Review: ReVamped - Ada Adams

A simple mission turned deadly.

Nineteen-year-old vampire Dawn has led a sheltered life within the confines of her father’s presidential headquarters. Upon being sent on a mission to revamp four goofy misfits into guardians of a peaceful little town of Angel Creek, Dawn believes that all her dreams have finally come true. What starts off as a simple task, turns into something unexpected, changing Dawn’s life forever and leading the action-loving, thrill-seeking vampire teen on a path of mystery, danger and intrigue.

When a human girl is kidnapped by a group of rogue vamps, Dawn discovers that there is more going on in Angel Creek than meets the eye. And it all connects to Ethan, the cute newcomer who seems too perfect to be true, Sebastian, the mysterious vampire with a turbulent past, and even Dawn herself. Dawn must not only succeed in revamping the troubled recruits, but must also prevent the vampire race from being overtaken by a malevolent villain who has a strange and obsessive fascination with her. As threat escalates, romance blooms, and ghosts from her past begin to surface, Dawn is sure of only one thing: her life will never be the same.

Angel Creek Series:
ReVamped
ReAwakened (Fall 2012)

Visit Ada Adams' website for more information

Review:
As the daughter of the vampire President Dawn has lead a sheltered life rarely leaving the safety of the Scarlett House. She has spent her entire life training to defend her kind with all different types of weapons but until now has never been allowed to leave her home to go on a mission. Excited at the idea of her first task she is sent to Angel Creek to train four new guardian vampires to take over the town's protection. Thinking it will be an easy task she fully expects to be home within days but when she meets the group of misfits that she is expected to train she realises it is going to be a much harder job than anticipated. As she gets to work she soon discovers that there is more going on in Angel Creek than first meets the eye and soon the whole team is put at risk when a human girl is kidnapped by rogue vampires.

ReVamped is Ada Adams' debut novel and the first book in a series that has a lot of potential. I liked the author's take on different kinds of vampires, you have the standard Made vampires who were originally human and then turned by another vampire and you have the much rarer Born vampires. Born vampires are quite obviously born from 2 vampire parents, they are faster and stronger than Made vampires and they age like a normal human until they give birth to their first child at which point their ageing stops. I would have liked a little more information on why having a child would stop them ageing further but the premise was interesting enough for me not to worry too much about the science behind it.

Dawn is an OK heroine, she is strong and well trained so she has the ability to defend herself and can kick butt when the occasion requires it but for some reason she didn't stand out amongst all of the other YA heroines I have come across. The twist about her birth was good and definitely wasn't what I was expecting but again I needed more explanation - I don't understand how her eyes could be violet but I can't say any more about that without giving spoilers. The author has included lots of little twists on the more familiar mythology that we all know and this injected humour into the story. Sometimes this worked better than others though - I laughed at the twist regarding garlic but the author's take on werewolves felt too far fetched and just came across as ridiculous to me.

The other characters had potential but none of them really lived up to it, they feel too cardboard cut out at the moment and I need to see them given more depth in the next book. Dawn's recruits consist of Brooke, Sophie, Hunter and Seth. Brooke has spent the 50 years since she became a vampire travelling around the country starting at different schools so she can become the cheerleading captain and try to get voted prom queen. She was just as irritating as you could expect a vampire who is sixty seven going on seventeen to be and I wanted to scream every time she opened her mouth! I had hoped to see something more than the boy obsessed cheerleader by the end of the book but sadly it didn't happen. Sophie could have been really interesting and we did get a hint of a tortured background but it came a bit too late and throughout the rest of the book she was pretty much a nonentity. Hunter was an ex pop star and now drug addicted alcoholic who spent most of the book in withdrawal and hardly had any role to play. Then there was Seth, the geeky computer nerd who was accidentally turned by Brooke and spends most of his time complaining. We also had the beginnings of an obligatory love triangle with the human boy Ethan (who was quite obviously keeping major secrets from the beginning) and the vampire Sebastian. Sebastian did hold my interest more than any of the other characters but we didn't get to know him well enough for me to particularly care who Dawn ends up with.

Despite the problems I had with this story I do think that this series could turn out to be really good if the author works on adding detail to the world building and spends more time fleshing out the characters. She has the basic groundwork in place for an interesting world and each of the characters has room to grow as the series continues. ReVamped was a quick and light hearted read that I was able to finish in a few hours and I will be checking out the next instalment to the series ReAwakened to see where things go from here.

Source: I read this book for team #SebastiansAngels as part of the #ReVampedRelay organised by the author.

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Review: The Mockingbirds - Daisy Whitney

Some schools have honor codes.
Others have handbooks.
Themis Academy has the Mockingbirds.

Themis Academy is a quiet boarding school with an exceptional student body that the administration trusts to always behave the honorable way - the Themis way.  So when Alex is date-raped during her junior year, she has two options: stay silent and hope someone helps her, or enlist the Mockingbirds - a secret society of students dedicated to righting the wrongs of the student body.

