Book Review: Dead As a Doornail by Charlaine Harris

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Dead as a Doornail
Sookie Stackhouse #5 - True Blood

Author: Charlaine Harris
Reading Level: New Adult
Genre: Fantasy Mystery
Released: April 25th 2006
Review Source: Ace Books

Small-town cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse has had more than her share of experience with the supernatural—but now it’s really hitting close to home.

When Sookie sees her brother Jason’s eyes start to change, she knows he’s about to turn into a were-panther for the first time—a transformation he embraces more readily than most shapeshifters she knows. But her concern becomes cold fear when a sniper sets his deadly sights on the local changeling population, and Jason’s new panther brethren suspect he may be the shooter. Now, Sookie has until the next full moon to find out who’s behind the attacks—unless the killer decides to find her first…

People around Bon Temps have been mysteriously (yet meticulously) been getting killed, humans think they are random killings, Sookie Stackhouse knows that someone is hunting shifters. Book five of the series focuses more on the Were’s and shifters but the Vamps still walk around after dark.

Sookie is trying real hard this time to keep out of things until Sam get’s shot, was he the target or was Sookie? While she is able to not sleep with anyone and make matters more confusing, everyone’s vying for her heart. That includes Bill and Eric (although Bill’s got no shot in hell now), Calvin Norris is still giving it a go, but with Alcide Herveaux it’s hard to focus on anyone shifter. Alcide has been poking around for sure, but he’s letting Were business get in the way of him and Sookie, in that he’s asking a whole lot of favors that will bite them in the ass if he can’t be honest with what he needs from her upfront.

The who did it part of the book, was predictable. However, this didn’t take away from the overall enjoyment of the story. I've got book six ready to go!

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Book Review: Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

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Dead Until Dark
Sookie Stackhouse #1

Author: Charlaine Harris
Reading Level: New Adult
Genre: Fantasy Mystery
Released: May 1st, 2001
Review Source: Purchase

Sookie Stackhouse is a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana.
She's quiet, keeps to herself, and doesn't get out much. Not because she's not pretty. She is. It's just that, well, Sookie has this sort of "disability." She can read minds. And that doesn't make her too dateable. And then along comes Bill. He's tall, dark, handsome--and Sookie can't hear a word he's thinking. He's exactly the type of guy she's been waiting for all her life....

But Bill has a disability of his own: He's a vampire with a bad reputation. He hangs with a seriously creepy crowd, all suspected of--big surprise--murder. And when one of Sookie's coworkers is killed, she fears she's next....

Sookie is a small town girl in Louisiana, and works at the local watering hole as a waitress. Up until now, her life has been small and safe, living with her Grandmother. With the vampires out of the proverbial coffin, one moves into town.

Bill is handsome, and quite the gentleman, despite being an undead vampire. He sweets young Sookie off her feet, as well as charms her Granny! The towns folk don't take to kindly to their relationship, but everyone's trying to keep cool. Everything turns sour when not one, but a few of the local girls start turning up dead, and a lot of fang banger rumors floating around. All eye's are turning to Bill, and if not him they suspect Sookie's brother Jason.

Sookie tries to poke around into the brains around her while she's working, hoping to find any clue as to who's killing these poor girls, before the local PD hauls Jason off in hand cuffs.

A little back story on why it took me this long to read this particular book series, because really one would think I’d have already read it by now. I wasn’t drawn to the cover, I know, don’t judge a book - yadda-yadda-yadda! I remember when a girl was reading the book, back way before the show was a reality, and she was gushing about it. I just didn’t think much of it at the time. Fast forward to seeing the shown on Netflix and I was hooked, it was raunchy and well written, and the cast was so eye catching I was drawn in. I was also drawn in since it was set in Louisiana and that was just so odd and perfect I watched the show.

Book Review: The Beast by J.R. Ward

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The Beast
Black Dagger Brotherhood #14
Author: J.R. Ward
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Release Date: April 5th 2016
Review Source: NAL

Rhage and Mary return in a new novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, a series “so popular, I don’t think there’s a reader today who hasn’t at least heard of [it]” (USA Today).
Nothing is as it used to be for the Black Dagger Brotherhood. After avoiding war with the Shadows, alliances have shifted and lines have been drawn. The slayers of the Lessening Society are stronger than ever, preying on human weakness to acquire more money, more weapons, more power. But as the Brotherhood readies for an all-out attack on them, one of their own fights a battle within himself…

For Rhage, the Brother with the biggest appetites, but also the biggest heart, life was supposed to be perfect—or at the very least, perfectly enjoyable. Mary, his beloved shellan, is by his side and his King and his brothers are thriving. But Rhage can’t understand—or control—the panic and insecurity that plague him…

And that terrifies him—as well as distances him from his mate. After suffering mortal injury in battle, Rhage must reassess his priorities—and the answer, when it comes to him, rocks his world...and Mary’s. But Mary is on a journey of her own, one that will either bring them closer together or cause a split that neither will recover from...

