Just New Covers!

Today, there are just covers and descriptions of upcoming releases. Enjoy!

Illusions by Aprilynne Pike (Wings Book 3)
To be released on May 1, 2011

Description:

"I don't do patrols, I don't go hunting, I just stick close to you. You live your life. I'll keep you safe," Tamani said, sweeping a lock of hair from her face. "Or die trying."

Laurel hasn't seen Tamani since she begged him to let her go last year. Though her heart still aches, Laurel is confident that David was the right choice.

But just as life returns to normal, Laurel realizes that a hidden enemy lies in wait. Once again, Laurel must turn to Tamani to protect and guide her, for the danger that now threatens Avalon is one that no faerie thought would ever be possible. And for the first time, Laurel cannot be sure that her side will prevail.

Aprilynne Pike's Website


Bite Club by Rachel Caine (Morganville Vampires Book 10)
To be released May 3, 2011.

Description:

Morganville, Texas is a quiet college town where humans and vampires live in relative peace. But lately a great deal of blood is being spilled - not in a feeding frenzy, but for someone's twisted idea of entertainment. After discovering that vampires populate Morganville - and surviving a number of adventures with her new night-dwelling friends - college student Claire Danvers has come to realise that for the most part, the undead just want to live their lives. But someone else wants them to get ready to rumble. There's a new extreme sport being broadcast over the Internet: bare-knuckle fights pitting captured vampires against one another - or, worse, against humans. Tracking the out-of-town signal leads Claire - accompanied by a loyal group of friends and frenemies - to discover that what started as an online brawl will soon threaten everyone in Morganville. And if they want to survive, they'll have to do a lot more than fight...

Rachel Caine's Website

Abandon by Meg Cabot (Abandon Trilogy Book 1)
To be released April 26, 2011

Book Summary:

A dark, fantastical story about this world . . . and the underworld.

When Pierce first sees him, she thinks he is a murderer. She's right about one thing -- he does take lives. But not in the way she ever imagined. Pierce is drawn to the dark stranger even as she tries to uncover the mystery surrounding the tragic death of someone close to her. As she gets closer to the truth -- and the stranger -- unexpected secrets are revealed, even in her own heart.

Meg Cabot's Website

Born of Shadows by Sherrilyn Kenyon (League Book 5)
To be released April 26, 2011.

Description:

In the universe where the League is law, most live in fear. We fight back. Welcome to a world where corrupt assassination politics dominate everyone. It's kill or be killed.

Caillen's destiny was to become the next generation of Dagan smugglers. Until fate intervenes. Suddenly, his life is not his own and his loyalties are split in a way he could have never imagined.

In a world where everything's earned and nothing is given, Desideria has battled to have a place of honor in her mother's Royal Guard. But when she uncovers the plot to kill her mother and overthrow her government, she knows she has to move quickly to prove it.

Unfortunately, her only hope is a man whose past is as jaded as his present. Now they must find common ground to work together or more than just their lives will be forfeit. Their worlds and families will be enslaved.

Sherrilyn Kenyon's Website

Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton
To be released May 24, 2011

Description:

This page-turning debut novel will entice fans who like their paranormal romances dark and disturbing...But instead of mythical creatures, blood magic has everything to do with primal human desires like power, wealth, and immortality. Everywhere Silla Kennicott turns she sees blood. She can't stop thinking about her parents alleged murder-suicide. She is consumed by a book filled with spells that arrives mysteriously in the mail. The spells share one common ingredient: blood, and Silla is more than willing to cast a few. What's a little spilled blood if she can uncover the truth? And then there's Nick - the new guy at school who makes her pulse race. He has a few secrets of his own and is all too familiar with the lure of blood magic. Drawn together by a combination of fate and chemistry, Silla and Nick must find out who else in their small Missouri town knows their secret and will do anything to take the book and magic from Silla.

Tessa Gratton's Website

GRATUITOUS VIDEOS OF THE DAY

No theme except what's brand new!





Okay, this actually covers a wider age range than initially appears. The mullets alone are worth watching.



Here's something so you can start your week with a smile.

