A Book Obsession..

IMM (3)

, by KT

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren :)

Here's the books that I have received the last two weeks:

For Review:

Thank you NAL, Ace, and Roc!!

From Netgalley:

Thank you Angry Robot!!

R.A.K.:

Thank you Cassie from Vamps, Weres, and Cassay OH My!

Early Review: The Prophet by Amanda Stevens

, by KT

The Prophet by Amanda Stevens

Graveyard Queen #3

My name is Amelia Gray.I am the Graveyard Queen, a cemetery restorer who sees ghosts. My father passed down four rules to keep me safe and I've broken every last one. A door has opened and evil wants me back. In order to protect myself, I've vowed to return to those rules. But the ghost of a murdered cop needs my help to find his killer. The clues lead me to the dark side of Charleston—where witchcraft, root doctors and black magic still flourish—and back to John Devlin, a haunted police detective I should only love from afar. Now I'm faced with a terrible choice: follow the rules or follow my heart.

After the ordeal of narrowly escaping the revelations from her past in the small town of Asher Falls, Amelia was very eager to be back home. Unfortunately, things aren't much safer as no matter where she goes, the evil will never stop trying to consume her. She's got a ghost tied to her, demanding his killer be found or he will continue to drain her energy. To make matters worse, John Devlin is back in her life despite her vow to stay away from him and his ghosts. And this time she may not have the strength to walk away again, even if it means her life.

The creepy factor was severely lacking in The Prophet compared to the two previous installments. In fact it seemed to focus more on Amelia's inner turmoil over her attraction to Devlin as well as her fear at abandoning Papa's rules. The latter really started to grate on me after a while because she just kept worrying over it continuously. I guess I just found this to be a little frustrating since she had already made the irreversible decisions to break those protective rules by directly helping ghosts. I just wish she would have accepted that fact and moved on the best that she could, especially since she continues to break the rules. It isn't like she wasn't warned, nor can she go back to that bubble of safety, so I just think it's more than time at this point to put her big girl panties on and accept the way thing are. Perhaps I am being a little hard on Amelia, but I just miss the iron strength she displayed in the first installment and into the second. I'd love to see that Amelia come back with a vengeance.

In the first and second books all I wanted was for Amelia to get together with Devlin. I just found him to be so yummy despite his baggage and secrecy. Now, however I am really not sure. In The Prophet, Devlin is the same as he has ever been, but Amelia is definitely not. I really just don't care for the person she becomes around him. She loses all of her self-confidence, and to be honest becomes rather weak. I understand she has a soft spot for him, and really cannot resist him, but that doesn't mean she had to become quite so needy. It just seemed completely out of character, and made it really hard to support her.

While The Prophet was still an enjoyable read, I just wasn't as sucked into things as I had been in the previous installments. In fact I found myself easily distracted at times, and I kept walking away from it Between the lack of the expected creepy factor, the repetitiveness of her angsting over papa's rules and the change in Amelia, it was really hard to stay attached. However, that being said, based on the ending of The Prophet, I have a feeling those issues won't be a problem in the next installment. In fact, I'm still rather anxious to get my hands on the next book as this series is still quite phenomenal despite my frustrations this time around. In all honesty, if it had not been for the very high bar set by the previous installments, The Prophet probably would have earned a higher rating from me. So, putting all that aside, The Prophet was an enjoyable read in the stellar Graveyard Queen series that fans won't want to miss for the long running subplot resolutions.

(Received a copy from Netgalley)

Rating:

Pre-order a copy from Amazon:
The Prophet (The Graveyard Queen)

Other Reviews:

Previous Books:

Review: Under Wraps by Hannah Jayne

, by KT

Under Wraps by Hannah Jayne

Underworld Detection Agency #1

Sick of wrongful-death lawsuits every time a full moon comes around?

Call the Underworld Detection Agency.

As a human immune to magic, Sophie Lawson can help everyone from banshee to zombie transition into normal, everyday San Francisco life. With a handsome werewolf as her UDA boss and a fashionista vampire for a roommate, Sophie knows everything there is to know about the undead, the unseen, and the uncanny. . .

Until a rash of gruesome murders has demons and mortals running for cover, and Sophie finds herself playing sidekick to detective Parker Hayes. Dodging raging bloodsuckers, bad-tempered fairies, and love-struck trolls is one thing. But when Sophie discovers Parker isn't what he seems, she's got only one chance to figure out whom to trust. Because an evil hiding in plain sight is closing in. . .and about to make one wisecracking human its means to ultimate power. . .

