It's Looking Like Christmas...

Happy Monday!

Can you believe that next week is Christmas? I thought it would take longer to get here. I finished my Christmas shopping last week. Have you finished?

The Averie Household has been slow about getting the tree up this year. The evening of December 13th, my Real Life Hero brought the box in. Slower than what we usually do, but things have been a bit crazy the last couple of weeks.

Despite being slow about the tree, we've been anticipating Christmas. The Offspring are excited and we've been to one Christmas party and Real Life Hero has one coming up at his work. In the car we've been playing Christmas music, which has been fun.

Working on some more projects under my Jeannie Averie pseudonym, but I'm thinking up things for the last two books in the Immortal Dreams series.

Averie Cat had his yearly check up and he's in good health. Got his shot he needed and we're now all set. He didn't enjoy the whole thing, but at least he's healthy.

Some family on my side are coming in after Christmas, so my parents are having Christmas dinner a couple of days after Christmas, so we'll be celebrating with my family on the 27th. For us, we'll have our Christmas Mass--likely on Christmas Eve, and then do our family presents on Christmas Day, and the presents from my parents on the 27th when we go over there.

I love this time of year. I'm praying for cooler weather. I'm not a fan of ice and snow, but I do like bundling up and snuggly blankets. It gets so hot most of the year down here, that it's nice to have some cooler weather when it happens. I haven't even broken out the tea and hot cocoa, yet!

On the reading front, I've got a whole pile of books to read, but I always add new ones. I'm trying to decide what I want to read next. I might read Jennifer L. Armentrout or C.C. Hunter. Then again, I've also got a Sophie Jordan and Cheyanne Young waiting on me, too. Not to mention my library book. What are you reading these days?

Anyway, I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in 2020. See you in January!

Have A Mightily Merry Monday!

September, New & Upcoming Releases...

Happy Tuesday All,

Today we remember and pray for those involved in the tragedy of 9/11, and we also remember all the brave men and women who defend the USA. May God bless them and be with them.

This year September is bringing weather to the South of the promise of Fall. It's not as cool as I'd prefer, yet, but it's cooler. One of the little trees in my backyard has already got some red leaves on it (pretty!) and another one is showing signs of Fall. Fall and Winter are my favorite seasons. What's yours?

Before I forget...

There's releases coming right around the corner:

Sophie Jordan's 3rd book in her YA series, Hidden, is out TODAY!

Kerrelyn Sparks has the re-release of her Historical under the title The Forbidden Lady (out on September 25, 2012). Also, her next Love At Stake book, Wild About You will be out on November 27, 2012.

C.C. Hunter's newest installment in her Shadowfalls series, Whispers At Moonrise will release on October 2nd.

Laura Childs' next Scrapbooking Mystery, entitled: Postcards From The Dead will also be out on October 2nd.

What books are you looking forward to that are coming out this Fall?

Have A Thoughtful Tuesday!

A Gold Release & 2012 Anticipation

Happy Tuesday Everyone,

I've been absolutely remiss about this, but author, and pal of mine, Ciara Gold, has a new Romance released, On Timless Wings Of Gold, (title links to the All Romance Site--the publisher's website--where you can purchase this novel) and it looks so good. The cover is absolutely gorgeous. You can also pick it up on Champagne Books, or on Amazon. I didn't find it available through Barnes & Noble, so Nook users will either have to go through Ciara's website, or download Amazon For Computer. (There's also Nook for PC and Nook for Mac available, too).  Never read Ciara's work, want to get to know her a little better? Check out the interview I did with her November 2010.

So what's everyone reading these days? I'm getting back to reading MaryJanice Davidson and Anthony Alongi's Jennifer Scales Novel: Evangelina This YA Paranormal (shape shifters--including dragons). It's book 6 in her and Anthony's Jennifer Scales series.

This year is bubbling with excitement. A bunch of interesting things happening/being released (here's some upcoming books listed by month:

February 2012:  Looks like Anne Rice is going for werewolves. It will be interesting to see if her wolves become as popular as her vampires. Watch for The Wolf Gift February 14, 2012.

March 2012:  Kerrelyn Sparks fans will be delighted to know that her Love At Stake series will have a brand-new edition come March 27, 2012, when Phineas' story, Wanted: Undead Or Alive, is released. (I'm particularly looking forward to this release!)

