Misguided Angel by Melissa de la Cruz

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★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion Book CH; First Edition edition (October 26, 2010)
• Language: English

Rating:

After inheriting the dark Van Alen Legacy, Schuyler fled to Florence with her forbidden love, Jack. Now the two of them must embark on the mission Schuyler was destined to complete: to find and protect the five remaining gates that guard the earth from Lucifer, lord of the Silver Bloods. 

Back in New York, Mimi has been elected Regent of a crumbling coven. Struggling with her heartache over the loss of Kingsley and with her overwhelming desire to destroy Jack, she must focus all of her energy on a perilous new threat. Vampires are being abducted and their captors are planning to burn them alive online…for all the world to see. Help arrives in the form of Deming Chen, a Venator from Shanghai, who must untangle the web of deceptions before the killers strike again. 

As the young vampires struggle for the survival of the coven, they uncover a deadly secret, a truth first discovered by Schuyler’s mother during the Renaissance but kept buried for centuries. And as the Blue Blood enclave weakens yet further, fate leads Schuyler to a terrible choice that will ultimately map the destiny of her heart

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

"On the eve of the crescent moon

The vampire burns."

This is hands down my favorite book of the series.

I hate having to wait a year between books b/c normally when the release date rolls around I've already forgotten where the previous book left off. lol 
So, of course I was a little confused at first but after refreshing my memory of The Van Allen Legacy I was ready to go!

I love love love the Jack/Sky storyline. 

They are one of my absolute favorite "couples" in the Paranormal Romance world! I honestly thought Melissa would have squashed their romance a while back b/c they're so unbelievable sweet! lol Normally authors love to carry on a love triangle to the last possible minute but Melissa nipped that in the bud by The Van Allen Legacy so Misguided Angel is full of tender Jack/Sky moments! 
I ate every bit of it up!

And Mimi!

Oh Mimi, she is getting back to her usual cruel self now that Kingsley is gone. I used to hate Mimi Force but I find myself enjoying her more and more as the series goes on. She's complicated, moody, and grade A Bitch but I wouldn't have her any other way. 
Oliver is back as well and my heart hurts for him. He connects with Mimi a bit during the book b/c they're both ailing from broken hearts. In another world I could totally see a Mimi/Oliver hookup lol Non? =P


This book switches back and forth from Sky's POV to Mimi's and to a new character in the series, Shangai.
(She's a pretty badass Venator!)

I was a little skeptical about adding another character to the group but I throughly enjoyed Shangai's POV! Towards the end I kept saying "whoah" and "wow" over and over again but it.was.that.GOOD!
haha I know I'ma dork!

I will admit though that I was kind of  bummed that Cruz decided to flip flop between different characters POV b/c I want a book that's all about Jack and Sky! haha jk jk. The next novel in the series, Lost in Time, is going to be the final novel for this cycle of characters. Insert wail here. Which is (sadly enough) due to hit the bookshelves Fall 2012.
Lucky for me I still have a short novella, Bloody Valentine, to read and from what I'm hearing/reading it is going to be EPIC haha. 


I read in a newsletter that Melissa might be stopping by Charleston, NC this November! I'm crossing my fingers that she does b/c I will so be there! I've never had the opportunity to meet one of my all time favorite authors. (Heck I've never seen any author in person!) So it's safe to say I will be in total fan girl mode if she does grace NC with her awesomeness!  

Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

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★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★.

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (October 12, 2010)
• Language: English

Rating:

Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★


I loved Beautiful Creatures! It had the beginnings of an awesome story but Beautiful Darkness really got under my skin. I didn't like Lena at all! 
The drama...
..oh the drama...
It's every where in this book. 
Ethan comes off as a love sick puppy and that was a bit of a turn off for this girl (me lol). Amma is awesome as always and I really enjoyed seeing her work a bit of her magic..so to speak! Every time this story would talk about her pies I started craving them! If "Amma" ever made a cook book I'd totally buy it!
Anywho.
Lena went through a pretty tough situation at the end of Beautiful Creatures. Beautiful Darkness picks up with the loss of a very important character and the beginnings of our Caster girl, Lena, having a melt down. It's tough loosing someone you love and when you're still trying to figure out if you're good or evil I think you deserve to have a mini meltdown. Lena has lost herself and ends up shutting out Ethan for 80% of the book while she pals around with her spunky yet bad Dark Caster cousin, Ridley, and a new character that you meet at ____'s funeral, John Breed.
John Breed is bad of course lol I think most people can tell he's trouble just from his name! Add in dark clothes,long hair, supernatural powers, vibrant green eyes, a motorcycle and we've got ourselves a hot new bad boy in this series...with the possibility of a love triangle! Ahh teen angst!
Ethan is an adorable character but he is a total girl in this book! Yes, I know this is fictional story but ugh it frustrated me that not only did his first real girlfriend...the girl of his dreams (literally!).. mentally, verbally, Casterly! abuse him but she also runs off with another guy and after all of that hurt/pain he still takes her back! No way that would happen in the real world! I sooo wanted Amma to smack Lena upside the head with her spatula! Some people think that it's sweet that Ethan is so sure of Lena's love but I found myself hating Lena every time she had an encounter with Ethan. I wanted to strangle her during most of the book! But atlas, She's "claimed" herself. So maybe she'll get back on my good side in the next novel, Beautiful Chaos.
Best Moments of this book (for me) are 
Amma's one liners
Every convo between Link and Ethan.
Ethan seeing his Mother.
The mystery of John Breed.
While I didn't love this book as much as the first I still feel deep down that it was a solid 3. Meaning it was a good read. Garcia and Stohl know how to make you feel like you're right the in Gatlin with Ethan, Link, and the rest of the gang.
I'm looking forward to seeing where Beautiful Chaos will pick up..especially since Lena has finally "claimed" herself.
Oh, and I really really hope they will share what Link was doing in Ethan's basement when he was 9 years old! Every time Amma says that line I always bust out laughing! Being that it's Link, I can only imagine what he was doing!

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl

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★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Rating:
• 

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Let me first start out by saying that Ang and I attended a chat awhile back with the two authors of this book. I personally have never heard of the series and after the chat I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book! (I say that a lot huh? lol)

Anyways, the best thing (for me) about this book is that it's from Ethan's point of view. I can't tell you the last time I read a book from a male's prospective. Ethan is a breath of fresh air! 

Like most books there are some people who think the book is over hyped. I will admit at first it was kind of bland but the deeper I got into the book the more invested I became in its characters. 

Ethan Wate is our hero with a tragic past who is ready to bust out of his home town of Gatlin, SC and never look back. Ethan lost his mother a year before the book takes place. So he's still pretty vulnerable in the opening pages of the book. His dad has turned into a recluse since his mothers death and his house keeper, Amma, has a habit of leaving dolls/charms around the house for protection from unseen forces.

FYI, Amma is the shiz. 

Seriously.

I want a nanny/housekeeper as cool as she is...

This book broadened my vocabulary through the love of Amma's crosswords! lol I found myself giggling out loud and re-reading every time she would use a word from her crossword in regards to something Ethan did.

 Any who, Link is Ethan's best friend and he brings most of the comedy to the story. Link is seriously one of the best friends anyone could ever have.  One of my favorite lines in the book is when Ethan explains how Link/himself became friends. (Apparently Link asked Ethan if he wanted the other half of his Twinkie on the bus in 2nd grade. Ethan later found out the reason Link offered it was because he had dropped it on the floor! =P) 

You also find out in the opening pages that Ethan has been haunted by his dreams for a while now. Dreams about a girl who smells of rosemary and lemons. He's alway trying to save her from falling but never finishes the dream.

I'll give you one guess who said girl is...umhmm. =D

Lena Ducchanes is nothing but strange. She's actually what I always wanted to be in high school but never had enough courage or confidence to pull off. She has long black hair and loves to rock the painted black nails and emo/punk/goth inspired wardrobe! I love it! She's not popular. She's moody. Irrational at times and can change the weather with her emotions. I'm pretty much the same way minus the changing the weather when I'm sad part! So I can relate to her in a lot of different ways.

...Oh and she's a Caster...

...Who has to claim herself on her 16th moon...

Kind of like a Good Witch, Bad Witch scenario.

As if being a teenager wasn't hard enough!

In a town where everyone knows everyones business (the mailman reads every letter you get just b/c it's easier to hear bad news from someone who knows you instead of reading it off of a piece of paper lol) and the Civil War is known as The War of Northern Aggression. You can only imagine how bad things are shook up with Lena Ducchanes enrolls at Stonewall Jackson High.

Kami and Margaret do a fantastic job of making the reader feel like they're in South Carolina. I, myself, am a Carolina girl and I can say with 100% certainty they have some of our small town folks here figured out to a "T". I lost myself in their world for 3 whole days and it was ahh-mazin!

This book deserved a solid four (IMO)!

