Gena Showalter's Bus Tour Starts Today!

If you're lucky enough to live in the following areas, (1) I hate you because I am extremely jealous, and (2) you should take the time out this weekend to go see one of my favorite authors, Gena Showalter.

Gena Showalter is the author of my guiltiest pleasure, The Lords of The Underworld series. And then there's the other series she writes as well, including Alien Huntress, Atlantis, Imperia, Intertwined, and Tales of an Extraordinary Girl. She also has stories in anthologies, as well as other YA, paranormal, and romance novels that are not in a series.

I'll save you the whole spill that I always give about how much I love Gena and I'll just skip to the part where I STRONGLY URGE YOU TO GO SEE HER!

Below is her bus schedule!

Friday, June 25:

10am-12pm: Meijer in Highland, IN. 10138 Indianapolis Blvd.

2-4pm: Kmart in Tinley Park, IL. 16300 Harlem.

6-8pm: WalMart in Joliet, IL. 2424 W. Jefferson Street.

Saturday, June 26:

10am-12pm: Kmart in Naperville, IL. 1199 E. Ogden Ave.

2pm-4pm: Kmart in Bloomingdale, IL. 156 Gary Ave.

6pm-8pm: WalMart in Gurnee, IL. 6590 Grand Avenue.

Sunday, June 27:

10am-12pm: Kmart in Racine, WI. 2211 South Green Bay

2pm-4pm: Kmart in Brookfield, WI. 18200 W. Bluemound Rd

What are you waiting for? Go go GO!

Follow My Book Blog Friday

It's Week Two of Follow My Book Blog Friday, hosted by Parajunkee's View. Want to get more people to follow your blog? Want to find awesome fellow bloggers? Be sure to head over to Parajunkee's post to check out a Featured Blogger, as well as the blog hop!

To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com } and any one else you want to follow on the list
2. Follow our Featured Bloggers - www.fangswandsandfairydust.com
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!

The Mermaid's Mirror, by L.K. Madigan

Lena has lived her whole life near the beach—walking for miles up and down the shore and breathing the salty air, swimming in the cold water, and watching the surfers rule the waves—the problem is, she’s spent her whole life just watching.

As her sixteenth birthday approaches, Lena vows she will no longer watch from the sand: she will learn to surf.

But her father – a former surfer himself – refuses to allow her to take lessons. After a near drowning in his past, he can’t bear to let Lena take up the risky sport.

Yet something lures Lena to the water … an ancient, powerful magic. One morning Lena catches sight of this magic: a beautiful woman—with a silvery tail.

Nothing will keep Lena from seeking the mermaid, not even the dangerous waves at Magic Crescent Cove.

And soon … what she sees in the mermaid’s mirror will change her life …

I have to admit, when it comes to mythological creatures ... mermaids are pretty much at the low end of the totem pole for me. Why? Besides Ariel from The Little Mermaid, I've had no interest in them. Maybe it's just the lack of books about mermaids when I was younger that has me so unaffected? I think it might be. Really, when I read about mermaids back then, they were kind of fillers or just a plain out afterthought to the entire story.

Definitely not the case with this story.

Though it did take me a while to get to the action in the story -- over 100 pages into the book -- the story was well-written and had enough to keep me intrigued to get to the action. There are many aspects to love about this book. The way Madigan builds up her characters, main and minor, is beautiful ... all of them are fleshed out well. The mythology was wonderful, but then my knowledge of mermaids is lacking at the moment. I love, love, LOVED the relationships between Lena and her family, as well as the relationships between her and her friends. They're all described so warmly that it makes you feel all tingly. The best part? I think for me it had to be the author's way of putting you in the passenger's seat and taking you on a ride through Lena's journey of self-discovery as she discovers secrets about herself that have been kept from her all her life.