Sophie Lawson has an unusual job. She works for the Underworld Detection Agency, assisting the creatures that go bump in the night to make their transition into the regular world. Unlike the rest of the staff, she's human. Although, she isn't quite ordinary as magic cannot touch nor harm her, she has complete immunity. If they knew, other humans would think her insane for immersing herself in this world, but to Sophie, it's just everyday life. She even has a vampire for a roommate. However, her life gets turned upside down when she is drafted to help a detective get to the bottom of a string of murders that points to the underworld. Only problem is that he isn't quite what he seems, and she will quickly have to decide who to trust before it costs her everything she's ever known.

Typically a flaky character will get on my nerves and really turn me off of a story. I'm also not a big fan of chick lit and fashion. However, Under Wraps may just be the exception to the rule. Instead of being annoyed, I found Sophie to be rather endearing. Her antics and behaviors had me laughing out loud so many times to the point of tears, that I couldn't help loving Under Wraps. I'm really hoping Sophie doesn't become jaded by the danger that is sure to come her way. I just want her to continue to stay so sweet and naive, and honestly a little ridiculous as these qualities make her very entertaining.

The mythology behind Under Wraps was quite intriguing. It isn't an "open" world per se, but the things that go bump in the night are completely immersed in the regular world. In fact most of them are really rather normal despite just being a different species. They live, eat, and work with regular people. It's just that the humans don't notice them due to a natural disbelief in the paranormal. Also, the really out there characters that couldn't really hide in plain sight are hidden by a veil or glamour. There is just something intriguing about everything being right under the regular people's noses as it gets you thinking about our own world and the possibilities.

I do not typically talk about covers in my reviews, as I prefer to stick to the actual book. However, in this case I feel the need to. Don't get me wrong, I like the cover, but I don't think it fits the story at all. Picking up this book, I expected the heroine to be tough as nails and have kick butt skills. However, that just couldn't be further from the truth. I hate to be stereotypical, but Sophie really is a flaky redhead, there is nothing tough about her nor does she look anything like this cover model. When you combine that with the chick lit feel of the story, it really left me scratching my head at what the cover artist was thinking. Granted, it does look nice, but I still feel a little misled. Even so, I'm not really complaining because if Under Wraps had had a typical paranormal chick lit cover, I highly doubt I would have picked it up, and then I would have missed out on a highly enjoyable read. I cannot wait to dive into the next book!

Rating:

Order a copy from Amazon:
Under Wraps (The Underworld Detection Agency Chronicles)

Other Reviews:
All Things Urban Fantasy
Kristina's Paranormal Books
Dark Faerie Tales

Waiting on Wednesday (90)

, by KT

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights an upcoming release we are greatly anticipating.

My pick this week:

Black Dawn - Morganville Vampires #12

by Rachel Caine

Publication Date: May 1st, 2012

Amazon Pre-Order: Black Dawn: The Morganville Vampires

The hotly-anticipated twelfth instalment in the Morganville Vampires series.

In Last Breath, the rain brought a new and dire threat to Morganville and its vampires... their ancient enemies, the draug. Now, the vampires are fighting a losing war, and it will fall to the residents of the Glass House: Michael, Eve, Shane and Claire, to take the fight to an enemy who threatens to destroy the town, forever.

Lovers of Morganville, rejoice: Black Dawn takes the intrigue, romance and nail-biting suspense of the series to its highest level yet!

Independent Book Blogger Awards

, by KT

The Voting for the Independent Book Blogger Awards has opened. I'd love it if you voted for me!! I've always wanted to go to BEA!!! Thanks so much!

Re-Read Review: My Soul to Keep by Rachel Vincent

, by KT

My Soul to Keep by Rachel Vincent

Soul Screamers #3

(Re-Read Review)

Kaylee has one addiction: her very hot, very popular boyfriend, Nash. A banshee like Kaylee, Nash understands her like no one else. Nothing can come between them.Until something does.Demon breath. No, not the toothpaste-challenged kind. The Netherworld kind. The kind that really can kill you. Somehow the super-addictive substance has made its way to the human world. But how? Kaylee and Nash have to cut off the source and protect their friends—one of whom is already hooked.And so is someone else…

Just like my first two re-read reviews for this series, I feel the need to start off with a warning that this post is NOT a traditional review, and will be quite spoilery. Also there will be a whole lot of ranting and bashing. I'm participating in the Soul Screamers Reading Challenge hosted by Fiktshun. You can either read the books for the first time, or re-read them, and I am doing the latter. I thought it would be fun to do a post of my thoughts about things the second time around with all of the knowledge of the following books. So again, I really would not recommend reading this review if you are not caught up in reading books one through five. You have been warned. ;)