In this account of a teenage girl's search for her voice and the courage to use it, debut author Daisy Whitney reminds readers that standing up for someone, especially yourself, is worth the fight.

Mockingbirds Series:
The Mockingbirds
The Rivals (2012)

Visit Daisy Whitney's website for more information

Review:
I'm finding it really difficult to write a review for The Mockingbirds because I have such mixed feelings about the story.  Although I'm usually very careful to avoid spoilers in my reviews I'm going to warn you now there will be spoilers here because I can't talk about what I disliked without going into detail.  I'll start by saying that I applaud the author for tackling such a hard topic as date rape, this is something that she suffered herself when she was at college and she has done a great job of capturing the emotions that Alex goes through when she realises what happened to her.  It is easy to sympathise with Alex and what she has suffered, she goes through phases of confusion, doubt and worrying that it was her fault.  She is embarrassed that something like this could have happened especially when Carter starts spreading rumors that she was desperate for it and other students start acting as if she is easy.  It takes a lot of convincing from her friends to make Alex speak out and tell people what happened to her but although I was glad she found the courage to talk this is where the story started to fall down for me.

If her friends had encouraged her to go to the police or a teacher at her school it could have been a powerful message to other teens who may find themselves in a similar situation.  In reality she was convinced to take her case to the Mockingbirds - a group of students who are there to stop injustices happening on campus.  We are expected to believe that although all of the students at school are aware the Mockingbirds exist not a single teacher knows anything about them.  I was horrified by the lack of adult supervision in the story, the teachers are shown as ignorant and oblivious and refuse to accept that their gifted students could possibly do anything wrong.  Despite the fact that the story is told over several months Alex doesn't once mention a phone call from her parents, even though Alex hasn't told them about the rape surely they would want to know how she was getting on at school?

When it comes to the Mockingbirds I actually thought that the idea of a justice system run by students was really interesting.  If the group had a teacher involved and dealt with more minor issues then I think it could have been really effective, the way they run a trial and decide on a suitable punishment was a great idea.  However, I didn't think this was a suitable way to deal with a rape on campus - in my opinion this was definitely something that needed police involvement.  I was uncomfortable with some of the actions taken by the Mockingbirds too, when they agree to take Alex's case they immediately start revoking Carter's privileges (how they were able to do this without the teachers realising something was up is beyond me!).  Rumors are spread about Carter, problems are caused for the whole water polo team and his life is made miserable - all before the "trial" that proves his guilt.  If Carter had actually been found innocent he would have suffered the worst kind of bullying by the very people who are supposed to protect the other students.  Just because he is eventually found guilty doesn't make their actions any better!

The main reason I don't think the Mockingbirds work for a case like rape is that the punishment doesn't fit the crime.  As there is no police (or adult) involvement there will be no record of Carter's offence and as soon as he leaves school his punishment is finished.  What happens if he re-offends in the future?  I'm horrified by the message that sends to teenagers!  In another of the cases taken on by the Mockingbirds a student who took a knife to someone received no punishment at all because the case was tried just before graduation.  The victim states that they were pleased with the outcome because although nothing came of it the case proved that the other person was in the wrong - I'm sorry but I was disgusted by that attitude.

While I understand that the author was trying to encourage victims to find their voice and speak out I think this powerful and important message was lost in the way the case was handled.  While I have no problem with literature about date rape being aimed at teenagers, in fact I think there should be more about this topic, I do think it should encourage victims to talk to a trusted adult and hopefully take the case to the police.

Source: Received as part of a book tour arranged by UK Book Tours, this book has already been sent on to it's next destination.

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Review: Personal Demons - Lisa Desrochers

Frannie Cavanaugh is a good Catholic girl with a bit of a wicked streak.  She has spent years keeping everyone at a distance - even her closest friends - and it seems as if her senior year is going to be more of the same ... until Luc Cain enrolls in her class.  No one knows where he came from, but Frannie can't seem to stay away from him.

What she doesn't know is that Luc is on a mission.  He's been sent from Hell itself to claim Frannie's soul.  It should be easy - all he has to do is get her to sin, and Luc is as tempting as they come.  Frannie doesn't stand a chance.  But sure enough, it's not long before the angel Gabriel shows up, willing to do anything to keep Luc from getting what he came for.  It isn't long before they find themselves fighting for more than just Frannie's soul.

But if Luc fails, there will be Hell to pay ... for all of them.

Personal Demons Series:
Personal Demons
Original Sin (July 2011)
Hellbent (2012)

The above dates are the US release dates as the UK rights for this series haven't been sold yet.

