Num8ers by Rachel Ward Giveaway!

Today PJV spotlights, Num8ers by Rachel Ward and is hosting a giveaway to win a copy of this YA novel.

Since her mother’s death, fifteen-year-old Jem has kept a secret. When her eyes meet someone else’s, a number pops into her head - the date on which they will die. Knowing that nothing lasts forever, Jem avoids relationships, but when she meets a boy called Spider, and they plan a day out together, her life takes a new twist and turn. Waiting for the London Eye, she sees everyone in the queue has the same number - something terrible is going to happen.

Ward's debut novel, published in 2009 is making waves throughout the literary community.  Numbers has been nominated and is the running for numerous awards including (but not limited to..LOL) the Carnegie Medal ,  UKLA Children’s Book Award, the Angus Book Award and the Southern Schools Book Award.  

Stay tuned for me review soon!

This is not a book you want to miss out on reading and you can WIN IT HERE by filling out the form below.  Make sure to read the DEETs first. But first....which do you like better, UK or US???

UK                     or                     US

Giveaway Deets:

• Comment on this post - tell me which cover you prefer (gains you +1 Entry)
• Please check back to see if you won, I will not be emailing, winner will be posted. Please do not include your email address in comments. Spamming is fun. *sarcasm font*
• Must be US/Canada mailing
• 13 or older
• Parajunkee's View Follower (please state how you follow, feedburner, google, etc.) 
• Contest Ends March 22nd

Extra Entries (give links in comments TY)

• +1 New Follower
• +2 Old Follower
• +2 Blog with Bite Follower
• +2 Twitter Follower (@parajunkee)
• +1 Tweet this:  Win a Signed Copy of Num8ers by Rachel Ward @parajunkee http://bit.ly/clbi6D  RT Plz
• +1 Sidebar
• +5 Blog Post
• +1 Comment
• +1 Add up your points! Thanks! (I'm horrible at math)

Waiting on Wednesday - Wintercraft

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly Meme started by Breaking the Spine. It is a feature that  spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. I haven't read a lot of YA fantasy, so here is what I have chosen this week, sounds so interesting. This book is not on Amazon, so I'm wondering if it will be hard to obtain. *sigh*

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Wintercraft by Jenna Burtenshaw

Goodreads has it releasing May 2010.

From Goodreads:

Ten years ago Kate Winters' parents were taken by the High Council's wardens to help with the country's war effort. Now the wardens are back...and prisoners, including Kate's uncle Artemis, are taken south on the terrifying Night Train. Kate and her friend Edgar are hunted by a far more dangerous enemy. Silas Dane -- the High Council's most feared man -- recognises Kate as one of the Skilled; a rare group of people able to see through the veil between the living and the dead. His spirit was damaged by the High Council's experiments into the veil, and he's convinced that Kate can undo the damage and allow him to find peace. The knowledge Kate needs lies within Wintercraft -- a book thought to be hidden deep beneath the graveyard city of Fume. But the Night of Souls, when the veil between life and death is at its thinnest, is just days away and the High Council have their own sinister plans for Kate and Wintercraft. To help Artemis, Edgar and herself, Kate must honour her pact with a murderer and come face to face with the true nature of death.

Princess Bookie's Recreate a Cover Challenge

 This is my entry for Princess Bookie's Recreate a Cover Challenge.

Here are the deets. Recreate A Book cover of a 2010 Young Adult Book (your choice, book must be released in 2010-no reprints)

My chosen book: Hex Hall Book One by Rachel Hawkins

 

My recreation:

What do you think, I'm always up for a good critique. Don't hold back the punches.

Movie Trailer Tuesday - Robin Hood

Movie Trailer Tuesday.  The soon to be released movies in the paranormal, scifi and fantasy genres. Today's choice is Robin Hood.

Hello Mr. Crowe

Premiers "Summer" - PJV inside sources are saying May 14th
Ridley Scott has taken Robin Hood and interpreted Gladiator style. Break out the bows and arrows cause Prince John is about to get Spaticussed.

