Good Morning, Muses!
This month is quickly coming to an end and sadly I have not posted any reviews for June yet. Last Monday, I updated everyone on my lack of posts due to me being sick with a sinus infection and tired from working both my jobs. I had hoped to have my review for The Car Thief by Theodore Weesner up last Wednesday, but I just couldn't find the motivation to get it done. Hopefully, with June coming to an end and a new month starting soon, I will get back on track. I just wanted to apologize for the lack of posts and also for not stopping by any of my fellow blogger's sites to see how everyone is doing. I plan to rectify that soon!
Now to the new releases coming out this week. In Adult books, the wait for the highly anticipated sequel to The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan is nearly over with the release of Talulla Rising. Gena Showalter fans will be excited to check out Wicked Nights, book 1 in her new Angels of the Dark series. I love Gena's work, so I can't wait to see what she does with angel mythology.
In Young Adult, I have a feeling that The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker is going to be a highly sought after novel. Dust Girl by debut author Sarah Zettel has an interesting premise, so I plan to sit back and wait to see what my fellow bloggers think before adding it to my TBR pile.
In Movies, this year's Academy Award winning movie, The Artist, finally makes it to blu-ray and dvd. If you like comedies, then 21 Jumpstreet starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum may be for you. I didn't really care for Mirror Mirror starring Julia Roberts as the queen in this quirky rendition of the Snow White fairy tale, but if you know anything about director Tarsem Singh's movies, then you know they are beautiful to look at. If you like action and Greek Mythology, Wrath of the Titans (sequel to Clash of the Titans) might be worth a watch.
The movies that are being released in blu-ray/dvd combo packs this week are: Mirror Mirror and Wrath of the Titans.
And finally, in TV Series, Casablanca: the Complete Series from the 1980's will be out on Tuesday. So will Damages: Season 4 and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Year 7, etc.
Thanks for everyone's patience as I try getting back on schedule! Enjoy!
BOOKS (June 26th)
ADULT
Chasing Magic (Downside Ghosts, #5)
by: Stacia Kane
Magic-wie
lding Churchwitch and secret addict Chess Putnam knows better than anyone just how high a price people are willing to pay for a chemical rush. But when someone with money to burn and a penchant for black magic starts tampering with Downside’s drug supply, Chess realizes that the unlucky customers are paying with their souls—and taking the innocent with them, as the magic-infused speed compels them to kill in the most gruesome ways possible.As if the streets weren’t scary enough, the looming war between the two men in her life explodes, taking even more casualties and putting Chess squarely in the middle. Downside could become a literal ghost town if Chess doesn’t find a way to stop both the war and the dark wave of death-magic, and the only way to do that is to use both her addiction and her power to enter the spell and chase the magic all the way back to its malevolent source. Too bad that doing so will probably kill Chess—if the war doesn’t first destroy the man who’s become her reason for living.
Dark Knight, The (Montagues, #3)
by: Elizabeth Elliott
At lon
g last, Elizabeth Elliott—the bestselling author of The Warlord and Scoundrel—returns with a medieval romance that will take readers’ breath away.Thief, assassin, and master of disguise, Dante Chiavari is the most feared mercenary of England’s King Edward. On one last assignment, Dante must play the part of a chivalrous knight to steal Avalene de Forshay from her family and thwart the ruthless Faulke Segrave, who would wed Avalene and use her to spark war between Wales and the crown. Upon seeing the beautiful and innocent young maiden, however, the mercenary suddenly finds himself at the mercy of his own intense desire.
When Avalene meets the handsome knight she knows only as Sir Percival, he sweeps her off her feet even as he spirits her away from Coleway Castle. Their escape is wrought with risks and perils, but Avalene will find that the greatest danger lies in losing her heart. And after the truth is revealed, Avalene fears that she may never again be able to trust the dark knight who has come to mean more to her than life itself.
