Happy Halloween!

Creatures of the Night

The amazing Kat also known as Katytastic on YouTube created this lovely Tag and what better day to post it than on Halloween.

Vampire
My all-time favorite vampire is Lord Akeldama from Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series. He's an excentric rove who knows everyone and everything. He is Alexia's best friend and one of few who know about her abilities. Lord Akeldama is a softie and a vampire with a really big heart who will always help his friends.


Werewolf
Sticking with Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series - Lord Conall Maccon is just the best werewolf. He is the Earl of Woolsey and Alpha of the Woolsey pack. Conall is an old werewolf and nothing can shock him but the moment he falls in love not even his wolfish insticts can help him. Even though it hurts him to do so, he is willing to grovel to show his love-interest how important she is to him. Lord Maccon is a werewolf willing to be the underdog in his relationship and a funny and sarcastic Scotsman. He's just the perfect werewolf.

 
Zombie
Wow, it took me a long time to come up with a Zombie. I don't have many books with a Zombie character but after some hours of starring at my bookshelves and a broad definition of Zombie, I think I came up with a good one. Vincent Delacroix from the Revenant series by Amy Plum. Vincent is a revenant, which means he can die and after three days he wakes up again and lives just like before. That makes him kind of a Zombie, right? Alive but also a little bit dead?



Ghost
My favorite ghost in all of my books is Xemerius the gargoyle demon from the Ruby Red trilogy by Kerstin Gier. He can only be seen by Gwen and helps her in every possible way. Xemerius is such a great guy. I would love to have a little loyal guy like him help me in my everyday life. Unfortunately I can't see ghosts but everytime I pass a Ghotic church I'm looking up at the gargoyles to see if Xemerius is up there waving at me. 

Witch or Warlock or Spellcaster
There is no better witch in the multiverse than Nanny Ogg from Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. Nanny Ogg is a loving mother, famous inventor of the Hedgehog song and such great fun to be around. She can drink like no other and her letters are entertaining to read. I adore her and her little coven. If I got to choose a place from a book I want to see "in real life" I would definitely pick the Discworld because there are so many amazing places to see and "people" to meet and Nanny Ogg is at the top of my list.


Fairy or Fae
I have no read any books focusing on Fairies or Fae. I couldn't even come up with a book feturing a fairy but last night it hit me - I once met the not really nice Fairy Queen in Cassandra Clare's City of Ashes. She wasn't nice and tried to trick people but she's the only fairy - aside from Tinkerbell - I could think of.


Demon
My favorite demon is Bartimaeus from Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus series. He is witty and sarcastic and not happy when he is summoned by a boy. He tries to trick him and get him to release him again but the boy is cleverer than Bartimaeus thought. He looses himself in stories from his past sometimes and tries to convince everyone that he is the worst demon that ever was on earth but deep down he is a good guy but not really loyal. Demons, you can't live with them but you can't live without.....well, maybe you can live without them.


Angel
Hands down - Akiva from the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series by Laini Taylor. I only read the first book but it did something to my heart that I cannot describe. Even 6 months after reading it, I still cannot tell you much more about it. Just go read it if you haven't.


Alien
Hello Daemon Black! He is the hot alien guy in Jennifer L. Armentrout's Lux series. Badass, bad boy, forbiddenly handsome and extraterrestrial. Daemon is such an unfriendly bastard for so long that you don't really know how to hate him but you manage. He tries really hard to protect his sister and therefor tries to get rid of anyone who looks like a distraction to her. Yes, Daemon is incredibly annoying but my favorite alien.


Human with Superpowers
This is such a cool category because I immediately knew which character to pick - Finley Jayne from Kady Cross' Steampunk Chronicles. The good and evil sides of her character often work against each other and she gets into trouble because of that but Finley is uber-strong and a kick-ass heroine. She is brave and always has her friends backs but sometimes she gets herself in danger because she tries to protect her friends. Finley is slowly learning to control her powers and to trust people and that makes her characters really believable and loveable.

I will leave you with Kat's original video and a very Happy Halloween!

Meet the gang of Lovett, Texas

Review

Daisy's Back In Town

by Rachel Gibson

 

First sentences:

Heat Waves drifted across the concrete as the ’63 Thunderbird slid from the shadow of the garage.