Also, the best line of the book is:

"Mortals. I envy you. You think you can change things. Stop the universe. Undo what was done long before you came along. You are such beautiful creatures." 

Powerful, huh?

This book was an excellent read and I'm looking forward to seeing what will happen next!

Review: Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

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• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Ace Trade (March 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• Rating:

Cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse is on a streak of real bad luck. First, her co-worker gets murdered and no one seems to care. Then Sookie is attacked - and poisoned - late one night by some weird and apparently mythical beast. She only survives because the local vampires roll up and graciously suck the poison from her veins (like they didn't enjoy it). But in return the blood-suckers need a favor. 

Which is why Sookie ends up in Dallas, using her telepathic skills to search for a missing vampire, on the condition that her undead friends don't do anything, well, vampiric while she's there. Easier said than done. All it takes is one delicious blonde and one small mistake for things to turn deadly...

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Living Dead in Dallas was a really fun easy read! Once again our beloved Sookie Stackhouse is back for another mystery. Unlike Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas opens up on a down note. Poor Lafayette (the short order cook at Merlottes) has been murdered. Everyone in the small town of Bon Temps knew Lafayette lived an "extreme" lifestyle (being the only very proud openly, gay, African American resident of Bon Temps). But no one would ever have wished him dead... or maybe they did? Poor Sookie is upset that no one seems to be concerned about who killed Lafayette so she makes it one of her personal priorities to bring some peace to her deceased friend.

As always things never run as smoothly as she hopes and before she knows it she has a run in with a "creature" in the woods who informs her that she has a message for the Area 5 Sheriff. The message is none to pretty and almost kills Sookie.


Before Sookie even has time to fully heal she's summoned to Fangtasia (the local vampire bar in Shreveport) to do the bidding of the Area 5 Sheriff, Eric Northman. Who in the book is described as a tall viking sex god lol and of course this isn't the first time Sookie has had to "help" Mr. Northman and the vampires out. Especially now that she's dating Vampire Bill. She pretty much has to do as Eric bids because Eric is above Bill and Sookie "belongs" to Bill so she's viewed as a possession of the vampire community. Sounds pretty shady huh? Well it's vampire politics! lol Something humans would never fully understand and neither will the reader but you learn to over look it haha. Eventually Sookie ends up in Dallas looking for a missing vampire and has a run in with an anti-vampire cult aptly named The Fellowship of the Sun.

After a few bang ups and one vampire burning to a crisp Miss Stackhouse finally makes it back home to Bon Temps only to find that she's been invited to an exclusive party that just happened to be one of the last places Lafayette had visited. Will Sookie find out what happened to Lafayette? Or even have a hot make out scene with the Viking God himself? I'm not telling!!! haha Charlaine doesn't disappoint with this follow up to "Dead Until Dark"! This is definitely one of my all time favorite series!

Review: Awakened (House of Night #8) by P.C. and Kristin Cast

First off I would like to apologize to this book and it's authors b/c I thought Kalona was on the cover when it is in fact REPHAIM lol

oh man oh man 

I am lacking some serious brain cells!

Now on to my review!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Awakened by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

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• Reading level: Young Adult
• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; First Edition edition (January 4, 2011)
• Language: English
• Rating:

At the start of Awakened, the pulse-pounding eighth installment of the bestselling House of Night series, Zoey has returned, mostly whole, from the Otherworld to her rightful place as High Priestess at the House of Night. Her friends are just glad to have her back, but after losing her human consort, Heath, will Zoey—or her relationship with her super- hot Warrior, Stark—ever be the same? Stevie Rae is drawn even closer to Rephaim, the Raven Mocker with whom she shares a mysterious and powerful Imprint, but he is a dangerous secret that isolates her from her school, her red fledglings, and even her best friends. When the dark threat of Neferet—who is coming closer and closer to achieving her twisted goal of immortality—and Kalona returns, what will it take to keep the House of Night from being lost forever, and what will one desperate girl do to keep her heart from being irreparably broken?

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

I was hoping that this book would refresh my love for the series but in the end it didn't come anywhere close to it.

The theme of this book is "Love".

Towards then end it's everywhere and I was pretty much rolling my eyes at every mention of it. lol I "love" books that are about love but in this book it was too forced. 

Awakened opens up from Neferet's POV which was nice b/c lets face it everyone loves a bad girl but man do I hate that character. She's totally bipolar in this book and actually succumbs to "Darkness" on a very very intimate level.

Can you say Ew!