Taken from www.themovieinsider.com

Directed by: Ridley Scott
Starring: Russell Crowe
Cate Blanchett
Vanessa Redgrave
Eileen Atkins
Danny Huston

Oscar® winner Russell Crowe stars as the legendary figure known by generations as “Robin Hood,” whose exploits have endured in popular mythology and ignited the imagination of those who share his spirit of adventure and righteousness. In 13th century England, Robin and his band of marauders confront corruption in a local village and lead an uprising against the crown that will forever alter the balance of world power. And whether thief or hero, one man from humble beginnings will become an eternal symbol of freedom for his people.

The Robin Hood adventure chronicles the life of an expert archer, previously interested only in self-preservation, from his service in King Richard’s army against the French. Upon Richard’s death, Robin travels to Nottingham, a town suffering from the corruption of a despotic sheriff and crippling taxation, where he falls for the spirited widow Lady Marion (Oscar® winner Cate Blanchett), a woman skeptical of the identity and motivations of this crusader from the forest. Hoping to earn the hand of Maid Marion and salvage the village, Robin assembles a gang whose lethal mercenary skills are matched only by its appetite for life. Together, they begin preying on the indulgent upper class to correct injustices under the sheriff.

With their country weakened from decades of war, embattled from the ineffective rule of the new king and vulnerable to insurgencies from within and threats from afar, Robin and his men heed a call to ever greater adventure. This unlikeliest of heroes and his allies set off to protect their country from slipping into bloody civil war and return glory to England once more.

New Winners for Pleasure of a Dark Prince

3 people did not get back to me for the Kresley Cole's, Pleasure of a Dark Prince (Immortals After Dark) .... even though I did email! I can't email from work right now, so new winners please email me your address.  Put WINNER in subject line please.

Oh an word of advice... Google Alerts for your name, really is helpful.  That is how I've discovered a few giveaway wins on that one. You can't go through all of your Reader everday.

New Winners:
#310 Judi S @ Sidhe Vicious
#312 The Book Vixen
#80 Hailey Edwards

48 hours to respond - ding ding ding... if now response I will do the famous quickie Twitter giveaway that J.Kaye perfected. Twitter: @parajunkee

Original Winners with no-replies scratched:
Chosen by Random.org out of 542 entries.

#67 Ferishia
#430 Ivy @ Book Reader Times
#447 Jamie - Book Junkie
#486 Jennifer Lilley
#542 HAEWON LEE
#265 Ruby E
#349 Rosie Carlo
#419 Patti
#226 Barbara Elness #427 elizabeth

Angelology by Danielle Trussoni Reveiw & Contest

Angelology by Danielle Trussoni
ARC review provided by Penguin Group (USA)

Release Date March 9th, 2010

WIN A SIGNED COPY OF ANGELOGY - details below.

PJV's QUICKIE POV: Trussoni pairs an excellent story-tellers voice with a unique perspective on an ancient being in Angelology.  The story had all the makings of a good tale, and a depth that is sometimes hard to come by in paranormal based fiction. The character descriptions and scene setting was reminiscent of Dan Brown's voice and hype is that this book might sky-rocket to the top such as Brown's The DaVinci Code.  Yet, whereas the voice and writing of this novel was excellent, I found the "sleuthing" tiresome.

REVIEW: Sister Evangeline is a a nun, living a life of prayer and solitude. She lives with order, everything is schedule, even her prayer time. She finds comfort in the strict guidelines and restrictions of the order. She is also haunted by memories of her parents, the death of her mother and the subsequent abandonment of her father that left her on the doorsteps of St. Rose Convent when she was only a young teen.

All it took was one letter, a request for entry into the convent's archives to change Sister Evangeline's world and to bring the attention of an ancient evil towards her.  As Evangeline discovers more and more she realizes that she is now in the middle of a war, a war between the ancient Nephalim, the giants of the bible, and the human coalition of Angelologist, that included Evangeline's parents.

Well written and very detailed, Angelology pairs facts with fiction and crafts it into a tale of mystery and intrigue.  As I mentioned earlier I found the "sleuthing" to wear me down.  Compared to Dan Brown's compelling novels of biblical mysteries, I found Angelology fell short of Brown's.  From the beginning you know what the mystery of Angeloogy will be.  I.e. the title of the book.  Evangeline, even though witnessing these beings with her own eyes still takes a moment to actually realize what it is she is facing.  And while I really enjoy a fiction novel stuffed with facts, I found that a lot of it was repeated, but I did learn a good bit.

