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Friday, December 30, 2011

Last Sacrifice (Vampire Academy #6) by Richelle Mead

Last Sacrifice (Vampire Academy, #6)Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

*Spoilers for anyone who hasn't read up to book five in this series.*

Last Sacrifice is the final book in a series that has been very tumultuous for me. I started out loving the Vampire Academy series, then became dismayed after some twists and turns that I did not love. This lead to a very looonnnggg break between the reading of books four and five. Now, with the conclusion of book six, I can finally say that I have finished Vampire Academy.

Last Sacrifice began almost where the fifth book left off. Someone has murdered Queen Tatiana, not exactly Rose's favorite person, and framed Rose for the murder. Now, Rose is awaiting trial in her cell with no hope to cling to except a mysterious note passed to her supposedly written by Tatiana herself prior to her untimely death. What did the note say? That she knew someone wanted her dead and that Lissa was not, in fact, the last Dragomir. As Rose ponders whether or not this could actually be true, she is suddenly surprised by a daring escape planned by her friends. After Rose comes to terms with the fact that her friends were the ones to plan and execute a ridiculous and dangerous plan for a change, she begins to hatch her own scheme to track down this mystery Dragomir. Even though Rose and Lissa are separated for 99% of the book, we, of course, get to see what's going on back at Court with Lissa because of the bond her and Rose share.

Last Sacrifice is certainly an adventure. Rose and her companions/accomplices, Sydney and Dimitri, travel to many different locations throughout the book (including an unusual, rural village where Moroi, dhampirs, and humans coexist, which was one of my favorite parts of the book), in order to escape the guardians hunting down Rose and solve the Dragomir family mystery. Along the way we get to see the Alchemist, Sydney, finally develop a personality (no doubt to set up her spinoff series), Dimitri begin to heal from his time as a Strigoi, and Lissa try to solve Tatiana's murder while stuck at Court. I was torn throughout the book as to which I was rooting for, Dimitri or Adrian. Rose has wonderful moments with each throughout the story.

Mead wrapped up the series nicely and I was satisfied with the ending. Some of it was very predictable, but what did you expect? I'm okay with a little predictability in a series six books long that had plenty of other surprises. Rose and the gang have certainly come a long way since we were first introduced to them back at St. Vladimir's. I'll miss them, but at least I have Bloodlines to look forward to!


Fracture by Megan Miranda

FractureFracture by Megan Miranda
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Eleven minutes passed before Delaney Maxwell was pulled from the icy waters of a Maine lake by her best friend Decker Phillips. By then her heart had stopped beating. Her brain had stopped working. She was dead. And yet she somehow defied medical precedent to come back seemingly fine

—despite the scans that showed significant brain damage. Everyone wants Delaney to be all right, but she knows she's far from normal. Pulled by strange sensations she can't control or explain, Delaney finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her altered brain now predicting death, or causing it?

Then Delaney meets Troy Varga, who recently emerged from a coma with similar abilities. At first she's reassured to find someone who understands the strangeness of her new existence, but Delaney soon discovers that Troy's motives aren't quite what she thought. Is their gift a miracle, a freak of nature-or something much more frightening?

For fans of best-sellers like Before I Fall and If I Stay, this is a fascinating and heart-rending story about love and friendship and the fine line between life and death.



Gasp. I loved this book. Get it, read it, do it now!

Er...okay, let me back it up. Fracture is the story of what a teenage girl faces after surviving a near-death experience that really should have killed her. And, oh yeah, there's some paranormal stuff too.

Delaney Maxwell fell through the ice at a local pond in the middle of winter and it was eleven minutes before she was rescued by her best guy friend Decker. The story begins with Delaney waking up in the hospital and realizing what she has been through. As the story continues, the reader experiences everything Delaney goes through as she transitions back into her regular life and discovers something unusual about herself...she is now 'pulled' toward people who are dying. Delaney struggles to understand this, and to decipher whether she feels drawn to these people because they are dying or if they are dying because she is drawn to them. She also feels pulled by a different sort of attraction...to Decker. There have been underlying feelings between the two for a while, and after Delaney's almost death, both teens struggle to come to terms with these awkward feelings. Along the way, Delaney tries to learn how her 'new brain' works, finds out who her real friends are, and meets another who suffers from the same unnerving condition. But is he trying to help her, or hurt her?

