Tuesday, March 27, 2012

ANATHEMA BY K.A. TUCKER

I got this for free off of the Barnes and noble website. It had high reviews so I thought ok I'm going to give it a try. It sat on my Nook for a while as I was reading lots of other books. The Nook also said there was over 700 pages so I was a little intimidated. My first night reading the book I flew through 180 pages in ONE HOUR. I probably could have stayed up half the night reading! When I got to the middle of the book it got a little slower but didn't deter me from reading it. I'm looking forward to the next book and can't wait to find out what happens. Here is a summary: Evangeline has spent her teenage years in obscurity. Her foster parents have the emotional aptitude of robots and her classmates barely acknowledge her existence. About to turn eighteen and feeling like a social pariah, she is desperate to connect with someone. Anyone. When Evangeline meets Sophie after literally stumbling upon her cafĂ©, she believes she’s found that connection. Willing to do anything to keep it, she accepts a job as Sofie’s assistant and drops everything to fly to Manhattan, where she is thrust into a luxurious world of Prada, diamonds, and limitless cash. With such generosity and kindness, it’s easy for Evangeline to dismiss certain oddities... like Sofie’s erratic and sometimes violent behavior, and the monstrous guard dogs. She’s even willing to dismiss her vivid dreams of mob-style murders, beautiful homeless people living in caves, and white-eyed demons that haunt her each night as figments of her imagination—especially when one of those figments is the gorgeous Caden. When she wakes up with bite marks on her neck, the fairy tale quickly turns into a nightmare. She slowly unravels the mystery surrounding Sofie and friends, and the reality of the bites and the “dreams.” What she discovers is far more mysterious and terrible than anything she could have imagined. In a world where everyone has motive to lie for personal gain, Evangeline must decide which deception is least likely to get her killed. I GAVE A 4 STAR RATING!

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Love In A Nutshell by Janet Evanovich and Dorien Kelly

This book was just meh. It wasn't great and it wasn't horrible. It fell to just "ok" Maybe its me getting over the whole romance genre. Who knows. It wasn't a thick book by any means so realistically I should have been able to finish in a day maybe two. Well I kept setting it down. I liked the characters for the most part but I felt like the book was lacking something. Just not sure what. I am a HUGE fan of Janet Evanovich books. Her Stephanie Plum series is one of my faves. This book almost felt forced. Like maybe there was a deadline and lets hurry up and get a book out kind of forced. She worked with another author so maybe that's why it felt "different" Here is the Summary: Kate Appleton needs a job. Her husband has left her, she’s been fired from her position as a magazine editor, and the only place she wants to go is to her parents’ summer house, The Nutshell, in Keene’s Harbor, Michigan. Kate’s plan is to turn The Nutshell into a Bed and Breakfast. Problem is, she needs cash, and the only job she can land is less than savory. Matt Culhane wants Kate to spy on his brewery employees. Someone has been sabotaging his company, and Kate is just new enough in town that she can insert herself into Culhane’s business and snoop around for him. If Kate finds the culprit, Matt will pay her a $20,000 bonus. Needless to say, Kate is highly motivated. But several problems present themselves. Kate despises beer. No one seems to trust her. And she is falling hard for her boss. Can these two smoke out a saboteur, save Kate’s family home, and keep a killer from closing in…all while resisting their undeniable attraction to one another? Filled with humor, heart, and loveable characters, Love in a Nutshell is delicious fun. Rated 2 stars.

The Hunger Games

FANTASTIC BOOK. If you haven't heard of this series or haven't read it. GO READ IT NOW. Read it for the 2nd time. Loved it just as much as the first time! Summary: In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister Primrose, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before — and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

Matched and Crossed by Ally Condle

Matched: This book came highly recommended to "The Hunger Games" fans. So I thought ok I'm going to try this out. From the beginning it was like an addiction. I started reading and was in this world that Cassia (the main female lead) lives in. The whole time thinking I can't imagine! Having my whole life chosen for me. Not getting to make my own decisions or picking who I want to marry. In this society people that choose to be matched do so on or around their 17th birthday. They all wear the same clothes and their food is prepared for them. Anyway Cassia is matched to her Best Friend Xander which is strange because it is not very often you are matched with someone so close. They are basically neighbors. When Cassia goes to view her card (everybody gets a card with info on their match) another face pops up and its not Xanders. Its Ky Markham's face and she knows him too. Now she is curious about Ky and wonders about him and who her match really is supposed to be. Cassia drove me nuts at parts because she was just so undecided. She knew what she was feeling and it should have been admitted long before it was. Good book! Here is a summary: Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow. Rated 4 Stars!!
Crossed: review Book 2 in the "Matched" trilogy. I rated 4 stars even though in my opinion it wasn't as good as book one. BUT I still liked it. It was entertaining and had excitement. Plus now I can't wait for book 3 so I can find out what happens. New characters are introduced and I found myself growing attatched to them as well. Here is a summary of the book: THE SOCIETY CHOOSES EVERYTHING. THE BOOKS YOU READ THE MUSIC YOU LISTEN TO. THE PERSON YOU LOVE. Yet for Cassia the rules have changed. Ky has been taken and she will sacrifice everything to find him. And when Cassia discovers Ky has escaped to he wild frontiers beyond the Society there is hope. But on the edge of society nothing is as it seems . . . A REBELLION IS RISING. And a tangled web of lies and double-crosses could destroy everything. Rated 4 Stars!

