Favorite Firsts with Darkly Reading and Not-Really Southern Vamp Chick

Today we have one of my favorite bloggers - Amanda from Not Really Southern Vamp Chick visiting Darkly Reading and we are doing a little Q & A of our favorites and firsts. Stay tuned to the end and read how you can enter in Amanda's giveaway for my birthday!

(I love Amanda's button!)

FAVORITES:
What are your favorite stand-alone and series books of all time? What have been some of your favorite reads from this year?

Heather: Some of my favorite series are - Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan series, Patricia Briggs Mercy Thompson series, Ilona Andrews Kate Daniels series (Ohh Curan!), and Larissa Ione's Demonica series. Some favorite reads from this year are Mind Games by Carolyn Crane, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber, Angels Blood and Archangels Kiss by Nalini Singh. I must also mention I started the Black Dagger Brotherhood series this year at the urging of many of my smart book buddies from the blog and twitter. I am loving the BDB boys but things got a little intense so I'm taking a bit of a breather during V's book. So far my favorite has been Zsadist! 

Amanda: Let's see, my favorite stand-alones would have to be The Giver by Lois Lowry, Mandy by Julie Edwards (I loved it as a kid, probably b/c I was called Mandy when I was little,lol. I still have it too!), and A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens. My favorite series are The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, the Pern books by Anne McCaffrey, anything by Richelle Mead, Nightworld by L.J. Smith, Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. Favorite reads from this year are the Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost, Soulless by Gail Carriger, Tempest Rising by Nicole Peeler, Red-Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells, Moonshine by Alaya Johnson, and Embers by Laura Bickle.

H: Great picks from this year Amanda - add Tempest Rising and Red-Headed Stepchild to my list too!
 
Do you prefer vampires/ werewolves/ angels/ demons/ other? What has been your favorite paranormal being you've read in books that you had never heard of before reading that book?
H: So I'm an equal opportunity paranormal reader - I love them all (except perhaps the lessers from J.R. Wards BDB series - they are super creapy!) I think my favorite new to me paranormal are probably the disillusionists from Carolyn Crane's new series.

A: I've always loved vampires and always will. They are very much my favorites. In the past few months I've become very fond of shifters as well, though. Hmmm, something I hadn't heard of before reading that book... Embers had a unique thing or two that I really hadn't heard much about before. I've read a lot of mythology so I don't run across much that I haven't heard of before in some form or another.
 
What is your favorite type of hero/ heroine?

H: I totally have a Mr. Darcy complex - I love those heroes that are stand-offish and don't want to fall in love with the heroine but when they do they fall hard!

A: I like all kinds. It gets boring to read the same kinds of books all the time, so I like having different kinds of people to read about. With that said, I don't like reading about whiny, pitiful girls that can't do anything without the hero. Bleh!

Favorite sexy scene in a paranormal romance? 

H:Umm..Chapter 32 from Jeanine Frost's Night Huntress series is one of my favorites!

A: It's more of an urban fantasy, but Night Huntress's Cat and Bones! You all know what Chapter if you've read it! :D

H:See great minds think alike :)
 
FIRSTS:
First paranormal you read?
H: I was a big fantasy reader when I was younger (David Eddings, Robin McKinley, Terry Goodkind) then I went through a literary fiction phase, and then I read Twilight and the Sookie Stackhouse series and I've been reading paranormals ever since.

A: Umm, Does a Wrinkle in Time count or is that more fantasy,sci-fi? I guess Twilight.

First book to make you tear up a little? 

H: I don't want to give to much away for those who haven't read the Night Huntress series but I think it was in the third book when a certain favorite vampire of mine might be dead I got a little misty-eyed.

A: Anne of Green Gables I think.

First book full of smexy scenes?
H: Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris...ohh Eric!

A: Hmmm. Maybe one of Christine Feehan's Dark books? Not sure, something from the library. Oh wait no it was some awful romance book that I've tried to block from my memory.

First book to make you want to post a review about it?

H: Wicked Game by Jeri Smith-Ready - loved that book!

A: I posted a few before this, but I really wanted to post reviews for the Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost.

First author to do a guest post/interview on your blog?
H: Leanna Renee Heiber interview - it was lots of fun and she had some great pictures.

A: David  Naill Wilson guest post.

Thanks Amanda for stopping by and you can find Amanda here: 

Blog: Not-Really-Southern Vamp Chick
Twitter: @NRSVampChick

Now onto Amanda's giveaway - she has offered to buy one of my lovely readers a book present (under $10 from book depository-so international!) of any of the books we mentioned in the interview (and we mentioned alot). All you have to do to enter is answer one of the questions in the interview in the comments section. And since she is such a wonderful person make sure to visit her blog and follow her on twitter!

Don't forget to enter my Favorite Firsts Birthday Bash if you haven't yet!