Summary:
Daisy Lee Monroe thought she'd brushed the dust of Lovett, Texas, off her high-heeled shoes years ago, but she's come back home only to find that little has changed. Her sister is still crazy, and her mom still has pink plastic flamingos in her front yard. And Jackson Lamott Parrish, the bad boy she'd left behind, is still so sexy it hurts. She'd like nothing better than to avoid this particular man, but she can't. Daisy has something to say to Jackson, and she's not going anywhere until he listens.
Jackson learned his lesson about Daisy the hard way, and now the only word he's interested in hearing from Daisy's red lips is good-bye. But she's popping up everywhere, and he doesn't believe in coincidence. It seems the only way to keep her quiet is with his mouth, but kissing Daisy had once been his downfall. Is he strong enough to resist her now? Strong enough to watch her walk out of his life again? Is he strong enough to make her stay?

source: Goodreads

My opinion:

I always liked reading fluffy romantic novels and Rachel Gibson is one of my favorites. I especially love her books set in Lovett, Texas because books set in the American south just appeal to me in a way.

Daisy left Lovett many years ago and never looked back but now after her husband’s death she is back again to find Jackson Parrish, her husband’s best friend and the boy she left behind, to finally talk to him.

Wow, this book got to me. Lovett is a small town where gossiping is the main hobby of all inhabitants and for a long time Daisy stayed away from all this but now she needs to face her past and bring her and her son’s life in order again. But not everything is going to plan. Jackson is still angry at Daisy and doesn’t want to talk to her, her son Nathan is unhappy at his aunt’s and uncle’s house and wants to come to Lovett too, Daisy’s sister Lily separated from her husband and acts crazy and her mum tries to help her but is a bit crazy to begin with.

Daisy’s Back in Town is a fun and entertaining story of two people who were in love once and try to act more or less civil around each other now while fighting their attraction for each other. Yes, it is an adult romance novel filled with lovely and quirky characters and tells a sweet story.

The books set in Lovett, Texas:

• Daisy’s Back in Town
• Crazy on You
• Rescue Me
• Run to You

For more information about Rachel Gibson visit her Homepage.

I've accumulated 11 books in 1 month

Showcase Sunday is weekly meme hosted by Vicky at Books, Biscuits & Tea.

It is a possibility for us to show what amazing books we got during the week.

After over a month without a bookhaul I now have a HUGE one coming your way. Let's jump right into it!

For my Kindle:

 

Taking Flight by Erin Brown

Making Headlines by Erin Brown

Catching Jordan by Miranda Kennealy

The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason

The Shell Game by Janet Evanovich & Lee Goldberg

Physical Books:

Dragons at Crumbling Castle by Terry Pratchett

He's So Fine by Jill Shalvis

Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

From Notting Hill with Four Weddings...Actually by Ali McNamara

I won Ellice's birthday giveaway over on Paper Riot and she was such a sweetie and sent me two books I really really wanted.
 

The Girl with the Windup Heart by Kady Cross

Soulless: The Manga by Gail Carriger

Blogoversary Bash Wrap Up

I had such a great time celebrating my Third Blogoversary last week. If you missed one of the posts that where published on here over the last seven days I'm doing a wrap up for you today.

Monday: Top Three Favorite Book Quotes
Tuesday: Top Three Favorite Travel Destinations
Wednesday: Top Three Childhood/Teenage Books
Thursday: Top Three Favorite Authors
Friday: Top Three Favorite and Dissapointing Books of 2014 (so far)
Saturday: Top Three Upcoming Releases of 2014
Sunday: Three Top Recipes

Thank you to all my friends who wrote a guestpost for me last week. You are the BEST!

Blogoversary Bash: Day 7

Today is the last day of my Blogoversary Week! I've been blogging for three years now and to celebrate I asked some of my best book blogging buddies if they wanted to celebrate with me. Today Vicky from Books, Biscuits and Tea and my mum are sharing some recipes with us. My dog Felix also wanted to have his paws in this post. So here are:

Three Top Recipes

Vicky is sharing Marian Keyes' Strawberry Cupcakes

Very few people know this but I absolutely love baking. There’s nothing better than curling up with a good book, a nice cup of tea and some freshly baked desserts. Unfortunately, what with work and other things, I don’t have the chance to spend as much time in the kitchen as I’d like to. But, I have one recipe which always comes in handy when I’m craving something sweet but don’t have enough time to make anything fancy or experiment with more difficult recipes.