So here we are, another day, another Black Dagger Brotherhood book. I was looking forward to reading The Beast (Black Dagger Brotherhood #14) by J.R. Ward for so long. Not only do I look forward to any BDB book, but I loves me some Rhage, so I was so excited when this was released. I immediately jumped right into it as soon as it arrived on my Nook. As fans of the series know this was Rhage’s second book (J.R. Ward has begun a second round of books in the series about each character) and we were now moving a step up in his relationship with his shellan (term for a vampire’s wife in the series) Mary, and their desire to have a family.

I will admit in the first quarter of the book I was a little underwhelmed, which totally bummed me out because I absolutely love this series. It/Rhage just came across as so melancholy in tone. Rhage who is our usual goofball was being a total downer and we didn’t really know why. The reason is revealed thankfully not too far into the book, but it still gave me cause to feel a little disconnected to the characters and the plot at first. Then we were also introduced to yet another sub-plot. I have to also admit that all the additional sub-plots that have popped up into this series in the last few books have been exhausting and rather annoying. The reason I loved the first go round of this series was because they focused on the brothers so much. Yes, there were the Lessers (the evil army they are fighting a war against), but we got to spend so much time with the brothers in those original books. Then J.R. Ward started adding sub-plots. Okay, I can handle a new sub-plot in each book to keep things new, fresh and interesting, but in this book alone I counted at least four additional sub-plots on top of the Rhage and Mary storyline. The jumping around to different characters and scenarios was giving me whiplash.

With that said I did feel like once I got past the first quarter of the book things really started to get interesting and much, much better. The sub-plot with the character Assail (which at first I couldn’t stand) actually really got good, whereas I could have done without the one with the human girl and the reporter. The story with Layla had its good and bad parts for me. I’m over the whole thing with her and Xcor being dragged out. It has been dragging out over several books now already. It’s like let something happen to bring this thing front and center or just forget about it. I’m slowly getting over it and I don’t want to because I think it could play out to be a really juicy bit.

I don’t want to give away details because that would obviously just ruin it for you. I still think it is a must read book. I love this series and no matter what I will continue with it until the end. This book wasn’t bad at all, like I said it really did pick up and I got super into it after the initial first few chapters, I just wish J.R. Ward would concentrate on the sub-plots she has already started instead of adding new ones with each book and then dragging out the old ones forever. I mean, if she doesn’t start taking care of what is already there while adding new ones, we are going to end up with 100 sub-plots in the upcoming books and the chapters about the actual brothers will be almost nonexistent. This is the Black Dagger Brotherhood series and I would like to focus back more on them.

Overall I give this particular book four stars. Again, I loved the book, I love Rhage, I just wish there had been more about just him and not so much on other characters who aren’t brothers.

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I agree with Pauline 100% when it comes to what she said about The Beast. I was "bored" with the 1st half of the book in a sense. I'm use to so much with these Vampires and Ward took a calm route with the beginning of The Beast. All the sub-plots and secondary characters I could really do without sometimes. I was expecting more about Rhage and his Mary and I didn't get it till sometime after the half way mark of the book. And that's when the magic happened. What I love about Ward and BDB was strong in the second half of the book and at this point I could not put the book down for a second. So this is why I agree with Pauline also in giving the book a 4 star rating. And as always, can't wait for the next installment in this BDB world.

Just In: The Debut of The Morganville Vampire Web TV Series Trailer

Exciting news just released for fans of Rachel Caine's series The Morganville Vampires. The trailer for the web series has been release finally. Check out below. After watching the trailer let Caine know on Twitter how much you loved it. Tweet her @rachelcaine.

The web series for The Morganville Vampires was brought to life after 832 backers pledged on Kickstarter. The project was fully funded in July of 2013, and now after a little over a year – the trailer for the series is finally here.

If you aren’t familiar with Morganville - a brave teen (Claire Danvers) moves to the very isolated West Texas town to attend the local university, only to (a) run afoul of the local mean (very mean) girls, and (b) move to the safety of off-campus housing with three strangers.

But the plot thickens when she discovers that her new housemates aren’t crazy: Morganville really is run by vampires. They own it, and every one in it. And now ... they own her.

The Morganville Vampires Series begins October 27th.

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And if you want to refresh your memory or read it for the first time, you can start off with The Morganville Vampires, Vol. 1 which includes Glass Houses and The Dead Girls' Dance written by Rachel Caine.