Since I knew the betrayal was coming this time around, I noticed so much more. Nash was absolutely despicable throughout My Soul to Keep. I was literally disgusted with him to the point where it became hard to read. It just turned my stomach. He completely demoralized her by being so pushy sexually. I mean he continually used his Influence powers on her to try and push her further than she was comfortable with. What is that really but a somewhat lessor form of rape? To make matters worse he was incredibly cruel in telling her she was a tease and basically that she was lucky that he was still waiting. That anyone else would have left a long time ago. Excuse me? After three months of waiting? When she's only sixteen and still a virgin? Well listen here Nash, screw you and your high horse, you don't deserve a girl like Kaylee. No one deserves to be pressured into something they aren't ready for. No one.

The worst thing is that his behavior towards Kaylee was really only the tip off the ice berg. There was his lost of his past memories, as well as the constant lies. Then you add in him allowing Avari to use Kaylee's body including the inappropriate behavior that really stole from her, and he doesn't deserve another look, let alone a second chance. So I'm officially team Tod, or Team Kaylee, or really Team anything that isn't Nash.

Before I started to write this re-read review, I read the review I had written of the following book (My Soul to Steal) as I just wanted to see where my state of mind was for the fallout. After reading it, I'm just in shock that I was still a Nash supporter and wanted them to get back together. Granted, things hadn't really started too much with Tod, or at least it wasn't obvious. Also, I hadn't noticed all the nasty details of Nash's behavior the first time around since we were in the dark for most of the book. Now however, I am more than ready to wash my hands clean of him completely. Actually, it is to the point where I'm dreading reading the next installment for the monthly re-read. I'll still read it of course, but I have a feeling this time around I will be rooting for Sabine, and clinging to all interactions with Tod. I'll just use some mental white out on Nash.

It's Monday What Are You Reading (90)

, by KT

It's Monday! What Are You Reading, hosted by Book Journey, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week. It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

Here's my posts from the last week:

Legend by Marie Lu (Review)
Heart of Darkness by Lauren Dane (Review)
The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa (Early Review)

Legend was a good start to a new dystopian series. I can't wait to read the next installment!

I just couldn't get into Heart of Darkness, it really wasn't my favorite read.

I LOVED LOVED LOVED The Immortal Rules. I mean it has ZOMPIRES!! Enough said!

My Upcoming List:

Under Wraps by Hannah Jayne
Under Attack by Hannah Jayne
Under Suspicion by Hannah Jayne (Early Review)

Early Review: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

, by KT

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Blood of Eden #1

In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.

Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die… or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn't easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for.

Alison lives on the fringes of society as she refuses to be cattle for the vampires that rule the city. To survive, most humans allow themselves to be branded and their blood taken in exchange for rations of food and safety. However, Alison knows better. That promise of safety is just empty words as registered people still go missing daily. Life is hard for her as she starves a little more each day scavenging for food, but at least her life belongs to her. That all changes when she is brutally attacked and given the choice of becoming the very thing she hates, or to die with her soul intact. In her moment of weakness she chooses immortality. With nothing more than a crash course in survival with her new status, she is forced out beyond the walls that protect them from the rabids, mindless beasts who kill vampires and humans alike. Her only hope at survival is to join a rag tag team of humans with their own mission. It will take everything she has to ensure her true nature isn't discovered, for that would mean an instant death, and this time there's no coming back.

Now that I've gotten the description out of the way, let me just start off by saying that I absolutely loved the mythology behind this world. The Immortal Rules has two of my favorite paranormal elements, vampires and zombies. In fact it takes things a step further by having zombie vampires. Yep, that's right ZOMPIRES! The funny thing is that I didn't put that together in my head at first. I just saw the rabids as nasty, killer creatures to be feared. Then all of a sudden it clicked in my head that they were Zompires and I was instantly in love. Seriously, when you picture Vamps, you typically expect them to be the top of the food chain, so it was really great to see them at risk too. Granted, they still lorded over the humans, who were treated no better than glorified cattle, but that didn't make them any less trapped behind the city walls.