Darkness Devours (Dark Angels, #3)
by: Keri Arthur
Half-w
erewolf, half-Aedh Risa Jones can enter the realm between life and death, and she can see the Reapers who collect the souls of the dead. Now, she is using her gifts—and the investigative know-how of a man who broke her heart—to find a cabal searching for the power to control time, reality, and fate. And this is besides her work for the Vampire Council, half of whom want her dead.But for now the Council needs her alive. Someone is killing blood-whore addicted vampires, and Risa must find the guilty party. If she succeeds, she may finally convince the council to lift the execution order on her life. But before she succeeds, she must first survive…
Midnight's Lover (Dark Warriors, #2)
by: Donna Grant
Driven by
the fierce god within him, highlander Ian Kerr is sworn to fight for the land he loves—and the brother he lost. But when he’s transported four centuries into the future, he finds himself fighting his own desires—for a beautiful, bewitching woman who could hold a warrior spellbound…Danielle Buchanan has heard the legends. She has felt the power of Druid blood in her veins. But she has never known a man as fearsome—or as haunted—as the warrior Ian. With her magic, Dani must help him fight an ancient evil. With her heart, she must join him in his quest. But only with her soul can she free him from his curse…and seal their fates together.
Once Burned (Night Prince, #1)
by: Jeaniene Frost
She's a
mortal with dark powers...After a tragic accident scarred her body and destroyed her dreams, Leila never imagined that the worst was still to come: terrifying powers that let her channel electricity and learn a person's darkest secrets through a single touch. Leila is doomed to a life of solitude...until creatures of the night kidnap her, forcing her to reach out with a telepathic distress call to the world's most infamous vampire...
He's the Prince of Night...
Vlad Tepesh inspired the greatest vampire legend of all—but whatever you do, don't call him Dracula. Vlad's ability to control fire makes him one of the most feared vampires in existence, but his enemies have found a new weapon against him—a beautiful mortal with powers to match his own. When Vlad and Leila meet, however, passion ignites between them, threatening to consume them both. It will take everything that they are to stop an enemy intent on bringing them down in flames.
Queen of Swords (Sanctify, #1)
by: Katee Robert
When th
e cards tell Ophelia Leoni she's supposed to marry the Prince of Hansarda, the gunrunner grits her teeth and boards the starship that comes for her. It doesn't matter if the ship's commander is the gorgeous stranger whose bed she just spent a wild, drunken night in. As a Diviner, she’s painfully aware the cards don't lie. Ever.Boone O’Keirna knows Ophelia is trouble the second he sees the way she moves. Not about to let the deadly little hellcat marry his sadistic half-brother, Boone pretends to be the Prince’s emissary and kidnaps Ophelia. Too bad they can’t be in the same room without him wanting to throw her out an airlock–or into bed.
Even as they fight each other–and their explosive attraction–Ophelia and Boone sense something is wrong. Too much is going their way. Soon, they realize while the cards may never lie, the truth is sometimes hidden between them…and the future king of Hansarda is not one to take defeat lying down.
Secret of the Wolf (Warriors of the Rift, #2)
by: Cynthia Garner
Once a ge
neration, the rift between the paranormal world and the human world opens, allowing supernatural entities to cross. Vampire, demon, or shapeshifter, they can save the world-or send it spiraling into chaos.As a werewolf liaison to the Council of Preternaturals, Tori Joseph is used to straddling the world between humans and immortals. She plays by the rules and always delivers justice, no matter the cost. But after a string of increasingly brutal attacks results in humans turning into werewolves, Tori doesn't reveal her horrifying suspicion: Someone very close to her might be responsible.
Investigating the paranormal violence, no-nonsense detective Dante MacMillan believes Tori is hiding something. His search for the truth draws him into greater danger as he gets closer to the dark realm of the immortals-and to the sexy werewolf who stirs his primal lust. Now with evil closing in around them, Dante must convince Tori to trust him . . . before her deadly secret destroys them both.