Book Review: Vampires of Manhattan by Melissa de la Cruz

Vampires of Manhattan
The New Blue Bloods Coven #1
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
Reading Level: New Adult | Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Released: September 9th 2014
Review Source: Hyperion Books | Goldberg McDuffie

The Vampires of Manhattan is "hipster horror"--the memorable characters from her Blue Bloods series are older and cooler than before, trying to build "Millennial" lives in the bustle of Manhattan while battling forces of evil and, of course, each other.

Hero of this sexy, paranormal action tale is Oliver Hazard-Perry, former human conduit, and Manhattan's only human-turned-vampire, now the head of the Blue Bloods Coven. When his all-too-human lover is found murdered on the eve of the coven's annual Four Hundred Ball--a celebration meant to usher in a new era in vampire society, and to mark the re-unification of the Coven after decades of unrest and decay--Oliver is devastated.

Now, not only is he trying to create a new world order for the immortal elite, he's the prime suspect and is stalked by the newly installed head of the vampire secret police. Because according to the new rules, vampires who take human life can now be executed. Burned.

How can an immortal sentenced to die fight back? He has to find the killer--and the answers lie deep in vampire lore.

It was strange starting Vampires of Manhattan. Reading Blue Bloods where all main characters were teenagers to now where they’re all grown up sophisticated urban elite in Vampires of Manhattan. Usually once the series ends that’s it, it’s finished and you don’t get re-visits. So that was a nice change to get a new series of them 10 years down the line. Though if you plan on reading the Blue Blood’s series I wouldn’t recommend reading this book first. It will spoil a lot of things (unless you don’t mind that), but saying that, I think this book will be liked by both sides. I think those who enjoyed Blue Bloods will enjoy reading this series but also those who didn’t. I think enough information was included that new readers can enjoy this book without getting horribly lost in the plot. The plot wasn’t complex but easy to follow.

After ten years of peace, something went wrong. Strange things are happening, a body is found and pentagrams are appearing mysteriously. An artist is missing, the young girl is dead and a sinister drug is popping up. Something is clearly wrong with all these odd things happening.

The thing I loved about this book: some of the things which were briefly mentioned in Blue Bloods—and never got a real explanation to—were fleshed out in Vampires of Manhattan. I’d say this book is more of de la Cruz’s “adult” work (think Witches of East End) and you can tell this was intended to be more grown up, like her writing grew with the characters. Though this book was a good edition to the Blue Bloods world, you don’t have to read it. If you’d rather leave Schuyler (and company) where Gates of Paradise ended, it’s all good!

{Dual} Book Review: Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead + Frostbite News & Giveaway

Silver Shadows
Bloodlines #5
Author: Richelle Mead
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal | Vampires | Magic
Released: July 29th 2014
Review Source: Purchased

Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives.

In The Fiery Heart, Sydney risked everything to follow her gut, walking a dangerous line to keep her feelings hidden from the Alchemists.

Now in the aftermath of an event that ripped their world apart, Sydney and Adrian struggle to pick up the pieces and find their way back to each other. But first, they have to survive.

For Sydney, trapped and surrounded by adversaries, life becomes a daily struggle to hold on to her identity and the memories of those she loves. Meanwhile, Adrian clings to hope in the face of those who tell him Sydney is a lost cause, but the battle proves daunting as old demons and new temptations begin to seize hold of him. . . .

Their worst fears now a chilling reality, Sydney and Adrian face their darkest hour in this heart-pounding fifth installment in the New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series, where all bets are off.

AT FIRST SIGHT:
• The covers for this series don’t too much for me to be completely honest, but with that being said it looked sad. With Adrian in the backdrop kind of looking afar, it helped me realize I’ll definitely need to prepare for this one. You never know what Richelle Mead will throw at you.


STORYLINE:
• So we pick up after The Fiery Heart, Sydney was captured by the Alchemist to be sent to a re-education sent because she became too cozy with the vampires. Silver Shadows is a true test to Adrian and Sydney’s relationship, if they can withstand anything, but also a test to their strength, can they overcome the demons that are heading them straight on.

HERO/HEROINE:
• We truly have an amazing amount of heroes and heroines in this book, everyone is out there to help another, it’s truly amazing what the characters do and overcome with a little help from each other. But our main hero and heroine are Sydney and Adrian. Sydney truly tried anything and everything while in the re-education center to help everyone. Then you have Adrian who is fighting the dark side of Spirit while trying to break out Sydney and all the other Alchemists that are holed up and tortured in the re-education center.

FAVORITE SUPPORTING CHARACTER:
• For Silver Shadows I definitely loved Marcus. He was always there to help Adrian and was always getting any updates or clues as to where Sydney may be held. Sydney and Adrian would’ve been nowhere without Marcus’ involvement.