Language is everywhere in this book as are sexual encounters and while they're no where near being as graphic as some... *I* personally think that it cheapens the book. Better than the infamous "fade to black" created by Stephanie Meyer tho so kudos for that. 

The highlights of this book would be (*SPOILERS*)

1. Zoey is now exclusively with Stark. Little does she know that Kalona is sharing his soul with Stark. So he can play peek-a-boo inside of Stark's head while he's getting his freak on with Z.

2. Poor Jack is killed by Neferet and of course no one can prove it. Also, she spends most of the book thinking she pretty much owns Kalona when in fact she doesn't and finds out at the end.

3. Stevie Rae's relationship with Rephaim is finally outed.

4. Nyx pays everyone a visit.

5. There's big dis on Anita Blake and Laurell K. Hamilton. Which *IMO* was lame. So so so lame.  Especially since half of the book is dedicated to Glee. Ugh.

6. Heath is coming back...not as Heath but as a soulless, mindless, slave to do Neferet's evil doing. Oh, joy!

Don't even get me started on the stereotypes that are in this book. Tasteless is the only thing that comes to mind. Especially in regards to Kramisha. 

I'm not sure if it's because I'm getting older but this books are becoming very unappealing to me. I really enjoyed the first four but after those I haven't found one that I thoroughly enjoyed...yet.

Destined is the next book in the series and even though I'll still end up buying it I really have zero faith in this series redeeming itself. Zoey didn't have any creditable character development in this book and Stevie Rae (IMO) is becoming way more interesting esp now that her relationship with Rephaim is out in the open. No one even gets a new tattoo in this installment lol that was something that I always looked forward too.

I guess when it comes down to it I think the authors are doing it for the money instead doing the series/characters any justice. I, of course, could be totally wrong but as a fan/reader I do not see the passion that they put into the characters in books 1-4 anymore. I'm curious to see how they plan on making four more books out of this mess of a plot and there's always the small bit of hope that I have that the series can redeem itself but at this point in time it's like watching (reading) a train wreck. 

I really hate having to give this book just one skull but that's being nice.

On a brighter note, I hope everyone has a great Monday!

Review: Dead Until Dark By Charlaine Harris

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★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Ace Trade; Reprint edition (March 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• Rating:
• 

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 kind 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 out with a seriously creepy crowd, all suspected of -- big surprise -- murder. And when one of Sookie's co-workers is killed, she fears she's next.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

   Ok. Simply put: I love this book! Really I do! lol Charlaine Harris  is an amazing writer and she knows exactly how to keep your attention from the start of the book until the finish! I've been reading vampire love stories for a while now and I will admit that I was hooked on Twilight almost as much as everyone else out there but as soon as the movie came out and it blew up for some reason I felt like I needed to move on and find another series of books to attach myself too! So one night while I'm channel surfing I stumble across a  show on HBO called "True Blood". And at first the accents drove me nuts but by the fourth episode I was hooked! After the season ended I decided that I really need to check out the actual book *Dead Until Dark* by Charliane Harris.

In the Southern Vampire Mysteries Sookie Stackhouse is the main character/heroine in the series and it's her point of view that you're reading the books through. Sookie is a strong, young, and unique southern belle. I say unique b/c Sookie has been blessed *or in her words cursed* with the ability to hear others thoughts. You know Telepathy!? The poor girl has lived her whole life struggling with trying to control her ability and be as normal as possible.

Dead Until Dark opens up with a 25 year old Sookie working a the local bar in her hometown of Bon Temps. When in walks the first vampire that has ever stepped foot inside of her tiny hole in the wall town in Northern Louisiana. In Sookie's world, everyone knows that Vampires exist because two years before there was this thing called the "Great Revelation". That was when vampires willingly came out into the open to humans to let them know that they existed and didn't want to live in the shadows anymore. This was all possible b/c the vampires claimed that they no longer needed to feed off of everyday ordinary humans b/c of the newly invented Japanese Synthetic Blood.

So, Sookie is of course ecstatic to meet her very first vampire and little does she know that this vampire is going to become apart of her every day life very soon. Oh, and of course there's some people who are none to happy about a vampire being in Bon Temps. But being the girl that she is Sookie doesn't pay any attention and goes out of her way to help the mysterious vampire in every way that she can.

This book has so much more that I could write about for hours and hours but I would never do it justice! If you like mysteries. Then this book is for you. If you like to read a good love story. Again this story is for you! And if you love a good laugh then what are you waiting for! I don't know how she does it but Charlaine Harris will have you angry one minute, "oohing" and "awing" the next and before you have time to think about it you'll be laughing your butt off at some of the most awesome one liners you have ever heard!

