It Begins! (With Free Books!)

The Riptide pre-party at Amara's Place, I mean :-) The kickoff post is up, and it features yours truly discussing Andrea Speed's Pretty Monsters. Both Andrea and I will be popping in throughout the day, so come on over, say hi, and win a free backlist book from Andrea!

Be sure to stop in at the Place tomorrow, too, for a discussion of the brilliant up-and-comer Peter Hansen, and his book, First Watch. Then on Sunday, Aleksandr Voinov will be at the Place to discuss Master Class. There's a new prize every day, and two big prize packs at the end of the week, so don't miss out on all the fun and free stuff!

Giveaway and Favorites Round-up

Happy Friday, folks! Pollage indicated--much to my surprise, I must admit--that a surprisingly large percentage of you were interested in me continuing book reviews on this blog. Being as I know so many of the authors in the genre now, and am or will be published with so many of the houses, I'm not entirely comfortable with the idea of posting negative reviews (though it's quite possible that sometimes I just won't be able to help myself ;-p), but I'm happy to share some positive ones. I thought I'd do something a little bit different today, though, and point you all to recent releases from two of my favorite authors. Since I've been head-down finishing Crescendo, I've only had time to read one of these, but the one I haven't read yet is at the very top of my Looking Forward To It Like Whoa pile.

First, though, a quick contest notice: The lovely Amara is doing a giveaway for Counterpoint: Book I of Song of the Fallen over at Amara's Place. All you have to do to enter is comment, so go, give her some love. She deserves it :-D

And now a short round-up of new releases I can't wait to get my grubby hands on, beneath the jump.

Review of Infected: Bloodlines by Andrea Speed. 4 of 5 Stars.

Click to purchase. Highly recommended!

**WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW THE JUMP!**
(Although, if you read Infected: Prey, none of this will be a surprise to you.)

Here's the blurb:

In a world where a werecat virus has changed society, Roan McKichan, a born infected and ex-cop, works as a private detective trying to solve crimes involving other infecteds. The newly married Roan is struggling to balance his work with his home life as he grows increasingly distracted by his husband Paris's declining health. One case with strong emotions attached takes up most of his time: finding the murderer of a missing little rich girl. It's a family with secrets so toxic they'd rather no one investigate, and there's no shortage of suspects. But despite the dangers and obstructions involved, Roan won't stop... until he loses something infinitely precious as well.