I admit it….I have Terrible Fever. So much so, that today’s review will not follow my usual format (yes, it has affected my thought process that much!)

What is Terrible Fever you ask? It is caused by Stacia Kane’s “Downside Ghosts” series and has a variety of symptoms (pleasing to the reader, perhaps not so much to those around the reader).

The fever causes the reader to:

• Obsess about the characters (and particularly one named “Terrible”).
• Bite their nails, clench their teeth, and sleep only a few hours a night (staying up until 3 or 4am or waking extra early just to get a few more chapters in). In some extreme cases, they do both (as I did – meaning I was getting about 4 or 5 hours of sleep a night until I was finished reading the series).

However, the symptoms don’t end there.

• The reader will sigh frequently, and groan in agony quite a few times too.
• Upon attempting to follow a normal daily routine (like work), the obsession will continue to consume the reader’s thoughts, as they re-live the scenes in their head. This causes the reader to unwittingly ignore everyone around them and have that “dreamy” look in their eyes (or that glassy look - tee hee!).
• Every “break” the reader gets, will find them scrambling for their book, And let’s be honest, the reader will attempt to create many of these “extra breaks”. You may even hear them growling or catch them rolling their eyes at anyone who succeeds in distracting them.
• You know that fake smile you’ve seen when you’ve interrupted a reader (or given, if you were the reader interrupted)? You know the one…where you hold your breath and plaster a fake smile that looks more like a grimace? The eyebrows are raised, with feigned interest in what the “interrupter” is saying. Yeah…it happens ALOT here… 
• But the worst symptom, and it happens to the best of us, is when the reader suddenly breaks out in “Downside-speak”. Yes, it happened to me. And it wasn’t pretty. Husband confused…worried expression…eyebrows raised. I assured him I was not having an “episode”, but it did cause me to chuckle and contemplate how funny the brain is…
• And of course, as with ALL great and addictive series, once it is over, the reader will insist upon talking about it incessantly, even trying to incorporate little “tidbits” of the book into normal daily conversation. Yeah…it’s best to join a “Terrible Support Group” when that happens (I’ve joined “I Gots Terrible Fever” on Goodreads). Luckily I also have “Lily” – she understands my predicament. Although…she is the one who introduced me to this addiction. Hrmmm…

Ok so what’s the series about? It’s awesome, but I’m simply going to paste in this morning’s chat with my mom about the series and how she needs to read it (she’s a paranormal romance addict like us). It’s kinda ”raw” - just me, in my full excitement about the series, trying to tell her about it in general, without spoiling it. It would be too easy to give spoilers away, and since it is an ongoing series, I really don’t want to do that for those who haven’t read it yet. I think I did okay…

Maryse says:
ok mom
listen

Gisele says:
I’m all ears… (eyes)

Maryse says:
remember that book series that Lily reviewed on my website – where she’s calling you and telling you about Terrible?

Gisele says:
yes

Maryse says:
oh boy 
I read it

Gisele says:
yeah the pimp

Maryse says:
I LOVED it
well he works for the pimp (breaks legs and stuff u know haha)
the first book was good but #2 and #3 blew me away
it is somewhat action (because there are mysteries she has to solve and lots of dangerous situations) bad ghosts loose, plus enemies etc…
u know the stuff – keeps it exciting
but the love triangle between her and Terrible and Lex (another drug dealer- the opposing one)
WOW
riveting
and I don’t think it’s considered a romance series…but her personal life is so interesting, so realistic – nothing fake about it. You feel it.

Gisele says:
really!… I guess it’s another series I’ll have to read

Maryse says:
OH YES
its not vampires
its humans
but something happened where ghosts overtook the world, and everyone now realizes there are no gods

Gisele says:
really? not vampires and it’s good?

Maryse says:
and ghosts are bad so to get rid of the ghosts witches and people with magical abilities form a “Church” and do witchcraft, magic, banishing spells etc and it works – so the new “Church” is magic

Gisele says:
that sounds really interesting!