RECOMMENDATIONS: Fans of Dan Brown and paranormal mysteries would enjoy this book.

Giveaway Deets:

• Comment on this post (gains you +1 Entry)
• Please check back to see if you won, I will not be emailing, winner will be posted. Please do not include your email address in comments. Spamming is fun. *sarcasm font*
• Must be US/Canada mailing
• 18 or older
• Parajunkee's View Follower (please state how you follow, feedburner, google, etc.) 
• SORRY FORGOT - Contest Ends March 22nd

Extra Entries (give links in comments TY)

• +2 Twitter Follower (@parajunkee)
• +1 Tweet this:  Win a Signed Copy of Angelology by Danielle Trussonie @parajunkee http://bit.ly/cAHRfE  RT Plz
• +2 Sidebar
• +2 Post
• +1 Add up your points! Thanks! (I'm horrible at math)

And the Winners Are....

I've been slacking, but I finally have picked some winners!

Our Titus & Atreus Swag Winner....

 Bethie said... Oh this sounds intersting. Please count me in. I follow.

And for our Kresley Cole, Pleasure of a Dark Prince (Immortals After Dark) ....

Chosen by Random.org out of 542 entries.

#67 Ferishia
#430 Ivy @ Book Reader Times
#447 Jamie - Book Junkie
#486 Jennifer Lilley
#542 HAEWON LEE
#265 Ruby E
#349 Rosie Carlo
#419 Patti
#226 Barbara Elness (the email was returned, please email me your address)
#427 elizabeth

Phew The End!48 hours to respond - ding ding ding...

Hourglass by Claudia Gray - Giveaway Alert!

Hourglass (Evernight Novels #3) by Claudia Gray


ARC review copy provided by Harper Collins.

PJV's QUICKIE POV: I thought Evernight (links take you to reviews) was a good YA book.  Stargazer and OK follow-up, but Hourglass...blew both books away.  Never before has a third in a series entertained and delighted like this book did? A third?? Can you believe it? This book had it all, tragic love, fights for their lives, a hint at a triangle, some life or death decisions, a little hanky-panky and an ending that had me throwing the book across the room than running over to it to reread and than cursing that I would have to wait like forever for the fourth book, Afterlife, to come out. Word on the street is that there will also be a Balthazar book, but hints at 2011 releases have me pulling out my hair.

Review:  I can't review this without SPOILERS for Evernight & Stargazer so go and read those books before you read this. Bianca after being lied to by her parents, attacked by ghosts and survived a Black Cross raid is now living amongst the enemy - but she is with Lucas, her soulmate.  They aren't given much time together though as she is forced to bunk under nasty conditions, and train as a Black Cross agent - learning how to fight and kill her own kind.  All the while she is desperate to spend as much time with Lucas, sneak away to get a little "blood" snack, and remain perfectly and 100% human ot the Black Cross people.

The third Evernight book is stuffed full of suspense and heart ache. Lucas and Bianca are literally stranded in a world that they never chose to be a part of.  Lucas was raised to hunt and kill vampires, Bianca was raised to some day become a vampire herself. They were never given choices, they were never even given another option, their life was fated before they were even born. Bianca's was filled with lies and half-truths, Lucas' was filled with misconceptions and bigotry.  They are forced to remain in Lucas' world until they can finally save up enough money to escape...but what other options does a 17 and 19 year old have, especially with no education and no money?

The Romeo and Juliet connotations continue throughout this book...all the way until the end, and what a shocker that was! Oh I'm still reeling from that bomb that Ms. Gray threw at me. Thanks! Now I will go insane with wonder. Love those cliffhangers.

Recommendations: Recommended that you read Evernight and Stargazer before reading Hourglass. You don't have to but it forms the foundation of the relationship between Bianca and Lucas and Balthazar quite well.  These book push the mature teen envelope, this is a maturing teen couple...there are sexual scenes in it. Nothing descriptive at all, I would give this to my teen. Fans of vamps, UF and YA paranormals read this series.

There are 5 Copies of Hourglass to be won at Blog with Bite.  Click on the image below to be taken to the contest post!