Check out Lisa Desrochers' website for more information

Review:
Frannie has been brought up in a good Catholic family but since a tragedy when she was younger she has been the black sheep of the family, even getting kicked out of Catholic school for asking too many questions in religious education.  Luc is sent on a mission from hell to tag Frannie's soul and is expecting it to be easy, all he has to do is get her to commit a sin and his job is done.  It shouldn't be hard - especially when he can tell how much Frannie wants him but he wasn't expecting to like her too.  The more he gets to know her the more he starts to have feelings for her, feelings that demons shouldn't be able to feel.  Throw in the complication of angel Gabe who has been sent from heaven to make sure Frannie's soul is tagged for them and things get even more confusing.  Frannie is torn between the gorgeous mysterious bad boy that is Luc and the beautiful, boy next door Gabe but she doesn't realise that the fate of the world depends on her decision.

I read Personal Demons after signing up for a UK book tour and I have to say how surprised I am that this series hasn't been snapped up by any of the UK publishers.  It really is a great book and I'd love to see it released over here and made more accessible to UK readers.  In the meantime I'd definitely recommend getting hold of a US copy of the book, it's one fans of YA paranormal stories won't want to miss.

The story is told in first person from both Frannie and Luc's point of view which allows us to get to know both of them quite well.  The only downside to this is that Gabe never really felt fully fleshed out to me, we learn a little about him from the others but nothing that made me really feel the attraction that Frannie felt for him.  I would have loved to see things from Gabe's point of view and get to know him better but I can understand how it could have been confusing to have 3 different view points.  I did find myself getting a little irritated by the way Frannie was constantly changing her mind about who she wanted but I think that was down to the fact that I loved Luc so much and didn't feel like I knew much about Gabe.

I have to confess that no matter how well I'd got to know Gabe I don't think I'd have been swayed from my position on team Luc - he is so delicious that you can't help but fall for him!  He definitely starts off acting like a jerk but the more you get to know him the nicer he becomes and the sexual chemistry between him and Frannie was off the scale compared to most other YA books I've read.

This is one of those books that I devoured staying up late to find out what happened next.  I loved the chemistry but I also wanted to know why both heaven & hell were so keen to tag Frannie for their cause.  I needed to know how things could possibly work out for Luc - I just couldn't see a happy ending for him no matter what decision he made.  I'm not going to say more for fear of spoilers but I absolutely loved the ending and can't wait to find out what happens next in Original Sin.  Personal Demons is an impressive debut and I'm looking forward to seeing what Lisa Desrochers comes up with next.  If you like YA paranormal romance or urban fantasy this is definitely a series to watch out for.

Source: Received as part of a book tour arranged by UK Book Tours, this book has already been sent on to it's next destination.

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Review: Awakened - Ednah Walters

Most teens turn sixteen and get the license to drive, but Lil Falcon gets the license to kill demons.

Orphaned as a child and raised by an eccentric grandfather, Lil is concerned with surviving high school and is unaware that she is a Guardian - a being with super powers charged with killing demons and protecting humanity.  When she meets Bran, a mysterious boy with amazing abilities, his psi energy unlocks her latent powers.

But Bran has a secret that can ruin their growing relationship, and the truth she discovers may destroy everything she believes in unless she finds the right balance between love and sacrifice.

Guardian Legacy Series:
Awakened
Betrayed (Release date TBC)

Visit Ednah Walters' website for more information

Review:
Lil has spent her life moving from town to town with her gypsy grandfather and is pleased when he tells her they are finally going to settle down.  She is looking forward to staying in one school for longer than a few months and hoping to finally make some friends.  Everything changes when she meets Bran, he has abilities that she doesn't understand and is telling her crazy things about herself and her family - but they can't be true can they?  When Lil confronts her grandfather and discovers her heritage as a demon hunter she will have to learn how to juggle her social life with her new normal friends and the training she needs to do alongside the other guardian trainees.  Where does Bran fit into the picture?  It's clear he has secrets but is he really as dangerous as everyone is telling her that he is?

Awakened is a great start to what I'm hoping will turn into a fantastic series and I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel Betrayed (even though it hasn't been released yet!).  I have to confess I was a little worried when I first opened the book and found several pages of information about the different terminology used in the book - I was worried that I was going to find it a confusing read but thankfully I was proved wrong.  As we are introduced to the rules alongside Lil I found it easy enough to learn about the world Ednah Walters has created although I quite liked having the glossary to turn to when I had questions.

Lil is a really likable main character, her life is turned upside down as she learns about the secrets her grandfather has been keeping from her but she deals with things well and becomes determined to learn to use her powers to help the other guardians.  I liked the fact that she doesn't drop her new "normal" friends in favor of the other trainee guardians although she does develop friendships with them too.  It wasn't always easy for her to juggle the 2 different groups of friends but she tries hard to make the best of things.  Bran is a great character too although I would have liked to see more of him - hopefully that will happen in future books in the series.  The attraction between Bran and Lil is instant but I felt it was believable and I was routing for the pair of them in spite of the warnings Lil was getting from her grandfather & friends.  I have to say one of my favorite things about the story was the relationship between Lil and her grandfather - I'm looking forward to reading more about them both.

