May 2012 GraveTells Book Awards: See our (and your) top picks!

by davincikittieMay 31, 2012

Congratulations to our May Book Award winners!

Below are the books and authors who have been selected for our monthly book awards, by the reviewers and the readers. Enjoy!

Book of the Month

Choosing May’s Book of the Month was easy, and I say that with the utmost respect for all the books we reviewed this month. Rebecca Zanetti’s Hunted, the third in her Dark Protectors series, is a serious heavyweight. It has class, spunk, smarts, heart-pounding action, and a romance that will singe your fingers as you turn the pages! If you haven’t yet gotten your own copy, read on!

What reviewer DaVinciKittie had to say about Hunted…

The first chapter of Hunted hits the ground running. Strong personalities, high tempers, steamy chemistry, powerful longing, and unexpected consequences fairly fly off the pages.

When it comes to kick-ass heroines, Moira Dunne is the gold standard. Innately magically gifted, fiercely physically trained, and determined to do her duty to both her people and her mate, Moira is a firebrand of crackling, spunky, red-headed temper and focused power. With the combined lethality of her and Connlan, this is one duo you never want to cross.

Connlan is far above average intelligence, and is there anything sexier than a man who is built, strong, confident, a natural leader, downright deadly with his body and with his energy, AND smart enough to bend spacetime with his mind? He is the most lethal vampire alive, the ultimate soldier. His personality reminds me a little of Christian Grey from the Fifty Shades Trilogy: alpha and authoritative, determined like a freight train, a powerhouse in the bedroom, and incredibly good at his job. If this couple had their own series, Connlan could be the next Bones. Yes, I know that’s saying a lot and, no, I’m not kidding!

This is not some cheap imitation quickie story universe. Alluring in its plausibility, the world of the Dark Protectors is thought-provoking and well-planned. It is powerful, original, explosive, addicting, and stands on its own story arc. Even if you haven’t read the previous books in the series, Hunted is absolutely a MUST-READ!

Read the full review here!

Reviewer Top Picks

Readers Choice Awards


From The Captain’s review of Crushed Seraphim… Emma is hilarious. Really, truly, laugh out loud until you snort funny. The story is unique, and the characters are fun. I especially loved it when the author stepped into Satan Jack’s head and riffed out. It will make you laugh, and you’ll enjoy the journey. Anastasia’s voice is unique and engaging, you’ll want to keep reading just because you’re going to like her voice and way of telling a story. Debra Anastasia is a really funny writer. Her concept in this book is unique, fast paced, and interesting. She’s got a great engaging voice. Read the review here! To see all our reviews for May 2012, click here!

In a race to the finish with Hunted author Rebecca Zanetti, Tonya Macalino has been crowned our May 2012 Readers Choice Favorite Author! Congratulations, Tonya! Check out Tonya’s guest spot here. More about Tonya… Tonya Macalino lives in Hillsboro, Oregon with her husband and two children. She is an avid collector of folklore and folk history, far too many to fit comfortably within the pages of any given book. When not working on her latest novel, she enjoys coaching other writers through the How to Build a Book workshops at Jacobsen’s Books & More. Read more about Tonya Macalino on her website and blog. See the full results of this month’s Readers Choice voting here.

How do we choose the winners?

I’m sure you’re wondering how we make these decisions. Here’s the skinny…

For Reviewer Top Pick (formerly Reviewer’s Choice), each GT reviewer that posted a review for the selection month gets a number of votes equalling their total reviews posted for that month. They can spend those votes, in whatever split or block they want, on any book that earned a 4.0/5 or higher rating in its GT review. The book(s) with a combination of the highest vote total and the highest number of reviewers who voted for it wins the honor and gets the nifty little silver ribbon on its book cover across our site.

For Book of the Month, the selection is a little more complicated and it is chosen solely by me. As Executive Editor of the site, I take several factors into consideration, but most importantly, the book must have a minimum 4.5/5 rating and its review (if I haven’t personally read it) or story (if I have read it myself) needs to be memorable and have impact. It’s largely based on “gut” feeling, so it’s hard to spell out the specific metric for you guys, but basically it’s an informed subjective decision that I make each month, and I don’t take that lightly.

Finally, the Readers Choice awards for Favorite Author and Favorite Story are chosen by you guys every month in our end-of-month public voting! Thanks to everyone who participated this month and help spread the word to support your favorite authors and books!

Where can I get those cover badges for my site?

Want to display our awards on your site? Whether you’re an author, publisher, fellow blogger, or enthusiastic reader, we’d be honored for you to share the GraveTells awards in your sidebar, post, or homepage! Right-click the images above to save them locally and upload them to your own server, or you can link directly to them by right-clicking and selecting “copy image URL”. If you need a specific type of image or more instructions, email me and I’d be happy to help! =)

What's your reaction?

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About The Author

davincikittie

Sue "DaVinciKittie" Brown-Moore is a veteran romance blogger and reviewer and the primary voice for GraveTells.com. Sue has been shamelessly pimping book boyfriends since 2010 and has won several blogging awards with GraveTells. Sue is also a freelance Developmental Editor passionate about helping authors bring out the best in their stories. She loves reading romance, fantasy, and sci-fi and edits any genre she reads for pleasure. You can follow Sue's editing blog, with tips and tricks for authors, at DaVinciKittie.com.