Monday 31 March 2014

Book Review - Dinner With A Vampire

Dinner With A Vampire
Author: Abigail Gibbs
Series: The Dark Heroine #1
Genres: Paranormal, Fantasy | Young Adult, New Adult
Release Date: 11th October 2012
Publishers: Harper Voyager
No. Pages: 549
Source: Purchased
Rating: 
Buy From: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble | Waterstones
For Violet Lee, a chance encounter on a darkened street draws her into a world beyond her wildest imaginings, a timeless place of vast elegance and immeasurable wealth – of beautiful mansions and lavish parties – where a decadent group of friends live for pleasure alone. A place from which there is no escape.. no matter how hard Violet tries.

Yet all the riches in the world can't mask the darkness that lies beneath the gilded surface, embodied in the charismatic but dangerous Kaspar Varn. Violet and Kaspar surrender to a passion that transcends their separate worlds – but it’s a passion that comes at a price...

Friday 28 March 2014

Book Review -The Edge of Never

The Edge of Never 
Author: J.A. Redmerski
Series: The Edge of Never #1
Genres: Contemporary, Travel | New Adult
Release Date: 15th November 2012
Publishers: Createspace
No. Pages: 426
Source: Purchased
Rating: 
Twenty-year-old Camryn Bennett had always been one to think out-of-the-box, who knew she wanted something more in life than following the same repetitive patterns and growing old with the same repetitive life story. And she thought that her life was going in the right direction until everything fell apart.

Determined not to dwell on the negative and push forward, Camryn is set to move in with her best friend and plans to start a new job. But after an unexpected night at the hottest club in downtown North Carolina, she makes the ultimate decision to leave the only life she’s ever known, far behind.

With a purse, a cell phone and a small bag with a few necessities, Camryn, with absolutely no direction or purpose boards a Greyhound bus alone and sets out to find herself. What she finds is a guy named Andrew Parrish, someone not so very different from her and who harbors his own dark secrets. But Camryn swore never to let down her walls again. And she vowed never to fall in love.

But with Andrew, Camryn finds herself doing a lot of things she never thought she’d do. He shows her what it’s really like to live out-of-the-box and to give in to her deepest, darkest desires. On their sporadic road-trip he becomes the center of her exciting and daring new life, pulling love and lust and emotion out of her in ways she never imagined possible. But will Andrew’s dark secret push them inseparably together, or tear them completely apart?

Thursday 27 March 2014

Who Wore It Better #6 - This Lullaby

Who Wore It Better is a meme created and hosted by Nitzan at The Book Babes Read and co-hosted here on Beautiful Bookish Butterflies by Amanda and Stacie. We don't talk about clothing or fashion and we definitely don't talk frills and spills, we talk books and their covers and who we think has the best. Nitzan is still very much enjoying her break from Drugs Called Books, so Amanda once again decided to delve into the covers of another standalone she really enjoyed, and one she'd recommend people read, This Lullaby.

Wednesday 26 March 2014

Book Review - If I Stay

If I Stay
Author: Gayle Forman
Series: If I Stay #1
Genres: Contemporary | Young Adult
Release Date: 13th May 2010
Publishers: Speak
No. Pages: 272
Source: Purchased
Rating:
Buy From: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble | Waterstones
Life can change in an instant.

A cold February morning, a snowy road, suddenly all of Mia's choices are gone. Except one.

As alone as she'll ever be, Mia must make the most difficult choice of all.

Tuesday 25 March 2014

No Books Allowed - March 2014


Welcome to No Books Allowed. This is a monthly feature hosted by me, used to discuss things things in life which aren't connected to books. This post can be used to talk about days out, music, TV, video games, films etc for all those book bloggers out there who do occasionally do stuff other than read and go to book events!
No Books Allowed by Raimy, over at Readaraptor

Book Review - Playing With Fire

Playing With Fire
Author: Derek Landy
Series: Skulduggery Pleasant #2
Genres: Fantasy | Childrens, Young Adult
Release Date: 28th April 2008
Publishers: Harper Collins
No. Pages: 351
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 
Buy From: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble | Waterstones
Valkyrie Cain - once known to the world as twelve-year-old Stephanie Edgley - has learned a great deal since beginning her apprenticeship to Skulduggery Pleasant, the well-dressed, living-dead wizard-detective. But she hasn't learned nearly enough to defeat the horrors massing against her and her friends: An old foe of Skulduggery's, Baron Vengeous, is bent on bringing back to life the horrible Grotesquery - an unkillable monster assembled from the most fearsome beasts of legend.