WITHER Contest Winners & Lovely Copy-Catter Dirty Ratter Covers, Part Dos: THE VESPERTINE by Saundra Mitchell

I subscribe to The Book Smuggler's daily newsletter, a nice way to keep up on all their news and reviews, and read an interesting review of The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell. Fantastic title, right? Right! I also love the cover, which echoes another lovely cover, Entwined by Heather Dixon, due out on April 1.

Okay, I'm looking up "vespertine" so you don't have to. 1: of, relating to, or occurring in the evening 2: active, flowering, or flourishing in the evening : crepuscular. Hmm, now I understand the meaning of one of my favorite antique roses, called Crepuscule.

Description of The Vespertine:

The summer of 1889 is the one between childhood and womanhood for Amelia van den Broek-and thankfully, she's not spending it at home in rural Maine. She's been sent to Baltimore to stay with her stylish cousin, Zora, who will show her all the pleasures of city life and help her find a suitable man to marry.

Archery in the park, dazzling balls and hints of forbidden romance-Victorian Baltimore is more exciting than Amelia imagined. But her gaiety is interrupted by disturbing, dreamlike visions she has only at sunset-visions that offer glimpses of the future. Soon, friends and strangers alike call on Amelia to hear her prophecies. Newly dubbed "Maine's Own Mystic", Amelia is suddenly quite in demand.

However, her attraction to Nathaniel, an artist who is decidedly outside of Zora's circle, threatens the new life Amelia is building in Baltimore. This enigmatic young man is keeping secrets of his own- still, Amelia finds herself irrepressibly drawn to him. And while she has no trouble seeing the futures of others, she cannot predict whether Nathaniel will remain in hers.

When one of her darkest visions comes to pass, Amelia's world is thrown into chaos. And those around her begin to wonder if she's not the seer of dark portents, but the cause.

Ana at The Book Smugglers said she really enjoyed, "the Gothic feel that it has which is present not only in the paranormal side of the story but also in the writing, in the portentous build up to the climax and the exaggerated way that feelings were described, especially those surrounding the romance between Amelia and Nathaniel."

Saundra is having an extensive blog tour, including her visit today to Novel Thoughts, and she's got a mess o' fun prizes. If you'd like to win her new book and promo items, check it out!

I'll post more about Entwined as the release date approaches. Heather Dixon doesn't seem to have a website. (Seriously? Because I'm not that fond of Facebook Fan Pages, which makes readers participate in Facebook's vast data mining conspiracy and just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean that Facebook doesn't know the color of your underwear right now!)

What was I saying? I dunno. However, I'll see if I can get my grimy hands on copies of these books for giveaways.

CONTEST WINNERS

The winners of two Advance Reader Copies of Wither, The Chemical Garden Book 1 by Lauren DeStefano, are:

ELIE

LISA R/alterlisa 

 Congratulations, Elie and Lisa! Please send me an email with your mailing info so I can get your prizes to you.

Both winners have terrific book blogs that you should visit! Lisa Loves (Books of Course)  has lots info about new releases and tons of contests and contest news, yahoo!

Elie has a very pretty blog called Ellz Readz, a review site that also features author interviews (like today's with Jennifer Estep) and a focus on Young Adult novels.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the contest and a special thanks to Anna McKean at Simon & Schuster for providing the prizes!

GRATUITOUS VIDEOS OF THE DAY

The day is sunny and it's Friday, so here are some videos to kick up your spirits. 







Here's a Friday treat for you. All I'll say is, slippery when wet. Have a great weekend!

Lovely Things: Copy-Catter, Dirty Ratter Covers & Juliet Landau News

I really like both covers and both books are retellings of fairy tales. Same artist? I featured Cloaked last week, but here's the info on Beauty.

Beauty by Robin McKinley

Publisher's Description:

A strange imprisonment
Beauty has never liked her nickname. She is thin and awkward; it is her two sisters who are the beautiful ones. But what she lacks in looks, she can perhaps make up for in courage.

When her father comes home with the tale of an enchanted castle in the forest and the terrible promise he had to make to the Beast who lives there, Beauty knows she must go to the castle, a prisoner of her own free will. Her father protests that he will not let her go, but she answers, "Cannot a Beast be tamed?"

Robin McKinley's Website
Read Robin's E-sampler at Scrib.

JULIET LANDAU UPDATE

How fabulous is Juliet Landau, who played the iconic Drusilla in Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Totally fabulous. She keeps up with bloggers and sends nice notes, such as the one below: 

I just shot a web series that John Hamm (Mad Men) and John Barrowman (Torchwood) are in and I worked with Miracle Laurie (Dollhouse.) We had a lot fun! I will keep you posted on it...

Wasn't I just blogging about how pretty John Hamm is and how I wish he wore eye makeup? I was. You know my feelings about John Barrowman and Torchwood. (When is it coming back? How will they continue with a show when they've killed off most of the characters?) I can't wait to find out more about this web-series!

Juliet also says:

I thought you might enjoy this whimsical, lyrical, sensual Behind-the-Scenes shoot with photographer, Mike Powers (Madonna, Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford etc, etc...

 So, for your viewing enjoyment...  Thanks, Juliet!



Juliet's a triple-threat: in addition to acting, she's directed Take Flight, with Gary Oldman, featuring Amy Acker, and she's co-written two issues of the Angel comic book.

TOMORROW: I'll share a fun new vamp themed shampoo commercial.

GRATUITOUS VIDEOS OF THE DAY

This one is easy! Morganlafey666 made this quirky, marvelously creepy tribute to Drusilla and set it to Kerli's "Walking on Air."



DruRynna used Alice Cooper's "This House is Haunted" for her Drusilla video.



SpiketteLexi made this video history of Drusilla and Spike, set to "In the Light" by Full Blown Rose.



Let's kick it up a little. Because nothing says "maybe you should rethink your dating choices" than dating a psychotic vampire. Joolzac made this "Bad Romance" video.

Contest Winner for Michele Hauf's Books & Apolyptica Understands Vampires

A very thorough reader, June, alerted me that I never selected the winners for two signed sets of Michele Hauf's Seducing the Vampire and Rogue Angel: the Bone Conjurer.

Sorry about that! Michele has been so good as offer these prizes long after the contest.

The winners are:

Teresa K.

Jolene Allcock and Family

Congratulations winners! Please send me an email with your mailing address, so I can forward it along to Michele. I hope you'll enjoy these wonderful prizes and thanks to Michele for offering them to to June for keeping on track of things!

Read my Q&A with Michele.
Visit Michele's website.

GRATUITOUS VIDEOS OF THE DAY

Michele has a special fondness for  Apocalyptica, so that's the theme.

Theresa Meyers Guest Blogs & Contest for THE TRUTH ABOUT VAMPIRES

"While these sexy beings retain a lot of the “traditional” qualities, there is something else in the way that Ms Myers pens them. Something dark and sexy. Mysterious and tempting...[an] uber kick ass tale."

Seriously Reviewed

Congratulations to Theresa Meyers on today's release of The Truth About Vampires! I'm very happy to have Theresa visit Vampire Wire again to give us important life lessons about vampire do's and don'ts. She's also offered a copy of her new book in a contest here so read to the bottom of the post for entry rules.

Book summary:

All her life, Seattle reporter Kristin Reed sought her breakout story. She never thought she'd find it in the crimson lair of a real-life creature of the night. Kristin never believed vampires existed—until with dark brooding eyes and a decadent chocolate scent, Dmitri Dionotte called out to her….

Dmitri and his clan's true nature was cloaked in secrecy until a warring vampire order threatened their existence. Kristin was just the woman he needed. She couldn't resist their story…or Dmitri. Her blood pulsed hot and furious when he touched her, and with his kiss, all logic fled. But each night she spent with her vampire lover brought her closer to death and destruction. A death not even an immortal could triumph over.

Welcome, Theresa!

****************

Thanks for having me here on Vampire Wire today, Marta! To celebrate the release of my latest book THE TRUTH ABOUT VAMPIRES I thought I'd take a look at the Top Ten Things A Vampire Should Never Do.

10. Eat ice cream quickly. Think about it, if you get a brain freeze eating the frozen goodness that is ice cream, just think what would happen to your resident vampire with extra large canines. Of course my vampires have retractable fangs, so that helps, but still…vampires should cool it when it comes to ice cream.