EDIT 11:50 a.m. Sorry about the confusion, CC Hunter's book isn't being released until APRIL 2012...this is what I get for writing my blog posts after 1 a.m.!

April 2012:  I first heard about this author when I read her novel, As You Wish, dealing with a genie. Now YA author, Jackson Pearce, has a new novel coming out, entitled Purity and it looks intriguing. Release date: April 24, 2012.

**EDIT 11:51 a.m.:  Also, highly anticipated by me, is C.C. Hunter's book 3 of her Shadowfalls series, Taken At Dusk. It looks good!  (I accidentally had this under March, but it isn't being released until APRIL. So sorry for the confusion!)

May 2012:  You've heard me talk about this YA author. I am chomping at the bit to read book 2 in this series. Who is it? It's Josephine Angelini! In May 2012, Dreamless will be available. She had a bit of it up on her blog--and it was such a tease!




For those of you wanting to know about Christie Craig's next Hotter In Texas book (the sequel to Don't Mess With Texas), it's due out September 2012 and it's entitled:  Blame It On Texas.

Also, September 2012 will bring the release of book 3 of Sophie Jordan's Firelight series. Book 3 is entitled Hidden.

Anyway, be sure to check out Ciara God's On Timeless Wings Of Gold--like I said, gorgeous cover and it looks good!

What releases are you looking forward to this year?

Have A Treasure-Filled Tuesday!

Flying With Dragons

Happy Thursday All,

We're almost near the end of the books I got for Christmas...however I still have today's and then one more (although the last one will probably be in one of next week's posts).

I haven't seen a lot in YA, or Romance (I could be wrong, but it's not been my experience). But what I have read of dragons in YA and Romance, I've really liked.

After reading Sophie Jordan's Firelight and finding out there was a sequel, I knew I'd want to read it. I put Vanish on my wish list for Christmas and figured if I didn't get it I'd pick a copy up, myself. I was delighted to receive it from my sister (the one who gave me the really awesome lion ornament, which holds a particular significance for me, and I still need to take a picture of it!)

Believe me, Vanish did not disappoint! If you haven't read Firelight, I strongly recommend you do that before reading Vanish.


Jacinda finds herself back among her own kind (the draki--people who can turn themselves into dragons). Unfortunately, after she had "manifested" in front of humans (showed them her dragon side)--and not just any humans...but hunters, the pride isn't exactly the most friendly bunch to her.

Despite the pride's general feelings, Cassain, Jacinda's sister, and Jacinda's mother, stand by her.

Originally I was unsure about Cassain, but in the sequel I got the feeling he really did care for Jacinda. That it wasn't just because she was a fire breather (a rare quality) but because of who she is.

Yet, despite all his attention, Jacinda can't forget the human/hunter, Will. A young man she fell in love with, a young man definitely in love with her and who promised he'd find her again.

Can Jacinda prove herself to the pride and forget Will...or will her heart betray her?

You can pick up a copy of Firelight and/or Vanish from Amazon and/or Amazon Kindle as well as on Barnes & Noble and/or Barnes & Noble Nook.

I should've shared this information a long time ago (and most of all whenever I talked about an e-book) and I'm sorry I haven't.  Let me remedy that immediately:

Don't have an E-Reader?

No problem!

You can download for free on to computer: 

Click here for Barnes & Noble Nook on computer (includes information on Nook for other devices as well)

Click here for Amazon Kindle on computer (includes information on Kindle for other devices as well).

Have A Tantalizing Thursday!

Kick-Your-Butt Allergies, Or, How To Imitate Sneezy

Happy Thursday All,

Is it really Thursday already? Gosh, time flies when you're sick. Or slows down, depending on who you are. That's right. I've been sick. Allergies laid me up in bed with my computer and Christmas gifts in the form of DVDs of Seasons 5, 6, and 7 (final) of Sabrina The Teenage Witch. Good news--I got through all the episodes (I just have to watch the TV movie special feature on the last disc of the final season). The bad news? Didn't get a lot done in the way of writing, reading, or pretty much anything else.

