Review: Death's Daughter - Amber Benson

Daddy's Little Girl

For the last few years I'd been in a state of bliss - living under a self-imposed Forgetting Charm, because I so did not want to go into the family business.  What I wanted was a glamorous career in New York City and the opportunity for a normal life - buying designer shoes on sale, dating guys from craigslist, Web surfing for organic dim sum for my boss.  And then my father's Executive Assistant, a faun named Jarvis, showed up to to tell me that my dad had been kidnapped.

Good-bye, Forgetting Charm.  Hello, (unwanted) responsibility.  Not only am I expected to step into the CEO slot on the company Board, but I have to "prove my worth" by competing against the Devil's protege - who's so hot in more ways than one.  The contest involves finding three (why is it always three?) objects of power.  In Hell.

One of them is this adorable puppy - who happens to be a hellhound.  The others are turning out to be not much fun.  All this so I can take (unwanted) charge of Death, Inc.

My name is Calliope Reaper-Jones, and I'm . . . Death's Daughter

Calliope Reaper-Jones Series:
Death's Daughter
Callie Meet Happy (Short Story in the An Apple for the Creature Anthology)
Cat's Claw
Serpent's Storm

Visit Amber Benson's blog for more information

Review:
Calli has been living in New York for the last few years and has no memory of her family having used a forgetting charm so she could escape and live her own life.  However when her father and older sister are kidnapped Callie has no choice but to go home and take over the family business.  Before the board will accept her as the CEO of Death, Inc she must complete several difficult tasks and with the Devil's protege also wanting the job she will need to work quickly to get the tasks done in time to save her father.

I first heard about Death's Daughter when I stumbled across a video of the author Amber Benson giving a reading from Serpent's Storm on twitter.  The video made me laugh so hard that I immediately ordered all 3 books and I was really looking forward to reading them.  I should have learnt by now never to order more than the first book in a series and this time I think I'm going to take the lesson to heart.  It wasn't that Death's Daughter was a terrible book, in fact I really liked the world the author has created and the different mythology used but for such an original idea I think the execution could have been so much better.

Callie has to be one of the most dislikable main characters I've come across in a long time.  She spends most of her time complaining, whining and in general being nasty to everyone she meets.  She is obsessed with shopping and designer labels and has the hots for every single guy she sees, even the ones she doesn't like very much.  Worse still she seems to assume that just because she fancies someone they must automatically be attracted to her too despite the fact she is constantly saying that she isn't pretty.  It felt like the author was trying too hard to make Callie a funny character with the witty comments that she was constantly coming out with but unfortunately they failed to hit the mark most of the time.  When reading urban fantasy I want the main character to be strong and capable, I don't enjoy watching the heroine sitting around and waiting for someone to rescue her which Callie seemed to spend a lot of time doing.  She certainly wouldn't have survived to the end of the book if she hadn't had help.

Like I said the world created was interesting and I am curious to see if Callie grows up as the series progresses but if I hadn't already bought the books I don't think I would carry on reading.  I actually liked some of the supporting characters and I think it would have been a lot more enjoyable if Callie's younger sister Clio had been the heroine so I hope we get to see a lot more of her in the next book.  I will try reading Cat's Claw and see if there is any improvement on this book but if there isn't then I won't be continuing with the series.

Source: Purchased

Other Reviews:
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Review: My Soul to Take - Rachel Vincent

Something is wrong with Kaylee Cavanaugh . . .

She can sense when someone near her is about to die.  And when that happens, a force beyond her control compels her to scream bloody murder.  Literally.

Kaylee just wants to enjoy having caught the attention of the hottest boy in school.  But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about the dark forces behind Kaylee's power than she does.

And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason and only Kaylee knows who'll be next, she realises that finding a boyfriend is the least of her worries!

Soul Screamers Series:
My Soul to Lose (prequel novella)
My Soul to Take
My Soul to Save
My Soul to Keep
Reaper (novella)
My Soul to Steal
If I Die
Never to Sleep (novella)
Before I Wake
With All My Soul

For more information visit Rachel Vincent's website

Review:
Rachel Vincent was already one of my favorite adult authors for her Shifters series but with My Soul to Take she has cemented herself as one of my favorite YA authors too.  As a massive fan of paranormal stories I spend a good amount of my time reading about vampires and various different types of shifters but one thing I've never come across as a main character before is bean sidhes (or banshees to go by the more common name).  Now don't get me wrong, I still love my vamps & weres but it was so refreshing to come across something new.  Rachel Vincent has created a fascinating mythology to go along with her banshees and I was sucked into Kaylee's world from the very first page.