Oh and for a fun fact: The HBO show was named "True Blood" because that was one of the name brands of synthetic blood for the vamps in the book! Also the book cover with the book summery on my blog is the shows ad. This is the actual book cover:

Review: Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick

Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 432 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing (Oct. 19, 2010)
Language: English
Rating:
 

Nora should have know her life was far from perfect. Despite starting a relationship with her guardian angel, Patch (who, title aside, can be described anything but angelic), and surviving an attempt on her life, things are not looking up. Patch is starting to pull away and Nora can't figure out if it's for her best interest or if his interest has shifted to her arch-enemy Marcie Millar. Not to mention that Nora is haunted by images of her father and she becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to him that night he left for Portland and never came home. The farther Nora delves into the mystery of her father's death, the more she comes to question if her Nephilim blood line has something to do with it as well as why she seems to be in danger more than the average girl. Since Patch isn't answering her questions and seems to be standing in her way, she has to start finding the answers on her own. Relying too heavily on the fact that she has a guardian angel puts Nora at risk again and again. But can she really count on Patch or is he hiding secrets darker than she can even imagine?

My take on things:: I was hooked to this book more so than I was Hush Hush. I think I was more into it because I HAD to know what happened next after I read Hush, Hush! I loved Patch's and Nora's chemistry in the begining!. When things started to fall apart and Nora started to figure out Patch was different it was most definately crazy, because I thought they were like the perfect couple. I was getting frustrated with the situation and really wanted to give Marcie the smack down! From then on I knew there was something to Marcie, because I hoped Patch wasn't being like that on his own free will, lol. =P However,  I do have to say that I did not see that coming.  Don't want to post any spoilers, so def go read this book, well Hush, Hush first, then this one its a little nuts...imo.  Vee is hilarious as always, with her witty comments and poor judgement.  I still am in awe at Rixon, like really?!?! Who would have ever seen that coming? He was the last person I was expecting to be on the "dark side" !! But hey who knows nowadays lol (: anyways, BRING ON  BOOK 3!!

Review: Awakened (The Guardian Legacy #1) by Ednah Walters

Where to begin...oh where to begin! 

Ok, the first thing that comes to mind is I love that Ednah has created a strong female lead that isn't "the norm". Lil has fiery red hair, taller than you could ever imagine, and loves gypsie skirts with tons of colors. 

A girl after my own heart <3

...well I wish I had red hair...

...and I'd love to be taller than 5'4"...

...but I soooo can rock a gyspie skirt!

Anyways! Lil Falcon is our 16 y/o heroine who has never had the chance to stay in one place long enough to finish a year of school. Much less settle down and have some friends of her own. So you could imagine how lonely our girl is feeling in the begining chapters of the book. Lil suspects the reason that she moves around so much is due to her Grandfather's gypsy ways but little does she know it's actually a wee bit more complicated than that!

Enter Bran.

Oh, Bran.

You know the hottie on the cover.

Yup that one!

He kinda... sorta... breaks the news to Lil that she is in fact a Guardian. A Psi-Guardian to be exact. (And for those of you who have noooo clue what a Guardian is all I'm saying is Nephilim *which btw I think are going to be the new "vampires"!*) Grampa is a Guardian too of course! And Bran needs some serious help from said Guardians.
Much to Grampa's displeasure and Lil's newly "Awakened" hormones. =P

Did I make you giggle?

Non?

You lie!

I swear I saw a grin?

Ok ok back to my point!

That ladies and gentleman is where the first adventure of the Guardian Legacy begins.

I'm notorious for ruining books for people so I'm going to stop RIGHT THERE because I will ramble and ramble and ...well you see! So please do yourself a favor and check this book out b/c I'm about 99.9% sure you're going to love it.

There's love! There's action! And of course that hottie named Bran!

..heelllloooo...!

Seriously!

I'll even be nice and give you the link to Amazon and Goodreads

=P

The only complaint that I've heard so far is that the book is a little fast past BUT in my opinion Ednah does a fantastic job of keeping you on track with all of the twist and turns that happen with Lil...Bran.. and a few other awesome characters (Yes Kim I'm referring to you if for some reason your fictional self ever stumbles upon this!). So, you will stay interested in the book from page 1 to page 256 and of course left wanting more!

Ednah Walters is a fantastic writer and probably one of the nicest authors I've ever had the honor of talking too (via email lol) and HookBookers actually got to do an interview with one of the more sassy characters from Awakened aka Kim! So be on the look out for that as well as the second book in the series that Ednah is currently writing! 

