Tuesday, 6 March 2012

Book Review (63).

Stork (Stork #1)

by Wendy Delsol

Publication: 12th October 2010

Publisher: Candlewick

Pages: 355

Genre: Fantasy

Age Appropriate: Young Adult

Family secrets. Lost memories. And the arrival of an ancient magical ability that will reveal everything.

Sixteen-year-old Katla LeBlanc has just moved from Los Angeles to Minnesota. As if it weren’t enough that her trendy fashion sense draws stares, Katla soon finds out that she’s a Stork, a member of a mysterious order of women tasked with a very unique duty. But Katla’s biggest challenge may be finding her flock at a new school. Between being ignored by Wade, the arrogant jock she stupidly fooled around with, and constantly arguing with gorgeous farm boy and editor-in-chief Jack, Katla is relieved when her assignment as the school paper’s fashion columnist brings with it some much-needed friendship. But as Homecoming approaches, Katla uncovers a shocking secret about her past — a secret that binds her fate to Jack’s in a way neither could have ever anticipated. With a nod to Hans Christian Andersen and inspired by Norse lore, Wendy Delsol’s debut novel introduces a hip and witty heroine who finds herself tail-feathers deep in small-town life.

My Thoughts.

Having read quite a lot of paranormal/fantasy books I have never come across this type of storyline before which made this book fresh, exciting and made me eager to find out how it all ends.

Katla, 'Kat' for short has moved from L.A to Minnesota with her Mum after her parents divorce, it's while working at her Grandfather's shop that she develops an increasingly itchy head which unknown to her occurs when a member from the secret Stork Society wants to call a meeting, it just so happens that across the street from the store is a shop that sells fabric which is always closed, Kat a budding fashion designer notices someone in the shop and goes to see about purchasing some fabric, a little old lady who owns the shop drags her down to the basement and informs her that the group has been waiting for her to show up to claim the second chair explaining that she is part of the Stork Society who through dreams decide who should become pregnant with the babies that they see in their dreams.

Kat who after the meeting is very sceptical is also confused when what seemed a very long meeting only lasted a few minutes, after getting back to the store a boy Jack bringing a delivery asks her why she doesn't remember him, Kat has never seen him before and has no clue as to what he's talking about but he's adamant that she knows him frustrated he leaves and we find out that she has met him before but a tragic event involving them both resulted in Kat losing all memory of it.

We see Kat having her first dream about a new soul needing to be born and she has three candidates she has to choose from all people she knows, and Jack we find out is not your ordinary teenage boy.

There's also a resident baddie who because of the connection Kat and Jack have from the past incident wants to use them to wreak havoc and open a portal into another dimension.

I love the relationship between Kat and Jack and how well they're suited together, and I have quite a few favourite minor characters among them Kat's Dad and Hulda the head chair of the Stork Society, I also liked the Icelandic traditions and the use of Norse mythology which just gave the story that little bit extra.

All in all a great read and definately excited to read Frost the next book in the series.

I give this 4/5.

Saturday, 3 March 2012

In My Mailbox (17).

In My Mailbox Is A Weekly Meme Hosted By Kristi The Story Siren.

Pre-Order

A Touch Morbid (A Touch Trilogy #2) - Leah Clifford

The Darkest Seduction (Lords Of The Underworld #9) - Gena Showalter

Fever (The Chemical Garden #2) - Lauren DeStefano

A Beautiful Evil (Gods And Monsters #2) - Kelly Keaton

The Nightmare Garden (Iron Codex #2) - Caitlin Kittredge

Brought.

A Witch In Winter (Winter Trilogy #1) - Ruth Warburton

Book Review (62).

A Taste of Midnight (Midnight Breed #9.5)

by Lara Adrian

Publication: 5th December 2011
Publisher: Dell
Pages: 70
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Age Appropriate: Adult

**Warning May Contain Spoilers From Previous Books In The Series**
For fans who have been been waiting to devour Darker After Midnight, as well as new readers tempted by the seductive thrills of her Midnight Breed novels, New York Times bestselling author Lara Adrian offers up a tantalizing appetizer in A Taste of Midnight. In this spellbinding eBook novella of otherworldly desire, a woman whose destiny was born from a blood kiss discovers that second chances do come . . . even for immortals.