This story was amazing. I typically stick to all things paranormal, and the paranormal element here was light. This story was more about Delaney, Decker, and the other people, and not as much Delaney's new 'gift'. However, I was thoroughly entranced and impressed by new author Megan Miranda. Her writing style is smooth and real and I loved being inside Delaney's head. No part of the story was overdone. Despite the supernatural ability Delaney gains, Miranda still manages to keep the story fully realistic. I loved seeing how Delaney and Decker's relationship developed as the story went on and appreciated how believable the awkwardness was. It was exactly as one might expect real teenagers to act. I also loved how Miranda made me feel such a range of emotions when it came to another character, Troy. I felt pity, dislike, longing...and that was all in one chapter. Overall, Fracture is a must read this winter for paranormal and contemporary young adult fans (and perhaps even those who don't usually read young adult).

An advance copy of this book was provided was Book Divas.

Top 10 of 2011: Top 10 Books I'm Looking Forward to in 2012!


Welcome to the Top 10 of 2011, hosted by Confessions of a BookaholicA Life Bound by BooksfiktshunTwo Chicks on Books!!! I am very excited to participate in this weeklong event to share my faves of 2011! Here is the schedule for this week:
Monday 12/26 – Top 10 Books I’ve read in 2011
Tuesday 12/27 – Top 10 Book Covers of 2011
Wednesday 12/28 – Top 10 Book Boyfriends in 2011
Thursday 12/29 – Top 10 Characters in 2011
Friday 12/30 – Top 10 Books I’m looking forward to in 2012

It's all very exciting, isn't it?!?!? So, here is the final Top 10 of the week:



Here are the top 10 books I am impatiently waiting for in 2012.
(Only 10!?!?!? I may have to cheat a little........)
These are in no particular order:

1.

Unbound #2
Rachel Vincent
June 1, 2012

2.

Anna #2
Kendare Blake
August 7, 2012

3.

Chicagoland Vampires #6
Chloe Neill
August 7, 2012

4.

Annabelle Lee #2
Stacey Jay
March 27, 2012

5.

Sara Wilson Etienne
February 2, 2012

6.

His Fair Assassin #1
Robin LaFevers
April 3, 2012

7.

Downside Ghosts #4
Stacia Kane
March 27, 2012

8.

Jennifer Bosworth
May 8, 2012

9.

Darkest London #1
Kristen Callihan
February 1, 2012

10.

Arcadia Bell #2
Jenn Bennett
April 24, 2012

Okay. Those are technically my Top 10. However........I have some 2012 releases that I'm REALLY looking forward to that don't have covers yet. And as it turns out, there are TEN of them! So they get their own list (see what I did there........)

1.
*No Cover Yet*
White Trash Zombie series
Diana Rowland
July 3, 2012

2.
*No Cover Yet*
Revivalist #2
Rachel Caine
August 7, 2012

3.
*No Cover Yet*
Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2
Laini Taylor
September 2012

4.
*No Cover Yet*
Darklight #1
Darynda Jones
2012

5.
*No Cover Yet*
Shatter Me #2
Taherah Mafi
November 2012

6.
*No Cover Yet*
Juliet Immortal #2
Stacey Jay
August 2012

7.
*No Cover Yet*
Charlie Madigan #4
Kelly Gay
July 31, 2012

8.
*No Cover Yet*
Fever World #1
Karen Marie Moning
October 30, 2012

9.
*No Cover Yet*
Downside Ghosts #5
Stacia Kane
June 26, 2012

10.
*No Cover Yet*
Night Prince #1
Jeaniene Frost
June 26, 2012

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Follow Friday (18)


Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read



Here is this week's question:

The New Year is here — and everyone wants to know your New Years Blogging Resolution! What are you going to try to revise, revamp and redo for 2012 on your blog?

Hmm...I do have some things I really want to work on. The biggest one is organizing my blogging schedule and my schedule for reading review books. I have no idea how other bloggers do it (advice?), but I need to keep better track of the ARCs I receive and the books I get on Netgalley! As someone that has only been blogging five months so far, I know this is going to get even harder, and let's just say organizing is NOT my specialty (you guys should see my desk at work........). 
    
Check out my current giveaways:

And check out my Top 10 of 2011 lists while you're at it!  :)

The New Year's Giveaway Hop!


Welcome to the New Year's Eve Giveaway Hop! This one is hosted by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and Babs from Babs Book Bistro


This hop is to celebrate ringing in 2012! Can you guys believe its already here?  This time around I have a wonderful little prize package to giveaway - the first three books in Angie Fox's hilarious and sexy paranormal romance Demon Slayer series!



Enter using the Rafflecoptor form below:


Top 10 of 2011: Top 10 Book Characters


Welcome to the Top 10 of 2011, hosted by Confessions of a BookaholicA Life Bound by BooksfiktshunTwo Chicks on Books!!! I am very excited to participate in this weeklong event to share my faves of 2011! Here is the schedule for this week:
Monday 12/26 – Top 10 Books I’ve read in 2011
Tuesday 12/27 – Top 10 Book Covers of 2011
Wednesday 12/28 – Top 10 Book Boyfriends in 2011
Thursday 12/29 – Top 10 Characters in 2011
Friday 12/30 – Top 10 Books I’m looking forward to in 2012

It's all very exciting, isn't it?!?!? So, here is the fourth Top 10 of the week:



These are my favorite characters! I had a REALLY hard time with this list - probably the hardest of all the Top 10's this week. I just love characters. They're what make the books so wonderful!