Kaylee is a great main character, she is smart, feisty and has a very unusual ability - she can sense when someone is going to die.  When she does she has an uncontrollable urge to scream and once she starts screaming she just can't stop.  This ability has already landed her in a psychiatric ward once and she will do anything she can to avoid ending up back in there again.  All she wants is to be a normal teenager, one who gets to go on dates and have fun without worrying when the screaming may start again, but life isn't that simple for her and when other teenagers start to die mysteriously her problem gets worse than it ever has been before.

When the hottest guy from school shows an interest in her Kaylee is worried about what will happen if he discovers her secret.  But Nash has a secret of his own and he seems to know more about Kaylee than she knows about herself.  Can Nash help her uncover the secrets that have been kept from her?  While they're at it can they discover why so many teenage girls have started to die?  I have to admit I really liked Nash, he was caring and protective towards Kaylee and a great love interest.  Although their relationship develops quickly it never felt forced and we were given a good explanation for it.

Another character I loved was Kaylee's friend Emma and I hope we get to see more of her in future installments.  So many YA books seem to have supposed best friends that I wouldn't want as my worst enemy and I much prefer reading about a supportive friendship.  Of course we also have the mysterious Tod who I have a feeling I'm going to love when we get to know him better! 

My Soul to Take is a fantastic start to the Soul Screamers series and I can't wait to spend more time with these characters and in the world they live in.  Fast paced and full of interesting mythology it is sure to hold anyones attention and I'd highly recommend it to any paranormal fan.  If you're still not sure about trying the series then I'd highly suggest reading the FREE prequel novella (My Soul to Lose) that can be found on Rachel Vincent's website, I'm sure it will help you make up your mind.

Source: Purchased

Other Reviews:
Shaft's Words
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Review: My Soul to Lose - Rachel Vincent

Kaylee Cavanaugh's trip to the mall ends with a brutal panic attack and a brain scrambling shriek she can't stop. Her secret fear is exposed. It's the worst day of her life.

Until she wakes up in the psychiatric unit.

But the hospital isn't a safe place for Kaylee, and getting out won't be easy because everyone thinks she's crazy. Everyone except Lydia, who has a secret of her own...

Soul Screamers Series:
My Soul to Lose (prequel novella)
My Soul to Take
My Soul to Save
My Soul to Keep
Reaper (novella)
My Soul to Steal
If I Die
Never to Sleep (novella)
Before I Wake
With All My Soul

For more information visit Rachel Vincent's website

Review:
My Soul to Lose is a prequel novella for the Soul Screamers series that can be read for free on Rachel Vincent's website.  I'm a massive fan of Rachel's adult Shifters series so have been looking forward to starting this new series for a long time now and I can tell you now it doesn't disappoint - I can't wait to get my hands on the rest of the books! 

I don't want to go into much detail about what happens as it would be very easy to give spoilers for a short story so I'll just say that as a prequel novella it leaves you with a lot of unanswered questions.  As a taster to see if you want to try the series My Soul to Lose does it's job perfectly - I was glad that I already had a copy of My Soul to Take as I had to start reading it immediately after finishing the prequel. 

The main character Kaylee is easy to like and you can't help but feel for her, all we know is that she suffers from what she thinks of as panic attacks but it is clear there is more to her problem than that.  A trip to the mall ends in disaster when she can't stop screaming and ends up in a psychiatric ward.  She ends up doubting her own sanity but with Lydia's help she begins to understand that things might not be what the first seemed.

This story is completely different from anything else I've read in the YA paranormal genre and I would highly recommend giving it a try.  My only warning would be make sure you can get hold of My Soul to Take soon after reading it as I'm sure you'll be left desperate to know what happens next!

Source: This is a free novella that can be downloaded from Rachel Vincent's website

Other Reviews:
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Review: Hunters - Michelle Marquis & Lindsey Bayer

Kirillian Harmony Knox was one of the most successful bounty hunters in the galaxy—until a brain-eater named Prime became her only failure and escaped, landing her in jail. Now free, she'll stop at nothing to catch him and stop his murderous rampage.