A shimmering holiday gala lights up an ancient castle in the Scottish Highlands, but beautiful widowed Breedmate Danika MacConn feels alone in the crowd. Even among the friends and festivity of the Darkhaven celebration, she can’t forget her lost love, a fallen warrior of the Order. Her brief return to her mate’s homeland has become treacherous after rejecting the advances of a dangerous Edinburgh crime boss with a taste for blood sport.

As Danika seeks to expose the vampire and his dark trade, she discovers an unexpected ally in his forbidding, enigmatic henchman, Brannoc, a man who exudes heat, danger, and dark menace--and seems somehow achingly familiar. Bran has his own reasons for wanting to keep Dani out of his employer’s business . . . and his own secrets he means to keep buried. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a woman who tempts the wildest part of his Breed nature--especially when that woman is Danika MacConn, the one woman capable of bringing him to his knees.

My Thoughts.

This short story was quite different in the way that it was a Breedmate's story and not someone from the Order although the Breedmate in question is the widow of Conlan who died while working for the Order.

The story takes place in Scotland where Danika is visiting Conlan's family with their son Connor, it's while at a party that she overhears a conversation about the arrival of an exotic shipment (humans) to use in their blood club, after the meeting breaks up she see's a man that seems vaguely familiar but she can't pinpoint exactly where she's seen him before, he's the bodyguard of the man Reiver importing the humans into the country.

Danika gets on the wrong side of Reiver and the bodyguard Brannoc warns her to stay away from Reiver who is the local crime boss.
It turns out Brannoc is undercover working to take down Reiver and that his real name is Malcolm and he was the best friend of Danika's deceased husband, Malcolm has been in love with Danika since then.
The fact that both Danika and Malcolm had been friends for so long helped make the storyline of them falling in love so quickly believable, although there was a brief cameo by Gideon I missed the order and let's face it that's why we read the books, so although the Order was mostly missing it was still alright.
And it's good for Danika to get a Happily Ever After.

I give this 3.5/5.

Friday, 2 March 2012

Book Review (61).

The Alchemy of Forever (Incarnation #1)

by Avery Williams

Publication: March 2012

Publisher: Simon And Schuster Australia

Pages: 246

Genre: Paranormal

Age Appropriate: Young Adult

Price: $16.99

After spending six hundred years on Earth, Seraphina Ames has seen it all. Eternal life provides her with the world's riches but at a very high price: innocent lives. Centuries ago, her boyfriend, Cyrus, discovered a method of alchemy that allows them to take the bodies of other humans from jumping from one vessel to the next, ending the human's life in the process. No longer able to bear the guilt of what she's done, Sera escapes from Cyrus and vows to never kill again.

Then sixteen-year old Kailey Morgan gets into a horrific car accident right in front of her, and Sera accidentally takes over her body while trying to save her. For the first time, Sera finds herself enjoying the life of the person she's inhabiting--and falling in love with the boy who lives next door. But Cyrus will stop at nothing until she's his again, and every moment she stays, she's putting herself and the people she's grown to care about in danger. Will Sera have to give up the one thing that's eluded her for centuries: true love?

My Thoughts.

I have been eagerly anticipating this book since I first heard about it quite a few months ago and it's been on my wishlist ever since then, so when I got sent a copy to review as you could of guessed I was very excited and I'm happy to say it was worth the anticipation.

Its the year 1349 and fourteen year old Seraphina is attending a masquerade ball with her parents, it's while taking a walk with a boy named Cyrus that two homeless people attempt to rob them and after Seraphina is stabbed Cyrus pulls out a vial which contains an elixir that will allow souls to move into another body so after talking her into it she takes the elixir and swaps bodies with one of the robbers who is female.