Cas
by Kendare Blake

I didn't know how I was going to like reading from a guy's POV, but it turned out that I absolutely loved him.

“I’m not a superhero,” I say. It’s an awful tag. It’s egotistical, and it doesn’t fit. I don’t parade around in spandex.”



Rex
The Hour of Dust and Ashes (Charlie Madigan #3)
by Kelly Gay

Rex is this character that enters this series toward the end of book one with all odds against him. Charlie and the others shouldn't really like him (because of who and what he is) but somehow he finds his way into their hearts and he certainly found him way into mine! He is also freaking hysterical! He has some of the best lines in all three books. 





Annabelle
Dead on the Delta (Annabelle Lee #1)
by Stacey Jay

Annabelle Lee wins the award for underachiever of the year. Yet she is somehow still one of my favorite protagonists ever. Half the town thinks she is a total loser, she runs into her ex-boyfriend with wing sauce all over her face, and she's being harassed by invisible people. Love it.

"I have to keep fighting. I have to 'reach deep down and shit myself', or whatever it is the crazy man told me to do."


Vlad
This Side of the Grave (Night Huntress #5)
by Jeaniene Frost

Don't worry, I'm not turning my back on my one true love, Bones. But Vlad is just such a wonderful character that I couldn't leave him off this list!

Much slower, I turned around to see Vlad examining his fingernails, as if his hands weren't still ablaze in the flames that had blasted the ghoul's head off moments before. "What the hell was that?" I gasped. "Premature inflammation," He replied. "Happens sometimes. Very embarrassing, I don't like to talk about it."


Shelby
Head Rush (Disillusionists Trilogy #3)
by Carolyn Crane

Shelby is not a sunshine and rainbows type of woman. She has a grim outlook on life, in fact that's her disillusionist specialty. But somehow, she becomes Justine's caring and loyal best friend. She balances 'scary ass Eastern European chick' with 'completely there for you when you need her' quite wonderfully.

  “People want view of beauty. Pfft. I say, do not give me lies.”


Justine

Justine is also from Head Rush, but I decided not to put her as one with Shelby because I loved her so much on her own. It could have been dangerous writing from the POV of a woman so lost in her own anxiety and hypochondria that she can't even read fashion magazine articles without breaking down. But instead, Justine has become one of my favorite heroines of 2011.

“You're right. I'm not the kind of woman to do something foolish out of defiance. I am, however, the kind of woman who would do something just to prove that you can't tell me what kind of woman I am.”


Mac
Shadowfever (Fever #5)
by Karen Marie Moning

I know Mac seems like kind of an obvious choice, but she changed and grew more than any other character in any other series I've ever read. And since I put her man Barrons on my favorite book boyfriends list, I figured she had earned her spot as one of my favorite book characters.

“Since the moment I laid eyes on Jericho Barrons, I wanted him. I wanted him to do things to me that pink and clueless MacKayla Lane was shocked and appalled and ... okay, yeah, well, utterly fascinated to find herself thinking about.”



Charley and Cookie
Second Grave on the Left (Charley Davidson #2)
by Darynda Jones

Charley Davidson, private eye and grim reaper, has me giggling like a little girl throughout her books. She has a really good heart and some super sexy moments with Reyes, but her train of thought and the things that come out of her mouth are just so ridiculous! And her sidekick/secretary/best friend Cookie often plays the 'straight-man' to Charley's 'crazy'. 

“Make it quick," I said when I picked up. 
"Okay. Two men from the FBI are here." Cookie said. Quickly. 
Crap. "Men in black are at the office?" 
"Well, yes, but they're actually in more of a navy." 
Crapola. I so don't have time for men. In any color. "Okay, two questions. Do they look mad, and are they hot?" 
After a long, long, pause, Cookie said, "One, not really. Two, no comment at this time. And three, you're on speakerphone." 
After another long, long pause, I said, "Okie dokie then. Be there in a jiff.”


Angel
My Life As a White Trash Zombie (White Trash Zombie #1)
by Diana Rowland

Angel has a lot on her plate........her dad's an alcoholic, she may have just overdosed on drugs, and oh yeah, she just became a brain-eating zombie. But she grows a lot throughout the story and I just love her!

"Then I couldn’t resist. I took a deep breath and yelled: “Zombie Super Powers, Activate!”