Now, for the bad ... which isn't as bad as you may think. I'm not a fan of the way Lena and Kai's relationship just kind of ... faded. Then again, I'm one of those people that have to have the relationships and the happily-ever-afters. If I wanted to hear bad things, I wouldn't read - I'd turn on the news or Maury. Don't let me lead you away, though, it's not bad! It's just not there as much as you want it to be. Oh, and then there's the love triangle ... which, really, when isn't there a love triangle in books these days? ;)

Rating: ★★★★✩
Source: Netgalley

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Title: The Mermaid's Mirror
Author: L.K. Madigan
Series: N/A
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
Format: Hardcover, 308 pages
Release Date: October 4, 2010

Purchase Book
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | IndieBound

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Want to participate?

Go here!

Shadow Hills
by Anastasia Hopcus
400 Pages
Published by Egmont USA
Release Date is July 13, 2010

His love captivated her... his secrets might kill her.

Since her sister’s mysterious death, Persephone “Phe” Archer has been plagued by a series of disturbing dreams. Determined to find out what happened to her sister, Phe enrolls at Devenish Prep in Shadow Hills, Massachusetts—the subject of her sister’s final diary entry.

After stepping on campus, Phe immediately realizes that there’s something different about this place—an unexplained epidemic that decimated the town in the 1700s, an ancient and creepy cemetery, and gorgeous boy Zach—and somehow she’s connected to it all.

But the more questions she asks and the deeper she digs, the more entangled Phe becomes in the haunting past of Shadow Hills. Finding what links her to this town…might cost her her life.

I've been trying to deny my excitement about this book coming out for quite some time, but I find that I squirm more in my seat each day that passes and it gets closer to July 13th. The first thing that attracted me to this book wasn't even the book at all - it was Anastasia's picture on another book blog that caught my attention - she has the red hair that I've always wanted. Unfortunately, I look better with darker reds that fade entirely too fast in my hair. But, back to the book. The synopsis has two of my favorite things in it, "mysterious death" and "creepy cemetery" -- immediately I was sold. Then, those bloggers that were lucky enough to get an ARC (so jealous!) started giving Shadow Hills wonderful reviews, and that's only added to my impatience! July 13th can't get here fast enough!

Teaser Tuesdays!

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading.

· Grab your current read.
· Open to a random page.
· Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
· BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
· Share the author and title, too, so that the other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy, Book 4) by Richelle Mead

He stepped back and threw his arms out. "I'm always crazy around you, Rose. Here, I'm going to write an impromptu poem for you." He tipped his head back and shouted to the sky:

"Rose is in red
But never in blue
Sharp as a thorn
Fights like one too."

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a weekly event - hosted by the wonderful Sheila - to share what we are reading this week, as well as what we read the previous week. Feel free to share in on the fun, or just click on the link to see what others are reading!

How's my reading going?

Well, I did read The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner like I promised myself. Aside from that, Jekel Loves Hyde. That's all, though. My trip to Gastonia to see my parents was full of cleaning, painting, and doggie grooming ... so, no reading was accomplished.

What did I finish last week?

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, by Stephenie Meyer - As a big fan of the Twilight series, I fell in love with this book. Yes, it's short (hence the term "novella") and yes you know the ending if you've read Eclipse, but you should read it for a good look at the newborn and non-vegetarian vampires.

Jekel Loves Hyde, by Beth Fantaskey - Maybe I shouldn't have been in Twilight mode when I read this right after Meyer's novella because there was a few spots where I thought the descriptions of Jill and Tristen could go for Bella and Edward. Getting over that, this didn't disappoint and was definitely as good of a read as I thought it would be after Jessica's Guide To Dating On The Dark Side.


What do I plan on reading this week?

Blood Promise, by Richelle Mead - Hi, my name is Missy and I'm addicted to the Vampire Academy series. I'm trying to reign in my addiction by only reading one a week or so, since I'm so close to the last book and I'll have a while before the sixth book comes out.

I'm thinking after Blood Promise, I'll go in my library pile and pull out something. I'll let you know what it is when I grab it and read it.

How is YOUR reading going?