Talulla Rising (The Last Werewolf, #2)
by: Glen Duncan
When I
change I change fast. The moon drags the whatever-it-is up from the earth and it goes through me with crazy wriggling impatience . . . I’m twisted, torn, churned, throttled—then rushed through a blind chicane into ludicrous power . . . A heel settles. A last canine hurries through. A shoulder blade pops. The woman is a werewolf.The woman is Talulla Demetriou.
She’s grieving for her werewolf lover, Jake, whose violent death has left her alone with her own sublime monstrousness. On the run, pursued by the hunters of WOCOP (World Organisation for the Control of Occult Phenomena), she must find a place to give birth to Jake’s child in secret.
The birth, under a full moon at a remote Alaska lodge, leaves Talulla ravaged, but with her infant son in her arms she believes the worst is over—until the windows crash in, and she discovers that the worst has only just begun . . .
What follows throws Talulla into a race against time to save both herself and her child as she faces down the new, psychotic leader of WOCOP, a cabal of blood-drinking religious fanatics, and (rumor has it) the oldest living vampire.
Harnessing the same audacious imagination and dark humor, the same depths of horror and sympathy, the same full-tilt narrative energy with which he crafted his acclaimed novel The Last Werewolf, Glen Duncan now gives us a heroine like no other, the definitive twenty-first-century female of the species.
When Darkness Hungers (The Shadow Keepers, #5)
by: J.K. Beck
FBI agen
t Alexis Martin knows that vampires exist—because one of them killed her sister. Assigned to investigate a series of bizarre homicides in Los Angeles, Alexis believes the murders are the work of rogue vampires—perhaps even the monster responsible for her sister’s death. Now she finally has a chance for retribution. Even better, Alexis receives unexpected help from a sexy stranger as hungry for rogue blood as she is.Serge is a centuries-old bad boy who stays off the grid—keeping his secrets, his hunger, and his heart safe from exposure. A new breed of vampire that feeds off other shadowers, Serge finds sweet torture in Alexis’s arms. Loving her is a chance to be free from the hiding, the loneliness, the secrecy. But the truth about what he is, and what he’s done, may banish him to the dark confines of his own private hell—and destroy the beginnings of their love.
Wicked Nights (Angels of the Dark, #1)
by: Gena Showalter
Leader of
the most powerful army in the heavens, Zacharel has been deemed nearly too dangerous, too ruthless--and if he isn't careful, he'll lose his wings. But this warrior with a heart of ice will not be deterred from his missions at any cost...until a vulnerable human tempts him with a carnal pleasure he's never known before.Accused of a crime she did not commit, Annabelle Miller has spent four years in an institution for the criminally insane. Demons track her every move, and their king will stop at nothing to have her. Zacharel is her only hope for survival, but is the brutal angel with a touch as hot as hell her salvation--or her ultimate damnation?YOUNG ADULT
A Want So Wicked (A Need So Beautiful, #2)
by: Suzanne Young
Elise is a n
ormal seventeen-year-old girl until the day she wakes up in a desert park, with no idea who she is.After that episode, her life takes a bizarre turn. She’s experiencing unexpected flashes of insight into people’s lives—people she’s never met before. Strangers frighten her with warnings about the approaching Shadows. And although Elise has never had a boyfriend, she suddenly finds herself torn between two handsome but very different young men: Abe, the charming bad boy whose effect on her both seduces and frightens her, and the mysterious Harlin, who’s new to town but with whom Elise feels an urgent, elemental connection—almost as if they are soul mates.
Now Elise begins to question everything about her life. Why do these guys both want her so desperately? What are the Shadows? Why does the name Charlotte inspire a terrifying familiarity? And who is Elise, really?
Age of Miracles
by: Karen Thompson Walker
“It still a
mazes me how little we really knew. . . . Maybe everything that happened to me and my family had nothing at all to do with the slowing. It’s possible, I guess. But I doubt it. I doubt it very much.”Luminous, haunting, unforgettable, The Age of Miracles is a stunning fiction debut by a superb new writer, a story about coming of age during extraordinary times, about people going on with their lives in an era of profound uncertainty.