Illium
Archangel's Consort Guild Hunter #3)
by Nalini Singh


I love the blue-winged angel with his sexy little quips. I can't wait till he gets his own book.

He has a fascination with mortals. Raphael had said that to her before she'd woken with wings of midnight and dawn.
"Why are you starting at me, Ellie?" Illium said without taking his eyes from the blade dancing around his fingers. "You're so pretty, it's difficult to resist."
A flashing grin, a hint of that aristocratic English accent in his response. "It's hard to be me, it's true.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Top 10 of 2011: Top 10 Book Boyfriends


Welcome to the Top 10 of 2011, hosted by Confessions of a BookaholicA Life Bound by BooksfiktshunTwo Chicks on Books!!! I am very excited to participate in this weeklong event to share my faves of 2011! Here is the schedule for this week:
Monday 12/26 – Top 10 Books I’ve read in 2011
Tuesday 12/27 – Top 10 Book Covers of 2011
Wednesday 12/28 – Top 10 Book Boyfriends in 2011
Thursday 12/29 – Top 10 Characters in 2011
Friday 12/30 – Top 10 Books I’m looking forward to in 2012

It's all very exciting, isn't it?!?!? So, here is the third Top 10 of the week:



These are my book boyfriends of 2011, in no particular order
(don't tell my real boyfriend........)


Dorian
Shadow Heir (Dark Swan #4)
by Richelle Mead
My Review

He's a strong, powerful, and scheming fae king with flowing reddish gold hair, green eyes, and a bondage fetish. Um, yes please!



Hank
The Hour of Dust and Ashes (Charlie Madigan #3)
by Kelly Gay
My Review

When I started this series I didn't know how much I was going to love it, but what I really didn't expect was Hank! Charlie often calls him her lion, and that is a very apt description. He is a cocky, sexy, blond off-worlder that would give everything to protect those close to him.



Adam
Shatter Me (Shatter Me #1)
by Tahereh Mafi
My Review

Is it wrong to lust after a teenage boy when I'm going to be turning thirty in a few short years? What if he is a pretend teenage boy who only lives in Mafi's genius dystopian world? That's okay? Whew! My most favorite thing about Adam is that he has tattoos and old piercings and he's not the typical YA hero. Dreamy.


Bones
This Side of the Grave (Night Huntress #5)
by Jeaniene Frost

-Sigh-
Oh Bones my Bones. There is just no one that compares to him. He is cocky, snarky, sexy, hilarious, and completely enamored by Cat. He is also feared and respected by other vampires. I know I said this list was in no particular order, but really Bones is at the top of it. Don't believe he deserves the title? Check out chapter 32 of book two in this series. When you can breathe regularly again, get back to me........


Packard
Head Rush (Disillusionists Trilogy #3)
by Carolyn Crane
My Review

Wow. Another series that I read on a whim that completely blew me away! Packard is unbelievably sexy, but he is such a nontypical hero. He has a pretty sucky past and is totally screwed up. In fact, for the first book in this series he is stuck inside a restaurant! But the steam between him and Justine and undeniable and HOT. And his attraction to her is so honest (even if nothing else out of his mouth is........).


Barrons
Shadowfever (Fever #5)
by Karen Marie Moning

If Bones is my #1 man, then Barrons is my #1 1/2. He is just so growly and angry and forceful and wonderful! His character grows and changes just as much as Mac's does in these books, but its in much more subtle ways. And when he calls her 'rainbow girl'......... *Swoon*. What a sexy beast!


Curran
Magic Slays (Kate Daniels #5)
by Ilona Andrews

I adore Curran and Kate in this series. Curran acts like exactly what he is - a shapeshifter that turns into a lion and is lord of the beasts. His arguments with Kate just make me love him more. He is clearly the only man in the world who can handle her, and he can barely do that.


Eric
Dead Reckoning (Sookie Stackhouse #11)
by Charlaine Harris

Is this my favorite Sookie book? Um, no. But is Eric still one of the all-time best book hotties ever? Yep!  Tall, blond, and doesn't give a shit? Perfect (well, in book world at least).


Reyes
Second Grave on the Left (Charley Davidson #2)
by Darynda Jones

Reyes is a little hard to define. He is not completely, uh, human. But what he IS is mysterious, secretive, and dripping sexuality. And apparently he is also "chocolate heroine" - works for me. 


Ethan
Hard Bitten (Chicagoland Vampires #4)
by Chloe Neill

Ethan, Ethan, Ethan. In many ways he is a lot like Eric. But Ethan is more suave and subtle in his plans and his actions. He is the gentlemen's vampire, so to speak. All the back and forth, will they or won't they between him and Merit drives me crazy, but it sure does keep him interesting. And so do those green eyes........