The action in the story was well written and kept me turning the pages late into the night because I didn't want to put it down.  The world is detailed and interesting and I'm looking forward to discovering more about both the guardians and the demons they protect us from.  Ednah threw in some great plot twists and although we have answers to quite a few of the questions raised I'm very intrigued to see where the story will take us in the rest of the series.  I'm actually impressed that this is a debut novel and am looking forward to seeing what the author will come up with in the future.  This is a book I'd definitely recommend to fans of the YA urban fantasy / paranormal romance genre.

Source: Received as part of a book tour arranged by UK Book Tours, this book has already been sent on to it's next destination.

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Review: The Eternal Ones - Kirsten Miller

Have you ever fallen in love at first sight?
Do you long for a place you've never been?
Do you often experience the sensation of déjà vu?

Ever since Haven Moore can remember, she's experienced visions of a previous life as a girl named Constance, whose love for her soulmate Ethan ended in tragedy.

And the sight of the world's hottest movie star, Iain Morrow, brings Haven to her knees. She knows she has met him before. Is Iain her beloved Ethan?

Unable to deny her past any longer, seventeen-year-old Haven flees to New York to find him - and an epic love affair begins. But it is both deeply fated and terribly dangerous. Can Haven unlock the deadly secrets hidden in her past lives - and loves - before all is lost and Ethan disappears again...forever?

Eternal Ones Series:
The Eternal Ones
All You Desire (2011)

Visit Kirsten Miller's website for more information

Review:
As a child when Haven had visions of a man called Ethan her Grandmother was convinced that she was possessed by a demon. With even the preacher in agreement the whole town is wary of Haven and she has always been an outsider with only her best friend Beau to rely on.  Then at 17 she sees Iain on TV and her visions begin happening again. She becomes convinced that Iain was Ethan in a previous life and as memories of her life as Constance start coming back to her she becomes determined to go to New York to track Iain down. She remembers being a member of the Ouroboros Society and when she discovers that the organisation still exists she sets off in search of answers.

I was intrigued by the idea of The Eternal Ones and had been looking forward to reading this book for a while but I ended up finding it a frustrating read.  The beginning of the book is quite slow and it seemed to take ages for anything particularly interesting to happen. I was curious about Haven's life in her small minded town but I think this section could have been cut down quite a bit without us missing out on any of the information we were given. Once Haven makes her way to New York the pace picks up quite nicely and I did enjoy the mystery of who was behind the death of Constance.

I didn't really feel a connection with any of the main characters. Although Haven is young and inexperienced I found the way she constantly changed her mind about Iain was frustrating. All of her memories of Ethan are of them being happy and in love but I was glad that she realised that she didn't know the full story and was wary when first meeting Iain. However when they did actually meet she constantly flipped from being madly in love with him to taking the word of total strangers who she had no memory of and becoming frightened of him. Then Iain would tell her he loved her and everything would be OK again - until the someone came along and said something negative about him that is.  This continued throughout much of the book and at times I just wanted to shake her and tell her to walk away from the whole mess.

For the hero of the book Iain just didn't capture my interest, we didn't see enough of him for me to get to know him properly and what we did see didn't give me any reason to trust or even like him. I was suspicious of him throughout the whole book and just didn't feel the attraction between him & Haven. There didn't seem to be any real connection between them and the romance completely missed the mark for me. My favorite character by far was Haven's best friend Beau - the scenes with him made me smile and he stole the book which was a shame considering he wasn't one of the major players in the story.

I have to say I enjoyed learning about the Ouroboros Society and I believe there is more to learn about the organisation and it's members. It was interesting trying to figure out who was involved in the plot to kill Constance and I didn't work out the full story until right near the end of the book. I'm just not sure if I enjoyed the story enough to continue reading the series though.

Source: Received as part of a book tour arranged by UK Book Tours, this book has already been sent on to it's next destination.

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Review: By Midnight - Mia James

April Dunne is not impressed.

She's had to move from Edinburgh to Highgate, London, with her parents.  She's left her friends - and her entire life - behind.  She has to start at a new school and, worst of all, now she's stuck in a creepy old dump of a house which doesn't even have proper mobile phone reception.

Ravenwood, her new school, is a prestigious academy for gifted (financially or academically) students.  So trying to fit in is more than tough.  It's intimidating and isolating, even when she finds a friend in the conspiracy-theorist Caro Jackson - and perhaps finds something more than friendship with the gorgeous, mysterious Gabriel Swift.

But there's more going on at Ravenwood than meets the eye.  Practical jokes on new students are normal, but when Gabriel saves her from ... something ... in Highgate Cemetery, and then she discovers that a murder took place just yards from where she had been standing, April has to wonder if something more sinister is going on.