First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones

This was my first Darynda Jones novel. This book was mentioned to me on my Coast Guard Wives forum. Someone there was raving about it and I thought I would give it a try. I REALLY liked this book. Its totally different then anything I've read lately. And I can honestly say I've never gone the "Grimm Reaper" route. So I was pleasantly surprised! Charley Davidson is a private investigator and works in her fathers bar part time. I felt bad for her because her life was pretty hard and she had a "Wicked" Stepmother. Well at least I thought she was wicked lol. And there is some freaking hot action in here. Not going to give anything away but o.m. gee!!!! Here is a summary: A smashing, award-winning debut novel that introduces Charley Davidson: part-time private investigator and full-time Grim Reaper Charley sees dead people. That’s right, she sees dead people. And it’s her job to convince them to “go into the light.” But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (i.e. murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she’s been having about an Entity who has been following her all her life...and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely. This is a thrilling debut novel from an exciting newcomer to the world of paranormal romantic suspense. Rated 4 Stars!!

Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

I LOVED this book! LOVED IT! Greek Mythology and the whole DemiGod thing has never been son fascinating to me! From the beginning it had my interest. I didn't even have to get to a certain point of the story to find myself wondering what was going to happen. I was that way the whole time! If you like Greek Mythology and all that definitely give this book a go. It really is great! I love Lucas and Hector and Jason and Ariadne and Cassandra. They are all unique in their own way. I just really liked this book. Summary: Helen Hamilton has spent her entire 16 years trying to hide how different she is--no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. I rated this 5 stars!

My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding by various authors

I know some people really liked this book. Maybe I just don't do the whole short story thing who knows. But I had a HARD HARD time getting through some of these. In fact I think I actually fell asleep a few times reading this. However thats JUST ME though and some people would probably really dig these short stories. I guess I like more "Meat" to my books and need a longer story. Here is a summary: An "ordinary" wedding can get crazy enough, so can you imagine what happens when otherworldly creatures are involved? Nine of the hottest authors of paranormal fiction answer that question in this delightful collection of supernatural wedding stories. What's the seating plan when rival clans of werewolves and vampires meet under the same roof? How can a couple in the throes of love overcome traps set by feuding relatives---who are experts at voodoo? Will you have a good marriage if your high-seas wedding is held on a cursed ship? How do you deal with a wedding singer who's just a little too good at impersonating Elvis? · L. A. Banks · Jim Butcher · Rachel Caine · P. N. Elrod · Esther M. Friesner · Lori Handeland · Charlaine Harris · Sherrilyn Kenyon · Susan Krinard Shape-shifters, wizards, and magic, oh my! Rated 1 star

Don't Talk Back To Your Vampire by Michelle Bardsley

Fun chick lit vampire book. Great for a beach of plane ride. Or if you just want something quick and fun to read. I enjoyed it for the most part. And don't really have any complaints about it. Summary: being a mother is never easy-especially when you're undead. Eva LeRoy, Broken Heart, Oklahoma's librarian, got "vampified" when everyone else did: during a rogue vampire's feeding frenzy. But books still make her undead heart beat-and, strangely enough, so does Lorcan the Loner, the vampire who killed her... P.S. I read book 1 a year or two ago and read it in one day. Rated 3 Stars.

VAMPIRE ACADEMY by Richelle Mead

I have been reading this book kind of off and on for a while. Recently I decided I needed to go ahead and finish it. All of my friends have talked about this series and I hear random people raving about it all the time. So I figured I would join the club. It wasn't a book that was so awesome to me I couldn't put it down. But it did hold my attention and did keep me interested. And it was a different look into the Vampire world. I did enjoy reading it and will probably finish the rest of the series as long as it stays interesting. I liked that they had such a strong female character Rose. It really is an interesting book. Here is a summary: St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger... Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.

BEHIND!!

Sorry followers! I am so behind on updating this. You know how it is life gets in the way. I will try to update in the next couple of days and get all my books posted! XOXOXO AMBER