card from Nikki over at Book Pairing for the Bout of Book 8.0 Pairathon Challenge. Thanks so much Nikki, its already burning a hole in my book buying pocket!

So what have you been up to this week?

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The Sunday Post #4

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. The purpose of this meme is to showcase new book acquisitions and interesting posts from the previous week. 

So what's going on at The Hottie Harem:

Bout of Books 8.0 - its been ages since I participated in a Read-A-Thon and I'd forgotten how much fun it is to read and share with others.

Still working on my new blog design and made some new banners for the slider. Now all I need is a blog header...

Here are the reviews posted at the Harem this week:

 

Blood Rites by Jim Butcher
Forged in Steele by Maya Banks
Last to Die by Tess Gerritsen

Not to mention some other fun stuff...

Monday Musings - Young Detectives Club
Top Ten Tuesday - Easy Blogging
Hunk of the Week
Covers to Covet


And these are the books acquired this week:

Lady Sophia's Lover by Lisa Kleypas (Amazon)

Immortal Rider by Larissa Ione (Kobo)

So what have you been up to this week?

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