...and whether or not she's going to live through it...

Ravenwood Mysteries Series:
By Midnight
I couldn't find a name for book 2 but it will apparently be released in 2011

Visit the Ravenwood Mysteries website for more information

Review:
April isn't happy about being forced to leave Edinburgh behind to move to London with her parents - all because her father lost his job.  She is struggling to fit in at her new school and make friends but things get even worse when she almost witnesses a murder.  Strange things are happening at Ravenwood but who can she trust to help her solve the mystery?

Being a massive vampire fan I was really looking forward to reading By Midnight, especially as it is set in London which I thought would add something special to the story.  Unfortunately I ended up feeling disappointed.  I know a lot of people who have loved this story but I'm going to have to go against the trend and say it just wasn't for me.  The best thing about the book was the setting, I have to give Mia James (this is actually husband & wife team Tasmina & John Perry working together) credit for the great job they did with the Gothic feel of the novel.  I loved the descriptions of Highgate Cemetery and as you're reading it really was like being on location.

Unfortunately the rest of the story just didn't live up to my expectations.  When I'm reading a story I need to have a main character I can relate to - or at least like - but I struggled with April.  Yes I can understand how hard it must have been for her having to move away from everything that is familiar to her and start again at a new school and I felt sorry for her at first but I quickly got fed up with her woe is me attitude and constant whinging.  She was selfish, self obsessed and childish and I didn't find her a very likeable character.  The characters I actually liked the most were her friends Fiona and Caro, both of whom I could have happily spent more time reading about.

As for the main love interest Gabriel I didn't get to know enough about him to be interested in him in any way.  All you really know is that he's gorgeous and has secrets he can't tell April yet April is madly in love with him within days despite the fact they've never had a proper conversation.  I love a good mysterious bad boy but I have to feel like there is some connection between the main characters and for me it just wasn't there between April & Gabriel.  Even by the end of the book I really didn't care if they ended up together or not.

I found the story really dragged, it took me ages to finish a book that I would usually have finished within 2 days because I couldn't face picking it up again.  I'll admit that I should have just given up but I'm one of those readers who has the "I've started so I'll finish" attitude and I had to know what would happen at the end.  The action did pick up but it felt like everything happened in the last few chapters and the rest of the book was too long winded.  I understand that with the first book in a series there is a lot of world building to be done but having read a lot of series I know other authors usually manage to do this in a way that doesn't leave the reader wanting to fall asleep.

I don't think it helped that the copy I read had several inconsistencies with days and lengths of time since things happened but the book I read was an ARC so hopefully this has been resolved in the final version.  There were mentions of Robert Pattinson and Justin Timberlake that I think will date the story relatively quickly and I felt were just thrown in to appeal to the teen audience.  I was also surprised at the passage that had been taken almost word for word from Twilight, I'm not sure how that got through the editing.

~~~SPOILER ALERT~~~

Usually I really like it when an author puts a new twist on vampire mythology but on this occasion it just didn't make sense.  To become a vampire you have to be bitten by another vampire to get infected with the vampire virus (the virus constantly destroys your bodies cells which forces the body to make new ones which keeps you looking young) however you have to somehow choose to let the virus infect you - not everyone who is bitten is turned.  (I wish I could choose not to let viruses effect me and never have to suffer another cold again!).  If you want to stop being a vampire you can cure yourself though, all you have to do is kill the vampire that initially infected you & it will neutralise the curse (hang on a minute I thought it was a virus, where does that curse come into it??).  Next time someone passes a cold onto me I'll have to remember that if I kill them the virus will somehow magically know that I don't want to be infected anymore!  You can also get vampires who are born to 2 vampire parents - I dread to think what they'd have to do to cure themselves (watch out Mum & Dad!).  Come on, if you're going to create a mythology at least have one that makes sense.

Another thing that was never really explained was the fact that vampires don't show up in photos or on film (apart from as a blurred image).  I would have liked to know the reasoning behind this and thought a handy time to explain would have been when Gabriel made a joke about how silly it would be if vampires didn't show up in mirrors.  Not sure why he thought that would be so silly considering what happens if you try to take a picture of one of them!

~~~END SPOILER~~~

Although there is an interesting twist at the end of the story and I'm curious about what will happen in the sequel I don't think I can bring myself to carry on reading the series.  As witnessed by plenty of other reviews out there I'm sure a lot of people will enjoy the story but personally I'd say with the number of YA vampire books currently on the market there are plenty of better options available.

Source: Received as part of a book tour arranged by UK Book Tours, this book has already been sent on to it's next destination.

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Review: The Crescent - Jordan Deen

Becoming a werewolf is not an option for seventeen-year-old Lacey Quinn, but death can be a strong motivator.