Unfortunately for Harmony, fellow hunter Bart Tanner has the only available transport. Arrogant and ruthless, Tanner is known for killing most of his bounties. Harmony can't stand him—yet she can't deny the deep sexual desire sparking between them.

Once enslaved as a cage fighter by a cruel Kirillian, Tanner harbors a deep hatred for the alien race—though he's drawn to Harmony's luscious sensuality, and they soon indulge in erotic encounters.

When Prime puts out a hit on Harmony, things intensify, and Tanner realizes their lust has turned into something deeper—but if he and Harmony aren't careful, more than just their lives will be at stake...

Visit Michelle Marquis' website for more information (I couldn't find a website for Lindsey Bayer but will add a link here if I track one down)

Review:
Harmony has spent the last year in prison after being caught with illegal weapons when she was going after a dangerous target.  Before that she was one of the most successful bounty hunters with a 100% capture rate so the first thing she plans to do when she is released is go after the one that got away.  Unfortunately for her the only person available to give her a lift to collect her ship is another bounty hunter Tanner and the two of them really don't get along.  When their boss insists that they work together to catch another skip there are sure to be fireworks, both in and out of the bedroom.

Harmony and Tanner are both tough, capable of looking after themselves and they like working alone so sparks are bound to fly when they are forced to partner up for their latest job.  They both have very different ways of working and it isn't going to be easy for them to find common ground.  Harmony is obsessed with capturing Prime (the brain eating alien who escaped from her a year ago) and she will do whatever it takes to bring him in even if that means ignoring her current mission.  Her obsessive behaviour is enough to drive Tanner insane but he has a long standing hatred for her race and has decided to use her to extract his revenge.  This doesn't go quite to planned though when he ends up starting to develop feelings for her but can he get her to open up to him?

Michelle Marquis and Lindsey Bayer have created an interesting world full of strange alien creatures that jump off the page as you are reading and Hunters is a great erotic read.  I wasn't too sure about Harmony at first but as I got to know her she really grew on me.  Tanner on the other hand I liked from the beginning, he was a real alpha male who wanted to be in charge but he also had some really sweet moments when he starts to have feelings for Harmony.  I liked the fact that he was willing to tell her how he felt and didn't try to hide his feelings.  Put the two of them together in a room and they couldn't resist each other which lead to some great steamy moments that I thoroughly enjoyed reading.  I'll definitely be looking out for more by these authors in the future.

Source: Received for review from publisher via NetGalley

Other Reviews:
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April 2011 Recap

Here is the list of books I read in April: (The links will take you to my reviews)

1. Grace - Morris Gleitzman (read in March, reviewed in April)
2. Before I Die - Jenny Downham (read in March, reviewed in April)
3. Dead, Undead, or Somewhere in Between (read in March, reviewed in April)
4. Between Shades of Gray - Ruta Sepetys (read in March, reviewed in April)
5. The Land of Painted Caves - Jean M. Auel
6. Firelight - Sophie Jordan
7. Biting the Bullet - Jennifer Rardin
8. This Side of the Grave - Jeaniene Frost
9. Tell Me a Secret - Holly Cupala
10. Infinity - Sherrilyn Kenyon
11. Rosebush - Michelle Jaffe
12. A Wild Light - Marjorie M Liu
13. Eternity Embraced - Larissa Ione (Novella)
14. Winter's Passage - Julie Kagawa (Novella)
15. Predatory Game - Christine Feehan
16. Blood Captain - Justin Somper
17. Hunters - Michelle Marquis & Lindsey Bayer (review coming soon)
18. My Soul to Lose - Rachel Vincent (Novella) (review coming soon)
19. My Soul to Take - Rachel Vincent (review coming soon)
20. Death's Daughter - Amber Benson (review coming soon)
21. Dead Beautiful - Yvonne Woon (review coming soon)
22. The Swan Kingdom - Zoe Marriott (review coming soon)
23. Flip - Martyn Bedford (review coming soon)
24. Fantasy Lover - Sherrilyn Kenyon (review coming soon)
25. Dragon Blues - Edie Ramer (review coming soon)
26. Wintercraft - Jenna Burtenshaw (review coming soon)
27. The Hitchhiker Part 1: On The Run - Kathleen Dienne (Novella) (review coming soon)
28. Angel's Blood - Nalini Singh (review coming soon)

I've been a bit of a reading demon in April & have read some fantastic books.  Now I just need to catch up on writing all my reviews.  I'd love to get them all scheduled and finally be ahead of myself on the blog but at the moment it isn't really going to plan.  One day I'll be organised lol.