On a seemingly ordinary Saturday in a California suburb, 11-year-old Julia and her family awake to discover, along with the rest of the world, that the rotation of the earth has suddenly begun to slow. The days and nights grow longer and longer, gravity is affected, the environment is thrown into disarray. Yet as she struggles to navigate an ever-shifting landscape, Julia is also coping with the normal disasters of everyday life—the fissures in her parents’ marriage, the loss of old friends, the hopeful anguish of first love, the bizarre behavior of her grandfather who, convinced of a government conspiracy, spends his days obsessively cataloging his possessions. As Julia adjusts to the new normal, the slowing inexorably continues.
With spare, graceful prose and the emotional wisdom of a born storyteller, Karen Thompson Walker has created a singular narrator in Julia, a resilient and insightful young girl, and a moving portrait of family life set against the backdrop of an utterly altered world.
Before I Wake (Soul Screamers, #6)
by: Rachel Vincent
I died on
a Thursday-killed by a monster intent on stealing my soul. The good news? He didn't get it. The bad news? Turns out not even death will get you out of high school... Covering up her own murder was one thing, but faking life is much harder than Kaylee Cavanaugh expected. After weeks spent "recovering," she's back in school, fighting to stay visible to the human world, struggling to fit in with her friends and planning time alone with her new reaper boyfriend. But to earn her keep in the human world, Kaylee must reclaim stolen souls, and when her first assignment brings her face-to-face with an old foe, she knows the game has changed. Her immortal status won't keep her safe. And this time Kaylee isn't just gambling with her own life...Chosen Ones (Lost Souls, #1)
by: Tiffany Truitt
What if you
were mankind’s last chance at survival?Sixteen-year-old Tess lives in a compound in what was once the Western United States, now decimated after a devastating fourth World War. But long before that, life as we knew it had been irrevocably changed, as women mysteriously lost the ability to bring forth life. Faced with the extinction of the human race, the government began the Council of Creators, meant to search out alternative methods of creating life. The resulting artificial human beings, or Chosen Ones, were extraordinarily beautiful, unbelievably strong, and unabashedly deadly.
Life is bleak, but uncomplicated for Tess as she follows the rigid rules of her dystopian society, until the day she begins work at Templeton, the training facility for newly created Chosen Ones. There, she meets James, a Chosen One whose odd love of music and reading rivals only her own. The attraction between the two is immediate in its intensity—and overwhelming in its danger.
But there is more to the goings-on at Templeton than Tess ever knew, and as the veil is lifted from her eyes, she uncovers a dark underground movement bent not on taking down the Chosen Ones, but the Council itself. Will Tess be able to stand up to those who would oppress her, even if it means giving up the only happiness in her life?
Dust Girl (American Fairy, #1)
by: Sarah Zettel
Callie LeR
oux lives in Slow Run, Kansas, helping her mother run their small hotel and trying not to think about the father she’s never met. Lately all of her energy is spent battling the constant storms plaguing the Dust Bowl and their effects on her health. Callie is left alone when her mother goes missing in a dust storm. Her only hope comes from a mysterious man offering a few clues about her destiny and the path she must take to find her parents in "the golden hills of the west": California.Along the way she meets Jack, a young hobo boy who is happy to keep her company — there are dangerous, desperate people at every turn. And there’s also an otherworldly threat to Callie. Warring fae factions, attached to the creative communities of American society, are very much aware of the role this half-mortal, half-fae teenage girl plays in their fate.
One Moment
by: Kristina McBride
"This wa
s supposed to be the best summer of Maggie's life. Now it's the one she'd do anything to forget."Maggie remembers hanging out at the gorge with her closest friends after a blowout party. She remembers climbing the trail with her perfect boyfriend, Joey. She remembers that last kiss, soft, lingering, and meant to reassure her. So why can't she remember what happened in the moment before they were supposed to dive? Why was she left cowering at the top of the cliff, while Joey floated in the water below-dead?