Lacey is so focused on her future that everyday life has passed her by.  Counting down the days to her eighteenth birthday, Lacey is almost home free.  But when she falls for the mysterious Alex Morris, she lands in the middle of an ancient war between two enemy wolf packs.  Tempting dreams, tantalizing lies and a dangerous love triangle ensues leaving Lacey heartbroken and confused.

Lacey's fate rests in the hands of Alex and Brandon, but both are pulling her strings for their own agendas.  Even as she slips further into the dark world of werewolves, Lacey struggles to find the truth and save the only family she's ever known.

The Crescent Series:
The Crescent
Half Moon (Jan 2011)
Full Moon (Jan 2012)

Visit Jordan Deen's website for more information

Review:
Lacey has a difficult home life and the constant arguments between her parents have her longing to go to a college as far away as she can get.  She is about to turn 18 and can't wait to finish school and leave home.  When she meets and starts dating Alex the new boy at school she has no idea how drastically her life is going to change.  Then Brandon, another new boy, arrives on the scene and although she loves Alex she feels a strong connection to his rival Brandon.  With one boy filling her days and the other overtaking her dreams she is struggling to distinguish dream from reality and make a choice about which one to choose.  What she doesn't know is that she is the key to winning a war and both sides will do anything to get her on their side.  Torn between her heart and her head how can she know which to follow?  Does she choose her family and everyone she knows or take a chance on a stranger and believe what she has been told?  It is a difficult decision but she has to pick a side - before it's too late.

The Crescent is Jordan Deen's debut novel and what a start to a new series.  I was impressed by the depth of the story and Jordan did a great job of pulling me towards both Alex and Brandon - I really struggled to know who Lacey should trust and felt her confusion completely.  This is one of those books that you pick up thinking you'll just read a couple of chapters and the next thing you know you're half way through the book.  I just couldn't put it down as I had to know what would happen next.

Lacey has a lot of shocks in store for her throughout the story and revelations that are made leave her doubting everything and everyone she's ever known.  The decision she is forced to make tears her apart and will have a major impact on her family and friends.  I found Lacey was a very realistic character and I felt myself desperately hoping things would turn out well for her.  Although I was drawn to both Alex and Brandon I definitely know who I was routing for, I'm not going to say anymore for fear of spoilers so I'll just say I was very happy with the outcome and you'll have to read the book to find out more.

I feel I have to point out the fact that this book was very badly edited, I'm usually a stickler for this and as I was reading the first few pages I really did worry that I wouldn't be able to finish the book.  However, by the end of the first chapter I was so drawn to the characters and captured by the story that I found myself noticing the errors less and less.  I have been assured that the sequel will have been properly edited so please don't let the errors put you off of reading this fantastic debut.  I can't wait to get my hands on Half Moon and am very much looking forward to seeing what Jordan Deen comes up with next!

Source: Received as part of a book tour arranged by UK Book Tours, this book has already been sent on to it's next destination.

Other reviews of this book:

Narratively Speaking
The Fiction Enthusiast
Cem's Book Hideout
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Review: The Trouble with Spells - Lacey Weatherford

Portia Mullins had always lived the life of a normal teenager, up until her sixteenth birthday.  She is then informed by her grandma that she is actually a witch who is a descendant from a long line of witches and warlocks.  After overcoming her disbelief she finds that being a member of the coven comes with one great perk in the form of the school's handsome bad boy, Vance Mangum.  Vance and Portia have an immediate connection as a budding romance begins, only to be threatened by turbulent skies on the horizon as Vance's checkered past rears its ugly head to haunt them.  Portia is forced to use her untried powers in defense of everything she loves in a desperate attempt to hold on to the one thing that really matters in her life.

Of Witches & Warlocks Series:
The Trouble with Spells
The Demon Kiss
Blood of the White Witch (coming soon)

Visit Lacey Weatherford's website for more information

Review:
Portia has always been a normal teenager - until the day of her 16th birthday when she finds out that she comes from a family of witches and warlocks.  As her magical powers start to develop one of the best things about joining the coven is getting to know the school bad boy Vance.  Portia and Vance are drawn to each other but when Vance's past comes back to haunt them Portia is going to need all of her new found magical skills if they are both going to survive.

The Trouble with Spells is the first book in the Of Witches and Warlocks series by Lacey Weatherford and I thought it was a great start to the series.  There were a couple of things that irritated me, the main one being that there were quite a few spelling and grammar mistakes in the book I read (that is a major bug bear of mine and makes me want to get out my red pen!) but I have since found out that there was a mistake at the publishers and an unedited version of the story was printed in error.  This has apparently been corrected now so shouldn't be an issue if you purchase a new copy of the book.

