In My Mailbox...(17)

In My Mailbox is a meme that is hosted by The Story Siren every Sunday.

I know it's been a while since I have done an IMM but I haven't had much books lately. I have made a promise to myself that I wouldn't buy any more books until I had read all the ones I haven't read yet.

Borrowed From Library

 Undead and Unfinished by MaryJanice Davidson

Sent for Review

 

Logic of Demons: Tee Quest for Nadine's Soul by Hal Goodman - this book was sent to me by the author for review

What did you guys get?

Review: Love Sucks by Lauren Hammond

My Rating: G, O, R

Published: 2010
Publisher: Punkin House

Author's Website: laurenhammondnovelist.blogspot.com

Purchase @ Amazon.com punkinbooks.com

In England during the seventeen hundreds, Cara Jones had her human life ended for her and she became a creature of the night. One moment she’s an adolescent young woman living her life, the next she’s lurking in the streets at night looking for her next meal. The vampire slayings in England became so brutal the whole race was nearly wiped out.

So Cara and the clan she called her extended family fled to the U.S. to make a home. They kept to themselves and stayed out of trouble by feeding on recently deceased corpses and cleaning out blood supplies at local hospitals. When one of the clan members makes a mistake, they are once again being hunted and Cara is the only one who makes it out alive. Cara is officially the last vampire on earth. So when Cara awakes from nearly three hundred year slumber, she awakes to a new city, new people and a new way of life. Cara sets out on a journey to find her soul mate, the one person who is designed for her. Along the way she encounters a zany new friend, a jealous co worked, and a man whom she can’t live without. Dr. Jared Sayers is her destiny. Will Jared give up everything he knows to be with Cara? Or will she wander the earth for the rest of eternity along?

Love Sucks is Lauren Hammond’s debut novel. It’s the tale of a young female vampire who finds herself in a whole new world and is setting out to find her one true mate.

I was quite excited to read this book as I love vampires and I love a good romance story. To begin with I really enjoyed the historical elements and I enjoyed learning Hammond’s transformation of her vampires. Hammond’s vampires are attacked and when they wake up they are thrust out into the world on their own with no guidance or training on how to not get caught by the humans.

Unfortunately about half way through the book was when the book started to dissatisfy me. I was finding that I wasn’t sure of the timeline anywhere in the book. I felt as if I was being dragged from one day to the next and then all of a sudden it’s a year later without any warning. Also, I personally wasn’t impressed by the character development in the second half of the book. It all felt a bit rushed and I felt as if the lot was too predictable.

Don’t get me wrong, Love Sucks was an enjoyable read but just not my cup of tea. I wouldn’t let my view of the book put anyone off reading it. I would recommend it to younger readers as I think it would be better suited to those of the teenage persuasion.

Disclaimer: I was sent this e-book via SookieStackhouse.com to review. I have not been paid to review this book and everything I have said is of my own honest opinion.

Review: Frostbite by RIchelle Mead

My Rating: E, P, B

Published: 2008
Publisher: Razorbill

Author's Website: richellemead.com

Purchase @ Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com

Rose Hathaway’s got serious guy trouble. Her gorgeous tutor Dimitri has his eye on someone else, her friend Mason has a huge crush on her, and she keeps getting stuck in her best friend Lissa’s head whilst she’s making out with her boyfriend, Christian.

Then a massive Strigoi attack puts St. Vladmir’s on high alert, and the Academy crawls with Guardians – including the legendary Janine Hathaway...Rose’s formidable, long-absent mother. The Strigoi are closing in, and the Academy’s not taking any risks. This year, St Vlad’s holiday ski trip is mandatory.

But the glittering winder landscape and the posh Idaho resort only provide the illusion of safety. When three students run away to strike back against the deadly Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. Only this time, Rose – and her heart – are in more danger than she ever could have imagine...

Frostbite is the second instalment in the ‘Vampire Academy’ series by Richelle Mead. Teenage angst brewed with a heavy dose of lust and amazing fighting scenes makes for a great read.