As Maggie's memories return in snatches, nothing seems to make sense. Why was Joey acting so strangely at the party? Where did he go after taking her home? And if Joey was keeping these secrets, what else was he hiding?
The latest novel from the author of "The Tension of Opposites," "One Moment" is a mysterious, searing look at how an instant can change everything you believe about the world around you.
MOVIES & TV SERIES (June 26th)
MOVIES
21 Jump Street
Directed by: Phil Lord, Chris Miller
Starring: Jon
ah Hill, Channing TatumIn the action-comedy 21 Jump Street, Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are more than ready to leave their adolescent problems behind. Joining the police force and the secret Jump Street unit, they use their youthful appearances to go undercover in a local high school. As they trade in their guns and badges for backpacks, Schmidt and Jenko risk their lives to investigate a violent and dangerous drug ring. But they find that high school is nothing like they left it just a few years earlier - and neither expects that they will have to confront the terror and anxiety of being a teenager again and all the issues they thought they had left behind.
A Thousand Words
Directed by: Brian Robbins
Starring
: Eddie MurphyEddie Murphy is Jack McCall, a fast-talking literary agent, who can close any deal, any time, any way. He has set his sights on New Age guru Dr. Sinja (Cliff Curtis) for his own selfish purposes. But Dr. Sinja is on to him, and Jack's life comes unglued after a magical Bodhi tree mysteriously appears in his backyard. With every word Jack speaks, a leaf falls from the tree and he realizes that when the last leaf falls, both he and the tree are toast. Words have never failed Jack McCall, but now he's got to stop talking and conjure up some outrageous ways to communicate or he's a goner.
Bullhead
Directed by: Michael R. Roskam
Starring: M
atthias SchoenaertsDomineering cattle farmer Jacky Vanmarsenille (Matthias Schoenaerts), constantly pumped on steroids and hormones, initiates a shady deal with a notorious mafioso meat trader. When an investigating federal agent is assassinated and a woman from his traumatic past resurfaces, Jacky must confront his demons and face the far-reaching consequences of his decisions.
Mirror Mirror
Directed by: Tarsem Singh
Starring
: Julia Roberts, Lily CollinsOne of the most beloved stories of all time is coming to life in the motion picture event for the whole family, Mirror Mirror. A fresh and funny retelling of the Snow White legend, Mirror Mirror features breakout star Lily Collins as Snow White, a princess in exile, and Julia Roberts as the evil Queen who ruthlessly rules her captured kingdom. Seven courageous rebel dwarfs join forces with Snow White as she fights to reclaim her birthright and win her Prince in this magical comedy filled with jealousy, romance, and betrayal that will capture the hearts and imaginations of audiences the world over. The film also stars Armie Hammer as the Prince, and Nathan Lane as the hapless and bungling servant to the Queen.
Sound of Noise
Directed by: Ola Simonsson
Starring: Be
ngt WarnebringPolice officer Amadeus Warnebring was born into a musical family with a long history of famous musicians. Ironically, he hates music. His life is thrown into chaos when a band of crazy musicians decides to perform a musical apocalypse using the city as their orchestra... Reluctantly, Warnebring embarks on his first musical investigation..
The Artist
Directed by: Michael Hazanavicius
Starri
ng: Jean DujardinHollywood 1927. George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is a silent movie superstar. The advent of the talkies will sound the death knell for his career and see him fall into oblivion. For young extra Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo), it seems the sky's the limit - major movie stardom awaits. The Artist tells the story of their interlinked destinies.
Wrath of Titans
Directed by: Jonathan Liebesman
Starring: S
am Worthington, Liam NeesonA decade after his heroic defeat of the monstrous Kraken, Perseus-the demigod son of Zeus-is attempting to live a quieter life as a village fisherman and the sole parent to his 10-year old son, Helius. Meanwhile, a struggle for supremacy rages between the gods and the Titans. Dangerously weakened by humanity's lack of devotion, the gods are losing control of the imprisoned Titans and their ferocious leader, Kronos, father of the long-ruling brothers Zeus, Hades and Poseidon. Perseus cannot ignore his true calling when Hades, along with Zeus' godly son, Ares (Edgar RamÃrez), switch loyalty and make a deal with Kronos to capture Zeus. The Titans' strength grows stronger as Zeus' remaining godly powers are siphoned.
