BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE by Annette Curtis Klause

From the Publisher:

Vivian Gandillon relishes the change, the sweet, fierce ache that carries her from girl to wolf. At sixteen, she is beautiful and strong, and all the young wolves are on her tail. But Vivian still grieves for her dead father; her pack remains leaderless and in disarray, and she feels lost in the suburbs of Maryland. She longs for a normal life. But what is normal for a werewolf?

Then Vivian falls in love with a human, a meatboy. Aiden is kind and gentle, a welcome relief from the squabbling pack. He’s fascinated by magic, and Vivian longs to reveal herself to him. Surely he would understand her and delight in the wonder of her dual nature, not fear her as an ordinary human would.

Vivian’s divided loyalties are strained further when a brutal murder threatens to expose the pack. Moving between two worlds, she does not seem to belong in either. What is she really — human or beast? Which tastes sweeter — blood or chocolate?

Yup.  No kidding.  Stephenie Meyer announced today that she will have a new novella out this June!  And yes, it is part of the Twilight series.

The book is called The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner and is the story of one of the “newborn” vampires that are introduced in Eclipse.  It will be out officially Saturday June 5th at 12:01 AM, so start planning your Bree Tanner parties now.

On her website, Stephenie says this book was written “before Twilight was even released.”  She continues; “Back then I was just editing Eclipse, and in the thick of my vampire world. I was thinking a lot about the newborns, imagining their side of the story, and one thing led to another. I started writing from Bree’s perspective about those final days, and what it was like to be a newborn.”

And check this out…Stephenie (and her peeps) have decided that one dollar of each book purchased in the US from the first printing will be donated to the American Red Cross for their relief efforts in Haiti and Chile and other parts of the world where people are in great need.

So – if you pre-order here at BetterWorldBooks.com, you’ll be helping and helping again with the Red Cross donation AND the funding for literacy that comes from every purchase on our site!

Get the book as soon as it’s released! Pre-Order Now!

I will admit that I’m not sure how long I would’ve stuck with it if it weren’t for the joys of Tivo, but as it stood I managed about 1.5 hours before I gave up and went to bed.

I saw the fabulous opening number where Neal Patrick Harris danced about in a sparkly black jacket and sang about Botox, Twilight and Julia Child.

Then on to the comic stylings of Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin who essentially roasted all the nominees and some random audience members while the camera panned to a dark spot where James Cameron was and to an angry, sulky looking George Clooney.  I think maybe that was some kind of joke – but if so my response was not to ROFL or even to LOL – it was more of a hmmm?? – not even really a haha.

Thanks to a blue Ben Stiller, some strange line flubs and the inability of many of the women to manage their dresses while walking, the awkward humor continued.

And then there was the fashion.  I won’t do a full red carpet run down, but I will say this…what was up with Sarah Jessica Parker’s hair?  And was that England, France or Zoe Saldana’s underpants on display when she tottered up to the mic?

But on with the show…as is often the case…many of the year’s notable and Oscar worthy movies are adapted from our favorite books.  This year was no exception.

Congrats to:

• Sandra Bullock – Best Actress – The Blind Side – Adapted from the Michael Lewis book of the same name.
• Mo’Nique – Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Precious – Adapted from Push by Sapphire
  (This one got the award for Best Adapted Screenplay too)
• Jeff Bridges – Best Actor  – Crazy Heart – Adapted from the debut novel of the same name by Thomas Cobb.  (This one got Best Original Song, too).

And oooh almost – but nice try to:

• Matt Damon – nominated for Invictus, based on the book by John Carlin
• Stanley Tucci – nominated for The Lovely Bones, based on the book by Alice Sebold
• Meryl Streep – for Julie and Julia, based on the book by Julie Powell

They’re all winners in my book – and as you can see there’s lots of books in the winners!

	#1 – Blue Bloods Series by Melissa De La Cruz This one is Gossip Girl meets Twilight – a page turner, but a little racy.
	#2 – The Immortals Series by Alyson Noel Immortality – check, magic – check, teen romance – check, check…. All bases covered.
	#3 – House of Night Series by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast In a world where humans know about and tolerate vampires – the main character Zoey is marked to become a vampire and starts her training at Hogwarts…oops no the House of Night School.  So Twilight meets Harry Potter – but older and a bit racy.  Pattern?  Surely not.  Still great angsty teen vamp fun.
	#4 – The Gemma Doyle Trilogy by Libba Bray A Victorian boarding school, a Gothic mansion, a gossipy clique of girlfriends, and a dark other-worldly fantasy.  What more could you ask for?
	#5 – Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series by Rick Riordan About to be a movies starring Uma Thurman this one is a bit of a departure – not vamps – but Greek gods.  Might not sound as compelling at first – but trust me it is!

These should keep your teen – or let’s face it you – reading through all the planes, trains and in-laws’ houses you encounter in the next couple of weeks.

On her site, Stephanie admits that the manuscript, Midnight Sun, is an incomplete version of her next project. This book tells the same story as Twilight (the first book) but from the perspective of the vampire, Edward.

Stephanie goes on to say:

I did not want my readers to experience Midnight Sun before it was completed, edited and published. I think it is important for everybody to understand that what happened was a huge violation of my rights as an author, not to mention me as a human being. As the author of the Twilight Saga, I control the copyright and it is up to the owner of the copyright to decide when the books should be made public; this is the same for musicians and filmmakers. Just because someone buys a book or movie or song, or gets a download off the Internet, doesn’t mean that they own the right to reproduce and distribute it. Unfortunately, with the Internet, it is easy for people to obtain and share items that do not legally belong to them. No matter how this is done, it is still dishonest. This has been a very upsetting experience for me, but I hope it will at least leave my fans with a better understanding of copyright and the importance of artistic control.

(I guess that will teach her a harsh lesson… giving that manuscript out will turn out to be a million dollar mistake. Speaking of which, how exactly do publishers think they’re going to beat the system that has plagued music and movies when eReaders become popular…? Good night and good luck!)

However, Meyer also posts a link to part of the draft in the same post. I’m not going to tell you where to find the full version–if you want it you’ll find it easily–but now you know the facts.

Now you want to know if you should read it, right? You should. If for no other reason than to know what kids today are up to–not that they’re hanging out with vampires, but you know what I mean. The book is long, at almost 500 pages, but like Harry Potter it’s a fast read. I’m not saying this is the most literary book you’ll ever read but it is fun. Stephenie Meyer’s take on the vampires is a new slant with some good and some not so good. Her writing is very visual so you can really picture the characters and the locations. She also has a very good grasp on Bella the teenage girl that is the main character. The book is written in the first person and for the most part Bella is believable. She experiences the kind of devastating fully committed love in that special way teenagers do.

There is also a great baseball scene in the book that reminded me of the Quidditch matches in Harry Potter and that I am very much looking forward to seeing in the movie.

If you’re worried about it being gory or too much for your teenager or pre-teen, I wouldn’t worry about it. There’s very little violence in the book and surprisingly very little blood.

There’s some good set up in the story for book two, New Moon – so if you like this one, which I think you will, you’ll most likely have to read on.