Rose is still undergoing her training to become a Guardian, in particular Lissa’s guardian. To do all this she has to take extra training lessons as she missed so much when she and Lissa took a much needed two year holiday from St Vlad’s. Her extra lessons are to be taken with the gorgeous Dimitri and Guardian extraordinaire. The sexual tension keeps mounting between the two and looks like it’s very close to cracking. Out with the drama of St. Vlad’s, trouble is brewing in the form of the Strigoi. They have started to become more organised and are uniting to take out the Moroi royals. During all the commotion, some students get loose out in the world and try to take on the Strigoi themselves. This leads to Rose and Christian going on a rescue mission where they get much more than they bargained for. This mission will change them for life – if they come out alive.

I thought Frostbite was a great sequel to Vampire Academy. I am a bit put out that there weren’t more intimate and emotionally revealing scenes between Dimitri and Rose. There is a lot of emotion and tension between them that is yet to be unravelled and I am sure that Mead will be keeping it all locked up for following books in the series. I was really happy with this book overall and I couldn’t put it down. The fight scenes were amazing and it made me feel like I was there watching their every move. Mead has this way with words that make you connect with the characters in her novels. I felt so connected to them that I felt as if I was feeling exactly what they were feeling, I wanted to cry when they cried, scream when they screamed and to kill when they killed. Being able to engage readers with the characters is one of the reasons that Mead is such a superb writer.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book and it’s prequel to anyone interested in vampires. It has everything you want; power, magic, love, tension and amazing action scenes.

Disclaimer: I do not own this book, I was loaned it from the great Lynsey Newton, a fellow book blogger. I have not been paid to review this book and everything I have said is of my own honest opinion.

Blog Hop...(18)

Blog Hop is a meme that is hosted by Crazy For Books each Friday until Monday.

This is my eighteenth hop and I am still finding great blogs out there and loving the weekly questions!!

Blog on =)

Question: Since Thanksgiving is coming up next week, let's use this week's Hop to share what we are most thankful for and what our holiday traditions are!

Answer: As a UK blogger, I don't celebrate Thanksgiving but that doesn't have to stop me saying what I a thankful for.

Firstly I am grateful for Maria at SookieStackhouse.com as she is the one that gave me the opportunity to review books for her website which led me onto creating a blog.

Secondly, I am thankful for all the kind bloggers out there that have made my introduction to the world of blogging so fun and easy. Without you guys I wouldn't have known where to start, so thank you having takeingthe time to write out posts to help other bloggers get started.

Thirdly, I am hugely thankful to all my followers. You guys rock and I love the comments you leave, even if I dont' get a chance to reply to them all, I do read them.

And last but by no means least, thank you to all the wonderful authors out there. Don't ever stop writing as it's you guys that create the books that gives me something to ramble on about in my reviews. Plus they give me endless of hours of reading and enjoyment.

Have a great weekend =)

Review: Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning

My Rating: E, P, B

Published: 2009
Publisher: Delacorte Press

Author's Website: karenmoning.com

Purchase @ Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com

MacKayla Lane lies naked on the cold stone floor of a church, at the mercy of the erotic Fae master she once swore to kill. Far from home, unable to control her sexual hungers, MacKayla is now fully under the Lord Master’s spell. In New York Times bestselling author Karen Marie Moning’s stunning new novel, the walls between human and Fae worlds have come crashing down. And as Mac fights for survival on Dublin’s battle-scarred streets, she will embark on the darkest – and most erotically charged – adventure of her life.

He has stolen her past, but MacKayla will never allow her sister’s murdered to take her future. Yet even the uniquely gifted sidhe-seer is no match for the Lord Master, who has unleashed an insatiable sexual craving that consumes Mac’s every thought – and thrusts her into the seductive realm of two very dangerous men, both of whom she desire but dares not trust.

As the enigmatic Jericho Barrons and the sensual Fae prince V’lane vie for her body and soul, as she rallies the sidhe-seers to fight an impossible battle and the power of the Dark Book weaves its annihilating path through the city, Mac’s greatest enemy delivers a final challenge...

It’s an invitation Mac cannot refuse, one that sends her racing home to Georgia, where an ever darker threat awats. Wither her parents missing and the lives of her loves ones under siege, Mac is about to come face-to-face with a soul-shattering truth – about herself and about the worls she thought she knew.

