Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean

I have to confess that my favourite reads are Romance.  They all follow the same formula.  Boy meets girl, they fall in love and usually get married.  Victorian Romance is also a favourite.  I've been reading so much YA fiction lately, I needed to pick up a good romance book and was not disappointed with this one.  It had me laughing, it had me crying (and I hate to cry), then laughing and crying all in the same breath.  And to say I was very surprised is an understatement.  This is the story of Lady Calpurnia Hartwell and Gabriel St. John, The Marquess of Ralston.  Lady Calpurnia or Callie as she is known to her nearest and dearest has admired the Marquess of Ralston, known as Gabriel from here on in from afar for the last decade.  She is now classed as a 'spinster' at the ripe old age of 28, and decides that she would like to experience some adventures which all seem to put her in the path of Gabriel.  Like most romances, they find themselves in compromising positions (in a public bar, a gentleman's club etc.) and Gabriel is both rescuing her and 'compromising' her at the same time.

The last paragraph does not really do justice to the book because I don't like giving out spoilers but Callie is a heroine to be greatly admired and Gabriel is a gorgeous man who does not quite understand or appreciate the gift he has in the love a good woman.  If you feel like a bit of light hearted reading, you're not scared of romance, enjoy well written sex (or love making) scenes with a happy ending, I recommend this book.  Everyone needs a reformed rake in their lives at some stage.

Darkness becomes Her by Kelly Keaton

I really liked this book. I had a limited time to read it but was hooked enough to sit in my car after work and finish it. Ari is searching for information about her mother and gets more than she bargained for. She finds herself following a lead to the place of her birth in New 2, a city that houses it's own weird and wonderful people with different powers. She meets Sebastian, Violet, Crank, Henri and Dub who all offer her friendship despite her strange looks. Sebastian has a strong impact on Ari and they are in the throes of developing their relationship. It did seem to develop quickly but I think it added to the storyline. The whole story seems to be a downhill slide with so many twists and turns... it is fantastic. Ari discovers more about her mother and the curse that supposedly caused the death of her mother. Add in some mythology and witches, warlocks, lost fathers, harpy's and a spider lady and it makes for a great story.  I loved Ari.  She is brave, strong, puts others before her self even though she has had a hard upbringing... and I always like a character who is wary when people offer her friendship and then blossoms when she finally accepts that people like her for who she is.  Read it.  If I rated stuff, this would be 4.5 out of five... cause no story is ever perfect!

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Mercy by Rebecca Lim

... Mercy wakes on a school bus bound for Paradise...  Mercy is an angel exiled from heaven and doomed to return repeatedly to Earth.  Mercy is never sure whose life and body she will share each time.  And her mind is filled with the desperate pleas of her beloved Luc, who can only approach her in her dreams...

 Mercy has woken up in the body of a girl called Carmen.  Carmen is not dead.  Mercy had just taken over her body.  Usually it is because that person has a problem that Mercy needs to help her with.  But this doesn't seem the case this time. 

I liked this book, but found it a little confusing. I wanted to know more about the background of why Mercy had been exiled, was she the only angel exiled, what does she have to do to get back to Luc, who is Uri, how does she have to 'change', what will happen when she changes...  I know that it's part of the suspense to have all these questions and that they will be answered in the upcoming books, I just felt that I needed to understand why Mercy was put into all these situations.  In saying that I really enjoyed reading Mercy and am looking forward to the next in the series Exile

Bite Club by Rachel Caine

Bite Club is 10th in the Morganville Vampires series. Claire is working with Myrinn in his lab and still going to school. Her boyrfriend Shane discovers a gym that teaches martial arts and he starts going. The gym is run by a vampire and there are strange goingons. Shane's attitude to his house mate Michael (a vampire) starts to change and he is spending more time at the gym and becoming more distant and quick to anger. Claire's protector Emilie and Oliver start to realise that something is going on especially with the discovery that Mr Bishop is still hanging around. Then begins the rollercoaster adventure. Claire and her flatmates along with the vampire founder Emilie, Oliver and Myrinn race against time to rescue Shane from the gym and it's online dealings.

As much as I do love this series, I wonder how much more Claire can put up with staying in Morgnville. She is offered an opportunity to leave and does not take it up. That is really not a spoiler because Claire is one of those heroines that will do anything for her friends. She is obviously a valuable asset for the vampires as well. I enjoyed this book, but it was not my favourite but it will not stop me looking out for the next two in the series, Last Breath and Black Dawn.

