Cover Reveal: DEAD EVER AFTER

I'm really just too excited not to share this! I have loved Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse novels for years now. It's really bitter sweet that the series is coming to an end and this will be the last book. I've had the chance to meet Ms. Harris on four occasions and I just love her. (See this post for a Charlaine Harris book signing earlier this year hubs and I attended.) Ms. Harris is Southern and gracious and sweet and funny. Anyways, this here's the cover for the final book, Dead Ever After due out May 7, 2013 per Ms. Harris' website.

Don't you just LOVE this cover!? 

I can't wait to have it in our collection!

Charlaine Harris

Earlier this month, I wrote about hubs and I going to Charlotte, NC to see one of my all time favorite authors, Charlaine Harris. She was on tour for her new book, Deadlocked. It is book twelve in her Southern Vampire Series, aka The Sookie Stackhouse series. I have mixed feelings about this book and its release. I am super thrilled to have this book in my possession (all the better that it's signed and personalized to us) but I am super duper sad to know there is only one more Sookie book to left to come out (due May 2013).

If you are not familiar with Charliane Harris let me give you a little background. By far, I'd say her most popular series is her Sookie books, which is the inspiration for HBO's show True Blood. The first book is called Dead Until Dark. You meet Sookie, a telepathic waitress. I first picked up this series after I read Twilight and was looking for something to fill that vampire void in my life! Sookie is an adult and Southern so it is totally not the same as Twilight but a great series in its own right.

After reading Sookie over the past couple of year and waiting (impatiently) for the next ones to come out, I found Ms. Harris has written several other books including the Harper Connelly series, the Lily Bard series, The Aurora Teagarden series, a couple stand alone mysteries and several short stories. I've read them all (except maybe a couple of the shorts) and they are all wonderful! I certainly recommend anything she's written. The Lily and Aurora series are straight mystery novels, no supernatural stuff going on. Ms. Harris also mentioned at the event that her Harper series has been picked up by SciFy to be turned into a show! (I read it will be called Grave Sight-which is also the title to the first book in that series. YaY!!!)

Here's my (short) review for Deadlocked:


**Possible Spoilers**


Oh Sookie! I'm very intrigued how the series will end after reading Deadlocked. There were a few surprises in this book. It did take care of clearing out some secondary characters. I think a good way to sum up what was going on in Deadlocked, is like Sookie said at one point, all her supernatural paths had crossed. Team Sam all the way, baby!!

I hope you guys have a great Friday and weekend if I don't get to talk at ya again! What are you guys up to this weekend? Anybody reading anything good? Who are your fav authors?

Best Day EVER

Here is the Alli's World True Life Story of the BEST DAY EVER. This is more for me. I want a way to remember that day forever. No, the day wasn't perfect but it was pretty wonderful and I choose to remember the good times. As I mentioned before hubs and I celebrated our two year anniversary on May 1st. His gift to me was concert tickets for The All-American Rejects (a band I loved back in my college days) on May 8th. We both took off the whole day from work.

Proof of the Best Day Ever: All American Rejects signed CD, armbands, tickets; Map of Covington and Vampire Diaries filming locations, Avengers movie stubs, and brochure mentioning Blue Willow.

Our day started by sleeping in a a little and hanging out together at home. Then we went with the Seniors from Pleasant Grove to the Blue Willow Inn in Social Circle for a totally delish lunch of all things fried in Southern goodness. Not to mention a good time with some good people and the beautiful grounds at the restaurant. (See pics)

After lunch we departed the group and took off on our own. We had the concert tickets for the show in Atlanta so we started making our way down I-20. Clayton noticed we were about to pass the exit for Covington (aka Mystic Falls). We had been talking about making a day trip there because it is where one of my favorite shows,The Vampire Diaries, is filmed. So we pulled off the interstate and spent about two hours wondering around Mystic Falls! After we hit the highlands we got back on road again.

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Me holding a prop from TVD set.

Outside the Mystic Grill, which in real life is a lawyer's office or something and I saw where this building had a fire a couple days after we were there. :(

The Gilbert house, where main character Elena lives.

We still had a couple of hours to kill and we soon were coming up on Stonecrest Mall, so again we pulled off the road. This time in the pouring rain and went to see Avengers, the new super hero movie we had both been wanting to see desperately. If you have not seen this movie, GO NOW! It was sooo good. As a geek, I was so super proud of the director Joss Whedon (of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame). Anyways--GREAT MOVIE.

Finally, at this point it was about time to get to the concert venue so off we go once more. We get there in plenty of time and check out the merchandise table. The band was offering a free signing with purchase of their new CD. Due to my powers of persuasion and a really awesome merch guy, we ended up with 2 copies of the CD for the price of one! The show ah-mazing! The opening band, Rocket to the Moon did a great job. Finally the Rejects played and I was able to recapture some of my youth! Once the show was over we hung around, got our CD jackets signed, and got to chat with the band. They actually remembered playing a show in Athens (forever ago) that I was at. The guitar player even remembered the name of the venue (40 Watt) and I totally admitted to said guitar player that I had harbored the biggest crush on him since that night! Such good times!

Also, I finished my book Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout which I really enjoyed.Teen aged angst and forbidden love... le sigh. My kinda book!  (By the way Ms. Armentrout will be in  at FoxTale Book Shoppe in Woodstock, GA on June 8th at 3 pm for a book signing! Anybody up for a road trip w/ me??)  I've now started and finished reading Four to Score by Janet Evanovich (funny series). I'm still listening to Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris on audio book in my car.  Once I finish it, I'm going to read Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris (Sookie 12, only one more Sookie book left to come out in May 2013...sadness).

What are you guys up to? What are you reading? What's on your to be read list? What's your idea of the "greatest day ever"?