It's up to the ingenious, fearless, and quick-witted Valkyrie and Skulduggery to stop the Grotesquery from coming fully to life. Because once the thing is alive, it will call to its masters, the evil Faceless Ones who return will mean the end of the world.

Monday 24 March 2014

Book Review - The Distance Between Us

 The Distance Between Us
Author: Kasie West 
Standalone
Genres: Contemporary | Young Adult
Release Date:  2nd July 2013
Publishers: Harper Teen
No. Pages: 312
Source: Purchased
Rating: 
Buy From: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble | Waterstones 
Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers studies the rich like her own personal science experiment, and after years of observation she’s pretty sure they’re only good for one thing—spending money on useless stuff, like the porcelain dolls in her mother’s shop.

So when Xander Spence walks into the store to pick up a doll for his grandmother, it only takes one glance for Caymen to figure out he’s oozing rich. Despite his charming ways and that he’s one of the first people who actually gets her, she’s smart enough to know his interest won’t last. Because if there’s one thing she’s learned from her mother’s warnings, it’s that the rich have a short attention span. But Xander keeps coming around, despite her best efforts to scare him off. And much to her dismay, she's beginning to enjoy his company.

She knows her mom can’t find out—she wouldn’t approve. She’d much rather Caymen hang out with the local rocker who hasn’t been raised by money. But just when Xander’s attention and loyalty are about to convince Caymen that being rich isn’t a character flaw, she finds out that money is a much bigger part of their relationship than she’d ever realized. And that Xander’s not the only one she should’ve been worried about.

Book Review - The Goddess Test

The Goddess Test
Author: Aimee Carter
Series: Goddess Test #1
Genres: Mythology, Urban Fantasy | Young Adult
Release Date: 19th April 2011
Publishers: Harlequin Teen
No. Pages: 293
Source: Gifted
Rating:
Buy From: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble | Waterstones 
Every girl who had taken the test has died. Now it's Kate's turn.

It's always been just Kate and her mom - and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall.

Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. Mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld - and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

Kate is sure he's crazy - until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride and a goddess.

If she fails..

Book Review/Giveaway - If Only


If Only
Author: A.J. Pine
Standalone
Genres: Contemporary | Young Adult, New Adult
Release Date: 24th March 2014
Publishers: Entangled
No. Pages: 342
Source: Review Copy - Entangled
Rating: 
Buy From: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble | Waterstones
It's been two years since twenty-year-old Jordan had a boyfriend - which means it's been forever since she, well, you know. But now she’s off to spend her junior year in Aberdeen, Scotland, the perfect place to stop waiting for Mr. Right and just enjoy Mr. Right Now.

Sexy, sweet (and possible player) Griffin may be her perfect, no-strings-attached match. He’s fun, gorgeous, and makes her laugh. So why can't she stop thinking about Noah who, minutes after being trapped together outside the train’s loo, kisses Jordan like she’s never been kissed before? Never mind his impossible blue eyes, his weathered, annotated copy of The Great Gatsby ..oh, and his girlfriend.

Jordan knows everything this year has an expiration date. Aberdeen is supposed to be about fun rather than waiting for life to happen. But E. M. Forster, Shakespeare, and mistletoe on Valentine’s Day make her reconsider what love is and how far she’s willing to go for the right guy.

Saturday 22 March 2014

Book Review - Me Since You

Me Since You
Author: Laura Weiss
Standalone
Genres: Contemporary | Young Adult, New Adult
Release Date: 18th Febuary 2014
Publishers: MTV Books
No. Pages: 368
Source: Review Copy - MTV Books
Rating: 
Buy From: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble | Waterstones
Before and After. That's how Rowan Areno sees her life now. Before: she was a normal sixteen-year-old--a little too sheltered by her police officer father and her mother. After: everything she once believed has been destroyed in the wake of a shattering tragedy, and every day is there to be survived.

If she had known, on that Friday in March when she cut school, that a random stranger's shocking crime would have traumatic consequences, she never would have left campus. If the crime video never went viral, maybe she could have saved her mother, grandmother- and herself - from the endless replay of heartache and grief.