Flash forward to the present day and after being around for over 600 years and having gone through quite a few bodies Seraphina is ready to die, she's had enough and feels extreme guilt for all the lives she's taken (once her soul inhabits a body the person's soul dies) and Cyrus has become mean and abusive.

Her current body is dying so she finds it only fitting that she dies along with it, Cyrus hosts a party for her to choose a new body to inhabit but she drugs his wine and escapes she happens to come across a car accident where a sixteen year old girl Kailey is dying as Seraphina is trying to save her she gives in and takes over her body.

She wakes up in hospital and is immediately swept up into Kailey's life her family and friends and discovers that Kailey wasn't really all that nice a person, Seraphina finds herself attracted to the next door neighbour Noah a childhood friend of Kailey's who she would never acknowledge at school but hung out with at home.

And then Cyrus shows up looking for her and Seraphina has to decide whether to stay or run away.

I loved the plot for this book and eagerly await the next book, because after reading the last page I'm hanging to find out what's going to happen next.

I give this 4/5.

A Big Thanks To Caroline @ Simon And Schuster Australia.

Thursday, 1 March 2012

Feature And Follow Friday (17).

Q: What book would you love to see made into a movie or television show and do you have actors/actresses in mind to play the main characters?

I picked one that has been announced to be filmed but they haven't yet cast any of the parts.

It is Paranormalcy - Kiersten White and cast as Evie I pick Candice Accola from The Vampire Diaries.

Book Review (60).

Lenobia's Vow (House of Night Novellas #2)

by P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast

Publication: 31st January 2012

Publisher: St Martin's Griffin

Pages: 160

Genre: Paranormal

Age Appropriate: Young Adult

The second in the enthralling new mini-series of novellas from the #1 bestselling authors of the House of Night, Lenobia's Vow tells the gripping story behind the House of Night's enigmatic riding instructor – and one of Zoey’s closest allies against evil

The House of Night is an international publishing sensation; with almost 12 million books in print, and an incredible 120 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, the series has taken the world by storm. Now, the excitement continues as the Cast mother-daughter duo shares the back stories of a few of the House of Night's most important – and mysterious – characters. The second of the House of Night Novellas brings us Lenobia, the strong, beautiful horseback riding instructor, who guides Zoey through some of her darkest hours, and has a dark secret buried in her own past...

In a small southern town at the turn of the century, young Lenobia is developing into a beautiful young woman with ideas of her own. But when she is Marked as a fledgling vampyre, her world turns upside down, and she is drawn to the musical streets of New Orleans. There, she learns of the city’s dark underbelly, ruled by powerful black magic. As Lenobia experiences her first love – and loss – and discovers a passion for horses to sustain her, she must come face-to-face with Darkness itself. And she may not escape without scars.

My Thoughts.

I'm a big fan of the House Of Night series and I love the novellas as it gives us a closer look into the past and present lives of the chosen characters.

This story is about Lenobia the horse whisperer, an ally of Zoey and her favourite professor.

Lenobia is the illegitimate daughter of a Baron, she lives in his house with her mother as the help, after her half-sister Cecilia dies Lenobia's mother coerces her into taking her place on a ship bound to America to marry a wealthy man.

On board is an evil Bishop who lived not far from the Baron's house and who has had his eye on her and is very creepy, Lenobia feigns seasickness for quite a while so she doesn't have to come out of her room and run into him, she starts taking early morning walks before everybody arises when she happens to come across the hold which is carrying two horses which are being transported to a buyer in America.

It's there she meets Martin who is looking after the horses on the voyage, he also happens to be the son of the man who purchased the horses and they eventually fall in love her problem though is staying away from the Bishop once he realises she's on board.

We also see Lenobia being marked with the moon crescent and her using her talent for talking to horses for the first time.

This also explains about her relationship with Martin which has only ever been hinted at in the House Of Night books and it's quite tragic and you end up feeling very sorry for Lenobia and I just hope her new relationship she started in the last HON book lasts.

I managed to finish this book in a few hours and I'm eager to read the next novella which is Neferet's and I want to find out what made her into the evil person she is.

I give this 4/5.