Now for the Bran.. OH I mean the cover and synopsis! 

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Pill Hill Press (August 22, 2010)
• Language: English

Most teens turn sixteen and get the license to drive, Lil Falcon gets the license to kill demons, but no one told her she is not supposed to fall in love with one.

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

But Bran has a secret that can destroy their growing relationship. He's part demon. But in her heart, Lil knows Bran is not evil. So when her grandfather is kidnapped by a powerful nature-bender and Bran is the only one who knows where he's being kept, Lil convinces the other Guardians to trust him, not knowing her grandfather is just the bait. And the truth that she discovers in the demonic enclave may just destroy everything she believes in, unless she makes the right choice—love and sacrifice.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Oh and before I forget you can check out more about Ednah and the Guardian Legacy at Ednah's blog or her facebook page!




Happy Reading! 

Review: Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Title: Hush, Hush
Author: Becca Fitzpatrick
Length: 391 pgs

Reading Level: YA

Genre: Paranormal Romance/Fallen Angels/with a dose of Teen Angst
Rating:
 

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

As I've stated before I love me some paranormal romances! Vampires are my "thang" but thanks to Becca Fitzpatrick I can add bad boy fallen angels to the list!

Never in my life have I read a book about fallen angels...well there is the Blue Blood series but those fallen angels are actually vampires... so that doesn't count right! lol I'll just say the whole theme is (well was) totally new to me and my little brain.

In the end I decided that I LOVED IT!

The cover art was what first peaked my interest and by chapter 2 I was hooked! Patch, said fallen angel, is the biggest butthead but Becca is such a good writer that eventually you can't get enough of him (Not quite Damon Salvatore obsession for me yet, BUT way beyond Edward Cullen/Twihard obsession...seriously you'll be like Edward who?? Sparkle what?) Especially because in my mind Patch is Steven Strait *insert drool*

Thank you God for blessing the earth with this man candy of hotness aka Steven Strait.

...Jk Jk...

...maybe...

=P

Anyways, Nora is your typical 16 year old high school student. Well almost, you find out at the beginning that she's still healing from the sudden death of her father. You also learn about some of the struggles that she and her mother are having trying to cope and start a new life after something so tragic happens.

Nora is definitely the brainy/quiet type with the bestest best friend of them all, Vee. I was so jealous reading this book because even though Vee is more of a back ground character you figure out really quick that she is the best friend a girl could ever ask for...I've always wanted to have a friend like that but unfortunately in real life those types of relationships are few and far between. Is this a pity party?? I think not! On with the review!

Nora, by divine intervention *wink wink*, ends up getting Patch as her biology partner. He's horrible. Just horrible to her haha. Their very first assignment is to find out a few facts about each other and of course he can read Nora like an open book. Nora on the other hand can not figure anything out about Mr. Patch. Other than he's a PIA and dead sexy...of course! Nora being the smart gal that she is comes up with a variety of ways to get Patch to open up...this girl is serious about her A's...and much to her displeasure Patch is more confusing and shrouded in secrecy than the seven wonders of the world.

Probably has to do with the fact that he's a fallen angel...hellllooo...which Nora soon discovers after almost getting killed two or three times during the course of the book. Here's the kicker...is it Patch that's trying to kill Nora? Maybe...maybe not! You'll have to read it to find out!

Personal Thoughts: Simply put...I loved this book. It was an easy read because it kept me interested from the first few pages all the way to the end. Definitely left me wanting more and I really could not get enough of the characters. Nora is a little naive but good at heart. While Vee is down right hilarious (she had some fantastic one liners!). Patch, of course, is a mystery to everyone. I personally hated him in the beginning but by then end I loved his character. He's very complex that one! Crescendo is the next book in the series and let me tell you...Becca Fitzpatrick knows how to take a girl on a million different twist and turns while still have you begging for more! Loved the book. Love love love Becca Fitzpatrick (HookBookers attended a twitter party and we got to ask her a few questions...she is sooo nice and down to earth!) And I can't wait to see how everything turns out in the final book Tempest which comes out fall of next year! (Hopefully!!!)

Now it's time for the cover/description which I can't get over! Seeing it online is one thing but seeing it in person...it's gorgeous!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Romance was not part of Nora Grey's plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how hard her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch comes along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Patch draws Nora to him against her better judgment.

But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is and seems to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.

For she is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those who have fallen -- and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost Nora her life.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

~Brandi