Finding a soulmate in Eli, a witness to the crime who is haunted by losses of his own, Rowan begins to see there is no simple, straightforward path to healing wounded hearts. Can she learn to trust, hope, and believe in happiness again?

Friday 21 March 2014

Book Review - Dead to You

Dead to You
Author: Lisa McMann
Standalone
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery| Young Adult
Release Date:  7th February 2012
Publishers: Simon Pulse
No. Pages: 243
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 
Some memories are better left untouched.

Ethan was abducted from his front yard when he was just seven years old. Now, at sixteen, he has returned to his family.
It's a miracle... at first.
Then the tensions start to build. His reintroduction to his old life isn't going smoothly, and his family is tearing apart all over again. If only Ethan could remember something, anything, about his life before, he'd be able to put the pieces back together.

But there's something that's keeping his memory blocked.
Something unspeakable.

Thursday 20 March 2014

Book Review - The Eternity Cure

The Eternity Cure
Author: Julie Kagawa 
Series: Blood of Eden #2
Genres: Dystopian, Vampires| Young Adult
Release Date: 3rd May 2013
Publishers: Mira Ink
No. Pages: 434
Source: Purchased
Rating: 
n Allison Sekemoto's world, there is one rule left: Blood calls to blood

She has done the unthinkable: died so that she might continue to live. Cast out of Eden and separated from the boy she dared to love, Allie will follow the call of blood to save her creator, Kanin, from the psychotic vampire Sarren. But when the trail leads to Allie's birthplace in New Covington, what Allie finds there will change the world forever-and possibly end human and vampire existence.

There's a new plague on the rise, a strain of the Red Lung virus that wiped out most of humanity generations ago-and this strain is deadly to humans and vampires alike. The only hope for a cure lies in the secrets Kanin carries, if Allie can get to him in time.

Allison thought that immortality was forever. But now, with eternity itself hanging in the balance, the lines between human and monster will blur even further, and Allie must face another choice she could never have imagined having to make

Book Review - Skulduggery Pleasant

Skulduggery Pleasant
Author: Derek Landy
Series: Skulduggery Pleasant #1
Genres: Fantasy | Childrens, Young Adult
Release Date: 30th September 2007
Publishers: Harper Collins
No. Pages: 368
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 
Buy From: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble | Waterstones
Meet Skulduggery Pleasant. Sure, he may lose his head now and again (in fact, he won his current skull in a poker match), but he is much more than he appears to be - which is good, considering that he is, basically, a skeleton. Skulduggery may be long dead, but he is also a mage who dodged the grave so that he could save the world from an ancient evil. But to defeat it, he'll need the help of a new partner: a not so innocent twelve-year-old girl named Stephanie. That's right, they're the heroes.

Stephanie and Skulduggery are quickly caught up in a battle to stop evil forces from acquiring her recently deceased uncle's most prized possession -the Sceptre of the Ancients. The Ancients were the good guys, an extinct race of uber-magicians from the early days of the earth, and the scepter is their most dangerous weapon, one capable of killing anyone and destroying anything. Back in the day, they used it to banish the bad guys, the evil Faceless Ones. Unfortunately, in the way of bad guys everywhere, the Faceless Ones are staging a comeback and no one besides our two heroes believes in the Faceless Ones, or even that the Sceptre is real.

So Stephanie and Skulduggery set off to find the Sceptre, fend off the minions of the bad guys, beat down vampires and the undead, prove the existence of the Ancients and the Faceless Ones, all while trading snappy, snippy banter worthy of the best screwball comedies.

Sunday 16 March 2014

Book Review - Dominion

Dominion
Author: Melody Manful
Series: Guardian Angels #1
Genres: Paranormal, Urban Fantasy | Young Adult
Release Date: 20th December 2013
Publishers: Melody Manful
No. Pages: 324
Source: Review Copy - Melody Manful
Rating: 
Buy From: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble | Waterstones
I Dare You.
Look Over Your Shoulders.
Do You See Them?
They are behind you...
They are always behind you.

Abigail Cells had a nightmare the day before she met Gideon, the new guy in school who has every girl drooling just to be near him. In her nightmare, she was murdered by a magical creature. As she gets to know Gideon, she begins to remember pieces of her nightmare, and was shocked when Gideon turned out to be the creature from her nightmare. Who is Gideon really? Should Abby allow herself to fall completely for him, or is he the next disaster waiting to happen?