I really liked Portia as a main character, she is smart and sassy and I liked the fact that she came across as such a realistic teenager.  Her new magical abilities came as a complete shock to her so I did feel that she picked up her new skills a little too quickly but the advantage of this was that the story was able to move at a much faster pace and believe me it is definitely a story you'll want to read in just one sitting!  One of my favorite characters was Portia's grandma - she was so much fun to read about.

Vance is a great swoon worthy hero and yes he did steal my heart just a little bit!  At first I was shocked that he & Portia's relationship built so quickly - within a few days of the first time they'd spoken to each other they knew they were soul mates and had a bonding ceremony - but this is explained in the book.  Once you start watching the two of them together it is easy to forget about how rushed the beginning of the relationship felt, their emotions and feelings completely drew me in and I absolutely loved the pair of them together.

The Trouble with Spells is a romantic, action packed read and one that I would highly recommend to fans of YA paranormal romance.  I can't wait to get my hands on the second book in the series - this book ends on quite a cliffhanger so you might want to make sure you get hold of both books before you start reading!

Source: Received as part of a book tour arranged by UK Book Tours, this book has already been sent on to it's next destination.

Other reviews of this book:

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Review: Immortalis Carpe Noctem - Katie Salidas

Bleeding to death after a brutal mugging on the campus of UNLV, twenty-five year old Alyssa, is rescued by the cold and aloof, vampire, Lysander.  Taking pity on her, he shares the gift-and curse-of immortality.  She awakens as a vampire and is soon devastated by harsh realities of her new way of life: the loss of her friends, her independence, and her humanity.

As if having her humanity stripped away was not enough to make life interesting, Alyssa finds out her "turning", did not go unnoticed by the rest of undead society.  Old enemies; an ancient sect of vampire hunters, known as the Acta Sanctorum, as well as a powerful vampire mistress, each set plans in motion to destroy both Alyssa and Lysander.

Only by accepting her new found immortality, seizing the night, will Alyssa hope to survive.  She and Lysander must fight together against two sets of enemies bent on destroying them both.

Immortalis Series:
Immortalis Carpe Noctem
Immortalis Hunter and Prey (2011)

Visit Katie Salidas' Website for more information.

Review:
When Alyssa is walking home alone late at night she is brutally attacked by 2 muggers.  Lysander rescues Alyssa but she is so badly injured that she is almost dead leaving Lysander no option but to change her into a vampire or watch her die.  Waking up to discover she has been turned into a vampire comes as quite a shock to Alyssa - she had no idea that vampires even existed.  While trying to come to terms with her new life Alyssa also has to deal with a powerful vampire mistress who isn't happy that Lysander turned her without permission and the Acta Sanctorum - vampire hunters.  Will she survive long enough to learn how to use her new abilities?

I first heard about Immortalis Carpe Noctem when I saw it was going on a tour arranged by UK Book Tours, it wasn't a book seen before but it sounded interesting and I couldn't resist signing up to read it.  I'm glad I did as I've discovered a new author who I will definitely be keeping an eye on in the future.  This book is the first in the Immortalis series and I'm looking forward to reading future books as they are released.

I really enjoyed watching Alyssa deal with being turned into a vampire - she has been introduced to a whole new world without having any choice in the matter.  As Lysander says in the book "Becoming a vampire is easy.  Living with the condition, that is the hard part" I'm sure Alyssa would agree with this statement!  I've not really read anything that covers the issue of being turned without prior knowledge of what is happening and goes into as much detail as this book did.  I thought Katie Salidas did a great job of showing how hard that must have been for Alyssa.  She had no choice but to leave behind her old life, for their safety she could have no contact with her friends and wasn't able to return to her apartment.  Not to mention having to come to terms with needing to drink blood to survive.

I found it quite easy to relate to Alyssa and understand what she was going through.  She did complain a fair bit at the beginning but I think that was to be expected in the circumstances.  Lysander was a great character but at times he didn't make things easy for Alyssa.  He wanted to protect her but didn't always manage to explain his reasons to Alyssa which led her to feel suffocated by him.  I enjoyed watching the 2 of them interact with each other though and I really liked the Peregrinus - a travelling group of vampires who were friends of Lysander.

The action in the story was good but a little predictable in places, there was a good twist towards the end though.  Overall Immortalis Carpe Noctem was an enjoyable start to a new series. It's one of those stories that crosses the lines between paranormal romance and urban fantasy so I think fans of either genre would enjoy this book.  I'm looking forward to seeing what Katie Salidas comes up with next.

Source: Received as part of a book tour arranged by UK Book Tours, this book has already been sent on to it's next destination.

Other Reviews:
Chrissie's Corner
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ARC Review: Forget You - Jennifer Echols

There's a lot Zoey would like to forget.  Like how her father has knocked up his twenty-four year old girlfriend.  like Zoey's fear that the whole town will find out about her mom's nervous breakdown.  Like darkly handsome bad boy, Doug, taunting her at school.  Feeling like her life is about to become a complete mess, Zoey fights back the only way she knows how, using her famous attention to detail to make sure she's the perfect daughter, the perfect student, and the perfect girlfriend to ultra-popular football player Brandon.