Shana Abe - The Dream Thief, The Smoke, Thief, The Queen of Dragons

 Dragons for me is like water for people in a desert.  My all time love is Anne McCafferey's Dragons of Pern series. It was my first foray into Science Fiction Fantasy and it was the mere close of the eyes to transport myself to Pern and to be aboard one of those beautiful dragons.  So it was also a delight to find this series.  All these books (plus 2 others) are about the 'Drakon'. A race of people that have the ability to become dragons or to change into smoke, or see the future among other powers.  They have become a myth due to the fact that their kind have been hunted.  Over their history their young are slowly losing the ability to change and the Drakon have retreated to their mountain bound fortress to protect themselves.  In the Dream Thief Clarissa Rue Hawthorne is a half mortal, half drakon who so far has escaped notice of the Leader of the Drakons, Cristoff Langford, but due to her stealing she has finally attracted his attention.  He attempts to lure her out using the "Langford Diamond' the tribe's most treasured possession.  Cristoff is not aware that the thief is a female until he 'senses' Rue and realises that she is his destined mate

Dream Thief follows the story of Zane and Lia.  Lia is the daughter of Kit and Rue and has yet to discover her drakon powers.  She is somewhat of an anomaly amongst her family as she has not yet been able to change in to her dragon form.  Zane is a mortal who has been allowed unprecedented access into the inner sanctum of the Drakon.  Lia hears the call of a special diamond called the Dramur.  She also is able to see the future and is afraid to tell her parents as myth says that those with this power will turn mad.  Zane has been asked by Kit and Rue to find the diamond as it has the power to enslave dragons.  Lia follows Kit and offers her help.  Zane is unaware that she can see the future.  In their journey they also discover more dragons who are living in the Carparthian Mountains.  And this is where Queen of Dragons comes in.

Suffice to say, I love this series and am really looking forward to the next book.  It covers my love of  dragons, a fantastic romance, and a wonderful writer.  Shana Abe's writing style is beautiful and descriptive.  I would be happy to keep on reading any of Shana's books. :)

Demon from the Dark by Kresley Cole

I've just finished this book.  I wasn't sure if I had already read it and as it turns out I had, but it is such a good story I just had to read it again..  This book is 10 in the Immortal series and follows the story of Malkom Slaine and Carrie Graie.  Malkom is over 400 years old and has been through a lot in his life.  He has been made a blood slave at a young age, A Venom (both vampire and demon) and has also been made to kill his best friend.  Carrow is a witch who has a privileged childhood but with no love from her parents she craves joy and satisfaction to fuel her powers.  Carrow is forced to seek out Malkom to betray him to people who are trying to catch all the different races to analyse. In the process she discovers that Malkom is her mate.  Their's is a very rock road to relationship, but they overcome all their insecurities.  Loved this book.  I am definitely looking forward to reading the next in the series Dreams of a Dark Warrior.

Discord's Apple, My Fair Succubi, Haunted by your Touch...

I've been busy.  Just finished Discord's Apple by Carrie Vaughn.  A very different story.  It's mythology mixed with postapocalyptic world, with comic books, magical items, magical beings and a job passed down from generation to generation, in not a very big book.  I found it a little bit hard to get into and the ending was strange but sort of bought the story full circle.  It is a standalone novel and very different from her Kitty Norville series.  But if you are a fan of Carrie Vaughan you will be able to appreciate her writing genius in this story.

My Fair Succubi by Jill Myles is third in the series The Succubus Diaries.  Fantastic book.  It follows Jackie and Noah as they get arrested by the Serim Council and Jackie is still torn between her Angel Noah and The fallen angel/vampire Zane.  Without giving away spoilers, I too would be hard pushed to choose between 2 gorgeous males especially if I needed conjugal rights every 2 days to stay alive.  I used to want to say to Jackie suck it up, but she is trying so hard to do the best for everyone and always at the expense of herself that she deserves all that life can offer her.  Great book, great storyline, great sex... what more could you ask for.  A definite read for anyone who likes the genre and the writer.

I love anything by Rachel Caine and this series is an off shoot of the Weather Warden series.  This is 2nd in the series and follows the story of Cassiel, a Djinn that has been 'cast out' because she would not follow an order from Ashan.  Her greatest adversary is targeting kids with powers and Cassiel and her partner Luis are on her trail.  It has all the attributes of the Warden series, but from a different point of view, from a once was Djinn.