TV SERIES
Casablanca: Complete Series
Starring:
David SoulCasablanca - a 1980s television series based on the 1942 classic film. David Soul (Starsky and Hutch) plays Rick Blaine an American expatriate and the owner of Rick's Caf‚ in unoccupied Africa during the early days of WWII. The shows stellar cast includes Hector Elizondo as Captain Renault, Reuven Bar-Yotam as Ferrari, Ray Liotta as Sacha, Patrick Horgan as Major Heinrich Strasser and Scatman Crothers as Sam. The classic song "As Time Goes By", sung here by Crothers is the opening theme song for the show. Winner of an Emmy Awardr for Outstanding Cinematography for a series and a nominee for Outstanding Art Direction for a series.
Damages: Season 4
Starring
: Glenn Close, Rose ByrnePatty Hewes (Glenn Close) prepares for a class action suite against a multinational pharmaceutical company, Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) returns to Hewes & Associates to pursue her own lawsuit against military contractor High Star Security and its powerful CEO, Howard Erickson (guest star John Goodman).
Law & Order: Criminal Intent: Year 7
Starring:
Vincent D'Onofrio, Kathryn ErbeSquad Detectives Robert Goren (Vincent D’Onofrio), Alex Eames (Kathryn Erbe), Mike Logan (Chris Noth) and Megan Wheeler (Julianne Nicholson) are back for another season of looking through the window of the criminal mind.
The Seventh Year includes 22 powerful episodes featuring high-profile criminal cases ripped from contemporary headlines. Investigations range from the murder of a modern-day pirate to the execution of three college freshmen and Goren going undercover at a mental hospital. Part of television’s most successful franchise, Law & Order: Criminal Intent was created by entertainment kingpin Dick Wolfe and ran for ten seasons.
Poirot, Agatha Christie's: Season 5
Starring
: David Suchet, Philip JacksonNow remastered & in original U.K. broadcast order
As seen on PBS’s Masterpiece Mystery!
David Suchet returns as Agatha Christie’s peerless Poirot in these eight mysteries from the hit series. The genteel Belgian detective calls upon his famous little grey cells to crack cases that no one else could, aided by cohorts Captain Hastings (Hugh Fraser, Sharpe), Chief Inspector Japp (Philip Jackson, Little Voice), and Miss Lemon (Pauline Moran). The elegant world of 1930s Europe sparkles anew in these remastered adaptations, with guest stars including Anna Chancellor (Four Weddings and a Funeral), Hermione Norris (MI-5, Cold Feet), and Jeremy Northam (Emma, The Tudors).
RuPaul's Drag Race: Season 4
Starring: n
/aShe's BACK…again! The unbearably long wait is over as RuPaul returns with a brand new field of gorgeous and talented sequin-sporting queens. But it's not just about the wigs and the heels, it's about performers with passion who prove to be some of the most fascinating characters on television. And this season brings us the biggest personalities the show has ever seen, all vying for the biggest prize in Drag Race history--$100,000. That's a lot of padding, honey! From deeply revealing work room interactions, to displays of wild creativity during the challenges, to their astounding transformations on the runway…every moment is hilarious, heart-filled, and truly unpredictable. As always a new star-studded panel of celebrity judges will join RuPaul to select and crown America's Next Drag Superstar. Mondays are a bigger drag than ever, as the TV's most irresistible competition show returns to Logo!
I can't believe it's the end of June already, wow. I really want to read the Age of Miracles, but I can't figure out if it's a young adult novel or adult novel. I've seen it listed as both. Oh well, doesn't matter--either way it looks like a good read.
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