Review: ARC The Vampire Relationship Guide Vol. 1 by Evelyn Lafont

My Rating: VG, B, H

Published: April 2011
Publisher: Self Published

Author's Website: keyboardhussy.com

Purchase @ Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com and Smashwords.com - available as of Thursday (31/03/11)

Josie wants what she’s never been able to have—sex with a vampire. When she receives an invitation to a party thrown by one of the world’s richest vamps, she doesn’t stop to question her luck; she just jumps into her favorite stilettos and heads out to the event of a lifetime, secretly hoping that she’ll come home with a party favor in the shape of a sexy coffin dweller. But the great undead, much to Josie’s chagrin, aren’t just pale sexbots with pointy teeth waiting to satisfy her carnal desires—they are dangerous…and sometimes cranky. With a single-minded focus on fulfilling her sole sexual longing, Josie unwittingly entrenches herself in the twisted and sometimes antagonistic world of vampire relationships with no one to guide her, but herself.

The Vampire Relationship Guide Volume 1 is the first book in a series by Evelyn Lafont. This short novel is full of mystery and humour.

Josie works in a bridal shop, the worst place to meet the man of her dreams. The only thing is the man of her dreams isn’t technically a man - he’s a vampire. All of Josie’s dreams come true when she is invited to a vampire party. This could be her chance to meet Mr Right..fangs and all.

Well not only does Josie land up dating one vampire, but she ends up dating another one too. Gregory is the vampire of Josie’s dreams; gorgeous, rich and a gentleman. Walker is the exact opposite of what she is looking for; a smoker and awful and rude to women. Who does she end up with? Well I will let you read that to find out.

My favourite part of the book was the ending where Josie realised who Mr Right for her is. She has been on a rollercoaster of a ride and to be honest, I was a bit confused as to who she should trust. There is one sex scene in this book and I must admit it is rather hot, so if hot and steamy scenes are your thing, you will love this book. Josie constantly has sex with vampires on the brain. She is so quirky and lovable as a character. I also loved the detailed explanations as to how the vampires in Lafont’s novel had to stay away from the sun etc. Brilliantly executed.

Overall, thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I would definitely recommend it to my friends and fellow bloggers. It’s a nice short read and has all the right elements that is needed in a vampire romance. Can’t wait for the next instalment.

Disclaimer: I was sent this e-book ARC as part of a book blog tour from The Bookish Snob Promotions. I was not paid to review this book and everything I have said is of my own honest opinion.

Review: Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

My Rating: E, P, B

Published: 2010
Publisher: Atom Books

Author's Website: andreacremer.com

Purchase @ Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com

Calla Tor has always known her destiny: graduation, marriage and then a life leading her pack.

But when she defies her masters’ laws to save a human boy, she must choose. Is one boy worth losing everything?

Nightshade is the first book in the ‘Witch War Series’ by Andrea Cremer. Well this is one of those books that you just can’t put down. Every time I did, I have to pick it straight back up again.

Calla Tor is the alpha of the Nightshade pack, well the alpha of the underage wolfs that is. She is betrothed to an alpha of another pack and after their marriage they will form a new pack. This has been highly anticipated and everyone is making sure that it happens as planned. But Calla has other ideas.

I felt so sorry for Calla. She has been told all her life what awaits in her future and she has no choice in it at all. Some of the time it doesn’t bother her, she is kind of giddy about the whole marriage and being leader of a pack thing but at the same time she yearns to do things that other teenagers do, i.e. let her hormones run rampage in her relationship. But alas, Calla can’t have that. She has to be pure for everything ahead. Life gets even harder as she falls for someone that she is forbidden to be with.

I had so many favourite moments from this book, but I think it had to be the moment where everything clicked into place and Calla makes a decision for herself. I thought it was such a great scene. My least favourite parts of the books were the abusive masters and alphas that think they can do anything because they are the leaders. Such a shame on those that have to put up with it as they can’t do anything about it. They have to basically shut up and put up. I totally don’t think I could live the wolf life. I would end up dead for not being obedient enough.

Cremer covers quite a lot in Nightshade from the incorporation of religion to the supernatural creatures, e.g. succubi, incubi etc, it was great! I loved it when one of the character compares the wolf’s and Keeper’s history to religion. In a funny way it sort of makes sense but at the same time, the wolf is adamant that it’s nothing like religion. The amount of supernatural creatures involved are quite spectacular. You never knew what was going to come next which made the anticipation so much more exciting.

Overall, I absolutely and thoroughly enjoyed and book. One of my favourite books this year so far, I loved it that much. I would recommend it to any young adult and adults out there. It’s not too teenager’ish of a read and if your an adult you will still be able to relate to the characters.