But then Zoey is in a car crash, and the next day there's one thing she can't remember at all - the entire night before.  Did she go parking with Brandon, like she'd planned?  And if so, why does it seem like Brandon is avoiding her?  And why is Doug - of all people - suddenly acting as if something significant happened between the two of them?  Zoey dimly remembers Doug pulling her from the wreck, but he keeps referring to what happened that night as if it was more, and it terrifies Zoeyto admit how much is a blank to her.  Controlled, meticulous Zoey is quickly losing her grip on the all-important details of her life - a life that seems strangely empty of Brandon, and strangely full of Doug.

Forget You is released in the UK on 20th July 2010

For more information visit Jennifer Echols' website

Review:
Life changes for Zoey when her Dad has an affair with his 24 year old assistant and gets her pregnant.  Since most of her friends from school work for her Dad's business everyone knows what has happened but it is something that Zoey would much rather have kept quiet.  When her Mum attempts to commit suicide Zoey is forced to move in with her Dad and his new fiance.  Worried about her Mum and the stress of trying to keep what happened a secret changes Zoey and makes her act in ways she never would have imagined.

When she has a car accident and looses her memory of a whole night she is determined to piece together what happened by herself - too embarrassed to confess that she can't remember.  She had planned to go parking with her boyfriend Brandon but doesn't understand why he suddenly seems to be avoiding her.  Then there is Doug, who usually spends his time teasing her at school but is now acting almost like she's his girlfriend.  What could have happened that night?  And how is Zoey going to find out without letting everyone know that she can't remember?

This is the first book I've read by Jennifer Echols but it definitely won't be the last.  I was really impressed with Forget You and it is one of my favorite young adult romances.  Although Zoey is a smart student she makes some stupid choices over the course of the book, however, I think with everything that was going on in her life at the time this is actually quite understandable.  I'm sure she's not the first teenager who does something that they later regret in the heat of the moment.  I actually liked this about her as it made her seem a more realistic character.

I absolutely loved Doug - I wish I'd known a boy like him when I was Zoey's age.  He comes across as your typical bad boy but in the end you discover there is so much more to him than that & it doesn't hurt that he is also incredibly sexy.  The chemistry between Doug & Zoey was great - I thought it was surprisingly steamy for a young adult book (but then I've not read a huge amount of YA contemporary romance to compare this to) but found it very enjoyable.  I have to mention that I could not stand Zoey's Dad - I really wanted to punch him several times throughout the story and if I had to pick one thing I didn't like about the story overall it would be that I'd have liked to see him get some of his own medicine!  That is a minor complaint though & if you're a fan of young adult romance I'd definitely recommend this book to you and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Source: UK Book Tour organised by Dwayne from Girls Without A Bookshelf

Other Reviews:

Girls Without A Bookshelf
Trisha's Book Blog
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UK Book Tour - Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin - Sign Up Now!

Avery Hood is reeling from the loss of her parents--and the fact that she can't remember what happened to them even though she was there.

She's struggling to adjust to life without them, and to living with her grandmother, when she meets Ben, who isn't like any guy she's ever met before.

It turns out there's a reason why, and Ben's secret may hold the key to Avery finding out what happened to her parents...

But what if that secret changes everything she knows about--and feels for--Ben?

Low Red Moon will be published in September 2010 in the US and I believe it will be published in the UK in 2011

I'm excited to say that Ivy Devlin has kindly offered an ARC of her debut novel Low Red Moon for a UK book tour!  Low Red Moon is a young adult paranormal romance that looks fab & I can't wait to read it.  Sign up is open for any UK bloggers - all you need to do is fill in the form below.

Rules:

1. This tour is only open to UK book bloggers
2. If you are under 16 please make sure you have permission from a parent or guardian to take part in the tour.
3. By signing up to take part in the tour you are agreeing to post the book to another UK book blogger when you have read it.  Postage costs will be your responsibility.
4. Please try to read the book and send it on to the next person taking part in the tour within a week - remember that other bloggers are waiting to take part in the tour.
5. You are agreeing to post a review of Low Red Moon on your blog.

Blogs currently signed up for the tour: (I will include links to reviews when they are available)

1. Sarah's Book Reviews - review posted here
2. Magic Bean Review - review posted here
3. So Many Books, So Little Time - review posted here
4. Nayu's Reading Corner - review posted here
5. My Favourite Books
6. Fluttering Butterflies
7. Girls Without A Bookshelf
8. Rhiana Reads
9. Asamum Reads
10. Writing From The Tub
11. Book Reviews
12. Narratively Speaking
13. Heaven, Hell and Purgatory - Book Reviews
14. Magic Faerie's Paranormal Review