Well, I'm still reading Into The Water by Paula Hawkins. To be honest, I have only read a few pages of it since checking it out at the library. What's the holdup? I had to read a few review titles last week, such as The Fifth Petal, and Book One and Two in The Girls Of Spindrift series. A blog tour suddenly came across my radar (actually, I had forgot about it), so I now have to read Naomi's Hope either tonight or early in the morning, as my review needs to be posted tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll have time tomorrow to start reading Into The Water, again! The book is due back at the library on the 20th, but I like to get it read by Friday.

I also have a bookmark already slipped inside the Alien Covenant paperback, as I've already started reading a few pages of it.

Being released this summer from Pocket Star eBooks are the first two books in the all-new e-novella series "The Girls Of Spindrift" by V.C. Andrews, the New York Times bestselling author of Flowers in the Attic and My Sweet Audrina. There will be four e-novellas in the series, which will all form a prequel to the novel Bittersweet Dreams (2012).

Kindle; Nook

CORLISS, Book One of the Girls of Spindrift, was released today! It centers on an incredibly intelligent teenager named Corliss. Despite her high IQ, she doesn't have very many friends, mostly due to her shyness and her difficulty of fitting in with the other students at the Los Angeles high school. Though she has always been known as the 'good girl" in school, Corliss gets in a bit of trouble at a school party, where a group of girls spikes her drink.

After a trip to the emergency room, which scares her parents to death, Corliss decides to get even with her classmates.

DONNA, Book Two of the Girls of Spindrift, will go on sale on August 14th! It centers on a half Latino, half Irish teenager named Donna, who is the most gifted student at her high school. Her teachers have no clue what to do with her, as it seems she always has the correct answers to every test she takes. Of course having a high IQ comes with a price, as Donna isn't very popular at school.

Out of nowhere, a boy becomes interested in Donna, which leads to her stepping outside of her comfort zone. Everything in her life seems to be perfect, well, that is until a violent confrontation rocks her world.

Crown; 448 pages; Amazon

Probably the best way to hear about a new book is  by word-of-the-mouth, which is exactly how heard about The Fifth Petal by Brunonia Barry. I kept noticing other book bloggers were reading the title, so I signed up to review an electronic galley several weeks ago.

Set in Salem, this murder-mystery centers around a teenager boy being murdered on Halloween night. John Rafferty, aka the chief of police, believes the boys death is somehow connected to the notorious cold case known as "The Goddess Murders," in which three young women, all descendants of accused Salem witches, were murdered on Halloween night in 1989!

John teams up with one of the 1989 victim's daughter, Callie Cahill. While all the clues points to the local historian Rose Whelan as the killer, John and Callie believe someone or something else is the murderer. Maybe even something supernatural!

Fox Home Entertainment; 88 minutes; $14.99

Now available on DVD + Digital HD from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is Strawberry Shortcake: Dance Berry Dance, featuring four exciting episodes from the hit series. There are no special features or extras on the single-disc; though it does includes a 'printable coloring pages.'

Based on the popular American Greetings' character, Strawberry Shortcake's Berry Bitty Adventures aired on The Hub (now known as Discovery Family) from 2010 to 2015. The series centered on Strawberry Shortcake, a chef and owner of Berry Bitty Café. The episodes follows Strawberry and her pals as they go on adventures, tell fun tales, and explore their city.

The four episodes on this release are from the fourth and final season of the series.

The episodes are:

"A Berry Merry Birthday" - Twins Sweet and Sour Grapes decide to have separate birthdays.

"The Berry Bitty Dance Disaster" - Apple makes a pair of magical grove booties to make her dance better.

"Doggie Dance No-Show" - Strawberry and Plum uses the groove booties to teach a trio of pups how to dance.

"Dance Puppy Dance" - Cherry's new song "Dance Puppy Dance" is a hit all over town. Everyone loves the song, well, except for Cherry. She believes the song is too big of a distraction, so she attempts to destroy it.

Lionsgate; PG-13; 105 minutes

Now available on Blu-ray + Digital HD from Lionsgate Home Entertainment is the Chinese-French action-fantasy-adventure film Enter The Warriors Gate. Directed by Matthias Hoene the film stars Mark Chao, Ni Ni, Uriah Shelton, Dave Bautista, Francis Ng, Sienna Guillory, Ron Smorrenburg, and Dakota Daulby.

Enter The Warriors Gate (also known just as The Warriors Gate) centers on a bullied teen gamer Jack (played by Uriah Shelton), who's accidentally mistaken as a warrior when a Zhao (played by Mark Chao) travels to our world through a magical wooden chest. Believing Jack is a hero, Zhao assigns him the task of protecting Princess Su Lin. Not having any other choice, Jack agrees to protect (or more like babysitting) the princess.

After giving the princess a brief tour of our world, evil warriors travel through the chest and kidnaps the princess for their barbarian king, Arun the Cruel (played by Dave Bautista). Of course, young Jack chases the bad guys back through the chest and travels to an ancient empire. Jack teams up with Zaho and a weird wizard (played by Francis Ng) in the hopes or rescuing the princess before she is forced to marry Arun the Cruel.

Uriah Shelton ("Jack") and Su Lin ("Ni Ni") star in Lionsgate Home Entertainment's ENTER THE WARRIOR'S GATE.

Summit Entertainment; PG-13; 132 minutes

Now available on Blu-ray + DVD  + Digital HD combo pack from Summit Entertainment is the spiritual drama The Shack. Directed by Stuart Hazeldine, the film stars Sam Worthington, Octavia Spencer, and Tim McGraw.

Based on the novel of the same name by William P. Young, The Shack centers on Mackenzie "Mack" Phillips (played by Sam Worthington), a man who had lost faith in God after his young child, Missy, was kidnapped and murdered while they were on a camping trip.

Months go by, and Mack and his entire family are still grieving. While shoveling snow in his driveway, Mack finds a unstamped, typewritten note in his mailbox, telling him to go to the shack where Missy was murdered. The note is signed "Papa" (which is the name Missy called God).

Mack goes to shack carrying a gun, hoping to capture or kill Missy's murderer. However, Mack is shocked to find three strangers at the shack - Papa (played by Octavia Spencer), Jesus (played by Aviv Alush), and Sarayu (played by Sumire).

While it wasn't exactly a big blockbuster in theaters, the film managed to take in over $90 million  against a $20 million budget.

Special Features include:

 Linda, how do your characters meet in Wolf in the City?  

They meet on a dark back street in Los Angeles where even cops and gangs fear to tread, and are surprised as heck by seeing another "being" there.

Your characters actually come from different paranormal species. Explain! 

The wolf in this city (Jared ) is a sexy werewolf. The female he meets (Kit) is a feisty young vampire. As a most unlikely pairing, they might have to join forces and exchange some body fluids in order to see if bridging the "species" gap is in any way a viable option. Really though . . . who can better understand the problems an "Other" faces than someone who is also "Other"?

Is this a love at first sight love story or more of a slow burn? 

Weres and vamps have long been enemies . . . so the relationship that unfolds burns slowly, but fiercely.

Which do you prefer writing—antiheroes or straight up heroes? 

My characters, whether wolf or immortal, all have an innate sense of justice and are on a mission to help to right some of the supernatural world's wrongs. So though the main character Weres, vampires, and immortals in my books might be anti-heroes according to human society they try to blend in with, they are ultimately dangerous good guys.