Maryse says:
run by witches (elders the whole thing) they are also now law
they protect everyone from these ghosts etc… it’s good (although I cringe at the no God thing)

Gisele says:
yeah… I can understand that

Maryse says:
bad stuff happens and some ghosts get out
they are supposed to be locked in their own “Underworld” where it is supposedly peaceful 
but they’re dangerous so that is the “adventure part” (every new assignment “Chess” takes – she’s the main character and a strong witch) but
she needs pills to cope (past issues in her childhood, plus all the freaky stuff she sees)
so that’s how come shes stuck with these dealers
and she also has to work for them (possible ghost issues in their “territory”)
but since they dont want the “law” (the church) involved in their areas they hire her privately
And that’s where Terrible and Lex fit in…(Terrible helps her and protects her cause its a VERY bad part of town
SO GOOD mom

Gisele says:
really!!!! send me the title of the series and the author

Maryse says:
ok
I mean it mom
it’s convoluted a bit when she talks about her spells – it’s very descriptive as she’s performing her magic
sometimes I found myself skimming a bit to get to the REALLY good parts but there are LOTS of good parts

So there it is folks. My “chat” series description is missing a lot of good stuff. But really, Stacia Kane knows how to make you feel the story, the situations, and the characters. I’ll let her narrate the stories the way they need to be told.

Oh also – a little piece of my chat with Lily today, because I forgot to tell you guys. Terrible isn’t the typical hero. Let’s just say…he’s not handsome. In fact, “Chess” considers him “ugly”. So how is it that we can all heart him so much? But don’t let the chat snippet below fool you into jumping to conclusions spoiler-wise…Lex is pretty special too… You’ll see.

chatting with Lily…

Maryse:
in fact
I thought to myself
how am I gonna be able to crush on an ugly book hero?
I dont get these girls
and then I thought
I already know too much of the story that he won’t take me by surprise
and I just KNEW I’d love Lex more
but nope…
Terrible won me
won me terribly

so I get it
and it was just in a book?? how?
that’s how good Stacia is…she can WRITE so well that they become real
u see them the way you SHOULD see them

Oh and, speaking of Lily (and her reviews of the books), here they are (to get a little more detail on what each book is about):

Lily’s Book Review of Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane
Lily’s Book Review of Unholy Magic by Stacia Kane
Lily’s Book Review of City of Ghosts by Stacia Kane

I LOVED this series so much, that I’m reading anything “Downside-related” that I can find. I’ll be devoting the next few posts to the series (and to Terrible!) – I still need my Downside “fix”! I’m not ready to let go yet. So yes, folks, it’s gonna be a “Terrible” weekend

Series Reading Order:

1. Unholy Ghosts (Downside Ghosts, Book 1)
2. Unholy Magic (Downside Ghosts, Book 2)
3. City of Ghosts (Downside Ghosts, Book 3)

The highly anticipated new book ‘Halo‘, by the brilliant Alexandra Adornetto, who published her first novel at 14 years of age.

More about ‘Halo’ and Alexandra Adornetto:

Three angels are sent down to bring good to the world: Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, a teenage girl who is the least experienced of the trio. But she is the most human, and when she is romantically drawn to a mortal boy, the angels fear she will not be strong enough to save anyone—especially herself—from the Dark Forces.

Alexandra Adornetto was fourteen when she published her first book, The Shadow Thief, in Australia. Alex lives in Melbourne, Australia; Halo marks her U.S. debut.

Link to trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlgEFa6Wtjc

Macmillan Website about the author:
http://us.macmillan.com/author/alexandraadornetto

Here’s a new YA paranormal novel that has just been released, from the author of the extremely popular Immortals series:

Alyson expands her ‘Immortals’ story by giving Ever’s little sister, Riley, her own brand-new series. The first book in the series is ‘Radiance‘.

More about ‘Radiance’:

Riley has crossed the bridge into the afterlife—a place called Here, where time is always Now. She has picked up life where she left off when she was alive, living with her parents and dog in a nice house in a nice neighborhood. When she’s summoned before The Council, she learns that the afterlife isn’t just an eternity of leisure. She’s been assigned a job, Soul Catcher, and a teacher, Bodhi, a possibly cute, seemingly nerdy boy who’s definitely hiding something. They return to earth together for Riley’s first assignment, a Radiant Boy who’s been haunting a castle in England for centuries. Many Soul Catchers have tried to get him to cross the bridge and failed. But all of that was before he met Riley . . .

Link to trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2P51HFqVj9s

Author website:
http://www.alysonnoel.com/

Lots and lots of books today!! Have you ever seen so many new books in one day? I’m starting the new month off with a bang

As You Wish by Jackson Pearce – release date: 08/31/2010 (YA) – awww how cute! She summons a genie, and they crush on each other – sounds like Kenyon’s Fantasy Lover (but a YA version )

My own must haves:

• Taken by Midnight: A Midnight Breed Novel by Lara Adrian —>YES – on my TBR list!!!
• Killbox by Ann Aguirre —> Dying to start this series (VERY popular!!!)
• Born to Bite: An Argeneau Novel (Argeneau Vampires) by Lynsay Sands —> OF COURSE!!! I LOVE the Argeneaus!
• Dark Peril (Carpathian) by by Christine Feehan —> I’m still getting through this series – so I’m way off, but another VERY popular series!