Book Review - The Book of Broken Hearts

The Book of Broken Hearts
Author: Sarah Ockler
Standalone
Genres: Contemporary | Young Adult
Release Date: 21st May 2013  
Publishers: Simon Pulse
No. Pages: 352
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 
When all signs point to heartbreak, can love still be a rule of the road? A poignant and romantic novel from the author of Bittersweet and Twenty Boy Summer.

Jude has learned a lot from her older sisters, but the most important thing is this: The Vargas brothers are notorious heartbreakers. She’s seen the tears and disasters that dating a Vargas boy can cause, and she swore an oath—with candles and a contract and everything—to never have anything to do with one.

Now Jude is the only sister still living at home, and she’s spending the summer helping her ailing father restore his vintage motorcycle—which means hiring a mechanic to help out. Is it Jude’s fault he happens to be cute? And surprisingly sweet? And a Vargas?

Jude tells herself it’s strictly bike business with Emilio. Her sisters will never find out, and Jude can spot those flirty little Vargas tricks a mile away—no way would she fall for them. But Jude’s defenses are crumbling, and if history is destined to repeat itself, she’s speeding toward some serious heartbreak…unless her sisters were wrong?

Jude may have taken an oath, but she’s beginning to think that when it comes to love, some promises might be worth breaking.


Book Review - Fates

Fates
Author: Lanie Bross
Series: Fates #1
Genres: Mythology | Young Adult
Release Date: 11th February 2014
Publishers: Delacorte Press
No. Pages: 336
Source: Review Copy -  Delacorte Press
Rating: 
One moment. One foolish desire. One mistake. And Corinthe lost everything.

She fell from her tranquil life in Pyralis Terra and found herself exiled to the human world. Her punishment? To make sure people's fates unfold according to plan. Now, years later, Corinthe has one last assignment: kill Lucas Kaller. His death will be her ticket home.

But for the first time, Corinthe feels a tingle of doubt. It begins as a lump in her throat, then grows toward her heart, and suddenly she feels like she is falling all over again--this time for a boy she knows she can never have. Because it is written: one of them must live, and one of them must die. In a universe where every moment, every second, every fate has already been decided, where does love fit in?

The Liebster Blog Awards!



Saturday 15 March 2014

DNF Book Review - Dead Silent

Dead Silent
Author: Sharon Jones
Series: Poppy Sinclair #2
Genres: Mystery, Contemporary | Young Adult
Release Date: 6th Febuary 2014
Publishers: Orchard Books
No. Pages: 336
Source: Review Copy - Orchard Books
Rating: 
Buy From: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble | Waterstones
When Poppy Sinclair and her boyfriend visit snowy Cambridge, she doesn't expect to discover the body of a student - arms outstretched in the act of smearing bloody angel wings on the chapel's floor. Suddenly, Poppy is faced with the possibility that the one closest to her heart might be the one committing the most malicious of crimes.

Dodging reporters and police, dreading what she might find, Poppy follows the clues left by a murderer bent on revenge.

Long-hidden secrets are chillingly revealed, an avenging angel seeks forgiveness and red-hot vengeance must be quelled in the amazing new Poppy Sinclair thriller.

Thursday 13 March 2014

Who Wore It Better #5 - No and Me

Who Wore It Better is a meme created and hosted by Nitzan at The Book Babes Read and co-hosted here on Beautiful Bookish Butterflies by Amanda and Stacie. We don't talk about clothing or fashion and we definitely don't talk frills and spills, we talk books and their covers and who we think has the best. As some people may have noticed, Nitzan is on a hiatus so she can just take some her time and not worry about Drugs Called Books as much, so Amanda decided to continue posting and chose the covers of a book she read quite recently, a standalone, No and Me, by Delphine de Vigan.

Wednesday 12 March 2014

Book Review - Searching For Beautiful

Searching for Beautiful
Author: Nyrae Dawn
Standalone
Genres: Contemporary | Young Adult, New Adult
Release Date: 4th March 2014
Publishers: Entangled: Teen
No. Pages: 304
Source: Review Copy - Entangled Teen
Rating: 
Buy From: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble | Waterstones
Before it happened..
Brynn had a group of best friends, a boyfriend who loved her, a growing talent for pottery. She had a life. And then…she had none.