I really loved watching Allie's character progression in The Immortal Rules. I found it a little ironic that she seemed more human by the end of the book than she did at the start, especially since she was still mortal at that point. Granted, she did want to do anything she could to help humanity overcome their oppression, but that really was only a pipe dream, as she was really only focused on her own survival. Although we do get a glimpse of her sacrificial nature early on, it isn't until the end that it really shows. Well, perhaps that isn't true either as that protective nature is pretty consistent throughout, it's just that it gets a little overshadowed by her battle with controlling the monster inside her. Her guilt at becoming what she hated the most won't let her see past the bad, to all the good she can and will do with her new found strength. In fact, I think she may now be in a position to actually make the changes for humanity that she desired early on, but only time will tell.

I'm not really sure why, but I somehow expected The Immortal Rules to be similar to Julie's other series, The Iron Fey, when the actuality is that they couldn't possibly be more different. The Immortal Rules is so much darker, and has a gritty, raw, bare bones aspect that will literally grab a hold of you with an iron fist. I was utterly captivated from the very start, and couldn't recommend it any higher! With a killer mythology (literally), awesome characters, a little romance, and heart pounding action, what isn't there to love about The Immortal Rules? This series will definitely be going on my auto-buy list!

(Received a copy from Netgalley)

Rating:

Pre-order a copy from Amazon:
The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden)

Other Reviews:

I'm Team Amnity!!

, by KT

I've joined team Amity for #DivegentNation and you should too!! Check out All Things Urban Fantasy to find out how!!

Heart of Darkness

, by KT

Heart of Darkness by Lauren Dane

Bound by Magick #1

From national bestselling author Lauren Dane comes a white-hot new series of a dangerous family legacy, and sensual paranormal passions played to the death on the knife-edge of darkness…

Meriel Owen, next in line to control the largest organization of witches in the country, is asked to investigate the owner of a notorious club reportedly siphoning magic from the font of the Clan. It’s a direct violation of the Clan Code of Conduct, but one look at Dominic Bright and Meriel’s willing to make a deal. One taste of the sexually feral outlaw witch, and she’s eager to go further: he’s her bond mate, a legal conduit into the world of Clan witches and their magic.

Playing by the rules isn’t Dominic’s style, but bonding with Meriel—night after explosive night—is. However, Meriel has unwittingly invited someone else into her world: Dominic’s mother, a dangerous and poisonously influential magic addict whose lust for death and power corrupts all she touches. Now her shadow is closing in on Meriel, her Clan, and the man Meriel loves, and it’s casting them all into the inescapable heart of darkness.

Meriel has always known her path in life. Raised to be the next leader of a very powerful clan of witches, she has gone through extensive training for the power she will share with her bond mate. As part of her duties, she is sent to investigate a new club that is siphoning magick from her clan's font. Her life takes a turn for the interesting when she finds the club owner, Dominic, and realizes that he is her bond mate. Only he had a very different upbringing than her and shuns all things clan and authority. As the pair try to work out their differences, magical attacks are happening right and left. And the latest threat will hit closer to home than either of them could have ever realized.

I was really into Heart of Darkness for about the first third to half of the book, but then things just became really redundant, and the book really started to drag. In fact the first part of the book was rather repetitive as well, but still entertaining enough to make me able to over look it. The characters just seemed to keep rehashing the same issues over and over. Meriel is strong and independent, yet will give Dominic the space he needs to come to his own decision. He is anti-clan, but is super sex-charged towards her, so maybe he will overlook his issues. That would have been fine and good if those ideas hadn't of been stated over and over again. It even bled into their sexual relations as we got to hear over and over how he was so hard and rough, but never with hurtful intent. I mean really? Did we really need that distinction made?

Now onto the "big bad" of the story. I had a really hard time seeing the threat in this woman, considering she seemed like a wasted junkie to me. However, I was especially annoyed at Dominic's behavior over the situation. He changed from a strong alpha male, into a little boy whining for his mommy (that he never knew), to the point where he pushes Meriel away. To be honest that conflict was thrown in as an afterthought to add some sexual tension. Also, why would the mother have waited so long to go after Dominic. If she really didn't know he was still alive, then how on earth did she figure it out that many years later? Seemed a little fishy to me.

Perhaps I'm being a little hard on the Heart of Darkness, especially when I look at all of the other positive reviews, but I was just so disappointed after the intriguing start. The world behind it all was quite intriguing, and I loved learning more about the witches and the rules behind it all. That all being said, and despite my issues with Heart of Darkness, I have a feeling I will still give the next installment a chance. It looks like it features Simon, and since he was one of the more intriguing and mysterious characters of this book, I'd love to get to know him a little better. Hopefully things will be a little better the second time around.

Rating: