Poisonous blood + birthday balloons = CONTEST!!
***Winner of the signed copy of NIGHTSHADE is "Barbara E." Congrats! Please contact me at michelle@michellerowen.com to claim your prize. Thanks everyone for all the great comments!***
Yeah, so it's my birthday today. I cannot tell you how much this fills me with glee. If glee means angst and pain. No, no, it's fine. Really. I love birthdays. This one, though... Ugh. It's a tough one. It ends in a zero. And it doesn't start with a two or a three. Whatever. WHATEVER!! *sadface*
All it means is I need to cheer my sorry, aging self up. A LOT. I want to give away a book! Yes, a book! Books make me happy! HAPPY HAPPY!!
My latest release is NIGHTSHADE and it's the first book in my new urban fantasy romance series. It's about a woman named Jillian Conrad who is injected with a serum that turns her blood both poisonous and irresistible to vampires and the dhampyr assassin who wants her to use that blood to kill a vampire king. It's a bit of a darker tone for me and I'm thrilled that readers are reacting very favorably to it so far. The mini-sequel is already out, a novella in the PRIMAL anthology with Lora Leigh, Jory Strong, and Ava Gray (which, FYI, hit the New York Times trade paperback bestseller list at #17 - Hooray!). BLOODLUST, the official second book in the series is out in July.
Anyway, I want to give away a signed copy of NIGHTSHADE to a randomly selected commenter. International entries welcome. And no, I don't want anyone to sing happy birthday to me or blow up some balloons or send me any gifts or money. Wait, maybe I should rethink that last one.
What I really want is for you to type the first line of whatever your current read is along with the title and author. I'm curious what people are reading and what the first lines are. So there you go. Enter to win!
I'll pick a winner Sunday, February 20th at 10:00 p.m. EST. Good luck!
In the meantime, I'll just be over here in the corner. Aging rapidly.
Michelle xoxo
www.MichelleRowen.com
Comments
"You could call The Hunger Games a series that is--like its heroine--on fire."
The Girl Who Was On Fire, edited by Leah Wilson.
TweetyB99 at aol dot com
"Despite the chaos of war around her, she couldn't help but hum Queen's "We Are the Champions" in her head."
Ascension (ARC) Sable Grace
Happy Birthday! I've been trying to find this new book in the local bookstores but no luck so far. Will keep looking!
Have an awesome day!
I am reading "A Virgin River Christmas" by Robyn Carr even though it is neither Christmas not am I a virgin. But I needed a HEA as a palate cleanse betweeen UFs.
First line: Marcie stood beside her lime green Volkswagen, shivering in the November chill, the morning sun barely over the horizon.
And then a giant grasshopper lept out of the brush and ate her! No, that's not the second line. HEA, remember?
"They ran right over me, and my head came off."
Unleashed by Katie MacAlister, part of the Cupid Cats Anthology
Dreams of a Dark Warrior
Kresley Cole
"Whenever you have a sorcerer betwixt you thighs, your powers tend to disappear," Sabine told her sister as she scanned the faces of the frenzied, caged humans.
From Kresley Cole's Kiss of a Demon King
"Celia, everything's going to be fine"
From Siren Song by Cat Adams
"I was being followed. It was kind of ironic, considering the way I'd been following others for the last few weeks."
'Blood Peomis' By: Richelle Mead
"Libraries and demons," she muttered. "What is the attraction?"
The Demon Trapper's Daughter by Jana Oliver
Happy Birthday! And while my birthday isn't until October, I'm already freaking out because it ends in 9 and doesn't start with 2 or 3.
Hark! Here this tale, the legend of Aidan the Fierce and Reginlit the Radiant One, a pair of lovers both bound and cursed by fate.
Dreams of a Dark Warrior
Kresley Cole
How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf by Molly Harper.
"There is no wolf. This was all just a dream." he said in a deep, resonant, Obi-Wan Kenobi voice, and waved his hand in front of my face as if to project his Jedi mind trick. My eyes narrowed at him.
I'm doing a re-read of the Wicked Lovely series in prep for the finale which is out next week.
btw, forties are rather liberating and hence fabulous imo :)
Enjoy!
(Happy Birthday!)
Of course I am second guessing it. The book is Changes by Jim Butcher. Book 12 in the Dresden Files. The opening line is huge and is also a huge spoiler. Not sure I want to post it willy-nilly... ;)
"No matter how carefully I patted the chopped apples into place, the top crust of my apple pie always looked like I'd tried to bury a dismembered body under it." Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews
I would send you special cupcakes, but I don't think I am allowed to export to other countries. ;)
My father died saving my life when I was seven years old. From Karen Mahoney's THE IRON WITCH.
Looks like I'm not the only one reading this right now. :-)
When you're a cop,you learn fast that any attempt at a nice evening out can and will be spoiled by a dead body-Daemon's Mark by Caitlin Kittredge
elaing8(at)netscape(dot)net
Happy Birthday^^
I was touching the Sinsar Dubh.
Shadowfever, Karen Marie Moning
I hope I win the book! this sunday is my birthday too :)
Walter Jon Williams, This Is Not a Game.
Damien by Jacquelyn Frank
BTW, today is my birthday also!! Mine is double nickels. Hope you have a good one.
follow on gfc
mlawson17 at hotmaail dot com
from Stacia Kane's UNHOLY GHOSTS, which I can't believe it's taken me this long to discover. Great stuff.
NIGHTSHADE sounds great! It's going on my list.
Swathed in the silken shadows of deepest night, New York was the same . . . and altered beyond compare. - Archangel's Consort by Nalini Singh.