Dreamfever is the fourth book in the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning. Insatiable and seductive to a tee, the Fever Series is highly addictive and will always have you craving for more.

Mac is still on her quest for vengeance against her sister’s murderer, the Lord Master. But before she can exact her revenge she must first overcome her sudden sexual cravings that have made her lose her mind. On the brink of death, she is saved and carries on her battle, stronger that ever, against the Fae that have invaded her world.

I was so happy with this book to begin with. I thought everything would work out and we would finally see Mac catch a break. But no, Moning is no dream-satisfier. Although, she did make one of my wishes come true but I won’t elaborate as it will spoil the book for you. We see Mac finally fighting back against her allies and demanding the truth and if they don’t provide it, she has other means to getting the truth. Mac teams up with the other sidhe-seers to try and take down all the Fae but collaborating with the strong headed leader of the sidhe-seers proves just as difficult as Mac anticipated it to be.

Dreamfever ended on such a horrible cliffhanger that it should be against the law and left me and, no doubt, millions of other readers frustrated. It has left me wondering and theorising each and every character we have met throughout the series. I have a few theories but I know they will be a million miles off. However, I am glad to see Mac overcome everything and become stronger through it all. I can’t wait for the next, and final, book.

Disclaimer: I do not own this book, I borrowed it from my local library. I have not been paid to review this book and everything I have said is of my own honest opinion.

Review: Firelight by Sophie Jordan

My Rating: E, R, B

Published: 2010
Publisher: Harper

Author's Website: sophiejordan.net

Purchase @ Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com

Marked as special at an early age, Jacinda knows her every move is watched. But she longs for freedom to make her own choices. When she breaks the most sacred tenet among her kind, she nearly pays with her life. Until a beautiful stranger saves her. A stranger who was sent to hunt those like her. For Jacinda is a draki – a descendant of dragons whose greatest defence is her secret ability to shift into human form.

Forced to flee into the mortal world with her family, Jacinda struggles to adapt to her new surroundings. The only bright light is Will. Gorgeous, elusive Will who stirs her inner draki to life. Although she is irresistibly drawn to him, Jacinda knows Will’s dark secret: He and his family are hunters. She should avoid him at all costs. But her inner drake is slowly slipping away – if it dies she will be left as a human forever. She’ll do anything to prevent that. Even if it means getting closer to her most dangerous enemy.

Mythical powers and breathtaking romance ignite in this story of a girl who defies all expectations and whose love crosses an ancient divide.

Firelight is a young adult debut and first in a paranormal series by Sophie Jordan. Full of daring dives, teenage romance and gorgeous Draki. The ultimate young adult fantasy/paranormal book.

Jacinda is the pride’s only fire breather. This causes her to be involved in a lot of the pride’s future plans whether Jacinda likes it or not. After a near death experience with some hunters, Jacinda’s mother and sister leave the pride taking her with them. Jacinda and her draki detest being away from their pride or being unable to manifest without fear.

Will, a hunter, is Jacinda’s only saving grace as he keeps her draki alive. She knows what and who he is but still can’t help falling for him. Such a typical teenage reaction; falling in love with the one thing that is bad for her. At one stage in the book I am unsure as to who is the greatest danger, Jacinda or the hunters. Jacinda is a fire breathing draki and could kill a lot of people with one puff but on the other hand the hunters are their enemies and have the technology to track and take down the draki with immense swiftness.

I felt so torn whilst reading Firelight. I was fighting alongside Jacinda when she was arguing with her mother against leaving the pride and I really felt for her when the one thing she wanted to do, the one thing that was so natural to her – flying - was taken away from her. But on the other hand, I understood where her mother was coming from by getting her safely away from the pride. The way these two characters, Jacinda and her mother, interact is very relatable as is Jacinda’s relationship with her twin sister. Jacinda doesn’t realise how un-at-home her family really were when they were living with the pride until they had left. This makes her realises that it’s not all about what she wants.