Disclaimer: I was sent this book for review by Amazon. I have not been paid to review this book and everything I have said is of my own honest opinion.

The Trouble With Spells Blog Tour: Interview with Lacey Weatherford

”Today, as part of the 'The Trouble With Spells' blog tour being hosted by The Bookish Snob Promotions I have Lacey Weatherford, author of said book and the Of Witches and Warlocks series, for an interview. But first..a little bit about Lacey =)

Lacey Weatherford has always had a love of books. She wanted to become a writer after reading her first Nancy Drew novel at the age of eight. She resides in the White Mountains of Arizona , where she lives with her wonderful husband, six beautiful children, one son-in-law, and their energetic schnauzer, Sophie. When she's not out supporting one of her kids at their sporting/music events, she spends her time writing, reading, blogging, and reviewing books.

Win a Kindle Treasure Hunt! We want to reward all the wonderful followers of this blog tour, so what better way to do that than to give away a free Kindle and Of Witches and Warlocks Swag! Being entered to win is easy! All you have to do is follow the tour each day and search for the highlighted words in the post. There may be only one word on some days or two or more on others, so be sure to read the whole post. They could be anywhere…even in this description! Keep collecting the words each day to build a certain phrase. At the end of the tour on April 22nd, bring your completed phrase to The Delusional Diaries and submit it into the form to be entered into the Kindle drawing! Did you miss a day? No worries! Just follow the linky list on The Delusional Diaries to the post for that day and search for it. After you have submitted the special phrase, add up all the times you commented on the different post during the tour and add that number for extra entries! Lots of chances! So come join in the FUN!

Now onto what you have all been waiting for..my interview with Lacey. Enjoy!

1. What/who inspired you to become a writer?

I think reading inspired me the most. I would often day dream of stories I read as a child and think up things I would have done differently. My first attempts at writing were at the age of nine. I tried to write a mystery story that featured me and my cousin. I was a huge Nancy Drew fan at the time. Unbeknownst to me, my mom saved all those writings of mine. I found them in a box of hers when I was going through her things after she passed away. It brought tears to my eyes, and more than a little bit of laughter too when I read them. My mom always encouraged me in my writings, and was very influential in my love of reading.

2. Which of your books was the easiest to write/hardest to write and why?

Book two, The Demon Kiss, was definitely the easiest to write. I wrote it in seven days. I felt like someone was just feeding the material straight into my head and I could hardly type fast enough to keep up with it! I worked on it for probably 20 hours a day, stopping for a few hours to sleep when exhaustion hit. I would wake up out of a dead sleep with ideas and start writing again. I had to start keeping my computer by the bed so I didn’t have to keep running into the other room to type stuff!

Book four, The Dark Rising, was the most difficult. My first version of The Trouble with Spells came out right in the middle of writing it and kind of threw me off my groove. I stopped writing to do marketing stuff and when I tried to pick up again I felt like I had hit a brick wall. I was just stuck. My mother-in-law called me up one day and said she had a suggestion for the book that might help me out. I actually laughed out loud at her idea, it seemed so ludicrous. But it turned out to be the comment that got the imagination rolling again, and her tip ended up turning into a fabulous story line.

3. Any fan of yours who has read your blog or your book will know that Matt Lanter (Liam from 90210) was your model for character Vance. If you could pick your own dreamcast to play your characters in a movie or TV series, who would they be?

Ha! Yes, Matt has been such a sweetheart about all of this. He’s a great guy!

I actually put a lot of thought into this question after Matt’s manager asked for the books. As far as the cast in book one I would like Matt to be Vance, of course. I would absolute love Emma Roberts to be Portia. She’s just so cute. When I wrote the part of Shelly it was actually with the image of Taylor Swift in mind. I had seen her on an episode of CSI and loved her in it. I think Zach Roerig from Vampire Diaries would be the perfect Brad. He’s dreamy! I like Rob Estes for Portia’s dad Sean, Selma Hayek for Portia’s mom, and Diane Keaton for Portia’s grandma, Milly. I think Amy Brenneman would be the perfect choice for Vance’s mom, Krista, and I had the ever-so-deliciously-evil Sean Bean in mind when I wrote Vance’s dad, Damien Cummings.

4. How many more books do you have planned for the Witches & Warlocks series?

There will be five books total. The first three are released right now. Book four, The Dark Rising, is finished and awaiting its release which I believe is slated for June. I’m halfway through writing the final installment, tentatively called Possession of Souls, now. I’m on chapter sixteen I believe. I’ve had to stop writing on it to do the release for this book, so hopefully I will be able to pick it up easily again soon!