April Books of the Month:

My top YA read in April:

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (read my review here)

My top adult read in April:

This Side of the Grave by Jeaniene Frost (read my review here)

Event Reports:

I'm really behind on writing up event reports but I promise I'll get caught up soon!

• Back in March I attended was the Puffin Live Panel with authors Ruta Sepetys, Morris Gleitzman and Anna Perera.  This was a fantastic event & I really enjoyed meeting these brilliant authors.
• In April Kirsty (from The Overflowing Library) and I spent a couple of days in London to go to the London Book Fair.  It was such a massive event that and I found it quite overwhelming but it was great to get to chat with so many different publishers.  While we were there we attended an event hosted by Usborne to celebrate the upcoming release of The Truth About Celia Frost by Paula Rawsthorne and we also met up with Non & Pip from Catnip and Bounce to chat about their upcoming releases.  We had a fantastic (but very tiring!) couple of days & I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be able to go again next year.

Author's Animal Antics:

The Author's Animal Antics feature is kind of on hold at the moment, I am planning on bringing it back as a more regular feature soon but I just don't have as much time to organise it right now.  If you are an author who is interested in taking part though please get in contact (you can find out more about the feature here).  

Challenge Updates:

So these are the challenges I've decided to sign up for in 2011 (I may well end up adding others as the year goes on but we'll see what happens)

2011 100+ Reading Challenge - Read 51/100

2011 Horror & Urban Fantasy Challenge - Read 23/24

2011 Support Your Local Library Challenge - Read 7/25

2011 Debut Author Challenge - Read 12/12 COMPLETE

2011 British Books Challenge - Read 15/25

2011 New Author Challenge - Read 28/50

NAC Mini Challenge - Steampunk (Feb 2011) - Read 2/5 COMPLETE (This challenge was to read up to 5 steampunk books in February, I knew I wouldn't have time to read 5 so I'm happy with my total of 2)
NAC Mini Challenge - TBR Newbies (April & May 2011) - READ 2/6

Review: Blood Captain - Justin Somper

The terror is within . . .

For Connor, these are testing times aboard notorious pirate ship, The Diablo - not least when Captain Wrathe's obnoxious nephew Moonshine joins the crew.  And, as things reach breaking point, Connor finds himself crossing a line from which there is no return . . .

Meanwhile his twin sister, Grace, journeys with Lorcan to Sanctuary, a mountain retreat presided over by by Vampirate guru, Mosh Zu Kamal.  If anyone can heal Lorcan's blindness, he can - but he seems more interested in Grace.  Combating danger on all sides, Grace realises her fate is inextricably bound up with the Vampirates . . .

Vampirates Series:

Demons of the Ocean

Dead Deep (short story published in 2007 - doesn't have to be read to follow the series)

Tide of Terror

Blood Captain

Black Heart

Empire of Night
Immortal War

For more information visit the Vampirates website

Review:

Connor took to life aboard the Diablo like a duck to water and loves being a pirate, well he did before Captain Wrathe's nephew Moonshine joined the crew.  Now he's not so sure, especially when Moonshine's actions cause problems for him and his friends, perhaps the pirate life isn't the best thing for him after all.  Meanwhile Grace travels to Sanctuary with Lorcan where they hope that the Vampirate guru Mosh Zu Kamal will be able to cure Lorcan's blindness.  But why is Mosh Zu so interested in Grace and what are the secrets that Lorcan is hiding?

The books in the Vampirates series are great action adventure stories about two of my favorite things - vampires and pirates.  How could I resist?  Even though the stories are aimed at a younger age range than I would usually read I've been thoroughly enjoying the series and I think Blood Captain was my favorite book so far.  Through alternating chapters we get to see what is happening with both Grace and her twin brother Connor, they have both chosen very different lives since being rescued by different ships back in the first book.  I really like the way the story is told from two different perspectives and it is interesting to see the differences between life on a normal pirate ship with Connor and Grace's life with the Vampirates.

In the first two books Connor was certain that the pirate life was perfect for him.  He enjoyed the sword training and the Captain was like a surrogate father to him but everything is different now that Moonshine is part of the crew.  As they set out on a raiding mission Connor is full of excitement but after he is forced to make a very difficult decision he suddenly realises that it isn't all fun being a pirate.  I can't say much more without giving spoilers so I'll just say I thought Justin Somper handled the outcome of this event very well.