The whole idea and imagination behind the draki was amazing. I was absolutely blown away by the descriptions of the draki’s skin, their wings and the way they take flight. They are absolutely gorgeous and I wish they existed, just so I could see them in all their glory. They would be a magnificent sight. Makes me wonder why on earth anyone would want to hunt them down.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Firelight and I can’t wait for the sequel. Firelight is a definite must read by the young or old. As long as you have a good imagination, you will be stunned and blown away by this mythical story. I know I was.

Disclaimer: I own this book and bought it courtesy of Amazon.co.uk. I have not been paid to review this book and everything I have said is of my own honest opinion.

Review: Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick

My Rating: E, P, B

Published: 2010
Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Author's Website: beccafitzpatrick.com

Purchase @ Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com

Nora Grey’s life is still far from perfect. Surviving an attempt on her life wasn’t pleasant, but at leas she got a guardian angel out of it: a mysterious, magnetic, gorgeous guardian angel. But, despite his role in her life, Patch has been acting anything but angelic. He’s more elusive than ever and, even worse, she’s started spending time with Nora’s arch-enemy, Marcie Millar.

Nora would have hardly noticed Scott Parnell, an old family friend who has moved back to town, if Patch hadn’t been acting so distant. Even with Scott’s totally infuriating attitude Nora finds herself drawing to him – despite her lingering feeling that he’s hiding something.

Haunted by images of her murdered father, and questioning whether her Nephilim bloodline has anything to do with his death, Nora puts herself in increasingly dangerous situations as she searches for answers. But maybe some things are better left buried, because the truth could destroy everything – and everyone – she trusts.

Crescendo is the second novel in the Hush Hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick. Delving further into the world of anything angelic should be all holy and enlightening but Crescendo has a dark edge to it that won’t have you thinking of fairy wings and bright lights.

Life couldn’t get more interesting for Nora Grey if she tried. She has a gorgeous guardian angel for a boyfriend, Patch, and life is good. That is until Patch becomes more secretive than usual which puts Nora in an uneasy predicament. She wants to trust Patch but there is so much he isn’t telling her and then when he starts hanging about with her arch enemy, all hell breaks loose.

I really enjoyed having another piece of the puzzle of the life of Nora and Patch but at the same time I was frustrated by the characters actions. I was annoyed at Nora for being needy, jealous and untrusting but at the same time I was pissed off with Patch for being an eluding, teasing jerk. One minute he is all over Nora and the next he just stops and leaves her questioning whether Patch is attracted to her and if he truly wants and loves her.

I loved the storyline that Fitzpatrick has created. Just when you think the story is getting clearer as you pick up the clues, you are blown away by another piece of information that makes all your theories look like you are an uneducated fool. Well that’s how it felt for me anyway.

I really hope Tempest, this book in the series, unveils the answers to my questions about the series and I really hope Patch and Nora manage to work things out. Also, would it kill the guy upstairs to give Patch a break? What is REALLY wrong about an angel and a Nephilim descendant falling in love?

Overall, I really enjoyed learning more about Fitzpatrick’s angel system and the back stories as to how our characters came to be about, i.e. their histories.

Disclaimer: I own this book, I bought it with my own money from Amazon.co.uk. I have not been paid to review this book and everything I have said is of my own honest opinion.

Review: Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs

My Rating: G, R, L

Published: 2010
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (HarperCollins Publishers)

Authr's WEbsite: teralynnchilds.com

Purchase @ Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com

Lily Sanderson has a secret, and it’s not that has a huge crush on gorgeous swimming god Brody Bennett, who makes her heart beat flipper-fast. Unrequited love is hard enough when you’re a normal teenage girl, but when you’re half human, half mermaid, like Lily, there’s no such thing as a simple crush.

Lily’s mermaid identity is a secret that can’t get out, since she’s not just any mermaid – she’s a Thalassinian princess. When Lily found out three years ago that her mother was actually a human, she finally realised why she didn’t feel quite at home in Thalassinia, and she’s been living on lad and going to Seaview High School ever since, hoping to find where she truly belongs. Sure, land has its problems – like her obnoxious biker-boy neighbour, Quince Fletcher – but it has that one major perk: Brody. The problem is, mermaids aren’t the casual dating type- the instant they “bond”, it’s for life.

When Lily’s attempt to win Brody’s love leads to a tsunami-sized case of mistaken identity, she is in for a tidal wave of relationship drama, and she finds out, quick as a tailfin flick, that happily ever after never sails quite as smoothly as you planned.