5. What is your favorite scene/chapter from all of your books and why?

I don’t think I could pick! I love all the romantic scenes between Vance and Portia, but I also loved getting into the heads of some of the evil characters through the story. If I were to try to narrow it down to something I would have to pick a scene that happens at the end of book three that was extremely difficult for me to write. I don’t want to say what it is for those who haven’t read it yet, but I got sick from crying over it so much that I ended up with pneumonia! I would say I was probably most emotionally invested into that scene, and I still can’t read it without crying.

6. What is your favorite book of all time and why?

I want every book I pick up to read to be my favorite book of all time! I have favorites in all types of genres I have read, but way too many to even consider picking just one. In fact, that would probably be the way people could best torture me, lock me in a room and make me choose one book to be my favorite! I would go crazy! I sweat over picking my top ten for my end of the year blog posts!!

I can give you my favorite book I read in the last year. That was Forbidden, by Tabitha Suzuma. That book has a very controversial subject matter, dealing with an incestuous relationship, but it was written extremely well and afforded the reader a glimpse into the world of someone who is traumatized by their feelings. I think I still have a knot in my throat from reading that book. It was gripping.

Thanks for having me by Naomi! :D

The pleasure was all mine Lacey's. Thanks for stopping by.

If you want to read my review of The Trouble With Spells (2nd Edition) please click on the link.

To keep following Lacey's blog tour..check out Reader Girls tomorrow.

To check out who is all taking part in the blog tour go to The Bookish Snob Promotions.

Review: Becoming Human, Episode 8

BBC Three aired the entire series of Becoming Human on Sunday night including the finale.

In the final episode we finally find out who Matt’s (the ghost) killer is. I honestly never saw it coming. I didn’t think it was the person it turned out to be. Christa knocks the killer out and Adam decides he wants to get revenge by drinking his blood. Matt and Christa manage to stop him.

Now that Matt has finally completed his unfinished business, his door appears. He doesn’t know whether to go or not. Christa and Adam are both hesitant about seeing their, now, friend leave them forever. During Matt’s internal dilemma, the murdered comes around and tries to attack the trio once more. But it doesn’t end too well for him.

Sorry this review is short, but I really don’t want to give away too much of the ending for those that haven’t seen it yet. But I can say it was well worth the wait and the killer is who you least suspect, and I mean the killer wouldn’t have been on your radar at all. Well maybe on yours, but he wasn’t on mine.

Review: ARC In The Storm by Karen Metcalf

My Rating: VG, P, B

Published: 2011
Publisher: Vagabond Press

(Book cover and synopsis taken from Vagabondage Books)

Abandoned by the world around her, Carly believes she is fated to a life of torment at the hands of her stepfather and is desperate for an escape. When she can bear the abuse no longer and gives in to a thunderous rage, she suddenly finds herself in an unfamiliar, yet beautiful, storm world. This limbo between dimensions appears to be her private sanctuary, but it may just be her purgatory.
No one escapes fate without sacrifice, but is the price more than Carly is willing to pay?

In The Storm by Karen Metcalf, is a moving novella that delves into the realms of fate, what if’s and anger.

Poor Carly has had a tough upbringing, dealing with an abusive step father and caring for her younger brother, Mitchell. No wonder her anger gets the better of her. Eventually her rage takes over and transports her to this beautiful purple storm world. This is her only escape from reality.

In her storm world, Carly meets a boy, his name is Morgan. He is her guardian, sort of. He tries to explain to her the best he can what the storm world is and how it affects them. Carly is more concerned as to what is happening back in the real world to Mitchell when she is off gallivanting in her storm world. But she doesn’t know how escape from the storm world, this is where she needs to depend on Morgan.

Well I must say that this story was rather touching and moving. I felt so bad for Carly and Mitchell for having to put up with such an awful step father. Carly is burdened even more by trying to protect her Mitchell as best she can but she isn’t always successful. The history behind the tree in Carly’s storm world I thought was rather fascinating as well as the initials that are carved into it. Quite an inventive feature and central to Carly’s story.

What intrigued me the most was Morgan. I wanted to know so much more about him, just like Carly. I had an inkling as to who Morgan was as I read on, but wasn’t too sure so I was happy to find out that I was right in the end. Made the ending so much better for me but at the same time I wanted it to keep going. There is so much more of Carly’s story I want to know. This book is definitely worth the read and it won’t take you long.

Disclaimer: This e-book ARC was sent to me by the author for review. I have not been paid to review this book and everything I have said is of my own honest opinion.