Book Review (64).

Bloodrose (Nightshade #3)

by Andrea Cremer

Publication: 3rd January 2012

Publisher: Philomel

Pages: 406

Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal

Age Appropriate: Young Adult

**Warning May Contain Spoilers From Previous Books In The Series**

Calla has always welcomed war. 

But now that the final battle is upon her, there's more at stake than fighting. There's saving Ren, even if it incurs Shay's wrath. There's keeping Ansel safe, even if he's been branded a traitor. There's proving herself as the pack's alpha, facing unnamable horrors, and ridding the world of the Keepers' magic once and for all. And then there's deciding what to do when the war ends. If Calla makes it out alive, that is.

My Thoughts.

O.k I honestly don't know where to begin I loved the first two books in this series and when I got my copy of this book I was so excited, so I started reading it and then someone at work told me what happened and I simply did not want to continue but I did because I don't like to not finish books, of all the ways I imagined this series to end this was not it, I was so disappointed and to be honest I hated the ending and I kept putting the book down when I got towards the end because I didn't want it to end the way it did and I sort of figured if I never read the end it doesn't happen (wishful thinking I know).

And I find I'm not the only person who wasn't impressed by the end, don't get me wrong it wasn't all bad just the last quarter or so.

Ren comes to work with Calla, Shay, the pack and the searchers to take down the Guardians, cue fights and  jealousy from the two Alpha's Ren and Shay over Calla.

Of course Calla doesn't know who to choose so she just strings them along so she doesn't jeapordise the mission, her theory is if she doesn't decide before then their heads will still be in the game.

Some people die, there are some adventures in gathering the different swords to make up the Scion's final weapon, some relationship hook-ups and a final big battle.

That's about the gist of it, it's really too depressing to even think about this book, I don't think I will ever re-read this book but at least it looks pretty on my bookshelf next to the other two books in the series.

I give this 3/5.

Feature And Follow Friday (18).

Q: Have you ever looked at book’s cover and thought, This is going to horrible? But, was instead pleasantly surprised? Show us the cover and tell us about the book.

I wasn't a big fan at all of this cover but the saying is true never ever judge a book by it's cover, I have never cried so much in a book, it's about a boy who's face is terribly disfigured and his parents have decided that he'll attend grade 5 at an actual school rather than continue being home schooled, and how other kids react to a person with a deformity.

I gave this 5 stars and cannot say enough good things about it.

Book Review (63).

Frost (Stork #2)

by Wendy Delsol 

Publication: 11th October 2011

Publisher: Walker Books Australia

Pages: 384

Genre: Fantasy

Age Appropriate: Young Adult

*Warning May Contain Spoilers From The Previous Book In The Series*

In this sequel to STORK, Katla Leblanc has to employ her grit, spirit, and special gifts to rescue the boy she loves.
After the drama of finding out that she’s a Stork, a member of an ancient and mystical order of women, and that her boyfriend, Jack, is a descendent of the Winter People able to control the weather, Katla Leblanc is delighted when all signs point to a busy and peaceful Christmas. That is, until the snowstorm Jack summons as a gift to Katla turns into the storm of the century, attracting Brigid, a gorgeous scientist who, in turn, attracts Jack. Between the school play, a bedridden, pregnant mother’s to-do lists, and keeping an eye on her aging grandfather, Katla doesn’t have time to question Brigid’s motives or deal with Jack’s increasingly cold behavior. But Katla’s suspicions mount when Jack joins Brigid on a research expedition to Greenland, and when the two of them go missing, it becomes clear that Katla is the only one who can save her beloved Jack from the Snow Queen who holds him prisoner. Adventure, romance, and myth combine in this winter escapade for teens who like a bit of fire with their ice.

My Thoughts.

This was a good second book in the series, I mostly enjoyed the storyline but I didn't enjoy it as much as the first book.

This book was missing a lot of the elements which made me fall in love with the first book, one thing in particular was the relationship between Kat and Jack, Professor Brigid Fonnkona has come to town to work with Kat's mothers boyfriend on environmental research Jack ends up working with them in hopes of learning how to control his ability to manipulate weather it's while doing so he spends all his time in the lab and with Brigid and no time with Kat, of course Kat gets jealous and there hardly seemed to be any interaction between them which is a major part of why I enjoyed the first book.

Jack ends up going to Greenland with Brigid and their team and while there both Jack and Brigid go missing so it's up to Kat who's on a holiday with her Grandfather in Iceland to save him.

There is also hardly any Stork related storylines and I missed the interactions especially between Kat and Hulda who is attacked by an unknown assailant and then we don't hear from her again until the end of the book.

There are also subplots with Kat's mother and her bed-ridden pregnancy, and Kat's grandfather is acting weird and seems to be forgetting things

This story is loosely based on Hans Christian Anderson's 'The Snow Queen" so anybody who knows the story will know how the plot plays out in this modern version.

I hope the next book in the series concentrates more on the relationship between the two of them as I feel that's where the interest in this series mostly lies.

I give this 3.5/5.

A Big Thanks To Joanna @ Walker Books Australia.

10 Book Covers With.....

Red Hair.

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.

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.