Forgive My Fins is the first novel in the ‘Forgive My Fins’ series by Tera Lynn Childs. This book will have you splashing about trying to become the queen of the waves.

Lily is unlike any other teenager at her high school. She doesn’t have the incessant worries about school work or worry about being the most popular girl in school. Lily’s main worry is getting the most popular guy at school, Brody Bennett, to see her as more than just a friend so she can reveal her big secret; that she is a mermaid princess and she wants him to go live with her and rule Thalassinia as her husband and King.

Her next door neighbour, bad boy Quince Fletcher has other ideas. He enjoys tormenting Lily, spying on her and showing up at all the places she goes to. Quince is a steady pain in the fin to Lily but he somehow becomes a constant person in her life. Can she put up with Quince for much longer? You will have to read to find out.

Overall, Forgive My Fins was a good read. I would recommend it for teens as it’s truly a young adult book. The plot was kind of predictable in places so it took some of the mystique away from it.

Disclaimer: I do not own this book, I borrowed it from my local library. I have not been paid to review this book and everything I have said is of my own honest opinion.

Blog Hop...(17)

Blog Hop is a meme that is hosted by Crazy For Books each Friday until Monday.

This is my seventeeth hop and I am still finding great blogs out there and loving the weekly questions!!

Blog on =)

Question: What are your feelings on losing followers? Have you ever stopped following a blog?
Answer:  Hmm..I don't know my answer to this LOL! I'm not sure I HAVE lost any followers on my blog but I know if I were to then I would probably be a bit upset by it. But at the end of the day, my blog is about me and what I enjoy reading and reviewing etc. Every one is different and may have started off with the same taste in books as myself but I understand that people change and their tastes change. So basically I would be a little sad but I wouldn't take it personally.

Second part of the question - I think I have stopped following a few blogs but it's not down to them doing anything wrong. It's just that what I may have seen at first sight being a blog I would enjoy reading, later on down the line I might realise that that blog isn't a fit for me due to style, content etc. But it wouldn't be anything personally against the blogger, it's just that we have different tastes. That's all. I wouldn't want to follow anyone that I can't contribute anything to, i.e. comments.

Have a great weekend =)

Review: Succubus On Top by Richelle Mead

My Rating: VG, B, X

Published: 2008
Publisher: Kensington Books

Author's Website: richellemead.com

Purchase @ Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com

Love hurts, and no one knows it better than Georgina Kincaid. If she so much as kisses Seth Mortensen, the shy, sexy, incredibly gifted Seattle write she’s been dating, she’ll drain his life force. Georgina is a succubus – a demon who draws her power from other men’s pleasure. Admittedly, the shapeshifting and immortality perks are terrific, and yes, Georgina did choose to join he ranks of hell centuries ago. But it seems completely unfair that a she-demon whose purpose is seduction can’t get hot and heavy with the one mortal who knows and accepts her for who she is...

It’s not just her personal life that’s in chaos. Doug, Georgina’s co-worker at a local bookstores, has been exhibiting bizarre behaviour, and Georgina suspects that something far more demonic than double espressos is at work. She could use help finding out, but Bastien, an irresistibly charming incubus and her best immortal friends, is preoccupied with corrupting an ultra-conservative talk radio star – and giving Georgina some highly distracting come-hither vibes. Georgina is going to have to work solo on this one – and fast because soon, Doug’s life won’t be the only one on the line...

Succubus On Top is the second book in the Georgina Kincaid series by Richelle Mead. If you are looking for adulterated sex scenes with plot twists that will tie your brains in knots then this is the book/series for you.

Georgina is becoming rather fickle in this book. She is head over heels in love with Seth but won’t admit it to herself or to him and she keeps questioning her feelings for jim throughout the book. Also, she really wants to get physical with Seth but can’t due to her contract with hell which will make her drain his life force if so much as plays tonsil tennis with the guy. So to try and overcome their physical problem, Georgina decides to take things to another level to try and share her with Seth by other means. What Georgina doesn’t realise is that taking this step will cause her a whole lot of trouble. Unfortunately foresight is not one of her many immortal traits.