9. Open a pitchfork and and lumber supply store. Really anything that contributes to mob mentality (even a microbrewery) should be eschewed as business choices by vampires. Why give them easy access to materials for stakes for pity’s sake? Vampires are much more suited to careers involving kicking ass after hours, such as my security leader Dmitri Dionotte, who’s the Trejan (or second in command) of the Cascade vampire Clan.

8. Transport into a room uninvited. Vampires might materialize in a socially awkward situation or in the case of my vampires into dangerous territory. It’s better to know who’ll be there when you transport than appearing by surprise and getting an eyeful of something you don’t intend to.

7. Take up a night job as a phlebotomist. Frankly I feel the temptation is just too great. Anyone who collects blood for a living ought not to be the same person who drinks to be living. I mean really, can you even imagine? “That’s one tube for your test, one tube for me, one tube for the test, one tube for me…”


6. Go on a summer vacation in Alaska. Vampires don’t like sunlight. For some it’s because they go all sparkly. For mine it’s because there naturally enhanced eyesight is more light sensitive (kind of like when you get out of an eye doctor appointment with your eyes dilated). Too much exposure can give them migraines and in some cases a nasty sun burn. Since Alaska’s summers contain many more hours of daylight than dark, best to choose it as a winter destination vacation if your vampire.

5. Make silver jewelry. Sure it’s pretty and shiny, but when the metal in question could disrupt your nervous system impulses, it’s best to choose something else. The vampires in the Sons of Midnight mini-series might not be sensitive to garlic, but silver can be debilitating.

4. Drink anything spiked with Dead Man’s Blood. Eww. Ok, but beyond that, in The Truth About Vampires, Dead Man’s Blood is a very potent poison to my vampires. It contains no life force so it would be like downing a slug of liquid nitrogen – painful, unpleasant and definitely not safe.

3. Sunbathe—nude. Again with the sunlight. Nobody likes an all over sunburn. Not even vampires.

2. Tick off the Goddess of Chaos. Not a good idea, even if you aren’t a vampire, but especially for vampires Eris, daughter of Ares God of War, is not a chick you want to mess with. She might look like a Reese Witherspoon clone, but she thrives on the misery, agony and festering emotions of people so stirring up some trouble is her pleasure.

1. And the number one thing vampires shouldn’t do is: Fall in love with a mortal. You’ve likely lost everyone mortal you’ve ever known or love by the time you’re a decent aged vampire. How do you ever expect it to work out? Mortals are so young, so firm, so full of blood, but you don’t date a juice pouch, much less willingly put yourself in danger of being beheaded to save one. That is unless you’ve found something in your mortal that makes your entire eternal life up to that moment seem meaningless. Then, and only then, might a mortal be worth it.

I hope you’ve had fun with my Top Ten Things A Vampire Should Never Do and you check out my newest release THE TRUTH ABOUT VAMPIRES for the dark and sexy Sons of Midnight mini-series from Harlequin Nocturne or stop by my website  and poke around a bit.

----------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for visiting, Theresa!

Read my Q&A with Theresa about her writing and Salvation of the Damned. Follow Theresa on Twitter.

CONTEST: To enter the contest, just leave a comment about something a vampire should never do. (It can even be your favorite vampire rule. I'm fond of the rule that they must be invited into a room.) The contest rules through March 13 and a winner will be selected by random draw. US and Canada only.

ALSO: I'll be announcing some contest winners later on this week for Wither and for Michele Hauf's recent contest.

GRATUITOUS VIDEOS OF THE DAY

I really liked the last episode of Supernatural with all the shoutouts to fans and all that meta stuff. Here's a lovely new video by OurForever22 with "By Your Side" by Tenth Avenue North.



Loud82 did an amazing job editing this crossover of Castiel (Misha Collins) of Supernatural and Lois (Erica Durrance) of Smallville.



Here's a new multifan vid set to Kate Perry's "E.T." Thanks to MoonlightRus for this fab and fun fan vid!



Let's hear that song again. This time in a multifandom collaboration.