Grace also has her own challenges to face, she feels incredibly guilty about Lorcan's injury as she believes it is all her fault.  She is determined to do whatever she can to help him recover and travels with him to Sanctuary where she meets Mosh Zu Kamal.  While at Sanctuary she learns more about the Vampirates but more importantly she has a discovery to make about her own abilities and I'm very interested to see how this develops throughout the series.  Lorcan's recovery isn't going to be easy, it isn't just about the physical injury and there is something blocking him from healing and Grace needs to try help him to work through whatever it is that is holding him back.  It soon becomes clear Lorcan has been keeping secrets from her but can Grace get him to open up so he can start to heal?

This is a great series that I think will appeal to boys and girls who are looking for a swashbuckling adventure story.  I would definitely recommend it to teens and young adults but I think it is the kind of story adults can read too, after all I'm not really in the target age range myself and that hasn't stopped me enjoying them!

Source: Received for review from publisher Simon & Schuster

Other Reviews:

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Review: Predatory Game - Christine Feehan

Saber Winter was running from her past when she meets Jess Calhoun, an ex-officer with the U.S forces elite Navy Seals division who's now confined to a wheel-chair.  Jess had sensed that Saber was a lost soul, and he'd given her a job and a home, hoping that she'd be willing to stay and finally share her secrets with him. 

But Saber has been on the run a long time, and Jess may be in a wheel-chair, but he's also a GhostWalker.  Both of their pasts are about to collide in the present when secrets they're hiding get uncovered, and both must deal with betrayal before they're free to find a future together.




GhostWalkers Series:
Shadow Game
Mind Game
Night Game
Conspiracy Game
Deadly Game
Predatory Game
Murder Game
Street Game
Ruthless Game
Samurai Game (2012)

For more information visit Christine Feehan's website

Review:
Saber has been in hiding and on the run for a long time trying to stay out of the clutches of Dr Whitney.  She has been living with Jesse for nearly a year but although she has started to have feelings for him she knows she should be moving on again soon if she wants to stay safe.  Jesse is a GhostWalker who was injured on a job and now works in the background unable to go on missions in his wheelchair.  He knew Saber was on the run but assumed it was from a violent husband, neither of them had the slightest idea of the other's GhostWalker abilities.  When they start to realise each other's powers they are both immediately suspicious thinking the other is out to capture them.  In the months they have spent together they may have both started to develop feelings towards each other but can they put their suspicions to one side long for enough to learn to trust each other?

Predatory Game is the sixth book in the GhostWalker series and although the romance between Saber and Jesse makes it a standalone story I would highly recommend reading the series in order.  If you start with this book you'll miss a lot of the background story surrounding the GhostWalkers and their abilities not to mention the conspiracy against them that they are only just beginning to get to the depths of.  I suspect that Dr Whitney has a lot more surprises up his sleeve and I can't wait to see how things play out in the rest of the books.  Although this is a paranormal romance series I would definitely also class it as a thriller as there is plenty of action going on alongside the romance.

One of the things I love most about this series is that although the heroes definitely have an inbuilt need to protect their heroines the heroines are anything but damsels in distress.  In fact they all have abilities that make them formidable in their own rights and Saber probably has the most dangerous powers of any of them so far.  I don't want to spoil anything for you by telling you what her abilities are so you'll have to read the story to find out so I'll just say I really enjoyed seeing what she was capable of.  I also loved the fact that she wanted to protect Jesse and was willing to put herself in danger to do so. 

Jesse may be in a wheelchair but he is dangerous in his own right, his GhostWalker abilities make him far from helpless and as an ex Navy Seal he certainly has the killer instinct.  He is tough and protective but at times he could be incredibly sweet and I'd dare any woman to resist him.  I thought they made a perfect couple and was routing for Jesse to break down Saber's defences.

The ongoing story of the GhostWalkers has me hooked and I can't wait to pick up the next book in the series.  Christine Feehan has created a terrifyingly brilliant but completely insane villain and I have no idea how they are going to be able to stop him.  I'm also fascinated by the various abilities the GhostWalkers all have and am curious to see what else she will throw at us in future books.  If you haven't started reading this series yet get hold of a copy of Shadow Game asap - you won't regret it!

Source: Library

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