For the most part I've finally quit imitating Sneezy the Dwarf (from Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs) and I found that turning off the heat during the day has kept some of the problems from flaring. Namely, my eye finally stopped tearing and my nose quit running and I started feeling a little better. I've got some medicine and a nasal spray and I'm doing better than I was, but I'll tell you what...I hate allergies. Fortunately I've got ways of getting steam if I need to open up my sinuses, and a Vaporizer that runs at night (complete with a little green light on top--how nifty is that? Oh jeez, you can tell I've been sick, I'm thinking lights on vaporizers are cool. I really do need to get back to writing and reading and getting out of the house!)

Good news, however, (and yes there is definitely some) is that being MIA (or rather, sick with kick-your-butt allergies) gave me a chance to contemplate ideas for blog posts. I have an idea for one week, probably starting some time in January. I've also been thinking about authors to ask for interviews, and eyeing my stack of books I got for Christmas. Apparently I started a YA theme with my wish list.

I received:

Once Every Never by Lesley Livingston (if you haven't checked out her Wondrous Strange series, get yourself over to it. It's YA Fantasy/action/romance that is so fantastically written, it's just plain gorgeous).

Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs (I LOVE this woman's "Oh. my. gods." series dealing with Greek gods/goddesses and her mermaid series that starts with Forgive My Fins).

Vanish by Sophie Jordan (book 2 of her Firelight series--awesome book dealing with people who can turn into dragons--how dang cool is that?)

Plus I started reading a book (before Christmas) on my e-reader called Jessica's Guide To Dating On The Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey (I love that last name...sounds almost like "fantastic" --great last name for an author!) Anyway, it's pretty good so far, I haven't gotten real far into it, but vampire lovers, you might enjoy it--Romanian Vampires of royal blood.

We're so close to 100 official followers (those who are listed as followers in the right hand margin of this blog) I can almost "taste" it. When I hit 25 followers I did a big giveaway. Get me to 100 official followers listed and I'll look at doing another big giveaway in 2012. So tell your friends, fellow readers, blog followers, Tweeps, and anyone you know who reads/likes books (no, your dog/cat/fish/ferret/bird/lizard/monkey/lion/jackal/tiger/bear/hyena/ whatever pet unfortunately doesn't count...in my experience, they aren't exactly readers and they don't usually know how to post comments...of course, they probably could be trained...but still, I think we'll stick to the human species at this point for blog followers--makes it a little simpler).

What fun thing has been happening to you this week? (And am I alone in the allergy/cold department?)

Have A Terrific Thursday!

NEW RELEASES ALERT!!!

Happy Monday Everybody,

PLEASE NOTE:  In the margin of this blog I've supplied a post regarding the problems some people have been with trying to comment on this blog. I'm going to be implementing a new thing for posting comments on here to see if that cuts down on some of the problems. The post in the margin has information on what to do if, for some reason, Blogger won't let you comment.

Whew! There are new releases popping out all over the place...

Not too long ago, Rick Riordan put out book 2 in his Heroes Of Olympus series, Son Of Neptune (which I gotta pick up, soon!)

Apparently Vanish by Sophie Jordan (book 2 in her dragon series) has come out (yet another one I need to get my hands on--I loved Firelight). (It came out in September).

Tess St. John's second Romantic Suspense, Eyes Of Jade is now available on Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook for your reading pleasure! (Interesting trivia for y'all:  I critiqued the first 3 chapters of this one...and I fell in love with it! I've been begging to read more for awhile now and it's FINALLY out!) Be sure to visit her site, and see the cover for her upcoming release, Angel Eyes. Very cool!

*EDIT 10/10/2011 at 11:12 a.m. (Central Time):  I forgot to mention that Tess St. John is offering on Kindle and Nook for a LIMITED TIME ONLY her previously released Romantic Suspense, Don't Let It Show for 99 cents! So don't miss out on this sale...she said it's a limited time only and I don't know how long that means.

Tomorrow C.C. Hunter releases her second Shadow Falls book, Awake At Dawn.

Folks, these are books that will take you on an adventure...they're certainly not to be missed!

On a side note, I've purchased a paperback copy of Syrie James' Nocturne. I just loved that book so much. I even was asked by Syrie to write a blog review of the book, which I did a few days ago and you can read here.

What books are you reading right now?

Have A Monumental Monday!