Happy Birthday, by the way. May it be full of all things nom, nom worthy.
Meal-on-wheels, eighteen-year-old Rose Pascal thought hysterically. - Ever Night by Gena Showalter in On the Hunt anthology.
Happy Birthday to you!
-Cathy
I sat at a table in my shadowy kitchen, staring down a bottle of Boone's Farm Hand Lemonade, when a magic fluctuation hit.
~ Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews
Lisabeth Lewis didn't mean to become Famine.
~Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler
I'm reading Bound by Desire by Rosemary Rogers.
"She whirled, the dance taking her-letting it take her. Her body became part of the music and the meaning of the half-sung, half-sobbed flamenco of Spain, and the wildness of the jarabe that was all Mexico."
I'm reading 5 books at the moment, but I won't bore you by listing the self help books. :D
"Come, my beauty, we shall see if we can impress anyone tonight with our skill." ~ Mary Wine's Highland Hellcat
And like Vicki and Cathy, I'm also reading Jackie Morse Kessler's Hunger
"Lisbeth Lewis didn't mean to become Famine."
I'll be celebrating a similar birthday next week. Or maybe avoiding celebrating it, I haven't decided yet.
Happy Birthday!
Lament by Maggie Stiefvater
Susan Grant's Sureblood
I know how you feel about birthdays ending in zero, I'll have one this year that's a doozy, and I'm not looking forward to it at all. Hope you enjoy your day anyway Michelle.
Barbed1951 at aol.com
My first line is:
All the air escaped Daisy's lungs in a whoosh when the cowboy collapsed on top of her body.
From I Love This Bar by Carolyn Brown.
seriousreader at live dot com
"I didn't know how long I had been in the king's prison." - The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
"'Are you afraid of falling, baby?'
'No, I'm afraid of landing.'"
Grimspace by Ann Aguirre
Happy Dappy Birthday Michelle!!!
I'm currently reading Mercy Blade, by Faith Hunter.
"I rolled over, taking most of the covers with me as I stretched."
"The woman had something Neal Etan wanted and he wasn't leaving until he got it."
From Shannon K Butcher's story The Collector in the On The Hunt anthology.
"I had just stepped out of the shower when the angel appeared."
I'm reading Lisa Mantchev Perchance to Dream currently.
I also have The Mammoth Hunters by Jean M. Auel being read (but I needed a break from the detailed huge book so I went the completely opposite to YA)
February Birthday Rock! (feb 25 for me)-I'm doing a contest on my new blog to celebrate my birthday as well :) Yeah for giving away things on your birthday!
Happy Birthday
City of Ghosts - Stacia Kane
Happy Birthday!
"Sheherazade, the famed Arabian storyteller, had to come up with a thousand and one nights' worth of tales to save herself."
I Dream of Genies-Judi Fennell
-A Demon Trapper's Daughter by Jana Oliver
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!
hotaru_2218@yahoo.com
SINS OF THE FLESH - Caridad Pineiro
robin [at] intensewhisper [dot] com
from A Tale of Two Demon Slayers by Angie Fox
Happy birthday !
uniquas at ymail dot com
Bedside book: ARSENIC AND OLD PAINT: Art Lover's Mystery #4 - Hailey Lind, amateur sleuth, it's upstairs and can't get to the first page
Purse book: RED-HEADED STEPCHILD: Sabina Kane #1 - Jaye Wells, "Digging graves is hell on a manicure, but I was taught good vampires clean up after every meal."
"I hate it when fairies come into the bar." - A Touch of Dead - Charlaine Harris
Farren put the last bottle of shampoo on the shelf, broke down the box, and pushed her cart over the grayish linoleum to the toothpaste aisle.
In the Darkest Night by Pattie O'Shea
truckchick@hotmail.com
own.
Bite me if you can, Lynsay Sands^^
melissasanchezdempsey@hotmail.com
Mademoiselle Alexia Tarabotti n'appréciait pas sa soirée - Soulless Gail Carriger (very good book!)
Sorry it's in french ^^
parker182@hotmail.fr
Yes, this is French... 'cause I'm French :D Guess what? Even if you win a year (and leave the 3 behind you), you have some fans abroad! And I'm one of them!!
Have a nice day ^^
pique.a.chou@gmail.com
http://read-iql.over-blog.com
-jessi was here
"What the hell do you want"
-Absolution by Jennifer Laurens
Cassay
cassandra dot crouser at yahoo dot com
Bring on the Night by Jeri
Smith-Ready
Nightshade sounds awesome! Thank you for a chance to win a copy!!!
Sharon K
Right now, I'm reading White Cat by Holly Black. The first line is "I wake up barefoot, standing on cold slate tiles."
I just had mine Friday and only have one year before I hit an age that ends in zero again. But it doesn't begin with a 4 or 5 and it doesn't bother me that I'll be 60. It's not how many years you have lived, it's how young you feel. :)
Here's my first line :)
'Don't confuse fairy queens with fairy princesses.' -Iron Crowned by Richelle Mead
Like several people here, I'm also reading several books at once, but the one I'm most active with at the moment, is Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost.
"I stiffened at the red and blue lights flashing behind me, because there was no way I could explain what was in the back of my truck."
mi-mi(at)tele2(dot)se
Alex nodded as he put a Big Gulp coffee down in front of her.
Angel by L.A. Weatherly
meganmcdade2008@yahoo.co.uk
I'd love to win this signed copy of Nightshade. Thanks for making it international!
dontu_alex[at]yahoo[dot]com
thecozyreader @ gmail.com