SOMETHING WE LOVED:
• Is this really a question? Uhh Adrian, I will always love Adrian. He may have been a little rocky in the beginning but he truly let his love for Sydney pull him out of his ugly storm and get to her no matter what. Sydney’s compassion to do what’s right and help whomever in need is truly extraordinary and has become so much bigger since we were first introduced to her. We really see her grow with every book.

SOMETHING WE HATED:
• I really loved this book and didn’t have much to complain about, if anything. I definitely hated seeing Adrian hurt so badly, but he quit at a point in the beginning and that truly hurt and I definitely hated it.
AN EVENT WE NEVER SAW COMING:
• The friendships and alliances that Sydney made while in re-education.

CLIFFHANGER:
• Richelle Mead always has cliffhangers, and they always kill me. Always. Of course this one did as well and I am of course, freaking out over it.

WOULD I RECOMMEND IT:
• The Vampire Academy and The Bloodlines are both series I’ll always recommend to people. It’s one of my favorites and always will be, and people definitely need to be introduced to Adrian.

FAVORITE QUOTE:
• "I know what love is, Mom. I've had love that burns in every fiber of my being, that drives me to be a better person and empowers me through each moment of the day. If you’d ever had something like that, you’d hold on to it with every bit of strength you had." - Lord Adrian Ivashkov.

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You know when you cannot stop thinking over a book because either you’re frustrated or overjoyed? Well after I was done reading Silver Shadows I was both. But most of all I was frustrated. Just the fact that I was frustrated I thought this was bad so I gave this book a four. But like I mentioned, I kept thinking about the story after, and well I come to turn that being frustrated is good. The book has served its purpose. I should know better. When it comes to Richelle, I should know she loves to mess with our heads and hearts. She can be cruel like that. Which is the main reason why I love her. She loves to throws lemons at us just to make some sweet lemonade at the end. 

While at a 30 Seconds to Mars/Linkin Park concert, when the This is War song was being performed, I pictured The Moroi fighting against The Alchemist! Seriously this book was haunting me. 

Silver Shadows picks up after The Fiery Heart, in which Sydney, a former believer of the Alchemist, but now in love with the heartthrobbing Adrian, a royal and bad boy gone good Moroi, is being captured and sent to re-education.  This is a place like rehab, only that you are being torture if you don’t agree with them. But even in the darkness, “The center will hold”. 

Part of my frustration was this book started slow. I felt like I was reading the first book of the series, Bloodlines. I had such a hard time getting through Bloodlines only because the transition between Rose and Sydney were completely different. Rose the kickass dhampir that doesn’t allow anyone to mess with her, to the very serious and loner Sydney. But yet again, Sydney has proven she is capable to kickass! This girl has completely grown to being such a freakingly amazing and power character. God, how I love her! She kicked ass plenty of time in this book that I have to say she surpassed Rose. 

And Adrian. Dear Lord Adrian. I was so mad! Pissed!!!! If you know me, I ADORE ADRIAN. But in Silver Shadows, I was pissed at him! Sydney, poor Sydney has been fighting to stay strong at this insane place… while he is parting! AH! I wanted to shake him and wanted to make him snap out of it. At the same time I understood him. This poor, brokenhearted guy, needed help and everyone turned their back on him. And this made me even more frustrated! I wanted to slap everyone in this book! GOD! I was pissed. Sydney was there for them when they most needed her and now that she needs them, no one but Adrian was willing to fight for her! 

Not to give more spoilers, which I already did, Silver Shadow turns from slow paced to fast pace to WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON PACED to OMG, ADRIAN I FREAKING LOVE YOU paced. Yeah, this book was crazy! Crazy good. 

If you haven’t read the Bloodlines series, I will go ahead and smack you in the head. LOL just kidding. This is a must read series and I highly recommend that you start soon. 

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A week ago, we learned the filmmakers behind the first film planned to start a crowd funding campaign in order to fund the sequel, ‘Frostbite.’ The potential for a sequel isn’t the only incentive to contribute to the campaign.  Contributors will get exclusive updates from the set, St. Vladimir’s apparel, walk-on roles, and much more.

If fans meet the $1.5 million goal, pre-production will begin late this year with the hopes of a late 2015 release date. The campaign launched August 6 and will close on September 05, 2014.

Please help us, the #VAFamily with this campaign. Share the news, follow their accounts, and if you can, donate. Adrian, my dear sweet loving and caring and amazing character is introduced in this book. Trust me you will fall head over heels in love with Adrian!

HELP US SPREAD THE WORD

BECOME A FROSTBITE DONOR

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