LOVE this cover!!

I’m so excited! I’ve been waiting anxiously for No Mercy (Dark-Hunter Novels). The time is drawing near, and we will once again be able to immerse ourselves in the Dark-Hunter/Were-Hunter world (Yay Dev!!)…

Available September 7th from St. Martin’s Press is #1 New York Times bestselling author, Sherrilyn Kenyon’s latest release in her widely loved Dark-Hunter series, ‘No Mercy’.

“Live fast, fight hard and if you have to die then take as many of your enemies with you as you can. That is the Amazon credo and it was one Samia lived and died by. Now in contemporary New Orleans, the immortal Amazon warrior is about to learn that there’s a worse evil coming to slaughter mankind than she’s ever faced before…..”

Let’s watch the trailer, shall we?

Link to trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=067W4Kvqa4g

Sherrilyn Kenyon website containing book synopsis and much more:
http://were-hunter.com/

Another great recommendation by Louisa!

As per the author’s website:

When 28-year-old Emma Donahoe becomes a nanny to John Chen’s daughter, Simone, she does not expect to be drawn into a world of martial arts, magic, and extreme danger, where both gods and demons can exist in the mortal world.

Emma gradually realises that John Chen is no ordinary businessman and that nearly all the demons in hell would like to see him dead. John and his American bodyguard, Leo, begin to teach Emma their particular brand of martial arts and special defensive techniques … they also begin to realise that there is something that is different about Emma but exactly what it is, nobody can say.

• White Tiger (Dark Heavens Trilogy)
• Red Phoenix: WITH White Tiger (Dark Heavens Trilogy)
• Blue Dragon - Kindle Edition

Thanks to Monique for giving me more Highlander options to warm my… heart tee hee!!

As per the author’s website:

Highland warriors sworn to protect Innocence through the ages…

• Dark Seduction (Masters of Time, Book 1)
• Dark Rival (The Masters of Time, Book 2)
• Dark Embrace (Masters of Time – Book #1 The Rose Trilogy)
• Dark Victory (The Masters of Time – Book #2 The Rose Trilogy)
• Dark Lover (The Masters of Time Book #3 The Rose Trilogy)

Great book giveaways this weekend – and cool tweets!!

• Lisa Hendrix is working on “Immortal Defender” (loves hero Torvald)
• Rachel Vincent is doing an “Alpha (Shifters Book 6)” giveaway – deadline to enter is 11:59 pm (Central) on Monday, August 30, 2010!! Go now!!  …then come back
• Gabrielle Faust tweets some “vampire” news: Paris Hilton wants to be a vampire on True Blood.
• Gabrielle Faust will also be signing her latest vampire book (Eternal Vigilance Bound in Blood) at Eerie Books in Texas on Oct. 2 (3-6pm)
• Meljean Brook also giving away books! 10 copies of Must Love Hellhounds, and 10 of Demon Blood (The Guardian Series)!! Go now!!  …then come back again!
• Laurell K Hamilton blogs about Dragon Con (there is also a video and some racy questions). She also gives us a little insight on the evolution of “Nathaniel and Anita’s” relationship:

Listening to the CD I made for way back when Nathaniel was first big on Anita’s radar. The songs don’t remind me of him anymore.

Their relationship has grown so that the dreamy, early romance, & lust songs seem pale & less real than what’s grown between them.

• Melissa Marr twitpics a “Mercy” spoiler (and warns not to read if you don’t like spoilers) –>The Darkest Mercy release date is Feb 22nd 2011
• Christina Dodd gives us an excerpt of her book Chains of Fire: The Chosen Ones (this one’s coming out Sept 7th 2010)
• Marta Acosta’s Haunted Honeymoon get’s a great review! Gorgeous cover! In fact, even if it’s not a hunky male, the image is just so pretty I’m making it my cover of the day!
• Kathy Love’s –> Ok old tweet, but good info! Her next book, Truth or Demon will be out March 2011 – YAY (Amazon says Feb 22nd 2011)!! One of my absolute favorite authors – I love her style of writing. She makes paranormal romance feel real, modern (and possible)!

More to follow as I find more cool tweets…

Want to read these tweets directly? Check out my Authors Who Tweet post, and make sure to follow them! It’s always good stuff!

Again…not a hunky male, but I “oooooooh’d” when I saw the cover so I’m making it my cover of the day!