Succubus On Top brings us deeper into Georgina’s demonic world. We begin to realise that the demonic system that Georgina lives in and works for is not the only one out there. Okay, that sounded a bit sci-fi there but it’s true. Other immortals are out there too and they don’t like playing by the rules and Georgina can’t but help but try to stop them.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and I have enjoyed the series so far. I always find Georgina’s attitude and interaction with other characters in the book, be it mortals or immortals, immensely entertaining. There was one plot twist I did kind of see coming, but I think it was more from a gut feeling than the clues left by Richelle Mead. I would recommend this book/series to anyone that isn’t opposed to some hot and steamy, sexual and non-sexual moments between characters and enjoy having a right good giggle.

Disclaimer: I do not own this book, I borrowed it from my local library. I have not been paid to review this book and everything I have said is of my own honest opinion.

Review: Faefever by Karen Marie Moning

My Rating: E, P, B

Published: 2008
Publisher: Delacorte Press

Author's Website: karenmoning.com

Purchase @ Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com

The New York Times bestselling author of Darkfever and Bloodfever returns to Dublin’s Fae-infested shores in a bold, sensual new novel. Hurtling us into a realm of seduction and shadows, Karen Marie Moning tells the enthralling tale of a woman who explores the limits of her mysterious powers as she enters a world of ancient sorcery – and confronts an enemy more insidious than she could ever have imagined.

He calls me his Queen of the Night. I’d die for him. I’d kill for him, too. When MacKayla Lane receives a torn page from her dead sister’s journal, she is stunned by Alina’s desperate words. And now MacKayla knows that her sister’s killer is close. But evil is closer. And suddenly the sidhe-seer is on the hunt: For answers. For revenge. And for an ancient book of dark magic is evil, it corrupts anyone who touches it.

Mac’s quest for the Sinsar Dubh takes her into the mean, shape-shifting streets of Dublin, with suspicious cop on her tail. Forced into a dangerous triangle of alliance with V’Lane, an insatiable Fae prince of lethally erotic tastes and Jericho Barrons, a man of primal desires and untold secrets, Mac is soon locked in a battle for her body, mind, and soul.

As All Hallow’s Eve approaches and the city descends into chaos, as a shocking truth about the Dark Book is uncovered, not even Mac can prevent a deadly race of immortals from shattering the walls between worlds - with devastating consequences...

Faefever is the third instalment in the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning. I think this is the most erotic and suspense filled book in the series by far.

Mac is still learning more about her sidhe-seer history when she uncovers a startling piece of information that may lead her to the discovery of what exactly Barrons, truly is. Now is the time that she needs to band together with her sisterns, Barrons, V’Lane and others to try and prevent the walls coming down between the Fae world and the human world but more importantly, the Unseelie prisons.

Barron’s is once again keeping secrets from Mac but bet your petunia she is trying her damndest to find out more about him from V’Lane. But all these two seem to be worried about is whether the other has slept with Mac or not. V’Lane, however, does divulge some interesting Fae history. Information that he deems the human race not privileged enough to know but tells Mac in good faith.

I think this book has to be the most intense one yet. There are more run ins with the Lord Master, who we learn the true name and nature of, than I can count and I worry each time Mac comes up against him as I don’t think she is quite ready to take him on. I don’t look forward to their confrontations. Confrontations with Barrons however are rather appealing and seductive. I just want to scream at them both and tell them to have sex already as the tension is killing me.

I have many favourite moments in this book but my first place favourite moments are when Mac is reminiscing about the time in the cave just after she has eaten Unseelie flesh (if you don’t know what moment I am referring to, then go read Bloodfever, it will explain everything).

Overall, I loved this book and hated (in a good way) it at the same time. There was so much suspense and plot twists that I could hardly keep my head straight. The sexual tensions is top notch and I am definitely going to be reading the next book to find out if that tension explodes or implodes as the case may be. This book ends with a killer cliff hanger so if you don’t like those, beware as this one has already got me requesting it from my local library so I can find out what happens next.

Disclaimer: I do not own this book, I borrowed it from my local library. I have not been paid to review this book and everything I have said is of my own honest opinion.