After it happened..
Everything was lost. The boy she now knew never loved her. The friends who felt she betrayed their trust. The new life just beginning to grow inside her. Brynn believes her future is as empty as her body until Christian, the boy next door, starts coming around. Playing his guitar and pushing her to create art once more. She meets some new friends at the local community center, plus even gets her dad to look her in the eye again.. sort of. But letting someone in isn't as easy as it seems.

Now…
Can Brynn open up her heart to truly find her life’s own beauty, when living for the after means letting go of the before?

Sunday 9 March 2014

Book Review - The Iron Knight/Iron Valentine/Iron's Prophecy

The Iron Knight
Author: Julie Kagawa
Series: The Iron Fey #4
Genres: Fantasy | Young Adult
Release Date: 26th October 2011
Publishers: Harlequin Teen
No. Pages: 399
Source: Purchased
Rating: 
Buy From: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble | Waterstones
To cold faery prince Ash, love was a weakness for mortals and fools. His own love had died a horrible death, killing any gentler feelings the Winter prince might have had. Or so he thought.

Then Meghan Chase - a half human, half fey slip of a girl - smashed through his barricades, binding him to her irrevocably with his oath to be her knight. And when all of Faery nearly fell to the Iron fey, she severed their bond to save his life. Meghan is now the Iron Queen, ruler of a realm where no Winter or Summer fey can survive.

With the unwelcome company of his archrival, Summer Court prankster Puck, and the infuriating cait sith Grimalkin, Ash begins a journey he is bound to see through to its end - a quest to find a way to honor his vow to stand by Meghan's side.

To survive in the Iron Realm, Ash must have a soul and a mortal body. But the tests he must face to earn these things are impossible. And along the way Ash learns something that changes everything. A truth that challenges his darkest beliefs and shows him that, sometimes, it takes more than courage to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Thursday 6 March 2014

Book Review - The Iron Queen/Summer' Crossing/Ash's Letter

The Iron Queen
Author: Julie Kagawa
Series: The Iron Fey #3
Genres: Fantasy | Young Adult
Release Date: 25th January 2011
Publishers: Harlequin Teen
No. Pages: 358
Source: Purchased
Rating: 
Buy From: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble | Waterstones
I thought it was over. That my time with the fey, the impossible choices I had to make, the sacrifices of those I loved, was behind me. But a storm is approaching, an army of Iron fey that will drag me back, kicking and screaming. Drag me away from the banished prince who's sworn to stand by my side. Drag me into the core of conflict so powerful, I'm not sure anyone can survive it.

Monday 3 March 2014

Book Review - Losing It

Losing It
Author:  Cora Carmack 
Series: Losing It #1
Genres: Contemporary, College | New Adult
Release Date:  October 15th 2012
Publishers: Harper Collins
No. Pages: 204
Source: Purchased 
Rating: 
Buy From: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble | Waterstones
Sick of being the only virgin among her friends, Bliss Edwards decides the best way to deal with the problem is to lose it as quickly and simply as possible - a one-night stand. But her plan turns out to be anything but simple when she freaks out and leaves a gorgeous guy alone and naked in her bed with an excuse that no one with half-a-brain would ever believe. And as if that weren't embarrassing enough, when she arrives for her first class of her last college semester, she recognizes her new theatre professor. She'd left him naked in her bed about 8 hours earlier.

Book Review - Ignite Me

Ignite Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Series: Shatter Me #3
Genres: Dystopian, Fantasy | Young Adult
Release Date: 4th February 2014
Publishers: Harper Collins
No. Pages: 421
Source: Borrowed
Rating:
Buy From: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble
With Omega Point destroyed, Juliette doesn’t know if the rebels, her friends, or even Adam are alive. But that won’t keep her from trying to take down The Reestablishment once and for all. Now she must rely on Warner, the handsome commander of Sector 45. The one person she never thought she could trust. The same person who saved her life. He promises to help Juliette master her powers and save their dying world . . . but that’s not all he wants with her.

The Shatter Me series is perfect for fans who crave action-packed young adult novels with tantalizing romance like Divergent by Veronica Roth, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and Legend by Marie Lu. Tahereh Mafi has created a captivating and original story that combines the best of dystopian and paranormal, and was praised by Publishers Weekly as “a gripping read from an author who’s not afraid to take risks.” Now this final book brings the series to a shocking and satisfying end.