Sometimes there are some books I just can't get into...

I use many devious ways to choose books to read.  Goodreads, Shelfari, Blogger, I use these sites to check what other people are reading and pick and choose from there. I use fantasticfiction.co.uk just to check on order of series and blurbs.  It's a smorgasbord, a plethora of choice.  I am also a visual person.  I choose books by the cover and since book covers are getting better and better, I am flooded for choice.  I usually place holds on books through the local library, and I've discovered even with all the background information I can get and knowing what I like to read, there are just some books that I can't get into.  And I will try serveral times to read a book, and still it just doesn't take.  And it's me, not them. I'm retrying one at the moment 'Blood Memories' by Barb Hende.  It ticks all the boxes. Paranormal Urban Fantasy, Vampires, a strong heroine with a dark past.  I love these books, I eat them up like fruit and nut chocolate, but I just can't get into this one, and I so want too.  That's why I keep trying.  I give myself a break and then come back to it.  So wish me luck or maybe the fates are just that I'm not supposed to read it.  Let it go... I'll let you know how I go, it's not like there aren't lots of books out there!  Currently I am also reading Carrie Vaughan's Discord's Apple.

Even more books read!

With so much time on my hands I have been busy reading all my library books.  I go a bit crazy and place holds on lots of books and then have a race against time to get through them all.  And also I have discovered Book Depository and I can buy books from there that are not available from my very large library network.  Hence the fact that I have now organised my 2 bookcases to hold 'Read books' and TBR books.  Both bookcases are almost full and I still have more books coming from overseas.  If you don't already know, Book Depository is fantastic, and delivery worldwide is free.  It makes it very hard to say no.

Back to the books that I've read  have just finished  If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman.

If I Stay is a magical book.  I am not one to cry a over book.  I think the last book that I cried over was My Sister's Keeper by Jodie Picoult and that was really only at the end and I wasn't happy about that.  This book had me verging on tears most of the way through. The story line follows Mia who is involved in a car accident that kills her family but leaves her fighting for her life in hospital.  There are flashbacks to her memories which are interwoven into the story beautifully. Now, it doesn't sound like an uplifting story but please read it. It has been a long time since I have come across a book that I have loved as much as this one. Luckily enough I had Where She Went on hand as well.  It's written from Adam, Mia's boyfriend's POV.  It is also based 3 years  after If I Stay. I have to be careful because I don't like giving away too much.  I like the reader (haha) of this review to make up their own mind as to whether they read the book.  It certainly provides closure and is a must read.  And if you can read them together in the same day then do it.  There is a sigh of relief at the end of this book, not because the ending is what you expect, which it isn't, but because they are two halves of a whole.  Hopefully you will enjoy these books as much as I did.

Well, I did come back :)

So a few books finished since I last blogged.  As mentioned in my previous post, I was reading Matched by Allie Condie.  I really liked this book.  I like any books about worlds like ours, but a little off key.  It always makes me wonder whether things like this are part of our future.  Being a massive X Files fan I always used to wonder where they got their ideas from, whether it had already happened and the government was hiding things and then years later, it all comes out and a light goes off in my head reminding me of a certain episode.  This book does this.  For me... this book is about control and how a society's government does the thinking for the populace because 'they know best'.  Some backdrop.  At the age of 17, each teenager is Matched with their perfect mate.  Supposedly someone that meets all genetic, emotional and mental needs in the partnership.  As always the outward perception is of a Utopian society, 'for the good of all'.  Cassia has been matched with her best friend, but another face momentarily appeared towards the end.  Cassia now has doubt about whether Xander is her perfect match.  Could it be the other boy that appeared?  Cassia starts questioning everything and trying to find her own way, make her own decisions knowing that it could affect her whole way of living.  Great book, it took me a little to get into, but I am glad I persevered.  Am definitely looking forward to the next book out 'Crossed'.

I'm Back

It's been a while, I can't even lie to myself, the date I last blogged is staring at me.  And I have read SO many books since then .  But all apologies are accepted and since I have so much time off I am going to make a concerted effort to get back on track.  I do get sidetracked by Shelfari, Goodreads, Book Depository, Fantastic fiction and my local library.  They do feed my obsession... but anyway no excuses.  I am currently reading 3 books, one of which is Matched by Ally Condie.  My favourite genres are Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance/Science Fiction and Fantasy but I am continuously being sucked in to Young Adult as well.  Sucked in willingly too!!  Hopefully I will be back here asap