One of my favourite authors, the lovely Marian Keyes, released a recipe book called Saved by Cake last year. It has a whole chapter on cupcakes and I fell in love with her Sweet & Simple Strawberry Cupcakes right away. They’re SO easy to make and they’re ready in 20-25 minutes. If you’d like to give them a try, here’s the recipe.

For 12 cupcakes you will need:
200g fresh strawberries
100ml sunflower oil
90g caster sugar
2 eggs
180g plain flour
¾ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4 and line a 12-hole cupcake tray with paper or silicone cases. Wash and hull the strawberries and mash until they’re pulpy.
Beat the oil, sugar and eggs together for a few minutes until the mix starts to look caramelly. Add the pulped strawberries, sieve in the flour and bicarbonate of soda and fold through. Pour the thinnish batter into the cases and bake for about 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack and decorate pinkly.

Tip: I always end up using 300 – 330g of strawberries to make the strawberry flavour a bit stronger. If you haven’t tried the recipe yet, I’d say try it with 200g first and see what works for you.

Another thing I noticed is that I almost always need more than 20 minutes of baking time. Again, you’ll need to experiment and see what works for you. Check them after 20 minutes and if they’re still a bit sticky, increase the temperature to 200 ºC and put them back in a few more minutes.

Felix is sharing his favorite way to bake brownies

Since I am a dog and therefor not an expert at baking I usually make my brownies with the help of a brownie-mix. Here's what I do. 

• Wash my paws because clean paws are essential while baking. 
• Rip open package with teeth. 
• Spit out those nasty little bits of carton that get stuck in my teeth.
• Put brownie-mix in a bowl that was provided by your owner. 
• Put in the other ingredients that are mentioned on the back of the box (if you can still read it after ripping the box open). 
• Mix together. 
• Lick your paw.
• Add additional flavors if you want. I prefer beef or pork but my owners usually like nuts better.
• Mix well. 
• Lick your paw. 
• Look sad at your owner so that she will put the baking dish together. 
• Lick her toes to show her how grateful you are. 
• Put brownie dough into baking dish. 
• Lick your paw. 
• Pat down so that it is one even layer. 
• Lick your paw. 
• Sprinkle with chocolate (if you want).
• Put it into the oven but be careful not to burn your nose. 
• When the alarm rings (hopefully your owner set one), go to the oven, look sadly at it and let your owner take out the brownies. 
• Snif to check that they are ready. 
• Lick your nose to check again of they are ready. 
• Put your paw on the brownie and look at your owner. She should put caster sugar on the brownie. 
• Lick your paw. 

My mum is sharing her favorite Banana and Chocolate Muffins

We often bake muffins on the weekend and one of our favorites are Banana and Chocolate Chip Muffins. They are light and fluffy with a subtle chocolate taste and so easy to make. 

For 12 Muffins you will need:

190 g of flour

2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/2 a teaspoon of baking soda

75 g of chocolate chips

2 eggs

120 g of sugar

80 ml vegetable oil

4 bananas

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4 and line a 12-hole cupcake tray with paper or silicone cases. 

Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and chocolate chips in one bowl. In another bowl mix eggs, sugar and oil. Mash up your bananas with a fork and add to the mixture. Combine fry and wet ingredients. Pour the batter into the cases and bake for about 20 minutes. Let them cool. If you want you can decorate them with banana chips or some melted chocolate. 

I hope you enjoyed these three rather different recipes and let me know if you try any of them.

Thank you Vicky, mum and Felix  for sharing your favorite recipes with us today. Sadly today is the last day of my blogoversary week 2014. I enjoyed celebrating with you all and a huge 

 

to all of my friends who wrote guestposts this week. I am so glad that you're all my friends!

Don't forget to enter my blogoversary giveaway here!