Monday Morning Cuteness!

cute puppy pictures - Live long and prosper
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Around The Romance Universe: Cool Links for Readers

So I've come across some awesome links in the land of romance online this morning so I thought I'd do a quick post to share some of them.

Today, Kim Harrison is the guest at the Borders True Romance Blog and is giving away a copy of Pale Demon! I LOVE this series and can't wait until the copy I ordered arrives in the mail. ;)

JoJos Book Corner has 6 contests running right now!

Macmillian launched an awesome new website and community for romance readers called Heroes and Heartbreakers. Lots of awesome blogs by some of the best book bloggers out there!

I'm super excited that Kresley Cole's latest book in the Immortals After Dark series, Dreams of a Dark Warrior, has landed the #1 spot on the New York Times bestseller list!

Monday Morning Cuteness!

Funny Pictures
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Brush of Darkness Winner!

Thank you again to Allison for stopping by and talking about her new UF book and keystones. I loved hearing about everyone's experiences!

Now, on to the winner. The comment chosen by random.org to win a copy of A Brush of Darkness by Allison Pang is...

Comment # 3 - Donna Cummings!

Thank you to all my readers who stopped by and entered to win. It really is a really enjoyable read that I still recommend you check out.

Happy Reading!
Sabrina

Monday Morning Cuteness!

Happy Valentine's Day To All My Romance Reading Friends!
Be sure to tell the ones you love how much they mean to you not only today, but everyday. Thank you for reading Cheeky Reads and being a part of the community here. I love talking books with all of you and hope you'll keep stopping by and sharing!

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Welcome Guest Author Allison Pang & Win A Brush of Darkness!

Today I'm truly excited to welcome guest author Allison Pang to Cheeky Reads! Allison's debut book A Brush of Darkness has been one of my favorites so far this year and part of that is due to the pretty awesome world she creates. That's why I'm excited that today she's introducing us to it and talking about an idea central to the book - Keystones.

I can't recommend this book enough if you are looking for a new Urban Fantasy world to get lost in. Now, check out Allison's post and comment with an answer to Allison's question below or a ask Allison a question to enter to win a copy of A Brush of Darkness!

Welcome Allison!

Keystones

Mystic groves, haunted houses, magic wells – even in the real world there are places of sacredness that cause people to pause and wonder. (Or give them that lovely prickle down their spine.) For whatever reason , these locations pick up a reputation for having some sort of power or otherworldly presence. In A Brush of Darkness, this concept becomes the basis of something called a KeyStone.

As part of the overall world building, many of these beings (Fae, angels, etc.) like to come and go between their worlds and ours. However, I wanted to limit this a bit, so for the sake of keeping these beings under control, I set it up so that they can only cross over at the four hours – midnight, noon, twilight and dawn – unless they have a TouchStone…or access to a KeyStone.

TouchStones are mortals who enter a Contract with one of these beings, and part of that bargain allows the OtherFolk to travel whenever/wherever they want. If the OtherFolk doesn’t have one, they are usually limited to hanging out at one of these mystical places known as KeyStones. The Hallows, for example, is an OtherFolk bar that’s actually built on top of a more ancient place, but the power still holds true and the OtherFolk take advantage of that.

In some cases, humans can be living KeyStones – with the rare power of being able to TouchStone any OtherFolk person they come in contact with…without the need for a written Contract. I’d been thinking on the idea that so many talented people tend to die so young (i.e. Mozart, for example). In much of Faery lore, the Fae are drawn to that sort of thing – musicians, poets, writers, etc. I began to wonder what might happen if a particularly talented person captured the Fae’s attention and attempted to Contract to too many OtherFolk at once? Undoubtedly the effort would eventually drain them and thereby quite possibly cause their death.

In the book, the Fae actually police these Contracts through the position of a Protectorate, who oversees the written Contracts so that this doesn’t happen (since they don’t actually want that sort of attention drawn to themselves.) On the other hand, a living KeyStone would be a very precious commodity among the OtherFolk, since it would allow them to potentially abuse the system. With no written Contracts needed, a human KeyStone could find him or herself passed around between OtherFolk with very little say in the matter.

In A Brush of Darkness, Abby Sinclair eventually discovers that she is a KeyStone, although being already TouchStoned to the Faery Protectorate lends a certain amount of protection, since very few OtherFolk would want to cross the Protectorate in such a way. Of course, her situation does lend itself to a few humorous moments, particularly when Abby finds out she’s accidentally TouchStoned to a small unicorn who likes to nest in her underwear drawer.

I’d love to hear if anyone has ever run into a KeyStone of their own – a place that felt “haunted” or magical or seemed to have a presence that wasn’t particularly tangible. :)

Monday Morning Cuteness!

funny pictures - C'mon! Faster! She's in one helluva mood this morning!
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I need coffee ASAP! Hoping for news on my job interview today...we'll see since it could go either way.

First Grave on The Right - Cute Book Trailer & Giveaway!

I've heard fantastic things about this book and have the audio version I'll be starting soon so look for a review in the next week or so. What I think is awesome is that this is one of the few book trailers that was worth watching - very funny, cute and really does set the tone for the book.

Check it out and tell me what you think. Oh, and has anyone read or picked up this book yet? If so let us know about it!



*****UPDATE****


Macmillan Audio is giving away an audio book copy of First Grave on The Right and a T-Shirt on their FaceBook page - Click here to check it out!